April 19th, 2017

C M Y K

DIMAPUR • Vol. XII • Issue 105 • 12 PAGes • 5

www.morungexpress.com

WednesdAY • April 19 • 2017

T H e

ESTD. 2005

P o W e R

Committing a great truth to memory is admirable; committing it to life is wisdom

pAGe 08

reflections

By Sandemo Ngullie

T R u T H

— William A. Ward

Nagaland Prohibition of Child Marriage Rules drafted

Mallya arrested in London, gets bail

o F

John Terry to leave Chelsea at end of the season

PAGE 02

PAGE 12

nagaland: crisis in education sector deepens 532 vacant primary teacher Almost 2/3rd of the youth dropping out of schools posts can be filled by us: ANPSTA Morung Express News

which indicated around 14,000 drop- teacher posts to other subject teacher post. outs between Class IX and Class X. Further, the minister said the The Minister said because of this, Nagaland Minister for School Educa- number of drop out students be- in many schools, there are no Math tion and SCERT, Yitachu, today said tween Class X and Class XII stood and Science teachers. “This is killNaga society faces a huge challenge at 6,742, making the total number of ing our future. Now the government has decided to freeze all posts of in the form of unprecedented graduate teachers till the posts of number of school dropouts. “Al- • 13,480 dropouts between Math and Science teachers are most two-thirds of our youth are Class II and Class IX reverted to the original posts,” school dropouts. How can our • 14,000 dropouts between Yitachu said. society progress with only one Class IX and Class X The Minister said most of the third of students who are able to clear the secondary level?” Yita- • Govt addressing lack of Math affairs in the State be it education, and Science teachers politics or religion are in a mess chu asked. because Naga people have failed Addressing the 8th graduation ceremony of Faith Theological dropout students between Class II to fear the Lord in the first place. “We College (FTC) here at Town Hall, the and Class XII more than 36,000 out fear our friends, family, villagers, and tribes and so on but we don’t fear Education minister said the edu- of 49,480.

The Minister said this dismal God. As Christians, we should put cation system in the State has gone wrong and stressed on the need to statistic implied that annually two- the fear of the Lord in the first place. third of students become dropouts. Unless we do that, our society will not take corrective measures.

Giving latest statistics, the Minis- Yitachu said there are a number of progress or change,” he said.

Earlier, auxiliary secretary, Bible ter said the enrolment of Class II stu- factors contributing to the drop out dents stood at 49,480 as against en- phenomenon including the non- Society of India, Dimapur, Rev. Dr. ZK rolment of 36,000 students in Class detention policy not been imple- Rochill, delivered the commenceIX, indicating 13,480 drop outs be- mented in the State of Nagaland. ment address. Founder principal of tween Class II and Class IX. Again the He however said one major factor is FTC, Rev. Dr. S Gangte, officiated the enrolment in Class X stood at 22,214, the conversion of Math and Science ‘charge to the graduates’.

Dimapur | April 18

Dimapur, april 18 (mExN): The All Nagaland Pre-Service Teacher Association (ANPSTA) has stated today that the 532 vacant primary teacher posts in Nagaland State can be filled by teachers who are part of the Association, having passed the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) examinations conducted in the year 2013 and 2016.

It is a “fundamental right” and a “legitimate expectation” that they be considered We have unearthed so for the posts in lieu of their “seniority” as much any idea how dis- well as “merit,” stated the ANPSTA in a reppose them off resentation to the Minister, School Education Department, the Commissioner & Secretary to the Department and the Director of the Department.

In the event that the representation is not considered by the said authority in 30 days, the ANPSTA stated that its members would “seek the redressal of our grievance before an appropriate court of law.”

The representation was sent on behalf of ANPSTA members from Kohima, Dimapur, Mokokchung, Wokha, Zunheboto, Phek & Peren districts, and signed by its President, Obed Yhobu.

PWD (NH) assures work on NH 2 within three months Dimapur, april 18 (mExN): The Department of Works & Housing and PWD (National Highways) today committed itself to commence 2-Laning works of National Highway 61 (New NH - 2) “at the earliest but not exceeding three months” with effect from April 17. The commitment was made during a meeting between Lotha Hoho, Rengma Hoho and officers of Works & Housing and PWD (NH), Government of Nagaland in presence of the DC, Wokha, on April 17 in Wokha. The meeting was held following an ultimatum served to the State Government by the two apex tribal bodies for immediate commencement of works on NH -2 in Tseminyu and Wokha Sectors. The Hoho leaders, during the meeting, expressed their concern and the inconveniences faced by the general public and road users due to non implementation of the road project while the Department’s officials also shared their views regarding the technical procedures that need to be followed before going ahead with the work. After deliberation, the Department committed that it “will commence the work at the earliest but not exceeding 3(three) months with effect from 17.04.20I7,” stated a press release appended by the Commissioner & Secretary, Works & Housing, government of Nagaland and the Chief Engineer PWD (NH), Nagaland.

Freezing posts The problem seems to arise from a notification issued by the Commissioner & Secretary to the Government of Nagaland, Department of School Education, that states, in part, that, “Posts falling vacant due to retirement, death, resignation, termination etc with effect from 1st May 2013 will be freezed. Such posts will be transferred to the deficit schools till such time the required Pupil Teacher Ratio (25:1) is attained in all schools in Nagaland.”

The ANPSTA noted that “freezing of such appointments for almost four years have resulted in the denial of education to so many children within the state literally killing the education of the future generation of our state.”

Further the Association has maintained that such freezing of appointment of teachers is “illegal, arbitrary and capricious infringing upon the sacrosanct fundamental rights as well as other constitutional rights guaranteed by the Constitution of India.”

Even the condition to the above notification, that recruitment of teachers shall be made through the Teacher Eligibility Deep education crisis Despite previous appeals for recruit- Test, “has not been fulfilled till date,” stated ment of TET qualified primary teachers, the ANPSTA. the ANPSTA stated that the Nagaland State Government has taken no action leading Infringement of rights The Association cited the Directive to a “deep education crisis” in the State, extrapolated by nil results in HSLC examina- Principle of State Policy contained in Artions in 24 government schools in 2014, 38 ticle 45 of the Constitution of India and noted that by not appointing primary in 2015 and 30 in 2016.

That there are 532 primary teacher teachers, the Nagaland State Government posts lying vacant in the State indicates has failed to live up to constitutional guarthat many schools in Nagaland are suffer- antees towards free and compulsory eding from a shortage of primary teachers ucation for all children till 14 years of age that can adversely affect the overall stan- which, in turn, infringes upon the right to dard of education, as well as the literacy life itself.

The State Government’s actions, the rate of the State.

Meanwhile, the State has a rule that ANPSTA noted, is also in “contravention all appointment of teachers shall be filled of the provisions of the provisions of the only by those who have qualified TET Right of Children to Free and Compulsory based on merit, thereby making the teach- Education Act, 2009 which was enacted ers associated with the ANPSTA eligible to with a goal to achieve universal elementary education.” fill the posts.

RMSA teachers compelled to boycott classes Morung Express News Kohima | April 18

Following the failure of the government to pay their salary for six months, the Nagaland Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan Teachers’ Association (NRMSATA) is currently on a three day boycott of classes starting from April 17 to 19 as part of its first phase agitation. The delay in the payment of salary affects more than 1000 teachers in Nagaland State’s government schools.

For the past six months, the Association has had more than five meetings with the concerned authorities

Capital. The third phase, ‘a last resort’ according to Patton, will be a sit in protest.

With the first term examinations beginning in the first week of May, the Association has expressed apprehension on the agitation which will impact the students. Moreover, Patton stated that the RMSA teachers also deals with Class X students which is a grave concern since Class X is one of the most crucial stages for a student that decides the career options of the child. “If we fail to produce better results, it will affect the future education prospects of the students,” said Patton.

GoI extends ceasefire with NSCN (R), GPRN/ Indigenous minority tribes of Nagaland State NSCN; holds review meeting with NSCN (IM) condemn ‘discrimination’ & ‘alienation’

NEw DElhi, april 18 (iaNS/mExN): The Government of India (GoI) has extended the ceasefire with two Naga armed groups -- National Socialist Council of NagalandReformation (NSCN-R) and National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Neakpao-Kithovi (GPRN/ NSCN) till April 27, 2018, it was announced on Tuesday.

The decision was taken during a meeting between Home Ministry officials and the Ceasefire Supervisory Board of both the Naga factions in New Delhi.

“A ceasefire is in operation between the Indian government and NSCN-R and also between the government and NSCN-NK. It was decided to extend the suspension of operation with NSCN-R and NSCNNK for a further period of one year with effect from April 28, 2017,” said an official statement.

The Home Ministry team

was headed by Satyendra Garg, Joint Secretary (North East), while the NSCN-R was led by Imlongnuski Chang and GPRN/ NSCN by Jack Zhimomi -- both supervisors of respective Ceasefire Supervisory Board.

Meanwhile, a press release from the MIP of the NSCN (IM) informed that its Cease-fire Review Committee met with the GoI on April 17 discussing and reviewing “important issues.”

“After minute discussions and thorough deliberations, decisions were made in an accommodative spirit,” stated the press release, and that the meeting concluded with a “very progressive result.”

The meeting was chaired

by Rina Mitra, Special Secretary (Internal Security) and attended, from the GoI, by Satyendra Garg, Joint Secretary (Home) Northeast In-charge, A. Radha Rani, Deputy Sec-

retary (NE.III), Gurbachan Singh, Additional Director (IB), A.K. Mishra, senior Joint Director (IB), Northeast Incharge, D.K Pathak, Chairman CFMG, Maj. Gen. Sanjay Gupta, IGAR (North), Brig. D.S. Rana, DGMO, Col. Amit Tewati, DGMI, Maj. P. Lokchandar, DGMO, S.C. Sahoo and Jyoti Kailash, Principal Resident Commissioner, Nagaland House, New Delhi.

The NSCN (IM) team was led by Lt. Gen. (Retd) V.S Atem, Collective Leadership Member, alongside committee members Vikiye Awomi, Convener CFMC, Tongmeth Wangnao, Collective Leadership Member, Angaikham Makunga, SEM, K. Chawang, SEM, V. Horam, Kilonser MIP, John Anal, Secretary to Vice President, GPRN, D.J. Rudolph, Secretary CFMC and Brig. H. Shadang, GHQ Naga Army.

Army men involved in extra-judicial killings in Manipur must be punished: supreme court

C M Y K

to press for their salaries. “They pass the blame on each other. They always try to bluff us. In each meeting they will assure that they are looking into the matter, or that our salaries will be given in one month’s time,” said NRMSATA President Renbemo Patton, who mentioned that the failure to provide a positive response has compelled the RMSA teachers to boycott the classes.

“It’s not that we have resorted to this action blindly. This is the only way to fulfill our demands,” affirmed Patton informing that the second phase agitation will see a poster campaign in strategic locations of the

NEw DElhi, april 18 (TNN): Rejecting Centre’s plea that cases of extra-judicial killings allegedly by armed forces in Manipur should not be re-opened as more than a decade has passed, the Supreme Court said that when Bangladesh could prosecute war criminals for atrocities committed in 1971, the Indian government should not shy away from punishing culprits accused of killing innocent persons of the state in the last three decades.

A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and U U Lalit said that a fair and impartial probe was needed to find out the truth behind the killings in the state

and favoured setting up of a committee comprising senior officials of CBI and state police to hold investigations in those cases.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, however, strongly opposed re-investigation of those cases saying that it would not be appropriate to open the cases after 14 years.

He said that many of the armed force personnel had retired after the incidents and the court should confine itself to awarding compensation to the victims’ family.

The bench reminded that fresh probe was required to send a message that armed personnel could not be let off

after killing innocent people.

The court said that it would first direct probe in three cases of rape and murder which took place in 2003 as there were apparent flaws in the investigations done by court of inquiry directed by the Army.

“It appears to us that three cases need to be probed by an independent team. The probe will take time but it is needed as judicial inquiry and court of inquiry came to two divergent findings,” the bench said.

The court was hearing a PIL filed by the Extra-Judicial Execution Victims Families Association alleging 1,528 extra-judicial killings by the Army and other security forc-

es in the last three decades in Manipur.

The court also pulled up the state government for not protecting its people. The court asked the Centre, state and the petitioner to suggest name of officers who could be entrusted the task to carry out investigations.

In 2013, the apex court had appointed a Commission of Inquiry (COI) headed by former SC Judge Santosh Hegde to investigate six “sample cases of alleged fake encounters”.

The commission in its report had said that all six cases were fake encounter and it was not carried out by the security forces in self-defence.

Dimapur, april 18 (mExN): The Indigenous Minority Tribes of Nagaland (IMTN) have come out against the discrimination on rise against non Naga indigenous peoples of Nagaland State through mainstream politics, activism and even bureaucracy.

A press release issued today by IMTN President, K Lun Tungnung, on behalf of the “indigenous minority tribes” in Nagaland State that consist of the Garo, Kachari, Kuki and Mikir/ Karbi, has condemned statements made by a newly formed mainstream political party, Nagaland Congress (NC), in equating these tribes to “non-locals and outsiders” while referring to police department appointments in the State.

The IMTN, a conglomeration of four tribes recognized by the Nagaland State as being indigenous to it, termed the labeling of the said tribes as “outsiders” an act of “mischief” and “nothing but an attempt to distort and present a false picture of the status of these tribes.”

“That such discrimination and alienation of these Tribes is nothing new but to equate these Tribes as Non-Local and outsiders is the lowest form of respect and recognition given to us by such responsible newly created Party –Nagaland Congress-run by some of the most veteran and once respected leaders of the State of Nagaland,” the IMTN maintained.

It reiterated that due to such “discrimination, alienation and step motherly treatment within their own ancestral land,” the “condition and position” of the four “indigenous recognized tribes” has fallen with the passage of time, and the fresh attempt to “equate and compare” them with “other non-locals” is “nothing but an attempt to further alienate and discriminate them in their own home and land.”

However, the IMTN appreciated the Nagaland Congress for

“unearthing” the instances of “irregular appointments” which, they felt, “need to be checked and investigated further by competent authorities without any bias and prejudices and any tribalism angle involved so that the Local Indigenous Tribes/ Community are not deprived of their chance of employment within their own state of Nagaland as prescribed under various office memorandum by the State Government.”

Historical facts & present scenario The Nagaland Congress was reminded by IMTN that “for their political goals and attempt to give a shot at the present government, facts and history should not be distorted.”

“The Four Indigenous Tribes are not something that has just cropped up from nowhere, these Tribes are legally recognized by the government both Central and State and duly protected by the Constitution Order of 1970,” highlighted the conglomeration.

The Garo, Kachari, Kuki and Mikir/Karbi, for instance, have been part of the present State of Nagaland even before the State was established on December 1, 1963.

“The history and the settlement of these tribes are as old as any of the other recognized tribes of Nagaland,” stated the IMTN further nothing that the contributions of these tribes towards the Naga movement have been “second to none” with them “equally” shedding “blood and tears with our other Naga Tribes brothers and sisters.”

The history of the Kachari Tribes in Nagaland date back to 10th Century AD “where the reminiscence of their proofs of being the traditional Land owner of Dimapur still stands today and is an Irrefutable evidence of their ownership and being the ancestral Landowner,” noted the IMTN in their press release, stating further that “only because of the magnanimity and hospitality

of the Kachari’s Tribes, Dimapur has become the only true miniNagaland where every tribes irrespective of their origin and descent can live and settle without any hindrance and discriminations.”

As for the Kuki Tribes in Nagaland, they have been “one of the architects of the Naga National movement…which has been recognized by the Government of India as a uniqueness of Naga History of the submission of Memorandum to Simon Commission in 1929, where Late Lenjang Kuki was one of the signatories-where even some of the major Tribes of Nagaland was missing as signatories in signing such historical document,” informed the body. It was also stated that Haokip, who is still alive, is a “living example” that the Kuki tribes in Nagaland were influential enough to have a member in the Interim Body that led to the creation of Nagaland State in 1963.

“That the attempt to present the Kuki Tribes as Substantial numbers in Police department is another attempt to create mischief and malice intended to tarnish the image of the officers of this tribe, whereas before 1990, the Kuki Tribe had one of the highest numbers of officers as per population ratio in the State of Nagaland but after 1990 the numbers of Kuki officers in state services has been reduced drastically and is as good as non-existent in spite of their ability and capability reason best known to all,” stated the IMTN referring to bureaucratic prejudices that may have crept into the State system.

This is reflected also upon the other tribes recognized as indigenous to Nagaland State.

The Kacharis, Garo and Mikir/ Karbi, for instance, who “settled even before the Statehood of Nagaland was created or the idea of such State mooted are hardly represented in government services who deserved to be given a Backward Quota looking at their conditions and gravity of their deplorable state.”

2

WednesdAY 19•04•2017

NAGALAND

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

ilandlo: Empowering uncelebrated homegrown livelihoods Dimapur, april 18 (mExN): Years of accelerating homegrown entrepreneurs from the Northeast has driven ilandlo.com jump into a league of information technology equipped with tools to strengthen entrepreneurs accelerate their reach of market avenues and exposure of homegrown brands across the ecommerce industry. “ilandlo now opens for more business scopes,” Imtisunup Longchar, Co-founder & Director informed in a press note.

Service Provider Entrepreneurs can register and list their products and services online on www.ilandlo. com to potential customers visiting the website everyday and capitalize

on increasing their customer base.

Ilandlo’s smart SEO strategies will make search engines, like Google, Bing, Yahoo etc to crawl the contents of the service information in a way that their services will rank higher on search engines, and make sure their services are more visible than their competitors, resulting in higher Client inquiries for their services.

Commodities or product selling entrepreneurs can avail the marketplace shipping plan and ship all over India at a very competitive pricing lower than any courier service provider in India, with an assured door step delivery of their product to customers across India. Our systems are centralized, thus vendors from within and outside Northeast can avail the services remotely and can ship all over India irrespective of location.

One can register by using the link or can email us at info@ilandlo. com and start boosting your promotions of your product and service on the largest online marketplace in the Northeast. https://www.ilandlo. com/seller-registration-form

Nagaland Prohibition of Child Marriage Rules drafted Nagaland State Child Protection Employees Association Conference held

Induction training for govt employees in Zbto, Mon

Er. N. Moa Longkumer, Dy. Director (Training) & Nodal Officer for ITP giving introduction of the training programme at Mon on April 18. (DIPR Photo)

ZuNhEboto, april 18 (Dipr): The 12 days Induction Training Programme (ITP) for Group 'B' &'C' State Employees got underway on April 18 at DC's Conference Hall, Zunheboto. The programme is sponsored by DoPT, Government of India (GOI) and organized by ATI, Kohima.

The inaugural was graced by ADC, Hq, Zunheboto, Nungsangmenla Imchen as the guest of honour where she impressed upon the participants to avail the opportunities to the fullest.

ADC also said that the ongoing program training will be productive and an asset for them in their service career.

During the training, various modules will be taken up under soft skills on topics such as motivation, personal effectiveness, conflict management, leadership, team building, time management, verbalnon verbal communication etc. These topics will be taken up by District Master Trainers, trained at ATI, Kohima and other modules under organization awareness and on subject

specific orientation, topics such as file management, noting and drafting skills, forms of communication, leave rules, TA& DA rules, NPS, fixation etc will be taken up by faculty members from ATI, Kohima.

The ITP would also include two days visits to NGOs and field study.

The programme was chaired by SDO (C), Zunheboto, Holohon Yepthomi while Programme Coordinator for ITP, Zunheboto district, Dr. Alem W. Longchar gave an introduction to the ITP program.

Mon: The 2nd phase of the induction training programme for group B & C State Government employees of Mon district was held at District Executive Hall, DC office Mon on April 18.

Er. N. Moa Longkumer, Dy. Director (Training) & Nodal Officer for ITP gave an introduction of the training programme.

He said that government servants are appointed to carry out works assigned to them and are paid by the government and therefore we should know our responsibilities with positive altitude and integrity.

Deputy Commissioner, Mon W. Honje Konyak was the guest of honour in the programme which was chaired by Ilika Zhimomi SDO (Mon). The programme was organised

by Administrative Training Institute Nagaland: Kohima in collaboration with District Administration, Mon which will conclude on April 28.

Nyusietho Nyuthe addressing 2nd general conference of NSCPEA in Kohima held on April 18. (Morung Photo) Our Correspondent Kohima | April 18

Nagaland State Child Protection Employees Association (NSCPEA) General Secretary, Neinguvoto Krose today announced that Nagaland Child Rights Commission Rules 2014, Nagaland Prohibition of Child Marriage Rules 2014 and model guidelines has been drafted and it would put up to the government for cabinet/legislative assembly approval.

He was speaking at the NSCPEA 2nd general session held at Kohima on April 18. Highlighting the activities of the Association during 2013-16, Krose said that the service rules drafting committee have also been constituted. “Unless we adopt our own service rules there is no chance of regularization for employ-

ees working with Integrated Child Protection Scheme,” he said adding that it had taken up the matter with P&AR; however the matter is still lying pending due to some technical reasons.

He also informed the members that the Association had adopted a resolution that there will be no subordinate organization under any circumstance without the approval of the parent organization, i.e. NSCPEA. It had also served an ultimatum to the state government on December 2 last year pertaining to the issue of backdoor appointment and political promotion without following the due procedure of law by some officers.

The general session was graced by Nyusietho Nyuthe, Additional Secretary, Department Of Social Welfare as the chief guest. Speaking

on the occasion, Nyuthe urged upon the members of the Association to be responsible and accountable in serving the society.

“Unless we are responsible and accountable our service will be in vain,” he said and urged upon them to work hard and push the society forward. He said everyone can do and contribute to the society, adding that change will come out automatically through their effort. In order to build a good society, he said, there is the need to take care of children and at the same time asked the members of the Association to be sensitive and dedicated in dealing with the matter of children’s welfare and their protection. He said if the members really put their efforts sincerely then “we can build up beautiful Nagaland.”

