17th March 2014

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www.morungexpress.com

Dimapur VOL. IX ISSUE 73

The Morung Express “

www.morungexpress.com

[ PAGE 8]

reflections

By Sandemo Ngullie

Monday, March 17, 2014 12 pages Rs. 4

”

But for my faith in God, I should have been a raving maniac

‘Congress not underdog, will form UPA-III’

Nicole accepts Hamilton’s marriage proposal...

–Mahatma Gandhi

Golden Crown College observes ‘Cultural Day’ [ PAGE 2]

Missing Plane: Malaysia seeks help

[ PAGE 11]

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[ PAGE 9]

Rosberg wins Australian Grand Prix [ PAGE 12]

‘if you ate today, thank a farmer’ International Year of Family Farming—brought to you by women farmers of Nagaland

Morung Express news Chizami | March 16

“If elected peace, prosperity, and development? Waw wawh spoken like a true Cashtian.”

The Morung Express POLL QUESTIOn

Vote on www.morungexpress.com SMS your anSwer to 9862574165 Do you feel that Nagaland should have more Members of Parliament to the Lok Sabha?

Yes

no

Others

Is it time for present naga leaders to hand over responsibilities to the younger generation?

Yes

60% 29%

no Others

11%

Details on page 7

RO for Nagaland LS polls clarifies KOHIMA, MARCH 16 (DIPR): Commissioner for Nagaland and Returning Officer for the Nagaland LS polls, Temjen Toy today clarified that the Assembly Constituency in Nagaland with the highest number of electors is 4 Ghaspani – I A/C with 58618 electors and not Dimapur II A/C. He stated that this was erroneously quoted during the press briefing, held on March 14, which was subsequently published in local dailies.

The RO has expressed regret at the inadvertent error.

NSCN (IM) issues order against unauthorized tax collection DIMAPUR, MARCH 16 (MExN): The NSCN (IM) President, Isak Chihsi Swu has ordered that “all unauthorized and independent collection of government tax and loan by individual national workers will not be entertained and shall be seriously viewed by the government.” A press note from the MIP informed that this order has been issued, in consultation with the collective leadership and “in view of the national necessity, the concerned source ministries and departments who shall have regular concurrence with the collective leadership in the matter of the government tax collection and loan.”

KYI supports NSSATA agitation

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DIMAPUR, MARCH 16 (MExN): The Kyong Youth Initiative has extended its support to the ongoing boycott of classes by the Nagaland SSA Teachers Association, who have been demanding for payment of pending salaries. The KYI, in a press note, said that it “condemns the state government, particularly the Department of School Education, for lackadaisical attitude towards the teachers, who are the molders of our Naga future.” It further urged the state government to take prompt action, and facilitate regular payment of salaries.

Byllaimon Swer, a farmer and teacher from Laitsophliah village of the East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya, started two school gardens in 2013. Along with parents and children at the government run school, Swer grows a variety of vegetables in the school backyard, including cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, radish, peas, carrot, beet root, which is then consumed by the students. Now the 87 students of the Laitsopliah ICDS Centre and Laitsopliah Lower & Upper Primary School get more nutrition than the State’s obligatory grain in the form of the Mid Day Meal Scheme.

The idea, which Swer put to practice, originated from the North East Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society (NESFAS). Along with 90 women farmers and 33 men farmers, NESFAS celebrated the International Year of Family Farming (2014 - initiated by the UN’s Food and Agricultural Agency) at the North East Network (NEN) organized Biodiversity Festival at Chizami on March 7, 2014.

“Indigenous farming communities such as ours have practiced biodiverse farming for centuries,” said Wekowe-ü Tsühah, Program Manager, NEN, in her welcome address to the Festival. “Our farms

Crops/seeds on display (L) at the Biodiversity Festival in Chizami on March 7 where a woman farmer (R) enjoys a millet snack. Photos by Tshetsholo Naro

have always been operated and managed by the family members and depended on the non-wage family labour.

Family farmers, comprising both women and men have been transmitting knowledge, skills, practices and technologies from generation to generation.”

Swer’s school garden is contemporization of these indigenous practices at its best. The Biodiversity Festival itself aimed to “revisit, collectively celebrate and promote the diversity of agricultural practices, local food systems and culture,” as well as to “discuss the contribution and challenges of family farming, and

develop strategies towards a sustainable food and agricultural systems.”

Yet such practices remain secluded in corners.

As farmers from one corner of Nagaland exchanged indigenous seeds with farmers from another corner in Meghalaya, that agrobiodiverse farming practices, on which they depend on for food, nutrition and which cushions them from inevitable poverty, are dwindling, and made to dwindle through policies, was not lost to them.

At a farmer’s interaction (with 16 farming communities) held at the Festival, a woman farmer from Sakra-

Crimea votes on whether to secede from Ukraine

SIMFEROPOL, UKRAINE, MARCH 16 (AP): The Crimean region voted on Sunday about whether to demand greater autonomy from Ukraine or split off and seek to join Russia, in a referendum that has been condemned as illegal by the United States and European countries.

The vote took place several weeks after Russianled forces took control of Crimea, a predominantly ethnic Russian region. Its residents say they fear the Ukrainian government that took over when proRussia President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted last month will oppress them.

On Saturday, Ukrainian officials said Russian forces backed by helicopter gunships and armored vehicles had advanced about 6 miles (10 kilometers) over the Crimean border into another Ukrainian region, where they took control of a village that holds a natural gas distribution facility.

If the referendum passes, Russia faces the prospect of sanctions from Western nations, but Moscow has vigorously resisted calls to pull back in Crimea.

Since Yanukovych fled to Russia, Crimea has come under control of local militia forces, as well as heavily armed troops under apparent command from Moscow. Crimea’s pro-Russia authorities say that if Ukrainian soldiers resolutely occupying their garrisons don’t surrender after Sunday’s vote, they will be considered “illegal.”

But Ukraine’s acting defense minister, Igor Tenyuk, said in an interview pub-

lished Sunday by the Interfax news agency that “this is our land and we’re not going anywhere from this land.”

“Today is an important day for all Crimea, Ukraine and Russia,” said voter Manita Meshchina. “I think that people are expecting the majority of people will vote ‘yes.’ What it means is that people believe and think they need to be with Russia.”

In Sevastopol, more than 70 people surged into a polling station within the first 15 minutes of voting.

“Today is a holiday,” said one of them, 66-yearold Vera Sverkunova. Asked how she voted, she broke into a patriotic war song: “I want to go home to Russia.

It’s been so long since I’ve seen my mama.”

At a polling station 850097 set up inside a historic school building in downtown Sevastopol, Vladimir Lozovoy, a 75-year-old retired Soviet naval officer, began tearing up as he talked about his vote today. Other voters cried out “Well Done! Hurrah” “I want to cry. I have finally returned to my motherland. It is an incredible feeling. This is the thing I have been waiting for for 23 years and finally it has happened,” he said.

Crimea’s large Tatar Muslim minority opposes annexation to Russia.

The referendum “is a clown show, a circus,” a leader of the Crimean community, Refat Chubarov, said on Crimea’s Tatar television station Sunday.

“This is a tragedy, an illegitimate government, with armed forces from another country.” Blue-and-yellow

Ukrainian flags were nowhere to seen around the streets of Simferopol; red, white and blue Russian and Crimean flags fluttered around the sidewalks, city buildings and on many cars.

Ethnic Ukrainians said they refused to take part in the referendum, calling it an illegal charade that they said was stage managed by Moscow. Some said they were scared of the potential for ethnic cleansing in the coming weeks. “We’re just not going to play these separatist games,” said Yevgen Sukhodolsky, a 41-year-old prosecutor from Saki, a town outside of Simferopol. “Putin is the fascist. The Russian government is fascist.” Vasyl Ovcharuk, a retired gas pipe layer who also worked on the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986, predicted dark days ahead for Crimea.

“This will end up in military action, in which peaceful people will suffer. And that means everybody. Shells and bullets are blind,” he said. At the United Nations, Russia vetoed a Security Council resolution declaring the referendum illegal, and China, its ally, abstained in a sign of Moscow’s isolation on the issue.

Supporters of the U.S.sponsored resolution knew ahead of time that Russia would use its veto on Saturday. But they put the resolution to a vote to show the strength of opposition in the 15-member U.N. Security Council to Moscow’s takeover of Crimea. The final vote was 13 members in favor, China’s abstention, and Russia as a permanent council member casting a veto.

ba village in Nagaland’s Phek district stressed on her community’s helplessness when faced with changing climatic conditions, and the lack of State support in viably growing/processing/marketing sustainable crops like millets (which have been traditionally grown in abundance in places like Noklak in Tuensang district but left in granaries in the lack of processing units).

“Men and children are more geared towards cash economy, and we are left alone to work on the fields to produce food,” noted a number of women farmers from various villages across Nagaland and Meghalaya—

while the cash is not enough to buy both lifestyle and nutrition, women farmers are at the forefront of bringing the latter to the food plate.

But they remain sidelined in decision making processes wherein, for instance, paddy fields are converted into spring onion or garlic fields (sold for insufficient profit in the market).

Even then, “I am proud to be a farmer—we are able to plant our own seeds and grow our food without being dependent on anyone,” said a woman farmer from Thetsumi village in Phek district.

In a village in Ri-bhoi district of Meghalaya, another woman farmer passes on

the knowledge systems towards self sufficiency by insisting her children work on the field when they are on a break from school.

The line of advocacy is not lost to the State either.

The Government of Meghalaya, for instance, finances the NESFAS, thereby promoting the idea of ‘Slow Food’ and agrobiodiversity to go with. Policy makers within the Government of Nagaland have also become increasingly inclined away from too much reliance on cash and mono cropping, instead promoting food and nutrition sustenance. As Dr. Cressida Jamir, member of the Nagaland Bio-Resource

Mission, highlighted in her presentation on the ‘Role of Small Farmers and Family Farming in addressing food security in the context of Nagaland’ that with the prospect of feeding 9 billion mouths by 2050, the world is faced with a food challenge and a sustainable way to go is family farming. Such a sustainable food system, as already practiced in most of Nagaland (though dwindling), will lead to a healthy environment and population, social equity (by building communities) and economic vitality (by supporting local producers).

This is where the work of organizations like NESFAS and NEN fit in to support policy initiatives. NESFAS, for instance, focuses on “good, clean and fair food,” attempting to merge traditional knowledge systems with modern ones to find solutions to the growing problems of poverty and inequality. NEN has consistently worked with women farmers, promoting seed banks, biodiverse agriculture, local crafts, culture and tradition to keep the rural population up with the modern world, without losing their sovereignty. Synced with government initiatives and those from family farmers, Biodiversity could become a larger Festival, and a movement, to sustain communities that could then withstand the colonizing effects of modernity.

Shutdown of Binaguri-Bongaigaon 400 KV line affects NER Morung Express news Dimapur | March 16

Nagaland and Dimapur, in particular, will continue to experience load-shedding for extended durations till Monday evening.

Load-shedding, to tide up for downturn in supply, began on Sunday morning as the Binaguri-Bongaigaon 400 KV transmission line, which connects India’s North Eastern Region with the Eastern zone, was

temporarily shut down on March 16.

According to a Power Department official, the high tension power line was shut down for two days. The reason for the shutdown could not be ascertained but it is likely that it was done for maintenance work, the official said. The load-shedding in Nagaland will be between 5:00am and 5:00pm. The power line is owned and maintained by the PowerGrid Corporation.

As a result, Dimapur, with the highest consumption of power in Nagaland State, experienced extended power cuts during the day on Sunday. The same cycle will continue on Monday. It was informed that normal supply of power is expected to resume by Monday evening when the Binaguri-Bongaigaon 400 KV line is reactivated.

The official explained that as a result of the daytime shutdown, power al-

location from the regional load dispatch centre, Shillong, was cut down. It was further added that normal load-shedding will continue as power generation in the generating stations goes down this time of the year.

The official however stated that there is no fixed loadshedding schedule as of now. “So long as availability does not go below a certain point, we don’t maintain a fixed schedule,” the official explained.

for the love of Photography Morung Express Feature Mokokchung | March 16

“Happy is the man who can make a living by his hobby,” wrote the famous English writer George Bernard Shaw in his critically acclaimed book Pygmalion. There are some among the Nagas who have chosen to earn their livelihood through their hobbies.

There are some who can sketch, make nice handicrafts, write and there are some who love photography.

And in Mokokchung town, there is one person who Bernard Shaw, if he was alive, would feel proud of. Toshi Kichu, a young twenty seven-year old photographer, is one of the most sought after wedding photographer in town. He has photographed thirty weddings, events and programmes, and those who have seen his photographs would appreciate his sense of perception about creating a good picture.

But it is not just his photos; he has a story to tell, which he narrated to The Morung Express, during an informal interaction. “I always used to carry a digital camera in my pocket. It was a point-and-shoot Sony digital camera I bought for Rs 6000. That was way back in 2010,” said Toshi Kichu as he recollected his earlier days as a photographer.

“My friends used to laugh at me because I always carried my camera in my pocket. They used to mock me, whether I would click even while they

Toshi Kichu, after a hard day of clicking photographs at a birthday party.

were answering nature’s calls. But now, they don’t laugh at me anymore.”

Toshi Kichu, an undergraduate, is a trained draughtsman. He could have stayed at home like the thousands of youths in Nagaland, unemployed and maybe unemployable. But he chose to be different.

“My first wedding photography assignment was at my brother’s wedding in 2011. I decided that I alone would click my brother’s once-in-alifetime happy moments. During that time also, my friends used to mock me

like how can I be the photographer at my brother’s wedding. I cared less.”

Today, Toshi Kichu is having the last laugh. He is earning well and sports two Canon DSLR cameras, busy clicking photos at weddings. He bought the first Canon 1100D with a 55-250 mm lens and 18-55 mm lens, with his own money, in the year 2011.

Next, he invested in another Canon DSLR - 60D. These two cameras, Toshi Kichu disclosed, are his closest companions. Presently, he disclosed, he is doing a project on a magazine and a documentary related to a Church centenary celebration programme.

“There is nothing like wedding photography, because you have to click the best picture of the couple... but it is a very strenuous job, because you have to start your work from morning till night,” said Toshi Kichu.

“I am happy that I am earning through my own efforts without having to depend on others. And I am happy that I am doing what I like to do most.”

If there is anything that one can learn from the life of this hardworking young man, then it is the dignity of labour, of enjoying one’s job and doing it the best to one’s ability.

And also for those thousands of ‘educated unemployed youths’, the government or the society can simply say that unemployment, indeed, is not an option for those who love to earn and exploit one’s talent.

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Monday 17 March 2014

The Morung Express C

Golden Crown College observes 'Cultural Day'

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Students of Golden Crown College representing (from left) Angami, Lotha, and Rengma Naga tribes present cultural songs and dances at the annual ‘Cultural Day’ of the college, on Sunday.

Morung Express News Dimapur | March 16

Golden Crown College observed its annual ‘Cultural Day’ here at the college campus on Sunday, which was marked by cultural

presentations from students representing four Naga tribes – Lotha, Rengma, Angami and Sumi.

Compere of the programme, lecturer Achumlo Mozhui, in her introductory note said that the theology college, which also

has a centre of the Royal School of Music, London, is observed every year by the college to celebrate the spirit of “One in Christ” though the students and faculty members may come from various backgrounds, tribes or nations.

The invitees and well wishers attending the cultural programme were entertained with series of songs and cultural items by students of Golden Crown College representing Lotha, Rengma, Angami and Sumi

Naga tribes.

Chairman of the college, Wochamo Odyuo and president of Kyong Nchumcheo Okho, Yanbemo, also greeted the college faculty and students of the occasion. Earlier, the pro-

gramme started with invocation offered by Daniel, a German missionary and lecturer of the college. Founding member and director of Golden Crown College, Rev. Nzan Odyuo, pronounced benediction, followed

Old woman found Peducha village warns against littering near Dimapur airport

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The old woman who was found near entrance area of Dimapur airport on March 15.

Dimapur, march 16 (mExN): An old woman (in the picture) was found loitering near the main entrance area of Dimapur airport late night of March 15.

She is now under the care of Prodigals’ Home, Short Stay Home for Women/ Girls located at Fellowship colony, Dimapur.

Alemla, Residential Counselor of the Home in a press release said that the woman (non-Naga) does not even know/ remember her own name.

Concerned relatives of the woman have been asked to contact the following numbers: 03862-248723 and 03863-248744.

Kohima, march 16 (mExN): Village chairman of Peducha village, Thepfüyiengu Vielie has warned that anyone found dumping garbage in the village jurisdiction will face consequent action without any warning. He/she may have to pay huge amount of cash to clean up the whole village area.

He also added that vehicles dumping garbage in the village area will be seized for violating the village guideline.

A press release informed that the village is very much concerned to promote good hygienic practices and access to proper sanitary practices, but recently some trucks and Tata Mobile have been dumping garbage at Peducha village NH.29 from neighboring and state capital without any information View of Peducha village with garbage seen strewn in the foreground. to the village authority.

Peducha village, which through Total Sanitation Capacity Development Unit ern Angami area which falls has been awarded Nir- Campaign (TSC) since 2009 (CCDU) PHED is still one of under Kohima district, the mal Gram Puraskar (NGP) under Communication and the cleanest villages in west- release added.

Gas agencies in Mkg caution customers Debate competition in observance

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moKoKchuNg, march 16 (mExN): Longkumer Gas Agency (LGA) and Immanuel Gas Service in Mokokchung have requested its genuine customers not to let any unknown person repair any appliances or allow changing hose pipe unnecessarily in order to reduce risk and

save superfluous expenses.

In a press release, the managers of the two aforementioned gas agencies stated that certain business sections are visiting door to door, inspecting cooking gas, rubber tube and other appliances in and around Mokokchung and asking the innocent costumers to

replace them thus selling their product.

The release informed that Longkumer Gas Agency and Immanuel Gas Service are sealing the gas appliances approved by the Indian Oil Co-operation Limited (IOC Ltd.) such as Pressure Regulators (PR), Green Label Gas Stove and

PDTA tells hospitals to ready for tree plantation Kohima, march 16 (mExN): Phek District Traders’ Association (PDTA) has informed the hospital authorities under Pfütsero, Chizami, Jessami, Ukhrul, Meluri, and Pungro to keep the space ready for planting trees before April 15, 2014. A press release issued by PDTA president, Sanyi Dukru said that a meeting held with Ukhrul District Traders’ Association and Pungro Subdivision Timber Traders’ Union (PSTTU) on March 10 decided to plant varieties of tree sap-

lings in the hospital compound of the above mentioned places to promote tree plantation and do their bit in preserving the environment.

It also informed that PDTA will be providing the tree saplings for free. The team will carry out the plantation from April 15-20, 2014. Concerned hospitals may also specify the number and variety of tree saplings they want to be planted in their compounds, the release added. For any clarification, one may contact 9436606303.

Suraksha Hose Pipe which are under warranty for a period of one year free servicing.

For any queries and help, customers may contact during office hours: Longkumer Gas Agency Counter at 0369-2226247 and Immanuel Gas Service at 0369-2227320.

Women entrepreneurship orientation held

Dimapur, march 16 (mExN): Participants from different districts of Nagaland, numbering to 32 attended two days women entrepreneurship orientation programme for individuals/ Self Help Groups held at Resource Centre, 2 ½ Mile Dimapur on March 12 and 13. A press release informed that the programme was organized

by Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (Under Ministry of MSME, Government of India) and sponsored by Foundation for Social Transformation, Guwahati. Apart from IIE faculty members, resource persons from SBI Lead Branch, KVIC, NABARD, and NIDC took the sessions.

of World Consumer Rights Day

Kohima, march 16 (mExN): Kohima Law College, Nagaland Voluntary Consumers’ Organisation (NVCO) & ACAUT Nagaland (Legal Cell) conducted a debate competition on the topic – “The State Government has not initiated enough measures to eradicate the menace of illegal taxation in the state” as part of the observance of ‘World Consumer Rights Day’ on March 14, 2014 at Kohima Law College.

A press release informed that the debate participants both motion and against the motion consisted of LL.B students. The outcome of the debate competition was a realization and affirmation that the State Government requires to introduce effective mechanism and strong laws to eradicate the huge involvement of unauthorized reduction and col-

lection of cash and imposition of illegal taxation upon the citizens, the release asserted. A strong appreciation went to the initiative of ACAUT Nagaland in the fight against illegal taxation and an appeal was made to all citizens to support ACAUT. The president of NVCO & Convener ACAUT Nagaland (Legal Cell) Kezhokhoto Savi spoke on the significance of World Consumer Rights Day which is celebrated every year on March 15. He said that President John F Kennedy was the first world leader who addressed the issue related to consumer rights to the US Congress on March 15, 1962. On March 15, 1983, consumer organizations started observing the day to promote global awareness on basic rights of consumers.

St. Joseph’s Children Home gets a new church

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Dimapur, march 16 (mExN): A new church at St. Joseph’s Children Home, United North Block, Burma Camp here was inaugurated on March 15 by Chief Guest Kheheto Sema, Society Director, ICPS and blessed by Most Rev. Dr. James Thoppil, Bishop of Kohima.

The chief guest said that Church has an important place in every village. They come to the Church to obtain serenity from Lord Jesus Christ which the world cannot give. He thanked and congratulated Rev. Fr. OC Abraham, Director of St. Joseph’s Children Home, for his dedicated services for the poor and the orphans.

He stated that the government should have come forward and assisted institutions of this type in a bigger way. He also cautioned the audience about human trafficking, and requested all to be careful when people take away children with false promises of free and

Children of St. Joseph’s Children Home in Dimapur seen with others at the inauguration of the church on March 15.

better education elsewhere.

