25th March 2014

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The Morung Express

Dimapur VOL. IX ISSUE 81

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Faith moves mountains, but you have to keep pushing while you are praying Defiant Jaswant takes on NaMo, dares BJP to sack him

Rishi Kapoor pledges to donate organs

reflections

By Sandemo Ngullie

I look happy and healthy?

Maybe it`s because No one talks about Sovereignty, reconciliation and harmonious co-existence anymore.

The Morung Express POLL QUESTIOn

Vote on www.morungexpress.com SMS your anSwer to 9862574165 Are Nagas ready to forgive their past hurts and reconcile for a better future?

Yes

no

Others

NSCN (K) to abstain from yearly tax in Kohima: KCCI Kohima, march 24 (mExN): Kohima Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI) has informed all businesses registered under the Chamber that NSCN (K) has agreed to abstain from collection of “yearly tax” till the market financial status improves or proper intimation and mutual agreement is reached between the two. KCCI in a press release appreciated this “matured decision” taken by the NSCN (K) authority of Kohima in consultation with their senior leaders.

It urged all Naga Political Groups (NPGs) to respond positively to the appeal made by KCCI in the welfare of business and in the interest of the Nagas. KCCI declared that any “faction” against “this prayer of the business community without due consultation and proper discussion will invite non co-operation from the business community.”

While acknowledging that the Naga Political Movement is a complex issue that needs contribution from every Naga to sustain it, the KCCI implored all the NPGs to “accept the fact that the present unabated, multiple and double taxation has become a yoke too heavy for the business community to carry.”

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Global Warming is big risk for people

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–Mason Cooley

Barca beat Real in El Clasico

MH370 CRAsHED Withdraw ‘army forces’ based at nihokhu village iN iNDiAN OCEAN

KUaLa LUmPUr , march 24 (aP): A new analysis of satellite data indicates the missing Malaysia Airlines plane crashed into a remote corner of the Indian Ocean, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said Monday.

The news is a major breakthrough in the unprecedented two-week struggle to find out what happened to Flight 370, which disappeared shortly after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew aboard on March 8.

But with the location of the plane itself still unknown — most likely somewhere at the bottom of the sea — profound questions remain about what brought down the aircraft and why.

Dressed in a black suit, Najib announced the news in a brief statement to reporters late Monday night, saying the information was based on an unprecedented analysis of satellite data from Inmarsat.

He said the data indicated the plane flew “to a remote location, far from any possible landing sites.”

“It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that, according to this new data, Flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean.”

Selamat Omar, the father of a 29-year-old avia-

An office building is illuminated with lights displaying “Pray for MH370” in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Monday, March 24. A new analysis of satellite data indicates the missing Malaysia Airlines plane crashed into a remote corner of the Indian Ocean, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said Monday. (AP Photo)

tion engineer who was on the flight, said some members of families of other passengers broke down in tears at the news. “We accept the news of the tragedy. It is fate,” Selamat told The Associated Press in Kuala Lumpur. Selamat

said the airline hasn’t told the families yet whether they will be taken to Australia, which is coordinating the search for the plane.

He said they expect more details Tuesday.

Search teams from 26 nations have poured over

radar data and scoured a wide swath of Asia for weeks with advanced aircraft and ships in a deeply frustrating attempt find the plane. Malaysia Airlines said in a statement to the families that “our prayers go out to all the loved ones of the 226 passengers and of our 13 friends and colleagues at this enormously painful time.”

“We know there are no words that we or anyone else can say which can ease your pain,” the airline said.

“The ongoing multinational search operation will continue, as we seek answers to the questions which remain.” A Malaysia Airlines official, who declined to be named citing company policy, said there are no plans to fly the families to the Australian city of Perth until wreckage is found.

The plane’s disappearance shortly after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur on a routine flight to Beijing has baffled investigators, who have yet to rule out mechanical or electrical failure, hijacking, sabotage, terrorism or issues related to the mental health of the pilots or someone else on board. Najib said Inmarsat had done further calculations “using a type of analysis never before used in an investigation of this sort,” and had concluded that the plane’s last position was “in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth.”

DimaPUr, march 24 (mExN): The Nihokhu Village Council (NVC) has appealed to Nagaland Governor, Dr. Ashwani Kumar, to withdraw/relocate the army/paramilitary forces based at Nihokhu Village and “to stay the firing practice conducted by the 29 Assam Rifles (AR) in the vicinity of the village.”

In a representation to the Governor, the Council apprised that the present EAC, HQ was established in 1979 at Nihokhu Village on the 300 acres of land donated by the Village for the said establishment. The Government of Nagaland had also constructed an EAC office and staff quarters for the purpose of administration in the area. However, it stated that in 1995, the 17 Sikh Regiment “occupied around 100 acres of the said government land as their outpost camp without any permission either from the government or the village authority.” It added that since then, successive army/paramilitary forces have occupied the said land and six administrative quarters.

Stating that this development has caused hindrance in the functioning and development of the administrative office lo-

cated therein, the NVC noted that the village had donated the land only for establishment of EAC, HQ. It cited the Union Cabinet Resolution for “withdrawal of all armed army/paramilitary forces from civilian populated areas,” and asked the Governor to intervene in the matter.

The NVC further apprised the Governor of firing practice conducted by the AR posted at Nihokhu camp. It said that this has caused “both physical and

The NVC lamented that this has led to the deterioration of health conditions of the old and the sick; disturbance to classes conducted in the school and services in the church. It added that the emission of gas from the firing of guns and blasting of bombs has even affected poultry and piggery rearing in the village. Further, many of the villagers have started to develop dry cough, influenza and other related illness throughout the year, it stated. The NVC said that the EAC and the administrative authority are also not informed about the firing practices.

It informed that the council had approached the post commander of the 29 AR, requesting them not to conduct the firing practice in the village, vide letter dated 01-07-2012. However, the Council lamented, conducting of firing practice and blasting bombs have become “more vigorous.”

Stating that the Right to life is a fundamental right, under article 21 of the Indian constitution, and that it includes the right of enjoyment of pollution free water, air and noise for full enjoyment of life, the NVC appealed the Governor to take measures to address their grievances.

Nihokhu Village Council appeals to Nagaland Governor for intervention psychological stress/problem on the villagers.” The NVC informed that firing practice of light and heavy machine guns is conducted in the vicinity of village residents, hardly 75 feet from the nearest house. It added that the firing practice site has not been fortified, as is the norm, and that there have been “many incidences, where ricocheting bullets have pierced residences and trees.” Some of the high-tension electric live wires in the village have also been snapped by the bullets during firing practice, it added.

nlA speaker adjourns assembly session sine die Reconciliation needs Our Correspondent Kohima | March 24

Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) Speaker, Chotisuh Sazo, today adjourned the fourth session of the 12th NLA session sine-die after completing all scheduled transactions.

The House passed vote on account for the year 201415 presented by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on March 21, which sought the approval of the House for withdrawal of Rs. 3523.58 crore from the consolidated fund of the State of Nagaland to defray the expenses of the State Government during the period from April 1 to July 31, 2014.

The Nagaland Appropriation (No.2) Bill, 2014, moved by the Chief Minister was also

cant under-detection of TB in the hospital.

A press note from the MSF stated that due to this collaboration, in 2013, Mon was the second dis-

Goi funds for ssA teachers’ salary expected this month

Minister for school education, C.M. Chang, today said the Nagaland State Government is expecting to get funds from the Centre for payment of SSA teachers’ salary within this month.

Informing this at the 12th Nagaland Legislative Assembly session, the minister said that the salary of the SSA teachers will be released as soon as funds from the Government of India are received. Earlier, replying to MLA C. Apok Jamir, the minister said the salary and arrears of teachers appointed through the Centre’s flagship programme, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, had been partially paid. The minister said that 2,730 teachers have been appointed under SSA till date in the State and the total amount due for salary and arrears is around Rs. 23 crore. passed on the floor of the House today. Earlier, Nagaland Appropriation (No.1) Bill, 2014 was passed on March 22.

It may be recalled that the session started from March 20,

some challenges ahead both at national and local level.” She stated that the availability of TB drugs is still a problem, especially the paediatric ones, “which is a key aspect to stop resistance.” “Locally the counselling position is not present in the RNCTP protocol for rural setting such as Mon but we have seen how this position is key to ensure a low default rate and stop resistance together with the increased presence of DOT providers,” she added. Barbot called for “involvement in the community that passes not only by becoming a DOT provider but also by accepting and not discriminating TB patients.”

MSF hands over management of MDMC to RNTCP

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Tuesday, March 25, 2014 12 pages Rs. 4

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witnessed address by Governor Dr. Ashwani Kumar, laying of papers/annual administrative reports, debate on motion of thanks to Governor’s address, adoption of government reso-

lutions on Nagaland Special Development Zones, presentation of assembly committee reports and passing of government bills.

The fourth session passed four government bills- Nagaland State Council of Higher Education Bill, 2014, Nagaland Farmers’ Participation in Management of Irrigation Systems Bill 2013, Nagaland Medical Council Bill, 2014, Nagaland State Paramedical Council Bill, 2014 and Nagaland Board of School Education Amendment Bill, 2014.

Among others, the session witnessed discussion on Naga political problem, status of women reservation, AssamNagaland border issue, law and order, roads etc.

Assembly news on page 2 and 5

TB is a bigger problem Polytechnic students agitate in Zunheboto than expected, says MsF moN, march 24 (mExN): Médecins sans Frontières/Doctors without Borders (MSF), which has been working with the Nagaland Department of Health & Family Welfare (DoH&FW) since 2010, stated that “TB is a bigger problem than expected.”

On March 24, MSF formally handed back the management responsibility for Mon Designated Microscopy Centre (MDMC) and the Chest Ward to Nagaland Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP).

MSF started working actively with RNCTP on World TB day 2012, after seeing that the numbers collected showed a signifi-

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12th Nagaland Legislative Assembly-Day 4

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trict in terms of Suspected TB cases examined with 2831, just after Dimapur.

It added that the numbers seen are exceeding the estimates for the entire district, with a case detection rate for 2013 of 109%.

Beatrice Barbot, MSF Field Coordinator, said, “We have achieved so much but there are still

ZUNhEBoTo, march 24 (mExN): Students of Kheloshe Polytechnic Atoizu (KPA), Zunheboto, staged a protest today against the Government’s failure to meet their demand which was served on March 15. The Kheloshe Polytechnic Atoizu Students Union (KPASU) had served a seven days’ ultimatum to the Government of Nagaland to immediately appoint a lecturer for the mechanical and automobile departments in the institute. The KPASU has further served a two day ultimatum (March 25 and 26) to the Government to fulfil its demand; failing which, it cautioned that the union would resort to their own course of action.

KPASU general secretary, Khekiye Aye informed that the mechanical and automobile departments are short of lecturers and with the first semester exams barely a month away, students are facing the brunt. He said that two lecturers (one from mechanical and automobile each) were transferred on November 2013 and there has been no replacement since.

The general secretary informed that due to the shortage, lecturers of the automobile department have been assisting in taking classes in the mechanical department. However, with shortage of lecturers in the automobile department also arising, this “adjustment” is not possible anymore. The lecturers are also said to be having a harrowing time due to this. Ideally, each department must consist of three lecturers and one assistant each.

It is also learnt that not a single class has been taken for one particular subject in the mechanical department since the start of this academic session. “The last time we submitted a memorandum, the department informed us that due to the assembly session, nothing could materialise. This time we don’t want any excuse,” Aye said. The KPASU submitted the memorandum to the Principal, with copies addressed to the Commissioner and Secretary and Parliamentary Secretary of the department concerned.

peoples’ participation Morung Express news Dimapur | March 24

The Naga civil society has helped sustain the Naga reconciliation process, but it is time now for active participation of the people to guide the Naga political leadership further. The Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) acknowledged this today at an interaction with the media, paving way for a meeting to be held soon with the top leadership of the Naga political groups. It has sought public opinion for taking the process further.

Reconciliation and a shared future, reiterated the FNR, have to be rooted in the aspirations of the people, and the status of these aspirations can be determined by the Naga political groups, now, through the participation of people in the political process.

As the high level commissions of each of the groups, as well as their leaders, are set to meet, it is important now that people “take ownership” of the issue and start asserting their voices to take the reconciliation process forward.

Thus, whether the process creates obstacles, or of what kind, should not be pre-empted as of now, but should be approached with faith.

The Church, as an institution, as well as apex tribe bodies, the media and other organizations, needs to be more pro-active in strengthening the process and mend the “brokenness” in Naga society as well.

As a facilitator, the FNR has been meeting the second rung leaders of each of the groups who are said to have expressed that they wish for their leaders to take the process further. In that, the FNR hoped the top leadership can “reaffirm their commitment in the present context and take up, together, the aspirations of the people.” Since 2008, lead-

ers of Naga political groups have creased out major differences leading to a decline in “factional killings;” reconciliation has been their meeting point.

There are unique threats, as well as opportunities, in the Naga context with a reconciliation process placed in an active conflict scenario (as opposed to most such processes worldwide that have taken shape post conflict). Where is the “safe space” for the participation of people, for instance (otherwise created by a post conflict scenario)? How can it be created within the context of conflict? Who are the stakeholders in the process? Or what is the Government of India’s position vis-à-vis the reconciliation process? These things remain unclear and peoples’ participation could push stakeholders to make transparent these factors, as well as make agreements between stakeholders more binding. This, asserted the FNR, could give way to “progressive politics” based on a “common prescription” to the issues faced by the Naga people, by them. By coming together, the Naga political groups have already created this exceptional opportunity for “mass participation.”

A reconciliation process, most of all, presents an “anti thesis,” noted the FNR, to the notion that force and violence is the only way. With major changes in world politics, and a range of political processes being applied to bring this change, the slate is free for young Naga people to chalk out processes that best project their voices in Naga politics today. The FNR urged people to participate in order to bring this “pragmatic shift” also to Naga politics and explore the “humane and rational possibilities” that could facilitate the realization of Reconciliation in practice.

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Tuesday 25 March 2014

The Morung Express

12th Nagaland Legislative Assembly-Day 3

Rs. 440.26 lakh spent on foreign tour Our Correspondent Kohima | March 24

Chief minister Neiphiu Rio today stated that a total amount of Rs. 440.26 lakh was spent on foreign tours with effect from 2008-09 to 2012-13. The destination of tour undertaken by 10 departments reads; Hongkong, Bangkok, Singapore, Harbin, China, Yangkong, Thailand, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, Berlin & Rome, London, Netafim, Israel, Auckland, Sydney, Paris, Switzerland, Shanghai, Vientiane, UK, Bangladesh, Winscosin, USA, Bremen, Germany, Tokyo, Italy, Belgium, Europe, South Korea, Oakland, New Zealand, Brazil, Kunming, Spain, France, Netherland, Chiangmai, Seoul, Tokyo.

Replying this to MLA C. Apok Jamir on the floor of the House, the minister said that out of the prioritized projects, concept notes for 93 projects were submitted to the Ministry of DoNER. He said the project selections are done under the chairmanship of chief minister who is also the chairman of the state planning board. On being asked about the criteria’s observed by the department in selection of the projects, the minister said the primary guiding objective is for ensuring speedy development of infrastructures both social and physical in the state. He added that in consonance with the laid down NLCPR guidelines, priority is given to the projects in physical infrastructure, taking into account the developmental scenario and needs of the districts in the state.

7 interim body Govt submits 95 projects members still alive to DoNER under NLCPR Minister for parliamentary affairs Minister for planning T. R Zeliang today stated that 95 projects were submitted to the Ministry of DoNER as state’s priority list of projects for the year 2013-14 under Non Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR).

Kuzholuzo (Azo) Nienu today said that seven interim body members are still alive while 40 interim body members have died. Replying this to MLA Tokheho Yepthomi in unstarred question, the minister also stated that

333 members have been elected to the Nagaland Legislative Assembly from 1964 to 2013. Further, 117 members expired from 1964 to 2013.

PHE minister on water supply to Mokokchung

Minister for PHE Noke Wangnao today said that Mokokchung town is presently provided with water supply from Tichipami, Lithsami and Angetyongpang/Minkong sources.

Replying this to MLAs C. Apok Jamir and Imtikumzuk on the floor of the House, the minister informed that the combined supply available from these three sources/schemes is 6.45 lakh litres per day. Also responding to them, the minister said that there is no proposal for purchase of a generator for water pumping purpose. The minister added that there are two electric motor driven water pump sets at Mokokchung town pump house and both are in good working condition.

DC's office complex at Dimapur, the Parliamentary Secretary for CAWD, R. Tohanba said that Rs. 1560 lakh has been spent for the construction of DC's office at Dimapur and so far Rs. 1235.90 lakh has already been paid to the contractor and Rs. 285.21 lakh is due to be paid to the contractor. Revised estimate has been made and enhanced from 18% to 48%. 92% of the construction work has been completed, he said.

sion of the 12th NLA on 24th March 2014. Forest, Ecology, Environment & Wildlife; School Education; Tourism & Election; Industries & Commerce; Youth Resources & Sports; Transport; Land Resources; Agriculture; Irrigation & Flood Control; Information & Public Relations and Information Technology & Communication, Technical Education and Science & Technology.

Replies on power, youth Reply on NLCPR 2013-14 & sports, self-employThe Minister for Planning & Co- ment and school educaordination, T.R. Zeliang replied to a starred question put by MLA, C. Apok tion directorate building

Parliamentary Secretary for Power, C. Kipili Sangtam answering to a starred question raised by MLA Dr. Imtiwapang said that there are 26 staffs in the Yisemong Power SubDivision under Mokokchung district and assured that an LDA will be posted there at the earliest. He also said that the shortage of staff there will be soon, since 266 posts are unReply to DC's office Annual Administrative filled der the process of creation. Replying complex at Dimapur Report laid to a starred question raised by MLA Kohima, (Dipr): Replying to a A Copy each Annual Administra- C. Apok Jamir on the present status starred question raised by CLP Lead- tive Report 2013-14 of the following of impact 5000 by 2018, launched er Tokheho on the construction of department was laid on the 4th ses- by the Youth Resources & Sports deJamir on the concept notes for project included in the state's priorities list under NLCPR for 2013-14. He said 95 nos of project were submitted to the Ministry of DONER under NLCPR for the year 2013-14 and the projects are being selected under the chairmanship of Chief Minister.

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Dimapur, march 23 (mExN): Aqhahuto Tokukuzho Kukami Kuqhakulu (ATKK) held a meeting on March 22 for constitution of its new office bearers. The meeting was chaired by Visheto, Chairman Zutovi Village and the proceedings were recorded by Kaito, Head GB, Toshezu village. A press release informed that short speeches were delivered by Khekiho Zhimomi, MP, Rajya Sabha; Ghozheto, Head GB, Shozukhu village and V.P. Western Sumi Kukami Hoho (WSKH); Phushito Zhimo, Advisor (WSKH); Nihoto Chishi, Advisor,WSKH; Izheho Zhimo, Advisor, WSKH; Kughaho, Advisor, ATKK; Shikuto Zalipu, President , Dimapur District GB Association. Invocation prayer was said by Abokali, Women Pastor, Zutovi Village Baptist Church and the new team was dedicated by Hekheshe, Pastor, Zutovi village Baptist church. Vote of thanks was delivered by Vikheto, Advisor, ATKK.

Dimapur, march 24 (mExN): All the office bearers, executives and advisors of Lotisa Mapulu Union Dimapur (LMUD) are informed that there will be an emergency meeting at the residence of Er Toniho Chophy (Banker), Chekiye Village on April 5 at 3:00 pm.

LMUD general secretary K Shekiye Chishi in a press release has requested all members concerned to attend the meeting without fail.

ASUS elects new team of office bearers

Employees at a sawmill sawing a log in Dimapur. Timbers are brought to Dimapur from different districts in the state that are sawed into planks and boards and sold in the local market or send to places like Delhi. The Nagaland Timber Traders’ Union (NTTU) has recently publicized that the NSCN (I-M), GPRN/NSCN, NSCN (K) and FGN (Federal) levies a “tax” amounting to Rs. 55,00.00 per trip for timbers that are brought from Kiphire district along with Rs. 3 lakh paid to the Forest Minister of Nagaland per tree felling wagon and Rs. 10,000.00 to the DFO, Dimapur per wagon as “commission”. (Photo by Imojen I Jamir)

Call to be an ambassador of Tuberculosis

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moN, march 24 (Dipr): The World TB day with the theme 'Reach the 3 Million' was organised in collaboration with RNTCP, project AXSHYA, World Vision and MSF at Helipad Mon Town.

Informing that the TB day was observed every year all around the world on March 24 to create public awareness about the global epidemic of tuberculosis and put efforts to eliminate the disease, Angau I. Thou, IAS Deputy Commissioner Mon, who graced the occasion as the guest of honour appealed the students' community and the participants to be an ambassador of TB. She also urged upon the participants to keep the district clean as 'clean district is a safe district' in every aspect.

After the short program, motor bike rally was flagged off and the participants marched to the District Hospital Mon with Slogan against TB. On the occasion the organisers have also arranged slogan competition among the schools, which was awarded to 1st Model School, 2nd Angjong Mission High School and 3rd to Little Flower School.

Merit award and certificate of participation was also distributed.

Earlier, the welcome speech was delivered by Kehile Seema, DCO AXSHYA Mon, Significant of the world TB day by Dr. Imyangluba Ao, DTO, and vote of thanks by Bonnie DPM (NRHM) Mon.

‘Mass participation could help eradicate TB’

TuENSaNg, march 24 (Dipr): World TB Day at Tuensang at GHSS Auditorium on March 24 with a theme ‘Reach the three Million’ a TB test, treatment & Cure for all organized by Tuensang District TB Forum and AXSHYA. The programme was attended by many church leader, tribal leaders, and students from var-

Kohima, march 24 (mExN): Kohima Chief Medical Officer, Dr Avino Metha along with Kohima District RNTCP team observed World TB Day on March 24 with the Village Council, Village health committee and community of Kigwema village.

