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Dimapur VOL. IX ISSUE 346
The Morung Express “
www.morungexpress.com
Wisdom is the power to put our time and our knowledge to the proper use
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reflections
By Sandemo Ngullie
Aree, Our star is smaller than our neighbor`s, Aren`t you ashamed?
NLA winter session today
Our Correspondent Kohima | December 15
A one-day winter session of the Sixth Session of the 12th Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) will take place here on December 16. The session will be marked by obituary references, Questions, Laying of Reports, Introduction of Government Bills, Presentation of Assembly Committee Reports, Introduction of Government Resolutions, Consideration and Passing of Government Bills, Adoption of Government Resolutions and Unfinished Businesses, if any, followed by adjournment of the Session sine-die.
YAA questions TUENSANG, DE CEMBER 15 (MExN): The Yimchungrü Akherü Arihako(YAA) today expressed concern at recent violence in Tuensang district and asked the Chang Association, Tuensang to clarify on how the incidents “are not a tribal issue.” A press note from the YAA General Secretary, Shikiula Yim and Press & information secretary, Z Mukamchim then listed out incidents including the burning down of cornfield and barns; “kidnapping” of a mother and daughter; “razing down” of seventeen houses; “kidnapping” of Yimchunger males at ‘C’ Saddle Village; “beating” of Yimchungru youths and the “arson attack and ransacking” of Yimchunger public houses at Tuensang town.
One killed, five injured in Imphal blast
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IMphAl, DECEMBER 15 (IANS): A 28-year-old youth was killed and five others were injured when unidentified militants triggered a bomb blast here Monday. “Naresh Sahani, a betel leaf seller, died on the spot and five others were seriously wounded when militants exploded a bomb in the heart of Imphal city’s Mahatma Gandhi avenue,” a police official said. The injured were taken to the Regional Institute of Medical Science and hospital. The condition of three of them is stated to be critical. Security forces led by inspector general of police Clay Khongsai and deputy inspector general of police I.K. Muivah have launched a combing operation to nab the militants behind the blasts. “We are yet to identify the group which triggered the blast,” Khongsai told reporters adding that an improvised explosive device was used in the explosion. No militant group has claimed responsibility for the blast yet.
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Dimapur Railway Station gets health unit
Pro-Islamic Miss South State tweeter Africa Is did not Crowned recruit for IS: Rajnath Miss World
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At UN climate talks, a crack in rich-poor barrier
Tuesday, December 16, 2014 12 pages Rs. 4 –Thomas J. Watson
Marta leads Brazil to victory over US
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Sydney hostage siege ends SYDNEY, DECEMBER 15 (Ap): A swarm of heavily armed police stormed a cafe in the heart of Sydney early Tuesday, ending a siege by an Iranian-born gunman who had held an unknown number of hostages for more than 16 hours. A police spokesman confirmed "the operation is over," but would not release any other details about the fate of the gunman, identified as Man Haron Monis. A female hostage was shot in the leg, a hospital official said, and earlier at least two people were wheeled out of the cafe on stretchers. A weeping woman was helped out by police. The standoff ended when a loud bang was heard from the Lindt Chocolat Cafe and five people ran out. Shortly after, police swooped into the building, amid a flurry of more loud bangs, shouts and flashes. Local media said the 50-year-old Monis was the gunman, and a police official confirmed his identity. Under department rules, officials do not identify themselves unless speaking at a formal news
conference. Monis has long been on officials' radar. Last year, he was sentenced to 300 hours of community service for using the postal service to send what a judge called "grossly offensive" letters to families of soldiers killed in Afghanistan between 2007 and 2009. At the time, Monis said his letters were "flowers of advice," adding: "Always, I stand behind my beliefs." He was later charged with being an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife. Earlier this year, he was charged with the sexual assault of a woman in 2002. He has been out on bail on the charges. "This is a oneoff random individual. It's not a concerted terrorism event or act. It's a damaged goods individual who's done something outrageous," his former lawyer, Manny Conditsis, told Australian Broadcasting Corp. "His ideology is just so strong and so powerful that it clouds his vision for common sense and objectiveness," Conditsis said. The wounded hostage, a woman in her 40s, was in serious but stable condition at Royal North Shore
