April 29th, 2017

C M Y K

www.morungexpress.com

SaturDaY • april 29 • 2017

DIMAPUR • Vol. XII • Issue 115• 12 PAGes • 5

T H e

ESTD. 2005

P o W e R

Let your character be kept up the very end, just as it began, and so be consistent US says “major conflict” with North Korea possible, China warns of danger of escalation

From Chuka: Nagaland’s own Naga Mircha sauce

PAGE 09

reflections

By Sandemo Ngullie

o F

— Horace

KKR scripts facile win over Daredevils

PAGE 02

paGE 12

‘GST will help increase nsDMA encourages building safe Nagaland’s internal revenue’ churches, Mosques and temples Morung Express News Dimapur | April 28

Chizokho Vero Kohima | April 28

Hold it. Which way is this going to fall?

DRDA employees to cease work from today

T R u T H

Several religious leaders representing the Christian, Muslim and Hindu communities in the state capital Kohima today attended a Faith Based Organizations (FBOs) conclave on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) organized by Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority (NSDMA). The conclave was held with an objective to promote a culture of safety in the community.

During the conclave, FBOs were urged to construct safe building for Churches, Mosques and Temple in Nagaland in order to avoid disaster during natural calamities, while they were also appealed to undertake earthquake resistant constructions.

The NSDMA aims to rope in religious leaders to form a unique partnership to build FBOs disaster risk reduction strategies.

This conclave also aims to explore the role of FBOs in disaster mitigation, response and recovery, to augment the strength and potential of FBOs in disaster risk reduction activities within the ambience of the organizations and to search for innovative means of promoting sustainable development.

The NSDMA says that it expects beyond mere political correctness that developing the capability of FBOs leaders will ensure religiously competent disaster response plans and preparedness.

The NSDMA postulates that FBOs fit the conceptual frameworks concerning disaster decision-making as FBOs seek to meet the material, physical, emotional and spiritual needs of

Nagaland Home Commissioner, Abhijit Sinha speaking at the conclave of Faith Based Organisations in Kohima on April 28.

disaster victims. “FBOs have distinct advantages in ministering to the needs of disaster victims and responsibilities in helping their congregation and community prepare for and recover from disaster, provide a larger vision of life that includes emotional and spiritual care as well as physical and material rebuilding and role as a trusted, traditional source of refuge for those in need or in trouble,” it adds.

Nagaland Home Commissioner, Abhijit Sinha asked the FBOs to be aware of what to do and take preventive measure when disaster strikes, adding that they can disseminate information to the masses in the Church, Mosque and Temple.

He said there is no need to panic but people need to be prepared, adding that behavioral changes are needed. Sinha said the number of disasters has been increasing with the increase in population, while climate change is a matter of concern.

Expressing fear that Nagaland would suffer massive casualty even if struck by an earth-

DIMAPUR, APRIL 28 (MExN): DRDA employees of the Nagaland State Rural Development Department, who have not been paid their salaries for the last 10-11 months, today informed that they would embark on a “total cease work” from April 29 onwards till their demands are fulfilled. A press note from the employees stated that it had submitted a representation to the department on April 6, subsequent to their earlier representations during September 2015 and May 2016, asking that their grievances be addressed. It had cautioned that failure to address their demands would compel the employees to resort to a cease work agitation from April 17. The department had subsequently asked the employOur Correspondent ees to wait till April 26, the Kohima | April 28 press note informed. However, it lamented that the A tripartite Memorandum of Underdepartment has still not standing (MoU) was signed in Koaddressed their grievances. hima today between the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the Nagaland State Department of Transport and the International Centre for Automotive Technology for establishment of a vehicle inspection and certification centre at Dimapur.

The primary target of this Centre NEW DELHI, APRIL 28 (PTI): Petty corruption is to ensure that vehicles, especially in India has come down commercial vehicles, are 100 percent sharply, but the total esti- fit to ply on the roads, informed Transmated bribe paid by house- port Commissioner, Elias T Lotha.

A land for setting up of this project holds in last one year for public services — includ- has already been procured at Chuing amounts of as low as Rs mukedima and the civil construction 10 — still stands high at Rs work will take 11 months. Thereafter, 6,350 crore, says a study. Ac- tender will be invited for equipment cording to CMS-Indian Cor- and operation of the project for two ruption Study (CMS-ICS) years.

Ashish Kumar, Project Manager, 2017, around 1/3 households experienced corrup- I&C, ICAT told media persons that tion in public services at once the Centre is put in place, all least once during the last commercial vehicles must go for inone year, while in 2005, 53 spection and verification compulsopercent households had re- rily.

Each year nearly one million peoported so. Only 43% of the households surveyed in ple die worldwide in traffic accidents; 2017 opined that the level of approximately 23-24 million people corruption in public services suffer injuries. During period of 1986has risen during the last one 1995 the road traffic toll in Asia alone year, while 73% respondents had increased by 40%.

“The precarious situation of road had perceived increase in corruption level in public worthiness also affects. Unfortunateservices in 2005. The study ly, at present, there is no awareness said that the decline in cor- of this problem’s size and danger in ruption is significant in case many countries and there is an urgent of some public services such need to find out sustainable solution as police and judicial servic- to this situation,” the MoU note stated.

An increasing number of vehicles es, when compared to 2005 levels. Total amount paid by in developing countries like India are households across 20 states not in roadworthy state. Poor mainand 10 public services as tenance and servicing of old in use bribe, is estimated to be Rs vehicles not only damages the envi6,350 crore in 2017 as against ronment but also poses great safety hazard on road. The compliance with Rs 20,500 crore in 2005.

quake of small magnitude, he said, knowing about disaster and managing it is more important.

In this, he urged the FBOs to learn about disaster risk reduction and management and create awareness within their respective members to mitigate disaster during natural calamities.

Commissioner & Secretary for NSDMA, Khrienuo Metha talked about the increase in storms and other disaster cases, as result of industrialization and deforestation. Stating that humanity would need to adapt to nature, she called upon FBOs to come forward and together bring a comprehensive policy and bring disaster risk reduction.

Johnny Ruangmei, OSD, NSDMA asked the FBOs to stay prepared, adding that they will not succeed in managing a disaster if they are not prepared. When building a house, build it safe, he said, adding that it must also ensure how safe is the church, temple and mosque when disaster strikes.

He also said that there needs to be evacuation plans in the

Church, Mosque, Temple, adding that a plastic free Church, Mosque, Temple is also required, further encouraging the use of degradable materials and proper maintenance of drainage systems.

“We should have strict disaster management policies,” said Shenili Chishi, reigning 2nd runners-up Miss Nagaland, who also spoke in the conclave.

She stated that disaster management policies should be an integral part of government planning. This, she said, will help undertake rescue operations with the help of the trained personnel, provide programmes which will include construction of schools, hospitals and other infrastructure facilities, coordinate with other relevant departments like donor agencies to obtain funds and other resources to overcome a disaster and finally help to take-pre-emptive actions to avert a disaster or to minimize losses.

“Let us all stay updated, alert, vigilant, not only to protect ourselves but also to save lives of many others,” Chishi added.

Parliamentary Secretary for Taxes and CAWD, Dr Benjongliba Aier today said the implementation of Goods & Services Tax (GST) would bring in a number of benefits for Nagaland including substantial revenue gain for the state, which has always been dependent on central grants and aids.

“This is very important since the state must find ways to increase its internal revenue generation which will boost the ability of the state to spend on developmental works. The state will get additional power to levy and collect tax on services”, the Parliamentary Secretary said.

Aier was addressing an awareness campaign on GST jointly organized by Commissioner of Central Excise & Service Tax, Government of India, Shillong, and Commissioner of Taxes, Government of Nagaland, here at Town Hall on Friday.

Aier also said with the advent of GST, cascading of tax due to multiple layers of taxes would be comprehensively eliminated leading to a fall in the cost production, resulting in traders and industry having more working capital, as seamless input tax credit for the tax paid on previous purchases would be made available.

GST would also benefit consumers in the long run as after elimination of tax cascading, the production cost would fall which in turn would lead to fall of prices in general.

The Parliamentary Secretary further said GST would boost the overall efficiency of the tax system in the state. He said the GST would be supported by a robust IT system which would significantly induce prompt compliance by all the stakeholders and also bring about transparency.

“Added to all these will be the

efficient movement of goods.

Goods will arrive much faster since transit time will be drastically cut due to removal of commercial tax check post barriers”, Aier said.

Additional Chief Secretary and Commissioner Nagaland, Temjen Toy, in his address dismissed apprehensions that introduction of GST in Nagaland state would have negative consequences and argued that on the contrary the state would be able to generate more internal revenue since GST is “destination based tax.” The commissioner said if Nagaland chose to opt out of GST, the state would not be able to garner any internal revenue as no goods or manufacturer would be able to come to Nagaland.

Toy reminded that presently the state government’s internal revenue is hardly enough to pay two month’s salary of its employees.

The Chief Commissioner, Central Excise, Custom & Service Tax, Shilling Zone, SK Panda, meanwhile highlighted the salient features of the GST including benefits to the economy, tax payers, boosting of foreign investment and export and creating a common national market.

Commissioner of Taxes, Nagaland, Asangba Chuba, in his power point presentation said the GST is a game changer for the Indian economy and said states like Nagaland, which are by and large a consumer state, stand a lot to gain as they would receive tax from manufacturers and traders outside the state.

Asangba informed that for smooth transition to GST, the state Taxes Department has fully geared itself to conduct and organize awareness campaigns, workshops, hands on training, walk-in training, mobile support team in all districts to assist the business and trading communities.

MoU signed to set up vehicle inspection CM gave no assurance to provide fund: NFHRCC & certification centre for Nagaland State

Corruption on the decline in India, claims survey

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limits or standards of vehicles exhaust emissions for air quality improvement purpose is directly dependent on the implementation and enforcement of effective vehicle inspection system. Due to the rapid increase in public means of transportation, the improvement of vehicle performance capability and servicing becomes an ever increasing urgency.

“An effective air pollution control and thus, a decrease of vehicles emissions, improvement of roadworthiness can be achieved by the implementation of an effective vehicle inspection system.

The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways therefore proposes to set up one model Inspection & Certification Centre in each state/UT with central assistance,” the MoU stated.

Even though the new technology vehicles meeting stringent emission and safety standards are introduced in the market, there are still a lot old vehicles operating on the roads.

“With the increase in vehicle population, it is essential to ensure that the in use vehicles, which are on road, meet the safety and emission requirements for safe and environmental friendly situation,” it said, adding that vehicle Inspection & Certification programme is an effective tool to improve the condition of the in-use vehicle fleet.

The Central Government will provide funding to the State Government or any other agency deputed by the State Government for establishment of I&C centre which includes planning, construction of building establishment of utilities etc.

After two years of operation of the supplier of the equipment, the State Government can run the Centre with its own manpower and resources, or can identify a prospective centre operator through public bidding for establishment of the Centre.

DIMAPUR, APRIL 28 (MExN): The Nagaland Foothill Road Coordination Committee (NFHRCC) met the Nagaland State Chief Minister on April 27 to discuss the ongoing Foothill Road project.

A press note from the NFHRCC General Secretary, WY Kithan informed that during the meeting, the Chief Minister explained to the committee members the financial position of the state, and that due to “change of planning commission to

Niti Ayog, many of the central funding agencies have stopped funding and the ongoing central projects were badly affected.”

Further pointing out that Nagaland has very limited revenue generation, the NFHRCC reported the CM as stating that “he is not in a position to provide fund for the Foothill Road project and no assurance to provide fund since our state is having very high liabilities due to the change of funding pattern at

the central government.”

The NFHRCC added that the CM however acknowledged the importance of the Foothill Road project and “assured that he would convene a meeting for the Foothill Road Project and the outcome of the meeting will be intimated to the committee.”

The NFHRCC updated the CM on the progress of the tracing/formation cutting and the progress of the Doyang Bridge construction.

Some committee members

also urged the CM to make funds available for the ongoing road project.

Earlier during the meeting, the NFHRCC apprised the CM of the formation of the committee and the CM had lauded the NFHRCC’s “landmark resolutions,” the press note informed. The meeting was attended by the CM, along with his advisors and the Commissioner and Secretary attached to the CM, and the committee members.

Nagaland: Increase in violence against women

DIMAPUR, APRIL 28 (MExN): The Superintendent of Police, Kohima, Joseph Hesso (IPS) today said there has been an increase in the incidences of violence against women in Nagaland State.

He was speaking at the consultative meeting organized by the Kohima Police Department and the State Resource Centre for Women (One Stop Centre & Women Helpline 181) on April 28 at the Office of the Superintendent of Police, Kohima. A press note from the State Resource Centre for Women said that the meeting was held with the objective to strengthen convergence mechanism for addressing Violence against Women.

Giving an overview of the present status of violence against women in Nagaland, the Kohima SP informed that in 2015, 23 cases of crimes against women were reported; in 2016, the number rose to 24, and at present for 2017, 5 cases have been reported.

He informed that the highest number of such cases involved rape, molestation, kidnapping, attempt to murder, and human trafficking propagated through the medium of modern technology. He shared that the police strives to ensure confidentiality of the victim so that she is not further victim-

ized. Hesso also informed that in 2016, the Women Police Station was inaugurated, which will cater exclusively to the needs of women.

The Centre Administrator of the OSC, Kohima, Vikhoriano Meru, gave a presentation on the inception and functioning on the OSC, Kohima, a scheme to provide integrated service for victims of violence under one roof.

The Women Helpline Manager, Lanurenla Imchen briefed the gathering on the working of the 181 which provides 24x7 toll free service to women in distress. Lanurenla and Repabenla Longkumer, Case Workers, OSC Kohima, presented on the legal rights of women. Toli K Assumi, Counselor, OSC Kohima, and Visekolie Noel Khate, Call Responder, WHL – 181, presented on the importance of psycho-social support in dealing with victims of violence against women.

The challenges and way forward were deliberated at length where the participants shared their experiences.

The need for upgrading the forensic lab in the state was reiterated as a means for a more efficient and quicker delivery of justice.

The need to have a State Protective Home and rehabilitation centre to ca-

ter to victims of human trafficking was also discussed. One major difficulty expressed was the lack of services for the mentally challenged. While emphasizing the importance of sensitization of police personnel and the public on the issue of gender based violence, the SP Kohima, assured the support of the Police Department.

The sessions were chaired by Gracy Ayee, State Coordinator, State Resource Centre for Women, (SRCW).

She emphasized on the need to strengthen collaborative effort in achieving the common goal of addressing gender based violence. She stressed on the roles and responsibilities of the converging departments, i.e., the Department of Social Welfare, Department of Health & Family Welfare, Home Department and the Department of Law & Justice/ State Legal Services Authority, laid down in the guidelines for effectively implementing Sakhi- One Stop Centres (OSC) and Women Helpline (WHL) -181.

The OSC & WHL are schemes initiated by the Ministry of Women & Child Development, GoI, and SRCW is the nodal agency to implement it in the State. Two OSC’s have been established in Dimapur and Kohima.

SaturDaY 29•04•2017

NAGALAND

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THE MORUNG EXPRESS

inaugurates Atmospheric From Chuka: Nagaland’s own Naga Mircha sauce RUSA Science Research Lab at West Bengal

Seriously Hot Sauce Naga Mircha of Chuka Brand

A perfect offering for all chilli aficionados, it isn’t for the faint hearted

A view of the pre-processing unit of Naga Mircha sauce located at Intuma, Peren District. (Photo Courtesy/ Sentinaro Alley)

Morung Express News | Dimapur, April 28

F

or all fiercely devoted chilli heads, here is a perfect offering from Nagaland’s own stable you won’t want to resist. Fresh off the shelf, a Naga Mircha sauce of Chuka brand- “Seriously Hot Sauce” is tickling the taste buds of chilli aficionados for all the right scourging reasons.

This sensational hot sauce contains Naga Mircha blended with vinegar, ginger, onion, garlic and salt- no artificial preservatives, all natural ingredients and very much organic- to give a well-rounded flavor guaranteed to dare anyone’s adventurous streak.

The aroma of the Naga Mircha, which is the raison d'être for all the madness over this fiery chilli is not lost in the offering and retain as its most distinct flavor. While there are countless of Raja Mircha or King Chilli (other names for Naga Mircha) pickles in the market, this is the first instance of sauce offering bottled and marketed from Nagaland.

At a time when Naga Mircha sauce are produced and imported from very ambitious international and national companies across the globe, Chuka, a local brand owned

by Roots Cooperative Society, and distributed by Zatara Marketing in Dimapur endeavors to give the deserved value addition to Nagaland’s own Agro products.

“Our main objective is to bring one product synonymous to Nagaland, and hence this Naga Mircha sauce,”

DB Customary Court Sungro inaugurated

SDO (C) Sanis, Nchumbemo inaugurates the DB Customary Court Sungro on April 27. (DIPR Photo)

SuNgro, april 28 (Dipr): SDO (C) Sanis, Nchumbemo inaugurated the DB Customary Court Sungro on April 27. Addressing during the inaugural function the SDO (C) encouraged the gathering to respect the customary court as it is the highest court in Sungro Range, he also advised the people of the range to extend co-operation with the DBs of Sungro range who in return will

be able to deliver justice.

Short speeches were also delivered by EAC Lotsu, DB of Sanis and Sungro, representatives from all six villages under Sungro attended the programme. Renpi Ngullie, contractor also shared a brief history about the construction of the building.

The function was chaired

by EAC Aitepyong Er Imli Akum while vote of thanks was proposed by Head DB Sungro Mhonrao Kikon.

Preprocessing at tening

Farmer's basket

Sentinaro Alley, chairperson of Roots Cooperative Society said. The Nagaland Department of Horticulture has already registered the Geographical Indication (GI) of “Naga Mircha” with origin in Nagaland.

The chillis are exported from far flung villages in Peren district, the largest grower of Naga Mircha in Nagaland.

The Peren chillies are also dubbed as the hottest and more fragrant from among all the Naga Mircha grown in the state and outside.

Alley explains that the exceptional thing of this Naga Mircha sauce of Chuka brand is that all the pre-processing, blending and packaging is done by women and made only in small batches to maintain freshness.

The Roots Cooperative Society has roped in two SHGs namely Kakung and Wissan from Tening town and Intuma village for the pre-processing as well as for their live-

lihood activity by installing two pre-processing plants.

The pre-finished produce are transported to Indisen, Dimapur where another group of women work on the final processing and packaging.

“Our objective is not only about sell and earn; we continually aspire to give equal importance to providing livelihood to Naga farmers and for empowering women, Alley pointed out as one particular reason why the Society had set the two pre-processing plants in Peren- as means of providing additional economic inputs to the women farmers.

The “Seriously Hot Sauce, Naga Mircha” has rolled out in the markets since April, 2017. One tiny bottle of 60ml which comes with a price tag of Rs 100 has more than a million Scoville in the heat department.

Strictly to be taken as a food additive, it isn’t for the faint hearted.

Kohima, april 28 (mExN): Under the Nagaland state RUSA (Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan) - Research & Innovation project, an Atmospheric Science Research Laboratory was jointly inaugurated by Parliamentary Secretary for Higher & Technical Education, Deo Nukhu and Minister of Statistics and Program Implementation, West Bengal, Aashis Banerjee, on April 19 at Rampurhat College, West Bengal.

Kohima Science College, Jotsoma is the lead institute for the project, housing a dedicated Atmospheric Science Research Center to promote interdisciplinary research amongst the faculty members of various colleges in the state. The state project is funded by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) Govt. of India under the National Higher Education Mission popularly known as RUSA. The research laboratory at Rampurhat College is a part of the network of research stations over the North Eastern and Eastern part of India under the project.

The laboratory consists of a Disdrometer to measure the rain drop size distribution, an automatic recording fast response rain gauge to measure the rainfall accumulation and rain intensity, an EFM-350, to measure the electric field of the prevailing convective clouds and LD350 to monitor the lightning occurrence, both cloud to ground and intra cloud lightning.