DTO Dr Vezokholu stated that Kohima district is making progress. She said that in the year 2013, 1810 patient underwent sputum examination of which 490 patients were registered for TB treatment and of

phEK, march 24 (Dipr): On March 23, a house at Lozaphuhu village in Phek district was completely gutted by fire around 12.30 p.m. ignited by lightning according to the district administration. At the time of the occurrence of the incident, the family was in the Church service and there was no loss of life.

ANCSU appeals to re-examine marking and grading system

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ious school and students nurses of civil hospital Tuensang.

Dr. Yanbo Kithan, DTO Tuensang gave the awareness of the TB, its cause, treatment and symptoms in medical terms.

He also said the mass participation could help reduce or eradicate TB from the society.

Yimkong Advisor Member CKS also took part in the pro-

gramme encouraged and appreciate the Medical Department and NGO's for working tirelessly in eradication of TB. He also exhorted the students and citizens present in the programme to join hands and help built better and free TB society.

The representatives from AXSHYA Kyupise also elaborated on year's theme which

the three million and the functionaries projected work and accomplishing it. He also emphasised on the WHO's message on including TB as a "World Health Issue" and its important of care and its dangers and consequences. He also very clearly stated on the route causes, symptoms and treatment to TB.

Kohima dist making progress in TB prevention

Lightning strikes house in Phek

Kohima, march 24 (mExN): The All Nagaland College Students’ Union (ANCSU) has ‘re-appeal’ to the Nagaland University and the Nagaland Board of School Education to re-examine the existing marking and grading system as the percentage scoring more than 60% and above is less. Based on the re-examinations, the Union suggest to make a detail study as to whether the less percentage of marks obtain by students from Nagaland as compared to other university or board is due to poor performance of the students or due to some deficiency in the evaluation system of NU or the NBSE. This should be followed by finding corrective measures so that students from Nagaland are not victimized. “This is essential because the less percentage obtain by students in Nagaland as compared to others has become an obstacle for many students to seek admission in reputed universities and institutions,” ANCSU president Tsukjem Lkr and general secretary Katho P Awomi stated in a press release. Further, ANCSU appeals NU to declare result at the stipulated time as per the guidelines provided.

partment, the Minister incharge Merentoshi R. Jamir stated that it was launched in collaboration with Youth Net in 2013, with an aim to change the traditional mindset of the Naga youth to look beyond government jobs and focus on entrepreneurship.

Minister said that during the 5 year long campaign various skill development trainings will be imparted to equip the youth for self employment. He said that in the first phase the Youth Net has imparted training to entrepreneurs, in piggery, handloom, handicraft and mechanized wood work during 2013-14 in selected areas according to speciality of the areas.

He also assured that more areas will be covered in the coming years.

Minister for School Education C.M. Chang in his reply to starred question raised by CLP leader Tokheho Yepthomi said that the revised estimate cost of construction of School Education Directorate office is Rs. 56.94 crore from the original total cost of Rs. 19.30 crore.

He said that payment made so far is Rs. 29.00 crore and Rs. 18.66 crore is due to be paid. He also said that the revised increased in cost around 300% is because of the complete change in the architectural building.

LMUD emergency meeting

KTBWU combined service on March 28 Kohima, march 24 (Dipr): The Kohima Town Baptist Women Union will have combined service at Asamese Baptist Church, Kohima on March 28 at 3:30 p.m. Kethovino Thakho Women Pastor, Chakhesang Baptist Church Kohima will be the main speaker on the theme "Living in the strength of God". Azei of Rongmei Baptist Church, Kohima will lead the service. All the members of KTBWU are requested to attend the service.

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ATKK holds meeting

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the total 453 patient registered in 2012 the district achieved treatment success rate of 90%.

To help transform response to the disease, rapid diagnostics TB tools for Multi Drug Resistant (MDR) TB is available at DTC Kohima. Acknowledgement of the DOT Provider and cured patient was also done.

Dr Asunu Thong, Senior Chest Specialist addressed on the 2014 slogan, ‘Reach the 3 million-Find, Treat, Cure TB.’ She said that byy putting the community first and reaching the

unreached with this year slogan everyone can do something to STOP TB with case reporting and treatment and accelerate progress towards zero TB deaths, infections, suffering and stigma she added. Dr Avino Metha, CMO said that World TB Day a call to all health care providers to ensure that they reach everyone suffering from TB, provide access to adequate TB care, diagnosis, treatment available for free at District TB Center Kohima, DMCs at District TB, Chest Diseases hos-

pital at Khuzama, Viswema, Chiephobozou, Tseminyu and Chunlikha Health Centre of Kohima district.

Discussion and resolution with the VHC Chairman, Zha-o Sale and community was held, where it is resolved that all chest symptomatic clients will be mobilized for voluntary sputum testing and those diagnosed will be put on treatment and the community will support adherence of treatment. Dr Khriekoule MO Kimipfuphe PHC delivered the vote of thanks.

YouthNet ‘Impact 5000 by 18’ for carpenters

Kohima, march 24 (mExN): As part of 'IMPACT 5000 BY 18'- a five year campaign on entrepreneurship and employment, Youthnet in partnership with Department of Youth Resource and Sports, Government of Nagaland and Zynorique initiative conducted a vocational training program from March 18-22, 2014 on Modular Furniture at Uniqraft Wood Workshop, Jotsoma.

The program was focused on finding better links to the market and systematic methods of teaching in order to create employment opportunities through them. The program incorporated activities such as brainstorming, technique demonstration, hands on experience, learning of drawings and diagrams, use of machinery, etc.

ShilloNg, march 24 (mExN): The Angami Students' Union Shillong (ASUS) has elected its new team of executive for the tenure 2014-2015: President- Viyie Kuotsu, Vice President- Megosielie Meyase, General Secretary- Rokovono Paphino, Asst.General Secretary- Thefukruotuo Kesiezie, Finance SecretaryKeleni-i Nagi, Info&publicity Secretary- Keneingutuo Nguzhii, Statistical Secretary- Elivino Seleyi, Games & Sports Secretary- Pelevizo Sechii, Asst. Games & Sports Secretary- Kevineinuo Soliezuo, Cultural Secretary- Keviyachii-ii Suokhrie, Property Secretary- Thejangulie Dziivichii, Representatives to NSUS- Bodizo Khezhie and Diezenino Terhiija. The new team has felicitated the outgoing team under the leadership of Thepfiikuolie Kehie, for rendering their services and contributions towards the union and further wished them success in all their future endeavours.

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CEU to collect fund for ‘Vehicle Project’ Dimapur, march 24 (mExN): The Chimonger Employees Union (CEU) has informed that as per the resolution adopted on February 9 at Chimonger Village, the Union will be collection 10% of the March 2014 salary from all its members. The amount will be contributed towards ‘Vehicle Project’ Chimonger Lithro Chimonger. CEU Press & Information Secretary Imlikumzuk Sangtam in a press release has directed all the members to comply by the Union’s resolution. The Chimonger Suro Thsingmüjüng (CST) unit concerned are requested to take necessary action and submit the amount to the CEU head office on or before April 15, 2014.

C M Y K

Cideyezong and Mongtsuwong village inaugurated KiphirE, march 24 (Dipr): ADC Pungro S. Tainiu inaugurated Cideyezong village on March 21. Addressing the gathering, ADC called upon the council members and people to have more coordination and public to extend their cooperation to all matters and said that declaring a new village is more important.

He also said that the villagers should live in unity and discipline and cleanliness in the village. The ADC also inaugurated the newly Mongtsuwong village on the same date. Addressing the gathering the ADC called upon the Mongtsuwong villagers to maintain law and order and it is the duty in the interest of our villages.

Mongtsuwong and Cideyezong village is under Pungro sub-division, under Kiphire district.

Immanuel AG Church celebrates special children and youth day Dimapur, march 24 (mExN): Immanuel AG Church, Purana Bazar, celebrated special children and youth day on March 23 in commemoration of Lt. Er. Gideon Kath. The service was led by Rev. Pekhato Kath and scripture read by Toliho Zhimo. Short sharing was given by Tsenzulo Yeptho, flower gift offering

by Achenle Kath, prayer for the children and youth by the Pastor, special song by Christ Ambassador, and message by Rev. Thungdemo. All Assembly of God churches in and around Dimapur have been requested to uphold Immanuel AG Church ministry in prayer and celebrate special children and youth day to encourage and promote such needed ministry.

Yak launched at Fakim village Trainees of vocational training on modular furniture at Uniqraft Wood Workshop, Jotsoma.

Most of the trainees were not aware of the ideas and techniques used in making modular furniture.

In addition, the usage of machinery made them realize how efficient and effective their work can be done. They were also pro-

vided with adequate material during the demonstration in order to understand the concept in a better and easy manner.

The trainees were also encouraged to continually work to enhance their skills, network amongst

themselves and manage their businesses more professionally.

The training was mentored by Richard Belho, founder of Zynorique, Tomtsa Chishi and Mhasiselhou Thomas Rolnu of Youthnet.

KiphirE, march 24 (mExN): Department of Veterinary and Animal Husbandry launched Yak under PP mode at Fakim Village on March 14, 2014. The Department in the District has acknowledged Dr. M. Timothy Lotha, Director, Dr. R. T. Ezung, Addl. Director and a host of officials from the directorate for launching Yak in the district, which is the first of its kind in the district. Further, it lauded the director and his entourage for personally visiting the offices, hospital, dispensaries and ongoing civil works in the district and noting the grievances of the department in the district.

C M Y K

REgional

The Morung Express

Tuesday

25 March 2014

Dimapur

3

10 years' jail to six for Purno Sangma plays minority card Meghalaya gang rape Shillong, March 24 (ianS): A fast-track court in Meghalaya Monday convicted and sentenced six people to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment for the December 2012 gang rape of a girl.

Public prosecutor P.L. Sebastian said the six convicted and sentenced are Laston Marak, Tobath Sangma alias Patrick, Platon C. Marak, Chengchow D. Sangma, Kisen N. Marak and Chingkam Ch. Marak.

They raped the girl, 18, on the night of Dec 13, 2012 in Williamnagar.

The court, headed by

ad hoc judge N.D. Sangma, pronounced the sentence.

All the six have also been fined Rs.5,000 each and, upon default, would further undergo rigorous imprisonment for six months for the offence punishable under section 376(2)(g) read with section 34 of the Indian Penal Code.

The court also imposed a sentence of rigorous imprisonment (RI) for one year along with a fine of Rs.1,000 each and, on default, to further undergo RI for one month for the

offence punishable under Section 323 read with Section 34 of the IPC. "I further sentence all of you to undergo RI for one month along with a fine of Rs.500 each and, in default, to further undergo RI for 15 days for the offence punishable under Section 341 read with Section 34 of the IPC," Sangma pronounced in his judgment.

The judge said all these sentences shall run simultaneously, and the fines, if and when deposited, shall be paid to the rape victim through her parents.

Arunachal now just a stop away from rail link naharlagun, March 24 (EnS): Taba Chake, a 22-year-old BA student at Itanagar’s Dera Natung College, has never travelled by train. “In fact I had not even seen one so close,” he said, as he touched coaches of a Light Goods Special that arrived here on Thursday last week.

As the train remained parked at the Naharlagun station for the day, others like Habam Tabe (26), Dobum Raja (19), Chukhu Paji (29), and Tamo Kame (30) kept rushing in and out of its nine coaches. The Light Goods Special was just an inspection train. However, for Arunachal that has long been waiting for a rail link, that was the first concrete indication that the link was just a step away. Naharlagun is just 10 km from Arunachal capital Itanagar. A tiny, 1.26-km stretch in Bhalukpong in East Kameng district, built back in 1989, is all that the state has by way of railway so far.

Commissioning is expected to take place after the elections given the code of conduct. Arunachal will see simultaneous general and Assembly polls. Chake

came to see the train with father Taba Sera, a contractor who built portions of the Naharlagun station platform. A well-known singer and guitarist of the state, the 22-year-old has travelled to cities such as Bangalore, Chennai, Guwahati and Shillong for performing, but it’s always been by air. “I will travel on the first train when regular services are inaugurated,” he said.

Northeast Frontier Railway GM (Construction) R K Singh and his team came with the inspection train for an overnight trip. Naharlagun is being connected via a 21.75-km broad gauge track to Harmuti in Assam, a Rs 408-crore project whose foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in January 2008. The project included 54 bridges.

The lack of connectivity is a major issue in the sensitive state which shares a long boundary with China.

China has already extended its railway network to Xigaze, close to Sikkim, and is also understood to have drawn up plans to bring one railhead to the border just across Tawang in western Arunachal Pradesh.

Chake came to see the train with father Taba Sera, a contractor who built portions of the Naharlagun station platform. A well-known singer and guitarist of the state, the 22-year-old has travelled to cities such as Bangalore, Chennai, Guwahati and Shillong for performing, but it’s always been by air. “I will travel on the first train when regular services are inaugurated,” he said.

Northeast Frontier Railway GM (Construction) R K Singh and his team came with the inspection train for an overnight trip. Naharlagun is being connected via a 21.75-km broad gauge track to Harmuti in Assam, a Rs 408-crore project whose foundation stone was laid

by PM Manmohan Singh in January 2008. The project included 54 bridges.

The lack of connectivity is a major issue in the sensitive state which shares a long boundary with China.

China has already extended its railway network to Xigaze, close to Sikkim, and is also understood to have drawn up plans to bring one railhead to the border just across Tawang in western Arunachal Pradesh.

Sangma, who will soon tour Garo hills to solicit support for Congress candidate, Daryl William Cheran Momin. Speaking in Bengali at both the venues, Purno said, "The nation is heading for a change. You have to give the verdict for change."

He played the minority card to the hilt seeking to woo voters by pointing to the proposed ban on minorities to contest and vote in district council polls. He said, "I will never allow Congress to do this. For such a move, an amendment the the 6th schedule has to be made in the Parliament.

If BJP and NDA forms the government, I will ensure that it is opposed tooth and nail."

Citing lack of develop-

ment in the plain belt areas, Purno said, "Mukul is busy in developing his own constituency. He is not at all bothered about minority areas. This is not fair, how can you allow them to rule.

Development approach has to be holistic."

Sangma was accompanied by Gambegre independent MLA, Saleng Sangma and former Congress MLA from Phulbari, Manirul Islam Sarkar.

Purno stated that militancy was on the rise in Garo hills and for this too he blamed the Dr. Mukul Sangma. "Traders are kidnapped and killed, most have to pay huge ransom.

How long can this continue? Why has Mukul failed to contain insurgency?" he wondered.

Elaborate security measures in Tripura

Mizos protest voting rights of Bru refugees

Ten others in the case are juveniles and will be dealt with by the Juvenile Justice Board in Williamnagar, the district headquarters of East Garo Hills, Sebastian said.

The girl was gang raped near a school when she along with two of her female friends was on her way home after attending a festival in Williamnagar.

The six were convicted for gang rape, causing hurt and wrongful restraint, and acts done by several people in furtherance of common intention.

agartala, March 24 (tnn): Of the 3,095 polling booths in the state, the Election Commission (EC) has categorized 20 polling stations in two constituencies as "hyper-sensitive" and 444 as "sensitive" and have taken a slew of measures to ensure foolproof security.

Police said, according to ECI directives, deployment of security forces started two weeks before, with the arrival of 4,000 Central Paramilitary Forc-

There has been a lot of hue and cry over the gang rape, with the state government and police accused of not taking action against the guilty.

"The sentencing of the six would surely create hope for women and children who have been longing for justice," said Civil Society Women's Organisation president Agnes Kharshiing.

Meghalaya, on an average, registers 257 criminal cases per month. Crimes against women and children rose 23 percent in 2013 over 2012.

es (CPMF) personnel in the state.

Police said 18 of the 20 hyper-sensitive booths are in East Tripura and tribal reserved parliamentary constituency of North Tripura and Dhalai districts, where presence of insurgents are still reported. These booths will have three-tier security, while sensitive booths will be guarded by CPMF, along with state police personnel.

Besides, both air and

nEW DElhi, March 24 (Pti): India's North East is quietly becoming one of the fastest-growing markets for online retailers with an increasing number of youngsters from the region logging on to buy mobiles, accessories and much more.

Portals such as Myntra, Jabong and Snapdeal are finding good traction for orders from the region as the number of customers looking to buy the best brands at affordable prices is on the rise. " Youngsters today are extremely fashion conscious and tech savvy and online shopping gives them a platform to access the best brands at affordable prices with the convenience of shopping from anywhere.

North Eastern markets behave similarly," Myntra co-founder Ashutosh Lawania told PTI. "From a geographic reach and availability perspective, perhaps more so ? we are seeing a steady increase in business from this region," he added.

T h e No r t h E a s tern states - Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Man i p u r, M e g h a l a y a , Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura - generate about 8 percent of traffic and business for Myntra and the company expects further growth in the coming quarters, Lawania said, without disclosing absolute numbers.

"North East is doing really well in terms of acceptance (of online retail) and the market potential is also very big.

The taste for fashion is very refined there and

customers are trendy, experimental and are ready to try out fresh arrivals," Jabong co-founder Praveen Sinha said.

Snapdeal Vice-President Operations Saurabh Goyal said the percentage of contribution from the region to the New Delhi-based company's overall business is in double digits.

"The region is one of the fastest-growing markets in the country for us. We are growing in double digits month on month," he added.

Even eyewear online shopping portal Lenskart has seen good traction for its products from the region.

"About 20 percent of our overall business comes from the North East plus West Bengal.

Fashionable eyecare products are much in demand," Lenskart CEO Piyush Bansal said.

For Myntra, Guwahati, the most populous city in the region, and Aizawl in Mizoram are the two key markets, while there has been a steady increase in the number of online shoppers from Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Sibsagar and Tinsukia - all in Assam - in the past few months, Lawania added.

Lawania said men in the North East region shop for smart casuals and footwear while women opt for western and ethnic wear online.

"Brands like Puma, Nike, Adidas, CAT, Wildcraft, Duke, Lee, Levis, Clarks, Shree and Myntra.com's in-house brands Roadster, DressBerry and Anouk are preferred by shoppers in these region," he said.

sur face sur veillance would be strengthened, police said, adding that BSF jawans have been put on high alert along IndiaBangladesh border.

Around 20,000 security personnel, including 15,000 state police and TSR jawans would be deployed to ensure law and order during the elections.

About 1,400 micro observers, eight central level observers, including a police observer, have been

appointed. Besides, about 22,000 polling personnel have been mobilized. To ensure free and fair elections, the EC is still contemplating to webcast 100 randomly selected polling stations.

As many as 13 candidates, including CPM, BJP, Congress, Trinamool Congress and Aam Aadmi Party, have submitted nomination for West Tripura parliamentary constituency, where election will be held on April 7.

Three file nominations in Assam with cases pending

guWahati, March 24 (Pti): Three candidates are among those who have filed nominations for the April seven first phase Lok Sabha poll in Assam have criminal cases pending against them in the court.

One among them is the controversial former Congress MP, Moni Kumar Subba, and the two others are former ULFA militants.

The regional Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) is the only political party to give a ticket to a former ULFA militant, Hari Prasad Dihingiya from

Lakhimpur. He has cases pending against him under the TADA Act. The Congress denied ticket to Subba, after which he filed his nomination as an independent from Tezpur.

Former ULFA militant Jiten Gogoi, who was an independent member of the state legislative assembly for two consecutive terms since 2001, also faces charges pending against him in the Additional Sessions Court of Golaghat.

According to the affidavit signed

by Subba who represented the Con-

North East one of our Bhaichung has assets in excess of Rs.16 crore Bhutia files nomination from Darjeeling fast-growing markets: Online retailers KolKata, March 24 (ianS): Football icon Bhaichung Bhutia, contesting the Lok Sabha polls as a Trinamool Congress candidate from West Bengal's Darjeeling constituency, possesses assets worth more than Rs.16 crore.

According to the affidavit filed by Bhutia Monday, his personal moveable properties are worth Rs.3,88,58,983 while that of his wife Madhuri and three other dependents come to a total of Rs. 1,08,47,738.

The moveable properties also include cash in hand to the tune Rs.2,64,941 and Rs. 2,70,996 with the former India soccer captain and his wife respectively.

Besides investing in debentures and mutual funds, the ex-India forward has insurance policies worth over Rs.90,00,000.

His moveable property includes an Audi Q5 vehicle which he bought in 2012 for Rs.41,84,200. He has immoveable properties to the tune of Rs.13,47,00,000 of which plots of agricultural land in Sikkim worth Rs.21,00,000 are inherited.

Bhutia has a bungalow on a land of 5,455 square feet with a current market value of Rs.2 crore at Vedic Village in Kolkata's north eastern outskirts, and another land at south

tura, March 24 (it): NPP candidate for the Tura parliamentary seat, Purno Agitok Sangma on Monday toured Meghalaya's plain belt areas of Garo hills, which is predominantly a minority belt addressing two rallies at Rajabala and Chibang in West Garo Hills.

Rajabala is represented

by Ashahel D. Shira in the Meghalaya assembly while Chibang, which falls under Phulbari constituency is represented by the State's first non tribal Speaker, Abu Taheer Mondal. While Shira was elected in 2013 as an independent and joined the Congress, Mondal is a Congressman.

Addressing the people, Sangma sent out a loud message and challenge to chief minister Dr. Mukul

DarjEEling, March 24 (ianS): Former Indian soccer captain Bhaichung Bhutia Monday filed his nomination as the Trinamool Congress candidate for West Bengal's Darjeeling constituency. The sports icon is pitted against Gorkha Janmukti Morcha-backed Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Surinder Singh Ahluwalia, Communist Party of India-Marxist nominee Saman Pathak and Congress' Sujoy Pathak. Accompanied by a host of Trinamool leaders and workers, Bhutia signed the papers at the Darjeeling district election office. Polling in the constituency will be held in the fifth phase on April 17. BJP's Jaswant Singh had won the seat in 2009 with the support of the GJM.

