August 26th, 2016

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FriDAY • AUGUST 26 • 2016

DIMAPUR • Vol. XI • Issue 234 • 12 PAGes • 5

T H e

ESTD. 2005

The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary Italy quake death toll nears 250 as rescuers search demolished towns

By Sandemo Ngullie

People take to the street after alleged molestation

1379 CSS Hindi teachers without pay for 7 months KOHIMA, AUGUST 25 (MExN): The All Nagaland Hindi Teachers Union (ANHTU) today informed that 1379 Hindi Teachers appointed under Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) have not been paid their salaries for 7 months from February 2016 till date. The ANHTU, in a press release, appealed to the Nagaland State Government to look into the matter and take a serious note of it. “As, the aggrieved teachers are facing many hardships in maintaining their daily expenses and also the school fees of their children, some of the teachers are even posted in some outskirts for which they have to incur the travel expenses. And they have been incurring all these expenses like payment of the school fees of their children, maintaining household expenses and many other expenses from their own pockets despite their salaries being kept pending for 7 months,” it added. It appealed to the Department of School Education and the Government of Nagaland to release their salaries at the earliest.

Goods of a shop run by the accused being set on fire in Kohima Town on August 25.

Kohima Police register case against alleged molester; shops ransacked Morung Express News Kohima | August 25

Following the alleged molestation of a woman in Kohima on the night of August 24, a group of people ransacked two shops, reportedly run by the accused in Kohima Town. Several commercial sites quickly closed down for the day after the mob ransacked the shops and burned the goods in it. The situation was brought under control after the Angami Youth Organisation and Angami Students’ Union intervened.

Prior to today’s unrest, a woman, hailing from Chiechama village, was allegedly molested in Kohima Town on August 24 in the evening around 6:00pm.

The accused, identified as one Shahin Ahmed allegedly followed the victim from New NST area till Oking Hospital, and attempted to sexually assault her. The victim was able to call her elder sister, who rushed to the spot along with others to nab the accused. The assault was witnessed by some people near Oking Hospital who intervened, following which the accused fled.

The accused was later nabbed below APO Building and handed over to the police.

The Kohima Police PRO informed that a case with regard to the alleged molesta-

tion has been registered and that investigations are ongoing. Police informed that 4 to 5 unidentified persons were behind the ransacking of the shops and the burning of the goods.

While the alleged molestation is being investigated, a case on the ransacking and the subsequent burning of goods has also been registered and will be investigated, the PRO informed. Accordingly, action will be taken he stated, and maintained that the ransacking amounted to “taking law into their own hands”.

AYO takes stern stand Meanwhile, the Angami Youth Organisation (AYO) condemned the alleged molestation incident. It further stated that: “In the fall out of the incident that occurred the following day in Kohima town, wherein a group of sympathizers had vandalized the shop/properties of Shahin Ahmed, the AYO owned the moral responsibility for the incident since the acts were perpetrated under its jurisdiction.”

A press note from the AYO however stated that “in the context and the intended degree of the crime, the act carried out by the youth is deemed befitting.”

The AYO further informed that it has “directed” the family of the accused to “leave Kohima immediately as per the customary tradition of the land, failing which the same case of penalty be awarded.” It further cautioned of “stern action against any individual /community applying bail for the culprit.”

ency;” he said and added that “We are aware of our duties.”

“But if I do ask any questions in the Assembly, then I will be treated as indulging in anti-party activities,” he said. “We are like sitting ducks.”

The NPF legislator also said, “We are surprised to know that 33% reservation of women in civic bodies in Nagaland will be discussed in the Assembly on Friday.” “Because the Cabinet had already passed a resolution to implement the 33% reservation of women in Municipal and Town Council elections in the Nagaland on August 10, 2016 and where is the point to be discussed in the Assembly again.”

He stated that the One-Day Special Session on Friday was only to show that the House endorses the “resolution of the Cabinet on the im-

DIMAPUR, AUGUST 25 (MExN): The ACAUT Nagaland today stated that the Nagaland State Government’s latest Office Memorandum (OM) dated August 11, 2016, allowing the departments to regularize employees appointed prior to the OM banning contract appointments, dated June 6, 2016, is “discriminatory and nothing short of treachery toward the people and vile contempt of court order.”

The ACAUT in a press note stated that the latest OM resolutely “violates Atouzo Vs state of Nagaland judgment banning regularization by the Cabinet, thus, making amply clear that the State Government has no respect for the judiciary and merit-based selection.”

It said that the 6/6/16 OM banning “backdoor appointments” overrides the OM 2008 which had allowed the Cabinet to “regularize backdoor

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Legislative Assembly had already declared for municipal and Town Council election in accordance to the central Municipal act where 33% of Women Reservation had been duly inculcated or should be strictly adhered,” it said.

“While considering the emancipation of women from the clutch of inferiority to men, and while duly upholding the need for progress and development, the municipal election in the state of Nagaland should be processed as declared by the State Government,” the ENSF said.

It appealed to all the Naga Civil Society and politicians to unite for progress and development “rather than dragging us back to the primitive state and thoughts.” It hoped that the government would immediately and seriously strive for accommodating Naga women folk in the governing system. “It should also be seriously noted that the issues pertaining to the 33% women reservation should not hamper the Municipal and Town council elec-

TORONTO, AUGUST 25 (IANS): India, facing the highest burden of tuberculosis (TB) in the world, is also the world’s largest consumer of antibiotics, says a study, conducted to determine whether pharmacies have contributed to inappropriate use of antibiotics by dispensing them without prescriptions.

The study, by Indian origin researchers, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, showed the critical importance of engaging pharmacists for reducing misuse of antibiotics, and for fighting TB. Excess usage of antibiotics has led to significant antimicrobial re-

plementation of 33% reservation of women in civic bodies.”

He, however, pointed out that the issue of 33% reservation of women in civic bodies in Nagaland should have been first discussed in the Assembly instead of adopting resolution by the Cabinet. “We can deliberate whether we can come down from the 33% to certain level because 33% laid down by the Government of India is from the national perspectives,” he added.

But since the Cabinet had already passed the resolution and bringing it in the Assembly to be discussed means just eyewash, he stated.

With regard to the GST Bill, the NPF legislator felt that the matter should have been referred to some Expert Committee before ratifying it in Assembly. “What is hurry?” he asked.

tion in any manner. Any element that restrains the moves should be discouraged in the interest of development and progress,” it stated.

The ENSF asked Naga Civil Society to understand that in the absence of good governing system or body in the state, many centrally sponsored schemes or fund mean for development are being deprived to the people. It is also disheartening to know that about 3035% of the state shares are being diverted for this purpose, it added.

The ENSF advised that in accordance to the 74th amendment act of 1992, which aim to decentralise the governing system by empowering the urban local bodies along with the constitutional rights to exist, the Nagaland state Government should amend its municipal law whereby empowering the ULBs with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as institution of self governance.

While supporting the move towards 33% women reservation in

appointments;” and this 6/6/16 OM was the “basis on which the Hon’ble HC had banned all backdoor appointments in the state, henceforth.”

The latest OM “not only violated the Hon’ble HC judgment as passed on 5th August 2016, but is an unprecedented backstabbing of the judiciary,” the ACAUT said.

“This will most certainly create further social disparity between the haves and have nots and feelings of marginalization bordering on tribalism,” it added.

The ACAUT said that if the Cabinet had respected the HC judgment “tens of thousands of contract posts would have lapsed and these freed up posts could have been filled up by a selection process based on merit, including conduct of exams by the NPSC as per the fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution…” “Very importantly, the Eastern tribes

could have availed this job opportunity by way of 25% Reservation on all the freed posts which the backdoor system had prevented. The latest OM makes a mockery of the reservation quota, for the glaring truth is that there is no backward quota in backdoor appointments,” it added.

Despite the 25% Reservation quota being in place since 1977, ACAUT lamented that Eastern tribes comprise less than 10% of the total state government employees whereas their actual number should be more than 35,000, that is, 25%, out of the total 140,000 employees. “It’s time that the illusion of 25% Reservation disappears but the 11/8/16 OM will continue to perpetuate this deception at the cost of the Eastern tribes,” it added.

While acknowledging “the humanitarian aspect of the backdoor issue, such as, the uncertain fate of the overaged employ-

ees on contract,” ACAUT however said that “this utter mess is the sole creation of the State Government.”

“It is for the Government to rectify it, if necessary, whereby an arrangement for age relaxation may be considered for over-aged contract employees to appear for NPSC examination on those lapsed posts requisitioned to the body for conduct of examination.

This process is as per the strict interpretation of the 5th August HC Judgment,” it added.

Terming the latest government OM on this issue as “an act of mischief by the Cabinet,” the ACAUT stated that the “Chief Secretary should not speak with forked tongue since he has already given an undertaking to the Court that the 6/6/16 OM will be implemented in letter and in spirit. The ACAUT cannot allow such a mischievous executive order to go unchallenged.”

Overuse of antibiotics harming India’s fight against TB

ensf supports 33% reservation in UlBs

DIMAPUR, AUGUST 25 (MExN): The Eastern Naga Students’ Federation (ENSF) today extended support to the Eastern Nagaland Peoples’ Organisation (ENPO) and the Eastern Naga Womens’ Organisation (ENWO) for implementation of the 33% women reservation bill in Nagaland state and the same to be adhered during the municipal election or while constitution of Urban Local Bodies (ULB).

A press note from the ENSF stated that Nagaland should replicate the system adopted by the state of Kerala, where women’s’ share/reservation is about 50% “where its governance is just and efficient.”

It noted that women already enjoy 33% reservation in Gram Panchayat and Municipal election in India. “However, in regard to special provision under Art 371 (a) where it states that No act of Parliament unless passed by the state legislatures shall be enforceable in the state of Nagaland, it may be noted that the Nagaland State

PAGE 12

Backdoor Appointments: AcAUt accuse state ‘cabinet of mischief’

We are not allowed to ask questions in NLA: NPF legislator

KOHIMA, AUGUST 25 (NEPS): “Every time in the Assembly, we were not allowed to ask any questions to know something of the developmental works of certain departments in the State,” said a ruling NPF legislator, who wished not to be named.

Denying the remarks made by Chief Minister TR Zeliang in last Press Conference on July 14 that members were free to ask any questions in the Assembly, the NPF legislator disclosed that “Whip” would be always issued to the members in the Treasury Bench in every Assembly Session not to ask or put up any questions in the Assembly.

“I, as a representative of my constituency, should be given an opportunity to ask questions to know the progress of any developmental activities taking place in my Constitu-

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— Vince Lombardi

Say no to bribes: NPCC President

PAGE 09

reflections

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the state, the ENSF stated that there is need to look at the “pathetic and ghostly state of those so called urban towns in the Eastern Region.”

It asked that the State Government in accordance to the 74th CAA, should “immediately resolve to ensure that urban local bodies (ULBs) should be immediately empowered with constitution rights for self governance.”

The ENSF opined that establishment of towns and declaring of Town council alone won’t suffice.

“Such initiatives alone shouldn’t be confined to the politics of gaining vote alone but should foster on for development and growth by empowering the Urban Local Bodies (ULB) to decide its growth within the constitutional provision and rights. Sceptre falling into the wrong hand is the causes why Nagaland is still stagnant,” it added.

The ENSF further lamented that “a village gets more funds than any urban town in Nagaland. This is one factor why urbanisation is being stagnant in the state.”

sistance that threatens the effective prevention and treatment of TB, as resistant microorganisms (including bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites) are able to withstand attack by the antimicrobial drugs.

The findings showed that pharmacies frequently dispensed antibiotics to simulated patients who presented with typical TB symptoms.

However, none of the pharmacies dispensed first-line anti-tuberculosis drugs without prescriptions.

Antibiotics and steroids (which can be harmful to individuals who actually have TB), were dispensed only when the patient presented with a lab test confirming TB, thus

making the diagnosis apparent to the pharmacist, the study said.

“Our study clearly showed that not a single pharmacy gave away first line anti-TB drugs (isoniazid, rifampicin, ethambutol, pyrazinamide and streptomycin) without prescriptions,” said Madhukar Pai, Canada Research Chair at McGill University, in Quebec, Canada.

“However, pharmacists gave away other antibiotics and rarely referred patients with typical TB symptoms, and that means they are contributing to delays in TB diagnosis,” Pai added. This can increase transmission of the infection in the community.

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FriDAY 26•08•2016

NAGALAND

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Say no to bribes: Teaching community urged to win people's trust NPCC President

DIMAPUR, AUGUST 25 (MExN): NPCC President, K. Therie has appealed to the students and youth to be ambassadors of clean and God-fearing Government and to say no to bribe and corruption.

Speaking as the Chief Guest on the occasion of Nagaland University Students’ Union’s (Lumami) 19th Varsity Campus Fresher’s Day on August 24, Therie requested the students to perform their Constitutional duties by being an honest subject of the state, citizen of the nation and more so, a Christian. He expressed concern on the exodus of youth from the state in search of employment, some of whom bring laurels to the state but many of whom have brought sad stories. He said that there are over 70,000 registered as unemployed while perhaps many more have not registered.

Therie said that despite many opportunities available in the state, particularly in Kohima and Dimapur, we have lost the market where there are ample opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship. Adding that students need to plan for the future and that planning is linking action with thinking, Therie said this is what politicians do for the people.

Pointing out the reasons for the paralysis of Nagaland, Therie said bribes and corruption play a major role in stifling development and progress. He said bribes lead to high interest loans and this in turn

leads to corruption which ultimately leads to stagnancy in the all round development of the state. He lamented that this vicious cycle has deformed our society as many of the failed candidates have to forfeit their homes and properties and have to live on rent.

He said that through this mechanism, some societies have acquired huge assets in Dimapur and Kohima from failed candidates while on the other hand, successful candidates siphon off funds meant for development, to make up their past and future expenditures. Therie attributed “vision deficit” as another reason for the paralysis of Nagaland and added that solution to the prolonged political problem is of utmost priority.

The NPCC President emphasized that the NPCC Roadmap is the cursor to the Election Manifesto of the 2018 General Election wherein Congress has committed Good Governance such as administration of law, decentralization, accountability, transparency, equitable and inclusiveness, responsive, participation and obedience. One of the main objectives he said will be growth of economy through proper fiscal management besides addressing the present pressures upon the people and state like uninterrupted power supply, state circular road connecting all district Hqs, IT, cashless health cards for all citizens, delivery of welfare schemes and cli-

MEx File

KCSU union assembly on Aug 27 KOHIMA, AUGUST 25 (MExN): The Kohima Chakhesang Students’ Union (KCSU) has informed that the union will have its 1st Union Assembly for the tenure 2016-17 on August 27 at Capital College of Higher Education at 12 noon. Therefore, all the units have requested to attend the said assembly positively.

Math & Science teachers deployed to GHS Sakshi DIMAPUR, AUGUST 25 (MExN): The Sakshi Students Union today acknowledged the School Education Department for re deploying math and science teachers as per the demands of the union. A press note from the SSU however expressed apprehension regarding implementation of the order especially “going by the experience of the past where such orders have not materialised.” Therefore, the SSU appealed all the teaching and non teaching staff, including the two new appointees to be present in the school campus on August 30 at 8:00am after which the SSU stated it will decide whether to call off the agitation. “This time the SSU is dead serious to rebuild the GHS Sakshi which has been neglected for the last 25 years,” it stated.

Higher Edu Dept informs KOHIMA, AUGUST 25 (MExN): The Department of Higher Education has notified all Post Matric Scholarship (PMS) for ST Student’s beneficiaries and Institutions that the Ministry has extended the date online form fill up till September 30, 2016. A notification from the department informed that under this scheme, students should go by the given website and compulsorily register and find out their user ID and password and apply to log in. It further stated that supporting documents for Scholarship amounting to less than Rs 50,000 should be kept at institution level and for scholarship amount more than Rs.50,000 may be uploaded on the portal. For any queries, contact the Directorate of Higher Education during the office working hours through the following phone numbers: 9856713022, 8794143546 & 9612444549.

SDEO Longleng notifies DIMAPUR, AUGUST 25 (MExN): The SDEO Longleng has informed all GTs under the former’s establishment to submit photo copies of B.Ed marksheet and pass certificate along with appointment order for immediate verification within August 27 to the undersigned office. A press note from the SDEO informed that late comers will have to submit the documents personally to the directorate office. It further informed all GMS/GPS under the SDEO Longleng that teachers day tokens and car flags can be collected from the SDEO office hours from August 24

TSUK freshers day on August 27 DIMAPUR, AUGUST 25 (MExN): The Thenyizumi Students Union, Kohima (TSUK) will be organising its 21st General Session-cum- Freshers Social 2016 under the theme ‘Learning to be Employable’ on August 27 at the LCS building, Midland in Kohima from 10:00am onwards. Thepusa Nakro, SDAO, Chozuba, Department of Agriculture, will grace the occasion as the guest speaker.

The union has invited all the people of Thenyizumi residing in and around Kohima to attend the session.

mate change issues. Therie stated that the doors of banks and Financial Institutions should be opened to the Naga entrepreneurs.

He said that despite the Nagaland Land Regulation Act of 1978, the National Banks have not honoured so far and therefore, the NLA would be required to further initiate a Bill in the matter.

He therefore, reiterated his appeal to the student community in particular and the youth in general to say no to bribes and corruption.

Reflecting on the theme of the occasion, Therie said an intellectual is one who is able to assess the past and present, and develop perceptions for the future. He said that considering the future of the people of the state and most importantly the youth, the faculty has a tremendous responsibility in shaping their future just as the future of the clay depends upon the potter.

He stated that NU deserves a better campus as a decent campus leads to freshness of mind making it more conducive to harvest better education.

Therie pointed out that as the world is fast transforming both in political and economic terms, there is no reason why we cannot catch up and achieve.

He expressed happiness that the squabbles within the University were over and hoped that like other Universities, Nagaland University will produce successful candidates.

PHUSAcHODU, AUGUST 25 (MExN): The Additional Director (HoD) of School Education, Wonthongo Tsopoe along with Deputy Director, Lipok Jamir and Statistical Officer, Tsupong visited the SDEO establishment Pfutsero, Government High school, Phusachodu and Zuketsa villages under Phek district on August 23.

The team had a marathon interactive session with the staff of the three establishments.

Interacting with the staff, the HOD said in order to revamp the education system in the state, the year 2016 will be a year of inspection and monitoring.

With this, he said the department has constituted a team of officers’ into three groups to visit the SDEOs, DEO, and government schools in all the districts.

The inspection and

Additional Director (HoD) School Education and others during an inspection. (Morung Photo)

monitoring will be very strict and will be on surprise or through intimation, he said and therefore directed all the establishments to prepare the progress report and submit to the inspection team.

While exhorting the teachers, the HoD asked all the teaching faculty and staffs to work hard with sin-

cerity and dedication to deliver best education in the government schools. He also asked the teachers to take up teaching on mission mode.

He also opined that working in rural areas is always a challenging task where teachers take the place of parents and they are the only resource person

available for the students.

He therefore urged the teachers to understand the value involved in their present posting place throughout the academic session.

Emphasizing on work culture, he said that the directorate office too is directly link to classroom. The office exists because of the existence of teachers and

schools for which he shared his vision on strengthening of the directorate office on better delivery system so that the welfare of teachers is taken care.

The HoD sought for healthy competition among schools, SDEO/ DEO establishments on good governance. He further called upon the teaching community to do their best and win the trust and confidence of the local populace.

He informed that the department will not tolerate any teacher who deviates from duties and responsibilities in their respective posting places.

He meanwhile appreciated the strong community involvement towards strengthening of education system in the village especially at Phusachodu Government High School under Phek district.

Consultation on NBCC Vision 2030 held

DIMAPUR, AUGUST 25 (MExN): A consultation on NBCC Vision 2030 was jointly organized by Nagaland Baptist Church Council and Development of Human Potential (DHP), Imphal at NBCC Platinum Hall, Kohima from August 23 -25.

The program started with a keynote address by Rev. Dr. Tamthing, Program Coordinator, DHP. In his address he mentioned that the consultation was organized to present a road map for the church which in return will give a clear direction of development for the people.

The other resource persons were Alemtemshi Jamir, Convenor, Nagaland Vision 2030; Nuklu Phom, Executive Secretary, Phom

Baptist Churches Association; Kikheto Sema IAS, Secretary, Land Resource; Colo Mero, Director, Life Ministries, Kohima; Dr Asakho Hibo, Principal, Japfu Christian College and Rev. Dr. Zelhou Keyho, General Secretary, NBCC. The topics dealt were “Present Development Context & Scenario of Nagaland and the role of the Church,” “Ecological & Environmental scenario of Nagaland and the role of the Church,” “Socio-Economic Status of Nagaland today & the role of the Church in major Development areas,” “Youth Renaissance in Nagaland & the role of the Church in nurturing the youth in shaping and developing the church

Attendees of the consultation on NBCC Vision 2030 held in Kohima.

and society,” “Gender Just Development Scenario of Nagaland & the role of the Church in the area of Women empowerment,” and “NBCC- Integrity of God’s Creation by 2030.”

Rev. C. Lima Sangtam,

Executive Secretary, United Sangtam Baptist Churches Association (USBLA) and Rev. Dr. Vezopa Tetseo, Executive Secretary, Chakhesang Baptist Church Council led the morning devotions. On the last day there was a group

discussion on “A dream/ wish of people ‘To be picture of 2030” led and facilitated by DHP members. The program ended with group presentation. All together 66 participants attended the program.

'Bhandari has the most growth potential' Children’s Film Festival underway Morung express news Dimapur | August 25

Former NSF President, Achumbemo Kikon has termed Bhandari in Wokha district as having the greatest growth potential among the 60 Assembly Constituencies in Nagaland.

Speaking at a consultative gathering of NPF workers of 40 Bhandari Assembly Constituency in Dimapur on August 25, the Convenor of the NPF Legal Cell and former NSF president held that Bhandari can prove to be crucial not only for its oil reserves but also for its strategic geographical location in the foothills of Nagaland state bordering Assam.

