C M Y K
www.morungexpress.com
SunDAY • April 02 • 2017
DIMAPUR • Vol. XII • Issue 89 • 12 PAGes • 5
T H e
ESTD. 2005
P o W e R
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter Heat wave continues; Chandrapur, Balangir sizzle at 44.2 deg C
T R u T H
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
Leadership demands inclusivity, sacrifice
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o F
Coutinho inspires Liverpool to win Merseyside derby
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Nagaland: CAG points to flaws in distribution of uniforms & books
‘It is evident that there was inadequate planning, coordination and implementation’ Morung Express News Dimapur | April 1
Konyak men, women and children decked in traditional attires at the Aoleang Monyu, the premier festival of the Konyak tribe, which was celebrated at the Naga Heritage Village, Kisama on Saturday under the banner of Konyak Union Kohima. (Photo by Chizoko Vero)
reflections
By Sandemo Ngullie
Pangsha area citizens objects to joint survey work at Indo-Myanmar border Demands immediate removal of border post 146 and realignment as per traditional boundary
DIMAPUR, APRIL 1 (MExN): Citizens of Pangsha range in Nagaland’s Tuensang district has expressed dismay that a survey team of India and Myanmar are in Pangsha to conduct joint survey work as per the existing imaginary line- between BP145 and BP146 of the Indo-Myanmar border at ITC Dan- which it claimed, has bifurcated the land of the Khiamniungan tribe without their knowledge. On working days you make Objecting to the proposed joint suremployees work like mules, deduct 24% from their salary. vey work, a representation from the village councils of New Pangsha, Old Pangsha, ITC Then on Sunday you hide. Dan and Wonsoi villages addressed to Nagaland Chief Minister, said the “BP146 (border post) was installed erroneously within our land where 3500 acres of cultivable land has been compromised to the foreign country for no wrong of the land owners.” In this connection, the Pangsha range citizens has demanded that the BP146 should be immediately removed and the existing boundary be realigned as per the traditional boundary of Pangsha (India) and Kingphu/ Woilan, Ponyu (Myanmar) village. The representation also appealed the
Wokha village bans hunting and trapping DIMAPUR, APRIL 1 (MExN): The Wokha Village Council (WWC) has banned hunting and trapping with effect from April 1, 2017. It has also prohibited taking away of any forest medicinal plants and herbs from Mt Tiyi reserve forest. Informing this in a press note, WVC chairman S Yanphamo Tungoe and secretary Zujanbemo Lotha cautioned that anyone found violating the order would invite seizure of their materials and penalized, and action would be taken as per its Village rules and regulation.
EDSSU ten-day deadline for cancellation of appointments
C M Y K
DIMAPUR, APRIL 1 (MExN): The East Dimapur Sumi Students’ Union (EDSSU) has reminded the Department of Land Records and Survey to act on its demand for cancellation of the alleged backdoor appointments of four LRSO and eight Survey Grade-I within ten days commencing from April 1, 2017 onwards. A press note from the EDSSU cautioned that it would begin an indefinite strike at the Directorate office, Dimapur if the department failed to meet their demands. The reminder comes in response to an appeal made by the department to call off the proposed indefinite strike while asserting that the “matter is under serious consideration by the government,” but delayed by the pen-down strike by CANSSEA.
GoI to withdraw the survey teams of both the countries from the spot and that no activities of any form by the concerned governments should be taken up until and unless rectification is made. It also urged the concerned authority to take up this issue on a war footing in order to “maintain a conducive and peaceful atmosphere between the two nations in the border area.” Just recently, on March 28, 2017, the Nagaland Legislative Assembly during the budget session had resolved to request the GoI to impress upon the Myanmar government to permanently drop the project of construction of fencing on the Indo-Myanmar border with a view to continuing the cordial and fraternal relations amongst the Nagas living on both sides of the border. Since the beginning of 2017, various organisations across Nagaland and Myanmar have been protesting against the fencing of the India-Myanmar border in Nagaland’s Tuensang district after the Myanmar government begun fencing in its Naga selfadministered zone; 10 metres from the demarcation borderline last December. However, after alarm and protest raised by the different Naga organizations, the construction of the border fencing was put on hold.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India in its report for the year ended March 31, 2016 has pointed out several deficiencies in the implementation of the Right to Education Act in the state. One of the areas where discrepancy was detected was in the distribution of text books and uniforms under Section 3(2) of the RTE Act. The report informed that the receipt and issue register of text books and uniforms were not maintained in the schools. During interaction with the head teachers/teachers-incharge of 90 sample schools, the CAG found several irregularities. These included delay in receipt of books and uniforms; distribution of books based on previous enrollment data leading to insufficiency of books and poor/inferior quality of books received. “It is evident that there was inadequate planning, coordination and implementation in provision of free textbooks and uniforms,” the CAG concluded. While examining records at the directorate level, the CAG discovered that the fund approved by the Project Approval Board (PAB) during the current year for purchase of free text books were utilized for the purpose only in the subsequent year. Further, the requirement of books was assessed based on the data of enrollment furnished by the SDEOs and DEOs. It also reported that the department purchased books in excess of the actual requirement every year except in 2013-14 and during the last five years, a total of 106,921 books were procured in excess. Despite purchase of excess text books, some schools reported insufficient receipt of text
Festival is not only for drinking, eating, dancing or singing: Chotisuh Sazo Our Correspondent Kohima | April 1
Minister for public health engineering, Chotisuh Sazo today said festival is not only for drinking and eating or dancing and singing but it is also for sports activities, making new friendship and preserving age old friendship. He said traditionally our people use to work, earn and use to celebrate the festival and to prepare ourselves to face the next season of working as per the agricultural cycle. “But today, we see the festivals observed by the different Naga tribes, instead
of working and earning on our own we collect/seek donation from the rich people, officers, contractors etc. and use it to celebrate,” he said while gracing Konyak Aoleang Monyu festival at Kisama as the chief guest. Sazo also pointed out that traditionally Naga ancestors used to drink and eat in order to strengthen one’s body so as to face the next season of work but today during observation of the many festivals, “we drink and eat excessively and spoil ourselves.” In this, he requested the Naga people to understand well the value of the festival so that the good values that have been practiced by forefa-
thers is preserved. Further, he said, “When we talk about our culture and traditions the younger generation in this modern society use to think that it is for wearing traditional dresses, singing and dancing alone.” Sazo made it clear that these are not only the culture and traditions “but we have so many good culture and traditions like, respect to elders and women, hard working and obeying the traditional and customary laws.” “Today we are trying to divert ourselves from all these good values of our traditional practices,” he regretted.
Number of text Number of students Excess(+)/Shortage (-) books set procured entitled for text books 2011-12 260,364 189,938 (+)70,426 2012-13 277,047 248,249 (+)28,798 2013-14 223,353 247,726 (-)24,373 2014-15 230,078 227,794 (+)2,284 2015-16 239,133 209,347 (+)29,786 TOTAL 1,229,975 1,123,054 (+)1,06,921 Year
Year wise number of text books procured and actual enrolment Year
Amount Number Date of approved of supply by GoI (In Students order Lakhs)
2011-12 815.31
203,827
2012-13 758.97
189,743
2013-14 777.54
194,386
2014-15 765.52
191,879
Name of the supplier
M/s Baid Brother, New Delhi 09.11.2011 & M/s I Kraft, Dimapur M/s I Craft 12.11.2012 Dimapur M/s I Craft, 21.12.2013 Dimapur NA NA
Distribution details of school uniforms
books. This, the CAG said, points towards “inadequate monitoring mechanism in the department.” The State Mission Director (SMD), SSA on its part, while accepting the facts, stated on October 2016 that the matter has been noted for compliance, informed the CAG. Regarding the distribution of uniforms, the CAG reported that procurement of uniform has not been decentralized as mandated. Instead, the uniforms were procured by the State Mission Authority (except in 2014-15) and distributed to the districts for further distribution to the blocks/schools. It further informed that no uniforms were purchased during 2015-16. According to the CAG, the fund approved by the PAB for procurement of uniforms was not sufficient to cover the cost. To meet the additional expenditure for procurement of uniforms, Rs 15.14 Crore was diverted from the fund meant for special training under SSA. Further, it was observed that uniforms were supplied and delivered to the districts and the Education Block Resource Centers (ENRCs)
Source: Depart figures/U-DISE
Actual Cost Date of incurred supply (In Lakhs) 1299.64
25.04.2012 to 02.05.2012
1342.34
3/2013 to 08.07.2013
1227.51
N/A
765.52
N/A
Source: Departmental figures
after a delay ranging from 20 days to five months, resulting in delay in distribution to the students. The CAG specifically pointed out that in the academic year 2016, cloth was distributed instead of stitched uniforms. “Therefore many poor students could not afford the stitching charges,” it added. Meanwhile, the CAG also reported that from the U-DISE data, the actual number of students enrolled in government schools was only 573,879 during the year 2011-15. However, it noted that the department procured uniforms for 779,835 students by “inflating the enrollment figure.” This, it stated “resulted in avoidable excess expenditure of Rs 11.96 Crore towards the purchase of uniforms.” Regardingthis,theSMD,SSAinitsreply on October, 2016 stated that the PAB approvesasperthefiguresofstudentsenrollment based on U-DISE and therefore thereshould not beamismatch. The CAG however pointed out that the government needs to ensure that adequate number of uniforms are procured and distributed timely to the students.
NSCN (IM) collective leadership back in New Delhi to resume talks Appeals Naga people to be cautious in words and actions at this crucial stage of creating a new history for Nagas DIMAPUR, APRIL 1 (MExN): The NSCN (IM) collective leadership led by Ato Kilonser Th Muivah and Vice President Gen (Retd) Kholi and talk team members left for Delhi to resume the Indo-Naga political talks. The NSCN (IM) collective leadership was here in Nagaland to attend the 38th Naga Republic Day celebration, the NSCN council meeting and the two-day Tatar Hoho Budget session. While informing this, an MIP press release stated that the Indo-Naga talks was on the verge of conclusion to create a new
history for the Nagas and has therefore appealed to all the Naga people to be cautious in words and actions, which could have a detrimental negative impact on the political talks. “It is unwise to indulge in un-farsighted thinking and magnifying rumours that could led to momentary emotional outburst but patiently wait for the better future under the final solution,” the MIP release went on to state. The NSCN (IM) maintained that it is representing the Nagas and is working out what is best for the Nagas and will never let down the Nagas in the anticipated solution. It has therefore urged and appealed to all “Nagas across the length and breadth of Nagalim for constant prayer and policy support for early solution.”
‘Whenever I come to Northeast, it feels like a reunion with people here’
Dalai Lama arrives in Assam, ahead of Arunachal visit
GAUHATI, APRIL 1 (AP): Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Saturday recalled his 1959 flight to India from Tibet ahead of a visit to northeast India’s Arunachal Pradesh state despite objections by China, which considers it a disputed region. The Dalai Lama said he had no option but to escape Tibet in view of Chinese military action. He spoke at a function organized by an Indian newspaper, The Assam Tribune, in Gauhati, the capital of Assam state. The state’s governor and its top elected official were among an audience of nearly 1,500 people.
The Dalai Lama last visited Arunachal Pradesh in 2009. China protested that trip, but there was no major impact on relations with India. He will leave for Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang district on Tuesday, at the end of his Assam state trip. He is scheduled to consecrate a temple and give teachings to his followers during his weeklong stay in the state. “Whenever I come to the northeast of India, it feels like a reunion with people here,” the Dalai Lama said Saturday. “When I revisit the Tawang area, I am reminded of the freedom that I had experienced for the first time (in 1959). That was the beginning of a new chapter in my life.” Last month, China
Babita Rajkhowa, Director of Assam Tribune newspaper, presents a Sarai, a traditional Assamese brass handicraft, to Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama during the platinum jubilee celebrations of Assam Tribune newspaper in Gauhati on April 1. (AP Photo)
warned of “severe damage” to relations with India and increased regional instability if the Dalai Lama proceeds with his April 4-11
trip to the state. Dalai Lama recalls flight to India ahead of northeast trip Armenia set to hold parliamentary elections on Sunday.
“On March 10, 1959, there were huge demonstrations in Lhasa,” the Tibetan region’s capital, he recalled. “Chinese military
action also increased. I had no option but to escape. On March 17, I fled.” “I sent some of my officers to Indian authorities at the border,” he said. “They readily allowed us in, received us warmly, and today I can tell you that I am the longest guest of the Indian government.” Last month, China warned of “severe damage” to relations with India and increased regional instability if the Dalai Lama proceeds with his trip to the state. Beijing has expressed its concerns to New Delhi on numerous occasions and urged India to avoid offering a place for the Dalai Lama to carry out antiChina separatist activities, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said last month.
China claims the partly ethnically Tibetan Himalayan state of Arunachal Pradesh as its own territory, and the frontier between the two Asian giants remains tense more than 50 years after they fought a brief but bloody border war high in the peaks. China claims about 90,000 square kilometers (35,000 square miles) in Arunachal Pradesh, referred to informally by some Chinese as “Southern Tibet.” India says China is occupying 38,000 square kilometers (15,000 square miles) of its territory on the Aksai Chin plateau. More than a dozen rounds of talks have failed to make substantial progress on the dispute, although there have been relatively few confrontations in recent years.
2
SunDAY 02•04•2017
NAGALAND
THE MORUNG EXPRESS
Leadership demands Aoleang Monyu Festival celebration at Kisama inclusivity, sacrifice Our Correspondent Kisama | April 1
Groupism and exclusivity dragging down the society Morung Express News Dimapur | April 1
The primary objective of leadership must be inclusiveness as which every leader must aspire to achieve, Imnatoshi Longkumer Associate Pastor, Dimapur Ao Baptist Church (DABA) said today adding that this traits are losing out in our society. He was speaking at an orientation programme of DABA Duncan Youth Fellowship leaders held here today under the theme, “For the benefit of people... (1 Cor. 9:19),” at the Church premise. Every organisations, including the church, there is a tendency form to the usual pattern of a groupism, which left out many people that does not conform to the convention, he added. Instead of “theirs” or “them” we should try to inculcate the habit of togeth-
erness and use “us” or “we” to include diverse characteristics of any organisation, Longkumer stressed quoting the Genesis 1.26 which reflects the inclusiveness of God’s creation. Exclusivity and groupism, unfortunately, are dragging us backward and every human activities and organisations, including the church activities, are suffering from these ills, he added. With the involvement of participants, he also demonstrated practically how people - consciously and subconsciously - tend to form groups, based on different labeling and preconcept notions. ‘Make everyone fell welcomed’ in the organisation you lead, be aware of environment and actively engage with people in your organisation, Longkumer further advised. At bad times and good times, we must engage with the people around us, he added. Later through another demo, Longkumer showed how often a project or mission fails because we are
often more concern with commanding rather involving personally. Many of us are too smart to teach others but personally suffers from adjustment problems most of the times resulting in failure and disorientations, he added. Reverting back to his theme of inclusiveness, Longkumer stressed the need to come out of the comfort zone and do something for the cause of others. “How many times you have sacrificed your time and resources for the benefits of others selflessly? he posed to the fellowship youth leaders To that effect, Longkumer said that leadership is not only leading but sacrificing and showing solidarity toward each other, and engaging positively with each individual. It’s not about leading front but going backward to push the organisation to the front. Balance each other’s weaknesses through each other’s strength in order to the make the organisation vibrant, progressive and inclusive, he added.
The Konyak community of the state capital Kohima under the banner of Konyak Union Kohima (KUK) today celebrated its premier festival Aoleang Monyu at the Naga Heritage Village Kisama with much pomp and traditional gaiety. Gracing the festival as the chief guest, Minister for Public Health Engineering Chotisuh Sazo said that Konyak are a unique group of people and they are progressing a lot and catching up fast with the world today. He said Konyak may be less representation in government services and economically and educationally yet to catch up with others but it does not mean that “We are backward physically, mentally or intellectually.” Stating that they still require reservation quota in the field of government services, Sazo, however said “But we cannot remain to depend on reservation quota all the time.” In this, he urged the young generation to be brave and try to compete with the world. Minister for Rural Development and REPA C.L
John, the host of Aoleang, also shared greetings. Also gracing the occasion as the guest of honour, Additional Chief Secretary & Development Commissioner R.B. Thong said that Konyak is the biggest tribe in Nagaland in population wise. Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC) Chairman A. Yanang Konyak said that Aoleang Monyu is the greatest of all the festivals that Konyak Naga observes. “Celebration of Aoleang is to bid a farewell to the hostile and hard life of winter, the cold season, and welcome the cheerful and bright life of spring, the warm season,” said Yanang. The festival is also cerebrated to invoke divine blessing upon men and their crops so that there would be healthy lives and a prosperous new year. The festival is marked by feast, cultural dance, games and sports and other ritual ceremonies. In its celebration the friends, in-laws, relatives and the loved ones are cordially invited to join the family feast. Community feast is also arranged where other Morung and clan members enjoy together
in merry making with the host Morung in common. The festival is also celebrated to remind the people of its own rich cultures, customs, traditions and other related practices so that the upcoming generations may keep on learning them in the context of modern civilization. It is during these celebration young boys and girls of the community have to come together to the closer knowledge of knowing one another better. It is also an opportunity for match-making among themselves for their own future. During this occasion, ceremony of marking tattoos on the body such as leg, abdomen, chest, face etc are done. Earlier, KUK president T. Ngamjok Konyak said the population of Konyak in Kohima stands around 2000 at present. The festival was marked by cultural presentation from Chen, Tobu, KNSK, Wakching and Mon cultural troupes. Parliamentary Secretary For Higher & Technical Education Deo Nukhu was also present on the occasion. The festival concluded with a grand community feast.