Kolkata's Kasba presently valued at Rs.6 crore including the construction. His land at Sikkim's Nabey is now valued at Rs 1.75 crore. He also has

personal liabilities to the tune of Rs.1,28,12,876 in form of loans from banks and financial institutions while his wife owes Rs.13,40,000.

IN THE COURT OF DEPUTY COMMISSIONER

gress from Tezpur in the Lok Sabha for three consecutive terms, he lost the 2009 polls to AGP's Joseph Toppo.

Subba is an accused in two cases for alleged rape, cheating and forgery with the concerned courts taking cognisance of the cases and framing charges against him.

In the first case, Subba has been charged under Section 376 of IPC for alleged offence of rape and Additional Session Judge of Kamrup, Guwahati took cognisance of the case and framed charges on January 3, 2012.

aizaWl, March 24 (Pti): A protest rally was taken out here today against the decision of the Election Commission to allow Bru refugees lodged in six relief camps in Tripura to exercise their franchise in the April-9 election for the lone Lok Sabha seat in the state through postal ballots.

The agitators burnt copies of the Bru voters' lists and the impugned instruction of the EC in front of the state election office.

They passed a resolution demanding that the Bru refugees who were refusing to return to Mizoram should not be allowed to vote for any election in the state and must be enrolled in the electoral rolls in Tripura.

They also urged all political parties not to canvass in the Tripura relief camps.

The protest rally was jointly organised by several social organizations and students bodies.

ADVERTISEMENT "NATIONAL HANDLOOM EXPO" Funded by

Development Commissioner (Handlooms) Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India, New Delhi.

Organised by :

Directorate of Industries & Commerce Nagaland, Kohima.

w.e.f 28.03.2014 to 11.04.2014 at Super Market Complex, Dimapur.

All are invited to Visit the "EXCLUSIVE HANDLOOM" Expo.

FELICITATION

DIMAPUR DISTRICT HEADQUARTER

CHUMUKEDIMA, CAMP: DIMAPUR: NAGALAND

NOTICE

Dated, Dimapur the 24th March 2014

No.M-281/14/18007-08: Notice is hereby given to Smti. Ghoshili Achumi w/o, Late.Hosheto Achumi resident of Agri Colony,Kohima,Nagaland under rule 50&51 of Assam Land Revenue Regulation 1886 have applied for mutation of land described in the schedule below:The undersigned under rule 52 of the said rules do hereby invites claims/ objections concerning to the said land, if any & should be submitted to this court in writing on or before 24/4/14.

SCHEDULE OF LAND AND BOUNDARY Name of Patta Holder: Hetoli Zhimomi Village/Block: 08 Patta No.: 253, Dag No. 336 Area: 00-03-2 ½ North: Viholi South: Y.Zhimomi East: Main Road West: Y.Zhimomi.

Sd/Deputy Commissioner Dimapur: Nagaland

The Nagaland State Co-operative Bank Ltd. (Sponsored & Financed by the Govt. of Nagaland).

POST BOX NO: 153 Head Office, Administrative Building, DIMAPUR.-797112.

Ref No. NSCB/110/15479

Date:

NOTICE Whereas the Bank is giving notice to the defaulter of the Nagaland State Cooperative Bank from time to time and advice them to approach their respective branches and settle their dues to avoid litigation. The Recovery Team of the Bank is also in the process of door to door recovery drive, but some of the Loanees are not responding to the request of the Bank.

Therefore, all the defaulters are advised to co-operate with the Recovery Team and repay their dues, failing which Recovery proceedings will be taken against the defaulters.

Sd/S.Atovi Sema Managing Director.

Dr. Ng. K. Francis, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Physics, Tezpur University, Assam, has been awarded Ph.D. Degree by Guwahati University for his thesis entitled “Quasi Degenerate Neutrinos and Predictions on Baryogenesis”. He carried out his research work under the guidance of Prof. N. Nimai Singh, Head, Dept. of Physics, Guwahati University. He is the eldest son of Ch. Ngouniba and Late Ng. Kula of Maram Khullen, Senapati, Manipur.

He is the first person to achieve Ph.D. Degree in Physics (Guwahati University) and M.Sc. in Physics (Delhi University) in science stream from his community.

We praise and congratulate him on his grand success.

Family members, relatives and friends.

C M Y K

4

public discoursE

Tuesday

Dimapur

25 March 2014

The Morung Express

Extension of Railway Network in the North East in a Mission Mode -Need for Dynamic Involvement of State Governments and Controlling Short-Term Interests-

T

he Railway network in the north-east has come of age since the North-East Frontier Railway (NFR) Railway zone with headquarters at Maligaon, Guwahati was carved out of erstwhile NorthEastern Railway in 1958. The Indian Railways had served vital British Govt. interests in pre-Independence India, towards enabling the imperial authorities to move men and material across the sub-continent, primarily to retain strategic control of India. As a spin-off of the Railway network expansion, opening up of inaccessible and hinterland areas, also took place, spurring economic development.

Post-Independence, the importance of the Railways had gained primacy from economic development angle, to satisfy infrastructural needs of the country. However, this growth in the north-east has been relatively slow though, from the second half of the 1990s, the Govt. of India has tried to give a special impetus to this development. The NFR, has initiated a number of projects of extension of the existing network, installing double line tracks in place of single lines and, gauge conversion by upgrading meter gauge lines to broad gauge.

However, the NFR has not taken up electrification of the existing network because of power supply constraints and economic reasons.

The NFR has an achievement of constructing 578 kms. – 161 kms of new lines, 387 kms of meter gauge lines converted to broad gauge and doubling 30 kms of single line tracks , over the past ten years. Though the

progress could have been better, the achievement may be considered worthwhile reckoning the terrain, financial and region`s political constraints. The salient achievements are: broad gauge conversion of the strategic lines from north West Bengal to Assam : the Fakiragram – Dhubri; New Jalpaiguri – New Bongaigaon; and Rangiya – Tezpur lines.

Similar conversion was achieved of the Senchoa – Silghat line in upper Assam. Moreover, a meter gauge link was established to Agartala. At present, 34 projects are under execution : 21 new line; seven for gauge conversion and six for doubling tracks. The NFR has incurred an expenditure of Rs. 16334 crores till 31st March, 2013 and requires Rs. 36765 crores more to complete them. The budget provision in 2013-14 was Rs. 3590 crs.

The existing Railway Master Plan component for infrastructure development of the north-east is significant involving many new lines, gauge conversion and double tracking of projects. As part of this Master Plan, and during the 12th Plan period (2012-17), rail links are targeted to either reach the State capital or a near vicinity, in case of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Manipur.

The important ones are: new broad gauge lines : Harmuti – Naharlagun (in Assam-Arunachal Pradesh); Dimapur - Kohima (Nagaland) and; Bhairabi – Sairang (Mizoram). Priority projects for conversion to broad gauge are: Lumding – Kumarghat ( in Assam and Tripura) providing for more movement capacity from east

and central Assam to the southern part of the State and also to Tripura; Karimganj – Silchar for better connectivity in Barak Valley area of Assam; and Rangiya – Sibsagar easing movement between the eastern and upper part of the State.

There has been a reasonable degree of cooperation between the north-east State Govt.s and the Central Govt. towards helping the Railways to expand and consolidate. For this credit should go to the Union Home Ministry (MHA), which has been able to sensitise the State Govt.s concerned, on appreciating importance of this infrastructure. However, the Railway projects cannot progress unless the triple issues: concerning land availability for laying the tracks, constructing the bridges and other operating installations, timely acquisition thereof at economic rates, etc. are resolved with the help of the State Govt.s.; a consensus facilitated by the latter in concert with local political leaders and citizens on acceptability of the Railways as a viable alternate means of transportation without the institution being viewed as an enabler of non-tribal migration to the region and; adequate funds for implementation of the projects made available.

Land acquisition for laying railway tracks along agreed alignments, have been dealt with to the satisfaction of the Railways and the State Govt.s in Mizoram and Tripura whereas, the matter has not been an entirely smooth affair in States like Meghalaya and Nagaland. Threats perceived to the interests of those

operating and using road transport, consequent on expansion of the railway network; narrow political interests which triggered the Khasi Students` Union`s agitation on inflow of non-tribals and so-called dilution of restrictions imposed by inner-line permits after November 2010 and again recently in 2013, in Meghalaya, and also earlier exorbitant demands of locals for monetary compensation, had affected the Byrnihat – Shillong project in Meghalaya (traversing RiBhoi and East Khasi Hills districts of the State). Apprehensions of some road transport lobbies, as well as inflated local demands for compensation of community land to be acquired eg. at Rs. 60/- per square feet in Nagaland pertaining to the Dimapur – Zubza – Kohima project in Nagaland against Rs. 20/- per square feet accepted in Mizoram, had delayed the project for some time. As a result, it is doubtfulwhether the rail links to the Meghalaya and Nagaland capitals will be completed during the 12th Plan period ( 2012-17). The economic benefits of the Dimapur – Kohima link, to not only Nagaland but also to some adjoining districts of Manipur would thus not be available for some time.

While MHA, overseeing security and strategic aspects of the north-east can facilitate matters, it is basically the role of Department of North Eastern Region of Govt. of India (DONER) and Planning Commission to promote the railway infrastructure in a mission-mode way through the instrumentality of the

Indian Railways. Such an intervention on the part of DONER as well as Planning Commission is overdue.

The interest and dynamism of the States` Chief Ministers will also be of essence in augmenting the Railway infrastructure in the region. The Harmuti-Naharlagun project which will provide direct rail connectivity between Guwahati and Itanagar, is nearly complete because of consistent support from the Govt. political leadership and bureaucracies of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

While extension of the Railway network as per felt needs of the north eastern States and their people, will remain the primary responsibility of the NFR and the Railway Board, successful maintenance of the Railway assets and efficiently operating them cannot be their sole concern. The State Govt.s and their agencies will have to get associated in this regard in an effective way. This implies, provision of ancillaries like proper access roads to railway stations and secure goods storage-interchange points, as well as security cover to the railway personnel, the civil establishments and people who would be using the railway facilities. Though the Railway Protection Force (RPF) is there as a dedicated internal agency of the Railways for this purpose, the RPF`s role is limited to providing security to the Railway assets like the rakes, bogies, stations, sidings, yards, etc. only.

The Railways cannot operate without the direct security cover of the Govt.

Railway Police units (GRP), which are within the domain of the State Govt.

only, and intended for environmental security. The Union Govt. had conceived of a National Highways protection scheme, to be funded primarily from Central resources, in the late 1990s. Such a scheme could be thought of for providing comprehensive security cover to the NFR assets in trouble prone areas, in concert with the GRP units. Such a rail asset protection scheme could be adequately financed from the NonLapsable Pool of Central Resources controlled by DONER and Planning Commission, the Railways Safety Fund (as a special dispensation) and the State Govt. budgets, on a normative and shared basis say, with reference to kilometers of rail tracts in the respective States.

The Indian Railways are an asset to the nation. They have perforce to be viewed as an integral part of the development process in the northeast. The State Govt.s have an onerous role to play, at times by circumscribing local short-term interests, with a foresight to give a boost to regional infrastructure. The benefits of `look-east` policy cannot be adequately realized unless the NFR network is strengthened.

Gautam Sen (The author (IDAS:Retd.) is a former Financial Adviser of North Eastern Council, presently engaged as Adviser (Finance) of Govt. of Nagaland.

The views expressed are the author`s personal and do not reflect either the views of Govt. of India or of any of the State Govts.)

businEss

Medicine prices likely to go up

Mahindra, Honda, Tata may hike car prices

New Delhi, March 24 (PTi): Mahindra & Mahindra, Honda Cars India and Tata Motors are looking to increase prices of their models from next month, mainly to offset higher input and operational costs. “We are actively contemplating increasing the prices of our vehicles in April due to increase in input and operational costs,” Mahindra & Mahindra Chief Executive (Automotive Division) Pravin Shah told PTI. The company hasn’t decided by how much prices will be raised. “We have not yet taken a final decision on the quantum and timing but this a matter we are seriously considering right now. It will happen for sure in April,” Shah said. Sources in Honda Cars India said the company is considering a hike in prices next month.

“The discussions are going on, there is a possibility,” the source said. Tata Motors said it may increase prices of passenger vehicles by 1 to 2%. Honda cars are priced between Rs 3.99 and Rs 24.36 lakh, while Mahindra passenger vehicles manufactured in the country retail between Rs 5.43 lakh and Rs 14.48 lakh (all prices ex-showroom Delhi).

A detail from the online game “Candy Crush Saga” is shown on a computer screen, on Monday, March 24, in New York. King Digital, the company behind the popular, addictive mobile is expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on March 26. The Dublin, Ireland-based company could be valued as high as $7.6 billion if its initial public offering prices at $24 per share, the upper end of its expected range. (AP Photo)

New Delhi, March 24 (ageNcies): Soon, consumers may have to shell out more for essential medicines. The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is now seeking medicine cost details from individual companies, based on which current rates could be revised, according to an official.

The move comes in the wake of complaints from leading pharmaceutical companies pointing out that the basis of price fixation by NPPA is not accurate. The companies had alleged that while NPPA used IMS Health data, it does not represent the real prices.

Following the complaints, Department of Pharmaceutical

(DoP) ordered NPPA to revalidate the data used for capping prices of essential medicines under the new policy.

“In compliance with the review orders of DoP, NPPA has been directed to revalidate the data under para 9 of the DPCO (Drug Price Control Order) 2013 through a broad based survey,” the price regulator said in a notice.

According to an industry official, the move is likely to lead to increase in prices of medicines as that was the main contention behind the appeal filed by pharma companies with the DoP. “The industry feels the price caps notified by NPPA under the

new order were not in line with market prices. The IMS Health data does not capture all brands. There are also instances where companies sell their products directly through stockists, which does not get reflected properly in the IMS data,” the official said.

While the new pharmaceutical pricing policy was cleared by the Cabinet in November 2012, it took NPPA around seven to eight months to cap prices of first tranche of essential medicines last June. However, with DoP’s new directive in place, NPPA may now have to do its calculations all over again after receiving pricing details from individual companies.

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.

_

LEISURE

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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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Ans to CrossWord 2838

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

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LOCAL

The Morung Express

Tuesday 25 March 2014

CM highlights Nagaland’s finance position Our Correspondent Kohima | March 24

Nagaland Chief Minister, Neiphiu Rio today claimed that despite many difficulties; the state’s finances have been well managed over the past years. Rio, who also holds finance portfolio, stated that the DAN government had never failed to pay salary and pension in time and has not defaulted in servicing of debt. “I can safely assure that the state finances will continue to be managed as efficiently as has been done during the past years,” Rio said at the NLA session here today.

On the other hand, Rio noted that since 1989, the Government of India has discontinued funding pattern, which used to cover all non-plan gaps of the respective year, as was expected in terms of the provisions of the 16 Point Agreement. Consequently, the financial problems of the state started from 1990, he said.

However, Rio said that the DAN government, after it took tenure, “was able to solve all those problems.” He also informed that Nagaland is one of the best states in the country in the area of repayment of debt to financial institutions in time.

The 13th finance commission fixed

the ceiling on the state’s salary payment at 35 % of the total revenue expenditure, excluding pension and interest payments, despite the fact that the state’s expenditure on salary was already around 60%.

Consequently, Rio said that the state government would have to retrench 46, 599 employees. He however added that the government did not resort to such measures and stated that “we are still maintaining our salary expenditure around 60%.” “Going on the basis of the 13th finance commission, we have presently an excess of 54, 689 employees,” he informed.

The assessments made by the 13th finance commission are as follows: Salary - Rs. 5049.99 crores, pension - Rs. 815.30 crores and others - Rs. 447.57 crores.

Rio disclosed that the imposition of cash drawdown by the Planning Commission is a major factor for the negative state of the state’s finance. This method took into account the artificial cash balances shown against the balance of the state on the last day of March, as an available resource of the state for the state plan. This was done without recognizing the fact that it was unreconciled by RBI. Rio stated that, in fact, by the last day of

March the state’s cash account is always in negative. The positive balance shown was mainly on account of inability of RBI to reconcile accounts due to heavy financial year ending transactions of all states. “As a result, we were penalized for resources that did not exist.”

Rio informed that the government has adopted preventive measures to tackle this problem by closing the financial year effectively a few days ahead, so that the actual cash position is established on or before 31st March.

While appreciating GoI for providing more than 90% of the state’s resources compared to its own resources, which come less than 10%, Rio informed that for the last 53 years, the total money received by the state for developmental purposes Rs. 15, 999 crores. Rio lamented that the amount provided to Nagaland since statehood for developmental purposes is less than a year’s plan outlay of a medium sized state in the country.

He further stated that during the 50th year of statehood, the plan outlay for the current year 2013-14 as compared with the plan size of the previous year has in fact being reduced by 13.04%. “But if we are to exclude NEC & NLCPR, the actual

reduction comes at about 26%.”

In 2014, out of the total outlay of Rs. 2300 crores, the actual amount released by the GoI was Rs. 1726.85 crores, resulting in a shortfall of Rs. 573.15 crores.

As initiated by the state government at the level of the Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Rio said a decision was taken by the GoI to open a special window of funding to reduce the negative impact of the 13th finance commission recommendations. However, the GoI was unable to provide the SCA untied, as per the BRC, showing a shortfall of (-) Rs. 978.64 crore.

Rio also said the GoI was unable to release the pending reimbursements of the state and as of today, the pending amount stands at Rs. 324.18 crores.

“While we have estimated the closing deficit of Rs. 950.90 crores for the year 2013-14, the actual deficit could have been much less had the pending reimbursements been released to us,” Rio said adding that the deficit has been on the higher side due to less receipt of state share of central taxes and pension reimbursement from the GoI. Rio said with these two receipts, the actual deficit should have been Rs. 536.20 crores only.

After Rio, who will lead I always had a regional perspective: Alemtemshi ciety. On being asked why that he had prepared the munications pose a tough Nagaland State? he joined the NPF party, 10th and 12th Plan and Vi- challenge.

Our Correspondent

KOhima, march 24 (NEpS): After Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio filed his nomination on March 20 as a candidate for the 16th Lok Sabha election, now the ruling Naga People’s Front (NPF) is seen suffering from a leadership vacuum.

Names of senior ministers – Noke Konyak, Kuzholuzo (Azo) Nienu, G Kaito Aye and TR Zeliang— have been doing the rounds as main contenders for the CM’s post for some time now. It is, however, reported that Noke Konyak is not interested in the top job.

Although there has been alleged politicking for some time by the main contenders to the CM’s post in the State, they have not yet gone public with their thoughts on the topic.

When contacted, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and R & B, Azo Neinu, said he is not in the race for the top job because of his “love, concern and unity” of the party (NPF). “If there

are too many contenders, the party will probably suffer a split,” he cautioned.

When asked if he would take up the responsibility if given a chance, he replied in a positive manner, stating that he would not shy away from any responsibility, if given a chance to lead the NPF legislature party and DAN. He, however, made it clear that whoever was chosen as consensus by the party to lead the DAN-III, he would give his fullest support to him. “Whoever leads us should be able to provide better, stronger and cleaner government,” he quipped.

On Rio’s going to Delhi as a Nagaland MP, Azo Neinu said, “I hope Rio can perform more effectually as a Nagaland MP in Delhi,” adding, “The people of Nagaland in particular and the Nagas as a whole will benefit from Rio at the Center.

Besides, the ongoing peace process to find a solution to the protracted Naga political issue would be expedited.”

Mokokchung | March 24

Former Nagaland Chief Secretary, Alemtemshi Jamir today held a meeting with the leaders of the Naga People's Front (NPF) Mokokchung division, where he expressed gratitude to the NPF for accepting him into the party fold. He enrolled his name in the NPF party, Mokokchung division right after his retirement. However, this is the first time that he has held a meeting with the NPF divisional leaders. It was an 'introductory meeting', said the former bureaucrat.

While interacting with media persons, Alemtemshi said he would focus on politics and work for the welfare of the state and so-

Kohima | March 24

A Government resolution for setting up of Nagaland Special Development Zones (NSDZs) was adopted in the 12th Nagaland Legislative Assembly session here today.

This resolution was moved by Minister for planning & coordination, evaluation and geology & mining, T.R. Zeliang, on Saturday.

Before the adoption of this resolution, Chief minister Neiphiu Rio, CLP leader Tokheho Yepthomi and several others shared their opinions and suggestions.

Rio informed that the State Government had already held several consultations with the tribe Hohos with regard to the NSDZs and received No Objection Letters from the civil societies for the same.

Some, according to Rio, also wrote to the Government to “take their areas” and declare them as SDZs. Rio said that this has been arrived at only after consultation with civil societies and deputy commissioners as the Government is “very careful” about ownership of land and its resources. “We are not going to infringe on Article 371(A),” Rio said. The

Government, he said, will not impose on anyone who disagreed.

T.R. Zeliang said the NSDZs are the brainchild of Neiphiu Rio and is the natural outcome of the DAN government’s commitment to economic empowerment of the Nagas. He said the decision to open Nagaland for “grand investments” along the foothills for macro-economic activities is a historic one.

He informed that there are also those who think that customary laws relating to ownership of land and its resources need to be “tinkered with” for a successful economic advent.

There can be no alienation of land, but investors can be allowed access for any number of years for an access fee, Zeliang said.

He also stated that landowners, State Government and investors must repose trust in customary adjudicatory mechanisms so that “our economic enterprises are not locked up in Indian courts leading to attrition of our ambitious for faster growth.”

The minister also made clear that the government resolution on NSDZ rules will be framed after consultation with land owners and civil societies and the same will be brought back

sion 2020, while he was a bureaucrat; the plan and Vision emphasized on the development of the foothill areas and roads, of urbanization and industrialization, in order to generate employment for the youth.

