10th February 2014

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Dimapur VOL. IX ISSUE 38

The Morung Express “

www.morungexpress.com

Rahul accuses Naveen Patnaik govt of corruption [ PAGE 8]

Showstopper for NE Ethnic Outfit & Voice Fusion [ PAGE 11]

Towards social change: Seminar held at BTC

[ PAGE 9]

Vote on www.morungexpress.com SMS your answer to 9862574165 Do you agree that Bureaucracy in Nagaland still holds the actual realms of power?

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Delhi Police SIT to probe Manipuri girl’s rape

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NEw DElHI, FEBRUARY 9 (IANS): A Special Investigating Team (SIT) led by Deputy Commissioner of Police B.S. Jaiswal has been formed to probe the rape of a teenaged Manipuri girl here, police sources said. The girl Sunday recorded her statement before a magistrate’s court. The 14-year-old girl was forcibly grabbed by her landlord’s son, taken to a vacant room and brutally raped in south Delhi’s Vasant Vihar area Friday night. Following protest, police registered a case and arrested the accused. Police sources said the SIT will conduct further investigation into the case. Officers who probed the Dec 16 gang rape will also be in the team. They will collect evidence and prepare the charge sheet as soon as possible, sources added. An SIT led by Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police P.S. Kushwaha investigated the Dec 16 gang rape of the physiotherapy student by six attackers inside a moving bus. She died in a Singapore hospital after 13 days. The SIT had filed the charge sheet within 17 days following the arrest of all six accused.

Meanwhile, police said the Manipuri girl’s statement was recorded Sunday. “She was taken before a magistrate’s court by her father. Her statement was recorded under section 164 CrPC (recording of statement),” a police officer told IANS. The girl, on Friday night, went out to buy some householditemswhenthe accused forcibly grabbed her in front of a pharmacy, dragged her to a vacant room and raped her. The girl suffered injuries to her face in the attack. She underwent medical tests at Safdarjung Hospital.

–Khalil Gibran

[ PAGE 10]

‘Pvt. sector should get free hand in education’

By Sandemo Ngullie

The Morung Express POLL QUESTIOn

Monday, February 10, 2014 12 pages Rs. 4

Srinivasan’s brother N Ramachandran [ PAGE 2] elected unopposed Syria: Aid workers resume as IOA president evacuations from Homs

reflections

“You`re a veteran politician, you`re..you`re..Aaggrr..just give back the money you stole from my handbag!”

”

If your heart is a volcano, how shall you expect flowers to bloom?

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day said.

UFBU is the umbrella organisation of five employee unions and four officer unions of state-run banks. All nine unions under its aegis have given the strike call. UFBU had earlier called a strike on January 20-21, which was

deferred after the Indian Banks Association (IBA) increased its initial offer to 9.5 percent, from 5 percent, with a promise to improve it further. UFBA said it had called the strike as the discussions on wage revision have been tardy since the last one year.

CHENNAI, FEBRUARY 9 (IANS): The private sector should be given a free hand in the education sector, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi said Sunday.

He also said that the government should set up the Indian Institute of Technology, the Indian Institute of Management and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in all states.

Speaking at the 9th convocation of the SRM University near here, Modi said: “The private sector is more than eager to enter this field. I am personally quite convinced that we should give them a free hand.”

However he said institution building should begin with the government and it is “our commitment to set up IIT, IIM and AIIMS in every state”. He said good educational institutions could be set in every part of the country if given the right environment.

“This is an era of knowl-

to involve members of the civil society, tribal hohos, youth organisations, students, women organisations and the general public is indeed a step in the right direction,” stated the ACAUT, further calling out for the above mentioned meeting at Chumukedima.

The ACAUT has additionally stated that “The NSCN should not allow petty issues like forceful sale of calendar sully its name,” also pointing out that the NSCN (IM) “does not intent to abide” by the ‘Rules & Guidelines for Protection of the General Public Against Illegal Tax, 2013’ approved by its Collective Leadership with regards to the sale of calendars.

ZUNHEBOTO, FEBRUARY 9 (MExN): In response to the Naga Hoho’s recent call for reconciliatory measures between the Sumi people and the NSCN (IM), Sumi frontal organizations have resolved to stick to their January 7 resolution, which stated that “the relationship between Sumis and the NSCN (IM) is hereby delinked and abrogated and all ties with that organization is severed . . .”

The Sumi Hoho reiterated that as per the January 7 resolution, “. . .all kinds of taxations from the Sumis to the NSCN (IM) shall cease to exist.”

A press note from the Sumi Hoho President, Hovishe Arkha and Secretary,

Vihuto Assumi informed that the said decision was taken at the general meeting of all Sumi Frontal Organizations on February 7 at Sumi Hoho Ki, Zunheboto.

The meeting further declared February 12, 2014 as a “Sumi Prayer and Fasting Day” and urged all Sumis to observe the day with prayers and fasting, in order to “seek God’s divine protection from natural calamities. . .” The meeting also acknowledged the “word of warning from believers that the Holy Spirit has forewarned the Sumi people of great tribulation” in the days to come.”

It then agreed to further strengthen the zeal

Gay rights activists from India’s northeastern states participate in a protest against a recent Indian Supreme court decision upholding a law that criminalizes gay sex in Guwahati on February 9. The Supreme Court recently reversed a landmark 2009 verdict of a lower court that had decriminalized gay sex. The country’s highest court had said it’s up to lawmakers, not judges, to change the law. (AP Photo)

All-india banks on 2-day strike from today

NEw DElHI, FEBRUARY 9 (IANS): Banking services in the country would be hit from Monday, with staff of both public and private sector banks planning a two-day strike against the proposed banking sector reforms and for immediate revision in

wages. Over a million bank employees and officers working in 27 public sector banks, including the State Bank of India, and 12 private and eight foreign banks, will go on a twoday nationwide strike Feb 10-11, the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) Sun-

edge. This is the only potent route to fight poverty. We have to review our commitment to education,” said Modi, who is also the Gujarat chief minister.

He said education was the route to eradicate poverty and every child in India must be educated.

Reminding the students that very few people were able to access good educational institutions in India, Modi urged them help the underprivileged.

Modi said 65 percent of India’s population was under 35 years, and youths needed to embrace skill and speed. Skill development, he said, was the need of the hour and should get priority. “Japan is a small country but is running bullet trains.”

He said India was a diverse country with diverse natural resources which have to be harnessed efficiently. Naural resources should be mined in a sustainable manner while the rivers must be linked.

Stressing the importance of developing scientific temper, Modi said research and development as well as innovations have to be encouraged.

Modi advised the students to create in India companies like Google and Microsoft.

Avinash Chander, scientific advisor to the defence minister and director general of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, called for setting up of more R and D institutions in India.

He said sustained efforts were needed so that the armed forces have cutting edge technologies.

Earlier, SRM University founder chancellor T.R. Pachamuthu said that 70 percent of its students hailed from outside Tamil Nadu.

Its student population was drawn from 47 countries, he said. SRM University was also one of the few universities in the world to put a satellite in space, Pachamuthu said.

towards uplift and functioning of the Sumi Literature Board. The meeting also resolved that the Sumi Hoho shall extend its full co-operation towards the Zunheboto-Chakhabama road, currently in progress, under the SARDP program.

It cautioned that the Sumi Hoho would initiate for cessation of all government funded schemes to any village, within the jurisdiction of the work, which objects to the construction of this road, especially on land compensation issues.

It added that this would be done through intimation to the district administration.

It was informed that a committee called the Sumi

Migration Research Committee would be formed, consisting of Dr. Hokishe Yeptho as Convenor, Dr. Hotokhu Chishi, H S Rotokha, president Sumi Hoho and President Sumi Kukami Hoho as members.

The meeting then decided that a Sumi Customary Law Research Committee be constituted with former Sumi Hoho President, Huskha Yepthomi as Convener; Sumi Hoho Secretary, Vihuto Assumi as Secretary; HK Sumi, Former Chief Justice and HS Rotokha, Former Sumi Hoho President as members.

The next Sumi Hoho Annual Session is scheduled to be held on March 14.

ACAUT asks people to attend sumi orgs stick to January 7 resolution February 13 Chumu meeting

DIMAPUR, FEBRUARY 9 (MExN): The Action Committee Against Unabated Taxation (ACAUT) has called upon “every concerned individuals and organizations” to attend the public meeting to be held on February 13, 9:00am at the Saturday Weekly Market, Chumukedima. This was stated in a press release from the ACAUT’s media cell.

Reiterating its need to be “duty bound” by the October 31 Public Resolution on the issue of taxation, the ACAUT noted that its movement is “gathering momentum in the light of very important decision taken by various organisations, namely, DUCCCF

(Dimapur Urban Colony Council Chairmen Federation) & GBs Union Dimapur, covering 87 colonies or roughly 2 lakh population or 10% of Nagaland population, CCCTA (Chumukedima Chamber of Commerce and Trade Association) and Chamber of Commerce, Mon not to pay tax to any NPGs as per the 31st October Public Resolution.”

The ACAUT has also pointed out that Purana Bazar Village Council, Padumpukhuri VC, Darogapathar VC and Naharbari VC had taken the same decision on November 23, 2013, “much to the gratitude of concerned citizens all over the state.”

“The stand of CCCTA

NERPF deplores ‘systematic neglect’ of NE

Demands justice for assaulted NE persons

KOHIMA, FEBRUARY 9 (MExN): The North East Regional Parties Front (NERPF) has expressed serious concern over the treatment of people from the North East in other parts of the country. A press note from the Secretary of the NERPF, Abu Metha, stated that the Nagaland Chief Minister, along with all affiliates of the NERPF, condemns the “continuous discrimination towards the people of the region.”

The NERPF termed it unfortunate that the Government of India “is waking up from its slumber of systematic neglect of the region only now,” only after people of the region have protested and all regional parties of the region have taken the matter to the President of India and the Union Government.

It condemned the rape

NEFIS condemns February 7 rape DIMAPUR, FEBRUARY 9 (MExN): The North East Forum for International Solidarity (NEFIS) has condemned the rape of a 14 year old girl in Munirka on February 7. A press note from the NEFIS informed that the victim has suffered fatal injuries and is now admitted in Safdarjung hospital. It alleged that the police had initially refused to file an FIR, but eventually relented, after pressure from the NEFIS and various women and student organizations. It lamented that incidents of violence towards people from the north east have increased rapidly over the past few years and asserted that it is time for police and the administration to take cognizance of this growing menace. It called upon the authorities to be proactive in the protection of vulnerable sections of society.

“Otherwise these issues will snowball into nationwide protests and agitation,” it added. NEFIS further called for protests in all north east cities against the repeated violence towards people from the region.

of a fourteen year old girl in New Delhi on February 7, the assault on two women from Manipur and the assault on Nido Tania, from Arunachal Pradesh, who eventually passed away on February 30. The NERPF said that these incidents are “just the tip of the enormous amount of discrimination that the people of the north east have to face, and are facing all over the country, especially in the

national capital.”

While welcoming steps taken by the central government in setting up a panel and assurances given by the Delhi Chief Minister, the NERPF felt that these steps are “too late and too little.” It asserted that the Government of India must come up with concrete steps to ensure that discrimination of people of the north east is addressed as a national issue,

“instead of making piecemeal announcements from time to time.”

The party extended its support and solidarity to the victims, their families and the people who have been “peacefully protesting in the most civilized and democratic manner.”

It demanded that the Government of India take immediate steps to set up state-of-the-art modern educational institutions, in all spheres, within the north eastern region. It further called for creation of infrastructure and economic policies backed by concrete action, which will create education and job opportunities for the youth within the region.

The NERPF urged that immediate justice be delivered and that severest form of punishment be handed to the culprits involved in these “inhuman crimes.” The NERPF stated that these cases have “hurt the sentiments of the millions of people in the north eastern region and shamed the reputation of the world’s largest democracy.”

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Monday 10 February 2014

E-governance initiatives in Nagaland; departments fail to promote IT culture Our Correspondent Kohima | February 9

In Nagaland, e-governance programme was initially conceptualized in 2003, and since then, department of information technology has been doing whatever it can to promote it.

In the last few years, Government of India has placed special emphasis on e-governance with the sole aim of bringing information and services through Information Communication Technology (ICT) to the remotest corner of the country.

E-governance as a concept was initially meant to improve government decision making, increase accountability and reliability and also promote faster flow of information to the citizens.

“Our ultimate aim is to create an IT savvy society that is trustworthy and efficient but we are still a long way towards achieving our goal,” said K.D. Vizo, commissioner & secretary for IT&C at the recently concluded sensitization workshop on e-governance organized by National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology (NIELIT).

Vizo said that way back in July 2004, the state government under the chairmanship of chief minister Neiphiu Rio had approved the IT policy of Nagaland.

However, he maintained that most of the departments have not done much to promote IT culture, and stated “if we are to catch up with the rest of the country the time has now come for each and every department

to pay some attention to the much neglected area of IT.” According to IT policy of Nagaland, all the departments are to earmark 2-3% of its annual plan budget for IT/e-governance related activities, set up IT task force under the chairmanship of the AHoD concerned, and prepare a five year IT plan. Further, all departments are to create their own websites and upload all important information on their website, and all existing government employees are to be given computer training.

The state government has also decided to introduce SMART ID card for all government employees which will be linked to centralized personnel information system.

The commissioner & secretary said that now all AHoDs/HoDs need to re-

view how far IT policy has been implemented in their respective departments.

Attributing the delay in implementation of IT policy to acute shortage of manpower at all levels, Vizo said “currently IT directorate have only seven regular officers and seven regular supporting staff which is abnormally low as compared to other neighboring states.” He added that IT department needs to have at least 50 regular staff to carry forward the state IT policy.

Further, stating that, despite not having a building of its own, IT department has been trying its best to copy e-governance style of countries like Singapore and Israel, Vizo requested all the departments to support the IT department in e-governance initiatives.

The Morung Express C

Co-exist as one: Tovihoto

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Parliamentary Secretary, Tovihoto Ayemi (right) addressing Muslim community (left) at Igdah Ground Dimapur on Sunday. (Morung photo) Morung Express News

Addressing Seerat-unNabi conference at Igdah Ground Dimapur on Sunday, Parliamentary Secretary for IT&C, Science & Technology, Technical Education and Taxes, Tovihoto Ayemi called for peaceful co-existence of all communities in Dimapur, which is inhabited by people from different parts of the country.

To co-exist as one, he stressed on restraint and patience and thrashing out

any differences peacefully and democratically. “We do not have to go to other parts of India to experience ‘Unity in Diversity.’

Here itself, we can learn to live in unity in spite of our differences in religion, race, caste, colour etc,” he added.

In the midst of thousands of Muslims, he said brotherhood should be maintained at all cost in every aspect of day-to-day life to bring in peace and harmony. He said it was the collective responsibility of all civilized people to act in

unison by plugging their differences for the larger cause of humanity.

Noting that the Muslim community plays an active role in the economic sector in the state especially Dimapur, Tovihoto urged them to maintain honesty and truthfulness in line with the examples shown by the holy Prophet Muhammed. He told the sea of Muslims to make the teachings of the Prophet an inherent part of their life and try to follow his steps.

On the occasion of Seerat-un-Nabi, Tovihoto

also called upon the community to look upon the sacred practical life of Muhammad as an example to pave goals towards peace and prosperity.

During the programme, representatives from Naga Council, Dimapur District Citizens’ Forum, East Dimapur Business Association and others also spoke.

SP Dimapur, V.Z. Angami and DDCCI President, Hokivi Chishi were also present.

The Seerat-un-Nabi Conference was organised by Igdah Committee Dimapur.

In a letter addressed to the Chakhesang Public Organization (CPO) signed by CSU president, Thupukutho Lohe and general secretary, Seve Vadeo, the Union appealed the authority of CPO for consideration and approval and effective implementation of the resolution for the best interest of the community “so as to check and avoid malpractices in issuing of indigenous certificate to any individuals.”

The committee convenor Vevoyi and co-convenor

Kuzhovesa Soho stated that the identity verification certificates for issuing of indigenous inhabitant certificate issued by VCC be accepted only when the certificate is countersigned by the Head GB, students’ union president, youth president and respective khel/clan GB as witnesses. The committee further demanded that all Chakhesang indigenous inhabitant certificates issued to non-Chakhesangs be canceled immediately.

The committee asked

that the identity verification certificate for obtaining indigenous inhabitant certificate be signed by VCC, Head GB, students’ union president, youth president and applicant’s khel GB. The same certificate for obtaining indigenous inhabitant certificate, the committee report stated, shall not be issued to children of non-Chakhesang fathers as well as nonChristian children adopted

by Chakhesang parents.

However, women becom-

ing Chakhesang tribe by marriage shall be eligible on production of an affidavit, it stated; adding the identity verification certificate for obtaining indigenous inhabitant certificate shall be issued to a person only if he/she is a permanent resident and belongs to Chakhesang tribe. A person from a forward tribe brought into Chakhesang tribe by marriage shall not be eligible for acquiring Backward Tribe certificate, it added.

Dimapur | February 9

Towards social change: CSU on issuing indigenous inhabitant certificate Seminar held at BTC

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pFutsero, February 9 (mexN): Students' Association of Baptist Theological College (BTC), Pfutsero organised a oneday seminar under the theme: "Towards Social Change" on February 8 at the college.

Kesonyu Yhome, IAS, DC, Kiphire District and Alole Khalo, MA (Mass Communication), Librarian, Pfutsero Government College were the resource persons. Kesonyu Yhome spoke on “Christian responsibility towards social change”. According to a press release issued by Z.K. Pahrii Pou, lecturer, BTC, he emphasized on the importance of employing scientific and secular knowledge in Christian ministry; building up accommodative attitude towards people of other denominations, faiths, and the less unfortunates people in our society; diversifying professional arena by recognising the different gifts of God to each individual; taking the responsibility of providing compassionate social service and taking care of environment.

Meanwhile, Alole Khalo spoke on “Media and social change”. She highlighted the importance of understanding change in our society in

Kohima, February 9 (mexN): Chakhesang Students’ Union (CSU) has constituted a committee for framing modalities on issuing of indigenous certificates to the Chakhesang inhabitants of Phek district.

The Union on accepting the committee reports/recommendations resolved and adopted to implement the same within Chakhesang jurisdiction in the 4th union assembly of CSU held during its 67th general conference at Khuza town.

D.El.Ed admission forms available for Kohima dist

Kesonyu Yhome, IAS, (right) releases a book during the seminar held at BTC, Pfutsero on February 8.

order to be effective minister of God. She pointed out that “media construct messages with embedded values” and that “messages are targeted for certain section of people” to fulfill certain purpose/interest. She also stressed on the power of media which influence and shape one's thoughts and actions: political, economic,

social and religious.

During the Seminar, DC Kesonyu Yhome also released a book titled "Exploring For a Better World", authored by Liba Hopeson (BD Final Year). The book is available at the following places: Academic Book House, Near Old NST, Kohima (9402435436), and CPC Kohima (8731872459).

OBITUARY

GG Kammei

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Kohima, February 9 (mexN): In pursuance of government’s notification NO.EDS/SCERT-6/96 dated January 24, 2014 on the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the State of Nagaland and National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), New Delhi to introduce twoyear Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed.) through distance mode for untrained regular in-service teachers, District Education Officer, Kohima, Senthang has informed all concerned

that application forms for the same for Kohima district are being made available in three sub-divisional education officers, namely Kohima, Chiephobozou and Tseminyu with immediate effect.

According to the MoU, the course will be conducted jointly by NIOS and SCERT for those appointed after September 3, 2001 and not having professional qualification like B.Ed./D. El.Ed./PSTE/CPTE. The course is compulsory for the aforesaid teachers

and has to be completed within three years beginning April, 2014 till March, 2017, failing which teachers will be compelled to go on voluntary retirement.

The filled-in application forms should be submitted by desiring candidates strictly following the conditions of the aforementioned government notification through respective SDEOs to reach the District Education Officer, Kohima latest by February 28 for onward submission, the officer added.

Training on leadership, personality development and life skills

God saw that he was getting tired, a cure was not to be. So He put His arms around him and whispered, "Come with Me." With tearful eyes, we watched him suffer, and saw him fade away. Although we loved him dearly, we could not make him stay. A golden heart stopped beating, hard working hands to rest. God broke our hearts to prove to us He only takes "the best".

(Anonymous)

Mr Gaiduwan Gaipuizei Kammei, born June 27, 1944 passed away to be with the heavenly father on February 06, 2014. “G G Kammei” was born as the second son and child to late Mr. Gaipuizei Kamei and late Ms. Kazaigailiu Rwangmei of Raenghzaeng Village.

He graduated from Kohima Night College in 1968. During his life he served in Nagaland and Manipur as Field Publicity Officer as an officer of the central government (1974 to 2003) with the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. He extensively toured remote parts of Manipur and Nagaland, spreading messages of culture, health, social and environmental awareness among many others. He was an avid reader and a prolific writer on health (specifically on the dangers of tobacco consumption), Nruangmei literature and culture, folklore, and the gospel of Christianity, with several publications to his credit.

