10h January 2014

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www.morungexpress.com

The Morung Express

Dimapur VOL. IX ISSUE 8

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www.morungexpress.com

Bullock sweeps People’s Choice Awards

By Sandemo Ngullie

Friendship inspires renewing age-old bond [ PAGE 2]

Nuclear talks hit snag on centrifuge research [ PAGE 9]

[ PAGE 11]

[ PAGE 8]

reflections

Friday, January 10, 2014 12 pages Rs. 4

I count my blessings every day, quite honestly, because I take nothing for granted Good times are coming - in a few months: Modi

ATTENTION

(L-R) nagaland State Home Minister G. Kaito Aye, State Minister for Planning, T.R. Zeliang, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and nagaland Chief Minister neiphiu Rio are seen here in New Delhi at Shinde’s office.

Rio brings up Nagaland railway lines with Kharge Chief Minister of Nagaland, Neiphiu Rio, along with his Cabinet colleague, T.R. Zeliang, Minister for Planning, urged the Union Railway Minister, Mallikarjun Kharge, to intervene in the pending railway projects pertaining to Nagaland, such as connectivity between Dimapur and Zub-

za and between Dimapur and Tizit, at a meeting held today. This was informed by the New Delhi Resident Commissioner’s Office of the Government of Nagaland in a press release.

The Union Railway Minister reportedly directed Chairman, Railway Board to submit the status report on the pending projects.

The Railway authority also

informed Rio, according to the press release, that the Ministry of Railway has approved a 16 Km stretch from Dhansiri to Dimapur to connect Zubza and the land plan has already been submitted to General Manager (construction), NF Railways. This was done to avoid the track passing through a township area, it was reported.

The Rengma naga Students’ Union, Karbi Anglong, and the Karbi Students’Association, in collaboration with the national Students’ Union of India (all of whom are seen here in the picture), organized a candle light vigil-cum-march in Diphu town today. The silent march, which saw many students from both communities participate in it, started at 6pm, with students planting candles at various significant spots of Diphu town. At the Diphu market, shopowners were asked to light a candle each in memory of those who lost their lives in the recent conflict that engulfed Karbi Anglong. The students’ unions were supported in the endeavour by the law and order department. The initiative was described as “successful”, even as other initiatives through the joint work of the students’ unions of the Karbi and Rengma naga communities of Karbi Anglong have averted bandhs and economic blockades before.

RNCP demands rehabilitation & compensation

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–Mario Andretti

Man City crushes West Ham in League Cup [ PAGE 12]

shinde assures security AfsPA: Goi urged to help to nagaland, Assam investigate violations

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 9 (MExN): Chief Minister of Nagaland, Neiphiu Rio along with his cabinet colleague, G. Kaito Aye, Home Minister and T.R. Zeliang, Planning Minister discussed the prevailing law and order situation after the recent clashes between Karbi and Rengma Naga communities with Union Some petty thief picked Home Minister, Sushil Kuyour pocket and you want to file an FIR? You idiot. De- mar Shinde today. This was informed by the New Delhi mand a CBI investigation.

Resident Commissioner’s The Morung Express Office of the Government of in a press release.

POLL QUESTIOn Nagaland Rio, noted the press Vote on www.morungexpress.com release, informed Shinde SMS your answer to 9862574165 that all possible steps are been taken to bring about Should Nagaland also have a different time zone from normalcy between the two the Indian Standard Time? communities. The Union Home Minister, in turn, assured all possible security Yes no Others help to the two State Governments, it stated.

The matter relating to the pending reimburseDear Subscribers, ment claims of the State Please inform us if The Government relating to Morung Express is not Security Related Expendibeing delivered to you tures (SRE) was also dison a regular basis by cussed for early settlement your paper hawker. of dues. T.R. Zeliang, addiContact us directly at: tionally, urged the Union 9856230555.

Home Minister for his inWe are open to sug- tervention in the issue regestions, constructive lating to the rights of the criticism and feedback State Government on Peabout how The Morung troleum and Natural Gas in Express can improve its the State. Jyoti Kalash, IAS, reporting and raise so- Resident Commissioner, cially conscious issues. Nagaland House, New DelThis will increase the hi, was also present at the newspaper’s relevancy meeting. and responsiveness to our readers.

The Morung Express

BOKAJAN, JANUARY 9 (MExN): The Rengma Naga Peoples’ Council has demanded for rehabilitation and compensation of displaced Rengmas from the Rengma Hills, following the recent violence and unrest in the area. In a letter to the Commissioner, Hills Area, Dispur; the RNPC demanded that an ex gratia payment of Rs 6,00,000 be made to the families of the seven Rengmas killed on December 27, 2013 and that a compensation of Rs 2,00,000 each be paid to the ones injured in the same incident. It further called for compensation of Rs 5,00,000, 7 bundles of CGI sheets each for “all the houses burned by KPLT militants” and compensation for all granaries burned down, oranges and betel nut trees cut down and domesticated animals killed or taken away. It further demanded at least one year ration for the affected villagers and that rehabilitation of all affected villagers in their villages be provided. The RNCP added that the announcement of ex gratia payment by the Assam government for the nine Karbis found dead in Dimapur without any corresponding ex gratia payment plan for the Rengmas killed in Assam “has hurt the sentiments of the Rengma people.” It however said, that it remained confident that the Commissioner’s Office “will look into the matter with outmost seriousness and expedite the same.”

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SENAPAtI, JANUARY 9 torture, enforced disap- tory treatment of all those (MExN): In order to limit pearances, rape, illegal de- who are not, or who are no the effects of war, a Consul- tention, committed against longer, taking part in hostiltation has urged the Gov- the indigenous Manipuris ities. Most of provisions of ernment of India to imple- people with intention to Protocol II are now considment the Common Article 3 destroy, a national or ethnic ered as a part of customary of the Geneva Conventions, or racial or religious group IHL and, thus, binding on all 1949 and Additional Pro- in the pretext of counter parties to NIACs. tocol-II, 1977, in the North insurgency is nothing but Nobokishore termed East region of India.

AFSPA a “racist piece of leggenocide.”

The Consultation held U. Nobokishore, Secre- islation and a symbol of a today on ‘United Nations’ tary of United NGOs Mis- racist regime.” He also deLaw of Armed Conflict sion-Manipur, as a resource scribed the Act as “dated and Armed Forces (Spe- person, described IHL or and colonial-era law that cial Powers) Act, 1958’ in “Law of War” as a set of rules breach contemporary interPuangringlong (Charoi which seek, for humanitar- national human rights stanPandongba) village of Se- ian reasons, to limit the ef- dards.” Above all, he said, napati district has urged fects of armed conflict. He the Act is a “discriminatory the Government of India to added that IHL classifies and genocidal legislation.” “immediately investigate” armed conflicts as internaHe said that the Justice cases of rape, torture, dis- tional armed conflict (IAC) Jeevan Reddy Committee’s appearances etc. commit- or non-international armed report also endorsed this ted by the “Government’s conflict (NIAC). aspect briefly as, “the Act Security Forces in has become a symManipur,” repeal AFbol of oppression, an SPA, 1958 and “pro- Call for the implementation object of hate and invide compensation of Common Article 3 and strument of discrimand assistance to the ination and highAdditional Protocol II of handedness.” He victims of rape, torture, trafficking and also recalled the obGeneva Conventions families of those ciservation of Christof vilians killed by the Heyns who stated, “it Indian Security Forces.”

He explained that Com- is therefore difficult to un‘Political Armed Op- mon Article 3 of the Geneva derstand how the Supreme position Groups’ in the re- Conventions of 1949 spe- Court, which has been so gion have also been asked cifically applies in the case progressive in other areas, to respect and implement of conflicts “not of an inter- also concerning the right the Common Article 3 and national character.” Com- to life, could have ruled in Additional Protocol II of mon Article 3 stipulates 1997 that AFSPA, did not the Geneva Conventions, the minimum protection violate the Constitution.” reconcile and stop faction- that must be afforded to all Sobita Mangsatabam, al fights in the interest of ci- those who are not, or who speaking on the topic ‘Jusvilians and sign and respect are no longer, taking an ac- tice Verma Committee’s rethe ‘Deed of Agreement of tive part in hostilities, for port and Rape as an InstruGeneva Call.’ Geneva Call example, civilians, mem- ment of War’ stated that is a “neutral and impartial bers of armed forces of the United Nations Security humanitarian” organiza- parties to the conflict who Council Resolution 1820 tion dedicated to engaging have been captured, are of June 19, 2008 defined armed non-state actors to- wounded, or surrendered. rape as an “instrument of wards compliance with the It provides for humane war.” She further said that norms of International Hu- treatment and non-dis- Verma Committee’s report manitarian Law (IHL) and criminatory treatment for also reflected the same human rights law. all such persons, in partic- observation and recomThe Consultation was ular by prohibiting acts of mended for trial of rape jointly organized by North violence to life and person cases in civil courts even East Dialogue Forum specifically murder, muti- while AFSPA is in use. Cit(NEDF), People’s Action lation, cruel treatment and ing some incidents of rapes for Development NH-53 torture, the taking of hos- committed in the region, (PAD-53), Senapati district, tages, and outrages upon such as of Th. Manorama Puangringlong (Charoi Pan- personal dignity, in par- (Bamonkampu), Ningthdongba) Village’s Authority, ticular humiliating and de- oujam Ongbi Ahanjaobi Women Society, Youth Club grading treatment. It pro- (Takyenthongbal), Rose and Farmers’ Club. hibits also the passing of (Ngaprum Khullen Ukhrul) Giving the key note ad- sentences and carrying out and during Operation Bluedress, P. Ashen President, of executions without judg- bird by the Indian Military, PAD-53, noted that even ment being pronounced she said that rape and oththough the North East re- by a regular constituted er forms of sexual violence gion has been reeling un- court providing all judicial have been used as “instruder violent armed conflict guarantees recognized as ment of war by different acfor more than five decades, indispensable. Finally, it tors in the ongoing armed the very existence of armed imposes an obligation on conflict.” She called upon conflict in the region has the parties to collect the all likeminded civil organinot been officially recog- wounded and sick and to zations and individuals to nized by India. Taking a care for them. come together and build a strong stance against the Additional Protocol II of collective struggle to end AFSPA, 1958, Ashen said, 1977 provides for the hu- the heinous crimes com“Extra-judicial execution, mane and non-discrimina- mitted against women.

Education key to India’s next golden age: Prez Two arrested for kidnapping NEW DELHI, JANUARY 9 (IANS): Education is what will determine how fast India joins the ranks of leading nations of the world, President Pranab Mukherjee said here Thursday.

“I believe education is the alchemy that can bring India its next golden age,” Mukherjee said in his address at the valedictory session of the 12th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, the annual gathering of the Indian diaspora.

“The success we achieve in educating our people will determine how fast India joins the ranks of leading nations of the world,” he said.

Mukherjee said that if India has to attain a growth rate of nine percent per year, as has been envisaged during the 12th Five Year Plan period, “we must put in place enabling factors, most prominent of which is education”. He pointed out that no Indian from India has won the Nobel Prize since C.V. Raman in 1930, and said educational institutes in the country should focus more on research and development.

“I have been urging our educational institutions to invest more in research and development and to pursue greater international linkages by establishing collaborations

with foreign universities and inviting the best of faculty from across the world to come and teach in our institutions,” the president said.

He said the government has prioritised higher education and supported it with increased resources, and enrollment to higher education institutions in the country has increased from 1.39 crore in 2006-07 to 2.18 crore in 2011-12.

“India has today 659 degreeawarding institutions and 33,023 colleges,” he said. However, despite the rise in the number of higher education institutes, India has very few institutes of global standards, Mukherjee said.

“Time has now come for us to reclaim our leadership position in the world as far as higher education is concerned.

Our effort to increase ‘quantity’ must be matched with commensurate efforts to improve ‘quality’,” Mukherjee said. He said that in a world that is facing increasing constraints on natural resources, innovation was another key area India should focus on.

“China and the US are amongst the countries at the forefront of innovation with over five lakh (500,000) patent applications filed by each country

in 2011,” he said. “In contrast to this, India filed only 42,000 patent applications, which is far behind these countries. As per an international survey, only three Indian companies are amongst the world’s 100 most innovative companies.” He called on both the industry and higher education institutes to emphasise on research.

“We have only 119 researchers in R&D per million people, as compared to 715 in China and 468 in the US. Out of the total student strength of 71,000 in NITs, there are only 4,000 PhD students. In IITs, there are only around 3,000 PhD students in the total student strength of 60,000,” the president said.

Stating that upgrading the standards of higher education in India should be accorded top priority, he said: “Overseas Indians such as all of you gathered here can play a major role in supporting and supplementing the efforts of the government to remedy this situation.”

He said the Indian economy was more resilient than most other countries. “I am sure you have (the) confidence in the inherent resilience of our people and the dynamism of our economy which has the ability to overcome temporary downturns,” he said.

DIMAPUR, JANUARY 9 (MExN): Dimapur Police on Monday arrested two persons in connection with the hijacking of a truck and kidnapping of the driver and handyman from Chumukedima area. The arrested persons have been identified as Atoka Achumi (12) and Sabu Uddin (31).

Police recovered one .32 pistol with two live rounds from possession of the arrested persons.

A press note from the Additional Superintendent of Police, Dimapur informed that on the evening of January 6, information was received from a reliable source that occupants of an unregistered Gypsy had hijacked a truck near Patkai Bridge. It stated that police, on receiving the information, immediately swung into action and intercepted the truck at Chumukedima town.

On seeing the police, the person driving the truck abandoned it and escaped under the cover of darkness. The truck was then taken to Diphupar Police Station by the police. The note further informed that at 8:30 pm, one unregistered Gypsy was sighted travelling towards Dimapur at a very high speed. Police pursued the vehicle and in the ensuing chase, a shot was fired from the occupants of the Gyp-

The two arrested persons in police custody.

sy, prompting the police to fire back. The Gypsy was subsequently intercepted and the two persons were apprehended from the vehicle.

According to police, both the occupants of the Gypsy confessed to their crime and revealed the place where they had held the kidnapped driver and handyman of the truck. Accordingly, police rescued the kidnapped duo and released the truck, which was loaded with potatoes and onions. The note informed that a case has been registered in this regard and that investigation is on to nab the other absconding accused.

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Friday 10 January 2014

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Friendship inspires renewing age-old bond

Dimapur, January 9 (mExn): Rekindling the age-old friendship of Surumi and Longsa village, friendship feast exchange programme was hosted by Shivukhu Shikhu and family at Medical Colony, Suruhuto town on January 7.

“This programme was inspired by the friendship of Shivukhu Shikhu of Surumi village and Yashikhaba Ao of Longsa village,” stated a press release issued

by Hekishe Shikhu, Programme chairman, Friendship feast exchange of Surumi and Longsa village.

Speaking on the occasion, Shetoyi Sumi, Parliamentary Secretary Soil & Water Conservation and Fisheries who also hails from Surumi village expressed his happiness for A section of the gathering attending the Surumi and Longsa village friendship feast exchange programme at Medical Colony, Suruhuto town on January 7. the enduring friendship the two villages maintains. He cials and political leaders. Alemtemsu Jamir, the pres- Jamir. He expressed his tween Sumi and Ao tribe this friendship between grate and come together as expounded that the two vilHe particularly men- ent Chief Secretary to the confidence that the friend- and shall bring the two the two tribes shall be a one big family. lages have produced high tioned his personal and Government of Nagaland ship of Surumi and Longsa tribes more closer than motivator and inspirer for Nivishe Aye Retd. PA ranking government offi- official relationship with and Minister Merentoshi village will be a bridge be- ever. Shetoyi exhorted that Nagas to emotionally inte- to DC and Imtitemjen for-

Surumi and Longsa village friendship feast exchange programme held

Department of Post informs

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Kohima, January 9 (mExn): Central/State Government Offices/Departments, Schools, Colleges, Organizations etc are informed that due to continuous office closure on account of winter/festive break, huge numbers of letters are lying undelivered at all post offices. The Department of Post, Nagaland in a press release issued by Director of Postal Services has appeal to all such offices/organizations to depute suitable officials to report to Post Offices from time to time during the break period for collection of mails. They are also requested to submit contact numbers (landline and mobile) to the Postmasters concerned so that regular delivery of important letters can be done without delay in the interest of public services.

Mon DPDB on Jan 13

mon, January 9 (mExn): The monthly Mon District Planning & Development Board meeting for the month of January 1ill be held on January 13 at 11:00 am at the DC’s Conference Hall, Mon. The programme for the Republic day 2014 will also be chalk out during the meeting. Therefore, all members are requested to attend the meeting without fail.

NAHSSA 17th general conference on Jan 16

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Dimapur, January 9 (mExn): The Nagaland Agriculture & Horticulture Sub-Ordinate Service Association (NAHSSA) 17th general conference will be held on January 16 at the Angh House, Agri Expo site, 4th Mile Dimapur. Director of Agriculture will be the chief guest and G Ikuto Zhimomi, Dy Director and Advisor NAHSSA will be the guest of honour. The Association general secretary T Makenlemba Ao in a press release has requested all the members to attend the meeting without fail.

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mer Chairman, Longsa Village Council related the history of friendship between Surumi and Longsa village. Supongmeren ExMLA also spoke on the occasion. The organizer of the programme Shivukhu Shikhu and Yashikhaba Ao spoke on the occasion and eulogized their personal friendship as well as the friendship between the two villages. People in huge numbers from both the villages attended the programme.

The programme was chaired by Hekishe Shikhu, opening the programme the students of Medical Colony presented ‘Unity in diversity’, invocation prayer by Pastor Longsa village, welcome address by Qheniho G.B Surumi village, special song by Heroto and friend, folk song was presented by both Surumi and Longsa village and benediction by Hotokhu pastor.

LBCD initiate practice of mass marriage

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A “Champions” book written by Dr. Thamsing Lamkang was released on Sunday, January 5 by Nico, Pastor, CUCD Thahekhu V and James Vasha, YWAM Director AP. The book is about the football “Champions”. Publishers are Teze Sakhrie Kohima and Liangamlung Dangmei Dimapur.

Dimapur, January 9 (mExn): The Lotha Baptist Church Dimapur has long cherished to start the practice of mass marriage and the first effort was possible with two couples taking the vows on December 10, 2013. Positively, the following Mass Marriage witnessed a rise on response from the community by three couples taking the vows on January 7, 2014.

The intention for implementing the mass marriage is majorly twofold- to encourage young men and women to begin a Christian home with a lesser expenditure; and to ease people’s burden from attending too many marThree couples took the vows in the mass marriage at Lotha Baptist Church Dimapur. riages in a season.

The LBCD pastor in a everyone for welcoming willing to adhere to the to all that it is truly possible press release stated that this positive change and Church’s initiation where- to have a sacred marriage the Church is grateful to to every couple who were by conveying the message with a lesser expenditure.

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Torechu calls on Kiphire DPDB Creating awareness through music to develop the district together NSACS Music KiphirE, January 9 (Dipr): District Development and Planning Board Kiphire meeting for the month of January 2014 was held on January 8, at the DCs Conference hall under the chairmanship of Parliamentary Secretary for Excise, Legal Metrology and Statistics Nagaland T. Torechu. The meeting started with the introduction of new members, which was followed by self-introduction of all the members.

Addressing the Board members, Chairman DPDB call upon the officers to render their valuable services to the district and reminded the members not to take as punishment for being posted in far-flung areas of the state like Kiphire.

Stressing on quality education the chairman also reminded the teachers of the district to pro-

vide their valuable services and entrusted the SDEO Kiphire to supervise the department carefully. Stating that Kiphire district has many Mithun projects, which at present was invaded by diseases the chairman felt the need for immediate vaccination and requested the Veterinary department to provide necessary remedial measures for prevention.

He also regretted the non-publication of most developmental activities of the district in the monthly Warrior Magazine and urged the department to take necessary steps in the near future. Let us conspire to develop the district together and remove backwardness, and let the year 2014 be of practical/action challenging everybody that our initiative is valuable to the district, he maintained.

Informing the board

that a booklet on developmental works in the district would he published each year he requested all the developmental departments to submit department activities and achievements of the current year to the District Planning Machinery Cell.

Pondering on the agendas, the board decided to seek financial avenues for uniforms of Ex- servicemen of the district. Proposal for change of farming system in the district was also deliberated and in this regard, the DAO Kiphire was entrusted to study the suitable crops of the villages and submit its report to the Deputy Commissioner

by January 20. The District Industries and Commerce department was asked to arrange weaving units and directed the department to submit its view within a week time.