The Principal, Rampurhat College also the Investigator of the project outlined the rationale behind the setting up a research laboratory at Rampurhat College by citing a strong regional variability in the properties of convective cloud systems over the northeastern and eastern part of the country.

In his address, Deo Nukhu emphasized on the need for a front ranking research at the regional level in the study of severe weather conditions and its changing patterns in the context of prevailing global warming scenario.

The Minister of Statistics and Program Implementation, West Bengal, Aashis Banerjee meanwhile assured all the support to make the collaborative research project a successful mission. Prof. Animesh Maitra, Chairman Research Advisory Committee, RUSA (Research & Innovation) Project, Nagaland complimented the Department of Higher Education, Government of Nagaland for supporting the collaborative project of this magnitude under the RUSA programme.

Dr. Arindam Sinha, Associate Prof. Rampurhat College proposed the vote of thanks. Prof. Animesh Maitra, Calcutta University, Kolkata, Prof. Srimanta Pal, Indian Statistical Institute Kolkata, Dr. I. Anungla Aier, Principal Kohima Science College, Jotsoma, Menuokholie Kire, State Project Director RUSA, Nagaland and Dr. Sanjay Sharma, Principal Investigator of State RUSA (Research & Innovation) Project also attended the programme.

Imchen Kidong Mungdang clan celebrates Golden Jubilee Morung Express News Mangmetong | April 28

The Imchen Kidong Mungdang (Imchen Clan Union) commemorated its 50th anniversary at Mangmetong village which was attended by about three hundred delegates from different Ao villages here today.

The Golden Jubilee celebration - which started from April 27 evening – was held on the theme ‘Penliro’ which roughly translates as ‘envisioning or towards the future’. During the conference, the history and the one ancestor of Imchen clan, his descendants, their migration over the whole Ao country was narrated by different elders and discussed at the programme.

Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Imkong L Imchen, who also spoke at the last session of the jubilee programme, underscored the unity and fraternity among the clansmen and expressed hope that the

(Left) Womenfolk of Imchenlar Telongjem, Mangmetong presents a special number during the Golden Jubilee celebration of Imchen Kidong Mungdang at Mangmetong village on April 28. (Right) Minister for Forest, Environment & Climate Change, Imkong L Imchen. (Morung Photo)

Union was established for that purpose also.

Underscoring the need to research the origin, history and chronology for clearly understanding ones roots, the minister said that the Imchen clan researching their own history ought to also accept the history of other clans. In the same vein, he said that others should also accept the research undertaken by the Imchen clan to assert their own ancestral lineage

passed down through the ages.

He hoped that everybody would take the Imchen clan’s in the right perspective otherwise it would be quite unfortunate. Moreover, he encouraged the fraternity among the Imchen clansmen and the love they shared among each other and asked them to continue the love among the clan though they may belong to different villages.

Meanwhile, the Im-

chen Kidong Mungdang also adopted a five point resolution: the first resolution stated that Mungdang resolves to print the book about the migration of Imchen clan from Chungliyimti which was entrusted to a research committee.

The office-bearers were empowered to rope in suitable persons so as to hasten the publication of the book.

Secondly, as resolved in the previous conference, the Imchen Kidong Mung-

dang resolved to facilitate history, their origin and migration of the Ao Mongsen before reaching Chungliyimti; the Mungdang resolved to render help in any manner towards that end.

The Mungdang also resolved to expedite the pending second edition of the book about the (Ao) Mongsen clan’s origin and lineage.

The Mungdang resolved to conserve and preserve the biodiversity and

also resolved to construct a “Imchen Riju” (Imchen’s Hall) at Mokokchung town.

Meanwhile, the main speaker of the conference was Associate pastor KABA, Sentisashi Aier. Ex-MLA Nungsangyapang Aier exhorted the delegates, while elders – Watitemjen Imchen, Nungsangwati Aier and Bendangsangba Aier – narrated about the history and lineage of the descendents of Tsungremchang at the programme.

Modi walking on elusive Naga peace: New book released Morung Express News Kohima | April 28

The Morung Express extends our heartfelt condolences to our friend and colleague, Nepuni Piku, whose father Kaisii Adahrii passed away at the age of 86 years on April 28, 2017 in Dimapur.

In this time of profound sadness may you and your family find strength and comfort knowing that he had a full life.

In kindred spirit and with prayers

A book ‘Modi walking on elusive Naga peace’ written by Journalist Oken Jeet Sandham was released

by Kiyaneilie Peseyie, Minister for Social Security & Welfare at Hotel Japfü on April 28.

Written after the author witnessed Modi’s ‘inability to move forward with what he had announced’ while also mentioning that the Naga leaders continue to be “tolerant enough”, the book aims to provide insights on the Naga political issue in its current stage. Oken Jeet in his speech noted how outsiders have a narrow outlook about Nagas, therefore he urged the need for Nagas to write their own history and their own stories.

“It is, We, who have to write our history. It is, we, who have to tell our story to the rest of the world. We are capable to do that,” said Santham who also mentioned about how books written about Nagas have left out significant issues.

Making a mention of the various events in Naga political history, Santham asserted that incidents and events such as the Naga plebiscite are remarkable pieces of Naga history, further adding

Minister Kiyaneilie Peseyie (second from right) with the author Oken Jeet Sandham (third from right) during the release of the book event held on April 28. (Morung Photo)

that as a writer he hopes to contribute to the solution of Naga political issue through the book.

While acknowledging the dynamism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sandham was critical of Modi’s knowledge on the Naga political issue mentioning that Modi ‘lacks knowledge in the history of the Naga political issue’ and that ‘Modi and his cabinet colleagues are making a mockery of the Nagas’.

In his speech, Kiyaneilie Peseyie mentioned how the book reminded and deepened ‘our

conscience towards finding lasting and permanent solution to the long drawn out Indo-Naga political issue’ and impressed on the need to analyse the history of the Naga political movement, the sequence of political developments, accords, political talks, etc.

Peseyie also lauded the Journalist for writing the book which is ‘as current as the present Indo-Naga peace process that will give not only an insight to the Naga people as well as the leaderships of this country but also a treasure for the future generations.

A prayer was invoked by Pastor Melhite Kenye and the programme was chaired by Vishü Rita Krocha. Anenla Jamir in a short speech mentioned that the book is critical and analytical which she hoped will enhance the knowledge for all Nagas.

Priced at Rs. 600, the book will be available in leading bookstores in the State.

Oken Jeet Sandham currently the Editor of North East Press Service (NEPS), an independent news service agency based in Kohima, Nagaland.

saturday 29•04•2017

NORTH-EAST 3

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Assam's two-child norm in draft policy 'unnecessary', 'anti-women'

KolKata, april 28 (iaNS): Assam's suggestion of implementing a two-child policy is not only "unnecessary" but is also "anti-women" and "antipoor", says an expert.

"Assam's total fertility rate (TFR) at 2.2 is not too far from India's replacement level fertility, which is 2.1.

Therefore, the suggestion of implementing a two-child policy would not only be unnecessary but also grossly severe," Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director, Population Foundation of India, told IANS over email.

"In the past, in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh when the law in these states debarred women with more than two children from contesting panchayat elections, we saw an increase in sex-selective abortions, women being deserted, and women giving their children up for adoption," she said.

Muttreja said the policy is "a violation of a couple's prerogative to a rightsbased approach to family planning, and indicates that numbers matter more than people do".

She said this proposed method of family planning based on disincentives and incentives is "anti-women, anti-poor, compromises human rights, and also India's commitment to a rights-based approach to family planning".

Barring the two-child norm, she said, Assam's draft population policy is "progressive" and focuses on increasing the age of marriage and making education free till the university level.

"These measures will lower the TFR without coercion or discrimination," Muttreja said.

Replacement level fertility is the level of fertility at which a population exactly replaces itself from

one generation to the next.

In developed countries, replacement level fertility can be taken as requiring an average of 2.1 children per woman.

Long-term impacts of restrictive policies, like China's 'one-child policy', could lead to skewed demographics. In 2015 China scrapped its infamous 35-year-old one-child policy.

Muttreja pointed out the country is in the midst of a population crisis.

"The long-term impact of such a restrictive policy includes skewed demographics, gender imbalance, increasing age dependency, and shrinking age of working population," she said.

Moreover, studies have shown that the reduction in the fertility rate in China might not necessarily have been because of the onechild policy.

"The overall develop-

ment of the country during that time increased the income and education levels of the people, thereby contributing to lower birth rates," she said.

Citing examples of Kerala and neighbouring Sri Lanka, Muttreja batted for introduction of non-coercive policy measures.

The National Family Health Survey 4 revealed a 12.9 per cent gap in the availability of modern methods of contraception and other family planning services.

"The government can focus on raising awareness about modern contraceptives and spacing methods, while also making these services available and accessible to all. Family planning services have a direct impact on improving maternal mortality and child mortality, ensuring that the population is stable and healthy," she added.

Four Congress MLAs join BJP in Manipur imphal, april 28 (iaNS): The BJP's strength in the Manipur assembly rose to 28 on Friday after four more Congress MLAs and the Trinamool Congress' lone legislator joined the ruling party.

"It shows that more and more elected representatives now trust Narendra Modi's leadership and the developmental works undertaken by him," an upbeat Chief Minister N. Biren Singh said.

In yet another blow to

the Congress, four more of its MLAs joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday. Two Congress MLAs had joined it earlier.

The four who went over to the BJP on Friday were Y. Surchandra, Ngamthang Haokip, O. Lukhoi and S. Bira.

Chief Minister N. Biren Singh and Manipur BJP president K. Bhabanada felicitated them at the party office.

The Trinamool Congress in Manipur also merged with the BJP on Fri-

day. Accordingly, its lone MLA, Robindro Singh, is now a BJP legislator, taking its strength in the 60-member house to 28.

T. Shyamkumar was the first Congress MLA to join the BJP after the assembly elections. He was sworn in as a cabinet minister on March 15.

Another MLA, Ginsuanhau Zou, followed him.

In the March election, the Congress, which was then in power, bagged 28 seats to finish as the single largest group.

But the BJP, which secured 21 seats, joined hands with other parties to form the government.

State Congress President T.N. Haokip said: "Things have changed after the election. Friends have become foes. There is nothing called principle or ideology. Those who crossed the floor are not afraid of disqualification."

Meanwhile, Speaker Y. Khemchand is examining two petitions seeking disqualification of Shyamkumar and Zou.

Chakma, Hajong communities cannot be given ST status: Rijiju itaNaGar, april 28 (pti): Union minister Kiren Rijiju has said Chakma and Hajong communities cannot be granted Scheduled Tribe status in Arunachal Pradesh.

"The issue of Chakma and Hajong is very sensitive and we cannot grant them Schedule Tribe status in Arunachal Pradesh.

I have also filed an affidavit in

Supreme Court on the matter" the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs said.

On the issue he would do his best in his capacity at the central level, Rijiju said at the two-day state executive meeting of the BJP yesterday.

On the Assam-Arunachal boundary issues, Rijiju said that he had already written to the ministry con-

cerned and chief ministers of both Assam and Arunachal Pradesh should come forward with an amicable solution.

He also said that the construction of a four-lane NH-415 would soon be a reality and for that the central government had already assured to provide an extra package, a party release said here today.

Sonowal discusses energy programme with IGEN Guwahati, april 28 (pti): Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today held a discussion with Indo-German Energy Programme officials here today to boost the state's power sector.

IGEN is German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development's initiative for carrying out viable energy security programmes in developing countries.

As providing stable

power supply and reducing loss in transmission are prime objectives of his government, Sonowal said German expertise and technical know how in this regard would be of immense value for ensuring electrification in rural areas of the state.

Explaining the functioning model of IGEN, its Director Winfried Damm said the India now consumes more than 6,600 terawatt-hours (TWh) of

energy per year, but its per capita electricity consumption of around 1,000 kWh is less than one seventh of that of industrialised countries.

This creates considerable challenges in all areas of society and in rural and urban regions, he said.

IGEN also offered to set up one photovoltaic thermal project in Guwahati for demonstrating the effectiveness of the plant to which then chief minister

readily agreed and directed Chief Secretary V K Pipersenia to identify a suitable location for it.

Mizoram to ban animal import amid health issues aizawl, april 28 (iaNS): Mizoram has A cache of ammunition being examined by police at Moreh, a commercial hub located in the Indo-Myanmar border in Teng- banned the import of pigs noupal district of Manipur. The expired bullets and 18 explosives were dug out by construction workers today while working and cattle from Myanmar, on the construction of walls of an educational institute in Moreh town today.

Bangladesh and northeastern Indian states amid fears of a viral disease, an official said on Friday.

"We have asked District Magistrates to take suitable BalijaN, april 28 steps to stop import of cat(mExN): As part of its Cortle and pigs from Myanmar, porate Social ResponsibilBangladesh and adjoining ity programme, the Balijan north-eastern states," an Youth Club visited Juna Animal Husbandry and Memorial English School, Veterinary Department ofRai Bosti, Karagaon Karbi ficial said.

Anglong on April 28 during He said the order was which the Club distributed stationeries to the school issued following reports children. from certain parts of the The President of the state that pigs and piglets club in his interaction were getting infected with with the Headmaster of the dreaded Porcine Rethe School informed that the club will cover all the border belt areas under its Jurisdiction and hear their problems and grievances, a LOOKING FOR the children/guardians press release informed.

CAREGIVERS Such programmes will know about Right To EduMountain View Christian College, Kohima be carried out in the com- cation – a fundamental AFFILIATED TO NAGALAND UNIVERSITY Looking for two ing months in order to let right of every child.

Near BSF Camp. Below ATI Office: Kohima caregivers (female) for

Balijan Youth Club visits school

Contact No : 0370-2280071/9856974717 ARTS AND COMMERCE

Classes 11&12 B.A (Gen) B.A(Hons)

Admission fee Installment 5500 3000 quarterly 6500 3100 quarterly 6800 3200 quarterly

Hostel Monthly fee - 3500 Post Vacant: Political Science, Tenyidie (Part Time)

Fernwood School, Kohima Agri Forest Colony

Issuing of Registration forms and Prospectus for CI-11 (Eleven) Arts is going on. Interested candidates can collect during school hours.

Subjects offered1. English (Compulsory) 2. Alt Eng/Tenyidie 3. History 4. Political Science 5. Sociology 6 Economics.

elderly mother.

Place : Mokokchung Salary : Negotiable Interested caregivers may call 9402993006

INTERVIEW AT DBYC, ITANAGAR FOR ADMISSION TO: *DE PAUL INTERNATIONAL RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL & COLLEGE, MYSORE. Classes V to XII (ICSE) & Graduation.

Contact: 9436062834

St. Joseph’s College Jakhama Post Box No. 39, Kohima, Nagaland – 797 001 1. Applications are invited for the post of Lecturer in the following subjects:

(i) Botany (ii) Chemistry (v) Sociology (iii) Economics (iv) English (vi) Management Qualification: Minimum 55% marks at the P.G. level (SC / ST Candidates 50%).

Preference will be given to those who have cleared the NET/M Phil./PhD. For Management, minimum qualification is MBA or equivalent degree.

Applications with full bio-data must reach the undersigned on or before 5th May 2017.

Selected candidates will be called for an interview.

Principal

E-mail – stjosephc@gmail.com Phone :9436437544

productive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) and swine fever.

PRRS hit Mizoram in 2013, resulting in the death of over 3,000 pigs and piglets, and more than 4,000 last year.

The government has ordered a ban on sale of all domestic animals from other villages within and outside the disease-affected districts in Mizoram.

The government has

also asked people not to sell or consume pork and cattle meat in disease-affected and adjoining areas.

Mizos are traditionally fond of animal meat, especially pork.

Mizoram shares an unfenced border of 404 km with Myanmar and 318 km with Bangladesh, providing smugglers an opportunity to illegally bring in animals, drugs, arms and ammunition.

THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT

(THE HIGH COURT OF ASSAM: NAGALAND: MIZORAM & ARUNACHAL PRADESH) KOHIMA BENCH

NO.HC(K)01/2016/e-courts-phase II/01/746/:: Dated Kohima, the 27th April, 2017

CORRIGENDUM NOTICE With reference to the open tender notice No.HC(K)01/2016/e-courts phase II/694/Dated Kohima, the 24th April, 2017, the following changes has been effected.

1. Specification of Duplex Printer stands corrected as follows: Feature Specification Description Printing Technology Monocrome Laser Printing Duplex Printing Auto Duplex with Ubuntu 14.04 Driver support for Duplex Simplex Printing Speed(A4) 25 ppm or above First Print Out Time 8 seconds or less Resolution 60x60 dpi or better Paper Tray Capacity 250 pages Output Tray Capacity 100 pages Paper Type Plain Paper, Heavy Paper, Transparency, Label, Index Card, Envelop Duplex Printing A4 / Letter / Legal RAM 64 MB or more Interface USB 2.0 Hi-speed or more 10/100 Base-T Ethernet (Network) Operating System Drivers to be Ubuntu 14.04 and later Windows Vista and later including Windows 8 (all 32 and 64 bit both) provided for Duty Cycle Power Requirement Energy Certification Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Product Warranty A. Yield per Toner Cartridge B. Whether Toner cartridge & Drum Integrated C. Whether Cartridge refillable

10000 pages AC 220-240V (±10%), 50/60Hz(±2Hz) Energy Star (EPA) ver 5.0/BEE India Star ver 1 OEM Manufacturer or its authorised dealers with OEM Manufacturer Authorisation only to bid 5 Years Comprehensive warranty including all parts except toner Cartridge with on site support Bidder to give details

2. In Anexure II eligibility criteria of tender No. HC(K)01/2016e-courts Phase II T-05, No. HC(K)01/2016e-courts Phase II T-06, No. HC(K)01/2016e-courts Phase II T-07, No. HC(K)01/2016e-courts Phase II T-08, stands corrected as under item No. 3 is hereby relaxed as requested by the participating vendors.

Sd/- (MRS. Y. LONGKUMER), NJS, Registrar-Cum Central Project Coordinator, Gauhati High Court Kohima Bench.

4

saturdaY 29•04•2017

business

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

World’s 2nd richest man bets on India Jeff Bezos says Amazon will keep investing in tech, infra New Delhi, April 28 (pTi): The world’s second richest man also highlighted that “Amazon. in is the most visited and the fastest growing marketplace in India.”

(Reuters) Global e-commerce major Amazon will keep investing in the Indian market to strengthen technology and infrastructure as it looks to overtake local rival Flipkart. The US-based company has already committed investments to the tune of $5 billion in India.

“Our India team is moving fast and delivering for customers and sellers… It’s still day 1 for e-commerce in India, and I assure you that we’ll keep investing in technology and infrastructure,” Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said in a statement.

The world’s second richest man also highlighted that “Amazon.in is the most visited and the fastest growing marketplace in India.” Amazon, which entered India in 2013, has been locked in an intense battle with Tiger Globalbacked Flipkart for leadership in the Indian market.

Jeff Bezos, Ceo and founder of Amazon, speaks at the introduction of the new Amazon Kindle Fire Hd and Kindle Paperwhite personal devices, in santa Monica, Calif. (AP File Photo)

The comments assume significance as Amazon has seen losses in the international business pile up nearly four-fold to $481 million, primarily due to high spending in India. Amazon has been aggressively investing in setting up fulfilment centres across the country to ensure speedy delivery to consumers. It currently has 34 such warehouses across 10 Indian states.

With Flipkart’s recent fund raise of $1.4 billion from Tencent, Microsoft and eBay, the competition is set to intensify further in the coming days as the Bengaluru-based firm would also pump in money to strengthen operations and woo customers with offers. Bezos highlighted that Amazon’s team in India has increased ‘Prime’ (which offers fast ship-

ping and video streaming to members) selection by 75 per cent since launching the programme nine months ago.

Also, the fulfillment capacity for sellers has been ramped up by 26 per cent already this year and the ‘Fire TV Stick’ been launched to enhance the experience for customers. Amazon, however, did not break out its investment in India.

The Seattle-based company’s sales jumped 23 per cent to USD 35.7 billion, while net income rose 41 per cent to USD 724 million in January-March quarter from the year-ago period.