He loved the Lord and was an active church leader. He was a faithful and loving husband, and a perfect father who raised his six daughters to be good human beings.

He was a crusader in several spheres of life; to list a few, he was founder member, Tamenglong College, Manipur (1981); founder member, Zeliangruang Prayer Fellowship, Kohima, now Rongmei Baptist Church, Kohima, Nagaland (1970); founder member Chungaizaeng Rongmei Colony Organization, Burma Camp, Nagaland.

He gracefully and fiercely fought cancer. After he was detected with cancer of the nasopharynx in 1994, he was treated and by the abundant grace of our Lord Jesus Christ he lived cancer-free for 19 glorious years. He was a living miracle for many.

He breathed his last peacefully on the 6th day of February 2014, which was also the birthday of his fifth daughter. He is survived by his wife and six daughters who live in Nagaland and in other parts of the country, one son-in-law, five granddaughters and many loving members of his extended family and friends.

[CONTRIBUTED BY]

His wife Rev. Dr. A.G. Kamei, his six daughters Ms. G.G. Kamei, I.R.S., Ms. Kapangailiu S. Kamei, Mr. and Ms. Vetso and Kariuganhliu Kamei Koza, Dr. Ms. Rachunliu Kamei, Ms. Kazigailiu Kamei and Ms. Suaihiamthailiu Kamei.

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MEx File

Reception prog for BWA president in Kohima today Kohima, February 9 (mexN): A reception programme for Baptist World Alliance (BWA) president, Rev. Dr. John Upton and Church of Christ in Thailand (CCT) moderator Rev. Dr. Boonratna Boayen organized by Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) in partnership with Kohima Baptist Pastor’s Fellowship (KBPF) will take place on February 10 at 5 pm at NBCC Convention Centre, Kohima. Greetings will be shared

by CCT moderator Rev. Dr. Boonratna Boayen and Rev. Bonny Resu, general secretary APBF. Introduction will be made by NBCC general secretary Rev. Dr. Anjo Keikung, while the service will be led by Rev. Dr. Vevo Phesao, president KBPF. Scripture reading and prayer will be pronounced by Rev. C. Lima Sangtam, president, NBCC. Song presentation will feature Chakhesang Baptist Church, Minister’s Hill, Peraciezie Baptist Church, Sangtam Baptist Church and Union Baptist Church. Rev. Asangba Longkumer, pastor, Ao Baptist Church, will pronounce the benediction. The reception programme is organized for the full time workers, deacons, elders, youth, and women leaders, to come and hear from the guest speakers and be acquainted with what is happening in the Baptist world today.

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Phekmi Collegiate Forum conference

Kohima, February 9 (mexN): The Phekmi Collegiate Forum (PCF) will hold its 28th general conference on February 18 at Phek village under the theme “The righteous shall be by faith.” Rev. Dr. D.N. Soho, president Chakhesang Baptist Church Council (CBCC) will be the guest speaker. The function will start from 12:30 PM onwards. It will be chaired by PCF general secretary Kuzhovesa Soho. Presidential address will be delivered by PCF president Kuvehu Soho. All PCF members are mandatory to partake in the conference.

All the church workers, village council members, VDBs and members women, youth and students’ organizations, elders have been invited to the conference.

TSU appeals for continuous power supply during exam

Dimapur, February 9 (mexN): Thang Students' Union (TSU) has extended best wishes to all its members appearing HSLC, Class-11, HSSLC, and Degree exams 2014. A press release issued by TSU general secretary, P Benlang urged all to give their best effort for a good result that will bring laurel to TSU and the community as well. Further, the union implored the authority concerned for continuous power supply, especially in early hours of the night during the exam.

DPC election to be held on Feb 25 NYK leaders who attended the training held in Longleng from February 6 to 8.

LoNgLeNg, February 9 (mexN): The youth leaders of Nehru Yuva Kendra (NYK) Longleng district were imparted training on youth leadership, personality development and life skills at EBRC Hall, Longleng as a part of youth capacity building from February 6 to 8, 2014. Participants numbering 40 were present for the programme.

John Makhabo, DYC, NYK Longleng in a press release stated that government has a noble vision of youth capacity building so as to prepare them to face any eventualities. Youth leadership and personal-

ity development training are undertaken to make the youth holistic leaders with good personality to face any interview for job.

At the same time, life skills training focuses to help young people translate knowledge, develop appropriate attitudes, behaviour and inculcate values that would help them acquire the ability to reduce exposure to specific risk factors and augment protective factors, he added. Life skills training was conducted with special reference to coping skills on emotion and stress, and conflict resolution, which the release stated are immensely im-

portant for the youth.

The topics dealt during the training were Leadership, Personality development, What is Life Skills, Self-Awareness and Empathy building skills, Decision Making and Problem Solving skills, Creative Thinking and Critical Thinking skills, Effective Communication and Interpersonal Relationships skills coping with emotion and stress and confliction management skills.

The resource persons who animated the training programme were John Makhabo, DYC, NYK, Longleng and Sanenlong, exNYC, NYK, Mokokchung.

Dimapur, February 9 (mexN): Election of new office bearers of Dimapur Press Club (DPC) for the tenure 2014-16 would be held on February 25, 10:00 am at Breeze Restaurant. A press release informed that election for the following posts would be conducted: President, Vice President, General Secretary, Finance Secretary, Treasurer, Games & Sports Secretary and, Information & Publicity Secretary. This year, the post of joint secretary has been dropped and in lieu of that, the post of Finance Secretary has been created. This was decided during DPC executive meeting held on February 9, the release added. According to the note, any DPC member will be eligible to contest in any of the posts. However, a person has to complete two years as DPC member to be able to contest in any of the posts.

Nominations will start from February 10. Last date of receipt of filing nominations will end on February 23 at 5:00 pm. Nomination papers can be collected from Election Commissioner, Dhiren – 9089853089. In case of a tie in any of the post contested, the Election Commissioner will exercise his vote. On February 25, general meeting-cum-audit and election of new office bearers would be held. All DPC members have been requested to attend the meeting positively.

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Regional

The Morung express

Monday

10 February 2014

Dimapur

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Outcry against “deprivation” of OST IMPHAL, FEbruAry 9 (NNN): Deprivation of Oral Substitution Therapy (OST) to the needy is an ill treatment and a torture and hence around 60% of the total population of people who use drugs (PUD) has been continuously tortured for the last two years, exclaimed Khaidem Mani, senior Advocate.

Advocate Mani, who is also the President of All Manipur Bar Association (AMBA) was addressing media persons at the office of Community Network for Empowerment (CoNE) here today. He further stated that according to the UN Special Rapporteur deprivation of

OST to PUD is a clear case of illtreatment and torture. As such around 60% of PUD population has been illegally ill-treated and tortured for more than two years now. “There is no reason as to why the Health Minister, Government of Manipur, who has kept more than 3000 PUD under continuous ill-treatment and torture by not providing OST despite budgetary allocation for the same, be not filed a criminal case”, he maintained.

Chief Minister O Ibobi had given his word during the observance of World AIDS Day, 2011 that OST would be implemented in three districts of the State,

namely Senapati, Thoubal and Chandel. With the exception of Senapati, the remaining two districts have been left out till today.

Mani further informed that implementation of OST is a must as it is a means for PUD to stop using illegal drugs and come back to the mainstream.

This will also help in controlling the spread of HIV & AIDS. “In spite of the guidelines of NACO to implement OST in the state under their funding and even after the Chief Minister had informed in the media that OST would be implemented in another three districts of the state, the nonimplementation of OST in these

three districts clearly amounts to corruption”, he maintained.

Babloo Loitongbam, Executive Director, Human Rights Alert (HRA), said that Goal number 6 of MDG (Millennium Development Goal) - halt and reverse of HIV is going to fail in Manipur as the most effective strategy for HIV prevention amongst the IDU is not yet implemented widely. He further said that it is only police and armed forces who are often looked at as human rights violators. However, the Government who failed to deliver services that is mandated to provide, also amounts to

rights violation, he stated. In fact, non-implementation of OST amounts to continuous ill-treatment and torture of the people who are entitled to receive this service (OST), Babloo said and added that criminal case can be filed against the perpetrators. In this case the state government is to face the trial of criminal case, he added.

According to the latest validation report of Manipur State AIDS Control Society (MSACS), there are 22210 injecting drug users (IDUs) in Manipur. Totally there are 10 OST centers in Manipur (9 centres are run by NGOs and one in Government health

facility) implementing OST services. As per the NACO guidelines 4442 IDUs are supposed to be covered. Now, these existing 10 OST centres are covering 1440 IDUs with OST services.

Subash JohnVemai, Vice President, CoNE, while speaking on the occasion stated that in order to achieve the desired impact on HIV transmission among IDUs, coverage of 20% of the total drug user’s population with OST services is required. Hence, National AIDS control program (NACP) is focusing on a planned expansion of OST centres in states with above mentioned percentage of IDUs populations.

Northeast Briefs Sikkim first state in India with 100 % sanitation coverage

UNC on kidnapping of village leader

SENAPATI, FEbruAry 9 (NNN): The United Naga Council (UNC) has asked the abductors of Island Tangkhul Village Secretary, Mathotmi Chahong, to release him at the earliest to avoid any undesired consequences. 45-year-old Mathotmi Chahong has been abducted by armed men suspected to be Kuki National Front - Nehlun (KNF-N) militants, from his home at around 9 pm of February 7. The UNC said today that such kidnapping of a village leader can invite unnecessary problems, further saying that holding the village leader hostage has resulted in tension in the area. The Naga body suggested dialogue saying, “Whatever may be the cause that led to the abduction of the village leader there is always room to settle the matter through dialogue.”

FGN Shepoumarath region condemns Feb 4 killing

SENAPATI, FEbruAry 9 (MExN): The Federal Government of Nagaland, Shepoumarath region has expressed grief over the “murder of Akha Shepou of Tungjoy Village by the NSCN-IM on February 4 at Senapati Town.”

A press note from K Michuhru Aru, Midan Peyu, FGN, Shepoumarath region, stated that Shepou “was abducted by the NSCN-IM from Senapati Town and subsequently killed on February 4 at Senapati Town without any reason.” The note alleged that Shepou was “inhumanly tortured, nailed, rolled by burning Iron rod, bones of hands and legs fractured and crushed his head.” It appealed to all right thinking people, Church leaders, NGO leaders, social workers and fellow Nagas to condemn such “acts of terrorism and unitedly fight against such evil forces, lest much more fellow Nagas will be murdered in the days to come.”

Mizo codes of conduct in Mizoram school books

AIZAWL, FEbruAry 9 (NNN): Six major NGOs in Mizoram have unanimously agreed to propose for the inclusion of 'Mizo codes of conduct' in school books. The joint NGOs in its meeting here discussed over the proposal to get 'Mizo codes of conduct' included in school textbooks and resolved that they would push concertedly to implement the codes. The meeting, which was presided over by social worker K Malsawma, was attended by Central Young Mizo Association (YMA), MHIP, MZP, Mizo Academy of Letters and MCPA besides MUP. Nineteen members from the six NGOs were present in the meeting. Discussing over the idea of including 'Mizo codes of conduct' in school textbooks, the NGOs unanimously agreed for the same. In order to put forward their proposal to the government systematically, the NGOs in their meeting decided to set up a study group.

Leopard injures man

MorIgAoN, FEbruAry 9 (PTI): A man was seriously injured by a leopard in a riverine village in Assam's Morigaon district today, official sources said.

The injured man was admitted to Morigaon civil hospital. The leopard, which is suspected to have strayed from Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park in Darrang district, created panic at Nonkeida char under Lahorighat police station. Forest personnel have rushed to the spot and efforts were on to push back the leopard to the national park, the sources added.

Nude protest in Assam

guWAHATI, FEbruAry 9 (TNN): Six men protested nude in front of the Assam secretariat on Saturday to express their anger against the Congress government for adopting "unfair means" in the Rajya Sabha elections in which all three seats went to the party on Friday. They accused the Congress government of bringing shame to state politics. They slammed the ruling party for influencing opposition MLAs to make Sanjay Singh, former Amethi MP, win the Rajya Sabha election.

AIUDF's senior MLA Ataur Rahman Majharbhuiyan did not arrive to cast his vote while five other opposition votes were cancelled for adopting a wrong method which the protestors alleged was done on purpose. The protestors staged the protest shouting anti-government slogans before being taken away by police. "The shameless politics and government has forced us to go on this nude protest. We don't feel shame in front of these shameless politicians," said a protestor before being arrested by police.

gANgTok, FEbruAry 9 (IANS): In a country ranked poorly on the health and environment front, Sikkim has done remarkably well to become India's first state with 100 percent sanitation coverage, according to a report of the drinking water and sanitation ministry.

Sikkim, one of the eight northeastern states nestled prettily in the eastern Hima-

layas, ranked first among the 28 states and seven union territories in terms of sanitation coverage for both urban and rural areas in households, schools, sanitary complexes and Aanganwadi centres. With 610,577 residents (2011 census), Sikkim is India's least populated and second smallest state in area after Goa. "The state has also sensitized people to adopt a ho-

listic approach to improve sanitation and hygiene for a clean environment while accelerating overall development in the state," the Sikkim government said in a statement.

The state has constructed 98,043 household latrines, surpassing the target of 87,014. Of these, 61,493 latrines have been built for below poverty line (BPL) families. As many as

IMPHAL, FEbruAry 9 (NNN): Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) President, Gaikhangam has said that the visit of BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi cannot bring any benefit to the people of Manipur. Talking to reporters at the sidelines of a programme here, Gaikhangam, who is the deputy chief minister holding the home portfolio said, "Narendra Modi had said so many negative things about Manipur. He should instead talk

about increasing the budget for Manipur. Then only we can say he loves Manipur," stated Gakhangam. The Congress leader then said the people of Manipur are no fools and they no longer believe anyone coming from outside the state talking tall. Attacking Modi for the latter's comment on the corruption, the Manipur deputy chief minister said the state government has also been taking up measures in this regard.

On the racial discrimina-

tion in Delhi, the deputy chief minister said the problem has been due to inefficient implementation of the existing law.

The state government strongly condemn the Delhi incidents, Gaikhangam added.

MPCC reacts to Modi’s comments

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oFFice oF tHe ALL nAGALAnD coUnseLoRs AssociAtion (AncA) HQ: KoHimA, nAGALAnD

CONGRATULATIONS The All Nagaland Counselors Association (ANCA) heartily congratulates Mrs. Banuo Z. Jamir on becoming the Chief Secretary of the state who is also the first lady in the state to hold the top post.

Madam Banuo is known for her dedication to the field of education in the service of the people.

We wish her success and assure our fullest cooperation in all her endeavours.

Zavise Rume President AncA

Rev. Fr. George Rino General secretary AncA

JOB VACANCY

the north east initiative Development Agency (NEIDA) looking for committed Professionals to fill the following post for immediate appointment One Accounts and Administrative Assistant Qualification: B.com/M.com with work experience in TALLY Job posting: Kohima, Nagaland salary: upto Rs. 20,000/- per month ( Commensurate with experience ) Email your detailed c.V to info@neida.org.in by February 20, 2014. If selected candidate will be expected asap.

tHe nAGALAnD stAte co-oPeRAtiVe BAnK LtD. (Sponsored & Financed By the Govt. of Nagaland) Head office: Khermahal, Circular Road, Dimapur Post Box-153

Ref.No.NSCB/HO/Cr/

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Dated: 05.02.2014

In continuation of this office Notification dated 26.09.2013 it is hereby informed to all defaulters of NSCB Ltd who has not responded to the request made by the Bank for repayment of their dues, that the management of the Bank has decided to publish the name of such defaulters and guarantors along with their photographs in the local news paper after 31 March 2014. It is therefore appealed to all the loan defaulters to come forward and execute agreement of repayment with the Bank and start depositing their dues immediately. s. Atovi sema managing Director

FOR SALE GETZ GLE -2008 ACCENT GLE-2007

OST is expected to be delivered through 320 OST sites across India which is either run by NGOs or government health institutions, he added.

In view of the blatant disregard to the voice and interest of people who use drugs, RK Nalinikanta further stated, “We have no other option but to remind government to initiate immediate steps to scale up OST program in the state within this month failing which CoNE in collaboration with CSOs will be compelled to initiate various democratic steps.” The organisation is also all set file a case in the court and National Human Rights Commission.

1,772 schools have been covered under the total sanitation programme.

This was done under the central government's Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan sanitation drive.

According to a total evaluation study conducted by the Planning Commission in 2013, Sikkim emerged with the best performing gram panchayats and maintenance of sanitation facilities.

THETA TUTORIALS Lower P.R.Hill, Kohima, Nagaland

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sAiniK scHooL, PUnGLWA (nAGALAnD) ALL inDiA sAiniK scHooLs entRAnce eXAmiAniton – 2014 ResULt oF WRitten eXAminAtion HeLD on 05 JAn 2014 (FoR ADmission to cLAss Vi & cLAss iX: 2014-15) List of short-listed candidates for interviews and medical examination For class Vi

st: 3010 4001 4008 4010 4014 4023 4031 4039 4058 4062 4063 4064 4067 4070 4075 4077 4078 4085 4095 4099 4103 4104 4105 4106 4107 4112 4113 4114 5001 5008 5013 5014 5019 5021 5022 5028 5030 5035 sc: 2040 2084 2100 2103 2146 2149 2170 nagaland 1003 1004 1007 1008 1011 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2014 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2022 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2031 2032 2033 2034 2042 2043 2044 2046 2047 2048 2049 2050 2051 2052 2053 2054 2055 2056 2057 2058 2059 2062 2063 2065 2067 2068 2069 2083 2119 2120 2123 2124 2125 2126 2127 2137 2139 3001 3002 3003 3004 3005 3006 3007 3008 3009 3011 3012 3014 3015 3016 3017 3018 3019 3021 3025 3026 3027 3028 3029 3030 3031 3034 3035 3036 3037 3038 3039 3040 3041 3042 3044 3045 3046 3047 3048 nagaland – Def: niL Arunachal Pradesh & other states : 2035 2087 2090 2093 2096 2101 2105 2106 2110 2111 2112 2113 2114 2116 2117 2130 2134 2143 2144 2151 2152 2153 2155 2156 2157 2159 2162 2163 2164 2165 2166 2167 2168 4019 4028 4052 4082 4083 4087 4088 4101 4108 4109 4111 5026 5027 6001 6003 Arunachal Pradesh & other states – Def: 2066 2158 For class iX st: 4549 5501 5518 sc: NIL nagaland – 1503 1504 1506 1508 1509 1511 1513 1514 1515 nagaland – Def: NIL Arunachal Pradesh & other states – Gen: 1516 4518 4506 5507 Arunachal Pradesh & other states – Def: NIL The interviews will be conducted as per the following schedule at the venues specified: For all short-listed candidates of Arunachal Pradesh only; Place: Conference Hall, Directorate of Elementary Education, Itanagar – 791111 Date: 22 February 2014 Class VI: 8.30AM to 1.00PM Class IX: 2.00PM to 3.00PM (Medical Examination at 155 Base Hospitals, Tezpur on 24 Feb to 25 Feb 2014) For all short-listed candidates of Nagaland and States other than Arunachal Pradesh; Place: Sainik School, Punglwa, Via – Medziphema, Dist – Peren, PIN – 797106 Class IX: On 24 Feb 14 from 8.30 AM to 10.00 AM Class VI: On 24 Feb 14 from 10.00AM to 1.00 PM & 2.00 PM to 4.00 PM Class VI: On 25 Feb 14 from 8.30 AM to 1.00 PM & 2.00 PM to 4.00PM (Medical Examination at 165 Military Hospital, Rangapahar, Dimapur on subsequent days) note: Exact timings are intimated to all candidates through call letters. sd/ (Jitendra Dogra) Lt Col Offg Principal

C M Y K

4

businEss

Monday

Dimapur

10 February 2014

The Morung Express

India’s e-commerce industry may reach $70 bn by 2020 New Delhi, February 9 (iaNs): There is a common saying about the Indian retail consumers’ “can’t touch, won’t buy” mentality. However, this is gradually changingwith the rising trend of online shopping. India’s e-commerce business jumped by more than 80 percent in 2013 and the momentum is likely to continue for at least the next five-six years, the founders of the country’s largest e-commerce firm, Flipkart, say.

Flipkart co-founder and chief executive officer Sachin Bansal said the e-commerce business in India is expected to reach around $50-70 billion by 2020 on the back of a fast growing internetconnected population and improvement in related infrastructure like payment and delivery systems. The size of India’s ecommerce market in 2013 was around $13 billion, according to a joint report of KPMG and Internet and Mobile Association of

India (IAMAI). The online travel segment contributed over 70 percent of the total consumer ecommerce transactions last year.

Bansal said online retail, also known as “e-tail”, will lead the industry’s growth in the coming years. “Consumer mentality and shopping patterns are changing very fast. Online shopping is going to become mainstream in the coming five-six years,” Bansal told IANS in an interview. He said smartphones would be the biggest online shopping driver in the coming years.

