December 20th, 2014

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The Morung Express

Dimapur VOL. IX ISSUE 350

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www.morungexpress.com

Saturday, December 20, 2014 12 pages Rs. 4

All governments should be pressured to correct their abuses of human rights India, Bangladesh can Alo Wanth work on mutually Link presents: beneficial Sholozu Thong projects: Modi [ PAGE 08]

[ PAGE 11]

Students are main agents to transform society: CM

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– Richard Stallman

India’s Johnson [ PAGE 2] goading tactics Gaza receives only explode in fraction of 5.4 billion pledge faces [ PAGE 09]

[ PAGE 12]

ANSWFSEA points to ‘misuse of authority’

reflections

By Sandemo Ngullie

Calls for Nagaland Gov’s ‘immediate intervention’

So folks! Ready to celebrate Jesus’ birthday with the biggest spending spree?

CVSU clarifies DimaPUr, December 19 (mexN): The Chumoukedima Village Students’ Union (CVSU) today clarified that the CVSU along with the Chumoukedima Town Students’ Union and the New Chumoukedima Students’ Union held a discussion with officers of the 37th Assam Rifles on December 19, with regard to the December 18 incident, where an elderly citizen of the village was allegedly picked up by a “suspected” unit of the AR. A press note from the CVSU clarified that the matter was “simply a miscommunication during their act of public duty” and stated that “everything came to a mutual understanding between the three students’ union bodies and the 37th Assam Rifles battalion.”

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The artistic concept shows NASA's planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft operating in a new mission profile called K2. Using publicly available data, astronomers have confirmed K2's first exoplanet discovery proving Kepler can still find planets. The prolific spacecraft has spotted its first new alien planet since being hobbled by a malfunction in May 2013. The newly discovered world, called HIP 116454b, is a "super Earth" about 2.5 times larger than our home planet. It lies 180 light-years from Earth, in the constellation Pisces — close enough to be studied by other instruments.

Image Credit: NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech/T Pyle

53,705 Cr allocated for NE development mUmbai, December 19 (aGeNcieS): A total of Rs 53,705 crore has been allocated for the North East in the current fiscal for the development of the region, Minister for Development of North Eastern Region Jitendra Singh said today.

At a meeting with MPs from the region, Singh said the allocated funds includes 10 per cent of gross budgetary allocation for the DoNER and Rs 17,898 crore to be provided to the states as Special Plan Assistance, Special Central Assistance,

Normal Central Assistance or Additional Central Assistance in addition to money being spent by Railways.

Singh said that a National Sports University will be set up in Manipur for which government has provided Rs 100 cr. In order to improve the internet and mobile connectivity, the Minister said a comprehensive telecom development plan for region has been sanctioned at a cost of Rs 5,336.18 crore to provide 2G coverage in identified uncovered areas of the

region and another Rs 100 crore is to be provided for organic farming.

For expanding road infrastructure in the region, Singh informed that a new scheme called ‘North-East Road Development Corporation’ has been initiated with an allocation of Rs 200 crore for the current year.

Asian Development Bank assisted the North East States Roads Investment Programme, which is also being implemented in Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura.

Kohima, December 19 (mexN): The All Nagaland Social Welfare Field Staff Employee Association (ANSWFSEA) has appealed to the Governor of Nagaland for ‘immediate intervention’ into the ‘ongoing imbroglio’ and in the ‘misuse of office by authority’ of the Department of Social Welfare, Nagaland.

Giving a brief background, the ANSWFSEA stated that the said department is “beset with abnormal stagnancy especially at the level of Supervisor and equivalent cadre.” The appeal was forwarded to the Governor by president of ANSWFSA, Renchano Odyuo, and its general secretary, Chotangse Anar. At present, it noted, there are around 150 Supervisors among which the senior most batch from the year 1992 comprising 21 supervisors recruited through NPSC and have rendered 23 years of continuous service are still awaiting first promotion. “Going by the present trend, many of them are likely to retire from the same post,” the note informed.