Parliamentary Secretary of Power, C. Kipili Sangtam who was also present in the meeting, announced that the transformer workshop would be opened in Kiphire in order to save time and money. He also suggested for conducting Awareness Campaign with the public for enhancement of power revenues collection. The department of PWD (R&B) was asked to depute labours for clearing of jungles by the roadside and to fill potholes on the road. The Board also decided to reiterate to the government for up gradation of Police Station in the district and up gradation of SDO Power to that of E.E Power. PHED department was also advised for maintenance of water pipes in the town area. The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks by Vice Chairman DPDB Kiphire.

for Zero campaign reaches out to 16,800 people

Dimapur, January 9 (mExn): The Nagaland State AIDS Control Society, through its ‘awareness through music campaign’, to create consciousness on HIV/AIDS reached out to nearly seventeen thousand people in Nagaland state within a period of one month in October 2013.

This awareness drive, termed ‘NSACS Music for Zero – A Red Ribbon Superstar Campaign,’ covered eleven districts and sixteen educational institutions in twenty-four days. An activity report of the campaign informed that over 16,800 people were reached out to and that fifty people underwent tests for HIV at the venues.

The Campaign kicked off in Mon on October 1, 2013 and concluded on October 28, 2013 at Dimapur.

Each event, over the course of the campaign, saw several bands compete for the title of ‘NSACS Red Ribbon Superstar 2013’ and motivational speakers speak of first hand experiences about living with HIV/AIDS and drug abuse. The NSACS teams also visited several educational institutes and interacted with students.

Guest Speakers encouraged students to develop awareness on HIV/ AIDS and on the need to be “safe, careful and to make the right choices.” Over the course of the campaign, Dr Ayieno Kechu, Deputy Director IEC NSACS, revealed that more than 50 percent of HIV infections in Nagaland state is from

Dimapur district. She further stressed on the need to “talk about HIV/AIDS and the issues related to it” and to address the stigma attached to it.

The campaign also saw a pledge signing event on October 27 at Jumping Bean Café, Dimapur. The pledge involved an individual vow to equip oneself with knowledge about HIV/AIDS and to “create awareness towards creating a society of Zero New HIV infections, Zero Discrimination and Zero AIDS related deaths.” The gathering further vowed to live a “safe and responsible lifestyle” and become an agent

of change.

The campaign culminated in a grand finale at Dimapur on October 28. Making Merry from Kohima were adjudged as the ‘NSACS’ Red Ribbon Superstar 2013.’

Educational institutes visited by the NSACS team included Wankhao government college, Mon; Christian School, Longleng; Town Higher Secondary School, Mokokchung; Bethesda High School and government high school, Thangjam; Cornerstone school and government college, Zunheboto; Witter Theological College, Wokha; Baptist High School, Peren; Baptist College, Kohima; Loyola Higher Secondary School, Saramati View Modern College and Zisaji Presidency College, Kiphire and government college, government higher secondary school and Bishop Abraham School in Phek.

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The Morung express

Friday

10 January 2014

Dimapur

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Assam takes time into its own hands Chandrahas Choudhury Source: Live Mint The northeastern state of Assam (population 30 million) is associated in the Indian imagination mainly with lush tea gardens and a long-running insurgency that seeks to establish an independent Assamese state. But last week, Assam rebelled against an order perhaps even more tyrannous on an everyday level than the one embodied by distant New Delhi: It announced it would soon secede from Indian Standard Time (IST).

The state’s chief minister, Tarun Gogoi, said Assam would be moving forward one hour from the rest of India, from five hours, 30 minutes ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) to six hours, 30 minutes ahead of GMT. This declaration was met with alarm by those Indians who have never travelled abroad, who bask in the stability and reliability of Indian Standard Time wherever they journey in the country (India doesn’t employ daylight saving time, either), and for whom the idea of changing a clock setting within an Indian territory is as absurd as that of changing one’s age. After all, shouldn’t

Sangma counters Modi's attack at NRI meet

neW DeLHI, JAnuAry 9 (PtI): After Narendra Modi's potshots at the Prime Minister at an NRI meet, Congress leader and Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma defended the UPA government, crediting its "visionary leadership" for building the foundation for better days ahead.

"Better days would come because strong foundation has been laid by the leadership," Sangma said in an apparent snub to Modi who in his speech before him had taken a jibe at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his "better times ahead" remark.

Modi suggested that better times would come after polls when his government would take over.

The last of the four CMs to speak at the gathering of NRIs at Pravasi Bhartiya Divas, Sangma referred to the "revolutionary legislations" like RTI, which he said was the reason behind "visible transparency", and RTE, crediting the Centre for ushering in these big reforms.

"MNREGA liberated agriculture workforce from suppression and oppression and pushed up wages, ensuring them work and money," he said, praising the job guarantee scheme for driving up people's purchasing power.

Four CMs spoke at the event and Kerala CM Oommen Chandy and Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda spoke before Modi. It was only after making an elaborate reply to Modi's charge against UPA that Sangma returned to the topic of "investment opportunities" in his northeastern state.

time have certain standards, just like democracy or fresh produce? Not for them the strange and slippery American way of different times at the same time, a relativism entirely characteristic of a culture in which anything goes.

For such souls, as for firebreathing nationalists, Gogoi’s plan is a political provocation even more subversive than the demand for secession, a suggestion of such eminent reasonableness it could only be a conspiracy. All around the country, Gogoi’s announcement sparked a set of fiery debates about nationalism, federalism, daylight, energy, geography, the tyranny of the (Indian) west over the east, and time in its real, psychological and metaphysical aspects.

But what it brought home to millions of Indians—in fact, the billion or so born after 1947, which was about the last year India had more than one time zone—was that good old Indian Standard Time, despite masquerading as a reality as ageless and venerable as Indian civilization, is itself a product of colonial and postcolonial political history, and is in fact a strangely youthful

Assam’s shift from IST has sparked fiery debates about nationalism, federalism, daylight and tyranny of west over east creature. IST is actually no older than a century or so, having existed alongside other Indian time zones until the decade after independence, when the new Indian republic achieved a gradual elimination of the competition: Calcutta Time (or eastern Indian time, abandoned in 1948) and the more informal Bombay Time (western time, abandoned 1955).

For decades, Indian Standard Time (IST) has been the reason—alongside certain fairly immovable human notions of what constitutes early and late, which is the rationale behind daylight saving time— much of eastern India spends a large part of the day literally in the dark, especially in winter, which greatly affects not just economic productivity but also quality of life. After all, a full 28 degrees of longitude separates the time-locked western and eastern extremities of India— about the longitudinal differ-

ence between Washington and Denver, which are currently two hours apart.

This means that when the sun rises at 5:30am in New Delhi, close to India’s longitudinal center, it has risen a full hour earlier in Guwahati, the bustling capital of Assam, and sets there by late afternoon, prematurely inviting the gloom (and the homeward-scurrying figures of people, women in particular) that is characteristic of the average badly lit, and badly behaved, Indian metropolis. The citizens of Guwahati spend an irrational number of daylight hours fast asleep and hours of darkness awake, which also has an economic cost, in terms of electricity expended.

(This takes us right back to the origin of the idea of daylight saving time in the ever-enterprising, and thrifty, Benjamin Franklin’s 1784 paper “An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light.”)

So it’s no surprise that India’s east is relatively underdeveloped compared with the more prosperous west. IST makes India tilt west. All this did not stop Kapil Sibal, then minister for science and technology, from arguing in Parliament in 2004 that since the expanse of the Indian state is not large, no need has been felt for different time zones. Sibal has always been a resident of Delhi, where he also has a thriving legal practice.

A more realistic description of the problems engendered by a single time zone was provided by the Assamese filmmaker Jahnu Barua, who said, “As we have a single time zone, meal time and work and sleep hours are the same across the country. This causes a delay of two hours in the northeast compared to the western part of the country, and of an hour compared with northern and central India.” In fact, Assam

already has an informal tradition of a local time set ahead of IST called chaibagaan time, or tea-garden time, which is observed on the tea plantations and makes more efficient use of daylight hours. Gogoi’s suggestion would only bring the entire state (and perhaps, in time, the entire northeast) formally over to this practice.

A new time zone for the northeast seems an eminently rational idea, only requiring Indians from the rest of the country to make a slight mental switch when travelling east. But not to the Hindu newspaper, which in an editorial argued that the potentially adverse consequences of introducing a new time zone within the country are many and that the move would only intensify the sense of distance that northeastern India already has in relation to the rest of India. The editorial suggested a compromise, based on a recent paper by D.P. Sen Gupta and Dilip Ahuja, whereby all of India would move to a new Indian Standard Time six— and not five and a half—hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time, thereby shifting the central Indian meridian about 7.5 degrees eastward.

I still think it makes sense to move to two or more time zones for the country instead of trying to please everybody and satisfying none. It would be the latest step in India’s long history of trying to work out how to keep the time and fix the clock to the day, a practice that has evolved in conjunction with changing human needs. Only a couple of centuries ago, the day in India and many other parts of the world was held to have begun at sunrise, not at midnight; even the idea of standard time first came about because of the advent of the railways.

But what the fuss also demonstrates is the extent to which the idea of time, like religion, is one of life’s foundational fictions, somehow so significant that a breach in standard time comes to seem like a breakdown of the idea of India itself, so rooted in human notions of early and late that the numbers attached to the hours determine the shape of the day.

Why can’t the Assamese just rise at 4am in the summer and get about their days? Well, they just can’t. It would be too early.

If that same hour registered on the clock as 5am, though, that would be just fine.

TBCA condemns December 21 incident

DImAPur, JAnuAry 9 (mexn): The Tangkhul Baptist Churches Association (TBCA) has expressed deep pain to “witness the unbecoming behaviours among our National workers from time to time tarnishing the good image of the National workers in particular and the Nagas in general, besides jeopardizing the hard earned peace.”

In a press statement appended by its executive secretary, Rev. Yarngam Muivah,

TBCA strongly condemned the December 21, 2013 Zunheboto incident, where male passengers of a taxi were harassed and the lady mission workers were sexually assaulted by cadres of the NSCN (IM).

“While the church is praying to usher in peace and heal our land, wayward national workers behaving in such an undignified manner is abhorrent in the eyes of every Naga,” the press note stated.

In Tripura, BJP protests attacks on minorities

AGArtALA, JAnuAry 9 (IAnS): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will continue to organise protests until the attacks on religious minorities in Bangladesh are stopped, party leaders said in the Tripura capital Thursday.

"We held a demonstration here Friday to protest the attacks on religious minorities in Bangladesh.

Such a stir would continue until the attacks on minorities are stopped," BJP's Tripura unit president Sudhindra Dasgupta told reporters. He said the government of India must talk with the Bangladesh government and urge it to take suitable measures to stop the attacks on the A female fishmonger displays a giant fish at a market along the river Brahmaputra in Guwahati, Assam on Wednes- minorities and to prevent day, January 8. The 2,906 kilometer (1800 mile) long Brahmaputra is one of Asia's largest rivers which passes through these in future.

The members of the China's Tibet region, India and Bangladesh before converging into the Bay of Bengal. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the BJP, Wednesday organised a demonstration in front of the Bangladesh diplomatic mission in Agartala. Police arrested 24 BJYM members, including the party's state leaders Pulak Kumar Debnath and Tapas Majumder, and later released them on bail. A police picket has been set up at the Bangladesh mission office on the outskirts of the city.

According to media reports in Bangladesh, over 200 houses and shops belonging to the minority Hindu community have been vandalised and looted by the Jamaat-eIslami activists in various parts of Bangladesh's Jessore and Dinajpur dis-

tricts. The attacks took place before and during the Jan 5 parliamentary polls in that country. "Several hundred minority people, including women and children, have taken shelter in Hindu temples and safer places. Bangladesh security forces have arrested many attackers," the reports said.

India has stepped up vigil along its border with Bangladesh in view of the ongoing political turmoil and attacks on religious minorities in the neighbouring counwtry. "We have asked our personnel to further tighten vigil along the India-Bangladesh border. Additional forces have been deployed in the sensitive border locations...," an officer of the Border Security Force (BSF) told IANS.

Search drive organized to rescue kidnapped persons

AIZAWL, JAnuAry 9 (nnn): The three persons who have been kidnapped and being put on hostage by Bru militants for more than 40 days now since November 23 have still not been released. In view of this, an adhoc joint committee of various organizations in Mizoram has come to the decision to carry out a massive search drive to rescue the 3 kidnapped persons from the captors.

MZP, Zoram Taxi Driver’s Association, Mizoram Pickup Owner & Driver Association, Mizoram Pickup Service Association, Aizawl Bru Welfare Committee, Bru Cultural Organisation and Bru Christian Fellowship held joint meeting at MZP main office today.

The joint meeting decided to carry out a massive search operation from January 13. The Joint meeting also declared

their condemnation. They then urged the authority not to pay the ransom demanded by the kidnappers- Bru Democratic Front of Mizoram.

Believing that the leaders of Mizoram Bru Displaced People Forum (MBDPF) who are living at Tripura Bru transit camp can take the best initiative, the joint committee also urged MBDPF to take steps accordingly.

MZP and other organiza-

tions that plan to carry out the massive search drive on January 13 informed those willing to participate in the same to report themselves latest by January 11, at MZP main office here.

To chalk out detail plan for the search operation, a joint meeting is also planned on January 10 at MZP main office, which will be attended by one representative each from V/C of each Bru villages and Bru Co-Ordina-

tion Committee (BCC).

In the mean time, Mizo Students Union (MSU) urged upon the state government not to pay the ransom money demanded by the militants, adding that if any untoward incidents occurred on to the Bru communities, the same shall be regarded as incurred by themselves.

M eanwhile Bru Coordination Committee (BCC) held meeting on January 7 at Dam-

Meghalaya government extend GHADC’s term

SHILLOnG, JAnuAry 9 (nnn): In an attempt to include the amendments to the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (HHADC) proposed by the Achik National Volunteer Council, the cabinet has approved a six months extension of the present term of GHADC. The cabinet has also cleared a 15 day extension of the terms of the other two councils – the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) and Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC).

“We have examined, deliberated upon and after discussion we find it reasonable enough to consider extension of GHADC term for six months at one time to enable the whole process of this text settlement agreement with the A’chik National Volunteer Council (ANVC) and subsequent bring in the expected

desire for lasting peace in Garo Hills,” Chief Minister Mukul Sangma told reporters here.

He said the cabinet has also approved the proposal for extension of the other two councils by another 15 days.

The ANVC which entered into a tripartite ceasefire agreement with state government and Union government in 2004 had last year approved a final text agreement of settlement.

As per the latest agreement, the ANVC had agreed for the expansion of powers of the GHADC and an increasing number of membership from 29 to 40 which would also have representation from the local tradition institutions.

The approval to extend the tenure of the GHADC was also based on a representation made to the Chief Minister during his last visit to the Garo

Hills in which the ANVC and other delegations had put forth to enable in including their demands to fructify ahead of the council elections.

The extension would allow the whole accord settlement to be completed first as the settlement text included the outfit leaders to dispel their group and ultimately complete the whole process of participating in the democratic process so that they can participate in the propose elections to the GHADC after the accord, the chief minister stated.

He said that their (ANVC) contention has also been conveyed through various delegations that if elections are held now, then even if the accord is signed they will not be able to participate in the election process because next election will be then expected only in 2019.

The chief minister further informed that there will be issues which again will have to be attended to both by state government and GOI because the issues are also link to constitutional amendment in respect to the sixth scheduled of the constitution because the proposed text settlement agreement also includes besides the need to increase in the number of seats from 29 to 40.

He also made it clear that the expansion of powers will also be extended to the other district councils (KHADC and JHADC).

The Cabinet today further approved the extension of terms of the KHADC and JHADC by 15 days. The terms of all the ADCs expire on February 17.

Stating that the cabinet has been briefed about the inability to hold the elections within the expiry of the term in view

of the delay in the delimitation process, DCA Minister HDR Lyngdoh said, “After discussion, the cabinet is also please to agree for the proposal of extension of the terms of the two district councils – KHADC and JHADC by 15 days.”

According to him, the election process to the two district councils will be taken up and will be completed within the extension term of 15 days.

Sangma said, the election notification will be issued by department concerned DCA to ensure that whole election process in respect of KHADC and JHADC are completed within that 15 days of extension which ends by March 3.

Meanwhile, the government has also approved the proposal of the executive committee of the KHADC submitted for delimitation of constituencies.

parengpui and passed resolution demanding immediate release of the kidnapped and their condemnation of the kidnapping itself.

BCC also proclaimed that the common Bru people will never acknowledge of such people who disturb the government and never support either.

BCC also decided to organize mass fasting prayer on January 13.

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Govt to seek foreign investment in railways

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 9 (REUTERs): India will soon invite foreign businesses to help expand its once-mighty but now outdated railways, government sources said, in a move that would mark the opening up of one of the country’s last great state-controlled industries.

Foreign investors will be allowed to fully own new services in suburban areas, high speed tracks, and connections to ports, mines and power installations, said two senior officials involved in the deliberations.

Existing passenger and freight network operations will not be open to foreign investors under the initiative, which seeks to ease bottlenecks that slow travel on the world’s fourth-largest rail system.

“The plan is to allow 100 percent foreign direct investment in suburban corridors, high-speed train systems, freight line projects implemented through public-private partnership,” said an official at the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion.

The government officials said the move could attract up to $10 billion of foreign investment over the next five years.

Previous targets to attract private investment to build India’s infrastructure have been missed by a wide margin, but there were positive initial responses from potential investors such as General Electric Co and Bombardier.

Established under British colonial rule, India’s vast train network has been overtaken

by China’s rapid rail expansion over the past two decades.

Indian train travel is very cheap, and transports some 25 million passengers daily.

But years of underinvestment mean the service is slow and plagued by frequent accidents, most recently a fire that killed nine people this week.

Freight charges are pegged far higher to subsidise the passenger services, driving much cargo transport onto clogged roads.

SLOW TRAIN In the 66 years since independence, India has added

13,000 km (8,077 miles) of new railway lines bringing the total size to about 64,000 km (39,767 miles).

Only 1,750 km (1,087 miles) of new lines were added by India from 2006 to 2011, compared with 14,000 km (8,699 miles) by China, according to a report by the Ernst & Young.

Consequently, road transport as a share of freight traffic has gone up to about 60 percent in India compared with about 44 percent in the United States and 22 percent in China, government and industry data shows.

The reform, which does not need parliamentary approval, has been agreed by the railways, industry and finance ministries and has been submitted for consideration by the cabinet, which could sign off on it as soon as next week, said one official. Parts of the cabinet note were seen by Reuters.

The plan is one of a series of moves the ruling Congress party hopes will help spur India’s economy out of a deep slump ahead of a general election due

by May in which it is expected

to struggle to hold off the challenge of the opposition BJP. Railway ministry officials expect interest from Chinese firms such as CSR Corp Ltd, Germany’s Siemens, as well as Japanese manufacturers that already work in India as contractors and suppliers to the railways.

The proposal was greeted enthusiastically by Canada’s Bombardier, which in 2008 set up a 33 million euros factory in Gujarat state to build trains for Delhi Metro and plans exports to other Asian markets.

“Bombardier is bullish about the demand and the future prospects of Indian rail transportation industry,” said Harsh Dhingra, chief country representative, Bombardier Transportation.

“Multinational companies from North America, Europe, the U.S. and Japan have shown a long-term commitment to set up a base and invest in India to cater to the future demand in the sector.”

India’s rail wagon manufacturers were also enthused

by the plans and expect to set up joint ventures with foreign players.

“Obviously we will be interested in a joint venture. We are positioning ourselves for that.

We expect it will bring very good business opportunity for us as well as for the country,” said Sandeep Fuller, the CEO of Texmaco Rail & Engineering Ltd, a Kolkata-based wagon manufacturer.

LIBERALISATION PUSH India has opened industries including retail, civil aviation, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications and defence to foreign investors in recent years, with the goal of improving the nation’s finances and driving economic growth.

The liberalisation has had mixed results, with supermarkets especially complaining that red tape, politics and corruption make it difficult to do business in India.

FDI inflows during the April-October period were down 15 percent from a year earlier at $12.6 billion, despite the opening of new sectors.

The involvement of foreign firms in the main rail network is currently restricted to exporting rolling stock, signalling systems and engines to Indian Railways, a state-run behemoth that employs around 1.4 million people.

Trade unions and many political parties oppose allowing foreign investment in railways, and Chinese participation in particular could raise suspicion in security circles. India, which fought a brief war with China in 1962, is cautious about its growing role in the Indian economy.

In the past, the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has backed off liberalisation policies in the face of public and political opposition.

According to local media reports, in October, India rejected bids from two Chinese companies -- CSR Corp and China CNR Corp -- to set up locomotive plants under the public-private partnership model.