However, he regretted that the constituency is lacking in

many aspects of development, its potential notwithstanding. It has remained marginalised for years and its tag as a 'Backward area' has not been of much help, he said. According to him, the fund the area receives from the DUDA is not enough to cover the many development issues it faces.

With 80 villages, he said that the constituency is vast in terms of area but poor in road connectivity. Over 20 villages in the constituency are reported to be without road connectivity and many still without schools.

Stating that the constituency has seen many leaders over the years, who have tried, he though added, "No leader from the constituency has been able to sufficiently address the

problems."

On the Nagaland Foothill Road, he held that it should be completed at the earliest, while adding it will give a fillip to the area and improve condition of the people.

Hinting vying for the NPF ticket from the constituency for the 2018 Assembly elections, Kikon said, "Hopefully, the party (NPF) ticket will come my way." "If the people repose their faith in me, I'll be able to translate the demands (of the constituency)."

Commenting on the Naga political issue, he said that all Nagas should put up a united front "instead of pointing fingers." "The GoI this time appears serious," he said, adding that allowing the issue to linger will be disadvantageous to the Nagas

DIMAPUR, AUGUST 25 (MExN): The Children’s Film Society with the Directorate of School Education and Cinedarbaar has been organising a children’s film festival across the state.

The festival was kicked off on August 23 and will continue till August 30 covering Kohima, Wokha and Dimapur. CFSI’s Film Bonanza will showcase films like Kima’s Lode –Beyond the class directed

by Zuala Chhangte (2015), Nokpokliba by Meren Imchen (2005), Goopi Gawaiyaa Bagha Bajaiyaa by Shilpa Ranade (2013) and Krish, Trish & Batliboy directed by Munjal Shroff and Tilakraj Shetty (2009).

Dr. Shravan Kumar, CEO, CFSI said, “We have been very active in bringing high-quality children’s

entertainment to the North-East by way of exposing them to CFSI films for the last few years. We have seen many creative personnel from the North-East, being involved in various film making projects. CFSI Film Bonanza is one of the significant initiatives that CFSI has undertaken over the years to bring the North-East closer to the mainstream India. We will continue similar initiatives as we go ahead into the future.” CFSI had earlier this year, presented the second leg of the 19th International Children’s Film Festival in Gangtok, Sikkim. More than a thousand students from Sikkim attended this festival and enjoyed film screenings, workshops, quiz, discussions and much more during the event.

‘TaCkle iSSue of Child righTS Now’ Training conducted for Juvenile Justice Board Nagaland

KOHIMA, AUGUST 25 (MExN): The State Child Protection Society Nagaland in collaboration with the Kohima District Legal Services Authority (KDLSA) held a one day training for the Juvenile Justice Board Nagaland at Mount Tabor Retreat House, Kohima on August 23.

During the inaugural session, Z Nyusietho Nyuthe, Joint Secretary, Social Welfare & Society Director, SCPS – N delivered the welcome address.

Nyuthe addressed the participants by giving a brief introduction about the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS), a centrally sponsored scheme which aims at building a protective environment for children in difficult circumstances, as well as other vulnerable children.

He further went onto say that, the aims of ICPS is not only to create environment for protection for all children but also to recognize those children who needs special attention and support. Accordingly, interventions within the Schemes focus on Children in need of care and protection and children in conflict with law. It is based on cardinal principles of “Pro-

Participants of the one day training for the Juvenile Justice Board Nagaland held in Kohima.

tection of Child Rights” and “Best interest of the Child”.

Mezivolu T. Therieh, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kohima & Secretary, KDLSA spoke on the topics “Child Rights” and “Roles & Responsibilities of JJB”.

Therieh, emphasized that child issues if not tackled now, the future of those children would be bleak.

She said that children are the most vulnerable group in society and if they are not protected from such circumstances the future of the nation is in jeopardy.

Violence against children is on rise and as per the records, in the year 2015 the crime against the children rose upto 52.5% high. As India is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Right of a Child (UNCRC), it gives special emphasis on the

four articles.

She also spoke on the Constitutional provisions which included Article, 14, 15, 21 & 23, and stressed on working together to achieve what has been implemented.

While speaking on the roles and responsibilities of the Juvenile Justice Board, she said that before dealing with the cases pertaining to children, one has to study the cases very cautiously and deal with the juveniles with care. She also spoke about the biopsychosocial aspects and the rehabilitation and social re-interrogation of the child.

The responsibilities of the JJB was to ensure that juvenile are not subjected to ill treatment, they are granted free legal aid and right to counsel, probation-

ary officer are informed by the police officer, etc.

Therieh further stressed on the functions of the JJB, what police officer has to do after apprehending the juvenile and the post production process by the JJB. Raitale Zeliang, Programme Manager SCPS-N, presented the overview of the ICPS. During her presentation, she said that the main purpose of ICPS is to bring multiple existing child protection schemes of the Ministry under one comprehensive umbrella, and integrate additional interventions for protecting children and preventing harm.

She also said that child protection is a primary responsibility of the family and should be supported by the community, civil society and government.

She highlighted about the strengthening of the Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA), State Adoption Resource Agency (SARA) and advised that all adoption should be done through proper legal procedure.

Esther Aye, Legal Aid Counsel-cum-Trainer, Nagaland State Legal Services Authority, spoke on the topic, “Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 (JJA)”. In her presentation she said that JJA was an act to consolidate and amend the law relating to children alleged and found to be in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection by catering to their basic needs through proper care, protection, development, treatment, social reintegration, by adopting a child-friendly approach in the adjudica-

tion and disposal of matters in the best interest of children and for their rehabilitation through processes provided, and institutions and body established.

Aye also spoke on the general principles which are to be followed in administration of the Act, where any child shall be presumed to be innocent of any mala fide or criminal intent upto the age of eighteen years.

Satahi Shujoh, Program Manager SCPS-N, spoke on the Convergence, Coordination of JJB with other Stake-holders & File Management. In his presentation, he said that one of the most important aspects of the ICPS was to create a space wherein statutory bodies under the JJAct (CWCs & JJBs), Central and state Departments of Women and Child Development, Judiciary, etc can all work together to create a safe environment for children.

He also said that ICPS envisages a strong partnership and integrated effort between all stakeholders impacting the lives of children towards a future where there would be a minimal number or no children in need of care and protection.

FriDAY 26•08•2016

NORTH-EAST

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

3

Recruitment strike effects China expresses concern about Indian missiles on border normal life in Manipur Newmai News Network Imphal | August 25

Supply of consumer items, including fuel, have been seriously affected by the ongoing economic blockade along the two National Highways, the two key supply lines of Manipur.

JAC of All Manipur Written Test Successful Candidates of Police Constable (Male) 2013 has resorted to the blockade stir after the state government recently cancelled the results of the DPC held in 2013.

Meanwhile, Manipur Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam today appealed to the striking cop aspirants to withdraw their stir in the larger interest of the general public.

"Notification has been issued for a fresh recruitment process where all the striking constable candidates whose results have

Manipur government admits to lapses in police recruitment test Imphal, august 25 (IaNs): Manipur Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam Gangmei on Thursday admitted to lapses in the recruitment test of 2,000 police constables here and said action would be taken against the officials who manipulated the candidates' scores.

The government was "constrained with a heavy heart to cancel the recruitment results", said Gangmei, who is in charge of the state Home Department. The selection process had started in 2013.

He said that once an internal inquiry is concluded, the officials guilty of tampering with test results and candidates' scores shall be booked.

Highly placed sources said that candidates who had failed the tests were selected for recruitment. One candidate had submitted two answer papers in two different handwritings. been cancelled should take part," Gaikhangam told pressmen at ISKCON complex where he was participating in Krishna Janmashtami celebration.

He claimed the government had detected gross

irregularities in the recruitment process of the over 2000 police constable candidates leading to its cancellation. and appealed to them not to indulge in agitation further.

"I also appealed to

those who are on stir to cooperate with the government. Action will be taken against all who are responsible for the whole problem," he assured.

Further, the Manipur Deputy CM, who is also holding additional charge of Home, informed that age bar will not be a hurdle for the already constable candidates in the fresh recruitment process.

"The government will allow them to take part in the recruitment of police constables to be conducted in district-wise manner," he said.

The JAC, meanwhile, has vowed to intensify their stir until the cancellation order is withdrawn by the government.

The government's move also drew condemnations from political parties including the state unit of BJP.

BEIJINg august 25 (REutERs): China's Defence Ministry said on Thursday that it hoped India could put more efforts into regional peace and stability rather than the opposite, in response to Indian plans to put advanced cruise missiles along the disputed border with China.

Indian military officials say the plan is to equip regiments deployed on the China border with the BrahMos missile, made by an Indo-Russian joint venture, as part of ongoing efforts to build up military and civilian infrastructure capabilities there.

The two nuclear-armed neighbours have been moving to gradually ease long-existing tensions between them.

Leaders of Asia's two giants pledged last year to cool a festering border dispute, which dates back to a brief border war in 1962, though the disagreement remains unresolved.

Asked about the missile plans at a monthly

A man walks inside a conference room used for meetings between military commanders of China and India, at the Indian side of the Indo-China border at Bumla, in Arunachal Pradesh, November 11, 2009. (REUTERS Photo/File)

news briefing, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said maintaining peace and stability in the border region was an "important consensus" reached by both countries.

"We hope that the Indian side can do more to benefit peace and stability along the border and in the region, rather than the opposite," Wu said, without elaborating.

China lays claim to

more than 90,000 sq km (35,000 sq miles) ruled by India in the eastern sector of the Himalayas. India says China occupies 38,000 sq km (14,600 sq miles) of its territory on the Aksai Chin plateau in the west.

India is also suspicious of China's support for its arch-rival, Pakistan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping when he visits China next month

to attend the G20 summit.

Modi's government has ordered BrahMos Aerospace, which produces the missiles, to accelerate sales to a list of five countries topped by Vietnam, according to a government note viewed by Reuters and previously unreported.

Modi visits Vietnam, which is embroiled in a dispute over the South China Sea with Beijing, before arriving in China.

ZSUD conduct interaction Vested interests trying to spread rumours: Tripura CM Magisterial probe into mob program on ‘career choice’ violence, arson in Agartala

NEw DElhI, august 24 (mExN): The Zeliangrong Students' Union Delhi (ZSUD) organized a “One day Interaction Program on Career Choice” at Constitution Club of India, Speaker Hall, New Delhi on August 20.

According to a press release, the programme was attended by the Zeliangrong students in Delhi and National Capital Region. With the aim to produce successful candidates in civil service examinations from Zeliangrong community in the coming years, six panellists from different fields advised and interacted with the participating students.

T. Pamei, IAS, noted the excess of cultural influences like group-ism, clanism, priority to one’s own village etc. and opined that these are indirectly preventing us from achieving goals and successful life. He offered to assist the students financially if they require study centres for their preparation.

Dr. Kamei Aphun, Senior Assistant Professor, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University, on the other hand made a strong argument on the importance of

education and its role in liberating an individual and society at large.

G.G. Kamei, IRS, enlightened the gathering on several career options available and reminded them to "start young and start early". She also spoke on several practical steps in choosing one's career.

Dr. Meijinlung Dhangmei, Attending Consultant at Fortis Escorts, New Delhi, spoke on the career options available in the medical field and added several essential guidelines for effective and productive studies for getting through any competitive exams.

G. Machunlung Kamei, IRS, talked on practical approach on three most important factors for one's success. One has to work hard, motivate oneself and assess one's work to be successful, Kamei advised.

Timothy Tajonang Gonmei, IRPS, pointed to “Five Minds” that is needed to become successful. According to him, the five minds include: Disciplinary Mind, Synthesising Mind, Creative Mind, Respectful Mind, and Ethical Mind. He advised the gathering to pursue studies seriously and to be an expert in one area if one desires to become a successful person.

Bodo outfits to restart statehood movement on Aug 30 guwahatI, august 25 (IaNs): Slamming the attitude of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre, the All-Bodo Students' Union (ABSU) and several other Bodo civil society organisations have decided to revive their movement for a separate state on August 30. ABSU President Promod Boro said on Thursday that a five-hour blockade of the national highways (NH) will be organised across the state on August 30 to press for their demand for creation of a separate state.

"DuringthepreviousCongress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's time, four rounds of talks were heldtodiscusstheissue.However, nothing was done to fulfill our demand. Before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP assured us to fulfill our demands. The BJP also included the assurance in their election manifesto. However, once the BJP formed the government at the Centre, they have forgotten their assurance," said Boro, adding that this has left the organisations with no option but to revive their movement for a separate state.

"After the BJP formed the

government at the Centre, we have met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh at least seven times and Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju at least 10 times requesting them to take up the problems of the Bodos. It seems that the government is only interested in delaying matter and avoid-

ing the legitimate demand of the Bodos," he said.

"We have also met Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal several times and reminded him about the assurance of the BJP before the polls. However, nothing has happened so far.

agaRtala, august 25 (IaNs): Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar on Thursday said some vested interests are trying to take advantage of the prevailing situation in the state after the recent ethnic clashes by spreading rumours and using social networks. "The authorities will take stern actions against them," Sarkar told reporters.

Urging people from all sections to maintain peace and communal harmony, he said some people with ill motive were trying to disturb the long-established peace, harmony and ethnic tranquility of the state.

Sarkar, after meeting Director General of police K. Nagaraj, was talking to media persons about the August 23 clashes in which 24 people were injured and 17 vehicles were damaged.

The violent clashes occurred after members of a tribal party -- Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) -- attacked civilians, traders and vehicles indiscriminately without provocation.

The situation turned violent as hundreds of tribals owing allegiance to the IPFT took out a rally and attacked passersby, including women, provoking retaliation by the people of various communities.

The Chief Minister said: "We have ordered a magisterial probe into the ethnic violence and asked the district magistrate and collector of West Tripura district to submit the report within one month."

"Central para-military forces are helping the state security forces to maintain peace and tranquillity. There

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agaRtala, august 25 (IaNs): The Tripura government has ordered a magisterial probe into the ethnic violence here on August 23, an official said on Thursday. "A magisterial inquiryhasbeenorderedbythestategovernmenttoascertain the facts on the violent attacks and clashes in Agartala on August 23," West Tripura district magistrate and collector Milind Ramteke said. "The prohibitory order under Section 144 of the CrPC which has been imposed in five police station areas in Agartala soon after the violence, would continue till midnightofThursday.Allkindsofpublicmeetingsandrallieshave beendisallowedduringthisperiod,"hesaid.TheDMsaidthat huge troopers of Assam Rifles, Border security Force, Central ReservePoliceForce,TripuraStateRiflesandstatepolicehave remained vigilant over the situation.

ANGAMI YOUTH ORGANIZATION PHREIKIE AYO teicie Mepfüepengou Nyi (November 4 & 5) pemvü di August 20th & 27th, September 10th & 24th teisozha hako nu Pederüchü u Angamimia kicha diako nu peba votuo.

Nounyü ca dia- ‘Ethos-Economy-Education & Environment’ hako se kepu mu mharhü votuo.

Vorkezhü 27th August nhie Western Angami Youth Organization (WAYO) bu peso di WAPO Hall Sechü Zubza nunu nounyü “Economy” cau se keputuo. Nounyü kenyimia pete bu vor kehou phreshü nu kieshüzhie.

Kehouchie 10:00 AM Kehoukeseu - Eno Neidilhutuo Sechü, President WAYO Kecha - Eno Neivilhou Kuotsu, Asso. Pastor Sechü, Zubza Baptist Church

- Eno Prasielie Pienyü, Co-convener Org Committee Tsali - Eli Tsino Viya Diekepu I - Enoli Rovi Chasie, Entrepreneur Diekepu II - Eno Richard Belho, Architect Diekepu III - EnoKesaoKesiezie,Businessman Kekhrokeshü - Angami Sport Association (ASA) - Angami Youth Organization (AYO) Rüchü mu mhapepiketuo tei - Eno Khris Kire, Businessman - Eno Neivikuolie Khatsü, Social Activist - Dr Vilar Solo, Entrepreneur Kethu nie - Enoli Medonguno Yore mu Eno Keviuchüto Kuotsu Thekhadie - Eno Neizolie Rüpreo, Finance Secretary AYO Hiechiekeshü Dieyie

02:00 PM

Kezhazer Angami Secretary Org Committee

Khujo Tei

Medo Yhokha President AYO

is no fresh incident in the state since August 23," he added.

The IPFT has been agitating for the creation of a separate state, carved out by upgrading the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council area. Tribals constitute a third of Tripura's four million population.

The TTAADC was formed in 1985 by amend-

ing the Indian Constitution to develop the socio-economic conditions of the tribals. Of the 12.17 lakh population living in TTAADC areas, more than 90 per cent are tribals.

The IPFT's demand was rejected by almost all political parties, including the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).

NOTICE NO.REV-1/90-D/5179-80/ Notice is hereby given that I. Wabang Ao resident of Dimapur who has applied for issue of mortgage clearance concerning to Patta No. 149, Dag No. 368 measuring an area 06-02-07 which has been mortgage in the SBI Bank .

Claims & Objection if any on the aforesaid land may be submitted in written in the court of the undersigned on or before 31-08-16.

Sd/-Deputy Commissioner Dimapur: Nagaland

NOTICE NO.REV-1/90-D/5181-82/ Notice is hereby given that Akum Longchari resident of Dimapur who has applied for issue of mortgage clearance concerning to Patta No. 395, Dag No . 44/522, 45/523 measuring an area 03-00-00 located at Block No/Village 04, Mouza No. 02 which has been mortgage in the SBI Bank.

Claims & Objection if any on the aforesaid land may be submitted in written in the court of the undersigned on or before 31-08-16.

Sd/-Deputy Commissioner Dimapur: Nagaland

FREE FIBROSCAN EDEN MEDICAL CENTRE WILL BE CONDUCTING FREE FIBROSCANS FOR LIVER PROBLEMS (CIRRHOSIS, FATTY LIVER, HEPATITIS ETC.) ON THE FIRST MONDAY OF EVERY MONTH. TIME : 10:00 AM TO 2:00 PM Contact: 248288/248722

Contact: 9856447373/ 7085121944

Public information on National Electoral Roll Purification 2016. (NERP) 1. Enroll your name in the electoral roll if you are 18 years of age and above as on 01/01/2016 through Form 6.

2. Voluntarily disclose and delete your name in the electoral roll through Form 7 if your name is registered in more than one place.

3. Delete entries of dead, shifted, absentees, bogus electors through Form 7.

4. Get your particulars in the electoral roll and EPIC corrected through Form 8.

5. You can transpose your name to another polling station within the same assembly constituency through Form 8A. 6. Replace your poor quality/mismatched photograph through Form 8.

7. Submit your mobile number and email address to your BLO for easy communication during election and getting information on electoral roll related activities.

8. Ensure one man one registration. Avoid multiple registrations.

9. Check your enrolment status through ECI web site www.eci.nic.in or www.ceonagaland.nic.in.

10. For any information, call toll free number 1950.

11. Enrollment at more than one place is a criminal offence punishable under Representation of People Act 1950 and Indian Penal Code with imprisonment or with fine or with both.

Issued by the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Nagaland.

INFORMATION IN VIEW OF THE INAUGURATION OF EDEN MEDICAL CENTRE, ALL OUT PATIENT DEPARTMENTS (OPD) WILL REMAIN CLOSED ON SATURDAY, 27th AUGUST 2016.

HOWEVER THE EMERGENCY WILL REMAIN OPEN. EDEN MEDICAL CENTRE ALSO WISHES TO ANNOUNCE THAT SINCE THE 29th AUGUST 2016 WILL BE THE FIRST WORKING DAY AFTER THE OPENING OF THE HOSPITAL, IT WILL BE A FREE OUT PATIENT DEPARTMENT (OPD) DAY. DOCTORS’ CONSULTATION FEES WILL NOT BE CHARGED ON THAT DAY. Contact: 248288/248722

4

fridAY 26•08•2016

business

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

to Share Your Phone Number India government panel clears GM WhatsApp With Facebook; May Start Showing Ads mustard but hurdles remain: sources New DelhI, AuguSt 25 (ReuteRS): A government panel has cleared commercial use of what would be India’s first genetically modified (GM) food crop, but the political establishment will still have to give final approvals amid wide-spread public opposition to the technology.

Technical clearance for indigenously developed GM mustard seeds was given on Aug. 11 by the panel of government and independent experts following multiple reviews of crop trial data generated over almost a decade, said two sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

The decision to go ahead is likely to be made public soon by the environment ministry’s Genetic Engineering Approval Committee, and is expected eventually to move to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s desk via Environment Minister Anil Mad-

An Indian scientist holds a genetically modified (GM) rapeseed crop under trial in New Delhi on February 13, 2015. (REUTERS File Photo)

hav Dave. Dave could not immediately be reached for comment.

News of the approval comes at a time when U.S. seed maker Monsanto which dominates the GM cotton market in India - is facing heightened government regulation that has forced the company to consider quitting a country it has operated in for decades.

Reuters reported on Wednesday that Monsanto

had withdrawn an application seeking approval for its next generation GM cotton seeds in India, escalating a long-running dispute between New Delhi and the world’s biggest seed maker.

Permitting GM food crops is a big call for India, which spends tens of billions of dollars importing edible oils and other food items every year. Farmers are stuck with old technology, yields are at a fraction of

world levels, cultivable land is shrinking and weather patterns have become less predictable, experts say.

But political and public opposition to lab-altered food remains strong amid fears that GM crops could compromise food safety and biodiversity. Some grassroots groups associated with Modi’s nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party have also opposed GM crops because of the reliance on seeds pat-

ented by multi-nationals like Monsanto, DuPont, Dow Chemical and Syngenta, which is to be taken over by a Chinese company.

India placed a moratorium on GM eggplant in 2010, also after an experts panel had given its clearance, effectively bringing the regulatory system to a deadlock.

