August 11th 2014

C M Y K

www.morungexpress.com

Dimapur VOL. IX ISSUE 219

The Morung Express “

www.morungexpress.com

Bharat Ratna likely for Vajpayee, Subhas Chandra Bose, Kanshi Ram [ PAGE 8]

reflections

By Sandemo Ngullie

Holiday? na. All of them are absent due to non availability of funds!

The Morung Express POLL QUESTIOn

Vote on www.morungexpress.com SMS your answer to 9862574165 Do you agree that lifting of the Prohibition Act will lead to “further division and destruction” in Nagaland?

Yes

no

Others

Do you support oil exploration in nagaland?

Yes

41% 48%

no Others

11%

Details on page 7

ENNWA affirms fight for Naga sovereignty DimAPUR, AUGUST 10 (mExN): The Eastern Naga National Workers Association (ENNWA), comprising Konyak, Phom, Yimchunger, Chang, Sangtam, Khiamnungan under NSCN (K), has reaffirmed their commitment to “fight for Naga sovereignty till the last drop of their blood.” A press note from the ENNWA informed that it held a meeting on August 8 and deliberated on “the loose principle of so-called many National workers whose national outlook diverts toward domestic affair and gradually lost the spirit of Nationalism.” It asserted that “such workers can never stand once present cease-fire breaks.”

The meeting was attended

by Kilonsers, Deputy Kilonsers, CCMs and regional workers of the six regions.

The ENNWA further condemned what it termed as “betrayal Accords such as Revolutionary Government of Nagaland of 1973 and Shillong Accord of 1975 and pre-emptive the present scenario where past Accord may repeat…” It further stated that the NSCN (K) “cannot be part of any agreement that may be signed between the NSCN (IM) and the GOI because it will not be different from other past Accords.”

JAC to launch 2nd phase of agitation

C M Y K

DimAPUR, AUGUST 10 (mExN): The Joint Action Committee (JAC) for Dhobinala-Signal-Thahekhu-Rangapahar Road has informed that it will impose indefinite restriction on movement of all commercial vehicles including Autorickshaws, Rickshaws even Thelas on the said road. A press note from the JAC Secretary, Neichuvoto Kiso and Convener KK Yepthomi informed that this will be done sometime between August and September. This will be the second phase of agitation, after the JAC had launched a 12 hour agitation imposing total restriction on movement of heavy vehicles along the said stretch of road on August 8. The decision to launch its second phase agitation was taken at a meeting held on Saturday, August 9 at the residence of committee’s banker.

”

Women are stronger than men - they do not die of wisdom

C M Y K

Monday, August 11, 2014 12 pages Rs. 4 –James Stephens

Kate Moss now has a much fuller figure...

Kerünyü Ki Sabang: Centre for peace, dialogue launched [ PAGE 2]

Federer cruises into Rogers final, to meet Tsonga

[ PAGE 11]

[ PAGE 9]

[ PAGE 10]

Ebola: What’s scary about it; & reasons not to fear it

Iranian plane crashes, 39 killed

TEHRAN, AUGUST 10 (AP): A regional passenger plane assembled in Iran crashed Sunday while taking off from the capital, killing 39 and injuring another nine onboard, according to a senior transportation official and state media. The IrAn-140 operated by domestic carrier Sepahan Air crashed in a residential area near Tehran’s Mehrabad airport. State TV said the plane’s tail struck the cables of an electricity tower before it hit the ground and burst into flames. The official IRNA news agency said the plane suffered an engine failure before it went down.

Deputy Minister of Transportation Ahmad Majidi provided the casualty figures in an appearance on state TV. The channel earlier had reported that all 48 people onboard had died.

The crash happened shortly after the plane took off at 9:20 a.m. local time (0450 GMT), bound for the town of Tabas in eastern Iran. Eyewitness Hassan Molla said he heard a roaring sound as the plane came in low overhead, one wing tilting. “There was no smoke or anything. It was absolutely sound and in good condition” before the crash and what appeared to be multiple explosions, he said.

Members of the Revolutionary Guard worked to secure the crash site and security and rescue personnel combed the wreckage as onlookers gathered shortly after the plane went down. The plane’s mangled but largely intact tail section was torn from the fuselage and came to rest on a nearby road.

State TV said the bodies of some of the victims were so badly burned that they could not be identified. They will be handed over to relatives after DNA tests are carried out to determine their identities, it said.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards and police officers inspect the site of a passenger plane crash near the capital Tehran, Iran, Sunday, August 10. An Iranian passenger plane crashed Sunday while taking off from an airport near the capital, killing tens of people onboard, state media reported. (AP Photo)

The IrAn-140 is a twin-engine turboprop plane based on Ukrainian technology that is assembled under license in Iran. It is a version of the Antonov An140 regional plane and can carry up to 52 passengers. A similar plane crashed during a training flight in the city of Isfahan in February 2009, killing five onboard, according to a report by state-

run Press TV at the time.

Lawmaker Mehrdad Lahouti suggested Sunday that the earlier accident should have been a wake-up call.

“Lawmakers visited the production site of the plane and expressed concern about its (safety),” IRNA quoted him as saying. “This company should have not been allowed to operate the plane to

avoid such a bitter incident.”

An official for Sepahan Air told The Associated Press from the central city of Isfahan that the carrier is affiliated with the Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company, also known as HESA. The airline was set up in 2010 and has not had any previous crashes, said the official, who refused to provide his

name. HESA has ties to Iran’s Ministry of Defense and is the company that assembles the IrAn-140.

Mehrabad, located in western Tehran, is the busier of two main airports serving the capital, and primarily handles domestic flights. Most international flights use the newer Imam Khomeini International Airport.

Iran has suffered a series of airplane crashes, blamed on its aging aircraft and poor maintenance. Many of the Boeing aircraft in state-run Iran Air’s fleet were bought before the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, which disrupted ties with the U.S. and Europe.

Iranian airlines, including those run by the state, are chronically strapped for cash, and maintenance has suffered, experts say. U.S. sanctions prevent Iran from updating its American aircraft and make it difficult to get European spare parts or planes. The country has come to rely on Russian aircraft, many of them Soviet-era planes that are harder to get parts for since the Soviet Union’s fall.

In March of this year, a small plane belonging to the State Aviation Organization crashed while on a test flight near the tourist resort of Kish Island, killing all four crew members.

The last major airliner crash in Iran happened in January 2011, when an Iran Air Boeing 727 broke to pieces on impact while trying an emergency landing in a snowstorm in northwestern Iran, killing at least 77 people.

In July 2009, a Russian-made jetliner crashed in northwest Iran shortly after taking off from the capital, killing all 168 on board. A Russian-made Ilyushin 76 carrying members of the Revolutionary Guard crashed in the mountains of southeastern Iran in February 2003, killing 302 people aboard.

revoke anti-people decisions: ntc expedite naga Peace

DimAPUR, AUGUST 10 (mExN): The Nagaland Tribes Council today stated that the Nagaland Special Development Zone (NSDZ) and Rongmei Tribe Recognition “are the two sides of a coin and vital issues that are confronting the indigenous Nagas of Nagaland.”

A press note from the NTC expressed concern that “any government would resort to such self-defeating and right mortgaging actions at the expense of its citizens in the guise of temporary benefits and appeasement.”

It alleged that “some state politicians and cohorts with

vested interest groups of people are manoeuvring to dislodge the fundamentals of the State of Nagaland to accommodate the non-nagas, illegal immigrants and outsiders to rule over the indigenous people of the State.”

It lamented that the “attitude of the state government clearly signals a hidden agenda to impose its decision against the popular wishes of the people.” The NTC reminded that there have been several representations and public rallies, which it said have “clearly expressed the opinions and voices of the people in clear terms.” It further added that sev-

eral civil organizations and concerned citizens have voiced their apprehensions, while urging the state government to revoke “the anti-people decisions.” However, the NTC stated that the government “adamantly delays in coming to any decision.”

It informed that the Nagaland state Legislative Assembly had already adopted its resolution on the NSDZ on March 24 and had subsequently passed budgetary provisions for the same. On the basis of this, it added that the state government had “gone ahead with obtaining NOC from land owners

centre alerts ne over possible terror attacks AGARTAlA/GUwAHATi, AUGUST 10 (iANS): The union home ministry has alerted the northeastern states over possible terror attacks in the run-up to Independence Day, officials said Sunday.

The ministry has asked the states to take steps to foil any attempt by militants to upset peace.

“The home ministry has alerted the north-eastern states to maintain strict vigil in the run-up to the Independence Day and thwart any attempt by separatist outfits to create a violent situation,” a Tripura government official said.

“The central and state governments have also asked the Border Security Force (BSF) to further tighten vigilance along the IndiaBangladesh border to prevent trans-border movement of militants,” he said. The BSF, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and other central paramilitary personnel, accompanied by bomb disposal and dog squads, are continuing search operations at airports, hotels, bus and railways terminals, markets, congested locations and national highways.

Four north-eastern states -- Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Assam -- share a 1,880-km border with Bangladesh, while India and Bhutan share a 643-km unfenced border. Four states of the region -

Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh - also share a 1,640-km unfenced border with Myanmar. Arunachal Pradesh also shares a 1,080-km unfenced border with China.

Several separatist outfits, including the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), have called for a 17-hour general strike from Aug 14 midnight and for boycotting the Independence Day celebrations. They have mailed statements to media organisations in this regard. “We are yet to get any confirmation that the militant outfits have called a strike and boycott of the Independence Day celebrations,” Tripura Inspector General of Police (Police Control) Nepal Das told IANS. He said police have received a tip-off that extremists were trying to create a violent situation in Gandachara in northern Tripura.

Police officials have reached the area and launched a combing operation to nab the rebels.

The Northeast Frontier Railway has also taken up security measures regarding the running of trains in Assam and Tripura. An official of the Airports Authority of India said in Guwahati that entry of people, except passengers, into airport areas across the northeast has been barred and the restrictions would continue till Aug 20.

and tribal Hohos.” “It is therefore ironic to note that the Chief Minister has announced to have consultation with civil bodies for the same,” it added. The NTC termed it “unfortunate that the state government is trying to befool the gullible public.”

The NTC however expressed hope that “no leader worth its name would attempt to disturb the social harmony in the state.” It urged the Nagaland state government to “immediately roll back its decisions on Rongmei tribes recognition and remove all proposals that may infringe or dilute our protective laws.”

Man shot at and wounded Morung Express news Dimapur | August 10

In an incident reported to be a case of mistaken identity, a thirty year-old man was shot at and wounded on the morning of August 8 at the Shamator and Chendang Saddle road in Tuensang district.

The injured man, identified as Daniel Yim was shot from behind, sources said. He was fired upon by a team of 23 Assam Rifles personnel, who were passing through the area from Shamator to Tuensang, the sources informed. Yim was reportedly carrying a gun, which roused the suspicion of the passing AR personnel, who hailed him to stop. He sustained an exit wound on the left shoulder and was taken to Dimapur on August 9.

The Tuensang police confirmed the incident and stated that the 23 AR reported the the same to the police.

According to the report of the 23 AR personnel, the man was shot upon as he did not acknowledge when hailed to stop, the Tuensang police said. The gun, the injured man was carrying was a licensed weapon, the police added.

Black money: India gets 24,000 pieces of secret foreign data NEw DElHi, AUGUST 10 (PTi): In its effort to unearth black money stashed away abroad, India has received data on over 24,000 instances of alleged tax evasion and dubious funds which has been detected in foreign shores in the last financial year. These cases are now under investigation by the taxman even as the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money has set its eye on tracking the outcome of this classified information which has been received from over a dozen countries during the 2013-14 fiscal year. The bulk of the information on these foreign accounts and statements, with a basic fledgling domestic connect in each of them, has been received from New Zealand, followed by Spain, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Denmark.

Process: congress

KoHimA, AUGUST 10 (mExN): Chairman of the Public Affairs Committee (PAC) for the Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC), KV Pusa has called upon the Government of India to expedite the ongoing Naga Peace Process between the GoI and the NSCN (IM).

KV Pusa, while welcoming the Government of India’s move to appoint RN Ravi as the new interlocutor for the peace talks, however stated that merely appointing interlocutors one after another would not resolve the issue. He insisted that both sides should expedite the talks with sincere efforts so as to bring about a logical conclusion to the protracted Naga Political issue. Pusa further stated that any solution between the two parties should be based on historical facts of the Naga Political issue.

It was informed that Pusa had met a host of Indian policymakers, including former Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh and Congress President, Sonia Gandhi several times and urged them to expedite the peace process and facilitate a solution, which would be honorable and acceptable to the people.

He had also met leaders from Manipur state “to soften their rigid stand on Naga Political issue.”

The Congress leader informed that he will soon convene a Public Action Committee meeting to discuss the latest developments in the peace process.

However, he stated that merely meeting Indian leaders time and again to expedite the process would not resolve the issue and asserted that there has to be progress in the talks. He however did not rule out the possibility of the PAC meeting central leaders.

On the proposed Nagaland Special Economic Development Zone (NSDZ) by the Nagaland state government, Pusa welcomed the initiative, stating that

it would uplift the economy of the state. However, he cautioned that such an initiative should not dilute the provisions of Article 371(A) of the Constitution of India, which guarantees the rights of Naga people over their land and its resources. He called upon the state government to “delete any resolution to this effect which would affect the Article.”

On the Nagaland Total Prohibition (NLTP) Act, 1989, Pusa acknowledged the views expressed by various NGOs, churches and the public. While admitting that

Appointing interlocutors one after another will not resolve the issue, asserts KV Pusa the Act has failed, he however stated that it has not been a total failure “as claimed by some people.” Pusa stated that despite the government’s failure to enact the Act in totality, he stated that “there has been some impact in rural areas due to the initiative of NGOs and church.” “Therefore we cannot say it is a total failure,” he added. The congress leader observed that the Act should be reinforced and strengthened, especially in urban areas. He further lauded the efforts of some NGOs and the church in enforcing prohibition in some villages, adding that the government should respect the sentiment of the people. “Lifting of prohibition Act at this juncture is not advisable,” he said.

Pusa further welcomed the new Nagaland state Governor, PB Acharya and expressed hope that he would be able to bring in governance according to the aspirations of the people. He further acknowledged the new Governor for his concern on proxy teachers in government schools and urged the Nagaland state government to do away with proxy teachers so as to impart quality education to students.

C M Y K

C M Y K

The Morung Express 2 LocaL St. Joseph’s College students meet Pukhayi Kerünyü Ki Sabang: Centre Dimapur

Monday

11 August 2014

Interact on Naga political issue, eradication of corruption, and next generation leaders

Students of St. Joseph’s College, Department of Political Science with Parliamentary Secretary Pukhayi on August 9.

Kohima, august 10 (mExN): Students of St. Joseph’s College, Jakhama, met Pukhayi, Parliamentary Secretary for Cooperation and Sericulture on August 9 at his residence. The five-member delegation of Department of Political Science was led by General

Secretary Chumseli Anar.

The students had an interactive session on Naga political issue, eradication of corruption, and the next generation leaders.

A press release informed that on Naga political issue, Pukhayi said, different Naga factions

must come together under one umbrella and have cooperation among them to solve the long Naga political problem. He opined that Nagas are a divided house, lacking unity and trust among them. This attitude, therefore, has to be eradicated to pave way for

peace, love and integration of the Nagas, he asserted.

Further, he stated that, the present government of Nagaland is trying its best to bring about permanent settlement in the State by engaging in talks with the Government of India.

On eradication of corruption, he was of the view that, self restraint on the part of the people from indulging in corruption will curb corruption. “Because the root cause of all evil is the love of money, which in turn is the direct source of corruption.”

Dwelling on the topic of the next generation leaders, he asserted that students of today are tomorrow’s leaders, who are to be the agents of peace. Therefore, he advised the students and youths to possess qualities of honesty, sincerity and truthfulness to oneself and to God. He also stated that everyone should become God fearing men and women, while expressing it was the only way to save the world and nothing more, nothing less, the release said.

Health camp provides free check up & medicine to border villages

C M Y K

DimaPuR, august 10 (DiPR): A free medical camp was conducted at Tohoi Village, Aghunaqa on August 9. It was organised by Dimapur District Administration and Border Department, Nagaland in collaboration with district health medical services, 155 Bn CRPF, Nagaland Medicine Dealers Association (NMDA), Red Cross, Rotary Club, Lions Club, and Peace Committee Disputed area A,B,C sectors.

Around 550 patients were given free medical checkup and medicines by the medical team which included 16 doctors, 8 Pharmacists, 35 nurses, 10 paramedics and 6 laboratory technicians. The patients

Doctor examines an elderly man at the health camp held at Tohoi village on August 9. (DIPR Photo)

were from neighbouring villages of Tohoi (Aghunaqa) and also from the bordering villages of Assam inhabiting the disturbed area belt.

The doctors at the camp were from Surgery/Ortho (64 patients were treated under Surgery/Ortho and other 6 under minor O.T), Medicine, Pediatric, Gyne-

cology, ENT, Dental. There were also immunisation, Lab, Eye section and a medicine stall.

The free medical camp which is the first of its kind in the area was well received and greatly appreciated by the masses. Deputy Commissioner, Dimapur said that the camp was an initiative to reach out to the villages in the bordering area (DAB) where villagers hardly get access to medicines and modern treatment facilities unlike in the towns.

Hosts of volunteers who included staff and students from Tohoi Public School and village leaders also actively participated in the day long health camp.

C M Y K

Kohima, august 10 (mExN): The All Nagaland Pre-Service Teachers Association (ANPSTA) Dimapur unit has announced last call for trained pre-service teachers holding NTET Certificate to get their names registered and to submit the required documents to the office bearers as announced earlier in the previous meets before August 14. For further details, call 9612292765/ 8732872744.

Submission of documents would not be entertained after the said date, according to a release issued by Puloto Chopi, president ANPSTA Dimapur unit.

AR apprehends cadres DimaPuR, august 10 (mExN): 29 Assam Rifles launched an operation in Uravilla Colony, Dimapur and apprehended one Section Officer of GPRN/NSCN with one .22 pistol, informed a press release from Assam Rifles. The operation was launched based on specific information about presence of an armed cadre in the area. The individual was identified as Kaito Sumi (42). The apprehended cadre along with the recovery was handed over to East Police Station, Dimapur. Meanwhile, AR personnel also apprehended an armed NSCN (IM) cadre in Jalukie, Peren district. During a search operation, troops of 18 AR recovered two AK-56 rifles and ammunition from the cadre. The apprehended along with recoveries was handed over to Jalukie Police Station, it added.

Choral Competition submission date extended DimaPuR, august 10 (mExN): The submission date for choral competition of Harmonic Surge: A Choral Fiesta has been extended till August 25, 2014. This has been done to encourage more involvement and participation of churches, institutions and individual choirs, informed a press release received here. Harmonic Surge: A Choral Fiesta is being organized by the Nagaland Chamber Choir from September 26 – 28 to promote church music. The festival will feature workshops, seminars, panel discussions, master class under competent musicians, and a choral competition with total prize money of over Rs. 1 lakh. The organizers have urged all interested groups to take the opportunity of the extended submission date and get involved in the special event.

NNC directs to celebrate Naga Independence Day DimaPuR, august (mExN): The Naga National Council (NNC) has directed all the Regional Councils of different Regions to celebrate Naga Independence Day on August 14 in their respective regions with prayer and dedication in remembrance of “our National Right of Freedom.” The NNC through its Information & Publicity Wing further appealed to all the Naga people in Naga inhabited areas to remember and observe the occasion with prayer to God for Naga national unity.

C M Y K

The Watchman meeting today DimaPuR, august 10 (mExN): The Watchman and Rally committee have informed that there will be a special meeting on August 11, 9:30 AM with all the speakers of the public rally scheduled for August 23.

The meeting will be held at Soaking and Healing, Level 3, West City Building, DC Court junction, Dimapur. All core team of the Watchman and Rally committee have been requested to attend the meeting.

Y K

for peace, dialogue launched

Team members presenting a song during the launch of Kerünyü Ki Sabang at Sechü-Zubza, Kohima district on August 9.

Kohima, august 10 (mExN): Kerünyü Ki Sabang (KKS), a centre for exploring, experimenting, and discovering the potential of silence, listening and hope was formally launched at the home of well known peace and social activist Niketu Iralu in Sechü-Zubza, Kohima district on August 9. The KKS Centre will be hosted by Niketu and his wife Christine Iralu and run by a committed team. Kerünyü in Tenyidie means listening. Ki is a word for house, common to many Naga languages, while Sabang in Ao stands for platform.

“His life simply lived, in transparency and selflessness that comes through his everyday listening to the still voice of God and relentless examination of the self through these reflections is something worth aspiring for,” said Dr. Toshinaro Longchar, who chaired the programme.

She gave credit for the development of KKS to Niketu’s “deepest convictions”.

Dr. Toshinaro, who is part of the KKS also recalled an incident when Rajmohan Gandhi mentioned about Niketu’s conviction and commitment to make heal-

and engage with each other truthfully and with respect. KKS believes that the gift of silence, listening and hope is the most powerful ever available, she added.

“Silence rebukes, corrects, directs and gives us hope.

Listening makes us aware,

‘It is a place to sit and listen to one another and to solve our problems’ ing and reconciliation possible in conflict torn Nagaland through truthfulness, honest conversations, and forgiveness.

Kevi-ü Yalie, another team member gave a brief highlight about the concept behind the centre. She said that KKS envisions to facilitate and bring individuals, people and communities from different walks of life to express, discuss,

sensitizes us and opens the doors of our mind and heart to others. Hope makes us alive and gives us dreams and vision.”

Hosts Niketu and Christine Iralu also spoke during the launch. “It is a place to sit and listen to one another and to solve our problems,” noted Niketu, while describing KKS. It may be mentioned that the couple have used their home since

2008 as a place for holding consultations, meetings, seminars and retreats. They have hosted groups from Nagaland, Northeast India, various parts of India and international groups from Asia, Europe and North America.

Solidarity messages from Australia, Fiji, Malaysia, Switzerland, Sri Lanka were read out. People from various walks of life attended the launch, including representatives from Assam, Ukhrul and Senapati.

