6th February 2014

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Dimapur VOL. IX ISSUE 34

The Morung Express “

www.morungexpress.com

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Courageous people do not fear forgiving, for the sake of peace

Cong denied Pranab the chance to become PM: Modi

Priyanka joins Anne and Selena Gomez in a documentary

[ PAGE 8]

e-Governance to facilitate strategies of government [ PAGE 2]

Kerry’s diplomacy takes on difficult problem

[ PAGE 11]

[ PAGE 9]

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Thursday, February 6, 2014 12 pages Rs. 4 –Nelson Mandela

Need to play good cricket and capitalise on it: Dhoni [ PAGE 12]

rAciAl DiscriMinAtion

reflections

By Sandemo Ngullie

Lok Sabha express solidarity with North East students

no forest, no trees, no work but plenty to report on forest and environment management.

The Morung Express POLL QUESTIOn

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

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NSCN (IM) rejoinder to Mr. R.N. Ravi Full text on page 4

Crude grenade blast in Dimapur DimaPur, February 5 (mexN): Unknown miscreant(s) lobbed a small, suspected to be home made, crude “grenade” into the compound of a business enterprise (Mata Transport) at Golaghat Road (opposite Wotsami complex), towards Blue Hill line, here today. Neighbours of Mata Transport, which has a kaccha structure, reported hearing what sounded like a tyre blast to the Dimapur East Police Station at around 7.30 pm, though no one saw the perpetrator(s). No injuries were reported as no one was inside the structure at the time, which itself faced no damage except small splinters stuck to its body, informed the police.

VoiCE for JUStiCE: The beating and subsequent death of nido Tania (19)

has made the Lok Sabha acknowledge that “racial discrimination” plagues people from the north East in India. But this came only after Tania’s death sparked a furious outcry from the north East student community in new Delhi against racism and criticism of police in the Indian capital. (AP Photo)

Over 35k students to appear for NBSE exams

Kohima, February 5 (PTi): A total of 35,248 students would appear for the upcoming Matric and Class 12 examinations under the Nagaland Board of School Education (NBSE) scheduled from February 7, an official release said here on Wednesday. According to a NBSE statistical handout the number includes 13570

students of the Higher Secondary School Leaving Certificate (HSSLC) for Class 12 and 21,678 students of High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) for Class X. In the HSSLC, there are 9870 candidates in Arts stream, while Commerce and Science has 1150 and 2550 students respectively, it said.

The HSSLC has 6992

male and 6578 female candidates, the release mentioned while out of the 21,678 candidates in the HSLC, 10837 are male and 10841 are female. The HSSLC will commence from Friday (February 7) and conclude on March 1 while HSLC will begin Tuesday (February 11) and conclude by February 25.

NeW Delhi, February 5 (iaNS): Lok Sabha members across the spectrum Wednesday expressed their concern over the death here of a youth from Arunachal Pradesh, with Speaker Meria Kumar stating that the entire house was “one in protecting children from the northeast”.

Responding to concerns of the members on the death of 19-year-old Nido Tania last week, Meira Kumar said that incident should be condemned by the entire house. “A clear message should go that parliament of India, members of Lok Sabha are one in protecting children and people of the north east. We should send this message everywhere,” she said.

Tania, son of an Arunachal Pradesh legislator, was beaten up by shopkeepers in a south Delhi market following a quarrel over his appearance and clothing. He died in a hospital Jan 30. The victim’s friends say it was a racial attack. The speaker made her remarks amid din in the house. She later adjourned the house for the day.

Raising the matter after the house met at noon following an adjournment earlier, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj said that Tania died following quarrel after being taunted on his hair style. “I want to raise an issue with great pain... the death of a youth from north east that shamed us,” Sushma Swaraj said.

She said two women from Manipur had also been molested in the national capital. “The child belonged to Arunachal Pradesh, a state

‘File Nido post-mortem report by Friday’ NeW Delhi, February 5 (iaNS): The Delhi High Court Wednesday asked the police to file by Friday a fresh status report - along with the findings of the autopsy - on the death of a student from Arunachal Pradesh.

A division bench of Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw refused to accept the status report filed by Delhi Police and asked it to file the report with post-mortem report and posted the matter for Friday. “If in Delhi, the capital of the country, you are unable to give post-mortem report in 15 days, even in a fast-track case like this, what will happen to (other) cases. We can only say that your infrastructure is at a primitive stage,” said the bench.

The court’s remark came after Delhi Police counsel Dayan Krishnan told the bench that the report which was submitted to court does not contain the post-mortem report of Nido Tania, who was beaten up by shopkeepers at Lajpat Nagar market here. He died later. “How many days usually post-mortem report

take to come in Delhi,” the chief justice asked, to which police replied that report takes 15 days to come.

The police, however, said in this case the post-mortem report will come in couple of days as it was sent to CFSL CBI so that report can come faster. “Postmortem report is still awaited, so I can’t comment on the nature of injuries or how he (Nido) died. There is special investigation team constituted to deal with the case,” Krishnan told the court. The police also told the court that it has been taking steps to protect people from the northeast.

The court took suo moto cognisance, calling it a “serious issue” and sought a report from the central, Delhi governments and the police to apprise it of the steps taken in the issue. Nido Tania, son of Arunachal Pradesh Congress legislator Nido Pavitra, was allegedly beaten up mercilessly by shopkeepers Jan 29 in south Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar market following a quarrel over his appearance and clothing. He died in a hospital the next day.

HC direct Delhi police to file fresh status report

whose every resident has stood as a soldier against China,” she said.

The BJP leader said students from north east come to Delhi and other parts of the country due to lack of quality educational institutions at their places. “India is a diverse country. People in Delhi should understand that if there are people with sharp nose, there are those with flat nose,” she said.

Taking a dig at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, Sushma Swaraj said they participated in protest by students from north

east when they should have been taking action to book those responsible for Tania’s death. She also took a dig at Congress over the din in the house. Sushma Swaraj demanded creation of hostels for students in the capital and said it should have students from north east and other parts of the country.

Minister of State for Minority Affairs Nino Ering said that the issue was not political. Ering said he had given a notice for suspension of question hour but withdrew it after a word with the speaker. The minister said that “racial

discrimination” suffered by students of the north east was a serious issue. “A strong law should be passed so that such incidents were not repeated in future,” Ering said. He also suggested creating a committee to deal with complaints of students from the north east.

Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav said the entire house should condemn the incident. Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Basudeb Acharia said the incident was nothing but “racial discrimination”. He said every student has the right to go, study and work in any part of the country.

Police verify sale of calendars IAWS conference seeks to 1 killed in mishap ponder equality, pluralism

DimaPur, February 5 (mexN): A motorcyclist was killed on the spot when the bike he was riding was reportedly hit by an auto-rickshaw near 4th Mile, Wednesday around 7.30 pm. According to traffic police, the victim has been identified as one Mughato Sumi. Details of the accident are awaited at the time of filing this report.

Facebook read daily more than the Bible

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WaShiNGToN, February 5 (aP): Facebook’s numbers are epic. More Americans check Facebook daily than read the Bible and it has more monthly users worldwide than most continents have people. Facebook, which celebrates its 10th anniversary Tuesday, says worldwide it has 757 million daily active users. Of those 19 percent are in the U.S. and Canada, so that’s more than 143 million people checking Facebook daily.

The Bible used to be the go-to for statistics about reading, pre-digital age. A 2006 CBS News poll found 15 percent of U.S. adults read the Bible or other religious texts daily.

There are about 267 million adults in the U.S. and Canada.

That means about 40 million people reading the Bible daily. And then there are monthly users — Facebook claims 1.23 billion of them.

Morung Express news Dimapur | February 5

Against the backdrop of reports that the NSCN (IM) was selling calendars published by its MIP to business community “by force,” Dimapur Police on Wednesday enquired the business community in New Market to verify the authenticity of the report. Upon enquiry by West Police Station personnel on one side of New Market, falling under its jurisdiction, the shopkeepers produced NSCN (IM) calendars which they said were handed over to them by some unidentified persons on Monday. After dropping the calendars inside the

shops, the shopkeepers said, some unidentified persons later on the same day came and collected Rs. 200 each from the shops. Police were informed that the unidentified persons had collected Rs. 200 each for the calendar from almost all the shops in New Market falling under West Police Station jurisdiction.

Another team of personnel from East Police Station had also enquired from the business community in New Market falling under its jurisdiction.

However, police told this reporter that the shopkeepers informed that there was no such sale of calendars.

On the contrary, prior to the arrival of the police, when this reporter

asked some of the shops falling under East Police Station jurisdiction, the shop owners exhibited the NSCN (IM) calendars and claimed to have paid Rs. 150 for a calendar.

In some blocks of the New Market, the shopkeepers said they got the calendars but that the amount is yet to be collected. Asked if they would pay for the calendar as and when collection for the same comes around, one shop owner said, “It will depend upon the decision of the New Market Business Owners’ Association,” also admitting that they face “monetary loss” due to this but cannot do anything as “everyone is paying.”

ACAUT statement on page 4

KU encourages Konyak language in Mon schools

moN, February 5 (mexN): The Konyak Union (KU) has directed all government and private schools under Mon district to appoint a Konyak local language teacher, and “enforce with immediate effect” from the beginning of the academic session 2014 for classes 1 to 8. In the interest of the community, the KU has decided to “exercise its power to inspire and spread the Konyak language,” informed a press release from KU president, S. Manlip Konyak and general secretary, Y. Hosea Konyak.

In that, the KU informed that the required local language text book would be available for classes 1 to 8 for both government and private Schools “on cash payment” from Rev. Yeangphong Konyak, Literature Secretary KBBB’s residence near Angjong High School, Mon Town.

Based on the KU Constitution No.9 (1) and Current Resolution No.3 (C) of 2007, the KU stated that the language is being encouraged especially for the “upcoming Konyak young’s generation in both Government and Pri-

vate Schools under Mon District.”

The apex Konyak body reiterated that “the Konyak culture & tradition which is the legal legacy of forefathers shall continually uphold with dignity and honour, and when we enforce/ insist our local dialects in every institutions it preserves and speaks a high volumes of our identities, costume and traditions.”

In today’s age of modernization and technology advancement, noted the Union, everyone is looking for a better educational system but speaks only

English, Hindi, Nagamese etc, and “never try to use own language in any form.”

The KU stressed that when a person is “not acquainted or acquired” with their mother tongue or language, their image and identity is lost.

“Hence forth all Konyak upcoming youngster are encouraged to learn more about Konyak mother tongue (language),” stated the Union, so that equal importance may be given to tradition in order to feel like “complete men and women in the present societies.”

GuWahaTi, February 5 (mexN): The Indian Association for Women’s Studies (IAWS) opened its 14th National Conference on Women’s Studies on the theme ‘Equality, Pluralism and the State: Perspectives from Women’s Movements’ at Gauhati University on February 4.

In her presidential address, Prof. Ilina Sen spoke of the 33 year old journey of IAWS, as well as the venue of the conference (Guwahati) as it is the gateway to lived realities of diverse communities and their histories and struggles for social justice. Despite the growth and increased visibility of IAWS, she said, there is now a leadership vacuum as many of the founders and pioneers have passed away. She called on the young members to come forward to take responsibilities in these challenging times.

The structures of legal systems are falling apart, giving rise to skepticism about engaging for policy change, Prof. Sen noted.

Further, she observed that the manner in which the State handled violence, in particular sexual violence against women, shows the weaknesses in the system.

With liberalization, the country’s resource bases have opened up to international imperial capital and

nandita Haksar addressing the IAWS conference at Guwahati

there is now both a “shining India” and “India destitute.”

The challenge of professionalization of women’s studies and the women’s movements is an issue to be addressed, stated Prof. Sen. In the Madhuri Shah memorial lecture, Nandita Haksar, prominent lawyer and human rights activist, stressed on the significance of opening up the debate on pluralism. She spoke of varied levels of conflict and how conflict could be or can be made creative, and how there could be a contradiction between notions of equality and community in a lived reality- she cited the demand for individual rights to property/land as carrying possibilities for loss of community (eg.

Tribal land) to non tribals or other interests including company/corporates, etc. She stressed the need

to locate ‘tribe’ in its contemporary context. She critiqued homogenized notions of rights. Instead of providing answers, Haksar sought to complicate the questions of equality, pluralism, key concepts that the IAWS conference seeks to deliberate upon, drawing from varied disciplinary approaches as well as from experiences from the ground.

Dr. Kumud Sharma, founding member of IAWS, opened the conference.

Among the speakers were Vice Chancellor, Gauhati University, Sayeda Hameed, member planning commission (inaugural speech), Vice Chancellor, Cotton College, State University, Ilina Sen (president IAWS), representatives of supporting organizations including Monisha Behal, North East network (NEN).

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Dimapur

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Thursday 6 February 2014

The Morung Express C

e-Governance to facilitate strategies of government

Our Correspondent Kohima | February 5

Nagaland’s chief secretary Banuo Z. Jamir today said that technology and particularly information technology has tremendously changed our lives, impacting every sphere of our lives directly or indirectly.

“We are even unaware of how powerfully it is influencing our decisions and our life styles,” she said and cited example of mobile phones, which has become such an essential part of everyday life thereby communication, has become much faster and efficient.

She was speaking at the sensitization workshop on e-Governance organized

by National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology (NIELIT).

Jamir said there are other gadgets and equipments which have become almost as much essential like TV, computer, laptops, I-pads, internet, social networking through Facebook, tweet-

er and also there is online education programmes, telemedicine, online marketing. Jamir said governments are there for the people, to attend and to meet the demands of the people and therefore, there has to be changes in the system. She added that, in fact changes through technology is already in use like mobile phones, fax machines, computers, and internet “but there is a need to consolidate the usage and bring it under a uniform mandate.”

She said that through the use of information, electronics and communication technologies “we can develop data base that can be commonly shared by all departments. She said that anomalies of variations in population figures, number of villages, total hectares could be removed if there is a common source of information. Delays in gathering information and data will also addressed at the same time cut down on time and

Chief secretary Banuo Z. Jamir says, “e-Governance has profound impact on the lives of citizens and in the function of public institutions”

Nagaland chief secretary Banuo Z. Jamir along with other participants at the sensitization workshop on e-Governance organized by NIELIT on February 5 (Morung Photo).

cost in what is presently experienced, she said. She added that there would be transparency of information, not only for the citizen but also for departments if there is common data base system. The availability of information will also take care of the difficulty in dis-

seminating government programmes and policies.

She said e-Governance programmes have been launched in some selected departments. One is district administration in issue of ILP, which will be extended to issue of various certificates, online payment

of taxes, online deposit of funds to beneficiaries, which contribute less scope of manipulation and corruption. In addition, stating that there will be increasing pressure to make services more accessible to citizens; she said the government has to be equipped to deal

with the demand of the citizen. e-Governance has profound impact on the lives of citizens and in the function of public institutions, she said.

The Chief Secretary said conducting the Socio-Economic- Caste Census a virtually paper less exercise,

NPBCA celebrates ‘Jesus, The hope of ages’ No end to garbage woes???

Morung Express News Dimapur | February 5

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The Nagaland Police Baptist Churches Association celebrated silver jubilee (1989-2014) from February 3 to 5, with the theme ‘Jesus, The hope of ages’ at NPBCA Mission Compound Chumukedima.

During these three days of silver jubilee programme, the resource persons were Rev Dr Anjo Keikung, general secretary NBCC; Rev Dr AK Lama, General Secretary, CBCNEI; Rev Bonny Resu, general secretary APBF; and Rev Dr Wati Aier, Principal OTS Bade.

The jubilee choirs were from Police Baptist Church Chumukedima; Police Baptist Church Dimapur; and police Baptist Church, 15th NAP (IR) Mahila. Besides the theme, the speakers spoke on others topics including ‘celebrating the mighty works of God’, ‘victory in Jesus’, ‘marching towards the goal in Jesus’ and ‘perfect liberation in Jesus.’ Other highlights of

BWA president to visit Nagaland Our Correspondent Kohima | February 5

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A reception programme for Baptist World Alliance (BWA) president Rev. Dr. John Upton and Church of Christ in Thailand (CCT) moderator Rev. Dr. Boonratna Boayen organized

by Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) in partnership with Kohima Baptist Pastor’s Fellowship (KBPF) will take place on February 10 at 5pm at NBCC Convention Centre, Kohima.

Greetings will be shared by CCT moderator Rev. Dr. Boonratna Boayen and Rev. Bonny Resu, general secretary APBF. Introduction will be made by NBCC general secretary Rev. Dr. Anjo Keikung, while the service will be led

by Rev. Dr. Vevo Phesao, president KBPF. Scripture reading and prayer will be pronounced by Rev. C. Lima Sangtam, president NBCC. Song presentation will feature Chakhesang Baptist Church, Minister’s Hill, Peraciezie Baptist Church, Sangtam Baptist Church and Union Baptist Church. Rev. Asangba Longkumer, pastor, Ao Baptist Church, will pronounce the benediction.

The reception programme is organized for the full time workers, deacons, elders, youth and women leaders to come and hear from the guest speakers and be acquainted with what is happening in the Baptist world today.

the event were departmental spotlight every evening after the service and business session during the programme.

According to the preface given by NPBCA Secretary Rev Dr N Mong Lotha in the book ‘NPBCA History and Album’ published by the Association, Nagaland Police Baptist Churches Association was established in the year 1989 on February 5 and officially affiliated to NBCC as a fullfledged Association at Police Baptist Church, Mokokchung. “Today, NPBCA has become a big family with 29 constituent churches and 13,850 baptized members approximately. All along the past 25 years, God has been faithful upon NPBCA and its churches,” states the Reverend in the book. He also added, “NPBCA is doing a good ministry amongst Naga people where all should appreciate and extend utmost support to it. It is a conglomeration of people irrespective of denominations, languag-

es and ranks where all believers can come together and worship the living Lord Jesus Christ, practice their faith and find the way to heaven.”

The Association upholds its vision “to win souls of all Nagaland police personnel and their families to the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The first Nagaland Police Church was established in 1964 in Chumukedima.

Today, with the frequent deployment of police personnel to the states like Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Gujarat, Delhi etc for law and order duties, evangelistic opportunities as well as church activities have been widened and ministries extended even into the mainland India.

NPBCA covers the entire districts of Nagaland state with strength of approximately 28,000 uniform personnel from 15 NAP Battalions and 11 DEF units, prisons, civil defense & home guards, emergency & fire service, wireless.

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that e-Governance programme was initially conceptualized in Nagaland in 2003 and since then the Department of IT has done all possible means to promote e-Governance initiatives in the state. Welcome address was delivered by T. P. Singh, director NIELIT, Kohima while L. Jamithung Lotha, deputy secretary IT &C proposed vote of thanks during the inaugural function. Resource persons from NIELIT presented topics on ‘Introduction Into e-Governance & Insight Into the NeGP ‘eGovernance in India (Best Practices/Case Studies/ Examples’, ‘Challenges in the Implementation of eGovernance Projects and Role of Leadership in eGovernance’ while Director IT & C Nagaland, Imjung M. Panger presented a talk on ‘e-Governance Initiatives in Nagaland’. Heads of Departments and Administrative Heads of various departments in Kohima attended the workshop.

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Garbage dumped on the main road of Kohima town near Razhu Point on February 5. The Kohima Municipal Council (KMC) reminded all the public, business establishments and the wards within Kohima municipal jurisdiction not to dispose waste/garbage randomly on to the roads but to put it into sacks tied up properly so that it does not create any health hazard. It requested the general public to comply to the notice till an alternative solution for a dumping site is arrived at. (Morung Photo)

Environmental Science seminar at ICFAI

DiMaPur, February 5 (MexN): A one-day seminar on “Recent Trends in Environmental Science” was held at ICFAI University Sovima, Dimapur on Wednesday.

Delivering keynote address, Academic Dean, Science & Computer Science, Patkai Christian College, Angel Sonari emphasized on concerns for environment in the process of development. She called for environmentally responsible development as untold A section of the audience attending seminar at ICFAI University on Wednesday. (Morung Photo) damages to the environment was being done while rate business with sincere ICFAI University Nagaland, tion for a paradigm shift in people try to bring in devel- concern for environment. Dr. C.P. Alexander said that thoughts, perspectives, polIn his inaugural ad- the objective of the seminar icies and actions towards opment. She called upon businessmen to incorpo- dress, Pro-Vice Chancellor was to invoke an inclina- the living and non-living.

Vice Chancellor, ICFAI University Nagaland, Dr. (Col) VRK Prasad and Registrar ICFAI University Nagaland, Makhan Chetia also spoke during the programme.

Resource persons Dr. A. Wati Walling, Assistant Professor NIT Nagaland; Dr. Thepfuvilie Pieru Assistant Professor Patkai Christian College; Rokovisa Chase member Nagaland Bamboo Development Agency (NBDA); Kichung Phom member NBDA and Oinam Bhopen Singh Senior Lecturer ICFAI University Nagaland spoke on various topics during the seminar.

Pughoboto sub-div declares ‘Year of economic development’

Pughoboto, February 5 (MexN): In significant move, the Pughoboto sub-division under Zunheboto district has declared 2014-2016 as the “Year of economic development” with an aim to promote the standard of living and attain economic self-sufficiency.

The idea behind the ‘Year of economic development’ is to help the community realize their aspirations for a better life by exploitation of its own natural resources effectively and efficiently by maintaining ecological balance to become self-sustainable, said parliamentary secretary for irrigation & flood control Y. Vikheho Swu while addressing a one day training on ‘Sustainable Farming’ on February 4 here.