In his speech, Most Rev. Dr. James Thoppil, the bishop of Kohima, praised Rev. Fr. O.C. Abraham and his team, particularly Fr. Rich-

ard Fernandas and the Sisters of the Sacred Heart for their dedicated service. He said that the Church from its beginning had special care and concern for the

poor, the orphans and the widows. In fact, various ministries in the Church, including that of Deacons, evolved in the process of caring for the poor.

In his homily, he exhorted each one to build themselves as living temples, the real church. The material Church is only the external expression of the spiritual

church, he said. “Nagaland is a land of Churches and we must take pride not in the fact that we have the Church building as the most important building in every village, but by the fact that we live as true members of the Church, as true Christ-bearers.” The bishop also blessed the new tabernacle, where the Eucharist (Blessed Sacrament) will be preserved and urged everyone to visit the Church and spend few moments to experience the peace and joy that only God can give.

During the inaugural function, the appointment for Annie, the first inmate, as teacher, was handed over by the Chief Guest. Rev. Fr. O. C. Abraham in his speech thanked all the people who supported him in his ministry and at St. Joseph’s Home.

He also recounted how he was inspired to begin this work by seeing a little girl of four (Annie), weeping at the grave of her mother.

by a grand feast comprising of various Naga dishes prepared by the students. The college established in 2002 offers B.Th along with music and also separate music course certified by the Royal School of Music, London.

MEx File

Governor extends Holi greetings Kohima, march 16 (mExN): On the joyous occasion of Holi, Governor of Nagaland has extended hearty greetings and good wishes to the people of Nagaland.

Governor Dr. Ashwani Kumar wished that the festival of colours strengthens the bonds of friendship and go a long way in promoting brotherhood and unity among the people.

NPF Minority Cell greets on Holi Dimapur, march 16 (mExN): Parliamentary secretary of National Highways & Mechanical and Ministerial in-charge of Minority Cell has extended warm greetings to the people of Nagaland and neighbouring areas on Holi. A press release from NPF Minority Cell president, Bishnu Bhattacharjee stated that Nuklutoshi hoped the festival of colours would be a harbinger of peace, progress and prosperity in the State.

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Dimapur Congress meeting Dimapur, march 16 (mExN): All the Assembly Constituency Congress Committee (ACCC) presidents, frontal chiefs, and camping committee of Dimapur have been informed that there will be a meeting at KL Chishi garden, Nihoto Vilage on March 22, 10:00 am.

Dimapur District Congress Committee general secretary Kakishe Sumi has directed all to attend the meeting without fail.

DSSU to organize science workshop Dimapur, march 16 (mExN): Dimapur Sumi Students’ Union (DSSU) in collaboration with Indigenous Cultural Society (ICS) and Jan Jati Vikas Samiti (JJVS) under Right to Education and Personality Development is organizing three-day science teachers’ training cum students’ workshop from April 1 to 3 on the topic “How to learn science without memorizing” for class 8 to 10 at Holy Cross Higher Secondary School, Dimapur.

The seminar will be conducted by renowned resource persons VS Dixit, SN Godse and AV Sapre, according to a press release from DDSU. Interested science teachers have been asked to produce a letter of intimation from the head of the school concerned. For necessary queries, interested schools can contact 9612198282, 8575281994.

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NSEAOA emergency meeting Kohima, march 16 (mExN): Nagaland School Education Administrative Officers’ Association (NSEAOA) has informed all cadre officers of secondary and elementary school education, Nagaland and three district education officers, namely Mon, Kohima and Dimapur and all sub-divisional education officers, headmasters, assistant headmasters, junior education officers, area education officers, senior graduate teachers and ANSTA that an emergency meeting will be held on March 21, 11:00 am at Chapel Hall, Government Higher Secondary School, Kohima. Vice president E Ekonthung Lotha has requested all to attend the meeting positively.

WSBAK music seminar Dimapur, march 16 (mExN): The WSBAK Music Department is organizing a music seminar for Class X students from March 20 to 22 at WSBAK Mission Centre, Aküvüto under the theme, “Tune your life”. For this, concerned Church leaders have been requested to send their candidates. Interested candidates under WSBAK can also approach the WSBAK office directly through the given telephone number: 09436003172, 03862245362,

Disbursement of SDRF ex-gratia in Mon moN, march 16 (Dipr): Disbursement of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) ex-gratia was held on March 13 at DC Conference Hall, Mon. The cases of exgratia were initiated by the Deputy Commissioner, Mon Angau I. Thou (IAS) and the relief was sanctioned as per the norms of assistance under SDRF after scrutiny and proper examination by the Sub-Committee of SDRF and with due approval by the State Executive Committee. The DC disbursed the ex-gratia to affected persons from different villages under Mon district. Altogether, five (5) persons received the ex-gratia, amounting to Rs. 1,50,000 each, totaling to Rs.7,50,000 only. The beneficiaries were Lt. Detnu Konyak (Mon Village), Lt. Minron Konyak (Lampong Sheangha Village), Lt. Changkhao Konyak (Yongkhao Village), Lt. Neangmai Konyak (Yongkhao Village), and Lt. Lungtik (Mon Town). Other administrative officers were also present in the programme. Earlier, Keyirangding Hegui, SDO (Civil) Mon Sadar delivered welcome speech and Rev. Tenwang said the benediction.

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REgional

The Morung Express

Monday

17 March 2014

Dimapur

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Notification for second phase of Lok Sabha polls issued Itanagar/gUWahatI, March 16 (tnn): The Election Commission on Saturday issued a notification for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections to be held on April 9 in seven constituencies of five northeastern states. Two seats each in Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya, one of the two seats in Manipur, and one seat each in Mizoram and Nagaland will go the polls in the second phase.

Besides, the EC also issued

a notification for election to the 60-member Arunachal Pradesh assembly that goes to the polls on April 9. There are simultaneous elections in Arunachal Pradesh, both for Lok Sabha and assembly. The two Lok Sabha seats are Western Arunachal and Eastern Arunachal.

With the issue of notification, the process of filing nomination has begun. The last date for filing nomination papers is March 22, while scrutiny would

be done on March 24. The last date of withdrawal of candidature has been fixed on March 26. Counting of votes would take place on May 16.

The EC said for the northeast region, the polling hours have been fixed from 7 am to 5 pm.

But in Manipur and Nagaland, hours of polling have been fixed from 7 am to 4 pm.

While scheduled tribe reserved Outer Manipur constituency is witnessing a multi-cor-

ner contest with Congress trying to retain the seat, in neighbouring Nagaland's lone Lok Sabha seat, chief minister Neiphiu Rio is entering the fray. The tallest leader of Naga People's Front (NPF), Rio, is eyeing a ministerial berth if the BJP comes to power at the Centre.

Veteran politician PA Sangma is re-entering into the parliamentary election after seven years in his traditional Tura constituency, while Congress

leader and former Union minister Vincent Pala is hoping to guard his Shillong turf. In Mizoram's lone seat, the opposition parties have failed to put a common candidate against the Congress.

In Arunachal Pradesh, altogether 7, 53, 170 electorate including 3, 77, 272 females would exercise their franchise in 2,158 polling stations in the state. A total of 664 polling stations in the state are inaccessible, while 8

polling stations are having less than 10 voters, 20 having less than 20 voters and 105 polling stations have less than 50 electors. The C Sector polling station in Itanagar has the highest number of 1650 voters, while Malogaon polling station under Hayuliang in Anjaw district has only two voters.

"Central paramilitary forces will be deployed throughout Arunachal Pradesh for creating conducive environment in ad-

dition to the state's security forces," chief electoral officer (CEO) Chandra Bhusan Kumar said in Itanagar on Saturday.

He said the commission was focusing to check all kinds of inducements including cash, liquor and gift by any political party. He added that adequate number of general observers, police observers and expenditure observers were being deployed in the state who would be coming from outside the state.

Yaoshang Tripura tops in voluntary blood donation begins today agartala, March 16 (IanS): Tripura has maintained its top position for the sixth consecutive year in voluntary blood donation in the country, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said here Sunday.

"Of the total requirement of blood during the current financial year (2013-14), 99 percent was collected through voluntary donation till last month.

With the end of the year (financial year) in March, it would be 100 percent," Sarkar said at a blood donation camp organised by the Agartala Press Club.

He said: "If we use clean blood, we would be able to check contagious diseases and such efforts would also save precious lives."

According to National Aids Control Organisation, Supporters of Asom Gana Parisad (AGP), a regional political party of Assam state, participate in a bike rally as part of the forthcoming general election only five states in India campaigning in Guwahati, Assam. India will hold national elections from April 7 to May 12, kicking off a vote that many observers see as the most important have the distinction of over 80 percent blood collection election in more than 30 years in the world's largest democracy. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Northeast Briefs SUMA calls for boycott of NPF Itanagar, March 16 (PtI): Students Union Movement of Arunachal (SUMA) has called for boycotting Naga People's Front (NPF) in Arunachal Pradesh, saying the party, 'formed in 1964 for the renaissance of Naga brotherhood', seeks only to promote the interests of Nagas, be in Nagaland or Arunachal Pradesh. In a representation to the state chief electoral commissioner, SUMA expressed apprehension that NPF's presence in Arunachal would lead to unrest besides allowing the party to exert political influence through 'militant power'.

Rahul Gandhi to hold rally in Arunachal Pradesh Itanagar, March 16 (PtI): Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi will arrive in Arunachal Pradesh on March 18 to kick start the party’s poll campaign for April 9 simultaneous Parliament and Assembly elections in the state. The Congress leader would address a public rally at Hapoli in Lower Subansiri district on March 18 and would visit other few states of the North East region on the same day, Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) President Mukut Mithi told reporters here today. Gandhi would arrive at Lilabari airport in Assam’s North Lakhimpur district and would take a chartered chopper to Hapoli, party sources disclosed. Rahul’s visit would be a befitting reply to the large public rally addressed by BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi at Pasighat in East Siang district on February 22 last, sources added. Meanwhile, elaborate security arrangement have been made at Hapoli on the eve of Rahul’s visit, official sources informed.

Arunachal CEO dispels doubts of disturbance during polls Itanagar, March 16 (PtI): Dispelling doubts of disturbance in border areas during simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Chandra Bhusan Kumar today said the state has sufficient paramilitary force and precautions have been taken to ensure free and fair election. Addressing government officials during an election training here, Kumar said all the officers of the state capital have been placed in a standby position for reinforcement to various districts. "The decision has been taken in view of simultaneous polling in the state where there is manpower deficit in most of the districts as the earlier plan was for single election. Managing simultaneous elections is a strenuous job hence polling personnel has to be doubled this time," he said. He assured the officials engaged in the election process of safety and comfort. "Over 11,000 polling personnel will be required for 2158 polling stations of the state, out of which 674 have no road connectivity," the CEO said.

Mizoram's Santosh Trophy triumph a big push for northeast football nEW DElhI, March 16 (IanS): Mizoram winning the national football championship for the Santosh Trophy underscores the phenomenal growth of the sport in the northeastern states.

The region is fast becoming the new nursery of Indian football.

For long, Kolkata and Goa were the powerhouses of Indian football, but in the last decade or so, the northeastern states Manipur and Mizoram have emerged in a similar role.

In Mizoram and Manipur, football is a way of life thanks to the unstinted support from the community and the government. From a pastime the sport is now a lucrative career option for youngsters.

Mizoram this week became the second northeastern side after Manipur to win the national championship in its 68-year history. Manipur's success came in 2002-03.

The man behind Mizoram's success is journalist-turned-sports administrator Lalnghinglova Hmar,

the state association's secretary.

Hmar credits the Santosh Trophy success to the formation of the Mizoram Premier League (MPL) in 2012. "The highly competitive league has paved the way for our team's national success. The league is played by eight teams at a single venue in Aizwal and all the matches are telecast live by a local channel. The exposure that young players are getting thanks to the league was the main reason behind Mizoram's success," Hamar told IANS. Hmar said Mizoram must sustain the good work that fetched it the Santosh Trophy. "In all these 68 years, Mizoram is only the second north-eastern state after Manipur to lift the trophy. Manipur's lone success came more than a decade ago. So for Mizoram the key will be to sustain the success over a period of time," he said.

Ask FIFA's regional director Shaji Prabhakaran, the man who oversaw the implementation of

the successful Vision Manipur, one of the first pilot programme of the Asia Football Confederation (AFC) in the country, he will say Mizoram's triumph is a success for the programme. "The rise of northeastern football started with Vision Manipur in 2005. It was highly successful as they were able to put together a strong purposeful league. Now Mizoram will inspire more and more smaller states," Prabhakaran, who was the Vision India director when Vision Manipur was implemented, told IANS. Prabhakaran said Mizoram's success story without much support from other stakeholders should inspire other states as well.

"Mizoram's rise in Indian football has been phenomenal. They didn't get much support and the MFA should be lauded for getting the job done at the grass roots.

They have a strong grass roots programme and now they are reaping rich dividends," said Prabhakaran.

Hmar, however, said that the Mizoram government has helped the game by providing infrastructure.

"The government has helped us in developing the infrastructure. Today we have three astroturf, two in Aizwal and one at Lunglei. The fourth one is coming up at Champhai. Better infrastructure will expose the game to more youngsters," said Hmar.

The likes of Lalrindika Ralte and Jeje Lalpekula from Mizoram are established players in the national team.

Jeje, who currently plays for I-League giants Dempo, hopes that players from Mizoram will dominate the national scene for a few more years."Mizoram's rise in national football is great. There was a time when some 85 players were playing in the I-League.

I hope the number will go up and in the next five years players from Mizoram will dominate the national scene," he said.

IMPhal, March 16 (nnn): One of the biggest festivals of the Meitei community, Yaoshang, begins today. The five day festival has every Meitei in a festive mood. Yaoshang, the festival of colour, has room for every age group of the Meitei community to participate in the festivities. ‘ Thabal Chongba’, meaning 'dancing in moon-light' in literal term, is one of the prominent features of the festivity.

After sunset, young boys and girls, mostly teenagers holding hands dance to the heavy drum-beat and trumpets often till the wee hours. About a hundred girls and boys stand alternately to form a huge human circle - the girls dressed in traditional attires while the boys are free to wear whatever they want. The circular human chain will dance to the drum-beats in an anticlock-wise direction. The locals come out in the best of freshness after an early dinner to enjoy the Thabal Chongba.

One of the conditions of Thabal Chongba is that boys go to localities other than their own to participate in the dance. The girls, on the other hand, normally join the event in their own locality.

Beating up to the mood of Yaoshang festivity is the donations by old people and the kids. They go from house to house asking for cash or kind, just for the sake of celebrating the Yaoshang. Feasting among friends also mark the Yaoshang. Pilgrimage is also an important part of the festival. On the concluding day, Holi is observed with people enjoying the colour smearing.

Meanwhile, Manipur chief minister and others have greeted the people of Manipur on the occasion.

Imphal hosts state’s first pride walk for LGBT Arunachal BJP releases list of candidates

IMPhal, March 16 (EnS): Manipur’s capital city hosted its first-ever Pride Walk for the LGBT community in the state on Saturday. While the turnout for the gay parade was modest — around 50 participants — organisers said this was just a beginning. A similar parade took place in Guwahati in February, making it the the first gay parade in the Northeast.

Shanta Khurai, a member of the All Manipur Nupi Manbi (Transgender) Association, one of the organisers of the walk, said the parade had been organised for two reasons. “Firstly, we have decided to mark each month with an activity to support our rights after the Supreme Court verdict (on IPC 377) came out. Secondly, it is to show those who are homosexual and marginalised that they are not alone. There are many more like them and that they can reach out to us if they wish,”

Participants of the first-ever Pride Walk for the LGBT community in Imphal.

she said. The 38-year-old herself is a member of the transgender community and has been at the helm of organising the LGBT rights movement in the state.

“During our walk three boys working in an auto parts workshop that we passed came up to me. They

asked me what the walk was about, who we are, what we are celebrating. I explained to them what homosexuality is, who transgenders and homosexuals are and what we were fighting for. This is the purpose — three people will understand what this is about and then explain to

three others. That’s how we plan to gather support,’’ she said.

Manipur is one of the few states which also hosts a transgender beauty pageant annually. Last year’s event had participants from Nagaland, Meghalaya and Arunachal.

Guwahati set to welcome Holi with organic colours gUWahatI, March 16 (tnn): The country is gearing up to celebrate Holi, and Assam, too, is all decked up for 'Phakua'. The city is ready to welcome the festival of colours with music, sweets and, of course, traditional preparations of cannabis like 'bhang ghota' and 'thandai'. However, even amidst celebrations, the debate about the ill-effects of synthetic colours continues.

"Using natural or organic co-

through voluntary donation against the national average of 55 to 60 percent. The states are Tripura, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Punjab and Maharashtra.

Sarkar, 65, who has donated blood six times so far, said of the total requirement of 26,541 units between March 2013 and February 2014, 26,240 units of blood was collected through voluntary donation.

Saying that the voluntary blood donation movement became a festival in Tripura, the chief minister urged young people to generously donate blood to save lives.

"Since 2006, a total of 28 pairs of eyes were deposited by voluntary donors and these were successfully implanted in 23 people, who can now see the world. We (Tripura) wish to become number one in voluntary eye donation too," Sarkar said.

lours is important as these neither harm the skin nor the environment. It is equally advisable to avoid getting too aggressive while using wet colours, mud or alcoholic products, especially when there are women and children around, said R Barua, a general physician.

"I have always made sure that we play Holi with safe colours. We buy only organic colours. Even when my children go out to play with their friends, I make sure they

carry organic colours with them.

My sister-in-law had some terrible skin problems a few years ago due to chemicals used in Holi colours.

Since then, we are careful," said Arundhati Gogoi, a housewife.

Organic colours are both a necessity and a craze in the city.

"I have been selling organic colours for the last nine years. We order them from Mumbai and Kolkata. These are made of natural products like flower petals and

herbs. They also have a natural fragrance. We get them in many colours," explained Leela Sharma, a city-based entrepreneur, adding that that they priced reasonably as well Despite increasing awareness about the merits of organic colours, not everyone shares the same enthusiasm. "I have been selling Holi colours for the last 18 years, along with pichkaris (water guns) and water balloons.

It is a festival of fun and people

enjoy these one or two days with colours. I do not think these can cause harm in any way, or else why would people buy them every year?" asked Shantiram Das, a vendor, who professed ignorance of organic colours.

Organic colours are not just manufactured by big companies in the metro cities. There are also those who have dug through their grandmas' old recipes to make organic colours with natural ingredients.

Itanagar, March 16 (PtI): BJP in Arunachal Pradesh today released its first list of candidates for the April 9 Assembly elections in the state, which includes former Chief Minister Gegong Apang.

The names of 36 candidates were finalised by the central leadership in New Delhi yesterday, party spokesman Techi Necha said here today.

Former Chief Minister Gegong Apang (Yingkiong) along with former Congress ministers Japu Deru (Bomdila), Lowangcha Wanglet (Borduria-Bogapani) and former MLAs Nyato Rigia (Taliha) and Ngurang Pinch (Doimukh) figured in the first list.

The party also fielded three of its sitting legislators - Tamiyo Taga (Rumgong), Tangor Tapak (Pasighat West) and Tapen Siga from Daporijo constituency.

The other candidates include Maling Gambo (Lumla), Gandi Sakrinso (Thrizino- Buragaon), Vijay Sonam (Bameng), L K

Yangfo (Chayangtajo), Lelong Lingpa ( Seppa East), Tage Taki (Ziro-Hapoli), Tarh Talo (Palin), Tapa Garam Baki (Nacho), Tamar Murtem (Raga), Bai Gadi (Liromoba), Dr Nyada Mara (Likabali), Maling Koje (Mechuka), Ojing Tasing (PangingBoleng), Olom Panyang (Meriyang-Geku) and Kaling Moyong (Pasighat East).

Moreover, Eri Tayu would be the party's candidate from Anini constituency while, Mahesh Chai from Tezu, Bamin Kri (Hayuliang), Tape Bagra (Lekang), Chomjong Haidley (Miao), Laisam Simai (Nampong), Hamjong Tangha (Changlang South), Tesam Pongte (Changlang North), Wanglang Rajkumar (Namsang), Rongmai Maham (Kanubari), Tanpho Wangnaw (Longding), Sotai Kri (Chowkham) and Holai Wangsa from PongchouWakka constituency.

The party would declare its second list by tomorrow, Necha added.

C M Y K

4

public discoursE/businEss

Monday

Dimapur

17 March 2014

toyota declares lockout at Bidadi as labour trouble lingers

MUMBAI, MARCH 16 (PTI): Toyota Kirloskar Motor on Sunday declared lockout at its two manufacturing plants at Bidadi near Bangalore, following the failure of talks between the management and the union over wage negotiations. The production at the two plants having an installed capacity of 3,10,000 units, has been disrupted since the past 25 days.

“The management and the union have been discussing the charter of demands for the period FY14 for the past 10 months. As a bipartite agreement was not reached, the Karnataka Labour Department has conducted seven tripartite meetings to reach a settlement. But the conciliation efforts have not yet resulted in an agreement, leading to the lockout,” the Japanese auto major said in a statement.

The statement also said even as the talks were on, a section of the workers, instigated by the union, has resorted to deliberate stoppage of the production line, and threatened supervisors and continuously disrupted business for the past 25 days. “In this background, the company is left with no other option but to declare a lockout to ensure the safety of its work-

ers and management personnel,” the statement concluded.