Modi, however, who was instrumental in making Gujarat state India’s leading user of GM cotton when he was chief minister there, cleared several field trials for GM crops soon after taking office in New Delhi in 2014.

The GM mustard developed by Delhi University scientists makes use of three genes already incorporated in rapeseed hybrids in Canada, the United States and Australia. Extensive biosafety tests have revealed no cause for concern, according to a field trial report submitted to the government and seen

by Reuters.

SAN FRANCISCO, AuguSt 25 (AP): Global messaging service WhatsApp says it will start sharing the phone numbers of its users with Facebook, its parent company.

That means WhatsApp users could soon start seeing more targeted ads on Facebook although not on the messaging service itself. The move is a subtle but significant shift for WhatsApp, which has long promised to safeguard the privacy of more than 1 billion users around the world. WhatsApp is giving users a limited time to opt out of sharing their information with Facebook, although they must take the extra step of unchecking a box to do so. It also says Facebook won’t post phone numbers online or give them out to anyone.But the giant social network has been looking for ways to make money from WhatsApp since it bought the service two years ago, in an eye-popping deal ultimately worth $21.8 billion. At the same time, Facebook has pledged not to interfere with a longstanding promise by WhatsApp’s co-founders to respect users’ privacy and keep ads off its messaging platform. WhatsApp on Thursday offered a glimpse of its plans for turning on the money spigot, releasing new documents that describe the company’s privacy policy and the terms of service that users must agree to follow. The documents are the first revision of those policies since 2012, before Facebook acquired WhatsApp. In a potentially more controversial

21 banks to go live with Unified Rail stocks gain after CCEA approves Payments Interface, says NPCI nine rail network expansion projects MuMbAI, AuguSt 25 (the hINDu): National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the umbrella organisation for all retail payments system in India, on Thursday announced that customers of 21 banks will shortly be able to use Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for sending and collecting money via a smartphone using a Virtual Payment Address (VPA). UPI will also provide an option for scheduling push and pull transactions for various purposes like sharing bills among peers.

One can use UPI app instead of paying cash on delivery on receipt of product from online shopping websites and can pay for miscellaneous expenses like paying utility bills, over the counter payments, barcode (scan and pay) based payments, donations, school fees and other such unique and innovative use cases. UPI will allow a customer to have multiple virtual addresses for multiple accounts in various banks.

In order to ensure privacy of customer’s data, NPCI, in a statement said, there is no account number mapper anywhere other than the customer’s own bank. This

allows the customer to freely share the financial address with others. A customer can also decide to use the mobile number as the name instead of the short name for the virtual address like “1234567890@ xyz”. A. P. Hota, MD & CEO, NPCI, said “This is a success of enormous significance. Real-time sending and receiving money through a mobile application at such a scale on interoperable basis had not been attempted anywhere else in the world. Now the UPI App will be made available on Google Play Store by banks.”

After assessing the success of pilot run, RBI had accorded their final approval for public launch of the product.

NPCI had decided that only the banks with 1,000 pilot customers, 5,000 transactions and success rate of around 80 percent would be permitted to go live.

Such a threshold criteria helped banks to refine their systems and procedure.

The UPI app of 19 banks will be available on the Google Play Store in next two to three working days for the customers to download and start using. The relevant details of the service would be available on the website of 21 banks.

RBI retains ‘too big to fail’ status for SBI, ICICI Bank

MuMbAI, AuguSt 25 (PtI): Shares of nine companies whose fortunes are linked to orders from Indian Railways rose by 0.06% to 5.64% at 10:30 IST on BSE after Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved nine rail projects worth Rs 24374.86 crore. The announcement was made by Ministry of Railways after market hours yesterday, 24 August 2016.

Hind Rectifiers (up 4.09%), NELCO (up 0.06%), Kalindee Rail Nirman (up 3.23%), Titagarh Wagons (up 5.64%), Stone India (up 4.2%), Kernex Microsystems (up 3.29%), BEML (up 0.39%), Texmaco Rail & Engineering (up 3.29%), and Zicom Electronic Security Systems (up 0.24%) gained. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a

leisure

major push to give a boost to the infrastructure sector in the country, approved nine projects worth Rs 24374.86 crore in 9 states for expansion of railway network and connectivity across the country.

The 9 projects include construction of second railway line between New Bongaigaon and Kamakhya in Assam; construction of third line between Kharagpur (Nimpura) and Adityapur in Jharkhand; construction of third line between Rajnandgaon-Nagpur (Kalumna) in Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh and Gondia, Bhandara and Nagpur districts in Maharashtra; construction of third line between Mathura and Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh and construction of third line between Jhansi and Bina in Madhya Pradesh; construction of third line between Itarsi and Nagpur in Madhya Pradesh

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CROSSWORD # 3694

MuMbAI, AuguSt 25 (ReuteRS): The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday retained State Bank of India (SBI.NS) and ICICI Bank (ICBK.NS), the nation’s top two lenders by assets, as “domestic systemically important banks”, or the equivalent as “too big to fail” for a second consecutive year.

The two banks had been assigned the status last year, the first time the central bank moved to such a classification. Being named as systemically important imposes additional capital requirements for the two lenders. In compiling the list, the RBI considers factors including size, complexity, interconnectedness, international links among others.

Jio does Apple, people throng Reliance Stores for free 4G test SIM New DelhI, AuguSt 25 (IANS): If you are in awe of those early morning queues outside Apple Stores globally, hang on. From Bhubaneswar to Ahmedabad and from Lucknow to Mohali, people on Thursday made a beeline -- some even as early as 2 a.m. -- for Reliance Digital Stores and Digital Xpress Mini Stores to get a free Jio test 4G SIM. The 4G Preview Offer gives access to free 4G internet, VoLTE voice-calling, video-calling and SMS for 90 days.

Till now, the offer is available on smartphone brands like Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Micromax, ASUS, TCL, Alcatel and LYF and the testing phase is being extended to other smartphone brands on the Jio new 4G-LTE, all-IP based network. Jio’s 4G-LTE services include unlimited HD Voice and video calls, unlimited SMS and unlimited high-speed data. It will also give users access to free Jio Premium apps such as JioPlay, JioOnDemand, JioBeats, JioMags, JioXpressNews, JioDrive, JioSecurity and JioMoney. JioOnDemand offers access to movies, TV shows, live TV, etc. and JioBeats is for music.

BIRTHDAY GREETING Dear Sis Colü Tetseo !!!

We are really blessed with all that you have showered upon us this day on your entry to our family. We are indeed felt like soaring high to say “Happy Birth Day” and God bless you abundantly With zeal and enthusiasm and with more love and care we believe that together sail a boat of eternity.

“A Very Happy Birth Day Dear Colü”.

-Lots of Love from Baby, Atalü & Ajo.

SUDOKU

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.”

Game Number # 3680

Answer Number # 3679

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and Maharashtra; construction of third line between Ballarshah and Kazipet in Telangana and Maharashtra; construction of third line between Vijaywada and Gudur in Andhra Pradesh; and construction of fourth line between Jharsuguda and Bilaspur in Odisha and Chhattisgarh.

Besides facilitating the travel by easing the traffic bottlenecks, the approved lines would help the upcoming industries in the region and additional transport capacity to meet their requirements. The goods trains supplying foodgrains from one region to another, various industries, mines, coal fields and power plants will have additional transport capacity through these lines resulting in more revenues to Indian Railways, the statement from Ministry of Railways added.

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change - WhatsApp says it will begin “coordinating” accounts with Facebook by sharing WhatsApp users’ mobile phone numbers and device information, such as the type of operating system and other smartphone characteristics. The company says Facebook will employ the phone number internally to better identify WhatsApp users on Facebook, so it can recommend friends or show targeted advertising.

The ads would come through a Facebook programme called “Custom Audiences,” which lets a business upload lists of customers and phone numbers or other contact information the business has collected from warranty cards or other sources. Facebook matches the list to users with the same information and shows them ads.

Facebook says it doesn’t give out users’ information to advertisers. WhatsApp phone numbers are valuable to Facebook. While the social network already has many phone numbers, it doesn’t require users to provide them, and doesn’t always have the most current number for everyone on Facebook.

But anyone on WhatsApp must provide a current phone number because that’s how WhatsApp knows where to deliver messages. The coordination of accounts may draw fire from privacy advocates. WhatsApp says current users have up to 30 days to accept the new policy terms or stop using the service. Once they accept, they have 30 more days to opt out of sharing with Facebook.

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231864, 224117, 227337

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228400

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232106

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227607 232181

CIHSR (Referral Hospital)

242555/ 242533

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H

zUNHEBoTo: 03867-280304/ 101 (o) 9436422730 (oC)

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A

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ChILd wELFARE COmmITTEE

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100/2244279 2222222 2222111 2222952 2222916 2243339 2224202 08974997923

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KoHIMA SoUTH: 0370-2222952/ 101 (o) 9402003086 (oC)

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mOkOkChUNg:

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STd COdE: 0369

9485232688 9485232689

Police Station Kobulong :

9485232690

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Civil Hospital: Woodland Nursing Home:

2226216 2226263

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1.83

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17.26

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FRIdAY 26•08•2016

NAGALAND

NSCN (IM) ‘consultative ‘Elections created negative impact on socio-economy’ meeting’ held in Meluri mEluri, august 25 (mExN): A team from the NSCN (IM) led by K. Chawang, Convenor CFMC, held a consultative meeting with prominent leaders of Meluri area at Meluri Town on August 23.

According to a press release from the Pochury Hoho, Kilonser, V. Makritsü, and Speaker Tatar Hoho, Zarshie Nyuthe, were the main speakers where they highlighted the framework agreement of August 3, 2015 and the present on-going talks with the Government of India.

Hundreds consisting of frontal organisations, range presidents, religious leaders, village council chairmen, VDB Secretaries, Head GB’s, women

leaders, village youth presidents, pastors and many prominent leaders under Pochury area, attended the meeting where the “sincerity and the urgency” and keenness shown by the central government in solving the protracted problems of the Nagas was mentioned, the release stated.

During the meeting, the members of the house reaffirmed the mandate and declaration of various Naga consultative meets, particularly the 4th consultative meeting of January 20 to 21, 2005 at Hebron and August 25, 2015 at Niathu Resort, Dimapur, the release informed.

“Naga political settlement is the only means to

safeguard the future of the Nagas,” the Hoho stated and in this regard made an appeal to all concern stakeholders to give a concerted effort in finding a solution.

Later the house reaffirmed and strongly appealed to all Naga Political Groups to maintain maximum restraint and prevent conflicts and misunderstandings “in order to maintain peace and tranquility in Pochury area and our Naga areas as a whole”.

“Naga people, in the spirit of forgiveness and oneness, will ceaselessly strive and work for restorative unity for the common purpose towards achieving our political aspiration,” the Pochury Hoho stated.

KOHima, august 25 (NEps): Politicians are often blamed for “excessive expenditure” during elections but the voters are also equally to be blamed since they demand “money and materials” in exchange for their votes, said Y Kikheto Sema, IAS, Secretary of Land Resources Department while delivering lecture on “Consultation on NBCC Vision 2030” under the theme “Socio-Economic Status of Nagaland today and the role of the Church in major Development areas” held on Wednesday here at the NBCC Platinum Hall.

The Secretary frankly presented his points that since the politicians generally wanted to win; they had to spend “according to the demand of the voters.” He disclosed that the people who negotiated for voters, “the givers and receivers are all Christians and members of the Church.”

He further revealed that the demands by the “Baptist Christians are more than that of other denominations such as Roman Catholics, NCRC, and Pentecostals during elections.”

Kikheto, while appreciating the “Clean

Election Campaign” of the NBCC, said such campaign should begin right after the end of the election till the next election and not only during elections. He pointed out that the “churches may include such Campaign as syllabus in the Sunday Schools and may request the government to include the same in the syllabus of elementary education.” “This is because the election is the main culprit of not only a negative impact on socio-economy but also creating division among the people,” he stated.

He said the church could not remain a silent spectator on the issue; rather it should renew its commitment to clean elections and go on a war footing with vigorous commitment. The church needs to bring the topic of “Clean Election” to the church platform and stress the importance of the campaign upon all the stakeholders, he said. “If the church fails, blame should not be shifted upon other stakeholders alone,” he said and further added that “once the election process is changed, we can expect a lot of improvement in socio-economic development.”

Immediately repeal 32nd DLSU general conference held AFSPA from Naga areas: Dimapur, Dwelling on the misaugust placed sense of celebra25 (mExN): The ‘32nd tions among youths and General Conference-cumDNSU appeals GoI consumption of alcohol 2nd Academic Excellency Dimapur, august 25 (mExN): The Dimapur Naga Students’ Union (DNSU) today made another appeal to the Government of India “to immediately repeal Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from Naga inhabited areas”.

Re-affirming its stand for the revocation of the “draconian” AFSPA, DNSU asserted that the “black laws” of AFSPA take the form of suppression and is not appropriate with the peace process on the table.

“Naga people want peace and the Govt. of India should acknowledge the ground realities,” it stated.

Arguing that AFSPA is a “tool” which the Armed Forces, under the guise of protecting the country, is using to harass innocent civilians, the union asserted, the union called on India to “decry” the act as one of the peace building nations. “This unjust act has not only violated the human rights but has make the mockery of the largest democracy in the world,” DNSU maintained.

The DNSU insisted that Nagas are peace loving and law abiding citizens, and reasoned that Nagas only want to be treated at par with others “as human beings”.

“We have tolerated too much prosecution and harassment in our own land. Apart from human rights violations, everyday we live in fear of the dreaded law,” DNSU lamented.

Award’ of Dimapur Lotha Students’ Union (DLSU) on the theme ‘Strive for Excellence’ was held at Lotha Hoho Ki, on Thursday with Joint Commissioner of Taxes, Wochamo Odyuo and ASI Nzanbemo Yanthan as chief guest and guest of honour respectively.

Exhorting the students, the chief guest in his address dwelled on the theme of the conference and encouraged the students to work harder. Odyuo said excellence is an “incremental progress”, which requires perseverance and hard work.

Stating that complacency is detrimental to both intellectual and personal growths, the chief

Joint Commissioner of Taxes, Wochamo odyuo, felicitating a meritorious student at the ‘32nd general Conference-cum-2nd academic excellency award’ of dimapur lotha students’ Union, on Thursday.

guest urged the students to Yanthan in his address be thorough in everything impressed upon the stuthey do and also to explore dents to inculcate good new avenues. values in their lives.

during such celebrations, he stressed on the evils of alcohol and how it could ruin a student’s life.

Chairman, Lotha Hoho Dimapur, in his solidarity message said the Hoho would always extend support to DLSU in the latter’s initiatives to improve the lot of students.

More than 20 meritorious students received various awards including Late Nyamo Lotha Award, Late Sanchisao Award, Late Rhanlamo Award and DLSU award.

Earlier, DLSU president, Yanthanthung Yanthan, delivered the welcome address and general secretary, Pankathung Ezung, presented the Union’s report.

Catholic Church Pfüchama inaugurated Vaccination drive carried out in Tseminyu Dimapur, august 25 (mExN): The Veterinary Department, Tseminyu carried out a vaccination camp and awareness programme on August 24 at Phenshunyu, Phentejon and Zumpha. The department went from door to door visit to vaccinate livestock. Altogether 116 livestock and pets were vaccinated including 30 dogs with Anti-Rabies, 72 pigs with swine fever and 14 cattle with HS+BQ and Brucellosis.

At Phenshuyu village, Dr. Gwazenlo Tep, VAS Tseminyu briefed about the importance of timely vaccination in livestock against some highly contagious disease in order to avoid huge economic loss on outbreak. He also briefed about dangers of KOHima, august 25 (mExN): The Catholic community of Pfüchama fulfilled their long cherished dream of having their own place of worship. The church was inaugurated by Rev. Lukaz SJ, a Jesuit from

Poland, while Rev. Dr. James Thoppil, Bishop of Kohima, blessed the new church, a press release informed.

The Church is dedicated to St Andrew Bobola, a Jesuit saint from Poland, who sacrificed his life for faith. A

relic of this saint was placed on the altar of the Church by the Bishop after its solemn dedication, the release informed. The programme witnessed a group from Poland who came to Nagaland on a pilgrimage.

Dimapur reviews LCDC micro plan Dimapur, august 25 (mExN): As a follow up of Medical Officers’ Training on Leprosy Control & Detection Campaign (LCDC) held on August 17 and 18, a meeting to review the micro plan District Level LCDC was held at DTL&P (AYUSH) building, Dimapur on August 24. According to a press release, during the review meeting, Dr. Ahu Sekhose, SPO, NLEP stated that in spite of Nagaland being the first State in the country to achieve Leprosy Elimination Status in 1998, the prevalence rate in Dimapur District is still high. Accordingly, LCDC will be

conducted in the district, he informed.

Micro-plans prepared by Blocks’ representatives were reviewed. The LCDC Micro plans were prepared block wise for better coverage. Manpower and logistic requirements were reviewed and updated population as per head count at the grass root level, the release informed.

The meeting was attended Dr. S. K. Dey, State Leprosy Consultant; Dr. C. Yanpo Kithan, ZLO Dimapur; Dr. Toshirenla, all block MO in-charge; Block Program Managers and ASHA Co-ordinators.

consuming unhealthy/sick meat and how dreadful rabies could be and what should be done if one is beaten by a dog.

In a press release, the VAS Tseminyu stated that livestock are reared by the farmer primarily for economic purpose and therefore the vaccination was carried out to prevent an outbreak of some highly contagious disease which might cause a huge economic loss to the poor villagers.

He further stated that most of the villagers are unaware of Zoonotic disease and thereby putting their lives at high risk of contracting deadly disease from meat and animals for which the awareness programme was conducted.

Science Seminars held in Tuensang, Peren tuENsaNg, august 25 (mExN): The District Level Science Seminar organised by the School Education Department was held at GHSS Tuensang auditorium on August 24. Held under the theme "Pulses for sustainable food security: prospect and challenges”, the seminar was attended by 16 schools.

The resource person of the seminar was Tokiho Achumi, Scientist, KVK Tuensang. He emphasized on how India, a famine rooted state in 1960s, attained food security with the introduction of Green Revolution.

He further shared on how food sustainability can be

achieved in the ever increasing population nation like India. On the UN adopting the theme “The international year of pulses", he elaborated why pulses are noted as important and how it helps in regenerating the degraded soil condition.

Shamina Begum Tapadar of Akum Imlong School secured the first position in the competition, while Chumie Shiu K of GHSS Thangjam and Thangpong Lamthiu of Elavya Model Residential School were placed in the second and third positions respectively.

In Peren, the District Level Students’ Science Seminar 2016 under

the District was held on Wednesday at the Town Hall, Peren with Dr. Zieleigai Ndang, SDAO Tening as the resource person. Altogether, 15 participants from different schools participated in the Seminar which was held on the topic “Pulses for sustainable food security: Prospects and challenges”.

Keyichitube of Baptist High School Peren was awarded the winner while Kehecidaule Putlang of GHS Mbaulwa and Ngaugiale of GHSS Peren emerged second and third respectively, a press release from the office of the District Education Officer informed.

Ramsakal Paswan speaking during the felicitation programme at dimapur namghar Hall on Thursday.

founding members of Dimapur Namghar.

The Assam Government also honoured Paswan with Assam Literary Award 2013-2014.

Addressing the programme,

attended by a large section of Assamese community of Dimapur, Paswan described literature as an unstoppable trait that always takes one towards a new direction.

Stating that time and culture complement each other, he maintained that union of cultures is pure while elaborating on his passion for Assamese literature.

He further said there is no bar in intermingling of cultures between hills and valleys while adding that if we embrace each other’s culture with open hearts leaving aside all negativities, it will create a new horizon for the future generation. He also noted that Kohima Sahitya Sabha and Dimapur Namghar are valuable assets towards this end.

Paswan, who has several Assamese novels to his credit and contributed a number of articles to Assamese dailies, further in-

Dimapur, august 25 (mExN): The NSCN/ GPRN (Khaplang) has “honourably” terminated former Secretary CFSB, Khekaho Rochill, from both active and primary membership “owing to feeble health conditions”.

“The services rendered to the Government during his stint in the national service in various capacities shall remain duly recorded and acknowledged,” a press release issued by the MIP NSCN/GPRN stated and wished him a “bright future”. The termination comes into effect from the date of publication of this order, the MIP release added.

Meetings & AppointMents Public Accounts Committee meeting MLA CM Chang, the Chairman of Committee on Public Accounts, has convened an Oral Evidence Meeting on the examination of the report of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India for the year 2013-2014 on August 30 in the Committee Room of the Assembly Secretariat.

The Committee will take evidence with the representatives of Home (PEP) Department. All the members of the Public Accounts Committee have been requested to attend the meeting.

Zeliangrong Baudi Kohima meeting The Zeliangrong Baudi Kohima has convened a consultative meeting with the Kohima Liangmai Welfare Society, Zeme Council Kohima,and Rongmei Council Kohima on August 27 at Ura Restaurant, near Red cross Building, Kohima, at 11 am to discuss Zeliangrong Festival 2016, for the citizens of Kohima. A press release from the Baudi stating this also informed that ZBK has unanimously elected Achakbo Newmai, Kelei Zeliang, and Alan Gongmei as Advisory Board members of the Zeliangrong Baudi Kohima for the tenure 2016 to 2018.

In this regard, the Zeliangrong Baudi Kohima has requested all the office bearers and executive members to attend the consultative meeting with their constructive ideas for the welfare of Zeliangrong people.

AAN annual general body meeting The annual general body meeting of Anglers' Association Nagaland (AAN) will be held on September 10 at 10 am at Hotel Saramati Conference Hall. All the AAN members across the state are informed to attend the meeting. Annual reports, approval of the redrafted AAN constitution, selection of new team of AAN office bearers and other necessary important issues related to association will be discussed, a press release from the AAN informed.

