9h January 2014

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The Morung Express

Dimapur VOL. IX ISSUE 7

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www.morungexpress.com

Thursday, January 9, 2014 12 pages Rs. 4

Count your blessings. You are one of a kind. There’s no one in the world like you. You are amazing Nine die in MumbaiDehradun Express blaze

BipashaHarman to tie the knot

Azo inspects ongoing road construction [ PAGE 2]

Syria ships out first batch of chemical weapons materials

[ PAGE 11]

[ PAGE 9]

[ PAGE 8]

reflections

By Sandemo Ngullie

Dimapur | January 8

Curfew relaxed in Karbi Anglong

The young and old of the Karbi and Rengma communities have geared up to bring peace to the land, even as it seemed evasive at a point of time. And peace efforts, say elders from both communities, must continue.

“Understanding will emerge when leaders— social, religious and political—meet, review their position, strengthen bonds, forgive and forget,” says former director of the Peace Affairs Committee of the Nagaland Baptist Churches Council, Rev. Kari Longchar. “If there is someone to lead the way for the common people, they will rush to seek peace,” he asserts, further suggesting that such guidance could also come from either the Axoms or other communities that approach communal harmony with a positive outlook.

That can happen, of course, with cooperation from other Naga tribes (apart from the Rengma), which, according to some elders, should approach the idea of peace with an “open mind.”

DIPhU, JANUARY 8 (PtI): Curfew has been relaxed during the day in troubled areas of Assam’s Karbi Anglong district, but it continued at night with Assam Rifles personnel keeping a watch on the border with Nagaland. “We have relaxed the curfew during the day, but it will continue at night in the entire Bokajan subdivision, which comprise the disturbed areas under Chowkikhola police station,” a senior Assam Police official told PTI here on Wednesday.

He said that a joint meeting of officials of Assam and Nagaland took place on January 6 during which it was decided to make a concerted effort to prevent future incidents. All the vehicles passing through the area are being provided escorts, he said. Operations against the militant Karbi Peoples Liberation Tigers and rival Naga Rengma Hills Protec- DIMAPUR, JANUARY 8 tion Force have been intensi- (MExN): The NSCN (IM) has condemned, in its words, “the fied, he said. recent cold blooded murder of nine Karbi young men at Pachaspura near Chamukedima in Dimapur by Naga Rengma Hills Protection DIMAPUR, JANUARY Force (NRHPF).”

8 (MExN): Air India has In a press release from informed all passengers the MIP, the NSCN (IM) has traveling on Air India flights stated that such “gruesome from Dimapur to report for murder is uncalled for and check-in formalities, two could have escalated to far hours prior to the flight de- more unwanted repercussion parture time. A press note had it not been the overtime from the Station Master, Air work for restraint, peace and India, Dimapur stated that reconciliation from both the the check in counters will civil societies of the Nagas and be closed forty five minutes Karbis.” In the same vein, it has before the departure time of also condemned the killing of the flight. Passengers have four Rengma Nagas, burning been requested to co oper- of their granaries and leaving ate to avoid any inconve- them homeless. While praynience at the last moment.

Advantage Sunderland as ManU lose again [ PAGE 12]

As Rev. Longchar puts it, “we, the Naga people, might be assumed to be supporters of the Rengma but we should be cautious of supporting or condemning any one or the other unreasonably.”

“The Nagas must go to Diphu with a completely open mind about the need to be good neighbours, about how to support each other,” indicates peace activist Niketu Iralu. For him, neither the Karbi nor the Naga side should be undermined, and thinking must go beyond “political and economic agendas.”

“The people must be able to see beyond provocation and counter provocation—we should be able to strengthen links between us and them to renew long term relationships,” maintains Iralu. He has long held the metaphor for the North East of India that “we’re on the same boat.” The cabins that people(s) inhabit might be different but if one punches holes in the boat, everyone sinks.

And if there is a third party punching holes in the boat, “they and their agendas should be exposed,” asserts Iralu. “If we cannot achieve peace soon,

More than 2000 people were displaced by the violence in Karbi Anglong. Seen here is a displaced person with a child and a baby at a relief camp in Santipur, Bokajan. Displaced families have expressed the desire to go back to their villages and are being facilitated by the Assam police and the CRPF. Requests have been made to the Assam government to provide books, uniforms, bags and hostel facilities to students whose belongings were burnt in December. (Morung Photo/Caisii Mao)

evil forces may try to create more tension by taking advantage of the situation,” highlights Rev. Longchar, reflecting senior retired IAS official, J.I. Kathar’s words. “Since 1951 there

has been a systematic attempt to reduce the tribal—as much as I detest that word—population of Karbi Anglong,” he says, adding, “currently there are only 53% tribals left in

Karbi Anglong—less than 50% could call for the withdrawal of the sixth schedule (of the Indian Constitution) from the district.”

Since 2003, state forces in conjunction with a certain

right wing organization and certain Indian intelligence agencies, reveals Kathar, have been applying the ‘divide and rule’ policy effectively to “impoverish, humiliate and debase us.”

This is fuelled, in no small part, through the military means available to the people of the region. As long as the region remains militarized, there is little to taken control of. “We are helpless in disarming the region,” laments Rongbong Terang, former president of the Assam Sahitya Sabha. “There is great friendship between the Rengma and Karbi people; we will be able to re-establish relationships but the central government should work to disarm the region first of all,” he insists.

But developing relationships, in this situation, can also be an uphill task if “mutual respect” between the communities is not restored and communicated. Unlike others, PS Lorin, a senior educationist, recommends that political aspirations must be kept in mind for dialogue to progress, and past hurts inflicted on each other be cleared. “Territories need to be properly demar-

nscn (iM) condemns killings; NH to address Karbi – calls for peaceful coexistence Naga issue politically

Air India informs passengers

Atsu to launch couture line online

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NEw DElhI, JANUARY 8 (IANS): Designer Atsu Sekhose, a promising name in the Indian fashion world since his debut in 2007, will launch his first couture line on an online pop-up shop.

The line will be available on www.perniaspopupshop. com. Known for his chic, feminine and understated clothing, Sekhose brings to his customers a couture collection that combines delicate intricacies of haute couture, grand Indian aesthetics and bold designs. The line brings together soft hues and detailed embroideries to celebrate elegance. “This is my first ever couture collection and to collaborate with Pernia’s Pop Up Shop is a huge launchpad for me.

The collection will be available and can be viewed by everyone across the world through the website,” Sekhose said in a statement.

Qureshi says the designer is one of her favourites. “This couture collection takes his aesthetic to whole new fashion dimension. One will find a lot of it in my closet. I hope the shoppers love it as much as I do,” she said.

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–Richard Simmons

rising above violence: from people, to people Morung Express News

For Rs 150, I can set your time an hour ahead. No? Ayah Unkol. It can save you lot of day light-energy, productivity......

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ing for the departed souls to rest in “heavenly peace eternally,” the NSCN (IM) has prayed for the people to “respect each other rights and coexist in peace so that what has happen will not be repeated.”

Further, it stated that “It is the bounden duty of the two states to facilitate and maintain peace between the two indigenous communities and that adequate course of measures for rehabilitation and compensation to all the affected villages, families and individuals are accorded with swift justness to the satisfaction of the affected.”

The NSCN (IM) has appealed to both the communities to “restrain from any negative propaganda against each other and sort out differences through dialogue and by mutual respect.”

It has also warned of elements that could spread rumours to fuel the “communal crisis” for vested interests at the “cost of the Nagas and Rengmas.”

The press release noted as “malicious” that “the Assam Government is blaming NSCN for the murder of nine Karbi when on 7th January the NRHPF has openly claim responsibility for the act. Such “habitual accusations” and malice towards us only indicate the attitude of Assam Government under Tarun Gogoi towards the Nagas.” Noting that the Assam government has “totally failed” to maintain law and order, it also hinted that “Rengma Nagas and Karbi community are being pitted against one another for the reason best known to them.”

To engage in “people to people dialogue” with Karbis and Ahoms

DIMAPUR, JANUARY 8 (MExN): The Naga Hoho has resolved to address the “Karbi Naga issue” politically in the near future. This was agreed upon at the Naga Hoho Civil Society meeting held on Wednesday in Dimapur. A press note from the Naga Hoho President and General Secretary informed that the meeting also resolved that an appeal will be made to the Assam government to treat both the Karbis and Rengmas equally in terms of providing relief materials to the displaced persons and ex gratia payment to the deceased.

It was resolved that Naga Civ-

il Societies under the aegis of the Naga Hoho shall meet Karbi Civil Societies/Peace Forum and the Ahoms at the earliest, to engage in a “people to people dialogue to bring the situation into normalcy in the Rengma hills.”

The Naga Hoho further informed that henceforth, individuals and different Naga Organizations “should not meet Karbi civil societies and others separately without the knowledge of the Joint Naga Civil societies” and that all relief materials should be handed over collectively.

The meeting was attended by the Nagaland Baptist Church Council, Naga Mothers’ Association, Naga council Dimapur, Naga Students’ Federation, Dimapur Naga Students’ Union and Naga Peoples’ Movement for Human Rights.

cated. Normalcy can only be restored by respecting each other. Peace can be brokered by prominent NGOs,” advises Lorin. “People to people dialogues and discussions are necessary—not just one, but many seminars and closed door meetings are required between the two communities to work together and restore peace,” agrees Kathar.

While the elders have given their advice, the young are implementing peace in tandem. Negotiations and dialogues between the Rengma Naga Students’ Union and the Karbi Students’ Association of Karbi Anglong have averted any bandhs and blockades that seemed likely, and that could have given rise to more hostility between the two communities. On Thursday evening, they have jointly organized a candle light vigil in Diphu town for the 15 lost lives in the ongoing conflict—the two communities will pray together for the souls. It is exemplary of how, even in the presence of divisive forces, peopleto-people collaboration can rise to the occasion and above violence.

cBcnei appeals for peace; restrain

DIMAPUR, JANUARY 8 (MExN): The Council of Baptist Churches in Northeast India, the apex body of 7000 Baptist Churches in the North East has expressed deep anguish and sorrow at the “loss of life, property, displacement and cause of fear among peacefully cohabiting Karbi and Rengma brothers.”

A press note from the CBCNEI appealed to leaders and youths of both communities for peace and urged all to refrain from “ethnic coloration” of the event.

The council has also urged the concerned administration to take just action against the perpetrators and to provide adequate security and protection for restoration of peace in the Karbi Anglong area of Assam. It called upon the government, NGOs and churches to assist in relief work and facilitate continuing education of the displaced students, especially those who are scheduled to write exams in February.

India changing fast, ‘Reported Christian “martyr” deaths double in 2013’ stay engaged, says PM

NEw DElhI, JANUARY 8 (IANS): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday said India is changing in a significant way and asked over 22 million expatriate community, the world’s second largest, to stay engaged in the future of the country with confidence and optimism.

“India is changing in a way that is significant but not always evident to those who do not see the big picture,” he said, addressing the Indian diaspora at the Bharatiya Pravasi Day congregation here.

The country, he added, is “prepared to assume the international role and responsibilities that the world at large expects from a rising India.”

Seeking to dispel a sense of pessimism in view of falling growth, Manmohan Singh said the economy would grow at 5 percent in 2013-14 and it was heading towards better days.

“There is a perception in some quarters outside India that the country is losing its momentum of the past decade. This is also amplified by the political contestation here in India, which are inevitably louder in the election season that is now on the horizon.” “I wish to assure you that there is no reason to despair about our

present or worry about our future,” the prime minister told the audience.

“Our economic fundamentals remain strong. Our savings and investment rates are still over 30 per cent of our GDP and the entrepreneurial spirit in India is very much alive and kicking,” he said.

He, however, agreed that more could have been done.

“With greater political support, we could have legislated deeper reform measures - for example, in the financial and insurance sector.”

“However, our decisions are already beginning to make an impact and India is re-emerging as an attractive investment destination. I am confident you will see the evidence clearly in the next few months.”

The prime minister also assured the non-resident Indians of continuous support and assistance in promoting their links with the mother country in every possible way.

“We have also recently launched the Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Suraksha Yojana to provide social security to Indian workers abroad. The Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra in Delhi will be completed this year. We also intend to start a scheme to assist state governments in establishing Pravasi Bharatiya Bhawans,” he said.

lONDON, JANUARY 8 (REUtERS): Reported cases of Christians killed for their faith around the world doubled in 2013 from the year before, with Syria accounting for more than the whole global total in 2012, according to an annual survey.

Open Doors, a non-denominational group supporting persecuted Christians worldwide, said on Wednesday it had documented 2,123 “martyr” killings, compared with 1,201 in 2012. There were 1,213 such deaths in Syria alone last year, it said.

“This is a very minimal count based on what has been reported in the media and we can confirm,” said Frans Veerman, head of research for Open Doors. Estimates by other Christian groups put the annual figure as high as 8,000.

The Open Doors report placed North Korea at the top of its list of 50 most dangerous countries for Christians, a position it has held since the annual survey began 12 years ago. Somalia, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan were the next four in line.

The United States-based group reported increasing violence against Christians in Africa and said radical Muslims were the main source of persecution in 36 countries on its list.

“Islamist extremism is the worst persecutor of the worldwide church,” it said.

WAR AGAINST THE CHURCH Christianity is the largest and most widely spread faith in the world, with 2.2 billion followers, or 32 percent of the world population, according to a survey by the U.S.-based Pew Forum on religion and Public Life.

It faces restrictions and hostility in 111 countries, ahead of the 90 countries limiting or harassing the secondlargest faith, Islam, another Pew survey has reported.

Michel Varton, head of Open Doors France, told journalists in Strasbourg that failing states with civil wars or persistent internal tensions were often the most dangerous for Christians.

“In Syria, another war is

thriving in the shadow of the civil war -- the war against the church,” he said while presenting the Open Doors report there.

About 10 percent of Syrians are Christians. Many have become targets for Islamist rebels who see them as supporters of President Bashar al-Assad.

Nine of the 10 countries listed as dangerous for Christians are Muslim-majority states, many of them torn by conflicts with radical Islamists.

Saudi Arabia is an exception but ranked sixth because of its total ban on practicing faiths other than Islam.

In the list of killings, Syria was followed by Nigeria with 612 cases last year after 791 in 2012. Pakistan was third with 88, up from 15 in 2012. Egypt ranked fourth with 83 deaths after 19 the previous year.

Thereportspokeof“horrific violence often directed at Christians” in the Central African Republic but said only nine deaths were confirmed last year because “most analysts still fail to recognise the religious dimension of the conflict.”

NORTH KOREA The report had no figures for killings in North Korea but said Christians there faced “the highest imaginable pressure” and some 50,000 to 70,000 lived in political prison camps. “The God-like worship of the rulers leaves no room for any other religion,” it said.

There was now “a strong drive to purge Christianity from Somalia,” the report added, and Islamist attacks on Iraqi Christians have been increasing in the semi-autonomous Kurdish north, formerly a relatively safe area for them.

Veerman, based near Utrecht in the Netherlands, said that killings were only the most extreme examples of persecutions. Christians also face attacks on churches and schools, discrimination, threats, sexual assaults and expulsion from countries.

Open Doors, which began in the 1950s smuggling Bibles into communist states and now works in more than 60 countries, estimated last year that about 100 million Christians around the world suffered persecution for their faith.

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Dimapur

LocaL

Thursday 9 January 2014

The Morung Express C

Azo inspects ongoing road construction

Dimapur, January 8 (mExn): Minister for Roads & Bridges (R&B), Kuzholuzo (Azo) Nienu on Wednesday undertook inspection to various ongoing road constructions in and around Dimapur to take stock of the progress.

A press release received here stated that inspecting the blacktopping and drainage construction work from Tragopan junction till Khermahal up to ADC Court junction, the minister has welcome the cooperation extended by the public to the department to carry out their task without hindrances. The minister has further urged the public, landowners, house owners and shopkeepers alike to continue extending their support to the department to insure

not result in causing potholes along the newly laid road. Besides the roads in Dimapur town, the minister also paid a visit to Khushiabil wherein, bridge construction is underway. The minister also inspected NLCPR road construction at Razhephe village and interstate connectivity road at Kiyeto village, under Dhansiripar Sub-division, Dimapur respectively.

Chief Engineer, R&B, D Mero, Executive Engineer, Dimapur, Vizotuo and host of department officials, accompanied the minister.

Mention may be made here that the minister has been carrying out ongoing work R&B minister, Kuzholuzo (Azo) Nienu seen inspecting the ongoing interstate connectivity road construction at Kiyeto vil- inspections persistently lage, under Dhasiripar sub-division, Dimapur on Wednesday. along with department ofthat roads are improved for The minister has fur- cern to maintain cleanli- so that pebbles and other ficials to insure that quality Dimapurians. ther appealed to all con- ness along the road sides construction materials do is not compromised.

Tobu, January 8 (Dipr): The two day Tobu Village Students’ Union (TVSU) golden jubilee celebration was held under the theme ‘Triumph through determination’ and on the topic ‘Integrity through education’ on January 4 and 5. Parliamentary Secretary R.D and REPA, C.L John Konyak graced the occasion as the chief guest.

President Konyak Students Union, Mon S. Monlib Konyak was the Guest of Honour, Evangelist, Konyak

Baptist Church Association, Mon Longtho Konyak graced the occasion as Jubilee dedicator and, Associate Professor, Fazl Ali College, Mokokchung, Akok Walling Ao was Jubilee speaker.

The chief guest termed the occasion as a memorable one and prayed that the dark days and conflict be left far behind. He said that Golden Jubilee was an occasion for all to celebrate and to feel the joy and happiness of the progress and

Tobu Village Students’ Union celebrates golden jubilee

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MEx File

NPCC General Secretary appointed Dimapur, January 8 (mExn): The President of Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) has appointed Jonathan as NPCC General Secretary with immediate effect. This was stated in a press release issued by NPCC President, S.I.Jamir, MLA and General Secretary (Admn) Medokul Sophie.

TOBU SDPDB meeting held

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Tobu, January 8 (Dipr): The Tobu SDPDB monthly meeting was held on January 6, 2014, in the Conference hall of ADC, chaired by Parliamentary Secretary and Chairman SDPDB, Tobu, Naiba Konyak. He welcomed the gathering at the meeting and also introduced a new member, BDO W. Moba Konyak. Reviewing the last meeting minutes, the board discussed and approved issues relating to Strengthening of Security force at Tobu, Shortage of Medical staff, Immediate posting of EAC Mopong, Creation of Horticulture Department at Tobu, Maintenance of Roads beginning from Tobu and Longleng.

all round development.

The Speaker of the day in his message to the congregation, talked about the need to build a bonding within the family and the society at large through Christ.

Calling upon the people to abide with the Almighty, the Speaker reminded that the time has come for the people to make directions in one’s life and to seek God who is waiting to bless abundantly to those who abide with him.

Jubilee dedicator urged

Jakhama Village Jubilee Year launching on Jan 16

JaKhama, January 8 (mExn): The Jakhama Village 24th session-cumlaunching of Jubilee Year will be held on January 16, 2014 at 10:00 am at Jakhama local ground, Kohima.

Jakhama Village Council, Chairman, Medose Richa has stated in a press release that Er Kevitol Khatso would lead the session with traditional blessing by the Village eldest man.

Vipi Khatso and Medokul Sophie ex MLA will be the speaker. The official launching of Jubilee Year would be declare by the Chairman of Jakhama Village Council right after his keynote address followed with Jubilee dedication by the Pastors

the gathering to learn, respect and appreciate one another as one own self, without which one cannot attain spiritual growth.

Others who spoke on the occasion were Former DGP Prison and Home Guard Nagaland N. Aonochet Ao IPS (Retd.), and Advisor DUDA, Nagaland, Naiba Konyak.

Golden Jubilee Memorial Tower was dedicated by Langpho Konyak and inauguration of the Tower was CYE St. Stephen Church Rüsoma presents special number during the golden jubilee of CYSA at Rüsoma village on done by the Chief Guest January 8. (Morung Photo)

retary and Development Commissioner, H.K Khulu chaired the meeting.

The meeting decided that the main function of the Republic day parade and the Beating of Retreat would be held at the Kohima Secretariat Plaza. As a mark of 50 years celebration of Statehood, the meet-

ing decided to have exhibition by all the government departments to showcase their flagship programmes in the form of flexi-banner, audio-visual presentation, display of specific activities in a befitting manner to the people at large while commensurating the Golden Jubilee year.

The department such as Agri and allied sectors, Art and Culture, Tourism, Rural Development, Industries and Commerce, Veterinary and AH, Forest, Power etc. have to put up stalls for exhibition –cum –sale. It has decided that the exhibition by the departments will be held for

2 days and for the allied sectors and SHGs 3days to enable them to sell their produce. The exhibition will be held at Khuochiezie Local ground, Kohima in view of the greater participation of the public in the celebration.

Chairing the meeting, Khulu expressed his

Dispensary at Peshu Village inaugurated

pEshu, January 8 (Dipr): MLA & Advisor, NEPED, Nagaland Kohima, L. Khumo inaugurated the dispensary sub-centre and unveiled the Monolith at Peshu village on December 28, 2013. While inaugurating the dispensary the Chief Guest lauded the people of Peshu village for completing the building in a befitting manner and called upon the public to make the best use of the facilities provided by the government.