“Over half a billion Indians will switch to smartphones in the next five-six years. That’s going to be a big driver of e-commerce in India,” Bansal added. According to Bansal, online shopping is becoming increasingly popular in smaller cities.

Alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi, Sachin and Binny Bansal co-founded Flipkart

BIRTHDAY GREETINGS

Hope you have a great day!.. Wishing you more blessings in the years ahead...

From The Morung Family

Dear Anielu Soho On this Day the 10th February, you have entered into our family and had crossed many odds and obstacles till this day. We really felt glad and proud that you have been keeping yourself like a blooming Rose even in the midst of the thorns since you make your entry into this World. Your entry in to our family has brought Love, Peace, Oneness, Trustworthy etc that we deserve for a long time.

May you continue to live like a blooming flower that generously feeds insects with its enlightened fragrance at all free.

“A Very Happy Birth Day Anielu Soho”.

-Lots of Love from loving Dad, Mum, Brothers & Sisters.

now it’s a bit complicated for sellers to ship products across India because taxes vary from state to state and it is also calculated differently. GST will really be a help for the industry,” he said.

He pointed out that despite high growth in recent years, India’s e-commerce industry is still in a nascent stage. Online shopping accounts for less than 1% of the total shopping in the country. Total global online sales reached $1.22 trillion in 2013. In China alone it was around $200 bn. Just around 12% of Indian population is into online transactions against more than half of their Chinese counterparts.

This proportion is much higher in the developed countries like the US, where the figure is 64%.

Internet connectivity and other logistics infrastructure are still a big drag. This makes servicing in smaller towns a bit challenging, said Bansal.

Apollo Hospitals to expand operations in African countries

Dear Mishra

HAppy birtHDAy!..

in 2007. They claim the company now controls nearly one-third of India’s online retail business and has over 1 cr (10 mn) registered users. “By 2020, our target is to be a $20 billion company. We are thinking really big. We are investing a lot on technologies, especially on mobiles and the supply chain,” said Binny Bansal.

“We have raised a good amount of funding this year. We are well funded for the foreseeable future. However, we will continue to raise funds as and when required,” he said when asked about funding for the company’s expansions. Flipkart has raised nearly $550 million since 2009 from venture capitals like Tiger Global, Accel Partners, Iconiq Capital and Naspers Group.

Sachin Bansal emphasised on the need for implementing a uniform goods and services tax (GST) as this would help boost the e-commerce business. “Right

CheNNai, February 9 (ageNCies): As part of expanding overseas projects, Apollo Hospitals is planning to start its clinic Tanzania in another three to four months. The company is also planning to sign a similar Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Zimbabwe government, said Pratap C Reddy, chairman of Apollo Hospitals Group.

Speaking in the sidelines of inauguration of Apollo Cancer

Conclave 2014, an international forum organised to work every type of cancer curable, he said, that the super speciality clinic in Tanzania would be ready in 3 to 4 months. The clinic would be costing around $9 million, he added. It may be noted that the hospital group and Tanzanian government officials has earlier signed an agreement to set up a hospital in the country with around 250-300 beds.

A similar agreement is ex-

pected to be signed with the authorities in Zimbabwe for a similar project, said Reddy. “It is time that we should share our expertise to treat them. What we did for India, we owe it to the rest of the world. Especially the developing world and under developed world,” he added.

The healthcare group is also planning to expand its cancer care network in India, to address the patients in various parts of the country.

AI mulls taking its global ops to CIS destinations

New Delhi, February 9 (PTi): Air India, which is set to fly to Moscow from early next month, is exploring CIS destinations among the new places that it wants to expand its global operations to, an airline official said today.

The state-run airline is also in the process of connecting capital New Delhi with Milan and Rome by the first quarter of the next fiscal.

“Our Moscow service will commence operations from March 1. We are also examining other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) routes as part of our international network expansion plan,” the highly-placed official told PTI here.

The airline has identified countries like Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan as the potential destinations, the official said, adding, “we are currently assessing the traffic potential on these routes.”

The type of aircraft that would service these routes was also being studied, the official said.

Noting that Air India would continue focusing on providing an alternative mode, the official said, “In our assessment, people still prefer nonstop travel than one-stop connectivity.”

Incidentally, Jet Airways has made Abu Dhabi as its international hub after its promoter Naresh Goyal sold 24 per cent stake to Gulf carrier Etihad. Another major Gulf carrier Emirates too provides global connectivity to Indian travellers via its Dubai hub. “A non-stop solution would thus provide Air India an edge, particularly when Jet is likely to become a feeder air service from India in another two years down the line,” a source said.

Jet Airways, which plans to operate from 23 domestic destinations to Abu Dhabi with Boeing 737-800 aircraft, has sought government’s approval to codeshare with Etihad for these flights.

If allowed, Jet will cater to traffic from these cities to Abu Dhabi from where its equity partner Etihad will ferry passengers to other global destinations.

_

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.”

SUDOKU Game Number # 2787

public discoursE Burn your tree farm in Jan-Feb to save it from May-June fire

W

ith plentiful rainfall, beautiful Sunshine, vast jhumlands lying idle, the only stumbling block in the way of very profitable Wood Production in laborshort Nagaland is the unconscionable Weeds –some of them grow 22 times faster than Trees- Lianas and Climbers –that smother Tree Plantations.

Besides the Weeds, the other most destructive element that destroys Tree Plantation in Nagaland is the Forest Fire.

The solution to the Weeds, Lianas and Climbers that choke the Tree Plantations is Tree Plantaion through Jhum Cultivation.

The Jhum planted Trees grow very fast gaining Height and Diameter growth quickly after the Agriculture Crops are harvested in October/November but Forest Fire in May-June becomes the greatest hazard.

It is economically not possible for Villagers to continuously ‘Clean’ the Plantations beyond the 2rd year of plantation. The Plantations are best protected by burning the Weeds and Grasses during JAN-FEB. The undergrowth of Grasses, Herbs and Shrubs in the Plantations are still half green and not died dry in January-February. This does not encourage run-away wild Forest Fires. If the Plantations were to catch Fire later in MARCH, APRIL, MAY OR JUNE when the undergrowth is Matchbox dry, that would completely destroy the priceless TREE Plantations: Some Species like Hollock, Cadam or Neem are Fire-tender and die easily after being burned.

Teak, Gomari, Bogipoma, Oaks, and Sal are Fire-hardy, but Fire-hardy or not; Trees are never benefited from Forest Fires.

Wood from the Trees are the strongest Economic backbone of the Villagers in Nagaland.

Wood Production and not Agriculture Production; has the greatest potential to become the ‘Economic Backbone’ of the State. Greening the State and Carbon ‘sinking’ is only a collateral benefit that Forestry plays: an estimated 17 lakhs Tons of Carbone Dioxide (CO2) is eliminated by the Forests in Nagaland.

The main aim of Forestry is to make EVERY VILLAGER or the State of Nagaland rich in one Generation. EVERY Naga Family must have an income of at least `72,000/- per year in one generation. This is possible only from Wood production. No other Resources have more potential to becoming the Economic Backbone of Nagaland than Timber. Agriculture has not the blessing to become the economic backbone of mountainous, labor short Nagaland.

Nagaland has vast stretches of vacant jhumlands lying idle, Rainfall plenty, Sunshine –generally enough and expert in Jhum Cultivation: nothing can beat this Team for the generation of Economy for the Villagers.

The Wind blows away more soil in the Ganga basin States and Rajasthan than Rain washes away soil from Nagaland. The sudden disturbances of the Natural drainage system of the mountainsides due to extensive Road

and Development constructions in Nagaland and the whole North East cause landslips, Soil erosion and River bank erosions. It is not Jhum Cultivation alone that causes of the Brahmaputra water muddy. ALL Development activities in the NorthEast involve almost always Earth cutting and that causes soil erosion problems.

It is not Jhum Cultivation of the Northeast alone that causes soil loss in the Region!

Nowhere in this ancient land of India has Villagers planted more Trees than in Nagaland! Even the remotest Villages of Nagaland like Yimrep in interior Tuensang District –the Village where Gaidinliu was stowed away after her release from Kala Pani –Andaman Islands on India’s Independence by the last Naga Hill’s DC Sir CR Pawsey, as a precaution against possible social disturbances in future if she were to move to her own Village again in Tamenglonghas Tree Plantations. Already the Villagers have started harvesting their Tree Crops.

How can Nagaland stop the destruction of the priceless Tree Plantations from wild Fires?

Preservation of the precious Tree Plantation from Fire is of immense importance to the Economy of Nagaland. Tree Species like Hollock [Terminalia myriocarpa], Ghora Neem [Melia azadirecta] Naga Neem (Spondias axilaris?), Kadam [Anthocephalus cadamba], Bogipoma [Amoora wallichii], most Pomas are all thin skinned trees and are ‘Fire Tender’ [not resistant to fire]. The Plantations of these species, grow to the size of a Man’s Thigh [30CM = 1foot] in 12 years and are vulnerable to destruction from Forest Fires.

The Year 2014 has proven to be Colder, Drier and may prove to be Hotter; the prospect of sever Forest Fires in FEBRUARY, MARCH, APRIL, MAY, JUNE is very likely. There were no rains in OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER last year and JANUARY this year. Usually Japfü Mountain experiences Rain and Snow at least once in JANUARY. This year, we see only Fire for the last several days nstead. The indications are that year the Spring Season of 2014 March–June is going to be very dry. This may portend serious Forest Fires.

The Forest Undergrowths like Herbs, Shrubs, Grasses and annual Lianas are not completely dried-up in February and do not burn furiously but by March they become dry like a Match Box. By then Forest burns furiously like Hell. Therefore to choose the less of two Evils; your Tree Plantations may be set on Fire -management fire- in February to prevent destructive jungle fire June. One of the only measures to control Forest Fire is by Fire!

BURN YOUR TREE PLANTATION in JANUARY/FEBRUARY to save it FROM destructive FIRE IN MAY/JUNE! Thepfulhouvi Solo Retd Principal Secretary, Forest, Wildlife & Environment , Government of Nagaland

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.

DAILY CROSS WORD

CROSSWORD # 2798

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 # 2786

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

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ACROSS

M A I T W P T W F C E O I P V S N O N P

1. WW1 plane 5. Male deer 9. If not 13. Adriatic resort 14. Operatic solos 16. Dock at a wharf 17. Charity 18. Punctuation mark 19. Brought into existence 20. Extreme happiness 22. A young woman 24. Fastens 26. Restaurant 27. Sidelong 30. Objective 33. Spill over 35. Burrowing mammals 37. Deity 38. Thick woolen fabric 41. Meadow 42. Lubricated 45. Bandaging 48. Generator 51. Get worse 52. Spin 54. Awestruck 55. Appearing every year 59. Coast 62. Atop 63. Volumes

65. Frozen 66. Chair 67. Move furtively 68. What a person is called 69. Not there 70. Not difficult 71. Secluded valley

DOWN 1. Generous slice of the pie 2. Tablet 3. As acknowledged 4. File 5. Baglike structure 6. Stepped 7. Intended 8. Stratagem 9. Trade barrier 10. Diving bird 11. Classify 12. Sea eagle 15. Steam bath 21. Slave 23. School session 25. Sodium chloride 27. Corporate image 28. Steer clear of 29. Not high 31. Oval 32. Adolescents 34. Married

36. Wise one 39. Mistake 40. Bambi was one 43. Accord 44. Daybreak 46. Smelting waste 47. Young tree 49. Makes coins 50. American songbird 53. Female demon 55. Shove 56. Type of sword 57. Lion sound 58. Focusing glass 60. A territorial unit of Greece 61. Biblical garden 64. Wild blue yonder

Ans to CrossWord 2797

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The Morung Express

NcF bangalore ends SOaR 2014 Renthungo Odyuo Bangalore | February 9

NAGA CHRISTIAN Fellowship (NCF) Bangalore today concluded the four-day Youth Camp held under the theme SOAR-2014 at Claret Nivas, Bangalore. The Camp was organized by NCF Bangalore from February 6-9.

The camp included a spiritual power packed events and sessions for the young campers, mostly comprising students studying in Bangalore.

The speakers for the Camp included Pastor Zajamo Odyuo of NCF Hyderabad, Pastor Toshi Aier of NCF Mysore and Pastor Zhabu Yimsung of NCF Bangalore.

Altogether around 90 young people from diverse backgrounds such as students, young working professionals attended the camp.

Pastor Zhabu Yimsung remarked, “The basic aim for organizing such a camp is to bring young people

depth interest for young people to dwell and live according to the word of God, the camp included a deeper quest on the word of God. “This camp is also meant to introduce the Christian Doctrines to young People,” asserted Pastor Zhabu.

Pastor Zajamo Odyuo spoke about the dynamics

re-constructive and cosmetic surgeries performed in Dimapur

Dimapur, February 9 (mexN): Anyone from Nagaland requiring surgery for post-burn and post-injury deformation, and enhancement and corrective surgeries for skin, body and face may no longer have to travel outside the state spending extra money as operation for such cases have been successfully performed in Dimapur.

Zion Hospital, Dimapur have been instrumental to facilitate the service of country’s renowned plastic and cosmetic surgeon Dr Sandeep Sharma, M.S, M.Ch (Plastic surgery), who travelled to Dimapur last week to conduct successful re-constructive and cosmetic surgeries with latest

and advanced technology. He conducted 13 operations, some of which were follow-up of his first visit during July in 2013.

Dr. Sharma performed surgeries of neglected and difficult deformation of post-burn and post-injury besides other enhancement cases at quite an affordable expense. The hospital also made special consideration for poor patients.

The visiting doctor said his traveling to the state is not economically viable, but expressed that people should be made aware of the facilities that are available to make one’s life comfortable. He said reconstructive surgeries are no more vanity but has become a need.

ALCATEL onetouch mobiles marketed by Dhyani Mobile Point was launched in Dimapur on Sunday evening by Parliamentary Secretary for IT&C, Science & Technology, Technical Education and Taxes, Tovihoto Ayemi (centre). The mobiles will be available in the market in 17 different models ranging from Rs. 1500 to Rs 35, 000. ALCATEL onetouch, the first in Nagaland is being brought by George Ayemi and Ravinder Goel.

(Morung photo)

W

hen morality is sufficient, law is not required; but when morality is insufficient, law has to be enforced. When the morality of those who are supposed to enforce the law is insufficient, the criminals roam freely outside the jails; the people have no say whatsoever. If someone steals the ration meant for the poor and we complain to the department of food and civil supplies, can we expect justice from them? The officials and the minister are major participants in the stealing; hence, to complain to the thieves to ‘please take action against themselves’.... is useless. Therefore, without the power to punish the corrupt it is useless for the people to complain.

Justice is truth in action. We cannot cooperate with the devil in the office and say we are cooperating with God in the church as well. Man cannot serve God and Mammon. We look to our religious institutions to reform our society but we find the church eagerly accepting the wealth bestowed on them by the thieves. Even Hitler looked forward to the priests, for his mental consolation. It is wonderful that highly corrupt people in our society lavishly contribute money (conscience money) to churches. But can the church sanctify it? Can it cover up their guilt? Is it possible for the church to buy blessings from God or even to bribe God into giving them more opportunity for more corruption? Who then is left to tell them that the Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked?

The question of morality verses immorality has existed ever since we came into existence. Chaucer in his “Canterbury Tales” talks of ‘indulgences’- selling of good deeds to the sinners against a price and thereby getting salvation. In the same tales

of discipleship, Christian stewardship, and assurance of salvation. While Pastor Toshi Jamir dealt with morning devotion.

The speaker for every evening worship service was Pastor Zhabu Yimsung.

“Every evening saw cent percent response and dedication from the campers

10 February 2014

Ar apprehends nSCn (iM) cadre

Liquor seized

to the call for dedication of their lives to God,” noted Pastor Yimsung.

It may be mentioned that NCF Bangalore, a ministry under Nagaland Baptist Church Council was founded in October 1990 to provide spiritual guidance and a place to worship for Nagas in Bangalore.

Dimapur, February 9 (mexN): In a joint operation with Nagaland Police, 31 Assam Rifles seized a huge consignment of IMFL near Ungma village of Mokokchung district and recovered 888 cases of IMFL on February 7. Assam Rifles said the liquor was being smuggled in a truck from Dimapur to Mokokchung via Kohima and Wokha. Three persons along with seven vehicles were seized on the spot. The detained personnel and seized vehicles were handed over to PS II, Mokokchung.

5

YAA tours western Yimchunger area

Dimapur, February 9 (mexN): The new team of Yimchunger Akherü Arih-ako (YAA) visited the western parts of Yimchungru jurisdiction as part of educational tour. The tour, according to a press release issued by Secretary, Info & Publicity, YAA, was undertaken with an objective to highlight the importance of educational sector, and to interact with student leaders, Village Education Committee (VEC), as well village elders.

The team comprising western Yimchungru student leaders visited all the schools/institutions within the jurisdiction from February 6-8. The YAA official team also met and interacted with Village Council Chairmen, Village Education Committee and unit student bodies.

The note added that YAA team encouraged the western Yimchungru student leaders to pay more attention to educational system while asking them to guide students in a proper way so every student can avail good quality education. The team found the educational institutions unsatisfactory. Further, YAA appealed to all its sub-federating units to check the institutions occasionally.

DRFCB cleans training on water quality monitoring held February 9 Dhansiri river banks Dimapur, (mexN): Training on water qual-

Dimapur , February 9 (mexN): Dhansiri River Flood Control Board (DRFCB) conducted a mass social work on the banks of Dhansiri River on February 8 with a tagline, “Keep it clean, Clean Dimapur City Campaign”. In a press release, DRFCB chairman, Hokheto Kiba informed that around 273 peoples turned up at the river bank for social work. The board has requested the government authority to provide dumping site along the river bank in order to keep the river neat and clean. The DRFCB further warned all individuals not to throw garbage on the river banks.

ity monitoring and surveillance for WATSAN committee members was held at Jalukie and Peren town halls on February 4 and 5 respectively. Water & Sanitation Support Organization (WSSO), PHED Peren division organized the training, which was sponsored

by WSSO PHED Kohima.

PHED Peren SDO in a press release said that the main objective of the training was to help the villagers with the use of field testing kit for testing water in their villages which would be readily accessible and help test the water quality at different sources.

KMC appeals not to dispose garbage on road sides

Kohima, February 9 (mexN): Chief Executive Officer, Kohima Municipal Council, Elizabeth Ngully has informed all the public, business establishment, offices and Ward Sanitation Committees that KMC is facing a major crisis with the present dumping site and is trying its level best to arrange an alternative dumping site at the earliest.

In light of this, she has appealed to all not to dispose off their garbage on the road sides or any place in and around their respective areas, since KMC and the decentralized Ward Sanitation Committees will not be able to collect the waste till a suitable site is located.

Kohima Municipal Council espe-

cially appealed to all the Panchayats, decentralized Ward Sanitation Committees, youth organizations to bear the inconveniences and cooperate jointly in tackling the issue, and also to direct their respective colonies/ households to manage/minimize their waste, till an alternative dumping site is set up/relocated.

KMC further acknowledged the help and cooperation rendered by the KCCI, APO, and District Administration in clearing the garbage accumulated for the last 8 days on February 9, 2014.

It also expressed its sincere appreciation to Kesao Kesiezie, ex president of KCCI, for allowing KMC to dump the waste/ garbage of Kohima town for a day at his private land on Sunday.

Public SPace

Participants and resource persons during the training.

The training was organized for 60 villages under Peren district.

WATSAN members were given hands on training by the chemist on conducting water testing from the field testing kits, which were

responsibility. New social norms and mores are cultivated that causes distortion in their thinking and judgement. Justice and judgement are inevitably inseparable, suggesting that to the degree we move away from principle (the laws of nature), our judgement will be adversely affected.

We get distorted notions. We start telling rational lies to explain why things work or why they do not. We move away from the law of the farm into social and political environment.

2.Pleasure without conscience.

Followed by wealth without work, the chief question of the immature, greedy, selfish, and sensuous has always been, ‘what in it for me? Will this please me? Will it ease me?

Many people want these pleasures without conscience or sense of responsibility, even abandoning or neglecting spouses and children. The ultimate costs of pleasures without conscience are high as measured in terms of time and money, in terms of reputation and in terms of wounding the hearts and minds of other people who are adversely affected by those who just want to indulge and gratify themselves in the short term. It is dangerous to be pulled or lulled away from natural law without conscience.

You are now a law unto yourself; you do not need a conscience to govern you anymore. And you see sixty year old man with attractive young girl.

Whatever happened to spouses?

What happened to the social mores that make cheating on spouses illegitimate behaviour?

3. Knowledge without Character.

As dangerous as a little knowledge is, even more dangerous is much

knowledge without a strong, principled character. Purely intellectual development without commensurate internal character development makes as much sense as putting a high-powered car in the hands of a teenager who is high on drugs.