Over the years, the Association has pointed out “inherent defects” in ‘THE NAGALAND SOCIAL SECURITY & WELFARE SERVICE (revised) RULE, 1997’ causing “stagnancy” and approached the department on numerous occasions to rectify the discrepancies.

“Besides certain obvious omissions, there are Articles/Rules in the Service Rule 1997 which are inimical to the welfare of the Supervisors/ Welfare Inspectors and equivalent cadres. For instance, the Rule 5(2) of the existing Service Rule has provision for dual entry point to the executive posts, that is, from the level of Supervisors/equivalent cadres and

at the CDPO Level despite of same prescribed qualifications for both sans rationale. Further, aggravating the magnitude of stagnancy, many of the CDPOs are appointed through deputation/contract basis and regularized without adherence to the Direct Recruitment (Rule 6) provision enshrined in the Service Rule,” informed the Association.

Against this backdrop, the ANSWFSEA served the department with a ‘Charter of demands’ on July 19, 2014, calling for the review/amendment of the revised service rule, among other things. The Association also questioned the “validity of backdoor appointments,” pointing out non-adherence to the clearly laid provision for Direct Recruitment in the existing ‘Service Rules of 97’.

On the November 3, 2014, the Association held a meeting with the Minister of Social Welfare, the Secretary to the Government of Nagaland, the Director of the Social Welfare at the minister’s Office, The Civil Secretariat, Kohima where the authority requested the Association to “refrain from agitation” for 4 months with “assurance” that the Department would approach various authority for “favorable action and no fresh appointment would be made at the CDPO/ equivalent level.” It was informed that the authority appended their signature over the recast demand, wherein, one of the points read “Till such date, the demands of the Association is incorporated and effectively enforced in the proposed Service Rule 2014 no CDPO, R.O, C.I, Superintendent, P.O shall be appointed/ regularized in any mode or manner by the Government” in an act of reassurance to redress the grievances.

Nonetheless, the Government “constituted the committee and conducted the suitability test for regularization of the Class-I Gazetted on 17th December 2014 in total violation

to the Service Rules and impunity to sincere appeal of the association to cancel the said meeting,” informed the ANSWFSEA. The government was asked to clarify the same but no response came from it.

The Association reiterated its stand that “Direct Recruitment Provision in the Service Rules 97 is for requisitioning to the NPSC, open advertisement and examination to ensure fairness and not reserved for Ministers’ protégés or people in authority.

For the record, it is to be mentioned that, the Government had constituted so called committee in such haste that, it did not had time to issue calling letters to the candidates but discreetly inform the candidate through phone calls/text messages, which is highly questionable.”

The Association reminded the Governor that the national guideline for ICDS envisages that for “proper implementation of the scheme and development of children, it is necessary that experienced persons should man the posts, for which a dedicated cadre catering to the ICDS Scheme is essential The dedicated cadre would facilitate their career progression from the level of Supervisor to D.P.O by interlinking their recruitment/ promotion/ appointment.”

It informed that the ANSWFSEA submitted representations to the Department pointing out the above rationale for amendment/review of the ‘Service Rules 97’ but “owing to bureaucratic complacency and lack of political will the reform in the Service Rule has not been actualized.”

The Association has thus implored upon the Governor to “withhold assent to the recommendations of the committee for regularization of Class-I Gazetted Post of the Social Welfare Department or nullify the committee report for further detail enquiry into matter and the other sides of the story.”

Rally demands ‘removal’ of Nagaland BJP President ‘I get my health by helping others’ Morung Express News Dimapur | December 19 Several BJP workers from Phek district today staged a protest rally at the Nagaland State BJP headquarter in Supermarket, Dimapur, demanding the immediate removal of M Chuba from the post of Ad-hoc President, BJP Nagaland. The protestors alleged that the State BJP President has been displaying a “lackadaisical attitude” towards the BJP Phek district and is acting in his own “vested interest.” Around 300 party workers from BJP Phek district participated in the rally.