Ningusalie Talie, the man behind the construction of Kerünyü Ki shared about his vision and how the house was built in an eco-friendly manner, using available local resources.

Veteran singer Setso Liegise presented a soulful ballad ‘You Alone’ from his latest album, while blessing and dedicatory prayer was said by Rev. Khriengulie Kuotsu, Pastor, SechüZubza Baptist Church.

C M Y K

Legal care & support centre launched at Nihokhu

MEx File ANPSTA Dimapur unit informs

C M

DimaPuR, august 10 (mExN): Village Legal Care & Support Centre has been inaugurated at Nihokhu village in Dimapur.

Mayang Lima, Member Secretary, Nagaland State Legal Services Authority, Registrar, Gauhati High Court during the launch on August 9 highlighted the importance of legal aid services and urged to help the weaker section of the society through the centre.

A press release informed that he also stated Village Legal Care & Support Centres will assist the public in rural areas by filling FIR, affidavits, mediation and conciliation etc through the panel advocates and trained para legal volunteers (PLVs).

School children pass through a puddle-laden road in Wokha town. Citizens of the town have been decrying the deplorable On the day, legal awarecondition of the roads, especially with the onset of monsoon. (Morung Photo/Chizokho Vero) ness programme was also

held, which was chaired by Zuring Madeliang, EAC, Nihokhu. Y. Longkumer, Chairperson, Dimapur District Legal Services Authority and District & Sessions Judge, Dimapur, presented the keynote address and stressed on Village Council Act. Meanwhile, Panel Advocates Esther K Aye, Zacheria Tetseo, Asungbe, Livika Yeptho,Veshili, Tonika and Limasena Longkumer spoke on various legislations covering RTI, Child Rights, Domestic Violence, Lok Adalat, Human Trafficking, and FIR. Ghoshiho, Chairman, Nihokhu Village Council delivered the vote of thanks. The programme was attended by members of various village councils, students and women leaders.

C M Y K

Mokokchung DPDB discusses NLTP Act Nagaland Governor awards

‘Govt needs to re-look into policy by adopting certain regulations’ certificates to MITE toppers

moKoKchuNg, august 10 (DiPR): The monthly meeting of Mokokchung District Planning and Development Board (DPDB) deliberated on the issue of lifting Nagaland Liquor Total Prohibition (NLTP) Act. The members put in suggestions on both negative and positive aspects of the Act and also the impact and result in the society so far. The members while agreeing upon Nagaland

Baptist Church Council’s stand expressed that government needs to re-look into the policy by adopting certain regulations.

The meeting was held at the conference hall of ADC, Planning under the Chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner and ViceChairman DPDB, Mokokchung, Murohu Chotso.

Agenda on non-detention system of school education was also discussed, where officials from the Dis-

trict Education Department and student leaders also took part. It was highlighted that the present policy has a negative impact in students’ careers as the spirit of competitiveness is lost in the students. Considering all these, the members decided to recommend the matter to the government for reconsideration of non-detention system in school education.

The agenda put forward

by Tongpang Ozukum, on establishment of a College

(Arts & Science) in Mokokchung to be founded

by Dr.Y.S.R Educational & Welfare Foundation, Hyderabad, and registration of Longtipalong SHG Society, Alempang ward were recommended to the authority concerned.

A documentary “The Naga Diary” (Journey to Statehood) was also screened by the Department of Information & Public Relations, Mokokchung during the meeting.

Kiphire farmers trained on scientific pig husbandry

DimaPuR, august 10 (mExN): Eighteen farmers from Kiphire district attended a training program on ‘Scientific pig rearing practices for profitable production and entrepreneurship development’ from August 6 to 8 at Jharnapani, Medziphema.

The training organized by ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Nagaland centre was coordinated by Dr. M. K. Patra, Scientist (A.R.) & I/C Mega Seed Project on Pig. During the three-day training program, both theory lectures and practical session were held to expose the participants to modern scientific practices in housing, feeding management, health care

and artificial insemination in pigs, by a group of experts comprising Drs. M. K. Patra, R.K. Das, and Y. Kent.

A press release informed that the farmers were made aware about housing requirement, feed formulation, medicines and vaccines against common diseases, minor surgical techniques, breeding strategies for profitable pig production at village level and pig based entrepreneurship development. They were also encouraged to establish pig breeding unit at farmers’ club level for multiplication of improved germplasm available at ICAR centre.

Joint Director, ICAR Nagaland

Centre, Dr. Bidyut C. Deka inaugurated the training program and urged upon the farmers to utilize the knowledge gained during the training for betterment of the fellow villagers and to strengthen the livestock component for nutritional security. Executive Director, NCHD-IT, Aienla Lemtor had facilitated the farmers’ club members for coordination with ICAR in organizing the training program.

The training concluded with distribution of certificate by Joint Director of the centre, Dr. Deka, who assured the farmers all necessary technical guidance on agriculture and allied intervention in future.

Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya, Governor of Nagaland and Tripura handing over certificate to a topper of Modern Institute of Teacher Education Kohima on August 9. (Morung Photo) Our Correspondent Kohima | August 10

Nagaland Governor Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya on Friday handed over certificates to the ten toppers (2013 batch) of Modern Institute of Teacher Education (MITE) Kohima and other distinction holders during its 2nd

graduation day.

Following are the ten toppers in order of their rank: 1. Zanbenthung Shitiri, 2. Sanino Nakhro, 3. Pangao Konyak, 4. Kezhono Kennao, 5. Y. Tiakala, 6. Khriekeyieno Zashümo, 7. N. Mhono Ngullie, 8. (i)Soreni Z Ezung, (ii) Rüülhounuo Rita Sekhose, 9. Tiatemjen Tzudir, and 10. Zubeno Lotha.

C M Y K

REgional

The Morung Express

Monday

11 August 2014

Dimapur

3

people in Manipur Former speaker Sangma flays Meghalaya CM ‘Naga will not observe I-Day’

shilloNg, august 10 (iaNs): Former Lok Sabha speaker Purno A. Sangma Sunday praised the Congress legislators in Meghalaya for demanding the removal of Chief Minister Mukul Sangma over the prevailing law and order situation in Garo Hills.

"I am happy that the majority of Congress legislators in the state have realized the gravity of the situation and want a change of leadership in the state," said the National People's Party (NPP) MP from Tura parliamentary constituency.

He told reporters that "the Congress is a responsible political party and cannot afford an irresponsible chief minister".

"Meghalaya is a fit case for President's Rule, but if the Congress has come to their senses, perhaps President's Rule can be avoided with a new leadership in the Congress Legislature Party," he said.

Sangma's statement

'Any bifurcation of Meghalaya has to be agreed by all'

shilloNg, august 10 (pti): Member of Parliament from Tura constituency and former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno Agitok Sangma today said any bifurcation of Meghalaya has to be mutually agreed by all.

Sangma, who advocated the need to have a 'Grand Federation of the North East Tribes (GFNET)' to accord due recognition to all tribes in the region, said, "During my election campaign, I had made it clear that any bifurcation of the state has to be mutually agreed by major communities -- the Khasi, gains significance in wake of the growing dissatisfaction over the functioning of the chief minister.

Last week, Meghalaya Congress committee chief D.D. Lapang along with cabinet ministers Prestone Tynsong and H.D.R. Lyngdoh had apprised Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi about the growing dissent within the party.

the Jaintia on one hand and the Garos on the other."

Asked whether the creation of a separate Garo land would solve most of the problems in Garo Hills hit by militancy, the MP said, "We don't know. No solution is a complete solution in any issue...but am saying there are sections of people among Khasis and Jaintias who are articulating we should have a separate Khasi-Jaintia state. "Similar sentiments have been articulated by a section of the Garos... We cannot ignore those sentiments but it has to be mutual."

"Whether it is Meghalaya or Assam, the demand for change in leadership is an internal matter of a party. But when the problem goes beyond the party and affects the common people, we, as the people's representatives and as leaders, cannot keep silent," he said.

On the worsening law and order situation in Garo Hills in the western part of

Earlier before the last Lok Sabha elections, Sangma had expressed that he is not in favour of creating separate state. Stating that in the North East, there is no concept of statehood, he said, "We are forcing people to live together." He added, "We have to realise the reality and by experience we have to think of something else."

The former Lok Sabha Speaker further said that he has a big plan for North East and is still discussing with the leaders of the region. "My idea is to have a Grand Federation of the NE Tribes (GFNET) where

Meghalaya, Sangma, who met Meghalaya Governor K.K. Paul Saturday, said: "The law and order situation in Garo Hills has also affected the neighbouring state of Assam." He cited how people in Assam burnt the effigy of the Meghalaya chief minister and demanded imposition of President's Rule in Meghalaya.

Sangma also said that

each tribe will have autonomy as being proposed in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution," he said.

According to him, these autonomies will have a North East grand assembly or it can even be called a parliament, where each tribe should have representatives. "There is a need to convert the North East Council (NEC) into the North East Commission on the line of European Commission and on the line of European parliament," the leader said, adding "That's the only way you can give due recognition to all the tribes in the North East."

Meghalaya is staring at a deep financial crisis following the National Green Tribunal's ban on rat-hole coal mining coupled with rampant corruption and the breakdown of law and order in the state. "The economy of Meghalaya has been badly affected as Meghalaya is losing revenue of Rs.600 crore from coal mining in view of the NGT's ban and the break-

down of law and order situation in the state," he said.

In the 60-member legislature, the Congress has 29 legislators and has the support of two NCP members and 12 independents.

The combined opposition Meghalaya People's Front has 12 members consisting of eight United Democratic Party members, two NPP and two independent members.

tahamzam, august 10 (mExN): The United Naga Council has stated that the Naga people in the state of Manipur will not associate in observing Independence Day organized by the district administrations under the aegis of the Government of Manipur (GoM).

“To take forward the demand, after the completion of the 10 days ban on construction works on all National Projects at 6 am of August 11, it has been decided that the Naga people in present state of Manipur will not associate with the observation of the Independence Day organized by the district administrations under the aegis of the GoM,” a statement from the UNC’s Publicity Wing informed and added, “However there will be no restriction on observing of the Independence Day in the respective institutions/organizational jurisdictions.”

Stating that democratic civil actions have been taken

Mizoram Church demands SC status for Christians

Northeast Briefs ZSUM set deadline to arrest Maram assault culprit Dimapur, august 10 (mExN): The ZYF, AZSU and ZSUM has set a 48 hour deadline, with effect from August 12 midnight, to law enforcing agency for arresting the culprit in the Maram assault case, where Ringsanbou Newmai, a BA student of Don Bosco College, Maram was severely beaten up for entering a girls’ hostel. “In case of failure to arrest the culprit within the set dateline, the ZYF, AZSU and ZSUM will call 24 hours bandh on NHs which will be announced after the expiry of the dateline to be followed by different form of democratic agitation until justice is delivered,” a statement from ZSUM State Secretary Shangru Ganmei informed. In spite of FIR being registered against the warden of Josephine Girl Hostel, Maram, no action has been taken against the culprit, the union stated and added, “It is disgraceful for the police department if FIR is to keep pending or delay on such criminal case without taking up any action even after the culprit identity is revealed on public domain.”

Three arrested for gang-raping minor guwahati, august 10 (iaNs): Three youths have been arrested for allegedly gang-raping a 17-yearold girl in Assam, police said Sunday. The three were arrested in Dibrugarh district late Saturday on the girl's complaint. Police are on the lookout for the fourth accused in the crime. The investigating officer said the age of the accused is not known yet. The incident took place late Saturday near the Banipur railway station in Dibrugarh town. Accompanied by a boy, the girl was dropped by an auto-rickshaw near the railway station.

"Four youths caught hold of them and raped her after beating up the boy," said a senior police official. The victims stopped a police patrol car near the railway station around 11.15 p.m. and complained that four youths had raped her and physically assaulted the boy, police said. Officials said the girl was sent for medical examination and the report was awaited.

Poachers shot dead in Kaziranga guwahati, august 10 (iaNs): Forest guards shot dead two poachers in a gun battle in Assam's Kaziranga National Park, park officials said Sunday. The incident took place Saturday night, when the guards in an anti-poaching camp inside the park received a tip-off and launched an operation in Agaratoli forest range. After heavy exchange of fire with a group of poachers, the guards shot dead two of them, the officials said. Two rifles and some ammunition were recovered from the slain poachers. Saturday's deaths took the tally of poachers killed in the park this year to 15. Poaching has been a major concern in Kaziranga, a Unesco World Heritage Site. Twenty-two one-horned rhinos have been killed by poachers in Assam this year - of which 21 were killed in Kaziranga alone. Poachers last year killed 41 rhinos - 27 in Kaziranga, five in Manas National Park, three in Orang National Park, two in Pabitora wildlife sanctuary and four in other areas.

State Forest and Environment Minister Rockybul Hussain recently informed the assembly that 193 rhinos have been killed by poachers in Assam since 2001.

CRPF disposes off IED bomb in Assam NagaoN, august 10 (aNi): The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) disposed off a pressure-sensitive Improvised Explosive Device (IED) bomb discovered in the morning today at Nagain district in Assam. Biswnath Pranjite, Second Command Officer, CRPF, said, "We discovered the bomb in the morning. It was concealed in a tiffin box. Had somebody put their foot on it, it would have exploded." He added that the bomb had been disposed off after exploding it with TNT.

Health camp held at Heirok imphal, august 10 (mExN): A one-day general health camp was organized at Heirok High School, Heirok Part II today by Women Action for Development (WAD) with the support of ECHO and Action Aid. The health camp was organized with active collaboration of Community Health Centre (CHC) Heirok with the main objective of addressing the healthcare and general wellbeing of the common people, informed a press release issued by WAD Secretary Sobita Mangsatabam. The camp targeted the villages of Heirok, Kairembikhok, Salungpham and Wangjing.

Altogether 205 villagers, mostly women, received basic health check-up. Free medicines were also given out to the villagers. Major complaints of those who attended the camp were fever, cough, gastrointestinal problems, fungal infection, anxiety, high blood pressure and general fatigue, the release added.

up by the Naga people to demand immediate intervention from the Government of India (GoI) with an alternative arrangement outside the GoM, pending settlement of the Indo-Naga issue as the militarization of Naga areas continues, particularly in Ukhrul by the GoM, UNC further alleged that state government has also launched an aggressive back door policy to usurp the land of the tribals through the New Land Use Policy of Manipur (2014), introduction of Village Development Committees, New Land Acquisition Bill and appointment of Revenue Tribunals. It also alleged that Chief Minister Ibobi has been maintaining that there are no Nagas nor does any land belong to the Nagas in Manipur.

The UNC statement informed that all Tribe Hohos, Naga Frontal and Regional organizations will ensure that the boycott is observed effectively in their respective jurisdictions.

A farmer carries paddy saplings in a paddy field on the outskirts of Guwahati, Assam. Transplantation of paddy was delayed in the region due to insufficient rainfall. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Tarun Gogoi for platform for youths to hone skill

guwahati, august 10 (pti): Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said youths must be given a platform to hone leadership skills, develop a positive attitude and a critical approach to understand important matters.

"We believe today's youth has the zest to drive their communities for-

ward and must provide them with the correct platform to build their aptitude and skills to become leaders of change," Gogoi said while addressing the valedictory function of the first two-day State Level Youth Leadership Orientation Summit 2014.

Youths of the state have gained self-confi-

dence and a competitive urge has enabled them to make a mark in different fields both within and outside the country and this is primarily due to a positive change in their mindset, he said.

The chief minister asked the students to remain steadfast towards their goal in life with hard

work, sincerity, commitment, honesty and perseverance being the prerequisites for climbing up the ladders of success.

Gogoi told them to be articulate by shedding inhibition to acquire communicative skills to become good leaders.

"The be-all and endall should not be just ac-

quiring a plum post but to do something for the betterment of the society," he said.

Gogoi said the initiatives taken by the Government in the education sector over the past decade has brought in positive results and many institutions of national repute have been set up.

aizawl, august 10 (pti): Baptist Church of Mizoram (BCM) on Sunday joined National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) in observing 'Black Day' demanding acceptance of Christians as Schedule Caste. Members of the Baptist Church pinned a piece of black cloth on their shirts and held mass prayers in all the local churches in the morning services.

In a message distributed to the local churches, BCM General Secretary Rev H Lianngaia said that Indian Constitution in 1950 allowed only Hindus to become Scheduled Caste while the amendment in 1956 allowed Sikhs and Buddhists. "Christians and Muslims were not allowed to be given Scheduled Caste status," he said.

The Constitutional provision hindered missionaries in their missions to convert Scheduled Caste people like the Dalits as they ceased to enjoy the status once they converted to Christianity, he added. The BCM described the provision as biased and against the spirit of secularism.

Health experts worried over rising adult Japanese encephalitis cases in Assam guwahati, august 10 (tNN): The death toll of adults suffering from Japanese encephalitis in the state is being considered exceptional in the global context. Japanese encephalitis mostly affects children and young infants, but the anomalous case of adults contracting it in Assam has compelled researchers and health experts to ad-

mit that proper evaluation and study of the disease is the need of the hour.

As of Saturday, the total number of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) cases was reported to be 1,694 with a death toll of 281, and JE positive cases touched 659 with the death toll at 129. Of the 659 JE positive cases, 205 were of patients below the age of 15 years of whom 22 succumbed.

Those above the age of 15 years registered 454 positive JE cases with 107 dead.

The trend of adults being affected by the virus on such a large scale was brought to notice over the last couple of years because of which the state became the first one in the country to initiate a pilot project of an adult vaccination campaign in 2011 in Sivasagar. Along with

West Bengal, Assam has reported the most number of adults suffering from JE in the world this year as well.

"Thursday's compilation of data shows that adult JE cases have increased fourfold. Globally JE is mostly concentrated in the population of children but Assam's adult infection is an exceptional case," said a senior health official.

India asks B'desh to allow 35,000 tonnes PDS grains to NE via sea NEw DElhi, august 10 (pti): India has asked Bangladesh to permit a shipment of 35,000 tonnes of PDS foodgrains every month via sea route in view of difficulty to be faced from October with the start of gauge conversion work in North East.

"During a recent visit to Bangladesh, we requested it to allow transportation of 35,000 tonnes of PDS foodgrains every month via sea route to the north eastern states," a senior Food Ministry official said.

A trial run to see the practicality of shipping has already been undertaken.

The first shipment of 5,000 tonnes of rice has already reached Agartala from Visakhapattanam, Andhra Pradesh via Ashuganj port

Food grains movement in NE will be affected as the railways undertake gauge conversion work.

The shipment of food grains via Bangladesh would help ease burden of transporting. in Bangladesh, the official said, adding that another vessel of 5,000 tonnes will be followed.

From October 1, there will megablock of railways at Lumding in Assam for gauge conversion work affecting foodgrains movement. The shipment of foodgrains via Bangladesh would help ease burden of transporting via roadways.

The government supplies monthly about one lakh tonnes of PDS foodgrains to the north eastern states - Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura and Assam. Of which, 60 per cent

is transported via railways and the rest through roadways.

The official said that efforts are being made to transport more grains via roadways but not much load can be pushed due to poor condition of highways in the region.

Road movement has started from new rail terminals at Baihata and Jagi road in Assam. Foodgrains to Manipur are being supplied from Furkating Railhead in Assam, he added.

Last week, Mizoram Food Minister John Rotluangliana had met Union

Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and requested him to ensure smooth supply of PDS foodgrains from October onwards.

As per official data, the state-run Food Corporation of India (FCI) has stocked 4.03 lakh tonnes of grains as on August 4, against the storage space of 4.7 lakh tonnes.

Noting that the Centre has asked north eastern states to identify additional storage space and take direct delivery from FCI to build up extra stocks with them, the official said that "however except for Tripura, no state has come forward."

The government supplies rice and wheat at subsidised rates via public distribution system (PDS) to the poor.

The state recorded its first JE outbreak in 1978 in Lakhimpur in the same year that the isolation of the virus from brain tissues was conducted at the Assam Medical College Hospital. It was only a decade later that a study for the JE vaccination was done for the age group of 5-25 years at the Gogamukh PHC in Lakhimpur.

"In what has been studied, JE cases were mostly concentrated amongst children and to some extent adults. But now it is evident that the adult population is also vulnerable," said P Dutta, a researcher.

Assam carried out its adult vaccination drive in nine districts in February.

Vaccination for the remaining districts in the state remains to be carried out.

4

Dimapur

public discoursE

Monday 11 August 2014

An opinion on drinking and the NLTP Act

A

lot of articles have been in the papers lately on the NLPT Act, and some have already covered my views on it in favour of lifting the ban. Nevertheless, here is an opinion.

The fact that the Act has been a failure, and pragmatically it will be so, calls for lifting the ban. There are issues already pointed out by others if we continue to keep the ban such as the business being illegal, over pricing, adulterations and its risks, bootleggers thriving, corruption in the nexus to run the business and loss of revenue to neighbouring States. We aren’t being practical if we continue to be stubborn, thereby also indirectly supporting the vices as a consequence of keeping the ban as mentioned above. If we are thinking that by lifting the ban, Nagaland will drown itself in a pool of booze, we may be wrong. May be it is more now. Other states are fine, and we can too. Also we might learn a thing or two about being more openminded and responsible about drinking. Though, like some think, ‘Open Mindedness’ is not a good thing to keep a religious Christian mentality. But by being religious, if we lose our sensible perspectives, we may be one eye short.

Now, I am not an expert on the Bible, just a reader, but we don’t need to be experts to read and understand a few things in the Bible.

The Bible has been translated, and mistranslated so many times so that common men like you and I can read and understand. The reason I want to refer to the Bible is because some think that supporting liquor ban is pro-Christian. Many opine supporting the ban citing ‘Nagaland

ing, people will use the exact word for alcohol. Another argument that people often use regarding drinking is: “think if the act glorifies God?” I Love it! But I doubt it’s practicality as it will be disturbing to keep associating with that phrase for all things we do.