NACWA seminar at Chiechama The Northern Angami Catholic Women Association (NACWA) will hold a seminar from August 27 to 28 at St. Paul Church Chiechama. Rev. Fr. Vemedo Joseph Kezo and Ruokuoleii Pasquilina will speak on the occasion as resource persons. Rev. Fr. Mathew Keemattam, Parish Priest of St. Dominic Savio Parish Chiephobozou will be the main celebrant on theSunday Holy Mass.

NPF Central Youth Wing The NPF Central Youth Wing will have its general meeting on August 31 at NPF Central Headquarter at 12 noon to discuss various party agenda. In this connection, a press release from the NPF Central Youth Wing Media Cell has directed officials to submit their agendum/ agenda in written before August 30. It also requested all officials to attend the meeting without fail. No personal letter for the said meeting shall be served to any officials separately, the release informed.

DATTU general meeting The Dhansiripar Area Timber Traders Union has convened a general meeting on August 27 at its Banker’s residence at 11 am. In this regard, a press release from the union has requested all the executives and members to attend the meeting positively.

CondolenCe Messages Chotisuh Sazo: Nagaland Legislative Assembly Speaker Chotisuh Sazo has expressed shock to hear of the “sad and tragic” demise of Rangtalak Rangkau, elder brother of Nagaland Chief Minister, T.R. Zeliang, who passed away on August 24 at Jalukie. Late Rangkau led a life of simplicity and dedication to serve the people and in his death the Zeliangrong people has lost a “dedicated and honest leader”, Sazo stated in a condolence message. Extending heartfelt condolences to the members of the bereaved family, Sazo prayed that the Almighty God would grant them courage and wisdom to withstand the irreparable loss.

PB Acharya Nagaland Governor PB Acharya has expressed grief to learn of the demise of Rangtalak Rangkau. Conveying heartfelt condolences to Chief Minister TR Zeliang, Acharya prayed to the Almighty to grant the bereaved family formed that he is penning an- strength to bear the irreparable loss. “May the departed other novel by collecting pictures soul rest in peace,” the message concluded. of Naga social life. The novel will Rongmei Council Nagaland start in Dimapur and some parts The Rongmei Council Nagaland has expressed “deep of Assam and will go onto visit shock and sorrow” at the demise of Rangtalak Rangkau. “We Myanmar, he stated.

Paswan, a retired senior of- remember Associate pastor late Rangtalak Rangkau whose ficer of Food and Civil Supplies missionary zeal and dedication has comforted many spiriDepartment, Nagaland and pres- tually poor and has equipped, encouraged and energized ently a practicing advocate in Di- the Christians in the vineyard of his master and God,” the mapur court, is the fourth recipi- Council stated in a condolence message. Extending deepest ent of Assam Literary Pension condolences to the bereaved family members at this hour of from Dimapur, grief, the Council prayed that the Almighty give them solace President of Dimapur branch and strength to overcome the pain and loss. of Asam Sahitya Sabha, Paswan served Dimapur Namghar in TSUD various capacities, including The Tenyimi Students' Union Dimapur mourned the that of president. He has several demise of Rangtalak Rangkau. Extending condolences, Assamese books to his credit, the TSUD prayed for strength for the bereaved family in one of which was translated into this time of grief and also prayed for the departed soul to English. rest in peace.

Dimapur’s Assamese community observe Janmashtami Dimapur, august 25 (mExN): The Assamese community of Dimapur under the aegis of Dimapur Namghar Manikut Committee felicitated noted Assamese litterateur Ramsakal Paswan on being honoured with Assam Literary Pension at a function held at Namghar Hall on the occasion of Janmashtami today.

Hailing from Jorhat in Assam and presently a resident of Dimapur, Paswan was among 47 Assamese litterateurs to have received Assam Literary Pension announced by the Government of Assam during the 70th Independence Day on August 15, 2016. He was felicitated by Upen Kalita, one of the

NSCN (K) terminates membership of former CFSB Secretary Rochill

6

Friday 26•08•2016

IN FOCUS The Power of Truth

The Morung Express volume Xi issue 234

By Witoubou Newmai

Can organisations change with time?

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

C O M M E N T A R Y

Julian B. Gewirtz, David Shambaugh, Tom Brokaw Foreign Policy

An Alternative History for China

W

e find one question more relevant today than various parroting platforms on Naga affairs.

Why do you think the comfort level of the common man and the educated youth with the various organisations including the 'Naga political groups' has dropped to its lowest ebb today? An honest effort to seek an answer to this question will be of great help to the various problems confronting the Naga people.

In fact, the limited capacity of these organisations and public leaders to address and redress the situation that demands them to perceive harmony amid discord over plethora of irrelevant and petty issues has questioned the authenticity and genuineness of their loud vaunts over the aspiration and heritage of the Naga people. For this reason, Naga organisatons including the “Naga political groups” have very less chance of succour. The general public cannot be blamed for the diminishing provision of it.

Today's complex challenges, both local and global, demand our organisations and leaders to keep updating themselves. Most often, leaders heading organisations with developed expertise in their working areas are found genuinely free of any vested interest and arrogance. Such leaders will have the ability to exhibit the needed capacity to ignore differences, because they are clear of their working areas.

This, in fact, should be the drive in our movement for dignity. But today, we are left to see the cordial affairs disrupted.

All for the vested interests, ignorance and arrogance, what should have been the Nagas' finest period seems destined to become a nightmare where the leaders, politicians and social organisations will soon become like a wisdom tooth that is unclear in its direction of growth.

We are reminded of a Nigerian story where a witty bird called Eneke keeps updating its skill of protecting itself challenging the hunters’ ever improving weaponry front. Though this story appears to be too archaic an example to connect it to the theme of this piece, however it is presented here for the sake of elucidating the point.

“Men have learnt to shoot without missing their mark and I have learnt to fly without perching on a twig.” In a Nigerian fable, Eneke the bird says this when asked why it was always on the wing.

The bird Eneke, like any other bird used to perch on twigs but as the skill of its perpetrators advanced Eneke too found a method to cope with the changing situation.

In ‘Things Fall Apart’ written by Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe, the disintegrating tribes of Nigeria draw inspiration from the Eneke story to challenge the complex strategies employed by the white people to annihilate the natives in the 19th century.

Absence of a fine mechanism to keep our organisations and leaders accountable has also created a thriving ground for arrogance. Arrogance is the index of stagnation. An arrogant leader will always have a deep aversion to rationality. This is also one of the many reasons for the ebbing away of enthusiasm of the educated youth and the common man today.

lEfT wiNg |

Ralph Frerichs CommonDreams

What the UN Must Do To Wipe Out Cholera in Haiti

I

t is not enough that the United Nations is finally beginning to acknowledge its involvement in the lethal cholera epidemic in Haiti. Now it must urgently do everything in its power to eliminate cholera in Haiti before thousands more die.

Cholera was brought to Haiti in October 2010 by UN peacekeepers from Nepal. Some of the Nepalese peacekeepers had been infected with the disease in their home country. And due to close quarters and poor sanitation practices, the disease quickly spread throughout the Nepalese camp near the interior town of Mirebalais.

Early on, some contaminated fecal waste from the Nepalese camp leaked into a nearby stream, infecting a few Haitians.

Then the accumulated camp waste was dumped into the local river by a poorly supervised UN vendor. This local river flowed on to the mighty Artibonite River, which serves as the breadbasket of Haiti before emptying into the Caribbean Sea. An explosive epidemic ensued in communities along the Artibonite, eventually killing 10,000 or more persons, with more still dying every month. The deaths in this one poor country are comparable in number to all the deaths attributed to the Ebola epidemic that erupted in several nations of West Africa in 2014.

When epidemiologists from the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were not interested in finding the source of the cholera outbreak, the Haitian government turned to French epidemiologist Dr. Renaud Piarroux, who proceeded during a threeweek field investigation to unravel what had occurred. The UN immediately began an active cover-up campaign that has lasted more than five years.

Meanwhile, Piarroux and his French and Haitian colleagues devised a strategy for eliminating cholera in Haiti.

That strategy recognizes that the cholera bacteria spread least effectively during the dry season and gallop forward during the wet season. Piarroux stresses that if cholera can be stamped out during the dry season, there would be no more cholera to spread during the wet season, unless reintroduced by outside human activity.

Throughout the year, but more intensely during the dry season, the strategy uses rapid response and detailed mapping to identify households with cholera cases. A mobile team rushes out, treats the reported cases, and visits neighboring households with prophylactic measures, including chlorine for water, to limit spread from the initial household. This is repeated throughout the country.

Unforgivably, the UN has not supplied enough funding to keep the mobile teams active and the supplies available to smother the epidemic.

Universal vaccination of the Haitian people could also be considered but, for the moment, neither the large vaccine stockpile nor the financing to distribute it is available.

In the long term, a significant improvement in access to drinking water and sanitation is essential to permanently eliminate cholera. But it will take time, and right now the strategy favored by Piarroux and his group is the only way to immediately lessen the cholera impact. With sufficient funding, great strides could be made to rid the disease during the dry season, typically beginning around November.

The UN, having introduced cholera to Haiti, must now commit to eliminating cholera in Haiti. Time is of the essence, and many more lives hang in the balance.

Former reformist Communist Party general secretary Zhao Ziyang reads a newspaper in the garden of his home in central Beijing in this undated photo taken in 1994. The memoirs of China's late Communist Party chief who was sacked in 1989 for sympathising with student protesters will give the Party plenty to think about when deciding the country's political future, his one-time top aide said. REUTERS/New Century Media and Consulting Co., Ltd.

What if the open-minded and progressive Zhao Ziyang had held onto power?

I

n late July, the Chinese University Press in Hong Kong released a trove of previously unpublished documents about Zhao Ziyang, the bold reformer who served as China’s premier (1980-1987) and Communist Party general secretary (1987-1989). Containing almost 500 documents that were smuggled out of China, The Collected Works of Zhao Ziyang, 1980-1989 (in Chinese) shows how Zhao led a decade of transformational economic reform and sketchedout plans for political reform. It cuts off shortly before he was stripped of his power and placed under house arrest after opposing the use of force against the student protesters in the spring of 1989. The ruling Chinese Communist Party has subsequently effaced his contributions; when he died in 2005, his short official obituary referred to him only as a “comrade,” not mentioning that he had helped lead the country for nearly 10 years. These four volumes, which are selling briskly, have renewed interest in Zhao’s time in power — and they offer an opportunity to imagine what might have been, had he not been purged in 1989. How should we assess his legacy, and what might China be like today under a Zhao administration, or under a leader who governed like Zhao did? —The Editors Julian B. Gewirtz, Author of Unlikely Partners: Chinese Reformers, Western Economists, and the Making of Global China: Zhao Ziyang was a genuine reformer working within the system. The publication of the four-volume Collected Works of Zhao Ziyang will help restore him to his rightful place at the center of the history of China’s reform era, despite the Communist Party’s systematic efforts to blot out his legacy. We have always known that he was a reformer — but now, in rich new detail, we can witness how this leader operated, pulling back the curtain that usually shields the Party’s inner workings from outsiders. We gain new insights as we watch him in action as never before: peppering his advisers with sharp questions about their policy proposals, tussling with conservative leaders, expanding his initiatives to encompass both economic and political reform, and charming foreign visitors — such as the economist Milton Friedman, who praised Zhao at their meeting in 1988 for having “the temperament of a professor.

Indeed, although Zhao cut a striking figure with his Western suits, swept-back hair, and oversize glasses, he prioritized substance over style. He was unremittingly curious and far more open-minded than one expects of a leader who came up through the ranks of the Party. “My earliest understanding of how to proceed with reform was shallow and vague,” he acknowledged in his posthumously published memoir. “I did not have any preconceived model or a systematic idea in mind.” This attitude drove him to empower reformist officials and experts, demanding that they bring him the best ideas they could find and protecting them when they ran into trouble. Amid a policy brawl in 1986, Zhao chastised a leading ideologue: “You should be cautious when criticizing the liberalization of economic theory.”

Of course we cannot say with certainty what China might be like today under a Zhao administration, but his liberal open-mindedness and relentless commitment to advancing reforms even in the face of extraordinary difficulties are qualities that offer a striking contrast to China’s current leadership. Rather than blaming “hostile foreign forces” for a stock market plunge, Zhao likely would have tried to figure out how to fix the problem by reaching out to experts in China and around the world, as I describe in Unlikely Partners: Chinese Reformers, Western Economists, and the Making of Global China. Rather than clamping down on liberal publications like Yanhuang Chunqiu, he would presumably have read them carefully, as he did with the World Economic Herald. China under a Zhao administration would not necessarily (or immediately) have become a democracy, and at least until 1989, Zhao continued to

act to uphold the autocratic system through which he rose. But if he had been able to bring the same spirit of openness and rigor to political reform that he brought to economic reform, it’s not at all hard to imagine that Chinese society would be much more pluralistic, democratic, law-abiding, fair, and open to the outside world.

Zhao was the kind of reformer who seems conspicuously absent from the top rungs of the Chinese leadership today. He may not be rehabilitated for many years, if ever — but China would benefit greatly if its rulers today would borrow from Zhao’s playbook as they face the tremendous challenges of the present moment.

David Shambaugh, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs and Director of the China Policy Program at George Washington University: It is difficult to say with any certainty how China would have evolved had Zhao Ziyang not been overthrown in 1989. The ostensible cause of his purge was his refusal to endorse martial law and authorize the use of force to suppress the Tiananmen demonstrations (thus “splitting the Party”) — but even before that fateful Politburo meeting and his final public appearance in the square during the early morning hours of May 19, 1989, Zhao was locked in intense factional struggle with Li Peng, Yang Shangkun, and arch-conservative elders Wang Zhen and Deng Liqun. Zhao’s grip on ultimate power was never firm after he succeeded the deposed Hu Yaobang as Communist Party general secretary in 1987. Even paramount leader Deng Xiaoping was wobbly in his support for Zhao and his proposed reforms during and after the Thirteenth Party Congress that year.

Without Deng’s clear support — behind the scenes and publicly — Zhao’s political vulnerability was exposed. During this two-year period (1987-1989), the conservatives smelled blood and did all they could to block Zhao’s reforms and undermine his position.

In this context, Zhao may not have survived politically even if the Tiananmen events had not transpired. Zhao and the conservatives disagreed about the nature of economic reforms at the time (recall the overheating of the economy in 1988), and they certainly disagreed over political reform. At a minimum, Zhao would have been locked in intense factional struggle and this quite likely would have compromised his ability to implement his bold economic and political reform package. As Julian Gewirtz correctly notes in his commentary, the comprehensive four-volume set of Zhao’s speeches and documents recently published by the Chinese University Press in Hong Kong delineates in considerable detail where Zhao was trying to take China (particularly when read in conjunction with Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang and The Tiananmen Papers). In essence, Zhao’s vision for China was one of simultaneous economic and political reform.

He explicitly rejected the view that economic reform had to precede political reform or that political reform was not necessary. In this regard, he held the same view as Mikhail Gorbachev, which was amply evident in their May 16, 1989 public meeting in the Great Hall of the People. Had Zhao remained in power and been able to pursue this twin-reform strategy, it is an open question whether he and China would have wound up with the same fate as Gorbachev and the former Soviet Union, or whether this strategy would have worked in China, where it did not in the U.S.S.R. The main reasons for such conjecture are that China’s economy was far more reformed and integrated into the international economy than the Soviet Union (and thus on much stronger footing), and the fact that Zhao’s model of political reform for China was one of “neo-authoritarianism” along the lines of Singapore plus de facto federalism (Zhao’s advisor Yan Jiaqi’s brainchild) that would fiscally empower provinces rather than maintaining the central government as the controlling organ and rent-seeker.

Zhao’s political model would also likely have permitted much more open civil society and media; tolerated some dissent; enfranchised the eight so-called “democratic parties” and empowered the National People’s Congress and provincial people’s

congresses; established a Hong Kong-style professional civil service (Zhao studied this carefully and was embarked on this reform when he was overthrown); separated Party from government (dangzheng fenkai); made the military beholden to the state and constitution rather than a tool of the Communist Party; more strictly controlled opportunities for corruption and strengthened the non-Party control mechanisms; encouraged greater “inner Party” feedback mechanisms; and proceeded with gradual direct government elections up to and including central-level officials.

This is my sense of where Zhao was headed. It may have worked — and if it had, China would have been far better off for it.

Tom Brokaw, Special Correspondent for NBC News: (Following is an edited transcript of Tom Brokaw’s recollections of his 1987 Meet The Press interview with Zhao Ziyang, as told to ChinaFile. —The Editors) We were doing a lifting-of-a-curtain reporting in China, a country not that long out of the Cultural Revolution, and there was an enormous curiosity in America.

Everything was very ad hoc. We didn’t know what was going to happen from day to day, then, suddenly, we were told Zhao would sit for Meet The Press, which was almost unbelievable, looking back on it.

He’s the only Chinese premier who’s ever done that.

He was so at ease. He talked in Chinese, and we had simultaneous translation, but he kept a quart bottle of Tsingtao beer by his side. He drank two of them during the course of the interview. When he was off camera, he would reach down and take a big slug and continue on, and it didn’t affect his performance at all.

I think what we all thought, looking back on it, is “this is the new China.” We were swept up in the idea that there was a “New China.” Zhao was the face of changing China — we were finding people in backstreets, at the universities, wherever we went, who would come up to us and express how pleased and excited they were about what was happening.

At the end of the interview, I thought, “This guy could run for the mayor of Chicago.” He was a very skilled politician, very at ease with himself. What he had in mind for China moving forward was very heartening.

Zhao did not speak in rigid semantics. He was responsive to what I had to say. You couldn’t see it printed out in a Little Red Book, for example. The very idea that Zhao appeared on Meet the Press was remarkable, but I was not romanced by them. I was still skeptical because they still faced enormous problems. We tended to see things through the Beijing lens, but we didn’t know what was going on beyond the city limits.

By the time I was back in Beijing in 1989, Zhao had been purged. I was there for the beginning, when Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was there and the Beijing students were demanding their government make similar kinds of changes as Gorbachev made to change Russia. It was a pivotal moment in 20th century history. Here was the leader of the collapsing Soviet Union going to China and we didn’t know exactly what the conversations were all about.

I left right after the Gorbachev meeting and then Tiananmen blew up and I flew back and walked into a changed city. There was a big clampdown and lot of confusion about exactly what had happened that night.

Tiananmen Square had been filled with a lot of people who’d been trucked in from the provinces. There was a huge difference between these young armed men, who had a peasant appearance, and the very sophisticated students who, by that time, were hiding out.

What I saw when I interviewed Zhao was that it looked like they were going to make a great leap forward, to borrow their language, based on his vision about what they ought to be doing. I do remember being a little skeptical because he was so urbane and so progressive and it didn’t seem to me that we were seeing much of that elsewhere, not just in the leadership, but in the rest of China altogether.

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.

Friday 26•08•2016

PERSPECTIVE

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

7

the Peace BreakinG the SiLence on Let Games Begin Gender-BLind tranSPort

As the Olympic games in Rio draw to a close, another set of games will begin: military exercises between the United States and South Korea to prepare for a possible armed conflict with North Korea

Rose Delaney

I

Inter Press Service

n today’s “Post-Feminist” world, it is time to pose a fundamental question. If we are really raking in the liberating outcomes of a “gender-just” 21st century, why do the vast majority of young girls and women, the world over, continuously refuse to speak out in the face of verbal, sexual and physical harassment on public transport?

If, as an international community of women, we turn a blind eye to men’s salivating glares and inappropriate touching, do we do nothing more than fuel the “meat market” and succumb to the sexual objectification of women on a global scale?

Does female reluctance to acknowledge the fear pervasive males trigger within them permit the perpetrator of the “cat-call” to possess an undefeatable power?

By dismissing harassment do women do nothing more than strengthen the repressive chain of male patriarchy by neither questioning nor reprimanding it?

In light of the upcoming of the UN Habitat III conference and the subsequent definition of the new “Urban Agenda”, it is time to step up in the face of sexual harassment and threat on public transport and fight for women’s quintessential right to freedom of movement in their own urban environment.

Whilst many may consider cat-calls and “light groping” to be harmless, the setbacks implicated from the threat of men on public transport is critical.

Few stop to consider that each threatening remark and lustful gaze can lead to the hindrance of women’s educational and social freedom and development.

According to a recent discussion led by Wikigender, issues surrounding accessibility and safety can deter women from assessing public spaces, seeking education, availing of economic opportunities and receiving healthcare.

By placing a strong focus on female-inclusive public transportation in the new UN-Habitat “Urban Agenda”, our world will be one step closer to achieving not only SDG 5 for female empowerment and Gender Equality, but also, SDG 11 which aims to make cities and settlements inclusive, safe, and sustainable.

The need to eradicate gender-blind systems of transport is particularly vital at this juncture as for the first time in history, there are more people living in cities than in rural areas.

There is no other time to implement gender inclusive transport initiatives than the present.

Each month, over five million people are added to the cities of the developing world.

In addition, it is estimated that by 2030, approximately 1.5 million girls susceptible to gender-based harassment and violence on public transport will live in urban areas.

A report issued by Plan International indicated the fear of violence felt by adolescent girls is prevalent particularly in the developing cities of Kampala, Delhi, and Lima where the research was primarily conducted.

The findings spoke volumes of the feelings of terror and discomfort gender-blind transport inflicted on girls as young as 12.

In Delhi, only 3.3 % of reported always feeling safe while using public transport. Meanwhile, in Lima, only 2.2 % claimed to feel secure when walking in public spaces. In Kampala, over 80 % of young women stated that they do not feel safe whilst in urban transition in general.

Although the study was conducted in distinct parts

T

wo years into Washington’s war against Islamic State, it may finally be winning. At the same time, however, its influence over events in the broader Middle East seems perhaps terminally in decline.

What happens in the coming months and years in Syria will be key to the future shape of the region. No country has challenged U.S. policymakers more – and the Obama administration has faced heavy criticism.

This month, however, has seen what feels like the first good news for the United States from Syria since the uprising began.