In a memorandum submitted to the Organizing Secretary, Nagaland BJP at the rally, the BJP Phek district questioned the induction and appointment of the President BJP- Phek District, Eduzu Thuluo,

superseding the “legally and constitutionally elected candidate,” Kupota Khesoh, on September 8, 2014. It alleged that this was due to the “unfair means of M Chuba and his lack of tolerance to consolidate the party well being in a democratic order.” It further questioned the party office as to why no disciplinary action has been taken against the State unit President for his alleged “dictatorial activities.”

The memo further called for revoking the suspension order of Er. Vekho Swuro, issued during the membership drive period. It also called for “the restoration of the unanimously elected President through collective decision at Hotel saramati on November 8, 2014 which was supported and endorsed by the constituency Mandals” and demanded immediate removal of the State BJP President.

The memo further held the State BJP Morung Express Feature President accountable for the party’s failLongpang |December 19 ure to win the recently held bye-election to 11 Northern Angami A/C and for the “Being a doctor is a call to compassion,” is how “lack of coordination, mistrust, progress, Dr. George Varghese describes his profession. harmony and understanding” in the party.

This feeling of empathy has been the driving force for Dr. George Varghese, fondly known as Nagaland BJP President refutes allegation Dr. Laji, during his 35 years journey in the medPresident of the Nagaland State unit of ical profession, most of which were spent prothe BJP, M Chuba meanwhile, refuted the viding free medical surgeries to the poor and allegations and termed them allegations as “false and misleading.” Speaking to the Mo- the down trodden.

Dr. Laji is not an ordinary man when it comes rung Express, he accused certain sections to service to humanity. An inductee of the Mediof the BJP Phek Division for trying to create cal Mission Hall of Fame by the College of Media false impasse in the BJP workforce. He ascine and Life Sciences at the University of Toledo, sured that stern disciplinary action will be Dr. Laji has performed more than 30,600 surgertaken against those involved in the rally ies alone, and for free. and stated, “They are not BJP Phek District Recently he was camped along with his equalworkers; they are hired by vested interested ly dedicated wife, Dr. Sheila Varghese, at the Compeople.” munity Health Care Centre, Longpang, 25 kilometres from Tuensang town to head the surgery camp organized by the Eleutheros Christian Society (ECS).

Assisting him were Dr. Robin of TATA Cancer Institute, Kolkata, Dr. Tom, Dr. Morris, Dr. Sonia, quires clairvoyance on the is- Dr. Angelina, Dr. Annie from Britain and doctors sue of land clearance. and nurses from District Hospital, Tuensang and On power generation, Kro- the Christian Institute of Health Sciences and Renu advocated bringing in pri- search (CIHSR), Dimapur. vate parties. Informing that the This is not Dr. Laji’s first visit to this region. In centre is willing to help the state fact, he has been coming quietly to perform surin terms of transmission and geries since the first surgery camp in 2012. And distribution, Kronu informed the recent would be his sixth. that Kohima will receive a sigIn early April this year, in an audit, the comNeiba Kronu addressing media nificant hydro project. munity of Tuensang district estimated a whoppersons in Kohima on DecemTurning to the road sector, ping Rs. 60 Lakh as the minimum cost that paber 19. (Morung Photo) Kronu expressed concern at tients would have incurred for the surgeries Dr. tricts have also been constitut- the workmanship of the Border Laji performed for free.

Breaking away from the notion that complied with the respective Deputy Roads Organization (BRO) and Commissioners as Chairmen. advocated that the state gov- cated surgeries can only be performed in big The Parliamentary Sec- ernment should take over the sophisticated high tech operation theatres, retary further stated that re- BRO roads. Expressing con- Dr. Laji is a glowing example of how ‘difficult’ structuring of Planning Com- cern over frequent traffic jams surgeries can be performed with basic medical mission would be positive in Kohima, he informed that equipments even in the most remote corners towards providing more liberty discussions are on to construct such as Nagaland.