A hostage runs to armed tactical response police officers for safety after she escaped from a café in Sydney, Australia by an Iranian born gunman. The hostage crisis ended with teams of heavily armed police storming the café. (AP Photo)
Hospital, spokeswoman Jenny Dennis said. She was admitted shortly after police stormed the cafe. The siege began around 9:45 a.m. in Martin Place, a plaza in Sydney's finan-
Concerned employees demand salaries KOhIMA, DECEMBER 15 (MExN): Concerned employees from the Nagaland state Health and Family Welfare Department today stated that the Central Government’s new policy of routing fund for all Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) through the State treasury “is proving to be disastrous.” A press note from the employees informed that under the Department of Health & Family Welfare, there are various programmes such as the NHM, NSACS, RNTCP, IDSP, NVBDCP, NPCB etc who have received the 1st Installment from the Government of India, sanctioned for the year 2014-15
sometime in the first week of October this year. However, it lamented that the fund is “yet to be released by the state Government.” The note informed that according to the directives issued by the Central Ministry, the fund “should be disbursed to the respective Programmes/CSS from the State Treasury within 15 days of fund receipt.” “However, this directive has not been honoured and fund has not been released till date,” it alleged. It added that the various categories of staff working under these programmes at the state and district levels who solely depend on their monthly salary “have
not received the same for the last 4-8 months now.” The note lamented that nonpayment of salaries has caused “untold hardships for the employees, especially the ones working in the interiors.” The employees have questioned the state government as to “why these funds are being held up when these funds are sanctioned specifically for health care delivery as clearly mentioned in the respective sanction letters.” They have expressed hope that their pending salaries would be released in a day or two and called upon the state government to release the sanctioned funds.
Parliamentary Secretary, Tovihoto Ayemi inaugurating the Dimapur Night Carnival on Monday. (Morung photo)
the people, the Parliamentary Secretary said many better initiatives could be taken up if the people continue to cooperate with the government. “The Government of Nagaland is always committed to the welfare of the people and I appeal the citizens to continue giving your unstinted support to enable the government to carry on unfinished works and also take up new initia-
tives for the people,” Tovihoto appealed. He said that the 6-day night carnival has provided the right ambience and place for families, friends and relatives to share some decent time together outside their homes. He urged the district administration and law enforcing agencies to step up their vigilance so that no untoward incidents take place during the festive season. Tovihoto also
hostages forced up against the windows. "The gunman seems to be sort of rotating these people through these positions on the windows with their hands and faces up against the glass," Reason said in a report from the vantage point. "One woman we've counted was there for at least two hours — an extraordinary, agonizing time for her surely having to stand on her feet for that long." "When we saw that rush of escapees, we could see from up here in this vantage point the gunman got extremely agitated as he realized those five had got out. He started screaming orders at the people, the hostages who remain behind," he added. "This is a very disturbing incident," Prime Minister Tony Abbott said. "It is profoundly shocking that innocent people should be held hostage by an armed person claiming political motivation." One terrorism expert said the situation appeared to be that of a "lone wolf" making his own demands, rather than an attack orchestrated by a foreign jihadist group.
cial and shopping district that is packed with holiday shoppers this time of year. Many of those inside the cafe would have been taken captive as they stopped in for their morning coffees.
Throughout the day, several people were seen with their arms in the air and hands pressed against the window of the cafe, with two people holding up a black flag with the Shaha-
Petrol, diesel prices slashed by Rs 2 each
Butterflies are a ‘health indicator’ of our environment
NEw DElhI, DECEMBER 15 (pTI): Petrol and diesel prices were on Monday cut by Rs 2 per litre each as international oil prices slumped to five-year low. This is the eighth straight reduction in petrol prices since August, and fourth in diesel since October. New rates will be effective midnight tonight, Indian Oil Corp, the nation’s largest fuel retailer, announced. Rates differ from state to state because of varied rates of local sales tax or VAT.