In early August, U.S.- backed Syrian forces seized back the town of Manbij.

Footage of jubilant locals embracing those they see as liberators has been flashed around the globe, providing exactly the kind of propaganda victory Washington needed.

Manbij could open the door for an offensive against the true militant heartlands. Islamic State is losing ground, money and support. It may soon be stripped of remaining strongholds in Raqqa, Syria, and Mosul, Iraq.

But the battle for the future of Syria – and, indeed, the Middle East – is much more complex than the fight against Islamic State. And there are powerful forces – particularly Vladimir Putin’s Russia, Iran and what remains of Bashar al-Assad’s government – that also want to call the shots.

The United States and Europe long struggled to find an approach to Syria, undecided on how hard to push against Assad and how much to back – or trust – the opposition. Moscow, in contrast, has always known which side it was on.

This week, Russia shocked U.S. analysts by moving long-range bombers to Iran, flying through Iraq airspace to strike targets in Syria. It was the first time Iran’s rulers had allowed their military bases to be used by a foreign power at least since the 1979 revolution, a dramatic sign of the growing Russia-Iran axis.

The strikes came against the backdrop of a much broader escalation by the Syrian government and its allies that some reports suggest has included a handful of chemical strikes. In Aleppo, the UN says an upsurge in fighting in recent weeks has killed hundreds and markedly worsened the already catastrophic humanitarian situation.

In many respects, the relatively small

Christine Ahn

T

The achievement of women's fundamental right to freedom of movement begins with the fight against male-induced harassment on public transport. (Photo Credit: IPS)

of the world, the underlying issue of silence remained common.

Female hesitation to voice their plight permits the vicious cycle of victimisation, harassment, and threat on public transport to continue.

Those interviewed emphasised the fact that their opinions were not valued when it came to urban planning, an overwhelming sense of exclusion was felt from all interviewees when it came to key decision-making processes in their individual cities.

Ironically enough, many young girls “weathereddown” or excused the actions of the perpetrators of gender-based violence and harassment.

During the interview process of the Plan International Report, words like “assault” and “harassment” were replaced by “eve-teasing” in Delhi and “inappropriate touches” in Cairo. This evidence suggests that the female victims of harassment and violence reluctance to condemn their attackers stems from an intrinsic feeling of shame instilled within them.

In what can be considered a process of “re-victimisation”, (a deep societal fear of having brought the harassment onto themselves) the subsequent consequence of being ridiculed, scorned, and even punished acts as a core element of the silence surrounding gender-based harassment on public transport.

Ultimately, the recurrent denial of women’s fundamental right to mobility in the city is nothing short of an outrage.

Female discomfort and insecurity can no longer be considered a “societal norm” or consequently associated and attached to the status of being a woman.

The lack of apathy from witnesses of harassment stems from the undercurrent fear to speak up.

If nobody chooses to voice their condemnation, the hindrance to women’s freedom of movement will cease

to discontinue.

It is crucial to comprehend that this is no small-scale women’s issue, it’s a global epidemic triggered by selfentitled male chauvinism.

In fact, Research by Hollaback and Cornell University based on 16,000 interviews in 22 countries found that 8090 % of women had been harassed in public.

The evidence further indicated the shocking extent of public harassment with 66 % of German women reported to have been groped or fondled and 47 % of Indian women to have witnessed male exposure in public.

In New York, is it estimated that 96 % of sexual harassment and 86 % of sexual assault goes unreported on the subway.

In Bogota, Colombia recently ranked as the most dangerous city for a woman to take public transport in the world, six in every ten women report physical harassment while travelling.

These figures indicate that the continuance of maleinduced harassment is overwhelmingly threatening and detrimental to the future of gender equality.

This is why it is vital that UN Habitat’s new “Urban Agenda” implements initiatives with a strong emphasis on the safe mobility of women and girls in urban environments.

By granting women access to safe and secure transport, establishing support networks and recognising the fundamental significance of the female voice in urban decision-making processes, the path to freedom will be paved for women in urban mobility.

In this way, the next woman or young girl to feel under threat by a pervasive stare or demeaning remark will not shy in fear of the implications of female blame, rather, she will report the perpetrator of harassment and help put an end to women’s insecurity and victimisation on public transport.

In Syria, Russia and the United States fight for the Middle East Peter Apps Reuters

A Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) fighter inspects a room, which according to the SDF was used by Islamic State militants to prepare explosives, in Manbij, Aleppo Governorate, Syria, August 17, 2016. (Reuters Photo)

town of Manbij is a sideshow compared to some of the larger, longer running battles and sieges. But for the United States, it was a major achievement. The victors were, on paper at least, the “moderate Syrian opposition,” an entity the United States has been desperately hoping would come into existence for years.

Given its unsuccessful and wasteful early attempts at building that opposition, this victory is no small deal.

The reality was always somewhat more complex – according to some accounts, up to 60 percent of Syrian Democratic Fighters are Kurdish. While the group also includes Sunni and Assyrian fighters, it’s not the kind of pan-Syrian force the West would really like to see. It is, critics say, essentially dominated by the Syrian Kurdish YPD – which means its successes are viewed with suspicion by neighboring Turkey – no fan of Kurdish separatism – and Iraq.

Whether the United States can grow

enough moderate local forces to significantly alter the larger conflict remains unclear. Eventual peace will likely come down to a negotiated deal that must involve both local Syrian actors and their international backers.

The broader geopolitics now seem clear. Moscow has put itself firmly on the side of the Shi’ite-run Tehran-Damascus axis. At the same time, however, the United States is drifting further from its key Sunni regional partners, particularly Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

That's not necessarily a criticism of President Barack Obama – history handed him a nightmarish situation. The more robust interventionist approach of the George W. Bush administration was no more effective – and in many respects a lot more costly. Obama has had his share of successes, in particular, avoiding war with Iran. Most importantly, the kind of military operation the United States is currently pursuing in the region is much

more sustainable.

Broadening U.S. military and diplomatic focus beyond the Middle East was, after all, one of Obama’s earliest ambitions. The United States is much less dependent on Middle Eastern energy. It also has growing responsibilities and worries elsewhere, not least in confronting a rising China and resurgent Russia.

It is in its growing confrontation with Moscow, however, that things get complicated.

In Russia, the United States now faces a rival great power that is willing to take the kind of decisive action to alter the course of events in the Middle East that had previously been limited to Western states.

Neither Moscow nor Washington, it’s clear, have any enthusiasm for the kind of troop-heavy missions the West tried in Iraq and Afghanistan. These are very different conflicts, fought largely by local forces with support and advice from powerful outside sponsors.

Despite what some in the United States might want, there is little appetite in Washington for expanding strikes to deliberately weaken Assad’s forces.

Such action might, in any case, merely prolong Syria’s nightmare. Attacking anything belonging to nuclear-capable Russia, of course, is not on the table at all. It would just be too risky.

There's clearly a significant moral gap between the unrestrained brutality of Putin and Assad and Washington's more limited approach, moderated as it is by a desire to keep down unnecessary casualties and collateral damage. Still, the West doesn’t have nearly as much moral high ground as it might like to believe. Washington is seen still turning a blind eye to the actions of its allies – for example, in Saudi Arabia’s increasingly bloody Yemen intervention.

Whoever wins the U.S. presidency in November will want to put their own mark on America’s role in the Middle East. Where things stand in Syria when they take office, however, will hugely influence their options.

That means plenty for all sides to fight for in the weeks and months to come.

Don’t expect things to get any simpler anytime soon.

Peter Apps is Reuters global affairs columnist, writing on international affairs, globalization, conflict and other issues. He is founder and executive director of the Project for Study of the 21st Century; PS21, a non-national, non-partisan, non-ideological think tank in London, New York and Washington.

Before that, he spent 12 years as a reporter for Reuters covering defense, political risk and emerging markets. Since 2016, he has been a member of the British Army Reserve and the UK Labour Party.

Foreign Policy In Focus

he contrast between the two games couldn’t be starker. On the one hand, the world’s most technologically advanced militaries and weapons systems are deployed to practice combat.

On the other, despite tremendous nationalist pressure to beat the other, athletes from North Korea and South Korea competed with each other peacefully, even gracefully, in the 2016 Olympic games.

Among the most touching moments from Rio was when two gymnasts, Lee Eun-Ju from South Korea and Hong Un-Jong from North, posed for a selfie with Eun-Ju holding up a peace sign. The photograph went viral, particularly in South Korea where the 17-year old Eun-Ju became a celebrity diplomat.

Her gesture— to walk over to Hong, a fellow Korean but from a nation considered to be an enemy of her own—captured that Olympic spirit where humans are able to triumph over fear and pain to move the world forward.

And it wasn’t just a female thing, either.

A few days later, Kim Song-Guk, a North Korean athlete, won bronze at the men’s 50-meter pistol shooting competition. Instead of expressing remorse for coming in behind gold winner Jin Jong Oh from South Korea, Song-Guk reflected, “If the two [Koreas] become one, we could have a bigger medal.”

Overnight, South Korean social media went wild over Song-Guk’s heartfelt wishes for Korean reunification. In a few hours, the video had 2.2 million views and 160,000 likes, including comments like, “Even though you got a Bronze medal, your words deserve a gold medal.”

“We mingle and say hello with athletes from other countries, so why can’t we do that?” Eun-Ju innocently asked.

North and South Korean athletes cannot communicate directly with one another because the two countries are officially still at war. It is illegal under both countries’ national security laws for civilians to interact without government permission.

The Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to 1953, ended with a ceasefire, but not a permanent peace accord. Although military leaders from the United States, People’s Republic of China, and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea promised within three months to replace the Armistice Agreement with a peace treaty, 63 years later they have yet to deliver.

As a result, the Korean people—like these Olympic athletes—have been separated by the world’s most militarized border, unable to see, know, and understand one another for three generations.

Not only have relations completely hardened between the two Koreas, the unresolved Korean conflict is driving a new arms race in an already highly militarized region, particularly straining relations between Washington and Beijing.

In July, South Korea announced that to protect against the threat of North Korean missiles, it would deploy the U.S.’ Terminal High Altitude Aerial Defense (THAAD) in Seongju, a farming region 180 miles south of Seoul. Angry South Korean citizens protested the announcement by hurling eggs and water bottles at their prime minister and staging massive protests.

Equally vocal over their opposition to the U.S. missile defense system is Beijing, which has asked Seoul to “think twice” about this decision and has begun to chill relations between the two countries.

In a statement, China’s foreign ministry said the THAAD deployment “doesn’t help achieve the objective of denuclearization in the peninsula, doesn’t benefit maintaining peace and stability in the peninsula. It’s going toward the opposite direction of solving the problem via dialogue and negotiation.”

Against this tense backdrop, the U.S-R.O.K. joint military exercises will proceed. The spring war games were the largest ever, involving 315,000 U.S. and South Korean soldiers and nuclear-capable submarines, B-52s, and F-22s. In response to the recent U.S. deployment of B-1 bombers to Guam, North Korea’s foreign ministry issued a statement via the Korean Central News Agency that this “proves that the U.S. plan for a preemptive nuclear strike at the DPRK has entered a reckless phase of implementation.”

Travis Lindsay, professor of international security at the University of California, San Diego, recently advocated for rethinking the military exercises.

“Demobilization and de-escalation isn’t complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization, but it’s a necessary step forward that will make denuclearization an attainable goal.”

In spite of nationalist media coverage, the Korean athletes in Rio showed the world that seemingly intractable divisions imposed by politicians could be transcended by the simplest and most sincere human interactions.

Instead of continuing to engage in saber-rattling actions that only lead to more provocation and dangerous military escalation, American and Korean leaders should shift their policies to reflect the desires of the Korean people for peaceful co-existence. Not only have Olympians shown their ability to conquer the insurmountable through their super human ability, they have inspired all of us by engaging in ordinary human actions.

It was only 16 years ago during the 2000 Olympics that Korean athletes walked together during the opening ceremony in Sydney carrying a blue One Korea flag. When asked why, Chang Ung, the North Korean delegate explained, “We are the same blood.”

Christine Ahn is the Executive Director of Women Cross DMZ, a global movement of women walking to end the Korean War, reunite families, and ensure women’s leadership in peacebuilding.

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.

8

friDAY 26•08•2016

INDIA

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

'India's future incomplete without peaceful Kashmir' SriNagar, auguSt 25 (iaNS): Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday made a passionate appeal for peace in the Kashmir Valley, saying India's future was incomplete without a peaceful Kashmir and announced that an allparty delegation will visit the state soon for talks on ending a protracted violent unrest that has killed nearly 70 people since July 9.

At a press conference towards the end of his twoday Kashmir tour, Rajnath Singh conceded a popular demand, saying that an alternative to the use of pellet guns as a tool to control unruly mobs would be found "in a few days".

During his stay in Srinagar, the Home Minister said he met some 300 people, including leaders of all political parties in the state, with whom he had "good talks".

"Ever ybody wants peace to be restored. We are extremely sad over the situation. We are pained over the loss of lives," the minister said with Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti by his side.

In an oblique reference to separatist leaders, the Home Minister said people should "not play with the future of Kashmiri youth".

"They (youth) should

Hell hath no fury like Mehbooba questioned

Union home minister Rajnath Singh and Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti interact with media during a press conference in Srinagar on Thursday. ( PTI Photo)

hold books, pens and laptops in their hands and not stones," he said. "We are linking the future of Kashmiri youth with the future of India. And I appeal to Kashmir people to identify those who are creating trouble."

India's future, he said, is intrinsically linked to the future of Kashmir.

He said leaders of all political parties will soon visit here for talks on finding ways to break the logjam in the valley. "I have asked the state government to make

all preparations for that."

Asked if he invited separatist leaders -- who have been spearheading the agitation -- for talks, Rajnath Singh said the government was ready to hold talks with anyone who believed in "insaniyat, jamhooriyat and Kashmiriyat".

Notably, he didn't name Pakistan for stoking trouble in the valley and didn't repeat that talks over Kashmir will only be held under the realm of the Constitution of India -- unlike

previously.

It was the minister's second visit to the valley in a month since the unrest, the deadliest in six years, erupted after the July 8 killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.

At least 67 civilians have been killed and thousands injured in firing by security forces at pro-freedom demonstrations. Most of the injuries have been caused by pellet guns that have left hundreds partially or fully blinded.

New Delhi/SriNagar, auguSt 25 (iaNS): When Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti was asked to justify the Kashmir killings in the ongoing bloody unrest, she angrily walked out of the press conference she jointly addressed with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday. She was so angry that she abruptly ended the news conference with a "thank you" even as Rajnath Singh, on her right, was still seated and looking at journalists for more questions.

As Mehbooba's anger was brewing, the Home Minister, smiling but apparently uneasy, gestured to her with his left hand, seemingly asking her to calm down.

But she stood up, not completing her answer. A reluctant Home

Mehbooba Mufti justified the killings by security forces saying those hit by bullets or pellets had not gone to fetch milk or toffees.

She was asked how she justified the alleged disproportionate use of force against Kashmiri protesters when as opposition leader she had criticised the government during a similar unrest in 2010 for civilian killings. The Chief Minister got angry and asked a reporter not to compare the two situations.

Minister was left with no choice but to follow her. Mehbooba was agitated when a journalist asked her about the alleged disproportionate use of force against civilian protesters and if she had swapped her role and views with her predecessor Omar Abdullah, who was ruling the state during the 2010 unrest when nearly 120 civilians were killed.

She said people came out on the roads after the July 8 killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani even though the government had imposed a strict curfew."Had a kid gone to buy a toffee from an army camp? A 15-year-old boy who attacked a police station in Damhal Hanjipora (south Kashmir) had not gone to fetch milk. Don't compare the

"You are wrong. What happened in 2010 had a reason. There was a fake encounter in Machil. Three civilians were killed. Today three militants were killed in an encounter and how is the government to be blamed for that," she said, referring to Wani's killing.

She said people had come out on the roads even though the government had imposed a strict curfew.

"Had a kid gone to buy a toffee from an army camp? A 15-year-old boy

two," she thundered.

She hit at protesters in south Kashmir -- the worst-affected region in the current unrest where most of the nearly 70 deaths have occurred.

In her angry outburst, the PDP chief said it was she who saved the people of the south from "the edge of a knife, when they used to run away after seeing gypsies (vans) of the Task Force" -- a reference to the Special Operations Group of Jammu and Kashmir Police set up to battle militancy.

As scribes kept asking questions, the Home Minister tried to pacify her by telling the journalists, "Mehbooba ji is from among you."

However, Mehbooba got up and asked journalists for a cup of tea. But they refused.

who attacked a police station (in south Kashmir), had he gone to buy milk?" she asked.

She added emphatically that poor Kashmiri youth were being used as shields by vested interests. "Ninety-five percent people killed are from poor families."

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader said only five per cent of Kashmiri people were resorting to violence and the rest "95 per cent percent people

want peace...a dialogue to resolve the Kashmir issue".

Appearing irritated, Mehbooba abruptly ended the press conference saying "Thank you" and invited journalists for a cup of tea.

The Home Minister ended his valley visit during which he met leaders of all mainstream parties and officials of civil, security and intelligence agencies.

However, trade bodies in Kashmir refused to meet him in protest against the civilian killings in Kashmir.

Rahul says stands by words on RSS 'Passengers on AI plane diverted to Kazakhstan safe' France, India play down security

New Delhi, auguSt 25 (iaNS): A day after telling the Supreme Court he had not blamed the RSS as an organisation for Mahatma Gandhi's assassination but only people linked to it, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said he stands by his comments and will never stop fighting the "hateful and divisive agenda" of the RSS. However, the Bharatiya Janata Party strongly reacted to Gandhi's stand in the Supreme Court as also his tweet on the issue. It asked if Rahul Gandhi can be blamed for the crimes committed by Congressmen. "I will never stop fighting the hateful and divisive agenda of the RSS. I stand by every single word I said," Rahul said in the tweet. On August 24, Rahul Gandhi's counsel Kapil Sibal told the Supreme Court that the Congress leader had not blamed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as an institution for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, but the people associated with it.

Sibal said this while referring to an affidavit filed by Rahul Gandhi before the Bombay High Court, challenging the defamation proceedings against him launched by RSS worker Rajesh Madhav Kunte.

Kunte had said that the Congress leader, in his election speech at Sonale in Maharashtra on March 6, 2015, had allegedly blamed the RSS for Mahatma Gandhi's assassination. The case is pending before a magisterial court in Bhiwandi in Thane district of Maharashtra.

Rahul Gandhi on Thursday also uploaded the video of his election speech at Sonale on Twitter.

BJP spokesman Shrikant Sharma cited the murder cases of Bhanwari Devi in Rajasthan and Naina Sahani in Delhi in which Congress leaders were involved and said going by Rahul's logic, he could be blamed for the above-mentioned crimes. "What Rahul Gandhi would like to be called? A murderer," Sharma said. Convicted for Bhanwari Devi's murder, former Rajasthan minister and Congress leader Mahipal Maderna is serving a jail term while Congress leader Sushil Sharma is serving life imprisonment for his wife Naina Sahani's murder, known as the infamous Delhi tandoor case.

Odisha orders probe after man walks 10 km with wife's body BhuBaNeSwar, auguSt 25 (iaNS): The Kalahandi district administration of Odisha on Thursday ordered an inquiry into the shocking incident of a tribal man taking his wife's body home on his shoulder after hospital authorities denied him a mortuary van or an ambulance.

"I have asked the sub-divisional magistrate to conduct an inquiry and submit the report by Thursday evening.

Then we will take next course of action over the incident," Kalahandi District Collector Brundha D. told IANS. She said preliminary report suggested that the tribal man took the dead body without informing the hospital authorities.

"According to the preliminary inquiry, the tribal man took the body without informing the hospital authorities.

Even the doctors did not complete the discharge procedures," said the collector.

Dana Majhi walked 10 km along with his daughter carrying his wife's body on his shoulder, after he failed to obtain a mortuary van or an ambulance from the hospital authorities. His wife Amang Deis died of tuberculosis at the district headquarters hospital at Bhawanipatna on Wednesday.

Majhi said he wrapped the body of his wife in a length of cloth and carried it on his shoulders as he could not get an ambulance. "The hospital authorities said that there are no vehicles. I pleaded with them saying I am a poor person and cannot afford a vehicle to carry my wife's body. Despite repeated requests, they said they cannot offer me any help," said Majhi.

He walked to his village Melghara in Rampur block, which is about 60 km from Bhawanipatna.

When some local reporters spotted Dana, he had already covered 10 km on his way from the hospital to his home. Majhi's daughter accompanied him. The local reporters arranged an ambulance for carrying the body to his home.

The Biju Janata Dal government had launched the Mahaparayana scheme in February this year to facilitate transporting dead bodies from government hospitals and government-affiliated hospitals to the residence of the deceased across the state.

New Delhi, auguSt 25 (iaNS): External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday said the passengers of an Air India (AI) flight diverted to Kazakhstan are safe and there was no reason to worry. She said arrangements for the on-

ward journey of the passengers on the Newark-bound flight are being made.

"AI-191 diverted to Kazakhstan -- Our Ambassador Harsh K. Jain has informed me that all passengers are safe. There is no reason for worry," Su-

shma Swaraj posted on Twitter. "The relief plane will land there shortly and take all passengers for onward journey. All those who tweeted in this regard please rest assured."

An Air India MumbaiNewark flight was diverted

to Kazakhstan on Thursday due to operational reasons.

The official said the flight, which took off from the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai around 2 a.m., was diverted to Kazakhstan where it landed safely at 7.30 a.m.

Dec 16 gang-rape convict attempts suicide New Delhi, auguSt 25 (iaNS): Vinay Sharma, one of the four convicts in the December 16, 2012, gangrape tried to commit suicide by hanging himself with a 'gamcha' from the ventilator of his cell in Tihar Jail on Wednesday night but was prevented from doing so by Tamil Nadu policemen. He was hospitalised and is now back in jail, said police.