4. Business without morality.

Adam smith, the father of economics, in his book, Moral sentiments, explained how foundational to the success of our systems in moral foundation: how we treat each other, the spirit of benevolence, of service, of contribution. If we ignore the moral foundation and allow economic systems to operate without moral foundation and without continued education, we will soon create an amoral, if not immoral society and business.

Economic and political systems are ultimately based on a moral foundation.

To Adam smith every business transaction is a moral challenge to see that both parties come out fairly.

Fairness and benevolence in business are the underpinnings of the free enterprise. Our economic system comes out of a constitutional democracy where minority rights are to be attended to as well. The spirit of Golden Rule or of win-win is a spirit of morality, of mutual benefit, of fairness of all concerned.

I like that Smith says every economic transaction. People get in trouble when they say that most of their economic transactions are moral.

That means there is something going on that is covert, hidden, secret.

People keep a hidden agenda, a secret life, and they justify and rationalise their activities. They tell rational lies so they don’t have to adhere to natu-

also distributed to them by the department. The EE PHED Peren division, all the SDO and JE from Jalukie, Peren, Athibung, Tening block and all the consultants and staff attended the training.

CorreCtion

Apropos the news item ‘KAAC has ‘misused powers and exploited the Rengmas’’ that appeared on the February 9, 2014 issue of The Morung Express, it stands corrected that Dr. Kenilo Kath and Joel Kath are the convener and secretary respectively of the media cell of the RNPC, and not of the RNPC itself, as rendered.

endangered red serow rescued

Dimapur, February 9 (mexN): A female red serow (Capricornis rubidus) was donated to Nagaland Zoological Park (NZP), Rangapahar on January 31 by Phutoi from Hozukhe Village under Niuland.

According to a press release issued by NZP officer-in-charge, Obed Bohovi Swu, it was kept under close observation and cared for before being released with a male serow in the Park.

Phutoi, the release said, is an ardent lover of Wildlife and believes in saving wildlife for the future generation. One endangered Burmese tortoise and a pair of Macaques were also donated to the zoo by him last year.

The red serow is an endangered goat antelope. They are found in hilly tropical forests in northeastern India, Bangladesh and northern Myanmar. They are usually solitary or live in small groups of 2-5; their numbers are fast depleting mainly due to habitat loss and hunting. In Nagaland too, the species is fast disappearing due to the aforementioned reasons.

GRACE UNDER FIRE we hear of ‘pardoners’ and ‘summoners’ selling the bones of pigs as relics of the saints, making good money and fattening themselves. Milton talks of priests, who were more interested in ‘feasting’ than in offering solace to the needy souls.

Changing times have changed age-old foundations of honesty, truth, integrity and all other virtues. Today a man’s worth is measured in terms of money. By dishonest means, assets worth hundreds of crores are created and thereafter, a hefty chunk of it is offered to the church; for the love of God or for absolution? The church accepts and all is forgotten. But is it forgiven? The human church may grant acceptance, but let it not be forgotten that it is for a higher power to forgive or pass judgement on what is sinful and what is not.

Mahatma Gandhi said that seven things will destroy us. All of them have to do with social and political conditions. These are also known as seven deathly sins.

1. Wealth without work. 2. Pleasure without conscience. 3. Knowledge without character.

4. Business without morality. 5.

Science without humanity. 6. Religion without sacrifice.

7. Politics without principle.

1. Wealth without work. This refers to the practice of getting something for nothing- manipulating the system that you do not have to work, just manipulate people and things.

Making wealth without working, benefitting from govt. programs without carrying a fair share of the financial burdens, and enjoying all the perks of citizenship without assuming any

Dimapur

MEx FILE Dimapur, February 9 (mexN): Personnel of the 31 Assam Rifles in a joint operation with Nagaland Police apprehended one NSCN (IM) cadre from Tsutapela Gate, Longtho, Mokokchung. Assam Rifles PRO Lt Col AS Chauhan informed in a press release that the cadre has been identified as Likok Yanger, “who admitted to being a ‘Khapur’ in the NSCN (IM).” The accused was apprehended for “carrying out illegal extortion from civil vehicles.” The apprehended cadre was later handed over to Police Station Longtho for further investigation.

Particpants of SOAR 2014 organized by NCF Bangalore from February 6 to 9.

together and give them the opportunity to know the Lord.” The theme for SOAR 2014 was based on Isaiah 40:31 - “But those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings of eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.” To build an in-

Monday

ral laws.

5. Science without humanity. Science and technology have changed the face of most of everything else.

But the fundamental things still apply, as time goes by. If science becomes all technique and technology, it quickly degenerates into man against humanity. Technologies come from the paradigms of science. And if there is very little understanding of the higher human purposes that the technology is striving to serve, we become victims of our own technocracy. We see highly educated people climbing the scientific ladder of success, even though it’s often missing the rung called humanity and leaning against the wrong wall.

6. Religion without sacrifice.

Without sacrifice we may become active in church but remain inactive in its gospel. In other words, we go for the social facade of religion and the piety of religious practices. There is no real walking with people or going to the second mile or deal with our social problems that may eventually undo our economic system. It takes sacrifice to serve the needs of other people- the sacrifice of our own pride and prejudice, among other things.

If a church is seen as just another hierarchical system, its members won’t have a sense or inner worship.

Instead they will be into outward observances and all the visible accoutrements of religion. But they are neither God-centred nor principle-centred.

7. Politics without principle. The focus on the personality ethic is the instant creation of an image that sells well in the social and economic marketplace. You see politicians spending

crores to create an image, even though it is superficial, lacking substance, but it is just to get votes to win the election and gain office. And when it works, it leads to a political system operating independently of the natural laws that should govern. If we get a sick social will behind the political will that is independent of principle, we get a very sick society with distorted values. The problem is that our value system is not based on a natural law.

Good leaders create more leaders but bad leaders create more followers.

Politics with principle empowered the citizens but politics without principle rob the freedom of the citizens.

In the movie The Ten Commandments, Moses says to the Pharaoh, “We are to be governed by God’s law, not by you’. It is our responsibility to cooperate the government which is protecting the welfare of the people, it is also equal responsibility to non-cooperate with the government, if they are not protecting the welfare of the citizens.

If the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do.

They do the right things for the wrong reason. Giving to the church is right, but the foundation of obedience to the voice of God, people give it for the wrong reason. I am not a theologian to criticise anybody. It is just a thinking of my spiritual map of what I believe in my heart should make sense in my mind.

I have not had reason to complain about any lack of opportunity of public presentation. However, if my arguments arouse any interest, and lead to more public discussion of these vital issues, I would have reason to feel well rewarded.

Medongoi Rhakho Assistant Professor (Department of Economics) Dimapur Government College

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

IN-FOCUS

The Power of Truth

The Morung Express MonDAy 10 FEbruAry 2014 vol. IX IssuE 38

Along Longkumer Consulting Editor

NE Indians as Chinese?

I

n the wake of the latest racial attack against a young person from Arunachal Pradesh, the Prime Minister and Home Minister have both condemned the killing and promised punishment to the guilty. Even Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi, Prime Ministerial candidate of the Congress and BJP respectively, have also given assurance to the people from the Northeast region on their greviences. It appears to be that more concerns are being expressed by our politicians given that this is an election year. But people just don't want assurance of punishment for the guilty. In fact our politicians if they are really concerned should ensure that such kind of racial attack or prejudice against people from the NE does not happen again. And for this, merely punishing the guilty is not the answer. What is needed are substantive measures encompassing a wide range of area from law to education. Mere concern or posturing even from the august house of Parliament is not going to stop such discrimination or the feeling of alienation experienced by those from the NE. It appears to be that discrimination, violence or killing of people from the NE is always dealt through a reactionary approach. There is a lot of hue and cry created in the immediate aftermath of such incidents, only to fizzle out, with at best some stop gap arrangements been made. Several measures suggested in the past remain on paper. In fact, in the aftermath of a similar incident in 2012 at Bangalore where a young student from Manipur, Loitam Richard was killed, many pertinent issues were then raised including some very good suggestions, which we should perhaps revisit. While providing security, fast tracking investigations or punishing the guilty is a matter of right for every citizen, there is a need to add other ideas, specific to the issue at hand. The Justice for Loitam Richard (JLR) campaign had some good ideas such as to review existing education curricula.

The suggestion given to undertake a sustained media campaign in order to highlight the multi-cultural and racial composition of India is much needed as it will help to positively change people's perception towards NE people and thereby avoid stereotyping and prejudice and consequent crime as a result of it.

It is an irony of sorts that while the Government of India or the Indian State goes out of its way to reaffirm that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of the country (in the wake of claims by China), some of its citizens from mainland India call people from the Northeast region as Chinese or Chinky. Perhaps a majority of Indians too carry this perception, including the educated and those who run the affairs of the State.

The killing of a young student from Arunachal Pradesh in the National Capital, Delhi has once again brought to the fore the insensitivity of those who continue to view the northeast as something alien from the rest of mainland India. This is a national shame. One needs to raise the question as to whether Delhi is only concerned about its national security, especially the Chinese threat, with the NE region acting as a buffer. What about the security of citizens hailing from the NE region? If the northeast is indeed an integral part of the country and critical for India's security and well being, it is perhaps time for the Indian State and its people to treat the NE region and its people with greater respect and honour due to them.

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

lEfT wiNg |

Reem Abbas

The day-to-day life of a tea lady

A

meera is not used to being idle, for years she has worked a few jobs at a time. Working as a tea lady on Nile Street in the evenings and as a henna lady during the day, sometimes even working at beauty saloons in the morning; all in an attempt to make ends meet. The mother of three has a huge responsibility: she is separated from her husband who only supports their children from time to time and she is also obliged to support her mother.

Last week, on Wednesday, Ameera was coming back from Nile Street after midnight, as she starts work there at sunset and caters to her customers until well into the night when business picks up. Nile Street is, after all, one of the few places in Khartoum that never sleeps. Ameera gathered her belongings, got into a Raksha (Tok-Tok) and headed to her house, not too far from her workplace. As she came closer to her house, she was stopped by policemen who asked who she was, where she was going and why she was late.

Ameera spoke politely to the police officers and agreed to accompany them to the police station. There, she told the officer that she was a tea-lady and worked a night shift at Nile Street. She was asked to sign a statement saying that she will never work until this time again. Ameera obliged, signing the statement, although there is no law specifying work hours for women or men in Sudan.

On her way back to her house, Ameera passed by the same checkpoint and was stopped again by the same group of policemen. This time, one of them approached her and said: why did they let you go? She told him that the officer made her sign a statement and let her go. After all, she did not commit anything against the law. The soldier approached her and asked her to go home with him. She refused and added that she would still refuse even if he threatened to kill her with his kalashnikov.

When another soldier began to approach them, the soldier who had propositioned her, began screaming at her, telling her that he would slap her in jail because she had insulted him.

He then beat her up, with a blor to her chest, and a grip on her arm until his hand left marks, slapping her twice and trying to suffocate her until she pushed him away.

When she still refused to go with him, telling him that she did not believe that he would take her to the police station based on what he had said earlier, he called a police truck. Ameera was taken, by force, to the police station, where she was kept sitting in the complaints room until Friday evening. She refused the two meals they gave her, while waiting for the bail process. Although they told her that any ID, even a worker’s ID could bail her out, the ID of her relative was refused when he came to the police station. They asked for an employee’s ID instead.

It has been a week since Ameera last went to work. She fell sick after she was released and is now too scared to go back to work. Ameera is worried every time she remembers the five accusations the soldier filed against her. He accused her of insulting his family and insulting “God and religion”, standing in the way of justice, accusing him of stealing the money she had made that day and most importantly, tearing off the pin from his uniform.

Ameera said she didn’t do any of these things, that she would never insult her own religion and doesn’t even know his family to insult them. Furthermore, she said he tore off his pin before he went to file the complaints. The money she made that day was lost during the detention process, and now she doesn’t have money to buy milk for her children.

C O M M E N T A R Y

THE EDIT PAGE

Daniel Scher & Christine MacAulay Source: Foreign Policy

How Tradition Remade Rwanda

The secret ingredient in Rwanda's efforts to rebuild its nation after the violence of genocide

I

n the wake of the 1994 genocide, the new postconflict government of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) inherited the tattered remnants of a highly centralized state. For years, the government engaged in crisis management, attempting to meet the basic needs of a traumatized population with little time to consider long-term matters of governance. It was only in 2000 that the RPF-led government opted for a process of decentralization in an effort to improve local service delivery, alleviate poverty, and create sustainable development. In the new system, local mayors would be responsible for implementing development programs, but there was no built-in mechanism to keep these local leaders accountable. To solve this problem, the government looked to the pre-colonial Rwandan practice of imihigo -- in which leaders or warriors would publicly vow to achieve certain goals, and face public humiliation if they failed -- and adapted it into a tool for modern public service.

The RPF government adopted a national policy of decentralization as a way to rebuild trust, give local people greater voice in governance processes, increase transparency, and maintain political stability -- all of which were vital in post-genocide Rwanda. Protais Musoni, the respected minister of local administration, noted that those high up in the administration were concerned that they were out of touch with the needs of ordinary citizens. Firstly, many of the new government officials were returning exiles who had not lived in Rwanda for years, if not decades. Secondly, many in the RPF felt that people had been manipulated and misled by local leaders into participating in the genocide, and that ordinary citizens had no effective way to influence local leaders or check their behavior.

The first phase of decentralization began by consolidating administrative boundaries. Previously, the state was comprised of 154 districts. By 2004, the government reduced the number of districts to 30, grouped into six provinces. These new, larger districts had more staff, and the resized territories were easier to administer. Mayors were appointed by the RPF-dominated central government, with plans to shift to a system of direct election of mayors. Until then, the government's initiative was to staff the new posts with competent people and attract university graduates to technocratic positions in the districts.

Decentralization was a way of improving government responsiveness to citizens' needs, while also making local leaders more accountable by giving ordinary citizens a greater role in evaluation.

At the same time, government leaders still faced a significant dilemma: How could they ensure that the districts actually delivered on the central government's development program?

Charles Munyaneza, the former director general of Territorial Administration in the Ministry of Local Administration, recalled that while officials were not specifically thinking about imihigo, "what people had in mind was [creating] institutions and to have leaders who would be accountable, who would deliver, and who would be responsible.... The issue of imihigo came as a way of implementing that or achieving that philosophical understanding."

In March 2006, newly-elected district mayors gathered to learn about how their work in the districts fitted into the government's national development plans. During an official induction ceremony with President Paul Kagame present, one mayor, buoyant with his success in the district's first elections, announced that his district would be the best performing district in the country. Another mayor quickly countered, saying that his was going to outperform the rest. The president intervened and pointed out that in Rwandan culture, making bold claims about accomplishments was no small matter. Kagame challenged the mayors to come up with imihigo for their districts that he could then follow up on and evaluate whether the claimed targets were achieved.

President Kagame assigned a small team to adapt the imihigo concept to modern governance.

The term quickly came to be known around the country as a combined performance-management system, planning tool, oversight mechanism, and way of using social and traditional pressure to push mayors to greater levels of achievement.

Definitions varied on what constituted a traditional imihigo. Some suggested that it was simply a public vow. Others recalled it as having a basis in war, where warriors would throw a spear into the ground and publicly proclaim the feats they would accomplish in battle. All agreed that the consequences were serious for those who failed to fulfill an imihigo. Alexis Dukundane, of the Ministry of Local Government, put it simply when he said such a

person would be considered "incapable" and would be humiliated within Rwandan society. Government reports suggested that because the practice of imihigo was tradition-based and familiar, the concept generated enthusiasm and a sense of ownership among the population. Dukundane recalled: "People wouldn't understand if you talk about performance contracts, but if you say imihigo, they understand."

Protais Musoni, of the Ministry of Local Administration, said that imihigo targets were intended to be aspirational. "You are not going to be acclaimed for doing what anyone else has done or could do," he said. "An imihigo is supposed to be a stretching of the abilities of both the leader and the people."

The modern imihigo system incorporated specific measures for planning, monitoring, evaluation, and accountability. The planning process included meetings at every level of government, to give central agencies and district governments a chance to negotiate targets. The procedure aimed to make targets measurable and achievable, and the planning process allowed the central government to ensure projects were consistent with the national government's larger development goals.

Mayors talked to members of community councils to learn local demands, and then created five-year, three-year, and annual action plans. Annual action plans contained all the activities that an individual mayor and his staff pledged to complete during the year. These included rote administrative tasks such as preparing budgets, hiring staff, and completing paperwork and reports; the real priorities, however, were economic development, social welfare, and governance. Activities included building schools, equipping health centers, building marketplaces, paving roads, building bridges, and electrifying villages. Larger projects included resettling whole communities that lived in regions prone to landslides or flashfloods.

Before finalizing annual action plans, district mayors engaged in an extensive process of consultation with a vice mayor for social welfare, a vice mayor for economic development, and an executive secretary. Together, they constituted the district executive committee. Once a year, all district executive committees met with representatives from the central government to establish a clear idea of their goals and limitations. They would also address budgetary constraints that might affect their planning; for example, Ministry of Education representatives would inform the districts of the money and resources available to build schools or hire teachers. While districts did have the ability to collect certain taxes, tax collection on a local basis was a struggle. Districts were therefore often financially dependent on allocation from the central budget, so the annual meetings were critical in the planning process and in the production of realistic imihigo.

District executive committees also held extensive consultations with various local-level councils, which wielded significant authority in their local areas. Each district was divided into sectors, each sector into cells, and each cell into a cluster of villages. Committees were elected at every level, and representatives from each sub-level were sent to the level above. (Each village committee, made up of the heads of the 10 households in the village, put forward a representative to sit on the cell committee. Each cell committee in turn put forward a representative to sit on the sector-level committee, and so on.) Individuals who sat on these councils were not full-time administrators, but respected members of the community. The district executive committees sought input from all the levels. The draft imihigo had to be approved by the district councils.

Imihigo targets were linked to performance metrics and given a score. If, for example, a district might commit to plant a million trees, the number of trees actually planted by the end of the year would determine the percentage of the activity completed. At the end of the consultation process each year, having settled upon an imihigo and measurement metrics, district mayors publicly signed their imihigo with President Kagame. The ceremonies were aired on TV and radio, and the imihigo documents made public online and in the local press, so that citizens in knew exactly what their leaders had committed to.

While imihigos were built in close consultation with local figures, the central government still played an assertive role by monitoring implementation. District executive committees were required to keep accurate records of activities and expenditures, andprepared a detailed progress report for the central government halfway through the fiscal year. At the end of the fiscal year, two teams were assembled, each with a representative from the Ministry of Local Administration, the prime minister's office, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, the Rwandan Association of Local Government Authorities, the implementation secretariat, and an umbrella civil-society group. Each team was responsible for 15 districts, visiting each district for two days. Leonard Rugwabiza of the economic planning and finance ministry remarked that the presence of high-level government officials en-

sured that mayors treated the teams' visits with the appropriate degree of respect and preparation.

A typical two-day evaluation would begin with auditing the district's paperwork at the head office, often going late into the night. A vice mayor explained: "If we report that we have held a meeting [with NGOs working in the area], they will want to see minutes from the meeting, a list of who attended, a list of what decisions were taken, and a report on the outcomes of the meeting." On the second day, the evaluation team would meet with the executive committee, giving them a chance to explain any problems they may have found in the paperwork, and to consider any difficulties the mayor may have encountered while attempting to implement programs. The team then would present the mayor with a list outlining the particular imihigo targets that the evaluation team would spot-check, such as the building of a health center or electrification projects.

Evaluation scores were based on the completeness of imihigo activities. An activity that was 90-100 percent complete would be scored a 10; 80-89 percent would be scored a 9; 70-79 percent, an 8; and so on.

These scores were then part of a weighted final score that assigned 60 percent to economic activities, 30 percent to social-welfare activities, and 10 percent to governance activities. (The relatively small percentage allotted to governance reflected the belief that effective governance was inherent to successfully complete a project that contributed to economic development.)

The evaluation teams provided recommendations on how any failures could be addressed in the future, with particular emphasis on how they should be carried forward into the next year's imihigo. Final reports were officially present to the mayors and also publicly disseminated through the districts and on various government websites and forums.

Districts were then ranked based on their imihigo performance, both within their respective provinces and within Rwanda as a whole. A high ranking translated into bragging rights for district mayors and governors. Fred Mufulukye, the director general of the Territorial Administration, said that one of the significant achievements of the system was fostering competition between districts. "Now districts -- both citizens and mayors -- want to compete and want to be the best," he said. "This competition drives development." According to Leonard Rugwabiza at the economic planning and finance ministry, high-performing districts could receive special funding for projects.

Because the rankings were presented at public forums, citizens had the information to judge the performance of their elected mayors. If a mayor was consistently underperforming, he could be removed by the local District Council (whose members were indirectly elected). According to one observer, 75 percent of mayors were removed from their positions between 2007 and 2009, though it was unclear how many were removed for imihigo-performance related reasons. Enige Rugamba, the director general of planning at the Ministry of Local Administration, explained that during the same period, there was an overall reform in governance procedures, such as strengthening the auditor-general's office, the office that investigates cases of maladministration, and the Public Procurement Agency. Many mayors were ousted, and in some cases jailed, due to corruption and irregularities in procedures as part of the new standards of accountability and increased scrutiny.