Current policy only allows direct foreign investment in urban metro projects.

Any investors in building track will still have to overcome the administrative hurdles such as project approvals and land disputes that meant investment by private Indian companies in railways has not met government goals.

In the five-year period to April 2012, the railways only saw 4 percent of $16 billion investment targeted through public-private partnerships.

General Electric Co, the world’s largest maker of diesel locomotives, said it would prefer a public-private partnership to make locomotives with Indian Railways for new projects, but despite a lot of discussion, “progress has been very slow”.

The U.S. company said it would welcome any steps to open India’s railways to foreign investment.

“Any fresh impetus to expedite private sector participation on existing project plans, as well as new areas, would be a welcome step in the right direction,” said Nalin Jain, South Asian business leader for GE’s transportation unit.

2013 annual auto sales decline first in 11 yrs ‘New gas price notification before Sunday’

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 9 (PTI): Annual car sales in India declined for the first time in 11 years in 2013, posting a 9.59 per cent dip, as the auto industry reeled under a prolonged demand slump due to the economic slowdown.

According to the Society of Indian Automobile Industry (SIAM), domestic car sales last year fell to 18,07,011 units from 19,98,703 units in the previous year.

“The decline in annual car sales that we witnessed in 2013 was the first time after 2002. The negative sentiments have deepened due to the current state of the economy,” SIAM Director General Vishnu Mathur told reporters here. He said high inflation, fuel prices and interest rates — which resulted in high cost of ownership — have affected sentiment.

Highlighting the prolonged slowdown, SIAM said car sales in India have been in positive territory only for three of the past 17 months — October 2012, August and September 2013.

The industry hasn’t yet bottomed out, Mathur said, adding that other segments

Workers assemble cars at Hyundai’s newly inaugurated second plant in Sriperumbudur, about 45 km (28 miles) north of Chennai February 2, 2008. Hyundai Motor Co, South Korea’s top automaker, on Saturday opened its second plant in India to take on growing competition and cementing the country’s position as a global hub for small cars. (REUTERS Photo)

such as commercial vehicles are badly hurt due to lack of mining activities and stalled infrastructure projects.

“We expect some rebound happening in commercial vehicles in the second half of the year,” Mathur said, adding that it could have some ruboff on passenger cars as well.

In the April-December 2013 period, the industry saw the launch of 22 new car models, 40 new variants and 10 model refreshes, intend-

ed to bring excitement in the market, he said.

In December, domestic car sales declined 4.52 per cent to 1,32,561 units from 1,38,835 units in the same month in 2012.

Market leader Maruti Suzuki India posted a 6.4 per cent increase in domestic sales at 73,155 units as against 68,729 units in the same month of the previous year. Hyundai Motor India sales were also up 6.2 per cent

at 28,320 units compared to 26,651 units in the year-ago month.

Tata Motors saw its sales crash by 41.92 per cent to 6,537 units in December from 11,257 units. Japanese car maker Honda posted a 29.27 per cent increase to 5,484 units as against 4,242 units.

Utility vehicle major Mahindra & Mahindra saw its sales drop by 26.93 per cent to 15,881 units from 21,735 units in December 2012.

_

LEISURE

Simple Rules - There is just one simple rule: “Fill in the grid so that every row, every column, and every 3x3 box co ntains the digits 1 through 9.”

1

SUDOKU Game Number # 2757

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 9 (AgENcIEs): The Government will notify the new gas pricing policy before Sunday, said Vivek Rae, Secretary Petroleum & Natural Gas. “It is ready, we are just looking at the fine print,” Rae told mediapersons at the sidelines of a CII Business Partners conference.

The new gas pricing mechanism, as suggested by a panel headed by C. Rangarajan, Chairman of Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, has been given the goahead by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). This

policy puts in place a formula-based Natural Gas Ministry is looking at method to determine gas price in the revenue sharing model as recthe country from all sources. ommended by Rangarajan committee, which would govern the NELP AUCTION contract between explorers and The Government will put on of- Government for the auctioned fer 46 oil and gas blocks next week. blocks. “We have circulated the “We will unveil the first set of 46 proposal to various Ministries. blocks cleared by the Ministries Once the responses come, we will concerned. This is for people to approach the Cabinet,” he said. have an idea of what’s on offer...The However, there is a difference of exact terms and conditions of bids opinion. Some operators say that will be rolled out in a few weeks be- the existing cost recovery model cause that will depend on the rev- should continue, while others do enue sharing contracts,” Rae said. not have problem with revenue Currently, the Petroleum & sharing, he added.

Tata firm unveils solar power system for homes

BANgALoRE, JANUARY 9 (IANs): Leading energy solutions provider Tata Power Solar Thursday unveiled a new solar power system to generate one kilo volt-ampere (kva) for providing uninterrupted power supply for eight hours at affordable cost. “Our latest product - Tata Dynamo -- gives users easy option to switch over to solar energy for at least eight hours of uninterrupted power supply at lower cost,” Tata group company chief executive Ajay Goel said in a statement here.

The intelligent system comprising solar panels, inverter and battery charges itself while powering connected appliances through solar power, which is its primary source of energy. “In the absence of sunlight, Dynamo automatically shifts to regular electricity.

The system provides four-to-eight hours of back-up to appliances such as lights, fans, television and air cooler,” Goel said. As state-run and private utilities are not

DAILY CROSS WORD

CROSSWORD # 2768

able to meet the growing energy needs of even households and smaller businesses, forcing many of them to use diesel generators during power cuts, Dynamo is an eco-friendly substitute for load-shedding, he said.

“Studies show that households spend on average Rs.1,500 per month on grid power and additional cost on operating a diesel generator. By investing in Dynamo, its cost can be recovered in 18 months while availing uninterrupted power without extra cost,” Goel claimed. The product, with 10-year lifespan, also benefits from the 30 percent subsidy the ministry of new and renewable energy provides on solar-based devices to promote green energy. “Dynamo helps both urban and rural middle class to manage power cuts better while reducing energy bills substantially. The system is also easy to install and is power packed with features,” Goel added.

DIMAPUR Civil Hospital:

STD CODE: 03862

Metro Hospital: Faith Hospital: Shamrock Hospital Zion Hospital: Police Control Room Police Traffic Control East Police Station West Police Station CIHSR (Referral Hospital) Dimapur hospital Apollo Hospital Info Centre: Railway: Indian Airlines Chumukedima Fire Brigade Nikos Hospital and Research Centre Nagaland Multispecialty Health & Research Centre

Answer Number # 2756

KOHIMA

Police Control Room: North Police Station: South Police Station: Fire Brigade: Naga Hospital: Oking Hospital: Bethel Nursing Home:

232224; Emergency229529, 229474 227930, 231081 228846 228254 231864, 224117, 227337 228400 232106 227607 232181 242555/ 242533 224041, 248011 230695/9402435652 131/228404 229366 282777 232032, 231031 248302, 09856006026

STD CODE: 0370

Northeast Shuttles

100/2244279 2222222 2222111 2222952 2222916 2243339 2224202

O

R

The ColoNies 1620 - 1700

BALTIMORE

NORTH

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CAROLINA

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PENNSYLVANIA

CHARLESTON PHILADELPHIA GEORGIA

PLYMOUTH

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COMPANY

COLLEGE

PLYMOUTH

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D O O W Y I V G N R E R P T E M N R M F T

S T A H L N B E J O O Z F E K T A Y E M N A

H I N A A T A I I G U G N R N S I L U E R

E A H S D P J O E T S H O N A O S T I W W V

N P M F M A I R A H J H S A O A P G I E I

K L I N O M R S T I N A Y N M C L I L N N

S E T L C E O E N P T R L I A H Y O L G G

A G D H T N S N I A B N V V L R E M U I L T

I A N L O T W L L U O A A O Y T O S A A I

V L O A D O O P P I R R N R L T U F M N M

R I I T T N W R P H L T D I A A S T R P D E

N H S I O N K U T D H C A C N O H E E E G

G P E T L C S S U I C O R H D D C E N B E

C R W L U L G D L O N A L T T G O O D N I O

W H R D I I D A M G R L E U R C M O E N R

S E A E I N D V Y O O E S O A E P M O D G

H L A H O A C E A L P L G I S N P A T T I I

G T C T N K F N P D I E B A T A N W F G A

N B A L T I M O R E N U R R U C Y D L O M

ACROSS

M D C A S H C R O P A Z W T O B A C C O A

1. Things 6. Pout 10. Soil 14. Christmas song 15. Nameless 16. Notion 17. Embellish 19. Search 20. Sleeping sickness carrier 21. Behold 22. Cover with asphalt 23. Long-necked bird 25. Models 26. Unwakable state 30. Cherubim 32. Unceasing 35. Stretchable 39. A type of organic compound 40. Mountain range 41. Found on an eyelid 43. Retirement benefit 44. Inveigle 46. Male offspring 47. Thigh armor 50. Not earlier 53. Ear-related 54. A high alpine meadow 55. Discernment

60. Not a single one 61. Mental representation 63. Distinctive flair 64. Minute opening 65. Keepsake 66. Narrow opening 67. WW1 plane 68. Go on a buying spree

DOWN 1. Leave in a hurry 2. Labels 3. Desire 4. Garrison 5. Emit a brief burst of light 6. Unhappy 7. Occurring together 8. Tablet 9. Leg joint 10. Deprive 11. Notions 12. One of the Canterbury pilgrims 13. Seizes 18. Born as 24. A small piece of cloth 25. Featureless 26. Birthday or cheese, for example 27. Comply with 28. Small amount 29. Teenager

31. If not 33. Absurd 34. Where a bird lives 36. Threesome 37. Weightlifters pump this 38. Tins 42. Peak 43. Animal companion 45. Photographic necessity 47. Notes 48. Coral island 49. Egyptian peninsula 51. Female sheep 52. Violent disturbances 54. Vipers 56. Cease 57. Dam 58. Not closed 59. Fix 62. Scarlet Ans to CrossWord 2767

DIMAPUR: 03862-232201/101 (O) 9436601225 (OC) CHUMUKEDIMA: 03862-282777/101 (O) WOKHA: 03860-242215 (O) 9402643782 MOKOKCHUNG: 0369-2226225/101 (O) 9856872011 (OC) PHEK: 03865-223838/101 (O) 9436012949 (OC)

TUENSANG: 03861-220256/101 (O) 8974322879

08974997923

MON: 03869-290629/101 (O) 9856248962/ 9612805461 (OC)

Toll free No. 1098 childline

W

KOHIMA: 0370-2222952/101 (O) 9436062098 (OC)

ZUNHEBOTO: 03867-220444/101 (O) 9856158740 (OC)

CHILD WELFARE COMMITTEE

MOKOKCHUNG:

FIRE STATIONS

STD CODE: 0369

Police Station 1: Police Station 2 :

2226241 2226214

Civil Hospital: Woodland Nursing Home: Hotel Metsüpen (Tourist Lodge):

2226216 2226263 2226373/2229343

TAHAMzAM (formerly Senapati) STD CODE: 03871 Police Station: Fire Brigade

222246 222491

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LOCAL

The Morung Express

Friday 10 January 2014

Sazo advocates developing work culture YORUBA, JANUARY 9 (NEPS): Speaker of Nagaland Assembly Chotisuh Sazo on Thursday called upon the youth to maintain and preserve their age old cultures and traditions and also continue to maintain their respects for the elders as their elders had been maintaining from generations to generations.

He was speaking as Chief Guest on the occasion of 34th Cultural Day, coinciding with Sukrunye (premier festival of the Chakhesangs), organized by Model Village Yorubami Youth Association (MVYYA) here at Yorubami Public Ground.

Sazo also expressed worry over the lack of work cultures among the present day youth who mostly prefer easy life without laboring, which, he described was a dangerous trend and

would not auger well for their future. He emphatically urged the people, particularly the youth to develop work culture, adding that would only make them self-reliant in future.

While appreciating the

members of MVYYA for organizing the program without indulging in any sort of fund drive like “lottery, buffet program etc, which are now a common feature today,” the Speaker said this way they had shown

to others about their work culture values and self-reliance.

Paying rich tribute to former Chief Minister late Vamuzo who hails from this village (Yoruba), Sazo said he (Vamuzo) was visionary

leader and pioneer of many developmental models in the village.

Earlier in his welcome address, President MVYYA Vezota Veswuh said in the present global village, they had to make rapid

progress without giving up their true “tradition, culture, values and customs.” He further stressed the importance of giving more emphasis on their “customs and traditional activities.”

Folk dance, folk tune, duet and traditional fire making competitions were the salient features dominating the “34th Cultural Day and the Sukrunye”, which was attended by large number of villagers from Yoruba and neighboring villages, besides CPO President, prominent social workers from various Chakhesang villages.

Sazo along with Chitsoru Vasa enthralled the crowd by their duet folk song. The function was chaired by YSU President, while the greeting was given by Chairman, Village Council Yoruba.

DIMAPUR, JANUARY 9 (MExN): District Excise personnel on Thursday raided a private residence in Dimapur and arrested a middle-age man for selling illicit narcotic substance.

The man identified as L. Phukshing Phom (55 years) was arrested from his residence in LRC colony. According to the Superintendent of Excise, KY Sangtam, the man was selling opium.

Opium, packed in small sachets, said to be worth around Rs. 5000 along with bongs (smoking device) were also confiscated from the residence. It was not dis- The arrested along with closed from where the man the seized contraband and acquired the contraband. bongs.

KOHIMA, JANUARY 9 (DIPR): Parliamentary Secretary for Information and Public Relations, Printing & Stationery, Er. Kropol Vitsu graced the three-day 36th Khuzama Youth Organisation (KYO) Annual Sports cum Wrestling Meet 2014 as Chief Guest at Khuzama Local Ground on January 9.

Er. Kropol Vitsu said that Khuzama could be tagged as a “Sporting

Village” as many good sportsmen representing government departments and various organisations hail from Khuzama village. Vitsu challenged the sportspersons to prepare for the Southern Angami Sports Association (SASA) Meet and encouraged them to bring laurels for the village.

Observing that wrestling competition brings unity amongst different

communities (tribes) through Open Wrestling, the chief guest opined that the present wrestling trend was different from the earlier practices which were of socio-religious system. Stating that the Naga Style wrestling is on the pipeline for category system competition, Vitsu called upon the sportspersons to take up the sport with professionalism.

Reverend Ketsozeho Sale, Pastor KBC read the scripture and invoked God’s blessings. Welcome address was delivered by President KYO, Meyieho Kin while Asi Kera enthralled the gathering with a song.

The tournament flame was lighted by the Chief Guest and lighting of the tournament torch by the best players of the last tournament.

Nagaland Assembly Speaker Chotisuh Sazo addressing on the occasion of 34th Cultural Day organized by Model Village Yorubami Youth Association (MVYYA) at the Yorubami Public Ground on January 9, 2014. (NEPS Photo)

One held with opium

Assam Rifles apprehends one NSCN (K) cadre in Kma

DIMAPUR, JANUARY 9 (MExN): Troops of 19 Assam Rifles along with police arrested an NSCN (K) cadre in Jail Colony, Kohima on January 8, 2014. A press release from the Assam Rifles informed that the cadre was identified as SS Capt Avikho Angami, 31, Naga Army No 11146, from Chumukedima village, Dimapur. The troops recovered one 9mm Pistol with seven rounds from the cadre, the note said. The cadre was handed over to Police Station (South) for further interrogation and investigation.

Response to Isak Chishi Swu

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he recent sickening incident in Sumi area was appalling, that should never have happened. However, in that situation the Sumi public is right to protect its region.

The Nagas have gone through a terrible time in the hands of the Indian armed forces. That history cannot be ignored by any patriotic Naga. Nagaland is still under the Indian occupational forces empowered by the draconian law of India’s Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) of 1958.

In such a situation, Mr. Isak Swu and his mentors (refer Isak Chishi Swu’s message to the Sumis – January 8, 2014) repeatedly blaming the Naga National Council (NNC) as if NNC had abandoned the original stand of the Nagas that Nagaland belong to the Nagas (Urra Uvie) in 1975, in the much talked about, the so-called “Shillong Accord”. No one seemed to notice when the “16-Point Agreement” and the “Revolutionary Government” came about. But by blaming NNC, the NSCN-IM even involving in Indian election still talking about sovereignty?

Acüyi Vadeo Joint Secretary, Naga National Council (NNC) Nagaland.

TGYO on Karbi militants & Rengma Nagas conflict

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he Tesophenyu Group youth Organisation (TGYO) extend its appreciation to all the Naga tribes and Nagaland government for taking all the initiative to bring peace and tranquility in the conflict between the KPLT militants and Rengma Nagas of Assam. The TGYO also extent its gratitude to all the NGO'S and individuals for donating generously to the Relief camp of Rengma Naga in Dimapur and in Assam.

While extending our words of appreciation and gratitude, the TGYO also would like to present some queries which need to be reasoned out seriously.

The conflict began with the attack by KPLT on the Innocent civilian of Rengma

36th KYO annual sports cum wrestling meet

MbMMtc: training centre for pastors and christian leaders

DIMAPUR, JANUARY 9 (MExN): The Assemblies of God of East India Mark Buntain Memorial Mission Training Centre (MBMMTC), located at Diezephe, Dimapur has inaugurated a new building for men’s dormitory in its campus. Rev. Dr. Huldah Buntain, President, AG Mission Kolkata graced the inaugural function as chief guest.

A press release issued by Rev Thebemo Yanthan informed that MBMMTC was established in the year 2010, with an aim to provide biblical training to pastors and Christian leaders who have not been to any full time theological college. All together the centre has trained 154 pastors right from its inception. They have undergone a two months Bible training programme pro-

Nagas. We the Rengma Nagas are not in a state of war fare but we are just defending our ancestral land. From day one till date the KPLT are targeting the innocent and armless Rengma Nagas, which is in fact an act of cowardice. Even in a war, the true and patriotic soldier never attacked the civilian. So whatever the KPLT are doing now is an act of terrorism, which need to be criticised by all peace loving people.

So far it was the Rengma Nagas who had suffered untold miseries and hardship beyond human treatment. The Rengma Nagas’ property like houses, granaries, plantation and other properties had been devasted, more than six innocent civilian Rengma Nagas has also been killed in cold blood by the so called KPLT. In spite of all these suffering, so far neither the Assam nor Nagaland Government have provided the so called ex-gratia to the Rengma Nagas, who had been killed by KPLT .We do not support the action of NRHPF, retaliating by killing nine Karbi’s, whom they claim to be involved with KPLT. Yet what we are concerned here is that when Karbi’s are killed, both the Assam and Nagaland Government announces Ex-gratia but when the innocent Rengma Nagas were killed, no enquiries commission were set up by the two governments to arrest the culprit neither ex-gratia were provide to the victim families of Rengma Nagas, This one sided treatment on the part of the government will not bring peace but will further provoke the situation, The Nagaland government should also ask the Assam Government to arrest all the Karbi’s involved in terrorising the life of Rengma Nagas, there after equal punishment should be provide to the erring parties involved in committing crimes.

The TGYO also extend our appreciation to the Angami student Union for their wisdom of peace and harmony. And their initiative and struggle to maintain peace in their region, by declaring in media to give protection to the Karbi's living in Kohima districts As such it is our humble request to our esteemed ASU that while providing protection, the ASU should also be aware that no anti-social and illegal activities are carried out by the Karbi's in Kohima district, your action and contribution will be highly regarded by all.

vided by the Centre free of cost.

While speaking at the event, the chief guest exhorted the congregation to trust in God continuously, “who can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.” Also, she said, the key to success in ministry is to be with God daily.

Earlier, the programme was chaired

by Rev. Thebemo Yanthan, Secretary, NDC, AGEI and Rev. Moses Murry, General Superintendent, AGEI gave the welcome and introduction address. Special songs were presented by the young people from the local church; Rev. T. Phesao, Director MBMMTC said the vote of thanks and the programme concluded with a prayer by Rev. K. Sanga Keivon, General Secretary, AGEI.

Dimapur

5

MEx FILE Final notification issued to food business operators

KOHIMA, JANUARY 9 (MExN): The Department of Health and Family Welfare has issued a final notification to all food business operators in Nagaland state to obtain license or register their food businesses under the Food Safety and Standards Act and Standards Act, 2006 and Rules, 2011 from the office of the Designated Officer (Chief Medical Officer) of each district before February 4. Licensing and Registration forms and other details can be obtained from the office of the designated officer on all working days, informed the notification. It further cautioned that operating food business without a license or registration will attract a penalty of upto Rs 5 lakhs and imprisonment of upto six months. The food business operators addressed to in the notification include food manufacturers, millers, grinders, whole sellers, retailers, godowns, warehouses, cold storages, distributors, transporters, stockers, agencies, departmental suppliers, repackers or relabellers, pharmacies dealing with food items and food supplements, hotels, restaurants, canteens, caterers and all petty food business operators.