He pointed out that government jobs have become very limited and therefore finding employment opportunities in the private sector has become a necessity. These employment opportunities can be produced through industrialization of the foothill areas, because the foothill areas provide better potentials for establishing industries than in the hilltops, where transport and com-

Nonetheless, he expressed concern that there is an air of frustration in society at present. As a result of which, he said, there is a need to usher in a faster pace of reform and restructuring in governance, so society can develop in an equitable manner.

Alemtemshi further revealed that his reason for joining politics was the ‘limitless scope’ that it offered.

He disclosed he will mostly stay in Mokokchung, interacting and meeting with the people of the district, and he will campaign for Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio who is the DAN consensus candidate for the lone Lok Sabha seat from Nagaland.

Missing domestic help returns home in Dimapur Morung Express News Dimapur | March 24

A 20-year-old domestic help from Dimapur, who was lured with the promise of a better-

Resolution on NSDZs adopted in NLA Our Correspondent

Alemtemshi said he had carefully examined his perspectives and found that he always had a 'regional perspective,' to work for the development of the state.

On being asked about his hope for Naga youth, Alemtemshi said there are 'no ends' for them. He asserted that the older generation can straighten the system, work for social restructuring, build infrastructure and create an enabling environment, 'which is the basic role of every parent.’ He stated that if such an environment is created then the youth will have a better chance of survival, based on equality and justice.

Alemtemshi informed

to the assembly.

Appreciating the Chief Minister for evolving idea for setting up of NSDZs, Tokheho said that it is a time for us to “start with such activities.” He, however, noted that since the parliament had passed a Land Acquisition Bill, the Government should spare money for land compensation.

Referring to the clause “to evolve a system of permanent settlement for nonNagas, for the purposes of investment in the NSDZs in the form of special land access permits to be issued by the state government in this behalf,” Tokheho suggested that land should be given on lease to those interested in investing in the NSDZs. He was apprehensive that if land is given for permanent settlement, there will be a problem for future generations.

Dr. T. M. Lotha also felt that land for the purpose of NSDZs should be on lease. He further added that before the resolution is passed, the Government should go to the people and have thorough discussions with them.

C. Apok Jamir said that Nagaland is a small state for which vulnerability has to be considered while framing rules for the SDZs.

paying job, almost ended up as a bonded farmhand in Punjab. The boy however could return home, thanks to the help of a man in Punjab.

The boy was employed by a family in Dimapur before he went missing on March 8, falling prey to human trafficking. Recounting the episode to media persons today in Dimapur, the boy said he was lured by a man, who promised him a better-paying job outside Nagaland. But, he landed up at a farm in Punjab, the exact location of which he could not determine.

According to his account, he was taken till Rangiya, West Bengal by the stranger

from where he was handed over to a group of unknown persons. They then handed him over to an unknown man in Punjab, who took the boy under his reins to work at his farm. Realising the job was not what he was promised; he escaped after spending two days at the farm. The boy further said there were two other young boys like him in the custody of the group, but could not tell where they were taken.

Fortunately for him, he was found loitering by a man at a village called Dhali, in Amritsar district.

Through the man’s help, he could contact his employer in Dimapur. The employer

sought the assistance of the Sikh community in Dimapur, after which the boy was safely returned.

Meanwhile, the employer said that the day after the boy went missing, he received a call from the latter but it could not be completed. According to the boy, his abductors snatched the phone from him, midway into the call. Suspecting foul play, the employer lodged a complaint at West Police Station. After the lapse of few days, the employer received another call. But this time, it was from the man, identified as one Major Singh, who found the boy. He reached Dimapur on March 23.

TB Day observed at Chavara Home

World TB Day was observed at Chavara Home in Dimapur on March 24.

Dimapur, march 24 (mExN): District Health Society - Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP), Dimapur observed World Tuberculosis Day together with NGOs on March 24 at Chavara Home. Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dimapur, Dr. MA Wati was the chief guest.

The CMO outlined the importance of following strict treatment regimen in curing TB. “TB is an infection, which can be cured but many people don’t take

it seriously, often stopping medication midway” resulting in drug resistance. He said that treatment is a long process, but if patients as well as care givers follow the treatment as advised by a medical professional, it can be completely cured, the CMO said. Medication and a healthy diet will go a long way in battling the infection, the CMO said, while adding that maintaining personal hygiene is also crucial.

When the body’s immune system weakens, the

body becomes prone to infection. HIV patients, if left unattended, are vulnerable to TB. District TB Officer, Dr. Khelito Zhimomi highlighted the activities of the district RNTCP. According to figures made available, 38 Multi Drug Resistant TB cases have been registered so far. In the treatment aspect, a total of 917 TB patients were put on treatment during JanuaryDecember 2013, while recording a treatment success rate of 85 percent.

FGN western and eastern sectors celebrate Republic Day Dimapur, march 24 (mExN): The 59th Republic Day of the Federal Government of Nagaland in the Western and Eastern sectors was celebrated at Yoruba National Prayer House and Noklak town of Chakhesang and Khiamniungan Region respectively on March 22.

Delegates from Chakhesang Region, Sumi Region, Phom Region,

Sangtam Region, Konyak Region, Pochury Region and Angami Region attended. Leaders from villages of the area also attended the occasion, stated a press release issued by Secretary, Ministry of Rali Wali Affairs (NNC/FGN), G Zhimomi.

Coinciding with the event, Ino. Zhopra Vero, Kedallo, FGN; Ino. Zaleo Sapuh, Killo Kilonser, FGN;

and Ino. Rukulhu Phuswuo, Speaker, Tatar Hoho, FGN were felicitated and recognized for their 25 years (Silver Jubilee-1989-2014) of service to the nation. The Midan Peyu of Chakhesang Region, Ino. Zapoi Swuro awarded the Certificate of Recognition of service to the three “national leaders”.

The celebration was led

by Ino. Pokhuyi Khusoh,

Secretary, CRC, NNC. Rev. T. Phesao read out a Bible verse from the book of Eccl.

6:11 and said the invocation prayer. The message of the Kedahge was read out to the gathering and short speeches were delivered by, Ino. Hekhuvi Achumi, Lota Kilonser; Ino. Litsaba, Dy. Killo Kilonser, Killo Affairs; Ino. Hamshau Phom, Dy. Lota Kilonser; and Ino.

Victor, Midan Peyu, Pochury Region.

Words of encouragement and prayer of blessing was pronounced by Rev. Pastor, Pukrolhu Lohe, Yoruba Baptist Church. Ino. Zhopra Vero also delivered a note on Reminiscence and Reflection on service to the nation over the past 25 years. Words of gratitude was pronounced

by Ino. Zapoi Swuro, Midan

Peyu, CR, FGN. According to the note, the celebration proved to be a challenge to all national workers to rededicate oneself in the service of the nation. Further, it was also a reawakening of the public to remain committed to the Plebiscite of 1951 and unwaveringly support the cause of Naga nation for freedom, it added.

Dimapur

5

MEx FILE Reckless driver causes traffic chaos Dimapur, march 24 (mExN):A reckless driver, out for a joyride, almost caused a major road disaster in Dimapur on Monday evening. The driver, identified as one Aungavi, hit three vehicles and a rickshaw before traffic police caught up on the Maruti Alto (NL 05C 2249) he was driving. Fortunately no one was injured, while the driver escaped with minor injury. According to the traffic police, the mayhem started at the Tragopan point where the Maruti Alto sped off towards Kher Mahal after hitting a vehicle. It hit two more vehicles and a rickshaw before coming to a halt near Holy Cross Higher Secondary School. The last car it hit was a police vehicle. The driver was in an inebriated state, traffic police said.

NSSATA calls emergency meeting KOhima, march 24 (mExN): Nagaland SSA Teachers' Association (NSSATA) has called an emergency meeting on March 27, 2014 at Ungma Kiti, Old Minister's Hill, Kohima above Hotel Cimorb at 11:00 am. All the district unit executive members are mandatory to attend the meeting, stated a press release issued by NSSATA general secretary Samina Meru and president Visechol Chaya.

Therefore, the district units have been informed to reach the meeting venue on time.

AAY food grains release of Kohima centre KOhima, march 24 (mExN): The AAY food grains of Kohima centre for two months will be released from March 25 to 27 between 11:00 am and 3:00 pm. Therefore, Assistant Director, Food & Civil Supplies, Kohima has directed all FPS/ Village Councils concerned to collect their respective quota within the stipulated time.

Peren dist 2nd round of training on March 29 pErEN, march 24 (mExN): The Deputy Commissioner Peren has informed all polling personnel drafted for 16th Lok Sabha election duty under Peren district that the 2nd round of training will be on March 29 at the Local Ground, Peren Town at 11:00 am. Therefore, all have been directed to attend the same without fail.

CEO Nagaland to inaugurate Voters Awareness Campaign KOhima, march 24 (Dipr): Chief Electoral Officer, Nagaland, Sentiyanger Imchen (IAS) will inaugurate the 3-day Voters' Awareness Campaign on 26th March,2014 at the Red Cross Conference Hall, Kohima at 10 a.m. The photo exhibition campaign on Voter Awareness is being organized by the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) in collaboration with Election Commission of India and supported by Chief Electoral Officer, Nagaland. In Dimapur, the voters’ awareness campaign will be held from 31st March to 2nd April 2014. CEO, Nagaland has appealed to all the voters, first time voters, students to be part of the Awareness Campaign. Entry is free for all.

DC Mkg reminds to appoint nodal officers mOKOKchuNg, march 24 (Dipr): DC & ARO, Mokokchung, Murohu Chotso has reminded all Heads of Departments to appoint one nodal officer to liaise with him for all election related matters. They have been asked to nominate one “responsible officer” and submit their name and designation with contact number to DC & ARO on or before March 26 without fail. The DC also directed all officers and staff to remain in station/ place of posting till the election process is completed. Outstation leave on medical/ official ground, if any, shall be available only after getting the due approval of the Deputy Commissioner.

DC & ARO Wokha informs on election duty certificate WOKha, march 24 (Dipr): Deputy Commissioner & Assistant Returning Officer, Wokha Vyasan R. has informed all concerned that Form 12 A, application form for Election Duty Certificate shall be issued at the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Wokha from March 24 onwards. Person on election duty may collect the form at the designated counter by showing copy of election-duty appointment order.

Observers for Nagaland Lok Sabha Election 2014 arrives KOhima, march 24 (Dipr): The General Observer appointed by the ECI for Nagaland Parliamentary Election 2014, Manjit Singh and Ab. Latif Deva have arrived in the state and will be available at the conference hall of the Commissioner Nagaland & Returning Officer, Nagaland Parliamentary Election on all working days between 4 pm. and 6 pm. Their details are as follows: Manjit Singh (Contact No. 8974503684, email - manjit258@hotmail.com, fax - 0370 224216/Room No. 303 Circuit House, Kohima). He will be looking after Kohima zone that includes Kohima, Dimapur, Pughoboto, Peren, Zunheboto, Wokha and Phek; Ab. Latif Deva (Contact No. 8414083619, email - aaluzdeva_221256@ ymail.com, Room No. 302, Circuit House, Kohima. He will look after Mokokchung zone that includes Mokokchung, Mon, Kiphire, Longleng and Tuensang.

ADC Pughoboto notifies pughObOtO, march 24 (Dipr): In view of the Lok Sabha Election, Additional Deputy Commissioner has notified all the officers and staff of various departments under Pughoboto Sub-Division to remain in their respective place of posting. Any officer or staff failing to comply with this notice shall attract appropriate action. Leave of any kind is also banned till the Election is over.

Kohima dist EEMC control room pughObOtO, march 24 (Dipr): The contact number of the Complaint Monitoring Control Room & Call Centre of the Election Expenditure Monitoring Cell, Kohima District is (0370)-2292236. Any complaints regarding Election Expenditure within Kohima District can be informed to the Election Expenditure Monitoring Cell through the above contact number.

Tsg DC informs election personnel tuENSaNg, march 24 (mExN): Deputy Commissioner, Tuensang has directed all the polling personnel/ police/ drivers under District Election Officer, Tuensang, appointed for election duty to submit Form 12 A on or before March 31 for issue of Election Duty Certificate (EDC).

More LocaL News oN Page 10

6

IN-FOCUS

The Power of Truth

The Morung Express TuEsDAy 25 MArcH 2014 voluME IX IssuE 81

Demography and Labor

W

ith the supposed onward march towards progress and development, policy makers and their consultants have initiated a course of action without giving much thought about the consequences. The first evident fall-out of this approach is the ever increasing outside labor pool that is comprised primarily of unskilled laborers driven by compelling conditions in search of work in order to survive. The expansion of the labor population is occurring in an uncontrolled and unregulated rate.

This demographic growth trend has adverse consequences on our society, culture and the people. In the Naga context, the areas most impacted by the incoming flow of the labor pool have been around the issue of demography and employment. The effects of these consequences are self-evident and have the potential to cause far reaching short-term and long-term problems. For instance, the increase of labor force is quite unnatural and indicates abnormality, especially when it continues to be a ‘disturbed area’ of conflict. Perhaps the more important questions are whether the increase is caused by the growing numbers of indigenous people; or is it a result of the growing non-indigenous population of migrant workers. By any just standard this abnormality raises eyebrows and requires a thorough examination.

History shows that the policy of ‘demographic engineering’ has been an ongoing phenomenon in conflict situations, particularly in the case of indigenous peoples. It is a means of diluting political issues into questions of domestication and assimilation within the lexicon of its intended mainstream. The rationale behind ‘demographic engineering’ has social, economic and cultural dimensions with a political objective. At the heart of such a project, the intention particularly in the case of indigenous peoples is to bring people within the effective control and mechanism of state structures. At the same time, it is not surprising that development without the people’s participation has a questionable intent. Interestingly, the drastic change in Naga demography is being felt more clearly in the last ten years and more aggressively in the last 6 years or so.

To address the policy of ‘demographic engineering’ requires a more comprehensive approach that touches issues of employment, trans-border labor migration, and, fundamentally, the political question of citizenship.

Present discussions and debates for effective policies to address the predicament of illegal immigrants form just one aspect of ‘demographic engineering.’ The tendency to isolate the issue of illegal immigrants could essentially be counter-productive if not placed within the broader aspects of state demographic engineering which at its root has homogenizing and hegemonizing tentacles towards assimilation into the mainstream.

The continuous push and pull between the contradicting elements of the center and the periphery is best demonstrated in the struggle of demographic organizing.

The need to find a satisfactory solution to the policy of ‘demographic engineering’ based around the question of political citizenship will become more apparent over time. Essentially this requires a paradigm shift around the question of citizenship, which presently for the Nagas is primarily and revolving around primordial identities of exclusive territory. This shift requires a move towards a discourse where citizenship is centered on an inclusive understanding of political identity of a political nation where the will of the people is the decisive authority. Can Nagas be a dignified people without this shift?

lEfT wiNg |

Temjen Ao

Women in Naga political life

I

n front of Gods wisdom everyone is born equal no matter what we mortals may feel about the extra rib. But in our society since ancient times women have been relegated to second position in all the important walks of life.

Our elders say that this is not discrimination but division of labour. And that this lad to the patriarchal society we live in today where due to their so called menial jobs women were considered unable to attend and participate in certain rituals and activities.

But that was then and this is now. Whatever practical or social causes in those days these norms no longer apply to the realities of this day and age. The reality of today is that in every field women are either catching up with their male counterparts or are moving ahead. In administration women hold the highest posts , in education women are outstripping the men, even in the number of voters Nagaland has the highest number of women in terms of percentages in India and the list goes on and on. In fact in all spheres of life women of Nagaland are either catching up or have left the men behind.

My first inkling of women’s empowerment in the Naga context was when I was in the national movement. We once went on a mission and the sergeant who was in command was a lady. Because of her experience and audacity our mission was a success. I cite this episode because I feel that our national movement led the way for women empowerment in our society.

But with all the strides in our society towards women’s empowerment I feel that there is still a lot to be achieved.

Of the many things we need to address two important aspects concern me the most.

First there is a dismal lack of women in state politics.

Why that is I am not too sure but I think it occurs due to the lack of women in the grassroots of political institutions. We must encourage the participation of women in all political institutions from the village to the state level. It could start with our schools by having girls elected as class presidents and so on. We must try to get rid of the notion that politics in Nagaland is a male bastion. After all women make up half the population of our land and their absence in this crucial part of social activity only deprives the society as a whole.

The second aspect that could change is in the laws concerning inheritance. For example if a father passes away only the male heir inherits everything. This I feel is unfair in a modern society. In order to correct this form of discrimination all private properties belonging to the father could be divided according to his wishes and his will. This doesn’t mean his clan or community property must be necessarily included because these come under different forms of ownership altogether.

In a land where my mother and sister were born, I will never agree for them to be treated as second class citizens.

To me they hold equal value to my brothers, fathers and me.

KUKNALIM

C O M M E N T A R Y

THE EDIT PAGE

Carl Minzner Asia Times Online

Old Wine in an Ancient Bottle: Changes in Chinese State Ideology

O

Xi Jinping

nly a year since assuming the top Party post in November 2012, Xi Jinping has emerged as the strongest Chinese leader in decades. His sweeping anticorruption and mass line campaigns have shaken the bureaucracy, consolidated his power, and removed the supporters of former security tsar Zhou Yongkang. And at the Third Plenum in the fall of 2013, Xi asserted direct control over the economic reform and domestic security portfolios with the announcement of two new national committees that he himself will chair (Xinhua, January 24; “Xi’s Power Grab Towers Over Market Reforms,” China Brief, November 22, 2013).

Xi is also moving to leave his stamp on state propaganda and ideology, borrowing language and themes used by his predecessors and accelerating a trend toward replacing socialist doctrine with nationalist rhetoric that reconciles Mao with Deng Xiaoping, Chiang Kai-shek and Confucius.

In content, he has sought to neuter the struggles between left and right by declaring that the prereform historical legacy of Mao Zedong and the post-reform one of Deng Xiaoping are of equal weight (Straits Times, November 9). In style, he has appropriated Mao’s populist touch (see “Xi Invokes Mao’s Image to Boost his Own Authority,” China Brief, January 10). Recent weeks have seen heavy state media coverage of Xi—and not other top Party leaders—eating steamed buns with ordinary citizens, delivering New Year’s greetings to the nation and extending his wishes to students and recent graduates, all to an enthusiastic citizen response.

Xi’s efforts in the ideological sphere go deeper still. He is appropriating the mantle of Chinese traditional culture to fashion a new image for oneParty rule, and sanitizing official representations of socialism to correspond with the economic realities and nationalist enthusiasms of recent years.

Naturally, this is a continuation of efforts dating back to the late 20th century. Since Deng, central authorities have regularly struggled to reinterpret the Party’s socialist legacy to correspond with the market-based reforms that have dramatically changed China’s economy and society. And since the early 2000s, traditional Chinese culture has been a key tool in Beijing’s attempt to project soft power on the international stage (see “Confucius Institutes and the Question of China’s Soft Power Diplomacy,” China Brief, July 7, 2010).

But Xi’s moves are also part of a new, concerted play to rework the doctrinal foundations of Party legitimacy, one that is directly tied to the 2011 Party plenum communiqué on culture. And they are steadily altering official depictions of Chinese history in museums, textbooks and state media.

Socialism continues to be toned down...

Xi set the new ideological tone early on. After the 2012 leadership transition, his first official act was to take the Politburo standing committee members on a collective tour of the newly reopened national history museum. The focus of their visit was the Road to Revival exhibit, which redefines the Party’s legacy over the past 150 years.

This new historical narrative more clearly situates the Communist Party in a broad story of nationalist revival, rather than one of socialist revolution. 1949 is no longer as critical a date. Instead, the Party is part of a panoply of reformers stretching back to the late 19th century, all with a shared goal—reviving the Chinese nation. Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalists are depicted more as misguided comrades-inarms, rather than tyrannical oppressors. Such an approach also has obvious utility as mainland leaders continue to woo the Ma administration in Taiwan, recently holding the first face-to-face meetings between government officials in charge of cross-straits relations (CCTV, February 18). Similarly, the imperial reformers of the late Qing are portrayed as sympathetic top-down technocrats attempting to industrialize China, rather than remnants of a feudal regime holding back the tide of modernization.

Consistent with this narrative, the public depiction of the Party’s history is being scrubbed of much of its socialist roots. The concept of class struggle is almost completely gone; 1930s-era Party efforts at organizing peasant revolution, significantly downplayed. Of course, this makes sense. Peasant rebellion and worker activism are now precisely the things most feared by the fusion of political power and economic wealth that has emerged as China’s governing elite in recent decades.

Other museums, such as that of the First Conference of the Communist Party in Shanghai, have been harmonized with similar photos and historical periodization. New propaganda materials with identical themes have begun to crop up throughout the state apparatus. One example is the work “500 Years of Socialism,” which central propaganda and organization bureau officials are currently circulating for lower-level cadres to study in conjunction with the Third Plenum communiqué and Xi’s recent speeches (Xinhua, February 10). This book, also being adapted as a textbook for political education classes in universities, is an updated version of “400 Years of Socialism,” initially issued in the early 1980s. The author of both is Yu Youjun, former Shanxi governor and erstwhile rising star in the Chinese bureaucracy.

Demoted and subjected to two years Party probation in the wake of the 2007 Shanxi “brick kiln” slave labor scandal, he spent his time revising his earlier work. The new version appears to mark a political re-emergence for Yu. Published in 2011, it was made into a 50-part documentary first aired on state television in 2013, and currently being rebroadcast at regular intervals.

As with the museum exhibits, the video documentary continues the process of rewriting the history of the Party’s origins. In this telling, 1949 was not primarily a socialist revolution, nor was Mao a socialist leader. Rather, both the revolution and the early 1950s are held up as successful examples of Mao’s New Democracy. Lenin and the New Economic Policy receive similar treatment. Capitalists were not the target of the revolution, according to this narrative. Indeed, the signature Party reforms of the 1950s aimed at protecting national industry and commerce, such as insisting on protecting the nationally-renowned Quanjude restaurant in the face of the owner’s efforts to close it.