“We have so many po-

tential in Nagaland,” he said adding that the state is blessed with rich natural resources and good environment. “These are gift of God and we need to take care of it,” Nyuthe insisted.

The Association announced new team of office bearers as follows; president- Samuel Kapu, vice president Renchumi Imti, general secretary – Esther Nakhro, treasurerMary K. Swuro, joint secretary- Nzwakheing Iheilung, information & publicity secretary- Neite-u Koza and Pungota, legal advisorAsungbe and Megoneituo.

Earlier, NSCPEA president Povezo Puro challenged the member of the Association to join hand together in shaping our future.

The function was chaired by Esther Nakhro while vote of thanks was proposed by Yangthriba Sangtam.

UGC-NAAC Peer Team visits ‘Church should focus on young minds’ Kohima Science College Dimapur, april 18 (mExN): Youth Department of Kushiabill Sumi Baptist Church (KSBA) has chosen the theme for 2017 from James 2:18; “I will show you my faith by my work” with the aim to address the challenges which are “often results of the erosion of values such as dignity of labour, hard work, sincerity, integrity, and honestly and also forgetting the work cultures integrity of the forefathers.”

Inaho Chophi, Associate Pastor, Youth KSBA in a press release said that keeping in mind the need to inculcate

work ethics and dignity of labour, the Youth Department of KSBA ventured into the streets of Dimapur to sell juice, tea, handcrafts made by them. In addition, other service such as polishing shoes, facials and massage, cleaning of streets, hair cutting, domestic chores, and collection of wastes for recycling were also rendered to the public. These were not done to raise funds but to highlight and promote honest earning and dignity of labour, the Associate pastor added.

“We believe that the Nagas need to change their

Kushiabill Sumi Baptist Church, Youth Department members engaged in work as part of the church programme.

mindset and outlook to- role in initiating a change minds and steer them towards work. In this regard, of attitude. The church wards a healthier view of the church can play a big should focus on the young the world,” he said.

UGC-National Assessment and Accreditation Council Peer Team hand over confidential report the over to the Principal during their visit to Kohima Science College, Jotsoma.

Kohima, april 18 (mExN): The UGCNational Assessment and Accreditation Council Peer Team visited Kohima Science College, Jotsoma from April 11 and 12 for the 2nd cycle assessment of the college.

The three-member Peer Team was led

by Prof Mohammad Raziuddin, former Pro VC, Ranchi University, Jharkhand, as Chairperson, Prof K.N. Guruprasad, School of Life Sciences, Devi Ahilaya Viswa Vidhyalaya, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, Member Co-ordinator and Dr Gourang Chandra Mohanty, Former Principal, Khallikote College (Autonomous), Odisha, Member.

During their two-day visit, they visited the various facilities of the college to validate what the college has written in its Self Study Report. Besides having intensive meetings with the Principal, IQAC members, teachers, staff and students, they also met the Higher Education department officials, the Governing Body, Nagaland University representatives, Alumni Association, and Parents-Teacher Association.

KSC, NAAC Steering Committee Coordinator, Dr Sanjay Sharma in a press release informed that the visit ended with (Left) Yitachu, Minister School Education & SCERT giving away the awards to the graduating students during the 8th Graduation ceremony at Dimapur the Exit Meeting where their confidential Town Hall, Tuesday. (Right) Graduating students of Faith Theological College presenting a special number during the 8th Graduation ceremony at Dimareport was handed over to the Principal. pur Town Hall, Tuesday. (Morung Photo)

Saturday Art School in Kohima launched ‘Art has the power to inspire, to influence and to build’ Our Correspondent Kohima | April 18

Under the initiative and support of the Department of Art & Culture, an event management group “A Thousand Art Project” in collaboration with Nagaland Art Society, Nagaland Street Art and Music Planet today launched Saturday Art School here.

Launching this school, Vilalhou Noudi, Senior Art Executive, Art & Culture Department hoped that this Saturday Art School will become a stepping stone for the artists to give better service to the people to bring about the many benefits of art in the society.

Noudi recalled that the department organized ‘Art Ensemble’ in November 2016 to bring artists and art enthusiast together to interact with each other and to work for the benefits of art to all.

‘A Thousand Art Project’ was launched during the

Vilalhou Noudi and others during the launching of Saturday Art School in Kohima on April 18. (Morung Photo)

‘Art Ensemble’ as a call and an invitation to every artist to come forward to make their contributions to the society in any possible manner.

“We have organized a number of art activities since then,” he said adding that the ongoing workshop on photography and the launching of Saturday Art School are also part of ‘Art Ensemble.’

“It is our desire to make the arts affordable and accessible to everyone. We

want the art to contribute in building our society and to add beauty to our life and our environment. We believe the arts can help in reducing many social evils that are evading our society today. Art has the power to inspire, to influence and to build,” he said.

Noudi said art in the school is meant to facilitate development of creative imaginations in the child, adding that without creative imagination is just

another animal.

“Art activities are meant to enhance the child’s creativity in all spheres of life.

Art is one activity and a good one out of many that helps creative thinking in the child. It takes creative thinking and skill to create an artwork. Art in the school is therefore important,” he said.

Stating that art service at the government levels aims to facilitate promotion and development of the artistic talents in the state, to explore its potentials and sustainability, and to deliver the optimal benefits of art to the people, he however said “ but the artists should come forward to make their contributions to the society.”

The function was chaired by Mhao Odyuo.

The launching programme was followed by “Pro-Shot”, photography workshop with Ranna MV from Bangalore as resource person. This workshop will continue till April 19.

wednesday 19•04•2017

NORTH-EAST 3

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Centre’s involvement ‘imperative’ to resolve prevailing issue: JAC-AATB Newmai News Network Imphal | April 18

The Joint Action Committee Against Anti Tribal Bills (JAC-AATB) today said that without Central government involvement in the talks, the prevailing issue cannot be resolved.

Without the ‘Constitutional protection/safeguard’ to the tribal people and their lands, “issues such as the prevailing ones will crop up from time to time as the State Government can introduce anything at will against the interests of the trib-

als,” JAC-AATB Convenor, Mangchinkhup stated here today.

In order to resolve the issue “once and for all,” the JAC-AATB delegation will be going to New Delhi soon to discuss the issue with the leaders of the Central government, Mangchinkhup said maintaining that the involvement of the Central government is imperative.

“It will not be proper for anyone to just close down the issue after paying compensation or ex-gratia to the tribal martyrs,” he pointed out.

Anti-talk ULFA cadre killed in encounter TINSUKIA, APRIL 18 (PTI): The Army today shot dead a suspected anti-talk ULFA (Independent) militant in an encounter at Kakopathar area in Tinsukia district, a senior police official said. The incident happened when soldiers of Madras Regiment were conducting routine checking of vehicles near Birat Amguri on NH 52, Superintendent of Police Mugdha Jyoti Mahanta said. A youth who was travelling in a public transport started firing on the soldiers when they stopped the vehicle. The armymen retaliated and the youth was killed, the SP said.

Cong MLA, 14 councillors join BJP Imphal, aprIl 18 (IaNS): Congress MLA Ginsuahau Zou and 14 councillors from the party have joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Manipur. Welcoming them at the BJP office on Monday evening, Chief Minister N. Biren Singh said some more Congress MLAs would join the ruling party soon. Ginsuahau represents Singhat constituency in the state assembly. The Congress councillors are members of the Autonomous District Council in Chandel. Another Congress MLA, T. Shyamkumar, had joined the BJP after the latter took power in the state.

2 poachers killed in Orang national park GuwahatI, aprIl 18 (IaNS): At least two poachers were killed by forest guards in Assam's Orang national park on Tuesday, an official said. The guards also recovered a .303 rifle, 10 bullets and an axe. Assam's Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Bikash Brahma confirmed on Tuesday that the poachers had entered the park with the intention to kill one-horned rhinos.

"The incident took place around 1 a.m. today (Tuesday).

The forest guards heard a gunshot and launched an operation immediately. The poachers fired at the guards when asked to surrender. Two poachers were killed in the ensuing gunfight," Brahma said. Located at the northern bank of Brahmaputra river, Orang National Park has an area of 78.81 square km. There are over 100 one-horned rhinos in the park.

NRL to get imported crude GuwahatI, aprIl 18 (aGeNcIeS): The public sector Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) located near Kaziranga National Park in upper Assam is all set to get a regular supply of imported crude oil, for which it has signed a pact with Indian Oil Corp Ltd (IOCL) and Pradip Port Trust to meet its additional demand in the wake of its imminent expansion. The petroleum and natural gas ministry recently approved raising Numaligarh Refinery’s refining capacity from the existing three million tonnes per annum to nine million tonnes per annum.

AFFIDAVIT

I, Shri. Thangkholal Lunkim F/o, Janggougin Lunkim declare before the court that my son name’s has been inadvertently entered in his schooling record as L. Janggougin Khongsai which is also correct. Both names, Janggougin Lunkim and L. Janggougin Khongsai represent the same person.

I therefore, take oath that from today onward my son official names shall be Janggougin Lunkim.

“These nine tribals have laid down their precious lives for the tribal lands and people”.

“Uncertainty lurks at the moment,” Mangchinkhup said regarding the next round of talks with the State Government of Manipur.

While the ‘preliminary’ round of talks on April 7 between JAC-AATB and the Biren Singh government was termed it as ‘positive’ by both the parties, the second meeting on April 10, contrary to the people’s expectation, did not make any breakthrough.

The current issue per-

GuwahatI, aprIl 18 (IaNS): Union Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday said that the Central government is planning to set up a film institute and a dedicated Doordarshan channel in Arunachal Pradesh.

Addressing a press conference here, Naidu said that the proposed institute, which will start from a temporary campus with an introductory 10-week course from May 15 this year, will be set up at Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh.

The institute will also start similar courses throughout the year, focussing on introducing northeast students to the medium of cinema and filmmaking as a career and enrich their skills in the domain.

Naidu said that an investment of Rs 200 crore is proposed to be made in this institute to benefit the students and youths in the northeast region. "It is hoped that desirous students of the area would benefit from the institute which is being set up under the aegis of Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, Kolkata."

"The ministry would also be launching a dedicated Doordarshan channel -ArunPrabha from Arunachal Pradesh by August this year with the objective to seamlessly integrate the northeast and showcase its rich culture to the rest of the country.

The focus will be on youth with contemporary entertainment and informative shows," Naidu said.

The minister said that the permanent campus of the Indian Institute of Mass

AFFiLiATED TO NAgALAND UNiVERSiTy Near BSF Camp. Below ATI Office: Kohima Contact No : 0370-2280071/9856974717

ARTS AND COMMERCE

Classes Admission fee installment 11&12 5500 3000 quarterly B.A (Gen) 6500 3100 quarterly B.A(Hons) 6800 3200 quarterly Hostel Monthly fee - 3500

Thangdimo Patton

Riphym Village Wokha: - District

Contact No: - 8732063243

Reporters will be handsomely rewarded with money on the spot.

ear L For Y BIrD reg The F DIsCo IsTr Irs UNT aTI T 10 oNs !!!

THE PEOPLE CHANNEL Presents Two weeks INTeNsIVe TraININg

•PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT •LIFESTYLE MANAGEMENT SKILLS •ETIQUETTES •EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION SKILLS •SOFT SKILLS •GROOMING

The People Channel, ARK HOUSE (SOLVSE) H.No. 190, Opp. Army Camp, Walford , Dimapur - 797112, Nagaland.

03862 - 237083 / 237136, 8132915330, 7085055679, 8575049258 www.thepeoplechannel.org chasetpc2005@gmail.com

JAC-AATB, on April 12, has also resolved to mark the 600th days of the ongoing ‘tribal movement’ on April 22. Some of its key demands of the includes "Constitutional safeguard for ancestral tribal territories and development of tribal people; Restoration of the Manipur Land Revenue & Land Reforms (MLR&LR) Act, 1960 to its original principal Act status; and Justice for the Tribal Martyrs and the injured including declaration of August 31 as an annual State Holiday on the occasion of Tribal Unity Day".

Northeast to get film institute, Doordarshan channel

Mountain View Christian College, Kohima

WANTED

tains to passing of three “contentious bills” by the Manipur Assembly on August 31, 2015 and the chain of events that ensued afterwards.

Nine people were also killed and many injured when violence broke in Churachandpur district following passing of the bills which the tribal people termed as ‘anti-tribal.”

Eight are still lying unclaimed in the Churachandpur District Hospital mortuary as the deadlock has persisted over the issues including burial of the bodies.

Use Hindi besides regional languages, Naidu urges GuwahatI, aprIl 18 (ptI): Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu today urged the people to use Hindi in their day-to-day life along with the regional languages."The Centre is using more and more Hindi in government programmes and policies and we have to make the habit of using the Rashtrabhasha in our day-to-day life, along with the regional languages," he said presiding over a meeting of the Joint Hindi Advisory Committee here. "Hindi is an important tool and language for the development of the nation," Naidu added.

Communication (IIMC) at Aizawl would be ready by March 2018 and it will endeavour to launch contemporary relevant short-duration courses for students and specialised courses for journalists from the northeast.

"This course would be conducted by a leading and expert journalist faculty across the country, who have excelled in their profession," he said.

"To supplement the ef-

forts of the public broadcaster, 13 FM channels have already been operationalised and another 48 channels in 18 cities have been proposed.

To ensure adequate participation of the private parties, reserve price for border areas with population less than 1 lakh has been reduced and fixed at 5 lakh and the licence fee for the permission holders in the northeastern states is half vis-a-vis in other states," he added.

Shirui Lily Festival from May 15 Newmai News Network Imphal | April 18

The Government of Manipur will organize a 5-day Shirui Lily Festival 2017 from May 15 to 19 at Shirui village, the home of Shirui Lily (Lilium mackliniae), in Ukhrul district.

The Lily, discovered by Britisher Frank Kingdon Ward in 1948, grows only in the Shirui Peak and blooms in the month of May and June. The State had declared Shirui Lily as State Flower in 1989.

The meeting of the Organizing Committee of Shirui Lily Festival 2017 was held today at the Cabinet Hall of the Chief Minister’s Secretariat chaired by the Chief Minister, N Biren Singh.

“We have three things in Manipur which are unique in the World – Sangai, Shirui and Manipuri Polo.

The State Government has already organized festivals in the name of Sangai and Manipuri Polo, but a festival for Shirui is yet to be organized. And I felt that we must organize a grand

festival in the name of the Shirui” the Chief Minister stated during the meeting.

It was also decided that the opening ceremony will be held at IFAD Ground, Shirui village and the closing ceremony at Tangkhul Naga Long ground, Ukhrul.

Various sub-committees, programme subcommittee, cultural subcommittee, exhibition sub-committee, media subcommittee and transport sub-committee were also constituted for the grand success of the festival.

Oil tankers ambushed along Manipur highway Imphal, aprIl 18 (IaNS): Unidentified gunmen, suspected to be Kuki tribal militants, opened fire at oil tankers on Tuesday morning in Manipur's Kangpokpi district. The attack caused no casualty, the police said.

Some trucks and tankers coming from Assam towards Imphal were ambushed by the militants using automatic rifles. The personnel of CRPF escorting the convoy opened fire in retaliation. The exchange of fire took place at 5.45 a.m. along the National Highway No. 37, about 60 km from here, the police said.

Two tankers carrying petrol and diesel were hit by the militants' bullets.

Police units were rushed to the spot after the information about the ambush was received. However, the militants managed to escape.

The police officials suspect that it could be an

extortion threat to the oil transporters.

"If the fuel had exploded on bullet impact there would have been casualties. We strongly condemn the attack," T. Kipgen, a resident said.

Later, the trucks and oil tankers resumed journey towards Imphal.

Chief Minister N. Biren

Singh held a meeting with his cabinet colleagues on Tuesday morning to review the situation.

Official sources said that security along the highways would be beefed up, without which the drivers may refuse to ply. The IRB personnel and police commandos may be deployed shortly.

IN THE COURT OF S. HUKATO SWU, PRINCIPAL JUDGE FAMILY COURT

DIMAPUR: NAGALAND Guardianship Petition No. 02/2017

NOTICE

(See 10 of guardianship & Ward Act)

Whereas an application under the Guardianship & Ward Act has been filed by Smti. imtimenla for appointment of Guardian in respect of minor(s) Miss. Avino before this court and whereas the 15th day of May, 2017 has been fixed for the hearing on the matter.

NOTiCE is hereby given inviting objection if any from the person having interest in the above named minor(s) to be furnished on or before the fixed date/ or appear in person.

Given under my hand and seal of the Court on this 12th day of April, 2017.

JUDgE

WANTED

ACCOUNTANT

for a renowned business establishment located along N.H. 29 (2 ½ mile).

ELigibiLiTy: Minimum 3 years experience with computer knowledge. Attractive salary offered.

Interested persons may contact: 9436002455

Regd. No.: 370

DECLARATION

Dated: 17.04.2017

I, Mr. Limanungsang Jamir, son of Late. H.Pukeho Pfozhe and Smti. Zulumongla Jamir, aged about 31 years, resident of New Ministers’ Hill colony, District – Kohima, Nagaland, do hereby solemnly affirm and declare on oath as follows: 1. That I am a bonafide citizen of India hailing from the Ao Naga Tribe.

2. That I am the biological natural son of Late. H. Pukeho Pfozhe and Smti. Zulumongla Jamir.

3. That in my entire Academic records, my Bank Account at Punjab Bank bearing IFSC code – PSIB0021142, Account No. 11421000002233, Birth Certificate and all my other official documents my surname has been entered and recorded with my Late father’s Surname as Pfozhe as Limanungsang Pfozhe.

4. That for and on behalf of myself I hereby renounce/ remit/ relinquish and abandon the use of my former Surname Pfozhe and use my mother Surname Jamir as my official Surname in place and in substitution of my former Surname.

5. That whether my name has been entered and recorded as Limsnungsang Pfozhe or Limanungsang Jamir it refers to one and the same person i.e. me and it interchangeable and synonymous.

6. That this affidavit shall stand as a piece of evidence for any ratification/clarification if any complication that may arise with regard to change of my Surname as Jamir and henceforth I shall at all times hereafter in all record, deed and in writing and in all proceeding, dealings and transactions private as well as upon all occasions whatsoever use and sign my name of Limanungsang Jamir.

7. That I expressly authorise and request all persons at all times hereafter to designate and address me, by such assumed surname of Limanungsang Jamir accordingly.

Deponent

Solemnly sworn before me by the deponent on this the 17th April, 2017.

Notary Public, Nagaland

GOVERNMENT OF NAGALAND

SAVE THE DATES APRIL 20

ANNUAL WOMEN’S CONFERENCE

Inside a Woman’s Heart ORGANISED BY WINGS OF SINAI MINISTRY NAGALAND

20-23 APRIL 2017

THE LIGHTHOUSE CHURCH DC COURT JUNCTION DIMAPUR

3PM - 3:50PM - REGISTRATION 4:00PM - SESSION 1

APRIL 21

4PM - SESSION 2

APRIL 22

11 AM SESSION 3 1 PM SESSION 4

APRIL 23

1PM : 3PM - SESSION 5 REG FEE: RS 300/-

STATE COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION, KOHIMA

*Limited seats. For early registration, call +91 7005934120 / +91 7005127450

APPLICATION FOR B.Ed. / M.Ed. PROGRAMMES

UNITED NAGA TRIBES ASSOCIATION ON BORDER AREAS

(NAAC ACCREDITED)

Issue of Application Forms for the Two-Year B.Ed. and M.Ed. Programmes for the Session 2017-19 will be as given below: Date: 24th – 28th April 2017 (or till Forms last) Time: 10:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M. on all working days Eligibility (for SC/ST): i) B.Ed. - Min. 45% at Degree/PG level ii) M.Ed. - Min. 45% in B.Ed./D.El.Ed. with Graduate degree.

Principal, SCTE-Kohima

PUbLiC MEETiNg

Hosted by Tuli Area Joint Council Forum (TAJCF) Community Hall, Tzudikong Date: 21/04/17 Time:-10:30 AM Chairman: Imsumongba Pongen, General Secretary, UNTABA Sessional Secretary: Adv. Ruchyuhun Keppen, Jt. Secy., UNTABA • Invocation: Rev. Temshi, Pastor Baptist Church, Tzudikong • Welcome Address : O. Benjong Jamir, President, TAJCF • Short Speeches: 1. N. Jacob Zhimomi, Hon'ble Parl. Secretary, Irrigation & Flood Control, Govt. of Nagaland, 4 Ghaspani I A/C 2. Amenba Yaden, Hon'ble Parl. Secretary Industries & Commerce, Govt. of Nagaland, 21 Tuli A/C 3. Advisory Board Members • Keynote Address : Hukavi T. Yeputhomi, Chairman • General Discussion Hour : • Adoption of Resolution : • Benediction : • Lunch : INVITE The UNTABA invite all the People's Representatives (MLAs) of all border Constituencies of Nagaland, the Government Machineries of Civil and Police Administrations of all border Districts, all the Border Magistrates, the Official representatives of Naga Tribes Hohos, the Official members of all the frontal organization of Nagaland, the Village Council members and GBs from all the border areas, the Advisory Board, the Executive Committee and the Action Committee Members of the UNTABA to make it convenient to attend positively with valuable inputs.

4

WednesdAY 19•04•2017

business

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Australia toughens foreign worker visas Says Australian jobs for Australians SYDNEY, April 18 (rEutErS): Australia will abolish a temporary work visa popular with foreigners and replace it with a new programme requiring better English-language and job skills, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Tuesday.

Turnbull, struggling with poor voter approval ratings, rejected suggestions the visa policy change was in response to far-right wing political parties, such as One Nation, demanding more nationalistic policies.

But in a Facebook announcement Turnbull said: "Our reforms will have a simple focus: Australian jobs and Australian values."