Anyways, I think most of us will agree that total abstinence from drinking is always better, kudos to all those who quit. We also know that the effect of its misuse comes down to an individual level. Also our attitude toward alcohol may well be conditioned by our culture and society more than we realize. It is not wrong in itself but in its abuse, but we have been made to think otherwise. So instead of taking the extreme irrational side, can we not educate or encourage one another to be responsible of ourselves and for others, not just drinking but for anything else as well?

Except for the misconception regarding drinking, we also must understand the sentiment of the Church on this matter, just like we understand the sentiments of the Church on contraceptives though they know its importance in today’s context of population and STDs. A long time ago God said, “Go and populate the world”. Now that it got over populated, population control has become important not just per se but economically. And I suppose we do that, may be secretly. Otherwise we would see families with more children than we can feed.

The church here is quite silent on contraceptives though vocal about drinking. That’s a respite at least, and more because it is a grey area if referenced from the Bible directly, unless

for Christ’ and ‘being good Christians’. We haven’t had enough of hypocrisy already? If we all are reading the same Bible, it is no where mentioned that drinking wine or any alcoholic drinks is forbidden, thus not a sin, but it does condemn drunkenness and its consequences, and warn us to be prudent of its use.

Does that not mean we need to draw a line somewhere regarding excessive use? Wine and alcoholic drinks usage are frequently mentioned in the Bible. Times have changed we understand. 2000 years or more is a long time. But in the case of drinks, we went backwards than Biblical era. And while some verses condemn drinking, some endorse its use also. Just a few quotationsEcclesiastes 9:7 – “Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart...”

1 Timothy 5:23- “Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses”.

Ezekiel 44:21 – “No priest is to drink wine when he enters the inner court”.

Proverbs 23:20 – “Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat”.

So it would be spreading lies of the Word of God if we say drinking is a sin or is forbidden. Wouldn’t that be a greater sin, than someone who enjoys a can of drink with a merry heart?

Because of the misconception among Christians regarding drinking, there is so much unwanted guilt even for nominal use and in our context even the word ‘wine’ has become so repulsive that it’s replaced by other synonyms in religious talks, but when speaking against drink-

if someone comes up with semen wastage being murder. The common phrase to justify is to say ‘God gave me ONLY two kids. I am happy with that”. Yeah right!

So I would like to assume that the Church’s support for the ban must be mostly because of the fear of consequences of alcohol abuse among people if it is legal. In that view, it is true that we need to educate and improve ourselves more to use it responsibly. But the ban, which makes it illegal, is not helping to be open, feel less guilty about etc. In the current scenario, an occasional drinker instead of brining just a can of beer to drink at home without guilt might end up spending more time in the booze house.

Finally, some might say it’s out of context as Jesus spoke the following verse regarding paying tax and not drinking, but I see some relevance in this verse: “Give what is Caesar’s to Caesar and what is God’s to God”.

A hint of distinction made between God’s and politics’, don’t you think?

Let the State handle what is State’s affair, and let the Church handle what is Church’s or God’s. It’s best if the State and the Church each mind its own business. Regarding implementation, the State should apply whatever regulations there are to control it. In a democratic society, good laws can be implemented if practical opinions of the majority are considered unbiased and with no fear. But in politics, there are times when the feet of the opponent have to be kissed even if they don’t agree in principle. So, there we are.

James Kikon, Chandmari, Kohima, Nagaland

businEss

Online fashion retailer Jabong to introduce private labels MuMbai, august 10 (Pti): Online fashion retailer Jabong.Com is planning to launch private label brands in the next 4-5 months, a top company official said. “We are setting up a full fledged design team in London because we also want to create our own brands that provide good, fast, western fashion to the Indian consumers. We are in the final stages of setting up a top end design studio in London.

“It will be a team of the best fashion companies in the world that are going to be focusing only on creating the design. There is an immense opportunity to develop our own brands,” Jabong.

Com founder and chief executive officer Arun Chandra Mohan told PTI here.”We will probably come up with two-three brands in the next 4-5 months,” he said.

The company sells over 1,500 brands like Adidas, Puma, Levi’s, Converse, Proline, Nike among

others. It also has apparels from leading fashion designers.About 55-60% of the company’s revenue comes from tier II and III cities. There are not enough malls in the smaller cities, which makes it conducive for people to shop online, he said.

“We are growing at 10-15 per cent month on month. We are doing sales of about USD 30 million a month,” he said. The e-commerce industry is growing at a phenomenal rate and the best is yet to come, Mohan said.

“The e-commerce industry right now is at an inflection point. I think it is what China was may be three-four years ago. The industry is going through a catastrophical growth. People are getting comfortable buying online. The best is yet to come,” he said.

Mohan said mobile commerce (M-commerce) would drive the growth of the e-commerce industry.”The internet penetration is in-

creasing exponentially. New users are increasing significantly. Almost 50 per cent of the people accessing internet is through mobiles. So even in Jabong, we have invested heavily on mobile app.

“Close to 30 per cent of our revenue is coming from mobile. Penetration is increasing and existing users are coming back very strongly. Mcommerce will drive the e-commerce growth going forward and right now it is a very strong enabler,” he said.Traditionally, e-commerce players have relied on discounts to lure customers and he said in the medium term the coupon rates would come down.

“People expect it to be cheaper on the internet and that is the value proposition of the internet. I think the current coupon rate is high and it will come down in the medium term. The industry is on a growth mode right now and it all about getting the customers comfortable,” he said.

The Morung Express

Which is killing us more, NLTP or Khatkati liquor Do see through the letters on your empty medicine bottles...

C

an any Church leaders who are very much against the lifting of NLTP Regulation(Act) affirm that they have never tasted alcohol in their lives either directly or indirectly?

Don’t they take medicine when they are ill?

In which chapter or verse of the Gospel is there written, drinking alcohol is a sin?

We know, the church support the monopoly of IMFL trade. They want the licences of this easy earning business to be given to those selected bottleleggers of their choice in whom they trust; so that in turn, those rich bottleleggers will give the highest tithes which will meet their ends.. To be precise, in Nagaland or so called ‘ Nagaland For Christ’ state, it is a reality that many foundations of booming churches and prayers centres are built from donations earned and offered by illegal businessmen or individuals..

It is also a fashion now that, when we enter a church these days, time taken in respect of sermons is to counting of donations is 1:3 which is very upsetting. Poor day wage earner like me cannot be at peace when in a congregation.

If drinking alcohol is a sin, then some sons and daughters of rich bottleleggers studying theology with the earning made from selling alcohol will be double the sin of drinking.

Don’t croak like a frog in a fishery pond, but do study the reality that is negatively impacting our present society by your so called NLTP Regulation.

God will surely judge you at the end for killing your own people in thousands that too by your Khatkati liquor!!! Please do not curse me for this!

Shompo Athungo Ngully, Kohima

O

Why the church?

f late the Church has become an object of much criticism and negative speculations for each little mistake or mess in our society. The church at times is unfairly criticized for the little individual inconveniences giving the impression that the church is an individual property and that when you do not agree with the way it functions or is functioning you can just throw mud at her and distance yourself.

In a Christian majority state like Nagaland, the church seems to have become a convenient object of criticism. We must admit that the Church has failed in many ways to live up to what she is has been called to, namely to be the light and salt and to be a transforming agent. Nevertheless, as perfect as the church ought to be, we must also realize that it is governed by imperfect people with imperfect members gathered together as saved sinners at the foot of the cross. The church is bound to fail, bound to disappoint, bound to be critiqued and bound to be criticized. But what is unbound, is Christ, the head of the Church. As long as we stay focus in him and on his purpose he will use our imperfectness to perfect his purpose.

Yes, criticism can be discouraging because it is not always fair but we cannot repay evil for evil but evil with love and this is what the church is called to be, in love serving and edifying each other.

Nonetheless, we must also admit and watch out in our strife to be relevant. The Church, in trying to be relevant has fallen into the trap of secularization, postmodernism and other worldly affairs. This is put best in St. Augustine words that “the Church is a whore but it is still a moth-

er.” Losing our stance with the define purpose of our existence as the church will lead us to chart in unwanted waters where we can easily become an object of criticism. Our existence must be always defined in the kingdom business.

It should also be kept in mind that it is unfair to blame the Church for every problem in the society. And the Church also should play its part in transforming not only the individuals but also the society as well. In the midst of ruins throughout the ages, the Church has remained strong though not perfect because the Church as the Body of Christ is there to fulfill the purpose of God. Thus, the Church remains as the sole witness to the faithfulness of God in carrying out His divine plan.

So, if we, by critiquing the Church try to get away from her, we will never be able to do so, because in the words of Rodney L. Petersen, “the Church is engendered by the Spirit and will continue to be birthed and evolve.” We must therefore allow ourselves to be engendered, birthed and evolve to be a positive structuring of the Church for the extension of God’s Kingdom. We must allow the power of the Holy Spirit to live and expand the program of God’s eternal design in us.

The Church is the Community of believersintowhichabelieveris‘born,grows and lives’ and therefore the Church as the Body of Christ should strive for developing and edifying each of the members.

Though the Church is often deemed with negativity, some of these critiques are trivial while others call forsome introspection on our part as members of the Church.

Neingusienuo Kruneili

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.

_

LEISURE

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

SUDOKU Game Number # 2962

DAILY CROSS WORD

CROSSWORD # 2969

DIMAPUR Civil Hospital:

STD CODE: 03862

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

Answer Number # 2961

KOHIMA

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

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

STD CODE: 0370

Northeast Shuttles

100/2244279 2222222 2222111 2222952 2222916 2243339 2224202

KNOCK STROKE INTAKE POWER COMPRESSION EXHAUST RADIATOR VISCOSITY LUBRICATION OIL COOLANT FILTER PISTON CRANKSHAFT VALVE INJECTORPUMP INJECTOR DEISELFUEL GASOLINE HYDROMETER QUICKCOUPLING DRIVEBELT BEARING GREASEFITTING BATTERY

R

V K N O D J H Q Y N Y R D C Q B J A U Y

D

I O D O F E R D G L F O O D N A N B A E

C G Z G C H G V Y P A M B T B T W I P Q

S

V V I M K G G U D O P L I H C T J L H I

E G F I L T E R N R Y D V A K E R H A S

E

D J H G N I R A E B T R P D I R J Q Z X

L L E X H A U S T A I I E N G Y F N S J

I U L F P R S J E O S V J I I Z O O I T

A

G E B I N I V X V L O E I I N T A K E F

H Y D R O M E T E R C B F Y S P I Q O U

L A C N I E X U X T S E N I L O S A G B

R

P A R F V C F F O F I L P J T N A B I W

Y W R L P L A R K F V T A J D T O Z G I

R U A V E K P T V S J P U I J Z I T K R

C

08974997923

Z V D S P U Q U I C K C O U P L I N G X

I R I P M F T Z P O A U K W K J Q A G I

K E A P T F A H S K N A R C E K K L R M

MOKOKCHUNG:

H

D V T Z N A B L R A P S X J O R N O X Y

E K O R T S D U N A I G P Z L N G O Q Y

T W R G L R P O W B G S Z Q E O K C A U

ACROSS 1. Extols 6. Wicked 10. Friends 14. Beginning 15. Ends a prayer 16. Found in some lotions 17. Drive 18. Fog 19. Kind of bean 20. Hard unglazed earthenware 22. Not this 23. Stop for a horse 24. Highest goals 26. Let go 30. Eastern Standard Time 31. Toss 32. Assistant 33. Untruths 35. Noise 39. Gatekeeper 41. Movie house 43. Courtyards 44. A neutral color 46. Unusual 47. Hairpiece 49. French for “Summer” 50. Sailing ship 51. Paroxysms of chest

pain 54. Heredity unit 56. Alert 57. Found on cave ceilings 63. Out of control 64. Cabbagelike vegetable 65. The day after yesterday 66. Genuine 67. Twin sister of Ares 68. Anoint (archaic) 69. Feudal worker 70. Orange pekoe 71. Trades

DOWN 1. Misplaced 2. Initial wager 3. End ___ 4. Bucks and does 5. Chaff 6. Leaving 7. Mimic 8. In order to prevent 9. Necessitate 10. Composition board 11. Hello or goodbye 12. Faithful 13. Chairs 21. Pincer 25. An amount of medicine 26. Early 20th-century art

movement 27. Violent disturbance 28. Smell 29. Edible marine gastropod 34. Without nationality 36. Salt Lake state 37. Roman emperor 38. Sketched 40. Principal 42. Doglike nocturnal mammal 45. Fine or decorative clothing 48. A ring that seals 51. Cognizant 52. What we are called 53. Indicate pain or displeasure 55. Toward the outside 58. Container weight 59. Anagram of “Note” 60. Bright thought 61. Gangly 62. Visual organs Ans to CrossWord 2968

DIMAPUR: 03862 232201/101 (O) 9436017479 (OC) CHUMUKEDIMA: 03862 282777/101 (O) 9856158740 (OC) WOKHA: 03860 242215/101 (O) 9862039399 (OC) MOKOKCHUNG: 0369 2226225/101 (O) 9436012949 (OC) PHEK: 8414853765 (O) 9862130954(OC) ZUNHEBOTO: 03867 280304/101 (O) 9856156876 (OC)

MON: 03869 251222/101 (O) 9436208480 (OC) KIPHIRE: 8414853767 (O) 8974304572 (OC)

Toll free No. 1098 childline

O

KOHIMA: 0370 2222952/101 (O) 9402003086 (OC)

TUENSANG: 8414853766 (O) 8414853519

CHILD WELFARE COMMITTEE

W

FIRE STATIONS

STD CODE: 0369

Police Station 1: Police Station 2 :

2226241 2226214

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

2226216 2226263 2226373/2229343

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

222246 222491

CHEVROLET CARS PRICE AUGUST ‘2014 CAR MODELS

STARTING PRICE

SPARK 1.0 MCE

3,38,705/-

BEAT 1.2 (PETROL)

3,91,493/-

BEAT 1.0 (DIESEL)

4,77,441/-

SAIL U-VA 1.2 (PETROL)

4,23,265/-

SAIL U-VA 1.3 (DIESEL)

5,33,999/-

SAIL 1.2 (PETROL)

5,03,799/-

SAIL 1.3 (DIESEL)

6,34,665/-

ENJOY 1.4 (PETROL)

5,53,163/-

ENJOY 1.3 (DIESEL)

6,73,963/-

CRUZE 2.0 LT

13,96,498/-

CAPTIVA 2.2 LT

22,66,213/-

* CONDITION APPLY *3 YEARS / 100,000 KMS WARRANTY * FOR PETROL *CASHLESS OWNERSHIP MAINTENANCE OFFER

For details & Test drive Contact: Urban Station, Near NSC Petrol Pump, 6th Mile Dimapur. Ph No : 240994 CURRENCY EXCHANGE CURRENCY NOTES BUY(Rs) SELL(Rs) US Dollars Sterling Pound Hong Kong Dollar Australian Dollar Singapore Dollar Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Euro

61.12 102.54 7.87 56.58 48.77 55.57 59.54

61.55 103.7 7.95 57.39 49.35 56.25 60.25

81.34

82.24

LOCAL

The Morung Express

Monday 11 August 2014

Dimapur

5

Cement laden truck NSCN (IM) mourns Dy Kilonser’s death legal rights awareness interaction at Oriental college carrying liquor seized KohIMA, AUGUST 10 (MExN): A legal rights awareness campaign-cuminteraction on “Protection and promotion of our environment is the prior concern of the hour,” was conducted at Oriental College, Kohima on August 8.

The campaign conducted by Kohima Law College, Nagaland State Legal Services Authority & Nagaland Voluntary Consumers’ Organisation (NVCO) was chaired by the Vice-Principal of Oriental College, Kohima and the speakers were Kezhokhoto Savi, I. Yaumei Phom, Hitoka Swu, Rokosevito Keyho, H. Imlimongba, Nulhuvolu Rhakho, Sashienla Alley and Kidungyi Putlang. Topics covered included lokayuktas, human rights, consumer rights, environment, national

food security act 2013, consumer helpline with toll free No.1800-345-3701, legal services authority, medical negligence, sanitation and ACAUT’s objective followed with interaction, a press release from Convener, ACAUT Nagaland (Legal Cell) & President NVCO, Kezhokhoto Savi stated.

Speakers as well as students asserted on not losing the ACAUT Nagaland movement, the release informed and added, “Every citizen must come forward and support it with strong conviction as the movement solely works for peoples’ liberty, civil rights and public interests.”

Further stating that “environment means the source of life,” the campaign hit out at the fact that there is no measure to con-

trol or limit stone quarrying in Nagaland. It added that it was often a case of the owner randomly digging up mountains and causing land slide, soil erosion, and disturbing flora and fauna.

“If stone quarry and deforestation goes at this pace in Nagaland, very soon landslide would become a disastrous consequence in our state,” the release stated.

Maintaining that protection and promotion of environment is the primary concern of the hour, the campaign suggested measures one can do to save the environment. It suggested going for renewable and eco-friendly products, leaving cars and instead opting for public transports as much as possible, cycle or walk - both of which are good for health.

DIMAPUR, AUGUST 10 (MExN): NSCN (IM) has expressed deep anguish at the demise of its Deputy Kilonser, Izierang Hau, who passed away on August 10 at his residence in New Jalukie. MIP, NSCN (IM) in a condolence message informed that Izierang Hau joined NSCN in 2003 as Leacy. In 2009, he was appointed Central Administrative Officer (CAO) of Asalu Zeliangrong Region (AZLR), and in 2012, he was elected to Tatar (Member of Parliament). “It’s because of his sincerity and efficiency he was appointed Dy. Ki-

lonser, Ministry of Chaplee Affairs in 2014 till date,” it added. He was looking after the Chaplee Affairs of Peren and Tamenglong districts at the time of his death.

NSCN (IM) has expressed sincere gratitude to the departed leader, his “faithful” family members and relatives for the “meaningful services rendered for the nation.”

Further, the note informed that the last rites of Izierang Hau will be performed August 11, 10 AM at his residence, New Jalukie.

Therefore, all the well wishers of the deceased have been invited to pay their last respect.

Kohima Cong resolves to strengthen party

The accused driver, Lukhoi Singh, with the seized liquor.

DIMAPUR, AUGUST 10 (MExN): Dimapur Police led by Officer-in-charge West Police Station and SDPO Niuland on Saturday night seized a cement laden truck with 54 cases of prohibited liquor at Tragopan Point (Golaghat Road).

“The truck bearing

Regd. No. MN-02A-9793 was proceeding towards Imphal,” O.C. West PS Jenmei Konyak informed. The driver of the vehicle, identified as Lukhoi Singh, was arrested and a case has been registered against him at West PS, the O.C. added.

KohIMA, AUGUST 10 (MExN): The Kohima District Congress Committee held its executive meeting on August 6 and deliberated on various issues and adopted resolutions. A release from KDCC general secretary (Admin) Viseyienuo Keretsü, and president Prasielie Pienyü informed that the meeting discussed thoroughly the forthcoming bye-elections of 11th North-

ern Angami II Assembly constituency and decided to extend full cooperation to INC candidate. In this regard, it urged party workers not to be swayed by “unwanted” ideologies and policies of other political parties.

The meeting also discussed the last state parliamentary election debacle.The meeting asserted it was not the end as the Congress possessed the

capacity to bounce back. It further resolved to re-organize and re-strengthen the party in grassroots and district levels and appealed to likeminded people to join Congress “for progress and prosperity of our people.”

The meeting was attended by all the DCC office bearers, ACCC presidents, executive members, frontal chiefs and cell members.

SDEO Zunheboto endorses Active BJP Tseminyu Mandal Competency Learning in schools adopts resolutions ZUNhEboTo, AUGUST 10 (DIPR): In order to see the progress of students under the new education system of Active Competency Learning (ACL), Ghokiho Zhimo, SDEO Zunheboto visited pilot centre (Government Middle School, Old Town Zunheboto) on August 7.

Addressing the gathering, Ghokiho Zhimo said that by introducing ACL method in the State, tremendous success has been achieved in impartA cesspool cleaner donated by HUDCO Regional office Kohima to Kohima Municipal ing education. He stated Council through Corporate Social Responsibility is pressed into service in Kohima. that ACL was first introThis cesspool cleaner, has 5000 litres capacity. (Morung Photo) duced in the State in 2008

with 137 schools as pilot centres. Referring to the two days orientation programme conducted by SCERT Directorate Kohima where a good learning progress reports from all the districts were highlighted, he said that SCERT has graded ACL as the best method of educating students.

Presently, there are twenty schools in Zunheboto district where ACL has been introduced and there are plans of expanding it to thirty more schools shortly, he informed.

Therefore, he called upon

NSSATA demands TOlic meeting stresses on progressive use of Hindi release of salaries

DIMAPUR, AUGUST 10 (MExN): The second biannual meeting of Dimapur Town Official Language Implementation Committee (TOLIC) was held at Assam Rifles Training Centre & School (ARTC & S), 3rd Mile here on August 8 under the chairmanship of Brigadier K Narayanan, Commandant of ARTC & S, Shokhuvi.

Representatives from TOLIC member offices, which include central government offices, banks and public sector undertakings, tabled their progressive reports on the use of official language in their respective offices, informed a press release received here.

Assessing the progress

A

regarding implementation of Hindi in central government offices in Dimapur, Brigadier K Narayanan stressed on the importance of progressive use of Hindi and exhorted all members to implement the policies issued by the Government of India regarding publicity and implementation of the official language.

The release added that regional implementation office, Rajbhasha department Guwahati research officer Badri Yadav underscored the need to use technology in propagation of Hindi by using Unicode and online. He requested all the officers to submit quarterly report regard-

ing official language implementation online so that communication gap amongst the offices and Rajbhasha department is minimized. He also insisted that all efforts be made to implement official language policy with sincerity.

Also speaking at the meeting, TOLIC Dimapur secretary Lieutenant Colonel Praveen Pallath lauded the efforts of the members for wide publicity of the official language. He highlighted the importance of progressive use of Hindi in central government and Hindi incentives schemes introduced by the government of India in their respective offices.