Chotisuh, CL John and others on their arrival at Kisama for Aoleang festival on April 1. (Morung Photo)
People participate in the Konyak Aoleang Monyu celebration at Kisama on April 1. It was organized by Konyak Union Kohima and hosted by Minister for Rural Development & REPA C.L. John. (Morung Photo)
‘Green Dimapur Team’ leads cleanliness drive for city 2nd round of IPPI today Kohima, april 1 (mExN): The Nagaland Directorate of Health and Family Welfare has informed that the state along with the rest of the country will observe the 2nd round of Intensive Pulse Polio Immunization (IPPI) on Sunday, April 2. A press release informing this stated that the Department was all geared up to administer Polio drops to over 2,29,587 eligible children from 0-5 years throughout the state in 2296 Polio Booths to be manned by 9184 health personnel and 459 supervisors along with vaccines and other logistics. Special focus will be given to migrant popu-
Morung Express News Dimapur | April 1
A group of young concerned Dimapurians under the name ‘Green Dimapur Team’ conducted the ‘Clean Dimapur’ cleanliness drive in the main town area on April 1. Daring the bad weather and rain, the volunteers started the drive from Deluxe Point till City Tower Area and Police Point dhobinullah and also places dust bins in strategic areas. A note from the organisers stated that the drive was initiated first in the facebook group ‘Naga Discussion Forum’ by a few concerned citizens of Dimapur.
Green Dimapur Team conducts the cleanliness drive in Dimapur Town on April 1. (Photo by Manen Aier)
“Dimapur being the commercial hub of Nagaland, with its filth and lack of civic sense by its citizens is an eye sore and an embarrassment. The few people from Naga Discus-
sion Forum moved to a whatsapp group to provide a bigger platform. Their ideas were shared and discussed and it was decided that for the first phase, only the main town will be con-
centrated,” said the organisers. They also added that the core team members has bigger vision which includes going for drive in colonies and wards in
Dimapur, visiting schools and colleges and eventually hold an open discussion forum with panelists being invited. “It is an appeal that everyone own up and keep Dimapur clean,” it stated.
lation with an aim to prevent importation of Polio cases, the H&FW informed. In this regard, the Department has appealed to all sections of society, agencies (government and non-government including security forces), organizations, churches, community leaders and especially parents of children below 5 years to come forward and ensure all eligible children receive the “Two drops of Life”. For any further information, contact your nearest Health Centre or the Chief Medical Officer/District Programme Officer (RCH & UIP) of your district.
Kohima College holds farewell prog for Ameü Kire
(Fifth from right front row) Ameü Kire, Associate Professor & HoD, Department of Education, Kohima College with others after the farewell programme held on March 31.
Kohima, april 1 (mExN): In celebration of completing 35 years of service, Kohima College, on March 31, held a farewell progamme for Ameü Kire, Associate Professor & HoD, Department of Education, Kohima College. Ameü Kire in her farewell speech thanked God for His blessings and shared fond memories of the college including struggles faced during the early years. She urged teachers to be
sincere towards the teaching profession, which is one of the most rewarding and fulfilling professions. Dr. Watijungshi, Principal, Keneilesa, Associate Professor & KCTA President, Dr. Khing, Associate Professor, Education Department and other staff gave speeches during the programme. The programme was chaired by Moanungla Kevichusa, HoD, Department of English, while in-
vocation prayer was pronounced by Vezholu, Asst. Professor. A special song was presented by the entire Faculty fraternity. Media Cell, Kohima College in a press release mentioned that the retiring faculty, Prof. Ameü Kire was given the Meritorious Award in recognition of her contribution towards quality higher education by the Dept. of Higher Education, Government of Nagaland, in 2012.
Young administrators hold interactive session at C-Edge College
Date Time Venue
: Saturday, April 8, 2017 : 12:00 pm – 03:00 pm : DABA Elim Hall Duncan Bosti, Dimapur
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Dimapur, april 1 (mExN): An interactive session on ‘competitive exams and career planning’ was held at C-Edge College on March 30 under the Edge Study Circle Unit of the College. A team of dynamic young administrative officers were the resource persons. Moa Sangtam (NCS) SDO Civil, Dimapur was the team leader along with Ajit Ranjan (IAS), Vishal Chauhan (IPS), Dr C Zupeni Tsanglai (IFS), Yithachu Thur, (NCS) and Imliwapang Aier, (NCS). The resource persons shared their experiences and the strategies that helped them to crack the prestigious competitive exams. They stressed on the need to identify one’s passion and abilities in choosing a career and highlighted that strong will, positivity and perseverance and hard work are the key ingredients to achieving one’s goal. A vibrant interactive session followed the talks with Limongi Khuvung, Assistant Prof as Moderator. It was a very inspirational moment for all. Students and alumni of the college, representatives of the Showuba Students’ Union and Naga United Students’ Union attended the programme. Dr Chubatola Aier, Principal expressed great happiness for this noble initiative from the young officers. There was an explorative discussion after the session on how to take this further as a sustained programme.
Sunday 02•04•2017
NORTH-EAST 3
THE MORUNG EXPRESS
For BJP, cow is 'mummy' in UP, Meghalaya, Assam CMs meet but 'yummy' in Northeast: Owaisi on inter-state boundary disputes G u wa h a t i / S h i l lonG, april 1 (ianS): Meghalaya and Assam on Saturday ordered the Chief Secretaries of both the states to re-start their dialogue process to resolve the vexed inter-state boundary disputes. The decision was taken at a meeting between Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal and Meghalaya CM Mukul Sangma at Brahmaputra State Guest House in Guwahati. "The Chief Secretaries of Assam and Meghalaya have been asked to continue the dialogue on the 12 areas of difference," Sonowal told journalists after the meeting. "We have discussed a lot
of issues, and it was fruitful. The Chief Secretaries will discuss the boundary dispute. We have also decided to work together for our mutual growth," he said. The 12 areas of difference include Upper Tarabari, Gizang reserve forest, Hahim, Langpih, Borduar, Boklapara, Nongwah-Matamur, Khanapara-Pilangkata, Deshdemoreah, KhanduliPsiar area, Ratacherra and Blocks I and II. The total area of difference is 2,765.14 square km, of which Blocks I and II cover 1,583.42 square km. Saturday's meeting was the first official meeting between the two Chief
Ministers after Sonowal assumed office in Assam in May last year. Sangma last held discussions with then Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on June 5, 2010 following the incident in which four Khasi villagers were killed during firing by Assam police personnel at Langpih on May 14, 2010. "We had a fruitful dialogue and as a follow up of discussions held earlier, more discussions will be held so that both the states can resolve the long pending issue mutually which will be acceptable to both the states," the Meghalaya Chief Minister said.
Moreover, he said that issues related to disputes would be further discussed at the level of the chief secretaries. On the Meghalaya Assembly resolution asking the central government to constitute a Boundary Commission to resolve the inter-state boundary imbroglio, Sangma said: "They (Assam) have made their stand but we will discuss mutually." In March 2011, the Meghalaya Assembly had passed a resolution to urge the central government to constitute a Boundary Commission to re-examine and redefine the inter-
state boundary between the two states. The Assam assembly adopted another resolution negating the Meghalaya resolution. Meanwhile, both the Chief Ministers decided to conduct joint operations along the inter-state boundary to flush out militants along the inter-state boundary to ensure peace and tranquillity. "We have also decided to work together to restore the environment and whoever is doing illegal activities like hill cutting should stop, and action will be taken jointly on this issue," Sonowal said.
CAG pulls up Meghalaya CM for Rijiju rejects China objection failing to convene SHS meeting on Dalai Lama's Arunachal visit ShillonG, april 1 (pti): The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has pulled up Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma for failing to convene even a single meeting of the State Health Mission (SHM) since 2011 and has reprimanded the governemnt for not giving "adequate priority" to the health sector. Lack of adequate priority has resulted in shortage of over 300 health centres in villages, besides shortfall of specialist doctors, nurses and staff, the CAG report filed in the just concluded session of the state assembly, said. The CAG recommended to the state government to establish new primary health centres (PHCs) and sub-health centres (SCs)as
per norms and provision of essential medical and paramedical staff in the health facilities. In its report tabled in the just concluded Assembly session for the year ending March 31, 2016, the CAG said the shortage of medical specialists was a "serious impediment" in the proper delivery of healthcare services in the state. The report also pointed out that the state government had failed to set up district hospitals in the four newly created districts apart from over 40 per cent shortfall of sub-centres in the state. It also informed that there was a shortfall of 328 sub-centres (SCs) in the state. The CAG further revealed the sorry state of affairs in the existing district hospitals as there
were shortages of 56 per cent specialist doctors and nearly 20 per cent staff nurses. The CAG observed that there was shortfall of 51 specialist doctors, 17 general doctors, 57 staff nurses and 95 paramedical staff in all. It however, noted that there was an excess appointment of 17 general doctors and paramedical staffs. In the case of the 27 Community Health Centres, there were shortages of 42pc, 48pc and 23pc in the posts of specialist doctors, general doctors and staff nurses respectively. The CAG also noted that there was "irrational" deployment of doctors in the Primary Health Centres as some of these had two doctors while some did not even have a single doctor.
Manipur to get highway protection force Newmai News Network Imphal | April 1
Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh on Saturday said the Centre has given green signal to raise four India Reserve Battalion (IRB) battalions for highway protection force to be deployed on the two vital routes of Manipur to ensure free passage of vehicles. In a meeting attended by leaders of transporters’ associations in his office, the Manipur Chief Minister also said he would personally meet his Nagaland and Assam counterparts on the reported issue of frequent disruption faced by Manipur transporters on the way in Nagaland which was brought to the notice of the Chief Minister, an official release said. Biren Singh said Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh would also attend the proposed meeting to be held in Guwahati. He would sign an agreement with his Nagaland counterpart in the presence of Rajnath to ensure free movement of Manipur vehicles on Imphal-Dimapur road. The transporters’ bodies in the meeting raised the alleged issue of frequent disturbance faced by Manipur vehicles in neigh-
AFFIDAVIT
I, Smti. M. Imtila Sangtam W/o T. Kikatemsu Sangtam R/o H/No-486, Lengrijan, Dimapur state that the name M. Imtila Sangtam, Imtimongla, M. Imtimongla, Imtila Ao and Imtila Imchen are one and same person. Henceforth, I shall use Smti. M. Imtila Sangtam in all my future correspondence and records vide Regd. No. 4127/2016, Dt. 07/11/16.
STOLEN NOTICE Royal Enfield (Classic 350 cc) Regd.No:- NL07R0477 Chassis No: ME3U3S5C1GG644614 Engine No: U3S5C1GG263660 Place: Lengrijan, Dimapur on 27/03/17 Finders will be rewarded Contact No: 9856862898, 9774461232
bouring Nagaland which was brought to the notice of N Biren Singh. During the meeting the Chief Minister appealed to the representatives of the transporters’ associations of both goods and passenger services to take NH-2 without waiting for convoy as there are no more blockades there. He assured them that personnel of IRB and Manpur Rifles will be deployed to give security cover on the highways. Inquiry into accidents Chief Minister Biren Singh in the meeting instructed the Chief Secretary to initiate a probe into
the recent fatal highway mishaps claimed 23 lives lost and left many injured. In view of the increasing number of road accidents, Biren Singh also instructed the Transport Commissioner to take up road safety measures like marking of zebra crossing, traffic signs in front of schools, road diversions, curves from tomorrow. The Transport Commissioner was also asked by the Chief Minister to take action to ban use of gas horns in and around Imphal city. Chief Secretary Oinam Nabakishore and other top officials were present at the meeting.
Mountain View Christian College, Kohima
AFFILIATED TO NAGALAND UNIVERSITY Near BSF Camp. Below ATI Office: Kohima Contact No : 0370-2280071/9856974717
ARTS AND COMMERCE Classes Admission Install(quart) 11&12 5500 3000 B.A (Gen) 6500 3100 B.A(Hons) 6800 3200 Hostel Monthly fee - 3500
itanaGar, april 1 (pti): China should refrain from meddling in the internal affairs of India, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju today said after Beijing objected to the Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh next week. The Dalai Lama visits Arunachal between April 4 and 13. "We are not interfering in the internal matters of China and that country should not interfere into ours'," the Minister of State for Home Affairs told reporters here. He said, the visit of the Dalai Lama was as per the wish of the people. China had yesterday said that allowing the Tibet's exiled leader to visit Arunachal by India will cause "serious damage" to bilateral ties and had asked New Delhi to make a "choice". In its second warning to India in a month, the Chinese Foreign Ministry had said it was seriously concerned about India's deci-
sion to allow the Dalai Lama to visit Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing claims as part of south Tibet. Rijiju further today called for creating a peaceful atmosphere in Arunachal Pradesh so that fruits of development percolate down to every nook. "NDA's mantra for the North East is 'peace and development' and we are trying to make the region a secured and developed place so that it could compete with other develop parts of the country," Rijiju, union Minister of State for Home Affairs, said at a programme here and called upon the people to contribute for development. "The proposed three broad gauge (railway) lines will change the economy of the state once they are completed," he said and called for proper execution of all developmental schemes without compromising on quality.
hyderabad, april 1 (ani): Taking strong exception to closing down of slaughterhouses in Uttar Pradesh, All India Majlise-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi, said that while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) holds the cow in high regard in Uttar Pradesh, the party considers it to be part of the delicacy in northeastern states. Speaking about the crackdown on Saturday, he highlighted the ‘hypocrisy’ in BJP’s attitude. "One should note that India gains Rs 26,000 crore from buffalo meat exports, out of this Uttar Pradesh gains 11,000 crore. The Government of India promotes buffalo meat exports. These kinds of contradictions are there," Owaisi told ANI. "And one last thing, In Uttar Pradesh, cow is con-
sidered mummy (mother), while in northeast it's yummy. If this is not the BJP's hypocrisy then what is it? The BJP spreads Hindutva wherever it suits them. Elections are going to take place in three of the northeastern states, they are allowing beef because of this reason," he added. He also came down heavily on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath asking the BJP monk leader to stop drawing a parallel between namaaz and Surya namaskar and start discharging his constitutional functions. Following Adityanath's order on closing down on illegal slaughterhouses, several states, including as many as five of the BJPruled states have followed in for the closure of illegal abattoirs across the country. Several slaughter house owners and meat sellers in
Uttar Pradesh have closed their shops following an indefinite strike call by different associations in protest against the order. Even as the Jharkhand Government, earlier last week, issued an order for closure of all illegal slaughterhouses in the state within 72 hours, the Gujarat State Assembly on Friday amended its Cow Protection Law introducing a life term for those slaughtering the animal. Seven illegal slaughterhouses were sealed in Bihar's Rohtas district after the Patna High Court directed them be sealed within six weeks. In Karnataka too, the Gau Samrakshana Prakoshta and Karnataka Federation of Gaushaalas reportedly have demanded 1,700 meat shops in the city be closed down as they are unauthorised.
WANTED
HEAD TEACHER/ADMINISTRATOR at Police Public School, 10th NAP BN (IR) Zhadima for Class LKG -Class IV
Qualification required - Graduate Preference - a) Bed b) Teaching Experience for at least 3 years Salary - Rs. 12,000/- (Negotiable) Incentive - Free Accommodation Condition - To serve for at least 3 years if selected
Interview at 10th NAP (IR) Bn Zhadima on 07/04/17 (Transportation will to be provided to the candidates from Kohima — Zhadima). Chairman, Managing Board Contact No: - 7005858945, 9436431560
MODEL CHRISTIAN COLLEGE
(Affiliated to Nagaland University and recognized by the Govt. of Nagaland)
A.G. Colony, Kohima: 797001, Nagaland ADvERTISEMENT
Advt. No. MCC/Adm/2017/01
1st April 2017
Applications are invited for the post of Assistant Professor in the following Departments: Department Post No. of Post Specialisation Education Assistant Professor 1 Open Botany Assistant Professor 1 Plant Taxonomy Geology Assistant Professor 1 Economic Geology/ Mineralogy/Palaeontology Geography Assistant Professor 1 Open Zoology Assistant Professor 1 Endocrinology • Candidates should have a minimum of 55% Marks in Master’s Degree and NET or Ph.D. • Candidates in service should apply through proper channel. • Interested candidates may forward their applications, duly signed, to the Principal or moccollege@yahoo.com., with resume, self-attested documents and two recent passport photographs. • Applications should reach the Office of the Principal on or before 15th April 2017. • Only the short listed candidates will be called for interview. • No TA/DA will be given for candidates called for interview. For query: +919402831942, +919862072898, +917005806121
Principal
4
SunDAY 02•04•2017
business
THE MORUNG EXPRESS
Three new BG railway lines in Arunachal Pradesh Maligaon, april 1 (MExn): Manoj Sinha Minister of State for Railways & Minister of State for Communication (Independent Charge) today commenced the final location surveys of three new BG railway lines in Arunachal Pradesh during a ceremonial function held at Naharlagun railway station. Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nabam Rebia, Minister for Urban Development, Government of Arunachal Pradesh, H.K.Jaggi, General Manager (Construction), N.F.Railway along with other dignitaries were also present. Keeping up with the Government’s decision to connect all capitals of Northeast States on the railway network by 2020, Capitals of Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura are now connected with a BG line with rest of India. In
the past three years, Broad Gauge railway network has also been extended into the states of Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur. Thus, total 5 states have been brought on the BG network during last three years. With this, all the NE states except Sikkim are now connected on Broad Gauge network. With the commencement of the final location Survey for three BG Railway lines i.e. BG connectivity to Tawang (BhalukpogTenga-Tawang) 378 kms, BG connectivity to Along (North Lakhimpur – Bame - Along-Silapathar) 247.85 kms & BG connectivity to Parsuramkund (Pasighat – Tezu – Rupai) 227 kms connectivity to northern & eastern frontiers of Arunachal Pradesh will improve leaps and bound. Tourist from places will find it easier to visit Arunachal
Pradesh to explore its natural beauty. Economic activity will greatly flourish in the region. Once completed, these lines will also provide all weather connectivity to tourist place like Tawang & Parshuram Kund. Thus, tourism sector in this region will also get quantum jump. Modern surveying technique will be adopted for these projects to overcome the challenging terrain. It will take about three & half years to complete these surveys and targeted to be completed by October, 2020. Very long tunnels & bridges will be required to be constructed in these projects. While the realistic cost assessment will be known only after completion of final location Surveys but, roughly the cost of these 3 lines is expected to be around 60 to 70 thousand Crore. In addition to these
three final location surveys, Reconnaissance Engineering Cum Traffic Survey (RETS) has also been sanctioned for eight new lines in Arunachal Pradesh for a total length of about 625 Km. These are 1) Margherita to Deomali (31 kms), 2) LekhapaniKharsang (25 kms), 3) Itakhola to Seijosa (18 kms), 4) Doodooma to Wakro via Simulguri,Namsai, Chowkham (96 kms), 5) Dangri to Roing (60kms), 6) Naharkatia- Deomali (20 kms), 7) Lekhapani - Napnong-New khamlang-Deben (75 kms), 8) Tinsukia (Longpotia) (Assam) To Pasighat Via Kanubari, Deomali, Lekhapani, Jairampur, Kharsang, Miao, Diyun, Tezu, Bhismaknagar, Roing, Dambuk (300 kms). This was stated in a press release issued by Chief Public Relations Officer, Pranav Jyoti Sharma.