In contrast, the documentary broadly portrays socialism as part of a utopian search for a better world, rather than as a practical political philosophy. It strongly links 20th century socialism to a specific failed set of economic policies pursued by the Soviet Union and incorrectly implemented in China from the late 1950s to 1970s (but only briefly discussed). The 1980s version of Yu’s work had merely criticized the Soviet emphasis on heavy industry and agricultural collectivization. The 21st century version goes further, condemning core socialist concepts such as class struggle, egalitarianism, and non-market incentives (Southern Weekend, July 1, 2011). The video documentary fuses this criticism with an attack on Soviet-era reforms to one-Party rule, ranging from Khrushchev’s “secret speech” on Stalin to Gorbachev’s efforts at pursuing political, instead of economic, reform.

The new state propaganda line consequently comes close to divorcing China from any of the actual remaining philosophical content of Marxist socialism (as opposed to Leninist or Maoist one-Party rule). This raises the question of exactly what the Party seeks to point to as its ideological source of legitimacy. ...and “traditional Chinese culture” brought in Xi has clearly pointed to an answer. In November 2013, he made a carefully-planned visit to Qufu, the birthplace of Confucius, where he inspected the Confucius Research Institute, extolled the classics and the influence of Confucian thought on the Sinicization of Marxism, and proclaimed: “From the day it was founded, the Chinese Communist Party has been a loyal standard-bearer and proponent of

the excellent elements of traditional Chinese culture . . .” (Ta Kung Pao, February 12).

Of course, this is not true. From its birth in the wake of the May 4th movement—a reaction against traditional culture—to Cultural Revolution-era efforts to obliterate China’s past, the Communist Party has always had a deeply conflicted relationship with history. For decades, it has sought to ground its legitimacy in modernization—whether Marxist socialism or economic reform—not tradition.

But this is the new Party orthodoxy. Xi’s statement above is directly lifted from the 2011 Party plenum communiqué on culture. The 2011 communiqué not only asserts that the Party itself is rooted in tradition, it also sets out sweeping instructions to expand the promotion of traditional Chinese culture across the board—in the media and Internet, within educational curricula and in cultural exchanges with Hong Kong and Taiwan. The content of the 2011 communiqué is being explicitly incorporated into central instructions to provincial officials on improving governance (Xinhua, February 17). It has been made a key component of the new “core values” (hexin jiazhiguan) campaign that Party authorities announced on December 23 (Xinhua, December 23). And it has been made the focus of recent Politburo collective study sessions (CCTV, February 25). Naturally, this new direction also builds on the popular resurgence of interest in traditional culture among many citizens, amid the sense that Chinese society has lost its moorings in the midst of rapid economic and social change.

State media content has already begun to shift in accordance with the propaganda line launched in 2011. In 2010, televised dating programs such as If You Are The One (Fei Chang Wu Rao) made a huge splash in popular media, prompting concerns that they were contributing to a decline in moral values.

These have since been toned down. New television programs emphasizing traditional culture have been added, such as the Chinese Character Dictation Competition. Introduced in 2013, it requires contestants to reproduce characters using pen and paper after hearing them spoken, and has been credited with sparking a renewed interest in writing among a younger generation raised on software for inputting characters into electronic devices.

And since the beginning of 2014, the CCTV evening news has significantly expanded the invocation of, and reporting on, traditional moral values in their nightly broadcasts, with new slogans such as “only with good family customs can one be a good citizen” (you hao jiafeng cai you hao gongmin).

Education is another example. In the fall of the 2013, Beijing authorities announced that the importance of English on the college entrance exam would be reduced, and that of Chinese increased (New York Times, October 22). Other provincial authorities are following suit, suggesting that high school students may be pushed to reduce their efforts to study English.

Implications China’s pivot to its own past raises a host of questions. Some are practical. Many institutions founded during the late-20th century reform period stressed learning from abroad. How will these fare under the new policy line?

Shifts in state ideology may offer new space for Chinese reformers. Those who draw on Confucian and Buddhist traditions may find themselves with new room to address pressing social problems. Even the new Party line on socialism opens up some new rhetorical possibilities at the margins. For example, denunciations of late 19th-century European social democratic reformers have disappeared in favor of a much more neutral analysis, creating the possibility that these could be marshaled as examples of successful gradual reform in the future.

Despite this, it is very clear that current Chinese authorities intend to use their ideological shifts to buttress the existing one-Party political system. In his visit to Qufu, Xi rejected the concept of universal human rights, asserting that the distinction between good and bad were fundamentally rooted in the “traditional culture” of different countries. He repeated a comment he made to the Greek prime minister, “Your ‘democracy’ is the democracy of ancient Greece and Rome—that’s your tradition. We have our own.” (Ta Kung Pao, February 12).

This ideological line could also undermine efforts to promote modernization efforts such as legal reform. Consistent with late 20th-century state interests in consulting foreign models, a generation of academics and NGOs promoted governance reform in China by arranging study tours and helping establish discussions between foreign judges and officials and their Chinese counterparts. But if local Party leaders take Xi’s instructions to draw ideological guidance from China’s own history and traditions at face value—as commentaries in ideological sources have urged—will the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Ford Foundation increasingly need to think about consulting specialists in Tang dynasty governance practices before proposing administrative law reforms for China today (Central Party School website, December 25, 2013; People’s Daily¸ February 20)?

As Party authorities continue to shift back to the past, to culture and to nationalism as a more explicit basis for their rule, the risk exists that these could fuel growing ethnic tensions within China. Concepts invoked by Xi in Qufu, such as that of “offspring of the Yellow Emperor” (yanhuang zisun) have a contested history within China. Nor is it clear what the implications of the new policy line will be for religious sects that do not fall easily within the definition of “traditional Chinese culture.”

In China, history is not dead. It is not even past.

Rather, it is returning.

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.

PERSPECTIVE

7 ‘Lost World’ braces for tourism

TuEsday

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

25 March 2014

NEWS ANALYSIS, FEATURE AND DISCOURSE

denis d. Gray

W

associated Press

here the Indian Ocean rolls toward Myanmar's southwestern coast, a lacework of 800 islands rises, fringed with shimmering beaches of no footprints.

Here hornbills break a primeval silence as they flutter through soaring jungle canopy. Pythons slumber on the gnarled roots of eerie mangrove forests.

Only rarely will you spot the people who live here: the Moken, shy, peaceful nomads of the sea.

The Mergui archipelago has been called the "Lost World," but outsiders have found it — first fishermen, poachers and loggers, and now developers and high-end tourists. The people losing this world are the Moken, who have lived off the land and the sea for centuries.

The islands are thought to harbor some of the world's most important marine biodiversity, and are a lodestone for those eager to experience one of Asia's last tourism frontiers before, as many fear, it succumbs to the ravages that have befallen many once-pristine seascapes.

As the world closes in, the long-exploited Moken are rapidly diminishing in numbers and losing the occupations that sustained them for generations.

Though they are known as "sea gypsies," very few still live the nomadic life, and only some aging men can fashion the "kabang," houseboats on which the Moken once spent much of every year.

Their island settlements are awash with trash and empty liquor bottles, signs of the alcoholism that has consumed many Moken lives. They eventually may share the same fate as some of their cousins in neighboring Thailand who have become exotic photo opportunities near highly developed tourist areas.

"Before it was easy to earn money, to find products of the sea. You could easily fill a bucket with fish.

But now many Burmese are pursuing the same livelihoods," said Aung San, resting under the trees of Island 115 with some 20 Moken men, women and children. "The life of the Moken is becoming harder and harder. So many Moken men are dying."

Asked if his people would welcome foreign visitors, the fisherman and trader replied, "We don't want to live with the Burmese or other people. We want to live by ourselves."

The former military rulers of long-isolated Myanmar kept the archipelago off-limits to foreign visitors until 1996. A nominally civilian government took over in 2011, but tourism remains relatively low. Some 2,000 tourists visited last year — that's about 2.5 per island.

To date only one hotel exists, the Myanmar Andaman Resort, tucked under forest cover deep within a U-shaped bay on McLeod Island. But a grab-thebest-island race is being run among Burmese and foreign developers, with a dozen concessions already granted and others under negotiation.

The reefs and islands here range from rocky outcrops to extensive land masses of high hills pierced by caves and blanketed by luxuriant vegetation.

A long jetty and two helicopter pads have been built and nine bungalows are under construction on the stunning but rather unwelcomely named Chin Kite Kyunn — Mosquito Bite Island. It is leased

by Tay Za, believed to be Myanmar's richest tycoon and closely connected with its power brokers. Three security men and 11 lazy dogs are currently the island's only inhabitants.

The website of one development company, Singapore's Zochwell Group, advertises the island it hopes to develop as "The Next Phuket." Zochwell is negotiating a lease to build a marina, casino, hotels and a golf course to be designed by the company of golfing legend Jack Nicklaus.

Visitors, almost all traveling aboard yachts or dive boats, invariably fall under Mergui's spell.

"There was no infrastructure, no towns, no streets, nothing . a maritime Shangri-La. Nobody in our group had seen anything like it. We were absolutely enchanted," said Christoph Schwanitz, editor of a China business magazine who came a year ago and now is part owner of Meta IV, a $1 mil-

G

um seems as appealing as that sticky wad on the bottom of a shoe these days.

Americans just aren't as crazy about chomping away on the stuff as they once were, with U.S. sales tumbling 11 percent over the past four years.

No one in the industry can pinpoint a single factor that's causing the decline — the theories include an unwillingness to shell out $2 or more for a pack in the bad economy or that advertising veered too far from underlining gum's cavity-fighting benefits. But the biggest reason may be that people simply have more to chew on.

From designer mints to fruit chews, candy companies have invented plenty of other ways to get a sugar fix or battle bad breath and anxiety. The alternatives don't come with gum's unpleasant characteristics either, like the question of whether to spit out or gulp the remains. They're also less likely to annoy parents, coworkers or romantic interests.

The gum chewing habit dates as far back as the ancient Greeks but arrived in the U.S. in its modern form in the 1860s, according to Mars Inc., the No. 1 player in the market with its Wrigley unit.

Over the years, gum makers positioned it as a way to "Kiss a Little Longer" in the famous Big Red jingle, quit smoking, curb cravings or just make the chewer happier. Catchy slogans or characters included the "Doublemint Twins" and Orbit's blonde spokeswoman who ends commercials with "Dirty mouth? Clean it up."

It popped up in pop culture too. In the 1960s, a genre of music aimed at younger audiences came to be known as "Bubblegum." In the 1975 movie

“arena of Mind” portrays a space for idea germination, a field where ideas from multi-disciplinary viewpoints fertilize the world of intelligence. The writers aspire to envision a new future by exploring the mind, discovering new seeds of insights and unleashing them to enlightenment.

Problems and Prospects of Higher Education in Nagaland Mhonthung yanthan assistant Professor Department of Political Science mhonthung10@gmail.com

W In this Sunday, February 9, 2014 photo, Moken children, nomads of the sea, paddle their canoe near Island 115 in Mergui Archipelago, Myanmar. The children are part of a Moken group of several families spending 10 days hunting for squid and whatever else they can collect before returning to their village on another island toward Myanmar’s southwestern coast with a lacework of 800 islands, what is known as the Lost World. Isolated for decades by the country’s former military regime and piracy, the Mergui archipelago is thought by scientists to harbor some of the world’s most important marine biodiversity and looms as a lodestone for those eager to experience one of Asia’s last tourism frontiers before, as many fear, it succumbs to the ravages that have befallen many of the continent’s once pristine seascapes. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

lion yacht offering cruises.

Last September, a super-yacht carried a Russian couple to a "unique Robinson Crusoe setting" together with harps, xylophones and chanting Buddhist monks imported for a deserted-island wedding.

Myanmar's minister of hotels and tourism, Htay Aung, said the islands will be promoted, but that protecting the environment and "minimizing unethical practices" are top priorities.

For the time being, however, the region remains a free-for-all, with no overall management plan for tourism or the environment. Nor is there a known blueprint for the precarious future of the Moken, whom French anthropologist Jacques Ivanoff describes as "the soul of the archipelago."

For centuries they roamed the islands, worshipping spirits and reciting long epics of a mythical past.

They collected mollusks, crabs and sea cucumbers, speared fish, hunted and dove deep to find valuable pearl oysters.

Today, most have been moved into settlements by the government or driven to find work on the mainland, where they are sometimes forced to labor on mines and farms. Their hand-hewn "kabangs," built as symbolic representations of humans, complete with mouth, anus and other organs, are becoming museum pieces.

About 2,000 Moken are believed to inhabit the archipelago, significantly reduced through migration, intermarriage with Burmese and deaths of males from rampant alcohol and drug abuse.

"In 20, 30 years the Burmese will dominate Moken culture. Only a little of it may remain," said Khin Maung Htwe, a Burmese married to a Moken, in Ma Kyone Galet village. The village, located within Lampi National Park on the islands, is home to 480 Burmese and other ethnic groups, 280 Moken and 146 from Moken-Burmese marriages, as of a 2012 count.

From a distance, the village is a tropical idyll. But its streets and beaches are piled high with trash by villagers who in the past simply discarded their natural refuse. A dip below the surface off nearby beaches reveals a world of dead coral and very few fish.

Though tourism is just getting started here, industry has already taken a heavy toll, including dynamite fishing, illegal loggings and wildlife poaching. On army-controlled Jar Lann Island, reporters easily located an illegal logging camp not far from a military outpost.

Trawlers have depleted the shallow fishing grounds of the Moken, who cannot compete with better equipped Burmese divers in search of sea cucumbers and oysters. Instead, they catch small squid,

often hooked by cheap plastic bait, while Thai and Burmese fishermen use powerful kerosene lamps to attract larger squid species in vast quantities.

Julia Tedesco, who manages an environmental and tourism project at Lampi, said tourism is developing "just as so many resources have already been depleted."

Tedesco's three-year project, run by the Italian group Instituto Oikos, includes the development of eco-tourism, putting a draft management plan into practice and training park staff. A key challenge, she says, is to protect the environment while providing income to local people who have long drawn their sustenance from it.

What happens to them will depend greatly on Myanmar's powerful politicians and generals, and their business cronies. Pervasive corruption breeds doubt that the islands will be managed sustainably.

Adrian Zdrada, marketing manager for the Myanmar Andaman Resort, said the government could create "sustained tourism, like on the Galapagos. ...

But it's a dream that will never happen. They will just sell and lease as many islands as they can. It will be a Thailand scenario. It will be another Phuket."

Phuket and other Thai islands adjoining the Mergui archipelago to the south were once similar to the Lost World. Today, Phuket's beaches are packed with tourists, luxury high-rise hotels and jerry-built beer bars draped with prostitutes. Backpackers are ferried to even the most remote islands.

And the Moken who also inhabit that region cling to the fringes of society, no longer tied to the sea.

The answer in Myanmar may be eco-tourism, but even that is problematic, at least for the Moken.

Khin Maung Htwe, who has worked with the anthropologist Ivanoff, said re-orienting the largely illiterate Moken from their deeply rooted lifestyles and occupations to being nature guides or hotel staff would prove difficult.

"They are innocents. The reality is that they don't understand or believe in the value of education.

They don't understand how it could help them gain their livelihood," he said.

On Island 115, several Moken families recently hunted for squid and whatever else they could collect before returning to their village on another island. The children, none of whom attend school, romped on the beach or expertly paddled out in dugout canoes. At night, all slept on the white sand or just inside the tree line hugging the beach.

"We just want to do what we are doing. We don't have the knowledge or motivation to do any other work," Aung San said. "We live here. We don't want to go anywhere else."

Chew on this: Gum loses its pop Candice Choi aP Food Industry Writer "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," the silent Chief Bromden speaks for the first time saying, "Mmm, Juicy Fruit" after the character played by Jack Nicholson gives him a stick of the gum. And Janet Jackson played a feisty, gum-chewing beautician in the 1993 film "Poetic Justice."

But gum's image as a tasteless habit also stuck, with some high-profile gum chewing only making it worse.

In 2003, Britney Spears gave an interview to CNN where a white piece of gum could be seen floating around her mouth as she fielded questions on a range of topics, including the war in Iraq. Talk show host Wendy Williams has a "gum wall" backstage, where she sticks wads of it before walking out. In one episode, she told Patti LaBelle that she could put her gum on the wall after the singer spit out a wad into her hand.

Such imagery may be why gum is still a no-no in business meetings or first dates, according to Lizzie Post, the great-great granddaughter of etiquette expert Emily Post and co-author of "Emily Post's Etiquette."

"My grandmother used to tell me, 'You look like a cow chewing cud'," she said.

The habit so bothered author Malachy McCourt that the extremely longshot gubernatorial candidate in 2006 told the New York Times he wanted to triple the tax on gum. The former Green Party nominee explained that

he didn't like the mess it created on sidewalks and subways.

"The other aspect of it is that it makes people look so stupid," said McCourt, 82, in a recent interview.

Gum's bad image is one reason that alternatives look more attractive.

There's also another perennial complaint: "The flavor runs out too fast," said Ryan Furbush, a 17-year-old from Sayreville, N.J. who has stopped chewing gum in favor of chewy candies and chocolates.

It may be why Mars said its gum declines have been most significant with people who are 25 and younger. In the meantime, Altoids mints, Welch's Fruit Snacks and countless other options have taken up space in the checkout aisles where most gum is purchased.

Since peaking in 2009, U.S. gum sales have fallen 11 percent to $3.71 billion last year, according to market researcher Euromonitor International.

That's even as overall candy sales — including gum, chocolate, mints and licorice — have climbed 10 percent to $31.53 billion.

Over the next five years, Euromonitor projects gum sales will drop another 4 percent to $3.56 billion.

Hershey, which makes Reese's, Kit Kat and Almond Joy, is taking data to retailers to illustrate the slowing demand for gum. The idea is to encourage them to devote less of their candy aisles to it, and perhaps make way for more of

its own products. Hershey, which also makes Ice Breakers mints and gum, is planning another blow against gum: This fall, it's slated to roll out a version of Ice Breakers that "chews like a gum, but dissolves like a mint."

Steven Schiller, global head of Hershey's non-chocolate candies including mints, said it gives gum chewers an alternative that doesn't require "disposal" at the end.

Gum makers are strategizing too.

The maker of Trident, whose total gum sales were down as much as 16 percent in developed markets at one point last year, has an online campaign reminding people to run through the mental checklist before leaving the house: "phone, keys, gum."

"We know when people have gum in their pocket or backpack or desk, they're much more likely to chew it," said Stephanie Wilkes, who heads the North American candy business for Mondelez, the No. 2 player in gum with Trident, Dentyne and Bubbalicious.

Mars, which makes Big Red, Doublemint, Juicy Fruit and Orbit, is testing illuminated racks in candy aisles to make its gum and candy stand out more. The company said the racks have led to a 10 to 30 percent sales increase in tests.

And after years of slowly vanishing from shelves, Bazooka bubble gum last year relaunched its brand with new marketing and packaging. Distribution has since rebounded.

Still, executives are realistic about gum's turnaround prospects.

"We're not expecting any dramatic recovery in the category anytime soon," Mondelez CEO Irene Rosenfeld said during an earnings call last month.

here does Higher Education in Nagaland stand? On 8th February, 2014, the teaching staff of St. Joseph’s College, Jakhama had a workshop cum meeting where the Principal, Fr. Abraham Lotha, promptly challenged the teachers in making our education a global standard. Is it possible? How do Naga intellectuals define Higher Education?

The genesis of education in Nagaland commences from the traditional Morung institution which was parsimonious in its approach as compared to the lavish and expensive education system of modern higher education. Education is essentially an intellectual process which transmits and creates knowledge or information, develops and structures critical cognitive powers, enriches and reinforces human sensitivity and sensibility, and combines the urge to explain, control and reunite with nature into a purposeful pursuit of an understanding of the relationships between and among human beings and nature. It is also a source of power. Approximately, 75 colleges in Nagaland carry on this process in various ways, motivated by diverse conceptions of the appropriate model. The intensification of education is a growing syndrome across the world.

Globally, the education system is focusing on expediency and pragmatic education, global competitiveness, education for sustainability, innovations and in fact, UK focuses on developing public sectors using performance based funding for teaching and research. China encourages students by cost sharing and cost recovery methods. As a result, the relational for all the education system is to raise the international standards.

At present, quality is an issue that cannot be avoided in education and what institutions do to ascertain quality becomes the most important and effective of all efforts and initiatives. However, in Nagaland because of lack of professional support many colleges provide quantity education which produce ‘first class degree but third class education’. The matter of the fact is that, out of 75 colleges in Nagaland, only 19 colleges are under 2(f) & 12 B and 2 colleges under 2(f) of the UGC Act, 1956, as on 31.03.2011. In my view, some of the problems of higher education institutions in Nagaland are; 1) Inadequate physical infrastructure: Quality education is possible when facilities, resources and technologies are upgraded with adequate funds. Most of the colleges in Nagaland are not accredited by NAAC. Those colleges which are accredited by NAAC get woefully lower grade due to such issues as low quality input, inadequate teacher-student ratio, poor communication, etc. As a result, prospective grants are also curtailed.

2) Lack of teaching credibility: Quality of teaching depends upon the quality of teachers.

Availability of adequate and qualified teacher is a prerequisite of quality education. Quality teachers prefer to work in better colleges/universities offering better inputs, standard teacher-student ratio with effective communication, better physical and research facilities, etc. As such, highly qualified teachers are not interested to work in private colleges.

3) Meagre Remuneration: Most of the private colleges in Nagaland pay minimum remuneration to the teachers which creates apathy among teachers towards full dedication of their service.

4) Lack of innovative outlook and research: Most of the higher educational institutions in Nagaland lack innovative outlook and ingredients of research which also hinders the development of the teachers, students and the overall infrastructure of the institutions. Many colleges in Nagaland are still following the traditional mode of teaching and learning instead of adopting modern technological teaching aids and gadgets to help improve class room learning.