DIMAPUR, AUGUST 10 (MExN): The Nagaland SSA Teachers' Association (NSSATA) has informed that some Sub Divisional Education Officers (SDEO) have not released two months salaries (March and April 2014) for the said teachers. A press note from the NSSATA today urged the concerned officials to address this issue. “This negligence has added to the misery of the SSA teachers who have not received their salary for almost half a year,” it added. The NSSATA further stated that the “prolonged nonpayment and irregularities of salaries have placed the SSA teachers in a position whereby even the expenses of transportation to their posting places have become impossible not withstanding their very survival.” “It is very disheartening for the SSA teachers because it is almost time for the state to receive the 2nd installment, however, its members are yet to receive the pending salaries, which is

the teachers, WEC & VEC members to nurture the new education method through consistently tying up with pilot schools to enable the students to compete with other districts in the State.

The SDEO along with the sector GBs visited each class and interacted with both the teachers and students. Convenor ACL, Kaheli Sumi and sector GB Xutovi Awomi gave a short speech. Meanwhile, Kitoli, Asst. Teacher, apprised about the requirement of one more Hindi Teacher and Chowkidar.

supposed to be made from the 1st installment,” it added.

T S E M I N y U, AUGUST 10 (MExN): BJP 12 Tseminyu Mandal Unit held its executive meeting on August 6 at Chunlikha, a press release from the Unit President Chenti Kath, and General Secretary Tikhu Rengma informed.

During the meeting, a resolution to work for the welfare of the people of 12 Tseminyu Assembly Constituency was passed. It also resolved to work for strengthening the party not only in 12 Tseminyu Mandal Unit, but also BJP Kohima District and contribute its best service for strengthening the BJP party in Nagaland under the

leadership of Dr. M Chuba Ao, President, BJP Nagaland State Unit.

The unit also expressed support to the DAN government under the leadership of Nagaland Chief Minister, T. R. Zeliang, and also urged the government to establish a college in the subdivision.

National Vice President BJP ST Morcha, Jony G. Rengma, Kohima District President BJP Vidilhoulie Angami, BJP Yuva Morcha Nagaland Secretary Daniel Angami, and Kohima District BJP Vice President Soyhunlo Khing, attended the meeting, apart from the unit office bearers.

Dimapur girl clears PSU (N) Speaker CA exam in first attempt issues clarification DIMAPUR, AU-

PEREN, AUGUST 10 (MExN): With regard to the news item “PSU demands transfer of Project Director DRDA Peren”, published on August 9, Speaker of Peren Students’ Union Nagaland PSU (N), Haichenbeu Ndang has clarified that PSU (N) did not publish all the names of the irregular officers and staff of certain departments as per visit and surprise checking. In a “rejoinder”, the speaker stated he has “found out that PSU (N) has only made allegation against Project Director, DRDA Peren who was present on the visiting day and also interacted with the PSU (N) at Deputy Commissioner’s conference hall dated 07/08/2014.”

Therefore, the Speaker has withdrawn his name and signature from the letter which demanded immediate transfer of Project Director, DRDA, Peren.

GUST 10 (MExN): Shreya Jain, an alumna of Delhi Public School, Dimapur, and an Honours Graduate in Commerce from Calcutta University passed Chartered Accountant (CA) exam in her first attempt. Only 22 years old, Shreya is now a Chartered Accountant. Her father Ajit Jain is also a renowned Chartered Accountant in Dimapur. Shreya attributed her feat to hard work, dedication, commitment and proper guidance from her parents, according to a press release received here.

Public SPace

s per the Lord’s command, while Sumi Alakishi Kighinimi, (Nagaland for Christ) were fasting and praying for Nagas’ at Ghathashi Peace Prayer Centre, The Lord revealed his plan to his servants through prophesy on 23rd July 2014.

This is what the Lord says to the Nagas.

1. Amos 3:7- Surely the sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets. The Lord says; in the land of Nagas’, people condemn you, does not respect or count on you all “Nagaland for Christ Peace Prayer Team”. But I have marked you with my blood and therefore you are gathered here in my presence.

2. The Naga National workers are also gathered here with you. Therefore, hear the word of the Lord carefully and know my AHZA what I have plan for Nagas.

3. Nagas have proclaimed the name which no other Nation on earth have claimed it. “Nagaland For Christ” dedicating all their men and women claimed my reign (To live for me) through the Holy Spirit. Therefore I have been looking after them.

4. This is what the Lord says “Whoever claims to be mine (God’s) will not be forsaken”. In this world, many Nations have build up cities so beautifully for themselves. But no Nation have claimed to build a city and nation for my glory.

The lord’s Words For The Nagas 5. Therefore, the Lord have not forsaken Nagas but the Lord says “Among the Nagas, two tribes are going to face God’s wrath”.

6. The Lord is revealing his plan.

Nothing is difficult for me to bring the days of Nagas. I can change the days for Nagas in a wink of an eye and they will use that day for my glory.

7. But the Naga leaders are unable to stand up before the Lords plan.

Therefore the Lord is still searching who will govern according to his plan.

8. The Lord says “I am still searching among the Naga leaders.” For Indian I will speak and deal with them.

9. The sovereign Lord says, “I have been talking to Indians in many ways, I have shown my signs and wonders but they still do not acknowledge me. But I am going to speak to the Indians again.” Firstly, Nagas must stand up as per their covenant to live for me.

10. Now in Nagaland, SUMI G.B’s HOHO and SUMI HOHO will butcher all kinds of wild and domestic animals meat in a valley and cut them into pieces in one place.

11. That butchering place of meat will be accomplished as per the desire of the SUMI G.B’s, HOHO and SUMI HOHO. I will bring that day says the mighty God.

12. But the word of the Lord says, even if I bring that day, the Nagas Seed will not perish and Nagas right will not perish but the Lord will bring his judgments.

13. Among the tribes, SUMI will be the butcher and SUMI G.B’s and SUMI HOHO will take the main part.

14. When they cut meat, all the meats of wild animals, domestic animals and meats of all creatures will be mixed including human meats will be cut into pieces.

15. From Manipur, eagles and crows meat will be mixed with other meats, but it will not be known that it is eagle or crow’s meat, all kinds of meats will be mixed and that day is approaching.

16. That day is coming because, among the Naga tribes, TANGKHUL and SUMI tribes are not following according to the wishes and command of the Lord. Therefore, the Lord has prepared this plan.

17. If you want to escape and run away from entering into this days, you must fast and mourn in prayer for 7 (Seven) days, Says the Lord.

18. This will be done even to the top Leaders, the meat of Leaders will be mixed with other meats, declared the Lord.

19. I question SUMI HOHO, “whether I created this world or you cre-

ated?” I ask SUMI Hoho, whether you are preserving this earth or I am preserving it? Since they (SUMI HOHO) think that they are preserving this world so I will let them face the day I am about to bring for them.

20. The Lord says; I command Abraham to bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon. Abraham brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other, the birds; however, he did not cut in half. (Genesis 15) Naga nation are going to do this work.

Abraham could not accomplish the Lord’s command. In the same manner Isaac Chishi Swu is in this position. Therefore write this words and give it to Isaac Chishi Swu. 21. This is my command to put my “WORDS” into all the news papers and let every Nagas read it and know it. This is my AHZA says the Lord.

22. For the Lords Plan is going to come and Nagas will face this days, because among the Nagas, two tribes are unable to stand according to their proclamation for me “Nagaland for Christ”. Therefore the Lord’s wrath is going to come to Nagas.

23. Be strong in prayer and strength-

30. When he face that day, he will pray to me to save him only this time, but I will give him his reward. Therefore, Peace Prayer Team, pray for this to set a record straight.

31. Your strong prayer for Sumi, I am hearing it. I have seen the secret plan of leaders of one faction/ group of Nagas. I know the day and the time. I know their scheme and device and I have numbered it.

Therefore, strengthen your prayer says the Lord.

32. Gold is refined and purify by fire.

In the same manner, I am going to refine Nagas. So even those of you who are here before me in my presence, I want you to become a pure gold.

en your armors as it will be a hair raising day. As per the desire of the SUMI, I will accomplish it and let the dead body overflow the Martyr park. This day will surely come.

24. Peace prayer team “Alakshi Kighinimi” I hear your prayer for your tribe and Nation. For that I am keeping you. It is not that I do not hear your earnest prayer, but I know whatever man plan.

25. Peace prayer men/women, you must humble down deeply in prayer again, and pray for those who are misleading the Nagas. I will visit those who are misguiding the Nagas. In the days of trouble, Ref: 1. Mathew 5:9 they will come to me, but I will not 2. Deut 12:32/ 31:24, shield them.

3. Habakkuk 2:2-3, 26. Even if he tries to go in other road, 4. Jeremiah 37:9, I will let enemy await him in ad5. Jeremiah 33: 10-12, vance and that day will be his.

6. Ezekle 37:22 27. The Almighty God says; I will send my Angels and hunt them like a PRAISE THE LORD! good hunting dog and follow their In the service of the Lord Jesus way and give it to their enemy. Christ.

Among the Nagas, I will cause this day.

Er. M. Samuel Sema 28. Among the Naga tribes, I will send Advisor Secy, a good hunting dog and hunt their Nagaland for Christ Peace footsteps and keep the imperishPrayer Cell, HQ- Ghathashi able record. He will not be able to hide from my eye; says the Lord.

Rev. Luhoyi Jakha, 29. For I know who he is and I will Convenor await him in advance in his way Nagaland for ChristPeace and cause him to fall into that day.

Prayer Cell, HQ- Ghathashi

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

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

6

IN-FOCUS

The Power of Truth

The Morung Express MonDAy 11 AuGusT 2014 voluME IX IssuE 219

Along Longkumer Consulting Editor

Border Resolution

T

he “Peoples’ Dialogue on border issue between Assam and Nagaland” which was organized by the Dimapur based United Naga Tribes Association of Border Areas (UNTABA) on Saturday, August 9 should be welcomed in the context of finding a solution to the vexed border dispute with Assam. The very fact that all the States in the northeast have border disputes with Assam is clear evidence that borders were drawn in an arbitrary manner without first seeking people’s consent and purely for the sake of administrative convenience. Official records from the time of British rule point to orders and notifications issued for revenue collection and other administrative ‘conveniences’ in the process transferring large portions of Naga territory to the adjoining districts of Assam. Permanent embankments known as “Ladiogarh” or the “Naga-Bunds” were raised on the ground as a boundary line between the Ahoms and the Nagas. Even the British had recognized the traditional boundary between the Ahoms and the Nagas as the political boundary. The resolution adopted during the recent Peoples’ Dialogue ‘to settle the border dispute with Assam on the basis of historical facts’ is therefore only fair and reasonable. In fact right from the time of the ‘Nine Point Agreement’ in 1947 to the 16 Point Agreement in 1960, Nagas have been seeking for the restoration of the areas transferred out to Assam. As such, the border dispute is not something new but has a historical basis to it.

Any solution to the boundary dispute with Assam will however need the involvement and cooperation of the Assam government and its people. The resolutions adopted at the end of the ‘Peoples’ Dialogue’ pertains more to safeguarding Naga interests and does not make any mention about reaching out to the other side. It does not say anything about resolution of the border dispute. Nagas will have to partner with the other communities if the border dispute with Assam has to be resolved.

And for this, efforts must be made to engage in a dialogue process and to help each other in seeking a solution. Last year the two Chief Ministers of Assam and Nagaland reportedly met in New Delhi. However nothing is known about what exactly transpired between the two. There appears to be a lack of political initiative from either side and this is partly to be blamed for the unhealthy status-quo. A more active official level engagement is required between the Assam and Nagaland governments. Earlier this column had even suggested for a hotline connection between the respective Home Ministers, Chief Secretary or Director General of Police (DGP) of the two States.

Since then the situation along the border has only deteriorated.

There is clearly a lack of political leadership on either side to resolve the boundary question. We cannot depend solely on the State governments. Therefore a people to people initiative should start for which, Naga civil society groups and their counterparts from Assam should take the lead in beginning a dialogue process. At the least, the governments of the two States should seriously think about using the huge reservoir of goodwill that exists amongst people’s group on both sides to try and hammer out an amicable solution to the border dispute through mediation, goodwill and mutual understanding. Hopefully by engaging more meaningfully with each other, the ground will be laid down for a negotiated settlement that is based on all relevant factors including historical and actual ground realities. In all this we need to keep in mind the shared interest and future of people on both sides who will have to live as good neigbours, side by side and in peaceful co-existence.

(Feedback can be sent to consultingeditormex@gmail.com)

lEfT wiNg |

Arief Anshory Yusuf & Andy Sumner aljazeera.com

Indonesia's wealth gap

T

he gulf between rich and poor has widened in Indonesia more than in any other developing country. It has grown by as much as 60 percent over the last decade, according to our comprehensive look at inequality in the country. While the rich get richer, around 40 percent of the country's 250 million people still live with less than $2 per day. The last ten years in Indonesia following the departure of former President Suharto and the Asian financial crisis in 1997-1998 has seen dramatic change. Across Asia we've seen rapid growth, but this hasn't trickled down to the region's most impoverished people as much as one would hope - and Indonesia is a case in point. The country's economy has boomed since the 2000s, but this has benefited the rich more than the poor. The dramatic rise in inequality is even more spectacular when you consider that for many developing countries in Latin America, inequality is on the decline.

So what's the cause of Indonesia's rising inequality? Recent economic growth has been fuelled by a commodity boom - as world prices have increased, there's been a rise in exports such as coal and palm oil. Natural resource production demands capital investment, hence the commodity boom generally benefits the already rich. Some argue that a burgeoning gap between rich and poor can be attributed to the rapid development of Indonesia's urban areas, such as the capital, Jakarta. But we found that inequality has risen across the country, and much of the increase is within provinces and districts.

We calculated different measures of inequality, such as the difference in what the richest and poorest in Indonesian society spent from 2003-2013 (ie the ratio of spending between the richest 10 percent and poorest 10 percent). Using this measure, we found an increase in inequality of over 60 percent. Using more standard measures of inequality, such as the Gini coefficient, we also found a rise in inequality of more than 30 percent during the same period. At the same time, Indonesia's use of fiscal policy to address rising inequality during the last decade of economic growth has been ineffective. For instance, last year personal income tax contributed around Rp 102 trillion ($8.8bn) to the country's national budget. In contrast, fuel subsidies came to Rp 200 trillion ($17.2bn) - a tax break enjoyed by the richest 40 percent. Meanwhile, social spending was just Rp over 80 trillion ($6.9bn) What could President Joko Widodo do in his first 100 days in office to address such issues? A more progressive budget to tackle inequality is possible - by channelling the fuel subsidy towards social spending. There's good reason to have hope in the new president. Widodo's election win comes from his track record of innovative health and education policies as mayor of Solo and governor of Jakarta.

For instance, last year his Jakarta Smart Card initiative targeted more than 300,000 students from poor families at a cost of Rp 800 billion ($69m). It meant that a typical poor family of two young children in school received vouchers of Rp 360,000 ($31) per month - about a quarter of their household budget.

The vouchers must be spent on education (getting the bus to school, books, uniform and so on). Evidence suggests that this policy alone could cut rising inequality in Jakarta by half.

Widodo's promise to expand the Jakarta Smart Card programme nationwide has appealed to the millions of Indonesians voting for him. Indonesia can certainly afford to help its poorest. And if the new president wants economic growth to continue, he must tackle the growing gap between rich and poor. Research shows that rising inequality not only prolongs poverty, but also slows economic growth. Let's hope the new president lives up to expectations and is able to continue with his significant progressive track record.

C O M M E N T A R Y

THE EDIT PAGE

John Cole and Steve Sciacchitano

Thailand coup as counter-insurgency

O

n May 22, after making repeated public statements that a coup would not resolve Thailand's intractable political conflict, Royal Thai Army (RTA) commander General Prayuth Chan-ocha seized power at the head of a military junta that has since vowed to overhaul the country's politics. While Prayuth's tactics of consolidation are recognizable, harking to the military's suppression of communist insurgents in the 1970s and 80s, there is no guarantee his ruling National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) will achieve similar national reconciliation.

According to senior military sources, Prayuth was sincere in his earlier public vows of non-intervention in the country's tumultuous politics. After months of persistent lobbying by two groups of senior officers that argued the country faced a fundamental crisis from spiraling street protest-related violence and the real threat of armed confrontation between political groups aligned and opposed to self-exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, Prayuth finally acquiesced to the idea of a military takeover.

One lobby group was comprised of retired senior generals of the influential 2nd Infantry Division, a unit where Prayuth formerly served. A second more influential group consisted of a wellorganized network of more junior active duty officers, according to the same military insiders. The well-placed sources did not say exactly when Prayuth changed his mind but circumstantial evidence points to some time in mid to late March.

According to the same sources, the pro-coup groups argued that the crisis represented the last realistic chance, given the fragile health and advanced age of the revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, to remove the Shinawatra family clan and its aligned Peua Thai party from power before the succession of heir apparent Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn to the throne.

This royalist group of officers feared that if Peua Thai was still in control of government at the time of the succession, Thaksin and his political allies might try to take advantage of the succession to further their political interests. Thaksin has consistently insisted his loyalty to the throne and has known personal ties to Vajiralongkorn.

The first sign of the shift came with the RTA's announcement that the number of conscripts to be inducted for service in April would be increased by several thousand, in order to increase the personnel levels of the then under-strength and increasingly pivotal 7th Infantry and 3rd Cavalry Divisions.

These divisions, garrisoned in the country's North and Northeastern regions, the two strongest areas of political support for Thaksin and his aligned Peua Thai Party, were established several years ago with the intention of bolstering the army's ability to control these regions in a potential crisis. Until now, however, they existed as not much more than cadres; the decision to fill out their ranks was a clear sign that the RTA was preparing, at least as a contingency, to intervene.

The second sign was an apparent behind-thescenes struggle for control of key army units at the April mid-year reshuffle. (A larger, more significant reshuffle takes place every October.) Normally the most routine of bureaucratic procedures, the promotion and reassignment list was delayed for almost three weeks after then Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra announced in early March that she had forwarded the list to the palace for final royal approval. (Yingluck was knocked from office by a court decision weeks before the coup; one of her deputies served as caretaker premier when the military finally seized power.)

One plausible explanation for the delay was that officers within the Ministry of Defense (MoD), which was then staffed with many pro-Thaksin officers, most prominently MoD Permanent Secretary General Nipat Thonglek, attempted to change the list proposed by royalist military leaders either because they had become aware of Prayuth's plan to intervene or aimed more generally to limit the army chief's power. A similar dispute between royalists and Thaksin's camp over a military reshuffle list presaged Thaksin's military ouster in 2006.

Some have pointed to the proposed promotion of Major General Aphirak Kongphongsom, a known Prayuth protege who as a colonel commanded the 11th Infantry Regiment unit that was instrumental in the suppression of pro-Thaksin 'Red Shirt' street protests in 2009-2010, to head the important Bangkok-based 1st Infantry Division (King's Guard) as a particular point of contention. The King's Guard has since been instrumental in consolidating the coup.

Iron fist, velvet glove In most previous Thai coups, the army or a faction within the army seized power via extra-constitutional means for their own benefit or to preserve the military's larger institutional interests. While the Kingdom's prevailing constitution has usually either been suspended or totally rewritten in past coups, the primary goal has generally been to return to normalcy as soon as possible.

Like the 2006 coup that ousted Thaksin's elected government, Prayuth has promised to quickly restore democracy after a period of political reform. Indeed, some commentators have described the 2014 coup as a "hard" version of the 2006 intervention, meaning that the military realizes that it didn't go far enough the last time to remove the Shinawatra clan's political influence and perceived existential threat.

Such an analysis, however, fails to appreciate the full extent of what Prayuth's NCPO is currently trying to accomplish. In fact, the frame of reference for best understanding Prayuth's putsch is not the 2006 coup, or really any previous coup, but rather the successful counter-insurgency (COIN) campaign the RTA waged against the insurgent Communist Party of Thailand (CPT) in the 1970's and 80's.

Many active senior officers, including the ruling clique around Prayuth, are veterans of that ultimately successful military campaign. The operation continues to be studied extensively in Thai army service schools, while many of the structures which were originally developed to fight the communist insurgency are still active. The Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), for example, played a key role in gathering pre-coup intelligence and post-coup has played a prominent role

in implementing Prayuth's political plans.

The counter-insurgency campaign's doctrine and fighting methods are part of the Thai officer corps' collective DNA, a fact that many outsiders find difficult to comprehend. For RTA soldiers, it's more than just a military doctrine; the experience is at the heart of how the officer corps views itself and justifies its special role as national guardian beyond the command and control of elected civilian politicians.

Both then and now, the RTA perceives an existential threat to the Kingdom. Not coincidentally, the threat arises from the same regions, the North and Northeast, which are the heartland of both the CPT and Thaksin's Red Shirt supporters. The RTA's approach to both situations is essentially the same: suppress its dedicated ideological opponents while trying to attract the average, non-ideological, proThaksin Red Shirt supporter by offering amnesty and programs to improve their lives.

The military's first moves in the wake of the May 22 coup are consistent with this tactic. The detention of prominent Red Shirt leaders and Peua Thai politicians, raids on hidden arms caches allegedly linked to militant Red Shirts, and the shutting down of anti-military, pro-Thaksin media represented the suppressive element of this two-pronged strategy.

The payment of farmers owed from the previous government's botched rice pledging program and campaigns to promote national "happiness" are attempts to co-opt Thaksin's less ideological supporters.

This time around, however, the RTA and its NCPO faces potentially unseen risks. By copying the successful techniques of the 1980's but possibly forgetting the spirit that informed them, the NCPO risks confusing stability with legitimacy.

Thailand's ruling generals would do well to remember that the RTA's original counterinsurgency campaign was multi-phased and that it was only in the final phase that reforms which ultimately proved to be the keys to victory were enacted.