Amazon reported an operating loss of USD 481 million for its international business during the March quarter, compared to an operating loss of USD 121 million in the year-ago period.

International business accounts for 31 per cent of the sales mix, while 59 per cent is derived from North America and 10 per cent from Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Amazon generated operating income of USD 596 million from North America operations, while that from AWS was at USD 890 million in the said quarter.

Indian demand for gold seen higher ahead of key festival MUMBAi/BeNgAlUrU, April 28 (reUTers): Demand for gold in India was seen higher ahead of an auspicious day for gold purchases on Friday compared to last year, with lower prices also acting as a catalyst. “Sentiment is very good in the market. Jewellers are reporting higher footfalls,” Somasundaram PR, head of the India unit of the World Gold Council, told Reuters, adding he expected sales to show double-digit growth over the same day last year.

Gold prices were up to 3.7% lower on Akshaya Tritiya, the second-biggest goldbuying occasion in India after Dhanteras, which falls in October-November. “Sales could be 20-25% higher than last year. Bullion dealers and retailers were well stocked in advance and we are looking for very good sales in jewellery as well as coins,” said Chirag Thakkar, a director at gold wholesaler Amrapali Group in the western Indian

city of Ahmedabad.

Bouyant demand from the world’s second-biggest consumer could support global prices, which are up about 10%so far this year. Dealers in India were charging a premium of up to $1.50 an ounce this week over official domestic prices, compared with a premium of $1.00 last week.

Domestic prices of gold include a 10% import tax.

Two-thirds of gold demand in India comes from villages, where investment in jewellery is seen as a hedge in times of distress.

“Demand has improved

from rural areas due to good monsoon rains (last year),” said a Mumbai-based dealer with a private bank. In top consumer China, premiums rose to around $8-$10 an ounce over the international benchmark, from $3$4 an ounce last week.

“The demand in China continues to be stable. We saw huge gold imports as banks wanted to cash in on the premiums,” a Shanghaibased banker said. China’s net-gold imports via main conduit Hong Kong more than doubled monthon-month in March, data showed on Tuesday.

7th Pay Commission: Lavasa panel on Altrura Daily Market at Chumukedima inaugurated allowances submits report to Jaitley New Delhi, April 28 (AgeNcies): A high-level committee headed by Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa, tasked with examining the Seventh Central Pay Commission’s (7th CPC) recommendations on allowances, submitted its report to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday.

The report will now be examined by an empowered group of secretaries after which it will be taken up by the Union Cabinet, said a senior government official. The outlay for allowances for the 4.7 million central government employees is expected to be around Rs 29,000 crore, as forecast by the pay panel.

In June last year, after implementing the CPC proposals on salary and pension, Jaitley had announced the Lavasa panel to examine the suggestions on allowances. The panel was to submit its report by October.

The decision on allowances was postponed because the CPC wanted a number of these to be abolished or subsumed, which employees’ unions opposed. A deferment on revising of allowances meant that as opposed to a burden of Rs 1.02 lakh crore as envisaged by the CPC, the government provisioned for Rs 84,933 crore in 2016-17 for pay and pension, including Rs 12,000 crore in arrears.

There are other recommendations on allowances which the Lavasa panel has examined. These include a change in the

present system of accounting, wherein pay and allowances are clubbed and it is difficult to bifurcate them. The CPC recommended a separate object head for budgeting and accounting be used to record the expenditure.

Financial year change A senior official said the Modi government was examining the benefits and drawbacks of changing the financial year from April-March to January-December. This comes after the Prime Minister, at the NITI Aayog’s governing council meeting last weekend, told chief ministers of the states that there had been suggestions to follow January-December as the financial year and the proposal should be considered.

“We will now do a cost-benefit analysis of (year ending) March 31 versus December 31,” said the official.

If a change was decided upon, the official added, it would be applicable to the Centre, states and the private sector.

A panel headed by former Chief Economic Advisor Shankar Acharya was entrusted with the task of recommending whether such a switch was feasible. The panel has submitted its report to the government but it was not made public. Jaitley said in Parliament during the last session that the government was studying the recommendations.

leisure

CROSSWORD # 3928

SUDOKU

Answer Number # 3924

DiMApUr, April 28 (MexN): The Altrura Daily Market (ADM) which was initiated and constructed

by Altrura Society (AuS) was inaugurated by Thungbemo Patton EAC, Chumukedima here as Special Guest on April 27 at Keso Shüya Colony, Chumukedima Ward no-7 in the presence of ward chairman, society members and well wishers.

In the inaugural speech, Patton lauded the Altrura society for their persistent yeoman services to the public and also for taking the initiative to promote local entrepreneurs through

opening of Daily Market in Chumukedima. He opined that this will be a great relief to the people of Chumukedima, particular ward-7 to escape from all the woe and miseries of traffic jams and insufficient parking space along the highway markets.

Chamedi Yaden, Chairman, Chumukedima Ward No.7 who also spoke on the occasion apprised the needs of the hour for the Nagas to venture in business domains and for which he applauded the Altrura society (AuS) for setting up daily market in its colony which will also en-

courage the local vendors.

Visakuolie Medom, President AuS in his speech said that the opening of ADM is to cater to the needs of people of Chumukedima and also to promote the local farmers immensely to sell their products of any season and hoped that it would help the farmers to improve their economy by selling all agricultural produces. The programme was chaired by Zakiesielie Chüsi, dedicatory prayer by Rev. Keso Shüya Sr. Pastor CRC Chumukedima, While Vote of thanks was delivered by Ketusilie Meru, General Secretary AuS. std code: 03862

DiMaPUR ACROSS 1. Hourly pay 5. Wings 9. White aquatic bird 13. Nameless 14. Doctrine 16. Largest continent 17. Somersault 18. Descendant 19. List of options 20. Gentlewoman 22. Crossbred 24. Male undergrad social club 26. Columbus’s birthplace 27. A witty saying 30. Heavy and filling food 33. More alone 35. Strength 37. Russian fighter 38. Feudal lord 41. “Eureka!”

42. Contemptuous look 45. Linked letters in handwriting 48. Absentee 51. Leather-making place 52. Prevaricators 54. Drunkards 55. Pardoning 59. Tropical nut 62. Haul 63. Birdlike 65. Thorny flower 66. Sandwich shop 67. Shelf 68. Hotels 69. Bristle 70. Nipple 71. Encounter DOWN 1. Not cool 2. Dwarf buffalo 3. Famous Bond villain 4. Make larger 5. Commercials 6. Hubs 7. Growing old

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

Game Number # 3925

eAC Chumukedima thungbemo Patton, along with ward Chairman, society Members and well wishers at the Inauguration of AdM at Chumukedima ward-7.

8. Acts 9. Exaggerated leap 10. End ___ 11. Connects two points 12. Praise 15. Concerning (archaic) 21. A crumbling earthy deposit 23. Top of a house 25. A dog wags one 27. Shade trees 28. Dot 29. Japanese apricot 31. Tombstone 32. Aromatic solvent 34. Record (abbrev.)

36. Not difficult 39. Destroy the inside of 40. Historical periods 43. Eulogies 44. Train track 46. Prig 47. Temporary 49. Pertaining to the oceans 50. A three-legged metal stand 53. Malicious 55. Contributes 56. Broth (Scottish) 57. Sodium chloride 58. Madly in love 60. Feudal worker 61. In order to prevent 64. Mesh

Answer to Crossword 3927

W BLed BLown CLot ConFerenCe CreAte CUstoM deCIde deFIne dInner eMBrACe eneMY eXPerIenCe FAItH FIeLd Frost GUIde Lone MAtCH MoMent

R

nAtUrAL oVerALL PAst PoInt PrAM reLAtIon reLIsH sCore seAson sHIPMent sPACe stAGe steeL sUes sUPer teAL tote UnLIMIted

D

std code: 03871

(formerly senapati)

Police station Fire Brigade

222246 222491

Civil Hospital

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

KoHIMA Ps/oCs Contact numbers

east Police station

227607

west Police station

232181

CIHsr (referral Hospital)

242555 242533

dimapur Hospital

224041 248011

KOHiMa

north Ps

8575045502

Officer-in-Charge 8575045520 Zubza Ps

8575045508

Officer-in-Charge 8575045518

131/228404

Airport Indian Airlines

8575045501

south Ps

Apollo Hospital Info Centre 230695/ 9402435652 railway

std code: 0370

Officer-in-Charge 8575045510

Chiephobozou Ps 8575045506 Officer-in-Charge 8575045516 tseminyu Ps

8575045507

Officer-in-Charge 8575045517

229366 242441 225212

Khuzama Ps

8575045505

Officer-in-Charge 8575045515

Chumukedima Fire Brigade 282777

O

TaHaMZaM

Kezocha Ps

8575045549

nikos Hospital and research Centre

232032, 231031

nagaland Multispecialty Health & research Centre

women Cell 8575045509 248302, 09856006026 Officer-in-Charge 8575045519

eden Medical Centre

248722 /248288

S

E

A

R

C

Officer-in-Charge 8575045538

Control room

H

8575045500 (Emergency No. – 100)

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

62.9 80.3 7.82 47.46 45.07 46.36 56.89 67.41 1.77 0.0538 16.57 8.84

65.74 84.18 8.71 49.79 47.28 48.63 60.08 70.95 1.97 0.0599 18.46 9.85

Saturday 29•04•2017

NAGALAND

1000 Angami delegates to attend Moatsü festival

KOHIMA, AprIl 28 (MExN): A total of 1000 delegates from the four Angami ranges will be joining the Ao Nagas during this year’s Moatsü festival celebration in Mokokchung on May 2.

This decision was taken following the invitation extended by the Ao Senden to the Angamis, led by the Angami Public Organisation, its apex body, to attend the Moatsü festival, informed a press release issued by the publicity committee, specifically set up by APO for the festival.

“The APO always respects and honours the traditional and cultural prac-

tices of the Nagas. Likewise, the APO has graciously accepted the invitation of the Ao Senden to celebrate the Moatsü festival with them,” the release said.

The APO, while appreciating the Ao Senden for inviting the Angamis to their premier festival, expressed hope that the goodwill initiative of the Ao Nagas will go a long way in promoting unity and friendship among the Nagas, it added.

The delegates will depart at 4 AM from Kohima Local Ground on May 2 and the the members from the APO and its frontal organisations including Angami

Youth Organisation, Angami Students’ Union, Angamimiapfü Mechü Krotho, Angami Gazetted Officers’ Krotho, Angami Sorts Association, Western Angami Public Organisation and Southern Angami Public Organisation have been requested to assemble at the starting point prior ahead of time.

The departure point for members of Northern Angami Public Organisation is at Botsa at 5 AM, while the departure point for members of Chakhroma Public Organisation is at DDSC Stadium, Dimapur, it added.

It further informed that all the delegates will as-

IPR Parliamentary Secy interacts with officials

The new Parliamentary Secretary for Information & Public Relations, Imtikumzuk interacts with the Department officials and district officers on April 28. (DIPR Photo)

KOHIMA, AprIl 28 (DIpr): The new Parliamentary Secretary for Information & Public Relations, Imtikumzuk interacted with the Department officials and district officers on April 28 at the Officer’s Conference Hall, DIPR. Speaking on the occasion, he asked all the officers and the subordinate staff of the department to work hand in hand so as to contribute something good for the department in particular and the general public at large. Since IPR is the nodal Department to disseminate the right information to the

masses, the main intention of the department should be reaching out to the people on time and letting them know what exactly the department has been doing for public service, he said.

He urged the officers and staff to attend office on time and render quality services for the public adding that working for the government means working for the people. He asked thedepartment to maintain good rapport and act as a liaison between the government and the general public. He also mentioned about the frequent changes of Parliamentary Secretaries and senior officers at the top level in the Department due to which things which are to be done on time may suffer some setback.

However, he expressed hope and optimism that many things can be achieved through unity and by maintaining cordial relationship among ourselves.

Commissioner & Secretary, IPR, Wopen Lotha said that IPR department has been rendering yeoman’s service to the people.

He expressed hope that the new Parliamentary Secretary would give full cooperation to the officers and staff of the department.

Director, IPR, Limawati Ao chaired the programme while Joint Director, Tokishe Sema gave an overview activities of the department.

semble at Alichen in Mokokchung, wherein, the delegates will be given time to dress-up.

For those taking part in the cultural items, time will also be given to them for rehearsal at Alichen, it added.

Meanwhile, the publicity committee, on behalf of APO, has requested all the delegates to dress well in their traditional attires, while the delegates have also been directed to refrain from use of alcohol on that day.

The APO also fervently appealed all the Angamis residing in and around Mokokchung and neighbouring districts to take part in the celebration.

Diphupar Council flags off sanitation vehicle DIMApur, AprIl 28 (MExN): With its endeavor to keep the village surrounding clean, the Diphupar Village Council (DVC), bought a new mini dumper truck and a flagoff ceremony was held at DVC Hall on April 28.

Parliamentary Secretary, Irrigation and Flood Control Jacob Zhimomi, who graced the ceremony as chief guest, also assured he will donate one ambulance for Diphupar village within a month period, informed a press note received here.

Regarding the grievances faced by the students and public while applying for schedule caste/tribe certificate, Zhimomi said he would personally take up the issue with the public administration in expediting the process, it said.

Earlier, in his introductory speech DVC Chairman Lanutoshi said that the cost of the mini Dumper was ten lakhs eighty one thousand; out of which the public contributed four lakhs forty eight thousand and the remaining six lakhs twenty five thousand was taken

Parliamentary Secretary, Irrigation and Flood Control Jacob Zhimomi flagging off the DVC Santitation vehicle on April 28.

from the DVC office fund.

He also called upon the villagers to take ownership and have civic sense so as to maintain clean and healthy environment.

While Member of Sanitation

Edu and Social Welfare Dept essential to expand immunization Mokokchung Dist Task Force on Mission Indradhanush, WIFS DIMApur, AprIl 28 (MExN): The involvement of education and social welfare department are essential to cover unreached areas and encourage people to avail the immunization facilities.

This was stated during Mokokchung district task force meeting on ‘Mission Indradhanush’ and weekly iron folic acid (WIFS) supplement programme held at Deputy Commissioner’s Office, on April 28.

The meeting convened

by ADC, Mokokchung Bendanglila was attended by District Administrations, medical department, social welfare department and school education department.

During the meeting, Dr Temsuyanger DPO

(UIP&RCH) noted that the mission was launched with the aim of expanding immunization coverage to all the children who are either unvaccinated or are partially vaccinated against vaccine preventable diseases.

This mission should reach ‘the hard to reach areas’ and it requires the involvement of Education department and Social Welfare Department to encourage people to avail the facilities, he pointed out.

The DPO also highlighted about WIFS that targeted at preventing anaemia in women of reproductive age and covers the age of 10-19 years. Under the WIFS programme for adolescents, IFA supplements are to be distributed free of cost.

He further gave a brief explanation on Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) programme, a health screening programme also known as intervention under the school health programme.

It is now being expanded to cover all children from birth to 19 years of age, he said. Different mobile health team conducts health screening in government as well as government aided schools students and Anganwadi children.

Dr. Kibangkumba Dy. CMO also gave a brief note on RBSK noting that it is an innovative and ambitious initiative aimed at screening from 0 to 19 years of age for 4 Ds i.e. defects at birth, disease, deficiency and disabilities.

Govt employees of Mon dist Govt enhances Home Guards allowances CNTC welcomes AprIl 28 (MExN): The Government of Nagaland has enhanced the cabinet decision completes induction training DIMApur, allowance of Home Guards personnel under the Directorate of Civil Defence & Home MON, AprIl 28 (DIpr): The 2nd phase of induction Training Programme for group ‘B’ & ‘C’ state Government employees of Mon district conclude on April 28 at District Executive Hall, DC office Mon. Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mon, Shanavas C. in his short speech said, “Government servants should be well disciplined and sincere enough in their assigned duties.”

Dy Director (Training) & Nodal Officer for ITP, Er N Moa Longkumer said that ‘age does not matter in learning and we should always keep learning and share whatever has been learned during the training programme’.

The main topics of the training focused on motivation Talk, Personal Effectiveness, Personal and Organisational Values and Qualities of Excellent Employees, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication, Citizen Centres Behaviour, E-Governance and UCT and Problem solving and decision making, Managing conflict, Leadership and team building, time management, stress management, emotional intelligence, goal setting and field visit to neighbouring villages and district hospital, Mon. EAC, Mon, Tsenthungo E Ngullie chaired the closing programme. The induction training programme at Mon district was organised by Administrative Training Institute in collaboration with District Administration, Mon from April 17 to 28.

Guards from Rs. 150 to Rs. 520 per head per day with effect from April 3.

This enhancement is in pursuance of the decision and judgment of the Supreme Court of India after two civil appeals in 2015, stated a circular issued by Home Commissioner to the Government Abhijit Sinha.

This is in concurrence with a Finance Department Accord and approval of State Cabinet, it added.

Longon opens OP complex in Zunheboto ZuNHEBOTO, AprIl 28 (DIpr): Minister for Health & Family Welfare (H&FW), P Longon, on April 28, inaugurated an Operation Theatre Complex at Hezukhu Memorial District Hospital, Zunheboto.

Speaking at the inaugural program, the minister said, in his three year as minister in- charge of HoFW, he has undertaken a visit to all the 11 district hospital to see the real scenario of the functioning of the hospital by himself and said Zunheboto district hospital was among the worst hospital in the entire

state interms of infrastructures and manpower. Lamenting that 12 NLA were greatly hampered due to power tussle for which many developmental activities were also affected, the minister said, Zunheboto district hospital will also be included in the next Forward Linkage Scheme funded by NRHM for construction of new building.

Parliamentary Secretary, Jail, ST and NKVIB, Hukavi Zhimomi in his short speech appreciated the minister for the concern he has for the Nagas and said Sumis has sincere

hope in him to construct a new district hospital building while lamenting that the present dilapidated building was constructed way back in 1960's which cannot be considered for renovation anymore. President, Sumi Hoho, Hekishe also spoke and submitted a representation to the minister. Earlier the program was chaired by Medical Superintendent, Dr. Kheshito Zhimo while vote of thanks was delivered by CMO, Dr. Hokishe. The minister was also accompanied by officials from Directorate of Health and Family Welfare.

DIMApur, AprIl 28 (MExN): The Central Nagaland Tribes Council has lauded the April 25 State Cabinet’s decision revoking the recognition of the Rongmei tribe a 'prudent and judicious action'.

“An issue which has created a lot of uproar in the state by the Nagas of Nagaland has now been finally understood by the state cabinet on the future ramifications and consequences of granting indigenous tribe status from other states,” Media Cell CNTC said in a press note.

However, the CNTC maintained that 1313 persons recognised by the government is only an “administrative survey report.”

“Those antecedents must be proved warily with the right standard procedures applied in order to be awarded the indigenous status so that the decision taken will benefit the genuine indigenous inhabitants,” it said.

Lauding the Chief Minister for the present action, the CNTC expressed hope he would further work on the “other contentious issues of Nagas of Nagaland without any fear or favour.”

How to double farmer’s income by 2022 ICAR Nagaland centre discusses action plans DIMApur, AprIl 28 (MExN): What actions plans are needed to boost farmer’s earning and double their income by 2022?

This was the primary focus of the State level Coordination Committee meeting organised by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Research Complex for NEH Region, Nagaland Centre on April 26.

It was organized with an objective to develop concrete action plans for doubling farmers’ income by 2022, informed an ICAR press note.

With inputs from different resource persons, the meeting examined various modalities to achieve the objective, it said.

Chairing the meeting, Prof. M. Premjit Singh, Vice Chancellor, Central Agri-

The participants of the ICAR State Level Coordination Committee meeting on doubling farmers' income.

cultural University Imphal said that, “Doubling farmer’s income would not be possible without improving the allied sectors of agriculture like livestock, poultry and fisheries.”

He also emphasised on improvement of road, electricity and agriculture related infrastructure like market infrastructure, irrigation, cold storage, ware-

houses, processing units etc.