WSKH condemns killings

DIMAPUR, JANUARY 9 (MExN): Western Sumi Kukami Hoho (WSKH) has condemned the “inhuman and barbaric act” meted out to Akivito A Sumi, who succumbed to his injuries on December 30. Acknowledging the timely arrest of the culprits, the Hoho has requested the authority to award “heavy and exemplary punishment to the culprits so that it deters other persons (offenders) from taking advantage against such defenseless and innocent people in future.” In a press statement, WSKH also condemned the killing of nine persons, whose dead bodies were found dumped at Pachaspura, Dimapur. “The Nagas as a peace loving people shall not allow its lands to be used as dumping grounds,” it asserted. Therefore, the Hoho urged the government authority to arrest the perpetrators and award befitting punishment so such incidents, which flare up communal tension do not arise in near future.

Tangkhul Union Dimapur meet

DIMAPUR, JANUARY 9 (MExN): The Tangkhul Union Dimapur will have its general meeting on January 18, 2014 at Tangkhul Baptist Church Kuda, Dimapur at 11:00 am. A press release issued by the Union president, Lungmi Kasar informed that all the members are to attend the meeting positively, without fail.

Peren education TUCT urges to maintain peace officer informs DIMAPUR, JANUARY 9 (MExN): Tribal Union Chu-

PEREN, JANUARY 9 (MExN): Deputy District Education Officer of Peren, L Toshimenla Imchen, has informed all concerned that application forms for the post of Secondary teachers under RMSA can be obtained from office of the District Education Officer, Peren from January 13 to 31 during office hours. Last date of submission of the duly filled forms will be February 3, 2014.

mukedima Town (TUCT) has strongly condemned the “massacre” and dumping of nine Karbis in Pachaspura, Dimapur. A press release appended by TUCT president Neisalie Losou and general secretary Mhathung Shitio asserted, “Fighting and killing among our dear ones is not brave, but so called cowardice.” It further reiterated, “We want peace, not bloodshed. We want love, not hatred, and we want unity and harmony, not division.” TUCT further appealed to stop fighting, Killing, and bloodshed. “This is not a solution to bring peace, rather such ferocious and merciless act creates an atmosphere of misunderstanding or confusion and disunity,” the Union stated.

TUCT has appealed the authority concerned to take action against the culprits to give full justice to the victims’ families. It further conveyed its deepest condolences to the bereaved family members, while making a “humble” appeal to all the Karbis and Rengmas in Karbi Anglong to ignore violence and maintain peace and serenity.

Public SPace RNPc oN chRoNology of eveNtS

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he Rengma Naga Peoples’ Council (RNPC) would like to put forth the following facts and figures so that right thinking citizens would be able to judge correctly as to who has been the aggressor. Wild and baseless allegations can fly back and forth but facts speak for themselves. The people of Assam and even the Assam government should be able to deduce if indeed a ‘third force’ other than KPLT is responsible for the carnage in Rengma Hills. Also, blaming the NSCN (IM) for the unrest in Rengma Hills by the government as carried in the local papers is belittling the suffering of the Rengma people and adding salt to the wounds of the victims. The suffering of the Rengmas in Rengma Hills predates even Phizo himself and RNPC would like to ask the KAAC to stop playing politics over dead bodies.

1. Beginning of conflict: Levying of House tax by Karbi militants since the 1990’s starting with KNV (Rs. 700/- per Rengma household in 2013). Tax on forest products, tax on fishing, tax on orchards, betel nuts, etc.

2. Immediate Provocation: Creation of Tiger Reserve Forest in Rengma inhabited areas as reported in the Telegraph newspaper, 28th August, 2012. KAAC kept the whole thing wrapped for several years.

3. Formation of RNHPF: December 2012 to protect Rengma inhabitants of Rengma Hills 4. Ultimatum to Rengmas: On June 9, 2013, the KPLT joined by the inhabitants of Nakoi Tisso Karbi village summoned all the Rengma Village Gaon Buras, Pastors and Public leaders to Nakoi Tisso Karbi village and served an ultimatum to them to hand over all the cadres of the Rengma Naga Hills Protection Force (RNHPF) along with arms and ammunitions on or before Phanish Chung July 9, 2013, failing which all the President, TGYO Rengma Nagas will be killed. Also,

Rengmas were ordered to embrace Karbi identity or else.

5. Suspected murder of Mr. Nzankhen Rengma: missing since October 21, 2013. Suspected to have been murdered followed by the Rs. 50,000/- tax demand served on the villagers by KPLT on agricultural products.

6. November 21, 2013: only lifeline to Rengma area blocked and road destroyed. Threats to life increased during the festive season. Students could not reach homes nor villagers come out to buy their basic needs.

7. Khirang (Lolashonyu) Village: On December 13, 2013, two Karbi youths came to Khirang (Lolashonyu) Village and cursed the villagers with foul and abusive languages leading to a further misunderstanding on 14th of December, 2013. On December 17, 2013, there was a joint peace meeting at Sarihuti M.E. School playground with Karbi Student Association (Rajen-Enghee faction), Karbi Youth Council, Karbi Human Rights Watch, Karbi Anglong People’s Association, All India Karbi National Assembly, Joint Action Committee for Autonomous State, Rengma Naga Mothers Association, Rengma Naga Gaonbura Committee and Reng ma Naga Students Union. The house discussed and resolved that in future any individual or groups involved in anti-social activities will be fully held responsible by their own tribe and a permanent police outpost be set up with immediate effect.

8. December 16, 2013: Four Rengma Students on their way to Phangcherop village were stopped and badly beaten up at Cachar Gaon

by KPLT and sent back to Silonijan.

The students were on vacation.

9. December 18, 2013: Despite the peace resolution of 17th December, Mr. Shaite Rengma, Pastor of Shathi Village Baptist Church was badly beaten up by KPLT at Lakhiram Gaon when he was re-

turning from Rechangari Village after attending the funeral service of his son-in-law. The militants used their guns and deadly weapons to assault him.

10. December 19, 2013: KPLT militants kidnapped Mr. Nanthi Rengma, a resident of Panjan Lekthe village and assaulted him. Later the miscreants broke the bunds of his 5 bigha fishery and took away all the fishes.

11. December 21, 2013: Through blank firing, KPLT militants threatened and chased away Rengma contingent on their way to Lakhan Hanse village, commonly known as Cachar, to attend the Peace Meeting convened at Koilamati by the Block Level Congress Committee (Nilip Constituency) and the Superintendant of Police, Karbi Anglong.

12. December 22, 2013: KPLT badly assaulted three Rengma youths, namely Mr. Gimathong Rengma, Mr. Samuel Rengma and Mr. Renenthang Rengma at Teron Gaon, a Karbi Village.

13. December 25, 2013: The KPLT militants fired some few shots near Khonwani Village. The villagers immediately made telephone calls to Santipur Police station Officer-in-charge for protection. But they failed to rush to the spot that night.

14. December 27, 2013: At around 6:00 A.M more than 100 Karbi militants with sophisticated arms and ammunitions accompanied by Karbis from neighboring villages with machete and spears marched into Khonwani Rengma village and started burning down the granaries, blasting away the houses with grenades and completely destroyed the agricultural produce and domesticated animals including cattle. In this attack four Rengmas were shot point blank in the head inside their own house.

Among the victims were three old women. The deceased are Mrs. Ngashenle Nyenthang Rengma,

Mrs. Rhinghole Himbii Rengma, Mrs. Logule sebii Rengma and Mr. Kegwathong Kemp Rengma. In a separate incident on the same day, three more Rengma houses were burnt down to ashes at Tarajan (Lorenyu) village.

15. December 28, 2013: Similar to Khonwani village incident, in nearby Sathi Rengma Village, houses were totally torched and another two elderly women shot dead and their bodies burnt beyond recognition. The two deceased are Mrs. Tegile Nyenthang Rengma and Mrs. Helole Sebii Rengma.

16. December 28 and 29, 2013: Reinong Rengma Village (Nilip Block) under Chowkihola PS was burnt to ashes. Altogether 18 houses were burnt including Rengma Student’s Hostel. The same night, Karbis from neighboring villages and their militants attacked Borlangso Rengma village in the presence of police personnels. The mob burnt 39 Rengma houses including granaries to ashes.

Shahi K. Rengma President, RNPC

K Solomon Rengma General Secretary, RNPC

Corrigendum Corrigendum to the press release dated 8th December 2014 on the heading “NSCN condemn Assam Karbi-Rengma Naga conflict. Kindly refer to the second paragraph on which we have inadvertently stated that, “there are elements spreading rumours to fuel communal crisis for their vested interest at the cost of Nagas and Rengmas”. The underlined three words should be read as Nagas and Karbis.

Kuknalim.

MIP-GPRN.

The Morung Express is introducing “Public Space” as part of our intention to provide deliberate space for the opinions of the people to be expressed and heard through this newspaper.

Nonetheless, The Morung Express points out that the opinions expressed in the contents published in the “Public Space” do not reflect the views and position of the newspaper or the editor.

6

The Power of Truth

The Morung Express FRIDAy 10 JAnuARy 2014 vol. IX IssuE 8

Along Longkumer Consulting Editor

From VIP Culture to People's Power

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elhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has turned down the two adjacent five-bedroom duplex houses that had been identified for his residence and office. As a result, the government has embarked on another house hunt as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief wants a smaller accommodation, one that is more austere and ordinary. That the AAP government is serious to do away with the VIP cultudemonstratedtrated by the fact the its CM and ministerial colleagues have refused private security officers and red beacons on their cars. Even during the day when the new government was sworn in, Kejriwal led the others by travelling by public transport (Metro) to get to the Ramlila Ground. And what is refreshing to know is that the CM himself continues to use his blue Wagon R for even his official duty.

It may be mentioned that the AAP had promised to do away with the VIP culture that is prevalent in Indian politics and governance structure. Now that it has come to power in Delhi, the AAP has to walk the talk by changing and undoing this culture and to identify itself with the common people. And the new CM of Delhi and his Ministers are doing this by demonstrating that it is indeed possible to forego the trappings of power. Yes, its early days for the AAP government and there is certainly huge public expectation that it will deliver where others before failed.

The other aspect of doing away with the prevalent VIP culture is to provide a corruption free government. Unlike the traditional political parties, who give more of lip service, here too, the AAP has a plan of action. All of us are well aware that the AAP was formed on an anti corruption plank. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal did not waste time to announce, at the swearing-in ceremony itself, that an anti-bribery helpline would be opened. The newly appointed CM asked people to 'trap the corrupt' and call on the number to be provided. Once this helpline is launched, people can expect redressal, including investigations and punishment for the guilty.

Can we in Nagaland take similar action to fight corruption?

Its unlikely that our leaders, who profess to be Christians, will show the courage and will as done by the AAP under Kejriwal's leadership. In a resource deficit State like Nagaland, the first thing that our elected leaders would usually do, is to indulge in wasteful spendings like buying the latest and most expensive vehicles or lobbying for plumb portfolios. The AAP on the other hand, immediately after government formation, announced the implementation of its key poll manifesto such as providing free drinking water and subsidised power. It is concerned more with issues of the common people and not with privilege and power.

The new government has also announced it will launch a public grievance redressal system. The new CM wants all ministers and their officials to sit outside the secretariat, on the road and lend their collective ear to the public.

Arvind Kejriwal is a CM without an official house, yet his priorities are not about security for himself, power and privileges or even the comfort of a home but fighting corruption and providing good governance to the people. This should be a lesson for many of our CMs ruling in different States. Politics will perhaps never be the same again. The rules are changing.

It is not about powerful politicians anymore but the empowering of the common people. The French General and politician, Charles de Gaulle was right when he said that politics was too serious a matter to be left to the politicians. Indeed its time for the aam aadmi-common people to come to the fore and the old politics symbolized by the VIP culture to end.

(Feedback can be send to consultingeditormex@gmail.com)

lEfT wiNg |

Lauran Neergaard AP Medical Writer

Thinking positive helps migraine medicine work

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IN-FOCUS

alk about mind over matter: A quirky new U.S. study suggests patients' expectations can make a big difference in how they feel after treatment for a migraine.

Boston researchers recruited 66 migraine patients in an attempt to quantify how much of their pain relief came from a medication and how much was due to what's called the placebo effect, the healing power of positive belief. More than 450 headaches later, they reported Wednesday that it's important for doctors to carefully choose what they tell patients about a powerful medicine — because the message could help enhance its benefits, or blunt them. "Every word you say counts, not only every gram of the medication," said Harvard University professor Ted Kaptchuk, who led the new study with a team at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital.

Here's how it worked. First, the patients who suffer regular migraines agreed to forgo pain relievers for several hours during one attack, recording their symptoms for comparison with later headaches. Then for each of their next six migraines, the patients were given a different pill inside an envelope with a different message. Sometimes they were told it was an effective migraine drug named rizatriptan, a positive message. Other times they were told it was a placebo, a dummy pill, suggesting no benefit. Still other times they were told the pill could be either one, a neutral message. Sometimes the doctor's message was true — they were told they got rizatriptan and they really did. Sometimes it was false because researchers had secretly switched the pills. Mixing up the possibilities allowed researchers to tease out how the same person's pain relief differed from migraine to migraine as his or her expectations changed. Of course the real migraine drug worked far better than the dummy pill. But remarkably, people who knew they were taking a placebo still reported less pain than when they'd left their migraine untreated, the researchers found. The surprise: Patients' reports of pain relief more than doubled when they were told the migraine drug was real than when they were told, falsely, that it was a fake, the team reported Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

In fact, people reported nearly as much pain relief when they took a placebo that they thought was the real drug as they did when they took the migraine drug while believing it was a fake.

"The more we gave a positive message to the patient, the bigger the placebo effect was," Kaptchuk said. He said that effect probably isn't purely psychological, saying the ritual of taking a medication may trigger some subconscious memory that could leave people feeling better even if they knew they'd taken a fake drug.

Scientists have long known that some people report noticeable improvements in pain and certain other symptoms when they're given a placebo, which can be a sugar pill or sham surgery or some other benign intervention. Some studies even have documented that a placebo actually can spark a biological effect. But scientists don't know why the placebo effect works or how to harness its potential benefit. The new research is an interesting attempt to answer some of those questions, at least for one kind of pain, said Dr. Mark Stacy, vice dean for clinical research at Duke University Medical Center, who wasn't involved with the work. And learning how much of an impact it makes could help design better studies of new drugs, to ensure the phenomenon doesn't skew the results, he added. For now, it shows "the power of positive thinking may be helpful in taking care of your migraine," he said.

THE EDIT PAGE

C O M M E N T A R Y

Samir Nazareth Asia Times Online

Aam Aadmi Party brings hope and danger

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ith Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) assuming office as New Delhi's chief minister, political pundits are recalibrating poll equations as India heads into national elections this year. Arvind Kejriwal and his fledgling party have barged onto the political stage that up to now had only two principal actors - Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Rahul Gandhi, of the Congress-I. Not a day goes by in the Indian national media where AAP, Congress-I and the BJP are not mentioned in one breath, and there couldn't be a greater indication of India being in the throes of political and social upheaval than this. However, even in this state of flux, when Narendra Modi becomes prime minister later this year, as at present seems inevitable, the face of the country will change, to the point where the country's Hindu majority may once more find its voice.

Modi, the new face of Hindu revivalism, is seen as an answer to the socio-economic secularism of the Congress-I fronted political coalition because this revivalism also has an economic facet to it which has found resonance in many quarters. There is another aspect to this surge - the alleged mis-governance and corruption of the Congress and its allies in central government that has tainted the party's performance and fortunes in the state elections, as seen most starkly in the recent defeat of the Congress and its stalwart who headed the government in Delhi.

This mis-governance has also given rise to a new political party which in its electoral debut won the second highest number of seats in the Delhi state elections. In fact Kejriwal, the leader of AAP, stood against and defeated the incumbent chief minister, Shiela Dixit in her own constituency, by a huge margin of 25,864 votes.

From this and the coming electoral battle there is a lesson from the United States for those concerned with the future of India under Modi or Rahul Gandhi.

Modi is a political leader known for his alleged involvement and handling of the 2002 riots in Gujarat, which many see as an instance of a state-sponsored pogrom, while his claims of success in bringing Gujarat economic progress hides a big socio-economic travesty. While Rahul Gandhi is an almost unknown political entity, he was born into a political family that not only worked for India's freedom and has lead India almost entirely since independence and is now hobbled with allegations of corruption. Rahul is trying to change the party's functioning to get the party back on its feet.

Learning from America When George W Bush became the US president, one of the cries that went across the US was "Hail to the Thief", a rephrasing of "Hail to the Chief", with many arguing that Bush stole the presidential elections. The 2000 election in the US was one of the few instances where a third party was involved at the hustings, with Ralph Nader running as the presidential nominee of the Green Party. It was argued that Ralph Nader split the Democrat vote, causing Al Gore to lose to Bush by 537 votes. There was also the contentious Supreme Court ruling that stopped a recount in Florida, which undoubtedly helped Bush. Though later electoral studies were in two minds on the impact of Nader in Gore's defeat, what is certain is that a new entrant can change the dynamics of elections.

The reasons include "the-new-kid-in-town" effect that is, the attraction of a fresh, unsullied face entering the political arena. Fresh faces not only attract a whole set of new people who may have been disillusioned with politics but also bring new issues for the electorate to mull over. This naturally leads to a churning within the population, which brings in more people to vote and a shift in political allegiance. Nader's plank in 2000 touched on problems of a two party system, affordable housing, universal health-care - issues that were close to some voters. Being new, what the AAP did in Delhi was something Ralph Nader-esque - they chose issues that directly affect people, including demands for cheaper electricity and a regular supply of water, all neatly packed in a corruptionfree governance package. The party also created election manifestos for each constituency.

In 2000, Ralph Nader spoke of his candidacy as an alternative to both the Democrats and Republi-

"I

f you think you lack words, what you really lack are ideas".

That is what I took away from a lecture by the father of framing, George Lakoff. I think about it every time I see the debate over the EU polarising into framing versus action. Take this exchange: some say the EU should just communicate better and others say it should act radically differently. It is really quite sad, because actions and framing can't be separated and they both emerge logically from the ideas we pursue. That is why, when José Manuel Barroso is seeking guidance on where to go big and where to go small, he too should look to the level of ideas.

If we have a clear idea about where we want to go, we can start out in that direction and we can tell others about where we are going and why. If we are clear on the level of ideas, we can act in accordance and communicate accordingly. That is why I have argued elsewhere on the need for a European Dream, an idea or a story to guide the EU in what actions to take and how to communicate them convincingly. That does not mean however that everybody will love them! An idea is only an idea if you can disagree - indeed if someone does disagree.

A need for controversy This brings me to my second point.

The problem of the European Union cannot be solved by a consensual idea because excessive polarisation is not the problem. In fact the EU needs more polarisation - to be relevant, the EU must pick a fight and take sides. Any idea worth fighting for is controversial long before it starts being praised as a

Indian supporters of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), or Common Man’s Party, celebrate with firecrackers in Ahmadabad, India on Thursday, January 2, 2014. The new political party lead by anti-corruption crusader and chief minister of Delhi state Arvind Kejriwal Thursday crossed the first hurdle in the Delhi assembly when its confidence motion sailed through easily with the backing of members of ruling Congress party and Janata Dal (United) party, promising to take stringent actions against corruption. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

cans, stating they were indistinguishable from each other as they now drank from a common economic and philosophic wellspring. AAP came out with a similar statement in 2013; Kejriwal said that the BJP and the Congress were clones of each other with their politics of caste, riots, handouts to the corporate sector and corrupt leaders.

Being a new kid in town naturally drew people's attention. Thus there were more than the usual ears; what the kid was saying was very different from what had been said before. Importantly what was being said was also said by someone who had their own ear to the ground, something that had not happened for a very long time. Nader's campaign resulted in an increase in the voter turn; at 50.3%, it was higher than the preceding 1996 election, when only 49% voted, though in the following election the turnout was again higher.

A similar scenario played out in the recent elections in Delhi. The voter turnout of 65.8% was well up on the previous election, when 57.58% of the eligible population voted. BJP, the right wing party, won 31 seats, the AAP in its first electoral secured 28 seats and the Congress Party lost all but eight seats.

Two seats went to smaller parties.