In a similar vein, U.S. President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Tuesday directing changes to a temporary visa programme used to bring foreign workers to the United States to fill highly skilled jobs. The order is an attempt by Trump to carry out his "America First" election campaign pledges.

Turnbull said the visa change would attract better skilled workers and see Australians employed

Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm turnbull speaks as Immigration Minister Peter dutton listens on during a media conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, April 18, 2017. (REUTERS) over cheap foreign workers duced in the 1990s to expe"We are bringing the brought in under the old dite the entry of business pro- 457 visa class to an end. It's 457 visa programme. fessionals and highly skilled lost its credibility," Turn"We are an immigra- migrants but over time it was bull said at a press confertion nation, but the fact opened up to include a broad ence in Canberra. remains- Australian work- suite of workers.

Anyone now in Ausers must have priority for The programme has tralia on a 457 visa will not Australian jobs," he said. become mired in contro- be affected by the new ar"We'll no longer allow 457 versy with allegations the rangements. visas to be passports to jobs visa was being misused by The 457 visa, now used that could and should go to employers to import work- by about 95,000 foreign Australians." ers on the cheap, not to fill workers, will be replaced by The 457 visa was intro- genuine skill shortages. a new temporary visa and

the list of occupations that qualify for a visa will be reduced from more than 200.

The new visa will be limited to a two-year period and a second four-year visa will require a higher standard of English language.

From 1901 to around 1973, Australia restricted nonwhite immigration under a White Australia policy, which required an English language test.

The Australian Industry Group (Ai Group), which represents more than 60,000 businesses, said the changes would improve the integrity of Australia's visa programme.

"The temporary skilled visa programme should now be considered as settled without the need for further reviews and disruptive policy change," said Ai Group Chief Executive Innes Willox.

Some experts said the government should focus on boosting education and training systems to address Australia's skills needs.

The opposition was not impressed though. Labor leader Bill Shorten tweeted "the only job Malcolm Turnbull cares about saving is his own."

Only 35.7% people aware of BHIM app in rural India NEw DElhi, April 18 (iANS): As the government aims big to promote and make digital transactions easier with BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) app, a new survey on Tuesday claimed that only 35.7 per cent people in rural India are aware of BHIM that has over 10 million user base in the country.

Launched in December last year, BHIM is a digital payments solution app based on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

According to Brickworks Media, a sister concern of research and data analytics company Chrome DM, "only 16.2 per cent of the respondents have downloaded the

app which reflects the low user base in rural India and nine per cent of the respondents who have BHIM app are completely aware of usage process".

The survey involved 5,478 rural respondents from across the country.

"Only 9.2 per cent of the rural respondents have used BHIM app for any purpose till date and approximately 15 per cent of the rural respondents have found easy using the BHIM app," the findings showed.

Approximately 20 per cent of the respondents feel that BHIM app is a safe and secured way for money transactions.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said last week that the BHIM-Aadhaar digital pay-

ments platform has the potential to revolutionise the Indian economy.

Launching the new combined platform in Nagpur, he said that by enabling each Indian to pay digitally using their biometric data on a merchant's biometric-enabled device, the BHIM-Aadhaar will be like a smartphone with a biometric reader and boost digital payments in a manner unprecedented anywhere in the world.

"With over 10 million user base, it is clear that major dominance for usage of BHIM app comes from urban India.

Therefore, the government needs to work more on branding and awareness in rural India to increase its penetration," the survey stressed.

leisure

CROSSWORD # 3918

SUDOKU

Answer Number # 3914

BENgAluru, April 18 (iANS): Aiming to offer consumers new and meaningful ways to interact with technology, Lenovo India on Tuesday launched its latest "Miix 510" 2-in-1 laptop in India. Miix 510 will be available exclusively on Amazon.in in two variants -- i3 and i5 -- at Rs 53,390 and Rs 79,890 (plus taxes), respectively.

"The detachable form factor is doing very well as a category and has been identified by many of the top industry analysts as the device currently buoying a suppos-

ACROSS 1. Valleys 6. Memo 10. Remain 14. Make into law 15. Not under 16. Poems 17. France’s longest river 18. Quash 19. Ailments 20. Constrained 22. Bristle 23. Peddle 24. Waif 26. Smelting waste 30. By means of 31. Female deer 32. Humdinger 33. Catch a glimpse of 35. A giant with 100 eyes (Greek mythology) 39. Attack 41. Take up the cause 43. Prickle 44. Leave in a hurry 46. Component of urine 47. Consumed food 49. Arrive (abbrev.)

50. Figure (out) 51. A large artillery gun 54. Damson 56. Adjoin 57. Appraisal 63. Portend 64. Wreckage 65. Mix together 66. Border 67. Hot rum drink 68. Sureties 69. Marsh plant 70. Cravings 71. Something of value DOWN 1. Expunge 2. Again 3. Nonclerical 4. Beige

5. Originates in 6. Authors 7. Cover 8. French for “Head” 9. Worn away 10. Unruly 11. Lazybones 12. Triangular formation 13. An analytic literary composition 21. Chamfer 25. A cleansing agent 26. Thin strip 27. Verdant 28. As well 29. Warranted 34. Toddlers 36. Mentor 37. Applications 38. Oceans 40. “Do ___ others...”

42. Play a guitar 45. Movie subtitle 48. Power 51. A heavy wooden pole 52. Habitat 53. Prod 55. Arboreal snake 58. Certain 59. Orange pekoe 60. Colored part of an eye 61. Leer at 62. Where a bird lives

W

very happy birthday to our dear princess Norah Miachieo.

May you have a wonderful day and may all your dreams come true.

Wishing you the best in life.

- From your loved ones.

NEw DElhi, April 18 (pti): The country's potato production is estimated to be around 47 million tonnes this year, just behind the all-time high witnessed in 2014. The output stood at 43.4 million tonnes in 201516 crop year (July-June), while last record was 48 million tonnes achieved in 2014-15.

"Looking at the crop condition and arrival in mandis, I feel the overall output will be close to record levels. Potato output would be around 47 million tonnes this year," National Horticulture Board (NHB) Managing Director A K Singh told PTI. Initially, NHB had projected 43.88 million tonnes output for this year. But this will be revised after assessing the arrival, he said.

Singh further said that total area under potato was more or less at last year's level. But, good weather conditions coupled with recent unseasonal rains just before the harvest gave boost to the crop prospect and improved yields, he said.

The crop condition in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar -- the top three potato producing states -- is in very good condition. As per the state data, the output in Uttar Pradesh -- the country's top potato producing state -- is projected to be higher at 15 million tonnes this year as against 13.8 million tonnes last year, he added. So much potato is grown in UP that the centre has started procurement operation to ensure farmers avoid distressed sale.

The output in West Bengal and Bihar is also expected to be better than last year. In 2015-16, the output stood at 8 million tonnes and 6 million tonnes, respectively, in these two states. std code: 03862

AroUse

oCeAn

CAnt

PeAr

CAPtIVAte

PerMAnent

CHAMPAGne CreeP Crowd CrUeL CrYstAL dAIsY dIsGUst enCYCLoPedIA FInGer HeArd Hens

PIeCes PrettY QUIet sCent sCIenCe sLAnG tArdY teAt trACK Under

MeMorY

Vent

MUsIC

wItHoUt

nAPe

wronG

D

Pungkulu

Y

ou are the loving child that God has given us as you are the part of our life.

I pray that you over comes every obstacle in your daily life. May Almighty God bless you in every walk of your life.

std code: 03871

(formerly senapati)

Police station Fire Brigade

222246 222491

232224

emergency

229529 229474

MH Hospital

227930 231081

Fire Brigade

2222952

Faith Hospital

228846

naga Hospital

2222916

shamrock Hospital

228254

oking Hospital

2243339

Zion Hospital

231864 224117 227337

Bethel nursing Home

2224202

northeast shuttles

08974997923

Police Control room

228400

Police Traffic Control

232106

east Police station

227607

west Police station

232181

CIHsr (referral Hospital)

242555 242533

dimapur Hospital

224041 248011

KOHiMa

8575045501

Officer-in-Charge 8575045510 south Ps

8575045502

Officer-in-Charge 8575045520 Zubza Ps

8575045508

Officer-in-Charge 8575045518

131/228404

Airport Indian Airlines

229366 242441 225212

Chiephobozou Ps 8575045506 Officer-in-Charge 8575045516 tseminyu Ps

8575045507

Officer-in-Charge 8575045517 Khuzama Ps

8575045505

Officer-in-Charge 8575045515 Kezocha Ps

232032, 231031

8575045549

Officer-in-Charge 8575045538

nagaland Multispecialty Health & research Centre

248302, 09856006026

women Cell

eden Medical Centre

248722 /248288

Control room

S

E

A

R

C

std code: 0370

KoHIMA Ps/oCs Contact numbers north Ps

railway

nikos Hospital and research Centre

R

TaHaMZaM

Wishing you a Happy Birthday,

Civil Hospital

Chumukedima Fire Brigade 282777

O

Birthday Greeting

A

Apollo Hospital Info Centre 230695/ 9402435652

Answer to Crossword 3917

edly stagnating PC market," said Bhaskar Choudhuri, Director, Marketing, Lenovo India, Lenovo India, in a statement.

The device runs on the full version of Windows 10 and comes with a detachable keyboard, features Dolby enabled stereo speakers and comes paired with the Lenovo active pen inside the box.

Weighing only 880 grams (without the keyboard), 'Miix 510' is light as well as compact, delivers 7.5 hours of battery life and offers optional LTE connectivity.

India’s potato output to hit near record level at 47mln tonnes

DiMaPUR

Simple Rules - Fill in the grid so that every row, every column, and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.

Game Number # 3915

Lenovo launches 'Miix 510' 2-in-1 laptop in India

H

8575045509

Officer-in-Charge 8575045519 8575045500 (Emergency No. – 100)

Lots of love, Papa, Mum & dear ones.

FiRE STaTiONS

KoHIMA soUtH: 0370-2222952/ 101 (O) 9402003086 (OC) KoHIMA nortH: 7085924114 (O) dIMAPUr: 03862-232201/ 101 (O) 9856156876 (OC) CHUMUKedIMA: 7085982102 (O) 8732810051 (OC) woKHA: 03860-242215/101 (O) 8974322879 (OC) MoKoKCHUnG: 0369-2226225/ 101 (O) 8415830232 (OC) PHeK: 8414853765 (O) 8413822476(OC) ZUnHeBoto: 03867-280304/ 101 (O) 9436422730 (OC) tUensAnG: 8414853766 (O) 9856163601 (OC) Mon: 03869-251222/ 101 (O) 9862130954 (OC) Kiphire: 8414853767 (O) 9436261577 (OC) Peren: 7085189932 (O) 9856311205 (OC) LonGLenG: 7085924113 (O) 9862414264 (OC) we4 woMen HeLPLIne 08822911011 WOMEN HeLPLIne 181 CHiLD weLFAre CoMMIttee Toll free No. 1098 childline

MOKOKCHUNG

std code: 0369

Police station 1 Police station 2 Police station Kobulong Police station tuli Police station Changtongya Police station Mangkolemba Civil Hospital

9485232688 9485232689 9485232690 9485232693 9485232694 9485232695 2226216

woodland nursing Home

2226263

Hotel Metsüpen (tourist Lodge) 2226373/ 2229343

CURRENCY NOTES BUY (rs) seLL (rs)

Us dollars sterling Pound Hong Kong dollar Australian dollar singapore dollar Canadian dollar Japanese Yen euro thai Baht Korean won UAe dirham (Aed) Chinese Yuan

63.18 78.61 7.87 47.66 45.01 46.96 56.66 67.3 1.77 0.054 16.64 8.87

66.05 82.42 8.77 50.00 47.23 49.28 59.88 70.56 1.97 0.0601 18.55 9.87

wednesday 19•04•2017

NAGALAND

Kohima DPDb meet for month of april conducted

Kohima, april 18 (Dipr): The monthly meeting of the Kohima district planning and development board (DPDB) for the month of April was held on April 18 at DPDB Hall, Kohima.

The meeting was chaired by ADC HQ Lithrongla Tongpi. Reviewing the last meeting minutes, on attendance report, the ADC reminded the members to inform in written to the Chairman or the Vice-chairman DPDB if they are not able to attend the meeting, failing which the Board will write to the concerned authority for necessary action. She also asked the members to submit their departmental profile to ADC Planning which has to be compiled with the LADP booklet.

On Village and Ward

Adoption Committee, the ADC informed the house that the initiative taken by the DPDB Kohima regarding the adoption of committee has been recognized by the Central Ministry and have been selected for the Prime Minister’s award.

The same would be included in a coffee table book which will be released on April 21 by the vice-chancellor of India. She also requested all the Conveners to complete their work by December.

Vice-Chairman DPDB and ADC Planning, Ketoho Luho highlighted on the concept and reports on village and ward adoption committee to the members and also distributed a booklet on guidelines of adoption of villages and wards.

The Board also discussed on installation of

Meetings & AppointMents LJP Nagaland Unit The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) Nagaland State Unit has convened an emergency state executive meeting on April 20, 1:00 pm at the party office at Purana Bazaar. A press release in this regard requested all the state executive members, district presidents, state youth wing office bearers and Mahila office bearers to attend the meeting without fail. Further, all the district presidents are requested to bring the name list of all the office bearers.

Board of Arbitrators, TPO executives Joint Meeting The 12th Joint Meeting of the Board of Arbitrators (BOA) and the executives of Tenyimi Peoples' Organisation (TOP) is scheduled to be held on April 21 and 22 at Millennium Hotel, Kohima. The joint meeting is being held in connection with the ongoing arbitration of forest land dispute over Kezol/Kozürü/Kezin between the Southern Angami Peoples' Organisation (SAPO) and Mao Council (MC). The meeting will start at 4:00 pm on April 21. A press release in this regard requested all members of BOA and executive of TPO to attend the meeting without fail.

Dimapur Pangti Ekhung The Annual General Meeting of Dimapur Pangti Ekhung is scheduled on April 22, 10:00 am at Nagaland Science Centre, behind Super Market Dimapur. All the members are requested to attend without fail.

ZWUD get-together The Zapami Welfare Union Dimapur (ZWUD) will be organising a get-together program on April 22, 11:00 am at Kuzhami Baptist Church, Chumukedima, near 7th Mile Gate. All the members of ZWUD including students and those settled/residing in Dimapur belonging to Zapami village are requested to attend the program. There will be nomination of office bearers for the tenure 2017-2020.

72nd CTC Triennial Session The 72nd Triennial Session of the Chang Tribal Council will be held in Tuensang Head Quarter at Town Hall with the theme “Unity for Progress:” from April 26 to 28 with C.L. John, Minister R.D, R.E.P.A Nagaland, as Chief Guest. The inaugural programme of the session will be held on April 27 which will be followed with cultural events, while executive session will be held on April 26.

The Executive Council of the CKS in this regard has invited all the former leaders to the session.

additional electrical post in Peraciezie colony high school ward. The meeting also forwarded the following societies for registration and renewal to the government: Guardian Foundation Society, New market colony, Kohima; Little Angels society, near DPHSS Kohima village; Formation Society, Lower Bayavu Colony Kohima; Asia Harvest Alliance society, Upper Chandmari Kohima.

AEO Kohima, R. Mhathung highlighted the bogus and illegal entry of names in the state electoral-roll and stated that the Department has received a letter from ACAUT Nagaland regarding multiple bogus names entered in the electoral roll and they will be visiting every district according to their campaign planned.

He requested all the mem-

NSEE 2017 application forms available Kohima, april 18 (mExN)): A notification issued by the Directorate of Technical Education through the DIPR has informed that the prescribed application forms for the Nagaland State Entrance Examination (NSEE) 2017 for Para-Medical/Agri and Allied Degree courses may be collected from the Directorate of Technical Education, Kohima (Below New Secretariat Complex) on payment of Rs. 100/- (Rupees one hundred, only) per set with effect from April 11 to May 4 during office hours on all working days.

The notification appended by Director, Er. Arjun Singh has specified that the form may also be downloaded from the website www. dtenagaland.org.in in which case the fee should be paid while submitting the form printed in white paper (A4 size).

The last date for receiving the filled application forms whether by hand or post is 4th May, 2017. Students who have appeared and awaiting their 10+2 result are also eligible to apply. However their selection will be subject to obtaining the requisite percentage of marks prescribed for the courses.

The routine/centre and date for conduct of Nagaland State Entrance Examination (NSEE) 2017 will be fixed by the Nagaland Board of School Education (NBSE) and notified through local dailies. No individual call letters will be issued.

bers present in the meeting to create awareness in their respective Departments that bogus entry in the electoral roll is not allowed as per the representation of the peoples Act and to enroll their name only in one place. He urged them to educate their staff and to cooperate in making electoral roll clean in the campaign process.

Er. P. Jakpou Khiamniungan PHE, EE (Rural) gave a power point presentation on status of rural water supply in Kohima district and component wise schemes taken up during 2016 to 2017. He also highlighted on the water quality and sustainability in Kohima district.

The ADC requested the Kohima College Principal to highlight their departmental activities in the next DPDB meeting.

PSC keeps proposed action in abeyance loNglENg, april 18 (mExN): The Phom Students’ Conference (PSC) has decided to keep its proposed action in abeyance after receiving a letter of assurance from the Department of H&FW. The PSC held an emergency meeting to discuss on the assurance given by the department and decided to give 30 days to fulfill the 7-point demand made by the PSC in its ultimatum.

The PSC president Hongkam D Ngonyen and General Secretary Lungchem Phom in a press release expressed gratitude for the prompt action taken by the Department by appointing Medical Superintendent and General Duty Medical Officer (GDMO).

The issue between the PSC and the Commissioner and Secretary, H&WF has been “solved amicably” after the Commissioner and Secretary clarified in written as demanded by the Phom Students’ Conference (PSC), the release informed.

The PSC warned of taking stern action “without any notice” in the event of failing to keep its assurance “in letter and spirit” by the department.

The PSC has also requested officers and staffs posted at District Hospital, Longleng to discharge its assigned duty sincerely for the welfare of the general public. The PSC warned that it will take stern action against the erring officers and staffs, if found neglecting his/her duty.

Newspapers association meets Guv; demands ‘Journalist Protection Act’

MEx FILE ENSUD changes nomenclature Dimapur, april 18 (mExN): The erstwhile Eastern Naga Students' Union Dimapur (ENSUD) has changed its nomenclature to Dimapur Eastern Naga Students' Union (DENSU). According to a press release from the union, the change is as per the directive of ENSF at the 14th Federal Assembly, Tuensang. For further information, one can contact the union General Secretary Mukamchim T Yimchunger at 9862442717.

Anti-Rabies Vaccination Camp Kohima, april 18 (mExN): The Chief Veterinary & A. H Officer, Kohima, has informed the general public especially dog owners that a "Free Anti-Rabies Vaccination Camp" will be held on April 21 at the Veterinary Hospital, Kohima from 10:00 am onward. At the same time, forms will be issued to all the Dog lovers/owners for the upcoming 'Dog Show' sponsored by the Nagaland State Veterinary Council which is scheduled to be held on April 29 in commemoration with the 'World Veterinary Day' at the Capital Convention Centre of Kohima, the release added.

9 AR recovers “illegal weapons” Kohima, april 18 (mExN): The 9 Assam Rifles has claimed that it has recovered “illegal weapons” from a residence in Botsa village on April 17. According to a defence press release, the recovery was made during a search operation along with police representative of Chiephobozou Police station in the village. The search which was launched based on specific input resulted in the recovery of four .22 rifles from the residence of Khrievotsa. He was arrested and later handed over to Chiephobozou Police Station for further investigation.

36 AR conducts interaction with GBs pErEN, april 18 (mExN): With an aim to address the concern of the villagers and providing avenues for better living, the 36 Assam Rifles conducted an interaction with GBs of Pedi, Peren District on April 17. According to a defence release, issues pertaining to development projects, creation of Jan Dhan accounts and Aadhar cards and upcoming army recruitment rally were discussed during the interaction. A total of 18 GBs attended the said event and were also assured of full co-operation and support by Assam Rifles in all future endeavours, the release stated.

L Hotovi Village Baptist church to celebrate 50 years

Kohima, april 18 (mExN): The North East Zonal Committee of the Newspapers Association of India (NAI) today met Nagaland Governor PB Acharya at Raj Bhavan, Kohima, and submitted a memorandum demanding a “Journalist Protec-

tion Act” in the state.

According to a press release, the Committee was led by the association’s NE Convener Monojit Singha and was accompanied by Nagaland “state coordinator” Thungchamo Humtsoe.

The demands of the

NAI, among others, include provision of housing and land facilities to homeless journalists on seniority basis, ensuring security on media houses and journalists in the state, increment of government advertisement rates for media houses etc.

Dimapur, april 18 (Dipr): L. Hotovi Village Baptist Church is all set to celebrate the occasion of Golden Jubilee on April 20 in the church premises.

Rev. Dr. Hevukhu Achumi, Executive Secretary WSBAK who will be the main speaker would be speaking on the theme “Proclamation of Liberation.” Highlights of the programme include unveiling of Jubilee stone, release of souvenir, and presentation of folk songs and special numbers. The Pastor and Jubilee organising committee of L. Hotovi Baptist church has solicited the presence of church members, invitees and wellwishers to be part of the Golden Jubilee celebration which will start at 10:00 am.

Public notice to health care establishment Kohima, april 18 (mExN): The Nagaland Health Care Establishment Authority, Health & Family Welfare Department has informed all concerned, that “as per the provision of section 4 of Nagaland Health Care Establishment Act 1997, no person shall set up any health care establishment including the ones run by the voluntary organization except under valid license granted by the Authority in accordance with

the provisions of this Act.” Under section 3 of Nagaland Health Care Establishment Act 1997, Health Care Establishment includes: (1) A hospital, maternity home, nursing home, dispensary, clinic, sanatorium or an institution of any recognized system of medicine; (2) Any institution or centre by whatever name called where physically or mentally sick, injured or infirm persons are admitted either as in-patients or

out-patients for treatment with or without the aid of operative procedure; and (3) A clinic where patients are admitted for examination and treatment with or without the aid of operative procedures, it shall also mean a centre catering the radiological, biological and other diagnostic or investigative service with the aid of laboratory or other medical equipments.