Visitors throng the ongoing national Handloom expo in Kohima at Gorkha Panchayat Public Ground, Chandmari, opposite Government Printing Press. this expo was commenced on March 22 under the aegis of nagaland Handloom & Handicrafts development Corporation Limited, dimapur (a Government of nagaland Undertaking) and sponsored by Office of the Development Commissioner (Handlooms), Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India, New delhi. It will go on till April 4. (Morung Photo)
Farmers urged to cultivate ‘Diversified Aquaculture Practices organic mushroom for Sustainable Nagaland’
A field day programme on study of importance and method of contour bunding was conducted by AtMA, Mangkolemba block at waromong Village on March 28 with resource person Imkongtemsu, sdAo & Btt Convener AtMA, Mangkolemba. Farmers’ group mobilization programme with seed money distribution to the groups was also held. demonstration on cultivation of large cardamom was conducted at Khar, Yimjenkimong and Molungkimong villages on March 28 and 29 respectively. Altogether, a total of 108 farmers were benefitted through such farmer oriented programmes.
deputy Project directors’ sAMetI, nBHM team members and trainees during the valedictory function of the two days training programme on Capacity Building and skill Upgradation on Beekeeping on March 30 and 31 at sAMetI Hall, Medziphema. resource persons for the training program were Bodevi shuya and temjenchuba K Char and from nagaland Beekeeping and Honey Mission. Altogether 22 AtMA functionaries from all the districts attended the programme.
leisure
CROSSWORD # 3904
SUDOKU
Answer Number # 3899
room cultivation (preferably organic) as it can become a subsidiary source of income. Hands-on demonstration was done for easy learning and the trainees also participated actively with the request to conduct more such trainings as it is beneficial to the entire society. A total number of 48 trainees from different SHGs of Kohima attended the programme. A press note stated ttat the programme concluded with distribution of mushroom spawns and sprayers. K. Michael Pienyii expressed gratitudetotheJointDirector, ICAR Jharnapani not only for sponsoring the programme but also for providing the materials required for mushroomrearing.Hethankedthe DAOKohimaforallowingthe programme to be held at his Conference Hall and also allowing free access to other facilities. He also sincerely thanked the ATMA Kohima team for rendering all possible help which made the programme a grand success.
Participants of the training on ‘diversified Aquaculture Practices for sustainable nagaland’ held from March 28-30.
MEdziphEMa, april 1 (MExn): TheICARResearch Complex for NEH Region, Nagaland Centre, Medziphema successfully organised three day long training on ‘Diversified Aquaculture Practices for Sustainable Nagaland’ funded under TSP from March 28-30. The training was attended by 25 participants. Dr. D. J. Rajkhowa, Joint Director, in the inaugural std code: 03862
DiMaPUR ACROSS 1. Beside 6. Wise one 10. Paddles 14. About a US quart 15. Hotels 16. Radar signal 17. All excited 18. French for “We” 19. Couch 20. Remunerate 22. F F F F 23. Not high 24. Homes for birds 26. Tumescent 30. Small freshwater fishes 32. Scallion 33. Abandoned ships 37. Saturate 38. Small units of measure 39. Buckeye State 40. Drivels 42. Knot 43. Bumbling 44. Reposed 45. Light wood 47. French for “Wine” 48. Corporate image 49. Controllable 56. Relating to urine 57. Weightlifters pump this 58. King 59. Chat 60. Being 61. Betel palm 62. Former lovers 63. Marsh plant 64. Slats DOWN 1. Winglike 2. Vitality 3. Ear-related 4. Roman emperor 5. Sprite 6. Tendon 7. Soon
Simple Rules - Fill in the grid so that every row, every column, and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.
Game Number # 3900
KohiMa, april 1 (MExn): A one day training programme on ‘mushroom cultivation’wasconductedat DAO Conference Hall, Kohima, which was sponsored by ICAR, Jharnapani, Dimapur and organised by KVK Kohima with K. Michael Pienyii, Scientist (Plant Protection) as the main resource person and DAO Kohima Vizonyii Lieziestu as the special guest. In the keynote address, Vizonyii Lieziestu talked about the benefits of mushroom cultivation keeping in view the nutritional and medicinal aspects of mushroom. He apprised the trainees about the various indigenous species which can easily be cultivated and requested them to try those varieties as well. In the technical session, K. Michael Pienyii, gave point presentation on scientific methods of mushroom cultivation in detail. Management of pests and diseases were discussed at length. He encouraged the Trainees to take up mush-
8. Wildebeests 9. Colognes 10. Fixations 11. In the sky 12. Jazz ostinatos 13. Resorts 21. Detachable container 25. Snake-like fish 26. Wealthy man (British slang) 27. Pearly-shelled mussel 28. Small brook 29. _______ and the Three Bears 30. Gave out 31. Not legs 33. Let go 34. Gossip 35. Rubber wheel 36. Auctioned 38. More wonderful or gorgeous 41. N N N N 42. High ranking officer 44. 18-wheeler 45. Cleansing agent 46. Lissome 47. Fledged (arrows) 48. Pear-shaped instrument 50. Backside 51. Schnozzola 52. Emanation 53. Decay from overripening 54. Pervert 55. Historical periods
Answer to Crossword 3903
AdVIse BeHInd BLUnder BreAtH CHeAP CHoKe CoLor ConneCtIon CrAte doUBLe dross eFFeCt FInAL GrAnd HAPPY IdeAL JoKer JoYoUs Leer
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ic system of production depending on the topography and climatic condition of the locality. Courses related to polyculture, cage and pen culture, common carp breeding, fish health management, integrated fish farming were covered during the three days course. Later course completion certificate was distributed to the trainees by the Joint Director.
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
east Police station
227607
west Police station
232181
CIHsr (referral Hospital)
242555 242533
dimapur Hospital
224041 248011
KOHiMa
std code: 0370
KoHIMA Ps/oCs Contact numbers north Ps
8575045501
Officer-in-Charge 8575045510 south Ps
8575045502
Officer-in-Charge 8575045520 Zubza Ps
8575045508
Officer-in-Charge 8575045518
Apollo Hospital Info Centre 230695/ 9402435652
Chiephobozou Ps 8575045506 Officer-in-Charge 8575045516
railway
131/228404
tseminyu Ps
Airport Indian Airlines
229366 242441 225212
Khuzama Ps
8575045507
Officer-in-Charge 8575045517 8575045505
Officer-in-Charge 8575045515
Chumukedima Fire Brigade 282777
W
session briefed the necessity of diversification to maximise production per unit area. He also urged the farmer to adopt integrated farming system as an alternate means to sustain livelihood. Jyotish Barman, Scientist (Fisheries) gave an overview on possibility of adopting different fish farming practices suitable for Nagaland. He laid more stress on following scientif-
Kezocha Ps
8575045549
nikos Hospital and research Centre
232032, 231031
nagaland Multispecialty Health & research Centre
women Cell 248302, 09856006026
8575045509
eden Medical Centre
248722 /248288
8575045500 (Emergency No. – 100)
S
E
A
R
Officer-in-Charge 8575045538 Officer-in-Charge 8575045519
C
Control room
H
FiRE STaTiONS
KoHIMA soUtH: 0370-2222952/ 101 (O) 9402003086 (OC) KoHIMA nortH: 7085924114 (O) dIMAPUr: 03862-232201/ 101 (O) 9856156876 (OC) CHUMUKedIMA: 7085982102 (O) 8732810051 (OC) woKHA: 03860-242215/101 (O) 8974322879 (OC) MoKoKCHUnG: 0369-2226225/ 101 (O) 8415830232 (OC) PHeK: 8414853765 (O) 8413822476(OC) ZUnHeBoto: 03867-280304/ 101 (O) 9436422730 (OC) tUensAnG: 8414853766 (O) 9856163601 (OC) Mon: 03869-251222/ 101 (O) 9862130954 (OC) Kiphire: 8414853767 (O) 9436261577 (OC) Peren: 7085189932 (O) 9856311205 (OC) LonGLenG: 7085924113 (O) 9862414264 (OC) we4 woMen HeLPLIne 08822911011 WOMEN HeLPLIne 181 CHiLD weLFAre CoMMIttee Toll free No. 1098 childline
MOKOKCHUNG
std code: 0369
Police station 1 Police station 2 Police station Kobulong Police station tuli Police station Changtongya Police station Mangkolemba Civil Hospital
9485232688 9485232689 9485232690 9485232693 9485232694 9485232695 2226216
woodland nursing Home
2226263
Hotel Metsüpen (tourist Lodge) 2226373/ 2229343
CURRENCY NOTES BUY (rs) seLL (rs)
Us dollars sterling Pound Hong Kong dollar Australian dollar singapore dollar Canadian dollar Japanese Yen euro thai Baht Korean won UAe dirham (Aed) Chinese Yuan
63.34 78.97 7.89 48.35 45.26 47.38 56.37 67.63 1.78 0.0548 16.69 8.91
66.36 83.01 8.81 50.85 47.60 49.84 59.69 71.09 1.99 0.0613 18.63 9.95
Sunday 02•04•2017
AAN to take up conservation of indigenous Mahseers Dimapur, april 1 (mExN): A one day workshop on conservation of indigenous Mahseers will be conducted by Anglers Association Nagaland (AAN) in association with Mahseer Trust London, at Hotel Accacia Conference Hall, Dimapur on April 9, from 2PM onwards. The resource person for the workshop will be Steve Lockett, Vice Chair, Masheer Trust, London who has been involved in river and fish conservation issues, from local communities to Govt. level, in India, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. Mahseer are fresh water fish native to northern India and the Himalayan region. There are several species of Mahseer found in Nagaland which are being fished to extinction by rampant use of chemicals and dynamites, informed AAN in a press release. The state has also declared Chocolate Mahseer (Neolissochilus hexagonolepis) as State Fish, it said. During the workshop, there will be participation from department of Fisheries and other stake holders and the AAN will also present a brief on different conservation activities carried out to protect and conserve the local river systems, it added. A presentation on different species found in Nagaland and their present status will be given by fishery department. After the workshop, there will be an open interactive sessions with the anglers and other participants. AAN also informed that the workshop is open to all and registeration can be done from/ through AAN Office and one can contact its President @9436008190 or General Secretary @9402696734 for any queries.
NAGALAND
Konyaks braces for promotion and preservation of culture Heritage Village foundation stone laid in Mon
moN, april 1 (mExN): Thongwang Konyak, Advisor DUDA, LM & CP and NIDC unfurled the foundation stone of Konyak Heritage Village at Abang, opposite Wangkha College on April 1. The foundation stone was laid by Konyak Students' Union (KSU). In his address, Thongwang enumerateing the various developments under his department informed that many development projects could not be completed in time due to unstable government in the state. He also donated ten lakhs towards development of the heritage village and lauded the KSU and the Leangha village for initiating and donating the land. Deputy Commissioner, Mon, W Honje Konyak in his speech also lauded the Students' community for taking the initiative to establish the
Thongwang Konyak, Advisor DUDA, LM & CP and NIDC with others after unfurling the foundation stone of Konyak Heritage Village at Abang, opposite Wangkha College on April 1.
heritage village to promote and treasure the rich culture and traditions of the Konyaks. He also extended gratitude to Leangha villagers for donating the land for development, which would benefit the Konyaks. He further informed that the proposed location for the
heritage village was a conserved land under the forest department to protect the water source supplied to Mon town. Maintianing that the purpose of the heritage village is to promote and preserve the age old cultural and traditions of the Konyaks which is fading away gradually, the DC appealed to
Phek Govt College celebrates parting social Dimapur, april 1 (mExN): The 36th parting social of the Phek Government College was held on March 30 at the college auditorium. During the event, the PGC Principal, Dr. Katoni Jakhalu encouraged the students to believe in themselves and in their world where intolerance and corruption are rampant. Observing the dexterity
of the students, the principal also emboldened them to further use their various skills which might some-
released the college annual magazine, ‘Illumine Excellence’ Besides, the Skill Development club also organised an exhibition cum sales day on the same day where handicrafts, traditional woven goods, knitted day be a source of their items etc by the students are showcased and sold to livelihood. Besengulie Venuh, raise fund for the club, a Vice Principal PGC also press note informed.
DCC Peren takes further swipe at ZPO (N) pErEN, april 1 (mExN): The District Congress Committee Peren took further swipe at the Zeliang People Organisation Nagaland on Friday ridiculing the latter’s claim of being a social organization working for the welfare of people. “The statement of ZPO (N) claiming to be a social organization working for the rights and welfare of its people was very enlightening,” a counter rejoinder from the DCC Peren stated adding, “If that is really so, the ZPO (N) should also speak up for the rights and welfare of the Tening Sub Division whose roads TR Zeliang left unrepaired/ unmade in spite of representing it for 20 years.” “The ZPO (N) should
also speak up for the welfare of Kebai-Khelma area whose roads are repaired every year by the poor villagers with contributions from MGNREGA funds,” it further added. While stating that it is not against any development programme if it benefits all the citizens of Peren District, the DCC Peren accused the ZPO (N) of being “least bothered” about raising other such issues. Further accusing TR Zeliang of perpetrating “nepotism, favoritism and corruption”, the DCC Peren advised, “The ZPO (N) should walk out of the shadow of TR Zeliang and cease to be his mouthpiece and raise issues that concern the rights and welfare of the people.”
Meetings & AppointMents Tuensang DPDB on April 6 The monthly meeting of the Tuensang District Planning & Development Board (DPDB) for the month of April will be held on April 6, Thursday, 11AM at the Deputy Commissioner’s Conference Hall. A press release informing this requested all the DPDB members to attend the meeting.
Kevijau Colony general meeting The Kevijau Colony has convened its 12th General Meeting on April 8, 10AM at its Council Hall. A press release informing this has asked bona fide members of the colony to attend the meeting. Any important agenda requiring discussion may be submitted to the Chairman or Secretary on or before April 4.
Mungya Village general meeting A general meeting of Mungya Village, Wokha will be held on April 7, 9AM at the village. All concerned have been requested to attend the meeting positively.
AIFFSO NSU calls annual general meeting The annual general meeting of All India Freedom Fighters’ & Successors’ Organization (AIFFSO) Nagaland State Unit (NSU) has been convened on April 8 at Hotel Japfü, Kohima 1PM onwards. In this connection, AIFFSO NSU general secretary in a press release has requested all the office bearers of the state level and the entire 11 districts to attend the meeting positively.
Longleng DPDB meeting The monthly DPDB meeting for Longleng district for the month of April 2 will be held on Friday the April, 7 at DC's conference hall from 11AM onwards. All the members are informed to attend the meeting positively.
ZPO (N) defends as DCC Peren continue tirade
pErEN, april 1 (mExN): The Zeliang People Organization Nagaland (ZPON) has termed the DCC Peren’s statement of March 28 as “unfortunate and unpleasant”. The DCC Peren had alleged the former of being “mouthpieces” of TR Zeliang. A press release from the ZPO (N) asserted that it is a social organisation mandated by the people of Peren District and that it stands for the rights and welfare of its people and land. “The question of terming ZPO (N) as a mouthpiece of TR Zeliang does not arise,” the ZPO (N) stated. The ZPO (N) main-
tained that it had issued the previous statement since the fund allocation and execution of works concerned Peren district. “Whoever is awarded contract work is not our concern,” the ZPO (N) stated adding that its only concern was the successful and satisfactory execution and implementation of the project. “ZPO (N) shall not appreciate or discriminate any individual or groups for having any particular political affiliation but shall welcome and appreciate all those who sympathize our people and district and work for the uplift of our district,” the release maintained.
all the Konyak's NGOs, legislatures and all concerned to extend their cooperation and support to find ways and means for development of the village. The responsibility of developing the project lies with the entire Konyaks, Honje added. Also speaking on the occassion, Loung Anghpa of Leangha village said that the land was donated free of cost for the community development of the Konyaks and urged the leaders not the leave the project half done or utilize it for personal benefit. He also informed that his Village is ever ready to donate more land if needed for the project. The president KSU, KU and KNSK also spoke at the function. Earlier the foundation stone was dedicated by pastor KBCM Nahngom. The function was chaired by T.M. Wapa, speaker KSU.
SPFDD decries ‘provocative’ activities Dimapur, april 1 (mExN): The Sangtam People’s Forum Dimapur District (SPFDD) has vehemently condemned the “unprecedented and provocative activities by some vested interested persons,” who after taking the name of certain Naga Political Groups (NPGs), allegedly came to Sangtamtilla Village, “with intension to forcefully occupy some portion of land” within the jurisdiction of the village. In this connection, the
Forum in press note issued by its President L Bitong and General Secretary V Avise Anar asked the concerned individual to “abstain from any illegal activities in order to avoid any further confrontation.” The village was physically established in the year 1951 and duly recognise by the government in 1953 which was prior to statehood and had been in existence since then without any dispute, it added.