He said that every development is for the public and its property are for the public and also requested the department to take care of the public property. After the programme a consultative meeting was held with Peshu village council committee, Thandoun village public and Jejei King Village public at the Peshu village council hall. The programme was chaired by VCC, W.C Khoi. All the VCs, GBs, NGOs, leaders and church of the three villages attended the meet.

Annual Employment Review published

Kohima, January 8 (DIPR): The Annual Employment Review 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 has been published by the State Employment Market Information Unit of the Directorate of Employment and Craftsmen Training, Nagaland Kohima. The present employment review, which is the eleventh series, is based on reports collected by the Employment Exchanges in the state through statutory provision under E.E (CNV) Act, 1959 under Employment Market Information (EMI) programme.

The Annual Employment Review is expected to be useful to public, policy makers, planners and scholars interested in employment, unemployment, women employment, labour market and skill development.

In GratItude

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Heartfelt appreciation goes out to all, who stood by us during the sudden demise of late Imtila Walling on the 21st of December, 2013 at Imkonglenden, Dimapur. The comforting words, prayer and assistance were of immense help indeed, and no less heartening, sustaining us at our time of grief. Mere words are not enough to express our gratitude, at the same time, it is regretted that we 18th Apr, 1952 – 21st Dec, 2013 are unable to thank you all in person; but it is our ardent prayer and faith that the Almighty God will bless you all.

With regards from family

Refugees at the relief camps in Santipur, under Bokajan sub-division, Karbi-Anglong on Tuesday, January 7. According to reports, the situation in the affected areas is calming as some people from the relief camps were able to go their villages on Tuesday, albeit under security. Rengma relief camps are located at Jongpha, Phentsero (Phencherop) and Santipur, while Karbi relief camps are at Chokihola and Silonijan. Photos by Caisii Mao

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of Jakhama Baptist Church, Catholic Church and Christian Revival Church along with a Jubilee Choir piece to be presented by Jakhama Baptist BKK choir.

Jakhama Youth Society will present a folk song and special number from Keneiprazhu Tase & friends.

Village Council Secretary & VDB Secretary would present a report. The Village consisted of eight different khels would be entering the local ground in khelwise in our Naga traditional manner. The Chairman of Jakhama Village Council Medose Richa have requested all its villagers far and near young and old to attend the programme as well as the feast.

AHoDs and HODs meet discusses Republic day function

Kohima, January 8 (Dipr): AHoDs and HODs held its first meeting in the New Year of 2014 on January 7 in connection to the 50 years of Statehood celebration and the Golden Jubilee year and for the forthcoming Republic day celebration on January 26, 2014. Additional Chief Sec-

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view on the celebration of 50 years of Statehood. He mentioned the state has to go down memory lane and has to have a vision for future. He said that Nagaland has to introspect itself as to how it started and what it has gone through and that the state should seriously take note for way ahead.

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Submission of draft annual plan

Kohima, January 8 (Dipr): Additional Chief Secretary and Development Commissioner H.K Khulu have directed all the departments under the Government of Nagaland have to submit their draft annual plan to the state planning department before January 15. Informing this in the AHoDs and HODs meeting held on January 7 at the Secretariat Conference hall, Khulu also said that the state departments had to submit its annual plan to the Planning Commission of India in the month of February 2014 prior to the announcement of the Lok Sabha election.

Chairing the meeting, Khulu reiterated about the write-up on special activities of all the departments commemorating 50 years of Statehood. He informed that majority of the departments have submitted the write-up and reminded the departments who are yet to submit their write-up to do the needful by this week to enable for cross check so as not to miss out any department in bringing out the publication, Khulu added.

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AKM conference to learn about ‘Orientated Citizen’ Morung Express News Mokokchung | January 8

One of the largest gatherings and most prestigious students’ conference of the Ao students in the State, Ao Kakatshir Mungdang 66th General Conference is schedule from January 14 to16, 2014. Chuchuyimpang, which is located five kilometers away from Mokokchung town, is hosting the 66th AKM General Conference.

Based on the theme ‘Orientated Citizen’ various educationists will be addressing the conference as main speakers. On January 15, Professor A Lanunungsang, pro vice chancellor, NU will speak on the topic

“Orientated Citizen: Towards a refined socio-political ethos.” On January 16, Toshi Aier, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary & Finance Commissioner, Nagaland will speak on “Orientated Citizen: Towards a value added economy.”

Workshop will be conducted based on three topics- A purpose driven process of education, Youth and entrepreneurship; Challenges and Avenues, and Moral values for a dynamic society. The respective resource persons are: Dr. Chubatula Aier, principal, C-Edge College, Dimapur; Dr. T Jamedi Longkumer, Assistant Professor, Dimapur Government College; Watienla,

Director, Department of Horticulture; L Mongkum Jamir, MD Symbios Creations Ltd; Sentisungla, Assistant Professor & HoD, Department of Psychology, DU and Akok Walling, Assistant Professor, FAC Mokokchung.

Prominent guest who will be attending the conference includes Neiphiu Rio, Chief Minister of Nagaland, Merentoshi R Jamir, Minister, Youth resource & Sports, Dr. Imtiwapang, MLA, Alemtemshi Jamir, Chief Secretary, Dr. N Benjong Aier, Parliamentary Secretary Agriculture & Chairman, NSAMB Nagaland and S Chuba Longkumer, MLA & Vice-Chair- Workers arranging various constructions for the forthcoming Ao Kakatshir Mungdang 66th man, NSAMB Nagaland.

General Conference to be held at Chuchuyimpang.

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3 Regional India intensifies vigil along border with B'desh Meghalaya govt approves extension Thursday

The Morung express

AgArtAlA, JAnuAry 8 (IAnS): India has further intensified vigil along its border with Bangladesh in view of the ongoing political turmoil and attacks on religious minorities in the neighbouring country, an official said here Wednesday. "We have asked our troopers to tighten their vigil along the India-Bangladesh border. Additional forces have been deployed in the sensitive border locations adjoining Indian states," an official of the Border Security Force (BSF) told IANS. "Though we do not have any kind of specific intelligence inputs of troubles opposite to Tripura, Assam, Mizoram and Meghalaya frontiers, there are troubles

and incidents of attacks on religious minorities in Bangladesh territories opposite to West Bengal borders," said the official, who refused to be named.

India's five states - West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and Mizoram share a 4,096-km border with Bangladesh. A large portion of the International Border remains unfenced and porous. There are a large number of thickly populated Bangladeshi villages and towns on the other side of the International Border, making patrolling a delicate task for the Indian border guards and other security forces.

According to media reports in Bangladesh, over

Need not copy other leaders on austerity: Meghalaya CM

Mukul Sangma

SHIllong, JAnuAry 8 (IAnS): Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma Tuesday termed as "rhetoric and populist strategies" the austerity measures adopted by other politicians in the country.

Asked to comment on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's endeavour to do away with "VIP culture", Sangma said: "I would do things in my way and need not replicate the austerity measures adopted by any politician in the country."

"Different people do things differently and that in no way means I should replicate people. I have been in politics for more than 20 years and have resolved to do things on my own. We have our own approaches and strategies," the chief minister said.

Being simple was a "populist strategy" being adopted by some politicians, Sangma said.

However, as a politician for the past two decades, Sangma said he believes he

must follow conventions and work for the people rather than give in to such "rhetoric and promises".

On his posh official bungalow "Good Wood" in Oakland area, which was recently constructed at a cost of Rs.10 crore, Sangma said not having such a workplace "eats into the efficiency".

"When I was staying at my house (private residence at Nongrim Hills), there was only one sitting room for people... so it eats into the efficiency and this in a way affects the state's interests. The bungalow is not a luxury but a necessity," he said.

Asked about the Supreme Court's ban on use of red beacons on vehicles, Sangma said there were various opinions about that but he would not advise his colleagues what they should do about it.

The Supreme Court in a Dec 10 ruling barred the use of red beacons on vehicles, except of those holding high constitutional posts or offices.

The chief minister, however, promised that his government would table a stringent social audit bill in the assembly to fight corruption and plug loopholes in the public distribution system.

"We would table the social audit bill so that projects and programmes would be audited transparently concurrently and not on a post-mortem basis," he said.

9 January 2014

200 houses and shops belonging to the minority Hindu community have been vandalised and looted by the Jamaat-e-Islami activists in different parts of Bangladesh's Jessore and Dinajpur districts. "Several hundred minority people, including women and children, have taken shelter in the Hindu temples and safer places. Bangladesh security forces have arrested many attackers," the reports said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has asked the Bangladesh government to take appropriate actions to protect the minorities in that country. "If the Bangladesh government does not take urgent adequate secu-

rity measures, the situation might go out of control," BJP's Tripura unit president Sudhindra Dasgupta said.

"The government has asked the BSF to keep maximum alert along the border. We have asked the superintendents of police of bordering districts to take necessary measures to deal with the situation," Tripura Director General of Police C. Balasubramanian told reporters.

"Mobile Task Force officials and troopers were also engaged in round-theclock patrol along the bordering areas to prevent any untoward elements from (coming) across the border," he said.

BSF Director General

Subhash Joshi earlier last month inspected the IndiaBangladesh border in Tripura and other northeastern states to review the security.

The BSF chief accompanied by Inspector General (operations) Rajib Krishna and Additional DG (east) B.D. Sharma also held a series of meetings following the border inspection.

"We have asked our soldiers to keep an intense watch on the border situation. Our men, with available gadgets, remain vigilant round-the-clock along the borders, specially where a substantial number of people reside across the border," BSF chief public relations Officer Bhaskar Rawat said.

IMPHAl, JAnuAry 8 (nnn): The members of United NGOs Mission, Manipur (UNMM), and other NGOs and women organizations have strongly condemned the brutal killing of Oinam Sharif, a 12 years old minor boy on December 29, 2013 and also the killing of Sangomshungbam Sahida (55 years) on January 2, 2014. The organisations also condemned the murder of Farida Begum (26 years) and Chaobi Bibi (60) on January 6, 2014.

"We the humanitarian workers and volunteers are deeply shock to experience the manner how the people killed children and women. We observe that the perpetrators were well organized and trained con-

fidently to kill the victims," the UNMM alleged.

According to UNMM, Oinam Sharif was found dead from the thick overgrowth/bush along the Imphal River bank some 200 metres on the northern side of the Imphal Barrage. He bore a wide injury mark on his abdomen at around 1:30 pm of December 29, 2013 under Wangoi Police Station, Imphal west.

When the members of the UNMM visited the spot, where the dead body of Sharif was dumped, thick overgrowth/bush was cut down and cleaned up and there was not a single drop of blood on the ground even though he was severely injured on his abdomen. "We observed that cleaning off

the bush where the corpse of Sharif was dumped is deliberately done to wash off the evidence," the organisation stated.

"When we look at closely the modus operandi of all the cases, it seems that the perpetrators are habitual criminal because they cleverly cover up and concealed the evidence with the motives that they cannot identify and arrest by the police," the UNMM said.

It then demanded to establish an independent Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate all the cases of murder.

It also demanded that re-postmortem should be done for the dead body of Sharif along with the ex-

ItAnAgAr, JAnuAry 8 (tnn): People of Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts of Arunachal Pradesh will soon benefit from various development projects with the state government formally launching the ambitious North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project on Monday.

Union minister of state for development of northeastern region (DoNER) Pawan Singh Ghatowar officially launched the programme in Changlang on

Tuesday. NERCORMP is a livelihood and rural development project meant to transform the lives of the poor and marginalized tribal families in the NE region. At present, the project is in its third phase and includes Tirap, Changlang, Longding and Manipur's Churachandpur and Chandel districts. The project has already been implemented in Assam and Meghalaya.

The project adopts a holistic development approach with two broad focus areas - social mobilization and ca-

pacity building - to tap the potential of the communities by employing time-tested traditional value systems.

Major activities include capacity building of communities, repairing and building village roads, rural electrification, community-based bio-diversity conservation, natural resource management and communication, convergence with ongoing government schemes and marketing support. The project would be funded by NEC and the DoNER ministry for six years.

Dimapur

of GHADC term by another 6 months

SHIllong, JAnuAry 8 (PtI): Meghalaya government on Wednesday approved the extension of term of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council by another six months to allow a peace settlement with Achik National Volunteer Council (ANVC), a militant outfit under ceasefire since 2004.

The settlement is scheduled to take place ahead of the elections to the council and the state cabinet's decision would allow the leaders of the outfit to participate in the democratic processes.

UNMM condemns murders

perts and media in order to confirm that all his organ were intact.

The postmortem should be done for the dead body of Farida Begum and immediately provide the FIR and postmortem reports of all the murder cases to their respective families, it further demanded.

The term of GHADC ends on February 17, while the other two councils ? the Council for the Khasis and Jaintias, which ends on February 16, has been approved for extension by another 15 days.

"The proposal for the extension of the terms of the three ADCs have been approved by the cabinet," Chief Minister Mukul Sangma informed. "We have examined, deliberated upon and after discussion, we find it reasonable enough to consider extension of GHADC's term for six months at one time to

enable the whole process of this text settlement agreement with the ANVC and subsequently to bring in the expected desire for lasting peace in Garo Hills," he said.

The ANVC and its breakaway faction the ANVC-B, had approved of the text of the agreement last year, nine years after the parent militant outfit entered into a tripartite ceasefire agreement with state government and the Centre in 2004, demanding for a comprehensive autonomous council in the Garo Hills similar to the Bodo Territorial Council.

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 

                         

SüMI KIPHIMI KüQHAKULU Platinum Jubilee Akimiji : ‘Ajuküvüpu Tiqheli’ Hukuthu Tushoh Khakiqhi Hoho

ado : inaqHe ayi 10 : 30

Atushoh ikhikiphe Kighini Rev. DR. KHeHovi sHoHe, Director, sümi Baptist convention Atushoh Khakiqhi

MHesHo sHikipiye

Aphilo Kuwo Thisho le Ayeküzü le Litsa Baghi le

- imulomi - sükomi - yesholuto - Litsami

aküpüGHü kikitHi 40

Atushoh Khakiqhiu Justice H. KHetoHo semA,

Aboghü tsah ino KitoHo s. RotoKHA, chairman, PBPJ, Alakhümpeu muku Abidiu, (1997-99), sKK

Atsala : Ashigheni, Lu–uqhi 15, 2014 A-a : i. B. imulomi Phu

Alakhümpeu tsapi ino HoLuvi cHoPHy Alokivi tsah ino yesHito cHisHi,

Rtd. Judge, supreme court of india, Alakhümpeu Akütsüghou(1965-66), sKK

Ajuküvüpu tiqheli Lejo sümi sHesHu

HukutHu tusHoH kHakiqHi

ex. mLA, Alakhümpeu Akütsüniu, (1966-67), sKK

Atushoh Khakiqhiu tsapi Justice H. KHetoHo semA, Rtd. Judge, supreme court of india, Alakhümpeu Akütsüghou, (1965-66), sKK.

Jubiliee küküMGHa kiGHini i.

Rev. s yevito Jimo, e.s. sBAK, nito mount

ii. Rev. DR. JosHuA RocHiLL, e.s, sBAK, Aizuto iii. Rev. HotoKHu ZHimomi, e.s. sABAK, Pughoboto iv. Rev. s. vitosHe swu, e.s. wsBAK, Aküvüto v.

Rev. KiHosHe Assümi, e.s. ncRc(sumi), Ayinato

KUKUSSÜ : Sümi, Yehpeka lo yezahkumlami, Hyampemi, Aqo-aho lo Sapheakemi, wove keulo SKK lo mula ighive kemi, SKK loka lo ampemi, kighithimi eno alokumsumi kumtsu ighino Jubilee kukumugha kusajelu penike alokivishi kussu ani.

Media & Publicity Committee, Platinum Jubilee (1940 - 2014-15), Sumi Kiphimi Kuqhakulu

C M Y K

4

businEss

Thursday

Dimapur

9 January 2014

23 Indian-origin entrepreneurs in Forbes’ ‘brightest young stars’

Michelin launches radial tyres for superbikes New DelhI, JaNuarY 8 (PTI): French tyre major Michelin is looking to have a bigger play in the Indian two-wheeler market for which it is expanding its product portfolio. The company, which on Wednesday launched two series of radial tyres meant for medium and superbikes in India, is also looking to tap the lower end of the motorcycle market in India with bias tyres.

“There is a gradual but sure shift in the usage of bikes from utilitarian to leisure and recreation in India...This segment is only going to increase, with industry analysts pegging the annual growth at 25 per cent,” Michelin India Commercial Director Pradeep Thampy told reporters here. The two new series of radial tyres - Michelin Pilot Street Radial and Michelin Pilot Road 2 - are targeted at 250 cc-500 cc bikes and 500 cc bikes and above, respectively. They are imported from Thailand. “We would like to be the pioneers in this category,” Thampy said.

New York, JaNuarY 8 (PTI): Over 20 Indian-origin young entrepreneurs are among Forbes magazine’s annual list of the world’s “brightest young stars” under the age of 30 from diverse fields like finance, media, sports and education, described by the publication as “prodigies reinventing the world right now.”

The Forbes third annual ‘30 Under 30’ list comprises young achievers in 15 different fields and includes icons like pop singers Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift, founder and CEO of the short-form blogging platform Tumblr David Karp, tennis player Maria Sharapova and Pakistani girls’ rights activist Malala Yousafzai.

“This is an exhilarating time to be young and ambitious. Never before has youth been such an advantage. These founders and funders, brand builders and dogooders aren’t waiting around for a proper career bump up the establishment ladder. Their ambitions are way bigger and

Canon PowerShot G16 compact camera launched

New DelhI, JaNuarY 8 (ToI): Canon India has launched PowerShot G16, the company’s latest compact camera, part of the “G” Series, in the Indian market.

The PowerShot G16 is priced at Rs 34,995 and will be available at all major retail outlets including Canon Image Squares.

The compact camera features a DIGIC 6 processor for relatively lower shutter lag, and a new 12.1MP High Sensitivity CMOS sensor. It can shoot Full-HD(1080p) video at 60p. Canon claims that the high speed AF improves focus speed by shooting 12.2fps continuous shooting in full resolution and 5.7fps with AF. The PowerShot G16 features a zoom range of 5x, with a focal range of 28mm-140mm and this is expandable to 10x using Canon’s new ZoomPlus feature. The company claims that the camera’s f/1.8 (W) - f/2.8/ (T) lens performs well in low light, for creating soft backgrounds with shallow depth-of-field.

The camera boasts of features such as built-in Wi-Fi for uploading and sharing pictures, artistic HDR Scene Mode, and a number of star shooting modes designed to take pictures of the night sky, in addition to new creative filters for adding effects.

perfectly suited to the dynamic, entrepreneurial, and impatient digital world they grew up in,” Forbes said.

The list of 450 young achievers includes 23 men and women who are of Indian-origin and are doing exemplary work like founding learning centers in India, or establishing a software company that helps teachers track classroom behavior, working as vice president at an American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida and owner of an exclusive chocolate boutique.

The young turks in the field of finance include Ganesh Betanabhatla, 28, who is the Managing director at investment firm Talara Capital.

Rushabh Doshi, 29, is a trader at financial firm DW Investment Management, who specialises in high-yield and distressed debt.

Chaitanya Mehra, 28, is the portfolio manager at investment firm Och-Ziff Capital Management.

Neil Mehta, 29, is the founder of investment firm Greenoaks

Capital, where he manages some $600 million, investing in industries ranging from ecommerce to insurance.

Sahil Lavingia, 21, is the founder and CEO of Gumroad, a web tool that lets creators quickly and easily sell digital products online.

Among the list of social entreprenuers is 29-year-old Karan Chopra who cofounded, GADCO, which is Ghana’s largest producer of rice.

Krishna Ramkumar, 28, is the cofounder of Avanti, a group of learning centers in Mumbai, Delhi, Kanpur and Chennai that provides 750 bright, low-income high school students with science and math education.

Ajaita Shah, 29, founded India-based Frontier Markets which brings clean energy to families at the base of the pyramid.

Kavita Shukla, 29, invented and patented FreshPaper a low-cost, compostable paper infused with edible organic spices that keeps produce fresh two to four times longer while still in high school.

New DelhI, JaNuarY 8 (PTI): Social networking giant Facebook on Wednesday acquired Bangalore-based Little Eye Labs, its first take over in the country, for an undisclosed amount. The start up firm builds performance analysis and monitoring tools for mobile app developers.

“Today, we are very excited to announce that Facebook is acquiring our company. With this acquisition, Little Eye Labs will join forces with Facebook to take its mobile development to the next level,” Little Eye Labs said on its website.

This is Facebook’s first acquisition of an Indian company and Little Eye is happy

MuMbaI, JaNuarY 8 (PTI): Axis Bank on Wednesday said it has opened a branch in Shanghai after receiving permission from the China Banking Regulatory Commission. With this, Axis Bank has become the first domestic private sector lender to have a branch presence in China, it said in a statement, adding, the regulatory approval came in last September.

The branch will engage in foreign currency businesses that includes all business approved by the banking supervision and regulatory authorities of the China, Axis Bank said. Commenting on the development, Shanghai branch CEO and branch head Rajkumar Khosa said: “Axis Bank believes in providing top of the class service to its customers and is delighted with opening of new branch, a key milestone as China is an important destination for world economy.”

