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www.morungexpress.com
Dimapur VOL. IX ISSUE 138
reflections
By Sandemo Ngullie
The Morung Express “
www.morungexpress.com
”
Courage is never to let your actions be influenced by your fears
Kiran Bedi ready to be BJP’s Delhi chief ministerial candidate
Abhishek drooling over Aishwarya Rai’s golden Cannes look
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Thursday, May 22, 2014 12 pages Rs. 4 –Arthur Koestler
‘Enhancing status of women’ [ PAGE 2]
India salvage pride with win over Germany
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Thai army chief assumes role as crisis mediator
demands cancellation corruption rampant in south Asia ofENSF twenty-nine appointments
• South Asia now is the worst region in the world when it comes to corruption • Lack of political will on the part of government makes law ineffective • Anti-corruption agencies and judiciary need be strengthened
The Contractor gave us something to remember him by.
Kejriwal arrested, sent to Tihar jail NEw DElHI, MAY 21 (IANs): Former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was sent to the Tihar Jail after a Delhi court Wednesday sent him to two-day judicial custody following his refusal to furnish a personal bail bond in a defamation case filed by BJP leader Nitin Gadkari. Kejriwal, who was kept for more than half-an-hour inside a lockup in Patiala House court complex after the court ordered him to be taken into judicial custody, was taken to Tihar in a police van. He reached Tihar around 6.30 p.m and after medical examination was shifted to ward number 14 of Tihar’s jail number 4. “Kejriwal has been kept in a 16X10-foot separate cell,” said Tihar’s spokesperson Sunil Gupta. “He has been provided a blanket, two bedsheets and a mat to sleep on a floor of the jail while a bedding taken by his family for him has also been allowed,” said Gupta. Metropolitan Magistrate Gomati Manocha sent Kejriwal to judicial custody and fixed Friday as the next date of hearing when the Aam Aadmi Party leader refused to furnish a bail bond of Rs.10,000. Kejriwal was summoned by the court for describing former BJP president as a “corrupt” person.
Respect citizen’s right to peace: NTC
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DIMAPUR, MAY 21 (MExN): The Nagaland Tribes Council (NTC) extended its “unflinching solidarity” to the cause spearheaded by PCCI, PTYS, and ACAUT Phek Unit expressing resentment against the action of one NSCN (K) functionary, who had allegedly assaulted and threatened business owners in Phek town. The NTC in a statement condemned the incident and urged all sections of people to respect citizen’s right to peace and security. It censured the “absence of governance and rule of law,” whereby citizens of the state were subjected “to the mercy of unruly elements.” The NTC further urged the Nagaland state government to gear up its machineries to enforce the rule of law and provide peace and security to the people.
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KATMANDU, MAY 21 (AP): South Asia is the most corrupt region of the world and governments must strengthen their antigraft agencies to prevent political interference and protect whistleblowers, Transparency International said Wednesday. The watchdog group found serious problems with anti-corruption efforts in Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. “South Asia now is the worst region in the world when it comes to corruption based on our studies,” said Srirak Plipat, the group’s regional director for Asia Pacific. All six countries have public bodies charged with stopping corruption, but “their hands are tied by political control over the staff appointments and budget,” the group said in a report. “The lack of political will on the part of the governments to make laws work means that government action to fight corruption is largely ineffective,” the report added. The group urged the governments of the six countries to strengthen their anti-corruption agencies and judiciary by ensuring that appointments, transfers and removal of the heads of the agencies are conducted independently. The report also said
that political interference means that the agencies are selective in conducting investigations, and in most of South Asia are powerless because they need government approval before starting a probe. In Nepal in 2013 the chief justice of the Supreme Court was appointed prime minister, which Transparency International said blurred the line between executive and judicial powers. Khil Raj Regmi did not resign from his judicial position, although he stopped hearing cases. In Bangladesh, the government has appointed 48 judges to the Supreme Court since 2009. Pakistan is discussing a right to information law but in Sri Lanka this is non-existent, the report said. It said India has been making attempts to dilute its right to information law, which currently is one of the strongest in the world. Plipat said Transparency International will monitor India’s newly elected government to see if it follows its promise of cleaning up graft. He said the Indian government should implement an Ombudsman Act that was passed by Parliament last year and also push other anti-corruption bills, including amending whistleblower laws to protect people in the private sector.