While Nader came nowhere close to winning the US presidency, voters acknowledged the issues he raised, indicated their disillusionment with the current political system and their desire for change; but in voting for Nader, did those supporters lose the long-term perspective and not realize that they could be unleashing a far more dangerous beast? Nader realized that he was muddying the waters by running, but did he realize also that by teaching the Democrat leadership a lesson) he would in the end punish the country? One cannot blame Nader for what followed, but one surely can find fault with an electorate who donned a restricting, selfrighteous world view that the power of their vote could change the world for good - but instead harvested something much worse, witness the damage that election winner Bush did to the world.

Anti-incumbency?

The anti-incumbency factor in politics is borne by the perception, real or otherwise, that those in power are no longer listening to the people and this unresponsiveness is because politicians build themselves ivory towers. One could argue that the AAP reaped this anti-incumbency factor.

But if this were all, it would be the known entity - the BJP with Modi as its well-marketed figurehead that would have won a clean mandate, leaving the unknown AAP and the ruling Congress to share the dregs.

This did not happen. Instead, the spoils of vanquishing the incumbent were divided between the neophyte and the veteran.

Learnings Ralph Nader is not a politician, although he is known for his left-liberal stance and for his fight for the common US citizen. That he did not win the 2000 presidential elections is irrelevant; that he could have been the cause of a larger voter turn-out is something that needs to be taken into consideration.

Political parties need to keep re-inventing themselves because the society they wish to represent politically is always in the throes of change. This change is tangible in its cultural and socio-economic connotations and also through the intangible -the philosophical discourse - which colors the former two. Nader touched on issues that directly impacted Americans, as the AAP did with Delhi voters in through constituency-based manifestos. The underlying message in such a move was that the AAP would constantly gauge the pulse of the electorate.

More importantly, the candidates for this political party were common individuals, with no history of political work and with whom people in society could identify themselves - the party couldn't have found a better way to communicate "of the people, by the people and for the people".

The results of the Delhi elections could be the beginning of a trend of the electorate no longer identifying with a political party but with an individual from within the community. Thus political parties would need to involve the community in formulating manifestos and in choosing candidates for elections. This is real democracy - representation that rises from the people and not parachuted down from a central authority, which is how candidates are chosen in the BJP, Congress and other parties.

Nader's 2000 presidential attempt also begs a bigger question - should leadership be of the "Charge of the Light Brigade" kind, resulting in consequences far greater than what an individual can imagine; or should it be one where a leader is able to acquiesce and form partnerships with others to ensure a far greater danger is met? Even as one wishes AAP to do well in the 2014 national elections, it needs to be aware of this pitfall. Today, the Congress and BJP seem to be of the same genetic stock. The fact remains that one party can be induced to change and the other cannot because the foundations of the latter, its roots in the Hindu past, are based on a regressive ideology that needs to interpret history in an exclusionist manner to further its political ambitions.

The current political and electoral catharsis initiated by the AAP may benefit the country in the long run. However, if in the meanwhile the process allows a divisive figure who represents an exclusionist religio-right-wing ethos to come to power, one wonders whether the means can really justify the end.

The European union has no idea!

Rune Kier nielsen

brave stance to take.

The collective remembrance of Nelson Mandela is a shining example.

From being imprisoned in South Africa, on the terrorist watch list in the United States and deemed dangerous

by Thatcher, it is hard today to find a single serious politician who does not embrace his ideas. John F. Kennedy was controversial enough to get killed, yet today he is praised by US Republicans and Democrats alike. Martin Luther King Jr. was controversial before his ideas about civil rights and racism were embraced by the public after his death (and his ideas about the Vietnam War forgotten), as described by the Guardian's Gary Young. Even Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, where he laid out the ideological foundation of the United States, was received badly by many in its time. Today it is praised as one of the greatest speeches ever given and cited frequently. And Richard Toye convincingly shows that the same was true for Churchill's speeches: they were received with much ambivalence before criticism was silenced by history - not to say, victory.

These examples show that ideas can be controversial in their day, yet

be judged as sheer commonsense by history. The actions and words following policies like Apartheid, Jim Crow, slavery or pacifist policies against nazi conquest were ideas long before they became action and words. And ideas will stand long after the word is silent and the action forgotten. Yet they were some of the defining positions and struggles that stood the test of time.

The test of time The EU also needs an idea that can stand the test of time. The EU has to be conceptually bold. If it wants to mobilise support from the population it should listen to the wisdom of Marshall Ganz. Ganz is an experienced union organiser and a professor of Leadership Communication at the Harvard School of Leadership, where he teaches a class called Public Narrative. He has inspired the Obama campaigns and the European Union might find something of interest in his work too.

Marshall Ganz argues that the struggle for freedom is always going on and one has to take sides. That comes from what he calls criticality - a recognition of the world's pain - and from hope - a recognition of the world's pos-

wRiTE-wiNg

sibility. Those three things would be a good place to start: • What is the defining struggle of our time and where do we stand in it?

• What is wrong with the world?

• What could the world be like?

Really, what is the idea of a European Union? Plenty of people say that if we had not had the European Union we would have had to invent it, but what would be its foundational idea?

Why do we need the Union?

When we have an answer to that question, we will know what to do and what to say. When we have an idea, we will no longer have a duality of action and framing. With an idea our actions will frame themselves and our words will pack a greater punch. That is where the European Union needs to go.

Unfortunately, today the Union maintains its position as "a drain plug" against the Hobbesian nightmare of war. But simply avoiding harm is not a powerful idea and it will weaken even further as those who witnessed WW2 inevitably pass away. There are plenty of stories asserting that the Union is really dragging its members down, not holding them up.

That other member states and the community is dead weight for any one nation.

What is needed is the counter argument: That the Union lifts its members, that the union members can achieve more together than they can apart: and furthermore, that the union is rightly positioned in the defining struggle of our time.

A strong and bold European idea can achieve that by answering Ganz's three questions. That is where we need to go, not back to arguing Framing versus Action. That for sure is not at all where the challenge lies.

Letters to the Editor should be sent to: The Morung Express, House No. 4, Duncan Bosti, Dimapur - 797112, Or –email: morung@gmail.com All letters (including those via email) should have the full name and Postal address of the sender.

Readers may please note that the contents of the articles, letters and opinions published do not reflect the outlook of this paper nor of the Editor in any form.

7

FRiday

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

10 January 2014

PERSPECTIVE NEWS ANALYSIS, FEATURE AND DISCOURSE

Nuclear disarmament ambitions in 2014

A

Rebecca Cousins

bsent any major catastrophe involving a nuclear weapon (which isn’t out of the question but let’s all hope we don’t get to that point), established nuclear-weapons policies look unlikely to shift dramatically in 2014. Predictably, for an issue involving diverse interests, entrenched mistrust and engagement across the entire international community, the rate of change often feels glacial. These are policies routinely linked to global power dynamics and fundamentally rooted in fear, insecurity and selfinterest, so they are never going to be the easiest to shake.

But as we step into the new year, it is worth taking a moment to remind ourselves of the progress we have made.

The number of nuclear weapons held by the two biggest nuclear-weapons possessors, the US and Russia, has reduced dramatically since the end of the Cold War. In 1990 and 1991, South Africa renounced and dismantled its nuclearweapons capability. States such as South Korea, Argentina and Brazil moved away from their nuclear programmes before reaching the point of weapons development. To date, Iran has not taken the decision to develop a nuclear weapon, despite a widely held belief that it could be on track to doing so.

The Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) continues to play a central role, maintaining dialogue between diverse parties, and coalescing states around a common objective: to prevent the further spread of nuclear weapons.

Equally, there have been challenges, which mean we not only need to keep our foot on the pedal—we likely need to apply it more firmly. The rate of nuclear-weapons reductions in recent years has slowed.

Cold War thinking continues to dominate. Iran and North Korea have focused their international engagement around a platform of nuclear ambition and India and Pakistan have remained outside NPT membership, developing their own nuclear capabilities in a highly volatile political environment.

The year ahead This may not be the year of dramatic change but it could be an opportunity for us to reinvigorate our ambitions. Regional, international and domestic dynamics have potential to provide new opportunities to reframe our thinking and remind ourselves what we are trying to achieve.

States will meet in New York in April and May for the next NPT Preparatory Committee (PrepCom), which will set the scene for the upcoming five-yearly review, in 2015, of NPT progress. At the PrepCom, all eyes are likely to be on developments in Iran, progress towards a zone free of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the middle east and the burgeoning debate around the humanitarian dimension of nuclear weapons. The five official nuclear weapon states

A

shik Rehman, 47, worked as a labourer in the southern Indian state of Kerala. He left for Saudi Arabia two years ago, hoping to earn enough to buy a house in his native place. Now he is back and staring at a bleak future.

Rehman was promised a shop salesman’s job by his travel agent. But after he landed in the Saudi capital Riyadh, he was sent to work at a construction site as a sweeper. His sponsor did not take legal measures to correct his work permit. “I was treated like a slave there.

I was not given proper food, leave or salary,” he told IPS. To make things worse, Saudi Arabia enforced a naturalisation rule called Nitaqat, forcing Rehman to return to his hometown Kozhikode in Kerala last October. He has not found a job yet.

The Nitaqat law, announced in 2011, makes it mandatory for all private firms to recruit at least 10 percent Saudi nationals in their labour force.

For expatriates who do not have proper job or visa documents, the law entails punitive measures such as arrest or deportation.

With 2.8 million Indians making up the largest expatriate community in Saudi Arabia, the law has hit those who have been in the kingdom without proper work documents.

“Many sponsors are evasive when it comes to giving legal status to workers.

Because of the disinterest of my sponsor, I had to return. Now I am living in a rented house and trying to figure out how to earn my living,” Rehman told IPS. According to Indian government estimates, 134,000 workers have returned due to implementation of the new Nitaqat policy.

“Travel agents make things more difficult for hapless migrant workers,” Jamaludeen, who has also returned, told IPS. “They fabricate jobs and employers who don’t exist. Before the migrants can figure out they have been hoodwinked, they find themselves in farmhouses in remote areas and unknown agricultural fields in the deserts.”

The reverse migration of undocumented workers from Saudi Arabia has prompted the returnees to demand that the Indian government implement a comprehensive rehabilitation package for expatriates.

It's easy not to recognise the real, if slow, progress that has been made on nuclear disarmement.

There will be big challenges in 2014 to maintain it

(US, Russia, UK, France and China) will also be required to report on their disarmament efforts, which they claim are making progress through discreet dialogue but others argue are not enough.

Iran Negotiations in 2013 led to a temporary agreement between Iran and the P5+1 (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) to freeze the development of the Iranian nuclear programme for six months in exchange for limited sanctions relief. This arrangement will come into effect in the first half of 2014 and aims to create conditions conducive to negotiating a longer-term agreement.

A substantive resolution may well be achievable, although it will likely remain a heavy lift. The interim solution was required in part because the negotiating sides were unable, at that stage, to reach agreement on the thorniest issues. The interim deal hasn’t taken those issues away but what it has done is create a more sound, shared footing on which the negotiating parties can start to thrash out the details.

Domestic politics—in both the US and Iran—could yet stymie the prospects of a deal. Congress is threatening to pass legislation implementing new sanctions if agreement is not reached within six months. Some will see this as the US reneging on its end of the interim deal. In response, Iranian lawmakers are making noises of their own around uranium enrichment.

Sabre-rattling by domestically-minded politicians will not necessarily scuttle negotiations. But nor will it make the political context in either country any easier. The next six months will require strong political will from the negotiating parties to retain the space and initial trust-building they worked so hard to achieve last year and to press forward towards a sustained agreement.

NPT agenda The prospects for a WMD-free zone in the middle east are likely to dominate the NPT PrepCom agenda in April and May. The NPT’s 2010 Action Plan, which sets out what states need to deliver in the five-year cycle before the 2015 Review Conference, called for a conference in 2012 to take forward the development of a regional zone. Getting the parties around a table on the right terms has proved difficult, however, and no formal conference has yet taken place. Some discreet discussions have been possible in Switzerland over the last year but some will be looking for more demonstrable progress, the absence of which could sour the tone of the broader PrepCom discussions.

On the global canvas, in February Mexico will host a conference to discuss the longer-term implications of nuclear weapons use. The five official NPT nuclear-weapons states chose not to attend the preceding conference in Oslo in early 2013—their position on the Mexico event is still unclear. Either way, the initiative will feature prominently on the 2014 NPT PrepCom agenda.

Some segments of civil society are using this platform to advocate for an international ban on nuclear weapons, which they believe could ultimately press the nuclear-weapons states into renouncing their arsenals. Others take a more conciliatory approach, cautioning against exacerbating divisions which could risk pulling the NPT apart.

Conference on Disarmament The Conference on Disarmament, the official UN platform created in 1979 to discuss disarmament issues, will convene again in January and February for the first of its three 2014 sessions. Political stalemate over a treaty banning the production of fissile materials is likely to continue to dominate the agenda. But some are hopeful that a newly-established ‘group of government experts’, mandated by a UN General Assembly resolution in late 2012, will open fresh opportunities for movement.

The group has already been set up (although not yet announced) and will consist of 25 representatives from states selected by the UN secretary general on the basis of equitable geographical representation. It would be overly ambitious to expect it to unblock the debate in the Conference on Disarmament entirely but, if used creatively, it has potential, at the very least, to open up some new thinking.

Hoodwinked, Jobless, and Back K. S. Harikrishnan Inter Press Service

Workers returning to Kerala from the Gulf.

“Since the Gulf War of 1990-1991, we have been hearing false promises of rehabilitation packages,” said S. Ahmed, chairman of the NRI Coordination Council. He said the government had done little to help expatriates who had to return because of the Nitaqat rule. The Council demanded that all non-resident families that return from Saudi Arabia be included in a comprehensive health insurance project.

The effects of Nitaqat are showing up in many ways in India particularly in sectors dependent on Gulf money.

These include a slowdown in construction work, in the real estate business, in motor vehicle sales and dwindling wages of daily workers.

This is particularly true of Kerala because, of the 2.8 million Indians in Saudi Arabia, one million are from this state.

After the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia is the most favoured destination for the state’s migrant population.

Dr. Sree Nair, a Kerala-based migration researcher, said the government

should make sure that the returnees are rehabilitated and resettled in their homeland. “Return migrants do not attract much attention from the government. But Nitaqat has brought about a situation where the void in government planning on migration and a remittance-dependent economy has become evident,” she told IPS. “The services for returnees are inadequate. Not just financial assistance but proper guidance on possible areas of utilising their skills in domestic or foreign labour markets should also be provided. Most returnees are not looking for freebies from the government but for an appropriate re-entry into job markets,” she told IPS. Kerala is the only state in the country which has announced rehabilitation measures for returnees, including interest-free loans and services to help them find jobs in other Gulf countries.

Abu Ali, who gives legal aid to foreign workers in Jeddah, said there were many foreigners, including Indians,

who were declared to be absconding by their sponsors as the latter wanted to avoid making final settlements. “Many migrants may have been working there for more than 10 years, but there is no legal forum to challenge sponsors who cheat,” he told IPS. K.U. Iqbal, a Riyadh–based reporter of Malayalam News, a sister publication of Arab News, told IPS over the phone that 1.3 million Indian workers, who initially did not have proper documents, had regularised their work permits and completed other legalities. “The majority of Indians corrected their documents. It is said that a few migrants did not apply for legal status.

They will face consequences if caught by the authorities,” he said.

A group of returnees told IPS that unskilled workers, part-time office workers and school teachers have been particularly badly hit by the Nitaqat rule. Sharafudeen, who hails from Malappuram, said teachers without proper documents have been granted a reprieve by the Ministry of Education. “But many small shops and restaurants, which used to regularly hire workers without documents, have been closed throughout the Kingdom.”

Labour inspectors swooped down on thousands of illegal workers in a series of raids across the Kingdom after the amnesty period for expatriates to legalise their work status expired.

Shameem Ahmed, general manager of the Thiruvananthapuram-based Overseas Development and Employment Promotion Consultants, quoted Indian government officials in Riyadh to say that many workers were unwilling to go back to India as they were wary of being unemployed and increasing the financial burden on their families.

“Many workers have not been reporting for work for fear of arrest and deportation. Numerous construction companies that were largely dependent on the illegal workforce have suspended their projects altogether.

Housing unit prices are set to increase dramatically due to the shortage of workers,” said Shameem Ahmed.

According to the World Bank, India is the top beneficiary of remittances from Saudi Arabia with 8.4 billion dollars received in 2012. But many of the people behind those remittances now find that life has changed – for the worse.

WHAT’S A WOMAN WORTH? Wages and democracy in Cambodia

F

Theresa de Langis

or two weeks, Cambodian garment workers, predominately women, have waged a coordinated strike to press for a $160 minimum monthly salary, bringing to a standstill the country’s economic lifeblood.

Compared to past strong-arm approaches, the government had shown remarkable restraint in tolerating the peaceful assembly in the nation’s capital of Phnom Penh.

Then, in the afternoon of Friday, January 3, a military special command unit opened fire with AK-47 assault rifles on the demonstration, killing 5 and injuring many more, including people reportedly not taking part in the protest. A local rights group has called the incident “the worst State violence against civilians in 15 years.” One local international paper has titled its video expose of the scene “Democracy Unraveling.”

What has not been noted is the swift shift in the gender balance of the front-line protesters during the violent standoff. The labour and wage movement in Cambodia has been dominated by an image of determined and defiant In demanding higher wages, Cambodian women women, who make up 80 percent of the garment are refusing the status of factory work force. Yet, in the proverbial “seconda single day, as events unclass (global) citizen,” folded, that image transundervalued and overformed to one of young determined by gender men, lobbing stones and discrimination. If men Molotov Cocktails at take over the frontline of armed security forces and the movement, they will being brutally beaten bede facto doom its greatest fore mass arrests. potential in raising wages, While Friday’s crackalong with women’s down is the single worst status and worth incident to ever hit the country’s key garment industry, it is not the first time these workers have been faced with excessive use of force by the state or agents of the state, with impunity, for demanding better working conditions. Yet rarely do these incidents, populated mostly by women workers, make international news. And seldom do the protesters respond with weaponized resistance (counting sticks, stones, and homemade petrol bombs as potential weapons, as the police certainly do).

Accounts over the weekend have been mixed as to the timeline of events and provocation for the clash, but it is clear that any violence on the part of protesters appears to feed into the interest of a government vying to quash what is quickly becoming a serious threat to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s near 30-year rule. Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan, defending the soldiers’ action on Friday, said, “This is not a demonstration … this is a rebellion.”

Rebellions—and riots—may be justifiably suppressed in the eyes of the state; it is only nonviolent peaceful assembly that is protected by international human rights law. For this and a variety of other reasons, nonviolent strategic action more than doubles a movement’s chances of reaching its goals. Women may have a unique role to play, as tempers and tension rise.

Women globally appear less likely to resort to violence, even when faced with excessive force, and appear more likely to press for dialogue and other diffusive tactics.

Having women at the front lines and in leadership roles is smart strategy in any peaceful social justice movement, and a fundamental principle in democracy movements motivated by inclusion and equality.

For the labour movement happening in Cambodia today, women’s participation and leadership makes logical sense, since women workers make up the greatest share of protesters. And, women may do much to recalibrate the struggle to less confrontational, more effective, tactics. Women have much at stake in waging this fight, not only as workers but as women. What on its face is a demand for higher wages and better working conditions is fundamentally an opportunity to reassess women’s social value more broadly. Women necessarily must be the face of that struggle.

The garment industry is a pivotal driver in Cambodia’s emerging economy, with H&M, GAP, Levi’s and Nike only a few its prime customers. Cambodian women labourers are literally the economic backbone of the country. They hold an immense amount of power. Yet, these same women are also among the most oppressed in Cambodia today.

The global women’s labour history reveals a pattern to this treatment, repeated across countries over the decades. “Feminizing” an industry makes it easy to devalue the labor of its workers, since women universally face gendered wage discrimination. Scholar Cynthia Enloe has argued that women’s work in such contexts is not simply “cheap” when compared to men’s, but aggressively “cheapened” in order to maximize profits in a global marketplace.

Such practices are tolerated—indeed, capitalized upon— because abuse and exploitation of women is normalized in societies the world over.

A popular Cambodian saying—“Men are gold, women are white cloth”—points to how women are generally devalued in comparison to men. A recent report by the International Labor Organization (ILO) monetizes the devaluation in terms of wages, revealing a $25 monthly pay gap between Cambodian women factory workers and their male counterparts—women’s labor is “cheap.”

The Cambodian minimum monthly wage, set by the government, is $80, well below the Asia Floor Wage Alliance of $281 per month—women’s labor is “cheapened.” Factory managers, meanwhile, argue they are pressured by their multi-national customers to keep wages low, despite an increase of 22 percent to about $5.07 billion in garment exports for 2013—women’s labor is grossly and globally exploited.