In this, Swu asserted that financial assistance from Local Area Development Fund (LADF) under his constituency will be extended to the aspirant candidates. Stating that DAN government has many programmes to facilitate the growth and development of the youth, he challenged the youth to come forward and avail the opportunities.

During the ‘Year of economic development,’ it will focus on river

information/data collected on tablet PCs, amazed at the capability of the youth in the state, adding this exercise was carried out most efficiently and Nagaland is among the first states to complete in the country.

She said that things are happening and happening fast for which government must take up the challenge and make changes in the way “we function so that our existence is still relevant.” Meanwhile, chief secretary thanked NIELIT and the department of information technology and communication, Government of Nagaland for organizing the workshop and the GoI, Ministry of communications & IT for sponsoring and funding it.

Earlier, commissioner and secretary, IT&C, K.D. Vizo said e-Governance is meant to improve government decision making, increase accountability and reliability and promote faster flow of information to the citizens. He informed

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Parliamentary secretary for irrigation & flood control Y. Vikheho Swu addressing training on ‘Sustainable Farming’ on February 4 at Pughoboto Town Hall.

conservation, forest conservation, bamboo plantation and frame the regular policies on preservation and exploitation of resources. Swu also said the main focus was made on self-generating income rather than depending on government subsidies. Stating that self-reliance

is the most challenging aspect, he urged the various organizations and unions to plan or a sustainable system so that they become self reliant.

Topics covered during training were ‘Incubator Chicken raising’, ‘Making of Bokashi- fermented fer-

tilizer’ and ‘fisheries’. Gihuka Swu, Jacob Sustainable Farming Centre, Cambodia in his power point presentation on ‘Incubator chicken raising’ said that poultry farming is a profitable business and many small-scale farmers have ventured into this business to supplement their income. Explaining the procedures of making kerosene-heated incubators, he said it is ideal for the farmers who do not have access to electricity or irregularity of power supply.

The seminar was attended by all 22 villages (300 delegates) representing GBs, VCC’s, VDBs and SHGs under Pughoboto subdivision. The training was chaired

by Ayeto Swu, G/T Singrijan GHS. Invocation was pronounced by Katoli Swu while vote of thanks was proposed by Anguka Swu, Co-ordinator, Kushe Humanity Foundation and benediction was pronounced Shepitoli, W/L NCRC Pughoboto. The training was sponsored through Local Area Development Fund (LADF) and organized by Kushe Humanity Foundation, Dimapur in collaboration with Jacob Sustainable Farming Centre, Cambodia.

Despite repeated requests made by the Kohima Municipal Council (KMC) to the public, business establishments and the wards within KMC jurisdiction not to dispose of waste/garbage randomly on to the road side, the public continues to ignore such requests, thereby causing environmental and health hazards. (Photo courtesy/ Zaben Kikon)

MEx File 25 persons penalized under NLTP Act ’89

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DiMaPur, February 5 (MexN): In its effort to curb the sale of liquor and alcohol in and around Dimapur, Excise Mobile Squad seized 761 bottles of assorted liquor and 91 litres of country liquor in the month of January 2014 alone. Altogether 25 persons were arrested and penalized under relevant section of the NLTP Act ’89. All the seized articles are kept in the Malkhana for future destruction. “As the lucrative liquor business is mushrooming in every nooks and corners of the state, more personnel and pool vehicles should be provided for better implementation of the Prohibition Act,” GhokihoYeptho, Superintendent of Excise (MS) said in a press note.

CCPRA CTC inter-college poetry competition result

MokokchuNg, February 5 (MexN): The result of the inter-college poetry competition organized by the Clark Centre for Peace Research and Action (CCPRA), Clark Theological College Aolijen Mokokchung has been declared. The judge for the competition was Associate Prof. Akok Walling, FAC. 1st: Sentinaro Longkumer, Clark Theological College Aolijen (Rs. 5000); 2nd: AkangtemsuYaden, Clark Theological College (Rs. 3000); 3rd: Aosungkum, St. Anthony’s College Shillong (Rs. 2000). The winners are requested to contact the Program Coordinator CCPRA for claiming the prizes and contact @ 9612504992.

DC Zunheboto informs

ZuNheboto, February 5 (DiPr): Deputy Commissioner Zunheboto, L. Akato Sema in a circular ordered that in view of the forthcoming Parliamentary Election 2014 and vide Chief Electoral Officer, Nagaland, Kohima Letter No. ELE/CDT-35/2008-2014/ Pt/941 dated, Kohima the 29th Jan 2014 regarding management of polling personnel, directed all the departmental officer incharge of Zunheboto district to submit database of all their staff list along with vehicle No. & type of vehicles on or before 11th Feb. 2014 without fail as per prescribed format. Failure to submit on time, the Officer will be held responsible.

Merayim village apply for recognition

MokokchuNg, February 5 (DiPr): Merayim village under the Administrative Jurisdiction of Mangkolemba Sub-Division, Mokokchung district has applied for recognition under the State Government of Nagaland.

Objection, if any, regarding the recognition of the said village may be submitted within 30 (thirty) days from the date of issue of this notification of the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Mokokchung otherwise the matter shall be forwarded to the Government for recognition and registration under the laid down procedure. Area of land – 507 Hectare (or) 1257 Acres; Boundaries: North – Longnak Nallah & Kuboba Nallah; South – Main Road/Border Road; East – Changkikong Range Road; West – Longnakza Nallah.

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Regional

The Morung express

Thursday

6 February 2014

Dimapur

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public opposes Dalai Lama hopes China will solve Tibet issue Chandel acquisition of land

Shillong, February 5 (ianS): The Dalai Lama Wednesday hoped the Chinese regime would find a genuine solution to the Tibet issue. However, he was unsure of returning to his homeland which he left for exile in 1959.

The Tibetan spiritual leader's optimism rose from the fact that the new Chinese president Xi Jinping is going all out against corrupt practices and is sensitive towards the rights of the people in China's countryside. The Dalai Lama said today's Chinese intelligentsia in mainland China is more receptive to the Tibetan cause.

"I think the present (Chinese) president Xi Jinping is quite active because he is cleaning up corruption quite courageously. He spoke about the rights of the countryside people, about prop-

er rule of law and he used words 'seeking truth from fact'. With that slogan, he actually opened the Chinese economy," the Nobel laureate told journalists here.

The Dalai Lama, on the last leg of his three-day visit to Meghalaya, also recalled his meetings with chairman Mao Zedong in the late 1950s, in what was then Peking, on the Tibet issue.

"I met chairman Mao in 1954-55 in Peking. He was like my father. I was there for five months and met several times and we developed a father-son relationship. Chairman Mao said on many occasions that Tibet cannot be treated as an ordinary Chinese province," he said.

On his possible return to his homeland, the Dalai Lama who escaped to India in 1959, said: "Nobody knows (on my return to Ti-

Northeast Briefs

3 executed for refusing to pay extortion Shillong, February 5 (PTi): Three persons were executed by tribal militants after they refused to pay extortion money, while one escaped with bullet injuries in Meghalaya's West Garo Hills district, police said on Wednesday. Four persons, including a contractor were kidnapped by militants on Sunday when they went to Sasatgre-Chandigre village to inspect a project for erecting an electric line for the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana. The four were taken toward Nokrek Biospere hills above Sasatgre-Chandigre village where they demanded money for releasing them. When they failed to pay, the militants fired on them killing three, while one survived as a bullet just grazed his head. The survivor managed to crawl down the hill and informed villagers on Monday evening who took him to the nearest police outpost at Rongram. Among the victims was a contractor, Rutherford R Marak, a resident of district headquarters in Tura.

Marak had unsuccessfully contested the Autonomous District Council elections five years ago.

'Lack of firm conviction behind graft in India'

Shillong, February 5 (ianS): The Dalai Lama Wednesday said the root cause of corruption in India was mainly because of lack of firm conviction about value of ethics and especially with corrupted people who only talk about material values and not moral ones. "We are lacking not only in India but across the whole world. Corruption is something like cancer which is everywhere, and there is serious corruption even in China. Therefore, we must educate people from kindergarten to university level about moral ethics. Then, there is possibility of a more clean society," the Tibetan spiritual leader told journalists here.

While addressing the sixth convocation ceremony of the Martin Christian Luther University at the Soso Tham auditorium here, the Tibetan spiritual leader Monday said: "This country (India) is considered a religious country, but a lot of corruption is taking place. There are many corrupt people, and I think, the corrupt people are also highly educated." "They (some educated people) pray to God but the purpose of their prayer is to make their corrupt life more successful," he added.

bet). But I think 99 percent of Tibetans are waiting for me to return to Tibet. They always ask me to return. I told them I am ready to go to Tibet, it's my home, but the Chinese government won't allow it."

The 78-year-old Tibetan,

who has considered India his second home, also disclosed that sometimes Chinese officials also urge him to return to Tibet. "At this moment if I return, it will be useful. Perhaps I may be more relaxed in prison, but with no work. I will not only

lose my freedom but it will be just a waste of time. Here (in India), I am busy."

Tibetan prime minister-in-exile Lobsang Sangay Tuesday was hopeful about the Dalai Lama's return to Tibet via Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, the

'Assam has asked for CBI probe into border killings'

guwahaTi, February 5 (ianS): Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi Wednesday said the state government has already written to the union home ministry seeking a CBI probe into the killing of civilians in Sonitpur district Jan 29, 2014.

The chief minister, however, appealed to the organisations who have been blockading the highways along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border in protest against the killings, to lift the blockade. "We are coordinating with the Arunachal Pradesh government on the issue of arresting the culprits and

they are also taking steps. However, the blockade must be lifted," Gogoi said.

A total of 11 people were killed after unidentified attackers fired indiscriminately at a group of people at Chauldhowa under Behali reserve forest in Sonitpur district of the state bordering Arunachal Pradesh Jan 29 this year. While 10 people were killed on the spot, one more body was recovered from the area later, taking the toll to 11. Seven people are still missing after the incident.

"We have completed all the formalities with the home ministry to de-

mand a CBI probe and I hope the CBI will take up the investigation," Gogoi said. "There is a need to set up more border police outposts to stop such incidents. There is also a need to develop road networks along the border areas.

We have worked out an action plan to look into the issue," he said.

Referring to the spreading Maoist network in some districts of the state, Gogoi said the government will appeal to the centre for including nine districts under its special assistance scheme for development in the Maoist-affected areas.

8 year old charred to death in Ukhrul

Legislator's brother released in M'laya

Shillong, February 5 (ianS): A Meghalaya legislator's brother who was kidnapped for ransom by rebels was released unharmed early Wednesday after six days in captivity, police said. Naga M. Sangma, 39, the younger brother of Independent legislator Samuel M. Sangma, was freed early Wednesday morning in a forested area between Chokpot-Gausapara bordering Bangladesh, Davis R. Marak, district police chief of South Garo Hills, told IANS. On Jan 30, four armed Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) rebels abducted Naga M. Sangma, 39, at gunpoint from his house in the Gasuapara area, about 400 km from Shillong. An intelligence official said Naga, a coal exporter to Bangladesh from Gasuapara Land Custom Station, was released after the rebels were paid a ransom of Rs.20 lakh. However, the family members denied paying any money to the rebels. iMPhal, February 5 (nnn): An 8-year-old girl was charred to death in her sleep and 17 houses were gutted in a maZUF allege AR provided jor inferno which broke out overnight in shelter to NSCN (IM) Litan area of Ukhrul district.

The minor victim has been identified as iMPhal, February 5 (nnn): The Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF) alleged today that the 16 Assam Julia Vashum, daughter of a Manipur Police Rifles supported the NSCN-IM cadres in the shoot-out Constable named Sochipem from Litan.

Inspector N Manikanta, officer-inyesterday with the former at Oinamlong in Tamenglong charge, Litan Police Station, told Newmai district. According to ZUF, the Assam Rifles provided News Network on Wednesday that the shelter to 20 NSCN-IM cadres in the attack on February residential compound located in front 4 at Oinamlong village in Tamenglong district, Mani- of the Litan Police Station was found enpur and. The ZUF further alleged that the 16 AR also gulfed late in the night by the frightening 'sided' with the NSCN-IM in the shoot-out of Gadai Hill, fire that had charred the 8-year-old girl Tamenglong, in October last year. "Though there was no and gutted 17 wooden houses including casualty in the encounter yesterday, the Assam Riffles shops, hotels, and rented houses. of Kamai post acted with bias while monitoring the law “I woke up in panic after hearing loud and order situation. It was not the only occasion for the cries from the site. When I looked through Assam Riffles side the NSCN-IM. The 10 Assam Riffles the window I saw the residential comat Noney (Longmai) post have been acting in the same pound completely engulfed by the fire,” manner," the ZUF pointed out. It then said the Assam he said. Several loud explosions caused Riffles while giving free hand to NSCN-IM and the long by domestic LPG gas cylinders could also rope restriction to other parties is not a good strategy to be heard as the raging blaze engulfed the peace but counter-productive. The ZUF warned that it houses, the police officer said.

Manikanta said he immediately alarmed will not hesitate to lay hands on the Assam Riffles if they the Control Room of Manipur Fire Service continue to be partial in their action. headquarter, Imphal, and Ukhrul Fire Ser-

most cases.

The Global Adult Tobacco Survey 2010 conducted by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare reveals that 39.3 % of the adult population in Assam is addicted to tobacco. Of them, nearly 90% are tobacco chewers and 10% are smokers. The onus now lies on protecting the younger generation from the ill effects of tobacco and tobacco-related products.

"This prevalence of cancer in the region is comparable to the Australian population, which suffers from skin cancer due to long exposure to the sun. It is an alarming situation. It is high time that a concrete action plan was taken and implemented. It should be noted that, of late, the situation is coming to light because of increased registry of the cases. Tobacco-related cancer is high in Assam," said Bhibuti Bhusan Borthakur, medical superintendent B Borooah Cancer Institute.

Another alarming situ-

ation that is emerging is that urban Kamrup has the highest prevalence of oesophagus cancer among men and breast cancer among women. Oral cancer rates are also high.

"Mizoram, as it is known, has topped the charts in terms of oral cancer. The

Chandel | February 5

The people of Chandel District have strongly opposed the state government policy to acquire 600 acres of land near Pallel for development of Integrated cum Multi Facilities Logistic Hub under State Department of Commerce and Industry.

The decision to this effect was taken at the One Day Public Consultative Meet organised by Chandel District Naga Kuki Joint Committee at Khukarthil Village Community Hall in Chandel District today. During the consultative meet, various issues including state government policy to acquire 600 acres near Pallel for development of Integrated cum Multi Facilities Logistic hub, transfer of Land Revenue from Thoubal District, MoU signed between the State Government and Chandel District Naga Kuki Joint Committee pertaining to shift Surrendered KYKL (MDF) from the District among others were deliberated.

Several representatives of people’s organizations in their speeches denounced the move of the government to select agricultural land which is the daily bread of the people of that area.

The speakers protested the move as the proposed site of the park will render

thousands homeless. The meeting also criticized the move of the government to establish the park in the name of Thoubal by carving or acquiring the land that belongs to Chandel district.

Following an interaction and discussion, a consensus declaration was adopted where it strongly opposed the policy of the state government to acquire 600 acres of land under Village Nos. 50, 51, 52, near Pallel for development of Integrated cum Multi Facilities Logistic Hub as the proposed site will affect many Villages including some villages of minority tribes in the District.

It was also declared to press demand for Transfer of Revenue Land Record of ChandelfromThoubalDistrict to Chandel District, to fulfill the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the State Government and Chandel District Naga Kuki Joint Committee pertaining to shifting of Surrendered KYKL (MDF) from the District into action at the earliest and to oppose the State Cabinet decission to construct Khunutabi Police Station within the area of Laiching Minou of Chandel District.

The meeting further resolved to impose 48 Hrs Chandel district total bandh from midnight of February 27 if the state government fails to respond positively at the earliest.

LOST NOTICE

I'm applying for duplicate copies of Class 10 Admit Card and Marksheet as I've lost them. name: T. Elias Lotha Father's name : Thungbemo Lotha Roll no :171758 Registration no: 105232 Year: 2001

Lower P.R.Hill, Kohima, Nagaland

vice Station to rush to the site. Three fire tenders—two from Imphal and one from Ukhrul—arrived at the scene, but they took almost two hours to reach there, he added.

The firefighters fought the fire until it was doused about 7 am today, he said, adding they managed to control it from further spreading to the adjacent houses. He said properties worth nearly Rs 2 crore had been destroyed in the fire. Manikanta said the charred remains of the girl’s body have been sent to Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Imphal for post mortem.

On Wednesday, Ukhrul Deputy Commissioner Sailesh Kumar, Autonomous District Council Chairman John Relen, SDO, and, SDCs, visited the site. The officials distributed some relief materials to the victims of the fire during the visit.

All the families being displaced after the fire are now taking shelter at Old Litan Veterinary Hospital and the residence of Tangkhul Baptist Church pastor in Litan.

Inspector Manikanta added that the cause of the fire cannot be ascertained as of now, but it appears that either it broke out from an electric short circuit or from a kitchen where pig food was cooking.

high prevalence of cancer in the region can be also attributed to the fact that people often come for treatment at a late stage. Early detection is important for treatment," said Borthakur.

February 4 is observed worldwide as World Cancer Day every year and its ob-

jective is to generate cancer awareness. But even with widespread awareness campaigns both at the governmental and institutional levels, there is this prevalence of superstitions and people going to quacks to "cure" cancer. This year, the focus was on 'Debunk the Myths'.

GOVERNMENT OF NAGALAND

OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE NAGALAND: KOHIMA

no.PHQ (D-ii) cLotHinG/2014/900

Ruwngthung Hrangbung

THETA TUTORIALS

Prevalence of 16 types of cancer highest in NE guwahaTi, February 5 (Tnn): On the occasion of World Cancer Day observed here on Tuesday, alarming facts emerged about the northeast being the region where the prevalence of 16 forms of cancer in either men or women or both is the highest.

Cancer of the oesophagus, hypopharynx, tongue, mouth, stomach, colon, gall bladder, liver, prostate, cervix and ovaries are some of the forms that are widely prevalent. Although the high prevalence of the different forms of cancer in the region is not new information, the numbers have grown because the cases are being registered more than before.

This alarming situation is attributed to various aspects like high tobacco consumption, potentiated risk factors, and tendency to develop cancer related harms, the population's susceptibility to long-term effects of tobacco and also because of late detection in

route which he had used to come to India following his escape 55 years ago.

Commenting on India's democracy, the Tibetan spiritual head said the Indian people take freedom without discipline, even as he emphasised on the development of rural areas across India.

"Some drawbacks are there and sometimes in a democracy, people take freedom without discipline.

Freedom must combine with a sense of responsibility. Otherwise, India is a very nice country," he said. "Development should take place in rural areas also, and not only in towns and cities. All villages should have schools and hospitals. Population must also reduce in big cities.

Millionaires should not only happen in big cities but also in rural areas," he said.

Dated Kohima, the 4th Feb’2014

tenDeR notice

Sealed tender are hereby invited for supply of the following clothing/ items for Nagaland Police, Nagaland Armed Police and Indian Reserve Battalions for the year 2014-2105.

Interested tenderer(s) may collect detailed tender notice from the office of the Director General of Police on payment of Rs.200/(Rupees two hundred) only on any working days and shall be issued with effect from 6th February 2014.

Last date of receipt of tender is 4th March 2014 till 1200 hrs and shall be opened on the same day at 1300 hrs in presence of tenderer(s).

Director General of Police, nagaland, Kohima

ADmission notice

1. coaching for Jee (mains)-2014[for engineering courses] Issue of Forms & Prospectus : 10-02-2014 onwards Admission : 10-02-2014 onwards Commencement of Classes : 03-03-2014 2. coaching for AiPmt/neet(UG)-2014 [for MBBS,BDS & Allied Courses] Issue of Forms & Prospectus : 10-02-2014 onwards Admission : 10-02-2014 onwards Commencement of Classes : 03-03-2014

contact no. (0370)2226005 GOVERNMENT OF NAGALAND

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF ENGINEER, PWD(R&B) NAGALAND: KOHIMA

no.ce(R&B)/tB-iii/sPA-tULi/2013-14

Dated Kohima, the 5th February 2014

notice inVitinG tenDeR The Chief Engineer PWD(R&B) on behalf of the Governor of Nagaland invites short tender notice for the under mentioned work form the registered contractors of Nagaland PWD Class-I/CPWD/MES on percentage basis as per/above/below scheduled of Rate 2013 NPWD. Sl. No 1

name of work

Estimated Cost (Rupees in Lakhs)

Tuli Feeder 188.60 roads

Earnest Money Time of (Rupees in Lakhs) completion Local Non-local 1% 2% 1.90 3.80 12 (Twelve) Months

Cost of bidding Tender documents Rs.10,000/-

teRms & conDitions: 1. Sealed Tenders in 2(two) separate envelopes consisting each of pre-qualification Techno-Commercial bid (1st Envelope) and financial bid (2nd Envelopes) will be received upto 12.00 noon on 19th February 2014 along with the earnest money affixing court fee stamp of Rs.7.50 (Rupees seven and paisa fifty) only. The bid will be opened on the same day at 13.00 hrs. in the office of the Chief Engineer PWD (R&B) Nagaland,Kohima.

2. The sealed envelope should clearly specify the name of work.

3. Contractors are advised to purchase the bidding tender documents from the office of the Chief Engineer, PWD (R&B) Nagaland,Kohima form 10th February 2014 upto 15th February 2014.The tender documents shall be issue on payment as mentioned above during office working hour.