In the beginning, the RTA simply went on a killing spree against communist rebels. That phase of the campaign had predictable results: many innocent people were killed and many more were driven into the insurgents' camp. At that time, the RTA had not yet developed its own counterinsurgency doctrine. Due to the presence of American advisors in its ranks, the RTA followed the United States' COIN doctrine used in Vietnam, which depended on heavy firepower, attrition, body counts and cordonand-search techniques.

A reaction to this brutality soon arose from within the RTA. Relatively junior officers, some of whom were leading troops in the field and others who served as staff officers at the RTA Operations Center in Bangkok, gave birth to a reform movement, known as the "Democratic Soldiers", which improved the RTA's unit discipline and incorporated innovative field tactics, some of which had even been employed by the CPT's insurgents. This was also later coupled with a heartsand-minds program of massive infrastructure building in the rural North and Northeast regions.

These policies still weren't enough to quell the rebellion. Only after several years and against much opposition, both from within the civilian Ministry of the Interior and the RTA itself, was a final new comprehensive new national COIN policy (Prime Minister's Order 66/2325, April 1980) pushed through the bureaucracy by a few knowledgeable senior officers, notably Generals Prem Tinsulanonda, Chavalit Yongchaiyuth, Harn Linnanon and Charn Boonprasert, and adopted as national policy.

The primary thrust of this new policy was a nationwide interagency effort implemented by joint civilian, police and military task forces in affected provinces.

These task forces, under the control of ISOC, consulted with villagers about their needs and then aimed to meet them. Provincial governors who were then all Ministry of the Interior officials were also for the first time brought into the COIN effort (a Prem and Harn innovation from the their previous COIN operations in the Northeast) by making them responsible for the success and/or failure for all related policies and operations in their respective provinces.

At the same time, the CPT also made several significant blunders which inadvertently played into government hands, including a propaganda campaign against the Thai royal family and favoring China in the Sino-Soviet split. But it was only when villagers in the North and Northeast were finally accorded both a minimum measure of respect and some local control over government policies that affected their livelihoods that popular support for the CPT insurgency finally collapsed.

Top-down reform The public consultations about reforms which ISOC is now overseeing on behalf of the NCPO echoes this previous COIN policy. What counted as deep-reaching reform in the 1970's and 80's, however, will no longer suffice to satisfy an increasingly more educated, sophisticated and politically aware Thai electorate.

Whether or not the military intends to adopt real

reforms that will ultimately lead to a genuinely more democratic political system won't be absolutely certain until a new constitution is written and adopted - a process the NCPO has said will take over a year.

One early indication of the military's intention to go beyond uprooting the Shinawatra family's influence and implement genuine political reforms will be the selection of an interim prime minister.

The most frequently mentioned candidates in the Thai press are retired army general Prawit Wongsawon and Prayuth himself. Prayuth must retire from the armed services this September at the mandatory age of 60 and assuming the premiership as a civilian would allow him to continue to steer the country's post-coup course. If either officer is named to serve as interim premier, it will raise questions about the reform direction. Both officers share an entirely traditional military outlook on social and political affairs and are known to be strong defenders of the military's own prerogatives.

A more hopeful reform path would see the selection of a civilian technocrat with previous business, government or legal experience, as well as the personal standing and legitimacy to lead the Kingdom to a new national election in late 2015, as the NCPO has promised. At the same time, the appointment of a past or present army officer will likely also put more pressure on the military's internal cohesion.

Senior officers say the public unity currently displayed by the military's senior leadership masks divisions in the officer corps which are partly political, partly factional. Prawit and Prayuth are leaders of one such intra-army faction, popularly known as the "Eastern Tigers." The appointment of either could be viewed by the other main faction, the "Wong Thewan", loosely translated as "lineage of the gods", as a potential threat to its aspirations and interests.

Wong Thewan officers, who come largely from elite families, benefit from their high-level military and political connections and tend to win assignments to the Bangkok-based 1st Infantry Division (King's Guard), which has responsibilities for aspects of palace security. The "Eastern Tigers", on the other hand, tend to come from commoner backgrounds and are concentrated in the 2nd Infantry Division (Queens' Guard) based to the East of Bangkok.

Significantly, the 2nd Infantry Division includes the 21st Regiment, a special unit given the mission after a failed 1981 coup attempt to provide security to the royal family during times of crisis.

Over the years, officers whose careers began in the 21st Regiment often remained in the 2nd Infantry Division as they were promoted, creating a close bond between the royal family and the special unit. These ties have influenced the promotion to the rank of major general of a larger number of "Eastern Tigers" than from the "Wong Thewan" faction, leading to rivalry between the two groups.

Prawit began his career in the 21st Infantry and remained for most of the rest of his service in the 2nd Infantry Division. Under pressure from a camp of royalist former military officers, Thaksin appointed Prawit as RTA commander in October 2004 to replace his own cousin, General Chaiyasit Shinawatra, who was moved to the largely ceremonial post of Supreme Commander. According to senior military officers, Prawit later provided crucial support in the planning of Thaksin's 2006 overthrow, leveraging knowledge and connections gained while serving as army leader.

Prawit currently serves as a senior advisor to the NCPO. According to several RTA sources, there may be an out-of-cycle special military reshuffle in the coming months which will be utilized as a vehicle to both reward loyal troop commanders who performed well in the recent coup, as well as to purge those officers deemed as unreliable by the coup's leaders. The timing of this possible special reshuffle will be in advance of the scheduled normal annual fall reshuffle, which will become effective on October 1, 2014.

Whether or not this special reshuffle actually happens, it is significant that the entire Thai military leadership is scheduled to reach mandatory retirement age on September 30, 2014. However they accomplish it, the NCPO's leaders collectively want their successor generation of officers to be in place prior to their departure from active duty so that no potential disruption of the coup they have successfully consolidated occurs.

It is expected that most of this group will remain in key civilian positions with the junta after their retirement from the military. The new interim constitution has already granted the coup-makers amnesty for the putsch and oversight of a hand-picked legislative assembly that will be tasked with drafting a permanent new charter. It also gives Prayuth the discretionary power to take action against any threats to peace, order or the monarchy, a measure that vests ultimate power with the military and raises questions about its ultimate reform intentions.

John Cole and Steve Sciacchitano spent several years in Thailand while on active duty with the US Army. Both were trained as Foreign Area Officers specializing in Southeast Asia and graduated from the Royal Thai Army's Command and General Staff College.

They are now retired and the views expressed here are their own.

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

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

7

Monday

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

11 August 2014

PERSPECTIVE NEWS ANALYSIS, FEATURE AND DISCOURSE

The Morung Express

POll RESUlTS

Do you support oil exploration in nagalanD? Some of those who voted YES had this to say: • Yes if it’s done in 55/45 sharing basis. 55% to the company bringing machinery, manpower etc and 45% to landowners. Both parties should benefit equally.

• So that there will be low price for oil ... ;) • Yes, because Assam will finish it off if we do not • Yes, i support oil exploration. It is a good way to establish our future, economy and resources. Not just oil but agriculture too. Take a look at Brunei, a small country but one of the wealthiest in the world with oil as their main natural resources. They seem to have figured a way to manage themselves and work it our. In todays world, people and business are just lurking like a hungry lion. The young Nagas of today are smart, educated, adventurous, bold and complex. We should start full swing and use our God given intelligence to make Nagaland a better place to live. Oil exploration should be conducted strictly based on the laws that were implemented during S.C. Jamir's time. It benefits the Nagas first.

• Yes. No point in talking about development if we cannot utilise our own resources.

• Yes.. if it is done by some trusted corporations and without changing article 371 (A)..

• Yes one day or the other we have to start exploring out minerals to sustain us, whether we like it or not and the earlier the better, provided the govt does it in a transparent manner, taking into consideration the benefit of the stakeholders, above anything else, as these group will be parting with their lands and ultimately their livelihood opportunities.

• yes, and profits should be invested back in to the community in form of actual development not just on paper, and job opportunities.... don't make it another Assam with all profits getting siphoned off.

• Of course.. but manned by only genuine and experienced company...as a. student of geology, we have no job opportunities without oil exploration or mining...

• Yes, it should be supported by all. Nagas should come to senses that these natural resources are being/will be exploited illegally by vested interests and that is much more worse than leasing it out to the government for atleast some even though little profit. We are just sitting over it and not making use of it, thinking we need to extract more from the govt as land owners but please lets not be ignorant ..that's our loss, our neighbors are extracting our very little resources without our knowledge from very far off. I'd say please come to terms soon or we will not be left with any resource to boast of.

• Yes....but in the interest of the Nagas. if we dont we are going to lose it because that wont last whether we extract or not. make use of it before it is lost.

• Yes, Naga economy will automatically improve • My answer was yes. Notice Inviting Tenders should

not be manipulated. Genuine and well established exploit it. Oil exploration, per se, is the problem. firms should be given the task. These companies The problem is our politicians. The politicians want have the expertise and technology to extract oil to exploit the few natural resources in our state even from the bottom of the sea. So it won't be any when they are in power for pure monetary beneproblem for them to extract oil in Nagaland. Why fits for themselves. Again, the govt is all out to extalk about saving for the future? How much does ploit oil and clear the debts, which they themselves have pocketed. So, under this condition I am totally the government earn from coal mining? Isn't it being done illegally with neither rules for safety nor against oil exploration in Nagaland. consideration for impacts on the land and environ- • No, we are on the way to self government. so why should we allow others to exploit our oil. ment? The region where oil is found and extracted will see much development... well constructed • No, as the money will not go the people but to few selected officials. and outsiders will bring social roads, electrification and probably health care cendiseases with them. Poor will be poorer and land ters and schools. We also must press for employment of Nagas. The obstacles for delay or even owners will be ousted from their land.

• No, Naga city will be polnon-materialization will be luted. due to the NPGs, landown• No, It will be a folly on the ers and corrupted minispart of the Nagas to support ters and bureaucrats. oil exploration in Nagaland.

Just because we are in finanSome of those who voted cial crisis and in abject poverno had this to say: ty does not mean we should • Not at all. Once we allow oil sell off our birth rights. exploration in Nagaland all • Never. When our peothese oil companies with ple are not going to benefit the support of politician and from the oil exploration why bureaucrats will completely should I support oil exploradestroy and finish off our tion? They companies are natural resources. What will giving us peanuts while they we leave for our future genare having the main course erations. We have become meal. Our politicians have too greedy and we only taken money from the oil think about ourselves. No, companies during the last we cannot allow oil exploelection and this is the rearation in Nagaland. These son why they are forcing the companies are here only oil exploration. There should for their own profit, not for be a independent investigapeople's interest. tion to look into the relation • Naga's long political imbetween oil companies and broglio should be reour politicians. solved first.

• No, Time will come for the • NO, instead the state govt YES no OTHERS Nagas to explore for themshould open our own oil reself finery for our own use .

• No. Because our products should be manufactured • Not at all. I care for my land and the people and I and made into saleable product and not sell the cannot allow oil companies and our corrupted leadcrude oil. If you sell any crude products you are ers to exploit our land and resources.

• No I do not encourage such step … where are we also selling your employment. going too land after all our resources have been • No. First clear the debt then followed by oil explodepleted. Don’t know whether our honorable chief ration. minister and his subordinate know the meaning of • No, not the way the government interprets peoples ownership and the manner in which it is going sustainable development.

• No because it is our duty to preserve our resources about on the matter. for future generation.

• Every Naga must support Oil exploration in Nagaland. In fact, the landowners must be the first to • Firstly even the central funds are being misused urge the government for oil exploration. The most politically, there is no job oriented infrastructure beprecious resources they own and have. But, not ing created by the state gov, lastly the extraction of according to what the NPF government wants to our only natural resources without any transpar-

48%

41%

11%

ency and credibility will be nothing but exploitation by vested politicians, totally No. • Personally i do not support it although there are both positive and negative points. Nagaland government is so much in hurry for extracting this oil which is our only natural wealth or resource ...we need to study thoroughly before taking any steps ..more of negative feedbacks come to my mind if we continue like this at this point ..

Some of those who voted OTHERS had this to say: • Up to my knowledge, Nagaland, my state is one of the most greedy state. These generation people are facing global warming, even we suffered. So instead of showing good example to others by not utilizing the oil even though we have it, we tried to explore it. Whats up with us? Are we living only for money? Think about next generation!

• First of all some modalities should be change.

• Yes if the government wants to use its revenues for job oriented project...no if it will benefit only the netas.....

• All our resources both human and natural r going to waste because of these damned golddigger politicians and hopeless UG..

• Just answering Yes or No will do no good. What is Ground Reality? Is Natural Resources Utilization Modality acceptable? What is the Objective of the exploration? Should be the questions.

• Had it been ..BY the people OF the people and FOR the people..its a YES. BUT if it is BY the politician because OF greed FOR their self interest ..its a ''BIG'' NO • Oil exploration by all means but not people exploitation. Pay handsome royalty to land owners. Ask for a centrally sponsored Oil Refinery in Nagaland. Oil is liquid unlike solid substances like gold and precious stones. Unless tapped at the earliest, our neighbor Assam will suck it dry through horizontal tapping and we will get only barrels of folly and regrets later.

• Indeed it will be the proudest moment for we the nagas. But who are we to decide..?? We together living as brother's and sisters of NAGA's, its our duty to support them (The land owners) & advice them. The government must pay handsome royalty to the land owners, instead why are they political-zing everything..?

Politics in Nagaland is so good that, some few years back sugar mill in Dimapur was shutdown becoz of this politics, no salary was given to the workers & when the investigation from the Central Government of India came they used that money to buy them, this is how the politics play its role in Nagaland. At the end we the common people are the one who suffer in the hands of this politics. Think it wisely before you do something my dear Kyong brothers.

How Can We Destroy love? Can oil revenue solve the ills of the state?

Robert J. Burrowes

L

Countercurrents.org

ove is a serious problem in our world.

There is too much of it. So I want to explain how we can destroy it systematically. If we can destroy love completely, we can destroy life on Earth.

But first, what is love?

In essence, love is a feeling. It is not something you experience as a thought, although a thought might arise from the feeling. Love precipitates a certain type of behavior. This might include showing someone that we care about them deeply. Often, it means taking action that demonstrates our love. Perhaps even that we are willing to make concessions or sacrifices for their benefit. Depending on the context, love might be accompanied by some companion feelings such as compassion, empathy and sympathy.

The problem with love is that it might incline us to act with genuine concern for others. In fact, we might act as if someone else or others in general are as important as are we. And if we did that, it would ruin our chances of getting as much as we can for ourselves at the expense of those around us.

So how can we destroy love?

The best way is to terrorize a child. How? The most effective way to terrorize a child is to do what parents ordinarily do in the belief that we need to 'socialize' children in the ways of their society. This involves inflicting what I have called 'invisible' violence as well as 'utterly invisible' violence on children throughout their childhoods so that they become obedient and easily controlled slaves. For a thorough elaboration of this point, see 'Why Violence?' http://tinyurl.com/ whyviolence and 'Fearless Psychology and Fearful Psychology: Principles and Practice' http:// anitamckone.wordpress.com/articles-2/fearless-and-fearful-psychology/ So what is 'invisible' violence? Here are a few examples from my list of more than 200: blaming, condemning, insulting, mocking, embarrassing, shaming, humiliating, taunting, goading, guilttripping, deceiving, lying to, bribing, blackmailing, moralizing with and/or judging a child.

And what is 'utterly invisible' violence? It is deliberate interference in the expression of the child's feelings and the behavioral responses naturally generated by these feelings (including when these feelings and behaviours arise in response to our visible or 'invisible' violence).

This 'utterly invisible' violence occurs when we ignore, comfort, reassure, distract, laugh at, ridicule, scream at, hit, restrain or punish a child who is crying, scared, angry or otherwise expressing and/or acting on their feelings. When we do this, our unconscious message to the child is clear: 'Don't feel and act on your feelings, unless they are happy or loving ones, or I will terrorize you until you stop!'

If you terrorize a child in this way they will become fearful of listening to their feelings.

Moreover, as they lose their courage to fight back

against your violence, they will accumulate feelings of self-hatred as well. However, without a safe opportunity to feel this fear and self-hatred in order to release them, the fear and self-hatred will be suppressed below their conscious awareness. And given the extraordinarily unpleasant nature of these feelings – who wants to feel like a coward and to hate themselves? – the fear and self-hatred will be projected as fear of and hatred for 'socially legitimized victim groups': depending on the social context, this will usually be people of other racial or religious groups.

This projected fear and self-hatred is most readily observed in the behavior of political leaders such as US President Barack Obama, UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who are so obviously terrified and devoid of self-love and, hence, the capacity to love others that killing people, including children, is the intended and routine outcome of their military violence.

The projected fear and self-hatred of corporate figures like Bill Gates, the Walton family (of Walmart) and their fellow billionaires and millionaires is also readily observed. Again, devoid of love for themselves, they cannot feel love, compassion, empathy or sympathy for those 50,000 people in Africa, Asia and Central/ South America who are starved to death each day because of corporate capitalism's control of the distribution of the world's resources to maximize their corporate profits and personal wealth, often at the expense of their heavily exploited employees as well.

In stark contrast to the individuals mentioned above, the self-love and, therefore, love for others is obvious in the behavior of people like Noam Chomsky, Mairead Maguire, Chandra Muzaffar and Kathy Kelly who devote their lives to articulating and acting on the nonviolent truth.

If you want your child to love themselves and others, it is essential that you do not terrorize them into doing what you want (or you must let them have their feelings about your violence if, occasionally, you do terrorize them).

If you love your child, let them behave in accordance with their own feelings, not yours.

That is what evolution intended. It had a few billion years to work it out.

If you like, you can listen to a song by Anita McKone that highlights the importance of feelings: http://anitamckone.wordpress.com/songsof-nonviolence/lets-sing-a-feelings-song-forkids/ And here's another song that highlights the meaning of love: http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=HvvZ1TEQRB8&feature=kp If you wish to join the worldwide movement to nurture love and end all violence, you are welcome to sign online 'The People's Charter to Create a Nonviolent World' http://thepeoplesnonviolencecharter.wordpress.com Self-love is true love. The individual who does not truly love themselves cannot love another.

Robert J. Burrowes has a lifetime commitment to understanding and ending human violence. He has done extensive research since 1966 in an effort to understand why human beings are violent and has been a nonviolent activist since 1981. He is the author of 'Why Violence?'

M

any people believe that the solution to the financial woes of our state lies in generating resources through the extractive industry. Across the wide spectrum of our society, many hold the conviction that commercial extraction of oil and its resulting revenues will solve most of our problems including our mounting debts and scrimpy revenue, weak baseline infrastructure, unemployment, poverty, shaky educational system, poor healthcare facilities and so on. But few people can tell us how the petro-cash can steer the economy out of its miseries.

The rest simply don’t have a clue. Yet, it is good to have that hope, for it is the hope of a better tomorrow that keeps many tiring souls from perishing.

For decades, we were made to believe that the slow pace of development in our state is due to the weak revenue base of the state government. The notion is being repeated so often that we tend to believe it is true. Perhaps, it is not. It is only a propaganda, a tool, rather the easiest and the most acceptable excuse to defend the state of our appalling conditions. The ultimate cause of our underdevelopment, the weakening of our institutions, the deepening of conflicts, the decadence of entrepreneurial activities and the demoralization of sound governance and ethos are apparently not due to the lack of money, but the lack of many other things.

Chief Minister, Shri. T R Zeliang, in his budget speech has pegged the gross receipts for this fiscal at Rs. 12,127.59 Crore, out of which the state’s own revenue is expected to contribute Rs. 593 Crore or 4.88 percent of the total receipts. Every time the government presents its budget on the floor of the Assembly, we are reminded of how weak our resource base is.

And subsequent finance ministers of the state reiterate the same message, that is, the need to widen the tax base and augment revenue. Nagaland Post puts the budget as “tax free deficit budget” in its front page. I find it amusing as these two words ‘tax free’ and ‘deficit budget’ are intricately correlated. However, in spite of the repeated appeal to augment internal revenue collection we are yet to have any concrete plans either to widen the tax base, enhance the tax rates or to effectively tap the existing resources.

While it is important for the State to tap as much resources as possible internally to make the economy self reliant, it is also equally important for the State to put into use the available funds in the most judicious manner. In spite of the meager state own resources, what can’t be generated internally is being provided by the central government. With an estimated annual gross expenditure of Rs. 12,431.57 Crore we cannot say that the

State machineries are incapacitated by dearth of funds. Even a hundred percent increase in State’s own revenue will not be enough to support half of our State Plan outlay of Rs. 2300 Crore. And going by the current growth rate of state’s own revenue, it would take several years to double the amount, by that time the expenditures would also have been doubled. Therefore, the solution to our financial woes may not just lie in tapping additional sources of internal revenue but also in finding an effective strategy to expend the funds provided by the center.

Even if oil is extracted in Nagaland, say, at the rate of 5000 barrels per day, the stipulated 16 percent revenue share for the State would come to around 175.2 Crore per year, taking the price of crude oil at $100 per barrel, and the dollar- rupee ratio at 1:60. Out of which, 65.7 Crore would go to the individual landowner and other landowners as per their royalty share of 6 percent, and 109.5 crores would go to the state exchequer as per the 10 percent share. The remaining 919.8 Crore (84 percent of the total value of 1095 crore) would go to the oil company. At these rates, even an extraction of 50,000 barrels per day will yield less than Rs. 2000 crore per year in revenue for the state government.

The assessment is not intended to discourage oil extraction in the state nor to say that we do not need oil revenue (we seriously do). It is just to dispense the hype that oil revenue can solve our revenue related problems. It can ameliorate some of our resource difficulties, but unless we go on a Saudi Arabian scale, which is seemingly unrealistic, oil revenue alone is not going to save our darn arse.

In that case, what kind of swift progress can we expect from an additional injection of some few hundred crores in a year, even when the tens of thousands of crore funded by the central government does not seem to have much impact. The idea that more money brings more development is not always true. For development does not just come from robust funding and sound development planning alone. It is brought by people, people having good conscience, resolve, accountability, respect to authority and the laws of nature. Fair, transparent and effective governance is therefore, critical to ensuring that development policies benefit the people.