The workers’ union, however, could not be contacted. Toyota Kirloskar Motor is a 89:11 joint venture between the world’s largest auto company Toyota and the Pune-based Kirloskar Group, respectively. Set up in October 1997, the two plants at Bidadi employs over 6,400 people and has an installed capacity of 3,10,000 units per annum. The plant rolled out the first car in December 1999.

While the first facility has an installed capacity of 1,00,000 units, the second plant has an installed capacity of 2,10,000 units. The two plants are set up on a sprawling 432 acre land parcel in the Bangalore suburb.

The company manufactures the MPV segment leader Innova, the SUV Fortuner, from the first plant since October 1999, while it has also been rolling out the sedans Corolla Altis, the Etios, the hatchback Etios Liva and the luxe sedans Camry, and the Camry Hybrid from the second plant since December 2010. The company also sells the premium SUV brands Prado, the Land Cruiser and the hybrid sedan Prius as completely built units.

Karbonn, Lava to launch Windows Phone handsets in few months

NEW DELHI, MARCH 16 (PTI): Domestic handset players Lava and Karbonn will launch Windows Phonebased smartphones in the coming few months.

Karbonn’s Windows Phone devices will be in the price range of Rs 6,000-12,000.

Lava’s price starts with Rs 6,500.

“We will come out with four devices with Windowsbased operating system by the end of May or starting of June

in the price range of 6,00012,000,” Karbonn Managing Director Pradeep Jain told .

Lava International CEO and MD Hari Om Rai said: “A series of Windows-based phones will be launched under the Lava brand by July.

These will be priced in the range of Rs 6,500-8,500.”

He said the phones will be based on Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor and will feature Windows 8 platform.

“We expect the Windows-

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based phones to represent 8-10% volume of Lava smartphones starting July-August time- frame,” Rai added.

For Xolo brand of phones, the expected timeline of launch is the coming quarter.

“We at Xolo believe that Windows OS has certain goodness to offer for a certain market segment and it will help Xolo reach a desired 15% share of the smartphone market by end of 2014,” a Xolo spokesperson said.

Last month, at the Mobile World Congress Microsoft had announced that it would be working with nine new Windows Phone partners, including Foxconn, Gionee, JSR, Karbonn, Lava (Xolo), Lenovo, LG, Longcheer and ZTE. HTC, Huawei, Nokia and Samsung are already making Windows-based devices.

As per the IDC figures of the last quarter of 2013, Android had a 78.1% share of global smartphone shipments while the Microsoft Windows Phone platform share stood at 3%.

S

tress is a fact of modern life.

Living in today’s fast-paced world, the pressure of stress is high because it is full of hassles, deadlines, frustrations, and demands. Stress is a mind and body’s response or reaction to a real or imagined threat, event or change.

Stress has both positive and negative aspect. The positive stress occurs when your level of stress is high enough to motivate you to move into action to get things accomplished. The stress response also helps you rise to meet challenges. Stress is what keeps you on your toes during a presentation at work, sharpens your concentration when you’re attempting the game-winning free throw, or drives you to study for an exam when you’d rather be watching TV. On the other aspect, negative stress occurs when your level of stress is either too high or too low and your body and mind begin to respond negatively to the stressors.So beyond a certain point, stress stops being helpful and starts causing major damage to your health, your mood, your productivity, your relationships, and your quality of life.

Stress affects the mind, body, and behavior in many ways, and everyone experiences stress differently. Not only can overwhelming stress lead to serious mental and physical health problems, it can also take a toll on your relationships at home, work, and school Managing stress is all about taking charge: of your thoughts, emotions, schedule, and the way you deal with problems.

There are many healthy ways to manage and cope with stress, but they all require change. You can either change the situation or change your reaction. Since everyone has a unique response to stress, there is no “one size fits all” solution to managing it. No single method works for everyone or in every situation, so experiment with different techniques and strategies.

Stress management strategy #1: Avoid unnecessary stress Not all stress can be avoided, and it’s not healthy to avoid a situation that needs to be addressed.

• Learn how to say “no” – Know your limits and stick to them.

Whether in your personal or professional life, taking on more than you can handle is a surefire recipe for stress.

• Avoid people who stress you out – If someone consistently causes stress in your life and you can’t turn the relationship around, limit the amount of time you spend with that person.

• Take control of your environment – If the evening news makes you anxious, turn the TV off. If traffic’s got you tense, take a lon-

StreSS ManageMent ger but less-traveled route.

• Avoid hot-button topics – If you get upset over religion or politics, cross them off your conversation list. If you repeatedly argue about the same subject with the same people, stop bringing it up or excuse yourself when it’s the topic of discussion.

• Pare down your to-do list – Analyze your schedule, responsibilities, and daily tasks. If you’ve got too much on your plate, distinguish between the “shoulds” and the “musts.

Stress management strategy #2: Alter the situation

perspective of the stressful situation. Ask yourself how important it will be in the long run. Is it really worth getting upset over? If the answer is no, focus your time and energy elsewhere.

• Adjust your standards.. Set reasonable standards for yourself and others, and learn to be okay with “good enough.”

• Focus on the positive. When stress is getting you down, take a moment to reflect on all the things you appreciate in your life, including your own positive qualities and gifts.

Stress management strategy

If you can’t avoid a stressful situation, try to alter it. Often, this involves changing the way you communicate and operate in your daily life.

• Express your feelings instead of bottling them up. If something or someone is bothering you, communicate your concerns in an open and respectful way.

• Be willing to compromise.

When you ask someone to change their behavior, be willing to do the same.

• Be more assertive. Don’t take a backseat in your own life. Deal with problems head on, doing your best to anticipate and prevent them.

• Manage your time better. Poor time management can cause a lot of stress.. If you plan ahead and make sure you don’t overextend yourself, you can alter the amount of stress you’re under.

Stress management strategy #3: Adapt to the stressor If you can’t change the stressor, change yourself. You can adapt to stressful situations and regain your sense of control by changing your expectations and attitude.

• Reframe problems. Try to view stressful situations from a more positive perspective.

• Look at the big picture. Take

#4: Accept the things you can’t change Some sources of stress are unavoidable. You can’t prevent or change stressors such as the death of a loved one, a serious illness, or a national recession. In such cases, the best way to cope with stress is to accept things as they are. Acceptance may be difficult, but in the long run, it’s easier than railing against a situation you can’t change.

• Don’t try to control the uncontrollable. Many things in life are beyond our control, particularly the behavior of other people.

Rather than stressing out over them, focus on the things you can control such as the way you choose to react to problems.

• Look for the upside. As the saying goes, “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” When facing major challenges, try to look at them as opportunities for personal growth. If your own poor choices contributed to a stressful situation, reflect on them and learn from your mistakes.

• Share your feelings. Talk to a trusted friend face to face or make an appointment with a therapist.

Opening up is not a sign of weakness and it won’t make you a burden to others. In fact, most friends

will be flattered that you trust them enough to confide in them, and it will only strengthen your bond.

• Learn to forgive. Accept the fact that we live in an imperfect world and that people make mistakes. Let go of anger and resentments.Free yourself from negative energy by forgiving and moving on.

Stress management strategy #5: Make time for fun and relaxation Don’t get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of life that you forget to take care of your own needs. Nurturing yourself is a necessity, not a luxury.

Healthy ways to relax and recharge_ Go for a walk/ Spend time in nature/ Call a good friend/ Sweat out tension with a goodworkout/ Write in your journal/ Take a long bath/ Light scented candles/ Savor a warm cup of coffee or tea/ Play with a pet/ Work in your garden/ Get a massage/ Curl up with a good book/ Listen to music/ Watch a comedy.

• Set aside relaxation time. Include rest and relaxation in your daily schedule. Don’t allow other obligations to encroach. This is your time to take a break from all responsibilities and recharge your batteries.

• Connect with others. Spend time with positive people who enhance your life.

• Do something you enjoy every day. Make time for leisure activities that bring you joy.

• Keep your sense of humor.

This includes the ability to laugh at yourself. The act of laughing helps your body fight stress in a number of ways.

Stress management strategy #6: Adopt a healthy lifestyle You can increase your resistance to stress by strengthening your physical health.

• Exercise regularly. Physical activity plays a key role in reducing and preventingtheeffectsofstress.Make time for at least 30 minutes of exercise, three times per week.

• Eat a healthy diet. Well-nourished bodies are better prepared to cope with stress, so be mindful of what you eat.

• Reduce caffeine and sugar.

The temporary “highs” caffeine and sugar provide often end in with a crash in mood and energy.

• Avoid alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs.Self-medicating with alcohol or drugs may provide an easy escape from stress, but the relief is only temporary.

• Get enough sleep. Adequate sleep fuels your mind, as well as your body. Feeling tired will increase your stress because it may cause you to think irrationally.

Nongozonuo College of Nursing CIHSR,Dimapur.

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.

_ 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.”

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CROSSWORD # 2833

DIMAPUR Civil Hospital:

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Answer Number # 2821

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

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1. Expectoration 5. Hazard 9. Relocate 13. Unit of pressure 14. Loft 16. Matured 17. Emanation 18. Crystal-lined rock 19. Marsh plant 20. Complain 22. Religious residence 24. Precious stones 26. Fish broth 27. Astounding 30. Goober 33. Cloth 35. Of lesser importance 37. 3 in Roman numerals 38. Threesomes 41. To and ___ 42. Nitrogen (archaic) 45. Valiant 48. Infuriate 51. Go backwards 52. Spew 54. Welt 55. Union representative 59. Lariat 62. Absorb written material

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DOWN 1. Male deer 2. Decant 3. A watering system 4. A swing used by circus acrobats 5. A small piece of cloth 6. Bit of gossip 7. Got up 8. Abduct 9. Cocktail 10. Curved molding 11. Swerve 12. Countercurrent 15. Stop 21. Arab chieftain 23. Bogus 25. Hissy fit 27. Dogfish 28. Corn 29. Needlefish 31. Unanticipated

32. A ring-shaped surface 34. 54 in Roman numerals 36. Thorny flower 39. Paddle 40. Killed 43. Foot lever 44. Acquire deservedly 46. Egg-shaped 47. Get worse 49. Direct the course 50. Skin disease 53. Mortise and _____ joint 55. Killer whale 56. Genuine 57. Big party 58. Liturgy 60. Transmit 61. Chooses 64. Kitten’s cry Ans to CrossWord 2832

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STD CODE: 0369

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2226241 2226214

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

2226216 2226263 2226373/2229343

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

222246 222491

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LOCAL

The Morung Express

Election News

Monday 17 March 2014

Dimapur

5

broadcast media guidelines during elections Norms and guidelines of Paid News

Kohima, march 16 (Dipr): Guidelines for broadcast media to be observed by all TV/ Radio/ cable channels in Nagaland during elections, issued by News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) are as follows: 1. News broadcasters should endeavour to inform the public in an objective manner, about relevant electoral matters, political parties, candidates, campaign issues and voting processes as per rules and regulations laid down under The Representation of People Act 1951 and by the Election Commission of India.

2. News channels shall disclose any political affiliations, either towards a party or candidate. Unless they publicly endorse or support a particular party or candidate, news broadcasters have to be balanced and impartial, especially in their election reporting.

3. News broadcasters must endeavour to avoid all forms of rumor, baseless speculation and disinformation, particularly when these concern specific political parties or candidates. Any candidate/ political party, which has been defamed or is a victim of misrepresentation, misinformation or other similar injury by broadcast of information should be afforded prompt correction, and where appropriate granted an opportunity of reply.

4. News broadcasters

must resist all political and financial pressures which may affect coverage of ejections and election related matters.

5. News broadcasters should maintain a clear distinction between editorial and expert opinion carried on their news channels.

6. News broadcasters that use video feed from political parties should disclose it and appropriately tagged.

7. Special care must be taken to ensure that every element of a news/ programmes dealing with elections and election related matters is accurate on all facts relating to events, dates, places and quotes. If by mistake or inadvertence any inaccurate information on is broadcast, the broadcaster must correct it as soon as it comes to the broadcaster’s notice with the same prominence as was given to the original broadcast.

8. News broadcasters, their journalists and officials must not accept any money, or valuable gifts, or any favour that could influence or appear to influence, create a conflict of interest or damage the credibility of the broadcaster or their personnel.

9. News broadcasters must not broadcast any form of ‘hate speech’ or other obnoxious content Hint may lead to incitement of violence or promote public unrest or disorder as election campaigning based on communal or caste factors is prohibited-under Elec-

tion Rules. News broadcasters should strictly avoid reports which tend to promote feelings of enmity or hatred among people, on the ground of religion, race, caste, community, region or language.

10. News broadcasters are required to scrupulously maintain a distinction between news and paid content. All paid content should be dearly marked as “Paid Advertisement” or “Paid Content” and paid content must, be carried in compliance with the “Norms & Guidelines on Paid News” dated 24.11.2011.

11. Special care must be taken to report opinion polls accurately and fairly, by disclosing to viewers as to who commissioned, conducted and paid for the conduct of the opinion polls and the broadcast. If a news-broadcaster carries the results of an opinion poll or other election, projection, it must also explain the context, and the scope and limits of such polls with their limitations.

Broadcast of opinion polls should be accompanied by information to assist viewers to understand the poll's significance, such as the methodology used, the sample size, the margin of error, the fieldwork dates, and data used. Broadcasters should also disclose how vole shares are converted to seat shares.

12. The broadcasters shall not broadcast any “election matter” i.e. any matter intended or calculat-

ed to influence or affect the result of an election, during the 48 hours ending with the hours fixed for the conclusion of poll in violation of Section l 26(T)(b) of The Representation of People Act 1951, 13. The Election Commission of India (ECI) will monitor the broadcasts, made by news broadcasters from the time elections are announced until the conclusion and announcement of election results. Any violation by member broadcasters reported to the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) by the Election Commission will be dealt with by the NBSA tinder its regulations.

14. Broadcasters should, to the extent possible, carry voter education programmes to effectively inform voters about the voting process, the importance of voting, including how, when and where to vote, to register to vote and the secrecy of the ballot.

15. News broadcasters must not air any final, formal and definite results until such results are formally announced by the Election Commission of India, unless such results are carried with clear disclaimer that they are unofficial or incomplete or partial results or projections which should not be taken as final results.

16. These guidelines will apply to all National, Assembly, Municipal and Local Elections held in India.

Kohima, march 16 (Dipr): Following norms and guidelines have been framed which all Members/Associate Members of News Broadcasters Association (NBA) are required to adhere to strictly: 1. Definitions: “Entity” shall mean and include a person (whether natural or legal), company, partnership firm, sole proprietorship concern, society, trust, political party, association of persons and any other organisation of like nature; “Immediate Relatives” shall mean and include immediate relations of Persons-inCharge, i.e. spouse, parents, siblings, children, dependents and significant others; “Paid News” shall mean and include news (whether political news, business news, sports news, entertainment news or news relating to any other field) reported or omitted to be reported (whether by way of news bulletins, current affairs programmes, special programmes or any other programmes by whatever name called), in consideration of or as quid pro quo for, any financial or non-financial benefit or reward whatsoever; “Persons-in-Charge” shall mean and include members of the Board of Directors, persons holding positions of monitoring and control over the editorial, publication and/or management functions of a news broadcasting organization, including without limitation executive directors, chief executive officers, editors and producers, of the news broadcasting organization (and its singular shall be construed accordingly): 2. No news broadcasting organization shall broadcast or be associated in any manner with the broadcast of Paid News.

3. Every news broadcasting organization and every Person-in-Charge shall disclose to the public on the

web-site/s of the news broadcasting organization any shareholding, investment, other equity participation or financial interests or conflict of interest of any nature whatsoever (including specifically any “private treatise”), in or with, any Entity. Disclosure shall also be made by every Person-in-Charge of such shareholding, investment, other equity participation or financial interests or conflict of interest of any nature whatsoever (including specifically any “private treatise”) of Immediate Relatives in respect of any Entity.

4. A news broadcasting organization and/or Person-in-Charge of the news broadcasting organization shall not accept any financial or nonfinancial interest, benefit or reward of any nature whatsoever, whether in or as cash, loan, gift, discount, hospitality or entertainment etc from or on behalf of, any Entity, for or in consideration of reportage of any news of, or relating to such Entity.

5. Every news broadcasting organization shall disclose on their website the names of their nominee/s or representative/s on the Board of Directors, Managing Committee or Governing Body etc of any Entity.

6. Every news broadcasting organization shall disclose conspicuously in an appropriate manner during broadcast of a program, on their television channel/s and on their website/s, including during a news, current affairs, sports, entertainment or promotional broadcast as to whether the content of such broadcast has been paid for by or on behalf of the Entity that is subject matter of such broadcast in any manner whatsoever; and whether such broadcast is an “advertorial” or other media marketing initiative.

7 Considering the singular importance of the electoral process in a

democracy, a news broadcasting organization shall not accept any financial or non-financial consideration, benefit or reward (including sponsorship) from any Entity, for or in relation to any news (including opinion polls or other similar programs) relating predominantly to elections or to any candidate or political party in relation to any elections: 8. All news, reportage or other programs relating predominantly to elections shall be monitored and supervised by a person holding the senior-most executive editorial post (by whatever designation called), who shall be responsible for any misreporting or other violation of these norms and guidelines.

9. The above norms and guidelines shall apply equally to all journalists, reporters and stringers, working for or associated with, a news broadcasting organization except that such journalists, reporters and stringers shall furnish such information in writing in respect of any shareholding, investment, other equity participation or financial interest or conflict of interest of any nature whatsoever, which exists with regard to any subject matter on which he/she/they is/are reporting to the person holding the seniormost executive editorial post at the channel. It shall be the prerogative of such editor to permit a journalist, reporter or stringer to continue working on such subject matter or to get him/her to recuse from reporting on such subject matter.

10. It is clarified that any violation of these norms shall be subject to the procedure and consequences provided under the News Broadcasting Standards (Disputes Redressal) Regulations, including all provisions of Regulation 7.1 of the said Regulations.

Pfütsero bids farewell to outgoing ADC and SDO(C) Darogajan villagers urged to be cooperative

pfütsEro, march 16 (mExN): A farewell programme was organized for the outgoing ADC, Pfutsero, Vikishe Sema and outgoing SDO(C), Pfutsero, V. Lovitoly Sema on March 12 in the ADC’s conference hall.

Ward Chairman(s), GBs, DBs, Officers, Senior Public leaders and Pfutsero Town Council Action Committee Members, attended the Programme.

EAC Pfütsero, N. Zubenthung Ngullie chaired the programme. The programme started with an invoca-

Sumi Council Dmr meet Dimapur, march 16 (mExN): Sumi Council Dimapur will hold a meeting on March 17, 9:00 am at the residence of its Chairman, Kuhoi Zhimo at Haralu Colony.

All advisors, office bearers, executive members have been requested to attend the meeting.

M

tion prayer by Chilo Mero. Various speeches were delivered by Hukroyi, Head DB ADC's Court, SDPO, Pfütsero Chuba Phom, Major Lalit, Post Commander 11th AR, Pfütsero, Zhonelu Tunyi, Convener, Action Committee, Pfütsero Town Council. Both the outgoing NCS officers gave their respective speeches and thanked the various heads of departments and the public of Pfütsero Town for the cooperation rendered during their stay at Pfutsero. The programme concluded

with a benediction by Muneru, DB ADC's Court.

Pfutsero Town Council, Action Committee Convener, Zhonelu Tunyi in a press release has extended congratulations to the two officers for their respective promotions and thanked the Government of Nagaland for providing capable and hardworking officers to the Town.

The Council also prayed and wished them success in every aspect of their future endeavours.

Dimapur, march 16 (mExN): The first phase of drainage at Darogajan village which was constructed under MGNREGA funding was inaugurated on March 14 by Imtiangshi Ao, Project Director, District Rural Development Agency, Dimapur in presence of other officials of Rural Development Agency, Dimapur, village GBs and council members.

1600 ft. of drainage have been completed in the first phase while about 2000 ft. would be covered in the second phase.

In an informal interaction with the departmental officials, village council chairman, Vitokhu Achumi apprised the officials about the functioning of the VDB in the oldest village of the area. Darogajan was established in 1890. Thanking the department of Rural Development for providing required fund for the development of the village, he urged upon the officials to continKohima Ao Baptist Church (KABA) conducted Fathers’ School for Civil Defence & Home Guards Church Dimapur from March 12 to 16. Altogether 41 fathers attended and graduated. ue to assist the village in the development process.

The latter has thanked KABA for the noble ministry.

y experience of racism started when I was a child studying in Darjeeling. My school had the ICSE course. Our geography textbook listed various states in the country. When it came to Nagaland, it had one line – NAGAS ARE TROUBLEMAKERS. Generations of students grew up convinced that Nagas were trouble makers.

While doing my MBBS at Allahabad in the 1st and 2nd years, we were told that it was mandatory that external students were made to fail as a tradition. I passed my first professional exams just scraping the pass mark.

My late Physiology professor, a Brahmin was rabidly against the Dalits. I was labeled with the untouchables and harassed everyday with choice words which I did not fully and thankfully did not understand. I fumed and cursed until I realized that Christians are supposed to behave differently. I started praying for him and slowly hate evaporated. God healed my heart. When I left the class later, I could visit him in his home when he was injured and talk to him without any spite. We actually smiled at each other.

In the 3rd year, our Forensics professor picked me and my Naga classmate out in front of the entire class, made us stand up and said – people with your facial features carry a question mark on their face. The whole

RD officials led by Imtiangshi, PD DRDA Dimapur and Darogajan village elders and leaders led by Vitokhu Chishi, council chairman at the inauguration of the drainage, on March 14.