4. The criteria for issue of tender documents in respect of eligible registered contractors will be given provided they have completed one similar nature of work individually during the last 5(five) years costing not less than 1/3th of the tender value of the above mentioned work.

5. The tenderer should not have abandoned any roads & bridges project in hand.

6. The undersigned reserves the right to accept or reject any or all tenders without assigning any reason thereof.

7. The acceptance of the lowest tender is not obligatory.

8. Works Tax will be deducted out of the Contract amount and forest tax etc will be deducted as per the prevailing rate of the State Govt.

9. Other details can be obtained from the Office of the undersigned during purchase of bidding documents. chief engineer, PWD(R&B) nagaland: Kohima

C M Y K

4

businEss/public discoursE

Thursday

Dimapur

6 February 2014

India Auto Show opens

N

A version of Harley Davidson’s Street 750 is displayed at the 12th Indian auto Expo in Noida, Wednesday, February 5. (AP Photo)

Noida, February 5 (ageNcies): Global car manufacturers have jostled for attention at the opening of the Indian Auto Expo, attempting to revive buyers’ interest in a local market that is contracting

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Your brother, Anep Longs Dear Ma’am Amenla....

Many many happy returns of the day. May the good Lord bless you abundantly. We all love you mmuuaahhh...!!!!!

From V.J’s Family

for the first time in a decade.

The giant show on the outskirts of the capital will be used to launch 69 new vehicles for the Indian market, which local and foreign carmakers still see as a future growth centre despite its present-day woes.

“The first month of 2014 did not witness any improvement in the overall industry performance and the situation remains subdued,” said Pravin Shah, head of the auto division of Indian manufacturer Mahindra.

“We hope the Auto Expo, which will showcase new products and technology, will provide a trigger in giving a much needed boost to the auto industry and overall sentiment,” he added. Last year car sales fell nearly 10 per cent on an annual basis, the first fall in 11 years, and few

NSCN (IM) rejoinder to Mr. R.N. Ravi

ational Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) is compelled to respond over the malicious and distorted article written by Mr. R.N. Ravi, a retired Special Director of IB, which was published in a section of the Hindu paper on 23rd January 2014 under the caption “Nagaland: decent into chaos”. It is simply an expression of a frustrated fiasco in one of the favorite projects of the Indian’s intelligence department including himself, to divide the Nagas and crush them militarily as they have been doing for the last more than 60 years, of course out of sheer desperation.

In his writing he begins, “The reckless ‘ceasefire’ between the Government of India and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM), a militia predominantly of the Tangkhul tribe of Manipur, for the last 17 years is pushing the Nagas into a state of civil war.”

The following paras will explain whether his disparaging and immature criticism against the Government of India (GoI) and the Naga leadership stands.

The Government of India (GoI) and its leaders realized the futility of the military way solution.

And therefore, in spite of the efforts of their Intelligence department to block political solution to the Naga issue in the end took the conscious decision to initiate a political dialogue with the NSCN. The Cease-fire agreement between the GoI and the NSCN was declared on

Chevrolet 2014 Corvette Stingray is displayed at the 12th Indian auto Expo in Noida, on Wednesday, February 5. (AP Photo)

see the prospect of a turnaround before national elections due by the end of May. Sales have been hit by a combination of slowing economic growth, high interest rates, rising fuel prices and low consumer confidence. “We have no concern in the long term as incomes increase,” said the head of commercial vehicles at Tata Motors, Ravi Pisharody. “The long term will be strong.... (but) there are uncertainties until elections.”

Despite a decade of often double-digit growth in annual sales, India counts just 16 cars per 1,000 inhabitants, compared with 39 in China or 1,000 in the US, according to industry figures. And while the general car market is contracting, the top end dominated

by Western luxury brands is still growing strongly, analysts say.

A

ction Committee Against Unabated Taxation (ACAUT) is anguished over the press statement by the NSCN (IM) demanding Dimapur Chamber of Commerce and Industries (DCCCI) president Hokivi Chishi to provide evidences in support of his allegations on forceful sale of calendars. It is unbecoming for an organization of their stature. ACAUT on receiving numerous complaints from Business owners and public in Dimapur of exorbitant demand notes and forceful sale of calendars and House Tax. ACAUT along with DUCCCF, DCCI and BAN members after meeting with business owners, visited several shops in Dimapur on the 3rd of Feb. 2014

Game Number # 2783

To understand the grievance of business owners, so based on this confirmation and also the obvious known fact that at most times calendars are sold for 200 to 300 rupees and not rupees 100 which of course is the actual price. DCCI being the parent organization of business owners, it becomes DCCI’s prerogative to highlight the problems faced by businesses and Hokivi Chishi being the president of DCCI is merely discharging his responsibility by appealing to your esteem organization without any malice to intervene and correct.

ACAUT dissuades anyone or organizations to pin point fingers in the interest of the individuals who have come forth courageously with complaints. ACAUT

tempt to confuse and legitimize the “phantoms” in the name of ‘stakeholders’! so called ‘Nagaland state’ and ‘active militias’ will be an exercise in futility. The GoI knows with whom and to whom they should negotiate with in order to bring about an honourable settlement with the Nagas. Like a selfrighteous man he took pride talking about the “belligerent’ Nagas in this vicious cycle of fratricidal killings”. But does he know the truth?

Is he not aware of the fact that on account of the Indian aggression Nagalim has become a killing field of innocent Nagas? Isn’t this a part of the policy evolved by his department? We are also aware that the proliferation of armed ‘militias’ and ‘factions’ is a creation of some departments in the GoI and under their patronage they are responsible for this very “fratricidal killings” which he seems to be very concerned about.

The NSCN believe in the peaceful solution to the Indo-Naga issue through political negotiation. We would never betray our commitment given to the GoI to seek a political solution which is honorable and acceptable to both the parties.

We hope that the conscientious people and leaders in India will not be swayed by the writings of people like Mr. RN. Ravi (Retd) IB, Special Director as that will undermine their wisdom too.

with the Armed forces of Burma crushed the tiny Nagas? The claim by some of its leaders that they can crush the Nagas in few days has extended to more than 5 decades of conflict and become one of the longest struggles in the whole of South East Asia. Can he deny this reality? Indeed they have achieved on one count, that is, in killing, torturing and raping the Naga women just to name a few. We are proud to state that not even a single Indian civilian has been harmed by the Nagas in the decades’ old conflict in retaliation. When will he be disillusioned from his chimera?

The Nagas including the Naga Hoho representing the Naga tribes have been a keen participant in the peace process in view of their constant support for seeking a solution to the Indo-Naga conflict through peaceful means. It is certainly not on the advice of Mr. R.N. Ravi, a retired Special Director of IB that the Nagas support the peace process, because like all of his predecessors he also has the conscious role in trying to divide the Nagas including the formation of the present Nagaland state and the 1975 Shillong Accord. It is praiseworthy that many sensible Indian leaders have refused to listen to the like of him and supports the Indo-Naga peace process that was greeted with applause in the Indian Parliament during the Prime Minister-ship of I.K. Gujral.

Mr.R.N. Ravi desperate at-

MIP: NSCN/GPRN

Eight Sisters

There is a river of hate A mountain of prejudice Branded, assaulted, insulted, murdered All because of the slant of the eyes The language of loathing and revulsion Inflicted because of parochial notions Alienated in one’s own country and living In the shadow of condescension and contempt Eight sisters trampled upon with impunity And we have become an “issue” The hills of the eight sisters echo with The cry for justice and parity But all they see is the shape of the eyes Not the dreams, aspirations or hopes We are different and proud to be They may put us down, spit on us Still we will rise up and prevail Our hills will resonate with the victory Of our uniqueness, our diversity Of being the spirit of humanity We are the eight sisters We are God’s children, all of us

and the General Public stand against extortion collection, selling calendars, House tax, Trade license registration, identity card registration etc etc. The NSCN (IM) as a responsible organization should not be concern about proofs at this juncture as it is known to all but the concern should be; how to correct this problem and address the concerns of the people.

Therefore ACAUT request the esteem authorities of NSCN (IM) organization to not take this matter any further but look within itself to understand the ground realities and of the problems faced by the business community in particular and Public in General.

J. Longkumer SASRD, Nagaland University Medziphema Campus, Nagaland

ACAUT (Media Cell)

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

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

SUDOKU

August 1’ 1997 on the basis of three conditions namely 1. Since it is a political issue, the talks must be at the highest level i.e., Prime Ministerial level. 2. Since it is not ‘law and order’ problem of India, the talks must be without pre-condition. 3. Since it is an issue of two separate entities, Nagas and India, the talks must be in a third country, i.e., outside India.

Subsequently, the recognition of the “unique history and situation of the Nagas” through a Joint communiqué signed on July 11, 2002 at Amsterdam have shown the realistic and serious approach taken by the GoI and its leaders towards the Naga issue. Why is Mr. RN. Ravi so fond of unfounded argument to deny this fact?

These steps taken mutually through political dialogue clearly acknowledges that all the past agreements with the Nagas including the 16 point agreement that led to the formation of the present Nagaland state cannot be final. A fresh negotiated political settlement acceptable to both shall decide the relationship of the two entities.

He claims “The Indian state had far superior guns and far superior numbers”. It merely reflects his frustrated colonial mindset completely ruling out the question of right and wrong. The Naga issue is not a contest of strength but exercise of one’s national right and aspiration of the Nagas to decide their own future. Has mighty Indian Armed forces combined

ACAUT express anguish over NSCN (IM) statement

_

LEISURE

The Morung Express

DAILY CROSS WORD

CROSSWORD # 2794

DIMAPUR Civil Hospital:

STD CODE: 03862

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

Answer Number # 2782

KOHIMA

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

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

STD CODE: 0370

Northeast Shuttles

100/2244279 2222222 2222111 2222952 2222916 2243339 2224202

O

R

Roles & RespoNsibilities of A suRGeoN

ANESTHESIA

PALLATIVE

ASEPTIC

RECONSTRUC-

BOVIE CLINICAL COMPETENT

TIVE RESEARCH RESIDENCY

DEXTERITY

RESPECT

EMPATHY

SCALPEL

HONESTY

STERILITY

HUMBLE

TOLERANCE

INTEGRITY

TRAUMA

OUTPATIENT

D A A E A R R S Y T S E N O H C O N

R R T T O M R I O S V B S G E L A

S H E E S E F L T N E I T A P T U O

U T C S D E V I T A L L A P L R I

E M V E O I E H T R A U M A T A O I

B R E M N D X S C A L P E L C W N

A L U E A P S E T A E R M V O I H T

E Y L S S A T N E R U A N A N O E

O T K A P E T R C R E T E Y I T G

R G I I I T E P H U Y I S N Q L W R

B L E E E O C T Y C E T E D C P I

C O I T G E O B T I O T T Y A H A T

V R F E R N W A R C D I C U R I Y

I E C O M P E T E N T N V Z Z C G

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

R S C D S O T O L E R A N C E G E

ACROSS

U O Y S A I S E H T S E N A Q G A

1. Teller of untruths 5. Sensational 10. Soft drink 14. Aquatic plant 15. Express a thought 16. Affirm 17. Imperishability 19. 500 sheets 20. Seek damages 21. Former Hungarian monetary unit 22. Cheerful 23. Green gem 25. Grain to be ground 27. Frozen 28. Photograph 31. Angry 34. Snivel 35. Ribonucleic acid 36. Accomplished 37. Hindu loincloth 38. Central points 39. Consume 40. A keyboard instrument 41. Wooden pin 42. Willing to comply 44. Air movement device 45. Like the Vikings 46. Milk sugar 50. Garden tool 52. Offensively bold

54. One of the tribes of Israel 55. A Maori club 56. Deckhand 58. A Freudian stage 59. Licoricelike flavor 60. Sea eagle 61. Expunge 62. Mortise and _____ joint 63. Russian emperor

DOWN 1. Expire 2. A part of the small intestine 3. Concur 4. Male sheep 5. Lacking companions 6. Flip over 7. Jewelry 8. With your identity concealed 9. D 10. Gentle stroke 11. Subvert 12. An escape of water 13. Ground forces 18. Quickly 22. A hollow cylindrical shape 24. Liturgy 26. Hindu princess 28. Gleamed 29. A single time

30. A dog wags one 31. Notion 32. Wander 33. Before birth 34. Baleen 37. Claim 38. Typeface 40. Cut back 41. Russian country house 43. A small node 44. Attach 46. Lariat 47. Smells 48. Steam bath 49. Go in 50. WW1 plane 51. Piece of glass 53. Wreckage 56. Rodent 57. Wager

Ans to CrossWord 2793

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

TUENSANG: 03861-220256/101 (O) 8974322879

08974997923

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

Toll free No. 1098 childline

W

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

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

CHILD WELFARE COMMITTEE

MOKOKCHUNG:

FIRE STATIONS

STD CODE: 0369

Police Station 1: Police Station 2 :

2226241 2226214

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

2226216 2226263 2226373/2229343

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

222246 222491

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LOCAL

The Morung Express

Thursday 6 February 2014

Home dept. clarification a ‘cover up’, says NTC

DIMAPUR, FEBRUARY 5 (MExN): Nagaland Tribes Council (NTC) has termed the recent clarification by the State Home department on the issue of Rongmei Tribe recognition as an “obvious attempt to cover-up the wrong and unpopular decision” of the State government in giving recognition to the Rongmei Tribe in the State of Nagaland.

NTC in a press release said the Home Department’s clarification revealed the callous attitude of the State government by creating further confusions rather than clarifying on the general perceptions.

Stating that on careful review of the Committee’s

Arrangements for HSLC/HSSLC exam in Mkg

MoKoKchUNg, FEBRUARY 5 (DIPR): Deputy Commissioner, Mokokchung Murohu Chotoso has informed that on February 4, a co-ordination meeting was held to chalk out arrangements for HSLC and HSSLC examination 2014, and following departments and officials were detailed in different examination centers for the smooth conduct of the exams.

Superintendent of Police, Mokokchung to detail 5 security personnel, 3-male and 2-female to each examination centers, Chief Medical Officer to detail medical teams to each center, Treasury Officer to open office at 8:00 am on examination days and ensure safe custody of examination/confidential papers, Post Master to ensure opening of the post office and ensure early dispatch of examination materials.

The following officers were also assigned to perform magisterial duty at the following centers: Livitoli Sukhalu, EAC Hq & Temsumeren, PA to DC, Mokokchung at Mayangnokcha Government Higher Secondary School, Mokokchung; Manazir Jeelani, IAS (P), Asst. Commissioner, Mokokchung & Zulunungsang, PA to DC, Mokokchung at Edith Douglas Higher Secondary School, Mokokchung; Thejakhrienuo Niza, EAC (P), Mokokchung & Tsuknungsowa, Head DB, Mokokchung at Government High School, Dilong.

The DC further informed that all Center superintendents, magistrates on duty and security personnel have to reach Treasury Office by 8:00 AM to collect exam materials.

Report, it was found that the committee was against granting recognition to the Rongmei Tribe, NTC said the State cabinet had however gone ahead and taken a political decision, outside the Committee’s recommendation, to recognize Rongmei as a tribe in the State of Nagaland giving full-fledged social status.

Pointing out that there is a vast difference between granting indigenous inhabitant certificate to individuals and granting tribe recognition, NTC said Indigenous Inhabitant Certificate are issued for the purpose of employment and education for the members of a community who hold landed properties prior to

the state formation or their names listed in the electoral roll 1963.

“Whereas recognition of a tribe is for those who hold social status of being a community who inhabited in the State prior to its formation with well defined territory with its distinct culture and traditions as one of the aboriginal tribe identified by the State,” the council said.

“How can the Rongmei Tribe which is part and parcel of the state of Manipur and Assam enjoying all the benefits of a tribe in their respective states be treated as indigenous inhabitants or for that matter an aboriginal tribe of Nagaland and enjoy multiple status?”

ESSU appeals to reinstate banking service in Aghunato

NTC questioned.

It also said that the State Election Department could not identify even a single Rongmei name in the 1963 electoral list, which only proved that they are not indigenous inhabitants of Nagaland prior to the state formation.

“The Rongmeis do not have defined territory in the State of Nagaland.

Then, where is the basis to grant them an aboriginal tribe status?” NTC added.

NTC also reminded that even the Gauhati High Court had dismissed the writ petition (C) Nos. 95 of 1999 and 137 (K) of 2001 filed by T. A. Rongmei for recognizing Rongmei as Scheduled Tribe in Naga-

land, stating there was no merit in the case.

However, the State government in 2012 went against the order of the Court by giving Rongmei as tribe in Nagaland for political decision to serve “vested interest,” NTC alleged.

Stating that the statehood of Nagaland was created with a defined territory consisting of 16 aboriginal tribes, NTC added that until and unless the territory of the state is expanded or re-organised, there was no justification to include tribes from other states which are not aboriginals.

NTC said the issue here was not about granting an indigenous inhabitant

certificate to the members of genuine Rongmei Nagas who could satisfactorily fulfill the laid down criteria as notified vide Notification No.AR-8/8/76 dated Kohima, 28th April, 1977.

“The issue in question here is granting social status to Rongmei Naga tribe qualifying them to fully enjoy the status and benefits of the aboriginal tribes of the State," NTC asserted.

"This is purely an attempt to infringe upon the rights and privileges of the citizens of the State and the NTC once again reiterate our earlier resolutions and pledged to fight against the anti-people decisions of the State at all cost.”

Army dismantles structures Morung Express News Dimapur | February 5

AghUNAto, FEBRUARY 5 (MExN): Eastern Sumi Students’ Union (ESSU) today wrote a memorandum to the Assistant General Manager, State Bank of India, Regional Office, Mokokchung on behalf of the people of Aghunato sub-division, “relating to the sad grievances faced by the people due to transfer of SBI, Aghunato Branch to Zunheboto since April 27, 2000.”

ESSU stated that Aghunato town, established in 1952, is one of the oldest towns in Nagaland. It was inaugurated as ADC HQ in 1991. The area with total population of 36,000 people dispersed in 56 villages shares the same social, economic and political advantages. The huge growing population is left in a miserable condition in spite of government’s various initiatives in catering to the needs of the people through banking facilities. Many populace, the memo stated, are still unaware of the wide scope/ benefits offered through banking. Instead, people have to undertake a hercule-

an task travelling to Zunheboto for a single transaction.

These circumstances have had adverse impacts on the socio-economic growth of the people, it added.

The memorandum appended by ESSU President Vihepu Yeputhomi stated that government’s policy to help ease the trouble of employees has created complexity for the employees concerning booking salaries in personal service accounts, which also invite restriction to render their service to the public. Further, it expressed that the absence of banking facilities has created many inconveniences in the execution of administration and dealings, paralysing many departments which have completely shut down their offices almost throughout the year. “People's problems are not attended because officers remain out of their service centre,” it affirmed.

In light of this, Eastern Sumi Students’ Union has appealed to the authority concerned to retain banking service in Aghunato sub-division at the earliest.

DIMAPUR, FEBRUARY 5 (MExN): Western Chakhesang Youth Organization has strongly condemned the “uncivilized act and murder attempt” on the life of Zasheve Vese, pastor, Chakhesang Baptist Church, Diezephe village on February 4.

According to a press release issued by the youth organization’s president, Ate Kapfo and general secretary, Abel Tureng, the accused – Kivika Yeptho, Lukhei Yeptho, and Aloka Yeptho, forcefully entered the pastor’s residence at Purana Bazar around 4:00 pm and attacked him and his brother’s wife without any substantial reason.

“The very intention of

the culprits depicted an attempted murder as they carried dao and knife,” the release stated. The organization expressed that “the vigorous entry and action inside the residence of a Chakhesang community is a direct challenge to the whole community for which the organization noted very seriously.”

Further, questioning the motive behind attacking a pastor, who is “considered as most respectful and trusted in a society,” the organization cautioned it will not remain silent, nor give up the matter until and unless “the criminals produce satisfactory reason for their acts.”

Meanwhile, the organiza-

tion strongly urged the competent authority to award befitting punishment to the accused as per the law of the land. Further, it warned that any individual or organization attempting to bail out the accused will be doing so at their own risk.

society, devoid of morale and Christian principle. As a concerned Naga citizen, I would equally and justly speak up in equivocal tone for any Naga tribe in the state if they be in the victimized and marginalized condition like the Rongmeis of Nagaland. Generally, Nagas is seen to have gone mad and blind. I perceived that, the aggressive culture and mentality of the Nagas, the oppressive system of Indian administration in Nagas society, the heartless and indifference attitude of the Nagas about other people or human kind, the apprehensive and covetous nature of the Nagas inherited from the olden head hunting culture are still working active in the minds and hearts of the Nagas. The facts are road block and dead block to Naga society hindering the cause and progress of the Nagas as a people.

The history speaks and people witness the fact that the Present Dimapur has been the home of the Rong-

mei by act of clearing the jungle and settling as indigenous citizen of the erstwhile Assam and Naga hills Assam much before the existence of the young Nagaland state of India. Like the Konyak Naga, Rengma Naga, Zeme Naga and other Nagas living outside the present Nagaland state, the Rongmei too are being placed outside the margin by the politically systemedmentality of the Naga people in the state without realizing the same position of the aforementioned tribes.

If the Konyaks, the Rengmas etc are given or recognized their tribal status in Nagaland and elsewhere, what laws or rules or authority restrict the Rongmei living in Nagaland to be recognized and enlist in the state as a Naga tribe under the Naga scheduled tribe?

There is no harm or wrong to enlist the Rongmei tribe under the Naga scheduled Tribe list like the rest of the Nagas by tribal names as Ao, Sema, Angami, Rengma etc. It is wrong to assume

Army personnel from Transit Camp, Walford, Dimapur, on Wednesday noon dismantled hutments erected along Lhomithi Colony Army Supply Road.