NPCC greets Phom, Konyak Community Dimapur, april 1 (mExN): The NPCC has greeted the Konyak and the Phom community on the occasion Aoleang Monyu and Monyiü festival, the respective traditional spring festivals of both the community. The festivals are celebrated to herald in the spring season and the new agrarian year while praying for a bountiful harvest, K Therie, President, NPCC said in a message. “It is also a time for the community to display the rich cultural heritage inherited from our forefathers,” it said adding that while there is an environment of threat on our culture and identity, its mean-
ingful celebrations “are crucial for preserving and passing on our rich culture and identity to the younger generations for posterity.” Besides, remembering loved ones and sharing joy as well as making peace and reconciliation, NPCC said that the festivals are also an opportunity to foster brotherhood and unity not only within the respective communities but also with other communities and across society. “As the celebrations continue, may the Konyak and Phom communities continue to reap a bountiful harvest not only from the land but also from the social, economic and spiritual realms of life,” it added.
Assam Rifles Veterans Cells formed
Dimapur , april 1 (mExN): The Assam Rifles has informed all the AR exservicemen in Nagaland of the formation of Veterans Cells in the state. AR Veterans in Nagaland can send their query to the email ids given below along with their contact information, including name and mobile numbers. Veterans can also visit DGAR website www.assamrifles.gov.in for information.
The details of the cells are as follows
Place Kohima Chiswema (Wokha, Kiphire, Phek districts) Dimapur (Peren, Dimapur districts) Tuensang (Mokokchung, Tuensang, Longleng, Mon, Zunheboto districts)
Telephone No.
Email ID
0370-2290825
arveteranskohima @ gmail.com.
0370-229020
arveterans5sect @ gmail.com.
03862-248846
arveterans6sect @ gmail.com.
03861-220890
arveterans7sect @ gmail.com.
39 Tobacco Free Schools under Kohima District Kohima, april 1 (Dipr): Another 12 schools in Kohima were selected and declared as Tobacco Free Schools by Jt. Director, DHFW, Kohima, State Nodal Officer, NTCP, Dr. Hotokhu Chishi during a District Level Coordination Committee quarterly meeting was held on March 31 at DC’s Office Conference Hall. With their addition, he declared that 39 schools are now Tobacco Free under Kohima District and hoped that all the Schools under the district will be Tobacco Free in near future. He also welcomed DC Kohima and new chairmen of District Level Coordination Committee Rajesh Soudararajan to the meeting and expressed hope that with the new Chairmen, the process of making tobacco
MEx FILE Ganja worth Rs. 1.50 lakh seized Kohima, april 1 (mExN): Kohima Police manning Peducha check gate while conducting routine checking and frisking of vehicles intercepted one vehicle, a Tata Sumo Grand, and recovered a total of 30 kilos of contraband ganja worth Rs. 1.50 lakh in the National market. In this connection, one person identified as Neli Mao (55 years) was taken into police custody and a regular case under the NDPS Act is registered against him for further investigation, a press release from the Kohima Police PRO informed.
UGC to continue funding under Plan Schemes NEw DElhi, april 1 (mExN): The University Grants Commission (UGC) at its 522nd meeting held on March 28 resolved that all existing schemes of the UGC under Plan head would continue for the fiscal year 2017- 18. A notification issued by P.K. Thakur, Financial Advisor of UGC vide F. No. 22-4/ 2016 (FD- I/ B) dated 29th March, 2017 informed of the continuance of funding under Plan Schemes beyond March 31. However, these schemes would be reviewed by the UGC, it added.
ARCS office Mkg shifted moKoKchuNg, april 1 (Dipr): Office of the Assistant Registrar of Cooperative Societies (ARCS) Mokokchung has been shifted to present District Fishery Office, Mokokchung (Ground Floor) on April 12017. ARCS, Mokokchung, AlanglaTongerhas informed public and offices in the district to take note of the shifting of the office. Normal functioning of the ARCS office, Mokokchung would resume soon.
Home department notifies Dimapur, april 1 (Dipr): The Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority (Home Department) in a notification on March 30, 2017 has informed that the following designation of the Commissioner & Secretary (Home) Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority, Women Resource Development, Relief & Rehabilitation shall be used for all related correspondences. Henceforth, all concerned have been requested to use the correct designation for correspondences where copies have also been endorsed to all AHODs, HODs and Deputy Commissioners.
NERC shifted to Upper Agri Colony Kohima, april 1 (Dipr): Secretary, Nagaland Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Kohima, W.Y. Yanthan has informed that the Office of the Nagaland Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) at Old MLA Hostel Complex, Kohima which was destroyed during the mob agitation on February 2, 2017 has been shifted to Upper Agri Colony, Near Stella Hr. Secondary School, Kohima temporarily. Henceforth, all official correspondences with the NERC be made to the given address below till further order: “Nagaland electricity regulatory commission Upper agri colony, house no. 341 Near stella hr. Secondary school, kohima – 797001” Email address: nerc_kohima@yahoo.com/ nerckohima@hotmail.com
DDADU informs fiber owner Dimapur, april 1 (mExN): The Dimapur district Autorickshaw Driver’s Union (DDADU), has asked the owner of a ‘Dome Mechanical Seal fiber Splice Closure –GJS80820 (FOSC), apparently left in an auto, to claim it from its Head Office, Super Market near Hotel Saramati. The rightful owner should claim the same within 7 days and any claims afterwards will not be entertained, said DDADU in a press note. The union also informed that any belonging lost in an autorickshaw due to one’s negligence should not be blame on the driver under any circumstances.
AR recovers ‘warlike stores’ ZuNhEboto, april 1 (mExN): 5 Assam Rifles recovered a cache of arms, ammunitions and “warlike stores” from a forest near Asukhomi and Lizu Naghuto on March 28. According to a defence release, the recovery included one 5.56 mm HK-33 Rifle with magazine, one 7.62 mm AK-56 Rifle with magazine and 66 live ammunitions and “other warlike stores” suspected to be hidden by the NSCN (K). The seized arms and ammunition were later handed over to Zunheboto Police Station on the same day.
Special Worship Service on April 2 Dimapur, april 1 (mExN): In view of the forthcoming Centennial Jubilee in 2021 and as a part of preparation for its Grand Celebration, the Sanis Village Baptist Ekhumkho is organizing a Special Worship Service Program for Employees, Pensioners, Businessmen and Contractors of Sanis Citizens on April 2 at 11:00 am with the theme “God’s Guidance and Blessings”. The programme is co-sponsored by Finance Committee, SYBECJ. The programme will begin with ‘Coffee Nite-cum- Camp Fire’ on April 1 right after the Saturday Evening Worship Service which will be sponsored by Well-wishers’. SYBE, Pastor Incharge Abemo Erui in a press release has requested all citizens of Sanis to make it convenient to attend the programs positively and be richly blessed.
DBSU elects new team for 2017-18
Officials with the selected schools for Tobacco Free Schools under Kohima during the District Level Coordination Committee quarterly meeting held on March 31. (DIPR Photo)
free will be a great success in the coming future. Rajesh Soudararajan, who chaired the programme, also urged the authorities to work for a better Kohima Tobacco Free and
said that he would appeal to the District Transport Officer to issue an order to all the public transports to undertake Smoke Free awareness drive. During the meeting, ac-
tivities of District Tobacco Control Cell Kohima from September to November 2016 were also highlighted by Senior Dental Surgeon, District Nodal Officer, Kohima, Dr. Arenla Walling.
Dimapur, april 1 (mExN): Dimapur Bengali Students Union (DBSU) held its general meeting on March 26 at Ramthakur Sevashram Conference Hall. The meeting was convened to form new office bearers and advisory board for the term 2017-18, to discuss on aims and objectives and also on new project works. Ajay Kumar Das was re-elected as president with Biki Dey as the General Secretary. Kamala Kanta Paul was elected as Chief advisor in advisory board of DBSU. Others who attended and addressed the meeting were Bishnu Bhattacharjee, Prof Chhanda Dutta of Govt College, Ashim Patikar (GB), Juel Acharjee president, Bongs Shubhankar Das, Coordinator, Shemrock School with other community leaders and Bengali students.
6
The Chalkboard
SunDAY 02•04•2017
THE MORUNG EXPRESS
_____________________________ Because Children Matters
Classroom Bloopers
H
ere are some amusing answers given to classroom science or health questions by 3rd and 4th graders.
When you breathe, you inspire. When you do not breathe, you expire. Facts Sounds funny, but it is true. One definition of "inspire " is to "breathe life into." Also, we do "expire" if we don't breathe, because we need oxygen to live.
Find the right image for the words
H2O is hot water, and CO2 is cold water. Facts The H does not stand for Hot, or C for Cold as it does on water faucets. Water is made up of 2 parts hydrogen and 1 part oxygen (H2O). The H stands for Hydrogen
Bet you didn't know..... • It is impossible for most people to lick their own elbow. (try it!) • A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out. • A shrimp's heart is in its head. • It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky. • The "sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick" is believed to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language. • If you sneeze too hard, you could fracture a rib. • Wearing headphones for just an hour could increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times. • In the course of an average lifetime, while sleeping you might eat around 70 assorted insects and 10 spiders, or more. • Some lipsticks contain fish scales. • Cat urine glows under a black-light.
Read T This Brainteas er ... bet you C
AN!
he phaonmneel pweor of the hmuan mnid: I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdgnieg. Aoccdrnig to a rscheearcr at Cmagbride Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers of a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?
Weakest Link Brainteaser Test Answer First Question: If you answer that you arrived You are participating in a race. second to last, then you are wrong You overtake the second person. again. Tell me, how can you overWhat position do you finish? take the LAST person? (except on a closed track in a long race, and we Answer aren't assuming that!) You're not If you said "first", you are wrong! very good at this are you? You arrive second! If you overtake the second person and you take his Third Question: place, you arrive second! Very Tricky math! Note: This riddle must be done in your head only Second Question: -- do NOT write it down If you overtake the last person, • Take 1000 and add: then you arrive...? o 40; o 1000;
o 30; o 1000; o 20; o 1000; o and 10. • What is the new total?
Reveal Answer Did you get 5000? The correct answer is actually 4100. Don't believe it? Check with your calculator! The decimal sequence confuses our brain, which always jumps to the highest decimals (100s instead of 10s). You ARE the weakest link. Goodbye!
Help your worm find its way through the maze
Word Game
and the O for Oxygen. CO2 is car- and Hydrogen. They are not made bon dioxide. of "gin", which is a type of alcoholic drink. To collect fumes of sulphur, hold a deacon over a flame in a test tube. Three kinds of blood vessels are Facts arteries, vanes and caterpillars. You would hold a "beaker," not a Facts "deacon" over a flame. A "deacon" is The proper spelling is "veins." In usually a person in a church who as- addition, there are no CATERPILsists the minister. A beaker is a con- LARS in our bodies. The very small tainer used in a lab. blood vessels that connect arteries and veins are "capillaries." When you smell an odorless gas, it is probably carbon monoxide. Blood flows down one leg and Facts up the other leg. Carbon monoxide is "odorless," Facts Therefore, there is no way you could Blood travels in both directions "smell" it. Odorless means "without in the legs, arms, and elsewhere smell or having no odor." in the body. During blood circuWater is composed of two gins, lation, the arteries carry blood Oxygin and Hydrogin. Oxygin is away from the heart. The capillarpure gin. Hydrogin is gin and water. ies connect the arteries to veins. Finally, the veins carry the blood Facts The proper spelling is Oxygen back to the heart.
Find the hidden picture
Dot to dot
FAITH LEAF
SunDAY 02•04•2017
THE MORUNG EXPRESS
INSPIRATIONAL STORIES, MESSAGES, POEMS & SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES
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How the Prophet Habakkuk Built an Anti-Fragile Faith Krish Kandiah | Christianity Today
M
y son, Luke, is a brilliant soccer player. Even at a young age, he had fantastic control skills and a powerful kick. Luke is also a brilliant artist, appreciating the beauty of the world around him and translating that onto paper with pencil and paint. Unfortunately, this combination was lethal. Luke’s team members had no idea whether he had his eye on the ball or was observing a falling leaf or a pink-petaled daisy. One minute he would be dedicated and deft, the next distant and distracted. By the time he turned five, it was made clear to my son that he had no future in the cutthroat world of our local boys’ soccer team. Unpredictability, it seems, makes relationships, trust, teamwork—and coming out on top—virtually impossible. We all know that God never lets us down, that he is utterly reliable and consistent. The Bible teaches that God is immutable; unchanging in his nature, character, and purpose. He is the same “yesterday, today, and forever” and does not “change like shifting shadows.” He is our Alpha and Omega, beginning and end; his love endures forever. So what do we do when he seems distracted? What do believers do when the circumstances of our lives make God seem erratic, distant, and unpredictable? In Scripture, God’s people do not always experience God as predictable. God is more likely, it seems, to surprise and shock us. We ask him for one thing, and he gives us another. How can we trust a consistently unpredictable God who continually confounds our expectations?
they are random yet game-changing, such as the 9/11 tragedy, the social impact of the worldwide web, the recent global economic crisis, or shocking political results. How can a government effectively plan for such unexpected events? Taleb coined the phrase “anti-fragile” to encapsulate a quality of resilience and security that can be built into economic systems so they can withstand unforeseeable disruptive events. This seems like a good category to apply to faith-building when we are dealing with a God who constantly surprises. The prophet Habakkuk learned how to build an anti-fragile faith the hard way. He lived in tumultuous times, just like ours. For him war and conflict were a very present reality. Habakkuk’s homeland, the southern kingdom of Judah, lay in the path of mighty King Nebuchadnezzar’s advancing army. Jerusalem, the capital city, was under constant threat of invasion, so Habakkuk’s people were living in fear. And as if the threat of hostile takeover wasn’t bad enough, things were not going well in the Promised Land. In the face of prophetic warnings, idolatry, injustice, and wrongdoing were widespread throughout Judah. In despair, Habakkuk opens his heart to God:
der, expressing grand pronouncements with great gravitas. But the book of Habakkuk kicks off with an unedited moan about the state of the world. This is a prayer of protest, impatience, and raw emotion. Habakkuk is wrestling with how to relate to an unpredictable God. From Bad to Worse After each of Habakkuk’s complaints comes God’s replies. The back-and-forth structure of the book is a wonderful picture of God engaging in real conversation with his people. He appreciates that we struggle with his unpredictability, and he graciously listens and responds to our questions and complaints. Habakkuk protests the contradictions he sees. There is corruption within the very legal system that was supposed to protect the nation from corruption. The impact of the righteous is nullified by that of the wicked. Why does God put up with it? Why does God make his people put up with it? Why is God inactive in the face of unrelenting evil? God assures Habakkuk that he will intervene:
Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. I am raising up the Babylonians, How long, Lord, must I call for help, that ruthless and impetuous people, but you do not listen? who sweep across the whole earth Or cry out to you, “Violence!” to seize dwellings not their own. but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? (Hab. 1:5–6) Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Habakkuk thought he could rely Destruction and violence are be- on God to oppose the wicked and fore me; champion the cause of the needy. there is strife, and conflict abounds. But God seems to do nothing at all, Therefore the law is paralyzed, and when he promises to intervene, and justice never prevails. it is not good news. The unexpected, Talking Back to God? The wicked hem in the righteous, Economist Nassim Taleb de- so that justice is perverted. (Hab. 1:1–4) unbelievable, unpredictable “something” that God is about to do is not scribes how governments face a similar dilemma in the face of what he We’re not used to prophets to usher in great blessing, but to excalls “black swan” events. These are speaking back to God. We imagine act terrible judgment on his people incidents that nobody can predict; them with their spiritual lives in or- through that pagan neighboring su-
perpower, Babylon. How can we trust Three clues in the story of Haa God who can take a bad situation bakkuk help us develop an antiand make it a thousand times worse? fragile faith that is able to face up to, rather than shy away from, the unWorshiping an Unpredictable God certainties God sends into our lives. We naturally want to trust in The first clue relates to the future: God’s overarching control, but this God’s first response to Habakkuk’s kind of trust begins to feel impossi- complaint is to tell him to wait (1:5). ble when we face disappointments Waiting is a difficult thing in a culso disruptive that our faith, life, or ture of immediacy. When it comes very identity lies in ruins. to sustainability, justice, purity, and Old Testament scholar Walter personal growth, we want it now. Brueggemann describes three stag- But God exhorts Habakkuk to play es in the life of our faith. Our faith the long game. Things may seem unbegins with a focus on security, palatable in the short term, but God counting on God to provide for us promises that one day there will be emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Inevitably, God shocks us with a reckoning. God calls us to patient some unexpected turn of events, endurance, to trust that his apparent whether a death, a health problem, unpredictability will ultimately be or a national crisis. Our faith be- proven to be utter consistency. Our second clue has to do with comes painfully disoriented. Finally the past: Habakkuk remembers. We though, once it seems as if trust in see Habakkuk recounting God’s resGod has been shattered, faith can be reoriented, often in surprising ways. cue of his people from Egyptian tyrBuilding an “anti-fragile” faith anny (3:12–15). He remembers dedoes not mean avoiding challeng- tails of the soldiers, with their horses, es but rather finding a way to see arrows, and chariots, defeated in the through them to something greater waters of the Red Sea. He imagines how God’s arrival from Mount Paran on the other side. Many Christians spend most of must have appeared to bystanders— their lives in the first phase. “Securely his splendor like the rising sun. Haoriented in their faith,” they have no bakkuk remembers the pillar of fire need to dig too deep into what they be- representing God’s faithful presence. lieve or why. But when a “black-swan” He remembers the ten plagues, preevent comes along—personal suffer- ceding God’s rescue like motorcycle ing, the fall from grace of a church lead- outriders at a royal cavalcade. He er, or simply a question that wobbles focuses on stories where God took their understanding of one particular control of the natural world to defeat doctrine—the resulting painful disori- a seemingly invincible enemy. Lookentation can lead to the temptation to ing to history helps Habakkuk redrop out of church altogether. Their member God’s compassion, power, faith may seem irrevocably broken. impeccable character, and timing. But disruptive events God initiates It is not just remembering personal do not always debilitate faith. Some- experiences of God’s blessing that times they deepen it. This potential helps. The more conversant we are third phase, a surprising reorienta- with our family history in the Old and tion, results in an “‘anti-fragile’” faith. New Testaments, the less historically Rather than a posture that avoids myopic we become, and the better challenges, the posture of anti-fragile equipped to be anti-fragile in unprefaith finds a way to see through cur- dictable times. rent circumstances and anticipate Our third clue involves the pressomething greater on the other side. ent: Habakkuk responds in worship.