Among other steps, to increase farm’s earning, he stressed on on scientific farming; diversification and intensification of rice fallows with pulses, oilseed, vegetables etc; promotion of location specific integrated farming system and organic farming, protected cultivation, special-

ity farming; improving the jhum land with agroforestry, high value spices and horticultural crops; postharvest processing and management;improving the availability of critical inputs like seeds, planting materials, piglets, chicks, fish seed,credits; development and adoption of rainwater harvesting and conservation for lean period.

Dr. S V Ngachan, Director, ICAR Research Complex for NEH region, Umiam, Meghalaya also discussed the ways and means to reach the objective of doubling farmers’ income.

The convenor of the meeting also the promotion of seed production of major crops in a participatory ways and opening of more accredited nurseries unit for production and supply of quality planting materials.

“Horticulture, floriculture, spices, medicinal and aromatic plants should be promoted in Cluster based to ease in value addition and marketing” he added.

Ngachan further batted for mechanization of agriculture from production to value addition with location specific implements and also stressed on custom hiring centre.

Mobilizing farmers into groups like SHGs, co-

operative societies for better backward and forward linkages of the farmers will also augment their income, he maintained.

Dr. Bidyut C Deka, Director, ATARI Zone III,Umiam; Dr.AbhijitMitra,Director, ICAR- NRC on Mithun; Dr. D J Rajkhowa, Joint Director, ICAR Nagaland centre; Dr.Lallan Ram, Director CIH; Professor R C Gupta, Dean. NU-SASRD; Helie Rupreo, Director, Department of Agriculture, Govt. of Nagaland; Dr. Moa Walling, Deputy Director, Department of Horticulture; Dr. K D Seema, Joint Director, Department of Vety. & AH; Scientists of ICAR Nagaland centre; and representatives of KVK Dimapur, Phek, Peren, Tuensang, Kohima, Longleng, Zunheboto and Wokha attended the meeting and provided valuable inputs to achieve the objective of doubling the farmers’ income by 2022.

Committee Ghuzui Shohe chaired the function, the blessing for the dumper was invoked by Rev Candid Sareo, Pastor of Tangkhul Baptist Church Dimapur, the press note further informed.

MEx FILE RTO Dimapur modifies earlier notification DIMApur, AprIl 28 (MExN): The Regional Transport Authority Dimapur has partially modified its earlier notification regarding ‘New Regulation for Taxis and Auto-rickshaws’ issued on April 25. In a corrigendum note, the District Transport Officer, RTO Dimapur informed that the rate pertaining to fixation of taxi fare from “Chumukedima to Medziphema” should be read as “Rs. 40 per passenger as not Rs. 80 as rendered earlier. "

UGC prohibits displaying Aadhaar number publicly KOHIMA, AprIl 28 (DIpr): The University Grants Commission (UGC) in a notification has informed that “The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Services) Act, 2016 prohibits publishing and displaying the Aadhaar number publicly.” Therefore the UGC has directed not to publish or display the Aadhaar number of the scholars publicly.

5 AR arrest 1 NSCN (K) cadre DIMApur, AprIl 28 (MExN): The 5 Assam Rifles under the aegis of Headquarters IGAR (North) today said it apprehended one NSCN (K) cadre from North Point Colony, Zunheboto Town on April 24. “The apprehended cadre was involved in collection of illegal taxes and extortion activities in Zunheboto Town. One tax collection booklet and four duly signed tax collection slips were recovered from his possession, Lt Col Amitabh Sharm PRO, HQ IGAR (North) informed in a press note. The cadre, identified as ‘Lieutenant’ Kivito Kiba of NSCN (K), was handed over to Zunheboto Police Station along with recovered items for further investigation, it added.

Open Drawing Competition DIMApur, AprIl 28 (MExN): The Hindu Yuva Sanga (HYS) is organising its 4th Open Drawing Competition-cum-Felicitation Programme (for HSLC and HSSLC candidates, 2017) on May 21 at Pranab Jubilee Auditorium. According to a press release, the drawing competition is divided into 4 categories: Category 1 – Classes A-1; Category 2 – Classes 2-4; Category 3 – Classes 5-7; and Category 4 – Classes 8-10. The registration forms are available for a fee of Rs. 100 and the last date of registration is May 14. For further information, contact – 9774745422 / 9077000298.

Meetings & AppointMents

WSBAK’s refresher course for Pastors The Western Sümi Baptist Akukuhou Küqhakulu (WSBAK) will be organizing a 6-day Pastors’ Refresher Course for the Pastors under WSBAK from May 1-6, at its Center Aküvüto, Thahekhü. Various topics concerning spiritual and human resource development will be discussed during the course by diverse personalities such as Kikheto Sema IAS (Retd), Dr. Moa Imsong, Dr. Vikato Kinny, Dr. Hukato Shohe, Ashe Kiba, Kaholi Hovi, Y. Nuklu Phom and Zheghoto Yeptho. The WSBAK Center staff will also be part of the resource persons. The Executive Secretary, WSBAK Rev. Dr. Hevukhu Achumi has invited all Pastors (General) under WSBAK to attend the seminar positively. Registration for the course will begin by 1 PM on May 1.

PWOK Silver Jubilee The Pochury Women Organisation, Kohima (PWOK) will be celebrating its Silver Jubilee with the theme, “Know your strengths” on May 5 at Ura Academy, Kohima with Minister of School Education & SCERT, Nagaland Yitachu and Khriehu Liezietsü, Parliamentary Secretary for MTF & Lotteries, as the Chief Guest and Guest of Honour respectively. The PWOK alongwith the Organising Committee of the PWOK Silver Jubilee invited all the Pochury community living in Kohima to come and blessed the celebration with their presence.

“All the Pochury sisters married to other Tribes too are cordially invited to come and grace and be a part of this joyous celebration.”

Gold Sumi Cup meeting The last and final meeting of the finance committee of 9th Gold Sumi Cup will be held on May 3, 8 AM at the residence of Tokuho Suhoi Neho, Head GB Suhoi Village.

The meeting will finalise income and expenditure of the aforesaid tournament held in Kuhuboto. All members are requested to attend the meeting without fail.

saturDaY 29•04•2017

PeoPle, life, etc...

6

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Can Scientific Discovery Be Automated?

Progress in the sciences can only move as fast as humans can think—outsourcing to AI could change that Ahmed Alkhateeb

S

The Atlantic

cience is in the midst of a data crisis. Last year, there were more than 1.2 million new papers published in the biomedical sciences alone, bringing the total number of peer-reviewed biomedical papers to over 26 million. However, the average scientist reads only about 250 papers a year.

Meanwhile, the quality of the scientific literature has been in decline.

Some recent studies found that the majority of biomedical papers were irreproducible.

The twin challenges of too much quantity and too little quality are rooted in the finite neurological capacity of the human mind. Scientists are deriving hypotheses from a smaller and smaller fraction of our collective knowledge and consequently, more and more, asking the wrong questions, or asking ones that have already been answered. Also, human creativity seems to depend increasingly on the stochasticity of previous experiences—particular life events that allow a researcher to notice something others do not.

Although chance has always been a factor in scientific discovery, it is currently playing a much larger role than it should.

One promising strategy to overcome the current crisis is to integrate machines and artificial intelligence in the scientific process. Machines have greater memory and higher computational capacity than the human brain. Automation of the scientific process could greatly increase the rate of discovery. It could even begin another scientific revolution.

That huge possibility hinges on an equally huge question: Can scientific discovery really be automated?

I believe it can, using an approach that we have known about for centuries. The answer to this question can be found in the work of Sir Francis Bacon, the 17th-century English philosopher and a key progenitor of modern science.

The first reiterations of the scientific method can be traced back many centuries earlier to Muslim thinkers such as Ibn al-Haytham, who emphasized both empiricism and experimentation. However, it was Bacon who first formalized the scientific method and made it a subject of study. In his book No-

vum Organum (1620), he proposed a model for discovery that is still known as the Baconian method. He argued against syllogistic logic for scientific synthesis, which he considered to be unreliable. Instead, he proposed an approach in which relevant observations about a specific phenomenon are systematically collected, tabulated and objectively analyzed using inductive logic to generate generalizable ideas. In his view, truth could be uncovered only when the mind is free from incomplete (and hence false) axioms.

The Baconian method attempted to remove logical bias from the process of observation and conceptualization, by delineating the steps

Universal basic income-demystified

of scientific synthesis and optimizing each one separately. Bacon’s vision was to leverage a community of observers to collect vast amounts of information about nature and tabulate it into a central record accessible to inductive analysis. In Novum Organum, he wrote: “Empiricists are like ants; they accumulate and use.

Rationalists spin webs like spiders.

The best method is that of the bee; it is somewhere in between, taking existing material and using it.”

The Baconian method is rarely used today. It proved too laborious and extravagantly expensive; its technological applications were unclear.

However, at the time the formalization of a scientific method marked a

revolutionary advance. Before it, science was metaphysical, accessible only to a few learned men, mostly of noble birth. By rejecting the authority of the ancient Greeks and delineating the steps of discovery, Bacon created a blueprint that would allow anyone, regardless of background, to become a scientist.

Bacon’s insights also revealed an important hidden truth: the discovery process is inherently algorithmic. It is the outcome of a finite number of steps that are repeated until a meaningful result is uncovered. Bacon explicitly used the word “machine” in describing his method. His scientific algorithm has three essential components: First, observations have to be collected and integrated into the total corpus of knowledge. Second, the new observations are used to generate new hypotheses. Third, the hypotheses are tested through carefully designed experiments.

If science is algorithmic, then it must have the potential for automation. This futuristic dream has eluded information and computer scientists for decades, in large part because the three main steps of scientific discovery occupy different planes. Observation is sensual; hypothesis-generation is mental; and experimentation is mechanical. Automating the scientific process will require the effective incorporation of machines in each step, and in all three feeding into each other without friction. Nobody has yet figured out how to do that.

Experimentation has seen the most substantial recent progress.

For example, the pharmaceutical industry commonly uses automated

high-throughput platforms for drug design. Startups such as Transcriptic and Emerald Cloud Lab, both in California, are building systems to automate almost every physical task that biomedical scientists do. Scientists can submit their experiments online, where they are converted to code and fed into robotic platforms that carry out a battery of biological experiments. These solutions are most relevant to disciplines that require intensive experimentation, such as molecular biology and chemical engineering, but analogous methods can be applied in other data-intensive fields, and even extended to theoretical disciplines.

Automated hypothesis-generation is less advanced, but the work of Don Swanson in the 1980s provided an important step forward.

He demonstrated the existence of hidden links between unrelated ideas in the scientific literature; using a simple deductive logical framework, he could connect papers from various fields with no citation overlap. In this way, Swanson was able to hypothesize a novel link between dietary fish oil and Reynaud’s Syndrome without conducting any experiments or being an expert in either field. Other, more recent approaches, such as those of Andrey Rzhetsky at the University of Chicago and Albert-László Barabási at Northeastern University, rely on mathematical modeling and graph theory. They incorporate large datasets, in which knowledge is projected as a network, where nodes are concepts and links are relationships between them. Novel hypotheses would show up as undiscovered links between nodes.

One for the Family

Make the most of your summer break by combining learning and exploring Kalyani Prasher

U

Samit Basu

niversal basic income (UBI) is in the news all over the world. In its simplest form, it refers to a fixed income that citizens of a country receive, as social security, from the government or another body, in addition to whatever other means of income they have. UBI is for everyone, unconditionally, and in cash only.

In capitalist systems, the money for UBI will be raised through taxation. In other systems, it will be dispensed from the profits of publicly owned enterprises. It would act as a replacement for various other social welfare schemes, tax incentives and conditional subsidies.

Extensive discussions on UBI are taking place across the globe with some urgency as the coming wave of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) is likely to trigger vast amounts of unemployment, especially among low-skilled workers, and UBI could be one way to avert

a widespread economic and social crisis. Pilot programmes have been tried in a number of countries, including India. A recent Indian government report indicates that the optimum way to implement UBI will be talked about in India over the coming years, as current welfare systems are suffering, owing to abuse, corruption and inefficiency.

That said, a lot about UBI remains unclear. What does 'universal' mean, if this is to be administered at a national level? Will UBI in the US be the same as in Mongolia? What, similarly, defines 'basic'?

Food, clothing and shelter, yes, but what about healthcare and education? How does it address vast differences in living standards among both individuals and nations? How will it be delivered, and what are the exact criteria for 'universal' eligibility? How will its misuse be prevented? All these questions are yet to be resolved and the coming years will give us more information about this complex subject.

Gangtok, Sikkim When it comes to treks and the great outdoors, there are few places in India, indeed the world, that are better than Sikkim. With the looming peaks of the Eastern Himalayas always in sight, you can choose from a variety of grades of walks, hikes and treks that are suitable for the fitness level of your family. A popular day trek starts from Ravangla (three hours from Gangtok) to Maenam hilltop or you could go for the eight-day Dzongri trek and camp on beautiful locations en route. You can also choose to stay in Gangtok for the entire duration of your holiday and ask your hotel for short walking routes nearby.

Stay at: The charming The Hidden Forest Retreat (hiddenforestreback to Mandvi beach for the more treat.org). relaxing part of your holiday.

Gulf of Kutch, Gujarat Stay at: There are limited stay Falling off the map was never options in this area, but Vijay Vilas easier. At the very edge of Guja- Heritage Resort in Mandvi is a derat is Okha. It is at one end of the cent heritage option near the beach.

Gulf of Kutch, the inlet of the Ara- (vijayvilasheritageresort.com) bian Sea into Gujarat, that you only see on an atlas. At the other end is Hampi, Karnataka A UNESCO World Heritage site, Mandvi, with a stunning and absolutely empty beach. Not only are the haunting beauty of Hampi must these places totally unexplored, be seen to be believed. Eerie yet gorthey are also fabulous for learning geous, the stone monuments of the how to swim because the tides are place tell silent stories of a time gone calm and the water is safe. Imag- by … a time when it was one of the ine learning to swim in the ocean! richest and flourishing cities of the What a fantastic way to spend your world under the Vijayanagara Emholiday … You can take the ferry to pire. Today you can see a number Okha from Mandvi, where there are of monuments of historical signifibetter stay options. Visit the Marine cance in and around Hampi, includNational Park near Okha, a wonder- ing the famous Virupaksha Temple, land where children can learn about a fabulous example of temple araquatic wildlife. Then, take the ferry chitecture of south-ern India, dedi-

above sea level. You can ski (the season lasts until April-end), or just enjoy being out in a breathtaking landscape that's covered in snow -- white and endless, as far as the eyes can see. Let the family explore the area on horseback and taste the delicious Kashmiri wazawan too!

Stay at: Without doubt The Khyber is the best place to stay in Gulmarg with an impressive design and local architecture and warm and accommodating staff. (khyberhotels.com)

cated to Lord Shiva. For some fun and adventure, try out bouldering, a form of rock climbing without harnesses, with the whole family.

Stay at: The beautifully designed Machan homestay (urammaheritagehomes.com/machan-studiohomestay) Gulmarg, Kashmir Despite the political turmoil, Kashmir manages to draw travellers, thanks to the sheer power of its natural beauty. After a period of unrest, calm seems to have been restored in the Valley*. It's time for travellers to return and enjoy the pleasures of Kashmir, while also doing their bit to support the local travel economy.

Gulmarg is a joy for children, with the famous ski gondola, the world's second highest cable car, taking you up to Apharwat Peak at 14,000 feet

Kanha National Park, Madhya Pradesh There are some places that heal you from the moment you step into them -- Mukki village is one of those.

A clean, beautiful, green place full of friendly faces and pretty treelined roads, this is the village adjoining another area of rare beauty, the Kanha National Park. From the word go, you will feel disconnected from the world and totally at peace.

There is no better way to take a break from the daily drill: Enjoy a safari where the jungle takes over your mind, body and soul.

Kanha is also your best chance in India to spot the tiger, apart from a host of other beautiful animals and bird species. It's a great way to sensitize your children to conservation and the environment. Once they see all the beautiful creatures in the wild, they will understand why their habitats must be protected.

Stay at: Hotels in Kanha are not cheap, but include all meals. Bagh Villas is perfect for the family in the middle-price range, with luxury tents that add to the sense of adventure. (baghvillas.com)

Vinod Khanna:From angry young man to angry father Vikas Datta

H

IANS

e came into prominence playing an angry young man in a 1970s classic and one of his last major appearances was as an angry implacable father in a 2010 blockbuster, but whatever role Vinod Khanna played -- good, bad, or even supporting -- he ended up making his presence felt.

Can you think of any other Bollywood hero who won applause for beating up Amitabh Bachchan on screen?

He entered Bollywood as a villain but his imposing height and physique, crowned with a sculpted but expressive face and discernible intensity, he was not fated to remain one for long. Given a break by Sunil Dutt in "Man ka Meet" (1968), Khanna showed his metier in 1970, playing a dedicated police officer in both "Mastana" and "Sachaa Jhuthaa".

The year 1971 was a watershed: He appeared in a dozen films, including the acclaimed "Mere Apne" where as Shyamu, he stood his ground against

a bombastic Shatrughan Sinha, while displaying the vulnerability of the 'angry young man' in that pensive song, "Koi hota jisko apna..." He went on to play another police inspector in Shammi Kapoor-starrer "Jaane-Anjane" and vicious dacoit Jabbar Singh in "Mera Gaon, Mera Desh" facing Dharmendra.

The year also saw him in his first role as hero in "Hum Tum aur Woh" while his role as Shyamu figured as

footage in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's "Guddi", about a young girl's infatuation with the film industry.

The next role that bought him to prominence was as a military officer on the run after killing his wife's paramour in "Achanak" (1973), one of the Bollywood adaptations of the Nanavatty case.

There was no looking back. Usually cast as a police officer or a criminal, he proved he could display a

softer side too as he did in "Imtihaan" (1974), playing an idealistic college professor trying to reform a group of unruly students. The song "Ruk Jaana Nahi" is again memorable.

Appearing in some of the most famous Hindi films, Khanna always left his mark whether by himself or against established or upcoming stars -- Shammi Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra, Shashi Kapoor, Jeetendra, Amitabh Bachchan and Feroz Khan -- down to Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan.

Even in songs not picturised on him, he stands out -- take "Haal kya hai dilon ka" in "Anokhi Ada" (1973), or "Dil to Hai Dil" in "Muqaddar ka Sikandar" (1978).

In the first part of his career, he went on to essay some particularly memorable roles as the stern, dutiful Inspector Amar in "Amar Akbar Anthony" (1977) - where he thrashed up an irreverent Anthony, played by Amitabh but unbent towards to the end to appear as a cheery, one-man band in the climatic "Honi ko anhoni

kar de", as con-artist Ajay in "Hera Pheri" (1976), again opposite Amitabh, another Amar, but on the other side of the law; in "Qurbani" (1980) where he eventually lives up to the film's name; as a workaholic railway engineer in "The Burning Train" (1980) and an understanding doctor in reincarnation love story "Kudrat" (1981), where he did not let Raaj Kumar and Rajesh Khanna eclipse him.

Khanna, who had become a disciple of godman Rajneesh in the mid1970s, then took a five year break, notwithstanding he was at the peek of his career. He moved to the godman's ashram in the US where he reportedly was also a dish-washer and gardener.

He returned to Bollywood in 1987, where his career took off again. Mostly seen in action films, usually in his trademark police inspector role, he paired well with Meenakshi Seshadri in "Satyamev Jayate" and Dimple Kapadia in "Insaaf" (both 1987).

But what signalled his comeback in full vigour was Feroz Khan-

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.

helmed "Dayavan" (1988) where he played a crime don and shared a sparkling chemistry with Madhuri Dixit (sharing a long kiss and the sensuous "Aaj Phir Tum Pe"). He did well with Madhuri in "MahaSangram" (1990) also -- a film noted for Gulshan Grover in a positive role.

His other notable performances included in "Chandni" (1989), "Lekin" (1990) and "Jurm" (1990).

Khanna, who had only won one Filmfare Award (for best supporting actor), despite being nominated twice as best actor and once more as best supporting actor), was conferred a Lifetime Achievement award in 1999.