“It’s all a myth that big operations need big to the state government. Kronu a ‘ring road’ to help alleviate equipments. It is all about skill and dedication,” added that the Nagaland In- this problem.

Meanwhile, the Parliamen- the wonder surgeon says. At the recently held survestment Board has been set up to pursue funding agencies tary Secretary assured that the gery camp, Dr. Laji performed a number of diffito invest in the state and called present government under Chief cult surgeries which were considered ‘impossible Minister, TR Zeliang is trying its cases’ in other hospitals in the city. for more private investment.

For Dr. Laji, the astounding number of surHe also stressed on the best to develop the state. “We are need to bring in international quite confident that he will bring geries he has performed is mere figures. “It’s funding agencies to the state. some change,” Kronu comment- not the number; I am happy and blessed if I am able to motivate another person to do what I am This, he however stated re- ed on the CM’s leadership.

Mega projects in line for Nagaland: Kronu Chizokho Vero Kohima | December 19

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Efforts are currently underway to expedite three mega projects for Nagaland state, which includes construction of a new railway line from Dhansiri (Assam) to Zubza-Thizama, a four lane road (Dimapur to Kohima) and an international standard airport at Razhuphema. Towards this, committees at the state and district levels have been constituted recently to expedite those projects, informed Parliamentary Secretary for Planning & Coordination and Monitoring Cell, Neiba Kronu today in Kohima.

He stated that the Nagaland Governor has the committees for speedy implementation and effective monitoring of these projects.

He viewed that the process at the ground level needs to begin with urgency, adding that development would take a long time if the state always

depends on the centre.

While assuring that there is a strong political will to expedite these projects, Kronu postulated that once such projects take off, the state will reap the benefits and march ahead.

Kronu is also the Chairman of the state level committee for the projects. To start the process, he viewed land clearance as an important factor and sought cooperation and support from all concerned.

The state level committee will exercise overall supervision on the process for implementation of the projects and to expedite the early completion of the projects, to recommend all policy matters to the state government, to evaluate and monitor the project, to take up land matters and to settle issues arising out of it in consultation with the state government and other stakeholders.

District/Project Implementation Level Committees for Kohima and Dimapur dis-

Dr Laji (George) and Sheila Varghese at Longpang, Tuensang.

doing,” he expresses.

While the poor health system in the State means the failure of the government to initiate programmes to change the community, according to Dr. Laji, the present day medical system has also become corrupted by greed, thus making it very expensive while many doctors have lost moral responsibility.

“This whole system has been created just to keep the poor away. Doctors and nurses seem to perform their duty for the sake of security and not for service,” he rues.

Reminding that medicine is about compassion, service, altruism, and trustworthiness, values that guide the profession, Dr. Laji suggests that doctors based in major towns could reach out to the rural areas and give their free service for the welfare of the poor people.

“I get my health, my well being, by helping others. And being a Christian, I, we, have a greater reason to desire health and to care for our neighbour,” he says, adding, “Jesus was very smart when he said, by loving others you love yourself.”

Since 1979, Dr. George and Sheila Varghese worked at Lady Willingdon Hospital in Manali, India; he as a medical superintendent and surgeon, she as a paediatrician and obstetrician.

With their work, Lady Willingdon rose from a dying 22-bed facility with no funds to a 55-bedded hospital. A staff which numbered just 12 at the start has grown to 95 under their leadership while new buildings and equipment have been added.

Medical students from around the world now come to Lady Willingdon for exposure and training.

The two doctors set an example not just for the medical profession but for others as well, which suffer today from the lack of care and compassion. Sciences have progressed but left humanity behind. Through their work, Dr. George and Sheila Varghese inject perspective into profession.

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20 December 2014

NVCO urges State govt. to take action against corrupt officers

Kohima, December 19 (me xN): Nagaland Voluntary Consumers’ Organization (NVCO) today affirmed support to the statement of Accountant General (A&E) office, Kohima, which warned against deductions/cuts from the hard earned retirement benefits of pensioners at treasury offices.