The mindset that we are sitting on multimillion dollars of wealth could be doing us more harm than good. When we expect something that is cheap and easy, something that does not comes out of hard work and industry; it spoils and corrupts the mind. The mind became lazy, unproductive, less creative and unenterprising. It slowly turns into a disease,

which is contagious. When it booms it creates a social nuisance of all sorts.

Nagaland is yet to economically exploit its vast natural resources. Yet it struck gold long time back, when the Union of India decided to support the budgetary and administrative expenses of the state government in return for the latter’s joining the Indian Union. The constant flow of funds from Delhi caused the state economy to witness a syndrome related to the Dutch Disease. Dutch disease is the negative consequences arising from large increase in income, especially oil or gas. The term describes an ailment that Netherland contracted in the 1960s where the rest of the Dutch economy (other than the oil and gas sector) suffered due to the sudden flow of wealth from gas exports. In a sense, the other sectors lost their comparative advantages and competitiveness.

In our case, it is not the oil sector but the government sector. As money flows into the state coffers, the government sector became the most attractive destination for jobs, money and power making the rest of the sectors dull and inactive. Relation and business with the state became the most profitable business of the economy.

The result is a less performing private sector. Nigeria, among others, also experiences similar problem due to oil funds. Its once vibrant agricultural sector collapsed, and the country became a net importer of food. Oil revenues were misused and squandered, and environmental impact of oil extraction worsened. And the country oil industry has been caught up in the struggle among regions, ethnic groups, national and local politicians, and violent groups and militias- all for money, power and primacy.

As for Nagaland, the issue is tricky, touchy and complex. Despite the fact that exploration permit has already been issued to MOGPL, the state is yet to have proper regulatory framework in place that can effectively guarantee the safety and interest of the people and the environment. Social and Environmental Impact Assessment were not carried and Contingency Planning does not even figured in the public discourses. Moreover, measures for mitigations of environmental impacts and pollution control, issues for compliance and high standards of corporate responsibility have all taken a back seat. What matters is money, instant money. But it is not money that creates jobs and employment, its policy. It is not money that could protect us from social displacement, environmental fallout and corporate frauds- its regulations. Well, the choice is ours. For well begun is half done.

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

N Janbemo Humtsoe, Green Foundation, Nagaland.

8

Dimapur

NATIONAL

Monday 11 August 2014

The Morung Express

protests by MPs Bharat Ratna likely for AB Vajpayee, Noisy go against rule book Subhas Chandra Bose & Kanshi Ram

new delhI, august 10 (agencIes): Freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, and senior BJP leader and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee along with Bahujan Samaj Party founder Kanshi Ram may be conferred with the Bharat Ratna, as per reports on Sunday. It is being said that the the announcement regarding the same may be made as early as Independence Day by the BJP-led NDA government.

The Bharatiya Janata Party have long been demanding the the nation’s highest civilian honour for one of their tallest leader Vajpayee, who became the first person from the party to occupy the top post of the country. He was also the first PM of the country from a non-Congress background.

They had raised the issue when in November last year cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and eminent scientist CNR Rao were given the highest civilian award.

Senior BJP leader and former Deputy PM of India LK Advani had written to the then PM Manmohan Singh in 2008 to present the award to Vajpayee. But the UPA government never short-listed him. Vajpayee has been keeping unwell for some years now and is not seen in public. He lost the 2004 General Elections with the Congress-led UPA coming to power. The 1998 underground nuclear tests conducted in Pokhran desert in Rajasthan, called Pokhran-II and the 1999 Kargil war against Pakistan which India won are some of the highlights of his tenure as PM. The saffron party has often accused the Congress for ignoring great names in the past for the award.

Modi had said last year that

the Congress had bestowed the honour on NehruGandhi family members (Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi) while delaying giving the award to India’s first home minister and ‘Iron Man’ Sardar Vallabhai Patel.

He had also said that BR Ambedker had got the Bharat Ratna only when a BJP backed government came to power in Delhi, years after his death. As for Bose, in 1992, the then government had announced the award for him but it was never conferred on him. This was after a big controversy broke out with his family members and other admirers objecting to the award being given to him posthumously. A PIL was also filed in the matter which had maintained that the the award could not be given to someone whose esteem and stature was bigger than the honour.

Finally, the Supreme Court had to intervene and the press release announcing the award was cancelled. It was said that as the certificate had not been given and as there had been no gazette notification regarding the award to Netaji, the announcement was nullified. But the SC refused to address the issue of award being posthumously. The name of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) founder Madan Mohan Malviya is also doing the rounds. He also served as its vice chancellor. He was involved with the Hindu Mahasabha, while also being the president of the Congress. Malviya was deeply connected with Varanasi, the constituency which Modi won from in the Parliamentary elections this year.

There has also been some speculation regarding

Netaji kin do not want Bharat Ratna for the freedom fighter

kolkata, august 10 (PtI): Amidst speculation that India’s highest civilian award Bharat Ratna may be conferred on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, a majority of his family members today disapproved of the idea and instead demanded that the mystery of his disappearance be solved first.

“Netaji has been missing since 1945. When you award him with Bharat

Ratna posthumously, you have to say when he died, but where is the evidence?

The best way to honour him is to declassify government files which can reveal the truth behind his disappearance,” Netaji’s grandnephew Chandra Kumar Bose told PTI. He said that he had spoken to around 60 family members of the great leader, none of whom was willing to accept the award

on his behalf. “All of us feel that Bharat Ratna is not the appropriate award for him.

None of us will go and accept the award,” Bose said.

The family and members of the Open Platform for Netaji had recently written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding formation of a Special Investigation Team under the guidance of a sitting judge of the Supreme Court to investigate into

Netaji’s disappearance.

When under house arrest by the British, Netaji had escaped from India in 1941 to seek international support for India’s freedom struggle. He went missing in 1945, giving birth to India’s most debated and lingering mystery ever. The Mukherjee Commission had rejected the opinion that he died in a plane crash in Taiwan on August 18, 1945.

Kanshi Ram and hockey legend Dhyan Chand. Known as ‘The Wizard’, he is widely considered as the greatest field hockey player of all time. Dhyan Chand had three Olympic gold medals in his kitty (1928, 1932, and 1936) in field hockey.

There has also been a clamour to give him the award. Many are of the view that he should have been the first sportsperson to have been conferred the Bharat Ratna and should have been bestowed the

honour ahead of Sachin.

It is also being said that the decision regarding the names may have been taken at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who led BJP to a massive victory in the 2014 General Elections and took oath of office on May 26.

At the same time reports are doing the rounds that the Union Home Ministry has already placed an order for five medallions for the Bharat Ratna with the Reserve Bank of India mint.

The Bharat Ratna was instituted on January 02, 1954 and is conferred in recognition of exceptional service.

It was initially given those who excelled in the fields of arts, literature, science and public services.

However, in 2011 the government expanded the scope of the award and included any field of human endeavour. There is no monetary grant given with the award. C Rajagopalachari was the first person to be given the award. Pres-

idents S Radhakrishnan, Rajendra Prasad, Zakir Hussain, VV Giri and Abdul Kalam and former PMs Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Morarji Desai and Gulzari Lal Nanda have been the recipient of Bharat Ratna in the past.

Also, Gobind Ballabh Pant, MS Subhalakshmi, Lata Mangeshkar, Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Bismillah Khan, along with others have been bestowed the Bharat Ratna.

Mamata misleading people about Bengal’s growth: Cong

kolkata, august 10 government’s own Eco- national average”.

Chowdhury also at(Ians): West Bengal Con- nomic Survey Report, only gress president Adhir Ran- 28 industrial units were tacked the Banerjee adjan Chowdhury Sunday set up in 2011-12 generat- ministration over the enclaimed that the state’s eco- ing 3,841 jobs, and 12 units cephalitis-related deaths, nomic growth has actually were set up in 2012-13 at an and demanded adequate come down in the last two investment of Rs.312 crore compensation for the kin of years, and accused Chief generating just 2,052 jobs. the deceased. The disease Minister Mamata Banerjee “I want to tell the chief min- has so far claimed over 200 of misleading the people ister that not only are her lives. The Lok Sabha memclaims false but she has ber from Baharampur also about development.

“Contrary to Banerjee’s been lying and misleading accused the Trinamool governmentofdistorting claims, Bengal’s economic growth has From 16.76 % in 2011-12, Ben- history over school describactually come down. gal’s economic growth came textbooks ing as “terrorism” the From the 16.76 percent in 2011-12 it down to 15.23 in 2012-13 and revolutionary acts of freedom fighters like came down to 15.23 14.14 percent in 2013-14 Khudiram Bose, Prain 2012-13 and 14.14 fulla Chaki and others. percent in 2013-14. Other the people of Bengal.

“I would urge her and “We have already instates have left behind Bengal in terms of GSDP,” Chow- her finance minister to go formed the governor about dhury told media persons through their own records how this government has here. Chowdhury claimed before coming out and distorted history and inthat since the Trinamool making false claims,” he sulted our revolutionaries.

Congress came to power in said. Banerjee has repeat- I warn the education de2011, “fifty-one manufactur- edly claimed that her state partment to immediately ing units, 22 jute mills and 26 was No.1 in several eco- rectify this and not mistea estates have closed down nomic parameters, assert- lead the future generations in the state leaving 1.33 peo- ing that “Bengal’s GSDP of the country by serving and growth in the indus- them distorted history,” ple jobless”.

“According to the state trial sector was more than Chowdhury added.

No mitigating factor in corruption: Court new delhI, august 10 (Ians): In a significant judgement, a Delhi court has ruled that family responsibilities and health issues cannot be grounds for seeking leniency in sentence in corruption cases. The court said this while awarding three years’ jail to a former income tax official in a 19-year-old graft case.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special judge Rajiv Mehra said “emotions or sentiments have no role to play” in dealing with the question of award of sentence in corruption cases.The court turned down the plea of S.K. Bhatia, a member of an inspection team in the Appropriate Authority Department of Income Tax in the year 1995, who had accepted bribe of Rs.3 lakh for granting ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC) in a property transfer case.

Bhatia had sought leniency in the sentence, which the court denied saying corruption charges against him were “grave and seri-

ous”.It also held that corruption was working like an “invincible syndicate” and stressed that there should be a “zero tolerance for bribe and corruption in any place”.The court also fined Bhatia Rs.75,000 while refusing him any leniency.

Bhatia, now 61, sought leniency in sentence contending that he has a son, who was still studying and his presence by his side at this juncture was very essential to settle him in his life.Bhatia added that he was an acute diabetic, on a high medication dose.

Another accused, A.K. Goel, 57, middleman in the deal, also pleaded to the court for leniency on family and health grounds.

However, the court awarded him one-year rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs.50,000.”The emotions or sentiments have no role to play in dealing with the question of award of sentence in the corruption cases. No mitigating circumstances as suggested may be a ground for any leniency,” the court held.

“The plea of family responsibilities or the health ground also cannot be a mitigating factor in corruption cases,” it said in the Aug 5 order.It was contended by the accused that they have been facing trial for the last 19 years and thus be given a benefit of it, which was turned down by the court.

“In the present case, as may be noted, the incident is of the year 1995 and bribe amount of Rs.3 lakh as involved was by any imagination a big amount at that point of time,” the CBI judge said.According to the CBI, Harish Kochar, a businessman contacted Bhatia for issuing NOC for transfer of a property in south Delhi in his brother’s name.

Goel and Sanan, employees of Kochar, facilitated the bribe amount. Along with Goel, Sanan was also jailed for a year.Bhatia demanded Rs.3 lakh for it and was caught red-handed while accepting the bribe amount by the CBI May 8, 1995.Kochar, the businessman, died during the trial of the case. new delhI, august 10 (Ians): The Congress Sunday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s allegation that the UPA governsome pollution. But we al- ment surrendered farmers’ ways try to minimise the interests at the 2013 WTO damage to the environ- Ministerial Conference in ment. Whenever we re- Indonesia’s Bali is “astonceive complaints from the ishing, irresponsible and people, we take action im- false propaganda”. mediately,” Verma told “Modi’s statement at IANS, adding that the com- Saturday’s BJP National pany has initiated a num- Council Meet on India’s pober of measures for the sition in the WTO (World welfare of the people, in- Trade Organisation) and cluding the supply of clean the claim of the BJP governwater through tankers. ment that it alone is protectAsked why water was be- ing the country’s farmers ing supplied through tank- and the right to food secuers if the locally available rity is partisan, misleading water wasn’t contaminated, and factually incorrect,” he said this was being done deputy leader of Congress on people’s demand. He also Parliamentary Party Anand said HCL has set up a mobile Sharma said in a statement. clinic for the affected people, He said it was India’s where free treatment and strong and uncompromismedicines are provided. ing stance under the United Noting that HCL would soon Progressive Alliance (UPA) begin underground mining, government that forced Verma said this would bring the issue of procurement of down the pollution level by foodgrains for public stock at least 80%. holding and livelihood

‘Madhya Pradesh copper mine threatens local communities’

Malajkhand, august 10 (Ians): What is said to be Asia’s largest copper mine in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has become a threat for the tribals and the indigenous communities living in the area, environmentalists charge.

People in the Malajkhand area of the Balaghat district, some 370 km from state capital Bhopal, are suffering from the loss of farmland and the degradation brought about by the mining activities, environmentalists say. Now, the stateowned Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL) plans to more than double its production from two million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to five MTPA after it receives the necessary clearances from the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

Environmentalists fear this will accelerate the destruction of forests and lead to further contamination of the surrounding environment. The Malajkhand area, 20 km from the Kanha National Park, contains 70 percent of India’s copper reserves and accounts for 80 percent of HCL’s production.

The Centre of Environmental Science and Engineering at the Bhilai Institute of Technology had pointed out that the mineral processing plant in the area is causing serious damage to the environment and harming the health of both humans and animals. Scientists at the Centre pointed out that the wastewater leaking through the plant’s tailings dam contains large quantities of harmful heavy metals like nickel, zinc and lead

which seeps into the soil.

The tailings dam is meant to retain the watersodden, fine-grained material or tailings that represent the waste product from a mineral-processing plant.

Silkan Merawi, 45, resides in Chhinditola village, a little distance from the plant.

She is worried on account of scars all over her body and also suffers from chronic stomach ache. “We’re forced to consume the locally available food and water, which is very harmful to our health. The sand from the mine sticks to our body and makes us sick. We’ve complained to the authorities, but no one is ready to listen to us,” Silkan lamented while speaking to IANS. The condition of Amarwati, 35, is similar. “The residual waste from the plant has changed our lives. The

water that we consume is unsafe as acidic mine waste leaks into water bodies. People drinking this water suffer from various diseases. Our farms have become toxic.

Some of the fields have been transformed into quagmire.

Our livelihood has been destroyed. Children are the worst-hit and are often ill,” Amarwati told IANS. The effect of pollution from the mine is visible in villages within a 15-km radius of the mine where Baiga and Gond tribes are major inhabitants. But 10 villages like Chhinditola, Borkedha, Suji and Nayatola that are situated close to the plant, bear the maximum brunt. Dharam Singh, 50, lives in Chhinditola village. The blisters on his body have been caused by the acidic waste discharged by the plant.

“The water that we drink, the air that we breathe are highly polluted. Our fields have turned barren. Farm productivity is getting reduced year by year. We contacted officials of the HCL as well as the district administration.

But the authorities haven’t taken any heed,” Dharam Singh told IANS. Mounds of white and yellow sand have formed at places where HCL dumps the waste. HCL chief manager S.K. Verma sought to downplay the damage to the environment caused by the copper mine. He agreed there had been some pollution due to the mining and the discharge of waste, but claimed this is not very serious and has not affected the people’s lives.

“Whenever a factory or plant is set up, it causes

new delhI, august 10 (Ians): Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s recent storming to the Lok Sabha Speaker’s podium and noisy protest might have charged up his party members, but it grossly violates the code of parliamentary etiquette laid out for members of parliament, officials familiar with the functioning of the house say.

In fact, not only Rahul Gandhi, but many others have resorted to trooping to the speaker’s podium, shouting slogans, crosstalking and even resorting to abusive behaviour to raise issues in both the houses of parliament.Most of them know that their behaviour could result in their suspension, but many MPs told IANS that resorting to slogan shouting or storming to the speaker’s chair is sometimes needed to “stress a point” or is mere “theatrics”.

Many dos and don’ts for elected representatives are issued from time to time. A June 10 Lok Sabha bulletin clearly spells out the norms to be followed by the MPs.”The decorum and the seriousness of the proceedings of the house require that no member should shout slogans of any kind or sit on dharna in the pit of the house or stand up on the seat,” it said.

Periodically, such bulletins remind MPs of the contents of paragraphs 42 and 43 of the Handbook for Members (16th edition) regarding parliamentary customs and conventions and parliamentary etiquette that are required to be observed by members.According to former Lok Sabha secretary general P.D.T. Achary, trooping into the pit or well of the house is punishable by suspension.

“But it is hardly done because if you start suspending MPs for this, at least 50-60 members will have to be punished every day”. “It is finally up to the Speaker to decide how to tackle it. While the speaker should be flexible about letting MPs voice their concerns, he or she should try and be firm as far as misbehaviour is concerned,” Achary told IANS. According to Achary, during his tenure he had seen MPs coming to meet the Speaker before the house assembled and telling the Speaker that they will not allow the house to function. It is a way of scoring political points,” he said.In the 15th Lok Sabha, Speaker Meira Kumar took the unprecedented step of suspending nine members from Andhra Pradesh for five days, the second time in the same session, for their unruly behaviour over the division of the state.

A Trinamool Congress MP, who did not want to be named, however, told

IANS that trooping into the well of the house was the only way in which opposition parties can highlight issues.”Sometimes the diktat comes from the party high command. So we have to follow the directions,” he added.

Agrees Apna Dal MP Anurpiya Patel. “When we are in the opposition, we have no option other than jumping into the well. The Indian electorate thinks that the opposition is doing its duty”.”The opposition has to create a space in the minds of the electorate.

They understand this kind of behaviour. More than following parliamentary customs it is important to get a space in the minds of the voters. This is an easy way to do it,” she adds.

But the BJP MP from Bijnore, Bhartendra Singh, feels such tactics are completely unnecessary.”The opposition in fact gets more space than the ruling party in the parliamentary system,” he told IANS. He said the “drama by Rahul Gandhi was his way of trying to be relevant.””It would have been better had he instead given a notice for discussion and participated in that,” Singh said.A combative Rahul Gandhi led a protest in the Lok Sabha Aug 6, demanding a discussion on communal violence and accused Speaker Sumitra Mahajan of gagging opposition MPs. Several times during this session, Rahul Gandhi was seen at the edge of the well when Congress MPs entered the well to protest.

The Parliamentary Code of Ethics says that rulings given by the chair should not be criticised directly or indirectly inside or outside the house and display of exhibits on the floor of the house is not in order.

The code even tells MPs that the volume of the headphones provided at their seats should be turned down when not in use.”A member should keep to her or his usual seat while addressing the house. A member should not sit or stand with his or her back towards the chair,” it goes on to say.

Members should not stand in the passage of the chamber, they should not “cross the floor” when the house is session, and two members should not keep standing in the house at the same time. MPs in fact should not even leave the house immediately after delivering their speeches.

“A member should not approach the chair personally in the house. He or she may send chits to the officers at the table, if necessary,” it says. MPs, mostly those in the opposition, say that they try to follow the rules, but there are occasions when they have to be “heard and seen.”

Modi’s allegation of UPA surrendering farmers’ rights astonishing: Cong

countries on the Bali WTO conference despite stiff opposition from the US, the European Union and other developed countries.

“India succeeded in putting together a global coalition of developing countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. That forced the developed countries to cede ground and agree to negotiate a permanent solution to change the dated WTO rules which India had rejected at Bali as inherently flawed and unjust,” Sharma said.

He said India also secured for itself and other developing countries protection from any challenge at WTO for any breach until a negotiated permanent solution is put in place. He added: “It is embarrassing that Modi is confusing the right of public stock holding issue with sovereign right of food security.

Food security is a sovereign space and has never been a part of WTO agenda.”

InternatIonal

the Morung express

Monday 11 August 2014

Dimapur

9

Ebola: What’s scary about it; & reasons not to fear it

WASHINGTON, AuGuST 10 (AP): The United States’ top disease detective calls Ebola a “painful, dreadful, merciless virus.”

The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak in West Africa an international emergency, killing more than 900 people and spreading. That’s scary and serious. But it also cries out for context.

AIDS alone takes more than a million lives per year in Africa — a thousand times the toll of this Ebola outbreak so far. Lung infections such as pneumonia are close behind as the No. 2 killer. Malaria and diarrhea claim hundreds of thousands of African children each year.

In the United States, where heart attacks and cancer are the biggest killers, the risk of contracting the Ebola virus is close to zero. Americans fretting about their own health would be better off focusing on getting a flu shot this fall. Flu is blamed for about 24,000 U.S. deaths per year.

To put the Ebola threat in perspective, here are some reasons to be concerned about the outbreak, and reasons not to fear it: WHY IT’S SCARY There is no cure for Ebola hemorrhagic fever. More than half of people infected in this outbreak have died.

Death rates in some past

outbreaks reached 90 percent. It’s a cruel end that comes within days. Patients grow feverish and weak, suffering through body aches, vomiting, diarrhea and internal bleeding, sometimes bleeding from the nose and ears.

The damage can spiral far beyond the patients themselves. Because it’s spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of sick patients, Ebola takes an especially harsh toll on doctors and nurses, already in short supply in areas of Africa hit by the disease. Outbreaks spark fear and panic. Health workers and clinics have come under attack from residents, who sometimes blame foreign doctors for the deaths. People with Ebola or other illnesses may fear going to a hospital, or may be shunned by friends and neighbors.

Two of the worst-hit countries — Liberia and Sierra Leone — sent troops to quarantine areas with Ebola cases. The aim was to stop the disease’s spread but the action also created hardship for many residents.