The branch will offer services like public deposits, short-to-long-term loans, discount and accept bills, buy and sell treasury bonds, financial bonds and other securities priced in foreign currencies other than shares.

With opening of Shanghai branch, Axis Bank’s overseas presence has grown to eight - five branches, one each in Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, Colombo, and Shanghai, two representative offices at Dubai and Abu Dhabi and an overseas subsidiary in London.

Head of Global Product Management for Mercedes Benz S-Class and Roadsters Lutz Regelmann describes the parts of the new Mercedes Benz S-Class during its launch in New Delhi, on Wednesday, January 8. (AP Photo)

New DelhI, JaNuarY 8 (bl): Mercedes-Benz India on Tuesday launched new S-class luxury car priced at Rs 1.57 crore. The company said it has already received 125 bookings from customers that will be delivered to them in next few weeks.

“We have got good bookings for this car and we will start receiving bookings for this next generation S-class, which will be delivered by April,” Eberhard Kern, Managing Director of Mercedes-

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SUDOKU Game Number # 2756

ed ClassDojo, a software company that helps teachers track classroom behavior.

Sayamindu Dasgupta, 29, is a PhD student at MIT Media Lab and is vital to the Lifelong Kindergarten Research Groups Scratch project, which enables kids to programme their own games, animated stories, and art and share them with millions of other children around the world.

Pranav Yadav, 28, is the CEO of Neuro-Insight, a neuro-marketing firm that has developed a patented brain-mapping technology to investigate and improve the quality of TV commercials, programming and platforms.

Eesha Khare, 18, won the Young Scientist Award at the 2013 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

Forbes said her invention could pave the way to a cell phone that can be fully charged in just seconds.

Aditi Malhotra, 28, is the founder of Tache Artisan Chocolate boutique.

to become part of such an incredible team, it added. Though the deal size has not been announced, reports suggest it could be in the range of USD 10-15 million.

“I’m excited to announce that we’re acquiring Little Eye Labs, a company that produces world-class technology to help developers build more efficient products with Android. This is an opportunity to welcome some of the industry’s most talented engineers to our team in Menlo Park, California,” Facebook Engineering Manager Subbu Subramanian said. At Facebook, the focus continues to be on producing useful and engaging mobile apps, he added.

SpiceJet orders 40 Boeing jets worth $4 bn

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Making a mark in the field of sports is 28-year-old Megha Parekh, who is Vice president at American football team Jacksonville Jaguars.

Amir Rao, 29, is a studio director at Supergiant Games and is co-creator of the action roleplaying video game Bastion, which has sold over 2.2 million copies since 2011 and won multiple awards.

In the science category, Divya Nag, 22, is a leading name having cofounded, Stem Cell Theranostics and StartX Med. Raghu Chivukula, 29, is Resident Physician at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

Surbhi Sarna, 28, was inspired to found nVision Medical when at age 13, Sarna suffered from ovarian cysts that were so painful they made her faint.

Since doctors couldn’t tell her if they were cancerous, a young Sarna vowed to create a technology to detect ovarian cancer quickly and early, Forbes said.

Sam Chaudhary, 27, cofound-

Mercedes-Benz launches S-class Facebook acquires India’s Little Eye luxury car at Rs 1.57 crore Labs for an undisclosed amount

Axis Bank opens branch in Shanghai

LEISURE

The Morung Express

Benz India told reporters here.

He said the company has sold 500,000 units of the S-class (previous version) globally and in India there are 3,500 cars running on road till now. Looking at the demand from India, Kern said the company aims to grow by double digit growth this calendar year. The company sold 9,003 units in 2012 calendar year.

Kern said the company will open 10 more outlets in India thia year from the existing 61 showrooms.

DubaI/ParIS, JaNuarY 8 (reuTerS): Indian budget airline SpiceJet has agreed to buy about 40 Boeing 737 jets worth over $4 bn at list prices, industry sources said, a move that could help the loss-making carrier as it seeks new investors. The deal includes a firm order for as many as 42 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft that offer fuel savings compared to SpiceJet’s existing fleet of current-generation Boeing 737s, the sources said.

Such an order would be

DAILY CROSS WORD

CROSSWORD # 2767

worth $4.4 bn at list prices without adjusting for either inflation or price discounts. The Indian carrier has also negotiated options to double the order by taking up to 42 further jets depending on its ability to grow, the industry sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity on Tuesday. A spokeswoman for SpiceJet declined to comment.

On Monday, Boeing said unidentified airlines had placed orders at the end of 2013 for 164 such mediDIMAPUR 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 # 2755

KOHIMA

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

um-haul aircraft.

Industry sources said at least part of the SpiceJet order is included among those latest unidentified orders and is therefore already part of Boeing’s backlog of new business. A spokeswoman for Boeing declined to comment. The deal comes as India’s 4th-biggest airline seeks new planes and new investments to revive its fortunes after posting a record quarterly loss in November, hit by costly fuel and a weak rupee.

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

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CONFUCIANISM MERITOCRACY CURRENCY DAOISM

MILLET MONEY

DECCAN

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PLATEAU

MONGOLS

DESPOT

OTTOMAN

DIVAN

EMPIRE

GENGHIS KHAN

SALARY

GHAZI GRAND VIZIER

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A I Y M O N O C E Y E N O M T S

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I U G E N G H I S K H A N A M S

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ACROSS 1. Wooden box 6. Food 10. Rodents 14. What we are 15. Unusual 16. Biblical kingdom 17. Unreactive 18. Keen 19. Departed 20. 100th anniversary 22. Cain’s brother 23. Start over 24. Apprehend 26. Not first 30. Be unwell 31. Central 32. Comply with 33. Agitate 35. Pizazz 39. Outdo 41. Umbrage 43. Metal 44. Border 46. A period of discounted prices 47. Mayday 49. Bran source 50. Sleigh 51. High regard

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DOWN 1. Fashionable 2. Graphic symbol 3. Ends a prayer 4. Sourish 5. Go in 6. Pretentious 7. A pasta dish 8. Murres 9. Mass confusion 10. In spite of everything 11. Pueblo brick 12. Notes 13. Refine metal 21. Approaches 25. Jazz phrase 26. Not a win 27. Adjoin

28. Arid 29. Typographer 34. A mathematical function 36. A Freudian stage 37. Small island 38. Marsh plant 40. Found in some lotions 42. Malodorous 45. Slang for infantryman 48. Hits 51. Subsided 52. Alcoholic 53. 1000 kilograms 55. Canvas shelters 58. Tidy 59. Diving bird 60. Greek letter 61. Russian emperor 62. Scream

Ans to CrossWord 2766

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

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MOKOKCHUNG:

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

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LOCAL

The Morung Express

Thursday 9 January 2014

Assam Rifles 33 AR flags off national AYO condemns killings; assures apprehends integration tour in Mon assistance to Karbis in Kohima Kohima, January 8 dissect/ destabilize the Angami frontal organizaone with (mExn): Condemning the basic fabric of our society tions along with the Dis“massacre” of nine Karbis, and nationhood; that incite trict Administration and weapon whose bodies were dug out communal tensions within Police are working round

Dimapur, January 8 (mExn): Troops of 37 Assam Rifles and Nagaland Police apprehended one alleged cadre of NSCN (IM) from Chumukedima on January 5. The operation was launched based on information received by the AR regarding extortion activities at the Chumukedima Mela, a press release from the AR stated.

The person identified as Ricky Ao (Maotemsu), 27, of Chumukedima was apprehended along with one Pt 22 Pistol with 07 live rounds and two mobile phones. According to the note, the person claimed to be a cadre of NSCN (IM).

The cadre along with recovered items was handed over to Diphupar Police Station, it added.

mon, January 8 (mExn): Commander of 7 Sector Assam Rifles today flagged off a National Integration tour, where 22 students along with two teachers from various villages of Mon district are taking part.

The tour will be held from January 8 to 11, wherein the students will visit various prominent places in Guwahati and Shillong.

A press release received here stated that the participants were presented with track suits, T shirts, caps, shoes, duffle bags and information booklet for the purpose of the tour. They

were also briefed about the tour itinerary and the safety aspects during the journey.

The flag off ceremony was attended by a number of dignitaries, family members of the participants, civil administration officials and NGOs. The tour would include visits to zoo, planetarium, GS Road, Shillong Peak, Elephant falls, Wards Lake and Don Bosco Museum.

The tour would also be an eye opener for the children of Nagaland as they will witness the development that is taking place in other parts of country, the note stated.

Kohima, January 8 (mExn): With its objectives to restore ecological balance by harnessing, conserving and developing degraded natural resources such as soil, vegetative cover and water, Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) was launched during 2009-10.

It is stated in the official website of the directorate of land resource, government of Nagaland, the outcomes are prevention of soil erosion, regeneration of natural vegetation, rainwater harvesting and recharging of the ground water table. This enables multi-cropping and introduction of diverse agrobased activities, which helps to provide sustainable livelihoods to the people residing in the watershed area.

IWMP is a modified programme of erstwhile Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP), Desert Development Programme (DDP) and Integrated Waste-

lands Development Programme (IWDP) of the Department of Land Resources.

This consolidation is for optimum use of resources, sustainable outcomes and integrated planning. The programme is being implemented as per Common Guidelines for Watershed Development Projects 2008.

The salient features of IWMP are: (i) Setting up of Dedicated Institutions with multidisciplinary experts at State level - State Level Nodal Agency (SLNA), District level - Watershed Cell cum Data Centre (WCDC), Project level - Project Implementing Agency (PIA) and Village level - Watershed Committee (WC). (ii) Cluster Approach in selection and preparation of projects: Average size of project - about 5,000 ha. (iii) Enhanced Cost Norms from Rs. 6000 per ha. to Rs.12,000/ha. in plains; Rs.15,000/ ha in difficult/

hilly areas (iv) Uniform Funding pattern of 90:10 between Centre & States. (v) Release of central assistance in three installments (20%, 50% & 30%) instead of five installments. (vi) Flexibility in the project period i.e. 4 to 7 years (vii) Scientific planning of the projects by using IT, remote sensing techniques, GIS facilities for planning and monitoring & evaluation (viii) Earmarking of project funds for DPR preparation (1%), Entry point activities (4%), Capacity building (5%), Monitoring (1%) and Evaluation (1%). (ix) Introduction of new livelihood component with earmarking of project fund under Watershed Projects i.e. 9% of project fund for livelihoods for assetless people and 10% for production system & micro-enterprises (x) Delegation of power of sanction of projects to States.

Commander, 7 Sector Assam Rifles flags off the national integration tour in Mon on January 8.

IWMP for restoring ecological balance

This is in response to allegations leveled against me

by CAO union territorycum-kilonser, NSCN (IM), Ape Venuh, that appeared in the local media dated Jan 6, 2014.

Ape has alleged that I had shouted against the villagers of Tolozuma, “started blank firing and chased away one family on the night of January 3 without any reason and rhyme.” I am compelled to present the reasons behind the incident and also highlight some facts about Ape Venuh who is now projecting himself as the messiah of Dimapur.

On Jan 3, Ape’s brother Vicha and some others came and threatened the tenants residing in my plot of land at Tolozuma village to vacate. On hearing the news I came and confronted them why they should forcefully evict my tenants.

at Pachaspura in Dimapur, Angami Youth Organization (AYO) has said such an act was “completely insane, devoid of all human elements.” A press release issued by AYO president, Medo Yhokha and its vice president, Kekhrievolie Keyho stated that “justifying the act of such unprovoked murder is not patriotism and will never be tolerated.”

“We will never allow our land and area to be a dumping ground of dead bodies and a battleground for groups/ people that

and outside,” it asserted.

AYO appealed for maximum refrain from both the two communities in conflict at Karbi Anglong, Assam. The issue is there and the problem has to be addressed locally at the earliest through People to People Dialogue, it added.

AYO further appealed to the Karbi people living and working in Kohima and in its vicinity not to panic over the incident and to remain calm. Assuring fullest assistance and support at any time to the Karbis in Kohima, AYO said,

the clock monitoring the situation. AYO warned that it will not hesitate to react against people/groups/ communities that threaten and harass innocent lives particularly in relation to the situation at Karbi Anglong.

AYO also notified to all the house owners/ proprietors/ contractors and the likes, employing particularly Karbi people as tenants/caretakers/labours etc., to initiate extra efforts in assuring their security and ease till the situation subsides.

Dimapur, January 8 (mExn): The Tenyimi Union, Dimapur (TUD), in its emergency meeting held today, resolved to insist upon Assam and Nagaland governments to strictly adhere to the principles of parity by awarding ex-gratia to the victims belonging to the Rengma Naga community.

In an open letter to the chief ministers of Assam and Nagaland, TUD president and its general secretary stated that after

coming across news items regarding grant of ex-gratia by the two states of Assam and Nagaland to the nine Karbi victims, whose bodies were recovered at Pachaspura near Chumukedima on January 3, TUD held an emergency meeting and, after much deliberations, resolved to condemn the discrimination meted out to the Rengma Naga victims.

According to the letter, the Union resolved that equal compensation and

ex-gratia should be provided to the Rengma Nagas who were killed and injured in the current conflict without any discrimination and that proper rehabilitation should be provided to the displaced. The members present agreed to condemn all forms of killings, the note added. The Union also decided to sincerely urge upon the two State governments to initiate proper steps to prevent further escalation of the present conflict.

TUD demands equal ex-gratia for Rengmas

me, Maj Ape objected to the transaction and said that as their commander, they should have informed him about the sale of land. Ape then threatened to nullify the transaction and himself claimed Vekelie’s plot, which I already purchased.

Differences started from there and as Ape did not give up the claim, in 2010 I challenged him to a “man to man” showdown in that plot of land where I also fired some blank rounds.

On hearing the differences between me and Ape, the Chakhesang Hoho Dimapur District intervened and took up the case. After hearing both sides, on 12/7/2010, the hoho ruled that the piece of land I bought from Ve-

Beloved Nagas, Listen!

Remove wicked officials from the king’s presence, and his throne will be established through righteousness, (Prov. 25:5).

Dear Naga Politicians, if you want your party to be a party that rules faithfully and in purity, lightening the hearts of our people and bring peace and just to our land you need to follow the instructions mentioned in Prov. 25:5 – remove and separate the wicked officials from your party. Nagas will not be benefitted anything from the wicked politicians for the curse of God is upon the wicked, (Prov. 3:33). ‘… The mouth of the wicked conceals violence (Prov. 10:11), from the wickedness comes contempt, and with shames comes reproaches, (Prov. 18:3). Blessed are those who do not walk in the step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers (Ps. 1:1), those who are pregnant with evil conceive trouble and give birth to disillusionment (Ps. 7:14).

Dear wicked politicians, the Scripture says that ‘those who dig a hole and scoop it out fall into the pit they have made. The trouble they come recoils on them; their violence comes down on their heads, (Ps. 7:15, 16). So,

leave away all your sinful lives and turn out to be a faithful politician and from whom let Naga feel the essence of peace and tranquility.

Due to our treacherous politicians we are facing enormous dearth in every areas and having many untold problems. Thus, the Nagas in general are longing for a fair government.

There are scores of faithful Nagas who can serve our land yet we are not searching and gathering them.

Dear beloved friends, those who are grieving and weeping for the sins of our people, do not just keep quiet today because tomorrow they are going to be destroyed by their sins. Do not be double minded but move forward and start working out for God and for our people. Both God and our people are anxiously waiting and yearning for you.

Dear beloved Nagas, if you want our nation to be a blessed land of peace choose faithful and godly people to rule over our land because the Lord blesses the habitation of the just (Prov. 3:33), and when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice…

(Prov. 29:2).

Rev. Vichakielie Perheilie Khruomo Founder Christian Democratic Party Nagaland

5

MEx FILE Dimapur Press Club condoles Dimapur, January 8 (mExn): Dimapur Press Club has expressed deep pain over the demise of photojournalist Sorei Mahong’s father, M. Tuithing, who passed away on January 8 in Dimapur. “Words are not enough to comfort the bereaved family in this hour of grief yet it is our humble prayer that the Almighty God gives strength to the family,” stated a condolence note issued by Dimapur Press Club. The members of DPC further expressed their heartfelt sympathy, while wishing that the family take solace from the exemplary life left behind by late Tuithing.

KPC offers condolences

Kohima, Janury 8 (mExn): The Kohima Press Club has expressed its deepest condolences at the demise of M. Tuithing, father of Sorei Mahong, who died on Wednesday, January 8, 2014 after a prolonged illness. Expressing its deepest sympathy to the bereaved family, it has prayed that God grant them solace in this time of grief.

SKK year-long platinum jubilee starts Jan 15

Dimapur, January 8 (mExn): The Sumi Kiphimi Kuqhakulu (SKK) will be observing a year-long Platinum Jubilee celebration from January 2014-January 2015 under the theme, “A glorious generation.” The Jubilee celebration will kick-start on January 15 at Imulomi village where the first Sumi students’ conference was held in 1940. A press release from Media & Publicity Cell, SKK Planning Board Platinum Jubilee informed that Justice H. Khetoho Sema, retired Supreme Court Judge, who was also the 6th President of SKK (1965-66) will unveil the jubilee monolith. All former SKK office bearers, advisors and well wishers have been invited to join in the celebration.

Weekly market opens at Bamunpukhuri-II

Dimapur, January 8 (mExn): Jaosu Weekly Market has started at Bamunpukhuri-II situated at East Dimapur, about 12 kms away from the main town. The market, which commenced on January 8, included livestock items such as cattle, goat, duck, chicken etc, as well as vegetables, garments, handicrafts, handloom and other essential commodities. According to a press release issued by Convenor Dharam Girisa, the main objective of establishing the market is to bring relief to the villagers and the people of the area from going a long way to the city to get their essential commodities as well as to provide an open market for the local farmers, womenfolk, SHGs etc, where they can trade their self-manufactured goods. The market will be open every Wednesday.

ZAPO general session

Commissioner & Secretary, School Education & SCERT; Secretary NIOS; Director SCERT, and Senior Consultant NIOS in Kohima on January 8. An MoU was signed in Kohima between Government of Nagaland, Department of School Education & SCERT and National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), Noida on January 7 for professional training (D.EL.ED) of untrained inservice elementary teachers through distance mode.

The two-year course will begin early April this year, covering all districts of the state.

Public SPace

Dimapur, January 8 (mExn): The Zuketsa Area Public Organization’s (ZAPO) 41st general session will be held on January 11, 10:30 am at ZAPO Hall, Zuketsa. Director of Geology & Mining SK Kenye; retired deputy commissioner Mikha Lomi; and secretary, I & P, Nagaland Tribes Council, Theja Therieh will be session speakers. Therefore, ZAPO general secretary, Kewekope Marhu has requested all the executive members, ZAPO unit officials, gazette officers and public leaders to attend the meeting.

Response to allegations made by NSCN (IM) CAO UT I also fired a couple of shots in the air and in the process Apeh’s brother ran and escaped through the fence.

The truth is I didn’t chase away one family but it was only Ape’s brother who fled out of fear when I fired blank shots.

For the public to understand the incident, let me dig a little further into the past. In 2006, I was a Captain in the NSCN (IM) Ihoshe battalion and Major Ape Venuh was the commander of Ihoshe battalion. In 2008, I bought a small plot of land from my colleague Captain Vekelie (also from Ihoshe battalion), which was adjacent to my own plot of land in Tolozuma village. Though it was purely an internal matter between Capt Vekelie and

Dimapur

kelie belonged to me and not to Ape. But Ape, in his greed for land, still tries to lay claim to the plot of land and on Jan 3 this year, he employed his brother to chase away my tenants. Ape who is projecting himself as the guardian of Tolozuma village is in fact trying to control the villagers like a dictator.

It is still in the record that in 2004, he collected Rs. 2000 from every household in Tolozuma village and pocketed the money himself. Again, in 2012, he imposed Rs. 2000 to every household as his “personal tax”. In 2012 out of the 500 plus households, some 10 households refused to bow to his dictates.

In 2010, Tolozuma villagers were shocked when

Ape declared that the village local ground would become his personal property and attempted to fence the ground. Outraged by the sheer audacity of Ape laying claim even to the village ground, I too openly declared and challenged that I will lay claim to one-half of the ground. After this, Ape gave up his claim.

Tolozuma villagers well know that every appointment, be it VCC or VEC, is done by “dictator” Ape. Even in the Church, Ape forcefully appointed his elder brother Nitsolo, also a deputy kilonser in NSCN (IM), as head deacon. When a section of deacons and church elder opposed as to why a “national worker” should become head deacon of the village church,

Nitsolo himself summoned the deacons and threatened them with a pistol inside the church itself.

To add salt to the wound, Ape declared that his elder brother will be the head deacon for “lifetime.”

In 2012 also, he terminated the names of all deacons of the village church.

It was only after intervention of elders and leaders like Rev Dr. VK Nuh that some of the deacons were re-instated. Ape, the selfproclaimed guardian of the village who is in fact playing the role of “God” is evident again when in 2013, he terminated Pastor Mosa from his post as church pastor, alleging that Mosa’s theology certificates were fake. Despite showing and proving that his certificates

were genuine, Mosa did not get back his post.

To show his “self-importance” in front of other, the ‘Ape’ also resorted to a cheap gimmick during the celebration of Tolozuma village recognition day.