After this, along with his flourishing political career, which saw him rise to Minister of State for External Affairs in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, his output slackened. But he never abandoned the film industry, holding his own against Salman in the "Dabangg" series.

His last film was "Dilwaale", starring Shah Rukh and Kajol, in 2015.

"Ruk jaana nahi to kahi haar ke.."

SaturDaY 29•04•2017

Morung Youth Express

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

7

Lady Slipper orchid, easy to grow stunning beauty Norman Winter | Tribune News Service

is recommended with about a 1/4 strength water-soluble balanced fertilizer is recommended weekly.

There is no place like an orchid show to get the whole family involved in one of America’s great past times. I assure you your children and grandchildren will be enthralled as they learn about lady slipper orchids and the way pollinators fly into the pouch. A look at the American Orchid Society calendar of events will help you locate a show near you.

If you are on the East Coast we invite you to the 31st Annual Savannah Orchid Show, April 28-30 at the Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens. There are vendors from several states that will not only be selling the best of orchids but supplies as well. I was stunned to see so many people carrying out bags, sacks and boxes or orchids last year.

Not only will you have a chance to see the beauty of the blooms up close, but you can learn the techniques of growing them and even get assistance repotting your own orchid. Though I have only been raving about lady slipper orchids I assure you there will be more species on display than you ever knew existed.

I

t looks like it would gobble up an unsuspecting pollinator but instead the pouch called a labellum is simply nature’s method of getting a pollination program underway. The pollinator flies into the pouch and most likely finds it a little work to escape all the while either picking up pollen or making a deposit before finding freedom. This wonder of nature occurs in lady slipper orchids which is a spectacle that can be enjoyed by the whole family.

Lady slipper orchids are found in five genera. Cypripedium, which are terrestrial have the ability to transform a garden into one of rare beauty. They are cold hardy and eleven species are native to the United States. One, the showy lady slipper, is even the state flower of Minnesota.

Mexipedium, Selenipedium, Phragmipedium, and Paphiopedilum are all tropical in nature. It is the latter that I am touting here as it is considered to be among the easiest orchids to grow for the novice home gardener. They are so loved that it is believed there are now 13,000 plus hybrids of this genus alone.

Despite the fact that the Deep South Orchid Society maintains the Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens orchid house and it is mere steps from my office, it was the Savannah Orchid Show that caused me to be forever mesmerized by the lady slipper orchids. The one that first caught my eye was Raisin Jack No. 5 x No. 7. I’ll

be honest the names, especially with the hybrids, are a little mind-boggling and confusing, to say the least.

A walk through our orchid house reveals orchids with varying sizes of pseudobulbs which act as a water storage reservoir.

Russians are the world's biggest cat lovers Dalia Research

A

t Dalia, we are interested in delving into the big questions and understanding the global trends that will shape our future. This brings us to one of the most important topics of 2017: cats.

Our latest survey shows that a majority (59%) of Russians own a cat. This is more than 10 percentage points higher than any other country in our survey of 52 countries.

Surprised? Don’t be. In Russia, cats have been placed on a high pedestal since Empress Elizabeth’s reign in the 1700s, where felines prized for their mouse-catching abilities were brought to the palace to live pampered lives. Today, in part of the palace now called St. Petersburg’s Hermitage Museum, there live roughly 70 cats, much to the delight of the museum administration, staff and visitors. Last weekend Russia hosted their International Cat Exhibition in St. Petersburg.

And on March 1st, Russians celebrated National Cat Day. Although the largest percent of cat owners are in Russia, Malaysia boasts the highest share of people who own 3 or more cats (17%). In fact, in Malaysia, people are more likely to own 3 or more cats than they are to own just 1 or 2 cats. They also have a city, Kuching, which is dedicated to cats and called “Cat City” by locals.

• It’s Up To Me – 7 Ways to Make a Difference by Megan Werner • Published by Megan Werner • 95 pages • R92 for ebook at amazon.com

M

egan Werner, the author of It’s Up To Me, is a 14-year-old from Krugersdorp. It’s not every day that we hear of a teenager aspiring to change the world.

Megan has done that by providing us with the techniques that we should implement in our daily lives to become better people.

She tells the personal story of her life experiences and uses seven examples that we can adopt to make a difference: being a giver, having fun, courage, learning, teaching, showing love and being a good receiver.

Norman Winter is director of the Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens at the Historic Bamboo Farm, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, and author of “Tough-as-Nails Flowers for the South” and “Captivating Combinations: Color and Style in the Garden.”

Instagram is ruining food as we know it Kate Taylorapr | Business Insider

I

f you've been on Instagram in the last week, you know what the Unicorn Frappuccino is.

Or at le ast you know what it looks like.

The magenta and blue drink became an instant viral sensation on social media this week after Starbucks debuted the limited-time offering on Wednesday.

But for something that contains nearly 80% of the FDA's recommended maximum daily sugar intake, discussion of the drink has centered more so on its looks rather than its taste.

(For the record, it tastes like an Orange Julius mixed with Sour Skittles, and it's overwhelmingly sweet.)

Today, how new food items will look on Instagram is a crucial part of deciding what actually ends up on the menu.

"We want people to talk about it, and blog about it, and get excited, and share their pictures," Liz Matthews, Taco Bell's chief innovation officer, told Business Insider earlier this month. "We can always make food taste good. But, how do you get that twist that makes it a part of people's lives instead of just eating?"

At Taco Bell, that means considering a menu item's Instagramability at every

This 14-year-old published a book

Esnath Muzenda

The Paphiopedilum lady slipper orchid has no such device meaning they will need watering more frequently. Those grown in bark will need water more often than those grown in moss. Leaching of nutrients is bound to occur so feeding regularly

In chapter three, young Werner affirms that “we must get out of our comfort zone if we need to grow in life”.

How many times do we complain about things not changing in our lives?

She states: “If you want to change your outcome, then change your input.”

Megan got out of her comfort zone and did a lot of brave things that some adults fear, such as public speaking. “Recently, I got the opportunity to speak at the National Achievers’ Congress where I had my biggest crowd yet – 5 000 people.”

Young or old, it doesn’t make a difference, we are all surrounded by negative people in all environments.

The author advises never listening to them and never letting anyone tell you you can’t achieve your dreams.

“Although we are not all equal in every aspect of life, we all have different talents and gifts. "It is up to us to use those gifts to help ourselves, and then to help others,” says the author.

She uses the famous basketball player Michael Jordan as an example. He was told by one of his teachers that he would never make the grade and possibly never play on his team. We all know where Jordan ended up.

This book is proving so successful – for young and old readers alike – it’s even being translated into Russian.

stage in development, from conception, to packaging, to marketing.

Take the company's launch of its breakfast menu, for example. The breakfast crunchwrap is a best-seller for the company, but the Instagram-friendly Waffle Taco was what made headlines.

It's indisputable that Instagram can make or break a menu item and the brand behind the concept. Restaurants like Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beer in Manhattan, home of the over-the-top milkshake, and the Bagel Store in Brooklyn, which makes rainbow bagels, have gotten national recognition for their supremely Instagrammable items.

However, the supreme attention to

aesthetics means missing out on a lot of foods that taste better than they look, and forces fast-food chains to add new items that look better than they taste.

The crunchwrap tastes better than the Waffle Taco. A normal latte or Frappuccino tastes better than the Unicorn Frappuccino or the "Pink Drink," another Instagram sensation. Items such as hummus, casseroles, and enchiladas simply don't photograph well, no matter how tasty they are.

Frankly, at this point, I'm sick of it.

I don't blame brands like Taco Bell and Starbucks. When companies are paying people thousands of dollars to post their products on Instagram, fastfood chains would be foolish to skip out on potential free social media advertising.

Instead, we have only ourselves to blame. If we want tastier food, we need to elevate options based on flavor, not purely aesthetics. While it's been proven that photographing something appealing makes it taste better, buying and eating something purely for its Instagram value is a corruption of food as we know it. Food should be judged not by how it looks, but by how it tastes.

Your actions are fueling a dangerous innovation machine - so, be responsible. Think before Instagram.

Do you want brows that wow?

The Naga Blog is a forum on Facebook where Naga’s from Nagaland and around the world network, share ideas and discuss a wide range of topics from politics and philosophy to music and current events in Nagaland and beyond. The blog is not owned by any individual, nor is it affiliated to or associated with any political party or religion. The only movement it hopes to stir is the one raised by the voices of the Naga’s every step of the way, amassing perhaps to mass consciousness one day. www.facebook.com/groups/thenagablog

NIA arresting Government Officials

L

Yanpvuo Yanfo Kikon

aw in our country has failed to deliver justice in Nagaland. The real criminals are allowed to swim in money taken away from poor hard working public while we the citizens are threatened and made scapegoats. First of all why is the Government of India openly allowing the NSCN’s to freely collect taxes from hard working citizens in the name of freedom? You think the public and the thousands of young Nagas support these people who threaten and intimidate us with a bullet for their unconditional love for the INDIAN RUPEES? They are not fighting for liberating the Nagas, they will kill the Nagas for their drunken love of money!

Arresting a few Govt officials is a joke and a mockery to our country’s justice system because the real culprits are still out there with guns in their hands walking on the streets, threatening our Naga Govt officers and businesses. What option do they have? If these cashiers and Govt officials heed to the threat of these undergrounds, NIA will arrest them and if they do not pay these extortionists then they will die. This is a pure catch-22, stuck with both options worse than the other which our citizens are now faced with! Jail time is better than death because just like any of you they have family & children to support. If you want to deliver real justice, then arrest the real big chors from politicians to the UG leaders who have destroyed our beautiful land into this sad state for their selfish greed.

Enough is enough people! For too long we have allowed fools to rule our land. Time for revolution is nearing, prepare yourselves and join the fight for justice because tomorrow it will be you, your uncles, aunties or your parents who will be made scapegoats instead of the real criminals.

Kevito Peter Zhimomi: It may not be the DDO/cashier's fault. They are usually directed by Higher Authority. NIA just caught the wrong ones. Poor investigation & sheer mockery.

Yibenthung Yanthan: Almost every department pays certain amount to these UG's. These UG's threaten to use bullets if the departments do not comply to their unrealistic demands. Why is te NIA only pin pointing one organisation and one department when all the factions are collecting and all departments are giving. The state goverment officials arrested by this hypocrite NIA just might be victims of threat and mental abuse by these gangsters. My dear Nagas.. Dont let these money loving gangsters exploit you by using the nationalism tag. The days when real nationalist who defended and sacrificed for the Nagas are long gone. Now what we see is different groups trying to make more money by bleeding the Nagas and destroying the progress of land.

Joseph Yanlong: How I wish NIA, CBI etc start arresting all the ministers led by CM (past and present), corrupt bureaucrats, and cashiers and govt staff who won't move a file without greasing the palm and our extortionist who trouble our business and public. There is no hope in state police and vigilance. its only them which we can trust now.

Pipon Jamir: If comprehensive and impartial probe is conducted for misappropriation and corruption from the Secretariat, Directorate to the village level functioning, Tihar Jail will not be able to contain the criminals from Nagaland. But unfortunately the real criminals have become untouchables in Nagaland.

And it is the creation of the people only Susan Lotha: NSCN IM openly wrote in the paper they will tax less from now on with only 12% so why not arrest them as well since they are also fighting with the GOI. NIA also politically motivated.

K.K. Paul Rutsa: NIA...arresting civilians because we are NOT armed..bullshit drama...just to earn a medal. Even I pay tax against UGs because the Army, Police & Government are all corrupted.

On NSCN IM’s demand for 12%

Sandra Low The Star/ANNSunday

A

re you tired of your eyebrows? Maybe you want to venture past those bushy or thinly lined brows, and maybe you just want to reinvent your face.

Make Up For Ever just created The Brow Show specially for anyone who wants a new formula for their brows or for those who are a little bit more adventurous in reshaping their brows.

"Fashion and trends change over the years. An important element of any look is the shape of the eyebrows - a look that has also changed over time.

However, the eyebrow shape will always be ex-

tremely important among professionals of film and stage - especially when they work to create new characters and invent different personalities," says Dany Sanz, founder and artistic director of Make Up For Ever.

Sanz explains that brow transformation utilises all available techniques, such as lifting, lowering, thickening, thinning, intensifying brows to create an older, more masculine or feminine appearance, make the face look larger or more balanced - anything to create the character.

"The smallest, most subtle detail can completely change the model's expression, therefore brow makeup requires expert analysis and assessment of the natu-

Kavika Yeputhomi: The revolutionary government NSCN (IM) against India's regime announced recently in the local dallies that they are taxing us (Nagas) by 12%. The taxes in the form of Indian currency and India's monetary standard claiming the Naga Nationhood and Sovereignty or alternative arrangement for Muviah’s people.

But why they are taking 12%? For what, do they deserve that? I am not against nationalism but is it because they failed the framework agreement signed on August 2015? Earlier our forefathers in the villages out of gratitude voluntarily give them the taxes in the form of rice, life-stocks, edibles etc.

Since they serve with undivided motive, with a feeling of nationalism but now why they are forcefully extorting us? It is not because they love the motherland for their personal benefits and most importantly to keep the organisation alive as these days, their reputation and impact has diminished.

I feel young generation should clearly understand the prevailing conditions and decide for our future generations without any unnecessary taxes and unwanted threat to life by the AK 47. Kuknalim... Long live Nagaland. May our people find peace of mind!

ral face to produce the desired results."

The Brow Show offers a range of products with a diversity of textures and shades that help design your brows.

Different products work with Meto Naleo: It is not tax, it is extortion. No one is different styles and provide willingly giving them money. Cursed money. your desired look - from natural to sophisticated, from sub- Verahü Nienu: Naga Nationalism is a fraud- nothing more than racist and religious nationalism. Memtle to bold.

The range includes a brow bers and leaders of these fraud organisations are liner, brow gel and brow pen- rascals, ignorant fools whose minds are mostly feucil. The liner has a highly pig- dal. They are incorrigible. Just ignore them mented formula that offers a Allem Mer: Tax means it comes back to the public deep colour, is easy to blend in the form of development like better roads, water and long lasting. supply, health care and upgraded education system.

The brow gel has a fibre- We are using the word 'tax' too loosely in Nagaland enriched formula that has without even knowing the meaning of it. coating fibres that look natThe articles in this column are compiled by The ural on your brows while the Naga Blog administrators. pencil offers a balance of Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are the views of the waxes and pigment for accurate, long-lasting, intense individual and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of The Naga Blog. colour.

8

SaturDaY 29•04•2017

INDIA

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Gujarat has one of India's worst immunisation records

(April 24-30 is World Immunisation Week)

A nurse administers polio drops to new born babies in a Dharmanagar hospital of Tripura on Jan 17, 2016. (IANS Photo) Alison Saldanha

A

IANS/ IndiaSpend

mong larger Indian states, Gujarat has the least number of vaccinated children: 50.4 per cent (2015-16 data). The immunisation rate of the fourthrichest state (2013-14) is now worse than that of some of the most backward states -Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, called Bimaru (or sick) states.

While Gujarat's current immunisation rate is up 11.5 per cent from the previous decade, it is now 11.6 percentage points below the national average of 62 per cent, according to an IndiaSpend analysis of National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data from 1991 to 2015-16.

In 2005-06, the state's vaccination coverage, at 45.2 per cent, had been above India's average of 43.5 per cent. Further, the current numbers are only slightly higher than the figures the state reported 23 years ago, in 1992-93.

Till recently, the Bimaru states, along with Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Assam and Meghalaya, held the worst child vaccination records in the country.

Immunisation is known to be the most cost-effective method to prevent disease and death. Every year, India loses 500,000 children under the age of two due to diseases preventable by vaccination.

Across India, the percentage of children who have received full immunisation that includes polio, BCG, DPT, and measles vaccines, has dramatically risen over 40 per cent in the last 10 years -- from 43.5 per cent in NFHS round three in 200506 to 62 per cent in round four.

This is mainly due to the significant growth in vaccination coverage in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Jharkhand.

In the 2005-06 survey, these states recorded dismal percentages of children vaccinated: 23, 26.5, 32.8 and 34.8 per cent, respectively. They have witnessed a median improvement of 97.45 per cent -- with Uttar Pradesh registering a 122 per cent jump -- in immunisation coverage to now reach 51.1, 54.8, 61.7 and 61.9 per cent of the population, respectively.

Punjab, Goa, and West Bengal recorded the highest numbers in immunisation of children between the ages of between 12 and 23 months.

Meanwhile, Gujarat aside, growth of immunisation coverage in the large prosperous states of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu has also particularly slumped.

Maharashtra, India's richest state, recorded a decline of 4.3 per cent in the number of children vaccinated in 2015-16 over 2005-06. It now fares worse than Bihar which has witnessed an 88.1 per cent growth in the same period.

While in NFHS round three (2005-06), Tamil Nadu was the state with the highest rate of immunisation at 80.9 per cent of children vaccinated, a decade later the state has recorded a 13.8 per cent decline.

As of 2015-16, only 69.1 per cent of children were vaccinated in the southern state with the country's second-largest economy.

Uttarakhand too saw a 3.8 per cent drop in percentage of children immunised from 60 per cent a decade ago.

Nagaland lowest among NE States While much of the north-east showed low immunisation of children in the latest survey -- with Nagaland recording the lowest percentage -- five of seven states in this region still showed significant improvement since 2005-06. From 33 per cent a decade ago, Meghalaya recorded a notable growth of 87 per cent in vaccination coverage. The percentage of children receiving full immunisation grew 70 per cent in Nagaland, and 50 per cent in Assam.

In December 2014, Mission Indradhanush was launched with the goal of increasing immunisation by five per cent every year. This would ensure that 90 per cent of children are immunised by 2020.

During the first phase of the mission, the government identified 201 "high-focus" districts accounting for nearly 50 per cent of all unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children in the country.

Of these, 82 districts were in the Bimaru states -- 14 in Bihar, 15 in Madhya Pradesh, nine in Rajasthan and 44 in Uttar Pradesh --where 25 per cent of the unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children reside.

The increased focus on these states may thus be credited with the significant progress in immunisation efforts here. The shift in focus from the more prosperous states may have also contributed to their slow growth in vaccination coverage.

There are several reasons for partial or no immunisation, but the most common ones are: not convinced about the need and lack of awareness.

This was also reflected in the findings from Gujarat, where not feeling the need for vaccines (22.3 per cent) and not knowing about the vaccines (15.5 per cent) were the primary two reasons for low immunisation.

In the north-east where vaccination coverage is particularly low, a median 44.9 per cent did not feel the need to vaccinate their children.

Further, full immunisation is more complicated as it requires receiving vaccination doses at different times. Possible reasons for Gujarat's poor performance could be that its health institutions, clinics and nurses who provide regular checkups and care are less efficient and capable than in many other states, according to a 2015 report in The Economist.

India, Cyprus sign four agreements

NEw DELHI, APRIL 28 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said India appreciates Cyprus's support for its permanent membership in the UN Security Council as the two sides signed four agreements, including on air services and merchant shipping.

"India and Cyprus share the common objective of bringing about an early reform of the United Nations Security Council," Modi said while jointly addressing the media with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades following delegationlevel talks here.

"Both of us believe that a reformed Security Council, reflective of the world as it is, and not as it was, is necessary to address the range of complex challenges facing the world today," he said.

"Excellency, in this context, I deeply appreciate your support for India's claim for a permanent seat in an expanded UN Security Council."

Stating that Friday's discussions covered the full range of the bilateral relationship, Modi said that he and Anastasiades exchanged perspectives on important global and regional issues of mutual concern.

He also said that Cyprus and India enjoyed close economic ties with the Mediterranean island nation being the eighth largest investor in India.

"Last year, to boost our capital and investment linkages, we have re-

vised the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement," the Prime Minister said, adding that India offered excellent investment opportunities for Cypriot entrepreneurs.

Last year, a revised double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) was signed between the two countries. The provisions of the new DTAA came into force from April 1.

"The industry and business in our two economies can shape attractive partnerships through the flagship programmes launched by my government," the Prime Minister said.