Expressing satisfaction on the completion of the first phase of drainage construction, Imtiangshi said that the department takes pride in proper utilization of fund and implementation of the works by the villages.

He urged upon the village to always make good use of the

fund provided for the development of the village.

Also addressing the gathering, Tsukti Ao, Block Development Officer, RD Block Chumukedima reminded the villagers that the development and advancement of the village depends on the unity and

co-ordination that prevail among the villagers. He, therefore, urged the villagers to be cooperative with one another.

Dr. Rev. Vikheshe Chishi, principal, Withee Bible College pronounced the dedication prayer for the drainage

Public SPace

Racism – Is There A Way Out? class was stunned since this professor had never interacted with any of us before. They slowly realized that when I said discrimination existed, it was true. By then, I was relaxed because I knew that pass or fail, it was in God’s hands and not this man. I could smile through this experience.

To be called chinky, ching chong ching chong, pahari or just chut chut was normal and an everyday exercise.

I was once beaten in a train from Lucknow by a gang of boys.

They didn’t like my face. I fought back but always felt bad later that I turned violent.

In Vellore, I was ordered out of a bus since I did not present the exact change to the bus conductor.

In Delhi, people threw dirty water on us along with some swear words when we were passing below their house in Safdarjung enclave.

I am grateful for my experiences of being discriminated against, as it made me strong.

Many people look blank when you say that you are from Nagaland.

Most people from the northeast have experienced similar experiences and mine is not an exception.

Is India racist? Yes it is.

But isn’t the whole world rac-

ist to some extent? French look down on the English and the English on the French. Many North Indians call the South Indians Madrasi. Many Tamilians hate Hindi. Nagas and tribals are called Howmacha by the Meeteis. Some Nagas treat Mias and mainlanders quite badly In Nagaland. We have intertribal conflicts off and on which are ugly affairs. Everyone loses, nobody wins.

The whites suppressed the blacks in South Africa during apartheid. Today there is reverse discrimination where whites, Indians and colored people are not given jobs or university seats and blacks are preferred.

On the other hand, there are glowing reports of people who have tried to bridge this gap.

Many of us are fiercely anti tribalism. Some of our churches are multicultural and intertribal.

These give us an excellent opportunity to work and live together. There are a lot of mainland Indian people who have excellent relationships with people of the northeast and are trying their bit to bring about better understanding. Is there a way out of racism?

Yes, there is. But it will have to be multipronged. No single method will work alone. It will not be a short cut quick fix solu-

tion and we must be willing to work on it for a prolonged period of time. They say it takes 3 generations to change a culture.

Hopefully we will not need to wait that long. Some areas that could be worked on are 1. The Antiracial discrimination bill and law. This is very important and it is what the present Delhi northeasterners are fighting for. There is an elaborate law against sexual discrimination and ragging. This law will be vital to fight racism. It must be implemented throughout the country and not only in the mainland.

We in the northeast must also learn not to discriminate people because of their skin color and features just as we do not want to be discriminated.

The Chief minister could go to Delhi with all the northeastern chief ministers across the political spectrum and press for this law to be passed. Campaign sincerely for 1 month and it will be passed. It requires statesmanship. Nido was from Arunachal Pradesh. He represents us all. His cause is our responsibility.

2. The country needs to be educated and informed about the northeast. The curriculum of each state or CBSE/ICSE needs to be examined by a central audit to see that fair and adequate representation is made of each

people of the country in their textbooks. The Government will have to pass a law to this effect.

3. The media needs to give better coverage to the northeast and portray positive events and people and not just bad news.

People in the mainland should not get the impression that our main pastime is fighting, killing and extortion. The Hornbill festival is useful but it is not enough. The media needs to focus on people who are doing good in their own society. Our exquisite organic vegetables and innovative ways of farming, agricultural produce, community activities needs to be mentioned more.

4. Shillong chamber choir and the Mizo choir have championed the northeast. Our musicians will need to go the mainland and perform more to larger audiences. We are already quite good. We must be extraordinarily good. Musicians will need to work harder and not just depend on raw talent.

5. More excursions and student exchanges need to be planned. Nagaland govt could arrange for mainland schools to come in groups to see our land and interact with our people and students. If they see a huge number of chinkys in the northeast, they will not find them so

strange when they go back to their homes in the mainland.

They will also find that we are actually normal.

6. Today, many northeasterners are doing exceptionally well in the metro cities – from fashion to IT to finance. I think Nagas do better when they are outside Nagaland. They have to work for their survival outside.

They give to the mainlanders a picture of efficiency and a worthy people. If people respect us for our abilities and worth, they will discriminate less.

7. There is no substitute to development in the region.

When people from the mainland come to Nagaland and see our roads, they will invariably despise us as an inferior people not fit to govern themselves.

8. Northeasterners and especially Nagas are the most hospitable people on earth. People get overwhelmed by our hospitality when they come from the mainland. Work ethics, etiquette and civics must be taught in schools and needs to be included in the NBSE curriculum in a very dynamic way. There must be compulsory practicals on these. Only a highly cultured people will generate respect. It has to start from the schools where minds and habits can be moulded.

Today work ethics in Naga-

land is at a very low point.

People in India do not discriminate against the Japanese and Chinese despite their skin color (To be fair – they are fairer than us). This is partially because they know they are dealing with a race that is more hardworking, cultured and industrious than themselves.

Until our image as a truly worthy people emerges I do not think discrimination will end.

9. In Nagaland, we will need to develop more intertribal projects, activities, groups, churches that develop confidence building measures and understanding between the tribes. This must extend to Marwaris, Mias, Assamese, Bengalis, Biharis and South Indians. We must stop beating up non locals on the streets just because they do not fight back. When innocent Bihari laborers get killed for no reason in Assam and Manipur, we are asking for a repercussion in the mainland against us.

To eliminate racism as a goal and mission, it will take more than protesting and Dharnas outside Jantar mantar in Delhi.

The fight will be long but it is worthwhile since it affects us all and is an evil under the sun.

Will racism disappear from the surface of the earth? No. Should we continue the fight against racism? Most definitely.

Dr Sedevi Angami, Dimapur.

The Morung Express is introducing “Public Space” as part of our intention to provide deliberate space for the opinions of the people to be expressed and heard through this newspaper. Nonetheless, The Morung Express points out that the opinions expressed in the contents published in the “Public Space” do not reflect the views and position of the newspaper or the editor.

6

The Power of Truth

The Morung Express MonDAy 17 MArcH 2014 voluME IX IssuE 73

Along Longkumer consulting Editor

Naga Talks: What Next?

A Commissionary not an interlocutor should report directly to the PMO

D

r Manmohan Singh who has served as the Prime Minister of the Congress led UPA government for two consecutive terms, between 2004-2009 and 2009-2014, gave his farewell speech during the last day of the 15 Lok Sabha sessions a few weeks back. For someone who has been at the helm of affairs for ten long years the report card of his tenure is hardly noteworthy except for few things that his government did well. Ten years is a pretty long time for anyone to govern. It is therefore all the more disappointing that the UPA government through two consecutive term could not deliver on the promise made by the PM himself that the long drawn Indo-Naga issue would be resolved within the tenure of the UPA rule. It will be interesting to find out as to how many times or perhaps minutes the PM devoted to speak on the Naga peace process, either in Parliament or outside. It is therefore a big let down for the Naga people when the PM who promised much could not deliver.

More than any PM before him, Manmohan Singh had all the time, ten years to be precise, but he has lost a golden opportunity to deliver on the 15 year-plus Naga talks.

Ironically during his farewell speech, the PM spoke about the manner in which Telangana was born and terming it as an 'indication that this country is capable of taking difficult decisions'.

Obviously the difference between the Naga issue and Telangana is that the latter commands attention of those who matter like UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi. This is because of electoral dividends that will accrue to the party and leaders. Nagas on the other hand remain on the margins with no political clout whatsoever. Manmohan Singh is right that a government or Parliament is capable of taking difficult decisions as long as there is a sincere effort made and the political will exists. The sad reality is that resolving the Naga issue does not pay any political dividend and therefore no government in Delhi has so far acted upon on the peace process. When it came to Telangana, there was a political process underway and a road map put in place. In contrast the Naga talks has been treated more as a security issue with the active involvement of the bureaucracy and military and thereby stalling any chances of a political resolution.

The Naga peace process has not been cared, loved or nurtured well enough by the ruling dispensation, otherwise why would the process remain without a resolution even after 15-16 years. Now that the Congress led UPA government is on its way out, the Naga peace process will enter a period of hibernation.

Whichever party or formation comes to power at the Centre will have to do much better. For one, the next PM should bring the Naga talks under the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and appoint a 'Commissionary' with a political background instead of an intercolutor, as has been done in the past. The role of an intercolutor, who 'informally explains the views of a government and also relays messages', has become irrelevant in the current context. After more than a decade of talks what is needed now is to grant authority to someone who can be specifically tasked to take the peace process to its logical conclusion. Such a Commissionary will report directly to the PMO. Enough time has been spend on the peace process and perhaps the contours of an agreement is already there. What is now required is a political decision towards an honourable negotiated settlement.

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

lEfT wiNg |

Mayabhushan Nagvenkar IANS

Goa's unsung fried fish safari?

I

IN-FOCUS

f you ever want to eat the best fried fish in Goa, you gotta do one thing for sure: Head inland away from the sea, away from the fancy beach-belt diners and those beach shacks offering hyped, assembly-line food.

Under clay-tiled roofs, dodging tendrils of smoke in dim light and occasionally holding your breath to avoid breaths reeking of feni, pans laden with coarse flour-coated fried fish sizzle in delight in Goa's taverns.

Near Panaji, Kuttikar Bar lies at the end of a loose-gravel road behind what was once a stone mine. But for sea food aficionados it's a gold mine as far as fresh fish is concerned. Run by former legislator Krishna Kuttikar, the bar serves some of the best fried fish this side of the river, whether it's filleted Red Snapper, Rock Fish, Bombay Duck or Mussels. But the sweet and sour vinegarkissed squid rings are the most sought after.

"It's the sweetness of the masala which makes the squids unique here. In most other places it is just hot and spicy," Kuttikar expalined. On most days, getting a seat here can be a problem with the 10 or so tables packed to capacity with binging junior bureaucrats, off-duty policemen, local residents and journalists among others which even includes staffers from the chief minister's office.

(Kuttikar Bar and Restaurant. San Pedro, 8 km from Panaji) Over in Siolim, 25 km north of here, the Amancio Bar overlooks a picturesque river and an abandoned ferry ramp. The only aberration to this otherwise placid environment is the pissed drunk patrons of this bar and others nearby, who perilously walk up to the edge of the concrete ramp to relieve themselves.

Amancio's has a quaint wooden balcony with tables overlooking what was once a busy market place. But once the crusty fish lands on your plate, your attention doesn't get anywhere else.

"The palu (perch) marinated fried with recheado (red chilli paste, spices and vinegar) masala is mouth-watering and priced affordably too," says Ashley do Rosario, who swears by the place. (Amancio Bar, near Siolim, Tar, Bardez) Sheela Bar, located off the St. Jacinto island along the airport road has grown over the last couple of decades from a shack to a bar and restaurant almost threatening to go the fine dining way.

Unlike most fried fish haunts which use a red chilli marinade before slipping the fish into the pan, Sylvester D'Souza uses a unique green chilli paste. "This is our trademark. It's what makes us unique. But we have a lot more offer in terms of fish, oysters, crabs and meats," says D'Souza.

His relatively sweet crab is unique too, as against the fiery garam masala spiced variants found in other restaurants. The preparation may not be to everyone's liking, but the crabs are more often than not bursting with flesh and that sweet, fresh flavour. (Sheela Bar and Restaurant: Opp St. Jacinto Island, Cortalim, 25 km from Panaji) And then there are really rustic taverns like the one run by Madhu Halarnkar right next to a popular medicinal spring in the village of Pomburpa, 15 km from Panaji. His small operation reflects the quintessential soul of a Goa tavern: Four tables, animated conversation, mingling odours of stale sweat, spilt feni and the fish frying in the kitchen.

Halarnkar offers the more humbling varieties of fish like sole, milk fish and prawns, which are obviously fast-moving amongst his more than modest clients. If you are a diehard regular, he would even allow you to fetch your own fish, which he will cook to your liking. "Oh. You must have a bath at the spring after your meal. It's healing," Halarnkar often recommends midway through the meal. If you aren't so drunk, why not give it a try?

THE EDIT PAGE

C O M M E N T A R Y

Gerry Hassan

The big question: who ‘lost’ Scotland?

T

he independence debate is a product of Scotland changing over decades and generations.

Subsequently, this debate has also accelerated and abetted change, challenging old assumptions and throwing light on parts of our public life never previously thoroughly examined.

This transformation will continue whatever the result. One big observation, which needs to be stated, is that whatever the referendum result independence has already won. And Scotland has already been ‘lost’ – a point understood by some of the more thoughtful pro-union observers such as Alex Massie and James Forsyth in ‘The Spectator’.

First, what do I mean by stating that independence has already ‘won’? For a start this does not translate into any automatic balance of forces in the referendum ballot – a point some pro-independent supporters thought I meant when I previously made this strategic observation.

Instead, independence has become normalised – which translates into it coming in from the cold and margins and becoming a mainstream political demand.

That’s a massive, generational shift compared to where we were previously.

Prior to 2011, Scottish elites, institutions and pro-union opinion, didn’t take any of this seriously. Some still do not in the inner sanctums of the London power elites. When the Westminster political class talk of ‘the referendum’ they rarely mean our imminent vote on the horizon, but the prospect of being dragged kicking and screaming by Nigel Farage to the prospect of the Britexit European vote.

Independence is something which is now tangible, talked about and ruminated over. Indeed, much of the serious debate is now about whether the SNP’s offer is ‘real’ independence or home rule by another name, with the ins and outs of currency union, the Treasury and European Union membership widely discussed.

Second, there is the approach of ‘Better Together’, the cross-party campaign for the union who seem to be running a virtual reality, almost post-modern interpretation of what amounts to a campaign. Despite ample resources there only real activity so far is directed towards TV and radio studios, along with their phalanx of reliable newspaper supporters.

There are no regular meetings, only the occasional ‘flashmob’ stalls in towns, and no real attempt so far to engage in voter identification, mobilisation and engagement. This has not been aided by the tensions between the three main pro-union parties, but something much more is at work. For one, all three of these parties are in retreat, organisationally, in ideas, resources and confidence, one for two generations (Tories), one since devolution (Labour), and the other only recently, but from a small base (Lib Dems). All of them have forgotten the craft of successful politics: for years the Scottish Labour ‘machine’ analogy was just that, and ignored that there was no omnipotent force behind it. This may not prove critical to their cause this year, but it doesn’t help them.

Then there is the strategy of ‘Better Together’ which is based on two premises: take on the technicalities of independence, and make the case for more powers through voting No. Both are questionable.

Take the first. ‘Better Together’ has forensically challenged the SNP’s official prospectus and case for independence on the details of their offer. Thus they have concentrated their ammunition onto the issue of the currency union (namely what currency in what kind of union would an independent Scotland inhabit) and that of European Union membership post-independence.

These are genuine areas of examination. They are also the weakest spots in the SNP’s armory. But the mistake ‘Better Together’ have consistently made at a strategic level is to make this the main argument against independence. Thus this has produced the laughable situation of the two Alistairs - Darling and Carmichael arguing that what the SNP are offering is not ‘full independence’, that such a premise cannot involve the Nationalist version of currency union and EU membership, and at the same time that ‘full independence’ isn’t viable in an age of interdependence.

It is a mess of a position; mirrored by SNP politicians singing the praises of the Treasury and Bank of England. (This whole argument is back to front: the pro-unionists should be making the case for such

W

ould a government of a poorer country ever choose to say "no" to short-term economic profits because of concern for longterm environmental impacts?

Surprise: that is precisely the case with at least two national governments that have said no to certain kinds of mining.

One is the tiny nation of El Salvador, where the government stopped issuing gold mining permits half a decade ago. The Salvadoran government did so despite sky-high gold prices and the argument that exporting gold was one of the country's few chances to boost aggregate economic growth (in the short-term, at least).

They did so largely because the majority of Salvadorans get water from one large river system, and gold mining invariably pollutes nearby rivers and watersheds. Hence, this decision to say no to gold mining has widespread support in El Salvador, even in the local communities that might have gotten some mining jobs.

Thus far, El Salvador has been viewed as an outlier—an exception to the rule—on mining policy in an era where many governments have embraced global mining corporations and gone down a path of extractive-based economic growth.

Witness Honduras, Guatemala, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia, where governments have opened their doors even further to plunder by mining. Other governments, like that of the Philippines, have revised

Whatever the result of the referendum, the idea of independence has been normalised, with even Better Together failing to make the case for the union. In a sense, Scotland has already been 'lost'.

How has this happened?

British institutions and independence supporters the case why they fall short, not exactly difficult given their record of long term failure.)

Yet the ‘Better Together’ argument is the more serious error, as they are fighting a campaign of retreat.

To base the argument for the union and against independence on narrow, technical grounds, concedes so much: the wider case for independence, and in particular, the emotional, gut, instinctual one. It may well pay short-term dividend for September, but in the long-run it is hollowing out the argument for the union.

There is also the unionist disinformation campaign which seems to be based on scatter gun disorientation and waging low level psy-ops on the independence case. This is a much more sustained, serious, elite led operation than some of the media’s fascination with some of the worst excesses of the ‘cybernats’. There was the late Lord Fraser’s comments of ‘let’s bomb all Scottish airfields after independence’ (to which I am only slightly paraphrasing); then the claim that an independent Scotland could be seen as a blank canvas without any history, tradition or law – a sort of black hole or vortex in international governance.

Last week, David Lidington, Conservative Minister for Europe at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office decreed that if Scotland voted Yes the very next day, September 19th 2014, the UK, the legal entity Scotland sits in would stop representing and advocating for Scotland. So much for the ‘myth’ of British fair play and all that!

Third, this brings us to the United Kingdom as ‘the global kingdom’ and the capital kingdom: the place of speculative, asocial, outsourcing, offshore capital.

Week in week out self-declared spokespeople for corporate capitalism, the very antithesis of business and entrepreneurship, stand and pontificate about what they might do if little Scotland dares to defy their wishes and make their tax and investment arrangements a tiny bit more complex adding one more legal jurisdiction.

All of course aided by the unapologetic cheerleaders in the media (with special prizes for the ‘Daily Telegraph’ and ‘Daily Mail’ who have form in this sort of thing).

Then there are the parts of Scotland which have articulated a consistent meme these last thirty years.

Take CBI Scotland who have said No, No, No: no to Labour’s 1979 Assembly plans, no to the 1997 devolution proposals, and no to 2014 independence offer.

They are perfectly entitled to do this, as are others, but it is permissible to observe and draw deductions from this pattern. Where have been the counter proposals to democratise Scotland from these groups?

Strangely after nearly twenty years of Iain McMillan heading up CBI we are still waiting. And from Standard Life and many others. The answer is because elite, closed order Scotland – based on the revolved

doors of the Scottish Office, SCDI and corporate clubland pre-1979 worked perfectly well in their interests.

Britain as an ‘Imagined Community’ Finally, there is the issue of the problem with Britain. When ‘Better Together’ invoke ‘the greatest union the world has ever seen’ the degree of hyperbole gives it away. When Britain ruled the waves its elites didn’t have to blow their trumpets so desperately; they exuded confidence, élan and their own importance.

They also don’t engage with the reality of the actually existing union. Instead, they invoke a fantasy union, an abstract and illusion, a place of magical, almost mystical powers which only really exists in their heads, nowhere else. This is truly Britain as an ‘imagined community’.

There is confusion about the nature of this union with some thoughtful voices calling for or believing the UK is heading towards a federal or quasi-federal set of arrangements. This is the politics of ‘devo max’ and ‘devo plus’ north of the border: the second strand of the ‘Better Together’ argument.

It is perhaps their strongest and weakest case at the same time: strong in that a coherent pro-union devolution offer from Labour could be decisive in the referendum; but weak in what fails to take into account, namely, that pro-union forces are fighting on their opponents territory, and that any devolution has to be agreed at a British level giving a Westminster class veto. That didn’t matter in 1997, but devolution cannot entail the Scots on their own continually just making demands for more autonomy, and it not having to involve some kind of pan-British considerations (further reduction of Scots MPs etc.), and the political centre and Labour so far show no sign of being interested in this.

Federalism, quasi-federalism and further devolution do not address the wider problem of what Britain has become. They don’t address the profound economic and social imbalances of the UK, the rise of London as a world city and it crowding out the rest of the UK and rest of England in particular, with the regions of the North, Midlands and South West reduced to the status of a ‘Flyover Britain’ between London and Scotland without collective voice.

They don’t engage with the absence of public support in England for such proposals, or face the challenge of the rightward, populist drift of UK politics and the rise of an anti-immigration, anti-welfare, xenophobia aided by UKIP and large parts of the English media. Finally, any kind of federalism involves not only codified relationships (something the British political class finds one of the problems of the European Union), but remaking and reforming the political centre. In a decade plus of devolution, the centre has collapsed in on itself: becoming a neo-liberal state advocating for the worldview of corporate class interests.

All of this: the normalising of independence, the ‘Better Together’ strategy, even the political cross-dressing of the two campaigns, the union disinformation strategy, and the increasing problem with Britain, British politics and the British state, all point in one direction. That this debate has come about, not surprisingly, at the time of multiple crisis and decline in the idea of Britain.