Vehemently condemning the act, public leader and president of Nagaland Medicine Dealers’ Association, Ato Yepthomi said that the structures which were dismantled fell “under his land” and is “clearly outside the worn out fencing earlier erected by the army as its territory.” He informed that he has the land patta and

Dimapur

5

MEx FILE ZB(AMN) and AZSU(AMN) condemn shootout DIMAPUR, FEBRUARY 5 (MExN): Zeliangrong Baudi Assam, Manipur & Nagaland (ZB AMN) and All Zeliangrong Students’ Union Assam, Manipur & Nagaland (AZSU AMN) have condemned the shootout incident at Winamlung village in Tamenglong, between the NSCN (IM), NSCN (K) and ZUF on February 4, 2014. In a press statement, the two organizations fervently appealed the warring factions to refrain from all forms of violence in Tamenglong district in view of the forthcoming Lu Ngai Ni festival.

Yimchungrü Gazetted Officers’ Association meeting

DIMAPUR, FEBRUARY 5 (MExN): The Yimchungrü Gazetted Officers’ Association (YGOA) has convened a meeting on February 8 at Bamboo Resource Centre, Dimapur, at 11 am, to discuss some pertinent issues and agenda. All YGOA have been requested to attend the meeting positively.

SAKK meeting on February 8

KohIMA, FEBRUARY 5 (MExN): The Sumi Aphuyemi Kiphimi Kuqhakulu (SAKK) will be holding its first office bearers executive meeting for the tenure 2014-16 on February 8 at the residence of Mr & Mrs Isac Wotsa, chairman Ghokimi Union Kohima, Electrical colony near Stella Higher Secondary School Kohima. In this connection, SAKK president Tohovi Swu and publicity & information secretary Enock Wotsa informed all the executives to attend the meeting without fail. The meeting will discuss and work out the yearly plan for the upcoming 44th general conference of SAKK.

NDWU condemns members’ assault The dismantled structure at Army Supply Road Dimapur.

(Morung photo)

that even the lease for the nearby piece of land, which the Army claim to be theirs, expired in 1993. He said that the Army, led by one Captain Ravi, brought his red-capped jawans in a Truck, Gypsy and Van and demolished the

structures displacing families and causing huge loss.

“If there is any dispute, I welcome them to the discussion table but such action without any notice is an act of hooligan,” Yepthomi added.

a committee to check all civil works and other infrastructure activities, irregularities of HoDs and staff, and illegal immigration “in order to preserve our socio cultural ethics.”

Therefore, USSC directed all HoDs and contractors

order to maintain peaceful co-existence. Meanwhile, acknowledging the noble works of Deputy Commissioner Kesonyu Yhome in Kiphire, USSC looked forward to more changes in the district during his administration.

Unity Colony, Purana Bazar (B), Bokajan village and his accomplices assaulted the victim. “An outsider coming to our village and creating a situation is not pardonable which is an insult,” the president stated. Condemning the “bestial act”, the president requested the district Purana Bazar administration and law enVillage Council forcing agency to speed up In a separate statement, the case at the earliest and Purana Bazar Village Coun- not grant bail to the accused. cil also strongly condemned the “atrocities” meted out Chakhesang Community to Pastor Zasheve Vese. The East Dimapur Village Council chairman N Chakhesang CommuHozheto Achumi informed nity East Dimapur has also that “an outsider” Lukhei strongly condemned the Yeptho from Zunheboto dis- "assault and life attempt" trict, a temporary resident of on Pastor Zasheve Vese and

that the Rongmeis are demanding for separate recognition as a distinct schedule tribe in the state equal to Naga, Kuki, Garo,Kachari, and Mikir scheduled tribes.

They are neither to be placed equal to non-Naga immigrants like Nepali, Bengali, Behari, Khasi. It is a matter of not being enlisted and forgotten tribe of Naga when the call for enlisting all the tribes to be recorded in the official document of the newly state in 1963.

Recalling the history of the presence of Rongmei as Kabui Naga in the erstwhile Naga hills Assam, the Present Nagaland state, it was well recorded in the Assam population census of 1891.

In which census record, there mentioned the nine indigenous Naga tribes; the Angami, the Ao, the Kabui (Rongmei), the Kuchcha, the Kezhama, the Lhota, the naked, the Rengma and the Sema” by S.K. Barpujari in his book; The Nagas: The evolution of their History and Administration (18321939) page-4 II). Ref. G.M.

DIMAPUR, FEBRUARY 5 (MExN): Nagaland Drilling Workers’ Union (NDWU) has condemned the “inhuman act of assault” on two of its members, namely Thejamo Lotha and Longchi Konyak, by nine unknown miscreants on January 29 afternoon at Tsurang Valley Coal Mobile Check Gate under Akuk village in Wokha district. Stating this in a press release, NDWU president Hukato Aye urged the authority to take strict action against the culprits.

USSC chalk out work plan for 2014 Cohesive governance crucial KIPhIRE, FEBRUARY focused on educational to be prepared and stay at for progress and development 5 (MExN): Officials of system. The house set up own respective stations in United Sangtam Students Conference (USSC) along with ENSF social and cultural secretary A.K Sangtam held meeting on January 24 in Kiphire to chalk out work plan for 2014.

USSC in a press release stated that the meeting

his sister-in-law Küshelü Vese, a mother of four on February 4 at the former’s residence at Middle colony, Purana Bazar. “There is no place in Naga society for this kind of act where a pastor and a mother of four are assaulted at their own home,” stated the community in a press release. Asserting that the barbaric act will not be tolerated, it warned any individual not to bail out the accused and requested the district administration to take stern action as per the law. Further, the community appreciated the role of the district administration and police for timely arrest of the accused.

DIMAPUR, FEBRUARY 5 (MExN): To emphasize on the importance of effective local governance for overall development in villages, a workshop on the same was organized today

by Prodigals’ Home at its head office, NSCB Complex, for village leaders of Dhansiripar Block. Resource persons from Indisen village in Dimapur highlighted their achievements and the various dynamics involved for progress and development of a village.

According to a press release, village council chairmen and VDB executive members from 17 villages under Dhansiriphar Block attended the workshop, where resource persons stressed that cohesive governance is crucial for progress and development. Transparency of fund management, planting of trees for a greener environment and stability of water resource, road widening and maintenance, having a village guard body, peaceful co-existence

among neighbouring villages, gender equality, progressive and inclusive policies, and amicably resolving conflicts were the highlights of the day’s deliberation and interaction.

Earlier, Director of Prodigals’ Home, K. Ela, welcoming the gathering, highlighted on the need and importance of local governance, group-decision making, and women participation in the village governance. Akashi, CHILDLINE Dimapur personnel under Prodigals’ Home highlighted on the works of CHILDLINE Dimapur and child protection needs in the villages. Council Chairman Saku, Council Secretary Tangit and VDB Secretary Chuba from Indisen Village, which has made commendable progress through effective local governance and was also awarded “Nirmal Gram Puraskar” for sanitation by the President of India in 2012, were the resource persons for the day.

inhumane and illegal to derecognize a person or a tribe once legally recognized qualified by legitimate process. Practically it is no logic to de-recognize a known person to be unknown again. Only rejection. Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms… without distinction of any kind such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty… Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Art.2 & 3. UDHR. In the constitution of India Art.15 & 16, the state cannot discriminate against any citizen on the basis of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth… every citizen

must be accorded equality of opportunity in the matters of public employment.

The state is authorized to enact special laws to safeguard the rights and interest of the weak, the disadvantaged, the minorities etc.

“The legitimate objective of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to be done” Abraham Lincoln.

Does recognition of Rongmei in the state disturbs or hinders the other Naga communities economically, politically or socially? Does it not add or increase greater development in all aspects of the people in the state? Did not Rongmei participate in all social contributions toward building the Naga society and the Govt. by means of paying taxes, social work, political election, struggle and what not with the rest of the Naga tribes in the state? Do Rongmei attempt to grasp or snatch away the rights of the other tribes in the state or begging them their portion or

provision mean for them?

The state Govt. cannot deny the community; their history, integrity and legality to be citizen in the territory of India. They add or create population to the state according to which per capita, the Central grant of appropriation is budgeted or apportioned wherein the share of Rongmei includes or is part of it.

The ENPO statement “Putting the record straight, ENPO, stood absolutely for all possible moral and practical support to Rongmei Naga brethren in difficulties and was willing to go to any extend to defend and uphold their rights for social, political and economic rights” is right and becoming for a civic society to response. The attitude is appreciable and honored. It is expected of the Eastern Naga people to spell out hope and way for the unity, integrity and peaceful coexistence of all the Nagas fulfilling the aspiration of the Naga people to live together as a people and Nation.

Organizations condemn pastor’s assault in Dimapur

Public SPace The Deprived Rongmei Tribe of Nagaland: A Perspective

Gwangphun A Social Research Activist

Reckoning time has come for the Nagas to reason, understand and explore new and better way of life. For the old way is destroying us. We are being deeply wounded and systemized under oppressive cult and aggressive custom somehow socially structured in our society. Our problems are but our own making and so our own failing. Our thinking, word and action have made us who we are and how we are.

While trying to understand the reason why some few fellow Nagas and leaders are opposing the recognition of the Rongmeis of Nagaland in the state as one of the Naga tribes, no rationale ground can be concretely found either legally, morally, customarily or politically. Therefore, it is viewed as sheer jealousy motivated by wrong apprehension educated by some few ill-educated, greed based leaders in the Naga

Godden’s, “Notes on the Frontier Tribes” etc; JRAI, 1898 Vol. 27, Asian Census Report, 1891, pp 202-3. The Question of recognising the Rongmei as Naga tribe in the state of Nagaland does not arise, only and except enlisting the missed out Rongmei tribe in the state list under Naga tribe is the reality not considered and regretted.

They too suffered, sacrificed in the struggle and contributed to and for the cause of making Nagaland grow in term of population, tax, services, pride and pomp of Nagaland since the beginning till date. It is tears full to remember how Rongmei suffered for almost half a decade of deprivation in the state. It is unimaginable to see that, the Rongmeis are being targeted openly heaving upon with all kinds of political implications giving undue and undeserving propagandas against their justly approach.

Opposing the Rongmei recognition is a direct violation of human rights, and the constitution of India. It is

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

6

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C O M M E N T A R Y

THE EDIT PAGE

Graham Peebles Countercurrents.org

Land Conflict And Injustice: On the margin Development In ‘New India’ THursDAy 6 FEbruAry 2014 vol. IX IssuE 34

by Aheli Moitra

A

nd in the space given to it, sat little numbers on the pages of my notebook. The margin gave perspective to my content. The margin helped organize the system that was unfurling in my notebook. Being close to the border, and protecting me from it, the margin kept writing confined to the page. Even the blank, white and free art and craft notebooks required us to make margins!

But I, as other truants and angels, insisted on making our highest pieces of art on the left side of the margin. The finest doodles of many times lay scattered there.

Don’t get the history, science or logic of organic chemistry? No problem, unleash the bonds for King Julian to tackle them on the margins. Where the right hand side of a margin offered no real space for imagination, its left side stepped in as a knight. Here, we could beat mathematical integration and the lethal combination of genes with the masterstroke of a dog pooping on them. Freedom and justice was found here.

It always elicited a whack on the head from teachers and parents alike. With an awkward glance of shame, we were trained into giving up the freedom we enjoyed therein. The margin was to be judged only for its neat order—its role was predetermined—it could not pretend to influence our future, even marginally.

Yet this is exactly what happened. Over time, the margin broadened so much so that it disappeared. With age, little notes existed in every direction, in complete disarray and in mind boggling harmony. Freedom could be found right in the middle of the page—it could be central and organic chemistry could now go perch itself where it belonged, in the trash cans of memory. But, and more crucially, freedom could exist at the far left corner of the page and still hold the same depth. From it, could emerge the drawing of a resounding revolution.

Alas, even now and often, when the content of the margin makes it into the core paragraph of our essay, it is treated with a whack. At times, it is killed. We have refused to understand the margin in a stubborn stupor that has wiped out freedom and justice. This while the core of the peripheral margin simmers and brings home the whole point of freedom or justice.

Have margin doodles to share? Do so on moitramail@yahoo.com

lEfT wiNg |

Tim Reynolds AP Sports Writer

Without a flag

T

he names adorning just about every available spot on Indian luger Shiva Keshavan's speedsuit are written in faint gray letters, barely visible to those even nearby.

They are not insignificant. For the Sochi Olympics, those names are essentially Keshavan's flag. "If I cannot represent the country," Keshavan said, "at least I can represent the countrymen."

India is not officially at the Sochi Games, the nation suspended by the International Olympic Committee after it refused to ban corruption-tainted officials from running for elections. The suspension is expected to be lifted after new elections in the coming days, but likely not come in time for Keshavan and two other athletes from India — both skiers — to actually represent their country.

So instead, they will all race under the Olympic flag in Sochi. And in an effort to find a way to represent his country without a flag, Keshavan offered donors a chance to be listed on his uniform. Some of those who backed his quest for the Sochi Games have their names on the white suit that he will wear on race days.

It's not the flag he loves. Nothing replaces that. "It is upsetting," Keshavan said. "Ultimately, for us, the inspiration is to represent our country. That's what the Olympics are all about. The main thing has been taken away from us, and for quite a shameful reason, a violation of the ethics code — not just a violation, but a refusal to accept the ethics code until we were suspended."

By now, Keshavan has shown he can overcome any challenge. First of all, there's the obvious one — he's a luger from a country that has no luge track, no luge tradition, barely any real interest in sliding, period. The costs of competing and travel stretch into the tens of thousands of dollars each year. He's worked with teams and coaches from several other nations along the way, most recently pairing up and traveling with USA Luge.

"He really works well with the team," USA Luge coach Mark Grimmette said. "We're really pleased to have him with us. He's a good guy. Somebody from the International Luge Federation approached me and they said that Shiva was looking for a nation to partner with. To us, it made sense, so we discussed it with Shiv over the summer and it worked out."

The relationship is a two-way street. The Americans give Keshavan coaching and support. In return, he and his wife have helped teach them yoga.

"He brings a totally different atmosphere to the team," U.S. men's luger Chris Mazdzer said. "He's the most experienced person out of all of us. He is an awesome yoga teacher. He and his wife, they're both excellent. They bring us through team yoga two or three times a week. He's got a great sense of humor and he really meshes well with the team, which is extremely important."

Keshavan was 16 when he made his Olympic debut, literally half a lifetime ago. He's not a medal threat in Sochi; he's never finished better than 25th at the Olympics, with an average finish of 28.

Medals aren't why he's here. They never really have been. His legacy is going to be that of a trailblazer. More children are involved in luge in India than ever before, because of him and his story that includes taking a wheeled sled and training, as it were, on the roads of the Himalayas while weaving in and out of traffic. And if his health holds out, there's probably a good chance that Olympics No. 6 will await him in South Korea four years from now.

"Once you start sports and you get into the competitive state of mind, you just have to keep pushing yourself," Keshavan said. "It's self-improvement that drives me. I like to keep testing myself. You discover a lot about yourself and how your body can perform under certain conditions. And that gives you lots of satisfaction."

Angered by such government neglect and extreme levels of social injustice the Maoists are fighting against a political-economic system that (despite constitutional guarantees) ignores the 800 million oppressed and downtrodden: they describe their fight as a “democratic revolution, which would remain directed against imperialism, feudalism, and comprador bureaucratic capitalism.”

H

edonism is said to be the hallmark of a civilization in decline. Is it fear or avarice that consumes the revellers, content to avert their gaze as their countrymen, doused in poverty, burn on the party

pyre.

There are many fires raging in India; the agrarian crisis is one of the most shocking and destructive and sits at the heart of a range of interconnected calamities. “Don’t detach this crisis from the overall political, economic social direction of the country” advises P. Sainathi. It is a crisis rooted in one fundamental cause – the “predatory commercialization of the countryside,” a destructive development model that includes huge infrastructure and dam building projects (3,600 dams have been built since independence making India the third biggest dam builder in the world after China and America), gifting large tracts of land to corporations for industrial arteries known as ‘Special Economic Zones (SEZs)’ and massive mining projects. It is a collection of corporate sports which together are causing, “the biggest displacement in Indian history,” an epidemic of farmer suicides, the death of ancient cultures, and ecological mayhem. A redundant model of civilization that has fuelled a spectrum of resistance movements from the non-violent Gandhians in the homespun corner, to the armed wing of the Maoists (or Naxalites) in AK47 combat boots, the more militant, members of which want nothing less than the dismantling of the Indian state. . As Kishanji – Maoist leader is reported as saying, “We are the opposition in the true sense.

All the political parties are the same in all the states.

We want to destroy the state. This is a real war.” [Adivasi Caught Between two Fires (ACBTF)]

Hidden war The fiercest fire sparked by the commercialization of the countryside has to be the war tearing through parts of the north-eastern and central states. The insurgency, or “corporate war” as Arundhati Roy calls it, covers “over 40% of India’s land area, encompassing 20 of the country’s 28 states, including 223 districts (up from 55 in 2003) out of a total of 640” [The Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG)] and yet it remains largely hidden from the world and the new city dwelling middle class we hear so much about.

India may not be choosing to feed its 450 million plus starving citizens or provide sanitation and health care to the rural poor and metropolitan slum dwellers, or even toilets to 50% of the population who defecate in the open, but it comes tenth in worldwide military expenditure, has the third largest standing army in the world and, Om Shanti, India is a nuclear armed state.

The battlefields for the forty-year internal conflict are the mineral rich afforested areas in some of the country's poorest regions – where some of the poorest people on earth live. In order of intensity the states affected, (or ‘infested’ as the Indian media describes it), are: Chattisgarh/Jharkhand, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Orissa, Bihar, and Andhra Pradesh. These regions comprise the socalled “Red Corridor” (which covers over 1000 km) gov¬ern¬ment slang for the most poor, back¬ward and under¬de-vel¬oped parts of the coun¬try. It is here that paramilitary forces, police and army are pitted against Maoist/Naxalite insurgents (numbering around 20,000 armed fighters with 50,000 supporters), made up largely of India’s indigenous people – the Adivasis (from adi meaning from the earliest times), a marginalised minority accounting for around 8% (or 85 million) of the population. In addition to paramilitary troops, “the state has also used death squads known as Salwa Judum (SJ), [set up in 2005] meaning Purification Hunt, to spread a reign of terror and drive out Adivasis from villages for the benefit of companies — and on a massive scale” [Global Issues (GI)]. The vigilante group, which contained Adivasi in its ranks was banned in Chattisgarh by the Supreme Court in 2011, but the damage done was immense: “displacing 300,000 Adivasis, killing, raping, and looting them and burning down their villages. Five hundred charges of murder, 103 of arson, and 99 of rape have been lev-

elled by citizens against the Salwa Judum, but the Chattisgarh government has not investigated or processed a single case. According to Human Rights Watch” [GI]. In May 2013 in an attack by Maoists in Chattisgarh that killed 28 Congress Party leaders, Mahendra Karma the founder of the Salwa Judum “was stabbed 78 times and shot 15 times”.

The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh has called the Maoist insurgency ‘India’s greatest internal security threat’. Such duplicitous hyperbole is designed to deflect attention from the true cause of instability, which is extreme inequality and social injustice, feeding crippling levels of poverty. The conflict is a “governance issue that has broken into a law-andorder issue,” revealing the flaws in the “way [New] India is governed” [according to Sudeep Chakravarti - author of Red Sun: Travels In Naxalite Country].

Along with the Dalit community (15% or 190 million people) the Adivasis have been completely excluded from twenty years of economic growth (averaging 9%) and are seen by the government and the ruling elite in the cities as an embarrassment, an unsightly hangover from the past to be swept aside, allowed to fester and die in rural poverty or urban degradation. Infant mortality amongst Adivasis (or Scheduled Tribes – of which there are 635 distinct groups) is 57%, and child malnutrition 73% (the national average is the highest in the world at 48%), and 42% of under fives are undernourished [International Institute for Population Sciences].

Ignored many in desperation turn to the Maoists for support. Some Adivasi groups have formed their own resistance movements – in Orissa for example, several tribes came together forming the Chasi Mulia Sangh, a tribal land movement (unconnected to the Maoists they assert) 5,000 strong. Armed with traditional weapons they are fighting for human rights and collective tribal ownership of their ancestral lands. They “claim they are caught between the two fires of an escalating Maoists/Naxalite insurgency and the governments paramilitary backlash” [ACBTF]. Such movements face injustice and violent repression from security forces, which serve to push these groups into the arms of the Maoists. Once associated with ‘India’s greatest security threat’, “armed police are sent in, and village land is forcibly taken over with impunity” [anthropologist Felix Padel].

The Adivasi people have “an ingrained regard for truth and law”, they have lived in harmony with the land for generations: within their culture the natural environment is sacred and belongs to the whole community – there is no concept of individual ownership. They are ‘the sons of the soil’ condemned to live in grinding poverty outside the economic growth bubble by a government that is firmly wedded to the corporations and sees the shining future of India in post-modern industrialized (meaning market capitalist) colours. Corruption is endemic within all sectors of Indian politics, the police and it is said the judiciary, and although large sums of money are ‘officially’ “being spent on tribal groups, only 1% or 2% reaches them, 98% is swindled, siphoned off” states Professor Manmath Kundu Ibid. The government “has done nothing for us, no development, no roads, no drinking water, no schools” and we could add – no healthcare (rural India is deprived the constitutional right to a universal health care system). After twenty years of economic development India has of course progressed – it now produces a food surplus compared to a deficit in 1950, but most of its people have seen little improvement in their lives; on the contrary, there are more poor than ever and the poor are poorer, as Arundhati Royvii states, “the price that is being paid for development – for growth, is displacement, deaths, environmental destruction.”