He revived orthodoxy when mere moralism and humanism had seemingly won over the theological world
"T
Ravi Zacharias | RZIM.ORG
“It was years ago when I was speaking at an openly and avowedly atheistic institution that I was fascinated by a questioner who asked what on earth I meant by the term God. The city was Moscow; the setting was the Lenin Military Academy. The atmosphere was tense. Never had I been asked before to define the term in a public gathering. And because I was in a country so historically entrenched in atheism, I suspected the question was both hostile and intentional.” The following excerpt comes from Ravi Zacharias's newly released book Jesus Among Secular Gods coauthored with Vince Vitale.
I
t was years ago when I was speaking at an openly and avowedly atheistic institution that I was fascinated by a questioner who asked what on earth I meant by the term God. The city was Moscow; the setting was the Lenin Military Academy. The atmosphere was tense. Never had I been asked before to define the term in a public gathering. And because I was in a country so historically entrenched in atheism, I suspected the question was both hostile and intentional. I asked the questioner if he was an atheist, to which he replied that he was. I asked him what he was denying. That conversation didn't go very far. So I tried to explain to him what we meant when we spoke of God. It is fascinating to talk to a strident atheist and try to get beneath the anger or hostility. God is a trigger word for some that concentrates all his or her stored animosity into a projectile of words. But as the layers of their thinking and experience are unpacked, the meaning of atheism to each one becomes narrower and narrower, each term dying the death of a thousand qualifications. Oftentimes, the description is more visceral and is discussed with pent-up anger rather than in a sensible, respectful discussion. More than once I have been amazed at the anger expressed by members of the atheist groups at one or other of the Ivy League schools in the United States to which I have been invited to speak, anger that I was even invited and that I had the temerity to address them. In theory, the academy has always been a place where dissent serves a valuable purpose in helping thinking students to weigh out ideas and make intelligent choices. And, dare I say, had I been a Muslim speaker, there would have been no such dissent as I faced. Evidently, being able to instill fear in people has a lot to do with how much freedom of speech you are granted. But alas! For some, at least, civil discourse is impossible. To her credit, at the end of a lecture, one senior officer in one club stood up and thanked me, a veiled apology for the resistance vented before the event. I did appreciate that courtesy. This unfettered anger on the part of some is quite puzzling to me. I was raised in India where I was not a Hindu and, in fact, never once gave it any serious
really believed in God. I was a nominal Christian but never gave that much thought, either. Most of my friends were either Hindu or Muslim or Sikh, with a few others of different faiths. I never recall feeling any anger or hostility toward those who believed differently than me, no matter how ludicrous their beliefs may have seemed to me. Nor do I remember ever being on the receiving end of such anger and hostility because I did not have the same belief. But the likes of Richard Dawkins are renowned for their bullying and mocking approach toward opposing views, an attitude from an academic that makes one wonder what is really driving such an intense temperament. A questioner at a gathering in Washington, DC, once asked Richard Dawkins how one should respond to a person who believed in God. "Mock them," he actually replied. "Ridicule them." When someone at an event asked me what I thought of that response, I reflected that, were Dawkins to practice that same method in Saudi Arabia, chances are he would not need his return ticket. One thing is for sure-he would at least find out that not all beliefs in God are similar and not all imperatives, equal. Need I add, not all atheists have the same disposition. In fact, many find the hostility of the new atheists an embarrassment. I have met many a cordial conversationalist who is atheistic in his or her belief, and we've had the best of conversations. Many have remarked that they have been able to take only so much of Dawkins and his followers and then stopped even reading them. Whatever worldview we espouse, dialogue and debate should take place with civility and courteous listening. But our times make that ideal so elusive. Holding a supposedly noble belief and reducing it to ignoble means of propagation makes the one who holds that belief suspect. To be sure, many in the so-called "religious" category have provoked strident responses. The pulpit can sadly be a place of bullying people into guilt and remorse and other emotions that make them want to escape from the voice hammering away at them, to say nothing of the anti-intellectualism among Christian ranks that brands even a hint of philosophy or science heretical. History has taught us to beware of extremists in any camp that sacrifice cordial conversation at the altar of demagogic enforcement. Views and opinions are aplenty in our world of tweeting and Instagram, but civil discourse is rare. And rarer still is the ability to defend one's beliefs with reason and experience. But we do well to examine the differences among secular belief systems (that are, in fact, also religions). We do well to examine where these differences really lie. I continue to find that the Judeo-Christian worldview has the most coherent answers to the inescapable questions of life that we all have, regardless of our beliefs. Ravi Zacharias is founder and chairman of the
Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights. (Hab. 3:17–19) If we can pray like this, maybe we’ll be able to respond to a consistently unpredictable God with less shock and with more awe. Krish Kandiah is founding director of Home for Good, an adoption and foster care ministry, and a lecturer in theology at Regents Park College, Oxford University. This essay is adapted from his latest book, Paradoxology: Why Christianity Was Never Meant to Be Simple (InterVarsity Press).
Neo-Orthodoxy: Karl Barth
Examining Religions and the Reason for Civil Discourse
Francisco de Zurbaran, Agnus Dei, oil on canvas, 1635-1640
Sometimes life feels like a zero-sum game with winners and losers. Habakkuk definitely felt like he was on the losing team, and the Babylonians looked like they were on a winning streak (3:16–17). If our love for God is dependent on being on the winning side at all times, we are destined to be disappointed. Habakkuk knew that true worship was about living in the ups and downs of the present, knowing that God is in control whichever way things go. His final prayer models a type of worship which runs absolutely counter to the consumer mentality that infects many of us. At one of the darkest points in Israel’s history, disaster looming, Habakkuk composes a song of praise and unshakable faith—whatever surprises and shocks God may have in store (3:18–19). Habakkuk’s prayer is a model of anti-fragility—a determined proclamation that his faith will remain robust and resilient, no matter what.
Mark Galli
he gospel is not a truth among other truths. Rather, it sets a question mark against all truths." Karl Barth (pronounced "bart") not only said this, he spent his life setting question marks, in the name of Christ, against all manner of "truths." In the process, he did nothing less than alter the course of modern theology. He started out life conventionally enough: he was born in 1886 in Basel, Switzerland, the son of Fritz Barth (a professor of New Testament and early church history at Bern) and Anna Sartorius. He studied at the best universities: Bern, Berlin, Tübingen, and Marburg. At Berlin he sat under the famous liberals of the day (like historian Adolf Harnack), most of whom taught an optimistic Christianity that focused not so much on Jesus Christ and the Cross as the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. After serving a Geneva church from 1909 to 1911, Barth was appointed to a working-class parish in Switzerland. In 1913 he married Nell Hoffman, a talented violinist (they eventually had one daughter and four sons). As he pastored, he noted with alarm that not only was Switzerland's close neighbor, Germany, becoming increasingly militaristic, but his former professors there were fully supportive of the development. Dismayed with the moral weakness of liberal theology, Barth plunged into a study of the Bible, especially Paul's Epistle to the Romans, to see what insights it could offer. He also visited Moravian preacher Christoph Blumhardt and came away overwhelmingly convinced of the victorious reality of Christ's resurrection. Out of this search emerged his Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans (1918). He sounded themes that had been muted in liberal theology. For example, liberal theology had domesticated God into the patron saint of human institutions and values. Instead, Barth wrote of the "crisis," that is, God's judgment under which all the world stood; he taught God's absolute sovereignty and complete freedom in initiating his revelation in Jesus Christ. He spoke dialectically, in paradox, to shock readers into seeing the radical nature of the gospel: "Faith is awe in the presence of the divine incognito; it is the love of God that is aware of the qualitative difference between God and man and God and the world." The first of six heavily revised editions of the commentary followed in 1922. It rocked the theological community. Liberal theologians gasped in horror and attacked Barth furiously, for in this and later works, he assaulted their
In response to their amiable view of humankind, Barth wrote, "Men have never been good, they are not good, they will never be good." Against the liberal tendency to treat Jesus as a teacher of religion, Barth said, "Jesus does not give recipes that show the way to God as other teachers of religion do. He is himself the way." In 1921 Barth was appointed professor of Reformed theology at the University of Göttingen, and later to chairs at Münster (1925) and Bonn (1930). He published works critiquing nineteenthcentury Protestant theology and produced a celebrated study of Anselm. In 1931 he began the first book of his massive The Church Dogmatics. It grew year by year out of his class lectures; though incomplete, it eventually filled four volumes in 12 parts, each densely printed with 500 to 700 pages each. Many pastors in the 1930s, '40s, and '50s, desperate for an antidote to liberalism, eagerly awaited the publication of each book. His theology came to be known as "dialectical theology," or "the theology of crisis"; it blossomed into a school of theology known as neo-orthodoxy, which influenced theology for decades and included thinkers like Emil Brunner and Reinhold Niebuhr. Many Catholic theologians (like Hans Küng) and evangelical theologians (like Donald Bloesch) have acknowledged Barth's key influence on them. Not that everyone fell at his feet. On the one hand, liberals mocked him as a Biblethumping fundamentalist; on the other, conservatives wondered about Barth's orthodoxy because he refused to consider the Bible to be "infallible" (he believed, instead, that only Jesus is infallible). Others thought Barth's theology overemphasized God's transcendence, making God seem utterly distant, and others still argued that God, in fact, did show signs of his presence in nature and history (something the early Barth vehemently denied). All in all, Barth was surprised at the waves he caused. Late in life he wrote, "As I look back upon my course, I seem to myself as one who, ascending the dark staircase of a church tower and trying to steady himself, reached for the banister, but got hold of the bell rope in-
ten to what the great bell had sounded over him and not over him alone." Barth fought not just with liberals but also with allies who challenged some of his extreme conclusions. When Brunner proposed that God revealed himself not just in the Bible but in nature as well (though not in a saving way), Barth replied in 1934 with an article titled, "No! An Answer to Emil Brunner." Barth believed that such a "natural theology" was the root of the religious syncretism and anti-Semitism of the "German Christians"—those who supported Hitler's national socialism. (Later in life, he moderated his views and reconciled with Brunner). By this time, Barth was immersed in the German church struggle. He was a founder of the so-called Confessing Church, which was repulsed by the ideology of "blood and soil" and the Nazis' attempt to create a "German Christian" church. The 1934 Barmen Declaration, largely based on Barth's initial draft, pitted the revelation of Jesus Christ against the "truth" of Hitler and national socialism: "Jesus Christ … is the one Word of God. … We reject the false doctrine, as though the Church could and would have to acknowledge as a source of its proclamation, apart from and beside this one Word of God, still other events and powers, figures and truths, as God's revelation." When Barth refused to take the oath of unconditional allegiance to the Führer, he lost his position at Bonn. His native Basel offered him a chair in theology and from there he continued to champion the causes of the Confessing Church, the Jews, and oppressed people everywhere. After the war, Barth engaged in controversies about baptism (though a Reformed theologian, he rejected infant baptism), hermeneutics, and the demythologizing program of Rudolf Bultmann (who denied the historical nature of Scripture, instead believing it a myth whose meaning could heal spiritual anxiety). Barth also made regular visits to the Basel prison, and his sermons to prisoners, Deliverance to the Captives, reveal a combination of evangelical passion and social concern that characterized his whole life. Though his later years were relatively quiet, Barth remains the most important theologian of the twentieth century. When it looked as if a moralistic and humanistic theology had won over Christendom, Barth showed Christians—mainline, evangelical, and Catholic—how to continue to take the Bible seriously. Mark Galli is editor of Christian History. Timeline • 1886 Karl Barth born in Basel, Switzerland • 1901 Adolf Harnack publishes What Is Christianity? a succinct expression of liberal theology • 1911 Barth begins pastoring a village church in Safenwil (Aargau) • 1914-1918 World War I
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SunDAY 02•04•2017
INDIA
THE MORUNG EXPRESS
Heat wave continues; Odisha’s Balangir sizzles at 44.2 deg C
New Delhi, April 1 (pTi): Sweltering heatwave conditions continued to prevail in several parts of India today as Chandrapur in Vidarbha and Balangir in Odisha recorded the countrys maximum temperature at 44.2 degrees Celsius. In the national capital, the mercury maintained an upward trend as the temperatures touched the 40 degrees Celsius mark in some parts. The Safdarjung observatory registered a maximum temperature of 39.4 degrees Celsius. The Palam observatory registered a high of 40.6 degrees Celsius, while the Lodhi Road recorded a maximum temperature of 39.8 degrees Celsius said a MeT department official. The humidity levels oscillated between 71 per cent and 22 per cent. Chandrapur in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra recorded a high of 44.2 degrees Celsius. Akola re-
corded a high of 43.6 degree Celsius and Wardha in Vidarbha region continued to sizzle at 43.8 degrees Celsius, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) data. Malegaon in Nashik district experienced hot weather condition as the highest temperature stood at 43 degrees Celsius. In Odisha, heatwavelike situation intensified in many parts of the state with the mercury soaring up to 44.2 degrees Celsius at Balangir, making it the hottest place in the state. Sonepur recorded 43.2 degrees Celsius, followed by Hirakud at 42.9 degrees Celsius and Bhawanipatna 42.5 degrees Celsius, the MeT office said. In Rajasthan, heatwave conditions prevailed in parts of the state, with Churu city remaining the hottest place recording a maximum temperature of 42 degrees Celsius followed by Kota at 41.6 degrees Cel-
EC takes notice of VVPAT dispensing only BJP slips in MP, seeks report New Delhi, April 1 (pTi): The Election Commission has sought a detailed report from the district poll authorities in Bhind, Madhya Pradesh on media reports that VVPAT was only dispensing slips of BJP symbol during a demonstration exercise. An Assembly bypoll is due in Bhind next week and the demonstration was part of the familiarisation exercise. “We have sought a detailed report from district election officer and would come up with a response in the evening,” a Commission spokesperson said. The voters see Voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) slip for seven seconds, which would be an acknowledgement receipt for the party they voted for in the election. VVPAT is a machine which dispenses a slip with the symbol of the party for which a person has voted for. The slip drops in a box but the voter cannot take it home. According to media reports, the receipt showed the vote going to BJP, irrespective of button pressed, during the demonstration. The reports also claimed that Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Madhya Pradesh, Saleena Singh was seen telling journalists that the news should not appear in newspapers, else they would be detained at the police station.
Prez gives assent to Finance Bill New Delhi, April 1 (iANS): President Pranab Mukherjee has given his assent to the Finance Bill, 2017. With his assent, the tax proposals in the union budget get the status of law. The Finance Bill 2017 was passed by Parliament on Thursday, with the Lok Sabha rejecting the amendments proposed by the Rajya Sabha. The Finance Act provides for a Rs 2 lakh cap on cash transactions to check tax evasion and makes it mandatory to quote the Aadhaar number for filing income tax returns from July 1. It also provides for doing away with some tribunals by assigning their work to the existing ones.
Haryana govt to provide Rs 21,000 to families for third girl child ChANDigArh, April 1 (pTi): Haryana government will provide one-time grant of Rs 21,000 to all those families whose third girl child was born after August 24, 2015, under the Aapki Beti, Hamari Beti scheme. The eligible families will receive the amount irrespective of their caste, creed, religion, income and number of sons, an official release issued on Saturday said. The scheme is aimed to combat the problem of declining child sex ratio and promote girls’ education in the state. Earlier, under the scheme, the first girl child born in the families belonging to Scheduled Castes and all Below Poverty Line (BPL), and second, twin or multiple girls born on or after January 22, 2015 in any family were eligible for the grant. Infamous for its adverse sex ratio, Haryana has witnessed a significant improvement in it, which was recorded at 938 in February this year. The efforts of the state government under the ambitious Beti BachaoBeti Padhao programme were clearly reflected in the improved sex ratio at birth (SRB), which was recorded at 938 girls per 1,000 boys in February, 2017, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had said recently.
In Uttar Pradesh, Allahabad was the hottest with maximum temperature touching 43.2 degrees Celsius. State capital Lucknow recorded a high of 41.8 degrees Celsius. Varanasi recorded maximum temperature of 42.5 degree Celsius. Sultanpur touched a high of 41.4 degrees Celsius, while in Rae Bareli it was 41 degrees Celsius. Jhansi recorded a high of 41.7 degrees Celsius. In Haryana, Narnaul and Hisar continued to brave the hot weather as maximum temperature across the state and neighbouring Punjab hovered a few notches above normal limits. Narnaul at 41.2 degrees Celsius was hotter by seven notches than the normal limits, a MeT Department official said here. Men squash sugarcane in a hand run wooden grinder under the shadow of a tree on a hot day on the outskirts of AhmedHisar also experienced abad, March 31. (REUTERS) a hot day at 40 degrees Celsius. Heat wave to severe of the state, with Bikaner, maximum of 41.2 degrees 40.4 degrees Celsius and sius. In Punjab, Patiala regheatwave conditions were Barmer, Jaisalmer, Jodh- Celsius, 41.4 degrees Cel- 40.3 degrees respectively, istered a maximum of 38.1 degrees Celsius. observed in western parts pur and Jaipur registering a sius, 41 degrees Celsius, the MeT said.