All private health care establishment irrespective of the system of medi-

cine, are mandatory to obtain license and register under the Nagaland Health Care Establishment Authority. Any violations of the Act and Rules made therein is a punishable offense under the Act with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 1 years or fine which may extend to Rs. 10,000 or with both.

Therefore, all private health care establishments are directed to register or renew their license within

three months from date of issue of this public notice.

The application form for registration/ license & renewal can be collected from the Room No: 302 Directorate of Health & Family Welfare, Kohima.

This was stated in a public notice issued for advertisement by Dr. L. Watikata, Principal Director, Directorate of Health & Family Welfare, and Vice Chairperson, Nagaland Health Care Establishment Authority, Kohima.

Public SPace

Collective action and mindset to stop littering the roadside Y. Longdilong Sangtam Jotsoma, Kohima

L

ike the beautiful Helen Keller's quote which says, “Alone we can do so little but together we can do so much”. I want readers to emphasize on the importance of united mindset and how it can change our course of common thinking for better generation of today and tomorrow.

Looking today - it pains me to see the weak individuality mindset of selfishness in Nagas, that only emphasize on 'my' i.e. my properties, my houses, my children, my compound and my road (from the main gate) etc. And so, we sweep, clean, beautify and sweat inside our own boundaries.

But, did you ever?, I ask again ever, pick up a single piece of litter, a wrapper, or perhaps sweet covers outside of your boundaries , with a pitiful and patriotic heart, that this public road is a 'Road' -my locality, my homeland, my Nagaland and is an uncalled duty to keep it tidy and clean. I bet, if you do that ,than be proud

because you are just 'one man soldier'-among the lakhs of hypocrite Naga citizens, who feels really cleaned, after cleaning around their homes but dumped and threw litters, wrappers on the roadsides and public areas without even a second thought.

It's shameless that we are hopeless people, without any common civic sense. We blame the government thinking it's their duty to maintain the cleanliness of public properties -like these roads and facilities etc, but a true patriotic call of collective love, respect, and concern at every heart is required and the need of an hour. Noting that no authorities will be sweeping the roads or are given a salary to do so. In this prospective, we the people should be change, from the eldest citizen to a nursery student, must be aware of it and take collective action to 'Stop' this uncivilized trend called 'littering '.

My above points may rather seem cynical but sadly, it’s the reality of the present condition.

For example, I have personally

seen the same 'Rum Pum' cover lying unattended when I visit my old places (after a long gap of 5/6 years). Seems funny but it pains me a lot, given the realization of why, people avoid our places nevertheless of our rich culture and biodiversity.

Like "ugliness attracts ugliness and beauty attracts beauty" Nagaland has potential to be a real 'Switzerland of East'.

Just imagine a clean and beautiful road without even a single piece of plastic or a litter and its impact that will have on a tourist or a visitor. For they, often measure our civic sense and collective unity, by our public cleanliness and sanitation.

At this point we must remember a small island in the far east called Japan, with whom we share physical similarities and mental potentials but they are known in the whole world for cleanliness and with high HDI (i.e. increased- longevity, knowledge and income) but we are hundred years, socially and culturally lacking behind because their policy of development and advancement runs parallel with cleanliness and a peaceful humble environment.

But, we Nagas are only filled with so called self pride and that self-dignity, for example any uneducated and unemployed Naga will even refuse to become a barber or a construction worker. It is this narrow mindsets that lead to nothingness but unemployment and divisions in our society and our homeland looking like an 'orphan' (without anyone to care and look after with love).

To tackle and curb this own ironic downfall, we should all wake up and start asking ourselves- what we can do for our state? How can I contribute? instead of complaining in own kitchens (about unfairness ).

Nagas have a long way to go and saluting the various youth leadership in villages of Rengma and Khonoma areas for paving and showing the ways of becoming Green Village, Cleanest village.

As a humble Naga I urge, pray and appeal to all conscience 'Please 'STOP' Littering of Roadsides'.

Make Nagaland more beautiful 'for together we can do so much'.

Let God Bless Nagaland

Atonoka Swu

Lerie Chazou Colony, Kohima

N

agaland for Christ people should use Spiritual and Biblical philosophies to heal, bind, encourage and guide our people to move ahead to face the challenges. The people living in other parts of the world are enjoying the fruit of their Sovereignty for decades and centuries together. God knows where His Children (Nagas) lays in the midst of those freedom Nations, He knows the miseries of the Nagas.

At this juncture, the educated and Leaders of the Naga family were expected to play their dedicated role for restoring our lost Kingdom, to preserve our identities and grow as a competitive people. However, it’s unfortunate that many were found haphazardly playing with the future of the Nagas to satisfy their claims of superiorities and selfishness.

The Nagas being a Christian society, the innocent Christians delights our Leaders to follow the Biblical method of Leadership like Moses, Joshua,

Elijah- the leaders who first spent all their times with God to lead their people. Our Lord Jesus Christ has to be sought.

If you are thinking that God chooses you to lead the Nagas, you should follow the cited leaders’ method. Human ideas and elections to contest God’s programs brought many obstacles to Israelites and that the Nagas should dedicate to render their services in the light of God’s word.

This is not a time for Naga Leaders to use one night imaginations to confuse the society or commit blunders. No nations under heaven have elected 7-8 Presidents at a time. It will never be a God’s plan for Nagas to have many Governments and Presidents at a time. This is an example that Naga Christians don’t use God’s programs.

Secondly, it’s shocking that many Naga Christians use to express their willingness to live at the supervisions of Hindu Nation (verbal & Fb.msgs).

They expect a perfect peace in a Christian family under the shadow of RSS domination. See the mindset of Nagas. This is a total farce philosophy. Many

unbiblical methods are followed by Nagas. It happened because many Leaders do not practice Biblical teachings and methods.

Nagaland for Christ people must clearly understand that a Christian Society needs a leader anointed by God. Nagas should pray to identify on whom God’s anointing rest or whom God wanted to anoint to lead the Nagas. The Nagas have required having a separate Government than any other times especially to protect our Christians’ faith, to fulfill God’s Commission given to us etc.

When God anointed Moses, he did not use Muscle power or anything else to liberate the Israelites but God Himself work supernaturally through the hand/obedience of Moses. Therefore, Pharaoh and his officials could not withstand God’s hand. God Himself was dealing all the problems the Israelites faces because they had a God’s chosen Leader. I sincerely wish my dearest Naga brothers and sisters to work together and allow God to help liberate us. Let God Bless Nagaland.

The Morung Express “Public Space” is to provide space for diverse opinions to be expressed and heard. The opinions in the “Public Space” do not reflect the views and position of the newspaper nor the editor.

6

IN FOCUS The Power of Truth

The Morung Express volume Xii issue 105

By Dr. Asangba Tzüdir

Pedagogical health of govt schools

W

hen a society finds itself depressingly filled with problems and negativities of all sorts, the little ray of hope also makes way for wish. One cannot expect or hope that tomorrow will be better than today. The hope for a better tomorrow becomes a wishful thinking and further draws the mind into skepticism. This has happened to Naga society because of a moral crisis. This moral crisis has defeated the sense of truth and honesty; duty and responsibility. Selfishness, greed and the culture of ‘undeserved eating’ seems to have replaced the moral order today.

Quality education, the herb that can cure the various ailments and to restore a moral order has been found wanting in our present education system. This is attested by the deplorable condition of government schools in our state. The problems are one too many and it is collectively deteriorating the overall pedagogical health of the government schools. The question is…who is responsible for this condition?

To begin with, how much will it motivate a teacher to teach and for the students to learn effectively if the classrooms are not well partitioned? This is just a case in point among the many that play as de-motivating factors. Under SSA, infrastructure especially the school building has been given a better face-lift but much more is left wanting. The absence of proper infrastructure has only instigated further impediments. Now who should question the lack of proper infrastructure and to whom? The test of only the ‘righteous can throw the stone’ seem to fit the bill here.

The nutritional norm under mid-day meal scheme has prescribed a standard nutritional content of 450 calories per day per students of primary classed, and 750 calories for upper primary section. The specified protein should be 12 gms and 20 gms respectively for these two sections. And whereas, the central government provides 100% funding for food transport assistance; kitchen devices; and management/monitoring expenses, the question is whether the schools are providing mid-day meals on a daily basis within this specified standard.

If that is too big a question, then, a lesser one is, how many times a year does a school provide mid day meal.

Further, the student’s enrolment in most schools especially in the urban areas may be inflated than the actual, but what purpose does it serve? The schemes under SSA are meant to benefit the students and the teachers and the school at large but what good is a scheme if it is not properly implemented and rather diverted for the benefit of a few. Highlighting the ‘problems’ besides being many will reveal the ‘moral status’ and perhaps a possible way forward solution.

The presence of proper infrastructure is integral to delivering quality education so also to function like a proper school. Yet, on the other hand, a school cannot be strictly considered as a school without a ‘proper’ and a morally responsible teacher. There are pressing concerns regarding the culture of keeping proxy teachers, teacher absenteeism and irregularities. Comparatively, the government schools teachers are paid well than the private school teachers and enjoy more ‘non-working days’ besides much lesser working hours.

As a teacher, a distinction needs to be drawn between ones moral foundation and self-interest. That, teaching profession and being a teacher should not be taken as an end of earning a livelihood but should take it up with a sense of responsibility knowing that the life and future of the students rests with the teacher. Thus, in the profession of teaching, a ‘moral responsibility’ should precede self-interest as well as the callous attitude towards the profession. This has been found wanting in government schools.

Government schools have a long way to go when it comes to result oriented quality education. The ailing government schools can be solved only by addressing the problems and needs of each school and one that is action oriented. Stringent measures too, needs to be adopted. For this, a collective effort is required starting from the department concerned, the teachers, parents, students and the active participation of the community at large. This calls for a sense of collective responsibility, and a committed approach towards providing quality education to the students.

Building the overall aspects that goes into delivering quality education will go a long way in solving this moral crisis. Our education system should be able to prepare a student for future so also the greater responsibility of making each student a moral being.

(Dr. Asangba Tzüdir writes a weekly guest editorial for The Morung Express. Comments can be mailed to asangtz@gmail.com)

lEfT WING |

Kieran Guilbert Thomson Reuters Foundation

Celebrated African women hope to inspire girls to narrow gender gap

C

wednesday 19•04 •2017

elebrating successful African women in fields ranging from politics and business to agriculture and the arts could inspire girls across the continent to strive towards closing the gender gap, winners of the New African Woman Awards said on Thursday. Twelve women from Mali, Morocco and Zimbabwe among other countries, were honoured at the ceremony hosted by the New African Woman (NAW) magazine late on Wednesday in the Senegalese capital Dakar.

The Woman of the Year Award went to Fatoumata Tambajang, Gambia's new vice president and the architect of an opposition coalition that helped President Adama Barrow defeat longtime ruler Yahya Jammeh in the December presidential election. "This important platform brings together inspirational women to find solutions to gender equality issues that hinder Africa's development," said Leila Ben Hassen, general manager at IC Publications, which publishes the pan-African NAW magazine. "Although we are still a long way from closing the gender gap globally, Africa is making some gradual progress," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation on the sidelines of the second edition of the awards.

The awards were followed by panel discussions on subjects including female leadership in politics and business, supporting women in science and technology and investing in women's health. Several panellists said that women across Africa face many obstacles to achieving their full potential, ranging from access to capital, a lack of training, and widespread discrimination.

Winner of the health, science and innovation award, Helena Ndume, a Namibian ophthalmologist who has performed sight-restoring surgeries upon tens of thousands of people for free, said she hoped to inspire young girls to follow her lead. "It is so humbling to be here among amazing African women from so many different fields," she said. "I hope our successes will encourage many girls and young women to aspire to work in vital sectors like science, health, engineering and technology."

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

C O M M E N T A R Y

Dorcas Cheng-Tozun Christianity Today

Why Corruption Is an Urgent Justice Issue

While living abroad, I discovered the corrosive effects of corruption and the suffering it causes

A

couple of weeks after our family moved to Nairobi in April 2016, a six-story apartment building in another part of the city collapsed after several days of heavy rain. Fifty-one people died as they slept.

Two months later, chilling headlines hit local newspapers. Willie Kimani, a Kenyan lawyer with Christian human rights organization International Justice Mission, along with his client and their driver, went missing and were later found dead. It was the first time an IJM staff member had been killed in the line of duty.

The beautiful, cosmopolitan city that was my new home suddenly looked a lot darker. Even the locals were shocked by the brazen and sinister nature of the crime. As I followed news reports of the murders and ongoing debates about building safety in Nairobi, I found that these two horrific events, so different in nature, had one chilling commonality: Their origins could be traced back to systemic, unabated corruption.

Corruption is by no means a modern challenge. The Bible has multiple references to the corruption of ancient Israel and its neighbors. Historians have documented how corruption infected the Roman Empire in its later days and eventually led to its downfall. Even so, I have come to believe that corruption is one of the most urgent justice issues of our day.

If we as the church care about injustice and inequality and the suffering of the poor and oppressed, then we must be deeply concerned about corruption. As stated in the 2004 United Nations Convention Against Corruption, it is “an insidious plague that has a wide range of corrosive effects on societies. It undermines democracy and the rule of law, leads to violations of human rights, distorts markets, erodes the quality of life and allows organized crime, terrorism, and other threats to human security to flourish.”

Growing up in the United States, I heard most often about overseas corruption in the form of international aid dollars ending up in the pockets of politicians and businesspeople. Depriving struggling populations of muchneeded resources is a terrible wrong in and of itself. But, for most people around the world, misplaced international aid isn’t their concern. For them, corruption is an everyday presence, one that both enables and amplifies many forms of evil: harassment, discrimination, oppression, theft, assault, criminal negligence, and even murder.

In the case of the 126 apartments that collapsed in Nairobi, the owner did not have an occupancy permit for the building. It had been built quickly and, according to neighbors, “shoddily.” The public outcry that followed the collapse led Kenyan authorities to audit multi-level buildings around the city; a total of 258 were identified as structurally at risk, the vast majority of them in poor neighborhoods.

Even in the secure, high-income neighborhood where my family lived, the apartment building that was being built across the street had been condemned by local authorities for being unsafe. Each time a condemnation was painted onto the building site in red paint, it was covered up the next day while construction continued.

Corruption like this compromises public safety, erodes the law, and pro-

vides impunity for immoral, destructive acts. It keeps accountability at bay, providing cover for evil of all kinds. As written in Proverbs 4:19, “But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.”

Corruption also keeps the poor as poor and the powerless as powerless.

According to multinational NGO Transparency International, corruption and inequality “feed off each other to create a vicious circle between corruption, unequal distribution of power in society, and unequal distribution of wealth.”

At a panel on corruption at this year’s World Economic Forum, Transparency International managing director Cobus de Swardt claimed that corruption, even by conservative estimates, can cost economies as much as 5–20 percent of their GDP. Today, the outflow of money from Africa through illicit channels is seven times the amount coming in through trade and aid, seriously stymying economic development efforts.

Those impacted by corruption are most often low in income and social status; they are also the ones most in need of protection from government leaders, public safety officials, the justice system, and policies and programs. As Claire Wilkinson, IJM’s vice president of regional operations in Africa, explained to me, “The burden of corruption largely falls on the poor and it makes them extremely vulnerable to injustice. We see this in our clients falsely charged with crimes they did not commit—all because they were unable to pay a bribe to the police to get out of custody. We see it in police officers killing young men without fear of investigation or prosecution.”

Deep-seeded corruption is not, of course, unique to Kenya or the African continent. According to the 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index, more than two-thirds of the world’s countries and territories received less than 50 points out of the Index’s 100 maximum points, with the global average score being only 43. (The US ranked 18th with a score of 74.)

When I lived in mainland China from 2008–2010, for example, a number of corruption-related scandals came to light. Unscrupulous businesspeople

(aided by corrupt officials who looked the other way) tainted Chinese milk and infant formula with melamine, which led to the hospitalization of 54,000 babies. That same year, a 7.9-magnitude earthquake that hit Sichuan Province led to the collapse of 7,000 classrooms, even while government buildings stood undamaged nearby. As many as 10,000 children were killed because of the lack of oversight in the construction of their schools.

In the US, we are fortunate to live under a relatively strong set of regulations against corruption, which means that its presence is less palpable in our day-to-day lives. But we don’t have to look far to find stories of money flowing illicitly between, say, politicians and police officials and government regulators and corporations in exchange for privileges, access, or influence over public policy. The more a business spends on lobbying, the less it pays in taxes.

I used to think that corruption was simply about money changing hands, unfair business contracts, or rigged elections. But for too many of our brothers and sisters around the world, corruption is a matter of life and death.

The risks are especially great for those who speak out against corruption.

From Latin America and Europe to Asia and the Middle East, whistleblowers face serious threats and violence when they demand justice.

Case in point: IJM lawyer Willie Kimani. At the time of his death, he was representing a boda boda (motorcycle taxi) driver who had been shot in the arm by a member of the Kenyan Administration Police after a personal dispute. Kimani, his client, and their driver were returning from a court hearing on this very case of police abuse when they were abducted, tortured, and killed, their bodies disposed of in a nearby river.

Four police officers have been arrested and are currently on trial for the murders. The public consensus is that many more officers (including the one at the center of the original case) were involved. In all likelihood, they will never be brought to justice, protected by a system that shields its own at all costs. According to Wilkinson, “To seek justice in a society with endemic cor-

ruption is costly. Reporting any crime to the police requires you to pay the officer to even record the case, much less investigate it. To seek justice against a corrupt police officer is to take on a very different, dangerous system.”

No wonder, then, that God condemns the corruption of ancient Israel so strongly in the beginning of Isaiah.

“Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption!

They have forsaken the Lord; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him” (1:4).

What, then, are the people of God to do in the midst of such a pervasive and powerful evil? We must first take a stand against corruption in ourselves, always choosing what is right and good over what is fast and easy. If we are in positions of influence in government, business, or the NGO sector—whether in the US or abroad—we can commit to no-tolerance policies against corruption within our own organization and insist that our partners and contractors do the same. We can advocate for regulations, transparency, and checks and balances that make it more difficult for money to flow between public officials, corporations, and others.

We can financially support and pray for organizations that bring corruption to light, including NGOs like International Justice Mission and Transparency International, multinational agencies like the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and news media that conduct investigative journalism. We can also speak up on behalf of those who are oppressed through petitions, blog posts, and other outlets.

Most importantly, though, we must pray desperately for the God of light to make himself known in these dark corners. As Job assured his doubting friends in Job 12:22, “He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings utter darkness into the light.”

Dorcas Cheng-Tozun is a Silicon Valley–based writer and editor who has also lived in Kenya, mainland China, and Hong Kong. Her book on how to balance entrepreneurship and marriage is forthcoming from Hachette Center Street in late 2017.

Home after 6 months detention, fishermen recall ordeal in Gulf Anuradha Nagaraj

Thomson Reuters Foundation

F

or six months, Indian fisherman S. George lived in fear on a boat, thinking he would never see his wife and children again.

George was one of 15 fishermen from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu detained in October last year on charges of straying into Iranian waters while fishing in the region, officials said.

Reaching their homes last week, after months with no contact with their families, the fishermen said nothing had prepared them for the ordeal they went through when they left their homes in 2014 to work on fishing boats off the coast of Bahrain.

"Once we were trapped, there were days of confusion," George told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"It was not clear to us that we had crossed international waters into Iran while fishing and were being detained.

What followed we never imagined could happen."

There are an estimated six million Indian migrants in the six Gulf states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Ara-

bia, United Arab Emirates and Oman, many of them trafficked and exploited, campaigners say.

"We are seeing increasing cases of fishermen being detained," said Josephine Valarmathi of the non-profit National Domestic Workers' Movement, based in Chennai.

"Even as this lot of fishermen have returned, another 24 have been caught in the same circumstances and are now stranded. Most of them are not clear on what visa they have travelled or the terms and conditions of the workplace."

George said they were given very little food, forced to drink water from toilets, made to do sit ups and often went hungry. After being held in a prison in Iran for a few days, the fishermen were kept on their boats off the coast.

"We were under constant watch," George said. "Sometimes we were given just one roti (bread) and survived on that all day. We earn our livelihoods from fishing but living on a boat un-

der fear of death was not what we had signed up for."

A. Maria Joseph Kennady said language was a barrier to understanding of what was going on.

"We were forced into a prison for four days and then back on the boat.

We were herded like cattle," Kennady said.

Officials at the Iranian embassy in New Delhi declined to comment on the matter.

ONE IN TEN According to the Tamil Nadu Migration Survey 2015, the first comprehensive study on emigration from the state, roughly every tenth household has one or more workers abroad.

The survey showed that a migrant spends an average of 100,000 rupees ($1,500) to secure a job overseas, with half going to recruitment agencies and the rest for visas and travel.

The survey of 20,000 households also revealed that 39 percent of women and 21 percent of men who work

WRITE-WING

abroad reported not receiving the promised wages.

"Often workers get duped, can't deal with the work situation in the Gulf and come back in adverse circumstances, forgoing their income," said Bernard D'Sami, co-author of the migration survey.

"They then get trapped in an unending cycle of debt that sometimes forces them to go back to the Gulf and work."

Paid on the basis of the catch they brought back from the sea, the fishermen said they were back home with no savings and big loans that needed to be paid back.

The fishermen called for urgent action to prevent others suffering similar ordeals, including education campaigns about the risks of migration.

"I didn't understand or assess the risks," said George, now worried about repaying the nearly 100,000 rupee loan he took out to get to Bahrain.

"And nobody told me either. So many people dream of a Gulf job. The government needs to make sure it doesn't become a nightmare."

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.