Who ‘lost’ Scotland? The conventional answer is to cite Mrs. Thatcher, but the reality is much more complex, and not found in one person, period or philosophy. When the history books are written the list will be long and varied because this is part of a long set of changes. It will include the nature of the 1707 settlement and its retention of Scots autonomy, the role of the Kirk through the years, the establishment of the Scottish Office in 1885, Walter Elliot and Tom Johnston and the expansion of the state, Labour’s abandonment of post-war social democratic growth in 1967 (devaluation) and 1976 (IMF) long before Tony Blair, ‘A Claim of Right for Scotland’, and the arts, cultural and musical renaissance of the 1980s. All these may in time prove more influential than Thatcher or even Alex Salmond.

Scotland has undergone a long revolution – slowly pulling itself out of the wreckage of the British polity and state. Whether that involves formal independence this year or further into the future, remains to be seen, but the question of who ‘lost’ Scotland, what it means and who gains needs to be asked and understood now. It is a question it looks like on current trends we will be returning too again and again.

People over profit robin Broad, John cavanagh their mining policies. But, unlike El Salvador, they are not intended to deal with the devastating environmental and social costs of mining, but rather to try to ensure that more of the gold mining profits stay in-country.

Yet, it turns out that El Salvador is not alone in its policies. The government of Costa Rica has said no to openpit mining. (While open-pit mining is only one method of mining, it is among the most environmentally destructive.)

This revised national mining policy began in 2002 with a Presidential moratorium on new open-pit mining. (While the moratorium was cancelled during the administration of President Oscar Arias, it was reinstated by his successor, Laura Chinchilla, who is of the same political party as Arias.)

Costa Rica's Congress subsequently voted for a no-new-open-pit-mining law—unanimously. That no was upheld

by Costa Rica's Supreme Court.

Popular opposition to any open-pit mining in Costa Rica surged in the wake of an environmental "accident" that led to the closure of the Canadian-owned Bellavista open-pit mine. The efforts of another Canadian mining company, Infinito Gold, to start an open-pit mine at Crucitas also provoked outrage. Indeed, both the executive branch and

the Supreme Court have said no to Infinito for its proposed mine.

As in El Salvador, this "no new mining" policy reflected the majority wishes of constituents both in affected communities and on a broader national level. In El Salvador, more than 60 percent of the population has indicated opposition to mining; a 2010 poll showed more than 85 percent of Costa Ricans were against Infinito's proposed mine.

These two governments should restore our faith that governments can indeed do good. Governments can say no to a false notion of development that would do little besides line the pockets of elite corporate interests, while leaving devastated ecosystems in its wake. We should applaud these two small countries that could say no—and bravely, did.

But global mining companies are trying to ensure that no government is allowed to say no.

These corporations are making their cases based on a controversial Central America "free trade" agreement with the United States, and on El Salvador's former investment law (written with the help of the World Bank), which opened the door for mining firms to sue governments for policies that impeded future profits.

Canadian-Australian gold mining

wRiTE-wiNg

corporation Pacific Rim/OceanaGold claims its so-called "investor rights" are being trampled by the ban, and that El Salvador must give it a license to mine (or compensate it for what it claims is $301 million in expenditures and in profits foregone).

But the Salvadoran government is serious that no means no—and it has already spent $5 million (an amount likely to more than double or triple) to defend itself against this suit at the World Bank's International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

So too the Costa Rican government, which is finding itself having to defend its right to say no. In February 2014, Infinito announced that, rather than accept the Supreme Court rejection of its appeal, it was also initiating an investor-state case against the Costa Rican government at the World Bank's ICSID. Infinito is suing Costa Rica for the $94 million it claims to have invested so far.

But, to the government of Costa Rica, no means no and it, like El Salvador, has proclaimed its intent to follow through on its mining-ban policy, even at ICSID where Infinito's "investor rights" suit is projected to cost each side $2 million a year.

So, ladies and gentlemen, now is the time to support the right of governments to say no to rapacious mining.

Let us celebrate the fact that the governments of El Salvador and Costa Rica are forging new paths that begin by saying no to old destructive paths. And let us hope that these citizens and these governments are not outliers, but will prove to be trailblazers of positive paths to the future. Repeat with us: no means no.

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

17 March 2014

PERSPECTIVE NEWS ANALYSIS, FEATURE AND DISCOURSE

pope francis saved many in dirty wars

Pedestrians walk past a mural of Pope Francis painted on the exterior of a hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Wednesday, March 12, 2014. From his gestures to his simple sound bites to his emphasis that priests are called to serve, Pope Francis has endeared himself to the public, radically shifted the paradigm of the papacy and reminded the world that the church's mission is one of mercy. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

G

debora Rey Associated press

onzalo Mosca was a radical on the run. Hunted by Uruguay's dictators, he fled to Argentina, where he narrowly escaped a military raid on his hideout. "I thought that they would kill me at any moment," Mosca says. With nowhere else to turn, he called his brother, a Jesuit priest, who put him in touch with the man he credits with saving his life: Jorge Mario Bergoglio.

It was 1976, South America's dictatorship era, and the future Pope Francis was a 30-something leader of Argentina's Jesuit order. At the time, the country's church hierarchy openly sided with the military junta as it kidnapped, tortured and killed thousands of leftists like Mosca.

Critics have argued that Bergoglio's public silence in the face of that repression made him complicit, too, and they warn against what they see as historical revisionism designed to burnish the reputation of a now-popular pope.

But the chilling accounts of survivors who credit Bergoglio with saving their lives are hard to deny. They say he conspired right under the soldiers' noses at the theological seminary he directed, providing refuge and safe passage to dozens of priests, seminarians and political dissidents marked for elimination by the 19761983 military regime.

Mosca was 27 then, a member of a leftist political movement banned by the military government in his home country of Uruguay.

Bergoglio answered his call, and rode with him for nearly 20 miles (30 kilometers) to the Colegio Maximo in suburban San Miguel. "He gave me instructions: 'If they stop us, tell them you're going to a spiritual retreat,' and 'Try to keep yourself a bit hidden,'" Mosca recalled in an interview with The Associated Press.

Mosca said he could hardly breathe until they had passed through the seminary's heavy iron doors, but Bergoglio was very calm. "He made me wonder if he really understood the trouble he was getting into. If they grabbed us together, they would have marched us both off," said Mosca, who stayed hidden in the seminary for days, until Bergoglio got him an airplane ticket to Brazil.

Soldiers prowled inside the walled gardens, sniffing for fugitives. But a full raid on the spiritual center was out of the question since Argentina's dictators had cloaked themselves in the mantle of Roman Catholic nationalism. And

a constant flow of people masked Bergoglio's scheming from an air force outpost next door.

Several new books assert that Bergoglio's public silence enabled him to save more people.

"Bergoglio's List," by Vatican reporter Nello Scavo, is already being developed into a movie, its title playing on the "Schindler's List" film about the Nazi businessman whose subterfuge saved hundreds of Jewish prisoners during the Holocaust.

Marcelo Larraquy, author of "Pray for Him," told the AP that Bergoglio saved "20 or 30" people. Scavo said about 100 owe him their lives.

Both authors say the full number will likely never be known, largely because Bergoglio remains so circumspect.

Like many Argentines, Bergoglio "remained silent in the face of atrocity," but he was determined to thwart the death squads when he could, said Larraquy, who runs investigations for the Argentine newspaper Clarin. "He used back channels, did not complain in public and, meanwhile, he was saving people who sought refuge in the Colegio."

"He locked them up in the compound, gave them help and food, and set up a logistical network to get them out of the country," Larroquy added. "But his condition for giving them refuge was that they had to give up all political activism."

New ways of thinking were running through the lower ranks of Latin America's Catholic Church in the 1970s, influenced by Vatican II reforms announced in 1965. Many lay workers and clergy embraced "liberation theology," which promoted social justice for the poor.

Many were politically active and some were Marxist, but others were simply committed social workers. The right-wing military made few distinctions. Priests as well as Catholic lay workers began to disappear at the hands of death squads.

Sitting in a seminary garden whose tranquility was broken only by the gurgling of a fountain and leaves rustling in the breeze, theologian Juan Carlos Scannone quietly told the AP of the terror he felt decades ago.

Scannone said he was targeted because he promoted a non-Marxist "theology of the people" and worked with slum-dwellers in the city's "misery villages." He said Bergoglio not only defended him against criticism within the church, but personally delivered his writings for publication even when the military was trying to find him.

"It was risky," Scannone said. "Bergoglio told me never to go out alone, that I take someone along so that there would be witnesses if I disappeared." Scannone said he "wrote a lot about the

philosophy of liberation and the theology of liberation, which at the time was a naughty word ...

Bergoglio would read it and tell me, 'Don't mail this from San Miguel, because it could be censored,' and he would mail them from Buenos Aires with no return address."

His recollection suggests Francis' view on liberation theology may have always been more nuanced than some of his critics suggested before he became pope. Francis still draws a line against Marxism, but has helped rehabilitate some liberation theologists. The movement's founder, Gustavo Gutierrez, received applause this year during a book presentation at the Vatican.

Bergoglio also intervened, at the request of outspoken Bishop Enrique Angelelli, to save three seminarians after Catholic lay workers were killed in western La Rioja province in 1976. The seminarians were being followed by the same death squads and accused of being "contaminated with Marxist ideas." No one else would take them.

Bergoglio was able to rescue Mario La Civita, Enrique Martinez and Raul Gonzalez just as Angelelli was assassinated in August 1976. "I watched him save lives," La Civita recalled. "It was a difficult time because two or three soldiers were always walking around in the back of the compound. Bergoglio had a strategy of generating confidence in them so that they wouldn't think he had people hidden."

But Bergoglio couldn’t save everyone he tried to help. Esther Ballestrino de Careaga, a communist who had been Bergoglio's boss in a laboratory before he became a priest, pleaded with him to hide the Marxist literature in her house after her daughter was kidnapped and son-in-law disappeared. "Those were the books that Bergoglio fought (against), but he carried them away anyway," Larroquy said.

A short while later, she co-founded the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, publicly demanding that the junta account for the missing. Soon, she disappeared. Bergoglio's role was more ambiguous in the case of two slum priests, Orlando Yorio and Francisco Jalics. He supported their social work, but not their political activism, much less their contacts with armed revolutionaries, and he made them quit the Jesuit order, leaving them without church protection, Larroquy said. "Bergoglio told them to abandon their political project in the slum, and they refused; they were insubordinate," Larroquy said.

Yorio, Jalics and some Catholic lay workers were seized a short time later after holding Mass, and taken to the regime's clandestine torture center inside the Navy Mechanics School.

Bergoglio testified as part of a human rights trial in 2010 that he persuaded another priest to fake an illness so that he could hold a private Mass for dictator Jorge Videla and personally plead for the Jesuits' release. They were set free in October 1976, left drugged and blindfolded in a field.

"Bergoglio contributed by helping the persecuted, and he dedicated himself to obtaining the release of his kidnapped priests. Still, he didn't participate at the time in the fight against the military dictatorship in defense of human rights," said Adolfo Perez Esquivel, whose human rights work in Argentina won him the Nobel Peace Prize.

Very few other detainees emerged alive from the Mechanics School, and when Bergoglio testified, he didn't reveal any new details about the others who disappeared, "even when their families are demanding an answer," complained human rights lawyer Myriam Bregman.

Bregman says Francis should clear up doubts by opening the church's archives. "We've asked for it and we keep waiting. The church was part of the dictatorship, it was a direct accomplice, and today it continues without revealing all that it has in its archives," Bregman said.

Mosca sides with Bergoglio. Referring to Yorio and Jalics, Mosca said: "He did not hesitate in risking everything for my cause. He didn't know me. If he did all that for me, how much would he have done for those two?"

The Morung Express

Cut short

The latest threat to international peacekeeping is political warfare in Washington Michel Gabaudan, don Kraus & Peter yeo

I

Foreign Affairs

t was a welcome and rare sight: a rebel army in retreat. Last November, one of the most feared rebel groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the M23, was defeated. After a 20-month insurgency and a fight to quell it, there had come a tipping point: a 3,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping "intervention brigade," sent to support the Congolese military, had been given an unprecedented mandate: to take offensive action.

The brigade represented a radical change in how peacekeepers operate, and it is just one of U.N. peacekeeping's latest reforms. In fact, a month after the defeat of the M23, another unprecedented action took place in DRC, as U.N. forces launched unmanned, unarmed aircrafts to monitor the volatile borders with Rwanda and Uganda. It was the first time U.N. peacekeepers had ever directly deployed surveillance drones, and since then, these aircraft have begun to monitor new threats from armed groups. If proven valuable in DRC, they could be deployed in other parts of the world.

Changes in peacekeeping strategy -along with a ramped up diplomatic effort -- offer the best chance for stability in DRC in a generation. And they represent U.N. reform in the truest sense: a completely new way of operating.

Yet at the very moment when reforms like these are giving hope to vulnerable people, a different kind of threat to peace in places like the DRC has emerged: Washington's ongoing funding battles.

Though many have hailed the recent Fiscal Year 2014 congressional funding bill as a break in political hostilities, the legislation will sink the U.S. into even further financial arrears at the U.N. The world cannot afford such setbacks -- especially now. Presently, more than 150 million people rely on U.N. peacekeepers for safety and security, and Americans also greatly benefit from their work. Peacekeepers rebuild failing states into potential U.S. partners. They help pave the way for overseas trade and investment. They enable millions of civilians to access the freedom, dignity, and fundamental rights that form the bedrock of U.S. foreign policy. And, according to a Government Accountability Office study, they do all that at one-eighth the cost of deploying American troops overseas.

U.N. peacekeeping is not perfect, of course. For all the recent success in places like the DRC and Timor-Leste, Srebrenica and Rwanda remain painful reminders of tragic failures. Even so, the U.N. has worked diligently -- and with strong U.S. support -- to make peacekeeping more effective and efficient. Additional reforms, coupled with those already outlined here, have the potential to deliver big benefits for international security and American taxpayers, to say nothing of the benefits to the vulnerable mothers, fathers, and children who rely on U.N. protection and assistance.

One key example of critical reform is the Global Field Support Strategy (GFSS), first approved by the U.N. General Assembly in 2010. This strategy was prompted by the realization that far-flung U.N. missions were not being properly serviced or supplied. New missions were created to deal with fast-moving crises, but their roll-out was slowed for months by logistical and budgetary problems. Shipments of rations, communications equipment, and helicopters were delayed, crippling peacekeepers

in the field. And while the blame for these delays often rested with troop contributors or host countries, there were occasions when the U.N. bureaucracy was at fault. So, with firm support from the United States, the GFSS streamlined the logistical side of peacekeeping and delivered significant savings. In 2012, by implementing reforms from the Strategy, the U.N. shaved over $400 million from the overall peacekeeping budget, giving peacekeepers the supplies they needed at a lower cost to U.N. member states. As the largest donor to U.N. peacekeeping, the U.S. stands to gain the most from the GFSS's full implementation.

Then, there are groundbreaking changes in the way U.N. peacekeepers are evaluated and paid. Traditionally, soldiers and police serving with the U.N. have been paid a set rate, regardless of how they perform in the field. However, two key initiatives championed by the U.S. are changing that. In 2011, American diplomats pushed through a new rule at the U.N. prohibiting payments to peacekeepers who commit crimes, including sexual abuse and exploitation. In addition, starting next year, as much as $50 million in annual bonuses will be paid to peacekeepers and U.N. member states that set a positive example -- serving with distinction in risky areas or providing key services such as medical care, engineering, or air support. These are some of the U.N.'s first attempts at pay-for-performance, and they will need strong oversight to be successful. But by rewarding the best peacekeepers and punishing the worst, they could lead to better outcomes for U.N. missions and the people they serve.

With so much on the line, and meaningful progress underway, now is the time to maintain longstanding U.S. commitments to U.N. peacekeeping -- not undermine them. And it is what the U.S. public wants: A recent poll found that more than 70 percent of voters think the United States should pay its peacekeeping dues on time and in full. Certainly, at a time of polarization in Washington and around our nation, such a strong number should stand out as a mandate, plain and simple.

Yet Congress has not always respected this mandate. Recently enacted legislation funding the government through the remainder of Fiscal Year 2014 fails to provide any funding for the new U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali and maintains an arbitrary cap on the percentage of the peacekeeping budget that America can pay.

As a result, the U.S. has sunk further into peacekeeping arrears, threatening our vital reform agenda at the U.N. In addition to potentially weakening U.S.-led reform efforts, falling into arrears will harm countries that contribute troops to U.N. missions, including U.S. partners like India, Ghana, and Bangladesh. When U.N. peacekeeping faces budgetary shortfalls, these countries aren't adequately reimbursed for their service, and this makes it harder to recruit and retain the best peacekeepers. Financial disputes have hurt participation in U.N. missions before: In 2011, amid a heated funding debate, the U.N. force in DRC faced a crisis when India withdrew four attack helicopters and Uruguay threatened to pull out 1,300 soldiers. A similar run on resources today -- in South Sudan or Mali -- would damage U.S. interests and put innocent civilians at risk.

Much more needs to be done to strengthen and reform U.N. peacekeeping, and Americans should not be satisfied until all of the U.N.'s 15 missions are performing at the highest level. But as the need for peacekeepers continues to grow, starving the U.N. of resources will only make matters worse. The United States can lead the way to a stronger, more effective system of international peacekeeping, but it must start by honoring its financial commitments.

pOLL rESuLTS

Is It tIme for present naga leaders to hand over responsIbIlItIes to the younger generatIon? Some of those who voted YES had this to say: • Yes, we need new leadership with new thinking, new vision and a new approach to achieve our goals. Our present leaders have done what they could do. Now is the time for the new ones.

• Yes we need generational change in leadership.

The world is changing fast and young leaders should be given a platform.

• It is high time for the leadership to change. We are not going anywhere. Our present leaders have reached their saturation point. They are unable to lead the people and can no longer provide solutions to our problems.

• The older generation has had enough time but they have failed to prove themselves as capable of leading.

• definitely a big YEs... time for our grndpa's to retire....

• Yes, sure is before the old corrupt leaders become more corrupter and lead the youngster astray and will end up in the devils astray like them.

• Good topic for discussion on the verge of the upcoming Lok Sabha election.... YES, we Naga's need leaders not politicians, a leader with a vision and with all due respect to our Octogenarian's or going to be Octogenarian politicians please step aside, you've done enough for us....now let the younger generation try it in a different and in a matured way!!!

• Yes. Irrespective of party colour, Nagas should stop voting those candidates who have crossed 65. This way we can check the retired bureaucrats from contesting election and also do away with all those obsolete leaders. We need change; we need fresh ideas; we need 21st century mindset and we need

brave and pro-active leaders to take us ahead. Last but not the least, we need leaders with sound education background and reason60% ing power.

Some of those who voted no had this to say: • No, handing over of full responsibilities to the younger generation will be detrimental to the stability of our society. Here, I do not mean to say that the young generation are incapable and irrational and thus should be excluded.

What I mean is that there can be an accommodative alter29% native to the question here.

The only way to reconcile the old and the young is to create a deliberative public space where a rational consensus can be reached which reflects the interest of both the groups.

Needless to say, the success of this hypothesis is presupposed only when the various groups participating or willing to participate(Women) in the public space are treated equally and given due recogYES no nition of their worth.

• No, not necessary because a good leaders is not judged by his age. Even if a

person is young and energetic possessing high academic excellence but lacks wisdom and vision its useless.

• Nope... the present generations are still not ready. The middle age group (40-55) are too selfish and more corrupted, and they are the ones who fully supported the retirement act, so that they would benefit from our parents forceful retirement. The age group (30-39) are still trying to get settled with their families and trying to cope with the new changes, and as such, they are not ready for a big responsibilities. Below age 30 are still not yet matured enough in our naga context. Therefore the older generation esp 60 and above should still be guiding the young people..and those age group of (55-60) should be taking proactive role, physically and spiritually.

• Coz our younger generation are/is more worse and immature 11% than our elders.

• No, Elders have more wisdom, experience and responsibility while youth have knowledge and OTHERS are dynamic.

• No, they do not have the experience, nor the temperament to lead.

• No I am not in favor of handing over responsibilities to the younger generation because they are not prepared to shoulder such responsibilities. Our younger generation is yet to prove themselves.

They are only following the same method as the present leaders just like the shadow follows the tail.

Some of those who voted OTHERS had this to say: • At the moment, there seems to be no difference between how the present Naga leaders and the younger generation are behaving. They all seem to be the same, with the younger generation following in the footsteps of the older ones.

Everyone seems to be on the lookout for their own selfish interest.

• I wouldn’t say just younger generation but hardworking, respectable and honest men • Are Younger Generation motivated, committed and willing to sacrifice and change course or perpetuate the same old?

• Whatever the views or thoughts put up or share by young is rejected by the old and purana jamana people that is the typical mentality of Nagas!

• If younger generation want to take the leadership responsibilities, they should have the guts to take the lead and take the reins in their hands rather than waiting for the elders to hand it over to them.

• By scratching the surface of stability in all terms seem to bode down well with the nagafolks from all walks of life. But as the devil is in the detail, if the static stability is maintained at the expense of change where though the change is inevitable, then I think there is a serious problem in our concept of stability on the ground reality.