Truckers begin indefinite strike to protest premium hike
KolKATA/CheNNAi/MuMbAi/beNgAluru, April 1 (iANS): Truck owners began an indefinite strike from Saturday to protest mainly against the proposed 50 per cent hike in the third party insurance premium, amid apprehensions that the protest could lead to supply disruption and raise commodity prices in the coming days. In a bid to resolve the standoff, the strikers will meet Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) Chairman on Monday, and take a decision on whether to continue with the agitation based on the discussions with the regulator. "One of the reasons for going on strike is the drastic 50 per cent increase in the third party premium charged for trucks by the insurers. We have a meeting with the IRDAI Chairman on Monday at Hyderabad," said P.V. Subramani, Vice President, All India Motor Transport Congress-South
Zone. The third party premium for automobiles is decided by IRDAI while all other premium rates are decided by the insurers - private and government-owned. Fleet owners normally go only for third party policies and take care of the damages to vehicles on their own. The South India Motor Transport Association and South Zone Motor Transporters' Welfare Association (SZMTWA) had gone for the indefinite strike from Thursday and All India Confederation of Goods Vehicles Owners' Association (ACOGOA) joined the protests from Saturday. "We protest the exhorbitant rise in premium of the third party insurance, which has gone up by 800 percent from 2002 to till date," ACOGOA's President Channa Reddy told IANS. On the insurer's argument about the rising third party accident claims and the compensation paid, Subramani said: "Let them show their numbers in a
transparent manner. If the business is loss-making, why is that the insurers are offering discounts on premium that ranges up to 70 per cent in the case of comprehensive policies and up to two per cent in the case third party policies?" Around 22 lakh trucks have stayed off the road in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Puducherry since Thursday midnight. "Our future course of action will depend on the outcome of the meeting with IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India) on Monday in Hyderabad," said SZMTWA's General Secretary G.R. Shanmugappa. "The five states and one union territory (in South India) will incur a loss of Rs 5,500 crore per day due to this agitation," he added. Around 10,000 trucks in Maharashtra have stopped plying to south Indian states in support of
the strike. Maharashtra State Truck/ Tempo/Tanker/Bus Transporters Confederation Senior VicePresident Raman Khosla told IANS: "We are fully in support of our brethren on strike and so we are not sending any vehicles from here to cross over to the southern states. The trucks daily carry all types of cargo, ranging from foods, fruits, vegetables, industrial good, general and consumer goods for the markets there." Truck owners are also demanding reinstatement of tariff advisory committee and protesteing against fines proposed in the Motor Vehicles Act amendment. All India Motor Transport Congress's (AIMTC) President S.K. Mittal said truckers have been demanding category wise real time data from the insurance regulator but this has not been provided so far. "Previously, tariff advisory committee was an active body
having representatives from all stakeholders. The committee must be re-instated and real time data should be made available to the committee to take the final decision of hike. Till then, the current arbitrary and unilateral third party insurance premium hike should be kept in abeyance," Mittal told IANS. According to truckers in West Bengal, the strike has been successful not only in Bengal but also in Odisha, Assam, Tripura and Bihar. "Along with premium hike, we are protesting against the fines proposed in the amended Motor Vehicles Act. We met officials of Union Surface Transport Department and they assured to take care of truckers' concerns. But after that IRDAI announced its decision to implement the premium hike," said Federation of West Bengal Truck Operators Association President Mahinder Singh Gill said.
ED raids 300 shell companies across 16 states Press association seeks pension scheme for working journalists
New Delhi, April 1 (iANS): In one of its biggest crackdown on shell companies, the Enforcement Directorate on Saturday conducted simultaneous raids on around 110 premises and 300 shell companies across the country that were suspected to be involved in dubious and illegal transactions during demonetisation, officials said. The country-wide operation was carried out across 16 states with multiple teams of the agency raiding premises of about 300 shell firms in prominent places like Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Patna, Ranchi, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar and Bengaluru among others. "Several top business houses being searched in various cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru and Kolkata," the official told IANS. The raids are being carried out under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) to investigate instances of money laundering and illegal
foreign exchange transactions. Official sources said the action is part of the mandate given to the ED under a Special Task Force created by the government last month on the directions of the Prime Minister's Office. The task force was created under the co-chairmanship of the Revenue Secretary and Corporate Affairs Secretary to monitor the actions taken against shell companies by various agencies from regulatory ministries and Enforcement Agencies. In a statement, the Finance Ministry said last month that harsh punitive action will be taken against shell companies, including freezing of bank accounts, striking off names of dormant companies and invoking Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016. Shell Companies are companies that exist only on paper, and can be used for money laundering. The statement said there were about 15 lakh registered companies in India and only six lakh of these file their annual returns.
New Delhi, April 1 (iANS): The Press Association of India on Saturday demanded from the central government a suitable pension scheme for working journalists, accredited by the Press Information Bureau (PIB). The demand came at the first meeting of the newly elected executive committee of the Press Association headed by senior Journalist Jaishankar Gupta. A resolution, in this regard, was also passed by the association. "It is high time that the Government of India should introduce a suit-
able pension scheme for the working journalists accredited by it," the resolution said. The demand is genuine and would provide some social security to a large number of accredited journalists who do not come under any such scheme, it added. The Press Association said many state governments already have pension schemes for working journalists in their states while many others, who had no such schemes, have now started introducing such schemes for the scribes. The Press Association also demanded that the ex-
isting Central Government Health Scheme for the accredited journalists should be applicable in all government and private hospitals as was done in the case of the employees and pensioners of the government. It also stressed on the need for a suitable health insurance policy for the accredited journalists adding that pension and health facilities are the minimum requirements for the scribes. The Press Association will write letters to the concerned Central Ministers and seek meetings with them to press for the demands.
India, Malaysia hold bilateral talks Akhilesh humiliated me like no one, alleges Mulayam
Over 10.2 lakh students to appear JEE-Main today New Delhi, April 1 (pTi): Over 10.2 lakh students will appear for the Joint Entrance Examination-Main (JEE-M) at 1,781 centres across the country tomorrow for admission in engineering colleges, including the IITs. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) conducts JEE-M, an all-India level engineering entrance for admission into IITs, NITs, IIITs, deemed universities and other Centrally Funded Technical Institutes (CFTI). The exam is being conducted at 1,781 centres in 109 cities. JEE-M is conducted in two partsPaper I and Paper II. Paper-I (BE/B Tech) will be conducted in both computer- based (online) and paperpen (offline) mode while Paper II (B Arch/B Planning) will be conducted in pen-paper mode only. Candidates who want to appear for JEE-Advanced 2017 will have to clear the JEE-M test first. The HRD Ministry has notified two changes in the JEE pattern for 2017. There shall be no weightage for class 12 marks in calculating the ranks in the JEE (Main) examination. For the candidates to qualify for IITs/NITs/IIITs and such other CFTIs whose admissions are based on the JEE (Advanced) / JEE(Main) ranks, they should secure at least 75 per cent marks in class 12 exams, or be in the top 20 percentile. For SC/ST students, the qualifying marks would be 65 per cent in the class 12 examination.
Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, recorded a high of 36.6 degrees Celsius. Early morning rain in Srinagar- the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir brought down the mercury to normal level. The maximum temperature settled at 18.5 degrees Celsius - which is normal during this part of the season, a spokesman of the MeT department said. On the other hand, the winter capital Jammu recorded a high of 34.1 degrees Celsius. In Himachal Pradesh, the MeT office warned of rains at many places in mid and higher hills from tomorrow onwards even as mercury rose to 38.8 degrees Celsius at Una in foothills, eight degrees above normal. The region had a dry and hot day but sky was overcast by the evening and Shimla and surrounding areas had drizzle.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi (C) talks to Rosmah Mansor (R) wife of his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak during Razak's ceremonial reception at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, April 1. (REUTERS)
New Delhi, April 1 (iANS): Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Najib Razak headed delegation-level bilateral talks between India and Malaysia here on Saturday. "Mutual intent to deepen cooperation. PM @narendramodi and PM @NajibRazak reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relations during their meeting," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted.
A number of agreements are expected to be signed between India and Malaysia following the delegation-level talks. Modi and Razak held a oneon-one meeting ahead of the delegation-level talks. Earlier in the day, Razak was accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan here. Thereafter he called on President Pranab Mukherjee and Vice President Hamid Ansari. External
Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj too called on the visiting dignitary. Razak arrived in Chennai on Thursday on a six-day visit to India and reached New Delhi on Friday evening. He will also visit Jaipur on Sunday where he will meet Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia. The is the Malaysian Prime Minister's third official visit to India.
luCKNow, April 1 (iANS): Differences between Samajwadi Party (SP) founder Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Akhilesh Yadav came to the fore again on Saturday when the Yadav chieftain slammed his son for showing disrespect towards him and uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav. Quoting a statement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kannauj during the state assembly elections that how can a man who has insulted his father be loyal to the people of the state, Mulayam endorsed Modi's views on the issue and said "Ye sahi hai ki jo baap ka nahin hua, wo kisi ka nahin ho sakta". In Mainpuri to inaugurate a hotel, the former Union Defence Minister claimed that Modi's statement had affected the voters and led to the drubbing of the Samajwadi Party at the hustings. The veteran politician also pointed out that never in the history of the country had anyone named his son the Chief Minister despite being active in political life, like he had done. "While the people voted for me as the
Chief Minister in 2012 I chose to make Akhilesh the Chief Minister, but he humiliated me thereafter" he rued. "I have never been insulted so much ever in my life," he lamented. "But I did not say anything to anyone as my own blood was out against me," the three-time Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister added. He said it was a tragedy that his son had joined hands with the Congress, a party which led "murderous attacks" on him not once but thrice. Akhilesh Yadav had "overthrown" his father as national president of the party in a political coup of sorts on January 1, after a bitter battle of power and supremacy in the party. Akhilesh Yadav had also expelled Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh and sacked his uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav as the state unit president. Mulayam Singh had not campaigned for party candidates in the state assembly polls and only addressed rallies for his brother Shivpal in Jaswantnagar and daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav in Lucknow.
sundAY 02•04•2017
WORLD
THE MORUNG EXPRESS
9
Rohingya rebel leader challenges Suu Kyi, vows to fight on
YANGON, April 1 (reuters): The leader of a Rohingya Muslim insurgency against Myanmar's security forces said on Friday his group would keep fighting "even if a million die" unless the country's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, took action to protect the religious minority. Attacks on Myanmar border guard posts in October last year by a previously unknown insurgent group ignited the biggest crisis of Suu Kyi's year in power, with more than 75,000 Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh in the ensuing army crackdown. In his first independently conducted media interview, Ata Ullah, who has been identified by analysts and local people as the group's leader, denied links to foreign Islamists and said it was focused on the rights of the Rohingya, who say they face persecution at the hands of Myanmar's Buddhist majority. "If we don't get our rights, if 1 million, 1.5 million, all Rohingya need to die, we will die," he said, speaking via a video call from an undisclosed location. "We will take our rights. We will fight with the cruel military government." A United Nations report issued last month said Myanmar's security forces have committed mass killings and gang rapes against Rohingya during their campaign against the insurgents, which may amount to crimes against humanity. The military has denied the accusations, saying it was
Ata Ullah, who has been identified by analysts and local people as the leader of Rohingya Muslim insurgency Arakan Rohingya Salvation, is seen on a laptop screen during a Skype interview with Reuters in Yangon Myanmar, in this still image taken from video taken March 31, 2017. (Reuters Photo)
engaged in a legitimate counterinsurgency operation. "No one will be above the law," said Suu Kyi's spokesman Zaw Htay, responding to questions from Reuters on Friday about the insurgent leader's comments. "If they attack us violently, we will respond the same way. Nowhere in the world would violent action be tolerated." ETHNIC CLASHES More than a million Rohingya live in northwestern Myanmar's Rakhine State, where they are denied citizenship, freedom of movement and access to services such as healthcare. Serious ethnic clashes between Rohingya and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists erupted in 2012 in which more than 100 people were killed and some 140,000 were displaced. "In 2012, lots of things
happened and they killed us, so we understood at that time, they would not give us our rights," said Ata Ullah. A report by the International Crisis Group in December said the insurgent group, which at first called itself Harakah al-Yaqin, Arabic for "Faith Movement", was formed by Rohingya living in Saudi Arabia after the 2012 violence. It identified Ata Ullah, who appeared in a series of videos claiming responsibility for the Oct. 9 attacks on security forces, as the group's leader. Ata Ullah said decades of resentment at their treatment had prompted hundreds of young Rohingya men to join him after he returned to Rakhine following several years in Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia. "We can't turn on the lights at night. We can't move from one place to an-
other during the day too. Everywhere checkpoints. That is not the way human beings live," he said. Rohingya refugees Reuters has spoken to in camps in Bangladesh have said that many initially sympathised with the insurgents, but that the violence their campaign has unleashed had cost them support. Some have described how suspected government informers were killed by fighters. "WE SURVIVE BY SELLING COWS" In the earlier videos, Ata Ullah had cited Koranic verse and called for "jihad". Suu Kyi's spokesman, Zaw Htay, said he "urged the international community to see the group's background...they are linked with terrorist organizations from the Middle East".
But Ata Ullah denied the group, which issued a statement earlier this week saying it was changing its name to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, had any connections with other militants or received outside support. "We have no groups who help us from behind, whether from here or also abroad...We survive here by selling cows and buffalos," he said. Myanmar's military said last month that what it called a clearance operation in northwestern Rakhine had ended, although the area remains closed to outside observers. Ata Ullah did not respond to several questions regarding the group's future strategy, its current location or how many fighters were left with him. Flanking him as a spoke to Reuters was another man brandishing a machine gun. The Rohingya crisis has posed the biggest challenge to Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi's government, which on Thursday marked its first year in power. Her defenders say there is little she can do, given the constitution gives her no control over the military. "The people are in such trouble, the military is so cruel to many in the Rohingya community, so she should speak out, do something for these people as a Nobel prize winner," said Ata Ullah. "If she tries to do something for us, the military would do something to her government. That's why she will not protect us."
Myanmar goes to polls for by-elections, in first vote since Suu Kyi swept to power
YANGON, April 1 (reuters): Myanmar goes to the polls on Saturday for the first time since Aung San Suu Kyi's party swept to power a year ago, in an early indication of views on her leadership amid increased fighting with armed ethnic groups and slower economic growth. The by-elections will fill 19 vacant seats in the national and regional parliaments at a time when Suu Kyi is struggling to match the sky-high expectations that swept her National League for Democracy (NLD) to victory. In a televised address earlier this week, Suu Kyi acknowledged the public's frustration with the slow pace of reforms and development. But she also reiterated her top priority of ending the ethnic conflicts that have kept Myanmar in a state of near-perpetual civil war. While the outcome of the by-elections will not affect the balance of power within the parliament where the NLD enjoys a large majority, it offers a chance to gauge the popularity of the administration in a country where nationwide public polls are not available. Win Htein, one of the NLD's top leaders, said the party faced language barriers and problems with armed groups in the Shan state districts being con-
Protester dies during clashes over Paraguay re-election ASUNCION, APRIL 1 (REUTERS): A protester was killed in Paraguay after a secret Senate vote for a constitutional amendment that would allow President Horacio Cartes to run for re-election sparked violent clashes and the country's Congress was stormed and set alight. Rodrigo Quintana, 25, was killed by a rubber bullet fired by police in the headquarters of the liberal youth activist group, the Paraguayan opposition said. The interior ministry said in a statement an investigation into Quintana's death would be opened. His doctor said he had suffered a severe head injury. On Saturday activists were arriving in Paraguay's capital Asuncion from the landlocked country's interior in a sign the violent protests that resulted in a fire in the first floor of Congress on Friday could continue. Cartes called for calm and a rejection of violence in a statement released on Twitter. He promised the government would do its best to maintain order. Firefighters managed to control the flames after protesters left the building late on Friday, although protests and riots continued in other parts of Asuncion and elsewhere in the country into the early hours of Saturday.
Police on horseback are seen during a demonstration against a possible change in law to allow for presidential re-election in front of the Congress building in Asuncion, Paraguay, March 31, 2017. (Reuters Photo)
Around 200 protesters were detained, police said, and shops and government buildings were vandalized. Several politicians and journalists
USA sanctions 11 North Koreans it links to weapons, financial networks WAsHiNGtON, April 1 (reuters): The United States on Friday sanctioned 11 North Koreans and one North Korean company for their links to the country's weapons programs, banks and commodities trade, the U.S. Treasury said. It said the people were working as agents of North Korea's government in Russia, China, Vietnam and Cuba to provide financial support or help procure weapons for previously sanctioned companies. "Today's sanctions are aimed at disrupting the networks and methods that the Government of North Korea employs to fund its unlawful nuclear, ballistic missile, and proliferation programs," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. "I urge our partners and allies to take similar measures to cut off its funding." Friday's actions by the administration of President Donald Trump do not represent a major ramp-up in North Korea sanctions and were issued under authorities established by former presidents George W. Bush, a Republican, and Barack Obama, a Democrat. Two North Koreans based in China and one North Korean based in Cuba were blacklisted for ties to Korea Ryonbong General Corpora-
tion, a previously sanctioned company that "specializes in acquisition for North Korean defense industries and support to Pyongyang's militaryrelated sales," the statement said. Another worked for a North Korean trading company in Dalian, China, the U.S. Treasury said. It said six North Koreans based in Vietnam, China and Russia were sanctioned for their ties to North Korean banks. One person on the sanctioned list worked as a North Korean government official who was trying to establish a cargo shipping route between North Korea and Vietnam, Treasury said. The U.S. measures on Friday block any property those on the sanctions list may have in the United States and bar Americans from dealing with them. The Trump administration is considering sweeping sanctions aimed at cutting North Korea off from the global financial system in order to counter Pyongyang's nuclear and missile threat, as well as increased pressure on Chinese banks and firms that do business with North Korea. The administration is conducting a broad review of North Korea policy, expected to be completed in coming weeks.
were injured, local media reported, and Interior Minister Tadeo Rojas said several police were hurt. One member of the lower house of Congress, who
had been participating in protests that afternoon, underwent surgery after being hit by rubber bullets. Meetings for the Inter-American Development Bank's annual board of governors were beginning as scheduled on Saturday in a rare high-level international event in Paraguay. While Paraguay has long suffered from political uncertainty, the soy and beef-exporting nation has been attracting investment in agriculture and manufacturing sectors in recent years as Cartes offered tax breaks to foreign investors. Instability in the country of 6.8 million is a concern for its much larger neighbors Brazil and Argentina. The Senate voted on Friday during a special session in a closed office rather than on the Senate floor. Twenty-five lawmakers voted for the measure, two more than the 23 required for passage in the 45-member upper chamber. Opponents of the measure, who claim it would weaken Paraguay's democratic institutions, said the vote was illegal. The proposal will also require approval by the House, where it appeared to have strong support. A vote which had been expected early on Saturday was called off until the situation calmed down, said the chamber's president, Hugo Velazquez.
Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi returns after giving a speech to her supporters during the election campaign at Kawhmu Township March 22, 2012. (Reutersfile Photo)
tested. Fighting in some of those areas has intensified in recent months. "We are still improving in Shan state. The local people don't understand Burmese, so we have to translate our policies into the Shan language," he said. Major rebel armies engaged in clashes with the military in areas including the Shan state have refused to actively participate in Suu Kyi's peace process. Several conflicts have reignited since Suu Kyi took office, displacing an estimated 160,000 more people, according to the United Nations. Over two million voters, less than five percent of the country's population, can vote in the byelections where seats in eight states and regions across the country are up for grabs.
"We still accept the NLD government after one year. They are governing smoothly," said Victor Hla Sein, a 73-year-old from Myanmar's commercial hub Yangon. Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi is also facing international criticism for her government's handling of a crisis in the Muslim-majority Rakhine region, where soldiers have blocked access for aid workers and are accused of raping and killing civilians. The by-elections will fill seats largely vacated by incumbents who joined the government in ministerial posts. Some seats that were excluded from previous elections due to fighting with ethnic armed groups are also up for grabs. The Union Election Commission is expected to announce official results late on Saturday.
Polio refusal among Pakistani literates baffles officials islAmAbAd, April 1 (iANs): Educated people refusing to vaccinate their children during polio campaigns across Pakistan is an unfortunate situation, an official has said. A large number of educated people did not want to vaccinate their children during the recent polio drive here, Dawn online quoted Additional Deputy Commissioner Abdul Sattar Isani as saying. He said all possible steps would be taken to ensure that every child was administered the polio drops. Cases were registered against those who refused to get their children vaccinated, he said. Senator Ayesha Raza Farooq, the focal person on polio eradication in Pakistan, said she was against registering cases as administration of polio vaccine was a continuous process. She requested the media to play a role in creating awareness about polio vaccination and that it is safe. Samples collected from Islamabad and Rawalpindi were found positive for the poliovirus. A special polio campaign was launched on March 27 in the high risk areas. "It was strange that we faced a
strong resistance from even welleducated people. Though they did not have religious reasons but were not in favour of vaccinating their children," a campaign official said. "A majority of them claimed that they had administered the polio drops privately but failed to produce a vaccination card or certificate," he said. According to the official, the team faced an awkward situation when a deputy secretary of a ministry refused to administer polio drops to his children. "A well-known doctor, who works in a private hospital, was involved in asking citizens not to administer polio drops to children. According to Isani, some people believe that they should administer polio drops to their children privately. Ayesha Farooq said arrangements were made to send officials from house to house and convince people to vaccinate their children as refusals were reported from across the country. According to a polio programme report in March, 46,967 parents across Pakistan refused to vaccinate their children.
Extra portion of SpaceX rocket recovered from launch, Musk says CApe CANAVerAl, April 1 (reuters): Elon Musk’s SpaceX on Thursday salvaged half of the $6 million nosecone of its rocket, in what the space entrepreneur deemed an important feat in the drive to recover more of its launch hardware and cut the cost of space flights. Shortly after the main section of SpaceX’s first recycled Falcon 9 booster landed itself on a platform in the ocean, half of the rocket’s nosecone, which protected a communications satellite during launch, splashed down via parachute nearby. "That was the cherry on the cake,” Musk, who serves as chief executive and lead designer of Space Exploration Technologies, told reporters after launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. Measuring 43 feet (13 meters) long and 17 feet (5 meters) in diameter, the nosecone is big enough to hold a school bus. It separates into two pieces, exposing the satellite, about 4 minutes after liftoff. As a test, SpaceX outfitted the fairing with thrusters and a steerable parachute.
A recycled SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket soars toward space above a Virgin Airlines passenger jet, which had just departed Orlando International Airport, in Orlando, Florida, March 30, 2017. (Reuters Photo)
"It’s its own little spacecraft,” Musk said. “The thrusters maintain its orientation as it re-enters and then ... the parachute steers it to a particular location.” SpaceX has focussed most of its efforts and more than $1 billion into developing technologies to recover the Falcon 9's main section, which accounts for about 75 percent of
the $62 million rocket. Musk’s goal is to cut the cost of spaceflight so that humanity can migrate beyond Earth. "I hope people will start to think about it as a real goal to establish a civilization on Mars,” he said.
whether the nosecone could be recovered, Musk said he told his engineering team, “Imagine you had $6 million in cash on a pallet flying through the air that’s just going to smash into the ocean. Would you try to recover that? Yes, you would.” Musk envisions deployLANDING ON ing a kind of “bouncy cas'BOUNCY CASTLE' After some debate about tle” for the fairing to land on
so it can be recovered intact and reused. The company plans up to six more flights of recycled boosters this year, including two that will strapped alongside a third, new first-stage for the debut test flight of a heavy-lift rocket. Originally slated to fly in 2013, Falcon Heavy is now expected to fly late this summer. "At first it sounded easy. We’ll just take two first stages and use them as strap-on boosters,” Musk said. “It was actually shockingly difficult to go from single core to a triple-core vehicle.” SpaceX also may try to land the rocket’s upperstage section, a feat the company has never attempted. “Odds of success low, but maybe worth a shot,” Musk wrote on Twitter on Friday.Privately owned SpaceX also is developing a commercial space taxi to fly astronauts to the International Space Station, a venture to send two space tourists on a trip around the moon and a Mars lander that is slated to launch in 2020.
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sunDAY 02•04•2017
public discourse
THE MORUNG EXPRESS
Silver Lining in Autism: A Parent Perspective Dr. Asunu Thong 354, Jo Foundation, Kohima
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n some days the only predictable thing about autism is the unpredictability; the only consistent attributethe inconsistency. The child who lives with autism may look ‘normal’ but his behaviour can be perplexing and downright difficult” -Ellen Notbohm Looking forward to meeting a family one evening who had a daughter much the same age as my eldest son and who was also affected with autism, we had much to share with each other even though it was the first time we met. Curiously I watched her daughter as she was brought in because even though both of them had the same condition they could not be more different in so many ways. Whereas
my son was hyperactive and restless and tantrum almost every day, my new friend’s daughter was quiet and prefer to be in her own world rocking herself. That night she gave me a book about a mother’s journey with her autistic son and how he recovered completely. I read throughout that entire night, taking notes and geared myself up to do exactly what that mother did – stop giving cow milk and wheat products, ordered some vitamin supplements from America which claimed to have made the son in the book start speaking and medicines to help him sleep (as putting him to sleep every night was a nightmare -2-3 hrs of howling, kicking, pulling my hair, hurting himself, scratching me till he feels so tired and eventually dozes off ). And woe to anyone or anything that interrupts his sleep, because the same process of howling
and crying will start all over again. Toilet training was another difficult area which we had to deal with for a long time and we always stock up on diapers (like stocking up rice in case of famine).Diapers were done away with at last when he became 10 as he started indicating his toilet needs. Feeding time, clipping his nails, cutting his hair, frequent indigestions were some other daily challenges that we went through. My son was diagnosed as affected with autism at the age of 2 and ½ years, but nothing had prepared me for such a challenging and different journey- not even my medical years . Well, to cut the story short, none of these quick fix remedies helped and it only ended up with me feeling exhausted and short temper most of the time as I desperately tried to help my son recover and start talking. (like stocking up rice in case
Autism spectrum disorder Sopfunuo Licey Vizo
of famine). The silver lining in the dark clouds came when we found out that our son enjoyed going to a play school and was happy to be around other children. This came as a surprise cause earlier he disliked strangers, strange and public places, hated being touched/cuddled for long (even by his own mother-me) so much so that we as his parents also became a recluse confined to the four walls of our home most of the time. My husband finally got a chance to take him for a 3 month Parent and child training program held in Action for Autism centre, Delhi. My son returned a more well behaved child with an equally if not, more excited father who came back with a determination to open up a school for my son and other children like him since he saw that he was able to learn when taught appropriately and in the right method.
Today, my son is 12 and ½ years old, half a foot taller than me and loves to meet and shake hands with familiar people and give tight hugs to his parents and loved ones and is happy most of the time. He is still non verbal except for an occasional Dad or Mom but he understands most of what we say to him and he can gesture or point to his needs. He has two younger brothers who do not spare him when he tantrums unnecessarily, makes him fight for his share, but is also sensitive to a lot of his needs and keeps an eye on him when I am busy elsewhere for which I am very thankful. A lot of support and prayers from our families, friends, church leaders and prayer warriors have being our crutch when the going was tough. More, over I as a mother can proudly say that my dear husband has being equally hands on
in taking care of our son giving me the much needed rest time and again. Looking at him from the eyes of the world he has still achieved very little- diagnosed as profound autism with a mental age of a little more than 2 two years back from CMC, Vellore. But for us we are proud parents, proud not because we have achieved something but because God in His infinite wisdom gave us a unique opportunity to become parents of a special child. We are indeed thankful to God for including us in His plan as through our son we could open up an Inclusive school for other special need children and share His blessings with them. Today, I just want to encourage those parents whose children may be an under achiever in the eyes of the world, who may not look and act normal like other children –our Heavenly Father
has a plan for them too, and if we stop trying too hard and start thanking God for their lives and ask God to include you in the plan that He has for your child, you will see and experience the joy and peace that only He can give in this difficult journey. Now in our state we have professionals like Special Educators, Clinical Psychologists, Speech Therapists, Occupational and PhysioTherapists, Music Therapist whom we can seek help to guide us help our loved ones. I say guide, because in the end the parents are the child’s best teacher as no one knows your child better than you. As we celebrate World Autism Awareness Day today, may each of us become more aware of such children’s needs and be bold enough to take a step forward to embrace and accept the child for who he or she is and also work to try and help to better the child’s life.
The NPF Party: The Mother and Father of All Grandiosity
childhood or develop later in Kahuto Chishi Sumi life after Central Nervous SysGB Hevishe Village tem injury or disease. Males Autism show signs of savant syndrome hen I was a child, Autism is one of the neuro- approximately four times more I feared the dark developmental disorders. It is a often than females. (Darold A and ghosts; with condition with onset in the de- Treffert, 2014) the passage of the years, my velopmental period. This disorold fears were replaced by der typically manifest early in Myth- Children with autism new ones; and my most redevelopment, often before the will never learn to speak cent fear is opening our Daily child enters grade school, and Fact- About 50% of children Newspapers in the mornare characterized by develop- with autism does not speak. ing. Every night I go to bed mental deficits that produce It is because children with au- dreading the morning ritual impairments of personal, so- tism often are self absorbed of opening one of our daicial, academic, or occupational and seem to exist in a private lies and reading yet another functioning. Autism is charac- world where they are unable idiotic statement by the Naga terized by persistent deficits in to communicate and interact People’s Front Party. Being social communication and so- with others. With early detec- an apolitical animal, I am uncial interaction across multiple tion and training it is possible to acquainted with the many contexts, including deficits in decrease this number. It is also Nagas who inhabit the Naga social-emotional reciprocity, possible to teach them alterna- Political Sphere; and who nonverbal communicative be- tive means of communication. make up the bottom feeding haviors used for social interacdregs of the animal kingdom, tion, and skills in developing, Myth- Children with autism but I would love to be an unmaintaining, and understand- are all alike in their symptoms. seen spectator while meming relationships. Restricted, reFact- Autism is a spectrum bers of the NPF Party prepare petitive patterns of behavior, or of disorder closely related with their press releases. My guess activities including stereotyped a shared core of symptoms. The is that they go about preparor repetitive motor movement, level of disability and the com- ing their statements in three use of objects or speech, insis- bination of symptoms varies easy stages: tence of sameness, inflexible tremendously from person to Stage 1: A group of NPF adherence to routines or ritual- person. In fact, two kids with party functionaries gather ized patterns or verbal nonver- same diagnosis may look very around for a brainstorming bal behavior, highly restricted, different when it comes to their session (that is if the mass of fixated interests that are abnor- behaviors and abilities. fleshy grey matter that exists mal in intensity or focus, hyper in their thick skulls can be or hyporeactivity to sensory Myth- Children with autism called brains). They put forinput or unusual interests in are disobedient kids who inten- ward the most outrageous sensory aspects of the environ- tionally ignore people and in- and unrealistic statements ment. (Diagnostic and Statisti- structions. that they can think of. cal Manual of Mental Disorders Fact- They look like disStage 2: Having decided 5 2013). obedient because of their poor on the most outrageous of the communication and social statements to be issued; they MYTH AND FACTS OF skills. All behavior is ALWAYS then prepare the statement, AUTISM driven by something. The is- occasionally pulling out their Myth- Poor parenting sue of whether the behavior is dictionaries to check for the causes autism premeditated or ill-intended meaning of the words and to Fact- The old belief that poor is different. In most cases, kids ensure that no spelling misparenting cause autism has to- with autism do not premeditally proved wrong. Parenting tate or intend ill will to others. skills have nothing to do with Premeditation and ill will toAutism. Instead it is through ward others requires highly parent’s effort and training that sophisticated executive funchave successfully contributed tioning skills, as well as high Liberal Democratic Party of in intervening for children with level of social or communicaNagaland (Media Cell) autism. ( M.,C., Helen and D., tive awareness as these two arurprised not us but Tim,2007) eas are significantly impacted since we have to jusin autism. tify our stand, here are Myth- Autism is mental illsome logical reasons as to ness Myth- Children with autism why ‘youth empowerment’ Fact- It is the strange battle are mentally retarded or intelshould not be discouraged over what’s neurological versus lectually disabled. psychiatric. Autism is genetiFact- Not all the children in the Naga society as it is cally predetermined- biologi- with autism are mentally re- hinted and favored by some cally based or neurologically tarded or intellectually dis- older Naga leaders and writbased disorder of development. abled. Only some portion of ers for the youths to remain It is not considered a mental ill- children with autism co-oc- a silent spectator and follow ness. curs with mental retardation. only in their footsteps when Studies have distinguished we ourselves grow our share Myth- Children with autism the difference between the of grey hairs. In the western society can perform amazing mental children with autism and chilthe justice through law is not feats, such as memorizing the dren with intellectual disabilreserved only for some parwhole telephone directory or ity. This distinction can be obticular section of the people multiplying large numbers in served by the age of one. (O. A. in the society. The law does mind. Julie, D. Geraldine and M. A. not hold any preference Fact- Autistic children who Jefferey, 2002) based on class or age, sex of have such unique abilities are called savants abilities. Less Myth- Autism affects only an individual to justify his place in the society. A pathan 5% of the autistic children boys. have such abilities. Even for Fact- While the majority of parazzi (photographer) can them those skills are useless the affected is boys, yet it af- sue a famous celebrity or a as they may not have the so- fects the girls as well. The ratio janitor could file a law suit cial skills needed to use them is 4:1. The genes influencing against a senator, should the appropriately. This ability are autistic traits appear to be the charges pressed against the not limited to autism or other same for boys and girls. Lower accused is entirely based on central nervous system dis- prevalence and severity of au- facts and seek justice. They orders, or disease have some tistic traits in girls may be the don’t believe that it merely spectacular islands of genius result of increased sensitivity to takes the number in age for that stand in jarring juxtaposi- early environmental influences an individual to attain the tion to the overall limitations. that operate to promote social level of wisdom to change The condition can be present competency. (C.N.John and the society for the better. from birth and evident in early T.D.Richard 2003). No not them, they are smart Kohima
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takes have been made. Stage 3: This is the most important stage; this is when they pull out their Big Gun, The Almighty Thesaurus. They check the thesaurus for the synonyms of every word and replace the words in the original statement with the biggest synonym they can find; not caring that the meaning may disappear in the process. And so the process ends. There may have been more grandiose statements made during the course of the history of mankind; but two come readily to my mind: 1. “The Thousand Year Reich” promised by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party and which lasted for a tithe of the 1000 Years promised by them. 2. “The Mother of All Battles” promised by Saddam Hussein and which turned out to be, not a mother of a battle, but the aborted foetus of a skirmish. But both these statements pale in comparison to the NPF Party’s statement that they will remain in power, “Till the Second Coming of Christ”. Even Adolf Hitler, with the people of Germany and its vast industrial and war machine behind him, had the humility to promise his people a reign of a thousand years. The arrogance of the NPF Party in stating that they would remain in power, “Till the Second Coming of Christ”, boggles the imagination.