Calls for fresh open recruitment against the vacancies
FILE - In this Jan. 4, 2014 file photo, Bangladeshi people cross a ferry terminal bridge under general election campaign leaflets in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The governments of south Asian nations as India, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lank need to end political interference on anti-corruption agencies and judiciaries, strengthen the right to information laws and protect whistleblowers to control corruption in the region which is now the worst in the world, an international anti-corruption agency said in a report released Wednesday, May 21. (AP Photo)
Corruption inducing poverty
KATHMANDU, MAY 21 (AgENcIEs): Rampant corruption is preventing people of South Asia from breaking the barrier of poverty despite the fact that the region has attained strong economic growth over the past several years, a global anti-graft watchdog said here today. “How does a region with such strong economic growth still have such high levels of poverty? It is corruption, which allows the few to profit without answering for their actions,” said Srirak Pilpat, Asia Pacific director at
Transparency International (TI), while releasing a report titled ‘Fighting Corruption in South Asia: Building Accountability’. “As long as nobody brings the corrupt to justice, South Asia’s leaders run the risk that future growth only benefits the powerful, doing nothing to help the half billion South Asians, who still live in poverty,” he pointed out. Governments in corruptionstricken South Asia must allow anti-graft agencies to investigate and prosecute corruption independently,
TI said in the first comprehensive study on transparency and corruption prevention in the region. The TI report analysed how well 70 national institutions in Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka stop corruption. In South Asian countries, government and people who want to expose and investigate corruption face legal barriers, political opposition and harassment that allow bribery, secret dealings and the abuse of power to go unchecked, the report warned.
TUENsANg, MAY 21 (MExN): The Eastern Naga Students’ Federation (ENSF) has written to the Commissioner and Secretary, School Education and SCERT, requesting cancellation of twenty nine appointments made through a notification dated February 27, 2014. It further demanded that the department conduct fresh open recruitment against the said vacancies. The appointments include twelve lecturers (class-1 gazetted), four research associates (ra) asst. professor (class-1 gazetted), eight work experience teachers (class-11 gazetted) and five trainingcum-research assistants (class-11 gazetted). The ENSF, in the letter, stated that the Department of School Education & SCERT, via a notification dated February 27, 2014 had appointed four Research Associates (RA)/ Asst. Professor (Class1Gazetted) under the establishment of SCERT in the pay band of Rs 1560039100 and grade pay of Rs 5400 and five Trainingcum-Research Assistant (Class-11Gazetted) in the pay band of Rs 9300-34800 and grade pay of Rs 4600. Twelve Lecturers to the vacancies of Lecturers/Asst. Professor (Class-1Gazetted) under the establishment of DIET in the pay band of Rs 15600-39100 and grade pay of Rs. 5400 and eight Work Experience
Teachers (Class-11Gazetted) in the pay band of Rs 9300-34800 and grade pay of Rs. 4600 were also appointed through the same notification, the ENSF informed. However, it referred to the Nagaland state government Notification No: PAR-B/6/2008(Pt), dated August 30, 2011, informing that the Nagaland Governor had passed the Nagaland Public Service Commission 6th Amendment Regulation 15 (1) (i). This amendment regulation states that, “direct recruitment/appointment can be made as per the service rules concerned by an authority other then the Governor only to a post on a scale of pay, the minimum of which is less than Rs 5200-20200 per month with grade pay of Rs 2800 per month.” It stated that failure to implement the said government notification, dated August 30, 2011 “in letter and in spirit” has “invited the attention of ENSF to intervene in this matter.” The ENSF further stated that many appointments had been made on contractual basis without adhering to the prescribed rules and procedure in various categories of posts. This, it lamented, has “seriously affected or rather defeated the effective implementation of the Reservation policy in the directorate level, as a result of which many deserving students from the backward tribes are deprived of their basic Fundamental Right to Equal Opportunity in the government services.”
nagaland cM’s speech resolve border issue, urges JAc Urges Karbi, Naga bodies to step under congress scrutiny DIMAPUR, MAY 21 (MExN): Criticizing Nagaland Chief Minister, Neiphiu Rio’s speech at the NDA parliamentary meeting on Tuesday, the Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) today lamented that Rio could have used the platform for a “better agenda.” Instead, the NPCC stated, that Rio, who is the MP elect from Nagaland state, had chosen to “indulge in talking points which were out of context and had no relevance in that given moment of political opportunity as the state’s representative.” NPCC media cell, in a press note, stated that Rio had “stooped to a low level of politics in the vain hope of convincing his new found mentors.” Referring to the Nagaland CM’s statement that he had decided to contest the Lok Sabha elections after meeting Narendra Modi, the NPCC alleged that this “implies that his decision to contest was not out of his concern for the Naga’s as he had proclaimed all along during his election campaign.” It said that Rio’s statement is “an insult to the people of Nagaland, especially for those who had voted for him.” The NPCC reminded that the previous BJP led NDA government had wiped out the deficit of Rs 365 crores when the DAN government came to power in 2003. It added that Rs 400 crores was sanctioned for four laning of Dimapur-Kohima Highway. However, 11 later, the NPCC said that, “Rio has only himself to blame for ensuring that the work never took off.” The NPCC stated that after the Congress led UPA came to power in 2004, Nagaland state had been “flooded with hundreds and thousands of crores through UPA flagship schemes and in which Rio remains the biggest beneficiary.” It fur-
ther said that besides funding from various flagship schemes, the Congress led UPA had sanctioned Rs 712 crores in 2010 for the state to implement the 6th RoP for its employees. As such the NPCC questioned the Nagaland CM’s statement that he was “badly suppressed and punished by the UPA during the past 10 years.” NPCC took further jibes at Rio by stating that “the growth of his wealth and fortune tells a different story.” It pointed out that “establishment of luxury resorts, owning countless commercial buildings in Kohima and Dimapur, procuring thousands of acres of land all across the state and large scale investments in both immovable and movable assets outside the state were all done during his years in power while the state infrastructure slipped into dilapidated conditions.” Regarding the imposition of Presidents rule in January 2008, the NPCC pointed out that the DAN government had “lost the no confidence motion in December 2007, but managed to hang to power by misusing the office of the Speaker.” “By dismissing his minority government, which had lost the no confidence motion, the principles of democracy prevailed,” it added. The NPCC further alleged that the NPF had won the next two elections “on the support of gun and money power as the entire process of democracy was subverted to force a purchased mandate.” Stating that the DAN government has created “so much of liability in the state” during the last 11 years, the NPCC questioned the Nagaland CM’s assurance to BJP leaders that the state would not be a liability to the nation and that it would be a “contributor to nation building.”