Sharma used the gamcha, a long thin cotton towel, to tie a noose around his neck to hang himself inside his cell in the high security ward of Jail No. 8 on Wednesday around 9.30 p.m. However, he was spotted by the Tamil Nadu police, who have been tasked to provide security in the inner corridor of the prison, where his cell is located. Sharma, a former gym instructor, was admitted to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital at night. He was discharged on Thursday evening after treatment for the bruises around his neck.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Pushpendra Kumar told IANS that "He had minor bruises around his neck, but he was all right. There were no other injury marks on his body."

Kumar also discounted reports that Sharma had consumed any anti-depressant pills.

Sources in Tihar Jail told IANS that Sharma in order to convert his death sentence to life imprisonment, had planned the suicide. The source said that Sharma started shouting on Wednesday night that he wanted to kill himself and had consumed some pills. He later tried to hang himself.

His co-prisoners raised the alarm, and the Tamil Police arrived on the scene.

Reacting to Sharma's suicide attempt, the father of the 23-year-old rape victim on Thursday said they wanted to see "all the convicts dead so that they could heave a sigh of relief".

Sharma's lawyer A.P. Singh gave a different version, claiming that it was an attempt to murder his client. "Few days ago, I met him in jail where he complained about torture inside the jail premises," Singh told IANS. Sharma had in 2013 demanded extra security in jail, claiming that he was being beaten up by other inmates and police officials.

Sharma, along with Mukesh Singh, Pawan Gupta, Akshay Thakur and Ram Singh, and a juvenile, was accused of gang-raping and brutally assaulting the woman inside a moving private bus. The victim and her male friend were thrown out of the bus after the crime. Sharma, who is the only educated member among the convicts, had along with three other convicts, approached the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court's 2014 verdict that handed them death penalty, describing their offence as "rarest of rare".

Sharma is the second among the gang-rape accused who tried to commit suicide.

In 2013, Ram Singh, the prime accused in the case and the driver of the bus in which the gang-rape took place, was found dead in Tihar Jail. Investigators said that Singh had committed suicide by hanging himself in his cell, while his family and defence lawyer claimed he was murdered. The juvenile was released in December 2015 after completion of his three-year term in a juvenile observation home.

risk of leaked submarine data

PariS, auguSt 25 (reuterS): France and India on Thursday played down the security risk posed by leaked data on French-designed submarines that a source told Reuters was probably stolen by a French former employee and that has raised concerns over a $38 billion contract with Australia.

More than 22,000 pages of data about six submarines that France's DCNS is building for India's navy looked to have been stolen in 2011 by a subcontractor who was fired while providing training in India, the source said.

India's defence ministry said on Thursday that it saw no immediate security risk and the French government said the information in the documments only showed how the submarines operate and did not compromise their security.

India and France are investigating after The Australian newspaper published on Wednesday details about its Scorpene submarines being built in India by contractor DCNS - 35 percent owned by Thales and 65 percent by the French state.

"It is not a leak, it is theft," the source said. "We have not found any DCNS negligence, but we have identified some dishonesty by an individual."

The French government source said security procedures would be strengthened for all employees going to work in Australia to ensure one person did not have access to so many documents.

The documents were not classified and at this stage appeared to only focus on how the submarines are operated not how they are built and whether they can be detected, the source said.The submarines are being built at a state-run shipyard in Mumbai. The first is expected to enter service by the end of the year as India seeks to rebuild its dwindling fleet and assert its dominance in the strategic waters of the Indian Ocean.

The leak has raised doubts about the security of a separate DCNS submarine project in Australia where it is locked in exclusive negotiations after seeing off rivals on a contract to build the Barracuda next generation of submarines.DCNS said it was working to determine if any harm had been caused to clients and whether commercial espionage was to blame.

Bihar struggles to evacuate reluctant villagers as floods wreak havoc BhuBaNeSwar, auguSt 25 (thomSoN reuterS FouNDatioN): Authorities in eastern India are struggling to evacuate more than 100,000 people stranded in villages after floods intensified, killing more than 300 and driving hundreds of thousands from their homes, officials said on Thursday.

The heavy monsoon rains have caused rivers including the Ganges and its tributaries to burst their banks forcing over 200,000 people into relief camps in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand.

The deluge has submerged thousands of villages, washed away crops, destroyed homes and roads and disrupted power and phone lines, affecting millions of people across the five states.

In Bihar, one of the worst-hit regions, disaster management officials said villagers in some areas were not willing to be

People unload relief food material from an Indian Air Force helicopter to be distributed among the flood victims, on the outskirts of Allahabad on August 24. Over 200,000 people into relief camps in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand..

(REUTERS Photo)

evacuated, reluctant to leave their homes, possessions and livestock for fear of looting.

"We are asking them with folded hands, please come to the relief centres.

Those who do not want to leave homes, their number is very large, probably more than 100,000 people," said Bihar's Principal Secretary

for Disaster Management Vyas Ji. "The water is rising downstream and we do not want people in those areas to stay in their houses," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Since the monsoons began in June, more than five million people across 26 out of Bihar's 38 districts

have been affected and at least 127 people have died, mostly due to drowning.

In the past week, 2.3 million people have had their lives disrupted and the death toll has reached 28. At least 107,000 people have taken refuge in government relief camps.

News reports said one person died and nine oth-

ers were missing in Aurangabad district after a boat carrying 18 people who were trying to flee the disaster sank in the Punpun river, a tributary of the Ganges, on Tuesday.

In neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, at least 53 people have died and more than 1.8 million people across 29 out of total of 75 districts have been hit by the disaster.

Television pictures showed people wading neck-high in water in Ballia district, while others took shelter on roof tops of multi-storey buildings.

Uttar Pradesh's Relief Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Singh said rescue and relief teams from the National Disaster Response Forces had evacuated thousands of people in boats and the Indian Air Force was airdropping food packets from helicopters.

"More than 90,000 people have been displaced from their homes and about 60,000 of them have taken shelter in relief camps," Singh told the Thomson Re-

uters Foundation.

"The good thing is there has been no rain over the last three days."

India usually experiences monsoon rains from June to September, which are vital for its agriculture -- making up 18 percent of its gross domestic product and providing employment for almost half of its 1.3 billion population.

But in many states the rains frequently cause landslides and flooding that devastate crops, destroy homes and expose people to diseases such as diarrhea.

Authorities said there was no problem in reaching flood-hit areas, but television pictures on Wednesday showed crowds of people in Bihar's Patna district blocking roads and complaining of a lack of aid.

"We are in difficulty.

We are not getting food," a middle-aged woman standing on an embankment told Kashish News, a local Hindi station.

friDAY 26•08•2016

WORLD

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Italy quake death toll nears 250 as rescuers search demolished towns

AMAtRICe, ItAly, August 25 (ReuteRs): The death toll from a devastating earthquake in central Italy reached at least 241 people on Thursday and could rise further after rescue teams worked through the night to try to find survivors under the rubble of flattened towns.

The 6.2 magnitude quake struck a cluster of mountain communities 140 km (85 miles) east of Rome early on Wednesday as people slept, destroying hundreds of homes.

The Civil Protection department officially revised the death toll down to 241 from a previous 247 given earlier on Thursday morning.

Officials said they expected to confirm more deaths as the search operation continued.

Trucks full of rubble left the area every few minutes, including one in which a dusty doll could be seen lying on top of tonnes of debris.

On Thursday, the sun rose on frightened people who had slept in cars or tents, the earth continuing to tremble under their feet from aftershocks, hundreds of which have struck since the quake. Two registered 5.1 and 5.4, just before dawn.

“I haven’t slept much because I was really afraid,” said 70-yearold Arturo Onesi from the town of Arquata del Tronto, who spent the night in a tent camp for survivors and rescue workers.

On Thursday afternoon a violent aftershock measuring magnitude 4.3 sent rescuers fleeing from debris and stones that fell

A woman is helped to leave her home by rescuers following a quake in Amatrice, central Italy on August 24. (REUTERS Photo)

from the severely damaged bell tower of the 15th century church of St. Augustine in Amatrice.

The aftershock, which struck fear and panic in survivors, detached the church’s facade, leaving it dangerously unstable over the main street where rescuers work.

The original earthquake was powerful enough to be felt in Bologna to the north and Naples to the south, both more than 220 km (135 miles) from the epicentre.

Many of those killed or injured were holidaymakers in the four worst-hit towns - Amatrice, Pescara del Tronto, Arquata del Tronto and Accumoli - where seasonal

visitors swell populations by up to tenfold the summer. That makes it harder to track the deaths.

One Spaniard, five Romanians, and a number of other foreigners, some of them care-givers for the elderly, were believed to be among the dead, officials said.

Aerial video taken by drones showed swathes of Amatrice, last year voted one of Italy’s most beautiful historic towns, completely flattened. The town, known across Italy and beyond for a local pasta dish, had been filling up for the 50th edition of a popular food festival this weekend.

The mayor said the bodies of

15-20 tourists were believed to be under the rubble of the town’s Hotel Roma, which he said had about 32 guests when it collapsed on Wednesday morning.

GIRL FOUND ALIVE About 270 people injured in Wednesday’s quake were hospitalised, the Civil Protection department said, adding that about 5,000 people, including police, firefighters, army troops and volunteers, were involved in postquake operations.

Rescuers working with emergency lighting in the darkness saved a 10-year-old girl, pulling

her alive from the rubble where she had lain for about 15 hours.

Many other children were not so lucky. A family of four, including two boys aged 8 months and 9 years, were buried when a church bell tower toppled into their house in nearby Accumoli.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s cabinet was meeting on Thursday to decide emergency measures to help the affected communities. “Today is a day for tears, tomorrow we can talk of reconstruction,” he told reporters late on Wednesday.

The death toll appeared likely to rival or surpass that from the last major earthquake to strike Italy, which killed more than 300 people in the central city of L’Aquila in 2009.

While hopes of finding more people alive diminished by the hour, firefighters’ spokesman Luca Cari recalled that survivors were found in L’Aquila up to 72 hours after that quake. Most of the damage was in the Lazio and Marche regions, with Lazio bearing the brunt of the devastation and the biggest toll. Neighbouring Umbria was also affected.

All three regions are dotted with centuries-old buildings susceptible to earthquakes.

Italy sits on two fault lines, making it one of the most seismically active countries in Europe. The country’s most deadly earthquake since the start of the 20th century came in 1908, when an earthquake followed by a tsunami killed an estimated 80,000 people in the southern regions of Reggio Calabria and Sicily.

9

Colombia & FARC sign final deal to end five decades of bloodshed HAVANA, August 25 (ReuteRs): Colombia’s government and leftist FARC rebels signed a final peace deal on Wednesday to end a 50-year-old guerrilla war, one of the world’s longest conflicts which took the resource-rich country to the brink of collapse. The two sides said they had reached an agreement to end the conflict and build a stable peace, in a joint statement read out by representatives of Cuba and Norway, who are mediators in the talks.

“We have arrived at a final agreement... for an end of the conflict and the construction of a stable and lasting peace in Colombia,” said Cuban representative Rodolfo Benitez, reading from the statement before the agreement was signed by lead negotiators for the rebels and the government.

The historic accord foresees the demobilization of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), whose cocaine-funded rebels fought the government in a war that killed at least 220,000 people. Tens of thousands disappeared and millions fled their homes because of the violence. The deal, opposed by two former Colombian presidents, still needs to be voted on in a referendum before it becomes law.

Most opinion polls suggest Colombians will back it.

Still, Santos, who has staked his legacy on peace, will have to fight hard for a “yes” given fierce opposition from powerful sectors of the country who think the only solution is to crush the FARC militarily. “A positive vote once seemed like a slam dunk,” said Tom Long, International Relations lecturer at Reading University.

“But opposition from former presidents (Andres) Pastrana and (Alvaro) Uribe will force Santos to campaign hard for the accord.” A previous round of talks, under Pastrana between 1999 and 2002, collapsed after the guerrillas hijacked an airplane. The two sides signed a ceasefire in late June, including guidelines on how the FARC would lay down weapons.

Since then talks have focused on the rebels’ future political participation, the reintegration of fighters into civil society, and details on how the international community will monitor the implementation of the agreements.

An agreement with the FARC does not guarantee an end to violence that began as a peasant revolt. Talks between the smaller, leftist National Liberation Army and the government recently stalled. Gangs born out of rightwing paramilitary groups are reported to have taken over some of the FARC’s drug trafficking routes. But an agreement is a prerequisite for peace. A ceasefire has already sent violence to its lowest level in decades.

‘Obesity may cause eight more types of cancer’ Myanmar sends police, soldiers to protect New yORK, August 25 on the newly expanded list, on people’s radar screens inflammation, all of which ancient temples damaged by an earthquake (IANs): Are you overweight the higher the body-mass in- as having a weight compo- can drive cancer growth. and obese? Be warned, as you may be at an increased risk of developing eight more forms of cancer, including stomach, liver, gall bladder, pancreas, ovary, meningioma -- a type of brain tumour -- thyroid cancer and the blood cancer multiple myeloma, says a review.

The findings showed that for most of the cancers

dex, or BMI, the greater was the risk of developing cancers. “The burden of cancer due to being overweight or obese is more extensive than what has been assumed,” said Graham Colditz, cancer prevention expert at Washington University.

“Many of the newlyidentified cancers linked to excess weight haven’t been

nent,” Colditz added.

In addition, the cancer risks associated with excess weight were similar for men and women and were also consistent across geographic regions -- North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Excess fat leads to an overproduction of estrogen, testosterone and insulin, and promotes

The study could have a significant bearing on the global population out of which an estimated 640 million adults and 110 million children are obese, said the paper published in The New England Journal of Medicine. Limiting weight gain over the decades could help to reduce the risk of these cancers.

NKorea’s Kim declares sub missile launch ‘greatest success’ seOul, August 25 (ReuteRs): North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised the test-firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile and declared it “the greatest success,” which puts the country in the “front rank” of nuclear military powers, official media reported on Thursday. North Korea fired a submarinelaunched ballistic missile (SLBM) on Wednesday which flew about 500 km (300 miles) towards Japan. The South Korean government and experts said the launch showed technical progress in the North’s SLBM programme.

“A test-fire of strategic submarinelaunched ballistic missile was successfully conducted under the guidance of supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army Kim Jong Un,” the North’s official KCNA news agency said. North Korea has conducted a spate of military technology tests this year, includ-

ing a fourth nuclear test in January and numerous ballistic missile launches, in defiance of U.N. Security Council sanctions that were tightened in March.

North Korea said this year it had miniaturised a nuclear warhead to fit on a ballistic missile but outside experts have said there is yet no firm evidence to back up that claim or show it had mastered the technology to bring a live warhead back into the atmosphere and guide it to strike a target. North Korean state television on Thursday showed video clips of the launch of a missile from underwater at dawn, and still photographs of Kim on the dock at a port as a large crane unloaded an object onto a submarine.

REACHED JAPAN DEFENCE ZONE The Washington-based 38 North project said in a report that the missile was launched from the North’s sole ex-

perimental missile submarine and a satellite photograph taken on Monday showed final preparations, likely after the missile had already been loaded onto the submarine using a heavy construction crane. The test showed the solid-fuel missile’s control and guidance system as well as the atmospheric re-entry of the warhead all met operational requirements, KCNA said.

The South Korean and U.S. militaries said the missile was fired from near the coastal city of Sinpo, where a submarine base is located. Japan said the missile reached its air defence identification zone, the first time by a North Korean missile. The UN Security Council met behind closed doors on Wednesday at the request of the United States and Japan to discuss the launch.

Deputy Russian U.N. Ambassador Petr Iliichev said the United States would circulate a draft press statement.

BAgAN/yANgON, August 25 (ReuteRs): Myanmar sent truckloads of soldiers and squadrons of police to protect and rebuild centuries-old Buddhist pagodas around the ancient capital of Bagan on Thursday, a day after at least 187 of the brick temples were damaged in a powerful earthquake.

The Fire Department and authorities scrambled to assess the full extent of the damage from the 6.8 magnitude quake that shook buildings across the Southeast Asian country on Wednesday.

But the overall damage and impact on local residents appeared limited, government officials said.

Most reports were of damage to the famed pagodas in central Myanmar, particularly around Bagan, and smaller, basic buildings.

Red Cross officials said they received reports of three people who died in the tremor - two children and one resident from two towns close to the epicentre.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake struck near the town of Chauk, south of Bagan, about 175 km (110 miles)

The top of a collapsed pagoda is seen after an earthquake in Bagan, Myanmar on August 25.

(REUTERS Photo)

southwest of the country’s second city Mandalay at around 5 p.m. (1030 GMT).

Tremors were felt as far away as Thailand, Bangladesh and India.

Amanda George from the International Red Cross in Myanmar said that while the organization continued to provide help and assistance in search and rescue operations, it was not treating it as a major emergency situation.

“The government-run National Emergency Operation Centre stood down at about 8 p.m. last night. We

normally follow their lead and coordinate closely,” said George.

“We continue to provide assistance to injured people, but we don’t see this as a major disaster.”

Reuters witnesses saw trucks of soldiers moving into Bagan on Thursday morning. Police officers cordoned off most the damaged ancient pagodas.

Bagan, the centrepiece of Myanmar’s fast-growing tourism industry, has around 2,000-3,000 pagodas and temples, spread over a 42-sq km plain

ringed by mist-covered mountains. It rivals Cambodia’s Angkor Wat and Borobudur in Indonesia as Southeast Asia’s premier archaeological site.

“I am very sad because our ancient pagodas are damaged and some have collapsed now. I hope nothing like that happens again,” said Aung Naing Win, 32, a craft maker from Bagan. “But perhaps the authorities should leave some damaged ones unrepaired so that future generations can see such disasters happen,” he said.

HK independence activists allege harassment from pro-China media

Hong Kong Indigenous member Edward Leung, one of those whose candidacies for the Legislative Council has been disqualified by the election affairs commission, attends a rally in support of independence in Hong Kong on August 5. (REUTERS File Photo)

HONg KONg, August 25 (ReuteRs): Activists who have advocated independence for Hong Kong say they have been harassed or followed by pro-China local newspapers in recent months,

while Beijing has stepped up its rhetoric against what it calls the “dangerous absurdity” of independence.

Beijing’s refusal to grant full democracy to Hong Kong, which mostly runs its own affairs under

a one-country, two-systems arrangement since the former British colony returned to China in 1997, prompted three months of street protests in 2014 and growing calls for independence for the city.

In a July poll by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, 17 percent of the roughly 1,000 respondents said they supported independence, but Chinese state media call such views “poisonous”.

Six candidates in next month’s legislative elections have been excluded from the ballot by Hong Kong’s Electoral Affairs Commission for pro-independence opinions, which it says are incompatible with the city’s governance laws.

One of the six, Edward Leung, spokesman for Hong Kong Indigenous, a localist party set up in 2015, and his colleague Ray Wong say they were tailed for a month this summer by men claiming to be from a newspaper with Beijing links.

And this month Leung was filmed in a scuffle with a reporter from a local proChina paper, Ta Kung Pao, which published front-page pictures of the tussle along

with a story claiming to have exposed his hidden wealth.

Leung, who suffered grazes on his face and neck from the incident, said the reporter and another man approached him earlier that evening with details on his private life while trying to film his reaction. The scuffle occurred later when Leung confronted the reporter, who also turned up at the underground station nearest to the apartment the article said was his home.

TKP’s article said Leung had started the fight, and its reporter, surnamed Lo, had sustained similar injuries.

‘GRANDPA’ WATCHING Leung said the man accompanying Lo that evening had also been one of two men who had followed him and Wong in a black car for a month.

In a video filmed on Aug. 7 by Leung and posted online by him, Wong

confronts the men in the car and asks where they are from.

The driver is heard to say: “You know where I’m from. It’s ‘grandpa’,” using a popular term to describe China’s government. The driver added that he was from a newspaper, but didn’t identify the title.

“The Chinese Communist Party is making use of Hong Kong’s Ta Kung Pao, their minion, to gather intelligence on us,” Wong told Reuters.

Ta Kung Pao did not respond to requests for comment.

China’s State Council Information Office and the mainland’s representative in Hong Kong, the Liaison Office, did not return requests for comment.

Three employees at Ta Kung Pao, which they said had an editorial staff of about 100, told Reuters they didn’t recognise Lo or the other two men.

“We think it’s very strange. They’re not our reporters,” said one, who declined to be named.

Wong said his family had also been approached earlier this year by three men claiming to work for a Chinese government entity that he declined to name.

“They told my family, ‘Be careful, your son may end up like Lee Bo,’” Wong said, referring to a bookseller who went missing in Hong Kong in late December and showed up months later under police custody in mainland China.

A third activist, Andy Chan Ho-tin, who founded the Hong Kong National Party to promote Hong Kong independence, said he must also have been followed in April by reporters at another pro-Beijing newspaper, Wen Wei Po. He was not aware of it until the paper printed an article and pictures alleging Chan’s links to another

activist charged with arson.

The article said it had continuously staked Chan out at the party’s office and various university campus forums.

Wen Wei Po declined to comment.

Professor Sonny Lo, codirector of the Education University of Hong Kong’s Centre for Greater China Studies and the Centre for Governance and Citizenship, said traditional leftist newspapers had undergone a “strategic transformation” in recent years, adding investigative teams partly to intimidate and gather intelligence on perceived threats in the protest movements.

“We’re seeing a far more sophisticated and coordinated strategy at work now from these newspapers in isolating and attacking targets,” said Lo, who has researched China’s underground influence in Hong Kong.

10

FriDAY 26•08•2016

SPORTS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

sepp blatter wages Ajax misery, Gladbach storm into final FIFA ban appeal Champions League group stage LauSanne, auguSt 25 (aFp): Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter mounted his final appeal Thursday against his sixyear ban from football, in a long-shot quest for redemption after his career ended in scandal.

Blatter was at the world's top sports court for a one-day hearing seeking to overturn a suspension imposed by FIFA over ethics violations.