5) Inadequate funds: Most of the higher educational institutions in Nagaland are facing acute shortage of funds. As a consequence, they are constricted to expand on areas like improvement in technology and research based activities. Government supports to private colleges are insignificant.

6) Lack of job guaranteed courses: Education is always seen as a medium to guarantee livelihood prospects in future. But in today’s competitive world, where every institution is striving towards offering professional courses, the educational institutions in Nagaland are still lagging behind in this regard. In recent years, the situation has slightly changed where few institutions are initiating professional courses though; they fail to provide facilities for campus recruitment. This calls for profound improvement.

Suggestions for improvement 1) The System of Examination: Academic standard and adequate coverage of the syllabi need to be ensured while setting question papers. Professionalism and computerization for timely declaration of results are very much required in higher education. Utmost care, seriousness and accountability in the scrutiny of answer scripts is also the need of the hour.

2) Research and Technological Development: Research and technological developments are inseparable components of any College/University. Research projects help to generate resources, strengthen infrastructure facilities and augment the academic resources for the benefit of the students in addition to the personal recognitions of the scholar. A team consisting of experts from industries, universities, research institutes and legal fields may be constituted to formulate policies on consultancy, patent and technological development on the basis of local needs and available resources.

3) Establish relationship between job and education: Without establishing a relationship between education and employment, higher education cannot create interest and thus cannot attract raw talents of the region. So, universities and colleges should focus on extending job oriented programmes.

4) More support and funds: In order to improve the higher education system in Nagaland, Public-Private Partnership needs to be encouraged. Government should even think of PPP to bring about qualitative development in those govt. colleges with sub-standard quality out-put.

In conclusion, let me point out this way, political negligence, poor administration in higher educational institutes and lack of professional support has led the colleges in Nagaland to a disappointing condition. Appropriate policies and home-bred professionals (both academic and administrative), are vital requirements for improving the quality of higher education in Nagaland.

8

Dimapur

NATIONAL

Tuesday 25 March 2014

The Morung Express

Defiant Jaswant takes on NaMo, dares BJP to sack him BarMer, March 24 (iaNS): Rebel BJP leader Jaswant Singh Monday publicly took on its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi after entering the Lok Sabha polls as an independent, saying his conduct betrays arrogance.

Hurt after being denied the BJP ticket to contest from Barmer, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran also accused party president Rajnath Singh and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje of betraying the BJP’s ideology and turning it into another Congress.

“Ye NaMo, NaMo ka jo tamasha hai (the circus around NaMo chants), it reminds me of 1975 (Emergency rule). It reeks of arrogance,” Jaswant Singh told the media here after filing his nomination papers. “There is no effort to

take everyone along. This is a dangerous route, better if they tread with caution,” he added.

Jaswant Singh did not say anything else about Modi but was unsparing of Rajnath Singh, a Modi confidant, and Vasundhara Raje. “They have betrayed me,” he earlier told a gathering of his supporters, saying it was he who had recommended Rajnath Singh and Vasundhara Raje for the posts they now hold.

And sounding emotional, Jaswant Singh said he felt “extremely relieved” Monday and sought the support of the people of Barmer, his home turf, saying it was a question of their honour too. “The BJP has become like the Congress, indulging in vote bank politics. It has abandoned its principles and ideology.”

In an obvious refer-

ence to Congress leaders now joining the BJP, Jaswant Singh said the recent entrants had no connection with the BJP ideology.

The former external affairs minister dared the BJP to remove him. “I will not say goodbye till the party says goodbye.”

A long-time associate of BJP stars Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L.K. Advani, Jaswant Singh said returning to the BJP in 2010 after his expulsion earlier was a mistake. “The way I was expelled after the BJP Shimla convention, even a ‘chaprasi’ (peon) isn’t expelled like that,” Jaswant Singh told the rally.

“Perhaps it was an emotional weakness that I joined the BJP again though all my relatives and friends had sought to dissuade me.” Jaswant Singh, elected to the Lok Sabha

‘Maoist threat looms large over democratic processes ahead of polls’

New Delhi, March 24 (ageNcieS): Ahead of the upcoming elections, an expert has warned the Government of increased Maoist activity in the eastern parts of the country, where the objective is to bleed the state, break the morale of the security forces and create a fear psychosis among people in order to hamper the democratic process.

Reportedly, hotbed areas of Maoist activities like Gaya, Nawada, Aurangabad, Jehanabad, Arwal and Sasaram, which share their borders with Jharkhand, are on the hitlist of Maoists, who have through posters, sent out clear messages about disrupting the upcoming polls.

“Before the previous parliamentary elections also, the Maoists launched what is known as a TCOC (a tactical counter offensive campaign), and during the electoral period, the security forces are spread thinly, because they are on election duty also. So, they become easy targets and when the Maoists launch a TCOC, the objective is to bleed the state wide, decrease the morale of the security forces and a general sense that they are enjoying an upper hand,”said P.V.Ramana, a research fellow

at Institute For Defence Studies And Analysis (IDSA).

Maoists are rebels who try to sink deep roots and form links after decades of neglect. State government agencies have been organising campaigns to ensure that voters turnout in huge numbers to participate in the election procedure. But politicians, too, who have been actively campaigning are on the hit list of the red rebels.

“Ahead of elections politicians become easy prey because they move around freely in the villages canvassing and are therefore easy to get targeted,”said Ramana. The Maoists, also known as Naxals, have killed police and politicians, and targeted government buildings and railway tracks in an insurgency that has killed thousands since the 1960s.

“The government has always held that two way approach- security and development. Both these measures need to be pursued more vigorously with a sense of purpose. Development work should be implemented with all sincerity, they should be rigorously monitored and strength of the security personnel, police forces and central police armed forces has to be strengthened,” Ramana added.

in 2009 from Darjeeling in West Bengal, wanted to contest from the Lok Sabha election from Barmer this time.

But the ticket was given to former Congress leader Sonaram Choudhary, who recently joined the BJP. Talking to a television news channel, Jaswant Singh challenged Choudhary’s ability to win, saying he (Choudhary) lost the recent assembly elections to a BJP candidate.

Faced with an embarrassing situation it did not bargain for ahead of the Lok Sabha battle, the BJP spoke in contrary voices.

“We cannot comment on his decision. As far as the party is concerned, he is a respected leader and we still respect him,” BJP’s Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said in New Delhi.

But BJP’s M. Venkaiah

Naidu launched a mild attack on him. “The party has given him lot of respect. He was made leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, he was a cabinet minister,” said Naidu. “If he was denied a ticket for some political reason, going against the party is not good.”

The Congress used the opportunity to attack the BJP. “It is against our culture and tradition to disrespect the elders. But when you have an individual for whom it is just I-me-myself, it is authoritarianism of the worst kind,” party leader Anand Sharma said in a clear attack on Modi.

Law Minister Kapil Sibal added: “people who have served the BJP for three decades, they are not being given importance...

Yes, he is feeling betrayed.

Soon others will feel betrayed as well.”

Bihar BJP leader Lal Muni Choubey to follow Jaswant Singh’s footsteps

PatNa, March 24 (Pti): Bihar BJP senior leader Lal Muni Choubey, who was denied ticket from Buxar, today announced to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls as an independent candidate from the same seat, terming party president Rajnath Singh as the ‘president of slaves’. “BJP has become a party of slaves...

I will contest from Buxar as an independent candidate,” Mr Choubey, the fourtime MP from Buxar, who is expected to file nomination tomorrow told reporters.

Talking about party president Rajnath Singh, he said, “Wo gulamo ke adhyaksh hai (he is President of slaves).” A peeved Choubey spoke in favour of Jaswant Singh, who was denied ticket to fight the Lok Sabha elections from his home town Rajasthan’s Barmer. “Jaswantji ke satth anyay hua hai (Injustice has been done with Jaswant Singh),” the septuagenarian leader said.

He also announced to campaign against BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in Varanasi. “Lal Muni

Choubey is as much of Buxar as of Varanasi. Now that I am out of fake BJP I will tour against the party in Varanasi and the entire Poorvanchal region,” he said.

He called BJP’s official candidate in Buxar Ashwani Choubey as a ‘nakli BJP nominee’ and said he was sure that the people of Buxar will ensure defeat of the ‘nakli’ (fake) BJP nominee. Asked about reports that senior BJP leaders were trying to mollify him promising the Governor’s post, he said he has no lust for Governorship or any other post.

Choubey was elected for the first time from Buxar in 1996. He represented the seat continuously till 2009, when he lost to RJD leader Jagadanand Singh by 2,000 votes. Meanwhile, Ashwani Choubey, who hailed from Bhagalpur district, today filed his nomination from Buxar seat.

He described the senior Choubey as his “abibhavavak” (guardian) but said his fighting as an independent candidate would not have much impact on BJP’s prospect on the seat.

‘Smoking increases risk of TB recurrence’ New Delhi, March 24 (iaNS): Regular tobacco smoke increases the risk of recurrence of tuberculosis in patients, a new study has found. The study published Monday provides critical new insight into the harmful links between smoking tobacco and developing TB, a release said.

“More than ever before, we understand how tobacco harms people who have already been successfully treated for TB,” said ChungYeh Deng of National YangMing University in Taipei and an author of the study.

“No one should undergo the long, complex treatment for TB only to unknowingly place themselves at heightened risk of getting the disease again. With this research, we can inform national tobacco control policies and educate patients about the risks that smoking tobacco poses,” he said.

An Indian doctor examines a tuberculosis patient in a government TB hospital on World Tuberculosis Day in Allahabad, on Monday, March 24. India has the highest incidence of TB in the world, according to the World Health Organization’s Global Tuberculosis Report 2013, with as many as 2.4 million cases. (AP Photo)

The study has been published in the April 2014 issue of the International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease which

went online Monday, a release said here. The researchers followed a large sample of 5,567 TB patients in Taiwan, each of whom

had TB confirmed through bacteriologic testing and went on to successfully complete TB treatment.

Of those patients, 1.5

percent developed a recurrent case of TB, with regular tobacco smokers twice as likely to develop recurrent TB compared with former smokers and with individuals who had never smoked tobacco. “Until this study was published, we didn’t have a clear sense of how smoking tobacco posed risks to TB patients who have put in the hard work of completing their treatment,” said Paula Fujiwara, scientific director of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), which publishes the journal.

TB is an infectious disease transmitted from person to person through air, typically through coughing or sneezing. According to the WHO, in 2012 an estimated 8.6 mn people became infected with TB, and 1.3 mn people died from TB or TB-related causes.

Shakti Mills gang rape: Prosecution Withdraw instruction to make Aadhaar mandatory: SC to Centre The apex court had in its September 2013 cies/ police calling for information, including New Delhi, March 24 (Pti): The Suseeks enhanced punishment preme Court on Monday directed the Centre to interim order said Aadhaar card be not (not) biometrics of residents, for the purpose of in-

MuMBai, March 24 (iaNS): The prosecution in the Shakti Mills gang rape case of a telephone operator Monday sought enhanced punishment for the three convicts, a top law officer said here.

The punishment has been sought under section 376(E) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which stipulates life imprisonment till death or death penalty against the convicts who are serial offenders.

“Three of the accused are guilty in both cases -the gang rapes of a telephone operator (July 31) and a photo-journalist (Aug 22). They have been awarded life sentence till death, but they have denied the charges. Hence, we will produce additional evidence and two witnesses to prove the

charge,” Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told media persons.

Accordingly, they would be tried under the section 376(E) of the IPC and the court would give its final verdict accordingly after the hearing Tuesday, he added. Nikam’s comments came after a hearing before Principal Sessions Judge Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi in the ongoing hearing for the verdict in the two gang rape cases in the Shakti Mills complex at Mahalaxmi in south central Mumbai.

Last week, four accused were convicted to life imprisonment till death in the July 31 case -Vijay Jadhav (18), Qasim Hafiz Sheikh alias Qasim Bengali (20), Salim Ansari (27) and M. Ashfaque

Shaikh (26).

The prosecution has sought enhanced charges and punishment against three -- Jadhav, Bengali and Ansari, who are also accused in the Aug 22 case -- under the amended Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2013. Two minors, one in each case, are being separately tried by the Mumbai Juvenile Justice Board and the hearing will start next month.

The accused were found guilty under Sections 376 (D) for gang rape and other sections pertaining to wrongful restraint, criminal intimidation, conspiracy, common intention, unnatural sex, and sections of the Information Technology Act as the attackers had also made a video clip of the incident.

In this Friday, March 21, 2014 photo, an exhibitor from Loughborough University demonstrates the use of a toilet during Reinvent The Toilet Fair in New Delhi, India. Scientists who accepted the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s challenge to reinvent the toilet showcased their inventions in the Indian capital Saturday. The primary goal: to sanitize waste, use minimal water or electricity, and produce a usable product at low cost. India is by far the worst culprit, with more than 640 million people defecating in the open and producing a stunning 72,000 tons of human waste each day - the equivalent weight of almost 10 Eiffel Towers or 1,800 humpback whales. (AP File Photo)

immediately withdraw the instruction, if any, issued by it for making Aadhaar card mandatory for citizens to avail government services.

“If there are any instructions that Aadhaar is mandatory, it should be withdrawn immediately” a bench of justices BS Chauhan and J Chelameswar said while staying the order of the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court directing sharing of data collected for issuing Aadhaar card to citizens with CBI for solving a rape case. The bench said biometric or any other data should not be shared with any authorities unless the accused gives consent in writing.

The probe agency had sought the data base, including biometrics of persons from Goa, so that those could be compared with the ones obtained from the crime scene for the purpose of investigating rape of a minor girl in a school premises in Vasco.

made mandatory for people for availing government services and nobody should be deprived of such facilities for want of the card.

The bench passed the order on a petition filed by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) challenging the High Court order which asked it to consider sharing biometric data collected from people with CBI in order to help the investigating agency solve a rape case in Vasco.

The High Court had in an February 26 interim order directed the Director-General, Central Forensic and Scientific Laboratory (CFSL), New Delhi, to appoint an expert to ascertain if its data base has the technological capability for matching the chance fingerprints electronically obtained.

UIDAI had contended the order would set a bad precedent, besides opening floodgates of similar requests by various investigative agen-

vestigation. It said biometric data cannot be shared without the consent of the resident and as per its current data-sharing policy and guidelines.

In its plea, UIDAI submitted more than 60 crore residents have enrolled themselves for Aadhaar by providing their demographic and biometric information for civilian application only and sharing the data would endanger the fundamental rights of the citizens.

“Building a system that can search using latent fingerprints, quite like criminal database searches, is not within the constitutional and legal mandate and scope of UIDAI and fundamentally against the core reason residents have provided their data voluntarily to UIDAI,” the petition said. “The right to privacy is one of the basic human rights of an individual and UIDAI is committed to protect this aspect,” it said.

Press freedom is a compromised reality in India

New Delhi, March 24 (iaNS): According to the World Press Freedom Index, which measures the level of freedom of information in 180 countries, ranks India at 140 for the year 2014. The rank is down from 131 in 2012. Among the questions the survey tries to seek answers to pertain to government (bureaucratic) interference in editorial content, transparency of government decision-making, independence in reporting and journalism training.

The US, as per the Index ranks at 46 (this is not a consolation for India) and has caused quite a stir in the country and a raging debate.

In India we have not yet blinked an eyelid and this leads to the following questions: - Are we oblivious to the face that the freedom of press in India is being conceded?

- Is it an important enough idea to debate and mull over?

- Is the media following the right journalistic ethic or some folks on ground are compromised?

These questions take us back and compels to revisit to one of the most scathing books - “Man-

ufacturing Consent” by Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman that I have read on media, its role, the power it yields, the influence it has.

A line in the book’s introductory chapter reads: “In countries where the levers of power are in the hands of a state bureaucracy, the monopolistic control over the media, often supplemented by official censorship, makes it clear that the media serves the ends of a dominant elite.”

In addition, it goes on to iterate further: “The elite domination of the media and the marginalization of dissidents occur so naturally that media news people, frequently operating with complete integrity and goodwill, are able to convince themselves that they choose and interpret the news objectively and on the basis of professional news values.”

Quoting the above doesn’t mean or suggest that one agrees with or endorses the views. Yet, it does help us in drawing closer to a reflection of reality that is worrying and maybe exceedingly inconvenient for the media to handle.

One would rather think the most important point of debate would be the state of journalistic ethic in the country.

We have had great editors and continue to have them in the country that has followed the journalistic ethics to the hilt. What is, though, worrying is that for every great editor or a journalist we can find one who is intellectually compromised, is clearly biased, doesn’t opine facts, verify the antecedents, plays on the rhetoric, presents shocking analysis or clearly had connived with the powers to be and quite likely the state bureaucracy.

The influence is not only through the state bureaucracy, but also through carefully crafted relationship campaigns that are not only dangerous as it clouds the judgment, interpretation of the situation, issue at hand, maybe make the journalist “intellectualise” the information provided and deem the same to be reality, and sensationalize the information to make it newsworthy.

The worrying idea here is not what is being done but what it can

do to the reputations of people, the twists in can bring on public opinion. In addition what we see within editors or journalists is the streak of stalling information or sharing views that sound good to their intellect. This could be a reflection of the editors or journalists idea of perfection and his interpretation of reality though this can create severe information and opinion asymmetry in the system.

At the end of the day we shouldn’t forget that a thriving democracy must respect diversity of idea, sharing of opinions, providing of correct and sound information and public debate.

In India we have shades of the same though we need to continuously work towards making the profession more analytical, providing for interpretations that appeal the intellect and are clearly not driven by personal agendas that could be influenced by the power hoarders.

If this doesn’t happen, or we don’t make strides towards the same, the residual value of an errant journalist or editor could be categorized as nuisance value.

Tuesday

InternatIonal

the Morung express

25 March 2014

Dimapur

9

Global Warming is big risk for people Seth Borenstein AP Science Writer Top climaTe scientists are gathering in Japan this week to finish up a report on the impact of global warming. and they say if you think climate change is only faced by some far-off polar bear decades from now, well, you’re mistaken. in fact, they will say, the dangers of a warming earth are immediate and very human.

“The polar bear is us,” says patricia Romero lankao of the federally financed National center for atmospheric Research in Boulder, colorado, referring to the first species to be listed as threatened by global warming due to melting sea ice.

She will be among the more than 60 scientists in Japan to finish writing a massive and authoritative report on the impacts of global warming. With representatives from about 100 governments at this week’s meeting of the intergovernmental panel on climate change, they’ll wrap up a summary that tells world leaders how bad the problem is.

The key message from leaked drafts and interviews with the authors and other scientists: The big risks and overall effects of global warming are far more immediate and local than scientists once thought. it’s not just about melting ice, threatened animals and plants. it’s about

In this Jan. 9, 2008, file photo provided by UNICEF a woman and child wade in flood waters in Mutarara, Mozambique in the Tete district. Thousands of people who lost their homes in floods last year are at risk again as the rising Zambezi river waters threaten their resettlement camps. Top climate scientists are gathering in Japan to finish up a report on the impact of global warming.

And they say if you think climate change is only faced by some far-off polar bear decades from now, well, you’re mistaken.

They say the dangers of a warming Earth are immediate and human. (AP File Photo)

the human problems of hunger, disease, drought, flooding, refugees and war, becoming worse.

The report says scientists have already observed many changes from warming, such as an increase in heat waves in North america, europe, africa and asia.

Severe floods, such as the one that displaced 90,000 people in mozambique in 2008, are now more common in africa and australia. europe and North america are getting more intense downpours that

can be damaging. melting ice in the arctic is not only affecting the polar bear, but already changing the culture and livelihoods of indigenous people in northern canada. past panel reports have been ignored because global warming’s effects seemed too distant in time and location, says pennsylvania State University scientist michael mann.

This report finds “it’s not far-off in the future and it’s not exotic creatures — it’s us and now,” says mann,

who didn’t work on this latest report.

The United Nations established the climate change panel in 1988 and its work is done by three groups. one looks at the science behind global warming. The group meeting in Japan beginning Tuesday studies its impacts. and a third looks at ways to slow warming. its reports have reiterated what nearly every major scientific organization has said: The burning of coal, oil and gas is producing an

increasing amount of heattrapping greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide.

Those gases change earth’s climate, bringing warmer temperatures and more extreme weather, and the problem is worsening.

The panel won the Nobel peace prize in 2007, months after it issued its last report. Since then, the impact group has been reviewing the latest research and writing 30 chapters on warming’s effects and regional impacts. Those chapters haven’t been officially

released but were posted on a skeptical website.

The key message can be summed up in one word that the overall report uses more than 5,000 times: risk. “climate change really is a challenge in managing risks,” says the report’s chief author, chris Field of the carnegie institution of Science in california. “it’s very clear that we are not prepared for the kind of events we’re seeing.” already the effects of global warming are “widespread and consequential,” says one part of the larger report, noting that science has compiled more evidence and done much more research since the last report in 2007. if climate change continues, the panel’s larger report predicts these harms: • VIOLENCE: For the first time, the panel is emphasizing the nuanced link between conflict and warming temperatures. participating scientists say warming won’t cause wars, but it will add a destabilizing factor that will make existing threats worse.

• FOOD: Global food prices will rise between 3 and 84 percent by 2050 because of warmer temperatures and changes in rain patterns.

Hotspots of hunger may emerge in cities.

• WATER: about onethird of the world’s population will see groundwater supplies drop by more than 10 percent by

One million children Gunmen kill six in attack on church The Somali islamist mili- on a shopping mall in Nairobi MOMBasa, March a year develop 24 (reuTers): Gunmen tant group al Shabaab and its in September. local police chief Robert in a foreign language local sympathisers have cartuberculosis: study shouting killed six worshippers in a ried out similar attacks in Ke- mureithi said Sunday’s assault church near the coastal city of nya, some of them on church- had “all the indicators of a ter-

About a million children, double the previous estimate, fall ill with tuberculosis every year, a study says. (AFP File Photo)

Paris, March 24 (aFP): about a million children, double the previous estimate, fall ill with tuberculosis every year, said a study monday that also gave the first tally of drug-resistant TB among the young. “many cases of tuberculosis and multi-drug resistant tuberculosis disease are not being detected in children,” it said. The team’s computer model, based on population data and previous studies, suggests 999,800 people aged under 15 fell sick with TB in 2010. around 40 percent of the cases were in Southeast asia and 28 percent in africa. “our estimate of the total number of new cases of childhood TB is twice that estimated by the WHo (World Health organisation) in 2011, and three times the number of child TB cases notified globally each year,” said Ted cohen from the Harvard School of public Health.