Cambodian women appear no longer willing to be compliant in the face of such exploitation. In demanding higher wages, one can argue they also refuse the status of the proverbial “second-class (global) citizen,” undervalued and over-determined by gender discrimination. But in doing so, they face the barrel of a machine gun. One women activist at a recent meeting in Phnom Penh on gender-based abuse I attended, said, “Yes, there is violence against women! It is violence by the government, using its military and police, with guns and batons, against peaceful protesters who carry no weapons!” Equal rights, not sticks and stones, is the best protection is such a scenario.

There is no excuse for a state’s use of excessive, illegal force. Yet, since Friday, the labour movement in Cambodia— previously characterized by women-led nonviolent action— is perched on what could quickly become a spiraling vortex of violence. Men have important roles to play in the garment worker struggle. But, taking over the frontline of the movement, engulfing it with weaponized resistance, will de facto doom its greatest potential in raising wages, along with women’s status and worth, in a peaceful and democratic society.

Readers may please note that, the contents of the articles published on this page do not reflect the outlook of this paper nor of the Editor in any form.

8

Dimapur

NATIONAL

Friday 10 January 2014

The Morung Express

Good times are coming - in a few months: Modi

New Delhi, JaNuary 9 (iaNs): Taking a dig at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi Thursday said the prime minister’s statement that there is no need to despair and good times lie ahead would certainly ring true in a few months -with the general elections.

Modi, addressing a global audience of Indian diaspora at the 12th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas here, elicited loud applause and laughter and even a few whistles from the audience at Vigyan Bhavan when he said: “We may have to wait a few months, but I sincerely feel that good times are coming.”

The Gujarat chief minister, who got a round of applause before he got up to speak and while he was being introduced, said: “The prime minister had said a good thing during his speech here yesterday (Wednesday at the PBD) that there is no need to despair and very good times are to come.” He paused waiting for the laughter and clapping to die down, and then said smiling: “I don’t need to say anything more... we may have to wait a few months, four or six. But I sincerely feel that good times are coming.”

This was Modi’s first public reaction, though oblique, to Prime Minis-

PM is of whole country, not a state, Raj Thackeray tells Narendra Modi

Nashik, JaNuary 9 (iaNs): Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray Thursday criticised BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi for continuously speaking about his own state, and asked him to adopt a broad, national outlook. Thackeray also hit out at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), saying nobody was aware who were its leaders in Maharashtra.

The MNS founder-president sought power for his own party to bring about change in his state.

Targetting Modi, Thackeray urged the Gujarat chief minister to discard narrow parochial interests and adopt a broad, national outlook. “Wherever he travels, Modi keeps harping on Gujarat and its qualities. A prime minister belongs to the whole country and not to any

Narendra Modi and Raj Thackeray. (File Photo)

ter Manmohan Singh saying during his press conference last week that “it will be disastrous for the country to have Narendra Modi as the prime minister”. The hall was packed, with many standing in the aisles, when Modi was speaking. The Gujarat chief minister, who was mobbed by the diaspora members after the speech, referred to two major events in history in which the Indian diaspora had come together to support the country -- during the 1975 emergency and the

1998 nuclear test by the BJP-led NDA government.

“There are two events when the diaspora took a proactive role and with self-initiative stressed their Bharatiyata (Indianness),” said Modi. “One was the 1975 Emergency, when all the Indians abroad got together and pushed for democracy. The second was the nuclear test by Vajpayeeji (former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee),” he said, adding that the Indian diaspora had put their weight behind India to support the move and against

the sanctions imposed by the US. He said the two incidents stand out for the participation of the Indian diaspora. He said that with the general elections round the corner, he was observing renewed enthusiasm among Indians abroad. “I am observing with the 2014 elections that the Indians abroad are very enthusiastic and keen to contribute,” said Modi.

On corruption, raised in a question by a diaspora participant, Modi said the debate in the country is on

“post-corruption” measures - like Janlokpal and Lokpal - after corruption has taken place.

“The requirement is that there should not be any corruption, the focus should be on that,” he said.

He cited the Gujarat experience of putting state policy online in “black and white” as an effective measure to tackle corruption.

“Corruption can be easily tackled, it only needs resolve. The focus should not be on the sickness, but on health and prevention,” he said. His speech on the

Coal scam: Centre tells SC something went wrong

New Delhi, JaNuary 9 (ageNcies): The Centre on Thursday admitted before the Supreme Court that something went wrong with the coal blocks allocation and that it could have been done in a more refined manner.

“We took decision in good faith but something turned out to be wrong,” attorney general Goolam E Vahanvati told a three-judge bench headed by Justice RM Lodha.

“In hindsight, we can say something has gone wrong and some correction is required to be done,” he said, virtually accepting that mistakes were committed by the government in coal blocks allocation. Vahanvati’s response came after the bench observed that the exercise could have been done in a “far better manner”. “Everything could have been done in more refined and better man-

ner. I accept my lordships view,” the AG further said.

Vahanvati suggested the cancellation of all post-2005 coal block allocation where license had not yet been granted. Of the 32 allocation made by the Centre since 2005, only two licenses have been issued by the states. The attorney general told the court that he had given his opinion to the government but it was for the Centre to accept it or reject it. He also said the allocation letters were not bankable documents and did not confer a right on allocates to seek license for mining.

The Supreme Court then asked if the allocation letter was so innocuous, why was the Centre dithering so long to cancel the allocations that were alleged to be irregular.

At the outset of the day’s hearing, the bench asked the AG about the Centre’s stand

AAP’s anti-corruption helpline gets thousands of calls on 1st day

New Delhi, JaNuary 9 (ibNlive): The anti-corruption helpline launched by the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi seems to be getting thousands of calls on the first day itself. Till 3 pm on Thursday, the cell had received 3,000 calls of which 700 have been attended to. The anti-corruption helpline number - 011-27357169 - is operational from 8 am to 10 pm, seven days a week. It is intended to catch corrupt officers red handed, said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The AAP government has taken activism to the citizens with the helpline, which tells citizens how to conduct sting operations on corrupt officials.

Kejriwal said that helpline number will guide and suggest ways to complainants on how to catch bribe takers red handed. He added that the identity of the complainant will be kept anonymous.

He added that the Vigilance Department, which

on de-allocation of certain coal blocks. In response, Vahanvati submitted the government would next week make its stand clear on the issue. The AG had in September 2013 submitted that coal blocks allocation was merely a letter of intent and does not confer any right to the companies over the natural resource which is decided by the state government.

He had contended that decision of coal blocks allocation to companies is only the first stage and firms get rights over coal only when they start mining for which they have to take various clearances.

The mining states of Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, however, had earlier told the apex court that coal blocks allocation was “entirely controlled and regulated” by the Centre

and they only played a minimal role in the whole exercise.

The court is scrutinising coal blocks allocation since 1993 on three PILs seeking cancellation of blocks on the ground that rules were flouted in giving away the natural resource and that certain companies were favoured in the process.

Meanwhile, stepping up pressure, BJP today demanded the Prime Minister’s resignation after the Centre today admitted before the Supreme Court that something went wrong with coal blocks allocations. “The onus is now on the Prime Minister as he held the coal portfolio from 2006 to 2009 when the allocations were made. We reiterate that he should own up his responsibility and resign,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.

achievements of the state was given in a booklet form to the audience in advance.

An invite to a separate session that he was to address after his speech was also placed for the audience, indicative of careful planning for the major event.

Enthusiastic diaspora delegates mobbed Modi, with many using their mobiles to click photographs of themselves with him.

Delegates hung on to his each word and applauded him lustily. Modi did not take any questions from the media as he exited

will follow up on the complaints received, has ful.” “Life is beautiful and unpredictability makes it enough officials at present but added that he has more enchanting. I am living one of those moments.” asked L-G Najeeb Jung to provide police personnel “Eight years back I changed my course, now to help them in their operation. there is another time, another call of destiny, have to swim - have to swim.” “IBN7 is my blood. IBN7 is my bones. It’s my body, it’s my soul. It’s me.” On Thursday afternoon, he tweeted, “Yes I have resigned”.

While Ashutosh has confirmed his resignation, he has not yet confirmed that he will be joining AAP New Delhi, JaNuary 9 (TNN): Ashutosh, and a formal announcement is expected soon.

He told ANI, “I have resigned from IBN7, can’t say managing editor of Hindi news channel IBN7, has called it a day. Since Wednesday evening, social net- about joining, but I am a great fan of AAP, they are working website Twitter was abuzz with news of a agents of change”. Ashutosh, who has done his MPhil senior journalist quitting his job and joining Arvind in Soviet Studies and MA in International Studies, Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party. In a series of tweets, has also written a book on anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare’s movement.

Ashutosh announced his resignation on Twitter.

Prior to joining IBN7, he was the member of On Jan 8, he tweeted: “Journalism, my passion, IBN7 my baby! When I look back I remember the Hindi news channel AajTak for more than ten years. week I joined profession, Nelson Mandela was re- Other former journalists in the AAP include Manish leased, history changed.” “These are again historic Sisodia, who is presently education minister of Delmoments, societal churning is on, everybody has to hi and Shazia Ilmi. Delhi minister Rakhi Birla, too, contribute to make the change robust and beauti- was an intern at a news channel.

Senior TV journalist ‘joins’ Aam Aadmi Party

tion in India, conducted by Tehelka in 2001, showed former BJP president Bangaru Laxam accepting Rs 1 lakh as bribe from journalists who posed as arms dealers. The scribes posed themselves as representatives of a fictitious UK-based company West End International and sought Laxman’s recommendation to the ministry for supply of hand-held thermal imagers for the Indian Army. Bangaru had to quit from the post of party president after the expose led to a political storm.

The court sentenced Laxman to four years in jail in the corruption case.

Sting 2: Babu Bajrangi admits to Naroda Patiya massacre Sting1: Bangaru Laxam One of the main accused caught accepting bribe in Naroda Patiya massacre in The first big sting opera- the 2002 Gujarat riots, Bajrang

Dal leader Babu Bajrangi alias Babubhai Patel, was caught on camera accepting that he abetted the execution of Muslims after the riots. The sting operation carried out by Tehelka was taken into consideration while convicting Babu Bajrangi. In the sting carried out by a Tehelka journalist, Babu Bajrani said he was ‘proud’ of the killings on February 28, 2002 — a day after the Godhra train carnage — in which 97 Muslims were killed.

Sting 3: Lawyer R K Anand with BMW case witness In the follow up of the famous BMW hit-and-run case, a TV channel along with a witness carried out a sting operation that showed the complicity of two reputed senior advocates influencing a key witness in favour of main accused Sanjeev Nanda.

Aam Aadmi Party, Thackeray said it was true that the country needs a change but the Arvind Kejriwalled party has no base in Maharashtra, and nobody was aware who its leaders are in the state.

“There is a chant of AAP, AAP all over the country. However, I have been raising similar issues since the past six years. For bringing about a change, we need power. Vote us to power and I promise you a clean government,” Thackeray urged people He said he would fulfil his commitment if voted to power and there is no need for the AAP in Maharashtra.

The MNS is a potential challenger to the existing alliances of Congress-Nationalist Congress Party, the BJP-Shiv Sena-Republican Party of India (Athawale)-Swabhimani Paksha, and other smaller parties.

the hall. He also got a lot of written questions from the audience -- so many that he remarked it would take him weeks to answer them. To those who had written down their email addresses with the questions, he promised he would answer all the queries.

“We Indians abroad are looking for change. We are all supporters of Modi,” said a diaspora member from the US. The other chief ministers who spoke were Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Hary-

ana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Meghalaya’s Mukul Sangma. Sangma, whose turn to speak came after Modi, saw the crowds leaving the hall as he was speaking. But unfazed he gave a veiled rejoinder to Modi’s reference of good times ahead, saying that better days are sure to come as the government has laid a strong foundation with the steps it has taken through Right to Education, Right to Information and National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA).

Andhra Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) B. Prasad Rao, seated left, speaks with Maoist leader G. Venkatakrishna Prasad alias “Gudsa Usendi”, standing left, and his wife Santhoshi Markam, as they are produced in front of the media in Hyderabad, on Thursday, January 9. The Maoist leader is suspected to be the mastermind behind the killing of dozens of paramilitary soldiers and the ambush of a convoy of Congress party leaders last year in Chhatisgarh state. Prasad is reported to have surrendered because of ill health. (AP Photo)

Five stings that shook India & stung their targets

New Delhi, JaNuary 9 (ageNcies): As Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejrial announced the helpline number on Wednesday, giving people of Delhi the sanction to conduct ‘sting operations’ and report it to the anti- corruption cell, he empowered the people to take on corrupt officials. Terming mobile phones as a new tool to eradicate corruption, Kejriwal said no citizen needs a baton or a revolver to fight against corruption when a simple mobile phone camera can do the trick. It is yet to be seen on how the helpline number will help nail the corrupt, but we take a look back at some sting operations that made the headlines over the years.

particular state. Modi must keep this in mind and treat all states as equals,” Thackeray said.

“In fact, after he was nominated as the BJP’s PM candidate, he should have immediately quit as Gujarat chief minister,” Thackeray told media persons here at the start of a four-day pre-election preparatory tour. Asked about the crowds attracted by Modi, Thackeray shot back that if that was the criterion for popularity, “even my meetings attract large gatherings”.

On Modi’s oft-repeated theme on Gujarat’s development, Thackeray said Maharashtra was ahead of Gujarat on all fronts. However, he admitted that in terms of administration, Gujarat was ahead of Maharashtra and the people of Maharashtra were fed up with the existing state of affairs. On the

The sting, carried out on May 30, 2007, exposed defence lawyer R K Anand and public prosecutor IU Khan trying to bribe Sunil Kulkarni, who saw Sanjeev Nanda drive the black BMW. As a result the Delhi High Court debarred the two high profile lawyers for four months. The infamous expose also led to the conviction of former Rajya Sabha MP Anand for trying to woo a prosecution witness.

Sting 4: MP’s sway wad of notes in Parliament The entire nation came to a standstill when some BJP MPs swayed wads of currency notes in the Parliament in 2008 claiming Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh’s aide tried to bribe them to vote in favor of UPA backed Indo-US nuclear deal. A TV channel presented a clip of

the video showing the same.

Sting 5: Jessica Lal Sting operation In another important sting operation, police got vital clues and information about Jessica Lal Murder case. The expose carried out again by the Tehelka magazine for three months against three key witnesses -- Shayan Munshi, Karan Rajput and Shiv Dass -- who had turned hostile, claimed that witnesses in the case were bribed to change statements. The tapes showed that Shayan, who said he did not know Hindi well enough to know what he was signing when investigators made him sign his witness’ account, showing off his prowess in the language.

The sting operation helped police to nail main accused Manu Sharma.

‘States should take an active role in promoting RTI’ New Delhi, JaNuary 9 (PTi): The various state governments in the country have not been “up to the mark” in sharing more information related to governance through suo motu disclosures mandated under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, Union Minister V Narayanasamy has said.

“The Centre is doing a lot to promote RTI Act. But what the state governments are doing is not up to the mark. They need to work more on it. They need to take an active role in promoting RTI and putting information in the public domain,” said Narayanasamy, the Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.

Information related to Public Private Partnerships (PPP), transfer orders of officers and employees, objections or paras by the Comptroller and Auditor General and Public Accounts Committee, among others, need to be put in the public domain, he said. “We want a common man living in rural areas to be able to file an RTI application. He should be made aware of it. This is the purpose of our government. We want to project ourselves as an open government,” Narayanasamy said.

The minister also sought suggestions from the people on promoting the RTI Act and making it more user-friendly. “We need the support of the people and civil society... We are open to suggestions which would make the Act more useful. We will issue guidelines or notifications immediately based on important suggestions,” he said.

Narayanasamy was speaking at the inauguration of a day- long national workshop on RTI Act organised here by the Department

of Personnel & Training (DoPT), the nodal department for the implementation of the transparency law. DoPT had last April issued directions for all central government ministries to comply with the compulsory obligation of suo motu disclosures mentioned under Section 4 of RTI Act, 2005.

Each ministry or public authority was asked to ensure that the guidelines for suo motu disclosures were fully operationalised within a period of six months from the date of the issuance of the directive, or April 15, 2013.

Information about fees, tolls and other kinds of revenue that may be collected under authorisation from the government, information in respect of output and outcomes and the process of selection of private sector parties may also be proactively disclosed, the guidelines stated. DoPT guidelines also make it obligatory for the various departments to publicise all transfer orders through their website or by any other means.

All public authorities may also proactively disclose the CAG and PAC paras and the action taken reports only after these have been tabled in both Houses of Parliament, it has been stated. The conference, held at the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), was attended by, among others, Chief Information Commissioner Sushma Singh, Secretary, DoPT, SK Sarkar, Joint Secretary, Mamata Kundra, and former Chief Information Commissioner, Satyananda Mishra. The conference was followed by two panel discussions - on ensuring compliance on suo motu disclosures, and best practices vis-a-vis the RTI Act.

International

The Morung Express

Friday 10 January 2014

Dimapur

9

Nuclear talks hit snag on centrifuge research UNITED NATIONS, JANUAry 9 (rE UTErS): Negotiations between Iran and six world powers on implementing a landmark November deal to freeze parts of Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for easing some sanctions have run into problems over advanced centrifuge research, diplomats said.

The dispute over centrifuges highlighted the huge challenges facing Iran and the six powers in negotiating the precise terms of the November 24 interim agreement. If they succeed, they plan to start talks on a long-term deal to resolve a more than decade-long dispute over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

Among the issues to be resolved in political discussions due to begin in Geneva later this week is that of research and development of a new model of advanced nuclear centrifuge that Iran says it has installed, diplomats said on condition of anonymity.

Centrifuges are machines that purify uranium for use as fuel in atomic power plants or, if purified to a high level, weapons.

“This issue (centrifuges) was among the main factors in stopping the previous technical discussions on December 19-21,” a Western diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Other Western diplomats confirmed that centrifuges remained a “sticking point” in the talks with Iran

cility, according to the U.N. nuclear watchdog. Iran’s statements last month that it was testing a new advanced centrifuge have not made clear whether it is an entirely new model or a modified version of an installed one.

Britain’s former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw shows a copy of a document as he speaks in a press conference at the Iranian parliament in Tehran, Iran, on January 8. A British Parliament delegation arrived in Tehran on Tuesday on the first visit by U.K. lawmakers to Iran in years, as the two countries work to improve relations and ahead of continued talks on the country’s disputed nuclear program. The British Embassy in Tehran was closed in late 2011 after hardliners overran the building. Iran’s embassy was also closed in London but relations have improved in recent months. (AP Photo)

but noted that last month’s discussions were understandably adjourned ahead of the December holidays - not because of the centrifuge issue.

“As part of the (November 24) agreement, Iran is permitted to engage in R&D (research and development), but that is tempered by the fact that it is prohibited to install new centrifuges, except as re-

quired by wear and tear,” the first diplomat said.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the United States was keen to see the interim deal implemented, though she declined to predict the outcome of the latest talks.

She said U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman will be in Geneva on Thursday to discuss the

issue with her European Union counterpart, Helga Schmid, and Iran’s negotiator, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi.

In December, Al-Monitor, a news website focusing on the Middle East, cited a former U.S. official as saying Iran had notified the six powers it wanted to install additional “IR-2m” centrifuges, modified versions of second-generation

machines. The website also said the former U.S. official suggested this may have played a role in the dispute.

But diplomats now say Iran has told the six countries it wants to press ahead with the development of even more advanced centrifuges than the IR-2m.

Iran is already testing several different new, more efficient centrifuge models at its Natanz research fa-

of medicine, we can predict which people are at the highest risk after a heart attack.

And we found a strong connection between frailty and socioeconomic status,” said Vicki Myers of the school of public health at Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine. Myers and her colleague professor Yariv Gerber created an index of 40 health-related variables effective in diagnosing frailty

in heart attack patients.

Using medical records, the researchers applied the index to 1,151 patients who had suffered heart attacks in central Israel from 10 to 13 years prior to the study. They found that 35 percent of the patients in the study had become frail in the decade following their heart attack.

These patients had a lower socioeconomic status - with fewer years of

education, lower family income, unemployed and living in one of Israel’s lowest socio-economic categories, said the study published in the International Journal of Cardiology. These findings, the researchers added, may reflect weak access to healthcare among the poor.

“Not only was low income associated with twice the risk of becoming frail, living in a deprived neigh-

borhood was linked to a 60 percent increased risk of frailty compared to living in a wealthy neighbourhood, irrespective of personal circumstances,” Myers said.