WHERE IT IS The outbreak began in Guinea in March before spreading to neighboring Sierra Leone and Liberia. A traveler recently carried it farther, to Nigeria, leading

Ukraine dismiss call for ceasefire KIEV, AuGuST 10 (REuTERS): A Ukrainian military spokesman on Sunday dismissed a call for a ceasefire by a separatist leader, saying this could only take place once rebels had shown “white flags” and surrendered. Meanwhile the separatists stepped back from their earlier talk of a possible ceasefire and said the Ukrainian army had first to end military action. Government forces on Sunday tightened the circle around the rebels’ main redoubt, the big industrial city of Donetsk. Residents there reported heavy shelling from early in the morning. A senior leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic had said on Saturday that the rebels were ready for a truce with government forces to allow humanitarian aid to be brought in.

Replying to a journalist’s question on Sunday, military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said: “If there is this initiative, it should be carried out by practical means and not by words - by raising white flags and by putting down guns.”

“We have not seen these practical steps yet,” he said. In a statement released later the rebels said they remained ready for a temporary truce to head off “a humanitarian catastrophe”. But they added defiantly: “As long as the Ukrainian army is continuing military action there can be no ceasefire.”

to a few cases in the giant city of Lagos.

Ebola emerged in 1976.

It has been confirmed in 10 African nations, but never before in the region of West Africa. Lack of experience with the disease there has contributed to its spread.

So has a shortage of medical personnel and supplies, widespread poverty, and political instability.

Sierra Leone still is recovering from a decade of civil war in which children were forced into fighting.

Liberia, originally founded by freed American slaves, also endured civil war in the 1990s. Guinea is trying to establish a young and fragile democracy.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, boasts great oil wealth but most of its people are poor. The government is battling Islamic militants in the north who have killed thousands of people and kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls in April. This outbreak has proved more difficult to control than previous ones because the disease is crossing national borders, and is spreading in more urban areas.

Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, predicts that within a few weeks, Ebola will sicken more people than all previous occurrences combined. Already more

than 1,700 cases have been reported. Global health officials say it will take months to fully contain the outbreak, even if all goes as well as can be hoped.

REASONS NOT TO BE AFRAID Ebola is devastating for those it affects. But most people don’t need to fear it. Why? Ebola doesn’t spread easily, the way a cold virus or the flu does.

It is only spread by direct contact with bodily fluids such as blood, saliva, sweat and urine. Family members have contracted it by caring for their relatives or handling an infected body as part of burial practices.

People aren’t contagious until they show symptoms, Frieden said. Symptoms may not appear until 21 days after exposure. “People should not be afraid of casual exposure on a subway or an airplane,” said Dr. Robert Black, professor of international health at Johns Hopkins University.

Health officials around the developed world know how to stop Ebola. Frieden described tried-and-true measures: find and isolate all possible patients, track down people they may have exposed, and ensure strict infection-control procedures while caring for patients. Every past outbreak of Ebola has been brought under control. The CDC

In this photo taken on August 9, health workers, center rear, screen people for the deadly Ebola virus before entering the Kenema Government Hospital in Kenema, Sierra Leone. Over the decades, Ebola cases have been confirmed in 10 African countries, including Congo where the disease was first reported in 1976. But until this year, Ebola had never come to West Africa. (AP Photo)

is sending at least 50 staff members to West Africa to help fight the disease, while more than 200 work on the problem from the agency’s headquarters in Atlanta.

The WHO is urging nations worldwide to send money and resources to help.

It’s true that Ebola could be carried into the United States by a traveler, possibly putting family members or health care workers at risk. It’s never happened before. But if the

disease does show up in the U.S., Frieden said, doctors and hospitals know how to contain it quickly. “We are confident that a large Ebola outbreak in the United States will not occur,” Frieden told a congressional hearing Thursday.

OTHER THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT Ebola’s toll is minuscule compared with other diseases that kill millions of people.

“The difference is the diseas-

es that do kill a lot of people — malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia — they cause their problems over time,” Black said. “They’re not generally epidemic. They’re not the kind of sudden burst of disease and death that creates fear like this.”

The common diseases have far lower mortality rates. They kill so many people because such huge numbers are infected. In comparison, Ebola is manageable.

“The order of magnitude of the resources to control Ebola in small communities in three or four countries is very small compared to controlling malaria in all of Asia and Africa,” Black said. “I don’t at all think we should hold back on the resources to control Ebola, but we need more resources to control these major killers of children and adults that we’re making too little effort against.”

Islamic State killed 500 Yazidis ethnic minority

BAGHDAD, AuGuST that the gangs of the Islam- ing Sinjar,” Sudani told Re10 (REuTERS): Islamic ic States have executed at uters. Sinjar is the ancient State militants have killed least 500 Yazidis after seiz- home of the Yazidis, one of at least 500 members of Iraq’s Yazidi ethnic minority during their offensive in the north, Iraq’s human VATICAN CITY, Au- including Christians, who rights minister told Reuters GuST 10 (AP): Pope have been brutally forced on Sunday.

Francis on Sunday ex- from their homes, children Mohammed Shia al- pressed outrage at violence who have died from thirst Sudani said the Sunni mili- aimed at religious minori- during the escape and tants had also buried alive ties in Iraq, where fleeing women who have been some of their victims, in- children have died of thirst, seized.” He also spoke of the cluding women and chil- and called on the world “to destruction of “the destrucdren. Some 300 women stop these crimes.” tion of religious, historic were kidnapped as slaves, In a strongly worded and cultural treasures.” he added.

The pope urged the message during his tra“We have striking evi- ditional Sunday blessing, international community dence obtained from Yazi- Francis said the news from to find “an efficient politidis fleeing Sinjar and some cal solution that can stop who escaped death, and Iraq “leaves us in dismay these crimes and re-esand disbelief.”

He cited also crime scene images that show indisputably “the thousands of people, tablish the rule of law.” He

the towns captured by the worshipers”. parts of Iraq and Syria, has Sunni militants who view The Islamic State, which prompted tens of thouthe community as “devil has declared a caliphate in sands of Yazidis and Christians to flee for their lives during their push to within a 30-minute drive of the said his personal emissary, in an interview with Vati- Kurdish regional capital ArCardinal Fernando Filoni, can Radio the difficulty in bil. The Yazidis, followers of would depart Monday for reaching the region where an ancient religion derived Iraq “in order to better en- thousands of refugees are from Zoroastrianism, are sure those dear suffering starving. The pope also spread over northern Iraq populations of my close- called attention to the re- and are part of the counness to them.” newed violence in Gaza, try’s Kurdish minority.

A deadline passed at Filoni, the Vatican’s after a brief cease-fire, ambassador in Baghdad “that kills innocent victims midday on Sunday for 300 during the Iraqi war, will and only worsens the con- Yazidi families to convert travel to Iraq to show soli- flict between Israelis and to Islam or face death at the darity with Christians, who Palestinians.” The pontiff hands of the Islamic State. have been among those departs Wednesday for It was not immediately whether the Iraqi targeted by Islamic State Korea and asked the faith- clear minister was talking about militants for elimination. ful “please, accompany me the fate of those families or Filoni has acknowledged with your prayer.” others in the conflict.

Pope expresses outrage at Iraq violence

Asia nations concern Israel won’t talk Gaza truce while under fire Southeast over China at an “all-time high” A Palestinian boy looks outside a car, back dropped, by the rubble of a house hit by an Israeli strike during the Gaza war, in Gaza City on August 10. (AP Photo)

Palestinians accept new 72-hour cease-fire offer

GAZA/JERuSALEM, AuGuST 10 (RE uTERS): Israel said on Sunday it was prepared for protracted military action in Gaza and would not return to Egyptian-mediated ceasefire talks as long as Palestinians kept up crossborder rocket and mortar fire. The head of the Palestinian delegation in Cairo had said it would leave unless Israeli negotiators, who flew home on Friday hours before a three-day truce expired, came back to the talks. But Egypt’s state news agency, MENA, said the Palestinians would remain for an urgent meeting with the Arab League on Monday.

Israeli air strikes and shelling killed three Palestinians in Gaza on Sunday, including a boy of 14 and a woman, medics said, in a third day of renewed fighting that has jeopardised international efforts to end a more-than-month-old conflict.

Since the last truce expired, Palestinian rocket and mortar salvoes have focused on Israeli kibbutzim, or collective farms, just across the fortified border in what appeared to be a strategy of sapping the Jewish state’s morale without triggering another ground invasion of the tiny Gaza Strip.

The violence has be-

come less intense than at the war’s outset, down from more than 100 rocket bursts a day including at major cities like Tel Aviv, which have not come under attack since Israel withdrew ground forces from Gaza on Tuesday.

Before the truce ran out on Friday, Israel said it was ready to agree to an extension. Gaza’s ruling Hamas did not agree, demanding an end to an economically stifling blockade of the coastal enclave that both Israel and Egypt, which regards the Islamist movement as a security threat, have imposed.

Israel has resisted easing access to Gaza, suspecting Hamas could then restock with weapons from abroad. A sticking point has been Israel’s demand for guarantees that Hamas would not use any reconstruction supplies sent to Gaza to build more tunnels of the sort that Palestinian fighters have used to infiltrate the Jewish state.

“Israel will not negotiate under fire,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in public remarks at the weekly meeting of his cabinet in Tel Aviv. “At no stage did we declare (Israel’s military offensive) was over. The operation will continue until its objective - the restoration of quiet over a protracted period

- is achieved. I said at the beginning and throughout the operation - it will take time, and stamina is required.”

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Netanyahu, by threatening to press on with Israel’s military offensive, would be “fully responsible for the failure of the Cairo negotiations and for all the consequences that may result”.

The Palestinian negotiating team represents Hamas as well as the party of U.S.backed President Mahmoud Abbas, who governs in parts of the West Bank not occupied by Israel.

Egypt is meeting separately with each party, given that Hamas rejects Israel’s right to exist and Israel regards the group as a terrorist organisation. Palestinian hospital officials said 1,893 people, most of them civilians, have been killed since the July 8 launch of Israel’s military campaign to quell rocket fire from Gaza. Israeli bombardment has caused widespread devastation in the densely populated, largely urban territory.

Israel has lost 64 soldiers and three civilians to the war, whose toll on noncombatants in impoverished Gaza, where thousands of homes have been damaged or destroyed, has drawn international alarm and condemnation.

CAIRO, AuGuST 10 (AP): Palestinian negotiators on Sunday said they had accepted an Egyptian proposal for a new 72-hour truce with Israel, clearing the way for a possible resumption of talks on a longterm cease-fire arrangement in the Gaza Strip.

Israel had walked away from cease-fire talks over the weekend, after militants resumed their rocket fire on southern Israel with the expiration of an earlier threeday truce. Sunday’s decision was aimed at bringing the Israelis back to the negotiations. There was no immediate Israeli response.

“We are here to look for an agreement. We cannot have an agreement without talks, so we accepted an Egyptian proposal to have a cease-fire for 72 hours in order to resume the talks,” said a Palestinian negotiator. He, along with other Palestinian negotiators who confirmed the decision, spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations with the media.

The Egyptian-mediated talks are aimed at brokering a long-term truce arrangement between Israel and the Hamascontrolled Gaza Strip following the heaviest fighting between the bitter enemies since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007.

In nearly a month of fighting, more than 1,900

Palestinians were killed, including hundreds of civilians, nearly 10,000 were wounded and thousands of homes destroyed. Sixtyseven people were killed on the Israeli side, including three civilians.

The fighting ended in a temporary 72-hour ceasefire last Tuesday, during which Egypt had hoped to mediate a longer-term agreement. But when the three-day window expired, militants resumed their rocket fire, sparking new Israeli reprisals. The violence has continued throughout the weekend, albeit not as strong as at the height of the fighting.

Earlier Sunday, Palestinians threatened to quit the negotiations if Israel did not return, while Israeli leaders said there would be no talks while the rocket fire continues. “Israel will not negotiate under fire,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday, warning his country’s military campaign “will take time.” Hamas is seeking an end to an Israeli-Egypt blockade that has decimated the local economy.

Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent arms smuggling, and it says Hamas must disarm as part of any long-term arrangement. Hamas has said handing over its weapons arsenal, which is believed to include several thousand remaining rockets, is inconceivable.

N AY P Y I TAW, AuGuST 10 (REuTERS): Southeast Asian countries on Sunday expressed concern over “increased tensions” in the South China Sea and called for stepped-up talks with China, in what the United States said was a setback for Beijing’s efforts to play down the disputes.

But there was no specific mention of China in the final statement from an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting and the 10 nations did not take up a U.S. and Philippine call for a freeze on provocative acts in the sea.

A senior U.S. official said ASEAN countries’ concern over China’s maritime actions was at an “all-time high” based on private conversations, although their public statements were more guarded to avoid antagonising China.

“We urged all parties concerned to exercise selfrestraint and avoid actions which would complicate the situation and undermine peace, stability, and security in the South China Sea,” ASEAN said in a communique following their meeting this weekend in the Myanmar capital Naypyitaw.

The United States is using the meeting of the region’s foreign ministers in Myanmar to step up its engagement in the off-shore tension, by calling for a moratorium on actions such as China’s planting in May of an oil rig in waters that Vietnam also claims.

The ASEAN Regional Forum brings together 27 countries including the

United States, China, Russia, Japan, India and Australia. U.S. ally the Philippines has also called for a freeze as part of a threestep plan to ease tension in the resource-rich sea, through which passes $5 trillion of trade a year.

The communique only “noted” that proposal and the language it used was little changed from its previous statement on the South China Sea issue in May. However, it did call for ASEAN and China to finalise a proposed Code of Conduct to ease maritime tensions, including “concrete elements” to promote trust and confidence.

“Significant Setback” For China Senior U.S. officials accompanying Secretary of State John Kerry at the weekend talks described the communique’s wording as a new and strong criticism of recent Chinese actions. “This language represents a significant setback for China’s efforts to play for time and change the subject,” said one senior U.S. administration official.

ASEAN and China signed a trust-building agreement in 2002, committing to exercise “selfrestraint” in activities that would escalate disputes, such as occupying islands and reefs or building on them. Most claimants have flouted those guidelines, leading to rising tension in the South China Sea between four ASEAN claimant nations and China, which claims 90 percent of the waters.

The Philippines ac-

cused China in May of reclaiming land on the disputed Johnson South Reef and said it appeared to be building an airstrip.

Taiwan is building a $100 million port next to an airstrip on the lone island it occupies in the disputed region.

As well as Johnson South Reef, a senior Philippine navy official told Reuters that China was continuing land reclamation work on Gaven, Cuarteron and Eldad Reefs in the disputed Spratlys chain. A senior State Department official said ASEAN members had made clear they were “increasingly concerned about the escalatory pattern of behaviour”.

“It is reasonable to conclude that indicates the Chinese are indeed feeling the heat. The movement is away from diversionary topics, the happy talk issues between China and ASEAN, in the direction of significant engagement on the South China Sea itself,” the official said. ASEAN and China have begun talks on the Code of Conduct but made little substantive progress so far.

The rancour has split ASEAN, with several states including some of the claimants reluctant to antagonise Asia’s economic giant.

China rejects U.S. involvement in the dispute and has already dismissed the proposal for a freeze.

China accuses the United States of emboldening claimants such as the Philippines and Vietnam with its military “pivot” back to Asia.

10

Dimapur

SPORTS

Monday 11 August 2014

The Morung Express

Venus upsets Serena to Federer cruises into Rogers final, to meet Tsonga reach Rogers Cup final

MONTReAl, AugusT 10 (ReuTeRs): Venus Williams upset little sister Serena 6-7(2) 6-2 6-3 on Saturday to register the first win over her top ranked sibling in five years and move into the Rogers Cup final in Montreal.

The meeting marked the 25th time the sisters had squared off but the first time Venus had come out on top since a 2009 semifinals encounter in Dubai.

World number one Serena holds a 14-11 lead in their head-to-heads. Clashes between the pair, which at one time were an almost regular and welcome occurrence on tennis courts around the world, have become rare and their meeting in Montreal was just the second since the 2009 Tour championships. The siblings have won 106 WTA Tour singles titles, including 24 grand slams, between them.

"It was a tough match out there," said Venus, who will meet Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska in Sunday's final.

Third seed Radwanska beat Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 7-6(1) 7-6(3) to advance to her second final of the year.

While a Williams-Williams matchup is one tennis fans have always looked forward to, for the sisters it

Sania-Cara sets up title clash with Errani and Vinci

Serena Williams of the United States walks off the court after losing 6-7, 6-2, 6-3 to her sister Venus during semifinal play at the Rogers Cup tennis tournament on Saturday in Montreal. (AP Photo)

is something they could live without. There was little excitement when the match was over, the two players walking slowly to the net and hugging briefly. Venus's reaction at ending her sister's Rogers Cup title defense was muted as she turned and offered a small wave to the crowd

before slumping into her courtside chair and staring blankly across the court.

If losing to her sister stung Serena, she hid it well.

"For me it was just a regular match," she shrugged. "Obviously she's my sister but I still want to go out there and try to play well and try to win," said Serena.

NASCAR's Stewart hits, kills driver at NY track

CANANDAIguA, New YORk (AP): miliar No. 14 car, which seemed to kick NASCAR driver Tony Stewart struck and out from the rear and hit him. "The next killed a sprint car driver who had climbed thing I could see, I didn't see (the other from his car and was on the track trying driver) anymore," witness Michael Mesto confront Stewart during a race in up- serly said. "It just seemed like he was sudstate New York on Saturday night. Ontar- denly gone." Povero said the 43-year-old Stewart, a frequent comio County Sheriff Philip petitor at local sprint car Povero said his departevents, was questioned ment's investigation is and released. The shernot criminal and that iff asked for people who Stewart was "fully cooprecorded video of the erative" and appeared crash to provide copies "very upset" over what for investigators to rehad happened. view. A spokesman for A video of the crash Stewart's racing team at Canandaigua Motorscalled Ward's death a ports Park showed driver "tragic accident." "Our Kevin Ward Jr., wearing thoughts and prayers a black helmet and firego out to his family and suit on a dimly lit track, Tony Stewart friends," the spokesman walking toward Stewart's car before being hit and hurtled 50 feet. said in a statement. "We're still attempting Povero said the driver was pronounced to sort through all the details."

The dirt track, about 30 miles southeast dead Saturday night at a Canandaigua hospital. Stewart was unhurt. A witness of Rochester, canceled the remainder of said it appeared Ward was trying to con- the race and later posted a message on its front Stewart, the three-time NASCAR Facebook page encouraging fans to "pray Sprint Cup Champion. The video showed for the entire racing community of fans, Ward standing to the right of Stewart's fa- drivers, and families."

Barcelona signs defender Vermaelen from Arsenal

BARCelONA, AugusT 10 (AP): Barcelona bolstered its defense on Saturday by acquiring Belgium international Thomas Vermaelen from Premier League team Arsenal. Vermaelen agreed to sign a five-year contract after passing a medical exam, Barcelona said.

Barcelona held off interest from Manchester United in Vermaelen to clinch an undisclosed deal with Arsenal that Spanish media reports said was around â‚Ź19 million ($25.4 million). Vermaelen joined Arsenal in 2009 from Dutch club Ajax and played 150

matches in six seasons, scoring 15 goals. He was the captain of Arsene Wenger's side for the past two seasons despite only making 14 appearances last campaign.

Vermaelen is Barcelona's fifth significant signing this summer after the Catalan club finished its first season without a major trophy in six years. Besides bringing back Rafina and Gerard Deulofeu from loans, Barcelona has also bought controversial forward Luis Suarez, midfielder Ivan Rakitic, and goalkeepers Marc-Andre Ter Stegen and Claudio Bravo.

MONTReAl, AugusT 10 (PTI): Sania Mirza and Cara Black survived a thriller in the semifinals as they carved out a hard-earned 7-6(3) 3-6 13-11 victory to set up a Rogers Cup doubles final against top-seeded Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci here. The fourth seeded Indo-Zimbabwean pair knocked out the second seeded Hsieh Suwei of Chinese Taipei and China's Peng Shuai in a contest that lasted an hour and 50 minutes. Having saved a set point in the opening set, Sania and Cara prevailed over their higher ranked opponents in a tie-break.

However, Hsieh and Peng fought their way back in the second set and comfortably wrapped it up 6-3, taking it to the deciding set.

In the third set, Sania and Cara opened up a 9-6 lead, before Hsieh and Peng rallied and held a match point at 11-10. But from there Sania and Cara won three straight points, to run away with the match on their fifth match point. With this victory, Sania and Cara ended a three-match losing streak in their head-to-head with Hsieh and Peng.

TORONTO, AugusT 10 (ReuTeRs): Roger Federer eased into the final of the Rogers Cup with a 6-3 6-4 win over Spain's Feliciano Lopez on Saturday, putting the Swiss maestro on the brink of a landmark 80th career title.

Standing between Federer and another trophy is Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who claimed his third straight upset by dispatching seventh-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 6-3. After knocking off world number one Novak Djokovic in the third round, twice champion Andy Murray in the quarters and Dimitrov in the semi-finals, the powerful Frenchman will need to produce one more upset to deny Federer a third Canadian title.

It will be Federer's 120th career final while Tsonga will be playing for a title for the 20th time.

Federer said Tsonga would be on a high after his series of upsets in Toronto.

"For him to beat Murray and Djokovic... it's a really good effort for him and it's going to give him loads of confidence going into the finals," said the second seeded Swiss, who is looking for his third title of the season. "He just can overpower guys, serve up a storm and then play really aggressive with his forehand and also be solid in his backhand."

Federer, who celebrat-

Roger Federer, of Switzerland, reacts to the crowed after defeating Feliciano Lopez, of Spain, at the Rogers Cup tennis tournament, Saturday, August 9 in Toronto. (AP Photo)

ed his 33rd birthday on Friday, was in imperious form, dropping just four points on his serve in taking the opening set. The 17-time grand slam winner kept up the pressure in the second with a break to open the set and was never seriously challenged, running his record against Lopez to 11-0.

A LITTLE REWARD Dimitrov, rated one of the top young talents on the ATP Tour, had lost all three head-to-head meetings with Tsonga but with three titles under his belt this season stepped onto a sunny

centre court as the favourite.