The research, published in The lancet, coincides with World TB Day, which places the spotlight on a disease that claims some 1.3 million lives each year. The team estimated that nearly 32,000 children in 2010 had multidrug resistant TB (mDR-TB), meaning the strain was impervious to frontline drugs isoniazid and rifampin and was thus harder and costlier to treat.

This is the first estimate of mDR-TB among children under 15, who constitute a quarter of the global population. children are at a higher risk of disease and death from mDR-TB, but react well to medication. They are harder to diagnose, partly because smaller children cannot cough up sputum samples needed for laboratory tests. Reliable estimates are necessary for health authorities to assign resources for diagnosing and treating the infectious lung disease. commenting on the study, Ben marais of the marie Bashir institute for infectious Diseases and Biosecurity in Sydney, australia, described it as the “most rigorous effort to date” to assess TB and mDR-TB incidence in children. “every effort should be made to reduce the massive case-detection gap and address the vast unmet need for diagnosis and treatment,” he said.

The WHo says about 450,000 people developed mDRTB in 2012 and 170,000 died from it. less than 20 percent of mDR patients received appropriate treatment, which promotes further spread of the disease. Nearly 10 percent of mDR cases are thought to be of the even deadlier XDR (extensively drug resistant) variety which does not respond to a yet wider range of drugs.

mombasa on Sunday, an attack of the kind that islamist militants have been carrying out in retaliation for Kenya’s intervention in neighbouring Somalia.

Witnesses said the attackers burst in through the church’s back door before shouting out and opening fire on the congregation.

“Both carried big guns and began shooting all over the place. i fell to the ground and could hear screams,” said lilian omondi, who was leading a prayer meeting at the time.

Blood-spattered Bibles and overturned plastic chairs and bullet casings lay strewn across the floor. The attackers tried to raid a second church nearby but fled when armed police on patrol in the area appeared. a top interior ministry official later said they had escaped, and there was no immediate claim of responsibility.

es, in revenge for the Kenyan army’s intervention against al Shabaab in Somalia. The Kenyan coast’s large muslim minority, many of whom feel marginalised by the predominantly christian government, have been a fertile recruitment ground for islamist militant networks.

Breaking up those networks has become a priority for the Nairobi government, but moderate clerics say its heavy-handed tactics have fuelled resentment among muslim youths.

NAIROBI MALL ATTACK Kenyans are increasingly alarmed at the relative ease with which militants appear to move around east africa’s biggest economy - a recipient of U.S. counter-terrorism funding. parliament called for better coordination between the security and intelligence agencies after 67 people were killed in an al Shabaab attack

rorist attack because the attackers did not steal anything and appeared focused on killing”. police threw a dragnet over the likoni neighbourhood, where the shooting occurred, rounding up more than 100 youths for questioning, mureithi said.

Two people were killed at the church and four more died of gunshot wounds in hospital, according to the Kenyan Red cross. at mombasa’s main hospital, doctors handed reporters x-rays showing bullets lodged in the skulls of a 2-yearold boy, whose mother was killed, and a male adult they were treating.

“The attackers have not done this on behalf of any religion or right-thinking group,” said Sheikh Juma Ngao, a prominent muslim cleric in mombasa. “if they are hoping to drive a wedge between religious groups in this region, then they are greatly mistaken.”

2080, when compared with 1980 levels. For every degree of warming, more of the world will have significantly less water available.

• HEALTH: major increases in health problems are likely, with more illnesses and injury from heat waves and fires and more food and water-borne diseases. But the report also notes that warming’s effects on health is relatively small compared with other problems, like poverty.

• WEALTH: many of the poor will get poorer. economic growth and poverty reduction will slow down. if temperatures rise high enough, the world’s overall income may start to go down, by as much as 2 percent, but that’s difficult to forecast. according to the report, risks from warmingrelated extreme weather, now at a moderate level, are likely to get worse with just a bit more warming.

While it doesn’t say climate change caused the events, the report cites droughts in northern mexico and the south-central United States, and hurricanes such as 2012’s Sandy, as illustrations of how vulnerable people are to weather extremes. it does say the deadly european heat wave in 2003 was made more likely because of global warming.

Texas Tech University climate scientist Katharine

Hayhoe, who was not part of this report team, says the important nuance is how climate change interacts with other human problems: “it’s interacting and exacerbating problems we already have today.”

University of colorado science policy professor Roger pielke Jr., a past critic of the panel’s impact reports, said after reading the draft summary, “it’s a lot of important work ...

They made vast improvements to the quality of their assessments.” another critic, University of alabama Huntsville professor John christy, accepts man-made global warming but thinks its risks are overblown when compared with something like poverty. climate change is not among the developing world’s main problems, he says.

But other scientists say christy is misguided. earlier this month, the world’s largest scientific organization, the american association for the advancement of Science, published a new fact sheet on global warming. it said: “climate change is already happening. more heat waves, greater sea level rise and other changes with consequences for human health, natural ecosystems and agriculture are already occurring in the United States and worldwide.

These problems are very likely to become worse over the next 10 to 20 years and beyond.”

Nepal to ease traffic on Mount Everest

KaTMaNDu, March 24 (aP): Nepal plans to minimize the congestion of climbers near the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) summit of mount everest, which is clogged with scores of climbers during the short window of good weather, officials said monday. one of the initiatives includes the introduction of separate fixed ropes for climbers ascending and descending near the summit to help ease the traffic, said Tourism ministry official mohan Krishna Sapkota. a team of government officials will be posted at the base camp located at 5,300 meters (17,380 feet) throughout the spring climbing season to monitor climbers and coordinate with expedition leaders, he said. The move follows years of criticism that Nepal has done little to manage the growing number of everest climbers despite making millions of dollars in fees. a nine-member government team will set up its own tent at the base camp to report on the activities there, provide help when needed and ensure that climbers are cleaning up behind them. They would also be able to stop any trouble, like last year’s brawl between three foreign climbers and local Sherpa guides. The officials

would include security personnel and would have the power to scrap the climbing permit and even order the climbers to leave the mountain.

Sapkota said the plan is to manage the flow of climbers working with expedition teams during the two or three opportunities in may when the weather is favorable for the climb above the South col at 8,000 meters (26,240 feet). climbers refer to it as the “death zone” because of the hostile conditions and little chance of rescue.

The separate ropes would allow the climbers returning from the summit to quickly get back to lower grounds to rest while they would not be blocking fellow climbers on the way to the summit. more than 800 climbers attempted to scale everest during the 2013 spring season and the number is expected to be similar this year too, according to the mountaineering Department. more than 4,000 climbers have scaled the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) summit since 1953, when it was first conquered by New Zealand climber edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay. Hundreds of others have died in the attempt.

Taiwan police retake government HQ

TaiPei, March 24 (aFP): Taiwan riot police unleashed water cannon monday to dislodge hundreds of demonstrators who had stormed government headquarters in violent scenes that dramatically escalated a days-old protest against a trade pact with china. after nearly a week-long occupation of Taiwan’s parliament, the protesters late Sunday also infiltrated the executive Yuan where the cabinet is located, pulling down barbed-wire barricades outside and using ladders to break into offices on the second floor.

The assault came after president ma Ying-jeou refused to back down on the trade pact, which he argues is vital for Taiwan’s economic future, rejecting opposition claims that he is effectively handing the island over to chinese control after six decades of political separation. about 1,000 officers were deployed overnight to forcibly remove the protesters from the executive Yuan. premier Jiang Yihuah, whose office is located in the building, said at least 110 people were injured, including 52 police officers, while police arrested 61 people.

“Suddenly water was spraying at us and it was very powerful. my glasses flew off and i was very dizzy,” protester Frank Hsieh, a former premier from the opposition Democratic progressive party (Dpp), told reporters. one injured male protester lay on the ground receiving medical care, while another was led away with blood streaming down his face, aFp journalists saw. after taking over the building, many

Students protesting against a China Taiwan trade pact are forced by riot police to leave the government Cabinet buildings in Taipei, Taiwan, on Monday, March 24, 2014. Hundreds of protesters opposed to a far-reaching trade pact with China invaded Taiwan’s Cabinet offices, marking a sharp escalation in a student-led movement against the island’s rapidly developing ties with the communist mainland. (AP Photo)

protesters had lain on the ground with their arms linked to defy efforts to shift them. police used riot shields to push the crowds back while some of the demonstrators tried to grab their batons and pelted them with plastic bottles. Two water cannon trucks were then deployed early monday, eventually subduing the crowd and clearing the building. “The government denounces violence and dispersed the crowd according to the law. We will not tolerate actions designed to paralyse the government,” the presidential office said in a statement.

Let us calm down But the Dpp, which historically has favoured formal independence for Taiwan, called on ma to respond to the protesters’ demands and scrap the pact. “Forcible dispersals will only cause more students and police to get hurt and are likely to trigger more outrage and protests,” the party said in a statement. ma has overseen a marked thaw in relations with Beijing since he came to power in 2008 pledging to strengthen trade and tourism links. But china still

considers Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification -- by force if necessary -- while Taipei still styles itself the legitimate “Republic of china”.

The president warns that trade-reliant Taiwan could be marginalised without the china agreement -- which is designed to further open up trade in services -- and similar pacts with other countries, as regional economic blocs emerge. “i must say that (the pact) is completely for the sake of Taiwan’s economic future,” ma told a news conference on Sunday, denouncing the parliamentary sit-in before the protests spread to the executive Yuan. “let us calm down and think carefully. is this the democracy we want? Do we have to do in this way, risking the rule of law?”

Some 200 protesters -- mainly college students -- stormed the parliament last Tuesday and took over its main chamber to stop ma’s ruling Kuomintang (KmT) party from ratifying the agreement with china. Hundreds of police attempted to end the occupation hours after it began, but failed to push their way through piles of armchairs barricading the doorways. after the unruly scenes at the executive Yuan, hundreds of police remained deployed outside the parliament complex a short walk away on monday. But they showed no sign of intervening to retake control of the chamber inside, where the protesters remain holed up. parliamentary speaker Wang Jin-pyng, who is from the KmT party, has ruled out force to retake the chamber and called for a peaceful resolution.

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Dimapur

SPORTS

Tuesday 25 March 2014

Juventus beats 10-man Catania in Serie A

Juventus Argentine striker Carlos Tevez scores during the Serie A soccer match between Catania and Juventus at the Angelo Massimino stadium in Catania, Italy, Sunday, March 23. (AP Photo)

MILAN, MArch 24 (AP): Juventus maintained its charge to a third successive Serie A title as it won 1-0 at 10-man Catania in a fiery match in Serie A on Sunday.

Carlos Tevez scored the only goal of the game to take him level with Torino striker Ciro Immobile at the top of the scoring charts.

Catania was forced to play with 10 men for much of the second half after Gonzalo Bergessio was dismissed following a second booking. Both coaches were also sent to the stands for protests during the first period.

Juventus restored its 14-point lead over Roma,

which has a game in hand.

"I think the referee wanted to give a warning to the players, by sending off the managers and calming things down a bit," Conte said. "The match was very heated and we were good to keep a cool head.

"I am very proud of the lads. We are playing at extraordinary levels, but we have to give credit to Roma, which is doing something incredible. So we have to stay awake because nothing is over and decided yet."

Earlier, Fiorentina snatched a late 1-0 win at 10-man Napoli to boost its chances of sneaking into

the Champions League.

Inter Milan is four points further back after a lastminute goal consigned it to a 2-1 loss at home to Atalanta. Parma is level, but with a game in hand, after it drew 1-1 with Genoa in the lunchtime kickoff.

"It was the perfect day, seeing as we opened up a gap on those behind us and got closer to third spot," Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Montella said. "It will be difficult to reach because Napoli is strong and has a big advantage. But we'll try right until the end."

Lazio is five points off a European spot after be-

ing held to a 1-1 draw by AC Milan. Hellas Verona's European bid was dented again as it lost 5-0 at Sampdoria.

Elsewhere, Udinese beat Sassuolo 1-0 and Bologna won a relegation fight against Cagliari by the same score. It was top against bottom in Serie A and 55 points separated Juventus and Catania going into the match.

Tension was high from the start as the Juventus bus was pelted with objects on its way to the stadium. Juventus struggled but broke the deadlock shortly before the hour mark. Pablo Os-

valdo nodded back a long ball from Andrea Pirlo for Tevez to race forward and fire home an angled drive for his 16th goal of the season.

Both Napoli and Fiorentina were in need of a confidence boost after crashing out of the Europa League midweek. Faouzi Ghoulam was controversially dismissed in the 37th minute after bringing down Marko Bakic on the edge of the area and Joaquin headed home the winner two minutes from time.

Fiorentina moved seven points behind third-place Napoli. There was also a late goal in Milan, where Giacomo Bonaventura scored his second of the game 10 seconds from time when he was left completely unmarked at the far post to head a free kick between Samir Handanovic's legs.

Mauro Icardi had cancelled out Bonaventura's opener within 60 seconds in the first half. To celebrate he held up a T-shirt dedicated to his girlfriend Wanda Nera, the ex-wife of former Sampdoria teammate Maxi Lopez. Inter should have sealed the match in the second half but Fredy Guarin smashed a shot off the crossbar and Rodrigo Palacio sent a glancing header onto the left upright.

Both sides could have snatched the win. Inter's Jonathan cleared off the line three minutes from time before chipping the ball off the underside of the crossbar at the other end. Atalanta also hit the woodwork in the first half, when German Denis headed Bonaventura's cross off the crossbar.

Parma maintained its charge toward a European spot as it extended its club record unbeaten run to 17 matches. Milan coach Clarence Seedorf was under pressure with seven defeats in his 12 matches in charge.

5th Silver Cup T-20 Cricket Tournament Deenix CC and Dimapur CC enters quarter-final KOhIMA, MArch 24 (MExN): Deenix Cricket Club, Mon and Dimapur Cricket Club entered the quarter-final of the 5th Silver Cup T-20 Cricket Tournament organised

by Youth Department of Nepali Baptist Church Kohima under the theme ‘Peace and Unity through Cricket’ at Kohima Local ground.

Playing the first match of the day, Deenix CC Mon defeated Friends CC Kohima by 7 wickets.

FCC won the toss and electing to bat 83 scored 19.3 overs losing all wickets. Deenix bowler Stephen took 4 wickets while Pawan took two wickets. Chasing the target Deenix managed it in 10.2 over losing only 3 wickets with Ahot and Wangtok scoring 22 each. FCC bowler Taju took 2 wickets.

Stephen of Deenix was adjudged man of the match.

In the last pre-quarter final match, Dimapur CC knocked Eleven Weavers Kohima by 83 runs. Taking the bat, DCC set a target of 206 for 6 in 20 overs with Shanwaz contributing 90 runs and remained not out while Saddique scored 52. Eleven Weavers bowlers Peter and Vishal took two wickets each.

Eleven Weavers chasing the huge target were all out in 18.5 overs scoring 123 runs. Sujay and Hanilong took three wickets each for DCC. Man of the match went to Shanwaz and was also awarded the maroon cap.

Quarter Final matches for March 25: Lhomithi SC Dimapur vs Kohima Hornbills @ 7:00 am Whiskers CC Dimapur vs Juggernauts @ 10:30 am Unicorn Kohima vs Blue Star Dima- Man of the match of Deenix Stephen receiving the award from ex-Deacon pur @ 2:00 pm of NBC Kohima Mohon Mangrati.

Los Angeles Lakers forward Jordan Hill, left, puts up a shot as Orlando Magic center Dewayne Dedmon defends during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, March 23, 2014, in Los Angeles. The Lakers won 103-94. (AP Photo)

rest of the way to avoid tying the 1974-75 squad for the worst record since the franchise relocated from Minneapolis to Los Angeles in 1960-61. But eight games on their remaining schedule are against teams that currently are over .500.

Orlando point guard Victor Oladipo, the second overall pick in the draft, had 21 points and 10 assists in

his eighth career start while Jameer Nelson missed his third straight game with a sore left knee. Aaron Afflalo scored 18 points for the Magic, one night after they lost 89-88 at Utah on a 3-pointer by Trey Burke with 1.6 seconds remaining.

Kyle O'Quinn had 14 points and seven rebounds, and is averaging 8.9 points and 7.0 boards during the

More LoCAL NewS...

FLPD demands action against encroachers

DIMAPUr, MArch 24 (MExN): The Forum of Landowners/Pattadars, Dimapur (FLPD) has appealed for the Dimapur Deputy Commissioner to take action against land encroachers. A press note from the forum informed that it had submitted a representation to the Dimapur DC in January 2014, “depicting their grievances, especially regarding land encroachment and allotment of land pattas to non locals.” It had further urged for the responsible authority to “spot verify the matter and take action.”

The forum also reminded the district administration regarding “directives of the government that no land patta holder would occupy the land under army occupation, until the land is officially handed over to and taken over by the government.” It added that the forum has been “standing by the directives of the government.” However, it lamented that the DC has “failed to grant the plea made by the undersigned for allotment of time, as an audience for a number of times.” It

informed that the spot verification was done only in the month of March 2014, and that the DC “has not taken any action against the encroachers.”

The forum also made available the letter and the verification report submitted to the Deputy Commissioner in this regard. The Land and Survey Officer, Dimapur had, in his report, informed that the plot of land at Block No 7, Dag No 24 and 25 has been developed by private parties by way of RCC construction. It stated that land under consideration is under the jurisdiction of army occupied area as per the surveyor report. The Surveyor from the LRS office, Dimapur in his report corroborated the same information.

“If the government cannot provide protection to the army occupied land, then it must stop the landowners/pattadars from protecting their own land.

The land owners and pattadars will be compelled to take their own course of action, for which they shall not be held responsible,” the FLPD stated.

NCSU reiterates demand for open tender of major projects

KOhIMA, MArch 24 (MExN): Nagaland Contractors’ & Suppliers’ Union (NCSU) has reiterated its stand that its demand for open tender is not only for the ongoing “historic project” of the Foothill road construction, but as usual embraces all other major contract works or projects in Nagaland. NCSU said this in response to a news item regarding Nagaland Foothill road construction which appeared in local dailies, wherein it was stated that the “ten tribal hohos also resolved to ask the Nagaland Contractors’ & Suppliers’ Union to immediately withdraw their news statement in respect of the Foothill road project, failing which the NCSU members would not be allowed to execute any contract works within the jurisdiction of the ten tribes.”

While appreciating the sentiments of the ten tribal hohos, NCSU in a press statement appended by its president Pele Khezhie and general secretary John Kath asserted that NCSU has been advocating the rights and privileges of

the registered contractors and to ensure quality and standard workmanship through open tender for the last 38 years since its inception. “Therefore, our stand for open tender with regard to the ongoing Foothill road construction is legitimate and not intended against any particular tribe or hoho as we have been voicing for the common interest and welfare of the people of Nagaland as a whole.” As a matter of fact, NCSU added, any NGO cannot override the rules framed and enforced by the competent authority.

Further, lauding the Nagaland Foothill Road Construction Committee (NFHRCC) under whose leadership the “much needed” project could be taken up, NCSU stated it “would ultimately leave the matter to the fellow Naga citizens to judge who is truly working for justice and fairness.” Hence, it reiterated its demand that all major projects in the state be carried out with all fairness through open tender for selection of contractors.

Public meeting in Mkg on March 26 MOKOKchUNG, MArch 24 (MExN): Mokokchung Chamber of Commerce and Industries under the aegis of Ao Senden and in collaboration with ACAUT Nagaland is organizing a public meeting on March 26, 10:00 am at Town Hall Mokokchung. The following NGOs/ Unions/ Associations have been requested to attend the meeting voluntarily: Office bearers and executives of all the six Tsükong Mungdang (Range Councils) of Mokokchung district; Office bearers and Executives of Watsü Mungdang; Office bearers, Executives and Tsükong (Range) representatives of Ao Kaketshir Mungdang (AKM); Of-

fice bearers and Executives of Mokokchung Town Aor Telongjem; Office bearers and Executives of Mokokchung Town Lanur Telongjem; All the Village Council Chairmen and Executives of Mokokchung District; 18 Ward Chairmen and Executives of Mokokchung Town; All Communities /Tribes Unions of Mokokchung Town; Concerned general public of Mokokchung Town and nearby villages.

MCCI in a press release have requested the representatives of all frontal organizations to actively participate in the interactive session during the meeting.

29 AR apprehends three arms dealers

Lakers snap 4-game skid with Magic win

LOS ANGELES, MArch 24 (AP): Jordan Hill had a career-high 28 points along with 13 rebounds in his first start in over nine weeks and the Los Angeles Lakers beat Orlando 103-94 on Sunday night, sending the Magic to their ninth straight loss.

Nick Young scored 26 points off the bench, helping the Lakers end a fourgame skid. Pau Gasol had six points in 18 minutes, and sat out the second half after feeling nauseous and dizzy.

Steve Nash, who had 11 assists in 19 minutes off the bench Friday night against Washington after missing the previous 15 games because of chronic nerve damage in his back, did not play. The 40-year-old twotime MVP has been limited to just 11 games all season because of his condition.

Xavier Henry, who was back in the lineup for just nine games after missing 28 because of a bone bruise on his right knee, was sidelined again after tearing a ligament in his left wrist in the loss to the Wizards. He will be re-examined Monday.

The Lakers (23-46) have to go no worse than 8-5 the

The Morung Express

last eight games and has blocked 15 shots since replacing Tobias Harris at the starting power forward spot.