8

Dimapur

NATIONAL

Monday 17 March 2014

The Morung Express

‘Congress not underdog, will form UPA-III’

New Delhi, March 16 (PTi): An upbeat Rahul Gandhi on Sunday rejected the view that the Congress party was an “underdog” or that it faced an “uphill” task in the Lok Sabha polls, affirming that there would be a Congress-led UPA III. Acknowledging that after 10 years in power “there is a certain amount of antiincumbency against us”, the Congress campaign chief, nevertheless, disagreed with senior party leader and Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s view that the party was an underdog and faced an uphill task.

“Congress is fighting a challenging election and we will win the election,” he said while refusing to hazard a guess about the number of seats the party would get. “I am not a soothsayer but we will do well,” he told PTI in an exclusive interview here.

Debunking opinion polls, which he had described as a joke, Gandhi said the party would do better than the 2009 elections when it had won 206 seats. Predictions before 2004 and 2009 elections also were that the Congress was going to lose and get thrashed, he recalled.

Answering a question on the failure of the government and the party to communicate with the people, he admitted, “I think certainly we could have been more aggressive in conveying our achievements. As I said, we have done transformatory work. We could always be better in communication.”

Rubbishing the perception that Congress was losing allies, the party vice

president said that it had alliances with NCP, RJD, JMM, RLD and the National Conference but had lost the DMK and the Trinamool Congress.

Asked if the Congress could “do business” with TMC and DMK again, Gandhi replied, “We are always willing to work with people who share our ideology and political philosophy, who are determined to fight sectarian and communal forces that seek to divide India for narrow political gains.”

Contending that his power was being “overestimated”, Gandhi disclosed that he had differed with the government on a number of issues but “I have been overruled.”

Asked to cite examples, he said that “one very large public place where I was overruled” was on the question of making Lokpal a Constitutional body. “I had a different view from the senior members of the party and I was overruled.”

Another instance cited by him pertained to the Ordinance to nullify a Supreme Court order disqualifying convicted lawmakers in which he had a view different from senior members of the party but was initially overruled.

“Then I took the step of making my views public,” he said in an obvious reference to a press conference at which he had declared that the Ordinance should be torn away.

He was articulating the public opinion and the party had listened to that.

In a reference to the controversy triggered by his going public aggressively on the issue while Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh was in the US, the Gandhi scion acknowledged that “in hindsight that it could have been done in a better way”.

Gandhi was asked about his comments that the “system” needed to move away from concentration of power and that he was going to “take on” the system.

“You yourself are a product of the system--you are very much an insider--and you want to play the role of an outsider. Your critics would say that you want to have the best of both the worlds,” the questioner remarked.

Gandhi responded by saying what was important was “not where I come from but what I work for. Does being an insider-- as you define me--take away from me the right to disagree or fight for a change?

“Those who want to reform the system are often people who revolt against the very system they are part of. We opened up the

youth Congress and NSUI to elections and are holding primaries in 15 Lok Sabha constituencies.

“I would like to ask my critics from the opposition parties if they would demonstrate their willingness to open up their parties to such empowering initiatives. These insider/outsider are unimportant labels.

To a question about people’s disappointment with the lacklustre performance of the UPA government, Gandhi replied that in the last 10 years the UPA government had delivered the highest-ever growth rate and had pulled 150 million out of poverty. It had brought a new kind of transformational politics through RTI, right to education, right to food and employment.

When reminded that the party’s highest decision-making body, the Congress Working Committee, was a nominated one and no elections had been

held to it for long despite his crusade for inner-party democracy, Gandhi agreed “100 per cent” that the CWC should be an elected body and that he was working towards that.

“The entire Congress party is nominated today.

Every structure is nominated. To reach the point where the main institutional structure is elected, you have to have a structure below that is elected,” he said.

The Congress campaign leader was also asked about his “lack of interest in Parliament” where his attendance was the lowest among Congress MPs. “You have asked no questions, brought no private member bill and participated in just two debates in the current Lok Sabha,” he was reminded.

He responded by saying that he did not look at participation in Parliament in these terms. Firstly, as an organisational general secretary he had spent a lot of time travelling across the country. More-

over, he saw himself as a part of the large team of UPA MPs driving forward a collective legislative agenda.

As a member of this team he had actively participated in formulating his party’s legislative agenda and publicly fought for legislations like the new Land Acquisition Bill, the Lokpal Bill, the bill for protection of livelihood of street vendors, RTI, MNREGA and the food security law, he said.

To him the bigger question was why did the 15th Lok Sabha become the worst-performing in the history and why did the opposition stall Parliament session after session. “It is a sorry fact that the opposition parties had let down their electorate and done

governance under him”. Gandhi was answering a question during an interview to PTI on BJP’s contention that Modi had been given a clean chit by the Supreme Court-appointed SIT and the courts and, therefore, he had nothing to answer for or apologise for about the postGodhra riots.

He replied, “As you know, the SIT report had been seriously questioned by a number of credible experts. Grave flaws have been pointed out in the functioning of the SIT. The

acceptance of the flawed SIT report by the lowest court has not yet been subjected to judicial scrutiny by higher courts.

“The specific allegation and evidence pointing to Mr Modi’s responsibility in the 2002 riots are yet to be adequately probed. Any talk of his having been given a clean chit may be politically expedient, but is far too premature. There are many unanswered questions. There is a lot more the country needs to know,” he said.

Gandhi did not see Lok Sabha elections as virtually a presidential-style contest between him and Modi and said, “it is a clash between two ideas of India.” He contended that the Congress represented an idea which “respects the liberty and dignity of everyone of our countrymen by upholding the ideals of humanity and inclusion”, whereas the BJP wanted an India “in which there is no place for the poor, no place for those with a different religion or ideology.

The Congress leader said that the BJP seeks to ”suppress large numbers of India’s ideas” and wanted “an India in which power is centralised in the hands of individuals. It is a clash between these two ideas of India.” The Gandhi-scion added, “The ideas that Mr Modi represents are dangerous for India.”

To a question that people appeared to be disappointed with the lacklustre performance of the UPA government and favoured a strong leader like Modi, he

BaNgalore, March 16 (iaNS): A day after the BJP fielded Narendra Modi as its candidate in Varanasi, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal declared Sunday that he was ready to contest against the prime ministerial nominee in the Lok Sabha polls.

But Kejriwal told an election rally here that though his party had asked him to take on Modi, he would do so only after knowing the response of the people of the Hindu holy city in Uttar Pradesh March 23. “My party has said you should take on Modi in the election,” Kejriwal told his audience, triggering a roar of approval.

Underlining that it was “important to defeat Modi”, the former Delhi chief minister said: “It is a very big challenge. It is not a small challenge... I am ready to accept this challenge.” But

Kejriwal quickly added that he will visit Varanasi March 23 and take a final decision after finding out if people there wanted him to that.

“I appeal to people from all over the country to reach Varanasi March 23,” he said in an appeal that clearly indicated that the Aam Aadmi Party was intent on challenging the Gujarat chief minister. Saying that the political establishment had become symbols of corruption, communalism and rising food prices, he said it was important to defeat the top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress.

“We have to defeat Narendra Modi too.” But Kejriwal insisted that Modi must fight from only one parliamentary seat, not two as it is being rumoured. “We hear he is looking for a safe seat. Why does he want a safe seat? We need a bold

PM, not one who looks for a safe seat.” Kejriwal’s campaign theme was that people across the country were sick and tired of established political parties and desired change.

He particularly targeted the Congress and the BJP as well as Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and BJP’s star leader Modi.

“People are of course angry with the Congress... Some say they will get only 100 (Lok Sabha) seats this time, some say only 50, some say only 25.” In the same breath, he said the electorate also felt betrayed by parties such as the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Indian National Lok Dal, Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party.

Challenging Modi’s claims of developing Gujarat economically, Kejriwal dished out facts and fig-

ures to show that this was not true and that Modi had spread “white lies”. He said that contrary to claims, corruption was rampant in Gujarat and 800 farmers had committed suicide in Gujarat since Modi took power in 2001.

Modi, he said, stood for “crony capitalism” and that some 60,000 small scale and medium scale industries had closed down in Gujarat during Modi’s rule.

Kejriwal rubbished BJP criticism that he “ran away” by deciding to resign as the Delhi chief minister Feb 14 over the Jan Lokpal bill.

“Lal Bahadur Shastri resigned as the railway minister after a railway accident.

Did Shastri run away from his responsibilities? “We have not run away... When the next election takes place in Delhi, we will get more than 50 seats.”

New Delhi, March 16 (PTi): A whopping Rs 30,000 crore is likely to be spent by the government, political parties and candidates in the upcoming Lok Sabha election, making it by far the most expensive electoral exercise in Indian history.

The projected expenditure to elect the 16th Lok Sabha is set to rival the $7 billion (approximately Rs 42,000 crore) spent by candidates and parties in the 2012 US presidential elections. A study carried out by Centre for Media Studies on poll spending says that, “unaccounted for” money pumped in by “crorepati” candidates, corporates and contractors has pushed up the expenditure to elect 543 MPs. Out of the estimated Rs 30,000 crore, the exchequer will spend Rs 7000 to Rs 8000 crore to hold the electoral exercise for the 16th Lok Sabha. While the Election Commission is likely to spend around Rs 3,500 crore, the Union home ministry, Indian Railways, various other government agencies and state governments will spend a similar amount to put in place means to ensure free and fair polls.

“The final figures will emerge after the poll process is on. Money will be debited to the EC account through book adjustments by various agencies,” explained a senior government official. The study says that the recent decision to hike expenditure limits for Lok Sabha elections to a maximum of Rs 70 lakh and a minimum of Rs 54 lakh, is one of the reasons why poll spending is likely to touch the Rs 30,000-crore mark.

According to a rough, unofficial estimate, after the hike in poll expenditure cap, candidates in fray for 543 seats alone could spend nearly Rs 4000 crore in the Lok Sabha polls. “Till recently, political parties used to spend more during election. Now, the trend has changed with candidates in most cases spending more than the parties.

Now, where is this money coming from? It is coming from crorepati candidates, corporates and contractors,” Centre for Media Studies Chairman N Bhaskara Rao said.

The CMS study claims that while Rs 2,500 crore was spent in the 1996 Lok Sabha elections, the amount jumped to Rs 10,000 crore in 2004 polls.

Parliament and people a great disservice.”

Asked if he was ready to be the Leader of the Opposition and for the

long haul if Congress ends up on the opposition benches, Gandhi replied, “I entered active politics in 2004 when the Congress was written off. I did not join when the party was in power.

“I entered politics because of the infinite love and affection I have shared with this nation. There is no possible outcome of this, or any future election, that can make any difference to these sentiments. I am here for good.

“I must also say that the media seems to have a need to score card me at every turn. I view my own success and failure on a different scale and time horizon.

Down the road I will measure myself on how much voice we have been able to give the people of India through devolved structures of the Congress party.

“But the elections are far from over. We are geared for a tough battle. I am confident that there is going to be a Congress-led UPA III.”

Clean chit to Modi in 2002 riots premature: Rahul

New Delhi, March 16 (PTi): Hitting out at Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi on Sunday demanded “legal accountability” for the “clear and inexcusable failure” of governance during the 2002 Gujarat riots and dismissed talk of clean chit to him as “politically expedient” but “far too premature”.

Contending that Modi was answerable on moral grounds, the Congress’ chief campaigner said, “beyond that there should be a legal accountability for the clear and inexcusable failure of

An elderly Kashmiri civilian walks as Indian paramilitary soldiers stand guard during restrictions in Srinagar, Indiaon March 16, Kashmiri separatists called for a strike Sunday to protest the killing of a teenager boy by government forces in the troubled Indian portion of Kashmir. (AP Photo)

Kejriwal ready to fight Modi, decision on March 23

Khobragade incident ‘extremely irksome’, time for closure: Salman Khurshid

New Delhi, March 16 (PTi): Terming the Khobragade episode “extremely irksome”, external affairs minister Salman Khurshid on Sunday said it was time for “closure” to the issue for which the US should find a “political solution”.

Asserting that there were “practical considerations” and India cannot look unconcerned when something like this happens, he said the court by rejecting the first indictment has given an opportunity to US administration to put it

behind and questioned why they were not doing so.

“Even at the worst time, I made repeated statements that although it is extremely irksome what has happened and we are convinced that what has happened is wrong and it should not be taken any further, nevertheless this should not impact our larger relationship. But there are practical considerations.

“We cannot look unconcerned when something like this happens. We have to balance practical implica-

tions with our commitment to keep our relationship intact and in fact, enhance it,” the minister said in an interview.

Khurshid was asked for his reaction to US prosecutors re-indicting senior Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade on visa fraud charges and accused her of “illegally” underpaying and “exploiting” her domestic maid. The second indictment, on Saturday, came a day after a US court dismissed an earlier indictment.

Observing that “over-

all it has an effect and there was very deep sense of hurt here”, Khurshid said “the court by rejecting the indictment has given you an opportunity to put it behind us so why are we not putting it behind us... They should find a political solution.”

Referring to his meeting with his US counterpart John Kerry on the issue, he said, “We have already agreed that officials from both sides will meet to look into issue of immunity and privileges so that in future there is no trouble. When

you are looking at no trouble in future, it is an ideal thing would be to put a closure to what has happened.”

Khurshid also said India was convinced that there were no justified grounds for what they have done.

On Saturday, the MEA had expressed disappointment over an “unnecessary” step of second indictment and asserted that any measure consequent to the decision will “unfortunately” impact upon efforts on both sides to build India-US strategic partnership.

A 1999-batch IFS officer, Khobragade was arrested in New York on December 12 and was strip-searched, triggering a row between the two countries with India retaliating by downgrading privileges of certain category of US diplomats among other steps. She was released on a USD 250,000 bond, was later granted full diplomatic immunity and she flew back to India on January 10. She has since been transferred to the ministry of external affairs in New Delhi.

New Delhi, March 16 (iaNS): With elections less than a month away, Manmohan Singh, India’s 14th prime minister and the first technocrat to rule the country, is winding up his term but is involved in “too much work” even as a lame-duck prime minister, officials closely working with him said.

Though the number of official events have come down drastically after the model code of conduct came in place following the poll panel announcement of the nine-phase general elections, beginning April 7, officials in the know told IANS that the work of the prime minister has, howev-

er, “become too much”.

“His work has become too much. It is an 11-hour day for him,” a senior official in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) told IANS. “The prime minister begins his day at 9.30 a.m., has official meetings till lunch and then again works from 4 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.,” the official, on condition of anonymity said.

He added: “The prime minister is the head of many official committees whose meetings are being held regularly even now.” The work of these committees though does not involve taking policy decisions. Some examples of these committees are the Gandhi Samriti

and the Jawaharlal Nehru 125th birth anniversary celebrations committee.

In fact, the last persons to meet the prime minister

tions were also thronging his residence, another senior official said as of now Manmohan Singh has got requests from eight places

after a day’s work are the National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon and communications advisor Pankaj Pachauri. Asserting that many people hopeful of getting Lok Sabha nomina-

to campaign for the coming Lok Sabha polls.

“Requests have come from states of Kartanaka, Assam, Haryana and Rajasthan. He will begin campaigning once the process

of ticket distribution is over,” the official said. The Oxford and Cambridge-educated Manmohan Singh has been prime minister since May 2004 when Congress President Sonia Gandhi hand-picked him for the job.

The 81-year old prime minister has already declared that he will step down after the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. “In a few months’ time, after the general election, I will hand the baton over to a new prime minister,” Manmohan Singh announced at the Jan 4 press conference. The official, however, said the prime minister has not yet zeroed in on what he wants

to do once his term is over.

Manmohan Singh joined the government as economic advisor in the commerce ministry in 1971. Among the many government positions that he has occupied are secretary in the finance ministry, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, advisor to the prime minister and chairman of the University Grants Commission.

Once his term is over, he will settle down at 3 Motilal Nehru Marg, in the Lutyen’s bungalow zone in the leafy centre of New Delhi, which was the residence of former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, the official said.

PM works 11-hour days as he winds up term “In a few months’ time, after the general election, I will hand the baton over to a new prime minister”

said, “yes, I believe that India needs a ‘strong’ leader but we must have a deeper understanding of what ‘strength’ means.

“Strength to me, is not brute force or the ability to bulldoze your way through decision making in an autocratic manner….I do believe that an autocratic mindset that believes in dispensing with whatever is inconvenient to its notions is dangerous because such people tend to disregard what is right for what is expedient.”

Rs 30,000 crore to be spent on Lok Sabha polls

InternatIonal

the Morung express

Monday 17 March 2014

Dimapur

9

Missing Plane: Malaysia seeks helP KUALA LUMPUR , for others to respond.

Satellite data has shown MARch 16 (AP): Malaysia’s government on Sunday that after losing contact with asked for help from nearly a air traffic controllers, the

focusing mainly on shallow seas, we are now looking at large tracts of land, crossing 11 countries, as well as

India suspends search for Malaysian plane

New DeLhi, MARch 16 (iANS): India Sunday suspended its search operation for the missing Malaysian plane but placed its assets on standby as Kuala Lumpur reassessed the strategy for the hunt.

“Malaysian authorities have now indicated that, based on investigation, the search operations have entered a new phase and a strategy for further searches is being formulated,” said a statement from the defence ministry.

“Accordingly, search operations have been suspended and all Indian assets earmarked for SAR (search and rescue) opera-

tions have been placed on standby,” it said.

India has deployed numerous assets of its navy, air force and coast guard to search for the missing plane of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.

A total of six aircraft and six ships with their integral helicopters were deployed which have combed the designated search areas spanning across the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Additional naval assets have been kept on standby for immediate deployment.

The statement added that India continues to maintain active coordina-

tion with the Royal Malaysian Navy and the Royal Malaysian Air Force from its Maritime Operations Centre at New Delhi.

In Port Blair, Colonel Harmit Singh, spokesman for the Andaman and Nicobar Command, told IANS: “The Coast Guard will revert to routine surveillance till further orders.”

The Malaysian plane with 239 passengers and crew vanished without trace after taking off from Kuala Lumpur March 8.

So far no sighting or detection has been reported by the units deployed for searches in various designated areas.

dozen Asian countries that the missing jetliner may have flown over, saying that finding the plane would be very difficult without additional data on its final movements.

Meanwhile, police were examining a flight simulator belonging to one of the pilots of the Malaysia Airlines plane, which went missing more than a week ago with 239 passengers aboard a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The government said police searched the homes of both of the plane’s pilots on Saturday, the first time they have done so since the plane went missing. Asked why it took them so long, police chief Inspector General Khalid Abu Bakar said authorities “didn’t see the necessity in the early stages.”

Bakar told reporters that he had requested countries with citizens on board the plane to investigate their background. He said that the intelligence agencies of some countries had already done this and found nothing suspicious, but that he was waiting

plane could have kept flying as far north as Kazakhstan in Central Asia or deep into the southern Indian Ocean, posing awesome challenges for efforts to recover the aircraft and flight data recorders vital to solving the mystery of what happened on board. That has left authorities desperate to narrow down a search area now stretching across 11 nations and one of the most remote oceans in the world.

“The search was already a highly complex, multinational effort. It has now become even more difficult,” Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said at a news conference Sunday.

“It is our hope with the new information, parties that can come forward and narrow the search to an area that is more feasible,” he said, adding that the search effort now includes 25 countries.

“The search area has been significantly expanded. And the nature of the search has changed. From

deep and remote oceans,” Hishammuddin said.

He said the number of countries involved in the search and rescue operation had increased from 14 to 25, bringing “new challenges of co-ordination and diplomacy to the search effort.”

Australia said it was sending one of its two AP3C Orion aircraft involved in the search to the remote islands in the Indian Ocean at Malaysia’s request. The plane will search the north and west of the Cocos Islands, a remote Australian territory with an airstrip about 1200 kilometers (745 miles) southwest of Indonesia, military chief Gen. David Hurley said.

Given that the northern route the plane may have taken would take it over countries with busy airspace, most experts say the person in control of the aircraft would more likely have chosen the southern route.

The southern Indian Ocean is the world’s third-deepest and one of the most remote stretches of water in the

world, with little radar coverage. The wreckage might take months — or longer — to find, or might never be located.

Malaysia has asked for help from countries in South, Central and Southeast Asia for assistance in tracing the jet by providing satellite and radar data, the government said in a statement. It said that for now, both the northern and southern routes that the plane may have taken were being treated with “equal importance.”

Confirmation Saturday that someone on board severed the communication links with the ground and flew off course for more than six hours has triggered a formal criminal investigation into who on the plane was involved, and what motive they might have for doing so.

Investigators are trying answer these questions: If the pilots were involved in the disappearance, were they working together or alone, or with one or more of the passengers or crew?

Did they fly the plane under duress or of their own volition? Did one or more of the passengers manage to break into the cockpit, or use the threat of violence to gain entry and then pilot the plane?

Malaysian authorities have not ruled out any possibilities, and to establish what happened with any degree of certainty investigators will likely need to examine information, including cockpit voice recordings, from the plane’s flight data recorders should the jet be located.

The government gave few details on the police investigation into the pilots.

Khalid, the inspector general, said police had confiscated the flight simulator belonging to Zaharie Ahmad Shah, the 59-year-old pilot, and reassembled it in their offices to examine it. He said police also were investigating engineers and ground staff who may have

A woman reads messages and well wishes to people involved with the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner MH370 on March 15, in Sepang, Malaysia. A Malaysian passenger jet missing for more than a week had its communications deliberately disabled and its last signal came about seven and a half hours after takeoff, meaning it could have ended up as far as Kazakhstan or deep in the southern Indian Ocean, Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak said Saturday. (AP Photo)

had contact with the plane before it took off.