WednesdAY 19•04•2017

Morung Express Learning

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

7

When textbooks fill coffers Language education in India & kill joy of creative learning Devapriya Roy

J S Rajput

The New Indian Express

t

extbooks are the pivot of modernday education systems. Preparing textbooks requires scholars, academics, and teachers familiar with child psychology and the process of growing up, stage-wise requirements of the learning ladder and, also the expectations of the testing agencies. Authors must also be wellversed in the ever-changing pedagogy, issues like curriculum load, burden of the bag, and all that snatches the joys of childhood and adolescence from the children.

No author of a textbook can ignore the given: “It is the supreme art of a teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge!”

Textbooks can be prepared only through cumulative inputs and combined efforts of experts.

Textbooks at national level are prepared by the NCERT through a very well-evolved process.

These books receive widespread appreciation, and acceptance. State govern-

ment agencies normally develop their own textbooks incorporating local elements of curriculum, and keeping the NCERT books as the model for guidance.

Things are, however, not as simple and linear as there are private publishers, private schools, commercial considerations, unscrupulous practices and nexus among the corrupt. Often, state governments approve privately published textual materials after ‘scrutiny’. CBSE-affiliated schools have the liberty of using books of their choice up to Class VIII; private publishers and schools are pretty pleased about it.

Recently, the CBSE ordered the use of NCERT books in its affiliated schools in all classes. Protests followed and, once again, it is practically status quo ante.

What happens in India is, indeed, a global phenomenon. Eminent physicist Richard Feynman, Nobel laureate of 1965, once became a member of the State Curriculum Commission of California that was supposed to vet the quality of textbooks.

He wrote a chapter, ‘Judg-

ing Books by Their Covers’, which describes how the “experts” had evaluated the book that was not ready but its cover page was indeed submitted to beat the submission deadline. In this chapter, Feynman wrote: “As a rule, however, state agencies don’t want legitimate evaluations of textbooks that publishers submit for adoption, because the agencies are allied with the publishers.

The adoption proceedings staged by these agencies are not designed to help school districts, protect students or to serve the interests of taxpayers. Rather, they are designed to serve the interests of the publishers, to generate approvals and certifications for the publisher’s books, and to help sell these books to local schools.” Without any substantial changes, it could be a statement from one of State Textbook Approval Agency of India.

In In d i a, p r i v a t e schools enjoy unfettered power, as even the most powerful and resourceful go to them for admission of their wards. Often

schools compete among themselves in prescribing additional textbooks, supplementary books, support books, even answers to exercises contained in textbooks. That results in avoidable burden on children. Schools blame it on tough competition ahead to get into prestigious professional institutes, or to get admission in institutions abroad. In all this the bare basics of developing professionally-sound textbooks are lost.

The quest for better textbooks must continue. Einstein once said, “Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind from its creative pursuits”. This could be an enlightening input for textbook developers. He once told a firm believer in rotememory that there was no need to get the whole book by heart. It is enough for you to know where you can get information. Such considerations could help develop new textbooks, free from obsolesce, incorporating the new and necessary, igniting creativity and, permitting children “learning to learn”.

J S Rajput is former director of the NCERT.

The economics of Shrinkflation

P

Charlotte Buxton

icture the scene: it’s late afternoon and you’re suddenly beset with a chocolate craving. You rush to the local shop, grab a packet of your favourite sweet treats, and hand over your hard-earned cash. Returning to your desk, you rip open the packet and dig greedily in. But before you’ve even started, it’s all over. Surely there should be more? That was barely a mouthful. And then you check the packet’s weight and realize the truth…

You have become a victim of shrinkflation: a phenomenon where popular treats reduce in size or quantity while remaining at the same price. In a nutshell, you’re paying the same amount for less.

This sad scene has been occurring all too often in recent times.

Back in November 2016, the redesign of the iconic Toblerone bar caused outrage, as the gaps between chunks grew, leaving it unrecognisable – more a scattering of hillocks than a lofty mountain range. As consumers bewailed the change, it quickly

emerged that many other products had also become suspiciously smaller, and we saw a leap in the use of shrinkflation. In the last few days, the word has spiked in use once again, as it was revealed that sharing bags of Maltesers, Minstrels, and M&Ms were all shrinking for the second time in a year.

Shrinkflation is a portmanteau, made from combining shrink: ‘to become or make smaller in size’, with the economic sense of inflation: ‘a general increase in prices and fall in the purchasing value of money’.

Several –flation words have already become established in the language, such as stagflation: ‘persistent high inflation combined with high unemployment and stagnant demand in a country’s economy’, first seen in the 1960s, and agflation: ‘rising food prices caused by increased demand for agricultural commodities’, a more recent coinage from the early twenty-first century. Shrinkflation is a somewhat different case, referring to a reduction in size, rather than a rise in cost – it is, after all, a way for manufacturers to furtively maintain

Quiz #56

2. which village in nagaland was recently declared as ‘cardamom Village’ a) Chizami b) Lekromi c) Sekrezu d) Kikruma 3. which country’s honorary citizenship has been received by nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai? a) Norway b) Canada c) Switzerland d) South Africa 4. who won the 2017 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix ? a) Nico Rosberg b) Lewis Hamilton c) Fernando Alonso d) Sebastian Vettel 5. which portal has been launched by the Survey of india (Soi) that offers free download of indian Maps? a) Digital Map Portal b) SoI Portal c) Nakshe Portal

d) OSM Portal This contest is open ONLY for students.

Cut and send in your answers along with your name, class and name of institution to The Morung Express Office (address given below) or email to morunglearning@gmail.com Answers to Quiz #55: 1-B, 2-C, 3-A, 4-D, 5-A This Week's Winner: Neivizonuo Ziephrü, Charity School Kohima Each week, one lucky winner will be given a prize of Rs. 500. The winner may collect the same from The Morung Express Office, H/No.4, Duncan Basti, Dimapur within two weeks. *Winner should bring along a valid ID to claim the prize.

(Charlotte Buxton is an Associate Editor for Oxford Dictionaries)

i

Six: west Bengal While Bengali is the medium of instruction in most government schools (there are no English medium schools under the West Bengal Board of Primary Education), Hindi and Urdu are taught as first languages in Hindi- and Urdu-medium schools, respectively. There are a few Oriya and Telugu medium schools as well, where these languages are taught as the first languages from Class I to V. However, a scarcity of textbooks and teaching materials pose a major problem in these schools, since textbooks in these languages are not published by the Board.

Seven: arunachal Pradesh Of the 2,471 languages from all over the world listed as endangered languages by UNESCO, 197 are from India, and 34 from Arunachal Pradesh.

The Arunachal Institute of Tribal Studies offers a three-month certificate course in the tribal languages of Nyishi, Adi and Monpa.

The Adi Agom Kébang stands for preservation and development of the Adi language, and it was established in the year 1982. The Adi primer developed by Reverend Osik Pertin was published in the year 1999. It was implemented as a third language in the year 2004, at the primary level in the Adi-inhibited districts.

Devapriya Roy is the author of two novels, a PhD thesis on theNatyashastra, and with Saurav Jha, of The Heat and Dust Project: the Broke Couple’s Guide to Bharat.

Know your Weekly InternshIp lIst English 1. Marketing at endureFun Location – Work from Home

i

Nip and tuck

t

Stipend – Rs. 5,000/Month Location – Guwahati, Kozhikode, Link – internshala.com/i/2842 Panjim, Siliguri, Shillong, Imphal, Deadline – 1st May 2017 Darjeeling, Itanagar, Kohima, Dimapur, Gangtok 5. web Development Stipend – Rs. 5,000/Month at Vocab assistant Link – internshala.com/i/2839 Location – Work from Home Deadline – 29th April 2017 Stipend – Rs. 10,000-15,000/Month Link – internshala.com/i/2843 2. content writing Deadline – 30th April 2017 at ilandlo Services Location – Kohima, Dimapur, 6. Graphic Design at Brandup Mokokchung Location – Work from Home Stipend – Rs. 2,000/month Stipend – Rs. 3,000-5,000/Month Link – internshala.com/i/2840 Link – internshala.com/i/2844 Deadline – 24th April 2017 Deadline – 28th April 2017

he expression ‘nip and tuck’ is mostly limited to American English; it has more or less the same meaning as ‘neck and neck’. When you say that a game is nip and tuck, what you are suggesting is that the two teams are evenly matched.

It will therefore be difficult to predict which team will win; the game is too close to call.

I can’t say which political party will win. It’s nip and 3. Fashion Design tuck right now. at eSeDS School of Design The expression ‘nip and Location – Kolkata tuck’ is also frequently used Stipend – Rs. 3,000/Month to refer to plastic or cosmetic Link – internshala.com/i/2841 surgery.

Deadline – 1st May 2017 Look at the lines on my forehead. Do you think I need a little 4. Social Media Marketing nip and tuck? at Mookshak technologies

Courtesy & Disclaimer: Internshala (www.internshala.com) – World’s largest internship platform. The Morung Learning will be carrying content from internshala every week. All content are those of Internshala. The Morung Express is not responsible or liable for any content in this article.

Are We PerformingOur Duties?

Zuboni Humtsoe never gave up on her dreams. In 2011, she began her indigenous fashion brand ‘Precious Me Love’ (PML), with a capital of just Rs. 3500. Today PML has ventured into the ecommerce arena and has over 1000 clients around the country. Yes, Nagaland is marred with a plethora of problems. There’s illegal taxation, unemployment, bad roads, corruption, erratic electricity supply, and tribalism. However, none of these stopped Humtsoe from doing what she wanted to do. The result of her hard work led Humtsoe to be awarded the ‘Nari Shakti Purashkar’ in March 2017, which was presented to her by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee. As long as we persevere and do our duty, achieving success is never a distant reality.

ParticiPate & win 1. according to nagaland economic Survey 2016-17, the total production of spices in the state in 2015-16 was a) 21, 763 metric tonne b) 22, 763 metric tonne c) 23, 763 metric tonne d) 24, 763 metric tonne

their profit margins without overtly increasing the price of a product.

While disappearing chocolate has driven shrinkflation into the spotlight in recent months, the first evidence of the term shows it used in a rather different sense. In 2009, the economic historian Brian Domitrovic used shrinkflation in his book Econoclasts to describe an economy that was contracting while prices surged, contrasting it with the more established stagflation. However, it took shrinking snacks to really capture the public’s imagination, and it’s this sense that has seen a steady increase in use since it first emerged in 2013.

Even so, shrinkflation still has a little way to go before it earns its place in our dictionary. While it’s definitely on the rise, right now there isn’t quite enough evidence of use to prove that it’s here to stay. However, if those so-called sharing bags keep getting smaller, then we won’t have to wait much longer.

Nadu there are several Tamilmedium sections in the humanities departments of government and government-aided colleges.

However, they seem to attract very few students, and the number of students is dwindling with every passing year.

category. It is compulsory. But, interestingly, one has to only appear in an English exam without having to ndia lives and works in hun- obtain pass marks in it. It is enough dreds of languages. Several to simply attempt the paper. are spoken by millions of people; some are spoken by two: chhattisgarh In 2013, the Pandit Ravishanfewer than fifty. kar Shukla University in Raipur, However, by positioning the “mother tongue” – and not the Chhattisgarh, offered an MA in state or official language – as the Chhattisgarhi for the very first desirable medium of education, time, and about a hundred stuthe Constitution of India tried to dents enrolled for it. introduce an element of equality, Three: Sikkim levelling the playing field between While the medium of instruclanguages of power (languages tion is English, eleven state lanwith honorifics like “official” or guages are taught in schools: Ne“scheduled” or “classical”) and pali, Lepcha, Bhutia, Limboo, others. In practice, this might not Gurung, Manger, Mukhia, Newar, have often worked out since, for a Rai, Sherpa and Tamang. Of these long time, education budgets did eleven languages, Nepali, which is not allow for textbooks and other a Schedule VIII language (though pedagogic materials to be pre- it is not the majority mother pared in many languages within tongue of any one state in India), is each state, neglect especially being the lingua franca. meted out to languages spoken by small communities and with oral – Four: Odisha The Odisha Adivasi Manch rather than scriptal – heritages.

Particularly post-liberalisation, advocates the wonderful Mother the hunger for English as an aspira- Tongue-based Multi-Lingual Eartional “must have” has also played a ly Childhood Education (MTMLrole in this alienation. Why invest in ECE). It is important to note that teaching all these languages when the National Curriculum Frameeverywhere everyone wants Eng- work of 2000, in accordance with lish? This view is changing though the principles enshrined in the as research continues to empha- Indian Constitution, recomsise that for all learners, the mother mends primary education in the tongue works best when it comes to mother tongues across India. In the early years.

2014, the MTMLECE has preHere are seven things about pared “New Arunima” primers language education in India that in the following local languages: you might not have known.

Kui, Kuvi, Munda, Santali, Koya, Oraon, Saura, Juang, Kissan, and One: Bihar Bonda, and hopes to offer a new Under the Bihar School Educa- template in education in tribal artion Board, two language groups eas using these localised books. are offered at the secondary level, with students having to pick one: Five: tamil nadu While higher education across The mother tongue or Matri bhasha (Hindi, Urdu, and Bengali); or the the country almost exclusively group with the following four lan- uses English as the official mediguages – Sanskrit, Urdu, Hindi and um of instruction – even though a wide variety of languages is actuBengali.

English belongs to a separate ally used in classrooms – in Tamil Scroll.in

H

uman beings are social animals, we don’t live in isolation. From birth, we mingle with other members of the society. Being a part of the society, each one of us is obligated to fulfil certain role expectations by executing work that our society requires of us.

Every individual wants to live in a better condition; to enjoy life to the fullest with less difficulty. Hence, if we are to realize such wants, it is very important to play our part well in the society. Society is made up of a varied system. If we want development and progress for the betterment of self and welfare of the society, we need to perform our part in a responsible manner.

In life, an individual is required to play different roles.

And as members of the society, it is our responsibility to play our parts effectively and efficiently. We are here in this world performing various duties that invariably come along with the role we occupy, such as parents, leaders, followers, students, teachers, politicians, social workers, government servants, etc. In every institution, whether it’s

Mhabeni tungoe, HoD - education in a family, educational institution, community, government, churches, and so on, there are duties and responsibilities, rules and regulations, norms and conduct that we have to follow and practice as a leader or a member.

In any kind of system, there are certain goals, objectives, and missions. Moreover, to achieve the goals, it requires the involvement of every member of the group. Numerous plans are prepared and implemented, and this requires cooperation. Cooperation is an essential ingredient in the functioning of any system. Every one of us is considered as an important part of the group in which we are a member.

Everyone has a duty - to be a responsible member of the society. But unfortunately, not everyone takes their responsibility seriously. There are lots of people in our society who do not know what being a responsible member means and these people are the ones who destroy the system. For in being a responsible individual, society becomes content and harmonious.

I want to share a story

which has a very strong moral message about how each member has an important role in the well-being of a society. There once was a traveller who was travelling alone in a car. Suddenly, the car slowed down, sputtered a moment, and with a final gasp, broke down. There he was alone with only a screwdriver and a pair of pliers, miles away from a mechanic. He had no knowledge on how to repair cars.

He lifted the hood of the car and looked around, but everything seemed in order. Then a passerby came along. He jiggled the carburettor and said, “Plenty of gas”. He placed the screwdriver across some electrical connections and he said, “Aha- no spark!” Soon he found a loose wire. One little screw had come loose, which caused the motor to stop running. Just as little parts of an engine are aery member of the society is essential to the functioning of a system. Failure to do our part may automatically hinder the whole system from performing properly. Our failure to work may result in the disintegration of the whole system. Our little part, if neglected can result in big problems.

Now, I want to request the readers to ponder on the following question: Are we doing our part? Being members of different systems—educational, grassroots organizations, business institutions, government, etc.—are we doing justice in performing our duties and obligation or are we ignoring them? In our Naga society, we have problems and issues that are there and will be there like in any society or country. It is part of life. We know that we cannot create or make a perfect society as we are only humans. Challenges and issues will always be there, whether it’s in the realm of family, society, politics, or culture, education, and economy.

This does not mean we ignore our responsibilities and duties. I believe that if every member of the society does their part well, then at least to some extent there will be a noticeable improvement, as well as concrete changes and development will begin to take place in our society. We talk about corruption and blame each other whenever problems arise in any area. Besides, we need to question ourselves“Are we the ones responsible

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.

for the problems because we are not fulfilling our duties faithfully? Is blaming others going to do any good?”

As individuals, it is crucial to develop a sense of conscience so that we can identify with the society and contribute to its progress. And in order to do our part, it is necessary for one to be disciplined in every aspect of life. Without discipline, we cannot expect the society to grow.

In any area of life, refinement and improvement of both the individual and society largely depend on discipline, since it enables us to be sensitive with regard to the welfare of others and correct our behaviour, all of which contribute to an exalted sense of responsibility, respect for authority, love for orderliness, eagerness to discharge duties with regularity, efficiency and a desire to be agreeable and helpful to others.

Degree of Thought is a weekly community column initiated by Tetso College in partnership with The Morung Express. Degree of Thought will delve into the social, cultural, political and educational issues around us. The views expressed here do not reflect the opinion of the institution. Tetso College is a NAAC Accredited UGC recognised Commerce and Arts College. The editors are Dr. Hewasa Lorin, Anjan Behera, Dr. Salikyu Sangtam, Nivibo Yiki, and Kvulo Lorin. For feedback or comments please email: dot@tetsocollege.org.

8

wednesdAY 19•04•2017

INDIA

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Mallya arrested in London, gets bail

London, ApriL 18 (pTi): Embattled Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya, who has been declared a proclaimed offender, was today arrested in London by Scotland Yard on India's request for his extradition on fraud charges.

The 61-year-old liquor baron, wanted in India for defaulting on loans, was arrested after he appeared at a central London police station this morning.

The flamboyant businessman, who once called himself 'The King of Good Times", was released on bail a few hours later.

"Officers from the Metropolitan Police's Extradition Unit this morning arrested a man on an extradition warrant. Vijay Mallya was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud," Scotland Yard told PTI. The Metropolitan Police said Mallya was arrested after attending a central London police station.

He appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London and was seen

walking out with his legal team a few hours later after being granted bail.

"It was a voluntary action. He will be out in a few minutes," said a member of Mallya's team at the court, without giving any further details of the bail conditions. "Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in Court started today as expected," Mallya tweeted soon after getting the bail.

Mallya, whose nowdefunct Kingfisher Airlines owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had fled India on March 2, 2016.

In January, an Indian court ordered a consortium of lenders to start the process of recovering the loans. Senior Indian officials described his arrest as the first salvo in the case, which will now involve a legal process in the UK to determine if Mallya can be extradited to India to face charges in Indian courts.

The arrest comes weeks after Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had indicated that Mallya's extradition would feature in his talks during his visit to the UK.

Indian govt says legal process for extradition is underway

F

Vijay Mallya

India had given a formal extradition request for Mallya as per the Extradition Treaty between India and the UK through a note verbale on February 8.

While handing over the request, India had as-

serted that it has a "legitimate" case against Mallya and maintained that if an extradition request is honoured, it would show British "sensitivity towards our concerns". Last month, setting in motion the process

of extradition of Mallya, the British government had certified India's request and sent it to a district judge for further action.

The extradition process from the UK involves a number of steps includ-

ollowing the arrest of liquor baron Vijay Mallya in London on Tuesday, who was later granted bail, the Indian government said the legal process for his extradition is underway in Britain.

Responding to a query, external affairs ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said Mallya’s arrest in London was in connection with the request by India to British authorities for his extradition.

“Legal process in this regard is underway in the UK,” Baglay said. “The two governments are in touch in this context.”

Metropolitan Police said Mallya, 61, was taken into custody after attending a central London police station.

The Westminster Magistrates’ Court later gave him bail on a 650,000-pound bond. The next hearing of the case will be on May 17. A Metropolitan Police statement said officers from the Extradition ing a decision by the judge whether to issue a warrant of arrest.

In case of a warrant, the person is arrested and brought before the court for preliminary hearing followed by an extradition

Economic transformation our priority now: Nepal President

nEW dELHi, ApriL 18 (iAnS) Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari on Tuesday said that after its political transformation, socio-economic transformation is top priority and the country was keen to benefit from India's tremendous progress.

"Nepal has undergone political transformation of historic proportion in recent years. Now socio-economic transformation is our topmost priority. If not backed by economic transformation, political transformation cannot be sustainable," Bhandari said at an event here organised by industry chambers CII, Ficci and Assocham.

She said achievements made

by India in economic, social, scientific and other fields were remarkable and Nepal is keen to benefit from India's success. "For Nepal, India remains the largest trading partner... We are closely engaged in Saarc, BIMSTEC and BBIN and these regional and sub-regional platforms could be made more effective in delivering results," she said.

Emphasising that Nepal treats the private sector as a partner for development, Bhandari pointed out that Nepal has opened up almost every sector

Prime Minister, Narendra Modi (R) with Nepal's President , Bidhya Devi Bhandari during a ceremonial reception at President Palace in New Delhi. (HT PHOTO)

for foreign investment, including manufacturing, hydropower, tourism, services, mining and agro-based industries.

"The government is committed to creating a climate conducive to investment... the administrative procedures have been streamlined and made businessfriendly. "No discrimination is made between Nepali and Indian investors. Numerous similarities make us natural partners. BIPPA (Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement) with

India is under consideration for ratification while the double taxation avoidance agreement has already been signed," the Nepali President said. She said that incentives for investment in Nepal are no less attractive than those in many other countries.

"Ours is a virgin land for investment and any area is profitable. Importantly, location of Nepal in the middle of two thriving economies of the world offers greater advantages to potential investors," she said.

"We have a policy of public private partnership for economic development. We have established Investment Board of Nepal to provide big investors one door service. The availability of abundant labour force and improved industrial relations guaranteed by labour laws have made investment climate attractive," she added.

She said that her country faces several challenges and its utilisation of resources has been "way below the mark".