Harris had 28 points and a career-high 20 rebounds for the Magic in a 114-105 victory against the Lakers on Jan. 24 at Orlando, but the Magic are 7-20 since.

They have lost 23 of their last 24 road games - the only exception a 101-90 win against

Philadelphia on Feb. 26.

The Lakers led throughout the second half, but never led by double digits.

Orlando got as close as 8380 on a 15-footer by Afflalo, but the Lakers converted 13 of 14 free throws over the final 5:18 to put it away.

Young's 3-pointer was their only field goal during the final 8 minutes. Hill, making his first start since Jan. 17, paced Los Angeles to a 55-48 halftime lead with 14 points and six rebounds.

The Lakers converted seven Orlando turnovers into nine points during the first 5:03 and took a 25-17 lead on a four-point play by Young, his franchise-record fifth of the season and eighth by the team - also a franchise best.

The Magic played nine full minutes without a turnover following their seventh miscue. Harris gave them their only lead, 30-29, with 10:26 left in the second quarter on a putback layup following a missed 3-point shot by E'Twaun Moore. But the Lakers responded with a 17-2 run, capped by a jumper from Kendall Marshall that gave them a 46-32 margin with 6:09 left in the half.

DIMAPUr, MArch 24 (MExN): 29 Assam Rifles apprehended three arms dealers from Burma Camp, Dimapur on March 21. The individuals had two 7.65 mm pistols along with four magazines, according to a press release. They have been identified as Vetatso Chakhesang, Sashi Aier and Athikho Lea. On questioning, they revealed that they were planning to sell the weapons to an unidentified person in Assam. The apprehended individuals were handed over to East Police Station, Dimapur, it added.

ed over to Police Station, Tuli for further investigation.

Free medical camp at Wapnyu 33 Assam Rifles under the aegis of HQ 7 Sector AR organised a free medical camp on March 21 at Wapnyu village (Pani Kheti). More than 210 patients from Wanpnyu villages and other neighboring villages were treated for various common ailments by Assam Rifles medical officer along with his team of medical assistants. The locals appreciated the efforts of Assam Rifles in reaching out to the people living in remote vilOne NSCN (IM) cadre apprehended During a routine patrol on March 21, lages where no medical facilities exist, troops of 31 Assam Rifles apprehended the press release noted. one NSCN (IM) cadre from18 Mile Junction, Tuli. The apprehended has been IMLF seized During a routine MVCP on March identified as B Phuhlom Phom, Leacy, Phom Region. One pistol, four rounds 20, 18 Assam Rifles seized illegal liquor of live ammunition and some extortion from a van coming from Jalukie to Peren notes were recovered on him, the re- and apprehended one identified as lease stated. The cadre was later hand- Tomy in the connection.

DCCZ focuses on enlarging number of supporters ZUNhEbOtO, MArch 24 (MExN): District Congress Committee Zunheboto (DCCZ) convened a meeting with all the ACCCs on March 20 at Congress Bhavan, Zunheboto. During the sitting, the presidents of all the assembly constituencies gave reports on how the Congress party workers are preparing for the upcoming Lok Sabha election 2014. DCC Zunheboto comprising seven constituencies, with two Congress MLAs in the Nagaland Assembly, have been working tirelessly to enlarge the number of supporters in all the constituencies, stated a press release issued by DCCZ general secretary (Admin).

According to the reports of the ACCC presidents, the release said, at this parliamentary election, the Congress party workers as well as the supporters in all the polling booths are more vigilant compared to the previous elections.

Shikuto Sumi, 88, president of 22 A/C exhorted the party workers that the “Congress party in Nagaland will come to power as Naga people need national political party like Congress party who truly works for the common people in our nation.”

Joshua Swu, president of Nagaland Pradesh Youth Congress also stated that the facts and figures in the booklet “11 years of NPF misrule in Nagaland under Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio” published

by NPCC have been furnished through RTI. “Distributing this booklet will create good atmosphere as Naga people are displeased with the NPF government,” he added.

DCCZ further resolved to fight the election with “strong determination” as it has an issue to stand for the common people, while asserting to strongly support INC candidate KV Pusa.

State Sepaktakraw Junior team to compete in Patna

DIMAPUr, MArch 24 (MExN): The Nagaland Sepaktakraw Junior Team will take part in the 17th Junior National Patna from March 28 to 31. The team will consist of 12 boys and 5 girls, including team officials and national referees.

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Tuesday

Entertainment

The Morung Express

25 March 2014

Dimapur

11

Shakira unveils second official World Cup song

1D's Midnight Memories named best-selling global album of C 2013 O

ne Direction`s Midnight Memories has been named the best-selling global album by the BPI, the UK`s recorded music industry trade association. The boyband`s latest record sold four million copies in a mere five weeks, beating Eminem`s The Marshall Mathers LP 2 to top the year-end chart, reportedly.

Midnight Memories earned numerous accolades throughout last year, including landing the number-one spot on 19 charts around the world. Around one in eight albums sold around the world are by British artists, and One Direction are certainly playing their part in maintaining this fantastic achievement, said BPI`s Gennaro Castaldo.

It all helps to add up to a golden decade of global success for British music, and with some huge albums out later this year, not least from the likes of Coldplay in May and a rumoured new release from Adele, there must be another good chance that a British artist will again top the global bestsellers list come the end of the 2014, Castaldo added. Adele`s 21 topped the worldwide chart for both of the last two years, prior to One Direction reaching the summit.

Rishi Kapoor pledges to donate organs A

ctor Rishi Kapoor here today pledged to donate organs. After distributing prizes to the winners of `Transplant Games 2014` at PGIMER here, the 61-year-old veteran actor signed the pledge to be an organ donor. Rishi appealed to the general public to

come forward for this noble cause and donate organs after death.

The games, which saw participation by 300 people, were conceptualized to showcase the safety and success of transplantation as a means to a normal life and to spread awareness of kidney

donation, a PGIMER spokesperson said here. Rishi was last seen in Yash Raj`s `Bewakoofiyaan`, where he played actress Sonam Kapoor`s father.

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olombian pop star Shakira has recorded a second official World Cup song after the superhit `Waka Waka South Africa` anthem back in 2010. The 37-year-old star, dating Spain defender Gerard Pique, has penned `La La La` a reworked version of new song Dare, for this summer`s Brazil event, reportedly. It is an upbeat, Brazilian track.

The lyrics are personal and I have actually recorded a version for the World Cup, Shakira said.

Even the singer`s son Milan features on the track.

I was in the studio and Milan came in to hang out in the afternoon. I had him on my lap and he was listening and then when it came to the end of the song, he just went `myah`, she said.

After a five-year break, Shakira is back with a new, self-titled album.

She says getting Rihanna for her lead single `Can`t Remember To Forget You` was easy. Rihanna is very sweet, very humble, very warm. She is not a diva at all. She was a treat, I feel humbled and very honoured to work with her, she said.

Sean Penn traded an autograph for cigarettes

T

he 'Gangster Squad' star was out with his new girlfriend Charlize Theron jogging, but when he got back to their car he suddenly realised he'd left his packed at home.

A source said ''He asked Charlize if she'd brought her smokes, but she hadn't and because he'd left his wallet at her house, he couldn't buy a new pack.''

Sean, 53, was then approached by a fan who happened to have a packet of cigarettes protruding from his front pocket, prompting a change of heart in Sean, who never normally poses for pictures with people.

When the fan asked if he could have a photo the actor retorted ''How about I trade you a photograph for a couple of cigs'', according to the National Enquirer. The man was happy to hand over his whole packet, but Sean didn't want to take advantage and reportedly just took two, and happily posed for a photo.

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THE GLOBAL OPEN UNIVERSITY NAGALAND Presents

Trendz-O-Mania

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The 3rd Annual Fashion Show 2014 "Alobo Naga & the band" posing after the show at North East Carnival, Bangalore. The boys did back to back four continuous shows from Turquoise Cottage & Potala Hotel at Delhi & Phoenix City market amphitheatre.

Man of The Event:

Shri. Kuzholuzo Nienu

Minister for Road & Bridges, Parliamentary Affairs, Govt. Of Nagaland unitexLOGO.pdf

Special Appearance: Chekrovolu Swuro (The first Naga Female Olympian, Recipient of Arjuna Awardees 2013, 2013) Sponsors Featuring : Mengu Suokhrie & LC Sekhose

Venue: Molu ki, Para medical Colony, Kohima Nagaland05:00 StatePmYouth Icon Date: 26th March 2014,Time:

Venue: Molu ki, Para medical Colony, Kohima Date: 26th March 2014, Time: 05:00 p.m.

Sponsors

Come and join us for a night of nothing but Nirvana!!!

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irvana had a giant impact on music in the nineties and beyond, despite only lasting for seven years. They were formed in the grunge hot-bed of Seattle in 1987. Nirvana’s classic rock album Nevermind brought rock back into the mainstream, selling millions upon millions of copies. Nirvana reached a tragic end in April of 1994 when Cobain passed away. Throughout Nirvana's short career and till today the band changed the scene of alternative rock and have inspired many new bands.

Rolling Stone calls them one of the few bands in rock history that had a more immediate and tangible impact

on their contemporary pop musical landscape in the early Nineties.

This Friday (28th March), 9 accomplished bands from Nagaland, Guwahati and Shillong will be performing songs from the America’s most famous grunge band Nirvana at Upstairs’ first ever Nirvana Tribute Show.

Upstairs is most popularly known for hosting the best live music shows in Dimapur. Their stage has featured the most accomplished bands of Nagaland, popular bands from all over India and international artistes as well. Through this show Upstairs aims to bring tal-

ented artistes together and to keep different genres of music alive.

Lineup for the live show on 28th March 2014: Alobo Naga And The Band, Footprints, Paper Sky, Placid Pinch, Stereotype, Street Stories, Sulfurcloud, We The Giants and White Noise.

Come and get your grunge on and watch an amazing set of nothing but NIRVANA songs all night long!!!!

When : Where : Time : Entry :

28th March 2014 Upstairs, Walford, Dimapur 6 PM onwards Rs.500 (Limited tickets available at Upstairs and WTF Cafe, City Tower Junction)

Admissions Open from May 2014

ENTRY ONLY BY INVITATION & DONORS

* BBA FD (3 Years) & * Short Term Course(6 Months) Kohima Campus

Associate Sponsor

DONOR CARDS WILL ALSO BE AVAILABLE AT THE VENUE ON THE DAY OF THE EVENT.

FOR DONOR CARDS & INVITATION PLEASE CONTACT BELOW: OFFICE ADDRESS: DEPARTMENT OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY, THE GLOBAL OPEN UNIVERSITY, NAGALAND, KOHIMA CAMPUS, NEAR VETERINARY and A & H OFFICE, TINPATI JUNCTION, PEZIELIETSIE COLONY, KOHIMA, NAGALAND- 797001.

CONTACT NO : (O) 0370-2260569, 9856205680 (M) EMAIL: openedu@rediffmail.com, FAX: 0370-2260573

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Tendulkar to attend Barca beat Real in El Clasico Sachin Bahrain Grand Prix with family DUBAI, MARch 24 (PTI): Cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar will be in the visitors gallery to watch the Bahrain Grand Prix scheduled to be held next month. Bahrain's first-ever Formula One night race will be held at Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir from April 4 to 6.

Tendulkar, who retired from all forms of cricket last year, will travel to Manama with his family at the invitation of Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Premier, reported Gulf Daily News.

Leading Bahraini businessman Mohammed Dadabhai, who is a friend of the cricketer, has confirmed

Barcelona's Lionel Messi from Argentina, centre left, scores his goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, March 23. (AP Photo)

MADRID, MARch 24 (AP): Lionel Messi scored a hat trick to give Barcelona a 4-3 win at 10-man Real Madrid in an electrifying and contentious "clasico" match that kept the threeway Spanish league title race wide open.

The result means Atletico Madrid now tops the table, with Madrid level on points in second and Barcelona a point behind in third with nine games remaining as the title race shapes up to be the closest in years.

In a game that saw three penalties, a red card and a host of missed chances, Andres Iniesta set the tone by rocketing home an early opener, only for Karim Benzema's brace to put the hosts ahead by the 24th.

The teams went into the break level at 2-2 after Messi slotted in an equalizer, only for Cristiano Ronaldo to reestablish Madrid's lead with a 55th-minute penalty.

But Messi scored a pair of penalties after that — including the 65th-minute equalizer after Sergio Ramos was sent off — to end Madrid's 31-game unbeaten run stretching back to the last "clasico" in October.

"It's unusual to see so many penalties called in a clasico," Barcelona fullback Jordi Alba said. "This win will give us a lot of momentum going forward."

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Referee not up to Clasico Standard, fumes Ronaldo

MADRID, MARch 24 (AFP): Twotime World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo slammed referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco after Real Madrid were beaten for the first time in 32 games 4-3

by Barcelona on Sunday.

Mallenco awarded three penalties on the night with Ronaldo scoring the first one for Madrid to put them 3-2 up 10 minutes after half-time. However, Sergio Ramos was then sent-off for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity for a foul on Neymar inside the area before Xabi Alonso was adjudged to have tripped Andres Iniesta seven minutes from time.

Lionel Messi converted both spotkicks to complete a hat-trick after cancelling out Karim Benzema's double at the end of the first-half to become the all-time leading scorer in games between the two sides. "There were a lot of mistakes for just While Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti tried to defuse tension surrounding the three penalties, Ronaldo did not. "I don't want to say the referee favored one team more than the other, but he favored Barca a little more," Ronaldo said.

"Right up until the last game this league is wide open," Ancelotti said. "Any of these last nine games can prove decisive." The high pace of play and buzzing atmosphere inside the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium left

one game. A match between Real and Barca ought to have a high level of referee," said Ronaldo. "You can't make correct decisions when you are nervous. It makes me think that it is not just on the field that you win games, a little help from outside helps too. "My penalty might have been just outside the area, but there are many things that went on. It is difficult when many people didn't want us to win today."

Ronaldo's coach Carlo Ancelotti was more level-headed about Mallenco's decisions, but did agree that Ramos' red card swung the game in Barca's favour. "I haven't seen it again and it is difficult for me to comment on the decisions of the referee because there were many. "However, it was the key moment. We were winning 3-2 and controlling the game well, but it is much more difficult to control the game with a player less."

little doubt this was a "clasico" with much at stake.

Messi spotted Iniesta's run down the left side seven minutes in and slid a perfect ball clear into the area for him to lift into the top of goal to kickstart the memorable match.

Madrid winger Angel Di Maria troubled right back Dani Alves throughout, especially when he twice set up Benzema with crosses from the left side, with the France striker nodding home the first in the 20th

before controlling the second to smash a right-footed volley beyond Victor Valdes. The goalkeeper got a glove to Benzema's opener but couldn't keep it out.

The strengths and philosophies of each club were apparent as Barcelona looked to set the tempo through possession while Madrid always looked dangerous when breaking on the counter. Madrid's defense nodded off when Neymar and Messi's hopeful combination came to

fruition and the Argentina star could equalize before halftime, with Benzema left ruing a number of missed chances that could have given Madrid control.

Gareth Bale's speed provided problems for Barcelona down the right, but Ronaldo was equally troublesome along the left and he was tripped by Dani Alves after the break to set up the penalty for his league-leading 26th goal that put Madrid back on top. However, replays showed the contact had taken place just outside the penalty area.

But Barcelona replied when Ramos was shown a straight red for tangling with Neymar and Messi stepped to equalize again. Benzema then came off as Madrid looked to defend the draw, with Barcelona patiently coming forward and Dani Alves sending a shot off the post in the 74th. Iniesta was then taken down by Xabi Alonso and Dani Carvajal in the area to set up the 84th-minute spot kick that Messi slotted home for his 21st goal of the season.

"You could say some of the decisions penalized us, but it doesn't change anything," Ancelotti said.

"We're not happy because we lost an important opportunity, but that's OK. We just need an immediate reaction now."

the visit. "This is great news that will bring both Bahrain and India closer as the cricketing idol has accepted the invitation to visit Bahrain to attend this year's Formula One race," Dadabhai was quoted as saying. "There is

no doubt that Sachin Tendulkar, who is visiting with his family, will be one of the main attractions of this major event and we are happy that the most popular cricketer in the world is visiting Bahrain," he added.

REEva To oSCaR PiSToRiuS: 'i'm scared of you sometimes' the early hours of February 14, 2013. Three hit her, with the last one probably killing her almost instantly, according to the pathologist who performed the autopsy.

But Pistorius says he thought she was a nighttime intruder in his pitchblack house and believed he was firing in self-defense. He pleaded not guilty to murder.

PReToRIA, MARch 24 (cNN): Reeva Steenkamp told Oscar Pistorius she was afraid of him and his temper less than three weeks before he shot and killed her, the judge in his murder trial was told Monday. "I'm scared of you sometimes, of how you snap at me," the South African model told Pistorius in a long chat message.

"You have picked on me incessantly," she wrote, calling Pistorius "nasty" after he apparently accused her of flirting with someone at a party.

"I was not flirting with anyone today and I feel sick that you suggested that," she told him via WhatsApp, according to the police officer who downloaded their chats after Pistorius shot and killed her. "You do everything to throw tantrums," she said, conclud-

ing the message: "I'm certainly very unhappy and sad." Police Capt. Francois Moller, who downloaded the messages from Steenkamp's iPhone, said that 90% of the chats between the two were normal and loving. But there were several that accused Pistorius of jealousy and possessiveness. Less than a week before he killed her, she wrote him another long message after he apparently lost his temper with her as they left a public event together.

She reached the exit before he did, she wrote, adding: "I didn't think you would criticize me for doing that, especially so loudly that others could hear.... I regard myself as a lady and I didn't feel like one after we left."

Pistorius admits that the killed Steenkamp, firing four shots through a closed door in his house in

'Terrified screaming' Moller's testimony came after a neighbor of Pistorius said on the witness stand that she heard "terrified, terrified screaming" the morning the Olympian killed his girlfriend.

Questioned by prosecutor Gerrie Nel, Anette Stipp said she awoke early the morning of February 14, 2013, and heard "terrified, terrified screaming ...

It sounds to me as if there's a family murder, why else would she scream like that." Stipp described hearing a series of three shots, a woman screaming, also a man screaming, and then three more shots before the screaming stopped.

Her husband, Dr. Johan Stipp, testified earlier in the trial. The trial was originally scheduled to last until March 20 but will now continue until the middle of May, the South African court hearing the case said Sunday.

Sa beat NZ by 2 runs in last-ball thriller

NeW DeLhI, MARch 24 (TNN): Dale Steyn (417) bowled a brilliant final over to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat for South Africa as they beat New Zealand by 2 runs in their World Twenty20 clash at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on Monday. Requiring just seven runs of the final over with 5 wickets in hand, New Zealand looked destined for a win but Steyn has different script to tell in the end.

Steyn dismissed Luke Ronchi with the very first ball of the last over, then followed it up with two dot balls. Nathan McCullum (4) hit the fourth ball for a four making it 3 runs from last two balls.

The drama continued as Steyn got rid of McCullum in the next ball and Ross Taylor (62) was run out in the last ball as Kiwis missed the target by just two runs.

Chasing 171-run target, New Zealand managed 168/8 in their stipulated 20 overs. Kiwis lost Kane Williamson (51) after he added 51 runs for the third wicket with Ross Taylor to lead their run chase against South Africa in their World Twenty20 clash at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on Monday. Williamson raced to his fifty in just 31 balls, which included two sixes and five

Sri Lanka win as Dutch out for a record low

South Africa's players celebrate after defeating New Zealand in their ICC Twenty20 Cricket World Cup match in Chittagong, Bangladesh, Monday, March 24. (AP Photo)

fours, but failed to continue further as AB de Villiers took a brilliant catch near the ropes off Dale Steyn to dismiss him.

New Zealand lost Brendon McCullum (4) and Martin Guptill (22) in successive overs (8th & 9th).

New Zealand openers put on a quick 57-run stand to provide a perfect platform to their run chase. The duo took Kiwis over 50-run mark in 6.2 overs. Late charge by JP Duminy (86 not out) helped South Africa score 170/6 against New Zealand. Du-

NeW DeLhI: Sri Lanka secured a comfortable 9-wicket win over Netherlands after bowling them out for just 39, lowest T20I score ever, in the World T20 Super 10 match at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on Monday. Lanka lost just the wicket of opener Kusal Perera during their chase.

Earlier, Netherlands batting order collapsed like a pack of cards as they were out for a record low total.

Only Tom Cooper reached double-digit figures for the Netherlands, scoring 16. Ajantha Mendis and Angelo Mathews claimed three wickets each, while Lasith Malinga took 2-5. Nuwan Kulasekara was 1-0. After Sri Lanka invited Netherlands to bat, Nuwan Kulasekara struck in the first over and got opener Stephan Myburgh caught for a duck at third man by Lasith Malinga. Angelo Mathews capitalised on the good start and struck twice in the second over to remove MR Swart (0) and W Barresi (0) in consecutive deliveries.

Though Mathews failed to get a hat-trick but he dealt another blow to the minnows on the final delivery of the fourth over by trapping PW Borren infront of the wickets, reducing them to 9/4. At the score of 25, Netherlands lost Ben Cooper (8). Ajantha Mendis gave Lanka sixth success by ending the challenge of Tom Cooper who scored 16. Lasith Malinga too joined the party by bowling out LV van Beek and Mudassar Bukhari with brilliant yorkers in the 10th over. Ajantha Mendis then wrapped up the last two men to bowl out the Ducth for a record total with 9.3 overs to spare. miny slammed three massive sixes and ten fours in his quick-fire 43-ball knock. Duminy raced to his fifty off just 31 balls as South Africa made a gallant fightback after losing wickets at regular intervals early in their innings.

All-rounder Corey Ander-

son struck again as he caught & bowled David Miller soon after Duminy's fifty. Hashim Amla (41) lost his wicket in a strange and unlucky way as the ball ricochet from nonstriker Duminy's bat to give Anderson an easy caught & bowled chance.

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