The government has given nothing to its most vulnerable citizens, and taken everything, “thousands of Adivasi farmers have had their land stolen” [Chasi Mulia Sangh leader Nachika Linga], and with the land goes the culture, including language and traditional practices. The Adivasi in Dr. Kundu’s view, “have a very bleak future, because the [economic] development is not ‘tribal friendly’ and means ‘detribalisation… ultimately there will be hardly any tribal groups left in the true sense”.

Bulldozing the rural poor Corrupt and heavily armed the ‘imperialist’ security forces are acting on behalf of corporate India, Western multinational corporations and governments. A self-interested posse motivated by one thing only – profit. They are determined to loot the land of the vast mineral resources (particularly iron ore and bauxite), inflate their burgeoning multi-national coffers and fulfil the Indian corporate-governments vision of a post-modern industrialised nation, sprinting to the winning line in the race for global economic supremacy. “The Tata’s and the Ambani’s are using armed might. I think everything that happened in Latin America and Central America with the creation of Contras, the arming of society, dividing of society, is being tried in India” [says environmental activist Vandana Shiva]. The collateral damage of such violent market driven actions is the indigenous people living on the land, democracy and inevitably the natural environment.

The Indian state “has been thoroughly corrupted by neoliberalism both at the national and provincial levels,” and in partnership with corporate India is at war with some of the oldest, poorest people in the world, people who find themselves “in the way of the kind of development - rapid industrialization fuelled by the exploitation of natural resources,” being pursued by the government [Mira Kamdar] A World Bank/IMF model of development that is causing extreme hardship for the majority of Indians, and has displaced millions of indigenous people: as many as 56 million people have been displaced by dam building alone since 1947. According to the 1894 Land Acquisition Act the government is not bound to compensate displaced people with anything other than a cash payment – little use to an illiterate Adivasi man – women get nothing at all, who has just lost his home, his livelihood and his cultural heritage. This is feeding an insurgency which has taken tens of thousands of lives. A media-managed conflict in which paramilitary forces have herded large numbers of forest dwellers off their ancestral land into police camps, or forced to migrate to cities where they join the millions living sub-human lives in the slums. A war, according to Felix Padelx, is “the worst war there has ever been in India, because it is directed against village people.” And yet, throughout the world, the majority “don’t know there is a civil war going on in India,” so great is the corporate state’s control over the ‘free press’ and the international community’s indifference to tribal people who are unlikely to be particularly heavy shoppers.

The violent pattern of mining, environmental destruction, death and displacement of native peoples is an ancient story. It is a colonial epic, the story of the powerful versus the vulnerable, corporations versus indigenous people, who happen to live on ancestral land rich in mineral deposits worth trillions of US $.

From their point of privilege the rulers of India, the upper and middle classes, “look down on the land and ask [of the Adivasi people] ‘what’s our bauxite doing in your mountains, what’s our water doing in your rivers, what’s our timber doing in your forests?” [Arundhati Roy] Far from understanding the delicate ecological balance all is seen as a profitable commodity. Deep within the Saranda forest in the state of Jharkhand (where Adivasi’s make up 26% of the population) lie’s the world’s largest deposit of iron-ore. The mining giants are firmly in residence in the north eastern state, which is now “a fully militarized zone, there are over a hundred bases with a total of 50,000 official paramilitary troops involved in military action, [plus] the mining corporations’ security forces.” [Xavier Dias, spokesperson for the Jharkhand Mines Area Coordination Committee].

Such government intimidation is designed to create a climate of fear and suppression in which dissenting voices are silenced and the “corporations are free to suck out the minerals and forest resources,” in the process “transforming large fertile areas into industrial wastelands” [Felix Padel relates in Deconstructing War on Terror]. The Adivasi are simply an inconvenient irrelevant gaggle, that need to be cleared away, or at best put to work collecting scraps of coal or labouring on corporate farms for less than US$ 1 a day [Adivasi Caught Between two Fires].

The Maoist insurgency, whilst containing extreme elements that fit neatly into the box marked ‘terrorists’, is the direct result a narrow colonial approach to development, for in a way the India has been colonizing itself since independence.

The government has fuelled discontent and anger amongst the marginalized majority “through lack of development, political and administrative corruption, callousness in places where there is less bang for the political buck, mis-governance or non-governance” [Sudeep Chakravarti].

Village life for Adivasis and Dalits is largely an interdependent one in which people share what little they have. If there is any hope for the world at all Arundhati Roy in Trickle Down Revolution suggests, “it lives low down on the ground, with its arms around the people who go to battle every day to protect their forests, their mountains and their rivers because they know that the forests, the mountains and the rivers protect them. The first step towards reimagining a world gone terribly wrong would be to stop the annihilation of those who have a different imagination.” A re-imagination based on right relationship, with one another and environment; a life free from the insatiable drive for material possessions and accumulation to one rooted in sufficiency, simplicity and sharing.

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

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

7

Thursday

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

6 February 2014

PERSPECTIVE NEWS ANALYSIS, FEATURE AND DISCOURSE

Ex-gratia, relief granted to Mukalimi victims Khekiye K. Sema IAS (Rtd)

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Forest Colony; Kohima

he writer hopes that the readers do not have to deploy the use of a magnifying glass to read this headline. Given a choice the font could have been made even smaller but the laptop had reached its limit to smallness. The thought that dictated that exercise is this: On the 04-02-2014, all the Nagaland dallies carried the news in a microscopic corner of their front page that ex-gratia relief has been granted to the Mukalimi victims. The fact that a controversial issue such as this was given a minuscule coverage through an intermediary, more or less depicts the picture of a dishonourable Government acting in the sly...almost akin to manoeuvring under cover of darkness. Despite this questionable scenario, we shall first give thanks to the Government where it is due and so: Thank you Mr. Chief Minister of Nagaland, for finally doing a modicum of the right honourable thing... belated as it may. Having said that, the question persists as to why there has been such a desperate attempt to keep a good deed under wraps sooo extremely contrary to a politician's inherent attitude towards publicity? The case of ex-gratia relief for the families of the Karbi carnage at Dimapur was rightly, boldly and promptly announced and the situation review was even had with the Union Home Minister, GoI. The Rengmas who also suffered the same nature of carnage in the hands of the Karbi militants did not figure in the ex-gratia grant meted out. The simple principle of fairness demands that if the Karbis' case has been considered then the circumstance also dictate that the case of the Rengmas, who have suffered the same identical fate, should equally be considered. This has still not been addressed. All the Nagas frontal Organizations apparently lacking in scruples, remain complacently and indifferently silent on this. Are we all a bunch of retards with questionable honourable attitudes? This is the picture of unfairness that ought to agitate the minds of the fair. One wonders whether the Karbis suffered more pain while dying than the Rengmas, thus reducing the merit of our Rengma families from the consideration of relief...but at the end of the day both the Karbis and the Rengmas had died didn't they. It is for the Government to exercise its unfair paralysed mind to discern and redefine fairness in this situation as well.

The continued subject in review is now on the initiative (or the lack of it) of Government of Nagaland visa-vis Mukalimi aftermath. According to the confirmed field information, the ex-gratia grant was supposed to have surreptitiously been paid to the families of the deceased and the injured on the 29th December 2013 by the Deputy Commissioner, Zunheboto. The official copy of the payment receipts were passed on to Mr. Hovishe Arkha, the President of the Sumi Hoho only on the 3rd February 2014, by the Deputy Commissioner, Zunheboto after a lapse of 35days. Such a slimy manoeuvre provides fertile ground for speculations. For instance, one wonders why the Sumi Hoho was not invited to witness the disbursement since they had been in the thick of coordinating the entire operation. The improbability of such of ex-gratia payment being made on the 29th December 2013 itself is rather unbelievable for the fact that the families were grieving with the masses over the mortal remains of their loved ones on that day. The possibility of backdating the date of relief disbursement, is more practically believable. So why all this charade?

The seeming embarrassment of the Government is what puzzles the mind about this whole sordid affair. As a politician, the Chief Minister would have been more inclined to beat his chest and beat his drums to let world know how gracious he has been. Did the involvement of the NSCN (IM) in this shameful affair abnormally impair his thirst for publicity? This is strangely out of tune with the inherent character of a politician, especially

Planning Your Pregnancy?

If you’re planning on getting pregnant, you can improve your chances of conceiving and having a successful pregnancy & pregnancy outcome by following the stepsEating well Don't rely on supplements to make up for an unhealthy diet. Vitamin and mineral supplements cannot replace a healthy diet. A healthy diet is an important part of a healthy lifestyle at any time, but is especially vital if you're pregnant or planning a pregnancy. It is important to eat a variety of different foods every day to get the right balance of nutrients that you and your baby need.

Healthy Diets: Fruit and Vegetables Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables because these provide vitamins and minerals, as well as fiber, which help in digestion and prevent constipation. Eat at least 4-5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day – these can be fresh, frozen, dried or juiced.

Starchy Foods (Carbohydrates) For the first six months of your pregnancy (1st & 2nd trimesters), you won't need to have more calories than you did before you became pregnant i.e. about 2,000 calories a day. However, during the last three months of your pregnancy (3rd trimester), you will need an extra 300-500 calories a day, making a total of about 2,3002,500 calories a day. Calorie rich foods include meat, fish oil, bread, potatoes, breakfast cereals, rice, pasta, noodles, maize, millet, oats, sweet potatoes, yams, and cornmeal. These foods should be the main part of every meal.

Protein During pregnancy, your need for protein significantly increases. Protein is necessary for development of all new cells. Sources of protein include: meat, milk, fish, poultry, eggs, beans, pulses, nuts, potatoes, egg white, yogurt, oranges, etc. Take at least 60gm/day Nutritional Supplements: Folic acid (before & during pregnancy) Folic acid is important for pregnancy as it can help prevent birth defects known as neural tube defects. A

when this is compare with the promptness in the Karbi carnage case, publically trumpeting an ex-gratia grant for them. Then followed the front page coverage of his views in the recent Arunachali boy, Nido Tania's murder case. In the case of the death of the Sumi youths at Mukalimi, no such vibrant announcement of ex-gratia was made. Leave aside relief grant, the Chief Minister seemed to have found it beneath his dignity to even offer an official condolences to the families of the dead during or after the funeral. As a Chief Minister representing the whole Naga population of Nagaland it was his protocol duty and a responsibility of his office to fulfil this obligation...more so for the fact that this was not an insignificant stray matter. It had involved the whole Sumi Tribe. This was a fight for the honour and dignity of our women folks. That it happened to the Sumi Tribe in this instant incident is irrelevant. The same could have happened to any Tribe now or later and it was a matter of principle that such wrong doing deserved to have been officially and unambiguously condemned by the Government irrespective of Tribes that suffered it... there and then. What prompted the Chief Minister to abstain from this responsibility. Some accuse him of a tribalistic intent...but I personally doubt that. The problem lies elswhere. While acknowledging the fact that the Republic Day speeches incorporated a reference to the Mukalimi incident with a condemnation, there is a significant difference. Making a policy statement of the Government at the upper end of indifference is fine. The humane aspect of interacting with the grieving parents in their hour of loss is quite another. The deafening silence of the Office of the Chief Minister of Nagaland in all of this developments even after such a long lapse of time has to have a very compelling but uncomfortable reason beyond tribalism. It does not require the assistance of Mr. Einstein to guess at the truth. It is a public knowledge that the NPF purchased its way to power with a tacit blessing of the NSCN(IM). The difficulty of the Chief Minister being called upon to bite the hand that had propped up his Government is by no means an easy proposition, knowing well that it could have an adverse ripple effect. With the Chief Minister now eyeing the lone Lok Sabha seat, the problem seems to be getting further compounded where it is getting increasingly difficult for him to openly and officially condemn the incident and displease his erstwhile benefactor in order to win his election. The end result is that the Sumis has been made to instead appear more like a dishonourable scapegoat defaulter in this case in as far as the Chief Minister personally is concerned. A community defending the dignity of the women folks no longer seem to be considered a virtue in his eyes for the simple reason that he cannot bring himself to officially condemn this dastardly act of the NSCN(IM) cadres against our daughters, sisters, mothers and aunts. With all the promptings the Chief Minister seems to have crawled deeper into his shell rather than come out boldly, render his apology to the people for his temporary lapse and officially condemn the molestation episode and condole the death of the Mukalimi victims. The Chief Minister is not being called upon to perform a social service by officially condemning the incident and condoling the death of Mukalimi incident in the aftermath. The least he is expected to do as the Chief Minister of Nagaland and as a matter of his protocol duty, is to restore the honour of the Sumi Tribe and enable the Nagas to reaffirm their faith in the system. However much his personal political survival is involved, the people of Nagaland do not deserve a Government that is exposed to ransom to be manipulated through a remote control of a shadow organization. This cloak and dagger enactment in the payment of ex-gratia relief and the glaring failure to instil a wholesome feeling of reliance in our own elected Government for not doing the right honourable thing at the right time, is absolutely abominable.

On an official plane, Chief Minister represents all the Tribes of Nagaland without exception. The action taken by the Sumis against the NSCN(IM) at Mukalimi was perpetuated by the Government's inability to take strict cognizance of the crime committed and have the culprits promptly apprehended whether they belonged to A or B or C factions. The Government compounded the problem by trying to persuade the Sumi Frontal Organization to negotiate a settlement in coordination with the perpetrator organization instead, without sensitively appreciating the public outcry against the crime so committed. The icing on the cake was the decision of the NSCN(IM) refusing to acknowledge the existence of the State Government and refusing to hand over the culprits to the Civil Administration. Choosing to prosecute the defaulters within their own organization defines their retarded thinking process totally detached from the ground reality. The Government of Nagaland exists...whether they acknowledge it or not. This status will remain unaltered as long as the final settlement is not arrived at. Until such time therefore the acceptable human decorum and status quo has to be maintained.

The NSCN(IM) had the example of what the NSCN(K) had done in Kiho GB's beating case. They discharged their defaulting cadres, washed their hands off them and left them to the District Administration carry out their responsibility independently without further interference. No one suffered a loss of reputation. It was most unfortunate that this tested amicable approach was totally disregarded and instead the NSCN(IM) took a more negative high moral confrontational stance, grievously hurting the sentiment of the Sumi Tribe.

Alienating the whole Tribe, whichever Tribe it may be, is a counterproductive endeavour detrimental to the Naga cause as a whole. That they failed to exercise their wisdom and their judgement beyond their nose has been an irreparable loss for all the Nagas alike. Taking the whole picture collectively therefore, the Chief Minister had a personal responsibility to make appropriate amends by simply owning up to his Government's lapse and condemning the crime of the NSCN(IM)'s cadres and their inept handling of this situation. All would have been well thereafter. Failing to do this, however late, will forever tarnish his image as a biased individual steeped in tribalism. The consequences could be unfortunate.

On a human plane, the Chief Minister may perhaps try and envision the desperate circumstance of the parents who now stare at the emptiness and loneliness of their lives, having lost their loved ones. Through no fault of the theirs, these boys had unfortunately been drawn into the conflict zone and got blown away. They did not do what they did for an unnamed adventure...it was for the honour and dignity of the Sumi daughters, sisters, aunts and mothers being molested by "National goons". They did what they did because the Government they elected to power failed to do what they were duty bound to do. That is the simple truth. Like any other parents they too would have had dreams of a future with their children and grand children. Their dreams have been rudely and abruptly snuffed out. Why should it become such an insurmountable proposition for the Chief Minister to show a Christian compassion to the grieving hearts with a soothing word of condolence?

The present imbroglio is the litmus test in evaluating the general honourable standard of our leaders.

The important question that many have in their minds: why is the Chief Minister of Nagaland finding it so difficult to offer official condolence to the fathers and mothers of the victims of Mukalimi? In the backdrop of a common sentiment within the Sumi community across the board that 'life without honour is not worth living' , why has he failed to officially acknowledge the action of the Sumis as the right thing to do in the face of a degraded behaviour of the erring NSCN(IM) cadres against our women? We await his break of silence with his answers to these questions...if he is a fair minded human being.

racism: an Introspection Naro Longchar

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he recent brutal death of 19 years old Nido Tania from Arunachal Pradesh has once again sparked outraged among the entire North East community. This is hardly the first fatal consequence of racial discrimination of the people of the North East in the mainland. In fact, every single person who has or is residing in Delhi has been, in one way or other, a victim of racism. Whether it is in the form of verbal slurs, mistreatment or scuffles, no one has been spared from this racial profiling.

Standing in solidarity with the rest of the region, Nagaland has vehemently condemned the death of Tania with local dailies religiously following the turn of events and many young people taking to various social networking sites and blogs to express their anger and resentment. However, these instances should also serve as a reflection of our attitude and actions towards mainland Indians in our Nagaland State. Can we honestly say that we have not in any way, mistreated or discriminated them in our own community? In any given place the superior majority always has an upper hand on the minority which often results in mistreatment and discrimination, giving way to racism. We must question ourselves whether we are also consciously or unconsciously a part of the ‘big picture’ of racism? Things might not have gotten out of hand but our everyday attitude and demeanor towards the non-locals cannot really be passed off as being ‘polite’ or ‘respectful’. We must rise above the social structures that exist and respect the other person’s individuality irrespective of their origin, looks or status in society.

“Racism has existed throughout human history; it has influenced wars, slavery, the formation of nations and legal codes,” quotes Anti Defamation League, an international NGO to secure justice and fair treatment to all. In light of the rampant racial issues in the country, especially concerning the North East people, the Indian government should take stock of the issue from its root. Inclusion of at least a chapter on the North East, its people, culture and tradition in the school syllabus will instill within young mainland Indians a sense of belonging from their formative years.

Cultural exchange programs and student exchange programs will help in building relationships and respect for each other’s culture and ethnicity.

However, with that been said, text books, cultural programs, ‘special cells’ for North East people can only go so far. No amount of sensitization or awareness campaigns can help unless there is a deeper understanding which can only come from within an individual. An understanding of mutual respect for each other’s ‘identity’, which transcends race, caste and creed. Only then can we break free from the shackles of racism that bind us.

TIPS FOR A HEALTHY PREGNANCY

y. Zuchanbeni humtsoe neural tube defect is when the foetus' spinal cord (part of the body's ner(Obstetrics & Gynaecological Nursing) vous system) doesn't form normally.

College of Nursing, CIHSr, Dimapur You should take 400 microgram folic acid tablet every day while you are trying to get pregnant and until you are 12 weeks pregnant. Don't worry if you get pregnant unexpectedly and weren't taking folic acid supplements.

Start taking them as soon as you find out, until you're past the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. You should also eat foods that contain folate (the natural form of folic acid), such as green leafy vegetables, liver and brown rice. Some breakfast cereals, breads and margarines have folic acid added to them.

Iron in pregnancy If you are short of iron, you’ll probably get very tired, may suffer from anaemia and have an increased chance of bleeding during & after delivery. Lean meat, dark green in oily fish (such as salmon, mack- vegetables, brown rice, nuts, cereleafy vegetables, drum stick, dried erel and sardines), eggs and meat, als including oats, beans, peas and fruits, and nuts contain iron. If you'd breakfast cereals, soya products, pulses etc. like to eat peanuts or foods that consome dairy products, powdered Water: Water plays a key role in tain peanuts (such as peanut butter) milk, etc. your diet during pregnancy. It carduring pregnancy, you can do so as • Vitamin C: Vitamin C protects ries the nutrients from the foods part of a healthy balanced diet uncells and helps to keep them you eat to your baby, and also helps less you're allergic to them. Many healthy. A balanced diet con- prevent constipation, hemorrhoids, breakfast cereals have iron added. taining fruit and vegetables, in- excessive swelling, and urinary cluding broccoli, citrus fruits, tract or bladder infections. Most Vitamin supplements in pregnancy tomatoes, bell peppers, black- importantly, drinking enough waEating a healthy, varied diet in currants, etc. can provide all the ter, especially in your last trimester, pregnancy will help you to get most vitamin C you need. of the vitamins and minerals you prevents you from becoming dehyneed. It is best to get vitamins and Calcium in pregnancy drated which can then lead you to minerals from the food you eat, but Calcium is vital for making your have contractions and premature or when you are pregnant you will baby's bones and teeth. Dairy prod- early labor. Pregnant women should need to take some supplements as ucts and fish such as sardines – are drink at least six to eight glasses of well to make sure you get every- rich in calcium. Breakfast cereals, water per day.

Weight: Being very overweight, thing you need. dried fruit – such as figs and apricots • Vitamin D: Vitamin D regulates the – bread, almonds, tofu (a vegetable which is usually defined as having a amount of calcium and phosphate protein made from soya beans) and Body Mass Index (BMI) of more than in the body. These are needed to green leafy vegetables – such as 25 (Ideal BMI: 18-24), is increasingkeep bones and teeth healthy. You broccoli are other good sources of ly common. Before you get pregnant you can use the BMI healthy weight need to take 10 micrograms each calcium. Take 1000mg/day day throughout your pregnancy Fiber: This should form a large calculator (Wt. in kgs/Ht. in m2) to to provide your baby with enough part of your daily diet, since con- find out if you are overweight. By vitamin D. The best source of vi- stipation and piles are common in reaching a healthy weight, you intamin D is sunlight on your skin. pregnancy and fiber will help pre- crease your chances of conceiving Vitamin D can be found naturally vent it. Rich sources are fruits and naturally and reduce risk of prob-

or who become pregnant soon after (within one month) vaccination.  Caffeine: High levels of caffeine can result in babies having a low birth weight, which can increase the risk of health problems in later life.