“We recommend initiatives to prevent frailty after a heart attack among highrisk groups and additional healthcare services in disadvantaged areas to address socioeconomic inequalities,” explained the researchers.

Heart attacks hit poor the hardest

lONDON, JANUAry 9 (IANS): Even a heart attack can discriminate between the poor and the wealthy.

In a first-ever study linking socio-economic status to frailty after a heart attack, researchers have established that poor people are more than twice as likely as the wealthy to become frail after a heart attack.

“By defining frailty, which combines many areas

‘SERIOUS NUCLEAR NEGOTIATIONS’ Western diplomats said they were uncomfortable with the idea of Iran pressing ahead with the development of more advanced centrifuges. But Iran says centrifuge research is crucial.

“We have to make sure our right to research and development is respected,” a senior Iranian government official said on condition of anonymity.

The research and development would be aimed at improving Iran’s existing centrifuge technology so it can enrich better and faster, a prospect Western governments find worrisome.

Iran and the so-called P5+1 - the United States, France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China - reached a deal on November 24 in Geneva aimed at curbing the Islamic Republic’s most sensitive nuclear work, including medium-level 20 percent uranium enrichment, in return for easing some economic sanctions.

Iran is under U.N., U.S. and European Union sanctions for refusing to heed U.N. Security Council demands that it halt all enrichment- and plutonium-related work at its nuclear sites.

Tehran rejects Western allegations that it is seeking the capability to produce atomic weapons, saying its nuclear ambitions are limited to the peaceful generation of electricity.

Nuclear experts from Iran and the six powers have held several rounds of talks since November 24 to resolve various technical issues before the interim deal can be put into place.

The experts have to work out when the accord will be implemented. Western diplomats and Iranian officials say the six powers and Iran want to start implementing the deal on January 20.

A senior Western diplomat, however, said that despite the disagreements, the latest rounds of talks between Iran and the six powers “actually made pretty good progress.”

“There are still, however, some outstanding issues. But we are still aiming to get the interim agreement started on January 20,” he said “We haven’t given up hope of that.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on his Facebook page that Tehran was “very serious” about the Geneva deal.

“Serious nuclear negotiations are under way and with strong political will,” he added.

Diplomats said the push

by Iran to continue advanced centrifuge research and the resistance by Western powers to the idea is not surprising given what it is at stake for all sides.

The Internet-connected toothbrush

‘Teenagers who drink have more friends’

NEW yOrK, JANUAry 9 (rEUTErS HEAlTH): Middle and high school students who drink alcohol are often the same ones winning the popularity contests, new research suggests. Previous studies have found friend groups can influence choices about alcohol, but haven’t looked at the possible social payoffs of drinking.

“There has not been much data to support that drinking among teenagers directly leads to higher popularity and more friendships,” said Peter Delany. He is the director of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality in Rockville, Maryland. Delany was not part of the study team, which was led by

Mir M. Ali, also from SAMHSA. “The fact remains that underage drinking is linked to a long list of adverse health and behavioral consequences, including the deaths of thousands of adolescents and young adults each year,” Delany told Reuters Health in an email. Ali and colleagues analyzed data from a national study of 7th through 12th graders from 132 schools who were surveyed in 1994. The survey included a variety of questions on drinking and substance use, number of friends, friends of friends, home life and other factors.

Teens who reported occasional drinking and getting drunk tended to have higher “social connectedness” than their abstaining peers.

In this photo taken December 16, 2012 and released by the Moran Eye Center, a woman from the Dinka tribe sings and dances with members of the Nuer tribe after their sight was restored by eye surgeons from the John A. Moran Eye Center of the University of Utah, in the village of Duk Payuel in Jonglei state, South Sudan. South Sudan’s government faces monumental challenges: To bring warring factions, often from rival ethnic groups, back toward peace after violence broke out across the country on Dec. 15, but a group of American doctors has a unique approach to help heal age-old rifts between the ethnic groups, eye surgery, although it has been put on hold because of the fighting. (AP Photo)

That was especially true for white students. Getting drunk seemed to be more important for popularity than just drinking in general. Kids who drank at all reported having an extra half a friend, on average, and those who got drunk reported one additional friend compared to non-drinkers.

The findings “provide new evidence on the motivation behind adolescent drinking,” the researchers wrote in the journal Addictive Behaviors. “There are many healthy behaviors, both athletic and academic, that increase teens’ popularity among peers,” Delany said. For instance, two of the study’s authors found in an earlier paper, published in the Journal of Public Health, that playing sports leads to more friends

for overweight white boys.

Family, peers, schools and neighborhoods can all influence teen drinking and may also indirectly influence how much popularity teens gain by drinking, Delany said. “We know that parental influence can help adolescents resist drinking and other forms of substance use,” he said. “Recent SAMHSA reports have shown that adolescents are very influenced by their parents’ attitudes on substance use.” Teens need adult help to develop a healthy relationship with alcohol and to have positive social values, Joseph P. Allen said.

Allen studies adolescent social development at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He was not part of the new research.

“The gaps which have been making it difficult to reach an agreement clearly reflect the attempts of both sides to improve their status at the last stage before signing the agreement,” the first diplomat said.

“Iran seeks maximum maneuvering room in interpreting the agreement, while the U.S. seeks to ensure that this interpretation does not go beyond its understanding of the agreement,” he said. “Either way, the two sides are interested in reaching an agreement as soon as possible.”

Israel, which has been highly critical of the six powers’ deal with Iran, was not surprised by Iran’s attempts to ensure that it could continue with advanced centrifuge research.

“It was clear from the outset that the Iranians would play games,” an Israeli official said on condition of anonymity. “They did it in the past, and now they’re up to their old tricks again.”

Iran’s negotiations with Britain, France and Germany in 2003-2005 collapsed after Tehran and the European trio failed to agree on what enrichment-related activities would be permitted under a voluntary suspension of the Iranian enrichment program.

The Europeans accused Tehran at the time of violating the terms of the suspension while Iran said London, Paris and Berlin failed to deliver promised economic incentives and kept trying to expand the scope of the agreed freeze.

The Kolibree toothbrush sits on display at the International Consumer Electronics Show, on January 5, in Las Vegas. Using Bluetooth wireless, the toothbrush senses how it’s moved and can send the information to an Android phone or iPhone and will be able to teach you to brush right and long enough. (AP Photo) Peter Svensson AP Technology Writer

Armbands that track how much you move have become popular ways to motivate people to get fit. But how fit are your teeth?

Are you lazy about brushing them?

Never fear: An inventor is on the case.

An electric toothbrush senses how long and how well you brush, and it lets you track your performance on your phone.

The Kolibree toothbrush, demonstrated at the International CES gadget show in Las

Vegas, senses how it’s moved and can send the information to an Android phone or iPhone via a Bluetooth wireless connection.

VIRTUAL DENTIST: The toothbrush will be able to teach you to brush right (don’t forget the insides of the teeth!) and make sure you’re brushing long enough, says Thomas Serval, the French inventor. “It’s kind of like having a dentist actually watch your brushing on a day-to-day basis,” Serval says.

FUN WITH HYGIENE: The toothbrush will also be able to talk to other applications on your phone, so an enterprising developer could, for instance, create a game controlled by your toothbrush. You could score points for chasing monsters among your teeth. “We try to make it smart but also fun,” Serval says.

INSPIRATION: Serval says he was inspired by his experience as a father. He would come home from work and ask his kids if they had brushed their teeth. They said “yes,” but Serval would find their toothbrush heads dry. He decided he needed a brush that really told him how well his children brushed.

AVAILABILITY: The company says the Kolibree will go on sale this summer, for $99 to $199, depending on features. The U.S. is the first target market.

THE FUTURE: Serval says that one day, it’ll be possible to replace the brush on the handle with a brushing unit that also has a camera. The camera can examine your cavities and tartar while you brush. Forget selfies — the next adventure in self-expression could be close-up guided tours of people’s teeth.

South Sudan: Doctors try to heal ethnic fractures

JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN (AP): After receiving eye surgery from the American doctors, a South Sudanese man sat with other patients who belonged to tribes he once considered enemies. The men spoke about their newly restored vision — both their eyesight and how they now perceive members of other ethnic groups as potential friends, not sworn enemies.

South Sudan’s government faces monumental challenges: To bring warring factions, often from rival ethnic groups, back toward peace after violence broke out across the country on Dec. 15. The group of American doctors had a unique approach to help heal age-old rifts between ethnic groups, but it has been put on hold because of the fighting.

A dry run they tried last year in Jonglei state, which has since become the epicenter of the clashes, was promising. They restored more than 200 patients’ sight through cataract and trachoma surgery and helped break through tribal enmity.

As a condition for the free

surgery, the American doctors demanded that the members of rival groups sit together and talk. Michael Yei of the Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah recalls one particular member of the Murle tribe who sat with men who belonged to the Nuer and Dinka groups. The man soon reached a conclusion that made the hearts of the medical team soar.

“I always thought in many ways that the Dinka were devils and had horns, but they’re just like us,” the patient said, according to Yei. “That’s the kind of response we had and were so encouraged,” Yei continued.

“Getting your sight back is a major and powerful motivator for people. It just changes your life.”

Capt. Dhuor Andrew Makur, a 31-year-old doctor in South Sudan’s military, is not surprised that misconceptions like the one held by the Murle man could exist in South Sudan. The population is poorly educated, with only a 27 percent literacy rate.

Makur studied at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, an experience that

showed him what it’s like to live in an advanced society.

The West has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in South Sudan, but Makur said not enough is being directed to education and to ways in which the disparate ethnic groups can interact. There are only a couple dozen miles of paved roads in South Sudan, the world’s newest country but also one of its least developed.

“The good things you want you have to press for — education. We’re still wild. We come from the jungle,” Makur said.

“Don’t bring money to our people. Bring U.S. companies.

Invest in roads. Let people interact.” Four of his relatives, cousins mostly, have been killed in the outbreak of violence.

The violence, which forced the American eye surgeons to cancel a planned trip this month to Jonglei state where they intended to treat hundreds of patients, has riven South Sudan along ethnic lines. They hope to return when the violence subsides.

Ethnic frictions have long

existed but were largely overlooked during the civil war with Sudan that ended with a 2005 peace agreement that set the stage for South Sudan becoming a nation in 2011. Once independence was achieved, ethnic fault lines began shining through.

A power struggle brewing for months between President Salva Kiir, a Dinka, and former Vice President Riek Machar, a Nuer who was fired in July, broke out into massive violence just over three weeks ago. The sudden violent spiral recalled a battle in 1991 that saw Machar lead a Nuer slaughter of the Dinka, said Jok Madut Jok, the cofounder of the Sudd Institute, a research body in South Sudan.

“This conflict escalated so fast partly due to the history of the liberation wars, in which South Sudanese committed atrocities against one another and no accountability for these atrocities was established when those wars ended, leaving gaping wounds in the hearts and minds of so many citizens,” Jok wrote in a paper published this week.

South Sudan’s biggest prob-

lem is that it is a patchwork of small ethnic groups seeking power, said Edmund Yakani, the executive director of a peace-building organization called CEPO. Potential solutions include more inter-marriage between ethnic groups, a government not dominated by ethnicity and an informed citizenry, Yakani said.

Dr. Alan Crandall, vice-chair of the department of ophthalmology at the University of Utah, remembers the members of the Dinka, Nuer and Murle tribes interacting after their cataract surgeries last year.

During the “peace circle,” Crandall heard a Nuer man say he would tell his tribe’s young warriors that they should not attack other ethnic groups.

The medical group began its mission in the village of Duk Payuel in Jonglei through the efforts of John Dau, a former “Lost Boy” of Sudan who fled the 1990s conflict by walking to Ethiopia and eventually finding his way to Syracuse, New York.

His foundation provides health care and medical training.

10

Dimapur

SPORTS

Friday 10 January 2014

The Morung Express

Pain-free Messi ready for the challenge in 2014 MADRID, JAnuARy 9 (AFP): Lionel Messi said he is looking forward to another big year in 2014 after scoring twice in his comeback from injury as Barcelona swept aside Getafe 4-0 in the first leg of their Copa del Rey last 16 tie on Wednesday. The four-time World Player of the Year made his first appearance since early November as a substitute just after the hour mark with Barca leading 2-0 thanks to a Cesc Fabregas double. And it didn't take long for the Argentine to make his mark as he slotted home from close range before registering his 16th goal of the season with a trademark solo run and finish in stoppage time.

"I had a lot of time out and I felt very good in the training sessions that I had, but playing in a competitive game in completely different," he told Barca TV. "More than the goals, I feel very good physically and I have been able to play without any pain so I am obviously very happy."

After undergoing the first period of his recovery process in Barcelona, Messi travelled to Argentina to continue his recuperation in December.

There will be high expectations placed upon the 26-year-old over the next seven months as he spearheads Barca's campaign to win trophies on three fronts before leading his country at the World Cup in Brazil.

But after a significant period on the sidelines, he insisted he is just happy to be back playing again. "I am very happy. I was able to spend a lot of time in my country with my family and friends and to get away from everything. "But now I am back I am excited and desperate to have a great year. "I want to keep achieving things, to contribute to our play, help my teammates and hopefully we can achieve our objectives. "They will be five very tough months, but we will fight to win everything, as we always do at this club,

and then I can think about the national team."

Next up for Barcelona is a crucial top of the table clash with Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon on Saturday. The Catalans had always hoped that Messi would be fit to play some part in the Spanish capital, but he said it will be up to Barca coach Gerardo "Tata" Martino whether he starts at the weekend. "I will speak with Tata and he is the one that will decide, but right now I don't know," he said. "No one is irreplaceable. I watched the games at home and they were very impressive. Whoever plays in this squad they always respond to the challenge."

Messi did though confirm that he will definitely attend Monday's Ballon d'Or ceremony in Zurich. For the seventh consecutive year Messi will be amongst the top three for the prize that crowns the world's best player. However, he insisted that winning for a fifth consecutive year is not top of his priority list. "I will go, as always. It is a pleasure to be amongst the top three no matter what the result is. "For me the most important things are the titles you win as a group, but it is always a great compliment to be nominated for what the award represents."

Messi strikes twice on injury return

MADRID, JAnuARy 9 (ReuteRs): Lionel Messi came off the bench and scored twice on his return from injury and Cesc Fabregas also netted a double as Barcelona strolled to a 4-0 win at home to Getafe in their King's Cup last 16, first leg on Wednesday.

Messi was given a rousing ovation by the home fans when he replaced Andres Iniesta in the 64th minute at the Nou Camp, the World Player of the Year's first appearance since straining a thigh muscle in November. Dominant Barca, who rested a number of regulars, were already two goals ahead by the time the Argentina forward entered the fray after Fabregas headed them in front in the eighth minute and added a penalty in the 63rd.

Messi looked fit and sharp during his half-hour on the pitch and his successful return to action is good news for Barca coach Gerardo Martino with Saturday's La Liga clash at title rivals Atletico Madrid looming. His first goal came in the 89th minute when he collected a loose ball in the penalty area and slotted into the corner from close range. His second in added time was a trademark dash in from the right wing and

he left the Getafe defenders floundering before lifting the ball high into the net and bringing the adoring home faithful to their feet.

There was a festive atmosphere despite the giant stadium being less than half full and former Barca coach Tito Vilanova, who is battling the cancer that forced him to step down at the end of last season, was watching from the stands. If they successfully negotiate next week's second leg in Madrid, Barca will meet Rayo Vallecano or Levante, who play their first leg on Thursday, in the quarter-finals.

"It's clear that he (Messi) hasn't forgotten how to play football," Barca captain Carles Puyol said in an interview with Spanish television broadcaster Antenna 3. "He has been training very well and as you could see those are the kind of goals the best players can produce," the Spain defender added. "There is a very long way to go in the league but it's a very important game (on Saturday) against what I think is one of the best teams in the world. "Let's see what we can do and the important thing now is to recover well from tonight's efforts."

GREATEST NIGHT Messi scored one of the best goals of his career against Getafe in a Cup game in April 2007 and although Wednesday's second effort was not in the same league the pace, skill and lethal finish were typically brilliant. As well as scoring twice, he fizzed a free kick narrowly wide and almost set up Pedro with a clever floated cross.

It was fitting way for the Barca fans to celebrate the 20th anniversary of one of the greatest nights in the club's history, a 5-0 La Liga win against bitter rivals Real Madrid on January 8 1994, when Brazil forward Romario netted a hat-trick. In Wednesday's other first legs, second-division Alcorcon surprised top-flight Espanyol with a 1-0 home win, while Real Betis won by the same score against visiting Athletic Bilbao. Third-tier Racing Santander came from a goal down to draw 1-1 at home to Almeria.

'india better than their hockey ranking'

neW DeLhI, JAnuARy 9 (IAns): England's chief hockey coach Bobby Crutchley believes that eight-time Olympic Champions India are much better than their World No.10 ranking.

World No.4 England and India are clubbed in the same group with Olympic champions and World No.1 Germany and New Zealand in the Hockey World League Final that starts here Friday at the Dhyan Chand National Stadium.

England start their campaign against India and Crutchley, who was appointed last year, feels that the hosts can hope to German tennis player Sabine Lisicki holds an Australian Python in the players cafe at Mel- reclaim their lost glory only bourne Park ahead of the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, gradually.

"India's ranking doesn't Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014. (AP Photo)

23rd MDCA Inter Club Cricket Tournament

MOkOkchunG, JAnuARy 9 (Mexn): Day 7 of the ongoing 23rd MDCA Inter Club Cricket Tournament played here at Imkongmeren Sports Complex witnessed two exciting matches today. In the first match of the day, Ascesis CC after winning the toss elected to bat in a good batting surface against a young side, Musketeers CC. Ascesis had a good start and made a decent score of 130/6 in their allotted 20 overs with their skipper Lulen leading from the front who scored 56 runs not out.

He was well supported

by Senti who contributed 30 runs. In reply, Musketeers were put on the back foot from the very first ball of their innings when they lost their opener playing a rash shot. In the middle on their innings, Ascesis captain came to bowl and completely destroyed the Musketeers’ inning by picking up five wickets from his allotted 4 overs conceding only 10 runs. In the process he also became the second bowler in the ongoing tournament to get a Hat-trick.

The Musketeers were eventually bowled out for 67 runs in just 15.2 overs as six of their batsmen got out on a

Duck. Lulen for his all-round performance was named the Man of the Match.

In the second match of the day played between Ethnic CC and Zero Boys, Ethnic CC after winning the toss elected to bat first but could manage to score only 118 runs in their 20 overs losing 6 wickets, with Imliyanger contributing 30 runs. The Zero Boys bowlers bowled a tight line and length deliveries with their strike bowlers Imdong and Luin picking 2 wickets each. Chasing the modest target, Zero Boys had a good opening partnership with Sanen scoring 52 runs.

The Ethnic CC bowlers did not help their captain as they conceded 34 extras which included 21 wide deliveries. The Zero Boys won the match in the 19th over losing only 3 wickets and winning the match by 7 wickets. Sanen was named the Man of The Match for his 52 runs. January 10 will witness two crucial matches between Epullient CC and Sovran CC (8:00 Am) followed by the match which promises to be a high-scoring game between Team Bendangsunep and Mustang CC.

reflect its true potential.

They have the talent but they cannot dream to become the No.1 team overnight but have to take gradual steps to improve," the 43-year-old Crutchley told IANS here on the sidelines of a practice session.

The Briton said both India and England lack consistency and that is hurting them a lot. "Both India and England struggle to achieve consistency. It will be interesting to see whether we can maintain conwistency in the tournament. We would like to keep up our performance at the top level even if we are not getting the results. The focus will be on developing performance and then the results will come.

61st KVSA Meet - Day 3

kOhIMA, JAnuARy 9 (Mexn): Honors were shared equally on Day 3 of the 61st KVSA Meet as the curtains came down on field games, with Lhisemia Thinuo clinching the Football Trophy after edging out Dapfhütsumia Thinuo 3-2. Tsütuonuomia Khel clinched the Volleyball

men's event after defeating Pfuchatsumia Thinuo. Dapfhütsumia thinuo meanwhile defeated Lhisemia thinuo in the Women's Volleyball event. The Meet will have a day's break on January 10 in preparation for the Naga Wrestling event, which will be held on January 11.