While no comprehensive data is available to determine whether the imihigo process resulted in better service delivery in the districts, anecdotal accounts suggested there was improvement. For example, a 2010 U.S. Agency for International Development report on family planning in Rwanda asserted that the inclusion of family-planning issues in the imihigo for the district of Nyamagabe more than doubled the adoption rate of modern contraception. Protais Musoni, in his paper on decentralized service delivery, noted that the introduction of imihigo resulted in fewer administrative conflicts in the local government from 2006 to 2007 and in improvements in local development projects, such as malaria eradication and tree planting. Fred Mufulukye, director general of Territorial Administration, observed that preliminary results showed great general performance, especially in education (such as a new system for nine-year basic education), health (health insurance coverage above 90 percent nationwide), road construction, high agriculture production through land consolidation, environmental protection, and governance.

The system did have critics. Apollinaire Mushinzimana, coordinator of the decentralization implementation secretariat, noted that the system had created "a strong perception from local government that the central government is 'looking at us.'" Leonard Rugwabiza recounted a story he heard about the pressures of scrutiny as a mayor: "People were saying, 'You know, when you're the mayor, you've got a contract of one-day renewable. Every 24 hours you can be removed.'" Frank Habineza, chairman of the opposition Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, drew a sharp distinction between decentralization and deconcentration. He argued that institutions may have been decentralized, but that decision-making and planning were still very much a central-government activity, and not as localized as the process might appear.

In 2010, the success of district councils also was unclear. The idea behind vesting so much authority in an indirectly elected local committee was that such a group would be in touch with local demands and wield significant oversight powers. However, these committees were voluntary, and some members failed to attend the council's quarterly meetings; others actually worked in Kigali and were out of touch with local demands; and others still were employed by local governments, for example, as teachers, and because schools were dependent on allocations from mayors, providing real oversight presented potential conflict.

Other critics argue that because the success of imihigo was tied to the RPF party's popularity at local levels, the system did not guarantee stability. But despite these criticisms, the ambitious imihigo process appeared to be delivering on much-needed development targets in Rwanda's districts.

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

Monday

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

10 February 2014

PERSPECTIVE NEWS ANALYSIS, FEATURE AND DISCOURSE

A critical analysis of 50 years of Nagaland Statehood Dr. E. Renphamo Lotha research Scholar, GSM Introduction The span of fifty years was half century mark in the history of the State. She was mature enough to stand on her feet as a person was considered mature adult at the age of eighteen by the Constitution. It was a time of retrospection-as to what have happened and introspection-as to what are happening at present. It is a time to retrospect as to what achievements have taken place within fifty years of Statehood and a time to calculate what achievements are taking place at present during fifty years and to thank God as He is the designer of the state through the people whom He has chosen.

Meanwhile, it was a time to beg forgiveness of God for all the weaknesses, shortcomings in the years gone by through various leaders whom God has chosen. The anniversary was a time of reconstruction and transformation of the people and the land led by the leaders for the future with the help of the Almighty God, the Creator of heaven and earthly Government.

1. Congratulations Let us express our heartfelt thank to God and congratulations to the State for having attained fifty years of Statehood led by the leaders at present. Let us recognize the wisdom of God in them which has enabled the citizens to analyse as to what have happened during the last fifty years of the existence of Statehood. It was considered necessary to examine both the positive and the negative side of Statehood because the negative was necessary to produce to produce a beautiful positive colour photo.

2. Darkside of the celebration The aforesaid celebration was marred by the protest of CANSSEA for forcible deduction of their hard work earned salary which reflected the unplanned programme of the celebration. The celebration was further marred by the protest of the Congress Party for protecting an alleged criminal politician in the Government. The celebration was further marred by the protest of the Nagaland Secretarial Service Association for the apathy of the Government towards their legitimate demands. The celebration would have been peaceful and brighter had the Government examined the merits of the protests and the demands.

3. Confusion between Anniversary and Hornbill festival There was a confusion as the whether the aforesaid function was fiftieth anniversary of Statehood or observation of the hornbill festival. The two functions could have been celebrated in different venues with different programmes so that visitors from outside the State would understand that the two functions were altogether different in nature. The fiftieth anniversary was a one time event, whereas, the Hornbill festival was a yearly event. More importance should have been given on the fifteenth years anniversary rather than the yearly hornbill festival.

4. Public or Private anniversary.

History recorded that in the first anniversary of Statehood in 01/12/1963 there around ten thousand participants during the inaugural session. If so, in the fifteenth anniversary the participants would have increased upto 50,000 participants. But instead of the increase, it reduced to around 1,500 participants. The public therefore questioned as to whether The public event has turned into a private event. In democracy, people (public) is more important that private individuals. Like the last fifteenth anniversary, all the government departments have turned into private ventures to the surprise of all right thinkers and right doers.

5. Non-availability of publication of books on the 50th Anniversary of Statehood Naturally, people would like to know as to what developmental achievements have taken place within the span of fiftieth year of Statehood. Unfortunately, no copies of publication of books were made available in the venue of the celebration to the surprise of the public which exhibited that the anniversary was secret event not to be known by the public.

6. Non-availability of public transportation There were no public transportation to attend the

T

he Jan. 23 ceasefire agreement between rebels and the South Sudanese government may have pulled the world's youngest state back from the brink, but it's hardly out of the woods.

Sporadic fighting continues on the ground and hundreds of thousands of displaced persons must now attempt to reconstitute their lives. President Salva Kiir's decision to charge former officials with plotting a coup, meanwhile, could easily derail the fragile peace agreement.

As rebel leader Riek Machar, who called the allegations "baseless," hinted on Jan. 29, those who have been charged are "important in the peace process."

Looking back, various explanations have been offered for how South Sudan got into its present mess: The impetus for violence has been portrayed as ethnic, or tribal, or at the very least political. Other observers have linked the current crisis to the new state's unpreparedness for independence.

But what if it is also geographic -- a partial product of isolation from the world's major commercial routes and the baseline level of prosperity they ensure? Viewed through such a lens, the recent reigniting of conflict in South Sudan -- and the country's continued struggle to maintain stable oil exports -is indicative of the difficulties faced by many new countries that share certain geographical traits as landlocked states.

The portion of the globe covered by landlocked states is on the rise. Prior to the 20th century, the number of landlocked states was trivial -- 10 in all. By the end of World War II, the number had soared to 30. Of the 24 new states that have joined the United Nations since 1991, fully 60 percent are landlocked.

Today, over one-fifth of the world's states have no direct access to the sea.

In recent decades, carving out new countries has become an increasingly common solution to protracted intrastate conflict; more often than not, such divisions have produced new states without coastal access. But while creating new

public event by the department of Tourism and Culture.

Hence, the public were totally deprived to attend the anniversary which was great failure on the part of the State.

7. Hornbill festival to highlight original Naga Culture Other than the usual show of half naked dances by various Naga tribes , it was considered necessary to showcase the original Naga culture of honestly, hard work, straightforwardness, hospitality, transparency to the world in general which was completely missed.

8. Non- accordance of befitting honour to the founding members of Statehood The State should have accorded befitting honour to the founding members of Statehood. It was great mistake on the part of the State not to have remembered the great sacrifices of the founding fathers which could not be forgotten and forgiven by the history of Statehood.

The following were some of the merits of Statehood to be remembered by the following generations: i) Cessation of hostilities between Nagas and India. ii) Temporary peace declared from time to time particularly in 1964 and 1997. iii) Establishment of trust between Nagas and India as a crocodile’s tear. iv) Stoppage of violence, burning of villages, harassment, rape of innocent women, concentration camps, tortures of Nagas by Indian army draconic special arms acts enforced in the State. v) Assistance in Human Resource Development. vi) Financial assistance with heavy secret commissions from the Centre and State to meet the expenditure of the State.

9. Demerits of Statehood The following are the leading demerits of Statehood: i) Low Human Resources Development. ii) Poor financial resource development. iii) Increase of Poverty. iv) Poor infrastructural development. v) Prevalence of anarchy and injustice in the administration of Justice. vi) Corruption ever since the seventies led by politicians and bureaucrats (1970-1980). vii) Massive Corruption from top to bottom (19802013). viii) Criminalization of politics in the forms of Equi distant and Equi Closeness policy to the undergrounds by successive government (1990-2013). ix) Multiplication of eight factions of the Underground aided by over- ground politicians and bureaucrats for factional supremacy and accumulation of wealth at the expense of the public. x) Paralysis of educational system by political interference in appointment of teachers, bogus appointment, interference in transfer and posting of teachers combine with corruptions. xi) Miserable health care system. xii) Non availability of regular power supply. xiii) Failed public distribution system. xiv) Miserable non motorable roads. xv) Absence of Medical College. xvi) Absence of Engineering College. xvii) Non- Availability of industries. xviii) Paralysis of Municipal bodies. xix) Vicious and most corrupted electoral system. xx) Failed religious total liquor prohibition. xxi) Absence of machinery for checking massive corruption. xxii) Lack of employment opportunities etcetra.

Considering the aforesaid demerits and failures of Statehood, the public poll result of the disaffection rate against the State has been increased upto 81 per cent according to the survey conducted by the Morung Express recently. Unfortunately, the demerits have outweighed the merits of Statehood owing to the complete absence of patriot politicians and bureaucrats. Everyone is now asking the critical questions, “Who will bell the cat”?

10. Future hope Since the past leads to the present, the present leads to the future, all is not well in the overall state of affairs in the State. Let us therefore, “hope for the best and prepare for the worst”. Well, the old generation has gone with

Locked Out

their outdated ideas no matter what the present generation say. Now, the new generation with 60 per cent must be able to take up the responsibility of rebuilding the broken walls in all fronts. Yes, Nagas need total transformation- physically, mentally and spiritually. Their socio, economic, cultural and political life certainly need total transformation with the power from on high. Let us all stand united no matter what come may. So that “Nagaland for Christ” may become “Christ for Nagaland” with transformed Christians as the light of the world.

NO. GSM /AAD/02/14 Dated 3rd Feb. 2014

T

he Board of Governors and Directors held an emergency meeting in the office chamber of the Chief Functionary of the Ministry on 3rd Feb. 2014 at 2:00 P.M. The single agenda was on the rampant racial discrimination, violence, rape and murder of North Eastern Indians by Indians themselves in the land of Mahatma Gandhi even after 67 years of independence with a special reference to the assault and murder of the late Nido Tania, a 19 years old student in Delhi. After a thorough discussion on the aforesaid subject in question, it was resolved as follows: “Resolved to urge the Government of India to introduce a legislation on, “Total Prohibition of racial discrimination and violence of North Eastern Indians, 2014” based on the preamble of the Constitution to usher justice, equality and fraternity in spirit and letter immediately.

(Dr. E. Renphamo Lotha) Secretary

Copy to: 1. The President of India 2. The Prime Minister of India 3. The Chairperson, UPA 4. The Vice President, UPA 5. Office file NO. GSM /AAD/02/14 Dated 3rd Feb. 2014 To,

Smti. Sonia Gandhi Hon’ble Chairperson , UPA New Delhi Sub: Legislation on “Total Prohibition on racial discrimination and violence of North Eastern Indians, 2014”.

Madam, 1. It is considered necessary to say that India is a land known to the world for her freedom fight against racial discrimination under the dynamic leadership of the late Mahatma Gandhi , the Father of the Nation. But unfortunately, even after 67 years of Independence, it has become extremely shameful in the eyes of the world that Indians themselves are discriminating, assaulting, raping and murdering their own people stating from the capital city of India. Such crime against the North Eastern Indians in particular and the humanity in general must be totally prohibited by law following the spirit and letter of the Indian Constitution.

2. It is further considered appropriate to say that a mere verbal assurance to look into the aforesaid mater led by the Vice President of the UPA is never enough. Such routine assurance have become nuisance to the North Eastern Indians ever since Indian Independence. Now, the crux of the question is , “ Real action through the process of the rule of law as you the reincarnation of Gandhi today”.

3. Considering the aforesaid facts and circumstances and the merit of the case, it is fervently prayed that you will pass an immediate legislation titled, “ Total Prohibition of racial discrimination and violence against North Eastern Indians, 2014” with immediate effect in the interest of public security.

(Dr. E. Renphamo Lotha) Secretary

Copy forwarded to: 1. The President of India 2. The Prime Minister of India 3. The Vice President , UPA

Brenda Shaffer & avinoam Idan Foreign affairs states may solve immediate political problems, it tends to give rise to others. For one thing, landlocked states lag significantly behind their coastal counterparts in economic terms. Despite globalization and significant advances in transportation and communication technology, location still matters: Half of the 20 lowest scorers on the United Nation's Human Development Index are landlocked states.

In part, landlocked states struggle economically because of difficulties they face in accessing international markets.

According to a research team led by Columbia University development economist Jeffrey Sachs, average per capita exports in landlocked states are equivalent to half the value of those of neighboring states with access to the sea. Likewise, Harvard economist Ricardo Hausmann has found that transport costs from landlocked states are 50 percent higher than from maritime states in most regions of the world. The higher costs derive, in part, from greater average distance to ports, as well as from the need to cross multiple borders, navigate customs, and pay tariffs -- not to mention bribes and illegal fines imposed by corrupt customs practices in the transit states. In addition, busy ports with limited capacity tend to give priority to their own state's trade, causing even longer delays for the trade of neighboring landlocked states.

But it's not just about access to ports.

Landlocked states also face greater governance and economic reform challenges than coastal states. Of all the new states to emerge from the former Soviet bloc, the landlocked ones possess the lowest indicators of political and market reform.

resolution

They also have weaker links to NATO and the E.U., in part because of Russia's ability to use transit routes as leverage to keep these states firmly within its orbit.

Lack of access or limited access to the sea can be a source of conflict. Part of Iraq's calculation in invading Kuwait in 1990, for example, was Baghdad's desire to expand its sea coast, which at a little more than 16 miles long, is quite small for a major oil exporter. Similarly, Russia's interest in wresting control of the disputed region of Abkhazia from Georgia stemmed in part from the region's large sea coast. Following the Soviet breakup, Russia was left with limited sea access, especially in the winter when most of its ports are frozen and cannot accommodate oil tankers. Likewise, Bolivia cut natural gas flows to Argentina in 2004 -causing a severe disruption of electricity in neighboring Chile -- in an attempt to coerce Santiago to negotiate the return of Bolivia's coastal access, lost to Chile during the War of the Pacific at the end of the 19th century.

Landlocked oil exporters face an additional set of challenges, particularly when they must rely on the state they split off from for transit. Since oil is generally a major source of revenue for the producing state, the transit state has tremendous leverage over its landlocked neighbor. Following the Soviet breakup, for example, Moscow has continually attempted to block, minimize, or control the transit of the oil and gas exports of former Soviet states, using various means -- ranging from supporting coup attempts to blowing up pipelines -- when producers in Central Asia attempted to build pipelines that circumvent transit through Russia.

And so it is for South Sudan, which has a long history of conflict with its northern

neighbor. Making matters worse, some of the border disputes have not yet been resolved, with the oil producing regions of Bentiu and Malakal having changed hands multiple times in the post-independence period. Betting the survivability of South Sudan on its ability to cooperate with Khartoum, in other words, was an extremely risky thing to do.

So what can be done to mitigate the challenges faced by landlocked states?

First, the international community should think long and hard before it establishes any new ones. In many cases, the minting of landlocked states provides only a temporary solution -- and conflict reignites down the road. When the creation of a new state is unavoidable, borders should be drawn such that both entities have sea access carved out.

In addition, international legal treaties that govern the rights of transit, such as the U.N.'s Convention on Transit Trade of Land-locked States, need to be revised to accommodate existing landlocked states and to reflect today's modes of trade and transportation. The majority of these treaties and agreements were established in the early 20th century, and focus on ensuring the right of travel along railways and roads. Revisions in these treaties should reflect the need for access to airspace and seaports. Moreover, the security of transit for oil and natural gas pipelines should be guaranteed in these revised U.N. treaties.

As the recent conflict in South Sudan demonstrates, establishing landlocked states that are dependent on the state they seceded from will most likely just kick the conflict down the road. Various U.S. administrations have vigorously supported the establishment of new landlocked states: President Barack Obama's personal support for the independence of South Sudan and President George W. Bush's push for recognition of Kosovo's independence, to cite two examples. But given the harsh realities faced by landlocked states, future administrations should be careful not to let good intentions get the best of them.

UPA recedes, but NDA or Third Front not sure either Saeed naqvi

A

IaNS

t this time of the year, Delhiites like to host Sunday lunches on their terraces and lawns where the fare ranges from indifferent kebabs to superb makke di roti and sarson da saag, with gur or jaggery and pure ghee. After the initial unpleasantries about pollution, (wheezing and coughing) they like to settle down, to politics, and, this year, to the coming elections.

Seldom have generally well informed people been so short on hard information. So, they liven their conversation with gossip which they pass on as information. There is no pundit around with a sure enough touch. This state of affairs is almost surreal and for an obvious reason.

Kafka's Castle is inaccessible and the coteries, themselves short on information, dissemble. Others, with the self assurance of the informed, are closer to business and industry which, in turn, is plugged into a coterie here, a coterie there.

Therefore, a hundred days from the elections, what does one make of Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, AAP and the rising stock of the regional parties?

Narendra Modi became the BJP's election chief at the party's conclave in Goa last June.

In electoral politics, as in sports, a formation or an individual must peak weeks before the finals.

Why was Modi boosted up into the stratosphere a full year before the elections? Would he have the stamina to hold the nation's attention for so long?

Might he not trip over the several cases plaguing him in Gujarat? He has walked around the minefields so far, but Snoopgate continues to threaten.

It is an incredible narrative of surveillance systems in three states monitoring the movements of a young woman on behalf of "Sahib".

Why is the UPA dragging its feet on Snoopgate?

Who in the establishment is so important that protecting him supersede concerns about Modi?

Congress General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi has more or less announced that his party would like to sit in the opposition after the elections. What else does one make of his statement that the Congress should have occupied the opposition benches after the 2009 elections. That year the party won 209 seats, its highest score since 1991.

Rahul Gandhi has made it quite explicit in his TV interview that he has no fire in his belly for political power. But the Congress party is splurging hundreds of crores of rupees on a publicity blitz to boost his image. Is the party embarked on this media blitz despite the party vice president or is all of it happening under his supervision?

Why these confusing signals? Has the party calculated that in India, renunciation is deified? Is this why they are sending a prime ministerial candidate into electoral combat when he is demonstrably disinterested. Or is it something more simple: heads I win, tails you lose. If the party does well the story will be: the people were aching to bring their reluctant crown prince to power. If the voters do not turn to him this time, he can shrug his shoulders and say he never wanted it.

The media's dream to set up a Modi versus Rahul duel upto the elections should have ended in April 2013 when Rahul told the Confederation of Indian industry that he was busy building grassroots democracy in the party, to bring in more transparency.

He brought in distinguished election Commissioner K.J. Rao to organize a system of primaries for election in Youth Congress and National Students Union of India. Even as I write Rahul has invited retired and respected election commissioners to wean out tainted Lok Sabha candidates. Also he is busy selecting 16 candidates to parliament as a pilot project. When will he be ready with his 543 Lok Sabha candidates and thousands for assemblies and panchayats? In two, five or ten years? Or is he, like Sisyphus, embarked on a longer project.

In the absence of information, rumours are rife.

The current political scene does not promise a stable government post 2014. Fresh elections, in other words, may take place in, say, 2016. By which time, Rahul may be ready with his broad based system of candidate selection. The seasoned leaders who have seen the writing on the wall are sprinting towards the Upper House.

AAP's entry has created another uncertainty for the principal parties. On Dec 7, who knew what results recent elections would throw up the next day? The Congress was trounced in four states. The nation rubbed its eyes with disbelief as the AAP emerged in Delhi as the new, historic political happening.

When AAP tossed a handful of seed in the field of Delhi, who would have expected the spectacular harvest? Likewise, until the 2014 results, AAP will remain an unquantifiable electoral phenomena. AAP's impact will be two fold. First, they have thrown a huge boulder in the political pond. The reverberations will affect political fortunes for a long time. Secondly what we must wait for, in nail biting suspense, is the prospect of its vertical growth in places it proposes to contest the coming elections.

Folks keeping a steady gaze only on the BJP, Congress and AAP, will miss out on the concert developing in the states. In the situation - comedy scripted by Jayalalithaa, CPI's A.B. Bardhan and Sudhakar Reddy had barely said good bye to her when Prakash Karat of the CPI-M walked in with roses. After the elections, she can take her pick: either with the secular front or with Modi or, whoever it is who leads the BJP into a possible National Democratic Alliance. Poor Mamata Banerjee can neither go with the Left nor the BJP. Will there be enough of a Congress left to need her with any sense of purpose? Or, will the Left have to be off loaded, unless, of course, they score enough to check Mamata. Even as these games progress, that enigmatic smile stretches along Mayawati's line of mouth.