NVCO also appealed to the State government to take “immediate necessary action” against its “corrupt officers.”

Reiterating its earlier statement, “Corruption is the greatest enemy of infrastructural development,” the NVCO stated the office of Accountant General

(A&E), Nagaland had rightly pointed out that departments were only disbursing authorities, but do not have any right to deduct or cut any amount. The NVCO through its president, Kezhokhoto Savi also cautioned all retired State officials not to involve in payment of certain percentage as commission by hiring broker/dalal as appealed by the office of AG(A&E), Nagaland.

Appealing to the State government to take immediate action against the corrupt officers, NVCO asserted, “Whether the state government would accept it or not but NVCO is compelled to state that our public offices is full of corrupt practices such

Helicopter service to be unavailable few days DimaPUr, December 19 (mexN): The State helicopter service will not be available for schedule as well as chartering service from December 23 to 26, and December 31 till January 2, 2015 in view of technical maintenance. The General Manager, Nagaland State Transport in a press release has expressed regret for the inconvenience caused.

as nepotism, bribery, embezzlement, fraud, abuse of power, favouritism, etc.”

It underscored that “the practice of deduction of certain percentage from public funds meant for infrastructural development by way of ‘commission’ by the politicians particularly some ministers, parliamentary secretaries, etc has become like a tradition in our state of affairs.” Till date, it added, the State government has not taken any initiative towards the setting up of Lokayukta in Nagaland.

NVCO further informed that it had recently filed an RTI application to the PIO, Office of the Director General of Police, Nagaland to

furnish certain appointment orders, approval of several projects, etc. Hence, it agreed with Governor of Nagaland pointing out the rate of corruption in Nagaland and appealed to the citizens to support his voice against corruption.

It was also mentioned that NVCO had sought Prime Minister’s intervention regarding corruption during his visit to Nagaland on December 1. The organisation urged Modi not to allow involvement of middleman/ private party/ broker/ dalal in the process of approving projects/ DPR for infrastructural developments in several departments/ ministries, Govt. of

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Students are main agents to transform society: CM

India, New Delhi so as to completely avoid corrupt practices by way of taking bribe and commission.

The NVCO also warned the State government not to encourage such practices in getting the projects approved and asked the officials, be in Nagaland or Nagaland House in New Delhi, not to involve themselves in that kind of corrupt practices. “The demand of NVCO was to avoid huge corrupt practices where the concerned state departments have to spend huge amount of cash Chief Minister TR Zeliang (2nd left) along with his wife, cabinet colleagues and others after bribing the officials to get unveiling the monolith marking 50 years of Jalukie Students’ Union, Friday. the work done of which the Morung Express News He said though Nagas are a small race, object of approving DPR/ the world respect them for their unique Jalukie (Peren) | December 19 projects is defeated.” culture and tradition. But once Nagas are Nagaland chief minister, TR Zeliang, today overwhelmed by modernity and western said in the modern technology-driven age, culture, then they would become a lost the role and responsibility of students is tribe. enormous and relevant as they are the Zeliang said landowners and inhabmain agents to transform society. itants of Jalukie should all give thanks to “These days, students are not only God for blessing it with the most fertile the leaders of tomorrow; they are also land in Nagaland. He said once Jalukie was the leaders of present times. They set the known as the ‘Rice bowl of Nagaland’, but tone and agenda for many social changes now it is for the students to ponder wheththrough social media such as SMS, face- er the sobriquet is still applicable or not. book, twitter, watsapp etc., which are basi“God has given us this fertile land. So it cally dominated by the youth of today,” the is our bounden duty to till and utilize the chief minister said. land for the benefit of the people and not Zeliang said against such a backdrop, lay waste the fertile land”, he said. it is very important that social media are The chief minister also said that since used in a constructive manner so as to different tribes and communities have create the right value systems and positive now settled in Jalukie, it is the collective mindset in society. responsibility of the citizens of Jalukie to The chief minister was addressing the co-exist peacefully. golden jubilee celebration of Jalukie StuEarlier, the chief minister also unveiled dents’ Union (JSU) held at JSU central park the monolith of JSU at the central park. on the outskirt of Jalukie town in Peren disMinster for Power, Kipili Sangtam, who trict. also graced the celebration in his address, Urging the students to take advantage exhorted the students to follow the prinof the modern inventions and applications ciple of “simple living and high thinking.” to further their career and goals, Zeliang Hailongbe Reunim, a pioneer of the however cautioned that modern gadgets formation of JSU some fifty years back and and inventions should not be misused or Hainkieng Hiekha, village council chairover venerated at the cost of their culture man of Old Jalukie, also spoke on the ocand identity. casion.