"The beautiful landscapes of Cyprus and the

wide horizons of ‘Incredible India' can be a source of tourism promotion in both our countries."

Modi said that given its location, Cyprus appreciated the threat that terrorism posed to global peace and stability.

Stating that India itself has been battling cross border terrorism for decades, without naming Pakistan, he said: "We agreed that there is an urgent need for all countries to decisively act against those states who generate, support, shelter and sustain these factories of violence in our regions.

The President and I discussed the need for creating a comprehensive global le-

gal framework, particularly through early conclusion of the (India-initiated) Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism."

Modi also expressed support for the territorial integrity of Cyprus and appreciated Anastasiades's efforts in leading from the front in trying to bring a new era of peace, development and security.

"Under your leadership, Cyprus has successfully overcome its recent financial and banking challenges," he stated.

On his part, Anastasiades said that he and Modi also discussed relations between India and the European Union (EU) and ex-

pressed support for an IndiaEU free trade agreement. He invited Indian companies to invest in Cyprus saying India and Cyprus were like-minded countries. The Cypriot President said both Cyprus and India have agreed to cooperate in areas like climate change, environment and international terrorism.

"I appreciate your unequivocal support for Cyprus's integrity," Anastasiades said.

Following Friday's talks, the two sides signed four agreements in the areas of air services, merchant shipping, agriculture, and culture, education and scientific cooperation.

Earlier in the day, the Cypriot President was accorded a ceremonial guard of honour in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Anastasiades also paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat and described him as a "spiritual leader of Cyprus and inspiration for its freedom struggle".

Following this, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on the visiting dignitary.

Anastasiades will confer Cyprus's highest civilian honour, the Grand Collar of the Order of Makarios III, on President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday evening when the latter will host a banquet in honour of the visiting delegation.

Anastasiades, who arrived in Mumbai on Tuesday, will depart from New Delhi on Saturday.

Stone throwing must end in Kashmir, says SC

NEw DELHI, APRIL 28 (IANS): The Supreme Court on Friday said it will ask the government not to use pellet guns in Jammu and Kashmir if there was no violence, no stone throwing and students return to classes.

Asking leaders of the J&K High Court Bar Association to come forward with "positive suggestions" to diffuse the situation, Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said in such a situation they would ask the government not to use pellet guns.

"If you suggest something within the framework of the Constitution, we will assure you there will be a dialogue," the Chief Justice

said as leaders of the Bar Association wanted government to hold talks with Hurriyat leaders - currently under house arrest - without conditions.

Giving time to the Bar Association till May 9 to come up with "positive suggestions", the court said: "You must first tell us what you will do. Then we will direct the government. If you keep throwing stones, how will it work?"

Justice Kaul told the counsel for the Bar Association that students have to get back to their colleges and universities. "Stop this violence. There is so much of unemployment." Taking exception to the affidavit filed by the Bar Association, Attorney General Mukul Ro-

hatgi said they were even doubting the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India.

He said the Bar Association was accusing the security forces of following a strategy of catch and kill and describing all the elections held till date in the state as rigged.

"They are separatists. What kind of dialogue they want to have?

They dispute even the accession of J&K... I don't know who these people are," he told the court.

Rohatgi described as "political" as the counsel for the Bar Association referred to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's reported decision of a unilateral ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir.

"Don't have political debate,"

the Attorney General told the counsel. Making it clear that it will not talk to separatists or those demanding 'azadi', the Centre said it will only talk to people who are legally permitted to speak on behalf of the people. The Attorney General moderated his strong stand only after Chief Justice Khehar, sensing the Centre's apparent discomfort with the role the court has taken upon itself, said: "We will close it at this moment if you say one line 'We don't have jurisdiction'."

Pointing to the road map for the talks, the Attorney General said there must be rule of law in the state, where a separatist campaign raging since 1989 has left thousands dead.

NITI Aayog to hand-hold states on infrastructure projects

NEw DELHI, APRIL 28 (IANS): The NITI Aayog has decided to offer support services to states in projects where they find it difficult to attract private investment.

A senior NITI Aayog official told IANS that the policy thinktank would not only offer advice and guidance to the states for infrastructure projects, but would also hand-hold them in execution so as to improve the confidence of investors.

At least 18 states have submitted proposals for the initiative and the NITI Aayog has so far short-list-

ed 40 projects.

"We have short-listed those projects where land is either not an issue or where most of the land has already been acquired," the official said.

He added that the Aayog would further screen the proposed projects and would eventually select 10 projects from 10 states which have the potential for Public-Private Partnership (PPP). The projects would be finalised by July after which detailed project reports would be prepared and bidding process would start.

"The nation needs development and the government money is not enough to achieve that. We need private partnership and investment for that," the official said.

He said while significant work has been done in some states and some sectors when it comes to PPP mode, but others have been ignored.

"If we look at states in the eastern part of India, especially the north-eastern states, little work has been done in that direction.

The investors have no confidence to invest there."

"We have decided to take up

those projects which have potential for partnership but where private players don't show interest for some reason or the other," the official said.

Among the states which have pitched their projects include Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Sikkim, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Delhi.

The proposed projects include a micro-irrigation project in Haryana and development of a road that passes through non-Naga inhabited areas in Manipur where economy often suffers due to the blockade.

IndIan RaIlways tuRnaRound hIts majoR buffeRs GHAZIABAD, APRIL 28 (REUTERS): India's mammoth state railways, much of them stuck in colonial times, have missed earnings targets for the third straight year and debts have shot up, documents seen by Reuters show, raising doubts about an ambitious modernisation drive.

The previously unreported figures will make uncomfortable reading for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the son of a train station tea seller who set out plans to overhaul the world's fourth largest rail network after he took power in 2014.

Modi's $133 billion, fiveyear programme backed by private and public investment aimed to boost passenger and freight volumes, lay new tracks, introduce modern trains and drive growth to help meet ambitious economic targets.

Of that, about $32 billion, or less than 25 percent, was spent in the first two years.

Some rail officials say it takes longer for investments to bear fruit, but nearly half way through the plan, the sector's performance has deteriorated according to some key measures.

"Without surgery, the rail-

ways can't become commercially viable," said a senior government official who deals with the network's finances.

Internal government documents show that under Modi, Indian Railways' operating ratio - a gauge of efficiency measuring expenses as a proportion of revenues - has slipped to the worst level in 15 years.

The documents also show gross traffic earnings, which make up the bulk of revenues, would fall short of the target by over $3 billion in the fiscal year ending last month.

Revenues were insufficient to cover expenditure, and funding via market borrowing rose to about 22 percent last year from an average of 8 percent between 2010-15. The railways now owe $20 billion, up $7 bil- Employees push a trolley loaded with goods as they cross railway tracks at Ghaziabad railway station on the outskirts of New Delhi on April 20, 2017. (REUTERS) lion in the last three years. adding that they would generate further details, and the latest allowing private players to run INVESTMENTS "TAKE TIME" sufficient revenues over the next passenger data for Indian Rail- train services.

Private money has been A senior railways ministry three to four years to pay debts ways are not publicly available.

"These railways numbers slow to flow, however, amid official, responding to questions falling due.

He also said a drop in freight cannot be solved overnight," uncertainty over the return on from Reuters, said increased borrowing to fund new invest- revenues stemmed from a stra- said Bibek Debroy, a govern- investments.

"If the railway comes out ments could not be expected to tegic decision to enhance vol- ment adviser who has drafted yield immediate results. "Rail- umes by cutting charges, while a reform blueprint for the rail- with the right project structure which allows the private sector way projects have a long gesta- passenger numbers had "in- ways.

He proposes unbundling to have adequate and assured tion, hence revenues from proj- creased after a gap of many the railways into separate units returns, investment in the railects will take time to flow," the years".

The official did not provide to operate track and traffic, and way sector will pick up," said official said in emailed answers,

Rajaji Meshram, director at stations.

KPMG India.

More broadly, he told Reuters he saw no alternative to DISINTEGRATION drastic reforms, without which Strains on the network are there could be "a disintegration visible at Ghaziabad's teeming, of Indian Railways".

150-year-old railway station Reform won't be easy. The near New Delhi, one of northern bulk of freight earnings still India's busiest freight junctions. comes from transporting comThere, managers squeeze modities like coal and oil, but 70-75 freight trains a day be- with companies laying oil pipetween 340 passenger trains lines and power plants being packed with commuters. built near coal mines, this busi"We can't tell our clients ness is under threat. when their cargo will leave the Hamstrung by some of the station or reach its destination," world's highest cargo rates, railsaid a local official. "Passenger ways are also being priced out by trains determine the move- cheaper road and air transport. ment of goods trains."

"We have lost a lot of revSuch congestion has slowed enue to the road sector. So, now the average speed of freight we have to bring back that share trains to around 20 km per hour of traffic to the railway sector," from 24-25 kph three years ago. said Anil Saxena, chief spokesIn China, the average speed of man of the railways. freight trains is 35 kph.

Modi appears frustrated.

Ghaziabad is one of 400 sta- His office said in a statement tions identified by the Modi ad- that he rebuked railway bossministration for redevelopment es at a meeting on Wednesto generate non-fare revenues. day over public complaints of Nearly two years after the feder- corruption. He also called this al cabinet approved the project, week for greater urgency in rework there has yet to start. developing train stations and in Bhartruhari Mahtab, head finding ways to generate nonof a parliamentary panel on fare revenues. railways, said a struggle to find Railways Minister Suresh investors had hobbled the $15 Prabhu did not respond to a rebillion programme to upgrade quest for an interview.

SaturdaY 29•04•2017

WORLD

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

9

US says “major conflict” with North Korea possible, China warns of danger of escalation WASHINGTON, AprIl 28 (reuTerS): U.S. President Donald Trump said a “major, major conflict” with North Korea was possible over its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, while China said the situation on the Korean peninsula could escalate or slip out of control.

Trump, speaking to Reuters on Thursday, said he wanted to resolve the crisis peacefully, possibly through the use of new economic sanctions, although a military option was not off the table.

“There is a chance that we could end up having a major, major conflict with North Korea,” Trump said in an interview at the Oval Office. “We’d love to solve things diplomatically but it’s very difficult,” he said, describing North Korea as his biggest global challenge.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said there was a danger that the situation on the Korean peninsula could escalate or slip out of control, his ministry said.

Wang made the comments in a meeting with a Russian diplomat on Thursday at the United Nations, the ministry said in a statement.

China, the only major ally of North Korea, has been increasingly uncomfortable in recent months about its neighbour’s

would stress the need for members to fully implement existing sanctions as well as possible next steps.

China banned imports of North Korean coal in February, cutting off its most important export, and Chinese media this month raised the possibility of restricting oil shipments to the North if it unleashed more provocations.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an interview with Reuters in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on April 27. (REUTERS Photo)

pursuit of nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles in violation on U.N. resolutions.

The United States has called on China to do more to rein in Pyongyang and Trump lavished praise on Chinese President Xi Jinping for his efforts, calling him “a good man”.

“I believe he is trying very hard. I know he would like to be able to do something. Perhaps it’s possible that he can’t. But I

think he’d like to be able to do something,” Trump said.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Thursday that China had asked North Korea not to conduct any more nuclear tests. Beijing had warned Pyongyang it would impose unilateral sanctions if it went ahead, he added.

“We were told by the Chinese that they informed the regime that if they did conduct

further nuclear tests, China would be taking sanctions actions on their own,” Tillerson said on Fox News, without specifying what sanctions he was referring to.

Tillerson did not say when China made the threat and there was no immediate confirmation from Beijing. He is due to chair a meeting with U.N Security Council foreign ministers on Friday, where he said he

MISSILE DEFENCE, CARRIER GROUP In a show of force, the United States is sending the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier group to waters off the Korean peninsula, where it will join the USS Michigan, a nuclear submarine that docked in South Korea on Tuesday. South Korea’s navy has said it will hold drills with the U.S. strike group.

Admiral Harry Harris, the top U.S. commander in the Pacific, said on Wednesday the carrier was in the Philippine Sea, within two hours’ striking distance of North Korea if needs be.

Harris also said a U.S. missile defence system being deployed in South Korea to ward off any North Korean attack would be operational in coming days.

China has been angered by the deployment of the Termi-

nal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), complaining that its radar can see deep into China and undermines its security.

Trump said in the interview he wants South Korea to pay the cost of the THAAD, which he estimated at $1 billion. South Korea, one of Washington’s most crucial allies in the region, said the United States would have to bear the cost, pointing to possible friction ahead.

Trump has vowed to prevent North Korea from being able to hit the United States with a nuclear missile, a capability experts say Pyongyang could have some time after 2020.

North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests and numerous missile tests, including one this month, a day before a summit between Trump and Xi in Florida.

North Korea, technically still at war with the South after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a treaty, regularly threatens to destroy the United States and says it will pursue its nuclear and missile programmes to counter perceived U.S. aggression.

“Trump is recklessly resorting to the hackneyed methods, being utterly ignorant of the DPRK,” the North’s KCNA state news agency said on Friday, citing a commentary from the

Rodong Sinmun newspaper and referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“Unshakable is the faith and will of the army and people of the DPRK to build a socialist power ... and no force can check their advance.”

Trump, asked if he considered North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to be rational, said he was operating from the assumption that he is rational. He noted that Kim had taken over his country at an early age.

“As to whether or not he’s rational, I have no opinion on it. I hope he’s rational,” he said.

In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin and visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called on North Korea and other countries on Thursday to avoid behaviour or rhetoric that could increase tension.

Foreign ministers of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), meeting in the Philippines, called for the resumption of dialogue.

“ASEAN strongly urges the DPRK to comply fully with its obligations arising from all relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions and international laws in the interest of maintaining international peace and security,” they said in a statement.

Pope Francis arrives in Cairo seeking to mend ties with Islam Israel planning 15,000 more settlement homes in Jerusalem

Pope Francis gestures as he leaves at the end of the Wednesday general audience in Saint Peter’s square at the Vatican on April 26. (REUTERS Photo)

CAIrO, AprIl 28 (reuTerS): Pope Francis arrives in Cairo on Friday hoping to mend ties with Islamic religious leaders just as Egypt’s ancient Christian community faces unprecedented pressure from Islamic State militants who have threatened to wipe it out. In an address to the Egyptian people this week, Francis spoke of his hope that his visit would help bring peace and encourage dialogue and reconciliation with the Islamic world.

But it comes at a painful time for Egypt’s Copts, the Middle East’s largest Christian community, three weeks after Islamic State suicide bombers killed 45 people

in twin church bombings.

Those attacks followed a cathedral bombing that killed 28 people in December and a spree of murders that has forced hundreds of Christians to flee North Sinai, where the group is most active.

Islamic State attacks and sectarian wars in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere are devastating Christian populations and jeopardising their future in the Middle East, the birthplace of Jesus and home to the earliest churches. Despite the security threat hanging over Francis’ visit, the pope will use an ordinary car during his 27 hours in Cairo, continuing his practice of shunning armoured limousines to

be closer to people. Streets near the Vatican embassy in Cairo and other sites have been cleared of cars and blocked off, and pedestrians have not been allowed to linger.

“After all the pain we have experienced ... we are satisfied and confident that the state is taking strong security measures to prevent terrorism and protect churches,” said Father Boulos Halim, spokesman of the Coptic Orthodox church to which the majority of Egypt’s Christians belong.

“It’s in the state’s interests to protect its nationals and the Copts are not an independent people, they are part and parcel of the nation itself.”

STRAINED RELATIONS Francis will meet President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi; Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of al-Azhar, the world’s most influential seat of Sunni Islamic theology and learning; and Pope Tawadros II, head of the Coptic Orthodox Church who narrowly escaped a church bombing in Alexandria on Palm Sunday. Francis is expected to give his key address to a conference on religious dialogue at Al-Azhar, part of efforts to improve relations with the 1,000-year-old cen-

tre after Egyptian Muslim leaders cut ties in 2011 over what they said were repeated insults against Islam by Pope Benedict.

Ties were restored last year after Tayeb visited the Vatican. Tayeb, widely considered among the most moderate clerics in Egypt, has condemned Islamic State and its practice of declaring others as apostates and infidels as a pretext for waging violent jihad. Francis denounces violence in God’s name. Papal aides say a moderate like Tayeb would be an important ally in condemning radical Islam. But Tayeb is under fire over the slow pace of reform at Azhar, which critics in Egypt’s parliament and media accuse of failing to combat the religious foundations of Islamist extremism.

They say Azhar is an ossified institution whose clerics have resisted pressure from Sisi to modernise their religious discourse. Gabriel Said Reynolds, professor of Islamic studies and theology at University of Notre Dame, said the pope’s visit to an overwhelmingly Muslim country where the Christian minority is largely Orthodox, showed his commitment to advancing Muslim-Christian relations.

JeruSAleM, AprIl 28 (reuTerS): Israel intends to build 15,000 new settlement homes in East Jerusalem, the Housing Ministry said on Friday despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s request to “hold back” on settlements as part of a possible new push for IsraeliPalestinian peace.

A formal announcement of the settlement plan, quickly condemned by the chief Palestinian negotiator, could come around the time Trump is scheduled to visit Israel next month.

Israel views all of Jerusalem as its “eternal and indivisible capital”, but the Palestinians also want a capital there. Most of the world considers Jerusalem’s status an issue that must be decided through negotiations. The last peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed in 2014.

Housing Minister Yoav Galant told Israel Radio that his ministry and the Jerusalem Municipality had been working on the plan for two years, with proposals for 25,000 units, 15,000 of which would be in East Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed.

“We will build 10,000 units in Jerusalem and some 15,000 within the (extended) municipal boundaries of Jerusalem. It will happen,” he said. Saeb Erekat, the Palestinians’ chief negotiator, said Israel’s move was a systematic violation of international law and a “deliberate sabotage” of efforts to resume talks.

“All settlements in occupied Pal-

estine are illegal under international law,” he said in a statement. “Palestine will continue to resort to international bodies to hold Israel, the occupation power, accountable for its grave violations of international law throughout occupied Palestine.”

Channel 2 news said an announcement on building could be made on “Jerusalem Day” which this year, according to the Hebrew calendar, falls on May 24, when Israel celebrates its capture of the eastern part of the city.

This year marks the 50th anniversary, with a large number of celebrations planned. Trump’s visit is expected to take place on or shortly after May 22.

Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a state they hope to establish in the occupied West Bank and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Trump told Reuters in an interview at the White House on Thursday that he wanted to see a peace deal.

“I want to see peace with Israel and the Palestinians,” he said.

“There is no reason there’s not peace between Israel and the Palestinians - none whatsoever.”

The U.S. leader met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington in February and is to see Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House on May 3.

In January, two days after Trump took office, Netanyahu said he was lifting restrictions on settlement construction in East Jerusalem, just

as the city’s municipality approved building permits for hundreds of new homes.

During Barack Obama’s presidency, Netanyahu’s government came under repeated censure for building in settlements, which the previous U.S. administration saw as an obstacle to peace. Under Trump, Netanyahu expected more of a green light to ramp up settlement building, but it hasn’t been straightforward.

While Trump has said he does not think settlements are necessarily an obstacle to peace, he did directly ask Netanyahu during a White House press conference in February to “hold back on settlements for a little bit”.

In 2010, Israel announced its intent to build homes in East Jerusalem during a visit by then-Vice President Joe Biden, who condemned the plan.

It caused huge embarrassment to Netanyahu, who suspended the plan before reintroducing it in 2013.

Most countries consider settlement activity illegal and an obstacle to peace. Israel disagrees, citing biblical, historical and political connections to the land - many of which the Palestinians also claim - as well as security interests.

The East Jerusalem neighbourhoods where building is planned are Givat Hamatos, East Talpiot, Ramot, Pisgat Zeev, Neve Yaakov, Ramot Shlomo, Gilo and Atarot. These areas extend in an arc from north to south around the eastern side of Jerusalem, forming something of a buffer with the West Bank.

UN criticises Myanmar plan to resettle Rohingya in “camp-like” villages YANGON, AprIl 28 (reuTerS): The United Nations’ refugee agency has criticised a Myanmar government plan to resettle Rohingya Muslims displaced by recent violence in “camp-like” villages, saying it risks stoking tensions, according to a document seen by Reuters.