DIMAPUR, MAY 21 (MExN): The Joint Action Committee (JAC), comprising of Rangapahar S Hukavi Zhimomi Colony, Sangtamtila village, Muruse village, Thahekhu village and Thahekhu Block-7, has expressed hope that the consultative meeting of Naga and Karbi bodies on May 13 would be successful in amicably resolving the border issue “once and for all.” This, the JAC asserted, needs to be done in order to ensure peaceful coexistence between the two communities. The JAC, in a press note, lamented that “people at the helm of affairs” in both As-
forward for the ‘common good’
sam and Nagaland had failed to pay heed to the border issue and stated that “some innocent lives could have been saved, easing border tension.” “However, it is better late than never. It is encouraging to learn, that at last Karbi-Naga organizations feel the necessity to discuss the border issue,” the JAC added. It called upon both sides to “exercise optimum wisdom and restraint so as to arrive at a feasible and logical conclusion.”
The JAC listed three points which it stated need to be given “serious consideration.” Firstly it stated that the permanent inter-state boundary demarcation is “non-existent.” It then added that the reserved forest demarcation “has never been or will never be” considered an inter-state boundary. It informed that as per the interim agreement 1972, the reserved forest(s) under disputed areas shall remain under supervision of
July 4 Dimapur Murder case: defendant charged for forgery Morung Express News Dimapur | May 21
Five months into the July 4, 2013 Dimapur murder trial, police levelled fresh charges against one of the four defendants facing trial. Defendant, T Yapang Ao who was on bail was re-arrested in March last for forgery and subsequently granted bail. The arrest was made after the Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the murder case, discovered an appointment letter dating to June 2013. The letter contained an office memo declaring the appointment of the murder victim to the post of sectional assistant in the PWD, which was reportedly appended by an official whose identity has not been
disclosed. As stated in the letter, the memo came from the office of the PWD, Kohima, sources said. According to the sources, T Yapang had allegedly facilitated the acquiring of the appointment as a middleman. As this particular aspect was separate from the murder probe, a fresh investigation was launched, resulting in the re-arrest of T Yapang. The defendant was booked under IPC sections relating to forgery and fraud, remanded to police custody and forwarded to the court and subsequently granted bail in this regard. During the course of the fresh probe, investigators obtained certain ‘files’, which according to the sources could well open a pandora’s box relating to appointments.
The investigators also obtained a document containing a list of names said to be of candidates, who were appointed around the time the deceased victim received the appointment letter. The sources further said that the official whose signature was found appended in the appointment letter was also questioned by investigators. To verify its authenticity, a specimen of the signature was sent for handwriting analysis, it was disclosed. Furthermore, the discovery of the letter and the subsequent investigation has resulted in the PWD initiating an internal departmental inquiry. The police investigating the case have not yet been informed about the outcome of the inquiry.
the Assam Forest Department during the “dispute period only.” However, it said that the forest under disputed area “does not belong” to either Assam or Nagaland. Lastly, the JAC made it clear that the Dimapur Rangapahar Army cantonment fencing can never be considered as an interstate boundary. It may be noted that the Naga Hoho had called for a consultative meeting of Naga and Karbi bodies to discuss the border issue on May 23. In this regard, the JAC called upon the leaders to “willingly step forward” for the “common good” of the two communities.
NSCN (IM) blocks Manipur trucks Newmai News Network Imphal | May 21
The All Manipur Fish and Egg Traders Association (AMFETA) today apprised the Home Minister of Manipur to address their woes in transporting goods stranded at Dimapur and Mao Gate (Manipur-Nagaland border), after the NSCN (IM) had barred them from entering Manipur. H Kunjalata Devi, president of AMFETA informed that some new traders in collaboration with the NSCN (IM) are playing monopoly on the trade of fish and eggs. According to the AMFETA president, 5 loaded trucks carrying fish and eggs are now stranded at Dimapur and another 5 stranded at Mao Gate. She said AMFETA has also apprised the Director General of Police, Manipur to address the matter at the earliest.
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