6 day Dimapur Night Carnival begins DIMApUR, DECEMBER 15 (MExN): Parliamentary Secretary for IT&C, Science & Technology, Technical Education and Taxes, Tovihoto Ayemi has lauded the Dimapur district administration, police and the various civil societies for coming together and organizing the Dimapur Night Carnival which he inaugurated at Super Market on Monday evening. Noting that last year’s carnival was a success, Tovihoto said that the organizers were doing it on a larger scale this year with more than 300 stalls. “This carnival clearly demonstrates how initiatives can see success and come to fruition when the government and the civil societies representing the mass come and work together on any issue,” he added. He said the carnival was a splendid example of public-government cooperation and coordination towards each other for doing something good for the people. Stating that the Government existed for
da, or Islamic declaration of faith, written on it. The Shahada translates as "There is no god but God and Muhammad is his messenger." It is considered the first of Islam's five pillars of faith, and is similar to the Lord's Prayer in Christianity. Channel 10 news said it received a video in which a hostage in the cafe had relayed the gunman's demands. The station said police requested they not broadcast it, and New South Wales state police Commissioner Andrew Scipione separately asked all media that might be contacted by the gunman to urge him instead to talk to police. Seven Network television news staff watched the gunman and hostages for hours from a fourth floor window of their Sydney offices, opposite the cafe. The gunman could be seen pacing back and forth past the cafe's windows. Reporter Chris Reason said the man carried what appeared to be a pump-action shotgun, was unshaven and wore a white shirt and a black cap. Earlier Monday, network staff counted about 15 different faces among
appealed the people to respond positively to the carnival and pass off the season responsibly and in a peaceful manner. DC Dimapur Wezope Kenye delivered the welcome address and urged the people to remain peaceful during the carnival. He said that the main objective of organizing the carnival was to give platform for the local entrepreneurs. Later, Tovihoto along with Wezope inaugurated the carnival by releasing lanterns in the air. The night carnival is being organised jointly by the district administration, police, DMC, Development Authority of Nagaland, DCCI, BAN, Youth Association of Nagaland, Dimapur Press Club, Nagaland Printing Solutions, Crescendo, Pheto Music Association and others. The carnival starts from 5 pm to 9 pm daily and will continue till December 20. Throughout the carnival, there will be musical entertainments every evening.
(LEFT): Tshetsholo (Alo) Naro (RIGHT): Pallas Sailer, the first butterfly identified by Alo in 2010.
International journal publishes butterflies identified by Naga youth Morung Express News Dimapur | December 15 The Journal of Threatened Taxa (JoTT) has published a list of butterflies identified in Nagaland, some a 100 years after they were first identified by British documenters. The list recorded 212 species of butterflies, of which 34 are legally protected under various schedules of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The paper, titled ‘Butterflies (Lepidoptera) of Chizami, Phek District, Nagaland, India’ was published in the December issue of the Journal, and is authored by Tshetsholo (Alo) Naro (25) and Sanjay Sondhi (51). The JoTT is an open access and print, peer-reviewed, monthly (not including supplementary and special issues and monographs), rapid, international journal on conservation and taxonomy. The 212 species were identified by Alo, and confirmed by Sondhi. Amongst the significant records during the survey, two species, the Tawny Emperor Chitoria ulupi ulupi and the Comic Oakblue Arhopala comica have been recorded from India after 100 years. A young conservationist, Alo has published papers in the JoTT on butterflies identified (one species each) for the first time in North East India in 2012 and 2013. In 2010, with only a camera and a reference book on butterflies, Alo identified his first species in Chizami, the Pallas Sailer. When butterfly expert Sanjay Sondhi (Titli Trust) went to the North East Network (NEN) in
Chizami to train young minds on professional identification of such species, Alo caught on quickly. That was in 2011. “From 2011 to 2014, I could identify 212 butterfly species. We are both attracted to each other,” says soft-spoken Alo of his work with butterflies, which has not been attempted in nearly 100 years in the Naga hills. All the identified species have been published with pictures of the same. Amongst the earliest publications on butterflies from the Naga Hills is the collection of butterflies by W. Doherty during two expeditions in 1889 and 1890. Subsequent to that, Major H.C. Tytler spent between 1911 and 1914 collecting and reporting on the butterflies of the Naga Hills. Many of the identifications from the publication were made while Alo trained young students through NEN’s Nature Conservation Education Programme. The tools and methods for scientific identification of species in the hills that the Naga people inhabit were previously absent. “It is important for the young Naga generation to document the species we live with in order to conserve wildlife, and enjoy a life with them,” reflects Alo. Butterflies, he says, are a ‘health indicator’ of our environment. They need healthy vegetation to breed in, and dwindling butterflies mean that their habitat, or flora, is endangered. Besides, without butterflies there would be fewer flowers as they are one of nature’s great pollinators. Alo’s interest in butterflies came out of his close relationship with the forests, and nature in general, while growing up. He now encourages more youth to hone this relationship and take it down a healthy path. Publication of his work in an international journal of taxonomy (JoTT) goes a long way in providing this encouragement.
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