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

Monday 10 February 2014

The Morung Express

Rahul accuses Naveen Patnaik govt of corruption Rahul blames BJD for Odisha’s backwardness

BhuBaneswar, FeBruary 9 (agencies): Congress vicepresident Rahul Gandhi received huge applause from the people as he went on a roadshow from Odisha’s Capital city of Bhubaneswar on Sunday to address a rally at Bhatpada in Cuttack district, an exercise aimed at rejuvenating the party in the State. Thousands of men and women waited for hours to have a glimpse of the Congress leader, who arrived on a two-day visit to the state on Sunday.

The roadshow continued up to Bhatpada in Salepur area where Gandhi addressed a well-attended rally in the afternoon. Gandhi accused the Biju Janata Dal-government headed by Naveen Patnaik on various fronts. Gandhi lamented that the people of Odisha had remained backward despite the State being rich in mineral wealth. Thousands of crore worth iron ore and manganese had been looted in the State where 22 of the 30 districts were affected by naxal violence. The benefits of mining had not reached the people of the State, he observed.

The Congress leader

Respect tea-sellers, not those who make you ‘ulloo’: Rahul Gandhi on Modi

also blamed the BJD government for not implementing the Central schemes and siphoning off huge funds coming under various welfare programmes.

While about 20 lakh people had been hit by the chit fund scam, over 10 lakhs of youths of the State had remained unemployed, he added. The Congress vicepresident’s visit carries significance for the Congress in Odisha in particular and the country in general as Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial nominee and Gujarat Chief Minister was scheduled to address a massive party rally in Bhubaneswar on February 11.

Gandhi’s visit was also crucial for the State Congress headed by Dalit leader Jayadev Jena as the simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and State Assembly were just a few months

“IB officer behind affidavit declaring Ishrat a terrorist”

new delhi, FeBruary 9 (Pti): Former IB Special Director Rajinder Kumar, accused by CBI of murder in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case, was allegedly the brain behind the Home Ministry affidavit in which she was declared as a terrorist. In its supplementary charge sheet in the encounter case, CBI has alleged that Kumar had given inputs to the Home Ministry that Ishrat was a terrorist to prove that the encounter in which the the 19-year-old victim Mumbai girl was killed along with three others was a genuine one, agency sources said.

The then Under Secretary in the Home Ministry, R V S Mani, gave two affidavits before the Gujarat High Court in less than two months, contradicting opinions on the antecedents of Ishrat, they said. While the affidavit filed on August 6, 2009 stated that Ishrat and three others were terrorists, in the one filed on September 30, 2009, Mani claimed that there was no conclusive evidence to suggest she was a terrorist.

The agency has alleged that affidavit of August 6, 2009 was a brain child of Kumar who was allegedly apprehensive of his role coming under scrutiny in case a detailed probe is carried out in the encounter, which CBI has termed as fake. Kumar said he did not want to react to the allegation but will reply to it at an appropriate forum.

“I will reply to them at an appropriate forum as and when it comes. The process of generation of intelligence can never lead to any criminality. Neither me nor any team member have committed any criminal act by generating the intelligence,” Kumar said. CBI sources said the supplementary charge sheet, which is also the concluding one in the case unless directed by the competent court, filed by the agency this week does not go into the antecedents of Ishrat.

“Nothing changes the fact that it was a joint counter terror operation of IB and Gujarat Police which was turned into a staged encounter. The antecedents of four victims does not change the fact that it was a fake encounter,” a senior CBI officer said.

Telangana Bill to be tabled in Parliament on February 11

new delhi, FeBruary 9 (agencies): The bill to create Telangana is likely to be introduced in Parliament on Tuesday. Home Ministry officials tonight said the file recommending introduction of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill in Parliament has been sent to the President through the Prime Minister’s Office. “The approval of the President is expected tomorrow. We are planning to introduce the bill in Parliament on Tuesday,” a senior Home Ministry official told PTI. The Union Cabinet had on Friday approved the draft bill for creation of Telangana by bifurcating Andhra Pradesh, notwithstanding the state Assembly’s rejection of the legislation. Earlier, talk in parliamentary circles was that the bill was likely to be introduced in Rajya Sabha tomorrow and a supplementary list of business could be added to the agenda. Amid opposition by anti-Telangana MPs, including those from Congress, the government has so far refused to reveal its cards on the issue.

By introducing the bill in Rajya Sabha, the government apparently wants to keep it alive even after dissolution of Lok Sabha. Bills introduced in the Upper House and not passed by it remain in the ‘live register’. The controversial bill will be presented in the form it was sent to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and the government is expected to move 32 amendments when it is taken up for consideration, sources said.

The proposed legislation does not provide for grant of Union Territory status to Hyderabad despite demands to that effect but the government will announce a special package for Rayalaseema and north coastal Andhra to address concerns of the people there. The Cabinet cleared the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill after a special marathon meeting which was followed by a meeting of the Congress Core Group headed by party President Sonia Gandhi.

With the current session of the 15th Lok Sabha being the last ahead of elections, the government wants that the bill to be taken up for consideration and passage during the session. The government decided to go ahead with the bill despite the Andhra Pradesh Assembly rejecting it, with Congress Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy leading the opposition to the proposed bifurcation.

away. The Congress workers and leaders in the State had got united after a long gap as Gandhi arrived barely three days after Congress candidate and Indian Premier League chairman Ranjib Biswal won the fourth Rajya Sabha seat by securing more votes than renowned sculptor Raghunath Mohapatra, who was backed by the ruling BJD.

Bardoli, FeBruary 9 (gujarat): Amid a row over ‘chai wala’ barb by a Congress leader against Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi today appeared to be on damage control exercise as he said people from all professions, including tea vendors, should be respected except those who make fool of others. “People are involved in various professions. Some make tea, others drive taxi, some are engaged in farming. We have to respect all of them,” the Congress Vice President said while addressing a

rally here. “We have to respect the tea vendor, the labourer and the farmer.

But those who make ‘ulloo’ (fool) of others, should not be respected,” he added.

The comment appeared to be a damage control exercise after the row triggered by the ‘chai wala’ barb by his party colleague Mani Shankar Aiyar against Modi. Aiyar, while attending the AICC session here last month, had said that Modi will never become the Prime Minister “but if he wants to distribute tea here (at AICC venue), we will find a

Rahul calls upon to throw away Naveen govt Launching a scathing attack on Naveen Patnaik government over the issue of multi-crore mining scam, Congess’ Campaign Committee Chief Rahul Gandhi in Salipur called upon people to throw away the corrupt Biju Janata Dal government in Odisha.

Gandhi, who addressed a massive rally as part of his two-day-long visit to the

State, however, did not utter a single word against BJP’s Prime Ministerial Nominee Narendra Modi.

“Odisha is the richest State among all Indian States. It has got huge mineral resources such as iron, manganese, bauxite and coal and forest resources.

The State has every ingredient required for development here,” said Gandhi.

“However, what lacks is government’s commitment to provide employment and pass on the fund to people. Money earned from mineral sector gets vanished from the middle,” the Congress leader said, adding Raghurajan Committee say Odisha lags behind every State.

“Odisha has witnessed over 3500 farmer suicide and touched unemployment figure of 10 lakh.

People want job, but gov-

ernment does not provide.

Twenty two out of 30 districts of the State are naxal affected,” he said. One third of the population belongs to Below Poverty line and people belonging to scheduled tribe and schedule caste face atrocities here.

“Similarly, hospitals and schools lack doctors and teachers respectively in the State. Over Rs. 60000 crore worth of mineral were looted from the State.

A large number of people should have been benefited from it, but a select group of people were allowed to prosper. Similarly, over 20 lakh families have lost their earnings in chit fund scam,” Gandhi maintained.

“We provide huge fund under welfare schemes of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and Mid Day Meal scheme, but corrupt BJD

government robbed the money in the middle and money did not reach people. Moreover, rice provided to BPL families was also misappropriated,” he said.

“The State government always moans that Centre does not give fund. No central government in the history has given so much of fund like us. I am told that Rs. 5000 crore of central funds are lying unspent.”

On people’s struggle to stall Vedanta Project in Kalahandi district, Gandhi, who was said to have played key role, said “We have fought a biggest battle

for tribals in Niyamgiri and returned their land. Odisha is a rich State of poor people.” “We have to fight against backwardness and atrocities against women and dalits. Congess workers should go to villages and fight for people,” the Gandhi scion said.

“You have to throw the corrupt BJD government away and bring a government which should be of tribals and dalits,” he called upon huge gathering at Bhatapada ground in Cuttack district. Earlier, the first-ever roadshow of the Gandhi after being elevat-

nagPur, FeBruary 9 (ians): President Pranab Mukherjee Sunday called for institutional changes in agricultural marketing to bridge the gap between wholesale and retail markets to arrest food inflation.

“In a scenario of growing grain stocks and increasing production of high-value commodities, it is ironical for food inflation to continue for long periods. Loopholes have to be identified to streamline the supply chains and bridge the gap between wholesale and retail markets,” he observed.

Mukherjee was speaking at the inauguration of India’s biggest-ever agri-

cultural fair, the National Agricultural Expo -- “Krishi Vasant” -- here Sunday afternoon.

He noted that in the past 10 years, the country has made tremendous progress in agriculture and now it has the capacity to export foodgrain. He emphasised that improving farmers’ access to markets is critical to reduce farm wastage, control inflation and increase incomes.

The president expressed happiness that the union ministry of agriculture has declared 2014 as “Year of the Farmer Producer Organisation” to enable farmers achieve economies of scale, with public-private-

partnerships (PPP) helping bridge the infrastructure gap in the post-harvest food domain.

Stressing the need to encourage greater investment by organised logistics players, processors and retailers for developing markets under the PPP mode, Mukherjee said it would ensure better returns for the farmers as well as the industry.

The multiple strategies have helped generate sufficient surplus to meet the commitment made to over two-thirds of the countrymen under the National Food Security Act and cater to the changing needs of the rapidly growing middle-in-

come population, he said.

Speaking on the occasion, union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said the country is likely to harvest a record 263.2 million tonnes foodgrain this year.

This would be four million tonnes more than the record 259 million tonnes achieved two years ago, he said. Pawar said the country is now the top exporter of rice and second top exporter of wheat and cotton in the world, besides leading in milk and horticultural crops.

The five-day-long “Krishi Vasant”, a joint initiative of the agriculture ministry, the Maharashtra government and the Confederation of Indian Industry

(CII), will attract over half a million farmers from all over India, while another five million will view it through live webcasts.

The exhibits include farm machinery, new crop and animal varieties and breeds, advances in farm research, best practices for application of inputs like fertilisers and seeds, and over 300 live demonstrations.

A stall put up by 92 successful farmers is catching the eyeballs, which prompted Pawar to urge other farmers to emulate their feats and improve their farm output and prosper. Maharashtra Governor K. Sankaranarayanan,

place for him.” Aiyar’s jibe at Modi had come as the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate has been highlighting his background of a tea vendor in his election campaign. BJP, while terming it as an “insult” to tea vendors, has since been trying to cash on it and has decided to launch a ‘chai pe charcha’ (discussion over tea) in this regard. Gandhi’s comment also assumes significance as it comes two days after he told Congress spokespersons to desist from making personal attacks on any political leader.

ed to Congress campaign committee chief from Biju Patnaik Airport to Bhatapada in the State drew good crowd. Enthusiastic youngsters and party workers jostled for space to get a glimpse of the Gandhi scion.

As soon as Gandhi emerged from Biju Patnaik Airport on Sunday morning, he was given loud ovation by waiting Congress leaders.

Immediately he took to the street and kept on waving from his SUV to crowd lined up on both sides of roads. He briefly halted at one or two places in Bhubaneswar and talked to youngsters.

Institutional changes needed to curb food inflation: President

Make eye tests a must for diabetics

agra, FeBruary 9 become the world’s largest (ians): The government gathering of eye surgeons must make eye tests com- and eye care specialists. pulsory for diabetics to The conference disprevent growcussed new “Due to lack ing blindness techniques, in India, a leadof knowledge, evaluated the ing doctor told many diabetics performance of an ophthalmollatest gadgets ogy conven- were losing sight and shared usetion that ended and developing ful professional here Sunday. complications” experiences.

Quresh MaskeMore than 220 ti, president of the All India scientific papers were disOphthalmological Society, cussed, the spokesperson made the suggestion at the said. H.P. Singh, a key memfour-day meet, a confer- ber of the organising comence spokesman told IANS. mittee, told IANS: “Both for The doctor said due to Agra and the country, this lack of knowledge, many has been a truly landmark diabetics were losing sight conference. and developing complica“The recommendations tions as they were not get- of the conferences and the ting their eyes checked reg- main thrust areas would ularly. Attended by more be forwarded to the central than 6,000 delegates, the government for acceptance convention organised by and inclusion in the nationthe Society has reputedly al health service schemes.”

state Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, union Industry Minister Praful Patel, state Agriculture Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil along with his counterparts from other states, farmers, scientists and industry representatives were also present.

The event coincides with the birth centenary celebrations of late Vasantrao Naik, Maharashtra’s longest-serving chief minister, who steered agricultural development during the green revolution era, and also showcases the century-old history of agricultural research by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

An Indian paramilitary soldier shares a lighter moment with his colleague as a Kashmiri civilian waits to meet his officer for permission to cross the road during a curfew in Srinagar, India on February 9. Thousands of Indian troops fanned out across Indian-controlled Kashmir on Sunday, detaining about 200 separatist activists to prevent protests during a three-day strike to mark the execution anniversaries of two separatists in New Delhi, officials said. (AP Photo)

NRI makes cancer treatment accessible, affordable in India

new delhi, FeBruary 9 (ians): Moved by an insight gained during a vacation in India four years ago, a British citizen of Indian origin has launched an initiative that provides 22 hospitals across the country with the latest medical equipment to make cancer treatment accessible and affordable.

Shashi Kant Baliyan, who is in India for three years, recalls how his Diwali holiday here took a new turn after he attended a medical conference in Hisar in Haryana in 2009 with a friend, a radiation oncologist.

“I realized that people had to travel far for cancer treatment. Even then most hospitals in smaller towns

were not equipped with the right equipment to treat them. I went back to Britain and discussed it with a few friends after which I started shunting between London and Delhi to do something concrete about this,” Baliyan told IANS. Baliyan’s ClearMedi Healthcare - a joint venture between Medipass (La Repubblica group) S.r.l. Italy, KOS S.p.A. Italy and Clearview Healthcare India providing hospitals with the best equipment for diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Hospitals, private or government-run, are also supported by trained manpower and its staff trained by specialists. All

this has helped cut costs by 50 percent or more.

“Among the equipment we supply are linear accelerators, radiology equipment and those used for nuclear medicine. We have focussed on cancer because of its high incidence in the country. Young people are getting affected by it and you cannot imagine the number of queries I get,” said Baliyan, a doctor and a management professional.

According to the National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, there are 2 to 2.5 million cancer patients in India at any given time. The equipment is maintained by his company on contracts that run 15-20

years till the machine outlives its life and becomes obsolete, said Baliyan, who lives with his wife and children in Gurgaon, Haryana.

“In two years, 22 hospitals in Delhi, Hisar, Vadodara, Coimbatore, Kolkata, Patna, Indore and Gwalior have signed contracts with us,” Baliyan said. In Delhi’s Hamdard Imaging Centre (Jamia Hamdard), his company has supplied equipment for MRIs, CT scans, Mammography and Digital X-Rays, while Ashwin Hospital in Coimbatore has been equipped with a Linac (linear particle accelerator used for radiation therapy).

“Other than accessibility to diagnosis and treat-

ment, our initiative has also cut costs for patients by 50 percent or even more as compared to any diagnostic centre. An MRI scan costs Rs.8,000 in a diagnostic centre, of which half goes to the doctor. We remove those frills and charge the basic cost,” he said. “In Delhi, the cost is half. In Hisar, the cost is one-third. The patient pays the hospital directly, not to us. So, there is no discrepancy.”

A CT scan in a ClearMedi-aided hospital costs Rs.1,600. Elsewhere, the cost ranges between Rs.4,000 and Rs.5,000.

Baliyan also claims not to be led by medical equipment suppliers, into whose

trap some hospitals have admitted to have fallen into, resulting in largescale procurement of non-upgradeable machinery.

“We have a clear focus - of accessible and affordable medical care to people mostly in tier-II towns, and are doing our best towards that endeavour. Enquiries from hospitals in different states are coming in. “In Jammu and Kashmir, hospitals are hardly equipped with cancer care equipment. I have been invited to Srinagar. I am also visiting Assam and a few other states. Talks are also on for a public-private partnership in some places,” Baliyan said.

InternatIonal

the Morung express

Monday 10 February 2014

Dimapur

9

Syria: Aid workers resume evacuations from Homs beIruT, February 9 (aP): Syrian aid workers evacuated more civilians from the embattled city of Homs on Sunday despite continued gunfire, state media said, a day after convoys were halted when trucks carrying food and medical supplies came under fire.

In the north, government aircraft dropped barrel bombs on two rebelheld districts of Aleppo, killing at least 11 people, activists said.

State news agency SANA said 65 people were evacuated Sunday after the Syrian Red Crescent returned to the central city, under a U.N.-brokered truce allowing some people to leave and food supplies to enter.

State TV said gunfire echoed around rebel-held areas in the city center as aid workers helped women, children and elderly men leave. Britain-based opposition group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said explosions and gunfire near the evacuation caused casualties, although it did not immediately give a breakdown.

Syrian forces loyal to President Bashar Assad have prevented the entry

of food and medical aid into rebel-held parts of Homs for over a year, badly affecting hundreds of civilians holed up in the areas.

Khaled Erksoussi, the head of operations at the SRC told The Associated Press that the agency will try to evacuate as many civilians as possible from rebel-held areas in Homs before the truce expires Monday.

Erksoussi said 83 children, women and elderly people on wheelchairs were evacuated on Friday when the truce went into effect. It was broken a day later, leaving an aid worker wounded and two trucks damaged, Erksoussi said via telephone from Damascus.

It was not clear who fired at the convoy Saturday. Syrian state TV said members of the SRC were wounded by rebel fire in the area, but gave no further details. Opposition activists blamed government-allied militias for the attacks.

The attack on the aid convoy jeopardized a rare cease-fire in Syria’s nearly 3-year-old conflict hours before the resumption of peace talks in Geneva.

U.N. mediator Lakhdar Brahimi had urged the

Tehran, February 9 (aFP): The UN atomic watchdog on Sunday started a second day of talks in Tehran on safeguards to enhance transparency on Iran’s nuclear drive and on allegations of its past weapons work.

The talks were expected to continue into the afternoon, after a first day of meetings was described as “constructive”

by Iran’s atomic organisation spokesman, Behrouz Kamalvandi.

Iranian media have reported little details of the negotiations with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). And there has been no comment from the IAEA team, comprised of chief inspector Tero Varjoranta and four experts who arrived in Tehran late Friday.

But the encounter is expected to broach allegations that Iran’s nuclear work prior to 2003, or possibly since, had “possible military dimensions.”

The IAEA is also seeking access -- which it has been denied for years -- to the Parchin military facility where it suspects Tehran may have experimented with research related to atomic weapons development.

IAEA experts held five hours of talks yesterday with Iranian nuclear officials, led by Tehran’s IAEA envoy Reza Najafi, and as-

sessed the implementation of a roadmap deal agreed on November 11.

The deal required Tehran to take six practical steps that included visits to the unfinished site of a so-called heavy water research reactor in Arak and a uranium mine in the south.

Also required from Iran was information on future research reactors, identifying sites of new nuclear power plants, and clarification on Iranian statements regarding additional enrichment facilities and laser enrichment technology.

Western powers and Israel suspect that Iran’s nuclear drive masks military objectives, a claim Tehran repeatedly denies.

The November deal, struck after two years of on-off talks, was separate from a landmark agreement reached with world powers the same month that has placed temporary curbs on Iran’s nuclear activities.

Implementation of the IAEA deal began in December, when inspectors visited Arak, where the small unfinished heavy water reactor has been hit by delays.

The site is of international concern because Iran could theoretically extract weapons-grade plutonium from spent fuel if it also builds a reprocessing facility.

warring sides to aid the estimated 2,500 civilians trapped in the ancient, rebel-held quarters known as Old Homs, in order to build trust during the first face-

to-face meetings of government officials and opposition figures in Geneva last month.

There was no tangible progress however, as the

Syrian government accused the opposition of capitalizing on human suffering in Homs to score points with the international community.

A second round of talks is set to start on Monday.

Homs city was one of the first areas to rise up against Assad in 2011 and has been particularly hard

hit by the war. Over the past year, the government has regained control over much of the city, except for a few neighborhoods in the historic center.

Meanwhile in the northern city of Aleppo, makeshift barrel bombs were dropped on two rebel-held districts on Sunday afternoon, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. A child and a woman were among the dead, the Observatory said.