Day 3 results Volley Ball (Men) Champions - T. Khel Runners-up- P. Khel Volleyball (Women) Champion- D. Khel Runners-up- L. Khel Football Champion- L. Khel Runners Up- D. Khel

FC Barcelona's Lionel Messi, from Argentina, kicks the ball to score against Getafe during a Copa del Rey soccer match at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain on January 8. (AP Photo)

rodman apologizes for Bae comments

Dennis Rodman tips his hat as U.S. and North Korean basketball players applaud at the end of an exhibition basketball game at an indoor stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea on Wednesday, Jan. 8. Behind him at right is former NBA player Vin Baker. (AP Photo)

PyOnGyAnG, JAnuARy 9 (AP): Dennis Rodman apologized Thursday for comments about captive American missionary Kenneth Bae in an interview with CNN. A day after the former basketball star sang "Happy Birthday" to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and led a squad of former NBA players in a friendly game, Rodman issued the apology through publicist Jules Feiler in an email message to The Associated Press. "I want to apologize," Rodman said. "I take full responsibility for my actions. It had been a very stressful day. Some of my teammates were leaving because of pressure from their families and business associates. My dreams of basketball diplomacy was quickly falling apart. I had been drinking. It's not an excuse but by the time the interview happened I was upset. I was overwhelmed.

It's not an excuse, it's just the truth.

"I want to first apologize to Kenneth Bae's family. I want to apologize to my teammates and my management team. I also want to apologize to Chris Cuomo. I embarrassed a lot of people.

I'm very sorry. At this point I should know better than to make political statements.

I'm truly sorry."

Rodman has been slammed for not using his influence with Kim to help

free Bae, the missionary in poor health who is being confined in the North for "anti-state" crimes. On CNN on Tuesday, Rodman implied Bae was at fault.

Bae's sister, Terri Chung, said his family couldn't believe what Rodman said. "Here's somebody who is in a position to do some good for Kenneth and refuses to do so," Chung told KOMO Radio in Seattle on Wednesday. "And then after the fact, instead, he decides to hurl these unqualified accusations against Kenneth. It's clear he has no idea what he's talking about. I'm not sure who he's talking to, where he's getting his information, but he's certainly no authority on Kenneth Bae." The U.S. State Department distanced itself from Rodman and said it did not want to "dignify" his activities or comments in Pyongyang by commenting on them. But spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the department was open to speaking with Rodman on his return.

"We have not reached out to him. We've said before, if he wants to reach out to us, we're happy to hear from him and what he has to say," she told reporters.

Rodman dedicated the game to his "best friend" Kim, who along with his wife and other senior officials and their wives watched from a special

seating area. The capacity crowd of about 14,000 at the Pyongyang Indoor Stadium clapped loudly as Rodman sang a verse from the birthday song. Rodman said he was honored to be able to play the game in the North Korean capital and called the event "historic."

Some members of the U.S. Congress, the NBA and human rights groups, however, say he has become a public relations tool for North Korea's government.

The government's poor human rights record and its threats to use nuclear weapons against rival South Korea and the United States have kept it a pariah state. Kim shocked the world in December by having his uncle, once considered his mentor, executed after being accused of a litany of crimes including corruption, womanizing, drug abuse and attempting to seize power.

The 52-year-old Rodman has refused to address those concerns while continuing to forge a relationship with Kim, whose age has never been officially disclosed. The government did not say how old he turned Wednesday but he is believed to be in his early 30s. At the start of the game, Rodman sang "Happy Birthday" to Kim, who was seated above in the stands at the stadium, and then bowed deeply as North Korean players clapped.

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as the crowd cheered them on.

Stephen Colbert won the favorite late night talk show host award, Britney Spears picked up the favorite pop artist honor, and Kaley Cuoco received the favorite comedic TV actress prize as well as the favorite TV comedy award, along with the rest of the cast of “The Big Bang Theory.”

Sara Bareilles performed her hit “Brave,” country star Brad Paisley took the stage to sing “The Mona Lisa” and OneRepublic sang “Counting Stars.”

Jennifer Hudson was the show’s second humanitarian award recipient for her work with children via her Julian D. King Gift Foundation. Bullock gained the show’s first humanitarian award in 2013 for her efforts in storm-ravaged New Orleans.

Accompanied on stage by her sister Julia, Hudson, holding back tears, accepted the favorite humanitarian award. “My mother always taught us without family you have nothing,” Hudson said. “Whether you know it or not, we all are family.

What happens to the other happens to us. It’s one thing to be a celebrity and have power, but it means nothing if we’re not making a difference and helping someone else. It feels good to see positivity acknowledged. Where we come from all you hear about is who shot who and who went to jail.

There is more to life than the block you live on. We want to show them that I came from the same area and if I can do it, you can do it too.”

LL Cool J presented Hudson with the award. The Oscar-winning actress created the Chicago-based Julian D. King Gift Foundation with her sister, Julia Hudson, in honor of her nephew, Julian King, who was murdered in 2008 at the age of 7.

“2 Broke Girls” stars Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs hosted the show at the Nokia Theatre.

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People’s Choice Awards A pregnant Drew Barrymore, who joked that DeGeneres had called her fat backstage, presented her “Blended” co-star Adam Sandler with the comedic movie actor award.

After debuting her talk show “The Queen Latifah Show” in 2013, fans crowned Queen Latifah their favorite new talk show host.

Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev, the stars of “The Vampire Diaries,” earned the award for best onscreen chemistry at the People’s Choice Awards. The duo, who had their round of break-ups and makeups on-screen and off, joked about their coupledom.

“The good thing is chemistry,” said Dobrev, with her arm around Somerhalder, who she is no long romantically attached to. They managed to make a would-be awkward moment entertaining by addressing their buzz-worthy pairing head-on.

Shemar Moore heavily hit on fellow presenter Malin Akerman, cracking jokes about ebony and ivory and saying he didn’t see a ring on her finger. She played right along, leaning in

Manyata rushed to hospital n Tuesday morning, Sanjay Dutt rushed wife Manyata to a multi-speciality hospital in Parel after she collapsed at home. The doctor immediately suggested that she be admitted, as her condition appeared serious.

Dr Ajay Chaughule, who is handling Manyata’s case, confirmed the news, “Yes, Manyata was brought in a state of near emergency. But we need to run several tests before we can establish the cause. As things stand right now, she will have to remain in hospital.”

When asked if it’s the tumour in the liver, which lead to the emergency admission, he said, “Right now, I’m not in a position to comment on this.”

In a previous interview with the paper, the doctor had said, “Manyata has a 6 cm tumour in her liver and that’s

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10 January 2014

Sandra Bullock SweepS

andra Bullock re i g n e d s u preme at the 40th annual People’s Choice Awards, taking home four trophies as the evening’s top winner.

The actress was named favorite movie actress, comedic actress, dramatic actress and shared the favorite movie duo award with “Gravity” co-star George Clooney. Bullock’s buddy comedy, “The Heat,” costarring Melissa McCarthy, was awarded favorite comedic movie.

Fans deemed Ellen DeGeneres their favorite daytime TV host, making her the woman who has gained the most People’s Choice Awards with a total of 14 trophies.

“As a young girl growing up in New Orleans, if anyone would have told me I was going to win 14 People’s Choice Awards I...I mean 12, yes.

13, maybe. But 14?” joked DeGeneres, host of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” who said that she wanted to make the show for everyone from old, young, black, white, guy and straight.

“Iron Man 3” scored three awards including favorite movie, action movie and the film’s star, Robert Downey Jr., channeling Iron Man in his acceptance speech, received the favorite action movie star honor.

Justin Timberlake also nabbed three awards. Among them was the favorite album accolade for “The 20/20 Experience.” In a sweet moment, he thanked his “beautiful wife,” Jessica Biel, “for teaching me patience and the little things like just putting the dishes in the dishwasher. It goes a long way. Fellas, you’re welcome.”

Katy Perry, who was not at the show, scored the win for favorite video for the third year in a row, following up last year’s award for “Part of Sandra Bullock, winner of the Favorite Movie Actress, Favorite Dramatic Movie Actress and Favorite Comedic Me” and 2012’s honor for “Last FriMovie Actress poses in the press room at the 40th annual day Night” with her hit “Roar” this year.

People’s Choice Awards. (AP Photo)

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definitely not small. Only further tests can say if the tumour is cancerous. If it is not cancerous she may need to undergo a surgery, maybe after 15 years. “ A source close to the actor however stated that the reason is not the tumour. Manyata was running a temperature since a fortnight and the antibiotics didn’t help. “Yesterday her condition worsened. We are told that her left lung had filled with fluid and that was the reason she collapsed,” said the source. The source added, “Sanjay has not left Manyata’s side.

And as this is a critical time for the family, he has requested some privacy. “ When probed about her present medical condition, Chaughule refused to reveal details but ruled out the possibility of discharging Manyata any time soon.

Britney Spears poses in the press room with her award for Favorite Pop Artist at the 40th annual People’s Choice Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Jan. 8, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo)

Rakesh Vashisth replaces Karan Singh Grover as Asad!

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n the upcoming episodes, Razia Begum (Alka Kaushal) will attack Zoya (Surbhi Jyoti) with the help of goons and try to kill her. Razia will talk about having killed Zoya’s mother 17 years ago, but unfortunately Ms Farooqui is unconscious to hear it.

However, Razia will not succeed in killing her as Raqesh Vashisth aka the new Asad Ahmed Khan will rescue the damsel in distress just in time. Asad will fight the goons and rescue and Zoya.

We saw the first promo of Raqesh Vashisth as Asad and frankly, we are not impressed. The chemistry that

Surbhi Jyoti shared with Karan Singh Grover was like fire onscreen. The RakeshSurbhi jodi somehow seems ice cold in comparison. Is it ‘coz we are too used to seeing KSG on the screen with Zoya or does RV and Surb-

hi’s chemistry really lack the spark? We could be jumping the gun and deciding too soon. So, giving them the benefit of doubt, let’s wait for the first episode to be aired on January 10 on Zee TV and then give our verdict.

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Selena Camps With Justin Sallu does it again Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber went camping in Chris Brown’s luxurious RV in Santa Cruz, California over the weekend.

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elena Gomez and Justin Bieber went camping in Chris Brown’s RV. The on/off couple, who recently fuelled speculation they have reunited after splitting in early 2013 after two tumultuous years together, rented the ‘Fine China’ hitmaker’s luxurious Prevost RV last weekend and parked the $1.5 million campervan at the upscale KOA Kampgrounds near Santa Cruz, California for $65 a night.

The 21-year-old brunette beauty and the 19-year-old star spent the day jumping on the camp’s trampoline and riding Segways, according to gossip website TMZ.com.

Santa Cruz Deputy Chief of Police Steve Clark also told the Santa Cruz Sentinel that the ‘Heartbreaker’ singer arrived in the area on Sunday (05.01.14) and was spotted in nearby Aptos, California, with Selena, who attempted to slip under the radar of locals by wearing a blonde wig, on Monday night (06.01.14).

The duo reportedly ran into the Seascape Beach Resort and Selena’s wig fell off when they realised they revealed that Demi Lova- agnosed with Lupus, and cancelled the remaining to “spearheaded” Selena, Justin’s reunion after the dates of her world tour last had been recognised.

A source previously who has allegedly been di- ‘Come & Get It’ hitmaker month to focus on herself.

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e hear a lot about Salman Khan’s philanthropy but Mirror lensman Sachin Haralkar caught the man in the act. While leaving an event at Bandra’s Mehboob Studio yesterday, the star spotted a man and his wheelchair bound son, looking for help. The 48-year-old actor gestured to them and after the two came forward, with much trepidation, Salman enquired about their troubles. The man, Kailash Chandanshiv, 45, told the star that he hails from Belapur and is in the city to seek treatment for his 14-year-old son Vijay, who is unable to walk because of a medical condition.

Immediately, Salman took out a piece of paper and wrote down a doctor’s number, asking Kailash to contact him. He then told an awestruck Kailash that all the expenses will be borne by him.

Mirror spoke to the doctor, Sandeep

Chopra, who is attached with a South called me up and said that we need Mumbai hospital, while also acting to take care of Vijay’s case on prioras a consultant to Salman Khan’s Be- ity basis. We will ensure that financial and medical help is extended to them,” said the doctor.

After successfully hosting four consecutive seasons of Bigg Boss, Salman Khan will appear on the small screen next year as the host of a new show concerning social causes. However the star says that it will not be anything like Aamir Khan’s Satyamev Jayate. “We are working on something which is different. It is not be along the lines of Satyamev Jayate. We will have a lot more entertainment in it. We will rock next year,” Salman told the media at an event. The actor who had also hosted another reality show Dus Ka ing Human Foundation. “We have Dum, added: “The show that I will be treated Vijay before but he lost touch hosting will change a lot of things. It’s with us. After meeting him near Me- a brand new show altogether, which hboob Studio, Salman immediately will talk about social causes.”

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Man City crushes West Ham in League Cup

MANCHESTER, JANuARy 9 (AP): Manchester City consigned beleaguered West Ham to a second hammering inside four days by romping to a 6-0 victory in the first leg of their League Cup semifinal on Wednesday, with Alvaro Negredo leading the rout with a clinical hat trick.

Wembley Stadium — and a first appearance in the final since 1976 — couldn't be any closer for free-scoring City after an embarrassingly one-sided contest that also featured two goals from Edin Dzeko and another by Yaya Toure.

The result heaped further humiliation on West Ham and its under-fire manager Sam Allardyce, who saw his relegation-threatened side lose 5-0 at second-tier Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup on Sunday.

"It's not unique to us is it?" Allardyce said. "Manchester City have done this to Tottenham and Manchester United. We knew they had to have an off night and they didn't."

Sunderland beat Manchester United 2-1 on Tuesday in the first leg of the other semifinal. The second legs are in two weeks' time.

Allardyce had fielded a shadow side full of kids and fringe squad members against Forest to ensure his main players were fully recharged for this match.

It proved to be a complete waste of time.

They were steamrollered by a City team that took its goal tally at the Etihad this season to 59 in 15 games. At times, it was embarrassing and downright

‘Thrashing was to be expected’

LONDON, JANuARy 9 (REuTERS): West Ham United's 6-0 thrashing by Manchester City was to be expected given the difference in cost of their squads, manager Sam Allardyce said after the League Cup semi-final first leg on Wednesday.

The London club, who lost 5-0 to second tier Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup on Sunday, were taken apart by City's free-scoring side in a mis-match that effectively ended their hopes of reaching the Wembley final. Allardyce, whose squad has been severely depleted by injuries, said the result was down to the simple matter of money.

"They are a side who have outstanding players because they spend outstanding money," he said on Sky Sports. "What do you expect when you have free transfers against players who cost millions and millions?

"Let's face the fact, City have Manchester City's Alvaro Negredo celebrates after scoring past West Ham United's goalkeeper Adrian during their English League Cup semifinal soccer a miles better squad and are on miles better money. For match at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester, England, Wednesday Jan. 8. (AP Photo) cruel as the hosts toyed with their opponents, with Negredo moving onto 18 for the season in his first year at City.

"Playing better than the way he did today is not easy," Pellegrini said of Negredo. "He really played a complete game." City was everything United wasn't against Sunderland: sharp, full of movement and unfor-

giving in front of goal. The gap between the two Manchester rivals hasn't been so great in a generation.

Negredo and Toure were at the heart of everything for City and they combined beautifully for the first goal in the 12th minute. Toure floated a long pass through the middle of West Ham's open defense, the ball dropping over the

shoulder of Negredo who buried a first-time volley into the corner.

The Spain striker made it 2-0 in the 26th by sprinting onto Dzeko's reverse pass and delivering a finish on the slide, and Toure inflicted more punishment just before halftime, running from halfway toward back-pedaling defender Roger Johnson and calmly

stroking a shot low into the center of the goal.

Johnson was signed from third-tier Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday to ease West Ham's defensive injury crisis that has deprived Allardyce of all his center backs.

He couldn't have endured a more miserable debut.

The misery was far from over for West Ham,

either. Negredo completed his second hat trick for City with a snapshot in the 49th after David Silva's low cross deflected into his path and strike partner Dzeko got in on the act on the hour mark, poking home a nearpost finish from Gael Clichy's center.

As Allardyce looked on gloomily from the technical area as the rain poured

down, Dzeko added the sixth in the 89th with a vicious left-footed shot into the top corner. Allardyce was given a vote of confidence from West Ham's co-chairmen after the Forest defeat but he looked a beaten man here.

"However hard they tried, and they did, was not good enough to stop the quality and talents Man City

us it is about not letting the players get too low."

Allardyce's position at West Ham has come under scrutiny with the London club currently 19th in the Premier League and facing a scrap to avoid relegation to the second tier.

They gambled on signing striker Andy Carroll from Liverpool on a big-money permanent deal in the close season, but have yet to see any return on their investment. Carroll has only just returned to training having missed the start of the season through injury.

West Ham are in a perilous position having won one of their last 13 league matches, but the club's owners publicly backed their manager this week in an open letter to fans. "They (the owners) really mean it because we keep talking and communicating," Allardyce said. "We are actively communicating between each other on the injured front and trying to bring players into the club." have bought on the finance that is available to them," Allardyce said. City has won all 12 of its home games in domestic competition this season and scored 92 goals in 31 games in all competitions. "We have not arrived in the final but we are very near," Pellegrini said. "It is very important to continue in all the competitions playing the way we did today."

India's No.1 position in ICC Gutta, Ponnappa lose in Korea Open Superseries Clippers emerge victorious over Celtics rankings at stake against NZ DubAi, JANuARy 9 (PTi): India will have to beat New Zealand in the upcoming ODI series to retain their top spot in the ICC rankings as Australia and England have a chance to topple Mahendra Singh Dhoni`s men from the perch.

Australia are currently ranked second with 114 ratings points, six ratings behind number-one ranked India, while England is ranked third on 111 ratings points.

Australia was last ranked number-one in July 2012, only to be overtaken by England who held the top position till December 2012. Australia and England`s rise to the top position however, is dependent on how India fare

in their five-match series against host New Zealand, which begins on January 19 in Napier.

For both England and Australia to go top, they would not just need wins themselves but also hope that New Zealand gets the better of India. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli is the highest-ranked Indian in the batsmen`s rankings at the second spot with Shikhar Dhawan being the next best-placed at 10th.

In the bowlers` list, Ravindra Jadeja is the highest-ranked Indian at sixth followed by R Ashwin at the 16th position after going up a rung. Jadeja is also the best among the Indians in the all-rounders` list at the fifth spot.

Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin, right, blocks Boston Celtics guard Jordan Crawford route to the basket during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Jan. 8. (AP Photo)

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LOS ANGELES, JANuARy 9 (AP): The Clippers are coping with the loss of Chris Paul, winning two of their first three since the All-Star guard went down with a shoulder injury. Blake Griffin scored 29 points and Jamal Crawford added 26 in their 111105 victory over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night, improving the Clippers to 16-3 at home.

"Without C.P., we know we have to take care of home games," said Jared Dudley, who scored 18 points. Darren Collison had 15 points, six assists and five rebounds in place of Paul, who is out six weeks with a separated shoulder. DeAndre Jordan had 11 points and 13 rebounds in giving Clippers coach Doc Rivers a second win over his old team this season. "The first quarter, we were really good, then we played in spurts," Rivers said. "We had a chance early to throw a knockdown and we didn't. They almost pulled it out."

Los Angeles improved to 12-10 without Paul in the lineup since he arrived in 2011. "Nobody can make up

SEOuL, JANuARy 9 (PTi): Commonwealth Games gold medallist pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa suffered a straight-game defeat in the third round of the women's doubles competition to crash out of $600,000 Korea Open Super Series badminton tournament on Thursday.

The world championship bronze medallist combo of Gutta and Ponnappa lost 1821, 12-21 to third seeded Korean pair of Ye Na Jang and So Young Kim in a 40-minute contest. Ponnappa also suffered a heartbreak at the mixed doubles competition when she along with her partner Tarun Kona lost 10-21, 15-21 to seventh seeded German combo of Michael Fuchs and Birgit Michels in another 31 minute match. With these losses, Indian campaign ended at the Korea Open as singles shuttlers had suffered disappointing defeats in the first round itself.

for that, so we have to lean on each other," Crawford said about Paul's loss. Jordan Crawford and Avery Bradley scored 24 points each in Boston's sixth straight loss overall and ninth in 10 games.

The Celtics have dropped six in a row on the road while continuing to struggle without injured Rajon Rondo, who has a torn ACL in his right knee.

Jared Sullinger was called for a flagrant-1 technical on Griffin with 10 minutes left in the game.

Griffin was driving to the basket when Sullinger ended up on Griffin's back. "I told Blake, 'My bad if you thought I was a little rough,' and he said he understood," Sullinger said. "He's just protecting himself, just like I was protecting myself. So there really wasn't any chippiness between me and Blake. We were just playing physical basketball."

It was Sullinger's fifth flagrant this season and third in two nights. He received two in Boston's 129-98 loss at Denver on Tuesday, although one of those was rescinded earlier Wednesday.

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