Hindi may be BaBrI MasjId deMoLItIon made compulsory SC to pronounce verdict on BJP leaders’ involvement till Class X in KVS, nEW dELHi, ApriL 18 (pTi): The Bharti was dropped in the case, the trial Supreme Court is likely to pronounce its of which is being held at a special court CBSE Schools verdict on Wednesday on a plea seeking in Rae Bareli. The second set of case was nEW dELHi, ApriL 18 (pTi): President Pranab Mukherjee has agreed to a parliamentary panel's recommendation to make Hindi compulsory till class tenth in CBSE-affiliated schools and Kendriya Vidyalayas. The Ministry of Human Resources and Development has also been instructed to form a concomitant policy in consultation with the states to make Hindi compulsory in these schools. "The HRD Ministry should make serious efforts to make Hindi language compulsory in curriculum. As a first step, Hindi should be made a compulsory subject up to standard X in all schools of CBSE and Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan," the Presidential order said. "The Centre should form a policy in consultation with the state governments," the order added. The recommendations were made in the ninth report of the Committee of Parliament on Official Language.

Last year, the CBSE had suggested an expansion of the three-language formula - English and any two Indian languages - to classes ninth and tenth. The Ministry of Human Resource Development, however, is yet to make a decision on this suggestion.

restoration of conspiracy charges against senior BJP leaders, including LK Advani, MM Joshi and Uma Bharti in the Babri Masjid demolition case.

A bench comprising Justices PC Ghose and RF Nariman is scheduled to pronounce the judgement.

There were two sets of cases related to the demolition of the disputed structure on December 6, 1992. The first involved unnamed ‘karsevaks’, the trial of which is taking place in a Lucknow court, while the second set of cases relate to the VVIPs in a Rae Bareli court. On April 6, the bench had indicated that they may order holding the trial of the two sets of cases together by transferring the trial from Rae Bareli to the Lucknow court.

The bench had also said since 25 years have already passed, in the interest of justice, it would consider ordering time-bound trial on day-to-day basis, to be completed preferably within two years.

Senior advocate KK Venugopal, appearing for Advani and Joshi, had vociferously opposed the proposal for holding joint trial and transferring their case from Rae Bareli to Lucknow.

The CBI had clarified that it was not making any submission on the issue of the trial of the VVIPs accused but is restricting itself to restoration of the charge of conspiracy against them.

The apex court had earlier decided to examine the appeal against dropping of conspiracy charge against Advani, Joshi, Uma Bharti and 10 others.

The clubbing of two FIRs was opposed by the counsel for the accused on the ground that there were different sets of persons named as accused in the two cases, the trial of which were at an advanced stage at two different places. They were of the view that joint trial would lead to the beginning of de novo (afresh) proceedings. The conspiracy charge against 13 accused including Advani, Joshi and

against unknown ‘karsevaks’ who were in and around the disputed structure and pulled it down. The trial against them is being held in a Lucknow court.

The appeals were filed by one Haji Mahboob Ahmad (since dead) and the CBI against dropping of conspiracy charges against 21 accused including the top BJP leaders. Eight of them have died.

A supplementary charge sheet was filed against eight persons but not the 13 who were discharged for plotting the demolition.

Besides BJP leaders Advani, Joshi and Bharti, conspiracy charges were dropped against Kalyan Singh (currently the Governor of Rajasthan), Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and VHP leader Acharya Giriraj Kishore (both have since died).

The others against whom the conspiracy charge was dropped include Vinay Katiyar, Vishnu Hari Dalmiya, Satish Pradhan, C R Bansal, Ashok Singhal (now deceased), Sadhvi Ritambhara, Mahant Avaidhynath (now deceased), R V Vedanti, Paramhans Ram Chandra Das (now deceased), Jagdish Muni Maharaj, B L Sharma, Nritya Gopal Das, Dharam Das, Satish Nagar and Moreshwar Save (now deceased).

The appeals have sought setting aside the Allahabad High Court’s order of May 20, 2010, dropping section 120B (criminal conspiracy) under the IPC while upholding a special court’s decision.

CBI had charge-sheeted Advani and 20 others under sections 153A (promoting enmity between classes), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 505 (false statements, rumours etc circulated with the intent to cause mutiny or disturb public peace) of the IPC. It had subsequently invoked charges under section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC which was quashed by the special court whose decision was upheld by the high court.

She said that the abundance of water resources in her country has tremendous potential of utilisation. "We can put our efforts together to harness these resources for mutual benefit.

Capitalising on this potential we can lead in the sector of cleaner technology and greener growth," the President observed. She said that her country cannot afford to remain a backward economy when its neighbours make "incredible progress" in every sphere.

Inviting the Indian businesses to invest in her country, Bhandari said a prosperous Nepal will also be "in the interest of our neighbourhood and beyond". The Nepal President arrived here on Monday on a fiveday visit to India at the invitation of President Pranab Mukherjee.

This is Bhandari's maiden foreign tour after assuming office in October 2015. She is accompanied by a 33-member delegation that includes Foreign Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat and Peace and Reconstruction Minister Sita Devi Yadav, five women MPs and senior officials. She will also visit Gujarat and Odisha before returning to Kathmandu on Friday.

Unit arrested Mallya on an extradition warrant from India. “Mallya was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud,” the statement said.

After getting bail, Mallya tweeted: “Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in court started today as expected.”

Mallya fled to Britain in March 2016 after being pursued in courts by Indian banks seeking to recover Rs 8,191 crore owed by his now defunct Kingfisher Airline. The banks had been able to recover only Rs 155 crore. Despite multiple injunctions, Mallya failed to appear before investigators -- and then flew out of India.

In February, the Indian government handed over to British authorities a formal request for Mallya’s extradition, saying it had a legitimate case against him on charges of financial irregularities and loan default. ( IANS)

hearing before a final decision is taken by the secretary of state.

The wanted person has a right to appeal to the higher courts against any decision all the way up to the supreme court.

Earlier in January this year, a CBI court had issued a non-bailable warrant against Mallya in the Rs 720-crore IDBI Bank loan default case. Mallya is the owner of a Formula One team.

India has abducted former Pakistan army officer to secure Jadhav’s release: Officials iSLAmAbAd, ApriL 18 (Ap): A Pakistani retired army officer was lured to Nepal with a job prospect before being seized

by Indian intelligence, which hopes to use him to secure the release of an Indian agent sentenced to death by Pakistan, security officials said Tuesday.

According to two senior security officials, Indian agents abducted Lt Col Mohammad Habib, who went missing on April 6 after arriving in Nepal.

They said Habib’s abduction was aimed at pressuring Pakistan to release Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian naval officer convicted of espionage who was sentenced to death on April 10.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters about the case. Indian officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

One of the officials said records show that Habib “arrived at the Kathmandu airport on April 6. An Indian national took him to a hotel after receiving him” at the airport.

The second official also

confirmed the account, saying Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing planned Habib’s abduction.

The two Pakistani officials said Jadhav has been linked to 1,345 deaths in acts of terrorism in Pakistan. They told The Associated Press that he joined India’s Naval intelligence in 2001 and was later posted in Iran, from where he made secret trips to Pakistan using fake ID documents before his 2016 arrest.

The officials claimed that Jadhav had confessed to espionage and terror-linked activities during his interrogation.

He has the right to appeal to a military appeals court or petition the army chief for mercy.

Also, under the constitution, Pakistan’s president could pardon Jadhav.

Pakistan and India have a history of bitter relations, and Jadhav’s death sentence has further strained ties. India has denounced Jadhav’s trial as a farce, insisting he was abducted from Iran and that his subsequent presence in Pakistan was never credibly explained.

India's 2017 monsoon rains seen at average levels: weather office

nEW dELHi, ApriL 18 (rUETErS): India's crucial monsoon rains are expected to be of an average amount in 2017, the weather office said on Tuesday, easing concerns over farm and economic growth in the world's leading producer of an array of agricultural goods.

The monsoon is the lifeblood for India's farmdependent $2 trillion economy and nearly two thirds of India's 1.3 billion people depend on agriculture for a living. Monsoon rains this year are expected to be 96 percent of the long-term average, K. J. Ramesh, director general of the state-run India Meteorological Department, told a news conference. India's weather office defines average, or normal, rainfall as between 96 percent and 104 percent of a 50-year average of 89 cm for the entire four-month season beginning June.

The monsoon delivers about 70 percent of India's annual rainfall, critical for growing crops such as rice, sugar cane, corn, cotton and soybeans because nearly half of the country's farmland lacks irrigation.

"We expect normal climatological distribution of rains and we also expect the trend of higher agricultural production and economic growth to continue," Ramesh said. Monsoon rains will arrive on the southern tip of Kerala state by around June 1 and retreat from the western state of Rajasthan by September, the department said.

A woman carries her child through a heavy rain shower in Chandigarh. (REUTERS/File)

India will have good distribution of rainfall this year, Ramesh said.

Plentiful rains can spur farm and economic growth and boost rural spending on gold, cars, motorcycles and refrigerators.

"The monsoon forecast is reassuring given all southern states in India are seeing a water crisis ... A good, well-distributed monsoon will keep food inflation risk on the lower side and give RBI the elbow room to ignite growth by keeping liquidity accommodative," said Rupa Rrege Nitsure, group chief economist at L&T Finance Holdings.

India could emerge unscathed from the El Nino weather pattern as it is expected to set in only during the latter part of the

four-month monsoon season, Ramesh told Reuters last month. A U.S. government weather forecaster earlier this month said La Nina conditions had disappeared and projected the possibility of El Niño developing later this year.

Forecasters in Japan and Australia also see a 4050 percent chance of the El Nino weather pattern developing later this year.

El Niño, a warming of ocean surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific that typically occurs every few years, faded in 2016 and was linked to crop damage, fires and flash floods. Last year, despite forecasts of La Nina leading to heavy bursts of rains, India only received average monsoon rainfall, not sur-

plus as previously expected.

Typically less damaging than El Niño, La Niña is characterised by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean and tends to occur unpredictably every two to seven years. Severe occurrences have been linked to floods and droughts.

India received average rains in 2016, after suffering two successive years of drought for only the fourth time in over a century, driving farmers to penury and some of them to suicide.

Despite last year's average rains, farmers in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu states in southern India and some parts of the western state of Maharashtra are still struggling with dry conditions due to patchy rains there.

wednesdAY 19•04•2017

WORLD

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

9

US assures Japan of resolve against NKorea

TOKYO, April 18 (reuTers): U.S. Vice President Mike Pence reassured Japan of American commitment to reining in North Korea’s nuclear and missile ambitions on Tuesday, after warning that U.S. strikes in Syria and Afghanistan showed the strength of its resolve.

Pence arrived in Tokyo from South Korea, where he assured leaders of the “iron-clad” alliance with the United States. He also warned the reclusive North, which has conducted a series of missile and nuclear tests in defiance of U.N. sanctions, that the “era of strategic patience” was over.

North Korea regularly threatens to destroy Japan, South Korea and the United States and it showed no let-up in its defiance after a failed missile test on Sunday, a day after putting on a huge display of missiles in Pyongyang.

“The era of strategic patience is over and while all options are on the table, President (Donald) Trump is determined to work closely with Japan, with South Korea, with all our allies in the region and with China to achieve a peace-

able resolution and the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula” Pence said in Tokyo before lunch with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. “... We appreciate the challenging time in which the people of Japan live with increasing provocation across the Sea of Japan. We are with you 100 percent,” he said.

North Korea’s deputy representative to the United Nations, Kim In Ryong, accused the United States on Monday of creating “a situation where nuclear war could break out an any time” and said Pyongyang’s next nuclear test would take place “at a time and at a place where our headquarters deems necessary”.

North Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister Han SongRyol told the BBC that missiles would continue to be tested on “a weekly, monthly and yearly basis”.

South Korea’s acting president, Hwang Kyo-ahn, told a cabinet meeting on Tuesday that South Korea would strengthen its alliance with the United States and closely cooperate with China to rein in North Korea.

“We should stay on our

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence (L) talks with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during their meeting at Abe’s official residence in Tokyo, Japan, April 18. (REUTERS)

toes to protect our territory and people’s lives,” Hwang said. The North has warned of a nuclear strike against the United States if provoked. It has said it has developed a missile that can strike the mainland United States, but officials and experts believe it is some time away from mastering the necessary technology, including miniaturising a

285 killed, 1,073 injured during Myanmar’s water festival YAngOn, April 18 (iAns): A total of 285 people were killed and 1,073 others injured across Myanmar during a four-day water festival, media reports said. The deaths were 13 more than that of last year’s event. Meanwhile, a total of 1,200 criminal cases were also registered during the water festival, Xinhua news agency reported. Among the deaths, 10 were in Nay Pyi Taw, 44 in Yangon, 36 in Mandalay, 26 in Sagaing region, 11 in Tanintharyi region, 37 in Bago region, 11 in Magway region, 20 in Mon state, 17 in Rakhine, 29 in Shan state and 28 in Ayeyawaddy region. The criminal cases were related to murder, car accident, drug-use, theft, arm possession and group violence respectively. This year’s traditional Thingyan water festival ran from Thursday to Sunday.

During last year’s water festival, a total of 272 people were killed and 1,086 others injured.

British PM May calls for an early election to strengthen Brexit hand lOnDOn, April 18 (reuTers): Prime Minister Theresa May called on Tuesday for an election on June 8, saying Britain’s opposition parties risked worsening her negotiating hand in divorce talks with the European Union by opposing her Brexit plan.

“It was with reluctance that I decided the country needs this election, but it is with strong conviction that I say it is necessary to secure the strong and stable leadership the country needs to see us through Brexit and beyond,” she said on the doorstep of her Downing Street office. May, who was appointed prime minister after the country voted in favour of Brexit in June last year, enjoys a large lead in the opinion polls, with 50 percent saying she would be the best prime minister. The leader of the main opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, won 14 percent, pollster YouGov said. But she must first win the support of two-thirds of the parliament for her call for an early election. The main opposition Labour Party has said it is ready for a new election.

Suspected U.S. coalition air strikes kill 23 in east Syria BeiruT, April 18 (reuTers): A war monitor said air strikes, thought to be by planes from a U.S.-led military coalition, killed at least 23 people in two parts of the eastern Syrian province of Deir al-Zor on Monday. There was no immediate comment from the coalition which has said it tries to avoid civilian deaths in its bombing campaigns against Islamic State militants in Syria and neighbouring Iraq. Jets “believed to belong to the international coalition” struck the town of al-Bukamal in the south of the province near the Iraqi border, killing three militants and 13 civilians including children, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday. The Britain-based war monitoring group said air strikes also killed seven civilians in the town of al-Husainiyah further north along the Euphrates river. Islamic State militants control most of Deir al-Zor province, which links territory they hold in Syria and Iraq, and parts of the provincial capital, which has the same name. The Syrian government still controls some parts of Deir al-Zor city, including a nearby military air base, where Islamic State has besieged about 200,000 people lacking food and medicine for around two years. Syrian government forces and their allies, backed by Russian air power, have been fighting back against Islamic State assaults in the area.

Vietnam land protesters say ready to free hostages HAnOi, April 18 (reuTers): Protesters in Vietnam’s capital of Hanoi said on Tuesday they were ready to release the 21 officials remaining from a group taken hostage when a long-running land dispute escalated on the weekend. Police officers were among the 36 hostages seized on Saturday, following the arrest of four people protesting against what they called insufficient compensation by authorities taking over residential land for a telecommunications project. An initial group of 15 hostages was freed on Monday, when authorities also released all the detained protesters. “We are ready to free all officials now,” said Bui Viet Hieu, a representative of the protesters from the commune of My Duc, on the city’s outskirts. “We are just waiting for representatives of the authorities to come and receive them.” Local government officials responded to the protesters’ claim of inadequate compensation by saying they did not own the land and their demonstration was against the law. Protesters used rocks and pieces of wood to block access roads to the area, with some families even putting sofas in the streets. Land disputes are common in Vietnam and the disagreement over My Duc has run for years, but it is rare for residents to take officials hostage in the communist state, where there is little tolerance of dissent. Police will deal resolutely with lawbreakers and residents of My Duc should not think the authorities had compromised, Bach Thanh Dinh, the deputy director of Hanoi police, told state media VnExpress.

nuclear warhead.

TOUGHER SANCTIONS Pence said on Monday the world had witnessed Trump’s resolve in the past two weeks, which saw a U.S. missile attack on a Syrian airfield and the dropping of a powerful non-nuclear bomb on Islamic State fighters in Afghanistan.

“North Korea would do

well not to test his resolve or the strength of the armed forces of the United States in this region,” Pence said.

The Trump administration has said military action remains an option for dealing with North Korea.

But, mindful that this would likely trigger massive retaliation and casualties in South Korea and Japan, U.S. officials say the

Trump administration’s main focus is on tougher economic sanctions.

Trump, asked on Monday if he was considering military action, told Fox News Channel he didn’t want to “telegraph” his plans like the previous administration.

U.S. officials say tougher sanctions could include an oil embargo, a global

ban on North Korea’s airline, intercepting cargo ships and punishing Chinese banks doing business with Pyongyang. They say greater Chinese cooperation is vital.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said China had taken some “very helpful” steps, although it remained to be seen how effective these would be.

Susan Thornton, acting U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asia, said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and China’s top diplomat, State Councillor Yang Jiechi, agreed in a phone call on Sunday on the need for strict enforcement of U.N. resolutions and for international action to press Pyongyang “to cease provocative actions and recommit to peaceful denuclearisation”.

Thornton said any new North Korean nuclear test “would draw a pretty significant international response”.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi repeated China’s standard line that the crisis could only be resolved by diplomacy.

“I’ve seen that the United States has reiterated it is willing to use political

and diplomatic means to resolve this, as this is their first choice,” he told reporters in Beijing.

“Of course I think that any country will feel that political diplomatic means are of course the first choice,” Wang said.

Pence’s economic discussions in Tokyo will be closely watched to see how hard a line Washington is prepared to take on trade.

Trump campaigned on an “America First” platform, and has vowed to narrow big trade deficits with nations such as China and Japan.

However, Trump has also shown willingness to link trade to other issues, saying he would cut a better trade deal with China if it exerts influence on North Korea.

China banned imports of North Korean coal, its most important export, in February, and Chinese media have raised the possibility of restricting oil shipments to the North.

Impoverished North Korea and the rich, democratic South are technically still at war because their 1950-1953 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

South Korea hosts 28,500 U.S. troops to counter the threat from the North.

Opponents seek to annul Turkish vote

AnKArA, April 18 (reuTers): Turkey’s main opposition began a battle on Tuesday to annul a referendum handing President Tayyip Erdogan sweeping new powers, while the bar association and an international monitor said an illegal move by electoral authorities may have swung the vote.

A defiant Erdogan, whose narrow victory exposed the nation’s deep divisions, has said Sunday’s vote ended all debate on the more powerful presidency he has long sought, and told European observers who criticised it: “talk to the hand”.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, whose job will cease to exist once the constitutional changes take full effect, said Erdogan would be invited to rejoin the ruling AK Party as soon as official results are announced, a sign the government has no intention of waiting to see the outcome of opposition appeals.

Under the outgoing constitution, the president had been required to remain impartial and renounce party political ties.

Few in Turkey expect legal challenges to the referendum to lead to a recount, let alone a re-run. But if unresolved, they will leave deep questions over

the legitimacy of a vote which split the electorate down the middle, and whose polarising campaign drew criticism and concern from European allies.

Turkey’s bar association said a last-minute decision by the YSK electoral board to allow unstamped ballots in the referendum was clearly against the law, prevented proper records being kept, and may have impacted the results.

“With this illegal decision, ballot box councils (officials at polling stations) were misled into believing that the use of unstamped ballots was appropriate,” the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB) said in a statement.

“Our regret is not over the outcome of the referendum, but because of the desire to overlook clear and harsh violations of the law that have the potential to impact the results,” it said.

The main opposition People’s Republican Party (CHP), which has said it will take its challenge to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary, said it would present a formal appeal to annul the vote to the YSK later on Tuesday.

YSK Chairman Sadi Guven said on Monday the last-minute

decision to allow unstamped ballots was not unprecedented as the government had previously permitted such a move.

It was not immediately clear how many unstamped ballots the electoral board had accepted as valid. The head of the board said it had received many complaints that polling stations didn’t have stamps and made the decision to accept the ballots after an appeal from a ruling AK Party official.

An Austrian member of the Council of Europe observer mission said up to 2.5 million votes could have been manipulated, almost double the margin of Erdogan’s victory, and that the YSK decision on unstamped ballots appeared illegal.

“These complaints are to be taken very seriously and they are, in any case, of such an extent that they would turn around the outcome of the vote,” Alev Korun told ORF radio.

“CONSIDERABLE COMPLAINTS” Election authorities have said preliminary results showed 51.4 percent of voters had backed the biggest overhaul of Turkish politics since the founding of the modern repub-

lic, a far narrower margin than Erdogan had been seeking.

Erdogan argues that concentration of power in the presidency is needed to prevent instability. Opponents accuse him of leading a drive toward one-man rule in Turkey, a NATO member that borders Iran, Iraq and Syria and whose stability is of vital importance to the United States and the European Union.

Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Yildirim said “rumours” of irregularities were a vain effort to cast doubt on the result.

“The people’s will has been reflected at the ballot box, and the debate is over,” he said. “Everyone should respect the outcome, especially the main opposition”.

The YSK said on its website on Sunday, as votes were still being cast, that it had received “considerable complaints” that voters had been given slips and envelopes without official stamps and that it would accept unstamped documents as long as they were not proven to be fraudulent.

The bar association, whose head Metin Feyzioglu is seen as a potential future leader of the

opposition CHP, said it had also received phone calls from many provinces about unstamped ballots on Sunday and that its lawyers had advised that records of this should be closely kept once ballot boxes were opened.

But it said that had failed to happen, and that evidence of irregularities had therefore not been properly archived.