Sunday’s attacks are part of a weekslong campaign by Assad’s forces to wrest control of Aleppo, parts of which were seized by rebels in mid-2012.

Barrel bombs are containers that have been packed with hundreds of kilograms (pounds) of explosives. They are loaded onto Syrian military helicopters and pushed out of the rear door.

The Syrian uprising began with largely peaceful protests but gradually evolved into a civil war with sectarian overtones pitting predominant Sunni Muslim rebels against Assad’s government that is dominated by Alawites, an offshoot group of Shiite Islam.

More than 130,000 people have been killed, according to activists. Millions have been forced out of their homes, seeking shelter in neighboring countries or in safer parts of their homeland.

in Afghanistan rose last year as attacks by Taliban insurgents increased and women and children were caught in the crossfire, according to a U.N. report released Saturday.

The report, prepared by the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, documents a spike in violence that is likely to exacerbate concern about the country’s security as most remaining U.S. and NATO troops prepare to withdraw this year.

According to the United Nations, 2,959 civilians were killed in Afghanistan in 2013 and 5,656 were injured. The number of fatalities jumped 7 percent compared with 2012 and fell just short of the record 3,021 civilians killed in the Afghan war in 2011.

Women and children

clashes between the Afghan army and insurgents intensified in civilian areas.

The report, which the United Nations has issued annually since 2007, comes amid growing uncertainty about Afghanistan’s future as the country prepares to elect a new president and the more than 12-year-long war draws to a close.

Despite efforts by the Obama administration to leave a residual force after this year, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has refused to sign a long-term security agreement that would allow up to 15,000 foreign troops to remain into 2015.

U.S. officials have said that up to 10,000 of those troops could be American.

Many analysts contend that Karzai, whose relationship with the U.S. gov-

his successor, who will be elected this spring.

But if an agreement is not signed soon, President Obama could opt for a full withdrawal this year. If that occurs, many analysts fear, the Afghan army will be unable to prevent even more bloodshed next year.

Already, the fledgling national army and Afghan civilians are coming under increasing attack.

The United Nations concluded that 74 percent of civilian deaths and injuries were caused by “anti-government elements,” including the Taliban and Islamist militant groups such as the Haqqani network.

It also found that the militants’ weapon of choice remains roadside bombs and other explosive devices, which were responsible

In a statement, the Taliban dismissed the report, suggesting that it was “drafted by the U.S. Embassy under the name of the United Nations.”

But the international coalition released a statement saying it “welcomed” the report, adding that it validates the view that insurgents cause “the overwhelming majority of civilian casualties.”

In recent weeks, Karzai has repeatedly accused the U.S. military of causing civilian deaths, including that of a 2-year-old boy killed by a suspected U.S. drone in late November. Coalition officials appeared to use the U.N report to push back at Karzai, saying that it closely tracks with internal statistics that show the Taliban is the biggest threat

care facilities, they target schools by burning them down, placing IEDs near them, and occupying them for insurgent activities,” the coalition statement said.

“These persistent actions, including increased violence against women and religious elders, demonstrate the Taliban’s continuing disregard for human life and detract from Afghan and international community efforts to improve Afghanistan’s future.”

The increase in civilian deaths demonstrates the “changing dynamics of the conflict” as Afghan troops stepped into leading combat roles while coalition air and ground support diminished, the report states.

The shift on the battlefield gave anti-government elements in some areas

active and more exposed to attacks than in previous years,” it concluded.

That led to the deaths of 50 children in crossfire, the report said. “Ground engagements” caused the deaths of 73 women, it said.

And although the United Nations pins much of the blame on the Taliban and other insurgent groups, the report raises questions about the conduct of the Afghan army, noting a 59 percent increase in civilian casualties caused by “pro-government forces” engaging in reckless firing and shelling.

“Afghan security forces’ lead responsibility for security brings with it increased responsibility for civilian protection,” said Ján Kubiš, the U.N. secretary general’s special representative for Afghanistan.

In this photo provided by the anti-government activist group Aleppo Media Center (AMC), which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, Syrian men help survivors out of a destroyed building after a Syrian forces warplane's attack in Aleppo, Syria on February 8. Syrian military aircraft dropped barrels bombs on rebel-held areas in the northern city of Aleppo on Saturday. (AP Photo)

Iran, IAEA resume talks Civilian casualties are up in Afghanistan, a new U.N. report says February appeared to be particularly ernment has soured dra- for 34 percent of all civilian to civilians in Afghanistan. “greater mobility and capa9 ( Wa S h I n gT o n vulnerable, with casual- matically in recent years, casualties, including the on nuclear transparency Kabul, “The Taliban continue to bility to attack Afghan secuPoST): Civilian casualties ties up by about a third as is pushing the matter off to deaths of 192 children. attack mosques and health- rity forces, the latter more

Iran not to shut down nuclear facilities

Tehran, February 9 (IanS) Iran will not shutdown or dismantle any of its nuclear facilities, a senior Iranian official has said.

Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) Deputy Managing Director for Protection and Security Asghar Zare’an said, “None of the nuclear sites (in Iran) will be shut down or dismantled and one should not be influenced by the foreign media hype,” the Press TV reported Sunday.

Zare’an made the remarks Saturday during an opening ceremony of projects at Arak nuclear site in Iran. “We need to ... bear in mind that the hostility of the enemies toward the Islamic Republic of Iran is endless. Therefore, we should wisely and

prudently turn the enemies’ hopes into despair,” Zare’an said.

Mohammad Hassan Asafari, member of national security and foreign policy committee said Feb 6 that Iran would not dismantle any centrifuges, adding if the Islamic Republic had such an intention, it would not have entered into nuclear talks with the six world powers.

Iran and group P5+1 -- Russia, China, France, Britain the US plus Germany -reached a nuclear deal in Geneva November 2013. The interim deal, which came into force Jan 20, is aimed at resolving the decade-old dispute over Iran’s nuclear energy programmes and sanctions imposed over it.

Pak Taliban negotiators meet militants leaders on peace talks

ISlamabad, February 9 (PTI): Two negotiators representing the Pakistani Taliban in the peace talks with the government have met the militant leadership in the lawless North Waziristan Agency and briefed them about the first round of talks. Jamaat-eIslami leader Mohammad Ibrahim and Jamiat Ulema Islam-Samiul Haq group spokesperson Maulana Yousaf Shah flew to North Waziristan yesterday in a government helicopter. Local media reports had contradictory information about what transpired during the meeting.

While some said the Taliban has not put forward any demands, TV channels reported that they sought the release of jailed militants and talks being held under the ‘Sharia’.

There were no independent confirmation about the reports. The two negotiators first met with the political agent in North Waziristan and then left for an undisclosed lo-

cation to meet with the Taliban leaders. It is expected that the two will return here later today after which the picture woule be clear on Taliban’s demands. Ibrahim is a member of the TTP-appointed committee for peace talks and Shah is the coordinator of the committee. They reached Miranshah in a helicopter provided by the Interior Ministry and met with the 9-member committee set up by Taliban to oversee the peace talks.

Negotiators from both sides formally met on Thursday for a first round of peace talks aimed at ending the nearly decade-long insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives.

On Thursday, the two sides laid down a roadmap in the form of demands from both sides future deliberation, with the government insisting that any negotiations be held within the framework of the constitution of Pakistan.

However, the peace process was dealt a blow

on Friday when a member of the three-man TTP committee chief cleric of Islamabad’s Lal Masjid Maulana Abdul Aziz rejected the condition of holding talks under the constitution. It was widely believed that negotiators from the Taliban side - Samiul Haq, a radical cleric known as the ‘father of the Taliban’, Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ibrahim Khan and Abdul Aziz had agreed to this condition. There is intense scepticism about the peace initiative achieving a lasting solution to the insurgency led by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan that has claimed thousands of lives.

Aziz said he would remain part of the Taliban-nominated three-member team but would not come to the negotiating table. Observers said his move could undermine the talks as the government committee has voiced doubts about the authority of the Taliban’s representatives.

‘15 pilgrims die in Saudi Arabia hotel fire’

medIna, February 9 (reuTerS): Fifteen people died and around 130 were injured when a fire broke out in a hotel packed with Muslim pilgrims in the Saudi Arabian city of Medina on Saturday, the state news agency said.

All 15 were Egyptians and the blaze was started by an electrical short circuit, according to a separate report on Egypt’s state television station. It took rescue teams more than two hours to put out the fire and a nearby hotel was evacuated as a precautionary measure, Saudi Arabia’s state news agency reported.

Around 700 Muslim pilgrims were staying in the hotel at the time, it added.

Bosnia draws back from unrest, protesters vow to persist

Sarajevo/Tuzla, February 9 (reuTerS): Bosnia drew back on Saturday from three days of unprecedented unrest over unemployment, political paralysis and corruption that for some brought back painful memories of the Balkan country’s 1992-95 war.

Small protests were held in the capital, Sarajevo, in northwestern Bihac, where protesters threw stones at the home of the head of the cantonal government, Mostar in the west and the central town of Bugojno. But there was little sign of the kind of rioting that has left hundreds of people injured, most of them police officers.

Police in Mostar were out in force, stopping and checking cars entering the town, which is divided at the Neretva river between Croats and Muslim Bosniaks. In Tuzla, epicentre of the demonstrations,

dozens helped clear debris from the gutted building of the local government.

“I’m glad we did it,” said Sanela Fetic, an unemployed 35-year-old who took part in both the protests and the clean-up.

“Now we’ll clean up this mess, like we’ll clean up the politicians who made this happen.”

The unrest began on Wednesday in Tuzla, when anger over factory closures in the once-healthy industrial hub turned violent, spreading by Friday to Sarajevo and other towns.

For years, fear of a return to conflict has kept a lid on anger over the dire state of the Bosnian economy and the inertia of a political system in which power is divvied up along ethnic lines.

In Sarajevo, protesters set fire to the Bosnian presidency building and the seat of the cantonal government, with part of Bos-

nia’s national archive lost in the flames. The presidency, with its three members from Bosnia’s Serb, Croat and Muslim Bosniak communities, has become symbolic of the division and dysfunction of the former Yugoslav republic.

Sarajevans streamed past the charred buildings.

Broken glass crunched under foot and chairs hurled from offices by protesters lay strewn on the ground.

To some, the scenes were uncomfortably reminiscent of the wartime siege of the city by Bosnian Serb forces in surrounding hills, a 43-month bombardment that claimed more than 10,000 of the estimated 100,000 lives lost in the war. “I’m struggling not to cry,” said Enisa Sehic, 46, an economist. “This is like a flashback to the not so distant past.”

the war created a highly decentralised and unwieldy system of government, splitting the country into two autonomous republics joined by a weak central authority. One half, the mainly Bosniak and Croat Federation, is split again into 10 cantons, each with its own prime minister and cabinet ministers.

The apparatus is hugely expensive and feeds networks of patronage political parties from each side are reluctant to give up.

The former warring sides have little common vision of Bosnia’s future.

While Bosniak leaders want greater centralisation, Croat hardliners are pressing for their own entity, while Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik says he sees no future for Bosnia at all.

With governance frequently hostage to ethnic “LET IT BURN” politics, the economy has The agreement ending struggled to keep up with

its ex-Yugoslav peers. More than one in four of the Bosnian workforce is jobless.

Failure to reform the constitution to open up high-level state jobs - such as the presidency - to those not from Bosnia’s three main communities has frozen the country’s bid to become a member of the European Union, which neighbouring Croatia joined last year.

Some Sarajevans argued that force was the only language their leaders would understand.

“This had to happen. If they were smart, it wouldn’t have,” said 56-year-old Mirsad Dedovic.

“Part of me was sorry when I saw what was happening yesterday. But then again, let it burn.”

Calls went out on Facebook for country-wide protests at midday (1100 GMT) on Monday.

The United States, which brokered the 1995

Dayton peace deal, and the EU that Bosnia wants to join, have proven helpless in prodding the country’s divided political leaders toward reform and greater centralisation.

On Saturday, the head of the Sarajevo cantonal government, Suad Zeljkovic, joined his counterpart from Tuzla in resigning, Fena news agency reported. But it was unclear if the unrest would have any greater political consequences, or serve as a wake-up call for the national leadership.

“This is about 20 years of accumulated rage coming to the surface, and it’s very difficult to assess what will happen next,” political analyst Enver Kazaz told the Bosnian daily Dnevni Avaz.

“The protesters come mostly from a generation of youngsters without hope, whose future has practically been taken away from them.”

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Bindra claims third gold in Inter Shoot Tri series Shooting

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 9 (PTI): Ace Indian shooter Abhinav Bindra added another gold at the Inter Shoot Tri series Shooting and became the first individual to win three gold medals

in the event being held at Hague, Netherlands. Beijing Olympics gold medallist Bindra was in roaring form as he clinched the yellow metal in the Air Pistol event on Saturday.

In a lively competition,

which had the current Olympic Champion Alin George Moldoveanu, Bindra shot 209.0 and 209.3 in the two finals to outclass the field by 3.3 and 2.4 points respectively. Interestingly, Bindra had topped the qualifiers on Friday in the second competition with a total of 627.7, 6.6 better than the second placed Moldoveanu. In the first competition on Thursday, Bindra had qualified in the eighth place with 613.3, but beat the top qualifier Peter Hellenbrand of Holland in a strong climax as he wound up with the last two shots of 10.6 and 10.8. He did the same on third day by 10.7 and 10.7.

he has yet to be directly approached.

Cairns told reporters at Eden Park he was aware of "whispers" behind his back about his alleged involvement in match-fixing and challenged former teammates to "man up" and make public any evidence they hold.

"Go on the record," Cairns said. "Contact the ICC. "If you're man enough to be saying it behind my back, say it to the people that you should be saying it to or to me.

"I'm yet to hear any of those players come out and say that." Cairns said New Zealand Cricket had taken no steps to represent his interests or to attempt to ascertain the nature of the allegations against him.

"The thing that really irks me with NZC is from day one I've had the door shut in my face," he said.

"You've got a board member, Martin Snedden, a

lawyer. Does he see this as a just process? Is this a proper way to conduct an investigation? "Sir Richard Hadlee as a board member, how would Sir Richard feel having his family name being dragged through the mud as mine is?

"And David White, the chief executive, is he happy that somebody who gave 16 years of his life to this institution, over 250 games, is David White happy with the way this process is being done? I see NZC declined to comment. Why?" Cairns said he would be unemployed from Monday when his commentary contract with New Zealand's Sky Television ended. He had no prospect of future employment until the ICC investigation had been concluded and did not know how he would provide for his wife and family.

Cairns said the manner in which the ICC was conducting its investigation, which included interviewing his former wife in South Africa, was "recklessly tarnishing" his name.

"All I know is the ICC seem to be chasing smoke around the world," he said.

"The ICC has to investigate if people are talking but we're now into the tenth week and this is severely impacting on my providing for my family."

chris cairns attacks ICC match-fixing probe

AUCKLAND, FEBRUARY 9 (AP): Retired New Zealand all rounder Chris Cairns has challenged former teammates to go public with any evidence they may have of his involvement in match-fixing after slamming an International Cricket Council investigation into the allegations as extraordinary and reckless. Cairns called an impromptu news conference at Eden Park Sunday, on the fourth day of the first test between New Zealand and India, to denounce the ICC probe and to complain neither New Zealand Cricket nor former New Zealand players had publicly defended him.

The ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit has confirmed it is conducting an investigation involving Cairns and his former New Zealand teammates Lou Vincent and Daryl Tuffey.

Vincent and Tuffey have been spoken to by investigators but Cairns says

The Morung Express

Real's win & atletico's loss leaves tie at top

Atletico's Diego Costa from Brazil, right, in action with Marco Torsiglieri from Argentina, left, and Raul Garcia, center, during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Almeria and Atletico de Madrid at the Juegos Mediterraneos stadium in Almeria, Spain Saturday Feb. 8, 2014. (AP Photo)

BARCELONA, FEBRUARY 9 (AP): Real Madrid forwards Gareth Bale and Jese Rodriguez each scored and set up goals for Karim Benzema in a 4-2 win over Villarreal on Saturday, giving the powerhouse a share of the Spanish league lead after Atletico Madrid stumbled to a 2-0 loss at Almeria. With leading scorer Cristiano Ronaldo serving the first of a three-game suspension, Bale stepped up by opening in the seventh minute at the Santiago Bernabeu before he crossed for Benzema's first goal in the 25th.

After Villarreal's Mario Gaspar struck in the 43rd, Jese took what proved to be Madrid's winner in the 64th before Villarreal forward Giovani Dos Santos curled in a free kick in the 69th. Jese found Benzema for his double in the 76th.

If any Madrid supporters were worried how their team would fare without Ronaldo and his league-

leading 22 goals, they needn't have as Carlo Ancelotti's side extended its unbeaten streak to 23 games in all competitions.

Instead of struggling, Benzema recorded his 12th and 13th league goals, Bale provided more arguments he was worthy of his worldrecord transfer, and the 20-year-old Jese gave Madrid's fans more hope they have finally found their next homegrown star.

"It's great to be back on the pitch and get a goal and an assist as well," Bale, who had missed two games with a leg injury, said. "(Cristiano) is obviously missed. He is the world's best player.

We knew we had to do the job without him."

Also, Valencia rolled over bottom-side Real Betis 5-0 as it continued to show its turnaround under coach Juan Pizzi, while Rayo Vallecano broke a run of six home losses by humbling 10-man Malaga 4-1 to move to within two points

of safety. Atletico failed to rebound from its 3-0 Copa del Rey defeat at Madrid on Wednesday as it lost for just the second time in 23 league matches in this campaign. It has dropped seven points in the last five rounds.

Almeria stifled its attack and a pair of mistakes by back-up goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia, starting for the injured Thibaut Courtois, doomed Diego Simeone's side. After Almeria forward Aleix Vidal's shot came off both posts, Aranzubia let Jose "Verza" Garcia's cross fall over his head in the 80th. The veteran goalie compounded that in the 86th by losing the ball to Jonathan Zongo's pressure and earning a questionable red card as he dove to recover the ball.

Verza slotted the spot kick past midfielder Gabi Fernandez, who had to defend the net with all three changes already made. To make matters worse, Atlet-

ico midfielder Tiago Cardoso was carried off with a leg injury after he received a hard tackle midway through the second half.

"We don't look for excuses," Simeone said. "The only way we know how to continue forward in the same fashion that got us here is to keep on working.

What concerns me most about today is Tiago."

Barcelona trails Atletico and Madrid by three points before it visits Sevilla on Sunday. Bale seemed particularly eager to take charge with Ronaldo out, and he was helped to start the scoring by defender Jose Dorado's bad decisionmaking and even poorer execution. Dorado unwisely tried to dribble around Bale instead of passing to a nearby teammate. The Wales winger pounced on his clumsy touch to steal the ball, press forward unchallenged, and coolly chip helpless goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo. Bale then used a

burst of speed to leave behind Jaume Costa on the right flank before crossing for Benzema, whose shortrange volley hit Asenjo before landing in the net.

Villarreal, however, didn't wilt and Gaspar drilled the ball inside the far corner of the goalframe to halve the deficit before halftime. Madrid lost left back Marcelo to injury when he gingerly walked off the pitch in the 18th, and his replacement, Fabio Coentrao, didn't return after halftime, apparently due to injury. Alvaro Arbeloa took his place.

Jese ran onto Angel Di Maria's incisive pass before he slipped the ball around Asenjo with a sly touch using the outside of his right boot to make it 3-1. Again Villarreal wasn't done, and Dos Santos bent his left-footed free kick over the barrier, but Jese steered a Madrid counterattack before squaring for Benzema to fire home and secure the three points.

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 9 (AgENCIEs): India could return to the Olympic fold after 14 months of suspension by its parent body, after the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) successfully conducted its elections and declared N Ramachandran as the president of the IOA. World Squash Federation President, younger brother of BCCI chief N Srinivasan, Ramachandran was elected unopposed as president of IOA after Abhay Singh Chautala and Lalit Bhanot were barred from contesting on the ground that they have been charge-framed by a court of law. Kho Kho Federation of India president Rajeev Mehta and All India Tennis Association chief Anil Khanna have been elected unopposed as secretary general and treasurer respectively.

Chautala and Bhanot were elected as president and secretary general in the IOA polls on December 5, 2012, a day after the IOC suspended India for government interference and for allowing tainted persons in the election process. The IOC had declared the elections "null" and "void".

The IOC had hinted recently that India could be brought back to the Olympic fold after the IOA elections. IOC President Thomas Bach had hinted India`s return even before the Winter Olympics which began in Sochi if the IOA held its elections before the Games. Three Indians

could not took part in the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics under the tri-colour due to India`s suspension by the IOC and the IOA had to draw flak from all quarters for bringing shame on the country.