On that day, the villagers bought two mithuns as a gift to then parliamentary secretary Chotisuh Sazo who was the chief guest and then commissioner & secy. Zhaleo Rio. Ape gave money to the village council from his own pocket to buy a third mithun and forced the villagers to present it to him on the occasion to impress the visiting dignitaries and crowd. This is the “self-worth” of a man who acts as guardian of the village.

Finally, a little chapter

from the past about my good friend ‘Ape’ who professes to cleanse Dimapur of all immoral activities. In 1984, Ape Venuh, then a constable in Special Branch was staying at his brotherin-law’s house in Phek town. Ape, do you remember the shame when we caught you after you raped the maid of your brotherin-law (some present kilonsers in the NSCN (IM) will testify to this as they were also present).

Old habits die hard- and so in 2012, you again took one of your maid servants to Kolkota on the pretext of medical treatment.

My old friend, hurling allegations and warning me not to “repeat such kind of challenging situation” is a feeble excuse of a man haunted by his past but still unrepentant.

Vedata Nienu, Deputy Kilonser, GPRN/NSCN

The Assam Rengmas and Karbi Embroilment Thepfulhouvi Solo

The Sinhaleese and the Tamilian’s embroilment in Ceylon a decade ago caused immense troubles to both the Sinhaleese and the Tamils in that small strong island Nation neighboring India. It also very much pained the ethnic Tamilians in India too. So much so that a young Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi in wise and good political intention, sent an Indian Peace-Keeping Force –IPKF- to separate the tangled situation and generate Peace everybody wants loudly.

However, within about 2 years, the Indian Peace-Keeping Force in Sri Lanka appeared misplaced and became an unfortunate misadventure. The Force returned home in a huff, but the dynastically inherited Prime Minister was blasted into smithereens by a small Tamil suicide bomber girl in Podumburam

Tamilnadu?

Ethnic or Religious or Sectarian Troubles catch Social Fire all too easily and such Fires spreads so uncontrollably and disastrously fast. They are difficult put out.

The ethnic Itch in Sri Lanka is still scratching.

The Sectarian Headache between the Sunis and Shias in any Islamic Middle East Countries is a great trouble not easily relievable with cheap Pain relieving medicines. The sectarian animosity between Syria and Saudi Arabia is the trouble between a Shia and a Suni!

A middle east Suni or Shia Nation attaining Atomic Bomb not only rattles Israel but also nestles its neighboring Islamic Country and hence the volatility of the region.

The trouble between the Rengmas of Assam and the Kar-

bis in Karbi Anglong of Assam is a complex Issue and may involve History, Boundary and Ethnic Rights of the people living there.

The Issue should not spill over into Nagaland.

The NGOs of Nagaland manned mostly by wise young Bloods would do well to desist into rushing ‘wise cracks’ into the Case. It is a very sensitive Issue and not one to be dealt by publicity seeking Leaders. The Issues can be settled only in Peace, Wisdom and in Accommodation by both sides across Conference Tables over long drawn honest discussions. They cannot be settled by eliminating helpless, innocent public at night or in secret.

There is no need of harming Innocent and Peaceful Karbis in Nagaland nor innocent Rengmas of Assam. There is no need of any Bandh neither in Assam nor in Na-

galand: Let there be no Bandh anywhere by anybody at any time on the Issue.

In my opinion: 1. The First and Foremost Thing to do is to AGREE to TALK without Dagger or Stick in the Hands.

LET THE SIDE WITH THE BIGGER HEART UNILATERALLY DECLARE TO AGREE TO TALK starting immediately and for a period of 3 Months initially.

2. Secondly; the Talk should be: i. On the conditions of: GIVE & TAKE, and ii. On the conditions of: GROUND REALITIES. 3. Thirdly, let there be no accusation or contending statements or replies in the News Papers –except to each other officially across the Conference Table- from any of the Parties until the TALK ends.

Let there be TALK between the Parties without Sticks or Stones.

The Morung Express is introducing “Public Space” as part of our intention to provide deliberate space for the opinions of the people to be expressed and heard through this newspaper.

Nonetheless, The Morung Express points out that the opinions expressed in the contents published in the “Public Space” do not reflect the views and position of the newspaper or the editor.

6

IN-FOCUS

The Power of Truth

The Morung Express THursDAy 9 JAnuAry 2014 vol. IX IssuE 7

By Aheli Moitra

laughing through security

I

ndia is a laugh and a half. For some, it is a gloating laugh brought on by India test-firing nuclear-capable missiles.

Ironically named Prithvi-II, it is capable of carrying 5001000 kg of warheads, and of destroying whole populations, melting a layer of their being at a time. Prestigious, is the word used to define the accomplishment of this independent indigenous feat. The funny thing is India has a stockpile of nuclear weapons but has made a promise, with a pinch on its throat, that it will never be the first to use it. What a laugh.

Indigenous, yes. Today, companies in India are capable of producing the possibility of annihilation. Take the example of tata, that ‘oh we’re so ethical’ company whose self proclaimed integrity (towards its own profit and shareholders, of course) is "made of steel". The company has, for some time now, been readying a range of sophisticated combat, tactical, logistical and armoured vehicles including high-end missile launchers for the Indian defence forces. Companies like these will soon be producing indigenous homemade missiles for India that will help the latter defeat the purpose of life on a mass scale. Both India and tata get away with their intent to destroy in the garb of construction based on “integrity.” No one can (or is allowed to) question that. India’s paranoid security paradigm is beginning to destroy not just its neighbours but also those within its territorial limits.

On the home front, India’s “internal conflicts” are up for scrutiny. Its security apparatus, fuelled by a range of intelligence units that have minimal coordination, has raised havoc in many parts of the country. India’s former Joint Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), Maloy Krishna Dhar (19392012), in his book Open Secrets: India’s Intelligence Unveiled (2005), makes expected revelations. India’s intelligence units, in spying on state and non state actors (and becoming political puppets), have misused information to derive their own conclusions, develop faultlines and achieve destructive ends.

In the North East of India, where Dhar was posted in the initial years of his career, the story is no different. He quotes examples of how underground and overground political workers, both Naga, Meitei and from a variety of peoples, were used to dismember the genuine demands of the people by discarding it to the “extremist” paradigm. And very often, a nexus existed between the political and bureaucratic set up, including the intelligence, that made the situation in this region worse than it could have been had issues been addressed at the required level.

Today, an analysis of the media information being generated from the region, in the context of the recent Karbi Anglong conflict, is exemplary of how investigations are being taken to “logical” conclusions sans evidence. Intelligence officers acting as “sources” frequently plant stories in the news media that create tension. Discriminate political behavior in the treatment of conflict finds security apparatus being used as negative political means to unestablished ends. A parentless confounded investigation agency is hinted to be drawn in to look at the nine deaths in Dimapur, leaving the genesis of the situation, as well as the deaths caused in the end of December in Karbi Anglong to their graves. More violence has been, and will be, created thanks to this intervention-- whenever people/s in the region try to move towards peace and better relations, a “third force” takes shape that takes the process of moving forward together out of the peoples’ reach.

Alas, the security paradigm is still considered a matter of prestige in this country. But unless the whole paradigm is restructured to base itself on working with people instead of destroying them, there is little hope for people in pockets of India that face growing terror and the consistently burning embers of violence. Realistically, the security apparatus, by its very nature, cannot achieve this.

Responses may be sent to moitramail@yahoo.com, which may be tapped

lEfT wiNg |

Andrew M. Seaman Source: Reuters Health

Mediterranean diet may protect against diabetes

W

ithout cutting back on calories, adopting a Mediterranean diet rich in extra-virgin olive oil may protect people at high risk for heart disease against diabetes, a new study found.

Researchers who analyzed data on more than 3,500 people at an increased risk for heart disease found those who were put on a Mediterranean diet were about 30 percent less likely to develop diabetes over the next four years, compared to those assigned to a general lowfat diet. "Randomized trials have shown that lifestyle interventions promoting weight loss can reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes, however, whether dietary changes without calorie restriction or increased physical activity also protect from diabetes development has not been evaluated in the past," Dr. Jordi Salas-Salvado wrote to Reuters Health in an email. Salas-Salvado is the study's lead author and a professor of nutrition at Rovira i Virgili University and the head of the Department of Nutrition at the Hospital de Sant Joan de Reus in Spain. Previous research, including another study from Salas-Salvado and colleagues, suggested Mediterranean diets may be protective against diabetes (see Reuters Health story of October 14, 2010 here: reut.rs/1i7Rx5W. Mediterranean diets are generally high in vegetables, fiber-rich grains, legumes, fish and plant-based sources of unsaturated fat - particularly olive oil and nuts. They are low in red meat and high-fat dairy, prime sources of saturated fat. In addition to being touted as beneficial to people with heart disease, Mediterranean diets are believed to have components that reduce inflammation throughout the body and may have some impact on diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes, sometimes referred to as adult-onset diabetes, is when the body's cells are resistant to insulin or the body doesn't make enough of the hormone, so glucose remains in the bloodstream and can climb to dangerously high levels. Insulin gives glucose - or blood sugar - access to the body's cells to be used as fuel.

For the new study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the researchers used data from an existing trial that compared the effectiveness of Mediterranean-style diets to a low-fat diet. Between 2003 and 2009, 3,541 Spaniards ages 55 to 80 were enrolled in the trial. None of the participants had diabetes at the start of the trial, but all had three or more risk factors for heart disease. Those include smoking, being overweight and having high cholesterol. The participants were randomly assigned to adopt one of three diets. One diet consisted of a Mediterranean diet that derived most of its unsaturated fat from extra-virgin olive oil. Another group was assigned a Mediterranean diet that used mixed nuts as its main source of unsaturated fat. The third diet emphasized reducing all fat consumption.

None of the diets, however, asked the participants to cut down on how many calories they ate or to increase how much they exercised. After about four years, 273 of the participants had developed diabetes. That included 6.9 percent of participants from the extravirgin olive oil group, 7.4 percent from the mixed nuts group and 8.8 percent from the reduced-fat group. The researchers caution that the difference in diabetes cases among people on the mixed nuts and reduced-fat diets may have been due to chance. They can't explain why the mixed nuts diet didn't show quite the same benefit as the extravirgin olive oil diet. But Salas-Salvado said the difference between the two Mediterranean diets could also be a coincidence, because both have additional unsaturated fatty acids that are linked to a reduced diabetes risk. He said cutting calories along with adopting a Mediterranean-style diet would likely reduce risks even further. "These benefits have been observed in participants between 55 to 80 years old at high cardiovascular risk," he said. "Therefore, the message is that it is never too late to switch to a healthy diet like the Mediterranean."

THE EDIT PAGE

C O M M E N T A R Y

Stephen Wilson AP Sports Writer

Sochi olympicS: The good and the bad T

uesday marks the 1-month countdown to the start of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, a defining moment on the world stage for Russia and Vladimir Putin. These games are among the most contentious in Olympic history, embroiled in controversy over terrorist threats, human rights, gay rights, cost overruns, corruption and environmental damage.

But is it all doom and gloom for Putin's pet project? Before the Olympic cauldron is lit on Feb. 7, it's time for a look at the good and the bad for Russia's first Winter Games.

The negatives:

TERROR THREAT: The two bombings in Volgograd — which killed 34 people in suicide attacks on the rail station and a trolley bus — have escalated the security alarm. Sochi is located on the edge of the Caucasus region, where insurgents are seeking to create an Islamic state. Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov has urged his fighters to attack the Sochi Olympics, which he described as "satanic dances on the bones of our ancestors." A massive security apparatus will be in place for the games, meaning painstaking metal-detector, X-ray and other checks for athletes, spectators and media. Ticketholders will need to obtain "spectator passes," providing passport and other information to authorities.

Email, phone and internet usage will reportedly be monitored by Russian security agencies. Putin is expected to attend many Olympic events, causing further security lockdowns. A heavy presence of Russian security forces could turn the games into an armed camp and undermine any prospect of a welcoming, festival atmosphere.

GAY RIGHTS: The Russian law banning gay "propaganda" has caused a furious backlash in the West and tarnished the country's international reputation heading into the Olympics. While Russia has promised there will be no discrimination at the games, critics continue to bash the law. The IOC has been assailed for not pushing Russia to repeal the legislation. Some athletes are planning to make their views known in Sochi, either by speaking out or carrying or wearing symbols promoting gay rights. That's something which could land athletes in trouble with the IOC, which prohibits any political gestures at the games.

HUMAN RIGHTS: Russia's human rights record remains under scrutiny. With the games approaching, Putin has launched a charm offensive of sorts — pardoning former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and granting amnesty for Pussy Riot punk band members and Greenpeace activists. He has even rescinded an order banning any demonstrations in or around the games. Critics call the moves window dressing. Will protest applications be granted? Will anyone dare come out to demonstrate?

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch has accused Russian authorities of mistreating migrant workers and harassing activists and journalists.

PUTIN'S POLITICS: Putin's prickly relations with the West have soured any "feel-good" factor about the Olympics.

Tensions with the U.S. and President Barack Obama grew after Putin granted temporary asylum to NSA leaker Edward Snowden. Putin's policies on Syria and Iran, and Russia's backsliding on democratic reforms have antagonized Western leaders. For the first time since 2000, the U.S. delegation to the Olympics will not include a president, vice president or first lady. Obama is sending several openly gay athletes, including tennis great Billie Jean King and figure skater Brian Boitano. French President Francois Hollande and German President Joachim Gauck are not going to Sochi, either.

WEATHER WORRIES: Sochi is a subtropical resort on the Black Sea.

E

ven as the analyses of 2013 becomes a ritualistic saga, what strike us is how the year surpassed others with its scams, messy politics and political charlatanism. The only beacon was perhaps the resounding success of the Aaam Aadmi Party lead by a resilient leader who does not mince words, and by his thoroughbred pragmatism combined with idealism is actually trying very hard, with the help of the youthful exuberance of his team to make his dreams come true.

But wait, the media is already at it (or him), that he has asked for two flats one for residence, and the other for official purposes, is now pointed out with glee. The maxim? Don't worry he is the same like any of them, just old wine in a new bottle. But the fact that he is indeed New Wine in an old derelict bottle is glossed over. And, ladies and gentlemen the ' old bottle ' actually represents our weather beaten, polity, the political humdrum, the genesis of corruption, and no governance, the genesis of a way of life that is India where embattled forces of poverty, a decrepit education system, life in hovels is only a marker. To stay away from it we need only to, no not to dream but to hallucinate in a drugged manner. No wonder E.M. Forster the novelist once said that he distrusts ' Great Men '. These Great Men exist no longer in the hallowed precincts of official leadership,

In this photo taken on January 4, 2014, and provided by Olympictorch2014.com, Olympic torch bearers Mikhail Schukin, left, and Anton Pritulin hold Olympic torches during the torch relay in Perm, Russia. The relay for the Sochi Winter Games, which began on Oct. 7 2013 in Moscow, will pass through many cities that showcase the historical, cultural and ethnic richness of Russia. (AP Photo/Olympictorch2014.com)

Temperatures on the coast, where the indoor ice events will be held, will be mild. That's fine, but there is uncertainty over conditions in the mountains for the snow events. While there is already a good layer of snow in place, a spell of warm or wet weather could cause problems. As a precaution, organizers have stored up 450,000 cubic meters of snow. Also worth noting: flooding and avalanches are common in the region.

Russia to its first Olympic title since a "Unified Team" of former Soviet republics took gold in Albertville in 1992. Of course, Canada and the U.S. might have something to say about that.

SKI STARS: Alpine skiing features the anticipated returns of American stars Lindsey Vonn and Bode Miller from knee injuries, though Vonn's status remains uncertain. High-profile medal contenders include 18-yearRECORD COST: old American Mikaela Shiffrin, as well as Aksel Lund $51 billion. That's the overall price tag for the Svindal of Norway and Tina Maze of Slovenia. games, by far the most expensive in history, summer or winter, and more than three times the budget of COMPACT LAYOUT: All the indoor venues and the stadium for the certhe 2012 London Games. The cost includes the longemonies are located in the Olympic Park in the coastterm investment in roads, tunnels, railways and ski al cluster.

It's possible to walk or take a short shuttle facilities. Everything has been built from scratch as Russia seeks to turn Sochi into a year-round tourist bus between all the venues. The mountain cluster is destination. The costs have soared way above pre- only about 45 minutes away. It's a much more comvious projections amid allegations of financial mis- pact setup than previous games in Vancouver and management, corruption and favors doled out to oli- Turin. Spectators can use a brand new train service to travel between the coast and the mountains. garchs and Putin's friends.

So what's the good news then? Yes, there are THE VENUES: things to look forward to. Here's a sampling: They're brand new, they're ready and they'll look great on TV. Gleaming arenas are in place for hockey, NEW SPORTS: Twelve new events are on the sports program in curling, speedskating and figure skating.

Sochi, with women's ski jumping perhaps the biggest THE BOSS: attraction. Female jumpers are making their debut Dmitry Chernyshenko, a native of Sochi, is the after being rejected for inclusion in Vancouver four affable head of the local organizing committee. The years ago. In a nod to the young X Games genera- bespectacled Chernyshenko, who comes from the tion, the IOC has also added ski halfpipe and ski and world of advertising, loves technology. He carries snowboard slopestyle events. Snowboard star Shaun an iPad wherever he goes and is an enthusiastic White, aka the Flying Tomato, will unveil a new trick user of Twitter (@DChernyshenko, www.twitter.

— a frontside double-cork 1440. It's a variation of com/DChernyshenko). He led Sochi's winning bid the Double McTwist 1260 he nailed at the 2010 Van- for the games and has spent the last seven years couver Games. getting the city ready for its big moment.

HOCKEY FEVER: THE STAKES: The NHL players are back. Hockey is the sport National pride and Putin's personal prestige are Russia really cares about and the host nation will be on the line. There's simply too much at play for Rusout to make amends after the disaster in Vancouver. sia not to make the games a success. Besides, once The Russians failed to medal in hockey, knocked out the competition begins, the athletes take center in the quarterfinals by Canada. It was symbolic of stage and the host nation begins winning medals, Russia's worst overall showing at a Winter Games, the atmosphere invariably takes off. winning only 15 medals and finishing 11th in the table. Sochi will offer a chance of redemption for AND FINALLY: superstar Alex Ovechkin, who is desperate to lead Hey, the mascots are kind of cute.

Free Fall Ananya s Guha Shillong

but also alas in chambers of the academia, strutting around as Mani Shankar Aiyer said in a different context, to revile AAP '' like proud peacocks''.

I use this same analogy as a metabolism, for the way of life in India, always paying obeisance to the ' Sirs' always blandishing the 'leaders' and singing paens in praise of them to get favours!

Mind you even the academia becomes an upturned venal bureaucracy in such a situation. God save them! Auden says of the authoritarian: '' When he laughed/ little children died in the streets.''. Our little children are literally living in the streets, even as plush and swanky cars move past them with an oblivious insouciance.

In his fiction the Nobel prize winner William Golding often talks about the condition of Man in ''Free Fall", a dreaded suspension between the moral and the immoral or the amoral. Man has to choose between these conditions of extremity, and he can ' choose ' any wittingly, mind you not unwittingly, and that can lead him either to apocalyptic

glory, or gory primeval myths or crass immorality, wars, theft and murder. It is in this state of free fall and depravity that we live in, but people who are trying to change a polity or a system are brandished as arrogant. Well, the arrogance of power is enough, where those who wield do not understand its meaning, that it is a change maker, a law maker, restoring sanity in an all pervading brutishness and insanity. One of the political thinkers did say didn't he that life is '' nasty, brutish and short''? The immanence of power has eroded life in all respects, so that our gluttony makes us impervious to sad truths such as poverty, destitute men women and children who see only darkness, not an iota of light. But it is exactly this ' light ' which novelists and thinkers spoke of: the light shrouded in the midst of darkness, the light which everyone has as a moral centre. We urgently need to be aware of this crescent light. So when a political leader who is in search of humanitarian needs speaks of proper shelter, electricity and water for the poor and the

wRiTE-wiNg

middle class the same tautology which is used by the other leaders, is used to revile him. Surely there is a moral law unto this universe, where you actually cannot get away with constant berating and political or social pugilism.

Two utterances in the year 2013 struck me as utterly baneful and insensitive, by the hierarchy. The first was that Rs 30, or was it 20, is good enough for a full meal in India. And the second, was when children were dying in relief camps in Muzzafarnagar, due to the cold, someone went on to say, that look, don't people live in the cold in Siberia? So dying dying and living are equated, what is death after all- only a negation of life- the body lives! This is free fall, a willful surrender to truth, and abysmal and irrevocable untruth, which is a downright false LIE. The condition of Free Fall is very much a living reality in the India of today. It is not only economic venality, it is insensitiveness to the plight of the suffering and the poor. Even in the episode relating to the diplomat in the US, Devyani Khobragade, the question which we are tarrying to answer is: '' How well do we treat our domestic workers''? Power reserves are even made in houses to exploit and bully like mercenaries. I have seen this happening to ' servants' as we call them in upper middle class homes.

But we don't speak of it, because we are all guilty. Truth of course hurts, but money and miscued power don't - they kill.