The scrappy Bulgarian traded shots with the muscular Frenchman in a tight opening set but could not convert any of his four break opportunities. Tsonga, who also has a reputation as a battler and bears a resemblance to a young Muhammad Ali, showed his stomach for the fight from the opening serve and his determination was rewarded with the only break of the first set, going up 5-4 then holding serve for a 1-0 lead. The second set was not as close, Tsonga breaking in the third game to take

control and then again to clinch the match, raising his fist into the air and shadow boxing his way out to centre court where he acknowledged the crowd.

"I'm waiting for this moment since a couple of years now," said Tsonga, who has enjoyed success on the Canadian hardcourts, reaching the semi-finals in three of four visits but advanced to the finals only once. "It's good because I always believe in myself during all these years and all this week where I lost against those guys and finally I get a little reward."

Football Clinic held at Sinai Ministry

DIMAPuR, AugusT 10 (MexN): Team Gloria Patri held a Football Clinic at Sinai Ministry, Dimapur, on Sunday where former Argentina junior team captain Joshua Silva was invited to speak and encourage young Christian football fans.

Joshua Silva, who has his own Football Academy in Bangalore for children said that the greatest battle was to win ourselves first, saying that if his team doesn't play according to his plan and direction as a coach, his team definitely loses, thus he gets mad too, but, he said, when his team plays according to his plan and direction, his team wins, because he planned well and makes sure his team wins. Thus, he explains, even our Creator also has a plan for everyone of us (Jeremiah 29:11),

Joshua Silva giving some tips to young football players

but if we disobeyed him and his plans, we lose so much in our life. But once we start to walk according to His plan and direction, we win in life.

He encouraged the young people not to lose

focus and get distracted by small worldly pleasures such as alcohol, tobacco, immorality, and money, but to move aside from those things to see the clearer picture of life.

Silva also cautioned the

players to wear the right outfit while playing on the field because not protecting oneself with the right gear could get them injured.

It may be mentioned that Joshua Silva is also a worship leader and that

he studied his bachelors in theology from SABC, Bangalore. He was the captain of the Under 14 Argentina Football team. His vision is to see Christian footballers from India playing at international level.

Rampaging England beat India by innings and 54 runs

MANCHesTeR, AugusT 10 (ReuTeRs): England's Moeen Ali and James Anderson made up for the loss of Stuart Broad through injury with a devastating bowling display as the hosts skittled India out for 161 to win the fourth test on Saturday for a 2-1 series lead. Spin bowler Moeen took four wickets and also contributed with an accurate arm for a run out as India, facing a first innings deficit of 215 runs, collapsed again on the third day of the fourth test at Old Trafford.

England, having scored 367-9 in their first innings, won by an innings and 54 runs and after dominating the last two test matches will be full of confidence ahead of the final match at the Oval starting on Friday.

India totalled 152 in their first innings after recovering from eight for four and almost collapsed again in Saturday's final session when they lost five wickets for 13 runs.

Broad, who took 6-25 in India's first innings to win the man of the match award, retired injured, but his departure was more than covered for

by England's other bowlers.Broad was struck by a bouncer from Varun Aaron that he glanced into his own face. The ball flew between his protective visor and helmet and struck Broad across the bridge of his nose, an injury that left him groggy and bloodied.

As Broad left for X-rays that showed he had fractured his nose, Moeen stepped into the role of chief destroyer along-

Dhoni chides top-order batsmen for poor show

MANCHesTeR, AugusT 10 (PTI): Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni blasted his top-order batsmen for their spineless show after India slumped to a humiliating innings and 54-run defeat against England in the fourth Test, here.

The loss was set up on the opening day itself, when electing to bat in overcast conditions India were reduced to eight for four and were eventually bowled out for 152.

"It is important to put runs on the board. The number 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 batsmen have masked the top-order so far in this series," Dhoni said at the post-match press conference as the match ended inside three days on Saturday.

"The win at Lord's also help camouflaged the poor form of the top-order and we couldn't question them that they are not scoring any runs. Our fifth bowler has scored more runs than our top-order batsmen," a livid Dhoni said.

While man-of-the-match Stuart Broad (6/25) was the tormentor in the first innings, it was England off-spinner Moeen Ali (4-39), who broke India's back in the second innings. Dhoni was all praise for the English bowling. "On this wicket, EngIndia's captain MS Dhoni stands on the pitch after his team's innings and 54 run loss to England on the third day of the land bowled very well. The first hour of the fourth test match of their five match series at Old Trafford match was very crucial. The batting department has to improve and the top five cricket ground, in Manchester on Saturday. (AP Photo) side Anderson, who had climbed from his sick bed to wreck the foundations for any Indian recovery with two early wickets. "This is why you hang in during the tough times - to appreciate the good times," said England captain Alastair Cook, whose future was questioned after the second test at Lord's where India extended England's winless run to 10 matches.

"Stuart Broad has got

a broken nose and we are going to have to wait and see. It's pretty sore and we hope it doesn't spoil his good looks! Jimmy has had the lurgy and has been really under the weather - so that's a great effort by him."

The England and Wales Cricket Board later tweeted that Broad "will be treated over the course of the week and the medical team anticipates he will be available for the fifth test."

FIRST WICKET Earlier, India paceman Pankaj Singh, who made his debut in the third test at Southampton, had claimed his first wicket in test cricket when he removed Joe Root (77) to end a robust 134-run partnership with Jos Buttler.

Singh soon doubled his wicket tally when he dismissed Buttler for 70 as England hurried to press home their advantage.

Broad's bloody depar-

to six batsmen have to get more runs. This defeat will hurt us," he said The Indian batsmen didn't fare any better in the second innings as they were bowled out for 161 runs, this time in better batting conditions. Getting behind a lead of 215 runs with more than two days to bat out, the Indian batting fell like a pack of cards in the final session of the third day's play. "We don't know what was going to happen tomorrow or day after. The important thing was to play out the day today," said Dhoni commenting on the weather forecast.

The skipper said it was time that Indian batsmen start batting responsibly and convert the good starts into big ones. "Most of the batsmen have played cricket for a long time and have enough experience to know the match conditions. So they can see that they have to play out sessions accordingly.

Sixty overs is a very big target, you can only plan ahead for 3-4 overs at the maximum.

That is your target and that's the spell bowlers go through as well.

"Most of the batsmen have gone through good spells, they have got starts and they are able to see off the most difficult phase. But they haven't been able to convert those starts. They need to start converting those starts," he said.

ture brought in Anderson who joined Chris Woakes in adding 29 before he was out lbw to his recent antagonist Ravindra Jadeja.

Anderson was soon back in the middle to lead the England attack with Woakes who trapped Vijay lbw for 18. With heavy rain forecast for Sunday, England attacked relentlessly and India buckled as Anderson and Moeen took the initiative, the paceman re-

moving Gautam Gambhir, caught by Buttler for 18, and Virat Kohli, caught by Bell at second slip for seven.

Moeen then took beguiling control. Having trapped Cheteshwar Pujara lbw for 17, he caught and bowled Ajinkya Rahane for one as India crumbled. A diving catch by Gary Ballance at midwicket removed Dhoni for 27 before Chris Jordan helped mop up the tail.

Entertainment

The Morung Express C M Y K

Danity Kane

I

n case you’re just finding out that Danity Kane are still a thing, we’re sorry to report that they’re not anymore. The 4-piece girl group launched a reunion tour

last year and appeared to be back on their grind after breaking up in 2007. They also released some new music, which achieved limited commercial success. The la-

dies – Aubrey O’Day, Dawn Richard, Andrea Fimbres and Shannon Bex (Wanita Woodgette did not return during the 2013 reunion) – have just made the an-

disagreement between Bex and Richard that caused the second split.

In her statement, O’Day alleges that a conflict during a recording session earlier in the week turned violent, when the other woman physically assaulted her.

Her statement, posted by the LA Times, reads: “During a recent group meeting, a business conversation took a turn for the worst when my group member punched me in the back of my head while I was speaking to another associate. To be clear, she was not physically engaged or threatened prior to her attack on me.

I cannot condone or excuse any form of physical violence, particularly at the hands of someone I considered family.” Bex corroborated O’Day’s claims of violence in her own statement: “As for the actions that have brought us to this broken ending, I cannot speak for anyone or explain their internal struggles that prompted this heartbreaking sequence nounceof events. All I ment in a know is what I have letter, which inseen. I did not witness a cluded separate and joint shouting match, a cat fight statements from O’Day and or a brawl. I witnessed a sinBex. Apparently, it was a gle direct punch.”

p ou ne ) r rl Gy Ka gain i G nit (A In Da k Up eged nces ll le ea Br ver A Vio O roup G

Daniel Radcliffe ‘James Bond Villain Reports Are Totally Untrue’

H

arry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe is baffled by reports suggesting he is in the running to play a villain in the next James Bond movie, insisting the speculation is “totally untrue”. The British actor fears his offhand responses to questions about his dream film roles have led to stories linking him to the role of 007’s nemesis in the next Bond film, and he can’t believe how quickly the false rumours have picked up pace. He says, “I think that’s literally one of those things where... someone says, ‘Would you ever play James Bond?’ and I said, ‘I don’t think I’m really cast-able as James Bond, I’d rather be a villain’. That then eventually turns into, ‘Daniel Radcliffe has been cast as the next Bond villain’, which is totally untrue..”. Radcliffe has also dismissed rumours he is set to make his superhero debut as Batman’s sidekick Robin in another movie project, but there is one comic book character he would really love to bring to life onscreen. He adds, “I’d play (DC Comics superhero) Nightwing”.

C M Y K

B

as Buddy and Fallen Angels during his directing career, but this is his first film since the success of Headhunters back in 2011. The movie follows English mathematician and logician, Alan Turing, as he helps crack the Enigma code during World War II. I know that we are only in August, but we are already looking ahead to the films that could well be in the hunt for awards at the start of 2015. The Imitation Game is one of the early films being tipped as a major Oscar contender - you know how much the Academy loves a bi-

Sir Elton reveals how a Kate Bush track helped him kick his addiction to drink and drugs

C M Y K

11 C M Y K

now has a much fuller figure

S

upermodel Kate Moss might have turned 40 this year, but her earning power shows no signs of diminishing. The assets of Croydonborn Kate’s businesses increased to £16.7 million, up from £11.6 million, according to details filed at Companies House. She has two firms, Tilly Church and Skate, which recently published accounts for the year to the end of October 2013. The bigger of the two, Tilly Church, saw its assets rise from £7.9 million in 2012 to £11.8 million last year. Skate, meanwhile, saw an increase from £3.7 million in 2012 to £4.9 million last year. In her 41st year, Britain’s wealthiest model shows no signs of slowing down.

Recently appearing in ads for Stella McCartney and Topshop, she still commands huge fees and celebrated her 40th birthday with a Playboy photoshoot.

B

opic film. Cumberbatch is a terrific actor and he is really going to get the chance to show that off with this role. Is The Imitation Game set to be the movie that really cements Cumberbatch as a big screen star? Is he set for a Best Actor Oscar nomination? The Imitation Game is a movie that I have been looking forward to for quite some time, and I cannot wait to see Cumberbatch - who is very popular here at FemaleFirst - get his teeth into another major and meaty role. The Imitation Game is released 14th November

Woody Allen Receives Handprint Honour in Rhode Island

F

Dimapur

David and Victoria Beckham is rumoured to be dating the ‘Kick-Ass’ actress, and he is delighted to be getting close to her. According to PEOPLE.com, Brooklyn, 15, is “totally smitten” with the 17-yearold movie star, although he is reportedly quite “shy” whereas she is a little “more sophisticated”. A source added: “Brooklyn is very sweet and shy, a really nice boy. Chloe is more sophisticated.” The ‘Carrie’ actress has opened up about her friendship with the British star, and admitted when it comes to their hobbies, he’s much more likely to be the “risk taker” of the pair. Asked who is a better skateboarder, she recently replied: “I don’t know. I mean, he has a pretty small skateboard, and I like more of a long board. “I think he’s a risk taker, like a typical guy, weaving in and out of people. I’m a safety boarder - I don’t want to break any bones.” As well as skateboarding, it was revealed Chloe and Brooklyn have enjoyed low-key dates at popular spinning gym Soul Cycle in Brentwood, Los Angeles over the summer. A source previously said: “They cycle next to each other rooklyn Beckham, 15-year-old son of David and and are very cute. Always look to be cheering each other Victoria Beckham - is reportedly “totally smitten” on with smiles. They also both seem very competitive, with Chloe Grace Moretz, The son of superstars but in a fun way.”

S

ir Elton John has revealed how a Kate Bush song ‘saved his life’ by helping him kick his addiction to drink and drugs. However, he has never told Bush just how much of an impact Don’t Give Up, a 1986 duet with Peter Gabriel, had on his life. Sir Elton, 67, said: ‘This was one record that saved my life.

That record helped me get sober. ‘So she [Bush] played a big part in my rebirth. That record helped me so much. I never told her that but it did.’

Bush’s contribution comes in the chorus when she sings: ‘Rest your head. You worry too much. It’s going to be all right. When times get rough you can fall back on us. Don’t give up.’ Sir Elton makes the revelations in a new BBC documentary The Kate Bush Story: Running Up That Hill, which will be broadcast on BBC Four on Friday August 22 at 9.10pm.

11 August 2014

Brooklyn Beckham ‘Smitten’ With Chloe Grace Moretz

The Imitation Game: Autumn Preview

enedict Cumberbatch has already had a busy 2014 with roles August: Osage County, 12 Years A Slave and another series of Sherlock, but he is set to return this autumn in The Imitation Game. Cumberbatch is already making waves both sides of the Atlantic, but his star looks set to rocket even further with The Imitation Game. The Imitation Game sees Cumberbatch star alongside Keira Knightley, Charles Dance, Mark Strong, and Matthew Goode, while Morten Tyldum is in the director’s chair. Tyldum has been behind films such

Kate Moss

Monday

ilmmaker Woody Allen has cemented his place in Rhode Island history by adding his handprints to the state’s own Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Blue Jasmine director has been shooting his new project in the city of Providence in recent weeks and on Thursday (07Aug14), he was honoured by local officials in nearby Pawtucket. Allen, who has yet to be invited to join the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame in California, joins the likes of Dustin Hoffman, who was inducted in 1995 while filming his movie American Buffalo in Rhode Island. However, local official Bob Billington, of the Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce, is hoping to land two more famous prints for the tourist attraction - the stars of Allen’s as-yet-untitled movie, Emma Stone and Joaquin Phoenix. He says, “It’s our dream that we complete it with the last two stars. We respect everybody’s privacy, but we’re hoping that we’ll be graced with that opportunity”.

Entertainment becomes 6th highest grossing m Akshay Kumar release

C M Y K

T

he canine-Akshay Kumar film Entertainment which is also the directorial debut of SajidFarhad has opened up to a good response at the box office. With the film being a solo release, Akshay Kumar’s Entertainment is supposed to rake in a moolah during the weekend. In this box office analysis, we will compare the opening day collection of Entertainment along with the opening day collections of other Akshay Kumar releases.

Currently, the film has reached the 6th position at the box office with a collection of Rs. 11.57 crores leaving behind films like Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbai Dobaara with a collection of Rs. 11.25 crores and Khiladi 786 with a collection of Rs. 10.40 crores. However, it is Rowdy Rathore that is still the highest opening day grosser of Akshay Kumar releases.

C M Y K

C

C

M

M

Y

Y

K

K

Bradley Smith, of Great Britain, crashes during qualifying for the Indianapolis Moto GP motorcycle race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Saturday, August 9. (AP Photo)

Sri Lanka take series Arsenal beat City for Community Shield lead after thrilling win

Sri Lankan cricket captain Angelo Mathews celebrates after scoring the winning run against Pakistan during their first test cricket match in Galle, Sri Lanka, Sunday, August10. Sri Lanka won by seven wickets. (AP Photo)

Galle, auGust 10 (aFP): Retiring Mahela Jayawardene took on the unusual role of opening batsman to hand Sri Lanka a thrilling seven-wicket victory on the final day of the first Test against Pakistan in Galle on Sunday. The hosts, needing 99 to win in a minimum of 21 overs, beat fading light and approaching rain to cruise home in the 17th over in front of some 5,000 jubilant home fans.

Jayawardene, who is due to retire from Test cricket after the two-match series, scored 26 before Kumar Sangakkara (21) and skipper Angelo Mathews (25 not out) chipped in lower down the order.

Mathews and Kithuruwan Vithanage smashed 17 runs in the 16th over bowled

by Junaid Khan and then scored the winning run in the next over just before rain

hit Galle. The win was set up by left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, who claimed six for 48 that bundled Pakistan out for 180 in their second innings in the post-tea session.

Pakistan, who started the day at 4-1, lost three wickets in the morning session to go to lunch on 66-4.

The tourists added eight runs in the morning when seamer Dhammika Prasad had nightwatchman Saeed Ajmal edging a catch to wicket-keeper Niroshan Dickwella. Opener Ahmed Shehzad made 16 when he was given out leg-before to off-spinner Dilruwan Perera to make it 39-3.

Shehzad, who consulted his partner Azhar Ali before deciding not to ask for an umpire's review, would have survived if he had signalled for it. Television replays showed the ball missing the leg stump.

Herath dealt Pakistan a bigger blow when he bowled first innings century-maker Younis Khan for 13 to reduce the tourists to 55-4.

Ali and skipper Misbahul Haq put on 56 for the fifth wicket on either side of lunch when both fell at the same total to make it 111-6 -- just 29 runs ahead with 45 overs left in the game.

Ali (41) was caught behind off Herath and Misbah (28) was leg-before to Perera in the next over. Pakistan found themselves pinned against the wall at 133-7 when Asad Shafiq, the last recognised batsman, was leg-before to Herath for eight. Seamer Shaminda Eranga had Abdur Rehman caught behind at the stroke of tea before Herath dismissed Mohammad Talha and last man Junaid to leave gutsy Sarfraz Ahmed stranded on 52 not out.

lONDON, auGust 10 (aGeNCIes): Arsenal experienced that winning feeling at Wembley once again as a polished performance saw off Manchester City in the Community Shield. Santi Cazorla opened the scoring for the FA Cup holders with a low shot in the 21st minute and Aaron Ramseyadded a second three minutes before the break, finishing expertly after good work from Yaya Sanogo.

The best was saved for last though, substitute Olivier Giroud producing a thunderous effort from 25 yards to put the seal on a eye-catching victory over a rather subdued City side.

This is the 13th time Arsenal have lifted the Shield in its various guises but it is the nature of the victory that will most please Arsène Wenger. His replenished squad look fit, focused and fluent, and they will be on a high when the first points of the Premier League season are at stake against Crystal Palace next weekend.

After this triumph there will be talk of 'laying down a marker'. That can be overplayed, but momentum is

Arsenal's Mikel Arteta raises the trophy after their win against Manchester City at the end of their English Community Shield soccer match at Wembley Stadium in London, Sunday, August 10. (AP Photo)

vital in football and Arsenal have plenty of it going into the new campaign. Arsène Wenger selected three of his new signings for Arsenal's 20th appearance in this pre-season showpiece.

Alexis Sanchez was stationed to the right, ahead ofMathieu Debuchy, while the versatile Calum Chamberspartnered Laurent Koscielny in the centre of

defence. There were two changes from last weekend's Emirates Cup finale - Sanogo and Kieran Gibbs replacing Giroud and Nacho Monreal. Like Arsenal, Man City arrived at Wembley without their World Cup finalists. Another notable absentee was former Gunner Bacary Sagna.

He av y ra i n ha d drenched Wembley in the

hours before kick-off but the sun was out - as it had been for Arsenal's FA Cup triumph - when the match began. Arsenal were bright too, confident with the ball and energetic without it. Alexis spotted Jack Wilshere's burst through the centre as early as the second minute but the England man was crowded out. Then Cazorla tricked

his way to the byline as City were put under more pressure. City looked lively on the break - not least when Edin Dzeko raced 50 yards to beat Chambers. But Arsenal ended the half on a high when Alexis picked out Sanogo's run and he found Ramsey, who cleverly flicked the ball over a defender's foot before slamming the ball into the net.

Indian women win gold at Archery World Cup

Deepika Kumari (File photo)

WROClaW, auGust 10 (IaNs): There was mixed news for the Indian archery contingent at the World Cup stage 4 with the women's recurve team clinching gold while the men's recurve team settled for silver on Sunday. India beat Mexico 6-0 without surrendering a single set point to bag the recurve women's gold medal.

Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Deepika Kumari was the star of the show shooting three of the Indian team's five 10s. "The match wasn't too difficult," said Deepika. "Hopefully

we can do the same at the Asian Games."

"This event has already raised our confidence. We have had a difficult season, but the hard work we've put in ahead of Incheon is starting to pay off." The 17th Asian Games are scheduled to be held in Incheon, South Korea Sep 19-Oct 4.

China swept Georgia in a one-sided bronze medal match to round up the top three. In the men's team final, Mexico took a 2-0 lead and never looked back. India had to settle for silver losing 3-5.

Earlier, compound mixed pair of Abhishek

Verma and Puvasha Shende opened India’s medal account at the Archery World Cup Stage IV in Wroclaw, Poland, by clinching the silver medal.

The third seed Indian duo lost to the World No. 1 US pair of Braden Gellenthien and Crystal Gauvin 151155 in an intense final last night. Both the teams shot 38 each in the first end but the US gained a one point lead with India shooting 37 in the second. The world No 1 remained steady to log 40 and 39 points compared to 39 and 37 by the Indians to seal the gold medal.

C

C

M

M

Y

Y

K

K

Published, Printed and Edited by Aküm Longchari on behalf of Morung for Indigenous Affairs and JustPeace from House No. 4, Duncan Bosti, Dimapur at Themba Printers and Telecommunications, Padum Pukhuri Village, Dimapur, Nagaland.

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

For news email: morung@gmail.com and for advertisements and circulation contact: (03862) 248854, Fax-235194 or email : morungad@yahoo.com

PO Reg No. NE/RN-722