Zaharie, who has three grown children and one grandchild, had previously posted photos online of the

KUALA LUMPUR , MARch 16 (AP): Attention focused Sunday on the pilots of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight after the country’s leader announced findings so far that suggest someone with intimate knowledge of the Boeing 777’s cockpit seized control of the plane and sent it off-course.

Prime Minister Najib Razak gave the first detailed findings Saturday in the more than weeklong investigation into the missing plane, showing that someone severed communications with the ground and deliberately diverted Flight 370 after it departed Kuala Lumpur for Beijing on March 8 on an overnight flight with a 12-person

flight simulator he built for his home using three large computer monitors and other accessories. Earlier this week, the head of Malaysia Airlines said this was

not in itself cause for any suspicion.

Malaysian officials and aviation experts said that whoever disabled the plane’s communication systems and

Focus turns to pilots crew and 227 passengers.

Satellite data suggest it flew for at least 7 ½ hours and that it could have reached as far northwest as Kazakhstan or deep into the southern Indian Ocean, Najib said. “Clearly the search for MH370 has entered a new phase,” Najib said at a televised news conference. “It is widely understood that this has been a situation without precedent.”

Experts say that whoever disabled the plane’s communication systems and then flew the jet must have had a high degree of technical knowledge and flying experience. One possibility they have raised was that one of the pilots wanted to divert the plane

for some reason — possibly even to commit suicide.

Piracy and hijacking also have been cited as possible explanations.

Najib stressed that investigators were looking into all possibilities.

“In view of this latest development, the Malaysian authorities have refocused their investigation into the crew and passengers on board,” Najib told reporters, reading from a written statement but not taking any questions.

Police on Saturday went to the Kuala Lumpur homes of both the pilot and co-pilot of the missing plane, according to a guard and several local reporters.

Malaysian police have said they are looking at the psy-

then flew the jet must have had a high degree of technical knowledge and flying experience, putting one or both of the pilots high on the list of possible suspects.

chological state, family life and connections of pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah, 53, and co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27. They released no details on their investigation so far.

Zaharie, who joined Malaysia Airlines in 1981 and had more than 18,000 hours of flying experience, was known as an avid aviation enthusiast who had set up an elaborate flight simulator at home.

Fariq was contemplating marriage after having just graduated to the cockpit of a Boeing 777. He has drawn scrutiny after the revelation that he and another pilot invited two female passengers to sit in the cockpit during a flight in 2011.

Seven dead as job- Egyptian militants outwit army in Sinai battlefield seekers stampede

Dozens more injured as panicked job-seekers in Nigeria’s capital Abuja gather during a government recruitment drive at the national stadium AbUjA, MARch 16 (AFP): At least seven people were killed and dozens more injured in Nigeria’s capital Abuja on Saturday after thousands of panicked job-seekers stampeded during a government recruitment drive at the national stadium. Survivors said that thousands had gathered to apply for jobs with the immigration department in the Abuja stadium.

One witness said the stampede broke out as applicants surged towards a central stage. They said only one entrance to the 60,000-capacity stadium was open. It was unclear how many people were inside at the time of the crush.

No official toll was given, but an AFP journalist at the scene counted seven dead and dozens injured.

The public hospital was forced to turn victims away due to a lack of capacity, according to spokesman Tayo Haastrup. “I cannot even imagine the number of people that stamped on me,” said survivor Rosemary Ogida. “I just remember being picked up by three men.”

The young woman, who had regained consciousness at the hospital but could barely move her left leg, said she was desperate after having lost the original of her university diploma in the stampede.

Those with stable injuries “will be sent to other hospitals so that we can deal with the numerous injured that continue to arrive,” Haastrup said.

“Unfortunately, the hospital management was not given any early warning about the scale of the situation at the stadium,” he added. The recruitment drive was being held at several stadiums around the country on Saturday.

The sheer size of the crowds was a testament to

the vast numbers of unemployed in Nigeria, most of whose 170 million citizens live on less than two dollars a day, while the country lags behind in key development indicators such as health.

Unemployment is a particular challenge, with an estimated 37.5 per cent of under-25s out of work, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

President Goodluck Jonathan’s Peoples Democratic Party said it was “shocked and deeply saddened” by the deaths of “young citizens who were at the exercise not only to secure jobs but to be allowed the opportunity to contribute towards the development of the nation”.

Already Africa’s top oil producer, Nigeria is predicted to soon replace South Africa as the continent’s biggest economy, but recognition is growing that the landmark will be largely symbolic and do little to address major problems.

On paper, the future looks bright for Nigeria: the International Monetary Fund has forecast 7.4 per cent growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2014, up from an estimated 6.2 per cent last year.

But the healthy growth figures reflect the country’s unhealthy dependence on the oil sector, which provides minimal employment in Africa’s most populous nation.

“We are growing but not creating enough jobs.

That is a very big challenge,” Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told business leaders in December.

“The rate of growth that we have is good but could be better. We need to grow faster. It is clear that the top five to 10 per cent is capturing most of whatever growth there is and people at the bottom are being left behind.”

AL-LAgitAAt, egyPt, MARch 16 (ReUteRS): Egypt’s army says it is crushing Islamist militants in the Sinai Peninsula, but in the region’s villages and towns a victory for the state feels a long way off.

In a rare visit to eight villages in Northern Sinai last week, a Reuters reporter saw widespread destruction caused by army operations, but also found evidence that a few hundred militants are successfully playing a cat-and-mouse game with the Arab world’s biggest army and are nowhere near defeat. It is increasingly difficult for foreign correspondents to openly enter

conflict zones in the Sinai.

Residents say the militants - a mix of Egyptian Islamists, foreign fighters and disgruntled youth - have seized control of about a third of the villages in the region and are now taking their fight closer to Cairo.

“The army is in control of the main roads but is unable to enter many villages. It can only attack them by helicopter,” said Mustafa Abu Salman, who lives near al-Bars village.

Many residents say that the authorities’ military operations are actually creating new enemies for the state.

The fight against militant Islam is a key test for the interim government

in Cairo. Sinai-based militants stepped up attacks on police and soldiers last year, soon after Egypt’s army toppled Islamist President Mohamed Mursi and tried him on a wide range of charges.

The violence has left 300 people dead and hammered Egypt’s economy, which has not recovered from the political turmoil that began in early 2011 when a popular uprising ousted Hosni Mubarak.

The army and the government say they are beating the militants. In an attempt to stop the illegal flow of arms, Egyptian authorities have destroyed thousands of tunnels that ran

under the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, which borders North Sinai.

Almost every night, Apache helicopters fire rockets at suspected Islamist militant hideouts in the houses and farms of the largely lawless peninsula, a 61,000 sq km (24,000 sq mile) area wedged between the Suez Canal to the west and Israel and Gaza to the east.

Army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is expected to become Egypt’s next president, owes much of his popularity to his ouster of Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood and his tough stance against the militants.

Sisi has described the

Malnutrition grips Syrian kids SyRiA, MARch 16 (AP): Trapped in her northern Syrian village by fighting, Mervat watched her newborn baby progressively shrink. Her daughter’s dark eyes seemed to grow bigger as her face grew more skeletal. Finally, Mervat escaped to neighbouring Lebanon, and a nurse told her the girl was starving.

The news devastated her. “They had to hold me when they told me. I wept,” the 31-year-old mother said, speaking in the rickety, informal tent camp where she now lives with her husband in the eastern Lebanese town of Kab Elias.

Her daughter Shurouk has been undergoing treatment the past three months and remains a wispy thing.

The 9-month-old weighs 7 pounds — though she’s become more smiley and gregarious. Mervat spoke on condition she be identified only by her first name, fearing problems for her family in Syria.

Her case underscored how dramatically Syrian society has unravelled from a conflict that this weekend enters its fourth year. Such stark starvation was once rare in Syria, where President

Bashar Assad’s autocratic state ran a health system that provided nearly free care.

That system, along with most other state institutions, has been shattered in many parts of the country where the fighting between Assad’s forces and the rebels trying to overthrow him is raging hardest. The war has killed n 146,000 people and has driven nearly a third of the population of 23 million from their homes — including 4.2 million who remain inside Syria and 2.5 million who have fled into neighboring countries.

Now aid workers believe starvation cases are increasing in besieged areas of Syria and malnutrition is spreading among the poorest Syrian refugees.

Before the conflict, doctors inside Syria would see fewer than one case a month of a child with life-threatening malnutrition, now they tell Unicef they encounter 10 or more a week, said Juliette Touma, a Middle East regional spokesperson for the UN children’s agency.

In Lebanon, malnutrition grew from 4.4 per cent in 2012 to 5.9 per cent of Syrian refugee children, according to a recent Uni-

cef-led survey. In all, an estimated 10,000 Syrian children in Lebanon are likely suffering malnutrition, said Dima Ousta of the International Orthodox Christian Charities, an NGO leading efforts to deal with the issue in Lebanon. Unicef said nearly 2,000 were at risk of dying because of acute malnutrition if they weren’t immediately treated.

A survey in Jordan found that 4 per cent of Syrian refugee children under five needed treatment for moderate or acute malnutrition, the World Food Programme said on Monday.

Within Syria, fighting in the worst hit areas can limit access to food supplies and health care for children.

There and among refugees, children are vulnerable to diarrhea and other illnesses from drinking dirty water or being exposed to sewage.

Those conditions can exacerbate malnutrition and, in turn, malnourished children are less resistant to disease.

Social factors also play in. Rural Syrian women tend to marry as teenagers and rely on their mothers or other relatives to help in child-rearing. But as refugees, many lose that sup-

port network and without guidance don’t know how to properly breastfeed their children — bringing a risk of malnutrition. As refugees run out of money and struggle to find work, many mothers don’t have enough to buy supplementary food.

The poverty and poor hygienic living conditions at the root of the problem are likely only to worsen as Syria’s war drags on. “Malnutrition is not an issue related to food.

It’s a health issue,” said Zeroual Azzeddine of Unicef.

In Lebanon, nearly one million Syrians are registered as refugees by the UN refugee agency. The poorest 140,000 live in 460 informal camps, where they live in poorly insulated tents with no clean running water and with sewage running down ditches between tents.

Aid workers are trying to track down the thousands of malnourished children they believe are in Lebanon.

“We need to find these children,” said Ousta, whose organization treated 170 cases since August.

Unicef is training doctors to identify malnutrition among Syrian children undergoing immunisations and other medical checks. The

Sinai operation as an ongoing security campaign to rid the region of extremists and criminals. The Sinai, he has said, is a top security priority.

So far, though, local residents say the military is making little progress. The army’s blunt tactic of rocketing suspected hideouts is failing, they say, because the militants have mastered the terrain. They move around villages using alleyways where it is difficult to spot them from the air, and mix with civilians or hide in olive groves. The effort to stop the flow of weapons is also a struggle, they say, in large part because smugglers are bringing in weap-

ons from Libya. Residents say the number of fighters has decreased in the past few months, partly because many fighters have moved towards the Nile Valley.

“The army has entered a war, but it is not specialized in this type of war, which requires special counterinsurgency forces, not an army,” said Mussab Abu Fajr, a Bedouin leader in the Sinai’s main city of al-Arish.

Major-General Samih Bishady, the head of security in North Sinai, said that the army has “killed and arrested many of the wanted in Sinai.” He put the number of active militants remaining there at just 80.

“Refugee children often go hungry as families have no money to buy food” doctors weigh children, measure their upper-arm circumference and check their feet for water retention that can be a sign of acute malnutrition.

Mervat, who lived with her family in the northern Syrian village of Tel Al Daman, was too poor to buy food for her daughter, who kept vomiting the breast milk she gave her.

She watched Shurouk shrink and her stomach bloat. But the fear of clashes between rebels and government troops kept her from reaching a doctor in the nearby city of Aleppo. Fearing her daughter would die, she fled to Lebanon four months ago.

Now she and her husband and eight children sleep in a tiny shack of wood, cardboard and plastic, with a small heater and thin mats.

Her husband, a labourer, hurt his foot and cannot work. Her older daughters decorated the tent with an old lace curtain, faded plastic flowers and a green-and-white teddy bear.

But it doesn’t protect them from the icy wet cold, and Shurouk keeps falling ill. When doctors first saw her in Lebanon, she weighed 6.6 pounds, climbed up to 8.8 pounds and then lost weight in a

flu bout, said Maha Shoker, an aid worker monitoring her case. Shurouk remains acutely malnourished and, making her situation more precarious, she also has gall bladder stones.

Refugees must grapple with another problem. The UN and partner organisations only cover basic care because there’s not enough money. Syrian children with illnesses sometimes fall through the gaps — and because they are sick, they don’t eat, and malnutrition becomes a side-effect.

Near Mervat’s tent, 15-month old baby Juma Kheir’s dirt-streaked face contorted in pain from a hernia causing his testicles to swell. His father Mohammed said doctors told him the hernia wasn’t an urgent medical case, and so aid agencies couldn’t cover the cost of treating it. Meanwhile, Juma can’t eat and his mother feared he was wasting away.

His twin was noticeably chubbier and heavier.

Mervat said her other children were often hungry because they had no money to buy food and relied on UN donations. “I’m worried about them, I’m afraid of the future,” said Mervat.

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Monday 17 March 2014

The Morung Express

Ronaldo leads Madrid to victory

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal, right, in action with CF Malaga's Sergio Sanchez, center, and Ignacio Camacho, left, during a Spanish La Liga soccer match at La Rosaleda stadium in Malaga, Spain, Saturday March 15. (AP Photo)

BARCELONA, MARCH 16 (AP): Cristiano Ronaldo scored his Spanish leagueleading 25th goal to give Real Madrid a lackluster 1-0 win at Malaga on Saturday, when the pacesetters extended their unbeaten run to 30 matches in all competitions. Diego Costa made sure Atletico Madrid stayed within three points of its crosstown rivals by scoring his 22nd league goal of the season in a 1-0 win at home over Espanyol.

Ronaldo netted the winner in the 23rd minute, and a tired-looking Madrid team was fortunate Malaga failed to muster a comeback after pushing the visitors into their area for the final 10 minutes. Third-place

Barcelona will enter Sunday's match against Osasuna seven points behind Madrid in the league standings. The two powerhouses are set to clash in the Spanish capital next weekend.

Madrid's win was tarnished by the loss of Karim Benzema to a right thigh injury after colliding with Ronaldo in the first half.

"We suffered, above all in the second half," Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso said. "They pressed us and it was tough for us to move the ball. These are three important points. There are 10 games left and we have to play each one like it's the last." Elsewhere, Rayo Vallecano beat Almeria 3-1 to

provisionally escape the relegation zone with a third consecutive victory, while Celta Vigo earned an entertaining 1-0 win at Levante.

The opening stage of the match at La Rosaleda Stadium was a vibrant back-andforth exchange before Ronaldo put Madrid ahead with a wonderful solo effort.

He appeared to be hemmed in by two defenders on the edge of the area, but he took three touches to his right and lashed a bouncing strike beyond goalkeeper Willy Caballero.

Ronaldo's goal gave him 39 goals from 36 games in all competitions this season.

Ronaldo went close again twice, first being blocked by

Caballero and then sending Gareth Bale's lobbed pass into the side netting before he ran into Benzema.

Benzema was treated on the sideline by team doctors before he replaced by Angel Di Maria in the 31st.

Former Malaga player Francisco "Isco" Alarcon, who joined Madrid this summer, wasted a golden chance in the 51st when he sent the ball sailing high after Di Maria set him up for a one-on-one with Caballero. Madrid, dominant in the first half, lost control of the ball and Malaga tilted the match in its favor led by tireless forward Nordin Amrabat. But defender Sergio Sanchez missed his team's

most promising opportunity to level in the 76th.

"This team is consistent game after game," Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. "We are ready for the clasico." But before receiving fierce rival Barcelona, Madrid hosts Schalke on Tuesday with one foot in the Champions League quarterfinals after winning their first meeting 6-1.

Atletico coach Diego Simeone continued to play down his team's title chances, for now, saying there's a long way to go in the season.

"When there are five games left and we are in the same situation, you will hear me say something different," he said. The first half at Vicente Calderon Stadium was dominated by the defenses and featured a good save each by Atletico's Courtois Thibaut and Espanyol's Kiko Casilla. Diego Costa broke through in the 55th when he received a throughball from David Villa, easily fended off Diego Colotto's timid attempt to slow him down, and fired the ball past Casilla.

"Espanyol played a great game and complicated our lives a lot," Diego Costa said. "But that just makes us stronger." Rayo won thanks to Joaquin Larrivey's double after Alberto Bueno headed in the opener. Fernando Soriano scored for Almeria.

Rayo rose three points above the danger zone. Almeria was left in the drop zone along with Valladolid and Real Betis before they play on Sunday. Celta forward Manuel "Nolito" Agudo scored from a counterattack in the 19th. David Barral missed a penalty for Levante in the 61st.

5th Silver Cup T-20 Cricket Tourney Nagaland (U-16) Team for BCCI Trophy

KOHIMA, MARCH 16 (MExN): A total of 23 teams have confirmed participation in the 5th Edition of the Silver Cup T-20 Cricket Tournament organized by the Youth Department of Nepali Baptist Church Kohima under the theme “Peace and Unity through Cricket”. A press note informed that the tournament will commence from March 17 with former MLA and Board of Directors Nagaland State Cooperative Bank, Abao Kire as the chief guest of the inaugural function to be held 10:00 am.

The inaugural match will be played between defending champion Whiskers’ Cricket Club Dimapur and Mount Olive College, Kohima. The second match on the same day will be played between Merhülietsa CC and Kohima Hornbills. A total of 23 teams from Kohima, Dimapur, Wokha and Mon are vying for the coveted title which carries a cash prize of Rs. 60,000 with running trophy and citation as the champion’s award and Rs. 25,000 with running trophy and citation as runners-up.

The semi-finalist will receive cash award of Rs. 5,000 each while there are attractive prizes for the individual best performers and man of match in every match. All the participating teams are requested to attend the inaugural function in their respective club uniform and team flag as the inaugural function will also witness affirmation of oath and signing of pledge right after the inaugural function.

Meanwhile, the fixture for the tournament was drawn today within the church premises after the brief curtain raising service wherein Associate Youth Pastor of UBC Kohima, Visato Yhoshü was the main speaker.

Rev. Andrew Rengma designated Director of NMM Inaugurated the Indian Evangelical Mission office opposite St. John higher secondary school Gate -2, Diphu Road Dimapur Nagaland. Many Pastors and well-wishers participated in the inaugural program.

Students of Patkai Christian College from Philosophy Department (6th semester) went on a field trip to North East Hill University (NEHU) Shillong, accompanied by Prof. Dr. Behera (HoD) on March 7. (Photo by Heutinggumbe)

Sungro Range Youth Welfare Organisation (SRYWO) with its enthusiasm to promote ecotourism and to create awareness for protection of the world famous migratory bird Amur Falcon and conservation of wildlife in the Range initiated an exposure trip to Kaziranga National Park from February 26 to 28, 2014.

Nagaland Under-16 team with team officials.

DIMAPUR, MARCH 16 (MExN): The Nagaland Cricket Association has declared its under-16 cricket team to participate in the associate and affiliate members trophy organized by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The BCCI has cleared only 12 players after conducting age verification tests of left hand bones and teeth. The tournament shall be held at Ranchi in Jharkhand from March 20-25.

Nagaland U-16 team members & officials 1. Tahmeed Rahman (Christian Hr. Sec. School, Dimapur) 2. Merekaba Jamir & Longsasunep (Children School, Mokokchung) 3. Pardeep Kumar & Vivek Kumar (Ram Janaki Hr. Sec. School, Dimpaur) 4. Aroksangba Jamir (Jubilee Memorial School, Mokokchung) 5. Aneizo & Deepak Karki (School drop outs) 6. Rajdip Nath (Assisi Higher Sec. School, Dimapur) 7. Akalu Shohe (Pranab Vidyapith Hr. Sec. School, Dimapur 8. Sungphoung (Dimapur Mission Hr. Sec. School) 9. Sepichem Jingru (Chandmari Hr. Sec. School Kohima) 10. Team Coach – Imnayanger Jamir, Mokokchung 11. Team Manager A. Rahman, Dimapur

Around 100 women participated in the International Women’s Day celebration held for women of Domukhia Lotha Village. Temjensangla, SDO (C) as chief guest and Zumchilo Patton as guest of honour, spoke on the role of women in building families and societies.

76ers equal team mark with 20th straight loss PHILADELPHIA, MARCH 16 (AP): In a city painfully familiar with sports futility, the Philadelphia 76ers have added another sorry chapter, this one for the record book. Mike Conley scored 19 points and Zach Randolph had 14 to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 10377 win Saturday night, sending the 76ers to a franchiseequaling 20th straight loss.

The Sixers, who scored a season low in points, can set the team mark with a loss Monday night at Indiana.

Philadelphia also lost 20 straight games from Jan. 9, 1973-Feb. 11, 1973 and finished that season with nine wins and 73 defeats. The NBA record for consecutive losses in a season is 26 set by the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers.

"We have to come out swinging," coach Brett Brown said.

"We've got to compete."

They've absorbed their share of blows, and more may be coming: Over the next six games, the Sixers (15-51) play only one team with a losing record — on Friday against the Knicks, who are on a sixgame winning streak.

Michael Carter-Williams led the Sixers with 23 points and Thaddeus Young had 20. "This is not slit-yourwrist time. This is not even close to that," Brown said.

"This is about building a program and understanding the short-term pain Memphis Grizzlies' Tony Allen, left, goes up for a shot against Philadelphia 76ers' Tony Wro- for a lot of long-term gain. ten during the first half of an NBA basketball game on March 15 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo) That's my vision. That's how

I approach it." As the NBA season tipped off, the overunder in Las Vegas for total wins for the 76ers this year was 16.5, the lowest of any team in the league.