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

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

PERSPECTIVE

Thursday

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

9 January 2014

O

7 The Cuban Paradox NEWS ANALYSIS, FEATURE AND DISCOURSE

n Jan. 1, Cuba marked the fifty-fifth anniversary of the Cuban revolution, when the country's citizens rose up to topple the weak and short-lived dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. The revolution led to a power vacuum that was quickly filled by the powerful and long-lived dictatorship of Fidel Castro. Fidel ruled Cuba until 2006, when, citing health reasons, he transferred power to his brother, current President Raúl Castro. (In the photo above, Raúl participates in a ceremony to mark the anniversary in Santiago de Cuba.)

Aside from the fact that Cuba's socialist state has managed to endure for 55 years, there is little for Raúl to celebrate. Cuba's overall income and caloric consumption per capita today are not that much higher than they were in 1958. In 1958, Cuba was at the top among Latin American nations in terms of the number of newspapers, TV stations, TV sets, telephones, and automobiles per capita; today, it is at the bottom. The government claims that independence from Washington was a significant achievement, but today the Revolution is embarrassingly dependent on Miami, which in 2013 sent remittances amounting to $5.1 billion, enough to provide $1000 for every Cuban worker in a country where the average annual salary is less than $260.

Cuba is a developmental anomaly. It has some of the highest numbers in average years of schooling in the world (as is typical in totalitarian states), but also has one of the lowest economic growth rates in the world. It is hard to find a comparable case: typically, these higher averages go hand-in-hand with higher incomes.

Many blame the U.S. embargo for Cuba's economic underperformance. But the embargo has always been offset by the massive subsidies that the Soviet Union provided during the Cold War and that the petro-state of Venezuela has provided since 2001. And yet, despite these direct subsidies (and Cuba's newly burgeoning trade relations with countries around the world), the state is still unable to produce anything efficiently.

Cuba's only value-added export is the talent of its people, who have been emigrating in droves for the past 55 years despite the lack of civil strife since the mid1960s. This year, the government liberalized exit visas (though it did not lower the cost of passports), leading to a 35 percent increase in departures relative to 2012.

So far, only 45 percent of those who managed to "travel abroad" have decided to return.

Medical doctors also leave in large numbers, usually as part of the state's foreign missions. But Cuban doctors often take the order to go abroad happily: they seem to prefer working in the slums of Venezuela, Brazil, and Haiti to the "socialist paradise" they call home, even though they are paid only a fraction of what the Cuban government charges for these services.

The Cuban economy's dysfunctional nature has not escaped Raúl Castro. In fact, the economy's trials have become a favorite theme in his speeches.

Every time he has a chance to talk about local conditions, Raúl admonishes some aspect of the status quo: the "inefficiency" of state-owned companies, the "laziness and proclivity to stealing" of Cuban workers, the "corruption" of managers and bureaucrats, the "absenteeism" of teachers, the "complacency" of the party's leadership, the decline of "morals" and even "manners" of Cuba's youth.

While Fidel Castro was the denier-in-chief, famous for speeches that were groundlessly triumphalist and blind to the regime's catastrophes, Raúl does nothing but complain about the system.

Whereas Fidel was the Revolution's greatest propagandist, Raúl has become the Revolution's most outspoken fault-finder.

Raúl Castro's attention to the system's flaws is no doubt a breath of fresh air for Cubans tired of living in la-la land. It has compelled Raúl to introduce some of the most sweeping market-oriented reforms of the last 55 years. But the problem is that Cuba's president is acting both as a reformer and a stalwart of the longstanding revolutionary regime. Raúl wants to reform

Javier Corrales Foreign Policy

Why is Havana so cautious about reform? Perhaps because its reformer-inchief is also a stalwart of the revolution

Cuba's President Raul Castro, center, accompanied by Cuba's Vice President Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, left, and Cuba's first Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel applaud during the 55th anniversary celebration of the Cuban Revolution at the main plaza in Santiago, Cuba, Wednesday on January 1. (AP Photo/Alejandro Ernesto, Pool)

and preserve the system, and this is producing hesitant and confusing reforms.

Raúl's deep roots have made him as repressive as he is open, limiting the economy and curtailing private enterprise. On the one hand, Raúl has created more opportunities for Cubans to become self-employed, to use remittances from exiles, and to buy and sell their assets such as homes and vehicles.

These are huge reforms. Today, a record number of Cubans -- 444,109, to be exact -- have obtained selfemployment licenses, and a real estate market is burgeoning for the first time since the revolution. From a fiscal point of view, these economic reforms have been successful: fiscal revenues from the private sector are up by 18 percent since 2011.

But as is typical of old-line communists, and especially of his brother, Fidel, Raúl remains apprehensive about the private sector. He worries that the private sector could become too large and thus able to challenge the state's stranglehold on society. Therefore, rather than boosting the private sector with further reforms, the government is holding fast to restrictive policies.

Key areas of the economy remain closed to competition. Self-employment is still banned in most professions that require advanced skills, such as engineering, architecture, software development, and the medical sciences. Large-scale hiring is prohibited, so private enterprise is limited to micro firms and family businesses. Credit for the private sector is virtually non-existent. The self-employed continue to be over-

regulated; many are closing their businesses because they cannot afford taxes or find enough customers, since the bulk of the population is still employed by the state and receives meager wages. Consequently, the self-employed sector remains far below the goal of 1.5 million individuals set by Raúl when he launched his reforms in 2011.

Raúl's reformer/conservative duality is equally visible in politics. He has expanded the freedom of expression in a number of decrees that liberalize access to cell phones and the Internet -- major steps in the expansion of speech opportunities. Raúl has also voluntarily supported a new amendment to Cuba's constitution that establishes a five-year term limit -- a move that is remarkable even by contemporary Latin American standards, where presidents are wont to relax rather than restrict term limits.

Earlier in 2013, he said this would be his last term, which means that he intends to leave office in 2018.

And internationally, Cuba is fully cooperating with peace talks in Colombia, a process that is vital for U.S. interests in South America.

But meanwhile, Raúl has also increased Cuba's political repression. Arbitrary detentions have increased from 2,074 in 2010 to more than 5,300 in 2013. The state arrested more than 909 human rights activists in October 2013 alone. This included some members of the Ladies in White, a peaceful, pro-human rights women's association fighting for the rights of Cuban prisoners. Cuba Archive, an organization that monitors hu-

man rights, argues that under Raúl's government, the state has overseen at least 166 deaths and disappearances, all politically-motivated, including the possible assassination of Cuba's most important civil rights leader, Oswaldo Payá, in 2012. Politically, therefore, Cuba is not moving forward, but backwards.

Maintaining his old-line roots, the Cuban president also continues to privilege the military over any other sector. During his tenure as minister of defense, Raúl oversaw military operations, and after becoming president, he accelerated Cuba's transition to a pseudo-military regime by appointing key military officials to his cabinet, often to replace civilian fidelistas to consolidate the transition to his own government. Raúl also increased the military's control of industries in Cuba that engage in foreign trade. And though Raúl is critical of almost every sector, he never criticizes the military. In fact, he is openly supportive of it. Just this year, the government launched the construction of three new "military cities," state-of-the-art housing development projects for members of the Armed Forces.

In political science, we are not that surprised by duality. From Russia to China to the Arab World, new leaders often emerge who try to act simultaneously as reformers and old-liners, hoping to overhaul the status quo while maintaining the main elements of the existing regime. While political scientists expect one side to prevail, they are used to the idea of conflicted leaders.

But in Washington, this duality only worsens the divide between those who favor rapprochement and those who oppose it. Raúl's duality raises hope among some groups who feel the time is ripe for the United States to open to Cuba, and vice versa. But others see Raúl the old-liner, and they become even more adamant about vetoing any efforts to rebuild the ties between the two states. The result is a continued impasse in U.S.-Cuba relations.

Raúl Castro seems to be fine with this middling approach. Just two weeks after the famous controversial handshake between Obama and Raúl during Nelson Mandela's funeral, Raúl gave a speech where he addressed U.S.-Cuban relations. Rather than take the opportunity to lambast the empire, as his brother would have done, Raúl stated that officials from both countries have been meeting productively on immigration and other issues, proving that bilateral relations can be "civilized." In his tone and approach, Raúl has shown a pragmatic and even self-satisfied side.

But he also said this: "We don't demand that the United States change its political and social system, nor will we negotiate with ours." With this simple line, Raúl displayed the core of his conservatism. His duty as supreme leader of Cuba, he once affirmed, is to ensure the survival of the system. He won't pay the price of better relations with the United States if that means system change.

Raúl's words were also a warning to his compatriots: namely, that his government is uninterested in real change. For Cubans who found hope in Raúl's initial reforms, this statement is hard to swallow -- not just because of its innate conservatism, but because it comes from the very same man who makes, at every opportunity, the strongest case for a system overhaul than any Cuban official has made in decades.

At some point, Raúl Castro might find himself forced to choose between reform and tradition. While it is common for leaders to want to be reformers and oldliners at the same time, they eventually select one approach over the other. Reforms have a tendency to be self-generating: more freedoms lead to demands for more freedoms, and this in turn means a deeper overhaul of the system. Raúl will need to decide to either yield to these demands or to block them to preserve the system that he and his brothers founded 55 years ago. So far, he hasn't faced this choice. The freedom to be that ambivalent was probably Raúl's biggest cause for celebration on the anniversary last week -- but that freedom won't last forever.

Political swipes in India show rape a voter issue Katy daigle associated Press

T

he 16-year-old reported that she had been gang raped, only to be raped again by the same men the next day and later threatened for going to the police in eastern India.

By the time charges were filed more than two months later, she had been set on fire and died from her injuries.

The girl's death on New Year's Eve in West Bengal came more than a year after a deadly gang rape in New Delhi raised awareness and outrage over chronic sexual violence in India and government failures to protect women. The New Delhi rape was considered a major reason for why voters ousted the capital's government last month, and a furious response to the West Bengal case suggests that with general elections just months away, politicians are anxious to impress voters who are demanding that women's safety become a police priority.

The teen's family, allegedly run out of town by her assailants, accuses police of trying to cover up the crimes.

Improving sensitivity by police officers and medical workers is crucial to improving women's safety in this country of 1.2 billion, activists say. Even as the government has promised to improve justice for rape victims, some trying to report sexual crimes have said they were harassed by officers making lewd comments, demanding bribes or

simply shooing them away.

The girl reported being gang raped on Oct. 25 and 26, but Kolkata police did not arrest anyone until the girl ended up in a hospital Dec. 23 with severe burn injuries. Doctors then determined she was pregnant. Police initially told reporters she had attempted suicide, but the girl's family disputed that, saying she was set on fire by associates of those who had gang raped her.

After the girl's death led to a public uproar, police arrested and charged six suspects in the gang rapes and another two accused by the girl of setting her alight. A fast-track court will hold a first hearing in the both cases Jan. 15.

Meanwhile, a forensic laboratory is determining the age of the girl's fetus in order to establish whether she became pregnant from the rapes.

The case has reinforced the widespread view in India that police are a major part of India's chronic problem with sexual violence.

Massive protests erupted in Kolkata, with critics including artists, rights activists and opposition politicians saying authorities ignored the family's complaints of harassment and moved too slowly to arrest the suspects.

Critics question why police filed a case over the first reported gang rape, but not the second. Both the opposition and the girl's taxi driver father are demanding that federal investigators take over the case.

"The fact that politicians and public figures are speaking

In this Friday, January 3, 2014 file photo, activists of Indian National Congress with black bands around their mouths block traffic during a protest against a gang rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl at Madhyamgram, about 25 kilometers (16 miles) north of Kolkata in West Bengal, India. Her death on New Year's Eve came more than a year after a deadly gang rape in New Delhi raised awareness and outrage over chronic sexual violence in India and government failures to protect women. The New Delhi rape was considered a major reason for why voters ousted the capital's government last month, and the furious response to the West Bengal case suggests that with general elections just months away, politicians remain anxious to impress voters who are demanding that women's safety become a police priority. (AP Photo/Bikas Das, File)

in such strong terms is surprising," said Abhilasha Kumari, a New Delhi-based sociologist and women's right's activist.

"Historically, the concerns of women have never mattered much to the political community, but in the past year safety and security of women have become a political issue, and it will be even more so now with elections coming."

The girl's family accused police of trying to cover up the crimes, and even of hijacking the hearse carrying his daughter's body in an attempt to take it for cremation against the family's wishes.

A street brawl broke out as opposition supporters tried

to block police from taking the body from the mortuary, where protesters had planned a rally to criticize a lack of sensitivity by authorities.

Police said they had taken the highly unusual step of seizing the body in an attempt to help the family during a difficult time and to spare the city any more upset from the case.

The incident shocked Bengalis. Filmmaker Aparna Sen said she was "devastated." The girl's remains were eventually cremated Wednesday night with the family's consent.

"Those who have gang raped my daughter should be given death penalty," the grieving father told reporters

last week after meeting with the state's governor to complain about a "tyrannical" police response. Neither the girl nor her father is being named

by Indian media under laws guarding the identity of rape victims.

The father said police threatened him, demanding that he leave the state or else have his taxi business shut down.

West Bengal's government, led by a woman chief minister, has said little about the case apart from defending its response.

Chief Secretary Sanjay Mitra pledged financial aid for the family and reiterated "our

commitment for zero tolerance to attacks on women."

The state's urban development minister accused critics of politicizing a tragedy. "The state government has taken appropriate action in the case," Firhad Hakim said.

The nationwide outcry over the 2012 gang rape in New Delhi led the federal government to rush legislation doubling prison terms for rapists to 20 years and criminalizing voyeurism, stalking, acid attacks and the trafficking of women. The law also makes it a crime for officers to refuse to open cases.

But the same gang rape case helped bring down New Delhi's local government in a ballot last month, with many Delhiites questioning how a so-called "fast-track" court took more than seven months to deliver a guilty verdict.

Police in Mumbai earned praise for quickly rounding up five teenagers accused of raping a photojournalist within a day of her reporting the attack, but the death of the girl in West Bengal stoked public demands that police be held accountable for their response to sexual violence.

"The girl should have been protected, and since there was no protection she was raped again and subsequently killed," said Mamta Sharma, chairwoman of the National Commission for Women.

"The public anger on the incident is genuine. All parents want to see their daughters are safe," independent Kolkata political analyst Subir

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.

Bhowmik said. "The government wants to show that they are not at fault and working for the people. Opposition parties also want to reap benefit from this issue."

Some activists warn that political posturing could harm efforts to improve women's safety by turning particularly savage cases like the one in West Bengal into opportunities for media hounds and voyeurs.

Little publicity was given to the case in the weeks after the girl reported being gang raped in October and left in a field near her home in the Madhyamgram suburb of Kolkata, formerly Calcutta. A day later, while returning with her parents from reporting the crime to police, her family said she was abducted by the same men and gang raped again before being left unconscious by railway tracks.

When the family fled to a new home in another suburb called Dum Dum, they said they were visited on Dec. 23 by associates of the girl's attackers and threatened with violence if they didn't withdraw their police complaint. Later that day, the girl was set on fire in her home. She died from her injuries on Dec. 31.

"The West Bengal government is responsible for inaction, but the opposition is equally insensitive in terms of politicizing the rape of a child," said Ranjana Kumari, a women's activist with the Center for Social Research.

"We need all parties to set politics aside and address an issue that affects us all."

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Thursday 9 January 2014

The Morung Express

Nine die in Mumbai-Dehradun Express blaze

THaNE, JaNuary 8 (IaNS): Nine passengers were killed before dawn Wednesday when three coaches of the Mumbai-Dehradun Express caught fire near Dahanu close to the Gujarat border, officials said. The fire reportedly erupted at 2.35 a.m. in the vestibule connecting S-2 and S-3 coaches and quickly spread to the S-4 coach, catching the sleeping passengers unawares, the Western Railway said.

The train had left Mumbai and was headed to Dehradun in Uttarakhand.

Ten passengers who inhaled toxic fumes were given first aid by railway accident relief vans and taken to hospitals in Dahanu and Gholwad, around 145 km north of Mumbai, said an official. Five of the passengers who died were identified as Deepika Shah (65), Dev Shankar Upadhyay (48), Surendra Shah (68), Nasir Khan Ahmed Khan Pathan (50) and Feroz Khan (38).

It was the second railway disaster of its kind since Dec 28 when 26 people died after the Nanded-Bangalore Express caught fire in Andhra Pradesh.

A railway official said the Wednesday fire was noticed in the moving train by a gateman between Dahanu Road and Gholvad. He alerted the station master of Gholvad who in turn informed the driver and the train was stopped. The official said that there may have been a far worse disaster but for the gateman’s alert.

The fire was controlled shortly after the train halted near the Gholwad station. Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge expressed anguish over the tragedy and announced an ex-gratia of Rs.500,000 to the families of the dead.

The Railway Board ordered an inquiry into the incident and related aspects of the fire. Six coaches of the train were detached and five new coaches were added before the train left the site some three hours after the tragedy.

Train services hit on the route were restored by 6.40 a.m.

Gateman’s presence of mind saves lives

MaHaraSHTra, JaNuary 8 (agENcIES): Jawahar Singh, 33, the gateman, who alerted railway authorities, told The Hindu that he had never ever seen an incident like this in his seven-year-old career. Singh, a local resident, has been patrolling gate no. 60 between Gholwad and Dahanu Road station for the past couple of years, the spot where the illfated Dehradun Express caught fire on Wednesday. Nine passengers died in the incident.

“I was on night shift on Tuesday. It’s my duty to report anything suspicious about the train when it passes the gate I patrol. Around 2.25 am when Dehradun Express was passing by I saw a thick layer of smoke emerging from the last two coaches of the train. I had never seen anything like this before,” narrated Singh.

“There was no fire, just a thick cloud of black smoke emerging from the bogies. Since it was night time I could not wave the red flag and instead used a red torch to alert the guard on the train,” added Singh. But the train was brought to a halt only after it had travelled around one-and-half kilometres. “The guard might have not noticed my signal and therefore I immediately alerted my station master, who got in touch with the authorities and brought the train to a halt,” added Singh.

Singh’s presence of mind helped save many lives. Singh said: “This is a forest area and therefore officials aren’t A train moves past a coach of a passenger train that caught fire early Wednesday near Gholvad town, in the western Indian state of Ma- aware of the route to hospitals and other facilities in the harashtra, on Wednesday, January 8. Fire and smoke engulfed three cars of an Indian passenger train early Wednesday, killing at least area. I assisted many on how to reach there. I was just doing my job,” he added. nine people as they slept in the latest tragedy to hit the country’s vast railway network, officials said. (AP Photo)

Railways to introduce Australian technology to fight train fires

NEW DELHI, JaNuary 8 (PTI): Despite a number of safety drives carried out by railways, fire accidents continue to take place, raising serious questions over the effectiveness of the national transporter’s preparedness.

There were 10 major fire incidents on trains since 2012 which claimed 65 lives besides causing a damage to the railways to the tune of around Rs 8 crore.

Realising the seriousness of the situation, the railways is now planning to introduce an Australian technology to make fire alarms efficient.

Nine passengers were charred to death today when three non-AC coaches of BandraDehradun Express caught fire in the wee hours in Thane, the second such incident in the last fortnight. There was also a minor fire incident today in the Lucknow Shatabdi due to

India takes aim at privileges held by US diplomats

NEW DELHI, JaNuary 8 (aP): India took aim Wednesday at the privileges enjoyed

by American diplomats in New Delhi, warning that the U.S. must stop all “commercial activities” at a popular embassy club that includes a bar, a bowling alley and other amenities.

New Delhi also warned that embassy cars will not be immune to traffic violations.

The move was the latest fallout from a diplomatic row between India and the United States stemming from the arrest and strip search last month of Devyani Khobragade, an Indian diplomat in New York City.

Khobragade, 39, has pleaded not guilty to fraud charges alleging she paid her Indian-born maid far less than the U.S. minimum wage and lied about it on a visa application.

The Press Trust of India news agency reported the Indian government’s demands Wednesday, saying the U.S. has been asked to “discontinue commercial activities” from its embassy premises by Jan. 16.

That includes a club that houses a restaurant and bar, bowling alley, swimming pool, sports field, hair salon and gym.

Foreign Ministry spokes-

man E. Vishnu Vardhan Reddy confirmed the PTI report and said the government was waiting for a response from the United States. Asked if India would shut down the club if the U.S. doesn’t comply, he said: “It all depends on what the U.S. embassy does next. Embassies anywhere in the world cannot engage in commercial activities.”

India says the fact that nondiplomats can join the club violates diplomatic laws. U.S. embassy officials did not immediately reply to calls for comment. Khobragade was arrested Dec. 13 and was stripsearched in custody, as is common practice according to the U.S. Marshals. But the case has caused an outcry in India, where the idea of an educated, middle class woman facing a strip search is seen as outrageous and heavy-handed.

The controversy has chilled relations between the United States and India, and New Delhi already has revoked privileges for U.S. diplomats in protest, including withdrawing import licenses that allowed the commissary at the U.S. Embassy to import alcohol and food. Khobragade could face a maximum sentence of 10 years for visa

fraud and five years for making a false declaration if convicted.

She has said she has full diplomatic immunity. Federal officials dispute that, saying her immunity is limited to acts performed in the exercise of consular functions.