"I will accept the verdict," Blatter, 80, told journalists outside the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland.

"I do hope it will be positive for me, but we are footballers. We learn to win but also we learn to lose," he said. The case that triggered Blatter's downfall first emerged in September of last year, when Swiss prosecutors said they were investigating him over a suspect two million Swiss franc payment ($2 million, 1.8 million euros) he authorised in 2011 to his onetime heir apparent, Michel Platini.

Platini, the former head of European football, was also sanctioned by FIFA over the funds. The Frenchman lost his CAS appeal in a May verdict that likely diminishes Blatter's hopes of victory. Speaking to reporters before appearing to give evidence at the closed-door hearing, Platini said Blatter's fate may

already be sealed. "I'm not sure if a decision hasn't already been made," he said, pledging to tell the truth about the infamous payment "for the umpteenth time."

CAS secretary general Matthieu Reeb said the hearing may not wrap up until 7:00 pm (1700 GMT), citing delays. A decision may take several weeks.

- Settling a debt? Blatter arrived at the treelined courthouse in a black Mercedes Sedan and flanked by his Zurichbased lawyer Lorenz Erni.

Restating a justification for the Platini payment he has made repeatedly over the last year, Blatter insisted FIFA owed money to the exJuventus star.

Platini had been hired

by FIFA as a consultant from 1999 to 2002 and had apparently not received his full compensation.

"I am sure, at the end... that the panel will understand that the payment made to Platini was really a debt that we had" with him, Blatter said Thursday. "This is a principle: if you have debts you pay them."

FIFA's ethics committee was not convinced by the explanation, banning both Blatter and Platini for eight years in December. Those suspensions were however cut to six years on appeal in February.

CAS however judged FIFA's sanctions against

Platini "too severe" and trimmed his suspension to four years.

That outcome would likely offer little comfort to the ageing Blatter, whose four-decade career as a football broker is likely over.

Separate from Thursday's appeal, Blatter is also the target of a criminal investigation by Swiss prosecutors over the Platini payment and alleged mismanagement during his 17-year tenure as FIFA president.

He was replaced in that job by fellow Swiss national and former UEFA number two Gianni Infantino in February. An investigation commissioned by Infantino's administration also accused Blatter and two top deputies -- Jerome Valcke and Markus Kattner -- of awarding themselves nearly $80 million worth of improper salary increases and bonuses during their final five years in office.

Both Valcke and Kattner have been sacked by FIFA. Valcke is also the subject of a Swiss criminal probe.

Blatter and Platini were the most prominent casualties during more than a year of unprecedented scandal that upended world football, but many others have fallen. Prosecutors in New York have indicted 40 football and sports marketing executives over allegedly receiving tens of millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks.

Berne, auguSt 25 (reuterS): Four-times European champions Ajax missed out on the Champions League group stage after losing 4-1 to Rostov as Manchester City and Borussia Moenchengladbach eased through the playoffs on Wednesday.

Austrian champions Salzburg failed to make it through the qualifiers for an astonishing ninth time in a row, losing out to Dinamo Zagreb while FC Copenhagen completed the 32 teams for Thursday's group stage draw in Monaco.

Raffael and Thorgan Hazard both scored hattricks as Gladbach mauled

Swiss opponents Young Boys 6-1 to complete a 9-2 aggregate win.

Gladbach never looked back after Hazard gave them a ninth-minute lead and two quickfire goals by his Brazilian team mate put them 3-0 ahead after just 40 minutes.

Manchester City, 5-0 up from the first leg against former European champions Steaua Bucharest, completed the job when Fabian Delph's secondhalf header gave them a 1-0 win in the return.

England goalkeeper Joe Hart, dropped for City's first two league games of the season, was picked by manager Pep Guar-

diola and given a rapturous reception by the home supporters. Rostov, who qualified for the first time, completed a 5-2 aggregate win against Dutch side Ajax who fell in the qualifying rounds for the second season running.

Roared on by a fervent home crowd, the Russian side took a 34th-minute through a sublime Serdar Azmoun header and Aleksandr Yerokhin made it 2-0 when he emphatically headed home a free kick.

Christian Noboa bundled in a third before Dmitry Poloz sent the home fans into raptures as he beat the offside trap to make it 4-0.

Davy Klaassen scored

a late consolation for Ajax from a penalty after the hosts had Fedor Kudryashov sent off.

The real drama was in Salzburg where the hosts, who have dominated Austrian football since energy drinks manufacturer Red Bull took over in 2006 but never qualified for the Champions League since, faced Dinamo with a 1-1 draw in the bag from the away leg.

It seemed that this was finally to be their night when Valentino Lazaro put them ahead with a superb individual goal, running from the halfway to fire a shot inside the near post. Dominant Salzburg

had a penalty claim turned down and should have put the game to bed but, with three minutes remaining, were stunned when Chilean forward Junior Fernandes scored with a deflected shot. Five minutes into extra-time, Fernandes sent El Arabi Hilal Soudani clear and the Algerian forward scored at the second attempt.

Cypriot champions APOEL Nicosia, quarterfinalists four years ago, went ahead through Pieros Sotiriou but Federico Santander equalised for Copenhagen with four minutes left to earn a 1-1 draw and 2-1 aggregate win.

Bravo joins City as Hart's replacement

LonDon, auguSt 25 (aFp): Manchester City have completed their swoop for Barcelona goalkeeper Claudio Bravo to push Joe Hart closer to an unwanted exit from the Premier League club.

City manager Pep Guardiola's move for Bravo is likely to mean England goalkeeper Hart will be sold before next week's transfer deadline after he lost his place to back-up Willy Caballero at the start of the season.

Guardiola, who arrived from Bayern Munich in the close season, wanted to sign Bravo because he felt Hart's passing wasn't good

enough to fulfil his desire for a 'sweeper-keeper' who can effectively retain possession.

Chile international Bravo has signed a four-year contract and is reported to have cost City around £17 million ($22 million, 19 million euros).

Caballero surprisingly started City's first three games of the season ahead of Hart, whose appearance against Steaua Bucharest in the Champions League on Wednesday may well prove to be his last in a City shirt after 10 years with the club.

While Guardiola is respectful

of Hart's qualities, he believes Bravo's wealth of experience and his leadership will prove invaluable as the Spanish coach looks to put his mark on the City squad in his first season in English football.

"Claudio is a fantastic goalkeeper and an excellent addition to our squad," Guardiola told City's website. Bravo made 75 appearances for Barcelona since joining from Real Sociedad in 2014. The 33-year-old won eight trophies including back-to-back La Liga titles, and was named in the 2014-15 La Liga team of the season.

Bravo is Chile's most capped

player on 106 international appearances and was voted goalkeeper of the tournament after captaining his country to Copa America glory earlier this year.

Bravo hopes to add to his trophy collection with City and admitted the chance to play for Guardiola was too good to turn down.

"It is not easy to leave a club like Barcelona where I had two fantastic years, but the opportunity to work with Pep Guardiola was too good to refuse. "Now I will challenge the other great goalkeepers the club has and together I hope we can win many trophies."

Lewis Hamilton to take engine grid penalty Saina drops to 9th spot, Sindhu

Spa-FrancorchampS, auguSt 25 (aFp): World championship leader Lewis Hamilton on Thursday confirmed he expects to be taking a full engine change grid penalty at this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix.

The 31-year-old Briton, who leads his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg by 19 points in this year's title race with nine races remaining, said he would do his best to limit the damage and hoped to finish as high as fourth if he started from the back of the grid.

The defending threetime champion has already used his fifth and final turbo and MGU-H (motor generator unit-heat) and will automatically take a penalty as soon he has moves to take his sixth unit.

"As far as I am aware we will be taking the penalty this weekend," he told reporters at a pre-race news conference, the first since Formula One's traditional European summer break.

"Naturally, we've already discussed engine penalties that will come into play, for sure, but I will do everything I can to minimise the impact.

"Otherwise, beyond that penalty, that I will eventually take, I think I will be able to continue with the momentum I had before the break."

Hamilton reeled off four wins in a row in July before the summer holidays and has won six of the last seven races. He said he will aim to do his utmost.

"I think, in terms of win-

ning, that is the goal, but it will be very, very hard - the gap has closed between other cars, we are in the third year of this evolution of the cars and I think Red Bull are very quick, same as Ferrari. "It will be harder than it was last year, or the year before, to climb up through the field so it will be about minimising the damage of taking a penalty." Hamilton faces a penalty situation after a series of engine failures early in the season.

Asked if he blamed the team for this, he said he always felt he was part of the team. "It is a team sport, so we win and lose together as a team - sometimes it is not just a mistake, just a thing that happens. "I don't look at it as incompetence at all. I look at it as a learning experience because we

learned from the issues and they won't happen again," added Hamilton, who also said he had travelled to at least "six or seven" different countries during his threeweek holiday.

Asked if he could win Sunday's race from the back of the grid, he said: "Very difficult...Not likely.

But never say never...So I am going to go for it!"

If he did win the 60th running of the Belgian Grand Prix it would be his 50th victory - a landmark feat that he said he would never have dreamed of when he was falling in love with Formula One as a tvwatching child. "I never expected this or to be even thinking about a 50th win and I still pinch myself every day that I am here in Formula One," said Hamilton.

remains 10th-ranked shuttler

new DeLhi, auguSt 25 (ianS): India's Saina Nehwal on Thursday dropped four points to be ninth, while compatriot P.V. Sindhu remained in the 10th spot in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings despite getting a silver in the women's singles competition at the recently-concluded Olympics.

In another bad news for Indian badminton, the women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa dropped four places to the 26th spot following their failure to reach the knock-out stage in the Rio Games. However, men's singles shuttler Kidambi Srikanth, who reached the Olympics quarter-finals, jumped a place to be 10th, while Ajay Jayaram improved his 22nd rank by a position.

Saina, the 2012 London Games bronze medallist, failed to come out of the group stage competition at the Rio Games.

And her poor performance led her to move down four places to be ninth as the Rio bronze medallist Nozomi Okuhara of

Japan and Shixian Wang of China moved up three places each to be third and sixth respectively.

Rio semi-finalist Li Xuerui moved up a place to be second, while her compatriot Yihan Wang, who lost to Sindhu in the quarter-finals, dropped two places to be fourth. Former world champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand moved down a place to be fifth and Tai Tzy Ying of Chinese Taipei gained a place to be seventh.

Sung ji Hyun of South Korea lost her seventh spot by a position.

In the men's singles, Srikanth, who took legendary Lin Dan to the task in the quarter-finals, moved into the 10th spot following his impressive show at Rio. Malaysian Lee Chong Wei, who finished runner-up at Rio to Chen Long, kept his place at the top-ranked shuttler, while Dan was also stagnant at No.3. In the men's doubles, the pair of Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy were stagnant in the 21st spot.

public discourse

I

being a naga and beyond

remember vividly the night of 10th May, 1990; the streets of Kohima were full of people but quiet. I was four, proudly standing with my father as the nurses in white, my mother being one among them, held lit candles. Everything looked ethereal.

A.Z Phizo’s body was being brought back home from London that night. All I knew was that someone important had died and was being brought back home. It was, I learned later, a possibility made by the efforts of all Nagas.

Twenty five years later, July 1st, 2016, I am on a balcony near MLA Junction, watching people from all spheres of the Naga life and of all ages gathered to pay their respects to Yaruiwo Isak Swu Chishi. A young man carrying his few months old child, two old men in their best coats, a crew of hoodlums, wandering playmates, govt. employees, private entrepreneurs, masons, labourers, shopkeepers, women, men, children, families….all waiting for the arrival of Yaruiwo Isak Swu Chishi. Despite the long wait and the intervals of the Kohima rain, people stood as if holding on to something dear with dignity and unity, at least for that moment. As the body of the Lt. Yaruiwo arrived, one could feel the hearts of the Nagas beating together for once.

It was in their shouts, their waves and their silence. People, I believe, braved the rain, apprehensions, distrust and the long wait, for someone who paid for their shared dream; a dream everyone paid for. This event, though a tragedy, had an impact of bringing people in Kohima together for a moment; something even churches find it hard to do in Nagaland.

This appeared to me less like idolizing someone and more like reliving a lost dream, a long lost shared dream. It is a dream of being one, remaining one and passing it on despite the ideological or territorial differences, a hurtful past, forgotten struggle and an apprehensive future. I would like to believe so.

The Kashmir effect She kissed me on my forehead and blessed me saying “May God give you a good husband”. Apart from the warmth of her love, I felt the very passion this mother shared with her daughter, Lt. Aasia Jeelani, a kashmiri martyr.

Aasia was a young journalist who died in an IED explosion while monitoring the Parliamentary elections on April 20th, 2004. Leaving behind her dream of a high-life journalist in Delhi, Aasia had returned from her internship with The Times of India to work with the underprivileged Kashmiris. Her major work was the news letter “Voices Unheard” through which she told the world the stories of the suffering Kashmiri women. On her death anniversary it was shared that the death of Aasia had brought about a revival among the kashmiri youths, their passion for their struggle.

I had the priviledge to visit Kashmir on one of the NPMHR (Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights) programs in 2013.

It taught me some important lessons and left me questioning the Naga patriotism. First, the sight of the many youths turning up for the commemoration of Aasia’s death anniversary and the passion that oozed out with every shout of slogans. The number of youths turning up would be more than the congregation of a youth service in Nagaland. The second thing I noticed was a kind of protectiveness and respect they possessed for their martyrs. While visiting the martyrs’ cemetery, I happened to step on one of the martyr’s grave (due to lack of space) while taking a photo; this young man taps on my shoulder and rudely says “you are stepping on someone’s grave”. Though I was taken aback by his rudeness, I could not help but appreciate his reverence for the people who laid down their lives for their cause, his cause. Thirdly, the participation of the elite groups, academicians and activists in the struggle, or lets put it, their attitude towards the cause was some-

thing, it made THE DIFFERENCE. driver started to talk about the JNU movement, The constant assertion of their right to then went on to say that people should not accuse the Indian Army because they lay down self-determination remains unbeatable. their lives for the country. This is where I tell him about the atrocities committed by the Indian A lesson from JNU Since I joined JNU, I have often heard Army in Manipur, Nagaland and Kashmir. I asour professors, who had been JNU students sured him these were not lies. What was amazthemselves, mentioning how the student ing was that this auto driver listened to everypower had died down unlike their time. thing I said without prejudice and in the end Thanks to the government, the JNU crisis had commented that the government should take for the moment brought back the spirit of the care of it. And I thought, how amazing it would be if more non-Nagas listened to the Naga story student activism much reminisced about.

The sight of thousands marching from without prejudice and more Nagas be well inMandi House to Jantar Mantar, the ever in- formed about their undiluted history. creasingly diversified human chain, the 5 pm Nationalism classes under the open sky, a To Nagaland with love weird guy sloganeering in all his overwhelmThe fact that most Nagas from Nagaland ing bollywood style, conviction of newbies do not consider their Naga brethren from and all apolitical students to support the Manipur as Nagas has always been a bone of movement, the pouring in solidarity and the contention in my talks with my Naga friends beyond-borders JNU unity, the return of the from beyond Nagaland. Despite my desperincarcerated leaders, late night gatherings at ate attempt to explain why we are what we Freedom Square… all have been the varied are, it is never enough and all the more not faces of the JNU movement. The Movement justified. We Nagas from Nagaland are not reignited the democratic space where one just ignorant of our history but also want to noted professors at open talks mentioning remain so. I myself grew up knowing very groups like Nagas and Kashmiris and their little about my history. But just because we right to self-determination. It also resulted in don’t accept something does not make it any the endeavor of students from the mainland truer; it does not change history.

Once at a fellowship in Delhi, an evangeto sensitize their own people about the struggles of people under AFSPA. Meanwhile at list was sharing about his experience in Nagahome we saw some political groups organiz- land and his visit to Phizo’s memorial stone.

Then he stressed on the idea of the Nagas ing protests against the JNU movement.

One evening in the University, I with some considering Phizo as the Father of the (Naga) friends sat at a dhaba for a snack. Our discus- nation, and humored on how many fathers sions went to Christmas celebration which of the nation India has. The congregation, our Ladhaki friend was not familiar with. A majorly Nagas from Nagaland, laughed and long, arduous narration of the Christmas the sermon went on. On another instance, story bored him all the more. As our conver- I came across some young Nagas who were sation reached on the topic of Phizo he said very proud of their Indian identity that they strongly opposed even people from the other with delight “I have read about Phizo!”

Daily encounter with auto drivers in Delhi Northeast states for feeling less Indian.

I remember my own high school days is usually not so pleasant, but one rare incident happened shortly after the JNU crisis. The auto when with friends I would go on picnic to

the Secretariat side. Not knowing anything about Phizo, we would play “catch-me-if-you can” and enjoy our lunches at Phizo’s memorial stone. Be it Lt. Kekuojalie Sachii and Lt. Vikhozo Yhoshii or A.Z Phizo, the way we view our martyrs and their memorials is contrasting to our acclaimed Naga pride.

Here we are with a generation who find themselves in gratitude of the Indian government and totally ignorant of their history, while there is a generation that still thinks that India is a far away country and dreams that the Nagas will someday be independent, free. This gap is disturbing. It makes me wonder where we went wrong, at least in terms of passing down information.

My Kashmir trip ended with some celebration where people got a little tipsy and started talking a lot. In such state of mind, one of our Naga guys kept making clichéd proclamations like “we are Nagas”, “proud to be a Naga” etc.

The Kashmiri guy shut him up saying “Nagas are Nagas, and nothing beyond that”.

This thought kept me up till now. Despite the gaps that remain, the fact that a Ladhaki scholar read about Phizo and mentions it with delight in a conversation; a reputed University in the midst of sedition accusations maintains the space for the Nagas right to self determination; an auto driver’s unbiased mind decides to listen to the Naga story; the pursuance of mainland students to tell our side of the story; the different tribes in Nagaland paid for bringing back Phizo’s body from London; and the fact that on July 1st, 2016 gathering at MLA junction comprised not only of Nagas cutting across gender, age and class but also solidarity shown by all nonNaga communities in Nagaland, I can now say that we Nagas are not just Nagas but much more beyond.

Videkhono Yhokha Research scholar, JNU (videyhokha@gmail.com)

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.

Friday 26•08•2016

EntErtainmEnt

SlAmming AwAy to SenSAtion

Vinatoli Yeptho’s poem attacking racial prejudice and gender objectification goes viral on social media Morung Express News Dimapur | August 25

A slam poem on racial prejudice and gender objectification has gone viral on social media since it was first posted in August 17.

The poem entitled, ‘Five Rules for Whomever It May Concern’ has had over 104,088 views and 2500 shares on social media till the time of writing this piece. The impact will be more as the video is being shared massively in other platforms like WhatsApp and through multiple offline viewership.

The viral poem was performed on August 14 for the National Poetry Slam Audition held at West Bengal National University of Juridical

Sciences (NUJS), Kolkata

by Vinatoli Yeptho, who declares she is the proud daughter of Zhekhuli and Zhekihe Yeptho from Thahekhu Village, Dimapur.

A St. Paul Higher Secondary School, Dimapur, Alumina, currently she is pursuing BA LLB from NUJS and had earlier performed the poem at few other events in Kolkata and New Delhi.

Poetry slams feature a broad range of voices, styles, cultural traditions and approaches to writing and performance.

Primary motivation In an interview with Morung Express, Vinato said the poem was primarily written with an intent to empower women who,

despite bias and discrimination, can stand together strong and bold and fight patriarchy.

At the same time it addresses racial discrimination prevalent in the mainland against the people of the Northeast, she elaborated.

“Before I left the state (after my 12th boards) for further studies I was told by relatives, seniors and friends to be alert because there are racial biases everywhere but I did not really believe in them until I faced it myself throughout my journey from the moment I stepped out of the state till now.”

I also realized one thing during these four years of being out of the state that it not just racial discrimina-

Vinatoli Yeptho

tion women from northeast face in their everyday life in ‘Mainland’ but it’s the duo of race and gender which we are subjected to, she added.

Failing to come across any platform which took up these issues in public, Vinato-

li decided to bring out the issue and get the conversation going through her poetry.

“It also sent out a message to ‘Whomever it may concern’ that if you want to know about my diverse and beautiful culture all you need to do is just ask

and we will happily tell you about our culture and tradition and not just assume.”

While acknowledging that she and her friends have undergone racial prejudice in one way or the other, she recounted her first encounter with an ex-classmate who asked her, “Where do you live in China?”

When I replied “I’m sorry I’m from Nagaland,” to my utter surprise, she then replied back “So where is Nagaland in China?”

Almost all the Northeasterners, or anyone with mongoloid features, face such racial stereotyping as well as name calling.

Not a hate poem Vinatoli, however, maintains that this is not a

hate poem. “This is not at all a hate poem against ‘Mainlands.’ It is just my way of resisting certain practices.”

I think it is unfair and unjust to certain sections of the people in the country, she concurs, adding that currently 70% of the people in her friend circles are not from the North-East and they too encouraged her to publish this poem.

“Everyone is not same and there are wonderful people out there who are always ready to help us and accept us the way we are and it is up to us to choose the right ones.”

She further felt that the North-Easterners are also not free from these prejudices and said, “We cannot expect others to accept us the

Kristen Stewart Britney Spears biopic coming to TV soon Courteney Cox regrets to marry partner? cosmetic procedures

B

ritney Spears is getting her own TV movie, which will focus on the singer’s road to success, including her various ups and downs. TV network Lifetime made the announcement about the biopic on Wednesday.

TO be directed by Leslie Libman, the film will chart the singer’s rise to fame, and will also focus on the peaks and valleys that occurred throughout her career, in front of the cameras and behind the scenes, reports variety.com. Actress Natasha Bassett will star as Spears in the two-hour biopic. The film will also explore the singer’s relationships with Justin Timberlake, Jason Alexander and Kevin Federline.

A C M Y K

ctress Kristen Stewart has reportedly proposed her partner Alicia Cargile for marriage.