Now the NPF Party has come up with another gem of a moronic statement by calling the Against Corruption And Unabated Taxation Movement as ,”an un-mandated organisation with a few busy-bodies spearheading its supposedly social crusade with the grandiose and utopian aim to cure the society of all social ills in a matter of months”. Just reading the sentence, which contains no punctuation of any sort, leaves me breathless. I would like to remind the NPF Party of a few points that are the basis of every society on earth: 1. The mandate that you so casually mention, comes, not from the government, but from the people. The will and the consent of the people make up all laws which government is based on. It is necessary for any government to have the mandate of a section of the people to govern, but any popular movement of the people does not require a mandate from any governmental authority. People can exist without government but government needs people for its existence. 1. Where would modern day democracy be if the French people had not decided that they had had enough of the government by kings and aristocrats? Wasn’t The French Revolution an unmandated movement, spearheaded by a few busy-bodies, with the grandiose and utopian aim to cure French Society of all social and political
ills in a matter of, not months, but an instant? Speak of what you know, don’t use hyperbole and bombast to try to cover your ignorance and the fact that you are just spewing empty word without knowing what you speak of. 2. As to the ACAUT sponsored “Common Platform on Naga Issue”, I admit that I cannot say whether it was a, “huge flop and a slap on its face” since I was not present there. But I can state for a fact that during the Congress (I) rule in Nagaland during the 80s and 90s the UDF Party, the older avatar of the NPF Party, wasn’t only a flop, but managed to exist because a few of its members were unable to learn new tricks, and leaving aside the question of a slap on the face, it didn’t even have a face to be slapped. 3. It would behove the NPF Party to keep in mind that no matter how small a percentage of the population of Nagaland support ACAUT they have the support of people and they owe their existence to the people. Whereas you, the NPF Party, were born of political opportunism and you owe your existence, not to the people, but to the symbol of the cock. Leaving aside “The Second Coming of Christ’, if you were to contest the next election with a symbol other than a cock, I guarantee you that you’d be wiped out of political existence. If i were in you place, I would envy the ACAUT its handful
of supporters instead of ridiculing them. For those handful come with conviction and purpose, concepts that are alien to you; whereas those who come to you see only the symbols printed on paper, whether it is the face of Mahatma Gandhi or the Image of the Cockerel. 4. I will not lower myself to the level of ridiculing all your claims to battling corruption, its eradication and the alleged statement of your team captain, the chief minister, that he will show the “Red Card” to any defaulter, the right to show which I thought resided with the referee; except to let you know that I, along with all Nagas who are not members of the NPF Party, have grown past the stage of believing in Fairy Tales. I end with the earnest request to the NPF Party to please stop issuing such ridiculous statements. I understand that as political animals, lying comes instinctively to you, and that you would sell your brothers in the twinkling of an eye if you thought that you had anything to gain by it. But you have to realise that other Indians in other states can come across your printed statements; and I cringe with embarrassment that they could approach us to supply them with organic fertilizers, in the, not unmistaken belief that since the NPF Party generates so much BS, we must surely have enough manure to export. GOD SAVE OUR NAGALAND
Undermine no more the young Nagas
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enough to comprehend (through comprehensive studies and research in psychology and neurobiology) that it takes some to attain great age to finally reach certain level of social and mental maturity while there are charismatic some whose mental maturity enlightens at a young age. It depends and varies from one person to the next. For this reason they don’t discourage but encourages and provide the necessary platforms to their youths to inspire and influence their society for change. Even Bill Gates, the world’s richest man was only 16 years old when he developed first his software that later led to the expansion of Microsoft. The young Nagas of today are more equipped with information about the western society and their developments thanks to western TV cable and spending times on the internet and social network sites which the older generations did not have access to during their development into adulthood. The bitter truth is that the modern minded Nagas (be it young or old)
are more mentally civilized and psychologically advanced than the set of Nagas who still clings to the past and its former glories. For those who can’t seem to grasp this simple reality then we can’t make them understand any further. Yes, the guidance and encouragement (positive reinforcement) of the few wise intellectual older Nagas is much needed in our society to direct the youths in building a bright future for our society channeled with the harnessing of the potential of the intellectual capacity of the young Nagas. In order to change a system we have to be a little bit radical in our approaches with not money or muscles as our weapon but “Truth”. Today we have observed and understood the nature of the “system beyond system” where we all dwell in, from corruption to ignorance that has bounded the people from the “freedom to live” rather than surviving. If we want to bring total development in our society then the first obstacle we need to overcome is the present ignorant system that has its
reach through every aspect in our lives. If we check the facts then the truth is only that the older generations when they were young had been under a brutally ignorant system because of lack of western culture influence in those days. The Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Dimapur, Kesonyu Yhome in his speech that appeared in the daily papers on March 30, 2017 challenged the youths to overcome narrow mindedness and broaden their potential by not remaining as mere spectators. He also talked about how most revolutions in history had been brought out by youth forces. Kurt Cobain also said that it was up to the youths to bring positive changes in the society because as humans grows old they become fairly adjustable with the system where they have lived for long and doesn’t have the zest to change the total set of perspectives in their lives which is basic psychology. So it is up to the enthusiastic youths to utilize their modern knowledge and perspectives in shaping a new advanced
society. Every citizen has the right of freedom of speech and expression but this does not give the right to any individual or group to tarnish the name of any individual or an organization with false propaganda. If any accusation is to be made like, “the young minds which are capable enough to change the world is now gradually manipulated by the power of money. Indeed money and political power has become their top most priority” than make sure to produce the evidence to support the statements regarding the motives because your word will hold against you should one choose to sue you on charges for “false allegations” in court. If not today, when are we Nagas planning to bring a practical systematic exchange of human interaction in our society based on mutual understanding and respect of human rights where every issue would be addressed on rational grounds as done in the Western Societies and not on vague customary obligations?
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.
Sunday 02•04•2017
EntErtainmEnt
Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson feud rages on will pay homage to original
‘D
eadpool 2’ director David Leitch says he will pay homage to the first instalment and won't change the DNA of the title character. A sequel to the critically acclaimed 2016 superhero movie "Deadpool", which features Ryan Reynolds as the protagonist, is being developed. Leitch, who took over the role from the first movie's director Tim Miller, says he won't be making radical changes to the character, reports femalefirst. co.uk. "I think you have to pay homage to this movie
that's so b e l ov e d . Everybody is anticipating it. And I think we have to find a way to make it distinctly our own, and we're doing that. The DNA of Deadpool shouldn't change. He's such a lovable character, we're going to carry that through," Leitch told Cinema Blend magazine. The film is scheduled to release next year. Source: IANS
Sunny Leone is Stunning: PC
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arlier this week it was reported that Quantico actress Priyanka did not wish to be photographed with Mastizaade actress Sunny Leone. But, Last night Priyanka tweeted that "Sunny Leone is stunning". Priyanka Chopra, who will next be seen in Prakash
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Jha's forthcoming film Jai Gangaajal, took to twitter and said, “I love how things r sensationalised out of context! Standing and taking pics with @SunnyLeone makes me look bad cause she is stunning! Lol!” Sunny Also replied to Priyanka and said, "@ priyankachopra I feel the
same about you darlin. Media can be mean sometimes.They just wish it was them taking pics with you. Lol xoxo" ake That singer Gary Barlow and his wife Dawn will Sunny Leone is currentrenew their wedding vows next year. The singer and ly busy with Milap Zaveri's Dawn have been married since 2000 and Gary reveals Mastizaade where she is his big plans for next year include renewing their vows, replaying double role. ported Daily Mirror. "I'd like to renew my wedding vows with Source: bollywoodre- my amazing wife. That's definitely on the agenda," Gary says. porter Gary and Dawn met in 1995 and have three children; Daniel, Source: PTI Emily and Daisy, together.
Gary Barlow to renew wedding vows
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lot's happened in the past six months so you'd be forgiven for forgetting about the reported feud between Fast and Furious 8 co-stars Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson. During the high-octane sequel's production last summer, Johnson lashed out at unnamed male costars branding some of them “candy asses,” with TMZ later reporting that franchise stalwart Diesel was the target of Johnson's words. Universal later insisted the two had buried the hatchet, however, it seems tensions are simmering now the film's press tour
has rolled around - something the studio is downplaying. Despite this, an insider told The Hollywood Reporter: “They're keeping them separated as much as possible.” Following the initial issue, a studio source stated: “What happened is over, and no one expects there to be any lingering effects. When it comes time to promote the movie, this will have no bearing.” However, Johnson - who was in Las Vegas for CinemaCon on Monday and Tuesday (27/28 March) promoting both Ju-
manji and Baywatch made himself scarce for the Fast & Furious 8 presentation yesterday (30 March). Hes now back on the set of HBO series Ballers in Miami. Fast and Furious 8 is directed by F. Gary Gray and sees Diesel and Johnson reunite alongside Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson and Jason Statham. Charlize Theron and Helen Mirren have been added to the cast. The film will be released in UK cinemas on 14 April. Source: Independent. co.uk
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Sunday 02•04•2017
SPORTS
THE MORUNG EXPRESS
Coutinho inspires Liverpool to win Merseyside derby
Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho celebrates scoring their second goal as Everton's Ashley Williams (L) looks dejected. (Reuters)
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LONDON, APRIL 1 (REUTERS): Philippe Coutinho inspired Liverpool to a comfortable 3-1 home win over Everton in the 228th Merseyside derby on Saturday to move provisionally up to third in the Premier League. Sadio Mane's opener was cancelled out by Matthew Pennington's first Everton goal, but strikes from Coutinho and substitute Divock Origi confirmed Liverpool's league double over their neighbours.
Liverpool had not lost in their last 12 league derbies and took the lead in the eighth minute when Sadio Mane exploited poor Everton defending to net his 13th goal of the season, playing a one-two with Roberto Firmino and holding off two opponents before firing low past Joel Robles. Everton were without injured defenders Ramiro Funes Mori and Seamus Coleman their unfamiliar back line struggled to cope with Liverpool's attackers.
But Everton's Pennington marked his first appearance of the season with an equaliser against the run of play in the 28th minute, prodding home from a corner after Dejan Lovren's clearance. The inexperienced defender was caught out less than three minutes later when Coutinho tore past Idrissa Gueye, cut in past Pennington and slammed the ball into the far corner. Anfield paid tribute to late Liverpool coach Ronnie Moran
before the match and the emotion of the occasion carried over with Everton's Ross Barkley lucky to escape a red card for a high tackle on Lovren in the 39th minute. Mane was injured after a collision with Leighton Baines, but his replacement Origi scored three minutes after coming on with a thumping strike from outside the area after being played in by the outstanding Coutinho. "The boys did everything," Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp told Sky Sports after extending his 100 percent record in Merseyside derbies. "It's a deserved win, we played good football and we coped well." Everton's last league win at Anfield came in 1999, and Ronald Koeman's side showed little sign of finding a way back into the match, with 21-goal top scorer Romelu Lukaku cutting an isolated and anonymous figure. "I'm am really proud about the team, we lost but the final result is not reflecting of our performance," Koeman said. "We conceded too easy the second and third." The win took Liverpool up to 59 points, level with Tottenham Hotspur ahead of their match at Burnley later on Saturday and two points clear of Manchester City who are at Arsenal on Sunday. Everton, who travel to Manchester United on Tuesday, remained in seventh on 50 points.
Trinity Sporting wins Case Premier League
Winners of the CASE Premier League.
DIMAPUR, APRIL 1 (MExN): Trinity Sporting emerged as the champions of the inaugural Case Premier League which came to a close today at the Police Ground, Chumukedima. Needing a win, Trinity edged STAFAC United Patkai by a solitary goal to finish top of the table with 16 points. Nungsang scored in the first half of the match as a nervous Trinity held on for precious three points. Earlier in the first match, Nizams FC defeated Case FC 2-0. Aloto Yeptho and Atsen Murry both scored in the second half as Nizams broke their run of three consecutive defeats. Dr. Lipok, who was the
tournament's top scorer, should have pulled one back late in the second half after being awarded a penalty but his effort struck the woodwork before going out of play. With the win, Nizams finished third on the table with 11 points. HHH, with 15 points, finished second. STAFAC United remained on 8 points while Case FC finished with 5 points. The inaugural edition of the Case Premier league kicked off in early February at Patkai Christian College ground with five teams – Case FC, Nizams FC, STAFAC United Patkai, Trinity FC and HHH. Under the theme “Beyond Friendship, Beyond
Fitness and Beyond Football”, the unregistered football league was started with the sole aim of promoting fitness and friendship through football for non professionals above 30 years of age. Organisers of the league expressed gratitude to the sponsors - Case Constructions Dimapur and to 1st NAP for providing the ground. Individual awardsGolden gloves Temsumeren, Nizams FC Golden boot Dr. Lipok, Case FC (7 goals) Best Player Arenkaba, HHH
10-Northern Angami-1 T20 bash Zienuobadze High Flyers and Lower L. Khel Vikings win
GHS Kandinu conducts Trinity School Kma holds sports meet Japfü House (Blue) DIMAPUR, APRIL 1 the importance of physiannual sports meet (MExN): Trinity School, cal fitness without which a were declared as the win-
DIMAPUR, APRIL 1 (MExN): A three day annual sports Meet 2017 was organized from March 28 to 30 at Government High School Kandinu ground. The occasion was graced by the AHM (Govt. High school, Kandinu), Yhunlonyu Tep as the chief guest. Marking the commencement of the event, the flag of GHSK was unfurled by the chief guest. He was welcomed by a march past drill motioned by the student contingents. The chief guest in his address stressed that education was not only reading and writing, but it is an all round development and that sports is an integral part of education. He maintained that under co-curricular activities, through sports, one can well equip in discipline, character, behaviour, punctuality, leadership qualities etc in their school days and compete in the area, district, state, national and international levels. He further expressed hope that the three days sports
meet will be fruitful and wished all the students the best of luck. Nitilo Kath invoked God's blessings, followed by a welcome address from Khikeya Kez. A song was presented by Caroline Tep and friends after which the oath taking ceremony was held led by Nikeya Kath. Vote of thanks was given Amos Tep. The students were divided into two houses, Red and Yellow respectively. Altogether 16 varieties of events were organized. A football and volleyball exhibition match was also played between the teachers and students.The closing ceremony program was led by Amos. Prizes were handed out to the winners by the chief guest, Kenneth Kath, President, RSZ. In his brief address, he encouraged the students to strive for excellence not only in sports but in all other disciplines. It was followed by lowering down of the flag by the chief guest after which a closing prayer was pronounced by Kathu Kath.
Kohima held its 7th annual sports week from March 28-30 at New Reserve Police Ground and the school premises. Dr Asalie Khezhie, Manager, State Dairy Farm & Chairman, New Reserve Panchayat and Keneilhoulie Sokrano, President, New Reserve Youth Organization graced the occasion as the Chief Guest and Guest of Honour respectively. Dr Khezhie in his address to the students highlighted
person cannot stand up to face the challenges, be it in sports or academics. He remarked: “without a proper physical strength, we cannot achieve our desired goals” and stressed on the relevance of sports and games in a student’s career. A major highlight of the inaugural programme was the march pass competition amongst the four houses led by the School Prefect, Vilhourieno and Vice Prefect, Yimnasangla.
LSU Martyrs Trophy from April 29
DIMAPUR, APRIL 1 (MExN): The 18th edition of the Lotha Students’ Union (LSU) Football Martyrs Trophy will commence from April 29 at public ground Wokha town with Yitachu, Minister of School Education as Chief Guest. The tournament is organized every year by the LSU in memory of Lt. Chumdamo Tungoe and Lt. Thungkhomo Ezung who “laid their precious life on 14th April 1977 in police firing during the silent procession
organized by LSU in protest against the inhuman and barbaric act meted out to the then SDO (Civil) of Ralan, Ngurkhuma Mizo by Assam Police and Assam Forest Guard.” All interested teams/ clubs have been invited to get the registration forms at LSU office/Nongo Publication opposite SBI Wokha. For further, information contact LSU President, Lipemo M Tsopoe at 9862653233 and Games & Sports Secretary at 9856321381/ 7005587169.
ners followed by Dzükou House (Yellow), Patkai House (Green), Japfii and Saramati House (Red). The function was chaired by Lucy, invocation was pronounced by Susan. The students of Class 6 presented a special song, while, the welcome address was delivered by Kevin Solo, the school Administrator. The sports meet commenced with the ‘Open’ Declaration of the 3 days Sports Meet by the Chief Guest and Oath taking led by Dapuzü. The 3 days meet was marked with events such as football, volleyball, athletics, carom, badminton, table tennis, dodge ball, 3 legged race, ball passing, cock fight & futsal.
The man of the match winners from both matches receiving their awards. Our Correspondent Kohima | April 1
Zienuobadze High Flyers and Lower L. Khel Vikings today registered wins in their respective match at the ongoing 4th edition of 10-Northern Angami -1 T20 Bash 2017 under the aegis of Brotherhood Group at KVC Ground, Ziekezou. Zienuobadze High Fly-
ers defeated High School Daredevils by 21 runs. Anga of Zienuobadze High Flyers was declared as the man of the match. In another match, Lower L. Khel Vikings overpowered Chedema Strikers by 26 runs. Khrietseizo of Lower L. Khel Vikings was declared as the man of the match. Earlier, the first match between Kenuozou Wolves and
Lower Bayavii Giants was abandoned due to inclement weather. Both the team awarded one point each. APRIL 3 MATCHES Upper L. Khel Riders vs North Block Warriors: (7:00 AM) Middle Bayavii Lions vs T. Khel Knights (10:00 AM) Upper Bayavii Sixers Vs D. Khel United (1:00 PM)
Flamingos FC win JVYO football trophy
The champions and runners teams up of the 12th Open Football Trophy in Jalukie along with guest of honour S. Chuba Longkumer and others on April 1, Saturday.
DIMAPUR, APRIL 1 (MExN): The 12th Open Football Trophy of the Jalukie Valley Youth Organisation (JVYO) came to an end today with Flamingos FC emerging as winners. They beat New Jalukie (Red) by 3 goals to nil on Saturday.
Flamingo FC received Rs.80, 000 along with trophy and certificate as champions while the runner up team received Rs.30, 000 with trophy and certificate. The final match and the closing ceremony was graced by S Chuba Longkumer, Parliamentary Sec-
retary, Veterinary and Animal Husbandry. He stated that sports can bring people together and become a platform to propagate peace, unity and development, while allowing dialogue between cultures. “Be a role model towards uniting commu-
nities, promoting peace, advocating for better education and social developments and be the channel of change to the community,” he said to the players. He further encouraged them to make use of the facilities available and excel in their field.
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