U.S. prosecutors and lawyers for Devyani are at odds over a possible plea deal. A letter filed Tuesday by attorneys for Khobragade accused federal prosecutors of trying to pressure her into pleading guilty by next week. The attorneys renewed a request for an extension of the Jan. 13 deadline for an indictment.

The letter from her lawyers came in response to a filing on Monday by prosecutors saying they had “participated in hours of discussions in the hope of negotiating a plea that could be entered in court before Jan. 13.” It said there had been no response to the government’s latest offer. The prosecutors’ filing violated an agreement not to discuss the negotiations publicly, the defense letter said. “We can only think that the violation was a distressingly calculated one,” it said. There was no immediate response from the court.

brake jam. Smoke started emanating from the wheels of the Delhi-Lucknow Shatabdi Express triggering panic among train passengers this morning at Ghaziabad station.

Earlier on 28 December, an air-conditioned coach of the Bangalore-Nanded Express train caught fire in the early hours in Anantpur district of Andhra Pradesh, killing 26 people and injuring 13 others.

On 30 June, 2012, 35 passen-

old sister, a constant companion, told IANS. “We have already spent more than a year in various hospitals but to no avail. We know her pain. We want justice. We don’t know when my sister will come back home. We don’t have an answer,” the sister said.

“She has undergone 19 surgeries so far. One was scheduled for Jan 3 but doctors said she is not fit for the surgery,” she added. The girl was shifted to AIIMS

from Jaipur’s J.K. Lone hospital last February. The state government took a decision to shift the victim to AIIMS hospital after the national capital was rocked by street protests over the Dec 16, 2012, gang rape. The state government feared that the minor girl’s incident would spark similar protests in Rajasthan and decided to fund her treatment.

The victim underwent 17 surgeries in Rajasthan and two in AIIMS. The family had

earler sytem tried in Bhubaneswar Rajdhani was found not foolproof.

The new system is on trial in Jammu Rajdhani,” a Railway official said. Similar automatic fire alarm system will be fitted in 20 trains in future. About the other measures, the official said portable extinguishers are being provided in coaches to cater for emergencies due to fire accidents. Railways have al-

ready spent Rs 8.63 cr on fire extinguishers for trains. Detailed instructions have been issued to zonal railways for obeservance of safe practices in handling of pantry cars and for ensuring peiodical inspection of electrical and LPG fittings in the pantry cars. Intensive publicity campaigns to prevent the travelling public from carrying inflammable goods are regularly undertaken, he said.

Hindu activists attack AAP office near Kejriwal home

gHazIabaD, JaNuary 8 (IaNS): Dozens of Hindu activists attacked the AAP head office here Wednesday to protest controversial remarks on Kashmir by party leader Prashant Bhushan, vandalizing a part of the building. Police arrested 13 members of Hindu Rakshak Dal, including its leader Bhupendra Tomar alias Pinky Chaudhary, for the attack even as a fuming AAP blamed the BJP and its allied groups.

The Bharatiya Janata Party denied any link and denounced the attack. But in the same breath, it said it also condemned Bhushan’s purported comments regarding army deployment in the Kashmir Valley. The incident occurred around 11 a.m. when some 25 to 40 men waving flags and armed with sticks barged into the AAP office at Kaushambi, close to party leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s house.

In no time, the attackers began breaking flower pots and glass windows, brought down a wash basin, stoned the office heavily and loudly abused Aam Aadmi Party leaders including Bhushan and Kejriwal, witnesses said. There were some 45 people, including 10 women, in

Battered gang-raped minor waits for 20th surgery - and justice!

NEW DELHI, JaNuary 8 (IaNS): At an age when most children cherish their books, clothes and toys, a 12-year old girl is silently suffering the pain of a brutal gang-rape which has forced her to undergo 19 surgeries till now. The victim is now waiting for her 20th surgery at the premier AIIMS here.

Gang-raped by 6 men in Sikar in Rajasthan more than a year ago, the girl has undergone both mental and physical trauma and has been waging a silent battle against all odds since the time the men left her on the roadside to die after brutally raping her.

When this IANS correspondent met the victim in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), she was lying on the hospital bed with her face covered with the sheet, while her sister and 65-year-old widowed mother sat near her - hoping that the next round of medical treatment will help her regain her health.

“She had a dream of doing something for the family, though she is youngest among 6 sisters,” the victim’s 22-year

gers were killed and 25 others injured when a coach of the Delhi-Chennai Tamil Nadu Express caught fire near Nellore in Andhra Pradesh. Though railways claim to have taken various measures to prevent fire in trains, recurrence of such mishaps on regular basis is a matter of concern for the government. “We are introducing a new Australian technology for fire alarm system in our AC coaches as the

migrated from Bihar’s Darbhanga district to Sikar in July 2012 in the hope of a good life.

The incident happened on Aug 20, 2012, when the victim, along with her three sisters and a neighbour, were returning home after watching the Salman Khan-starrer “Tiger”.

“A car came. The men inside the car tried to drag me and my neighbour but they failed.

But one of them pulled her inside the car and sped away,” said the elder sister with tears in her eyes. “We ran behind the car screaming and shouting but could not rescue her,” she said.

She said that initially the police refused to file an FIR and a case was registered only after local people demonstrated outside the police station.

“The next day at noon my sister was found in another area. She was bleeding and her condition was very critical. We admitted her in a government hospital in Sikar and later doctors referred her to Jaipur,” the sister said. She said police arrested only 2 of the accused, while four more are still at large.

Damaged AAP Headquarters at Kaushambi

the office when the attack took place. This included people who had come with representations for the Delhi government.

AAP member Suresh Chand told IANS that he was thrashed “by the goons” when he urged them to stop vandalizing the office. “I would have sustained serious injuries if I had not been pulled inside the room by my colleagues.” He said the miscreants tried to harm a woman party worker, Varsha. Reacting quickly, AAP activist Poonam locked the office from the inside, preventing the attackers’ entry. But they caused widespread destruction to furniture

and more outside.

“They broke the glass panes of the main entrance,” AAP office attendant Megha Saxena said. “Some of them tried to scale the wall to reach the first floor but could not succeed,” Lokesh Dhaswan, another AAP member, told IANS. AAP leader Dilip Pandey told IANS that the group raised slogans against Bhushan for his purported statement advocating a referendum on the army’s presence in Kashmir.

Before escaping in their cars after around 20 minutes, the attackers -- in their 20s and 30s -- threatened to further target

AAP leaders. Kejriwal said the intention was to kill his colleague Bhushan. “Do they want to murder him (Bhushan)? Is this why they indulged in arson? Do they want to attack me and Bhushan? What do they want?” he asked.

The AAP said the Ghaziabad police reached the spot late but Delhi Police -- Kaushambi is located close to the national capital -- reacted faster. Bhushan said: “The attack shows the tremendous frustration of the BJP and the Sangh Parivar over the rise of the AAP.” Describing himself as a Hindu by religion, Kejriwal urged the attackers to follow the principles of Hindu god Rama. He said the AAP won’t hit back.

AAP leader Sanjay Singh said the attack was a “clear signal that the Congress and the BJP are not happy with our success”. Superintendent of Police Muniraj said 13 people were arrested for the attack. They were charged with rioting and sexual harassment. Muniraj told IANS that the AAP office would now get security. AAP leaders handed over CCTV footage of the frenzy to police. Mob leader Tomar told IANS later that his outfit was against Bhushan’s statement on Kashmir.

India home to second highest number of women smokers globally

LONDON, JaNuary 8 (TNN): Indian women have now figured right on top in an infamous list - smoking. In a shocking trend, India has now more female smokers - over 12.1 million - than any country except the United States. In 2012, female smoking prevalence was 3.2%, which is virtually unchanged since 1980.

Smokers in India consumed an average of 8.2 cigarettes per day as tobacco claims a million lives every year in the country.

Smoking has emerged as the third top risk for health loss in India. Between 1980 and 2012, smoking prevalence among Indian men decreased from 33.8% to 23%. In 2012, 967 million people smoked every day globally compared with 721 million in 1980.

Around three in 10 men (31%) and one in 20 women (6%) now smoke daily compared with four in 10 men (41%) and one in 10 women (10%) in 1980. These are the findings of the study “Smoking Prevalence and Cigarette Consumption in 187 countries, 1980-2012,” which was published on January 8 in the Journal of the American

Medical Association.

India has been found to have made progress in reducing the prevalence of daily smoking among men, according to new research from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). However tobacco use (excluding second-hand smoke) led to 6.1% of years of life lost due to premature death, and 5.1% of health loss in India.

“Smoking rates remain dangerously high for men and there is more work to be done to drive these rates lower,” said Dr K Srinath Reddy, president of the Public Health Foundation of India, in response to the findings. “The high number of female smokers in India is also troubling,” he added. “Despite the tremendous progress made on tobacco control, much more remains to be done,” said IHME director Dr Christopher Murray.

“We have the legal means to support tobacco control, and where we see progress being made we need to look for ways to accelerate that progress. Where we see stagnation, we need to find out what’s going wrong.”

The number of cigarettes smoked annually has grown to

more than 6 trillion. In 75 countries, smokers consumed an average of more than 20 cigarettes per day in 2012. Data released earlier had found that smoking is eight times more prevalent among Indian men than women.

However, an average Indian female smoker puffs more cigarettes a day (7) than male (6.1).

Over one in five (21%) Indian male tobacco users smoke daily as against only around 3% of women. Nearly half of Indian men (47.9%) aged 15 years and above consume tobacco. Nearly 206 million Indians use smokeless form of tobacco (loose-leaf chewing tobacco and snuff).

Smokeless tobacco use is high among Indian men at 32.9%.

One in every five female tobacco users in India uses the smokeless form as against one in 10 who smoke. Also, an average Indian woman is taking up smoking at 17.5 years as against 18.8 years among men. These were the new estimates of global tobacco use, published in the medical journal the Lancet few months ago. The quit rate was low in India with less than 20% of adults who had ever smoked saying they had given up.

International

The Morung Express

Thursday 9 January 2014

Dimapur

9

Syria ships out 1 batch of chemical weapons materials st

BEIRUT, JanUaRy 8 (REUTERs): Syria has started moving chemical weapons materials out of the country in a crucial phase of an internationally backed disarmament programme that has been delayed by war and technical problems.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said on Tuesday that “priority chemical materials” were transported to the port of Latakia and onto a Danish vessel which was now sailing towards international waters.

Syria agreed to abandon its chemical weapons

by June under a deal proposed by Russia and agreed with the United States after an August 21 sarin gas attack that Western nations blamed on President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.

Damascus blames rebels for the attack.

War, bad weather, bureaucracy and technical issues meant a December 31 deadline for the removal of the most deadly toxins from Syria was missed.

The OPCW did not disclose what percentage of Syria’s toxic arsenal -which totals 1,300 tonnes in all -- had been removed but said nine containers of the most dangerous chemical materials were on the Danish cargo vessel.

“The vessel has been accompanied by naval es-

The Norwegian warship “Helge Ingstad” passes by the Danish warship Esbern Snare during a sunset at sea between Cyprus and Syria, on January 5. Two cargo ships and their warship escorts set sail at waters near Syria where they will wait for orders on when they can head to the Syrian port of Latakia to pick up more than 1,000 tons of chemical agents. (AP Photo)

corts provided by Denmark and Norway, as well as the Syrian Arab Republic,” a statement said. “It will remain at sea awaiting the arrival of additional priority chemical materials at the port.”

Maritime security was being provided by Chinese, Danish, Norwegian and Russian ships.

Government forces have taken back control of the highway linking Damascus to the coast which

is needed to transport the toxins. Rebel were ousted from three towns along the road but activists say convoys moving along it will remain vulnerable to rebel ambushes.

Washington welcomed the removal of chemical materials and said Assad’s government appeared to be sticking to the deal.

“Much more needs to be done,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told a news briefing, add-

ing: “We have no reason to believe that the regime has gone back on any aspect of their promise.”

REBEL INFIGHTING On the battlefield, Syria’s bloodiest bout of rebel infighting since the war started nearly three years ago prompted the head of an al Qaeda-linked rebel group to called for a ceasefire between opposition factions.

An audio recording

from the leader of the powerful Nusra Front, known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, laid much of the blame for the fighting on an al Qaeda splinter group known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

While both groups have roots in the global Islamist network and welcome foreign militants, the Nusra Front has cooperated more with other rebel groups and has largely avoided the power struggles that ISIL

has faced since wresting control of many opposition-held areas from other groups.

“Many rebel units have committed transgressions, just as the mistaken policies followed by ISIL played a prominent role in fuelling the conflict,” Golani said.

ISIL has also been fighting in Iraq, where it faces an onslaught by army tanks and artillery around the city of Falluja, whose local leaders have urged the Qaeda-linked militants to leave before being attacked.

ISIL gunmen want to reconquer Iraq’s Anbar province in pursuit of their goal of creating a radical Islamic state out of the chaos of neighbouring Syria’s civil war. More than 274 people have been killed in the rebel-on-rebel clashes in Syria since they began on Friday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition monitoring group.

LEGAL COUNCIL Golani proposed forming an Islamic legal council to resolve feuds among the rebels and called for the militants to return to their shared goal of fighting Assad’s forces, as the campaign to oust the Syrian leader nears the end of its third year.

It was not possible to verify the audio statement, but it was posted on a Twit-

ter account used by the Nusra Front.

“This unfortunate situation has pushed us to launch an initiative to save the battlefields from being lost. This will be done by forming an independent legal council by all the (rebel) factions in addition to a ceasefire,” Golani said.

Rebel groups, many of them also hardline Islamists, last week launched what appeared to be a series of coordinated strikes against ISIL in northern and eastern Syria after months of increasing tensions with the group, which has alienated many Syrians in rebel-held regions.

In one northwestern region of Syria alone, other rebel groups appear to have killed 34 foreign fighters from ISIL, the Observatory said.

Fighting reignited between ISIL and other groups on Tuesday, the Observatory said. Fifteen died in the town of Rastan, north of the central city of Homs, and in Aleppo rebels took control of a police station where about 100 ISIL fighters had been based. The ISIL fighters surrendered themselves and their weapons to the Nusra Front, it said.

Golani urged rebels not to become divided between foreign and local fighters, arguing that all were needed to launch jihad, or holy war, in the country.

The campaign to topple Assad has degenerated into a civil war with several sectarian and ethnic struggles emerging, as well as the internecine fighting now plaguing the rebels.

Golani urged rebels to exchange prisoners and open roads to all opposition units.

received from members of Congress. He says that in private the lawmakers could be reasonable. “But when they went into an open hearing, and the little red light went on atop a television camera, it had the effect of a full moon on a werewolf,” he says in an excerpt in the Journal.

• Gates recalls Obama and his secretary of state at the time, Hillary Rodham Clinton, discussing their opposition to Bush’s 2007 surge of troops in Iraq, according to the Post. “Hillary told the president that her opposition to the surge in Iraq had been political because she was facing him in the Iowa primary. ... The president conceded vaguely that opposition to the Iraq surge had been political. To hear the two of them making these admissions, and in front of me, was as surprising as it was dismaying.”

• Criticizing what he calls the “controlling nature” of the Obama White House, Gates says the president’s national security team “took micromanagement and operational meddling to a new level,” the Times reports. He is most critical of the growth and size of the National Security Council staff, according to the Times.

• Gates at times criticizes the Bush administration as well as its successor. He holds the Bush administration responsible for what he considered misguided policy that squandered the early victories in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to the Times.

• In praise of Obama, Gates calls the president’s decision to order Navy SEALs to raid a house in Pakistan believed to be the hiding place of Osama bin Laden “one of the most courageous decisions I had ever witnessed in the White House.”

TA L K S DECISION DELAYED Syria’s Western-backed opposition in exile postponed until next week a decision on whether to attend talks with Assad’s government aimed at ending the conflict, opposition members said on Tuesday.

The National Coalition is facing heavy pressure from Western powers to attend the January 22 talks in Switzerland, seen as the most serious effort yet to find a political solution to the civil war. It has said it is ready to attend the talks in principle, but says they must lead to Assad’s departure - a demand which Damascus has flatly rejected - and has repeatedly stalled on its final decision.

The latest delay came after at least a quarter of the coalition called for its newly re-elected president Ahmad al-Jarba to stand down at a meeting in Turkey and threatened to resign if their demand was not met, sources at the meeting said.

Tobacco control has saved millions of lives Gates: Obama grew frustrated over Afghanistan Lindsey Tanner

AP Medical Writer

AnTI-SmOkInG measures have saved roughly 8 million U.S. lives since a landmark 1964 report linking smoking and disease, a study estimates, yet the nation’s top disease detective says dozens of other countries do a better job on several efforts to cut tobacco use.

The study and comments were published online Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. This week’s issue commemorates the 50th anniversary of the U.S. surgeon general report credited with raising alarms about the dangers of smoking.

In one study, researchers used national health surveys and death rates to calculate how many deaths might have occurred since 1964 if Americans’ smoking habits and related deaths had continued at a pace in place before the report.

More than 42 percent of U.S. adults smoked in years preceding the report; that rate has dropped to about 18 percent. The researchers say their calculation — 8 million deaths — equals lives saved thanks to anti-smoking efforts.

Their report also says tobacco controls have contributed substantially to increases in U.S. life expectancy. For example, life expectancy for 40-year-olds has increased by more than five years since 1964; tobacco control accounts for about 30 percent of that gain, the report says.

The conclusions are just estimates, not hard evidence, but lead author Theodore Holford, a biostatistics professor at Yale University’s

school of public health, said the numbers “are pretty striking.” Yet smoking remains a stubborn problem and heart disease, cancer, lung ailments and stroke — all often linked with smoking — are top four leading causes of death in the U.S. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control says about 443,000 Americans still die prematurely each year from smoking-related causes. “Tobacco is, quite simply, in a league of its own in terms of the sheer

numbers and varieties of ways it kills and maims people,” Dr. Thomas Frieden, the CDC’s director, wrote in a JAMA commentary.

Frieden said the United States lags behind many other countries in adopting measures proven to reduce tobacco use, including graphic health warning labels on cigarettes, high tobacco taxes and widespread bans on tobacco advertising. “Images of smoking in movies, television and on the Internet remain common; and cigarettes continue to be far too affordable in nearly all parts of the country,” Frieden wrote.

Frieden cited data showing 32 countries have done better at raising tobacco taxes, and at least 30 have adopted

stronger cigarette warning labels. These include Australia, Brazil, Canada and Uruguay, and research has suggested that gruesome labels can help persuade smokers to quit. Tobacco companies have fought U.S. efforts to adopt similar labeling and an appeals court last year blocked a Food and Drug Administration mandate for stronger labels.

Other articles and studies in the journal show:

• Smoking declined an average 25 percent among men in 187 countries from 1980-2012, and by 42 percent among women. Because of population growth, the number of smokers worldwide has increased and rates remain high in many countries.

More than half of men smoke in Russia, Indonesia and Armenia, and more than 1 in 4 women smoke in Chile, France and Greece.

• Smoking rates among U.S. registered nurses dropped to 7 percent in 2010-11, from 11 percent in 2003, and remained low among doctors, at just below 2%. The rate was 25% among licensed practical nurses, who have less advanced education than registered nurses.

• Drugs including nicotine patches, Chantix and Zyban, work better than dummy treatments at helping smokers quit at least temporarily but many often resume after a year.

• Electronic cigarettes may help some smokers quit but conclusive research is needed and their long-term safety is unknown. Users inhale nicotine vapor from the battery-operated devices and they could lead to nicotine addiction among nonsmokers, according to a review article.

WasHInGTOn, JanUaRy 8 (aP): Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates asserts in a new memoir that President Barack Obama grew frustrated with U.S. policy in Afghanistan and that Vice President Joe Biden has been wrong on nearly every foreign policy and national security issue. He also accuses members of Congress of inquisition-like treatment of administration officials.

Obama approved the strategy of putting 30,000 additional troops into Afghanistan and placing Gen. David Petraeus in charge, even though some top advisers opposed the socalled surge he announced in December 2009.

“I never doubted Obama’s support for the troops, only his support for their mission,” Gates writes in the book, “Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War,” which was set for release next week by Knopf.

In recalling a meeting in the situation room in March 2011, Gates writes: “As I sat there, I thought: The president doesn’t trust his commander, can’t stand (Afghan President Hamid) Karzai, doesn’t believe in his own strategy and doesn’t consider the war to be his. For him, it’s all about getting out.”

Gates also writes that Biden has been “wrong on nearly every major foreign

policy and national security issue over the past four decades,” though he also says Biden is “a man of integrity” — and applies the same assessment to Obama even though he is critical at times of the president’s own leadership.

In response to reports of Gates’ disdain for Biden, the White House National Security Council issued a statement Tuesday asserting that Obama relies on Biden’s “good counsel” every day and considers him “one of the leading statesmen of his time.” Meanwhile, the White House said Obama’s weekly private luncheon with Biden would be open briefly to photographers on Wednesday, a highly unusual invitation for the press and another sign that the president was not putting any distance between himself and Biden as Gates’ scathing critique drew attention.

A Republican, Gates served 4½ years as defense secretary, the last years of the George W. Bush administration and the first years of Obama’s. According to published reports about the book Tuesday in The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal: • During his tenure as Pentagon chief, Gates often found himself tempted to quit because of the adversarial treatment he

Britain still at war over legacy of World War I

LOnDOn, JanUaRy 8 (aP): Around the world, the 2014 centenary of the start of World War I is an occasion for commemoration.