Too much caffeine can also cause miscarriage. Caffeine is naturally found in foods such as- coffee, tea and chocolate, and is added to some soft drinks and energy drinks. To cut down on caffeine, try decaffeinated tea and coffee, fruit juice or mineral water instead of regular tea, coffee, cola and energy drinks.  Medicines: Some medicines, including common painkillers, can harm your baby's health. To be sure a medicine is safe in pregnancy: • Always check with your doctor, midwife or pharmacist before taking any medicine • Make sure your doctor, dentist or other healthcare professional knows you’re pregnant before they prescribe anything or give you treatment • Talk to your doctor immediately if you take regular medication, ideally before you start planning for a baby or as soon as you find out you are pregnant • Use as few over-the-counter medicines as possible  Illegal drugs in pregnancy: Using illegal drugs during pregnancy (including cannabis, ecstasy, cocaine and heroin) can have a serious effect on your unborn baby likemiscarriage, stillbirths, low birth weight, preterm labour, fetal abnormalities, etc. Abstain from such temporary temptations rather than regret & suffer life-long.  X-rays in pregnancy: Avoid X-rays during pregnancy if possible as it can cause miscarriage, fetal growth restriction, congenital malformation, mental retardation, and increased risk of childhood cancer. Make sure your doctor or dentist knows that you're pregnant before they treat you.

lems like- miscarriage, gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, infection, haemorrhage after the birth, having a baby with an abnormally high birth weight & birth defects.

A healthy diet and moderate exercise are advised in pregnancy. It is also important not to gain too much weight. The best way to protect your health and your baby's health is to go to all your antenatal checkups.

Exercises: Moderate exercises like walking, jogging, indoor cycling & swimming can be practiced. Begin with not more than 15 minutes of continuous exercise, three times a week. Increase this gradually to daily 30-minute sessions. Avoid vigorous exercises Cut down on unhealthy habits  Stop smoking: Smoking during pregnancy has been linked to a variety of health problems including premature birth, low birth weight, cot death (also known as sudden infant death syndrome or SIDS), miscarriage and breathing problems/ wheezing in the first six months of life. Smoke from other people’s cigarettes can also damage your baby, so ask your partner, friends and family not to smoke near you.  Cut out alcohol: Don't drink alcohol if you're pregnant or trying to get pregnant. Alcohol can be passed to your unborn baby through the placenta, and too much exposure to alcohol can affect your baby’s physical & mental development. It can lead to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) where the child will have irreversible growth deficiency, facial abnormality, neurological & functional impairment. It is advised to avoid alcohol in the first three months in particular, because of the increased risk of miscarriage.  Infections: Some infections, such as rubella (German Measles), can To be pregnant is to be viharm your baby. MMR vaccine can be tally alive, thoroughly woman, taken to protect you against rubella.

The MMR vaccination is not suitable and undoubtedly inhabited. for women who are already pregnant - Anne Buchanan

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

8

Dimapur

NATIONAL

Thursday 6 February 2014

The Morung Express

Stormy start to parliament’s last session

New DeLhI, FebruAry 5 (reuTers): Parliament opened its last session before a general election on Wednesday only to adjourn after a few hours of rowdy debate over the creation of Telangana, with the pressing issue of corruption pushed into the background.

The session, which will go through to February 21, is seen as a final chance for the ruling Congress Party to convince voters it is taking action on graft and to showcase the resolve of leader Rahul Gandhi.

After 10 years in power, the popularity of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), led by Congress, has sagged in large part over a series of graft scandals as well as its inability to halt a slide in the economy.

The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) calls it a lame duck government that is merely making a last-ditch attempt to shore up support. It should leave decisions to the next government, BJP leaders say. On the eve of parliament’s reopening, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appealed to all parties to help push through legislation.

But as the session quickly descended into a shouting match, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram acknowledged that might be a forlorn hope. “I doubt whether it will pass any law. We’ve to go through the ritual of attending parliament every day and coming back empty handed,” Chidambaram said in a speech to students.

The world’s largest democracy must hold a parliamentary election by May and the date is expected to be announced round

Important bIllS for WInter SeSSIon-II

New DeLhI, FebruAry 5 (IANs): Thirty-nine bills are on the government’s agenda for the second half of the winter session beginning Wednesday.

Of these, six are finance bills.

Some of important bills pending: * The womens reservation bill. It’s a constitutional amendment bill that seeks to reserve one-third of all seats for women in parliament and the state legislative assemblies. * Anto-vommunal violence bill. While the official list released by government does not mention it, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram Monday included this controversial bill in the list of important bills for the session. It makes bureaucrats and public servants accountable for any acts of commission and omission while handling communal violence. * The Telangana bill provides for creating a separate state of Telangana out of Andhra Pradesh.

about the close of the session.

The bills due to come up for debate in the session cover issues that Gandhi, the fourth generation member of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that leads Congress, has championed, including women’s empowerment and graft. But it may be too little, too late. Opinion polls put the BJP, a conservative Hindu nationalist party spearheaded by Narendra Modi, ahead of Congress.

The newly formed Aam Aadmi, or Common Man, Party (AAP), which campaigns against corruption and took power in the capital Delhi in local elections in December, could draw voters away from either one while a number of

smaller parties are discussing the formation of a “Third Front”.

Chandan Mitra, a BJP upper house member, said parliament should not be rushed into passing bills without due scrutiny.

“There is no obligation on the part of the opposition to allow Mr Rahul Gandhi to get his agenda pushed though,” Mitra told Reuters. “The government is trying to end this term on a high, but we don’t want to give them an easy ride.” Congress will try to push through 39 bills, including six anti-corruption bills, to address public anger over graft. They address issues such as protection for whistleblowers and corruption in the judiciary. It will also try to pass an interim budget expected to con-

‘Pay politicians corporate salaries to weed out corruption’

PANAJI, FebruAry 5 (AgeNcIes): Politicians should be paid salaries equivalent to top executives of the corporate world, said Infosys founder N R Narayana Murthy, while discussing ways to make the Indian government corruptionfree.

Speaking at the inaugural lecture of the DD Kosambi festival of ideas at Panaji on Tuesday, Murthy said, “By not paying them the salaries and incentives they deserve for the hard work expected of them, we are unwittingly pushing them to do things they shouldn’t be doing.”

When a politician tries to make an honest living, he or she is not given enough assistance for the job they are doing. “A politician’s job involves hard work, lot of travel and they should get compensated adequately. Currently what they are officially paid is no where enough to cover the costs for doing their duty.”

He cited an example of a techie who left his high paying job in Silicon Valley to become an MP in India and now is struggling to do his normal work as a politician.

Stating that the government alone cannot be held responsible to make the country tick, he said people have to work hard and contribute their bit. “We also need a workforce that is hard-working and has pride in the nation. Compared to other Asian countries, India’s young professionals have the shortest working hours and the lowest levels of discipline. Rather than emulate the hardworking workers in China and Japan, they would rather adapt western ways,

* Rights of persons with disabilities public interest, any procurements sary for ratifying the convention. bill provides for five percent reservaor procuring entities from any of the * The judicial standards and accounttion in public sector jobs and makes bill’s provisions. ability bill lays down enforceable the private sector more accountable * The Prevention of Corruption Act standards of conduct for judges. for creating a disabled-friendly envi(Amendment) Bill. Under this, an inIt also requires judges to declare ronment. It provides incentives for vestigating agency may have to seek details of their and their family the private sector to take such meaprior permission from the governmembers’ assets and liabilities. Imsures. ment before questioning a retired portantly, it creates mechanisms * The street vendors bill aims to probureaucrat in a corruption case. The to allow any person to complain tect the livelihood rights of street provisions aimed at protecting retired against judges on grounds of misbevendors as well as regulate street bureaucrats will come into effect only haviour or incapacity. vending through demarcation of after parliament gives its nod to the * The right of citizens to time-bound vending zones, conditions for and changes in the Prevention of Corrupdelivery of goods and services and restrictions on street vending. tion Act (Amendment) Bill, 1988. redressal of their grievances bill * The prevention of bribery of foreign seeks to create a mechanism to enAnti-graft bills: public officials and officials of pubsure timely delivery of goods and * The public procurement bill seeks lic international organisations bill services to citizens. Every public auto regulate and ensure transparency provides a mechanism to deal with thority is required to publish a citiin procurement by the central govbribery among foreign public ofzens charter within six months of the ernment and its entities. It exempts ficials (FPO) and officials of public commencement of the act. The charprocurements for disaster manageinternational organizations (OPIO). ter will detail the goods and services ment, for security or strategic purIndia had signed the United Nations to be provided and their timelines poses and those below Rs.50 lakh.

Convention against Corruption on for delivery.

The government can also exempt, in December 9, 2005. The bill is neces- * The whistleblowers protection bill.

and whine about working for eight hours,” he remarked.

Murthy stressed that the only path to progress is for a nation to create enough jobs to keep unemployment among the working population low-2 to 3 per cent, like in developed countries. “This does not mean it is the government’s responsibility to create jobs, but the government must act as a catalyst to bring in more businesses and encourage entrepreneurs and most importantly, foreign direct investment,” he said.

Murthy sad for younger generation Murthy fielded a large number of questions from the audience, but ended the evening on a sad note. Reacting to a young woman from the audience who said she felt unsafe on her own street corner, Murthy said, “I have to hang my head in shame.

It is not your (the younger generations’) fault, it is our fault that we are leaving such a country to you. We have let you down,” he said.

Put tax money to good use “In China, officials are held accountable for an annual economic growth of 7% and if they do not reach their targets, they lose their jobs. Similar targets are set to ensure protection of environment, to check the crime rate, etc,” explained Murthy. The media in India should hold officials and politicians accountable too to reach their targets and name persons responsible for every work and put out a rating card from time-to-time.

tain pre-election sops for voters.

But wrangling over the creation of Telangana derailed other matters when the session began, despite speaker Meira Kumar’s appeals for calm. The new southern state would be carved out of Andhra Pradesh and should generate vote-winning support for Congress. Members of parliament from Andhra Pradesh crowded around the rostrum of the chamber to denounce the proposed split, some carrying placards saying “Hail United Andhra Pradesh”.

ing the growing prominence of women’s issues after a series of sexual assaults. The BJP’s Mitra said the interim budget was a priority. “The interim budget will be passed as no one wants a shutdown,” he said.

Ajay Gudavarthy, a politics professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, said Congress hoped to use the session to present itself and Gandhi as forces that can fight corruption.

“The party is trying to build an image for Rahul Gandhi. He is a bit of a non-symbol now and that is a big problem,” he said.

But the party faces a strugFACE-SAVING gle to make over an image taintAlso on the slate is a bill on ed by graft scandals which have reserving a bloc of parliamen- touched on government deals tary seats for women - reflect- for everything from sports ven-

The audit is seen as a step in that direction. NCERT officials said while an NCERT text undergoes several rounds of vetting, the Council believes in introspection and continuous content improvement, hence the decision to conduct gender evaluation of textbooks.

It notes how a Class III Environmental Studies textbook has women in “stereotypical role of fetching water’. Similarly another lesson – Work We Do- has stereotypes reflected in the section on household work. In Hindi textbooks, gender evaluation report notes stereotypical adjectives often used. So in a poem ‘Pagdi’, a woman is referred to in negative terms, in another poem ‘Patang’, only boys fly kites while a girl child watches. In a lesson on work, a woman is shown in her typical role, cooking. There is similar gender bias in other lessons as well.

English textbooks play into gender stereotyping at places. Analysts pointed out subtle gender ste-

New DeLhI, FebruAry 5 (IANs): In a major embarrassment for the government, attempts to introduce the anticommunal violence bill in the Rajya Sabha Wednesday were thwarted as the entire opposition united against the bill. An ugly spat between members from the ruling Congress and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party erupted when Law Minister Kapil Sibal remarked that the bill was needed when state governments disrupt law and order as it happened in Gujarat.

He said the bill was needed in a situation where “...the state indulges in disrupting law and order ... as it happened in Gujarat, if the state sponsors communal activity”. This irked BJP members and led to a huge uproar from both sides. The opposition parties argued that the bill, to prevent communal violence, was against the federal structure and impinged on the powers of the state governments.

Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien thereafter deferred the introduction of the bill. The Left, DMK, AIADMK, and TMC were among the parties that opposed the legislation.

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde had earlier in the day sought to introduce the bill but could not do so following protests by BJP members, forcing a second adjournment of the house.

third front parties unite in parliament

New DeLhI, FebruAry 5 (IANs): Putting up a united face in parliament, leaders from the Left Front, Samajwadi Party, Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and other parties Wednesday announced that the non-Congress, non-BJP front would now work on “a common agenda” in both houses. “This is the first step after the Oct 23 meeting.

We are aligning non-Congress, non-BJP parties in both houses,” JD-U chief Sharad Yadav said at a joint press conference after a meeting of 11 parties in the parliament house complex.

“We will sit in one block and have a joint programme,” he said.

Leaders from the Left, Samajwadi Party, JD-U, JD-Secular, AIADMK, Biju Janta Dal, Asom Gana Parishad and Jharkhand German President Joachim Gauck, left, poses with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh be- Vikas Morcha were present at fore a meeting in New Delhi, on Wednesday, February 5. Gauck is in India on an official six day the press conference. “We will have a common agenda, and we visit. (AP Photo)

will take up issues of concern to thecommonmaninparliament,” said Communist Party of IndiaMarxist leader Sitaram Yechury.

Stating that the front would combat communal forces, Yechury said: “Congress has aligned with communal forces.

Only we can promote secularism.” The leaders also said they will not allow Congress to use the parliament session to launch its election agenda.

“Congress is primarily to be blamed for non-functioning of parliament. We will not allow them to pass anti-corruption bills in the din and use it as their election agenda,” Yechury said.

JD-S leader H.D. Deve Gowda said India needed to look beyond Congress and BJP. “Would Indian democracy be limited only to Congress and BJP? The regional parties are a strong force,” he said.

Cong denied Pranab Mukherjee the chance to become PM: Modi

KOLKATA, FebruAry 5 (PTI): BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Wednesday blamed the Gandhi family for twice denying the opportunity to Pranab Mukherjee to be the country’s Prime Minister.

“When Indira Gandhi was assassinated, Rajiv Gandhi was in Kolkata and he went back. Under a democracy, that time the seniormost minister in Indira Gandhi’s government was Pranab Mukherjee. It would have been good had he been sworn in as the country’s

Prime Minister,” Modi told a party rally at Brigade Parade grounds here. “They didn’t give it. Not only that, the family (Gandhi) felt that something is going on. So when the Rajiv Gandhi government was formed, seniormost minister Pranabda was not even taken as a minister,” he said.

“Again in 2004, Pranabda was the seniormost politician. It was very natural that had madam Sonia Gandhi not wanted to become (the PM), then the opportunity should have been given

NCERT looks into textbooks to weed out gender bias

New DeLhI, FebruAry 5 (AgeNcIes): The first-ever gender audit of NCERT textbooks reveals that though they are largely gender inclusive and attempt to highlight gender concerns, “there are elements of stereotypes in some textbooks”.

The Gender Analysis of primary school NCERT textbooks -18 of them – shows “men mainly in a variety of professions and women as homemakers, teachers, nurses and doctors”.

Following the December 16 Delhi gangrape, the Prime Minister’s Office had asked the Human Resource Development ministry to emphasise on moral science in schools and include chapters on value education in textbooks so that gender sensitivity and respect for women are inculcated in students at a young age. The Justice Verma Committee also recommended that gender equality be integrated in the curriculum at all levels in school education and gender modules developed for percolation of issues of equality and equity.

ues to coal mines. “I don’t think they can do this in such a short space of time. It’s just a facesaving exercise, even if they do pass the bills,” Gudavarthy said.

Mandira Kala, head of research at PRS Legislative Research, said the corruption issue should not distract attention from the economy. Once a star performer, India’s growth has slowed in recent years and it is now weathering a storm in emerging markets. “The focus might be on anti-corruption now, but when you look at what the economy needs there are a lot of bills that are not being looked at,” said Kala, picking out a pending higher education bill and a mining bill as examples.

Govt fails to table anti-communal violence bill

reotypes like a boy holding a book while a girl is engaged in conversation. Occupational representation also indicates gender stereotypes.

The report notes “women are shown as teachers, cooks, doctors and nurses reflecting an extension of household work”. Men are “depicted in multiple professions, as pilots, artists, astronauts, magicians, rulers, postman, vegetable seller, newspaper seller, cobbler, librarian, drivers, dramatists, musicians, athletes, scholars, wrestlers, grocers, police, sportspersons and woodcutters”.

In fact, overall depiction of women is mainly in ‘caring roles’ or relational category, daughter, sister, wife and so on. Women are depicted “in a limited manner… as professional athletes”. The report suggests certain terms like policeman/milkman must be changed to policeperson and milkperson to make them gender sensitive. Similarly, ownership of assets should be jointly reflected, like a ‘man owning a canteen’ can be stated as ‘man/woman own-

ing a canteen’.

The gender analysis report, however, says most textbook content is ‘gender inclusive’ incorporating stories of women role models and questioning customary practices like child marriage.

Textbooks have attempted to show boys/men sharing household chores, child rearing and caring practices and expressing emotions.

A special effort is made in mathematics textbooks to not only make the subject more enjoyable but also “to remove fear of mathematics among students, particularly girls”. Mathematics textbooks show women inheriting equally from ancestral wealth and receiving a share.

The gender analysis anchored

by Department of Women’s Studies, National Council for Technical Education & Research (NCERT) has been conducted by NCERT faculty from Departments of Elementary Education, Languages, Education in Science & Mathematics, Central Institute of Education Technology.

to Pranabda, but Manmohan Singhji was made (the PM). Pranabda was not given the opportunity,” Modi said. He urged the people of Bengal not to forget this.

“People of Bengal should not forget this. I request you,” the Gujarat chief minister said. Modi also attacked the formation of a Third Front. “Let the third front see which way the wind is blowing. BJP will form the government after coming Lok Sabha elections,” he said. “The idea behind Third

Front is to make India a third-rate country. Eastern states have remained backward due to Third Front parties,” he added.

“Time has come to bid farewell to Third Front forever,” the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate said. The Gujarat chief minister was accompanied by party national president Rajnath Singh. His rally today kickstarted BJP’s Lok Sabha poll campaign in the state.

Massive security arrangements were undertaken for the event.

Vehicles move past a Delhi Metro construction site, right, in the morning in New Delhi, on Wednesday, February 5. On bad days in India’s congested capital, the air is so murky it slows traffic to a crawl because visibility is so poor. Conversations are punctuated with rasping coughs. Weak bands of sunlight filter through a grainy sky. Air monitoring sensors around the landlocked Indian capital have routinely registered levels of small airborne particles at “hazardous” levels in recent months — three to four times New Delhi’s own sanctioned limit, rivaling Beijing. (AP Photo)

InternatIonal

the Morung express

Thursday 6 February 2014

Dimapur

9

Kerry’s diplomacy takes on difficult problem WASHINGTON, FebruAry 5 (AP): John Kerry has spent nearly half of his first year as U.S. secretary of state jumping on and off airplanes and diving headlong into some of the world’s most difficult problems.

Since taking office Feb. 4, 2013, he has brought opposing sides to the negotiating table over Syria, Iran and Israel in high-stakes diplomatic gambles that promise big payouts but could fail with catastrophic results. Kerry’s major initiatives remain works in progress and so far they have yielded few concrete results. They have opened him up to criticism not only from expected political foes but also from traditional friends and allies.

“Incomplete” may be the most appropriate grade to give to his first 12 months on the job. When the former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee reported for duty at the State Department, brandishing the diplomatic passport he was issued as a child, he hinted at an ambitious agenda.

“What other job can you have where you get up every day and advance the cause of nation and also keep faith with the ideals of your country on which it is founded and most critically, meet our obligations to our fellow travelers on this

veloped his taste for international relations as a boy in post-war Europe, made it clear he would try. At the time, perhaps only a few realized just how hard.

Of Kerry’s 365 days on the job, 152 have been

spent on the road. He has flown more than 52,000 kilometers aboard his converted Air Force 757 to push Obama administration’s foreign policy objectives. That’s 114,000 more miles (18,000 kilometers)

than Clinton logged in her first year and the equivalent of nearly 900 miles (1,450 kilometers) per day or 13 times around the earth’s circumference.

Some might say he has turned the staid art of di-

plomacy into a contact sport. “He’s the Energizer Bunny of American foreign policy,” said Aaron David Miller, a former diplomat who served under six secretaries of state and is now an analyst at the Wilson Center, a Washington thinktank. “He’s in the middle of every mix. He is risk-ready, not risk averse. He believes in diplomacy and he believes in himself.” With his career in politics behind him, Kerry no longer has to worry about the vagaries of voters.

Maybe more importantly, he has been freed from the constraints under which many presidents’ first-term secretaries of state operate. While the White House exerted near total control over all the big issues facing Clinton during President Barack Obama’s first four years, it has given Kerry largely free rein as it focuses on burnishing the commander-in-chief’s domestic legacy.

Kerry has embraced that freedom and even policy critics are hardpressed to question the passion and vigor he has brought to the job. Last November, Sen. John McCain likened the secretary of state to a “human wrecking ball,” which is far from an accusation of inertia. Yet, questions abound about what he is pursuing with such passion.

Palmera, on El Salvador’s Pacific coast.