They stunned the league with a 3-0 start, including an opening-night win over the Miami Heat, and won four straight road games from Dec. 29-Jan. 4. Outside of those spurts, the Sixers have played down to their preseason projection as one of the NBA's worst. The Sixers last won on Jan. 29 on former guard Evan Turner's buzzer-beater at Boston.

They've lost a team-record 16 straight home games, last winning at the Wells Fargo Center on Jan. 15.

Indiana rallied from a 25-point deficit to beat the Detroit Pistons 112-104 in overtime, with Paul George scoring 30 points. Evan Turner added 20 points for the Pacers, and David West scored six of his 15 points in overtime.

Indiana leads Miami by 3½ games in the race for the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Josh Smith scored 23 points for the Pistons, who lost star center Andre Drummond in the first quarter to a neck injury. At Chicago, Joakim Noah had 23 points and 11 rebounds and Taj Gibson scored seven of his 19 points in the fourth quarter and Chicago held off Sacramento 9487, Isaiah Thomas led the Kings with 26 and DeMarcus Cousins had 25.

Team of NSS volunteers of Sazolie College, Jotsoma seen with children of Kohima Orphanage and Destitute Home (KHOD) during their visit held as part of the NSS regular activities on March 15. The team of 53 volunteers, 2 programme officers and 4 faculty members had a brief interaction with the Children and the mother followed by certain activities of games and helping the children by doing different household chores. The team also donated an amount of Rs. 12000/- (Twelve Thousand only) and several items.

Nirankaris of Nagaland and Assam participate in a massive cleanliness abhiyan organized

by Nirankari Mission on the occasion of ‘Guru Puja Diwas’ on March 2 at Government Middle School, Padum Pukhuri village, Dimapur.

Entertainment

The Morung Express C M Y K

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17 March 2014

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xclusive Interview with hite Noise, formed in November 2013, is an upcoming project band from Dimapur. White Noise has been making all the right noises lately with their single release “summer love” and top 9 finalists in the Hornbill International Rock Contest 2013.

White Noise Band members include Wapong Ozukum (vocal from Incipit), Atsa Lang Roths (guitarist from Incipit), Akok Imsong (Keyboardist from Incipit), Imlir Jamir (Bassist, Ex-Clueless Intention), and Vitz Zhimomi (Drummer, Polar lights).

However, fans of Incipit, Clueless Intention, and Polar Lights have been wandering if they are still together or have gone their separate ways. Moaba Jamir, a freelance writer was lucky enough to meet up with the band members and clear out the misconceptions and confusions and also ask some other questions.

Here is the exclusive interview of the band… read on!

How is the journey so far for the band members?

To be honest we never expected to get this far because White Noise was formed just as a project band to write some music together just for the love of jamming....one thing led to another and we found ourselves playing the Hornbill International Rock Contest 2013....and actually making it to the finals. So we would say it’s been an awesome journey so far!!

Describe yourself in simple word choice.

We are just a bunch of your normal everyday boy next door trying to create magic that is music ;)

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You are all from different successful bands, so mind Nagaland government has declared music as an indus- thing about writing a song about summer and so one fateclearing out to the fans if you are still sticking together try. How is the support from the government and any ful jam session. . Vitz and Atsa started bouncing off ideas or have gone your separate ways? suggestion? for the lyric over a piano riff Akok had going on, every member added their own sweet words and notes... and Yes WE ARE!! like we mentioned earlier White Noise is First of all, it’s the people that should understand the val- one thing led to another and summer love was born. a project band with the members from various bands ue of music and what hard work and labor a musician put formed just for the sake of playing together....But play- in to create music. Most people think music to be a side Any embarrassing experience and how are the girls ing together as a band in WN makes us learn more income work or secondary job as you can say. But it treating you all after the fame? from each other...and we push ourselves out is actually the main source for many struggling of our comfort zone....that’s what makes it musicians here in Nagaland and are trying to Embarrassing moment??? Well we haven’t stumbled on that interesting....so when we go back to our make it big and keeping that hope that one rock yet... If we do, it’ll be a hell of a story to share...Ha...ha... original bands we have new and fresh day it will all come true.

And girls?? Uhhhh! Let’s keep that ‘Hush’ for now. (Laughs) ideas to work it....we guess that’s the Government has done many achievegood thing about playing together as a ments and is doing great in improving the What are your hopes for the near future? What should project band....and just to clear things industry. But as we all know the saying the fans look forward for the year 2014 and beyond? up we all mutual understanding and ‘Rome was not build in a day’ we are hopwould never leave our original bands!! ing that soon enough the BIG DAY will come... “Luck favors the brave” so we are hoping that this year But will continue to work together as a will be a blessing... WN are soon heading for the studio to project.

Who are your idols and influences? work on our EP release... So stay tuned guys!!!

Do you feel that bands from Nagaland are doing enough Well each one of us have different influences from solo Any last comments? to spread the music to the world? instrumental artist to Metal bands....But artist like Muse, The Script, Peter Cincotti, Gavin de Graw, Jimi Hendrix A big shout out to The Morung Express, thank you Well, all of us have witnessed the in the recent past and U2 have had a great influence on all of us and we so very much for this interview...we years a lot of new artists from Nagaland are releasing draw our inspiration from such artists!! had so much fun answering ....and new originals and winning fans not only in Nagaland

well we would like to say something and mainland India but also abroad....a lot of artist are Tell us more about your single “Summer Love”. to all our Naga brothers and sister creating music of the highest quality and are putting out there...”KEEP SUPPORTING themselves out in the international music scene...o Funny thing about summer love... The whole song... The LOCAL BANDS”!! Cheers!! yeah Naga people have advanced a lot in the music lyric the music arrangements and the vocal harmonies Thank you guys. Keep rockindustry. all were done in about half an hour... Vitz always had this ing, always!

Nicole Scherzinger ‘accepts Lewis Hamilton’s marriage proposal after turning him down THREE times before’

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icole Scherzinger and Lewis Hamilton are reportedly engaged to be wed. The former Pussycat Doll accepted the British F1 racing champion’s offer of marriage, having allegedly turned him down three times before. The couple, who got back together late last year, are said to be setting up home at Hamilton’s Switzerland mansion after a summer wedding in August. ‘Lewis is doing his best to keep the news under wraps but he is absolutely delighted,’ a source told the Daily Star. ‘He got down on one knee and Nicole finally accepted. ‘The plan is they are going to live together in

Switzerland and travel together when Lewis is racing. Of course, this means her career will have to take a back seat for a while but she is ready to support him on the track.’ The source added: ‘It is the ideal plan for the both of them and will hopefully lead to a big summer wedding in August when Lewis has a three-week break from his F1 schedule.’

Their five-year relationship to a permanent end in July – shortly before the former Pussycat Doll toured the UK with Gary Barlow, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh as they selected promising hopefuls during X Factor live auditions.

I’ve not been dating,’ Scherzinger, 35, said in November last year. ‘That’s not where my head’s been at. At all. You have to be happy with yourself before you’re happy with anyone else.’ But the first hint

of a reconciliation came a month earlier, when Lewis, 29, was spotted in the carpark of the hotel where Nicole was checked into.

Now they are making no disguise of their rekindled romance, with Lewis sharing a picture of the two of them on a romantic Roman holiday. He called her ‘wifey’ in a photo of them in the Sistine Chapel (which is actually forbidden), and after Hamilton took the pole position during a qualifying race in Melbourne on Saturday ahead of Australia’s Grand Prix on Sunday, Nicole couldn’t hold back her excitement. ‘Congratulations @LewisHamilton So proud of u 4 taking pole position! First race of the season! @f1 #AustralianGP Race ur heart out babe! xo (sic),’ the singer tweeted.

MailOnline have contacted Nicole’s representatives for comment.

Former heroin addict says her willpower ‘goes out of the window’ when she has alcohol T V presenter Davina McCall alcohol again – because othdrug addiction. Davina, a forpower ‘goes out of the winif she did so, she would enstrangers into lavatories substances. She began teenager and, by her 20s, describing heroin as her senter Davina McCall drink alcohol again beback into drug addiction. started taking drugs when told The Guardian: ‘Heroin thing, no problems, no worfamily friend Eric Clapto seek help when she although she initially continmitted: me to 46, who for ten raised lief by run-

has revealed that she dare not drink erwise she will be drawn back into mer heroin addict, says her willdow’ when she drinks, and that ter a sordid world of following at parties to get hold of illegal taking drugs when she was a Davina, left, was an addict, ‘drug of choice’. TV prehas revealed she dare not cause she will be drawn The former heroin addict she was in her teens She makes you forget everyries, no anything.’ It was ton who persuaded her was in her mid-20s. And hoped that she could ue to drink, she ad‘Alcohol just leads drugs.’ Davina, now hosted Big Brother years, recently £1 million for Sports Rening, cycling and swimming 500 miles across Britain.

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Robert Pattinson hits the Life movie set as a photographer L

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The $18 million woman: Cate Blanchett wins the award for most expensive outfit worn at the Oscars

ooking fitter and hunkier than he has in a long time, Robert Pattinson is no doubt hoping that his new movie Life will help jumpstart his movie career which has been somewhat in the doldrums of late.

Wearing a hoodie, jeans and a white T-shirt as he got to work on the set, Rob also made sure he had a big cup of piping hot coffee to keep him going for his early start.

While he wasn’t about to let a smile slip across his handsome face, he did in fact later do just that as he was in character filming scenes, hair slicked back 1950s style wearing a period suit. Of course, he’s got quite used to doing a lot of rushing around in his role as vampire Edward Cullen in the Twilight Saga film franchise. It doesn’t appear as though Robert will be slowing down anytime soon if the latest pictures of him shooting scenes for

upcoming drama movie Life are anything to go by as he was spotted charging around the snow-covered set in Toronto, Canada. The 27-year-old star was appears in the role as famed photographer Dennis Stock, who forms a friendship with Hollywood heartthrob James Dean, played

by Dane DeHaan, after being assigned to take pictures of him on an assignment for Life Magazine in 1955.

In the pictures from the set Robert is seen rushing up to man holding a copy of the publication and then gleefully grabs it out of the guy’s hands. He looks incredibly excited as he thumbs through the pages of the publication, perhaps looking for some of his iconic photographs of the late movie star. As he flicks through the magazine, the character is clearly pleased with what he sees and also

shares a laugh and a joke with his smartly-dressed pal. Robert’s alter-ego is clearly wrapped up warm in the cold Canadian city as he is seen wearing a long thick black coat over the top of a grey suit jacket and a pair of smart black trousers. The motion picture also stars Ben Kingsley, Kristen Hager and Alessandra Mastronardi, while Joel Edgerton has recently signed up for the project.

The first official still from the film was recently released, featuring both Robert and Dane. In the shot, Robert is seen sitting in the front seat of a classic black car as he and Dane’s character prepare to make a road trip from Los Angeles to New York. The journey came ahead of Stock taking an image of Dean in the rain in Times Square that became iconic upon the actor’s death. The movie is set for release in 2015.

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Rosberg wins Australian Grand Prix

MELBOURNE, MARCH 16 (AP): Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg comfortably won the Formula One season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Sunday after pole sitter Lewis Hamilton and world champion Sebastian Vettel retired early with mechanical failures.

Vettel's Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo finished second, becoming the first Australian to finish on the podium in his home GP, while McLaren's Kevin Magnussen finished third in his debut. Rosberg started third on the grid and was first to reach turn one, then drove away from the field to eventually win by 24.5 seconds at the Albert Park street circuit. The margin of victory and the authority of the performance showed why Mercedes is considered a strong favorite to finally win its first constructors' title this season.

"I had an unbelievably quick car today," said Rosberg, whose world chamAfter collapsing at the finish line, Mo Farah of Great Britain is comforted by his wife Tania, pion father Keke won the top center, and tended to by others during the 2014 NYC Half marathon Sunday, March 16. inaugural Australian F1 GP He was helped to his feet after a few minutes and left the area in a wheelchair, but appeared in 1985. "It was such a plealater at a news conference. (AP Photo) sure to drive, it's such a great feeling and I really look forward to the new races."

Hamilton retired after four laps and Vettel followed and Krishna Kant Upadhyay did not a lap later, both with engine give up their hope as they ripped apart failures as their teams, and the Karnataka top order bowling in tan- others, tried to come to grips with the F1's new V6 dem for 14 overs.

With this win, Karnataka completed a turbo hybrid engines.

"We looked so strong historic treble at domestic level by emergKOLKAtA, MARCH 16 (PtI): Naga- ing champions in the Vijay Hazare Trophy but to then have a hiccup is land’s Rongsen Jonathan top scored for with the four-wicket win over Railways. tough for everyone, but we Railways as his gritty 46 from 57 balls Chasing 158, the Ranji and Irani Trophy will bounce back," Hamhelped Railways recover from being 83 champions had a jittery start after they ilton said. Like Mercedes, for 7 to 157 all out in 47.4 overs after they lost five wickets in 26 runs to be 47 for 5 Red Bull was on one hand were asked to bat on the Eden green top. in the 12th over but sensible batting by celebrating a strong perforIt was a pathetic display from the youngsters Karun Nair (53 not out) and mance in the opening race Railways top and middle-order bats- Lokesh Rahul (38) set up the chase with a while also harboring concern about the engine probmen until Jonathan's positive intent put 66-run partnership. With this them past 150. First, he stitched a crucial Brief Scores: Railways: 157 in 47.4 lems that caused the retire38-run eighth wicket stand from 60 balls overs (Rongsen Jonathan 46, Arindam ments of their top drivers.

"We learned the car is with Amit Mishra, while with Anureet he Ghosh 33; Abhimanyu Mithun 4/19, Abar quick, we just need to get added a brisk 34 from 35 balls to give the Kazi 2/27, Robin Uthappa 2/19). much-needed push to their total.

Karnataka 158/6 in 43 overs (Karun everything together," Vettel Despite the small total to defend, the Nair 53 not out, Lokesh Rahul 38; Krishna said. "No doubt we'll fix this Railways pacer duo of Anureet Singh Kant Upadhyay 3/30, Anureet Singh 2/41). issue, the question is how soon?" McLaren's Jenson Button was fourth behind his rookie teammate and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso finished fifth in a worryingly uncompetitive performance for the Italian team.

Williams driver Valtteri Bottas recovered from losing a wheel early in the race to finish in sixth place; pulling off a succession of impressive passing moves that showed the strong potential of the car. Force India's Nico

Vettel makes disastrous start to F1 title defense

Naga lad top scores for Railways Fails to prevent Karnataka from winning Vijay Hazare Trophy

Liverpool beat Man United

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg of Germany celebrates after winning the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, March 16. Rosberg took first place and Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo finished second to become the first Australian to finish on the podium in his home race, while McLaren's Kevin Magnussen claimed a podium on debut, finishing third. (AP Photo)

Hulkenberg and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen — in his return to the team after six years away — finished seventh and eighth respectively, ahead of the Toro Rosso pair Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniil Kvyat. The 19-year-old Kvyat's 10th place made him the youngest driver ever to earn an F1 point, breaking Vettel's record set at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix. The 21-year-old Magnussen was the secondyoungest driver to claim a podium finish, behind Vettel's record at the 2007 U.S. Grand Prix. Despite fears that few cars would complete the race due to a series of reliability problems in preseason testing and over this weekend,

15 of the 22 racers finished.

There was only one major accident, with Caterham driver Kamui Kobayashi slamming into the back of Felipe Massa's Williams at the first corner, immediately ending the race for both drivers.

Ricciardo's second place brought the Albert Park crowd to its feet on the final turn, and local fans were finally able to see an Australian on the podium after years of seeing his Red Bull predecessor Mark Webber fall short. While Vettel's retirement was cause for concern, Ricciardo's strong showing indicated Red Bull's myriad problems in preseason testing could be on the way to

being cured and that predictions of a poor season were premature.

"We had not done a race distance until today," Ricciardo said of the preseason work. "We didn't have much confidence we would see a checkered flag, let alone see it in a podium position." Magnussen's heady performance for a rookie driver illustrated why McLaren put such faith in him, discarding Sergio Perez after a single season to make room. McLaren leads the constructors' championship after one race; an impressive recovery after a dire 2013 season in which the high-achieving team failed to secure a single podium.

MELBOURNE, MARCH 16 (AP): World champion Sebastian Vettel could not have made a worse start to his Formula One title defense after the Red Bull driver was forced to retire with engine problems just five laps into the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Vettel remained upbeat about his chances of a podium finish after finishing 13th in qualifying Saturday, but the problems that plagued the four-time world champion in testing Red Bull's new V6 turbo hybrid car continued at Albert Park.

Vettel said his car lacked power from the start of the race. "We tried to recover as much as we could. At some stage I thought it was a slight improvement, but obviously we realized there was a bigger problem with the engine," he said.

"For some reason we lost a couple of cylinders.

When you don't have the power from the engine, you can't make the whole system function properly and you lose even more power." Vettel's new Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo fared better, qualifying second before finishing behind Nico Rosberg to become the first Australian to take a podium at an F1 Australian Grand Prix.

A switch to six-cylinder turbo engines has forced a radical redesign of all this season's F1 cars, with the aim of making the series more relevant to the car industry and tempting major automakers back to F1. After winning the last nine races of the 2013 season, preseason testing was problematic for Vettel, and his first race of 2014 disappointing to say the least. But he maintains he is still in contention for a fifth straight driver's title.

"For sure were learned an awful lot (about the car).

We learned the car is quick, we just need to get everything together," Vettel said. "No doubt we'll fix this issue, the question is how soon?"

Kohli will break all the records, feels Abbas

Liverpool's Steven Gerrard, centre, celebrates with teammate Luis Suarez after scoring against Manchester United during their English Premier League soccer match at Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester, England, Sunday March 16. (AP Photo)

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OLD t R A F F O R D, MARCH 16 (AGENCIES): Liverpool produced another performance for the ages by beating rivals Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford on Sunday, with the talismanic Steven Gerrard converting twice from the spot to inspire his team yet again. The midfielder dispatched two of the most perfect penalties you will ever see - one in either half - to single-handedly ensure that Brendan Rodgers' high-flying side returned to Merseyside with all three points.

Luis Suarez added gloss to a phenomenal display when a Daniel Sturridge drive deflected handily into his run into the area, and the Uruguayan made no mistake with an unerring finish past David De Gea to complete the game.

When the teamsheets

were handed in an hour before kick-off, it was confirmed that Rodgers had made a single alteration to his starting XI from the win at Southampton 15 days ago - Raheem Sterling replaced Philippe Coutinho.

A bright start from the visitors brought a chance for Sturridge on two minutes, as the No.15 collected a neat through ball by Jordan Henderson but clipped a strong effort off target from an ever narrowing angle on the right.

Neither side could quite maintain a rhythm during the opening quarter-hour, although Robin van Persie threatened after taking control of a Marouane Fellaini delivery to the back post; each of the Dutchman's attempts were blocked, though.

As the game approached the 30-minute

mark, an inviting opportunity presented itself to Joe Allen. Sturridge skipped inside from the right and looked to play in Suarez, only for the ball to bounce out for the Welshman, who mistimed the hit, allowing De Gea to take with ease.

Within five minutes, however, the Spanish goalkeeper was picking the ball out of his own net. When a cross reached Suarez on the left wing, the Uruguayan looked to skip inside Rafael Da Silva in the penalty area and was stopped by an obvious handball.

The referee pointed to the spot instantly and the travelling fans waited with quiet confidence as the skipper stood over the penalty - in trademark calm fashion, Gerrard sent the strike gliding into the sidenetting of the corner to hand the Reds an advantage.

FAtULLAH, MARCH 16 (PtI): Legendary Pakistan batsman Zaheer Abbas is the new entrant in the list of illustrious former cricketers, who feel that India's premier batsman Virat Kohli is destined for greatness. "Virat Kohli is one batsman who will break all the records in international cricket. The transition phase in Indian batting has already happened as they now have a set line-up.

"Pakistan also have talented bunch of batsmen.

But we are in the process of rebuilding," Abbas, who is a batting consultant of the Pakistan team, told a gathering of Indian journalists after team's training session on Sunday. The former Pakistan captain praised young opener Ahmed Shehzad.

"Ahmed Shehzad is a talented batsman and will mature into a good player in the coming days," Abbas said.

Asked about the India versus Pakistan clash on March 21, Abbas agreed that skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's comeback from injury certainly will make the 'Men in Blue' a stronger unit. "During Asia Cup, Dhoni was not there and now he is back. So that will definitely make India stronger but we did beat a good Indian side. A lot of people thought that the

Pakistan are not good chasers but during the Asia Cup, the boys showed what they are capable of. We have had two good run chases (India and Bangladesh)," the 67-year-old veteran of 78 Test matches said.

For Abbas, the best part about this current Pakistan team is its self-belief, which he finds very reassuring.

"What I love about these young boys in the Pakistan team is their confidence.

Even in tense situations they would tell me, "Zaheer bhai, hum jeetenge". I love this attitude," the touch artist of 70s and 80s said.

Abbas said cricket has changed a lot and one needs to embrace the changes in technique and approach of the players. "I remember some years back during a match where I was watching it sitting beside Sunny (Sunil Gavaskar).

A batsman edged one and it flew past the slips for a boundary. Sunny laughed and said that during our days, the coaches would have told us to run five rounds of the ground as a punishment for not playing a proper cricketing shot. But now a boundary is a boundary and people love it. The bottom line is this is what the people wants and they love this format (T20)," Abbas explained.

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