On its website, the YSK gave four examples of cases in previous decades where unstamped ballots had been accepted at individual ballot boxes. But those cases only affected several hundred votes and the decision was taken days after the vote and only once the possibility of fraud had been ruled out.

The YSK has also decided to annul elections in the past because of unstamped ballots.

It cancelled the results of local elections in two districts in southeastern Turkey in April 2014 and re-held them two months later.

And in Sunday’s referendum, the YSK’s overseas election branch had already rejected an appeal by a ruling AK Party official to have unstamped envelopes counted as valid. YSK officials could not be reached for comment.

Major Western leaders to skip China’s New Silk Road summit BeiJing, April 18 (reuTers): Only one leader of a big Western country is attending China’s most important diplomatic event of the year, a summit next month on President Xi Jinping’s New Silk Road strategy, as China’s foreign minister denied it had been snubbed.

Xi has championed what China formally calls the “One Belt, One Road” or OBOR initiative to build a new Silk Road linking Asia, Africa and Europe, a landmark programme to invest billions of dollars in infrastructure projects including railways, ports and power grids.

China has dedicated $40 billion to a Silk Road Fund and the idea was the driving force behind the establishment of the $50 billion China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

Diplomatic sources in Beijing said China had hoped for at least some senior Western leaders to attend the summit, including British Prime Minister Theresa May, to burnish the plan’s international credentials and make it less China-centric.

But a list of attendees announced by Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday included only one leader from the Group of Seven (G7) industrialised nations, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, who took over in December after his predecessor quit following a crushing defeat in a reform referendum.

Wang confirmed the presence of the presidents of Russia and the Philippines as among 28 leaders coming, along with the Spanish, Greek, Hungarian, Serb and Polish prime ministers

A map illustrating China’s silk road economic belt and the 21st century maritime silk road, or the so-called “One Belt, One Road” megaproject, is displayed at the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong, China. (REUTERS/File Photo)

and Swiss and Czech presidents.

“This is a positive, cooperative agreement, and we don’t want to politicise it,” Wang told reporters when asked if China was upset at the absence of most major Western leaders.

“This is an economic cooperation forum, an international cooperation platform that everyone is paying attention to, supports and hopes to participate in,” he said, adding representatives of 110 countries would come.

British finance minister Philip Hammond will come as May’s representative, while Germany and France are having elections at the time and

will send high-level representatives, Wang said.

“They have explained to us many times, France has elections in May, as does Germany about then, so their leaders originally were really willing to attend. This is not a platitude, it’s the real information we got.”

China is sensitive to any suggestion that what it sees as its benign intentions do not have a receptive global audience, especially in Western capitals.

China was privately upset in 2015 after most Western leaders rebuffed invitations to attend a big military parade through Beijing marking 70 years since the end of World War Two.

Western leaders were unhappy that the guest list that included Russian President Vladimir Putin and wary of the message China would send with the show of strength.

GLOBAL FRIEND While China has portrayed the New Silk Road as a genuine effort to share the bounty of China’s economic development and to fund infrastructure gaps, many Western countries are concerned about a lack of detail and transparency in the project and are suspicious about China’s broader political intents.

Diplomatic sources said the presence of Putin and oth-

er leaders from countries with dubious human rights records, like the Philippines and Central Asian states, had contributed to a reluctance among Western leaders to attend. “What Western leader wants to sit on the same stage as Putin?” said one senior Beijing-based Western diplomat who is familiar with the planning for the summit, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Still, at a time of uncertainty about the U.S. place in the world following President Donald Trump’s pledges to put America first, China sees an opportunity to become more of a global leader and has found a receptive audience for its New Silk Road.

Leaders from countries that would appear to have little, if any, connection to the plan are coming to the summit, including Chile and Argentina.

“Everyone wants to be China’s friend now with Trump in office,” said a senior Asian diplomat in Beijing.While China says the New Silk Road is not political, it has run into opposition from India due to a section of it in Pakistan, known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, where some projects run through the disputed Kashmir region.

Wang dismissed those concerns, saying the Pakistan project had nothing to do with the dispute and India was welcome to participate in the New Silk Road.

A senior Indonesian government official said China was aiming for a “spectacular” summit.

“The Chinese are gunning for ... global leadership so I think this OBOR summit is going to be huge,” the official said.

10

public discourse

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Sentiment Versus Unique History

K.Ritse

T

WednesdAY 19•04•2017

Pfutsero Town

he mind-set of any people in group whether big or small determined the well-being of human life. When the mind-set of such group is fixed to a particular destiny; there is a conflict mind-set and resulted to intellectual war for years together. From there the problem probe-up and the mushrooming growth of problems continues in the years together and endlessly fought for our own right condemning each other for not listening each other’s right.

The weaker or minority group is side lined and tried to dominate the whole scenario. Such is the case of the Naga political rights suppressed by the Government of India for more than half century and still the deadlock is there when intellectually reason out the various media discussion and latest Newspaper interview of R.N. Ravi, the current interlocutor between the GOI and NSCN (IM). It is not at all surprising to face such situation when compared to the global scenario of the various societies in the world in solving the social problems and the fight for recognition of a society as an independent state.

India is a vast country and there are numerous schools of thoughts while talking about the Naga political problem. Sometimes, it is rightly compared with the Kashmir political issue which is very adjacent to Pakistan (Muslim) country. The Northeast India has more delicacy of political and social issues. These complex issues of culture, traditions and use to social norms in the social diversity of race and its habits made a lot of differences in our dealings.

Because of the mixture of many identical nature of life made too distance from that of the mainstream of Indian Hindu dominated social life. The social, political and cultural & traditional values of each and every society differ from one another. The great democratic Indian country comprised of all sections of society under the UNITY IN DIVERSITY makes India as the largest democratic country in the whole world. The central government finds it difficult to listen all sub-societies such as the Aryans, the Dravidians, the semi-negroes, and the mongoloid races dwelling in this vast country.

As such at times the bottle neck policy of the central Govt. also created a big havoc to some section of people. In such situation the central government also noted such non-cooperation society as Terrorist, rebels, insurgencies, underground groups etc and considered as cessation groups. Such groups were treated as violators of the law of the land and many draconian laws were enacted against such hostile groups in order to eliminate them in toto. Therefore sometime the central government was rightly to ask what size of shoe the Nagas want from great Indian Govt. Because the shoe size of Punjab people, who are much higher and taller than that of Nagas ultimately need smaller size of shoe.

During the British colonial rule in India, the divide and rule, doctrine of lapse, excluded area etc were applied in India. At that time the Nagas and its contagious land were put in the dark side by naming naked Nagas, barbaric race, head hunters and treated as a wild ferocious animal having no decency in life. Till today the rest of the country because of the food habits considered Nagas as men eaters, dog, snake, cow, and all wild animal meat eaters. But the better side of the Naga story was the recognition of Naga quality of life by numerous British writers such as J.H.Huton, Miller and many Indian Army officers’ writers. The description of Naga quality of life ranging from straight forwardness, brave, honest, truthful, polite, generosity and accommodative attitude of all guests who ever come to the Naga villages. To warmly receive the guest and win the heart as a host was the motto of the Nagas at that period of time.

When Nagas mingled with the advanced society in this present competitive and high tech- society the Nagas are too quick in picking up of life styles, fashions, manner& behaviors of other advanced elite group of societies. Now many scholars, philosophers, and eminent social activists in various corner of the world are continuously researching and their readings are often exposed in various social media across India to find out the solution. Opinions might be slight differ from each other to choose the right or wrong paths and it is jumble up in many approaches.

It is badly divided in opinions but the truth shall sooner or later

(An intellectual war for Naga political Solution) have a lasting conclusion. Nagas are living in a confusion stage of present generation. To choose the right path by ignoring the wrong path is also a matter of individual mind-set as to whether or not to discard individual profit or benefit is the stumbling block in decision making.

The word “SENTIMENT’ in the dictionary means a particular disposition of one’s mind towards a specific subject. The learned present interlocutor R.N.Ravi has rightly spelled out the truth of the Government’s mentality towards Naga political settlement while facing the NAGALAND POST (daily news paper) interview on 14th and published on July 2016.

Quote “THESE ARE ISSUE OF SENTIMENTS. THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA RESPECTS THE SENTIMENTS. HOWEVER THESE CAN ONLY BE ADDRESSED WITHIN THE REALM OF THE POSSOBLE.” Here lies the real fight for Naga political solution. Whether like it or not Nagas must realize the truth and accept the fact that our struggle is a unique history or only it is a sentimental issue. The sentiments of Nagas might be formed longtime before and cannot digest the fact by way of taking shelter under the ambit of Naga unique history and distinctive identity. Where is the distinctive identity of Nagas right now and to what extent Naga unique history is prevalent in Naga soil? Nagas must realize the following facts in due course of time for greater NAGALIM. The degradation of qualitative life Nagas is under serious consideration is the right key to find out the Naga uniqueness. The Nagas wanted to dig-out the most influential factor that dragged the Naga society into chaotic and confusion society right now. Lack of confidence, distrust to each other and less honesty are the main drawbacks of Nagas for the political settlement of Nagas with the GOI. The words modernization, fashionable trends of advanced society and the perverted materialistic view of Christianity in Nagaland etc are also contributed a lot in Naga unique history. Tough competition of day to day life in Naga society for honor, fame and maintenance of living standard in the higher hierarchy of society

are too much and society from classless and egalitarian society is at the verge of collapse. Therefore the unique history of Nagas is also rather shame to claim its existence. The whole set of society, not only corrupted Government but also the corrupt system even among the individual family trying for betterment of life amongst the parent and children competition is also too much to control in course of claiming the Naga unique history. The blame games all over the population are too much and no one is bothered to find out a solution or meeting point. The general level of Naga society within and outside Nagaland has been articulating the ideas and suggestions but the upper strata of the society did not take on it and Naga intellectual and educated level of society is in no where put their consensus opinion on the issues for a better Naga society with firmness.

The sentiments of Naga people are not same and it differs from one tribe to another. Because of this reason the historical facts as claimed by Nagas as uniqueness and distinctive identity proof to be a fatal exercise, Even then some genuine historical facts and figures for the common interest of Naga society are still traceable if the GOI accepted as a history.

1. The Naga peace council (NPC) under some visionary leaders of Nagaland had a talk with the GOI and attained the statehood in the year 1962. From there the territorial integrity of Nagas which were disintegrated long before was further curved out. While debating in the parliament the great the then prime minister of India Jawahar Lal Nerhu categorically mentioned the truth to embrace Nagas into the arena of Indian democratic country by saying INDIA CAN LEARN A LOT FROM NAGAS. Though the territory of Nagaland is not worth to recognize as state, the parliament of great India country passed the bill and interim body of legislative members were selected in tribe wise and governed the state for a short period. Then election of the legislative assembly was conducted, inspite of overwhelming majority of Nagas opposed the election.

But the election was somehow

conducted and the verdict of the public mandate was exercised in running the state affairs. Initially the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NAGALAND vehemently against the state government of Nagaland and many great leaders lost their life during the struggle, the beginning of Nagaland statehood was not so sweet to digest till today by population of Nagas as a whole.

2. During the British rule in India the Nagas and its territories were put under EXCLUDED AREA and labeled as North East Frontal Agency (NEFA). Even after declaration of Independent India the Nagas were administered in the Assam state and slashed under the ministry of external affairs GOI and dealt with the Nagas (Mongoloid race) as a distinct ethnic group under the vast Hindu belt nation of India. For many years after Nagaland statehood the GOI dealt with the Nagas under ministry of external affairs.

Now the state of Nagaland is fully merged under the union territory of great nation India, but the history cannot remove.

3. Naga Historical records revealed for several occasions that the inhabited and contagious land and its people would be put under the same and one administrative umbrella. But these are the appeasement theory of the British India and GOI. To substantiate these points the Nagas can cite the documents of Simon commission report, 9th points Agreement, 16th points agreement, and the treacherous Shillong Accord signed by no recognized organization but in the name of Naga underground movement. It was undue influenced and duress accord signed by some FGN officials not taken NNC or FGN. All these agreements and accord are only the paper-tigers having no teeth to bite and practice in Naga inhabited and contagious land. All these become paper documents and no one bothered for its implementations. These documents really obstructed the human development and its resources in Naga soil.

Nagas don’t want paper tiger historical documents for appeasement purpose only. Nagas want to have a well recognition of each other and work together based on equality and on the universal

Democracy to mockery in Nagaland Shanchothung Murry

D

Wokha

emocracy is claimed to be one of the best strategy against corruption and other evil practices against the will of an individual. Though a widely accepted definition of Democracy is not available, it is often seen as the system of governance that provides for greater participation of the citizens in the processes of the elected government, ensured by constitutional rights and freedoms inclusive of speech and expression with the paramount expression in the form of adult franchise guaranteeing the right to vote.

These declarations extol the virtues of democracy, even if they are defied in actions. Democracy in our state of Nagaland is like the beautiful portrait hanging on the walls of a long corridor of proud history of self-determination and affirmation, but hardly ever notices by people passing by; the allure neglected and lost. Isn’t the spirit of democracy threatened in Nagaland? We need not cite examples of the similar shame elsewhere in the country. Let’s reflect about our own state and challenge the vested interests behind the status-quo and challenge the idea of free, fair and informed election processes followed here.

I do not need to mention my particular local ward, or the assembly constituency; I have witnessed all the possible unfair and corrupt practices of election in the forms of bribery, muscle power, vote-rigging, bogus-voting etc. which is the same across the state.

Some of these unfair and evil practices that are hallmark of our democracy challenge various moral, economic and social obligations: 1. The drive to win Employing money as well as muscle power to win elections at any cost, cuts a deep wound in our democracy. In a state which runs a deficit-budget with a blanket ban on alcohol, lakhs are spent to lure voters with bribes, alcohol and even drugs. The society at large has become slaves to these temporary gains received from the politicians, and ignores the greater malaise that plagues us in the field of public services and in-

frastructure.

Those who refuse to be bribed, are threatened with life or damage of property until they current their vote to the party. In such circumstances, where is the individual’s right to vote according to their own choice?

The irony and the worst part is the young who are either leading or part of such groups with malicious behaviour are mostly the so called 'educated' , graduates and what not degree holders.

2. Politicians’ return on investments After the elections are over, the elected representatives are more concerned about recovering the expenses of his election campaign sidelining their promises to work for the welfare and development of the people and the society. The budgetary allocation for various schemes and projects are pocketed by these leaders to recover their investments to win the election. This has resulted into the sorry state-of-affairs of various departments that should have led the way to better Human Development Index in Nagaland. The state budget shows over-expenditure for various projects even though we hardly see tangible evidence with regard to our roads, public hospitals or electricity, among other essential services. Some of the money is perhaps even saved for the next election campaign.

While we constantly speak of the corruption of various politicians on social media, seldom do we ask who votes for them and why?

3. Clan and village politics Another ravishing factor that takes away an individual's Freedom of Choice and Right to Vote.

The self-exonerating traditional bodies comprising elders of clan or village at times compel the voter to cast their vote for a particular candidate. An individual's 'spirit of democracy' shall never be overwritten by our chauvinist attitudes. While some may be too timid to decide for themselves, those who wish to make a more informed choice after checking the candidate’s credibility and accountability should not be deterred from exercising their right.

We should be gratified to have a good leader from our village rather than be content with a self-

ish or corrupt person representing us. We should be able to separate jingoism from our patriotism while electing leaders. It's a collective societal shame when we overlook lack of credibility and weaknesses by using forced means or various ‘ism' to justify our actions.

4. Covetousness It will never be a hyperbole to say that some few people give huge amount of money to the candidates and later are endowed by the Elected Representatives with counterfeit projects for infrastructure or whatsoever development.

On the other hand, during the election campaign some people take money from the candidates with a promise to lure more voters. Not a surprise to see some people with no regular jobs or a legal business establishment living a luxurious life. The result is, the common people suffer under their expensive nose.

Democratic responsibility and Christian principles: Don't you think Democracy in Nagaland is threatened? And who is responsible? Shall keep on with the Blame Game Policy and never change ourselves for a better, clean and fair election? If we say all politicians are corrupt & selfish, then don't we realize that we're the ones who elected them and that we are equally corrupted?

To abrogate all these corrupt practices of elections is indubitable.

We're in a situation 'where everybody knew but nobody obeyed', 'everybody said but nobody did’ and 'everybody listens but nobody follows'. Hence, we need a strong hand to cure the malaise of election malpractices which have been affecting our society for yonks. We need to radically transform ourselves first if we want to see a transformed society. A liberal and clean election cannot be built by a few dedicated and intellectual persons or by the elected political leaders. It demands sincere participation of every member of our society – the rich and the poor, the strong and the weak, men and women, literate and illiterate, the rulers and the subjects.

Within the Christian context, leaders and rulers are endowed with divine responsibility. They are the agents to foster progress, justice, equality and peace. When

such an agent is driven away by the forces of greed, self-centeredness and shies away from their given responsibility, it is impossible to build clean and progressive society.

There's a great wall of division between politics and the churches in Nagaland. Politics as defined is never intended as a dirty game; it is the people who make it dirty, resulting into an unhealthy nexus between the state and the church.

When almost all the bureaucrats and political leaders in Nagaland are Christians, our church members, there needs to be greater assertion of Christian values and principles in public and political life. We need to recognise this fact and work together with all members of civil society organisations and political leaders and parties to bring the desired change in our society.

The church as a believers’ community is called to join hand in liberating people from all kinds of sins, social evils, economic exploitation, political oppression, corruptions and other dehumanizing forces which destroy our society. The church cannot remain silent when election campaign creates platform for violence and claims the lives of people. Does it come into strong activism merely to uphold the ban of alcohol? Why can't the churches also uphold the moral standards as dictated

by Christ himself and play a role in getting rid of those looting HIS people?

Therefore, it is every concerned citizen’s duty to root out the corrupt practices of elections.

Martin Luther King once said that 'whoever accepts evil without protesting is in reality working with it’. Our society today demands us (believers) to speak out fearlessly against rulers who misuse power. We must break the culture of silence. It will be too costly to leave the problem to the next generation to be resolved. A country cannot be truly democratic until its citizens have the opportunity to choose their representatives through elections that are fair and free. In Romans 13:3-5, Paul expressed his belief in justice of civil society "for rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong.”

truth. Beyond that nothing is possible for a social living on equal footing as there is no class system as yet in the territory of Nagas.

4. It is not political dogma for Nagas having a plebiscite on 16th may 1951 but it is a historical fact and the GOI cannot denied that occurrence in Naga history. Freedom is the Naga birth right and it is universally recognized by the human right organizations. Domination and imposition are against the will of Naga people. Till now the Naga society exercised freedom of expression and freedom of religion. Only in some areas the Nagas and its territories were tactfully annexed and occupied by various GOVERNMENTS WHO WERE DEAR AND NEAR TO NAGAS. Without the consent of Nagas the Naga territory between Brahmaputra river and the Chindwin Arravali river was torn into two parts and ruled by GOI and MYAMMAR Government, This water-tide division of boundaries has sharply divided the Naga social link with each other for more than 70 years. Now the Nagas with little intellectual knowledge paved a link in social organizations. Disintegrating the people of Nagas and its territory by the GOI never ever recognized the unique history of Nagas. Nagas did not ask for another plebiscite as proposed by Jammu & Kashmir, which is outrightly rejected by the ministry of external affairs. Nagas did not invite another big country to interfere in fighting for Naga rights as the state of Jammu & Kashmir was favored by the Pakistan country.

The people of Scotland conducted a referendum for or against sovereign Scotland which the British Govt. allowed and accepted the public verdicts. In honor of the public verdict the Great British Prime minister Mr. Cameron step down and the British nation withdrew its membership from European Union. Whereas the Nagas still have a hope for a final political settlement with GOI for a better change of social life.

5. The shared-sovereign is a new concept and its draws the attention of all intellectual persons within and outside Nagaland.

At times the sovereignty is interpreted in the term of economic sovereignty, educational sovereignty and political sovereignty.

All these are very meaningful and have deep meaning in the context of a small ethnic race Nagas un-

der the unity in diversity country of Great India. What Nagas alone can do in the international level without the back-up of largest democratic country India. The global village era of this universe needs wider and broader perspective in all approaches. If the GOI recognized unique history of Nagas and valued the cultural, traditional and customary laws of the land it is no harm to place Nagas in any position. Therefore the shared-sovereign has a meaning to the Naga public.

On the other bright side of the past Naga past history way back to 20th century, many many hard hurdles of life had been come across in each and every republic independent village. Life of barbarism, naked and head hunting period of Naga life were dramatically changed into a civilized Naga life. It had been possible through various interventions and social mingled with the advanced society like India. Through the emergence of Nagaland statehood under the union of India Nagas enjoyed enormous schemes and facilities as one of the constituent entity. It was possible only through several visionary leaders who dragged Nagas to this stage of life. Nagas at times should give our sincere gratitude to the GOI for accommodating Nagas as an integral part of Great India. In reciprocation to the Nagas gratitude GOI must also realize the mistakes committed towards NAGAS as their subject. Time has changed with the change of Naga life. But Nagas as an ethnic race cannot bypass the unique history for future survival based on ancestral values and social harmony. The omnipotent God of all creations must have a purpose for Nagas to bury our differences and fight against the small barriers and narrow mindedness to go for and bigger and higher status in one voice with our full strength to achieve our destiny. The Nagas owed to the great nation India for continuously supplying our basic needs. The Nagas have been eaten the essential salt of India for our survival. Beyond that Nagas have less rights to argue with the great nation India.

Still Nagas live in pathetic condition of life. Unless natural resources are explored there is no scope to catch up other advanced society in the world. Nagas only fight for our unique historical rights of classless society.