Alvarenga was working as a fisherman in the southern Mexico state of Chiapas until he vanished more than a year ago. The man said he got lost at sea during a fishing expedition in December 2012, drifting for more than a year until washing up in the faraway Marshall Islands last Thursday. Alvarenga said he survived by eating raw fish and birds as well as drinking turtle blood, urine and rainwater for 13 months, but a teenage companion named Xiguel starved to death during the ordeal.

Some experts say it is theorically possible to survive such a trip under harsh elements, but others were skeptical about the man’s story. His family, however, was just happy to see him again, including his 14-year-old daughter Fatima, who lives with his parents and had not seen him in years. They have yet to speak with him since his reappearance. “I am all emotional because I am going to get to know him,” said Fatima, who had no memory of her father’s face until newspapers published pictures of the stocky and bearded man.

The girl’s mother left

her with Alvarenga’s parents and moved to Guatemala. El Salvador’s foreign ministry said it was working with Mexico to repatriate Alvarenga, who was recuperating in a hospital in the Marshall Islands.

Salvadoran authorities said they will give him a provisional passport to help him go home. The family was mobbed by the media and curious neighbors eager to hear the incredible news.

His 65-year-old father, Ricardo, said Alvarenga left for Mexico 15 years ago to work for a fishing company. “He was restless when he was young and always liked fishing,” said Ricardo, a farmer who plants yuca, bananas and corn.

Alvarenga would go to the beach with friends and return home with fish he had caught. In an interview with AFP from his hospital, Alvarenga said he had suicidal thoughts during his trip but was sustained by dreams of reuniting with his family and eating tortilla and chicken.

His mother is eager to oblige. “We will make him a big meal, but we won’t feed him fish because he must be bored of eating that,” she said. “We will make him a big plate of meat, beans and cheese to help him recover.”

NeW yOrK, FebruAry 5 (IANS): Is your child hooked to energy drinks?

Watch out for him as he may turn into a drug addict later.

Widespread adolescent energy drink use is strongly associated with substance use later in life, finds an alarming research. Even a high soft drink consumption is also related to substance use but such associations were much stronger for energy drinks.

“Nearly one-third of US adolescents consume high-

caffeine energy drinks or ‘shots’. These teens also report higher rates of alcohol, cigarette or drug use,” said Yvonne M. Terry-McElrath, from the institute for social research, University of Michigan. The researchers analysed data on nearly 22,000 US secondary school students.

In response to questionnaires, about 30 percent of teens reported using caffeine-containing energy drinks or shots. More than 40 percent said they drank

In this Jan. 22, 2014, file photo, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, talks to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon prior to the Syrian peace talks in Montreux, Switzerland. The peace talks in the Swiss city of Montreux marked the first time the opposition and the Syrian government will sit down face to face since their dispute began in March 2011. Kerry has spent nearly half of his first year as secretary of state jumping on and off airplanes and diving headlong into some of the world’s most difficult problems. (AP File Photo)

planet?” he asked his new employees. “That’s as good as it gets.”

Replacing Hillary Rodham Clinton would not be easy — “I have big heels to fill,” he joked — but the son of a diplomat, who de-

Despite Kerry’s intense diplomatic efforts, conditions in Syria continue to deteriorate and the government has yet to live up to its hard-extracted promise to give up its chemical weapons stocks. Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians are nearing a nine-month target for a deal with little sign of progress. And difficult negotiations to get Iran to address international concerns over its nuclear program have not yet begun amid deep skepticism about any rapprochement with Iran, both in Congress and among allies like Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Kerry has bounced around Europe and the Middle East so much he has quipped that his visits are becoming a “commute.”

The manic travel pace has become part of his rejection of the growing sense that the administration’s foreign policy, particularly on the Middle East, has become disjointed and lacks broad vision.

“I think the only person more surprised than I am by the myth of this disengagement is the Air Force pilot who flies the secretary of state’s plane,” he told business executives last month at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

At the same time, where Kerry isn’t or hasn’t been

is also an issue. While he has traversed the Atlantic more than a dozen times as secretary of state, Asia experts lament that Kerry’s focus on the Middle East has distracted from the administration’s oft-stated ambition to rebalance to the Pacific Rim. A trio of foreign policy heavyweights from President George W. Bush’s tenure warned earlier this month that “friends and foes” are watching “to see whether the United States really has staying power in Asia.” Current officials counter that Kerry will soon be making his fifth trip to Asia and Obama plans a visit there this spring.

Of the 39 countries Kerry has been to as secretary of state, just one — Ethiopia — has been in sub-Saharan Africa. He has visited only three countries — Brazil, Guatemala and Colombia — in Latin America in his first year on the job.

The secretary’s impressive travel records, however, are not guarantees of success, as even his backers allow. On his three signature issues, Iran, Syria and the IsraeliPalestinian negotiations, Kerry has devoted a substantial amount of time, energy and jet fuel to set in motion a series of processes. Scoring better than “incomplete” will require actual outcomes.

regular soft drinks every day, while 20 percent drank diet soft drinks daily. Boys were more likely to use energy drinks than girls. Use was also higher for teens without two parents at home and those whose parents were less educated.

Surprisingly, the youngest teens (eighth graders) were most likely to use energy drinks/shots. Students who used energy drinks/ shots were also more likely to report recent use of alcohol, cigarettes and illicit

drugs, claimed the study.

Energy drinks and shots contain high doses of caffeine to increase energy, concentration or alertness.

Energy drinks are often used together with alcohol which may ‘mask’ the intoxicating effects of alcohol.

Even without the possible link to substance use, researchers note that with their high caffeine and sugar content, energy drinks and shots aren’t a good dietary choice for teens, said the study.

Pacific castaway’s story a ‘miracle’ Energy drinks leading to substance use: Study

Fatima Alvarenga, the daughter of Jose Salvador Alvarenga, poses for a portrait holding a photograph of herself held by her father when she was a baby, at her family’s home in the village of Garita Palmera, El Salvador, on Tuesday, February 4. (AP Photo)

GArITA PAlmerA, FebruAry 5 (AFP): For Salvadoran couple Ricardo and Maria Julia Alvarenga, the reappearance of their son after his incredible story of survival adrift in the Pacific for 13 months is nothing short of a miracle.

The couple, who last saw their son eight years ago, could barely believe that Jose Salvador Alvarenga, 37, was alive after

his claim that he survived a 12,500-kilometer (8,000mile) odyssey from Mexico to the Marshall Islands on a small boat. “It is a divine miracle, a sign that God was compassionate with our son’s life,” said Maria Julia, 54, with tears of joy. “I kept thinking that one day he would come back to us, that God wants him to return to our house,” she said from the family’s home in Garita

Turned 18? Check BP to lower heart disease risk later

CHICAGO, FebruAry 5 (IANS): The signs of developing heart disease later in life can be spotted as early as you turn 18, especially if you have an elevated blood pressure, claims research. The 25-year comprehensive study is the first to identify different long-term patterns of blood pressure levels and resulting cardiovascular risk.

“Blood pressure in young adulthood can impact risk for heart disease later in life,” cautioned Norrina Allen, assistant professor of preventive medicine at Illinois-based Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. “We can’t wait until middle age to address it. If we can prevent their blood pressure from increasing earlier in life, we can reduce their risk of future heart attacks and stroke,” Allen suggested.

The study found distinct blood

pressure patterns from ages 18 to 55 that reveal people at high risk for calcification of coronary arteries - a marker for heart disease - by middle age. Also known as hardening of the arteries, these calcium deposits can narrow coronary arteries and increase heart attack risk. “We can prescribe lifestyle changes such as increased physical activity or a better diet that can prevent them from developing hypertension and a higher risk of disease,” the researchers added.

According to Donald LloydJones, a cardiologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, “In people with higher blood pressure, earlier intervention with lifestyle and with medication, when needed, is important”. “Although blood pressure can be quickly lowered with medication, the damage to the heart and blood

Amid protests, Ukraine more divided than ever

KIeV, FebruAry 5 (AP): The mayor of a western city warned that his police would fight any troops sent in by the president. The governor of an eastern region posted an image of an opposition lawmaker beaten bloody, saying he couldn’t contain his laughter.

Two months into Ukraine’s anti-government protests, the two sides are only moving further apart. To be sure, Ukraine has never been monolithic. Russia and Europe have vied for dominance for centuries, fostering deep cultural differences between the mostly Ukrainianspeaking western and central regions that yearn for ties with the West, and the Russianspeaking east and south that looks to Russia for support.

As the crisis has deepened, each side has grown stronger in its convictions — and those who stood in the middle have been forced to choose sides.

The demonstrations began with an old question: Should Ukraine follow a European path or move closer into Russia’s sphere? In November, President Viktor Yanukovych — after

years of touting a political and economic treaty with the European Union — had abruptly walked out on it in favor of a bailout loan from Russia. But the crisis changed significantly a week later when riot police violently broke up a small, peaceful rally in the middle of the night on Kiev’s central square.

Suddenly, the calls for EU integration were replaced with demands for Yanukovych’s ouster and a new government that would guarantee human rights and democratic freedoms.

Slogans such as “Ukraine is Europe” were replaced by “Down with the gang!” The divide deepened further as peaceful protests turned ever more violent.

Last month, after four protesters were killed and police were widely reported to have beaten and abused activists, the opposition’s anger became more intense. And Yanukovych’s supporters were appalled by images of riot policemen set aflame by protesters’ Molotov cocktails, the toppling of a statue of former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin and the occupation of government buildings.

The differing visions are rooted in cultural realities. To the west, protest-friendly Lviv feels like a typical European city, with cobblestone streets, Catholic churches and outdoor cafes. To the east, the Yanukovych stronghold of Kharkiv is an industrial city with massive Soviet architecture and a giant Lenin statue.

Linguistics also come into play in a country where roughly 40 percent of people speak Ukrainian at home, a third speak Russian and a quarter speak both. The two languages are closely related and it is not uncommon for one Ukrainian to address another in one language and hear a response in another. Most speakers on Kiev’s Independent Square address the crowds in Ukrainian, but both languages are heard at the barricades.

But what for years have been friendly rivalries became tense feuds as the violence increased. The mayors of western and eastern cities traded barbs, while on the streets of Kiev — roughly in the center of the country — angry protest-

ers tossed firebombs and rocks at police, who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.

Police were caught on video humiliating and abusing a protester, who had been stripped naked and made to stand in the snow. Pro-government activists largely from eastern Ukraine — allegedly hired by the government — descended on Kiev to harass protesters.

Protesters formed “self-defense units” that detained the pro-government activists and forced some to march through the streets with their hands bound. Social networks filled with pages giving the addresses of riot policemen with calls for retaliation.

Protesters accused Yanukovych of staining his hands with blood, while Yanukovych supporters charged that the protesters were nationalists bent on tearing the country apart. The country now stands split nearly down the middle.

According to a December poll by the Razumkov Center think tank, 50 percent of Ukrainians supported the protests while 43 percent opposed them. The

poll, which interviewed 2,010 people across Ukraine in person, had a margin of error of 2.3 percentage points.

And as the country has polarized, Razumkov found, both Yanukovych and the main opposition leaders have risen in popularity, while the number of people who support neither side has fallen. Support for Yanukovych rose from 19% in October to 29% in December, while opposition leader Vitali Klitschko rose from 16% to 22 % and Arseniy Yatsenyuk from 6% to 12%.

The sides now appear to be at a stalemate. Yanukovych, whose fraud-ridden presidential victory was reversed by the 2004 Orange Revolution, has no desire to yield to protests once again. Instead, he has promoted hard-liners within his government, offered only limited concessions and essentially decided to wait out the demonstrators.

As more than 100 protesters languish in jail and lawmakers’ debates on solving the crisis make little progress, Klitschko warned the president Tuesday that without a resolution to the crisis the country risks falling off a cliff.

vessels that is caused by time spent with elevated blood pressure tends to remain. We can’t put the horse all the way back in the barn,” he warned.

The study used data from 4,681 participants in the ‘coronary artery risk development in young adults’ study from baseline years 1985-86 through 25 years of follow-up. The participants were 18 to 25 years old when the study began and from four urban sites including Chicago, Birmingham, Minneapolis and Oakland.

The highest risk group had elevated blood pressure compared to their peers at age 18, but it was still within the range considered normal.

This developed into hypertension by middle age and they were four times more likely to have coronary artery calcification, noted the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In this Wednesday, January 22, 2014 file photo a police officer aims his shotgun during clashes with protesters in central Kiev, Ukraine.

After two months of anti-government protests, modern Ukraine has never been so bitterly polarized. To be sure, Ukraine has long been divided. Russia and Europe have vied for dominance for centuries, causing deep cultural differences between the mostly Ukrainianspeaking western and central regions on the one hand, and the Russian-speaking east and south on the other. (AP File Photo)

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The Morung Express SPORTS Kevin Pietersen goes Ibrahimovic sends PSG into League Cup final Dimapur

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6 February 2014

out with a whimper

FILE- England's Kevin Pietersen walks back to the pavilion on the fourth day of their Ashes cricket Test match against Australia, in Perth, Australia, in this file photo dated Monday, Dec. 16, 2013. Pietersen's England career appears to be over, it is announced Tuesday Feb. 4, 2013, after the brash batsman was not selected for the upcoming tour of West Indies. Pietersen has attracted controversy during his playing career and accused of being a divisive influence within the England team, but he went on to play 104 Test matches, 136 one-day games and 37 Twenty20 fixtures for England. (AP Photo)

LONDON, February 5 (reuters): The international career of Kevin Pietersen, the most talented and flamboyant England batsman of his generation, ended in untypically quiet fashion on Tuesday.

The 33-year-old South African-born right-hander was left out of the one-day party to tour West Indies this month as England look to rebuild following their recent ignominious Ashes defeat. Coach Andy Flower quit after the calamitous tour of Australia and the axing of Pietersen signalled another bold move to begin a new era for English cricket.

Pietersen scored 8,181 runs in 104 tests, including 23 centuries, and over 4,000 runs in one-day internationals but he always divided opinion, a brilliant stroke-maker who never appeared to fit comfortably into the team environment.

"There's only certain players that you can fear and they're the Pietersens, the (Brian) Laras and Viv Richards," former Australian batsman Damien Martyn said before last year's Ashes series in England. "In Pietersen you can sense he can win a game in a session - he's dangerous."

Dangerous, but supremely unpredictable, and always an outsider when it came to the team ethic England tried so hard to foster and which took them to the top of the world rankings from 2011-12. From the regular twitchy starts to his innings to careless dismissals and allegations of intolerance towards less experienced team mates, Pietersen always courted controversy but his ability was rarely questioned.

"He is a big physical presence and a big personality, and those people influence sporting contests," Flower said last year.

He frequently dazzled crowds and opponents with his flamboyant strokeplay, such as the swashbuckling 158 at the Oval in 2005 that helped secure the Ashes.

Pietersen was appointed England captain in 2008 before quitting five months later following the breakdown of his relationship with coach Peter Moores, who was sacked. The advent of social media only served to bring examples of Pietersen's impetuous nature to the notice of a wider audience. In 2010, he was fined for a foul-mouthed outburst on Twitter after being left out of the England squad for a series against Pakistan and was punished again in 2012 for using the social media site to criticise a pundit. He was also dropped for the final test against South Africa at Lord's in 2012 after sending provocative texts to opposing players.

process and committed to playing for England in all three forms of the game before being allowed back into the national fold.

He made his comeback in India and, in characteristic fashion, reminded England what they had been missing by blasting 186 in his second test back.

"When Kevin's got a point to prove he usually proves it with the bat," his former England team mate Andrew Flintoff said.

Aside from his many external conflicts, Pietersen appeared to be battling an internal one. "I'm very much an introverted person.

I like my own company, my own family. I don't really go out much," Pietersen said. "I think the confidence has grown from what I've achieved on the cricket field but I'm not as confident as anybody thinks."

Born in Natal in 1980 to a South African father and English mother, Pietersen began his cricket career as an off-spinner. He first came to England's notice in 1999 when he made 61 not out, batting at nine, and took four wickets for KwaZulu-Natal against Nasser Hussain's side in a tour match.

Frustrated at South Africa's racial quota system, Pietersen left for England and ended up at Nottinghamshire in 2001 where he averaged almost 60 with the bat in his first season. He became eligible for England in 2004 and made his debut in a one-day series in Zimbabwe, announcing his international arrival with a man-ofthe-match 77 in the second ODI before going on to make three centuries against the country of his birth in 2005. His England career was studded with highlights but in 2013 he failed to sparkle.

One century in the victorious home Ashes series was a modest return and he failed to reach three figures in the humiliating 5-0 defeat in Australia, giving his wicket away with rash strokes on several occasions. "Although I am obviously very sad the incredible journey has come to an end, I'm also hugely proud of what we, as a team, have achieved over the past nine years," Pietersen said in a statement. "I feel extremely fortunate to have played at a time of great success for England cricket alongside some of the best cricketers the country has ever produced. "I believe I have a great deal still to give as a cricketer. I will continue to play but deeply regret that it won't be for England."

With English cricket at a low ebb, the end of Pietersen's career will divide opinion again. "I really think it's sad we won't see Kevin Pietersen playing for England again," former England captain Michael Vaughan told the BBC. Sad, but probably the right decision for the future of the EngREINTEGRATION PROCESS Pietersen underwent a reintegration land cricket team.

ParIs, February 5 (aP): Star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain withstood a tough challenge from Nantes to win 2-1 and reach the League Cup final on Tuesday.

After the home side had equalized through defender Olivier Veigneau in the 81st minute, Ibrahimovic was left totally unmarked to head home Brazilian winger Lucas' cross in the last minute for his 31st goal of another prolific season.

His first goal, which came in the fifth minute, followed an error by Nantes goalkeeper Remy Riou, whose botched clearance fell to Ibrahimovic some 30 meters from goal. The Sweden striker's finish was outstanding as he lobbed the ball straight back over Riou's head without breaking stride.

"I think the Nantes players changed their way of playing. They didn't play at all in the first half and they were right to change their approach because they caused us problems playing higher up the pitch in the second half," PSG coach Laurent Blanc said. "But I like the way the players reacted after Nantes equalized. They didn't want to go to extra time."

PSG will play the winner of Wednesday's semifinal between former seven-time French champion

Winner: Ibrahimovic heads PSG's winning goal to send his team into the French League Cup final. (Photo/AFP)

Lyon and second division Troyes. After thrashing Nantes 5-0 at home in the league last month, PSG again started brightly, with Ezequiel Lavezzi hitting the post for PSG after midfielder Blaise Matuidi pulled the ball back for him. A minute later, PSG went ahead.

Lavezzi, whose finishing is erratic, missed another chance in the 30th when he

shot straight at Riou. Nantes almost scored straight after when Papy Djilobodji's header was cleared off the line by midfielder Marco Verratti, although the ball appeared to hit his arm.

Nantes had another claim for a penalty turned down after striker Filip Djordjevic's shirt was pulled by center back Thiago Silva as he went for a

header. Nantes president Waldemar Kita argued vehemently with referee Laurent Duhamel at halftime.

The match became increasingly heated in the second half, with both teams making some hefty challenges. Djordjevic was a permanent threat for PSG's defense and he went close with a free kick in the 68th when his curling effort just

missed the top right corner.

Nantes was rewarded for its perseverance when substitute Itay Shechter, making his debut after joining on loan from Hapoel Tel Aviv, set up Veigneau, and the left back's shot easily beat Nicolas Douchez, PSG's reserve goalie.

But three Nantes defenders failed to pick up Ibrahimovic and his firm downward header sent PSG into the final.

Chakhesang wrestling Timberwolves hand Lakers 7th straight loss meet 2014 from today

KOhIma, February 5 (mexN): The 24th session of the Chakhesang Wrestling Association (CWA) will take place at Chozuba town from February 6 to 7. Minister for Roads & Bridges and Parliamentary Affairs, Kuzholuzo (Azo) Nienu, will grace the occasion as the chief guest, while Parliamentary Secretary for Information & Public Relations and Printing & Stationery, Er. Kropol Vitsu, will be the guest of honour.

The inaugural function will start at 8:30 AM. Hukhoneyi Soho, Huvesu Puro and Vekhriyi Chuzho will be the referees for both Naga and free style. The judges will comprise of Zumolhi Mero, Vecupa Swuro, Vecusuyi Chuzho, Lhuvenu, and, Khozo Soho.

Aus Open final was my worst experience: Nadal

Minnesota Timberwolves' Kevin Love, center, loses the ball as he is fouled by Los Angeles Lakers' Nick Young, left, as Young and Jordan Hill defend during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2014, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo)

mINNeaPOLIs, February 5 (aP): Kevin Love had 31 points and 17 rebounds for Minnesota, spoiling Steve Nash's return for languishing Los Angeles and leading the Timberwolves to a 109-99 victory Tuesday night that stuck the Lakers with their seventh straight defeat.

Kevin Martin scored 14 of his season-high-tying 32 points in the opening 10 minutes to help the Timberwolves start strong, and the NBA's highest-scoring first-quarter team surged to a 25-point lead midway through the second period.

Nash had been sidelined since Nov. 10 because of nerve problems in his back.

The soon-to-be-40-year-old two-time league MVP had

seven points and nine assists in 25 minutes, about 10 more than he was supposed to play.

Steve Blake also returned, coming back from a torn ligament in his right elbow that had shelved him since Dec. 10. He ruptured his eardrum during the game but kept playing on another night of bad luck and bad defense for the fallen franchise. Blake was scoreless in 31 minutes.