The 26-year-old “Twilight” star recently asked Cargile, who is also her assistant, to marry her and she said yes, reported Aceshowbiz.

The couple, who has been dating for three years, reportedly wants a beach wedding. The pair is apparently not planning on wearing its usual low-key attire. While Stewart wants to wear “a simple white Chanel gown”, Cargile “will wear a white Chanel tux,” according to sources.

In a recent interview, Stewart opened up about her love life with Cargile.

“Look how cute she is,” the “Clouds of Sils Maria” actress said, “I love her so much.”

“I would never talk about any of my relationships before, but once I started dating girls it seemed like there was an opportunity to represent something really positive,” she explained, “I still want to protect my personal life, but I don’t want to seem like I’m protecting the idea, so that does sort of feel like I owe something to people.

Source: PTI

“

The TV movie, which is tentatively titled “Britney”, will be produced by Asylum Entertainment, with a script written by AnneMarie Hess. Production

for “Britney” will begin on September 19 in Vancouver, Canada. The film is scheduled for a 2017 release.

Source: IANS

Friends” star Courteney Cox has vowed not to have more cosmetic procedures because she thinks they made her look “horrible”. The 52-year-old actress has decided not to try and change her looks or halt the aging process anymore and is grateful that the things she tried were not permanent, reported Female First.

“Getting older is not the easiest thing. But I have learned lessons. I was trying to keep up with getting older and trying to chase that. It’s something you can’t keep up with. The more you relax with it and the less you try...,” she said.

“Sometimes you find yourself trying and then you look at a picture of

Hillstar NOW SHOWING FLYING JATT yourself and you go, ‘Oh god, I look horrible’. I have done things that I regret and luckily there are things that dissolve and go away.

So that’s good because it’s not always been my best look. Now I have a new motto, let it be.

Source: PTI

Sunny Deol to launch son & Saif Ali Khan’s daughter

S

unny Deol recently launched four new actors (Shivam Patil, Rishabh Arora, Diana Khan and Aanchal Munjal) in Ghayal Once Again. The film is a sequel of his 1990 hit Ghayal which originally featured Sunny and Meenakshi in lead roles. Sunny not only directed Ghayal Once Again but was also seen reprising the role of Ajay Mehra.

A DNA report now claims that Sunny wants to launch his son Karan in the remake of Betaab and he is also looking to rope in Amrita Singh and Saif

Ali Khan’s daughter Sara as the love interest. Interestingly, Sunny Deol and Amrita Singh were paired opposite each other in the 1980 original film. Hindustan Times could not independently verify the report.

Sunny began started his acting career in 1983 with Betaab where he played a poor guy who falls in love with Amrita, who essayed the role of a rich girl. Directed by Rahul Rawail, this was was arguably the first film to be awarded a U/A certificate by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

Source: Hindustan Times

A

some awesome innovations,” Alia, who has been signed by Gionee for the next two years, said in a statement.

Arvind Vohra, Country CEO, Gionee India, feels “Alia is an actor filled with enthusiasm and zest, characteristics that reflects Gionee’s beliefs”.

“She adds freshness to the brand and associating with the actor will definitely bring the brand closer to the consumers and will make the brand more relatable,” Vohra said. The brand entered India in February 2013.

Source: IANS

My mom gets worried about controversies: Sonakshi

A

ctress Sonakshi Sinha says while her father and actor Shatrughan Sinha understands that controversies are a part and parcel of showbiz, her mother Poonam Sinha gets worried about the controversies involving her. Recently, there have been reports that Sonakshi is planning to settle down with her friend and rumoured boyfriend Bunty Sajdeh. “My dad doesn’t get bothered. He doesn’t get into it at all because he has been through that in fact even more than me,” Sonakshi told IANS. She added: “But my mom gets worried so I have to pacify her and calm her down. She understands at the end of the day. But wonders ‘why are they writing about my daughter’ so she gets a little protective. The actress, who is excited about her next film “Akira”, shares that she shrugs off baseless reports, but reacts when they drag her family into it. She said: “I take it depending on if its only affecting me then I can ignore it, but if you are going to drag my family and friends into it that is not cool.” The “Lootera” star went on to share that that is when she feels a “need to take a stand because people need to realise along with the person you are writing about there is lot of people around them who have nothing to do with and that’s not right”.

Source: IANS

11:00 am | 0200 PM 08:00 PM

MECHANIC 2

05:00 pm

Alia Bhatt to be face of Gionee Dwayne Johnson highest paid actor; ctress Alia Bhatt has been roped in as the brand ambassador of Chinese smartphone maker Gionee. She is “super excited” about the association.

The “Udta Punjab” actress will be the face of the brand for all the upcoming campaigns. She will also be endorsing the next line of products that the brand will launch. “I am super excited to be part of such a youthful and lively brand that’s making India smile. I am looking forward to having an amazing association with Gionee in the coming years and be part of

way we are, without accepting them the way they are.”

All I want to say is let’s spread ‘Love, Kindness and oneness’ and not let anyone be the victim of our judgmental minds, Vinatoli further explained.

While she had an intuition that the poem will resonate with many people, Vinatoli said she did not realize the response would be so overwhelming.

“After going through all the messages I get every day from young men and women not just from the North East but also from other parts of the country and also from countries like Nepal and Bhutan, I feel that the very purpose of writing and sharing this poem has been fulfilled. I’m thankful and forever grateful.”

Talking about the future, Vinatoli, who counts reading, travelling and listening to people’s stories as hobbies, said she is still confused as a normal college student. “But as of now I want to focus on my academics, read and write as much as I can and let’s see where this will lead me.”

SRK and Akshay Kumar in top ten

Now ShowiNg

W

r e s t l e rturned-actor Dwayne Johnson topped a Forbes magazine list of the world’s highest paid actors on Thursday with an estimated 2016 payday of $64.5 million. Johnson, 44, knocked Robert Downey Jr. off the top spot and more than doubled his 2015 earnings, largely thanks to his action comedy “Central Intelligence.” Johnson, known as “The Rock” during his wrestling career, also collected advance fees from the eighth installment of the popular “Fast and Furious” racing movie franchise.

The Forbes annual list again highlighted the pay gap between men and women in Hollywood. Earlier this week the magazine named “Hunger Games” star Jennifer Lawrence the world’s highest paid actress for a second straight year, with an estimated 2016 take of $46 million.

Forbes said 18 actors banked more than $20 million in its June 2015-June 2016 scoring period, compared with four actresses.

Jackie Chan, who has not had a big U.S. box office hit for years but is a prolific actor and producer in the burgeoning Chinese entertainment market, was second on the list with $61 million. Matt Damon came

in third with $55 million, largely due to the success of his 2015 space film “The Martian.”

“Iron Man” Downey fell from top spot, despite reprising his comic book hero role in “Captain America: Civil War.” He ranked eighth, tied with Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, with $33 million.

Harrison Ford crept onto the list for the first time since 2009 thanks to his return as Han Solo in the blockbuster new “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” movie and video game.

Ford, who also is to reprise his role as adventurer Indiana Jones in 2019, ranked 20th with earnings of about

$15 million.

Forbes estimates earnings, before taxes and management fees, from movies, TV and commercial endorsements.

The rest of the Top 10 were: 4. Tom Cruise $53 million 5. Johnny Depp $48 million 6. Ben Affleck $43 million 7. Vin Diesel $35 million 8. Shah Rukh Khan $33 million 8. Robert Downey Jr. $33 million 10. Kumar Akshay $31 million Sourcs: Reuters

03862-237226 Ticket Counter (09:00 AM - 09:00 PM) www.BookMyShow.com Ward 5 (6), Burma Camp, Dimapur.

Landmark: J. K Hospital/ Power House.

12

FriDAY 26•08•2016

SPORTS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Goodbye 'Dilscoop', Dilshan Putin calls ban on Russian to retire after Australia series Paralympic team 'immoral'

coloMBo, august 25 (reuters): Sri Lanka's Tillakaratne Dilshan will quit international cricket after the ongoing limited overs series against Australia, the swashbuckling opener announced on Thursday.

"I have decided to retire from the ODIs after the third match in Dambulla (on Sunday) and will play the two Twenty20s and then retire completely," Dilshan told local media.

After the conclusion of the five-match ODI series, Sri Lanka and Australia will play two Twenty20 matches on Sept. 6 and Sept. 9.

Inventor of the famous "Dilscoop" ramp shot, Dilshan played the last of his 87 tests in 2013 before quitting the longer format with 5492 runs and 39 wickets.

A wily off-spinner and one of the most agile Sri Lankan fielders even at the age of 39, Dilshan scored 22 and 10 in the first two one-dayers of the ongoing five-match series against world champions Australia. "I together with my committee wish to extend our sincere appreciation and wish him the very best in his future endeavours," Sri Lanka Cricket president Thilanga Sumathipala said in a statement.

According to media reports, the former captain was persuaded to retire as Sri Lanka build a new team under Angelo Mathews with an eye on the 2019 World Cup. Dilshan made his one-day debut against Zimbabwe in 1999 and went on to play 329 ODIs, amassing 10248 runs that included 22 hundreds, with an 86-plus strike rate.

He has also scored 1884 runs in 78 Twenty20 Sri Lankan batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan acknowledges his century during the Cricket World Cup match against Scotland in Hobart Internationals and was Sri Lanka's top scorer in this year's World Twenty20 in India.

March 11, 2015. (REUTERS File Photo) C M Y K

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during the awarding ceremony for Russian Olympic medallists returning home from the 2016 Rio Olympics, at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia August 25. (REUTERS)

tal number of gold medals it won. Putin said the result could have been better if a third of Russian competitors had not been excluded.

"I used to say this before ... and I still believe that these international antidoping structures ... should

be rid of political pressure," Putin told Russian Olympians in an emotional speech in a gilded Kremlin hall.

Putin said the decision to bar Russian athletes, including those who had not tested positive for any banned substances, was a

vivid manifestation "of how the humanistic foundations of sport and Olympism are shamelessly flouted by politics".

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said on Tuesday that Russia had lost its appeal against a ban from next month's Rio Paralympics.

"The decision to disqualify our Paralympic team is outside the law, outside morality and outside humanity," Putin said.

"It is simply cynical to vent one's anger on those for whom sport has become the meaning of their life... I even feel pity for those taking such decisions because they must well understand that it is so demeaning for them."

Putin said that Russia acknowledged its mistakes and was striving to improve its anti-doping structures "in the most transparent way". "But ... we don't accept and we can't accept any accusations against our athletes if they are not proven by evidence and facts ... and we will view this as manipulation."

West Indies face India in two Twenty20 internationals in Florida

Polish Olympian sells Rio medal to save boy battling cancer WarsaW, august 25 (aFP): Polish discus thrower Piotr Malachowski, who took silver at the Rio Olympics, said that he auctioned off his medal this week to fund treatment for a threeyear-old boy struck with cancer. The 33-year-old world champion wrote on his Facebook page that he was moved to action his prize after receiving a letter from the mother of a boy called Olek who said he had been battling eye cancer for two years and that treatment in New York was his only hope. "I fought for gold in Rio. Today I'm calling on everyone to fight for something even more precious," Malachowski wrote on Friday to announce the auction. "If you help me, my silver medal may turn out to be more precious than gold for Olek," he said, adding that he would use the entire sum raised to pay for treatment. "Success," he later wrote, saying the medal had found takers.

Messi wins UEFA goal of the season award Monaco, august 25 (Ians): The goal of Barcelona striker Lionel Messi in the first round of the 2015-16 UEFA Champions League against Roma was chosen by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) as the best of last season. Messi scored the goal as a result of collective play with Neymar and Luis Suarez. That encounter, played at Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium last November, ended in a 6-1 victory for the hosts, reports Efe. The Argentina striker's goal received 34 per cent of the vote and exceeded Brazilian Ricardinho's goal in Futsal, which gained 13 per cent votes, while the goal of Swiss Xherdan Shaqiri in the second round of the Euro 2016 against Poland came in third with 11 per cent. Messi is not among the three nominees for UEFA best player in Europe, which are Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Antoine Griezmann. The winner will be announced on Thursday night during the draw for the first phase of the UEFA Champions League.

Fort lauderdale, august 25 (aFP): West Indies face India in two Twenty20 internationals in Florida at the weekend in a litmus test for both cricket's future in the US and Carlos Brathwaite's credentials as Caribbean skipper.

After India cruised to victory in the Test series and in the aftermath of the Caribbean squad's latest round of blood-letting, the sides head for the sport's newest outpost, the Central Broward Regional Park, the only purposebuilt cricket stadium in the US. Six matches in the recent franchise-based Caribbean Premier League were played at the $10 million arena while the first full international matches, two Twenty20 games between New Zealand and Sri Lanka, were

staged there in 2010.

Saturday and Sunday's backto-back fixtures come at a crucial time for the West Indies.

They may be the reigning world champions in the format having triumphed in India earlier this year, but that didn't save Darren Sammy's job as skipper.

He was sacked in what he claimed was a "30-second phone call" and replaced by Brathwaite who etched his name into West Indies cricket folklore by smashing four sixes in the final over against England to win this year's World T20 final in Mumbai.

"I think a team like this will be pretty easy to lead, from the point of view that the dressing room is a fun place to be," said Brathwaite.

"I don't think it's a case where I have to negotiate too many egos."

His first job will be to introduce stability into the engaging but often frustrating nature of West Indies' short-form cricket -- before they won their second World T20 in four years, they lost to Afghanistan in the qualifying round.

Despite his heroics in Mumbai, 28-year-old Brathwaite is a lightweight when it comes to international experience, having played just three Tests, 14 ODIs and eight Twenty 20s.

In contrast, the team's superstar Chris Gayle has 103 Tests, 269 ODIs and 50 T20s to his name as well as a host of batting records.

India, meanwhile, have no worries over their confidence levels heading into the weekend.

They have enjoyed a solid run in T20 series in recent times, winning in Australia, Sri Lanka and claiming

the Asia Cup before recovering to beat Zimbabwe 2-1 in June. Twelve of the 14-man Test squad will be in Florida with skipper Virat Kohli handing over leadership duties to Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

They will have revenge on their minds having lost to the West Indies in the semi-finals of this year's World Twenty20.

A crowd of 15,000 is expected in Florida over each of the two days including vast numbers of expatriates.

"India is a like the rock star of cricket," Rizwan Mohammed told the Sun Sentinel newspaper whose reporter went to great lengths to demystify the sport for his American readership.

"Instead of four bases there are two wickets bracketing a rectangular 22-yard-long dirt pitch

at the centre of an oval ground," wrote the paper's correspondent.

"The 11 fielders have various ways of getting the batter out, including striking the wicket behind the batsman with a bowled ball or catching a batted ball on the fly."

West Indies squad: Carlos Brathwaite (capt), Andre Fletcher, Andre Russell, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Evin Lewis, Jason Holder, Johnson Charles, Kieron Pollard, Lendl Simmons, Marlon Samuels, Samuel Badree, Sunil Narine India squad: MS Dhoni (capt), Ajinkya Rahane, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Stuart Binny, Umesh Yadav, Virat Kohli

Indoor Stadium at Jalukie inaugurated Barca complete signing of Jasper Cillessen

Peren, august 25 (dIPr): Minister for Road & Bridges Y. Vikheho Swu, who is also the President of Nagaland Badminton Association, inaugurated the Multi-purpose Indoor Stadium along with the Yonex Sunrise 40th Nagaland inter-District & state open Badminton Championship on August 25 at Multi-purpose Indoor Stadium at Jalukie.

Speaking at the inaugural function as the Chief Guest, the Minister

expressed deep appreciation to the Department of YR&S for the successful construction of the Multipurpose Indoor Stadium (MIS) but lamented the lack in management. In this regard, he urged the people to make good use of it as one’s own property.

He called upon the players to maintain good discipline and play with the spirit of sportsmanship as success will come only through hard working and dedication.

Maradona criticises Messi over international retirement

Buenos aIres, august 25 (aFP): Argentina great Diego Maradona has criticised Lionel Messi, suggesting that the Barcelona star's retirement from international football, and subsequent change of heart, was "staged".

"I don't know whether this was staged to make us understand that he'd lost three finals, but we never lost by big margins," said Maradona to radio station La Red. Messi announced his retirement from international football after Argentina lost the Copa America final to Chile on penalties in June, with the Barcelona forward crucially missing in the shoot-out.

"This is the end for me with the national team, it's not for me," said Messi at the time.

"I think it's best for everyone, for me and for many people who want it. The choice for me is over, it is a decision."

That defeat came after Argentina lost the 2015 Copa America final to the same opponents and the 2014 World Cup final to Germany.

Maradona believes Messi spoke too rashly and upset many people in Argentina with

MoscoW, august 25 (reuters): A ban on Russia's Paralympic team competing in Rio next month is cynical and immoral, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, but he said that Moscow acknowledged mistakes it had made in tackling sports doping.

Russia's track-and-field team was excluded from the Rio Games that just ended after world antidoping authorities alleged Moscow ran a state-sponsored sports doping programme. The entire Russian Paralympic team has also been barred over the same doping allegations.

At a Kremlin ceremony to welcome home Russian athletes who had competed in the Rio Games, Putin said international anti-doping organisations had singled out Russia for harsh treatment because they were subject to political pressure.

Russia's Olympic team finished this month's Games in Rio in fourth place according to the to-

his comments.

"He got annoyed for nothing. He wasn't to blame for the defeat, others were. So why did he announce his retirement?

He spoke too quickly, made everyone hold their breath (on a potential return)," added Maradona, the star of the Argentina team that won the 1986 World Cup. Earlier this month, the 29-year-old confirmed he would rejoin the national set-

up after being convinced by new coach Edgar Bauza to make a comeback.

"A lot of things were going through my head the day of the final, and I really thought about stopping, but I love my country," said Messi when he announced his return.

Messi is set to return to the fold when Argentina play World Cup qualifiers at home to Uruguay and away to Venezuela on September 1 and 6.

A brief technical report was presented by the Executive Engineer PWD (H) YR&S Division.

Earlier, the chief Guest unveiled the monolith and also presented National Level Award to Imlirenla Jamir and Joseph Sumi for their All India Mixed Double Runners Up 2016.

More than 111 players from the nine (9) District including Nagaland Police team are taking part in the tournament.

Hart hopeful for a solution surrounding his City future london, august 25 (reuters): Joe Hart is positive that a solution will be reached surrounding his future at Manchester City, the goalkeeper has said after helping the club advance to the group stages of the Champions League.

The 29-year-old made his first start this season in City's 1-0 win against Steaua Bucharest to a thunderous reception from home fans. According to British media reports, the impending arrival of Claudio Bravo from Barcelona could signal Hart's exit after a 10-year stay at City.

"We have a top manager that the club has wanted for a long time and he will have his opinion on things and outside of the charade and all the rubbish that is being talked, we are dealing with it like men inside and we will come up with a solution," Hart told British media.

"We all know there is a situation going on but I feel that outside of all the circus, we are handling it well as a good team with a good management staff, and I enjoyed tonight."

Manager Pep Guardiola has preferred goalkeeper Willy Caballero over Hart.

"I try to be honest. I can't deny what I feel. I was honest with Joe. Time shows I made mistakes at Barcelona and (Bayern) Munich, but I have to take them," Guardiola said. "You have to accept and follow me, the way I want to play.

"I am so happy with the way people treat him and love him... Right now Joe is a player for Manchester City."

City host West Ham United in their next league game on Sunday.

Barcelona, august 25 (aFP): Barcelona have completed the signing of Dutch international goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen from Ajax, the Spanish champions confirmed on Thursday.

In a statement on their official website the Catalans confirmed they had signed the 27-year-old on a five-year contract for a fee of 13 million euros (£11.1 million, $14.7 million), rising to a potential 15 million euros. Barca said Cillessen flew to Spain on Thursday morning to undergo a medical and would be officially unveiled on Friday. Cillessen made a farewell appearance for Ajax on Wednesday in their 4-1 Champions League play-off defeat to Rostov in Russia. His arrival clears the way for Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo to

leave the Camp Nou for Manchester City, leaving the Dutchman to compete with Marc-Andre ter Stegen for the number one jersey in Luis Enrique's side.

Drinkwater signs new deal with Leicester City

london, august 25 (aFP): Leicester City and England midfielder Danny Drinkwater signed a new five-year contract with the Premier League champions on Thursday.

Drinkwater, 26, joins Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and Kasper Schmeichel in committing his future to the club since the end of last season. "I've loved playing for this club. It's been perfect for me and my career and

I want to be here for a long time to come. I couldn't be happier," Drinkwater told Leicester's website.

Drinkwater joined Leicester in 2012 from Manchester United and has made 177 appearances for the Foxes. He was named the club's player of the year as Leicester won promotion back to the top flight in the 2013-14 campaign, and last season played a key role as the

Foxes became the most unexpected champions in Premier League history.

Drinkwater, who won the first of his three England caps against the Netherlands in March, added: "I've grown a lot as a player and a person in the last four years and Leicester has been a massive part of that. "I love being part of this team.

We've been through so much together and I'm sure there's a lot more to come."

Italian club Milan reject Chelsea's ‘significant offer’ for Romagnoli MIlan, august 25 (reuters): AC Milan have rejected a "significant offer" for Alessio Romagnoli from English Premier League Chelsea, the Italian club said on Thursday. Milan did not release financial details of the offer but British media reported that it was 34 million pounds ($44.9 million). "AC Milan has received a significant offer for its player Alessio Romagnoli from Chelsea FC," the club said in a statement on their website (www.acmilan.com).

"The player is not for sale, therefore this negotiation will not continue. The club wants to thank Chelsea FC with whom we will continue to have a great working relationship." The

21-year-old Romagnoli, who joined Milan from Roma in 2015, was a mainstay in Milan's defence last season, making 34 appearances, and is considered one of the brightest prospects in Italian football.

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has made strengthening Chelsea's defence a priority this as Kurt Zouma's long-term knee injury has left him short of options. Chelsea have also been linked with Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly.

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