Being unemployed - an excuse Steve Chophy

T

DC Court, Dimapur

he figure is 70,422 educated unemployed Naga youths registered with the concerned department. There must be another good numbers of unregistered educated unemployed youths along with the dropout unemployed youths to be taken into account. While every year the state produces thousands Graduates to add to the numbers, the government is in no position to accommodate or to create or generate opportunities to provide employment to that number of youths on its own. To add to the storyline, the Government of Nagaland boasts of having employees that is surplus to its requirement making its employment scope more limited and with just a handful number of post advertised by NPSC every year, no factories or industries or any other employment generating sectors in Nagaland to provide employment to the youth, it is for us- the youths to decide and shape our own destiny.

While the youths in today’s fast-paced world are in a hurry to get accomplished and be successful in whatever field one is involved in, many of us choose to stay back and keep on bragging about being unemployed. Very often we are frustrated at our government at not being employed, since for us Government Job is the only employment option available. Why do we choose to only opt for “Government Job” when there are lots of opportunities available to earning a living? I do agree that being government employee, stability and security in life is guaranteed. But what if your ambition of being a government employee could not materialise? What if all your efforts did to pay off? Are you doomed for life? This unemployment can be solved only if we can change our mind-set of “WHITE COLLAR JOB ONLY” and give ourselves a chance.

Around the world, Fifteen-year-olds are developing codes and selling websites, where are we? Ours is a 21st century world with limitless scopes and opportunities. In our own backyard these Young Nagas like Hekani Jakhalu, Yanpvuo Yanfo Kikon, The Putsure brothers, Hokaito zhimomi, Imlibenla Wati, Dr. Yan Murry, Alobo Naga, Betoka Swu, James Chakhesang, Abokali Jimomi, Dreamz Unlimited theatre group, etc have all gone the distance to being an example to the youths of today. They have ventured out in search of opportunities and are now established in their own fields of expertise. What is holding us back then?

The parent’s and the society’s outlook of “Government Job only” is also having its drawbacks/negative implications on the mindset of the younger generations who without evaluating the world around him eats, sleeps and dreams government job only. With the world advancing at very fast pace and with the competition getting very competitive among the younger lots, the scope for employment at the government

sector is minimal. As such, the parents understanding and outlook on the Govt Job and a Private Job should also change and give the much needed space to the young minds to decide and explore the various opportunities. One should start encouraging and motivating the youths to venture out into various private sectors for employments. With experience and certificate in hand at the later stages one can venture into his/ her own field of expertise, thereby having a secured and stabled means of earning a living.

Let’s talk business; if one is to survey our society’s set-up one would find the stark reality of how outsiders have grab hold of the markets of our state: an employment generating avenue/ sector. These are the many business taken up by outsiders in Nagaland, which are actually supposed to be the affairs of the local population and its youths. The earning sources or employment generating sector are all monopolised by outsiders thereby restricting our sources to earn a living as well as to being employed. The following are the few listed avenues: Second Hand Garment Dealers, Petty shops and trades, Constructions and manual labour works, Taxi and Auto Drivers, Butchers, fish and Meat suppliers, Vegetable Vendors and suppliers, Major Retailers/Mobile/ electronics, Mechanics/Automobile industry, Scrap Dealers, Carpentry works, Bamboo business and Mat weaving, Business of Concrete Hume Pipes and moulding of railings etc, Sand business, Log Business, bricks business, Professions like Tailoring, hair cutting, cobbler etc, Businesses of Hazi Park Market, New Market, Hongkong Markets, super markets are owned and run by outsiders, all Markets and Shopping complexes in and around the towns are owned and managed by outsiders etc etc...

We brag about unemployment! Why won’t there be unemployment when these very employment generating sectors are monopolised by outsider’s.? Why won’t there be unemployment when the youths of today overlook these many opportunities? Why make an excuse of no employment when we are blind to the many opportunities at our doorsteps. Instead of just bragging about being unemployed, we should let go of our ego’s and pride and dig into and explore the many options available to us. If only we can give dignity, humbleness and patience a chance, if only we could “use local, buy local, eat local”, if only we could encourage and motivate our local youths to venture into those sectors, only if we can change our mindset of “Government Job’s only”, only then can our problems of UNEMPLOYMENT be solved. There are many options and Opportunities made available to us, and it is for you and me to tap this opportunities for our better tomorrow.

“Why haven’t you ever seen a Lamborghini commercial before? It’s because the people who can afford them aren’t sitting around watching television”.

God Bless.

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.

Wednesday 19•04•2017

T

he eighth film in the popular "Fast and Furious" franchise pulled in $532 million at the box office around the world in its first weekend, according to its studio, Universal Pictures. That total beats the global record held

by Disney (DIS)'s "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," which made $529 million worldwide its opening weekend in 2015.

There's one caveat: "Force Awakens" didn't have the benefit

EntErtainmEnt

of opening in the world's second largest movie market, China, until a month after it was initially released. "Fate," meanwhile, opened in North America and 63 international markets, including China, the U.K. and Mexico.

"Fate" also broke box office records for bringing in the biggest international opening in movie history. The film made $433.2 million overseas, surpassing the record $316.7 million that "Jurassic World" made

Janet Jackson reschedule 75 axed shows

C M Y K

‘Fate of the 'Star Wars' get Furious’ may more sequels breaks after its ninth global episode box F office record

abroad in its first weekend in 2015. Domestically, "Fate" made $98.8 million over the weekend.

The film, which stars Vin Diesel and was directed by F. Gary Gray, is the highest-grossing opening for an African American director ever, according to Universal. The film also drove past records in China, a growing movie market. It nabbed the country's biggest three-day opening of all time.

The record-breaking week-

end of "Fate of the Furious" is good news for the future of 16year old series. Universal has already announced a ninth and tenth installment for 2019 and 2021. "This is an astonishing feat for a decade and a half old franchise that launched as a marginalized car culture movie with no stars and no imaginings of a long-term franchise future," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at comScore.

ilm producer Kathleen Kennedy has said that there may be a possibility of continuing the story of the iconic 'Star Wars' series even after the ninth episode. The 63-year-old creator has said that if the plot "warrants" it, a new sequel may surface in the future but there is nothing in works as of now.

"I certainly foresee movies past nine.

Whether or not we carry on the Skywalker saga... you know, George (Lucas) always intended nine movies, and whether we continue that or not is something we're talking about right now."

"If the story warrants it, we'll absolutely do it. If it actually inspires new ideas, then we'll probably head in that direction. We just don't know yet," Kennedy said. The first trailer of the eight installment of the 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' was launched on April 14.

Source: PTI

Source: CNN

Elarica Johnson to host Bieber’s ‘Purpose Tour’ in India Jacqueline invests in a

B

est known for her roles in 'Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince,' '13 Steps Down' and 'My Brother The Devil,' English actress Elarica Johnson will be making her maiden visit to India, this summer, to be a part of the highly anticipated Justin Bieber Tour. During her visit, the actress will meet directors and film personalities from the Indian film industry, apart from being the official host of the event of the year - Justin Bieber Purpose Tour.

The actress stated, "India has been a place I have always wanted to

visit. I watched Bollywood movies as a child and now being an actress going to Mumbai the heart of the Bollywood film Industry; it

is a dream come true! I have always felt inspired by the freedom of colour, music and dance. So to be able to explore the Indian culture and have the

chance to see the beautiful architecture and history of the country will truly be a wonderful experience."

Adding, "I am definitely looking forward to eating a lot! Indian food sit's at the number one spot as my ultimate favourite cuisine. But most of all having this experience and seeing one of my favourite artists, Justin Bieber perform live, I am sure I will mark this as a trip of a lifetime!" The 27-year-old London born diva will arrive in Mumbai on May 4 and will explore the city till May 15.

bottled beverage firm

Source: ANI

John Abraham signs three web series deal with Amazon Prime

J

ohn Abraham is the latest B-Town star to venture into the digital world. The actor-producer has signed a three web series deal with digital entertainment channel, Amazon Prime.

A source says, "The producer in him decided to make this move. John understands that the market is drastically changing and wanted JA Entertainment to do path-breaking work on the platform. While he will continue producing films, his team will work on three web series for Amazon."

Speculations are also rife that he may team up with long-time associate Shoojit Sircar, with whom the actor has previously collaborated for 'Vicky Donor' (2012) and 'Madras Cafe' (2013).

"John will brainstorm with Shoojit. If he has time, he will hop aboard in some capacity. John is also close to Nishikant Kamat and will discuss the projects with him. Creative decisions will only be taken after the stories are finalised," the source adds. Sircar's upcoming John and Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer, '1911', which chronicles a century-old story of Kolkata-based football club Mohun Bagan's historic win against an English football team in 1911, may also be converted into a web series. Last week, following his meeting with Amazon Prime honcho, Roy Price, John had tweeted: "Looking forward to a big partnership ahead."

Source: Mid-Day

S

inger Janet Jackson will reportedly reschedule 75 axed shows and release a new album about motherhood. Jackson, who parted ways from billionaire Wissam Al Mana earlier this month, is now said to be focusing on writing "positive" music after becoming a mother to their three-month-old son, Eissa Al Mana, reports dailymail.co.uk.

The "Scream" singer will play the shows she postponed due to her pregnancy last year under a new run of dates named the State Of The World tour, which will hit North America later this year. "Having a baby has upped her desire to release positive music and she wants her new songs to be a celebration of life, love and motherhood," a source told The Sun newspaper.

"She plans to get back on tour in North America in October, followed by a brand new album. Last year's incomplete Unbreakable World Tour is being revamped to become the State Of The World Tour and she is already scheduling summer rehearsals," the source added.

Source: IANS

Poonam Pandey’s app gets banned by

B

ollywood starlet Poonam Pandey claims her app has been suspended

by Google. The app was launched on Monday. The modelturned-actress took to Twitter to share the development.

"Razr Corp and my agency approached me with the idea of creating an app. They gave me full creative freedom to create this app

exactly the way I wanted it to be.

So, of course I accepted the challenge. I am very happy with the final product," said Poonam Pandey to IANS. Giving a hint about her app, Poonam Pandey said, "This is all about me. If you think I am bold, my app is going to be bold as well.

I have the full freedom to post anything that I want." "Everyone

J regardless of their age, people can download the app from my website," Poonam Pandey said.

Poonam Pandey's claim to fame was a promise of going baring all if India won the Cricket World Cup in 2011. Poonam Pandey is known for posting bold and semi-nude pictures on her social media accounts.

Source: Mid-Day

acqueline Fernandez has joined the list of B-Town stars that have turned entrepreneurs. She has invested in a bottled juice company. She says, "I am excited to be part of a venture that I believe in. My travels across the globe has brought me closer to products which are free of any preservatives, and that’s why I decided to invest in this company."

While she refused to di-

vulge details related to finance, it is learnt that she has invested Rs 3.5 crore in the company.

Earlier, Jacqueline had put her business skills to test by creating her own line of cosmetic products titled Sealed With A Kiss. She made sure the products were not tested on animals.

Jacqueline also plans to open a restaurant in Mumbai.

Source: Mid-Day

12

Wednesday 19•04•2017

SPORTS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Terry to leave Chelsea Cavaliers, Spurs march on in NBA playoffs LOs ANgeLes, ApriL 18 (AFp): The Cleveland Cavaliers overcame a bout of fourth quarter jitters to take a grip of their NBA playoff series against the Indiana Pacers on Monday as San Antonio seized control of their duel with Memphis.

Cleveland appeared to be coasting to victory after opening up an 18-point lead at the end of the third quarter at the Quicken Loans Arena.

But the Cavs put the home fans through the ringer in a nervy finale as the Pacers punished a litany of mistakes to cut the gap to four points with 18 seconds remaining.

It mirrored a similar shaky finish in Game 1, when Indiana wiped out a 10-point fourth quarter lead before Cleveland ground out a win. They also blew a 26-point fourth quarter lead in a defeat to Atlanta earlier this month.

But the NBA Champions just about held their nerve on Monday, eventually winning 117-111 thanks to a 37-point haul from Kyrie Irving as well as 27 points from Kevin Love and 25 from LeBron James.

James was unfazed by the Pacers' fourth quarter fightback after the Cavs held

C M Y

LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers controls the ball in front of Thaddeus Young of the Indiana Pacers.

(AFP Photo)

on to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 3 takes place in Memphis on Thursday.

"We're right there," said James, who also had 10 rebounds and seven assists.

"We're right there of what we know we can become, and we'll figure it out."

Cavs coach Tyronn Lue blamed fatigue for the high turnover count that allowed San Antonio to claw their way back into the contest in the fourth quarter.

"I just saw turnovers," Lue said. "We've gotta take care of the basketball. We

turned the ball over and it "He had that mindset, hurt us. Nineteen turnovers came in and executed, and for 24 points. It's hard to win it's hard to come off the playoff games like that." bench right after halftime.

We just need Shump to stay - Everyone ready focused and understand The victory came at a the task at hand and I think cost for Cleveland how- he did a good job of that toever, with guard J.R. Smith night." limping off with a hamIn San Antonio, Memstring injury. However phis coach David Fizdale Smith's replacement, Iman was left fuming after watchShumpert, impressed from ing his team slide to a 96-82 the bench with five points. loss against the Spurs in "We have so many their Western Conference pieces on this team, but ev- showdown.

Kawhi Leonard fineryone has to stay ready," Irving said of Shumpert's ished with 37 points as the cameo.

Spurs took a 2-0 lead in

the best-of-seven series at AT&T Center.

But Fizdale unleashed a spectacular post-game tirade against the officiating crew, which is almost certain to bring disciplinary action from the league.

Fizdale complained bitterly that officials had unfairly skewed the free throw count against his players.

"It was a very poorly officiated basketball game," Fizdale fumed. "First half we had 19 shots in the paint and had six free throws. They shot 11 times in the paint and had 23 free throws.

"I'm not a numbers guy but that doesn't seem to add up. Overall we shot ball in the paint 35 times and we had 15 free throws - for the game. They shot 18 times and had 32 free throws. Explain it to me."

Officials had shown "disrespect" to his team, Fizdale added.

"I'm not going to let them treat us that way.

That's unacceptable.

That's unprofessional. My guys dug in that game and earned the right to be in that game -- and they did not even give us a chance," Fizdale told journalists.

The series now moves to Memphis for Game 3 on Thursday.

Arsenal keep Champions Ningting Cham Badminton Tourney League hopes alive pereN, ApriL 18 (MexN): The bles and veteran doubles (45+). A press release in this regard has invited bad-

K

John Terry (EPA File Photo)

LONDON, ApriL 18 (reuters): Long-serving Chelsea defender John Terry will leave Stamford Bridge at the end of the season, the English Premier League club said on Monday.

The 36-year-old former England international played more than 700 games for Chelsea and has been their most successful captain.

"John has given us more than two decades of dedicated and exceptional service," Chelsea said in a statement.

"In that time he has displayed the utmost pride at wearing the Chelsea shirt."

Terry made the third-highest number of appearances for Chelsea, captained them a record 578 times and scored 66 goals.

"After 22 years there is so much to say and so many people to thank at this great football club," Terry said.

"From coaches, team-mates and staff to the fans who have given me so much support down the years, I can’t thank you enough," he added.

"I will decide on my future in due course, but for now I am committed to helping the team achieve success this season."

Terry has made only four Premier League starts this season as Chelsea have moved to the top of the table, four points clear with six games remaining.

"I will, of course, always be a Blue and am desperate to end my final season as

a Chelsea player with more silverware," Terry said.

"I've always been conscious that I depart at the right time, in the right way, and I feel that the end of this season is the right time for the club and I." Terry, who made his Chelsea debut in 1998, won the 2012 Champions League, four Premier League titles, five FA Cups, three League Cups and the Europa League.

He played 78 times for England.

- ‘Greatest defender’ – Former Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard hailed John Terry as the Premier League's greatest ever defender following the announcement.

Lampard, who was capped 106 times for England, is Chelsea's all-time top goalscorer with 211 goals in over 400 appearances in all competitions.

"The last man standing of an incredible era for @chelseafc," Lampard wrote on his instagram account. "What a pleasure to play with the greatest defender in the @premierleague history.

"He led the club both on and off the pitch from the moment he made his debut.

"He set standards for everyone, whether it was demanding excellence in training, fighting for every win or respecting how fortunate we were to play for such a great club."

LONDON, ApriL 18 (reuters): Arsenal kept alive their slim hopes of securing a Champions League spot next season with a 2-1 Premier League victory at Middlesbrough on Monday that left the hosts in deep danger of relegation.

A superb Alexis Sanchez free kick put the Gunners ahead three minutes before the break but Spanish striker Alvaro Negredo brought Boro level four minutes after the interval. German midfielder Mesut Ozil grabbed a closerange winner for Arsenal in the 71st minute.

The result left Arsenal in sixth, seven points behind fourth-placed Manchester City who have played one game more. Boro are second bottom, six points adrift of safety with six games left.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger made six changes to the team which had lost in humiliating fashion 3-0 to Crystal Palace last week and switched to a 3-4-3 formation, a new approach for the Gunners.

"Sometimes when a team lacks confidence, changing the system helps the team to believe in something different," Wenger said.

A low-key first half ended with Arsenal getting ahead when Sanchez showed great technique as he lifted the ball over a long wall and past motionless Boro keeper Brad Guzan.

Boro responded positively, though, and their equaliser was perfectly executed, Stewart Downing racing down the right flank and delivering a pinpoint cross which Negredo met with a side-foot finish after losing his marker Laurent Koscielny.

Middlesbrough went close to a second with a stooping Daniel Ayala header which Arsenal keeper Petr Cech saved well, allowing his defence to scramble clear.

But Arsenal secured their first away win in five Premier League matches when Sanchez floated a ball into the box which Aaron Ramsey cleverly chested down to Ozil who made no mistake from close range.

"I think we were focussed and committed and you could see that we did not play with full confidence during some moments in the game," Wenger said.

Ningting Society will be organising the 3rd Ningting Cham Open Badminton Tournament 2017 at the Indoor Stadium, Tening Town, Peren from April 26 to 28. There will be six categories viz., men’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s singles, women’s doubles, mixed dou-

minton players from all over Nagaland to participate in the tournament. A total cash prize of Rs. 40,000 beside medals and certificates is set aside for the winners and runners-up. For more details, contact - 9402768104, 9402902086.

Admission Notification-2017

RIST REGIONAL INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Approved by AICTE, New Delhi & Affiliated to NEHU, Shillong

B.Tech Courses - 4 Years

Campus View

CSE CIVIL

M i 6 K ahat ly On Guw m fro

EEE ECE MECHANICAL

Eligibility: H.S (10+2) Science or equivalent examination with Physics & Mathematics as compulsory subject along with one of the Chemistry/ Biotechnology / Biology with 45% marks in the above subjects taken together (40% marks for SC/ST/Minority)

Lateral Entry to B.Tech 3rd Sem. for Diploma

Engineers & B.Sc. Students with Maths & Physics Features TEST CENTRE Only Private Engineering College affiliated to Prestigious DIMAPUR & oldest central university of the Region

State of the art labs & infrastructures Competent Faculties Placement support Amenity Centre Hostel facility Shuttle Bus Service 33% Reservation for Girls Special opportunity for the students of Nagaland

Admission through : ERDF CET th

Date of Entrance : 10 June, 2017 Forms & prospectus are available at

Brighton promoted to Premier League

Glenn Murray of Brighton and Hove Albion celebrates with Anthony Knockaert after scoring their first goal. (Reuters)

LONDON, ApriL 18 (reuters): Brighton and Hove Albion were promoted to the Premier League as goals from Glenn Murray and Solly March secured a 2-1 win over Wigan Athletic in the Championship on Monday.

Brighton's rise to the top flight was confirmed after Huddersfield Town were held to a 1-1 draw at Derby County in the late

game.

That result left Brighton on 92 points, seven ahead of Newcastle United and 13 clear of third-placed Reading with four games remaining.

Brighton fans had invaded the pitch at the end of their game to celebrate their return to the top flight after a 34-year absence.

A run of five straight wins came at just the right time for Brighton, who

agonisingly missed out on automatic promotion last season after finishing third and failing to get through the playoffs.

"I’m incredibly proud of the way that they bounced back. To put together the run they have, at this stage of the season, is incredibly difficult, and they deserve every bit of credit," Brighton manager Chris Hughton said.

"I knew we had a group

of lads that were capable of doing it, but being capable of doing it and actually doing it are two different things.

"They’ve been good all season. They’ve bounced back and shown good determination and desire to win as many game as possible. It is a wonderful achievement," he added.

Second-placed Newcastle slumped to a 3-1 loss to Ipswich Town in what has been a disappointing Easter for Rafa Benitez's team who were held to a 1-1 home draw by Leeds United on Friday.

Reading kept up the pressure on Newcastle and are now six points behind them after coming from a goal down to beat bottom side Rotherham United 2-1 thanks to second-half strikes from Lewis Grabban and John Swift.

Fulham defeated Aston Villa 3-1, taking advantage of Leeds's 1-0 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers to climb above them into sixth position and the final playoff spot.

Sheffield Wednesday maintained their playoff

push and are in fifth place on 75 points, two ahead of Fulham, after a 2-1 win at Queens Park Rangers.

DIMAPUR : Sachdeva New PT College, 098627-18448 For Online Submission & Details

visit : www.rist.ac.in Top Recruiters & many more... th

Campus : Techno City, Khanapara, 9 Mile, Baridua, Meghalaya Ph: 0361-2895071/097060-91836/098599-78137, E-mail : rist09@rediffmail.com

Published, Printed and Edited by Dr. Aküm Longchari from House No. 4, Duncan Bosti, Dimapur at Themba Printers and Morung Publications , Padum Pukhuri Village, Dimapur, Nagaland.

RNI No : NAGENG /2005/15430. House No.4, Duncan Bosti, Dimapur 797112, Nagaland. Phone: Dimapur -(03862) 248854, Fax: (03862) 235194, Kohima - (0370) 2291952

For news email: morung@gmail.com and for advertisements and circulation contact: (03862) 248854, Fax-235194 or email : morungad@yahoo.com

PO Reg No. NE/RN-722