Jodie Meeks (sprained right ankle, first quarter) and backup Jordan Hill (headache and neck strain, first quarter) went down for the Lakers, who have been without star Kobe Bryant for most of the season. Pau Gasol sat out with a strained right groin and could be out until after the All-Star break.

The Lakers' reserves had a whopping 70 points, with Nick Young (24 points), Manny Harris (17 points) and former Timberwolves first-round draft pick Wes Johnson (15 points and nine rebounds) leading the way.

But the Lakers still lost for the 19th time in their last 22 games and fell into a tie for last place in the Western Conference with Utah and Sacramento. This was also their first loss at Target Center in almost seven years, ending an 11-game run. Those visits by the Lakers, who once called Minneapolis home, fired up the crowd like no other opponent. But this was quite the tame atmosphere, with all that prestige and intimidation vanished.

maDrID, February 5 (IaNs/eFe): Spanish world No. 1 Rafael Nadal said the Australian Open final, which he lost to Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka, was "the worst hour and a half" he ever spent on a tennis court. The 27-year-old Nadal, a 13-time Grand Slam champion, said in an interview with the COPE radio network that he planned to return to Davis Cup action to try to help keep Spain in the World Group of tennis' premier international team competition. "I knew I had no chance of winning (the Australian Open final), but I had no intention of retiring. It was the worst hour and a half that I have spent on a tennis court," Nadal told the Spanish radio network Monday night.

Wawrinka won his first major title by beating Nadal 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in the Australian Open final Jan 26. Nadal was seeking to become the first man in the Open Era which began in the late 1960s - to win each of tennis' four biggest titles at least twice. The Spanish star, who sustained a back injury in the final of the year's first Grand Slam tournament, said it had been a bit harder to recover from the loss in Melbourne than from other defeats.

"The soul is good. It wouldn't be right to say I was not well after all the things this life has given me. I am a person that takes losses very well, I always have been, and I really do not think about them anymore after a few hours. This time it's taking me a little more," Nadal said.

The Spanish star said he had not yet decided whether he would play in next week's tournament in Buenos Aires. "I am fine. I underwent another examination today (Monday) and I have continued the same treatment since I returned from Melbourne.

I have not yet hit the court or done any exercise, I have been resting and have tried to do the right rehabilitation so I can get back on court as soon as possible, am my goal is to do it Thursday," Nadal said. Nadal said he planned to play in the Davis Cup if he remained healthy, joining Spain's team on court in September as it tries to stay in the World Group.

Manny Pacquiao & Bradley both seek redemption

LOs aNGeLes, February 5 (reuters): World Boxing Organisation welterweight champion Timothy Bradley of the United States and his challenger, Manny Pacquiao, will both be seeking redemption when they clash for a second time on April 12 in Las Vegas.

Bradley believes he never gained the recognition he was due after controversially beating the Filipino southpaw on a split decision when they first met in June 2012 while Pacquiao feels he was robbed with that result.

"This is all about redemption," Bradley (31-0, 12 knockouts) said during a news conference at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Tuesday to promote the fight. "I need Manny. He needs me. "I'm going to beat him again. I am younger and a better fighter. Manny fights for the money; I have the hunger to win. I am a different fighter than the one who fought Pacquiao in our first fight. "I scored our fight eight rounds to four in my favour.

No way he won that fight," said the 30-year-old American who trains in Indio, California. "Manny is great but he is also mortal. I'm not intimidated by him or his legend."

Pacquiao told the news conference he was on a mission. "I thought I was leading after every round," he said. "I thought I won the fight easily. I controlled the fight every round. I was very surprised by the decision. "But that's part of the game. He got the decision and my title. Now I want to get back that belt he won off of me.

Boxing has always been fun for me.

This time the fun is secondary. This is a mission to prove I am the best."

ROUND OF BOOS Bradley's victory over Pacquiao was met by a chorus of boos from the crowd in Las Vegas after the shock split decision was announced, and promoter Bob Arum later described the judges as "The Three Blind Mice".

Judge Jerry Roth (115-113)

awarded the fight to Pacquiao while CJ Ross (115-113) and Duane Ford (115-113) gave it to the American, who had been a 5-1 underdog.

The faster and more powerful Pacquiao seemed to be in cruise control for at least nine of the 12 rounds, and Bradley himself made comments immediately afterwards suggesting he had not done enough to win.

While Pacquiao was stunned after suffering his first defeat since he lost to Erik Morales in Las Vegas in March 2005, he took the decision with good grace at the time.

He went on to lose his next fight, a sixth-round knockout at the hands of Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in December 2012 which prompted retirement talks.

However the Filipino rebounded two months ago with a decisive, unanimous decision victory against American Brandon Rios in Macau, improving his career record to 55-5-2 with 38 knockouts. "The

only way Bradley can beat me this time is to knock me out," said the 35-year-old Pacquiao, an eight-division world champion. "He cannot outbox me. I will be the aggressor.

"I will throw a lot of punches at him - more than I threw against Rios - and I will land them. Last time I was too nice. This time, I will finish what I start." "Desert Storm" Bradley won his most recent fight in October, beating Mexico's threedivision world champion Marquez on a split decision in Las Vegas after a display that captured the attention of Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach.

"Tim Bradley is one of the toughest guys in the world and I saw that up close when he fought Ruslan Provodnikov last year," said Roach, who worked Provodnikov's corner that night. "Tim looked even better in beating Marquez in his last fight. Tim is the champion and Manny and I know we have our Manny Pacquiao, left of the Philippines, and Tim Bradley pose at a news conference to work cut out for us to successfully promote their upcoming WBO welterweight championship boxing rematch in Beverly Hills, challenge him."

Calif., Tuesday, Feb. 4. (AP Photo)

Entertainment

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Disney star aged

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her instagram account

os Angeles Police are today hunting an internet troll who has made death threats to the five-year-old star of the Disney series Good Luck Charlie. In a se-

ries of messages posted on Mia Talerico's Instagram account, the suspect has threatened to kill the child star, adding she 'deserves to die'. Mia, who plays Char-

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ollywood actor Akshay Kumar is all set to launch a martial arts school to give self-defence training to women in suburban Mumbai by May this year. Akshay has joined hands with Yuva Sena Chief Aditya Thackeray for the social initiative and by May, they will inaugurate a martial arts training institute for women in Mumbai.

I am thankful to Aditya Thackeray for coming up with the idea and also lending his complete support. This initiative is very close to my heart, Akshay said here today.

The first one should be

operational by the end of May at Andheri sports complex in suburban Mumbai.

It`s a training school for self defence for women. It will be a three month long course and will be free of cost, he said.

Back in the 1980s, af-

UPPER BAYAVÜ, KOHIMA, NAGALAND 0370 2260946

T

he Red Hot Chili Peppers decided long ago they were never going to mime a live performance.

The band made an exception for the NFL, it turns out. The group's bassist, Flea, said in a letter to fans posted on the group's website Tuesday that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members pretended to play along to a pre-taped track of Give It Away during the Super Bowl halftime show as Anthony Kiedis sang live. The request came from NFL officials who felt it

was too difficult to pull off a completely live performance because of potential sound issues.

The admission came after observers noted Flea and his bandmates weren't plugged in while performing Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Flea wrote on the band's website that the opportunity was too big for the lifelong football fans to turn down. After internal debate, dubiously checking with fellow musicians and

consulting with headliner Bruno Mars, they decided it was a surreal-like, once in a life time crazy thing to do and we would just have fun and do it.

The 51-year-old said the group pre-recorded a unique instrumental track for the show. He didn't directly ad-

dress whether Mars also recorded instrumental tracks for his appearance, though he said Mars was aware they did. A record 115 million people tuned into watch Mars and the Peppers, besting audiences of 114 million for Madonna and 110 million for Beyonce.

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Taraporewala, the award winning screenwriter of films like Mississippi Masala and Salaam Bombay.

The source added, "Priyanka has seen the Indian story many times now. She has told her friends to see the film whenever they get the opportunity."

SEITHEKEMA-A VILLAGE, DIMAPUR, NAGALAND 03862 241489

nce self-defe for classes women

mimed playing their instruments at the

The LAPD are said to be taking the matter seriously, after Mrs Talerico contacted Disney security.

The force is understood to have assigned their Threat Management Unit to the case, launching a full investigation to track the suspect. Mia who plays the lead role of Charlotte (Charlie) Duncan in the Disney show, first started filming for her role when she was eleven months old. Good Luck Charlie will come to an end after four series, later this month.

ter Akshay got a black belt in Taekwondo in India, he travelled to Bangkok to further study the martial arts.

After learning Muay Thai combat sport in Thailand, he returned to Mumbai and became a martial arts trainer.

7TH MILE, CHUMUKEDIMA, DIMAPUR, NAGALAND 03862 241489

akShay kumar to start

way and pop star Selena Gomez. A source told Mirror, "Though Priyanka is a globe trekker, she dubbed this movie in India. She saw portions of the documentary and was moved by the stories."

The Indian story has been written by Sooni

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NATIONAL HIGHWAY - 61, KOHIMA, NAGALAND 0370 2806243

www.niathugroup.com

blending lifestyles

stories of young women from around the world who have used education to rise above poverty and adversity.

While the Indian story features PeeCee's voice, the film also has voiceovers

by Academy Award winning actress Anne Hatha-

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Super Bowl

selena Gomez in a documentary

r iya n ka C h o p ra has lent her voice to the feature film Girl Rising directed by Oscar nominated director, Richard E Robbins.

The actress has provided a voice-over in English and Hindi for the film which highlights nine

S ued

lie Duncan in the show, began receiving the threatening messages last month, reported TMZ.com.

The account is managed by the five-year-old's mother Claire Talerico. According to police documents obtained by the site, the suspect posted the first message: 'Die Mia, F***ing Die in hell! Kill yourself, you deserve to die.'

The suspect then posted another message, which included a picture of Mia's head with a bloody fist covering it, with the message: 'Yes, kill you stupid b**ch.'

, receives

joins anne hathaway and

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om Cruise has been sued by screenwriter Timothy Patrick McLanahan for 1 billion dollars for supposedly having plagiarized the script of 'Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol,' which was the star's highest-grossing film of all time.

According to court documents obtained by Radar Online, McLanahan has claimed that he came up with the concept of the movie when he wrote the screenplay titled 'Head On' in 1998.

McLanahan has alleged that after submitting the script to the US Copyright Office, 'Head On' received a copyright certificate protecting its material and author from unauthorized use. McLanahan asserted that he immediately recognized the scripts for the 51-year-old actor's movie had been illegally written and produced from his 1998 copyright.

Along with Cruise, McLanahan has also filed a lawsuit against Paramount Pictures, talent agency William Morris Agency, who supposedly forwarded his script without his knowledge to Cruise's rep Creative Artist Agency.

priyanka Chopra

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6 February 2014

Tom Cruise

previously-unknown only Novel to be

virtually unknown novel by Charlie Chaplin is now being made public for the first time. The comic actor’s only novel is titled ‘Footlights’ and is believed to be the basis for his film ‘Limelight’. The book was written in 1948 and has a similar plot line to Actor turned the 1952 film in which a washed-out clown author: Researchers saves a dancer from suicide. only recently The book is being published in English by discovered the Cineteca di Bologna, an Italian film restothat Chaplin ration institute which has been working with (pictured) wrote Chaplin biographer David Robinson on recona book in 1948 structing drafts found in the Chaplin archives.

Charles Spencer Chaplin was born in London in 1889 to poor parents, who struggled to make a living as music hall entertainers. As an adolescent, he began working in music halls in Soho, before eventually becoming an actor with a theatre troupe.

In his first appearance on the silver screen in the 1914 'Making a Living', Chaplin plays a swindler -- complete with the hat, cane, moustache and baggy trousers he would become famous for around the world.

According to Robinson, the relationship between drunken clown and desperate ballerina in the much later 'Footlights' was likely inspired by his meeting with legendary Russian dancer Vaslav Nijinsky in 1916. The Cinetaca describes Chaplin's 'vivid, idiosyncratic' writing style which, 'unadulterated by editors, moves freely from the baldly colloquial to moments of rich imagery and Dickensian description.

'For a setting, he looked back to London and the music halls of his first professional years, an enchanted period in which he had broken out of the deprivations of his childhood to discover, progressively, his unique gifts as entertainer and communicator,' the institute said in a statement.

'But this retrospect also recalled the painful insecurity of an uneducated, uncultured boy launched into the world of success', and the clown's expressions of despair at losing the world's respect and admiration likely reflected Chaplin's own feelings as his popularity dwindled.

The book is illustrated with previously unpublished documents and photographs from the Chaplin archives, as well as pictures of the theatrical world of Chaplin’s youth and images from the author's private collection.

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Bulls power past Suns

Chicago Bulls' Carlos Boozer (5) shoots over Phoenix Suns' Markieff Morris during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Feb. 4 in Phoenix. (AP Photo)

PhoeNiX, FebRuaRy 5 (aP): Carlos Boozer had 19 points and 12 rebounds, and the Chicago Bulls snapped the Phoenix Suns' five-game winning streak with a 101-92 victory on Tuesday night.

The Bulls shot 45 percent from the field and had five players score in double figures, bouncing back from an ugly 99-70 loss at Sacramento on Monday.

The Bulls shot 28 percent and were outrebounded 53-30 against the Kings.

One night later, it was a completely different story.

Jimmy Butler and D.J. Augustin had 18 points apiece for the Bulls, who won for the fifth straight time in Phoenix. Joakim Noah, who was ejected in the third quarter of the loss at Sacramento, had 14 points and 14 rebounds.

The Bulls kept the Suns' prolific offense in check,

holding them 13 points under their average. Boozer didn't play for much of the fourth quarter as Chicago went mainly with Taj Gibson as an interior defender, but his teammates did damage on offense down the stretch.

Augustin had three fourth-quarter 3-pointers to help keep the Bulls in front.

Noah also had a couple of key baskets in the fourth.

Butler's 3-pointer with 4:43 to play gave the Bulls an 8980 lead, but Goran Dragic hit a 3 and Leandro Barbosa, playing extended minutes with sharpshooter Gerald Green struggling, drove for a layup to cut the lead to 8985. Then Butler and Noah came up with back-to-back baskets, and the Suns' rally fizzled.

Dragic, the reigning Western Conference player of the week, led Phoenix with 24 points. Channing

Frye had 18, and Barbosa scored nine of his 13 in the fourth quarter. Down 13 points in the third quarter, the Suns went on a 13-4 run to close to 50-46 on Dragic's driving layup at the 9-minute mark. The Bulls went up by 11 on a follow

by Boozer, but the Suns cut the lead to 60-55 on a pair of Dragic free throws with 4:36 left. Mike Dunleavy scored eight of his 11 points in the third quarter, helping Chicago carry a 6963 lead into the fourth.

The game started with a brisk pace, but the Suns missed more shots and had more turnovers in what turned out to be an offensively deficient first quarter. So low that the 13 points for Phoenix was its lowest total in a first quarter this season. Boozer had eight points and five rebounds to help Chicago to a 21-13 lead after one.

Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova poses for photographers while visiting her first court of Kafelnikov Tennis School in Riviera Park in Sochi, Russia, Wednesday, Feb. 5 prior to the start of the 2014 Winter Olympics. (AP Photo)

I'm supporting Russia: Sharapova

Sochi, RuSSia, FebRuaRy 5 (aFP): Russian tennis queen Maria Sharapova may live in Florida and talk with an American accent... but speaking in her home town of Sochi on Wednesday she made it clear her loyalties lie with the country of her birth. The four-time Grand Slam champion, born in Siberia, spent several years as a young girl in the host city of the 2014 Winter Olympics before moving to America to hone her skills.

Speaking at a Samsung promotional event in the Olympic park, Sharapova -- one of the world's most recognisable sports stars -- said it was great to be back in a place that held so many special memories for her.

"This is where I started playing my sport so that is the most meaningful thing for me," said the towering Russian, dressed in high-heeled black shoes and a long grey coat.

Maria Sharapova spent several years as a young girl in Sochi, the host city of the 2014 Winter Olympics before moving to America to hone her skills.

"It's so special and meaningful for me to have these Winter Games in Sochi, somewhere I spent five, six years of my childhood, where I created so many memories," the 26-year-old added.

"When I heard that the Olympics would be here I was so happy because I would hope that people would finally know about this city. Because I always believed it was special and unique and I hoped that the rest of the world would finally see that."

Sharapova said she grew up watching figure skating and ice hockey. And when asked who she

would be supporting if it came to a crunch ice hockey gold medal match between former Cold War foes Russia and America, Sharapova was unequivocal.

"My home country for sure," she said. Sharapova might have to hide her loyalties because she is in Sochi working for US broadcaster NBC -- signed to offer a unique and personal perspective on the area.

The Russian was the flag-bearer for her country at the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Summer Olympics, where she won the women's singles silver medal.

Need to play good cricket and capitalise on it: Dhoni

aucKLaND, FebRuaRy 5 (PTi): Desperate to bring the Indian team's faltering tour of New Zealand back on track, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Wednesday asked his players to dictate terms by capitalising on crucial situations in the two-match Test series starting on Thursday. India were hammered 0-4 in the five-match ODI series which led to the team losing its numero uno ranking in the ICC chart.

Dhoni revisited the team's performance in the Test series in South Africa to motivate his squad. "If we consider the last series we played, we had one bad session, two-and-a-halfhours of bad cricket. Compared to the cricket we played

throughout the series, that was really good," said Dhoni.

"We have not capitalised when we had crucial situations in the game. That is the only area of concern to some extent.

The batsmen batted really well, but just those couple of hours where we did not do well. We have seen in this format, it can have a big impact on the game.

"It is important that when we are in a situation where we can command authority or dictate terms, it is very important we go through that phase and keep building on it," he added.

Dhoni said his team has got enough time to put the ODI disappointment behind and be ready for the two-Test series.

"We have had just enough time

to get back into the groove. We had a practice game also. It is enough time, especially since we played five ODIs here. Most of the team remains unchanged.

"They have already had a look at the wickets, what they will be like, how they will play," he said. New Zealand have laid out a green wicket at the Eden Park for the first Test and coupled with the pace and bounce on offer here, it will be another stern test for the Indian team after their batsmen were bounced out in the ODI series.

"The plus point in Test matches is that you can pick and choose when you want to hit it and when you don't," said Dhoni, replying to a question on short-ball tactics.

And she admitted on Wednesday that she would love to play in another Olympics. "I would like another Olympic experience. London was incredible," she said.

Sharapova, who endured an injury-plagued 2013, has had a mixed start to the new season, reaching two semi-finals but crashing out in the fourth round of last month's Australian Open.

Currently ranked fifth in the world, she remains one of the game's most popular figures and in August topped Forbes magazine's list of the world's 10 bestpaid women athletes. She hopes the Games will place Sochi firmly on the map. "When I went to America from Sochi no one knew about Sochi, where it is," Sharapova told Russian state television. "I hope that after the Olympics I will not need to explain any more where Sochi is as everyone will know."

Dhoni pays tribute to Sachin Tendulkar aucKLaND, FebRuaRy 5 (PTi): Indian skipper MS Dhoni on Wednesday paid rich tribute to retired batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, who was conferred the Bharat Ratna, saying it is an honour well deserved for the "ideal role model". Tendulkar, who was bestowed the honour yesterday by President Pranab Mukherjee, retired from all forms of cricket in November, playing his last and 200th Test in Mumbai against the West Indies. "It is fantastic news. It has happened first time for a sportsperson," said Dhoni, ahead of the first Test against New Zealand, starting in Auckland on Thursday.

"We missed it to some extent, given that we are not in India. As a civilian, you cannot get a higher honour than this. He definitely deserves it. There is not anything too different one can say when talking about him," he added. Dhoni lauded Tendulkar for his on-field exploits and off-field conduct. "The way he has handled himself, not only on the field, but off the field as well, he is the ideal role model. The kind of pressures that are there in Indian cricket, he has handled them very well throughout his career. "And the kind of performances he has given since the time he debuted, he has been fantastic. It is an honour well deserved," said Dhoni.

New NBA team takes charge for the tenure 2014-18

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KohiMa, FebRuaRy 5 (MexN): A new team of Nagaland Badminton Association (NBA) office bearers have taken charge for the tenure 2014-18 under the leadership of Y Vikheho Swu as President. The team include Dr Watizulu, Sachopra Vero, and, N Benjamin Newmai as Vice Presidents, Tali Jamir, Vice President (Technical), Er R Temsu Aier, Treasurer, Er Seyievizo, Secretary, and, Lemjan, Jt. Secretary. The executive members are Dr George Thira, Dr Robin Lotha, Chivotso Nienu, Hukato Shohe, R Thanso, I Lipok Onen Jamir, Bongei Konyak, Imlisunep, Amardeep Gurung, Er Hutoi Aye, and, Keduosie端. Members of the advisory board include K. Kire, IPS (Rtd), T R Zeliang, Merentoshi R Jamir and L Kire, IFS. The NBA meeting held

New team of Nagaland Badminton Association pose for lens at Hotel Japf端, Kohima.

on February 4 at Hotel Japfu congratulated Dr. Watizulu, Sr. Vice President, NBA, on being elected to the prestigious Executive Committee of Badminton Association of India (BAI) during the BAI election held recently at Lucknow on January 25, 2014.

This year the Inter-District and State Open Badminton Championship will be hosted by the Mokokchung District Badminton Association. Meanwhile, Wokha will also host a veteran Badminton Championship during the month of February. Similarly, NBA has decided to organize other tournaments for ranking the players under different categories which will be notified from time to time. It may also be mentioned that a new National Standard Indoor Badminton Stadium is also in the offing.

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