The plan - confirmed by a senior state-level official - has sparked fear among residents that they would end up penned into de facto refugee camps, the document produced by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Myanmar said.

Attacks on border guard posts in northwestern Myanmar in October last year by a Rohingya insurgent group ignited the biggest crisis of national leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s year in power. Security forces stand accused of mass killings and gang rapes during the counterinsurgency operation that followed.

About 75,000 Rohingya fled across the border to Bangladesh to escape the violence, during which at

least 1,500 houses across several villages were burned, while thousands more hid in forests and fields.

Some of those who fled have now returned and built temporary shelters, but the authorities have barred them from rebuilding their homes permanently citing “security restrictions”, according to residents who spoke to Reuters and the UN document.

Instead, authorities have devised a plan to relocate some 1,152 households from 13 scattered hamlets into larger, more manageable “model villages”.

In a three-page “advocacy note” dated April 25 and circulated among humanitarian agencies on Wednesday, the UNHCR warned the plan could “create further tensions” in villages recently scarred by the violence.

“Based on the information available on the model villages and concerns brought to our attention by affected villagers, UNHCR

stressed the importance to allow displaced communities to return to their place of origin and have access to their previous source of livelihoods,” UNHCR Myanmar spokesman Andrew Dusek said by email when reached for comment on the document.

More than 1 million Rohingya live in apartheidlike conditions in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, where many in the Buddhist majority consider them interlopers from Bangladesh.

While Dusek said the UNHCR understood the plan was still at draft stage and may not have been finalised, Rakhine State government secretary Tin Maung Swe said the local administration had already started implementing it.

Tin Maung Swe said relocation was in the residents’ interests as the “model villages” would be closer to government services. Rohingya villages in rural northern Rakhine were arranged “randomly” at present, he said.

“If these villages are not systematic, they will not de-

velop and it will be hard to build hospitals, schools and police stations,” said Tin Maung Swe. “Also we will have difficulties to take care of security in the region.”

“MODEL VILLAGES” According to the UNHCR document and residents, the government has begun clearing land for the “model villages”, in which households would each get a 220-square-metre (2,400 sq ft) plot and about $150 to build a home.

Residents told UN staff they feared losing access to their farmland and fishing grounds, and becoming stuck in what would become “like IDP camps”, the UNHCR document said.

“A forced relocation to the ‘model villages’ would not progress stabilisation in these areas,” the UNHCR document said.

About 120,000 Rohingya have lived in “internally displaced persons” camps in Rakhine, dependent of international aid, since communal violence in 2012. Suu Kyi has pledged to begin closing the camps,

Rohingya refugees sit inside their home at Balukhali Makeshift Refugee Camp in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh. (REUTERS File Photo)

following recommendations from a commission led by former UN chief Kofi Annan.

Five people whose homes were destroyed in November told Reuters by telephone about the living conditions since the violence subsided, expressing their worries about the government’s plans.

“The village here has completely changed because all of the houses were burned down,” said a 32-year-old in Yae Khat Chaung Gwa Son village, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Reuters has previously interviewed dozens of refugees, residents and Myanmar security officials

about the military operation in Rakhine. Witnesses said troops raped Rohingya women, killed civilians, and burned homes in a sweep through several villages in November.

Satellite imagery analysed by New York-based Human Rights Watch showed massive fires that destroyed hundreds of

homes.

Officials have denied most of the allegations and blamed insurgents and villagers themselves for the fires.

Myanmar has blocked independent media and observers from the area.

Residents said that, while the area is now relatively peaceful, checkpoints and a 9 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew remain in place and soldiers regularly patrol near villages, making it hard for them to reach their fields and shrimp farms or the area’s basic health clinics.

Villagers also told Reuters they feared the plots in the new settlements would be too small for many households, which often comprise extended family groups of 30 people or more.

“The government told us their plan is for all of the villagers to huddle in one place, in one village near the main road,” said a school teacher in Dar Gyi Zar village, who also spoke anonymously. “We want to live in our original place as before.”

SaturDaY 29•04•2017

public discourse

10

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Why Nagaland needs Football?

Ayeto Ayemi Nagaland Football Coaches Association

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s we live in the time when Aizwal Football Club, a club from the Northeast is on the verge of becoming the Champions of our national league, would we not feel a sense of pride if one of our boys were a part of that team. Imagine then if that club was from Nagaland itself. You can be sure many will be out in the streets of Mizoram celebrating when they lift the trophy, in fact just getting to the situation they are in today is just cause for celebrations. Nagaland sure needs something to celebrate and be happy about. We hardly have anything genuine to celebrate besides the normal which everyone else have like Festivals, weddings and birthdays.

Why Football? You may ask, I say why not? We have so many Football tournaments splashed

across the calendar year. From the local village levels right up to the state level. You will not find a Naga kid who has not kicked a football yet unless he is still learning to walk. Some of the kids then leave the football aside if it is not their fancy but the ones that fall in love with the game get hooked for life. Divorce only happens when circumstances do not agree or simply the road ends. There is a large number of Naga boys and girls, men and women who love Football. Out of that number there is a healthy amount that have God gifted talent that needs guidance, nourishing and most of all a significant stage to perform.

As for the men and women you would actually be surprised to know as to how many ache to play and relive their youth or crave to have a kick about like some unfinished life agenda. Then there is a special number who would take that extra step to make football bigger in Nagaland. We have the

talent in our kids and passion in our grownups so how can Nagaland not have a need for Football?

The need of the hour is a proper league system in the state that covers all corners. A system that automatically promotes itself through the various levels of football. Knock out tournaments do not do justice to teams and talent but they too need to exist as a vital form of exposure and experience. Whatever the barrier or the circumstance, I appeal to my fellow brothers and sisters that when Football comes at your calling or the ball come rolling your way please support the Football cause.

You can support the game by encouraging and supporting the managements, by avoiding Tribalism and violence in the football environments, by leaving ego and self interest aside for other uses, by shouting and cheering for football besides what we usually use them for, by enjoying the success

Rejoinder to Thepfulhouvi Solo

with respect of the failure of the others and many other ways you can in your own way and circumstance.

Football needs to grow in Nagaland and every Naga has a role to play. Right from the point of honestly paying the Fee to watch a game, to the point of curbing that Naga temper even if you are right,to the point of understanding that the team you support, the ball you kick and the goal you score are all good things and it can become a bad thing if you let it so to the point of understanding that football cannot be the only thing in your life there has to be something else too and to the point of allowing yourself to cry if you fail or your team loses because it is then you complete yourself and allow yourself to become a better human. Then imagine how happy you can celebrate when success happens.

Then tell the world why Nagaland does not need Football.

An appeal to the government with regard to Article 371 (A) H.Y. Swu

than 40 sub-tribes along to death of 3 Lives of the tents of Article 371 (A) importance of the G.B.s with their custom and Nagas and the general article which was signed in Nagaland.

GB Supply Colony, Dimapur usages. refusal for such U.L.B. between the Nagas and In this present context, e all have 2. Many people are not fulelection, and if we don't the Indian Government I would like to appeal the very recently ly aware that this Article preserve the traditions in Shillong Accord.

Government of Nagaland dealt with 371 (A) was formulated and values of our land, 6. The G.Bs are an impor- to give more importance the problems to preserve the customthen in future also we tant component of the of the contents of Article which occurred at the presary law and tradition are going to face such modern governance 371 (A) by way of publishent ULB Election regarding of the Nagas. The Naga problems and many system in Nagaland and ing it in the official Gazette the 33% reservation quota customary laws and usmore will be killed. if the Nagas do not pre- and also in the subject of and the article 371 (A). ages are quite different 4. In every aspect of life, serve and follow the 371 schools class 8 and above 1. It is well known that from those off the mainNagas tradition, cus(A) article then the cus- compulsory so as to enable Nagaland State is recland and such in order to toms and usages are tomary laws and tradi- the present generation to ognized with 16 major preserve it Nagas should very different from those tions will vanish in the be aware of the true contribes and the customgrasp the contents of 371 of the mainland. days to come. Often, tents of 371 (A) of the conary law of all tribes is also (A) Article.

5. We all know that many without knowing the stitution and to preserve different. The various 3. As we all have faced the highly educated and actual view of the 371 the Naga customary law. political groups in Naconsequences in the last the present generation (A) the general public galand recognize more ULB Election which led is not aware of the conobjects to the value and Kuknalim

W

Nagaland for Christ IK Sema Yeputhomi Purana Bazar, Dimapur

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he struggle of Naga people for Sovereignty has been a Political Right in the beginning with many rounds of talks and negotiations to resolve the Naga Issue regarding the Unification of all the Naga areas with the ultimate aim of Sovereignty for Nagas as an independent Nation.

Naga Nationalist Movement is the oldest and longest movement and also the mother of all revolutionary movements in the whole of South-East Asia stating the Slogan “NAGALAND FOR CHRIST”. Now it’s been nearly a century without any Positive outcome, tracing back to the formation of Naga Club in 1918 and thereby the Naga Hills District Tribal Council in 1945 which changed its nomenclature to Naga National Council in February 1946 at Wokha, inhabited place of Lotha Nagas tribes. Gone were those days where our nationalist leaders serve with undivided motive towards serving Naga’s Nation with dignity and respect. Taxes were given to the Naga nationalists’ in the form of food, livestock’s etc… as a relief willingly and voluntarily out of love and compassion for their brothers in arms and certainly not because of force or obligations, those days the true nationalists’ face many Neilalie Yashü Asst Professor, Phek Govt College

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ne can apparently see the fast changing of our past practices as present practices are gradually covering up all the great value of our forefather’s traditions, customs and cultures. To be specific, comparatively, so many olden days practices are fading away by adopting and adapting to the modern practicing in all these rounds. Since two-three decades gone, the various Naga community`s practices are being following within one`s provinces, jurisdictions, areas, ranges or villages. The concrete well-shaped system of our fore one is found to be appropriate and appraisable. Prior to the Indian politics introduction to the state, it is true that every community is governed and run by its customary systems whilst, right after we set our foot to the said present tracks and trends, everything has been totally

untold problems as such they don’t owned fancy rides like our nationalists’ did today they hardly get a meal a day, walk miles and miles fighting the suppressive regime with ordinary weapons against the sophisticate weapons.

The present era Nationalist Movement is marked by its oppressive and suppressive behaviour of heavy unwanted taxations from roots to buds and unwanted abductions without valid reasons causing untold miseries to the General Nagas. Recently few days back the revolutionary Government of NSCN (IM) in local dallies proclaiming the taxation right reduced from 24% to 12%. But how comes when even the Tenth Tithes we gives at Churches to God is 10%. Why are they (IM) taxing us (Nagas) by 12% still ? For what, do they really deserve it? Are they trying negotiating their price to 12% from 24% for they have failed the famous Framework Agreement signed on August, 2015 ?

The Framework Agreement at its secrecy without any positive outcome but still they are going to taxes us in the form of Indian Currency and India’s monetary standard claiming the Naga Nationhood and Sovereignty or maybe an alternative arrangement for Nagas of Manipur and what else… nobody knows.

(Hidden Agendas) I am not against Naga Na-

tionalism which is the right of every Nagas “the right to Self-Determination” but it is a crystal clears that the taxes are levied on us with the use some kind of minimum force by showing A.K 47 is not because of their love for their Motherland but they need to survive and keep the system active and the organisation alive to sustain in the name of fake nationalism without any outcome as it is a bit failing apart these days. I feel the young generations should clearly understand these prevailing conditions and decide wisely as soon as possible for our future generations without any unnecessary unwanted taxes and without any sudden unwanted threat to life by A.K. 47 without valid reason.

I did not meant to offend any Organisation, authority, community, tribes and personnel etc… I am stating what is really happening with every general Nagas and which is pulling us down. By quoting Edmund Burke which is rephrased by Khekiye. K. Sema “The only thing we can make Evil Triumph is to have the good man do nothing” and watch. Therefore, We Nagas must discourage the unwanted taxations and clean our society for better future and realized the goal of “NAGALAND FOR CHRIST” as a peaceful Society to live in.

Kuknalim!

Zeneituo Angami

I

Kilonser, NSCN/GPRN

n the content of my previous release I have stated that any Naga National Political Party can have a say and decide what is best for the Nagas. In his rejoinder, T. Solo has asked ‘why do NSCN (IM) claim they alone only speak for all Nagas everywhere and refuse to include other NNPP in the talk?’ My answer is: Is there any NNPP which does not claim that it speaks for all Nagas? As for your other claim that the NSCN has refused to include other NNPP in the Talk; Who said this, and where was it ever written? Ever since the Cease Fire was declared the NSCN/GPRN through its leaders and MIP have asked all the NNPPs to unite in ‘Principle’ and join in the solution Talk. This call stands till today. As for Indian leaders calling Naga leaders as liars, you need not worry for the truth will be laid before the stake-holders when the solution talk concludes.

Thepfulhouvi Solo please do not try to instigate the Nagas with an ulterior motive that you have by misinterpreting others’ write-ups. I have never come across any writer terming any person as a Non-Naga blood except in your case, because you are an adopted Naga.

In the history of Naga struggle for a ‘Free Naga Nation’ we have taken many decisions and also made many agreements and accords with our oppressor-India. All these right decisions taken by our leaders in the past at the appropriate times are appreciated and today all the Naga National Political Parties stand by them.

1. The Representation submitted to Simon Commission in 1929.

2. The Declaration of 14th August 1947 as Naga Independence Day. 3. The Naga Plebiscite of 1951.

Today, if any NNPP which does not stand by these decisions of our late leaders it cannot be called an NNPP. Now coming to Thepfulhouvi Solo’s point – a. When our Representation to the Simon Commission was submitted did our leaders’ letter ever mentioned the ‘Nagaland State Territory’? A definite ‘No’ because Nagaland State never existed then.

b. When Naga Independence Day was declared in 1947 was it only for Nagas in Nagaland State Territory? Never. c. When we went for a Plebiscite in 1951 did the mandate of our ancestors ever mentioned ‘Nagaland State Territory’ ‘No’. All these declarations stood for all Nagas.

All these historic decisions were taken in the best interest and welfare of all Nagas on the face of the earth. In our history of freedom movement did any of our great leaders, including A.Z. Phizo and his predecessors ever said that they were fighting for the ‘Nagaland State Territory’? Again, a big ‘No’.

Now coming to the demand of Thepfulhouvi Solo that NSCN/GPRN should not decide for the Nagaland State Territory. Ever since the Cease-Fire Agreement between the NSCN/GPRN and the GOI, the NSCN government has held several consultative meetings with all the stake holders- the Naga NGOs including the Naga MLAs. The NSCN/GPRN has a Tatar Hoho. So after the consultative meetings the aspirations and the rights expressed by the stake holders were taken into account and deliberated in the Tatar Hoho Sessions and resolutions were adopted and sent to the Collective Leaders and not vice-versa. So the decision making body of the NSCN/GPRN is the Tatar Hoho and not Th. Muivah. The Tatar Hoho of the NSCN/GPRN consists of all Naga tribes the majority of which is we the Nagas by blood from the so called Nagaland State. So Thepfulhouvi Solo who are you to demand that we the true sons of the soil should not say or decide what is best for our land and our people?

In conclusion Thepfulhouvi Solo you have stated that a Naga who has settled permanently in a foreign land may even lapse his traditional right of his community of origin. Thepfulhouvi Solo, before you were adopted as Kewhimia (Naga) there were many Kewhimia members who have settled permanently in Dimapur and are still there, but by our tradition we the Kewhimia have not lapsed their right as community origins and Kewhimia will not do so. And as for you Thepflhouvi Solo you can keep your traditions to yourself likewise we Kewhimia will keep ours.

The by-products of fratricidal conflict Rev. L. Suohie Mhasi

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he present discriminating or tribalism conflict is a by-product of fratricidal conflict in the past.

Had there been no political division or fratricidal conflict among the Nagas, joining or inclusion of a Naga tribe in the Naga National Movement is a matter of joy for all of the Nagas. But unfortunately, the Nagas split into several divisions or factions and killing one another took place for years together. So many of the present controversial issues are cropped up out of hatred and un-reconciled attitude.

In the beginning of the Naga National Movement, there was some opposition in certain villages which led to killings. But after some years all were reconciled and became one and the trauma was no longer mentioned any time. For the Nagas as a whole, some tribes had been indifferent or even were opposed to but at last all realised and came to join the freedom movement as one fold. So the question of discrimination or tribalism does not arise. All together have sacrificed their times and lives for the National cause.

Frankly speaking, some ones are opposed to the inclusion of the Tangkhuls. Z. Ramyo was a Tangkhul and when a ceasefire agreement was signed between the GoI and the NNC/FGN in 1964 and there was a Round Table Conference for settlement between the GoI and the NNC/ FGN Ramyo was one of the Naga delegates. In 1946 when an NNC/FGN general meeting was held at Viswema, Th Muivah was elected to be the General Secretary of NNC with unanimity. Gen. Thinoselie M.Keyho and Muivah with a team of Naga Army were sent

Nagas are neither nomads nor landless Nagaland Tribes Council

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Media Cell

he Nagaland Tribes Council feels it necessary to correct the distortions made by one Kilonser from NSCN (IM) recently whose exertions are found to be complete contrary to the Naga traditions and customs. The Nagas are neither nomads nor landless. Where ever the Nagas are, each individual and community owns lands and the individual or community have the sole ownership over lands in question and those lands belonging to the owners are private properties free from any encumbrances. Therefore, the owner has the supreme authority to take independent

possession over the land and take decision for its utility as per our time tested tradition and custom.

Whereas, the Kilonser in question claims ‘that any Naga by blood has the right to speak and act/decide what is best for Nagas. Any Naga by blood, whether from Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal, Assam, Myanmar or even from America, China or even further from another planet has the right to say and decide what is best for the Nagas’. This perception is wrong and the exertion is irresponsible and cannot be accepted. For instance, Mr. A has no right whatsoever to interfere in the personal and private affairs, be it properties or any other interest of Mr. B and vice-versa.

Similarly, the Nagas of Nagaland are the su-

preme and undisputed owner of the State of Nagaland, be it land and its resources, be it its government and be it any interest concerning Nagaland. No authority from outside or any other place, how wise and strong it may be, has no legitimacy to interfere in the interest of Nagaland. Ditto, how passionate are the Nagas of Nagaland about the affairs of fellow Nagas in other States in India or elsewhere, they have no right to interfere unless so invited to do so.

Therefore, the opinion as expressed is indeed alien to our culture, foreign to the Nagas of Nagaland which cannot be accepted. Also, the nature of his assertion is more of bully than of reason and is equally a misfit to our culture.

Past and present practices of our communities changes and politicized in all round corners. Though we the Nagas are been provisioned with Art.371A with clauses, we deviate ourselves to the outside of the given purview provisions.

Now it is a known fact that every community wants to adopt the political finishing-touch in all our villages, which according to me is quite inferior or incomplete than our olden practices.

Perhaps, politics is not to be taken as the bad one but on the other side of the coin the inscribed number and picture is different.

So taking the involvement of political system in all fields is not to be considered as well.

Our village`s Chiefs or Leaders are being selected or elected according to the general views despite one`s reluctances. They really give their best to sacrifice for the causes of their villages, clans and communities without any oppositions. No one

goes beyond the parameter of one`s customary resolutions. No one is been found or heard as greedy mouth or selfish monkey in their profiles like the present leaders. No one is been ex-communicated or make exiled for one`s fishy tricks in their performance as and when discharging their duties. No one is heard of been pessimistic, opaque, nepotic or passive in their way fare of running their own community like present. No one knows or uses the master-planned or preplanned methods of siphoning the villages valuable treasures like present. No one oppose or against the true leader`s decisions for one`s conveniences or selfishness Instead, everyone raises as one vocal-cord, one stand, one family and one body. They always stand strong as the story of a bundle of sticks against the single stick which

to China. They had to trek to China with venture.