Yet in Britain, where the trenches of Flanders remain an ideological battlefield, it has also sparked an argument — about patriotism, historical responsibility and the place of humor in teaching history.

Only in Britain, perhaps, would the spat pit the Conservative-led government’s education minister against a comic actor — Tony Robinson, who played the dim-witted soldier Baldrick in “Blackadder Goes Forth,” a much-loved television sitcom about the war.

In an article for the right-ofcenter Daily Mail newspaper, Education Secretary Michael Gove said “Blackadder” and other satires had created a public impression of the four-year war — in which more than 8 million troops and millions of civilians died — as “a misbegotten shambles — a series of catastrophic mistakes perpetrated by an out-of-touch elite.”

In four seasons of “Blackad-

der,” comic actor Rowan Atkinson — now world-famous as Mr. Bean — played a world-weary nobleman in different eras of British history, suffering the never-ending idiocy of each period’s ruling elites.

In the final season, “Blackadder Goes Forth,” he and dim servant Baldrick, played by Robinson, are soldiers in the trenches of World War I under the command of a clueless general (Stephen Fry) in what is depicted as a futile conflict.

“Millions have died, but our troops have advanced no further than an asthmatic ant with some heavy shopping,” Blackadder says.

First broadcast in 1989, it’s regarded by many as a classic — partly because of the poignant final scene, in which the jokes stop and the main characters charge into battle and to their likely deaths.

Yet Gove, the minister, is not among its fans. In his article, he cited the show as a contributor to “misrepresentations which reflect ... an unhappy compulsion on the part of some to denigrate

virtues such as patriotism, honor and courage.”

He said for Britain, World War I was “plainly a ‘just’ war” and one country was to blame for starting it — Germany, with its “aggressively expansionist war aims and ... scorn for the international order.”

Gove’s remarks were criticized by Robinson, a well-known activist for the opposition Labour Party.

“I think Mr. Gove has just made a very silly mistake,” Robinson told Sky News, in saying that “Blackadder” formed children’s views of the war.

He said teachers used the show simply as “another teaching tool” alongside visits to battlefields and reading war poetry.

Labour’s education spokesman, Tristram Hunt, accused Gove of a “crass” attempt to hijack “what should be a moment for national reflection and respectful debate.”

The furor is evidence of how large World War I — in which a million British soldiers died — still looms in the country’s imagination.

Generations of British

schoolchildren have studied the wrenching front-line poems of Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon, and the conflict has inspired countless books, plays and movies.

Britain plans major commemorations of the war this year, from ceremonies and stage productions to the restoration of war memorials and a soccer tournament to commemorate the Christmas 1914 truce between German and British troops at the front.

Historians remain divided about who should bear the burden of responsibility for the war.

It was triggered by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, which sparked a series of events that drove two powerful blocs into conflict: Britain, France and Russia on one side; Germany and Austria-Hungary on the other.

The first global war drew in more countries, including Britain’s colonies around the world and, in 1917, the United States.

British historian Max Hastings, whose recent book “Catastrophe” recounts the opening

months of the war, told The Associated Press by email Tuesday that Gove was right to claim that Germany was chiefly to blame. He said Britain “had no choice but to fight ... because German hegemony on the continent would have been an intolerable outcome for freedom and democracy.”

But Cambridge University history professor Richard J. Evans disagreed, saying “it wasn’t that simple.”

He accused Gove and other conservative politicians of using the war’s anniversary for modern political ends, to advance “a kind of Euroskeptic agenda — the idea that bashing the Hun is a good thing to do.”

“You have to be a bit more nuanced after 100 years and not just parrot British propaganda about the war,” Evans said. “It’s possible to say that extremely brave men were fighting courageously for a cause that in the end turned out to be a futile one.”

He added that politicians should recognize “there are many different views of the First World War and there are many different ways you can commemorate it.”

10

Dimapur

SPORTS

Thursday 9 January 2014

flower slams 'ultimatum' talk over kevin Pietersen

SYDNEY, JaNuarY 8 (aFP): Coach Andy Flower on Wednesday dismissed reports that he issued an ultimatum to England cricket chiefs over misfiring star batsman Kevin Pietersen as "totally inaccurate".

English media said Flower was ready to quit unless he was given guarantees that the polarising batsman would not be selected to play under him in the fallout following the 5-0 Ashes series humiliation at the hands of Australia.

It follows rumours of a breakdown in their relationship, reportedly sparked by Pietersen making himself unavailable for one-day international matches last year in order to play in the lucrative Indian Premier League.

Pietersen, 33, who finished as England's highest scorer in the series with 294 runs at 29.40, has posted a series of tweets stating he wants to remain

part of the England set-up, insisting he is "determined to help regain the Ashes in 2015".

The former captain, who has been struggling with a long-term knee injury, reiterated his desire to reach 10,000 Test runs -- he currently has 8,181 -- and said he wanted to play in the Ashes in England next year.

Flower said in a statement that no snap decisions would be made despite the humbling by England's oldest rivals. "It would be sensible and responsible to review the tour in a calm and logical manner before assessing our options for the future and planning ahead," he said.

"I repeat that neither I nor the wider ECB ( England and Wales Cricket Board) leadership group have made any decisions as to the future involvement of any individuals in the playing group or in the support staff. "The reports that

I have issued an ultimatum of some description to the ECB are totally inaccurate."

Paul Downton, the ECB's new managing director, will conduct an internal review of the Ashes whitewash when the futures of Flower, Pietersen and skipper Alastair Cook among others will be discussed.

Reports said that Downton would speak to each player and member of the backroom staff and would take his time before making any decisions on the fate of leading figures within the management and team. Flower has told the ECB he wants to rebuild the England side and the board has so far backed him publicly, but ultimately the decision to keep him or not will reportedly rest with Downton.

Pietersen is not in the squad for the upcoming one-day international series, which starts in Melbourne on Sunday.

Pawa meet rescheduled

PhEK, JaNuarY 8 (MExN): The 23rd Wrestling Tournament of the Phek Area Wrestling Association (PAWA) is re-scheduled from 30-31 January to 31 January to February 1 due to some unavoidable official assignment. The venue and other time schedules remain unchanged, informed a press note.

dC Mokokchung inaugurate 6th open volleyball tournament

MoKoKChuNg, JaNuarY 8 (DIPr): 6th Open Volleyball tournament was organised by Falcon club at Public Ground, Mangkolemba on 8th Jan 2014, on the theme ‘Strengthen, Resolute, Excel’. Chief Guest, Deputy Commissioner, Mokokchung, Muroho Chotsu, unfurled the tournament Flag and emphasised on the importance of Sports. He encouraged the players to use the talents given by God

and encouraged the sports persons to avail the opportunities provided by the government so that they could excel in various disciplines. In the programme Moajungla enthralled the gathering by singing the Falcon Club anthem. Opening ceremony was displayed

by CED (Children Evangelistic department). Imtila, Asst. Teacher chaired the inaugural function while Youth Director Toshi Tzu-

dir, invoked God’s blessings.

C. Lanu delivered a short speech and Sunep Changkiri, delivered the welcome address. Sharon Jiba (Kids for Fame 2013 finalist) also presented a special item.

Oath taking was conducted by convenor, Tournament Board, Renbemo Ezung, Mokokchung. 1st Match of the tournament was played between Sporting Club, Mangkolemba B and Lakhuni Citizen Club A.

Bidisha Sarma of GTC Chess Foundation clinched the championship in the under 13 category of the 1st Jibon Chandra Chetia Memorial All Assam Age Group Chess Championship 2014 held at Jorhat from January 2 to 5. The event was organized by Jorhat District Chess Association.

wokha district Chess Championship 2014

WoKha, JaNuarY 8 (MExN): The Wokha District Chess Association (WDCA) is organizing the 3rd Wokha District and 3rd Inter– High School cum 2nd Inter–College Chess Championship 2014, under the aegis of Nagaland Chess Association, scheduled from January 14 to 16 at Hornbill Restaurant, Wokha, on the Theme: “Positive Attitude - The Way Forward.”

Aremo Ezung, SDEO and Dr. Emmanuel Yanthan, MS

(OB/GYN), District Hospital, Wokha will grace the Inaugural and Valedictory function as Chief Guest respectively.

For the senior level, the first, second and third prizes are Rs. 7, 000/- , Rs. 5, 000/- and Rs. 3, 000/respectively, while for the school and college level, the first, second and third prizes are Rs. 3, 000/- , Rs 2, 000/- and Rs. 1, 000/-respectively.

All interested players

are requested to collect and submit the forms at Hornbill Restaurant, Wokha, on or before January 11, with an entry fee of Rs. 500/– for the senior category and Rs. 300/–for the other two categories respectively. It is further informed to submit 2 (two) recent passport size photographs at the time of submitting the entry form. For further details, one can contact 9436 207683/9612046767/98 56038989.

28th national itf C'ship

BaNgaLorE, JaNuarY 8 (MExN): The 28th National ITF Taekwondo Championship, held in Bangalore, Karnataka concluded on December 30, 2013. A press note informed that the Nagaland state Taekwon-Do Team (NTF-Nagaland Taekwon-Do Federation) participated with its 12 most aspiring participants. The team was headed by Sujit Roy, 3rd Dan Black Belt, who was also the Team Manager. In total, the team brought in 12 medals including of Gold, Silver & Bronze.

Medal winners K.Obed Khiamniungan1 Gold & 1 Silver Menuodilhou Maurice Usou- 1 Silver & 1 Bronze Moasunep- ------------------------ 1 Silver & 1 Bronze Paul Gangmei- -----------------------1 Silver Haden Odyuo- ---------------------1 Bronze Dhiraj Subba- ----------------------1 Silver Abhishek Singh- -------------------1 Silver Bokalu V. Zhimo- --------------------1 Bronze Akangjungshi- -------------------------1 Silver .

The Morung Express

Hayward lifts Jazz to strike down tHunder

SaLT LaKE CITY, JaNuarY 8 (aP): Facing the league's top scorer, Gordon Hayward did his best Kevin Durant impersonation.

"You always bring it against the best. He's an unbelievable player," Hayward said.

Hayward scored a career-high 37 points, including Utah's final 17 points, to overcome Kevin Durant's 48 points and lead the Jazz to a 112-101 win over Oklahoma City on Tuesday night.

"Once you hit a couple of tough ones then the basket starts looking pretty big.

You feel like you can almost throw up anything and it will go in," Hayward said.

After the Thunder sliced a 24-point Jazz lead to 99-94, Hayward made five straight jumpers — two of them 3-pointers — as he personally outscored the Thunder 17-7 to clinch Utah's fourth straight home win. "How about Gordon!

He was huge. I mean we needed every last basket he made for us," Utah coach Tyrone Corbin said.

The Utah forward made 13 of 16 field goals and added 11 rebounds and seven assists to offset Durant, who matched this season's NBA high scoring total that he set against the Timberwolves on Saturday. "I was in the zone a little bit tonight. It's finally good to be there. It's been a rough season shooting for me," said Hayward, who has been taking hundreds of shots late into the night at the practice facility during this home stand.

Hayward said he noticed on film that he'd been leaning back and fading away as he shot jumpers. He also felt he looked out of rhythm in his shooting motion. His accuracy had dropped be-

Utah Jazz guard Gordon Hayward (20) is defended by Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jeremy Lamb (11) during the second half of their NBA basketball game in Salt Lake City, Tuesday, Jan. 7. The Jazz won 112-101. (AP Photo)

low 40 percent before three straight games of making at least half his attempts. "He got whatever he wanted.

He was moving, cutting and getting everyone involved, and then it opened up for him," Durant said.

Without Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka, Durant took the ball nearly every possession in the fourth quarter. He missed all four final-period field-goal attempts but made 11 of 13 from the line in the final 12 minutes. Westbrook is out with a knee injury and Ibaka didn't dress because of flulike symptoms.

61st KVSA meet Results from day 2

100 metres race (Men) 1ST MENUOKHRIELIE SOLO T. KHEL 11.75 Sec. 2ND MEDONEITUO SEKHOSE T. KHEL 12.28 Sec. 3RD KEVIPHRETUO KIRE D. KHEL 12.68 Sec. 100 metres race (Women) 1ST DZÜVICHÜNUO RUTSA P. KHEL 14.93 Sec. 2ND DZIESENGUNUO SOLO T. KHEL 15.31 Sec. 3RD RUOKUOSANUO KIRE D. KHEL 15.53 Sec. Javelin Throw (Men) 1ST KHRIESANEILIE SOTE P. KHEL 44.04 Mtr. 2ND KETOUKHRIEZO WHUORIE T. KHEL 43.04 Mtr. 3RD DZIESEZOLIE KHEZHIE D. KHEL 42.12 Mtr. High Jump (Women) 1ST DZIESENGUNUO SOLO T. KHEL 1.27 Mtr. 2ND KENEIZENUO SUOHU T. KHEL 1.24 Mtr. 3RD MHALEKHONUO CHIELIE L. KHEL 1.12 Mtr. 200 metres race (Men) 1ST MENUOKHRIELIE SOLO T. KHEL 24.25 Sec. 2ND MEDONEITUO SEKHOSE T. KHEL 25.57 Sec. 3RD KEVIPFHELIE RUTSA P. KHEL 26.28 Sec. 200 metres race (Women) 1ST DZÜVICHÜNUO RUTSA P. KHEL 31.28 Sec. 2ND RUOKUOSANUO KIRE D. KHEL 31.78 Sec. 3RD DZIESENGUNUO SOLO T. KHEL 32.31 Sec. High Jump (Men) 1ST KETOUKHRIEZO WHUORIE T. KHEL 1.71 Mtr. 2ND AVITUO MERE P. KHEL 1.68 Mtr. 3RD MHASISETUO SOLO T. KHEL 1.60 Mtr. Broad Jump (Women) 1ST KENEIZENUO SUOHU T. KHEL 4.06 Mtr. 2ND NEIKESONUO BELHO T. KHEL 3.97 Mtr. 3RD DZIESENGUNUO SOLO T. KHEL 3.91 Mtr. Javelin Throw (Women) 1ST SEDEVINUO SOTE P. KHEL 19.81 Mtr. 2ND VILABEINUO MIACHIEO L. KHEL 19.16 Mtr. 3RD KENEIÜ SEKHOSE T. KHEL 17.70 Mtr. 400 metres race (Men) 1ST MENUOKHRIELIE SOLO T. KHEL 55.57 Sec. 2ND KEVIPHRETUO KIRE D. KHEL 59.17 Sec. 3RD VIKUO SOTE P. KHEL 1:00.50 Min. 4 x 100 metres Relay (Men) 1ST MEDONEITUO SEKHOSE THEJANEILIE SOLO KETOUKHRIEZO WHUORIE MENUOKHRIELIE SOLO 2ND KEVIPFHELIE RUTSA RAZOUKHRIEZO SOTE VIKUO SOTE MENUOLELHOU SOTE 4 x 100 metres Relay (Women) 1ST DZIESENGUNUO SOLO MEDOPHRENUO BELHO KHRIESIESANUO WHUORIE KENEIZENUO SUOHU 2ND DZÜVICHÜNUO RUTSA SEDEVINUO SOTE DZIESENEINUO RAME PELETUONUO KEYHO Triple Jump (Men) 1ST MHASISETUO SOLO T. KHEL 11.40 Mtr. 2ND MENUOKHRIELIE SOLO T. KHEL 11.31 Mtr. 3RD AVITUO MERE P. KHEL 10.92 Mtr. Shot Put (Men) 1ST SELUOKUOLIE KIRE D. KHEL 10.88 Mtr. 2ND VIMEZHÜLHOU SOLO T. KHEL 10.79 Mtr. 3RD RÜGUOTUO SEKHOSE T. KHEL 10.47 Mtr. 400 metres race (Women) 1ST DZÜVICHÜNUO RUTSA P. KHEL 1:15.31Min. 2ND TSAKUONUO CHIELIE L. KHEL 1:17.66Min. 3RD AKHRIENUO LINYÜ L. KHEL 1:19.62 Min. 3000 metres race (Men) 1ST SEDE VIZO L. KHEL 10:24.66 Min. 2ND KEVINGUTUO SOLO T. KHEL 10:34.44 Min. 3RD VIKUOVOLIE KEYHO P. KHEL 10:37.00 Min.

Derrick Favors had 15 and Marvin Williams scored 12 to help snap the Thunder's eight-game road winning streak, two off the franchise record of 10 straight. Richard Jefferson, Enes Kanter and Trey Burke all had 10 points. The Jazz easily drove the lane for draw-and-kicks, which led to a bevy of open jump shots. The Thunder looked visibly winded, playing at 4,250 feet above sea level at the tail end of a threegame-in-four-night stretch.

Favors capped an 11-2 run with a jumper to give the Jazz their largest lead at

84-60. The margin is Utah's second largest of the season, just behind a 28-point lead the Jazz had in Sacramento in a 122-101 win on Dec. 11.

But Durant kept attacking and the Jazz started missing after shooting well above 60 percent for much of the game. Utah finished at 58.8 percent and the team with the worst record in the Western Conference beat the top club in the conference.

The atmosphere turned testy in the fourth quarter when the Thunder fought back. Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks got a technical for crossing midcourt

to protest a call with 10:16 to play. Moments later, official Zach Zarba prohibited a Jazz fan from throwing a ball in the air behind the basket while Durant shot free throws. Then Kanter was whistled for another technical with 9:19 remaining.

The Thunder used a 7-0 surge — all on free throws — to draw within 92-82.

Oklahoma City's comeback strangled the freeflowing Jazz offense for a time. Eight turnovers in the fourth quarter allowed the Thunder to trim the lead to 99-94 after Durant's two foul shots with 4:50 left.

wCyo sports meet enters day 3

DIMaPur, JaNuarY 8 (MExN): The sports meet of the western Chakhesang youth organization entered into day 3 at Diezephe village. Altogether 15 units are participating in the meet from in and around Dimapur and Peren District with around a thousand sportsperson. The main events are football for Men and volleyball for both men and women. The meet is a weeklong event which will culminate on 11 of January 2014.

Heat run past Pelicans

Miami Heat's LeBron James (6) goes to the basket against New Orleans Pelicans' Jason Smith (14) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Miami, Tuesday, Jan 7. (AP Photo)

MIaMI, JaNuarY 8 (aP): Dwyane Wade saw LeBron James was on the move and unguarded, so he lobbed the ball toward the rim and waited for the predictable outcome. The alley-oop looked easy - just like everything else after halftime for the Miami Heat.

James scored 32 points, Wade added 22 points and eight assists, and the Heat trailed by 11 early in the second half before running away to a 107-88 victory over the New Orleans

Pelicans on Tuesday night.

That alley-oop was one of the first salvos in what turned into a 59-26 run by the two-time defending champions. ''We're an old team, man,'' Wade said. ''It takes us a while sometimes to get the juices flowing. Playing against a lot of young teams, they come in loose, ready.

We've got to get our body going a little bit.'' Chris Andersen was 7 for 7 from the field and scored 15 points, and Chris Bosh added 12

points and nine rebounds for the Heat (27-8). Wade added eight rebounds for Miami, which got 11 points from Ray Allen. ''We were able to turn the game around pretty fast,'' James said. Anthony Davis led the Pelicans with 22 points and 12 rebounds, most of his numbers coming in the first half. Eric Gordon scored 15 and Tyreke Evans added 13 for New Orleans (15-18). ''Give them credit. They came out in the third quarter and stepped up the pressure,'' Pelicans coach Monty Williams said. ''They made a lot of tough shots but our guys, as a whole, we've got to grow up and understand that when you have a (good) half against a team, they're going to come out and attack and put pressure.''

That's precisely what happened. The Heat shot 61 percent in the third, outscoring the Pelicans 32-21 and with James nearly outscoring them by himself, putting up 16 in the period. And in the fourth, the Heat wasted no time taking full control.

Allen's 3-pointer from the same spot where he connected with 5.2 seconds left in Game 6 of the NBA Finals started a 7-0 run to start the quarter, with the margin growing steadily from there in Miami's final game before setting out to play its next six away from home. ''I was encouraged by the second half,'' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. ''That's a very talented team and in the first half we couldn't quite figure it out defensively.'' It was very much a tale of two halves. Davis had a double-double by halftime, 16 points and 10 rebounds in the opening two quarters - only the second time the 2012 No. 1 pick has managed that in his career.

Entertainment

The Morung Express C M Y K

fter John Abraham's New Year wedding to girlfriend Priya Runchal, his ex-flame Bipasha Basu too has decided to tie the knot this year with steady date Harman Baweja. Sources close to the couple however tell TOI that the actress' decision was made before John announced his marriage on Twitter.

But Bipasha and Harman will make their plans official only after his film 'Dhishkiyaon', produced

by Shilpa Shetty and her husband Raj Kundra, hits theatres. The film is slated to release in August. Bipasha's parents, HK and Mamta Basu, had their first formal meeting with Harman's parents, producer Harry Baweja and wife Pammi, at the Bawejas' residence in Lokhandwala Complex.

A close friend of the actress told this newspaper, "After that meeting, their respective parents have met quite a few times."