Clean Sports India, a movement for a corruptionfree sports in the country, also wrote a letter to the IOC questioning the inclusion of Chautala and Bhanot in the electoral college on the ground that they have been charge-framed by a court of law in India. CSI said in view of several anomalies in the election process, the polls can be challenged in a court of law later on as the IOA is a body constituted under the Societies Registration Act. Chautala, who cannot stand in the elections, had been authorised by his faction to choose the candidates for various posts, including those of president, secretary general and treasurer. It is also learnt that some sort of a compromise was reached between the factions led by Chautala and IOC member in India Randhir Singh.

Randhir`s daughter Sunaina Kumari, who is currently Bowling Federation of India chief, will be one of the six joint secretaries.

Three representatives each from Indian Boxing Federation, Taekwondo Federation of India and Fencing Association of India were barred by the IOC from casting votes in tomorrow`s elections on the ground that these three

NSFs have been suspended by their international federations. The decision came after the boxing world body, AIBA recommended the IOC not to allow the IBF representatives to cast their votes.

IOC Director of NOC Relations Pere Miro, IOC Ethics Commission member Francisco J Elizalde from Philippines and Olympic Council of Asia Director General Husain Al Musallam will be the observers from the world body in the elections.

Having blatantly violated the IOC`s diktats on more than one occasion throughout last year, the IOA was finally left with no option but to amend its constitution as per the world body`s directives following an ultimatum that it would de-recognise India if the "charge-framed" persons are not barred from contesting polls.

De-recognition would mean that India cannot be a part of the Olympic Movement and the country`s sportspersons would not be allowed to take part in any international event.

It all started 14 months ago when on December 4, 2012, the IOC suspended the IOA for adhering to the government`s Sports Code and for allowing tainted persons to take part in the election process.

In an act of defiance, IOA went ahead with the polls next day. The world body refused to recognise Chautala and his team of office bearers. The IOC later proposed a meeting with the IOA and government

representatives but maintained that the Indian body must hold its elections solely under Olympic Charter to return to the Olympic fold.

After three postponements and controversy over the participation of two members representing the suspended IOA, the meeting took place on May 15 last at Lausanne, Switzerland with Sports Minister Jitendra Singh and Beijing Olympics gold winner shooter Abhinav Bindra attending it. The IOC issued the roadmap for India`s return to the Olympic fold, asking IOA to amend its constitution before July 15 and elect new office bearers by September 1 last, both under the supervision of the world body.

On August 15 last year, IOC stated that tainted persons will no longer be eligible to contest IOA elections.

But, a defiant IOA refused to implement the provision, saying that it had to follow the law of the land. The IOA even proposed to dilute the contentious clause, saying the chargesheet clause must apply only to convicted persons. But the IOC shot down any compromise formula and asked the IOA to sack "charge-framed" officials through constitutional amendments by October 31 and conduct fresh elections by December 15 last.

The IOC later agreed to IOA`s proposal to hold elections on February 9 after IOA agreed to bar chargeframed persons from contesting the polls.

Mills' 32 points lift Spurs over Bobcats Srinivasan's brother N Ramachandran elected unopposed as IOA president CHARLOTTE, FEBRUARY 9 (AP): Australian Patty Mills scored 18 of his season-high 32 points in the fourth quarter and Tim Duncan had a double-double to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 104-100 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Saturday night for their fourth win in five games.

Mills was 10 of 13 from the field, including 5 of 5 in the fourth quarter. He also connected on 8 of 9 foul shots and had four 3-pointers to help the Spurs defeat the Bobcats for the sixth straight time. Duncan finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds for his 22nd double-double of the season.

The Spurs trailed by one entering the fourth quarter when Mills took over, knocking down jumpers and floaters in the lane to push the lead to nine.

The red-hot Al Jefferson led the way for the Bobcats with 26 points and nine rebounds. Gerald Henderson had 23 points. The crucial play came with the Spurs leading 99-95 with 26 seconds left when Josh McRoberts stole the ball from Duncan at the top of the key. But an overanxious McRoberts, looking ahead to Michael Kidd-Gilchrist for a fast break, threw the ball away.

Charlotte got the lead down to 102-100 when Henderson knocked down a 3-pointer from the corner after corralling an offensive rebound with 3.1 seconds left, but Nando De Colo sealed the victory with two free throws. Marvin Williams scored 23 points and rookie Trey Burke hit a jumper with 24 seconds remaining to lift the Utah Jazz to a 94-89 upset victory over the Miami Heat in Salt Lake City.

Charlotte Bobcats' Bismack Biyombo (0) and San Antonio Spurs' Jeff Ayres (11) battle for a rebound during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Charlotte, N.C. on Feb. 8. (AP Photo)

Trailing 87-79 after Williams hit two 3-pointers, the Heat used a 10-4 run to draw within two points when Ray Allen made a 3 from the corner with 46 seconds to play.

Burke, who had 13 points, rose up and drained the clutch 19-foot jump shot to beat the shot clock and Gordon Hayward's free throw clinched the win for the Jazz, who have beat the Heat at home three straight times. Dwyane Wade had 19 points for the Heat, who

missed their last four shots from the field to thwart their comeback. LeBron James was 4 of 13 from the field for 13 points, his lowest scoring total since he had 13 points in a 104-88 win over Atlanta on Nov. 19. Brandon Jennings had a season-high 35 points to go with 12 assists, Josh Smith had 30 points and the Detroit Pistons rolled to a 126-109 win over the Denver Nuggets. Rodney Stuckey added 19 points for Detroit, while Andre

Drummond had 18 points and 15 rebounds.

Randy Foye led the Nuggets with 25 points, while Wilson Chandler scored 20. Zach Randolph scored 20 points and the Memphis Grizzlies continued their pattern of winning on the road with strong defense, shutting down the Atlanta Hawks 79-76, while LaMarcus Aldridge scored 26 points to help the Portland Trail Blazers hold off the injury-depleted Minnesota Timberwolves 117-110.

Entertainment

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Monday 10 February 2014

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North East Outfit and Voice Fusion

Contestants selected from the 2nd elimination round of NE Ethnic Outfit and Voice Fusion to be held on February 14 at RCEMPA (Jotsoma) Contestants with their design showcase during the 2nd elimination round at Aizwal Rosy Zohmingliani (Mizorum)

Vilhousa Movi (Nagaland)

Lalzuidiki (Mizoram)

Lishang Nakhedie (Manipur)

Abbacy Lalhmangaihzuali (Mizoram)

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Showstopper for NE Ethnic Outfit & Voice Fusion

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odels from Get Gorgeous Society have been selected for the showstopper at the NE Ethnic Outfit & Voice Fusion, 3rd Elimination Round for the Fashion designers.

Get Gorgeous Society of Nagaland is a network of Designers and people dedicated to the advancement of fashion Designing, cultural events and modeling. Members also include

well known event managers who have successfully organizes many shows and entertainment event etc. in a short span of time we have created a niche within the state and region as well. We focus on to promote our local Models, upcoming Designers and our rich Naga traditions.

We have organized shows, such as Annual Angel’s Mega Model Hunt, Mega

Miss Northeast, Fashion Shows and Northeast Fall Winter Fashion festival since 2007. Our Models have participated in many model hunt and Beauty Pageants contest of Northeast and won numerous awards. Our Models have participated in fashion shows representing Nagaland in Mumbai, Bangalore, Calcutta, Hyderabad and Aurangabad.

The selected showstopper are:

Her designs (creativity & wearable)

His designs creativity & wearable

With her designs

With his designs

Naro Tzudir Height : 5.6.

Age : 18 yrs.

With her designs

2nd runner-up during 6th Angels Mega Model Hunt 2013

KENEI RAKHO Height : 5.5.

Age : 22 yrs.

Winner of 6th Angels Mega Model Hunt 2013.

Viewers Choice Award at Mega Miss Northeast 2013.

VILIHO CHISHO Height : 5.5.

Age : 23 yrs.

1st runner-up of 6th Angels Mega Model Hunt 2013.

She’s a Runway Model & Miss Sumi

KENEISENUO Height : 5.5 Age : 24 yrs

1st runner-up of 4th Angels Mega Model Hunt 2011 She is one of the Top Model in Nagaland

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ain Judge for the Fashion designers will be; Ms. Jessica Daisy Elizabeth Healy. She is an Image and Branding Consultant at London based “Indeliblestyles” (www.indelible-

style.co.uk), a Corporate Fashion consulting firm.

With her keen interest to promote “Fair Trade” a brand, involving fashion designers from across the globe, especially from the

third world countries. She will be the Main Judge for the Fashion designers during the 3rd elimination round of “Ethnic Outfit & Voice Fusion” to be held at RCEMPA, Jotsoma, on the

14th of Feb. 2014.

“Ethnic Outfit & Voice Fusion” is a dual project promoted by Better Life Foundation, covering the states of Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland.

The attractive cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh each (winner) and Rs. 50,000/- (runnerup) in both the categories, Fashion designers and Voice along with promotional tour to London.

actor’s number, reported TMZ. Kit, 69, allegedly lost most of his motor functions after falling ill. The website claims that family members were asked to come to the hospital where Kit is residing. Emergency services apparently responded to a call from Kit’s home in Grants Pass, Oregon, shortly after 1 pm on Tuesday, January 21. Macaulay and his father, a former stage actor whose real name is Christopher, have been estranged for several years. It is believed that the pair cut ties due to a feud over Macaulay’s multimillion dollar fortune.

Macaulay is worth an estimated $15million and has been estranged from his

or every ten comic book lovers queuing up to get clicked with Wonder Woman and Invisible Man, there were a dozen waiting to share the frame with the adorable village simpleton Suppandi, a popular character from Tinkle comics.

At the fourth annual Comic Con in Delhi, Chacha Chaudhary, Suppandi and Tantri the Mantri gave quite a bit of competition to Wolverine and Iron Man, as several flocked to Amar Chitra dad since his parents’ split. Katha’s booth at INA’s ThyThe former child actor’s agraj Stadium. “Who says father and mother, Kit and Indian comics has no takPatricia, separated in 1995, and Patricia filed for custody of the minor children.

Patricia accused Kit of ‘excessive drinking, physically abusive and unfaithful behaviour’, allegations which Kit’s lawyer Donald Frank said were ‘not a significant issue’, People reports. But instead of facing the claims in court Kit gave Patricia full custody, as Frank stated ‘he didn’t want it to turn into a circus.’ Macaulay is the third eldest of seven children five boys and two girls. His sister Dakota tragically died in 2008 aged 29 after being hit by a car.

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NEYIE LEINAK PHOM Height : 5.6.

Age : 21 yrs.

Winner of 4th Angels Mega Model Hunt 2011 1st runner-up Miss Nagaland 2008

Macaulay Culkin performs for children Indian comics give Wolverine and Iron Man F at KidRockers event with his band

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acaulay Culkin is regarded as having been one of the most successful child stars. It seems the 33-year-old actor is inspiring other children creatively, as he and his band, The Pizza Underground, played a concert recommended for children ages three to 13 at a Kidrockers show at New York University’s Skirball Center on Saturday. The Home Alone star looked casual and down to earth in a dark sweater paired with dark jeans – his wrists decorated in a variety of braided bracelets and wristbands.

He had tied his hair back in a ponytail, and wore dark Ray Ban sunglasses on stage.

His band played four

songs and held a Q and A session about pizza with the kids – discussing their favourite slices and New York City hot spots. Afterwards, the My Girl star posed with a fan outside, who was wearing a Pizza Underground T-shirt.

Macaulay braved the cold in a long sleek black button up coat, with a grey scarf round his neck. About two weeks ago, it was revealed this his estranged father allegedly wanted to patch things up with his son before suffering a major stroke.

Kit Culkin, who is currently in intensive care, reportedly told family members he wanted to repair his relationship with Macaulay, and was trying to get the

ers,” asks Rajani Thindiath, Editor of Tinkle. “The crowd around this booth clearly proves that people still read Indian comics,” Thindiath adds. Mohammad Faisal, the brain behind the viral comic strip Garbage Bin, echoed similar sentiments, “Hindi comics enjoy a large readership in smaller towns and cities”. “The problem is that the only two comic houses in India, Raj and Diamond, are barely surviving.

We are offering the readers a platform to interact,” chips tive. Faisal and Thindiath Indian toons, but have just in Yashwant Golecha, a Save both agree that comic enthu- developed different choices Indian Comics representa- siasts haven’t lost interest in due to evolving times.

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India’s Shikar Dhawan plays a high ball to be caught out for 115 by New Zealand’s wicket keeper off the bowling of Neil Wagner BJ Watling on the fourth day of the first cricket test at Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand, Sunday, Feb. 9. (AP Photo)

NZ beats INdIa by 40 ruNs IN fIrst test

skipper dhoni praises bowlers, rues unlucky dismissals in second innings AUCKLAND, FEBRUARY 9 (PTI): India skipper MS Dhoni had high praise for his bowling attack for bringing them into the game but rued few unlucky dismissals in the second innings as the visitors went down by 40 runs against New Zealand in the first cricket Test, on Sunday. "The bowlers bowled fantastically well to get us back. One of the best that I have seen our bowlers bowl especially on a good wicket. They kept it tight and bowled wicket-taking deliveries at the same time. They need to continue doing that. When you go and not look at what you want to achieve at the end, you can slowly graduate into bigger goals," said Dhoni at the post match presentation.

India lost the first match of the two-Test series by 40 runs. Chasing 407 to win, India were bowled out for 366 in their second innings at Eden Park here. "I don't think we batted really well in the first innings. In the second innings, quiet a few of our batmen batted really well. We had few unlucky wickets. Ajinkya's decision was a tough one at a very crucial time," the skipper said. Meanwhile, New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum was delighted to see his bowlers come up trumps under pressure situation. "Definitely, there were nervous times. They put us under immense amount of pressure. Neil Wagner's spell epitomised everything that is going well with the side. It was a great Test to be part of. One that we will remember. We had to overcome tough periods when batting," said McCullum, who was awarded the Man of the Match for his brilliant 224 in the first innings.

"One of my best innings in an New Zealand shirt. I am delighted to make a significant contribution. A lot of credit must go to those who formed partnerships with me. A Test victory over this Indian team is no small achievement," he said.

AUCKLAND, FEBRUARY 9 (AP): Neil Wagner took 4-62 as New Zealand dismissed India for 366 Sunday to win the first cricket test by 40 runs on a roller-coaster fourth day at Eden Park and take a 1-0 lead in the two-test series.

Wagner claimed the critical wickets of Shikhar Dhawan for 115, Virat Kohli (67) and captain MS Dhoni (39), while wicketkeeper BJ Watling took seven catches as New Zealand dramatically snuffed out India's bid to score 407 to win. At times on the fourth day, India seemed to be progressing comfortably towards a win which would have made it only the fifth team in 2,118 tests to achieve victory by scoring more than 400 runs in the fourth innings.

But a minor collapse on either side of tea took the momentum out of India's run-chase.

Dhawan, who began the day on 49, became the anchor of the India innings through the first two sessions and worked with patience and caution to steer it towards an extraordinary test victory. Only Australia (418), against the West Indies in 2003, South Africa (414) against Australia in 2008, India (406) against the West Indies in 1976 and Australia (404) against England in 1948 have cracked the 400-run barrier in winning a test in the fourth innings. But Wagner removed Dhawan shortly before tea and New Zealand quickly claimed the wickets of Ajinkya Rahane (18) and Rohit Sharman (19) to reduce India to 270-6 to leave the test in the balance.

The collapse coincided with the arrival of the second new ball, which was well used by Trent Boult, Tim Southee and then Wagner, a third seamer who excels when the ball is wearing.

The tourists counterattacked with Ravindra Jadeja, India's last recognized batsman, blasting 26 from 21 balls with four fours and a six, before holing out from the bowling of Trent Boult in the seventh over of the second new ball, leaving India 324-7, still 83 runs from victory.

Zaheer Khan made 17 and nudged India to 349-8, still needing 58 runs but with Dhoni facing a dwindling pool of partners. The Indian captain tried to farm the strike and advance the run chase as quickly as possible but Wagner then removed Zaheer and struck India a mortal blow by dismissing Dhoni, the ninth man out, at 362.

New Zealand celebrated as it took a 1-0 lead in the two-test series but, amid its celebrations, there was a realization that it had had a lucky escape.

It dominated the match over the first two days, scoring 503 after being sent into to bat on a greentop pitch, then dismissed India for 202 to take a 301-run first innings lead. Captain Brendon McCullum then made a major miscalculation by deciding not to enforce the follow on and, batting again in seamer-friendly conditions, New Zealand was dismissed for 105 in 41 overs in its second innings.

That left it with a much smaller total to defend than should have been the case. Though India's fourth innings run chase was historically unlikely, New Zealand had forfeited its commanding position in the match and left itself vulnerable.

"After not enforcing the follow-on we didn't play well but their bowling was exceptional too," McCullum said. "Everyone has got their own opinion.

"You have to make that decision and you live and die by that decision. Thankfully we are living by it."

They owed their victory in large part to combination of Wagner and Watling who are both South African-born. "It's an incredible feeling," Wagner said. "I'm absolutely overwhelmed. "I think it's something that will stick in my mind for the rest of my life. It's one for the memory box, something I've worked for for a long time and it's a pretty good feeling.

2014 Winter Olympics

Kseria Stolbova and Fedor Klmovper from Russia perform their free program in the pairs event of the figure skating team event at the Iceberg Skating Palace during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo)

Canada's Justine Dufour-Lapointe, right, celebrates her gold medal in the women's moguls final, with her sister and silver medalist Chloe Dufour-Lapointe, left, at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park, at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia. (AP Photo)

Austrian Mayer wins men's Olympic downhill

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ROSA KHUTOR, FEBURARY 9 (AFP): Risk-taking Austrian tyro Matthias Mayer overcame a poor upper section to storm to Olympic gold in the blue riband Winter Games event of the men's downhill on Sunday. The 23-year-old, whose favourite discipline is the shorter speed event, the super-G, clocked 2min 06.23sec down the 3.5km-long course for the first Austrian downhill gold since Fritz Stroebl in the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City. Mayer, who has never won a major international downhill, also bettered his father Helmut's silver-medal showing in the super-G at the Calgary Games in 1998.

"Of course it means a lot to me," an emotional Mayer said. "It's really difficult to go down the track without mistakes."

In a gripping morning's racing when the lead changed hands five times until Mayer came bombing down the slope with bib number 11, Italian Christof Innerhofer took silver at just six-hundredths, the equivalent to 1.66 metres.

Norway's Kjetil Jansrud claimed bronze a further 0.04sec adrift, with teammate and world downhill champion Aksel Lund Svin-

dal in fourth and another strong favourite, Bode Miller of the United States, in eighth.

Defending Olympic champion Didier Defago of Switzerland finished 14th at 1.56sec.

Mayer, who earlier this week had named both Svindal and the 36-year-old Miller as his "idols and role models", skied a run the American would have been proud of.

Down on two splits in the upper section of the course, which was smooth and icy in overcast conditions, Mayer nailed the tricky technical middle part which demands slick rhythmic turns to maintain speed before a gliding section favoured by the heavier racers. Mastering the three Austria's Matthias Mayer makes a turn in the men's downhill on his way to winning a gold jumps which catapault the racers 60 me- medal at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics on Feb. 9 in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia. (AP Photo) tres while travelling at speeds around 135kph, Mayer held his line through to the end in front of a vociferous crowd packed into the purpose-built stands. Innerhofer made advantage of his superior size and liking of icy tracks to secure a 0.58sec lead up top, but the Italian's deficit was slowly eaten away by the time he came screaming through the finish line, just hundredths of a second away from the ultimate Winter Games glory.

Ireen Wust wins 3,000; Olga Graf claims Russia's first Sochi medal SOCHI, FEBRUARY 9 (AgENCIES): The Netherlands' superiority in speed skating continued on Sunday as Ireen Wust won gold in the women's 3,000 meters at Adler Arena. Wust stopped the timer in 4 minutes, 0.34 seconds for the victory, dethroning defending champion Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic.

Sablikova won silver (4:01.95). Olga Graf of Russia took bronze (4:03.47), claiming the first medal of the Games for the host na-

tion and sending the crowd into a frenzy.

Wust, 27, now has gold from three consecutive Winter Games; she won the 1,500 at Vancouver in 2010 and was the 3,000 champ in Torino in 2006. She's also four-time World AllAround champion, which gives you an idea when the speed skating oval in Tilburg, Netherlands, is named for her.

The king and queen of the Netherlands were again in the crowd, just as they were the day before

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when Sven Kramer took gold in the first speedskating event of the games, the men's 5,000. The royal couple saw another winning performance by their speedskating-mad nation.

The Dutch have now won 29 Olympic golds, pulling even with the United States for the most victories in the sport. Jilleanne Rookard of Woodhaven, Mich., finished 10th in 4:10.02. She placed 12th in Vancouver in 2010. Anna Ireen Wust of the Netherlands flashes three fingers in each hand, indicating her third olympic Ringsred of Duluth, Minn., gold medal, after winning gold in the women's 3,000-meter speedskating race at the Adler Arena was 26th at 4:21.51 Skating Center during the 2014 Winter Olympics on Feb. 9 in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo)

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