If anything is done right, it is to be appreciated and if anything is done wrong, it is to be blamed. As far as inclusion of the Tangkhuls in the Naga National Movement is concerned, there is no question of discrimination against them or any other Nagas who committed and sacrificed their lives for the Nagas. Truth and justice does not allow any sober Nagas to question the right of the ongoing talk between the GoI and the NSCN (I-M) and the leadership of Th.Muivah in the present political scenario.

is easy to be broken. Whereas of now, many leaders wants to be a single stick to split from its bundle, so that he/she can siphon or pile-up the aids, funds and schemes for oneself secretly .It is open-secret that many present leaders are in fighting tooth and nail for one`s benefits. The chairmen, secretaries, VDBs, GBs etc. were contesting with many inside propagandas. Politically they were the real propagandist for the village welfare to use their iron hands upon the villagers. What is very funny is that a small village having around 20-30 households are selecting their village council chairman with NPF, Cong, BJP etc. candidatures for contesting. It is funnier that the Area MLA/Ministers are having its involvement in it. They politically want the said village to totally adopt their colour party to be won. A hand-touch

of this prestigious party leaders are terrorising the small village to be politicised one. Unfortunately, the elected village`s parties with its cabinet member of Secretary and its parliament secretaries like four of the GBs etc. discharge their functions in the capital town for the whole month by booking star-like hotels, taking festive curry like chickens, pork and fishes with expensive coffees and drinks.

They were like none other than 1st Gazetted, dressing in good satire to impress their camouflage boss. They ply to and fro with expensive taxis. Alas! After their term and turn has completed, they carries hoe and daos to their daily routine fields for survival with the blamename as corrupted leaders, till one meet its grave.

This is how we the Nagas are following and practicing our villages responsible duties

as a community. This unpleasant sound of politics interferences has bad effects for what its involvements .Even the village student unions also follows the same dirty `divide and rule` policy tracts and tracks. The more opponent of the candidatures arise, the more unfair scenes occurs in the village, clan, family Some jokes come to my recollections that, Nagas are expert in politics that our politicians are laughing with politics ,eating with politics, walking with politics and sleeping with politics and even driving politically. This propagation joke is somehow true that even the church are more or less involves with politics too. The pastors, deacons and church leaders all are well versed with politics that they were none other than the best campaigners, vote buyers, convincers etc As such in the functionar-

ies of the church, the believers, the utensils ,the plastic chairs and the windows curtains etc. are all seems as political visualizes images. The preaching, singings and the prayers all are systematically politicized. The testimonies and the messages are been spoken in political dialects and languages for which the impacts members after services stretches their hands for congratulations. The free willing offering also done politically. The Family prayer or visiting is performing according to the political procedures.

Christmas-festival is almost done politically. I really do hope and pray that God should show mercy upon we the Nagas to issue salvation tickets to the Gate of Heaven, that also through the politicized hands or set-up a new political Hell for those who are really plays the dirtiest politics from its real true and fair means perspectives to immobilizing the fairest practices of our forefathers. Let the good practices prevail once again.

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.

Saturday 29•04•2017

EntErtainmEnt

The Lady of Kinep is giving new ‘Hope’ And all her resilience and inspiration to create changes around her, she said is because of her parents who have always believed and placed their biggest hope on their daughters and provided them with education, freedom, strength and inspiration. “My late father Haokholet Hengna was a man of Hope who taught me never to give up and whatever I do- to do with heart.

My mother Lhingjahat Hengna is an epitome of selfless love and care, who has always been behind the scene but she is the hero.

And as their daughter I’m

Akangchila Longchar

N

Morung Express News

engneithem Henga is a young entrepreneur with a vision for her community. She established Runway Nagaland in 2013 with a vision to promote handloom and handmade products. Her brand innovates-makes-sells clothing, jewellery, and accessories using eclectic and inspiring designs.

She is also focused on creating sustainable livelihoods through her business with the aim to enhance the well-being of people from low-income communities, and also with the hope to revive and sustain the dying practice of craftsmanship and traditional techniques of weaving and handmade accessories.

This visionary entrepreneur explained, “All of our accessories are handmade with love by women engaged in making handmade and handloom products and we hope to give them an identity, hope for a dignified status, and hope for a better life! With this in

mind, she has launched a social media campaign called “Face of Runway Nagaland” where people promote Kinep earrings which means ‘Hope’ mainly to create awareness and give significance to local artisans. The campaign has successfully reached Nagaland, Arunachal, Assam and several other places in the Northeast.

Runway Nagaland also has an accessory line with another homegrown brand PreciousMeLove (PML) called “Goulu” which means treasure. Hengna explained, “For tribal people, jewelleries are a treasure so I named it after that.

This small things are what interests and fascinates me- even a small necklace, holds so much value and every piece has a story to tell. Go to the village and listen to the stories from the old women there, every piece will have something fascinating to tell.”

For this young entrepreneur, the journey has been a rough one with many les-

Sales team with Production Manager Chongpi Haokip.

Nengneithem Hengna, Founder and Managing Director Runway Nagaand

sons and setbacks. In 2011, she had first opened a store called “Runway” which housed apparels of local designers. Subsequently, she also opened another apparel store with a friend.

During this time, the bug to innovate-make-sell local had already caught on with her, so, she decided to quit and start her own brand.

Initially, her work was met with criticisms where some people would not take the brand seriously

tagging it as just a hobby.

And there even was a point where work and production stopped and she really had no place to turn to. “However, I received good advice to take a break, which I did and traveled all over Northeast states. This not only rejuvenated me but inspired me. I also joined another design house with the sole purpose of learning more.

It was a difficult time but which helped me grow and learn more,” she narrated.

The famous RN Kinep tassels earring.

grateful for the gifts they have given me.”

Runway Nagaland also offers classes on Traditional, Contemporary jewellery making, and Tailoring for women. Her dream is to establish a full-fledged company to work together with local artisans. Her business has stayed small- because of the challenges faced like

RN First Alliance with e-commerce comapny in 2014. (JAYPORE.com)

lack of basic services, inadequate infrastructure, financial credit, marketing problems and several other factors.

Despite the many challenges, she continues to work hard and stay resilient with her unwavering belief that through her innovative business approach, change can happen for the better.

Liam Payne's new music is straight pop talked to the least. ''Funnily enough of all the routes that people have taken, the one lane that was left wide open was straight pop. So Liam is pop and doing it in a fantastic fashion. He has a killer voice.

C M Y K

There are elements of stuff I like from Usher, there's stuff that's edgy like The Weeknd ... it's all over the map - it's pop. It's really high quality. I've only done one song with him that I did with Stargate. I'm cut-

ting another song with him next week. The other one that [Zancanella] did with J Kash, it's my favourite record I've heard. If it's not a hit I need to clear my ears out - it's so good.''

Source: Contactmusic

MARGARET SHISHAK SCHOOL OF MUSIC PATKAI CHRISTIAN COLLEGE (AUTONOMOUS)

T

The Octet School of Music concert and buffet was held at Thehekhu Tower Point, Dimapur on April 28. The event attractions were appearance of Kaheli Chophy, Femina Miss India Nagaland 2007; performance by Hopong Naga, Standup Comedian; Live Music & dance Toshimeren and others.

There was also a photo booth with Aden Jamir as the photographer and Roko as videographer. (Photo by Manen Aier)

he former One Direction star is the last of the boy band to release solo music and singer songwriter Ryan Tedder has teased what fans can expect of his new music.

Asked to describe Liam Payne's solo material, he said: ''If you took 'Story of My Life' and turned it into an album, that's kind of Niall [Horan]'s direction, right? Zayn [Malik] obviously went R&B and urban.

Harry [Styles] is classic Britpop; Mott the Hoople meets Robbie Williams that lane. I like Louis [Tomlinson], but he's the one I've

VARIOUS MSSM ENSEMBLES

Summer drama workshop in May

S

anskar Bharati, Nagaland is offering a unique opportunity to the communities of Nagaland this summer.

This summer Sanskar Bharati will provide a drama workshop. This is a truly unique opportunity to bring a top quality drama workshop into the hearts of people.

The 15 days workshop will be held from May 7 to 21 and it will cater for up to 20 participants. The age limit is restricted to minimum 16 years. The registration forms are available for a payment of Rs. 200 only. The audi-

tions and workshop will be held in Nritya Academy of Dance and Arts (NADA), Jitendra Tower Basement near Shani Mandir, Old Daily Market, Dimapur. Timing has been fixed to be from morning 9:00 am to evening 5:00 pm. Please note that due to the availability of a suitable coach the given dates are not negotiable.

Limited number of seats. The selection process will be based on first come first serve basis.

For registration forms call @ 8413962898, 9774193868 or 9774745422.

PATKAI CHORALE JAMES SWU Conductor JANE VAN DER LINDEN Soprano MHATHUNG ODYUO Baritone ZINGRIN SHISHAK & REBEKAH MOORE Piano PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE Pheto Music Association has completed the Phase 6th on Intensive Training on Sound system Management for church sound operators and technicians. PMA aims to train more people in the of music/audio engineering and film production to create the avenues to facilitate more Naga youth unemployed and encourage them to focus on skills and talents based for self dependency and job oriented practical training for better opportunities in the near future.

SUNDAY, APRIL 30, 2017 | 3:00 PM BUNDROCK CHAPEL-AUDITORIUM

12

Saturday 29•04•2017

SPORTS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Nagaland State Chess Championship KoHiMA, ApRil 28 (MExN): The Nagaland Chess Association (NCA) is organizing its 16th Nagaland State cum Under-17 Chess Championship from May 23 to 26 in Kohima. Entry fee for participation in the open category is Rs.1000 while for the U-17 category, the entry fee is Rs.600. For further details, contact: 9402697344 / 9436266242 / 7005580145.

1st Open Futsal tournament in Kohima KoHiMA, ApRil 28 (MExN): Naga Football Club is organizing its 1st Open Futsal Tournament from May 18 to 20 at Local ground, Kohima. The Naga FC in a press release informed that a total of Rs 58,500 has been set aside as cash prize for the winners. The champions will take home Rs.30,000 while the runner-up will get Rs.20,000. The two losing semi-finalist will be awarded Rs.5000 each. The Best Player will be awarded Rs.1500 while the Best Goalkeeper and highest goal scorer will be awarded Rs.1000 each. Forms for the tournament are available at Kohima Sports World and the entry fee is set at Rs.2000. For more details, contact 8794245644/9615375536.

Loyola higher secondary school annual sports met begins Our Correspondent Kiphire | April 28

C M Y K

The annual sports meet of Loyola Higher Secondary School got underway today with Longdiba SDO (C) Hq as chief guest. The inaugural at the school ground was attended by the students, parents, teachers and well wishers.

Speaking at the inaugural, the chief guest urged the students to take active part in games and sports advocating that it helps one acquire a healthy mind and body which, he stated, is the key to success in life. He also asked the students to learn different games – both indoors and outdoors.

The chief guest also advised the students not to neglect the studies. The main focus as students should be to study and become responsible citizens in society, he counselled. The chief guest later lit the torch and declared the sports week open.

Rev Father Ntonse John Lotha while welcoming the gathering said, the objective of the sports week is to build a healthy mind and body and to help students to earn better grade.

He also asked the students to accept winning with grace and defeat with honour and also asked the students to build better relationship and grow with friendship while taking part in sports and games.

Cultural dance and special song were the other highlights of the day.

1st Quasar Open TT Tournament Our Correspondent Kohima | April 28

The 1st Quasar Open Table Tennis Tournament organised by the Quasar Club Kohima in collaboration with Kohima District Table Tennis Association (KDTTA) kicked off today at T.T. Stadium, Kohima under the theme “Education through sports.”

36 participants from different schools (both boys and girls) from Kohima district are taking part in the tournament which will conclude on April 29.

The final in team events for girls will be played between Model Higher Secondary School and Mezhiir Higher Secondary School while the boy’s category will be between Model Higher Secondary School and G. Rio Higher School.

The closing ceremony will begin at 3:00 pm with John Makhabo, District Youth Coordinator (Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan) as the chief guest.

United hold on for goalless draw at City

MANCHESTER, ApRil 28 (REuTERS): Manchester United held on for a goalless draw in a feisty derby with Manchester City after midfielder Marouane Fellaini was sent off for a headbutt in the Premier League clash at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday.

The Belgian was dismissed when, moments after being booked for a foul on Sergio Aguero, he tripped the Argentine and then, in clear view of referee Martin Atkinson, confronted him by pushing his forehead towards the City forward who fell.

City, who dominated most of the game, thought they had a late winner when Brazilian striker Gabriel Jesus, on as a late substitute for his first appearance since being injured in February, headed home from close range but was offside.

The result leaves City in fourth place, still a point - and a place - ahead of their local rivals in the race for a topfour finish and Champions League qualifying spot, and extends United's unbeaten run to 24 league games.

It was a frantic end to what had been a disappointing derby with inju-

United's Marouane Fellaini with Manchester City's Sergio Aguero after being sent off by referee Martin Atkinson. (Reuters)

ry-ravaged United largely restricted to trying to limit City’s forward movement and Pep Guardiola’s team unable to turn dominance with the ball into clear-cut opportunities.

The best chance for the home side came early. Striker Aguero, a prematch injury doubt, should

have opened the scoring in the ninth minute, missing a great chance when he turned a low Kevin De Bruyne cross against the post from close range.

City were on top in midfield but defensive frailties, which have hampered them this season, were evident in the 25th when

Claudio Bravo flapped at a cross, palming the ball into the path of Henrikh Mkhitaryan before keeping out the Armenian’s shot.

HOME PRESSURE The home pressure increased as the half progressed. De Bruyne's low shot was pushed away by David De Gea at the near

post, Aguero forced a fine save from the Spaniard and Raheem Sterling blasted hurriedly over from a promising position.

United should, however, have reached halftime with the lead after City's defence somehow left Ander Herrera unmarked as Marcus Rashford whipped in a free-

kick from the left but the Spanish midfielder could not get his header on target.

City remained on top after the break, attacking and shooting on sight, with the effervescent De Bruyne finding the side-netting with a low angled strike in the 58th minute.

Guardiola was forced to change his goalkeeper in the 80th minute when Bravo pulled up with a calf injury and was carried off on a stretcher to be replaced

by Willy Caballero.

Then came Fellaini’s minute of madness, as he lost his cool and left the referee with no alternative but to send him off.

Sensing the chance of a late winner against 10-man United, Guardiola brought on Brazilian striker Gabriel Jesus, who has not played since breaking a metatarsal in his foot against Bournemouth on Feb. 13.

The move almost paid off when Jesus, who had been roared onto the field, superbly angled a header past De Gea from an Aguero cross and raced off in celebration. But the effort was rightly ruled out for offside, leaving City frustrated and United a little relieved.

ICC board approves rollback of 'Big Three' decision

MuMBAi, ApRil 28 (REuTERS): The International Cricket Council's (ICC) board has voted to pass a new financial model that will reverse a 2014 decision which effectively put India, England and Australia in control of the game's finances and administration.

Under the new financial model and governance structure, the split of revenues from the ICC for the years 2016 to 2023 will be altered to address the imbalance currently favouring the three boards.

The measure was passed by 13 votes to one, the governing body said in a statement on

Thursday after its meetings at its headquarters in Dubai.

The Indian cricket board (BCCI), according to local media, was the only one to oppose the new financial model, which would see their revenue share cut by almost half.

Based on current forecasts for revenues and costs, the BCCI would now receive $293 million across the eight-year cycle, down from the $570 million it would have received under the 2014 arrangement.

The ICC said the England and Wales Cricket Board would be the second-best earners with $143 million, Zimbabwe would

receive $94 million while the remaining seven full members would get $132 million each in the new model.

A revised constitution, which will allow the ICC to include additional full members in the future, was also approved by 12 votes to two. The decisions would have to be ratified at the ICC's annual conference in June.

ICC Chairman Shashank Manohar, who has been critical of the 'Big Three' model, welcomed the vote.

"This is another step forward for world cricket and I look forward to concluding the work at the Annual Conference," former

BCCI chief Manohar, who will step down in June due to personal reasons, said.

"I am confident we can provide a strong foundation for the sport to grow and improve globally in the future through the adoption of the revised financial model and governance structure."

India, meanwhile, have yet to submit their squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy. The BCCI failed to deliver the squad info by the Tuesday midnight deadline and has not ruled out boycotting the tournament altogether.

The ICC board members were

also briefed on the security situation in Pakistan following the visit of the ICC delegation to the final of the country's Twenty20 league in March in Lahore.

"The feasibility of further matches in Pakistan involving a World XI is now being considered from a security and budget perspective," the ICC said in a statement.

Pakistan has been forced to play most of its "home" games in the United Arab Emirates after gunmen fired on a bus carrying Sri Lanka's cricket team in 2009 with rifles, grenades and rockets, wounding six players and a British coach, and killing eight Pakistanis.

KSU takes on KYC 'B' in Frolic Cup final

MEdzipHEMA, ApRil 28 (MExN): Khanakhurü Students' Union (KSU) will take on Kuki Youth Club (KYC) 'B' in the final of the Frolic Cup tomorrow after registering convincing wins in their respective semifinal matches on Friday.

A hat-trick and an assist from Rhitso helped KSU oust defending champions Tsiepama Youth Organisation 4-0. TYO had more possession but KSU relied on their counter attacking play as Salu headed in the first goal from Rhitso’s cross in the 38th minute of play.

Rhitso then scored two minutes before the half time and trebled the lead minutes after the restart.

He went on to score his hat-trick in the 76th minute. Anoto of KSU was awarded a yellow for pulling down the striker of TYO. The other match between Kuki Youth Club 'B' and Molvom Youth and Students' Union was arguably one of the most enthralling matches

so far with quick short passes and nimble dribbling skills being showcased by both teams. MYSU took the lead early on with Haotinlen scoring in the 6th minute.

However, the experienced KYC 'B' displayed poise and struck back and equalized in the 21st minute through Ilungrei. KYCB players gradually accelerated the pace and snatched away the game managing to score 6 goals at the end of the 90 minutes. Nyithung grabbed a hattrick scoring in the 38th, 60th and 82nd minutes while Victor (85th) and Nampi (88th) scored a goal each late in the game.

Thangben, Thangte and Bamdi of KYCB and MYSU’s Thangminlen were penalised with yellow cards for unsporting play.

The final match is scheduled for Saturday, April 29, 2:00 pm. Dimapur Deputy Commissioner Kesonyü Yhome will be the Guest of Honour at the closing function.

KKR scripts facile win over Daredevils

KolKATA, ApRil 28 (iANS): There was no stopping the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) juggernaut as Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa tore apart Delhi Daredevils' bowling to script a seven-wicket win and inch closer to a play-off berth in an Indian Premier League (IPL) game at the Eden Gardens here on Friday.

Gambhir remained unbeaten on 71 off 52 deliveries, his fourth IPL fifty, joining hands with Uthappa (59; 33b 5x4 4x6) for a matchwinning 108-run stand for the second wicket to script the two-time champions' fourth successive victory.

Delhi, on the other hand, were condemned to their fourth loss on the trot.

Kagiso Rabada (2/20), who was the pick of the Delhi bowlers, bowled a wide ball to help the rivals bag the win which helps them consolidate their position at the top of the table with 14 points from nine outings.

Gambhir is now the topscorer in this edition fol-

Gautam Gambhir steers one square on the off side in his half-century, Kolkata Knight Riders v Delhi Daredevils, IPL 2017, Kolkata, April 28. (AFP Photo)

lowed by Uthappa. The pair have scored 403 runs together, the highest this season.

Delhi captain Zaheer Khan picked up a hamstring injury after bowing the first ball of his second over which was completed

by Corey Anderson.

Earlier, Coulter-Nile picked up three wickets to blunt Sanju Samson's half century and restrict Delhi to 160/6 in 20 overs. Australian Coulter-Nile, coming back into the side after a onematch break, returned best figures of (3/34) in his four

overs picking up the wickets of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant at crucial junctures to halt Delhi's surge.

Samson (60; 38b 4x4 3x6) top-scored with his second fifty of the IPL season while Iyer (47; 34b 4x4 1x6) played a good hand too.

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