Added the friend, "Bipasha and Harman are really serious about each other. I am sure that they want to tie the knot this year."

The two were first spotted together when the

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actress arrived at Jackyy Bhagnani's birthday party in Harman's car in December 2012. While the tongues were still wagging, the two were again spotted at a North Goa resort, ushering in Bipasha's birthday at a pool party.

They soon started stepping out together in public and it was clear that this relationship was for keeps when the 33-year-old actor flew to London in October 2013, to keep Bipasha com-

pany while she was shooting for Sajid Khan's 'Humshakals'.

On Monday night, Bipasha ushered in her 35th birthday with Harman at a party at her Khar pad, and guests included her parents and younger sister, R Madhavan, Rocky S, Dipannita Sharma, Sophie Chaudhary, Shamita Shetty, Shilpa and Raj. Says a friend present at the party, "The theme of the evening was pink

S

uperstar Salman Khan says he is not interested in getting married and is happy being single.

"I am not interested in getting married or having a girlfriend. I am loving my single status. In 30 years I must have been single. I am loving it. I am absolutely having a blast. You have no idea how I am feeling," Salman said in an interview here. In the past, Salman was uncomfortable and always dodged queries on his marriage but now he seems to have a way around questions on his single status.

"Now that I am single, I can do whatever I can. There is no need to give explana-

Dimapur

11

and white and hats were mandatory. The fare on offer was all-Bengali and the party continued till the wee hours of Tuesday, first on her terrace and then in the apartment."

While Bipasha and Harman chose not to comment on the story, Harry Baweja told us, "I am in a narration.

I will speak to you later."

Repeated efforts to get in touch with him failed to evoke a response. Probably the narration was too long.

tion, or lie to anyone. Whoever wants to come (in my life) can come, but don't expect anything," Salman said.

Ask him if he is commitment phobic, the 48-year-old says, "When I commit, then I commit. Right now, I am non-committal about anything." But he does respect women. "I respect women and I will always continue to do it. I have never spoken ill about anyone," Salman said.

Salman has had relationships with various actresses including Somy Ali, Sangeeta Bijlani, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Katrina Kaif. His love-life and linkups still continues to be the stuff of gossip mills.

unmen killed a former Miss Venezuela and her Britishborn partner in front of their young daughter in an attack that shocked the crime-plagued nation, authorities said.

Monica Spear, a 29-year-old soap opera star, and Thomas Henry Berry, 39, were killed in what appears to have been a botched robbery after their car broke down on a highway in northwestern Venezuela late Monday, police and prosecutors said.

Their daughter, fiveyear-old Maya Berry Spear, was wounded in the right leg but was stable after receiving medical treatment after a crime that put a harsh spotlight on Venezuela's soaring homicide rate.

Five people have been detained and were interrogated in connection with the killings, Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez said after a televised meeting with President Nicolas Maduro, who vowed to use an "iron hand" to crack down on crime.

The family was driving on a highway when their car hit a blunt object that had been placed on the road, forcing them to pull over, said forensic police director Jose Gregorio Sierralta. There are suggestions that the object was deliberately placed there as part of a planned armed robbery.

Spear waved down a tow truck, which stopped to help on the road between Puerto Cabello and Valencia in the state of Carabobo, Sierralta said.

But as the two truck workers operated the crane, five armed men emerged on the road. The truck's operators fled to a police station about 1.5 kilometers (one mile) away while the mother, father and child locked themselves in their car in a desperate attempt to shield themselves from the killers.

But "the criminals fired

multiple shots at the vehicle" before fleeing without stealing anything, Sierralta said. Spear, who was a quarter-finalist in the 2005 Miss Universe contest, appeared in the Miami-based Telemundo series "Pasion Prohibida" ("Forbidden Passion") and "Flor Salvaje" ("Savage Flower"). The dark-haired actress, who lived in Miami, was on holiday in her native Venezuela. She had posted videos of the countryside and herself horse riding on Instagram in the last couple of days.

Her husband was born in Britain but has Venezu-

elan citizenship. "This is a massacre," said Maduro, who vowed to curb the country's runaway violence during his presidential campaign last year.

"This violence is a sickness that we have," he said from the Miraflores presidential palace. Maduro called some 100 mayors and governors to an urgent meeting on Wednesday to coordinate action against crime.

Venezuelans who work in movies, theater and TV called a rally for Wednesday in Caracas to denounce the oil-rich country's epidemic of street violence.

I

t may be a good few years since their action heyday as boxers Rocky and Jake LaMotta. But Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro were still playing the tough guys as they promoted their new film Grudge Match in Rome on Tuesday. The pair put their fists up in a play fight as they hit the red carpet for the Italian premiere.

Like an original mobster, Sylvester, 67, accentuated his bronzed skin with a plum buttoned shirt grey suit and tie. But De Niro, 70, looked a little more casual at the event, sporting a loose-fitted suit consisting of a grey shirt, matching trousers, navy blazer, and newsboy hat. After having some boyish fun, the two actors cooled down to take a snap with the film's director Peter Segal.

The movie plays on the famous boxing roles previously taken on by both actors, with De Niro playing real-life boxer Jake La Motta in 1980's Raging Bull and Stallone portraying Rocky Balboa in 1976's Rocky and its sequels. Stallone portrays boxer Henry 'Razor' Sharp and De Niro plays his local Pittsburgh rival Billy 'The Kid' McDonnen in the boxing comedy.

Relating to his current role, De Niro was previously asked by 106 & Park host Keshia Chante if he held any grudges looking back on his long acting career. 'I feel very lucky that I've done as much as I've done. I can't complain. Life is what it is. You learn from mistakes and move forward,' De Niro firmly answered.

Stallone was quick to jump in and joke: 'Considering you got every great role there is, what are you complaining about. 'I had to do Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot. I'm the one who has to live with that,' he added, laughing.

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inger Peter Andre revealed girlfriend Emily MacDonagh gave birth "to a beautiful baby girl". It is thought medical student Emily gave birth overnight but reality star Pete waited until he could tell his children with ex-wife Katie Price, Junior, 8, and six-year-old Princess, before announcing the news. In a statement on his website, the ITV star wrote: "Now that I have had the opportunity to tell Junior & Pringles , we are very happy to announce the safe arrival of our beautiful baby girl:) "We are extremely thrilled and mum and bubba

are doing fine. "We are looking forward to a nice quiet couple of weeks getting to know our baby. Thanks to everyone at Musgrove Park Hospital :)))" It is thought the pair chose the Somerset hospital as medical student Emily's surgeon father Dr Ruaraidh ‘Ru’ MacDonagh works in the area.

Twitter rumours began after a local received a tip-off from a member of the public to say their daughter's friend, who was giving birth at the hospital, saw the celebrity couple. The couple announced they were having their first baby in July after dating for about a year.

T

he Grammy Awards are known for their compelling musical mash-ups, with past performances from Eminem and Sir Elton John, Beyonce and Prince, and Jay Z and Sir Paul McCartney. This year proves to be no disappointment.

Performers added to the line-up were announced on Tuesday – including nominees Katy Perry and Lorde.

However, the list grows more eclectic with the announcement of performances by eight-time Grammy-winning group Metallica with Grammy Cultural Ambassador to China Lang Lang, nominee Pharrell Williams, Nile Rodgers (of Chic), nominee Robin Thicke with Grammy-winning group Chicago, and 25-time Grammy winner Stevie Wonder who will join a previously

announced performance by nominee Daft Punk.

Such a cast is in addition to previously announced performances by nominees Kendrick Lamar joined by Imagine Dragons; Pink and Nate Ruess (of Fun); as well as a special performance featuring Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, and nominee Blake Shelton.

Perry’s motivational anthem Roar has garnered her two nominations this year: Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance.

Lorde, who will perform for the first time on the Grammy Awards telecast, has four nods - Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance for Royals and Best Pop Vocal Album for Pure Heroine.

Three-time Grammy winner Williams has seven nomina-

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Venezuela has one of the world's highest murder rates, with 79 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2013, according to the non-profit Venezuelan Observatory of Violence. The interior ministry, however, gave a lower murder rate of 39 homicides per 100,000.

Opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who refused to concede defeat to Maduro in presidential elections last year, reacted to the killings by calling on his rival to put aside "deep differences and unite against the lack of security, as one bloc." The beauty queen's killing shocked fellow artists in Venezuela, a country which is passionate about soap operas and the Miss Universe contenders it regularly produces.

Actress Gaby Espino, who lives in Miami, said she would never return to her home country. "This is the day-to-day life in our country. We have all left Venezuela, fleeing in fear, terrified because this is the reality of our country. And today it happened to Monica," Espino told the Telemundo network. "I love my country, but I won't set another foot in Venezuela," she said.

Venezuelan telenovela director Leonardo Padron said he was "absolutely saddened, horrified, speechless, over the murder of my dear Monica Spear! My God!" Telemundo, a leading Spanish-language network in the United States, said in a statement that it was "deeply shocked and saddened by the horrible crime that hit our dear actress Monica Spear and her family."

Jencarlos Canela, Spear's American co-star and love interest in "Pasion Prohibida," expressed grief on Twitter, writing: "I am speechless. I will miss you my friend @MonicaSpear."

Addressing Spear's daughter, he added: "My pretty, beautiful Maya, I love you.

You are not alone!"

Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone play fight in Rome Katy Perry and Lorde set to perform at the Grammy Awards

''Mum and bubba are doing fine''

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9 January 2014

Bipasha-Harman to tie the knot Former Miss Venezuela shot dead in front of daughter A

Not interested in a girlfriend, loving being single

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Thursday

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tions: two for Record of the Year and two for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for Get Lucky (with Daft Punk) and Blurred Lines (with Robin Thicke and T.I.); two in Album of the Year as a featured artist on Daft Punk's Random Access Memories and as a producer on Kendrick Lamar's Good Kid, M.A.A.D City; and one for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical.

Two-time Grammy winner LL Cool J will return as host. The 56th annual Grammy Awards will take place on Sunday, January 26 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles – broadcast on CBS from 8 to 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT). The telecast will also be covered online at Grammy.com and CBS.com. Additional performers, presenters and special segments will be announced.

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CYSA golden jubilee Advantage Sunderland as ManU lose again celebration at Rüsoma Our Correspondent Rüsoma | January 8

On attainment of 50 glorious years since its inception in 1964, the Cherüdiki Youth & Sports Association (CYSA) NASA- B today celebrated its golden jubilee (1964-2014) here with Naga wrestling event.

Visasolie Lhoungou, chief executive officer, National Rural Livelihood Mission Nagaland graced the inaugural function as the chief guest.

Speaking on the occasion, he called upon each and every individual to come forward and have a broad mind for the greater interest of the society.

Lhoungou maintained that unity, peace and friendship will be strengthened when one gives lesser amount of time for self-interest and put more effort for the common interest.

He complimented the pioneers of the Association for bringing four villagesChedema, Rüsoma, Dihoma and Kijümetouma together to exhibit their talents and to reason and rejoice together the atmosphere of unity, peace and friendship through the platform of Cherüdiki Youth & Sports Association for the last 50 years.

He suggested that 2014 be a year of jubilee for CYSA by featuring different events for a meaningful and memorable celebration.

He also stressed on the need to introduce new event in commemoration of the golden jubilee.

CYSA president Thejao Chase in his address called upon the wrestlers to give their best effort accompa-

Wrestlers in action during the golden jubilee of CYSA at Rüsoma village on January 8. Morung Photo/Chizokho Vero

Results

Junior Champion: Theyiekru Theunuo of Rusoma 2nd place: Mezhuzolie Yashu of Dihoma 3rd place: Ketoulhoubeilie Chase of Rusoma Senior Champion: Zasituo Tsukru of Dihoma 2nd place: Vikuosie O Chakruno of Chedema 3rd place: Khriesanguzo Zuyie of Rusoma 4th place: Vizovotou Theunuo of Dihoma Group Champion: Rusoma village

nied by fair play and also requested the spectators to cooperate with the match officials for the smooth and successful conduct of the meet.

He also sought cooperation from each and every individual towards the successful publication of the CYSA souvenir to mark the historic occasion.

The inaugural function was chaired by Vizotuonyü Lhoungou while Rev. Dr. Zawhevolie Mhasi prayed for the programme.

Earlier, Lhoumho Mepfhüo, president Rüsoma

Village Youth & Sports Association delivered welcome address while Rev. Kiezotuo Zhale also shared greetings.

Wrestling secretary Thepfupfhelie Kiekho administered oath to the wrestlers.

Later, Vikehielie Pienyü, sericulture officer, Directorate of Sericulture Nagaland graced the valedictory function as guest of honour and gave away prize to the winners of Naga wrestling.

CYSA vice president Menuosalhou Yano proposed vote of thanks.

LOndOn, JAnuARy 8 (ReuTeRS): Sunderland gained the upper hand on Manchester United by deservedly winning their League Cup semi-final, first leg 2-1 on Tuesday to intensify the pressure on visiting manager David Moyes after a testing week.

Italian Fabio Borini scored a second-half penalty to give the Premier League's bottom club a one-goal lead ahead of the return at Old Trafford after a 52nd minute Nemanja Vidic header cancelled out Ryan Giggs's own goal in first-half stoppage time.

It was United's third straight defeat after they were beaten at home in the FA Cup third round by Swansea City on Sunday and by Tottenham Hotspur in the league the previous week, heaping pressure on Moyes in his first season in charge. The second leg will be on January 22 to decide who will face either favourites Manchester City or West Ham United, who play at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday, in the final on March 2.

For beleaguered United manager Moyes, the League Cup has developed added significance with the club already out of the FA Cup, looking unlikely to retain their Premier League title and long odds to win the Champions League.

For the fans who booed them off the pitch following the loss to Swansea, there was little to perk up the spirits. This was the first time since 1932 that United had lost their opening three games of the year and the first time since

Sunderland's Fabio Borini, right, scores his goal from a penalty kick during their English League Cup semifinal first leg soccer match against Manchester United at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland, England, Tuesday, Jan. 7. (AP Photo)

1992 that they had lost egated from the top flight three times in a week. that season.

The knockout competiOFFICIALS BLAMED tions have again provided Moyes blamed the offi- Sunderland with their only cials, who he criticised for moments of relief in a misawarding Sunderland the erable campaign, having free kick that led to the first won all five home ties in the goal, rather than his players League and FA Cups. who he described as being There were rows of "unbelievable". empty seats at the Stadium "It looks as though we of Light but those who venare having to play them tured into the cold saw them (the officials) as well as the make a bright start. They opposition at the moment," kept possession well in the he said. "I thought the play- opening minutes, subduing ers, our crowd were un- a United side for whom exbelievable, the players de- citing Belgian teenager Adserved to get a result. It's a nan Januzaj provided a lone two-legged game and I am attacking threat. really looking forward to the second leg."

SUNDERLAND Sunderland have only BREAKTHROUGH reached the League Cup After Giggs rattled the final once, in 1985 when bar with a dipping drive, they lost to Norwich City, the 18-year-old Januzaj and their fans do not need had the ball in the net sevreminding they were rel- en minutes before halftime

KVSA sports meet enters second day

Morung Express News

The 61st meet of the Kohima Village Sports Association (KVSA), hosted by Kohima Village Youth Organization (KVYO) entered the second day today here at Kohima Local Ground.

Athletics and games marked day two.

Day 2 of the 61st KVSA Meet witnessed the

Tsϋtuonuomia Khel dominating the Track & Field events with an impressive haul of eight gold medals to lead the medal tally here today at Khuochiezie Local

Ground, Kohima. The day also witnessed Menuokhrielie Solo break his own record set in 2012, after clocking 24.25 secs in the 200 metres race and 55.57

secs in the 400 mtrs race.

The day also saw Seluokuolie Kire and Vimezhϋlhou Solo set new records in the Men's shotput event.

Games events will take place on January 9, starting from 8:00 AM onwards.

Games fixture for Day 3 (January 9) is as follows; Football (Men): Ist Ground: D. Khel vs T. Khel :8:00 AM, 2nd Ground-P. Khel vs L. Khel-10:30 AM. Football

HAMILTOn, JAnuARy 8 (AFP): The West Indies hammered their highestever limited-overs total to crush New Zealand by 203 runs in the fifth and final one-day international on Wednesday, drawing the series 2-2. Skipper Dwayne Bravo and Kirk Edwards both scored centuries as the visitors flayed New Zealand's attack to reach 363 for four, before Nikita Miller dominated with the ball to skittle the Black Caps for 160. The mammoth total was the highest ever posted by the West Indies in a 50-over match, surpassing the 360 against Sri Lanka in 1987. Bravo,

whose team has been hit by injuries and poor form while on tour, said the stunning victory showed anything was possible. "We came into this game with our backs against the wall and needed a big win," he said, "Everyone played a big part and played hard to represent our country."

Bravo and Edwards came together at 143-3 and put on 211 runs, with Edwards finishing unbeaten on 123, his maiden ODI century.

The captain was dismissed shortly before the end of the innings for 106.

Opener Kieran Powell had launched a blistering assault at the start of the in-

nings, smashing 73 runs off just 44 balls with 12 fours and two sixes.

He plundered 18 off a single Mitchell McClenaghan over, with one lucky spectator winning NZ$100,000 ($83,000) from a beer sponsor by catching one of his sixes one-handed.

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum brought on his brother Nathan to try to stem the runs and the tactic paid off almost immediately when Powell was out lbw for 73, trying to sweep. Fellow opener Johnson Charles was run out for 31 when Nathan McCullum sent

the stumps flying with a direct hit as the batsman attempted a quick single.

Lendl Simmons followed soon after, caught by Kane Williamson off Corey Anderson. Bravo came to the crease and steadied the innings with Edwards, who smashed a six to notch his half century.

The West Indies bludgeoned 117 off the last 10 overs, with Bravo dismissed trying to smash Williamson out of the ground.

New Zealand made a disastrous start, slumping to 65 for five after just 15 overs through a combination of rash shots and a much-improved West Indian attack.

Kohima | January 8

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Medal tally on day 2

Khel T. Khel P. Khel L. Khel D. Khel

Gold 11 5 5 2

Silver 13 5 3 2

Bronze 6 7 2 5

final- Winner of Ist Ground vs Winner of 2nd Ground1400 hours.

Volleyball - Ist Ground (Women) D. Khel vs T. Khel: 8:00 AM, 2nd Ground (Women) P. Khel vs L. Khel: 10:00 AM Volleyball (Men) final – Winner of 1 vs Winner of 2: 12:00 hours. Volleyball (Women) final) - Winner of 1 vs winner of 2 - 1300 hours.

The Black Caps openers went cheaply, with Martin Guptill out lbw for six and danger man Jesse Ryder (17) scooping the ball skyward going for a slog.

Brendon McCullum failed to stop the rot coming in the middle order, offering Johnson Charles a simple catch when he charged down the wicket to a seemingly innocuous delivery from Nikita Miller, who finished with figures of four for 45. A luckless Luke Ronchi dismissed himself for 15 when he dislodged the bails with his foot as he squared up for a shot, in a sign nothing was going the Black Caps' way.

West Indies crush New Zealand to level ODI series

FIFA confirms WC will not be in summer

only to be denied the opening goal by the offside flag.

In the end it was Sunderland who made the breakthrough in first-half injury time. Jonny Evans gave away a needless free kick and Seb Larsson's whipped set piece was diverted in by Giggs under pressure from former United player Phil Bardsley.

It was the first goal United had conceded in the competition all season.

The gloom among the travelling fans was briefly lifted seven minutes into the second half when Serb defender Vidic, returning to the side, drew them level with a towering far post header.

Yet it was Sunderland who displayed a resilience lacking for much of their league campaign, retaking the lead through on-loan Liv-

erpool forward Borini from the penalty spot after Adam Johnson had been felled in the area by Tom Cleverley.

There was no backs-tothe-wall finale and it was Sunderland, who had not beaten United in 20 matches, who looked the more likely to increase their lead, with United leaving it late before throwing bodies forward to try and force a leveller. "It's something very strange but with the way we are playing maybe it is suited to playing against the big teams. It was a very tight game, and sometimes a decision goes for you and you win the game," Sunderland manager Gus Poyet said.

"We know it's not easy to beat Manchester United but now we go to Old Trafford with a lead. It has been a long time since we were in a final so we will try our best."

PARIS, JAnuARy 8 (AFP): The 2022 World Cup in Qatar will not be held in June and July but would best be held in the winter time, FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke said on Wednesday.

The scheduling of the tournament has been hotly debated ever since FIFA controversially awarded it to Qatar in December 2010, especially over fears that the summer heat in the Gulf emirate would be dangerous for players and fans alike. "The dates for the World Cup (in Qatar) will not be June-July," Valcke, the second most powerful man in international footbal's governing body, told Radio France.

"To be honest, I think it will be held between November 15 and January 15 at the latest. "If you play between November 15 and the end of December that's the time when the weather conditions are best, when you can play in temperatures equivalent to a warm spring season in Europe, averaging 25 degrees.

"That would be perfect for playing football."

Valcke did not say whether he favoured a World Cup in the winter of 2021-22 or 2022-23, but the deciding factor could be the timing of the Winter Olympics in early 2022. The awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar has been beset by criticism, especially over the searing heat that bakes the Gulf emirate in the summer when the tournament is traditionally held.

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