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‘Oldies Night’ for a cause in Mokokchung

Farmers trained on sericulture C

The Morung Express

December 19 (DiPr): The Department of Sericulture, Nagaland conducted three-day training programmes in different districts under Beneficiary Empowerment Programme (CDP 2013-14) on Plantation of Silkworm Host Plants and rearing different varieties, such as, Eri, Muga and Mulberry. Altogether 900 farmers were trained through well experienced resource persons, both from State and Central Silk board, Government of India during the month of October – November 2014.

Winners of SVEEP essay competition in Phek

PheK, December 19 (mexN): The Addl. Deputy Commissioner & Electoral Registration Officer, Phek, Kuko Meru has declared the winners of the essay writing competition held under Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) in Phek district as folOrganisers of Oldies Night with staff and doctors of Imkongliba Memorial Hospital, Molows: First – Kukhrunehu Sapuh, Class - XI, Govt. Higher kokchung.

Secondary School, Phek; Second – Divito Vese, Class - XI, ing care and concern. The joined by many other Govt. Higher Secondary School, Phek, Third – Rukusheyi Morung Express News Rhakho, Class - XI, Govt. Higher Secondary School, Phek. Mokokchung | December 19 ticket sales of the show went young artists from the to the Poor Patient Fund at town.

In aid of poor patients at Im- Imkongliba Memorial HosThe organisers of the kongliba Memorial Hospi- pital, Mokokchung; a sum show expressed their tal, Mokokchung, a group of Rs. 30,000 was donated to heartfelt gratitude to all those individuals who willPereN, December 19 (mexN): The District Con- of likeminded people in the Fund.

The show saw some ingly contributed in the act gress Committee (DCC) Peren has terminated Hesuipe- collaboration with Cosmos ung Iheilung, former vice president, DCC Peren from par- Entertainment Inc. organ- veteran musicians from by buying tickets. The docty membership for a period of three years with effect from ised a show ‘Oldies Night’ Mokokchung including tors of Imkongliba Memothe date of this publication. In a press release, DCC Peren at Cosmos Entertainment the frontman of Squadron rial Hospital gladly acceptpresident, Aluibe Iheilung informed that the disciplin- hall here on December 18. Wati Imchen, renowned ed their generous aid and ary action was taken as per the committee’s resolution The organisers of the show guitarist Imli Jamir and an hoped that not only few dated December 6, 2014 and Article 26, Clause–C of the felt that in this festive season 80’s band, The chronicles. groups, but every individuConstitution of Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee all can do something good Limayanger, runner-up, al should come forward in was enforced. The DCC Peren has informed all the party for the poor and needy by Naga Orpheus 2014 also lending a hand and helping lending a hand and show- performed at the show the poor and needy. members to cooperate with its decision.

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Vania Chawang Zeliang wins GVHN Season - 1

DCC Peren terminates one

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Excise seize liquor and drugs in Dimapur

DimaPUr, December 19 (mexN): The Nagaland State Excise department in its drive to check illegal sale, possession, smuggling and transportation of liquor and drugs in Dimapur district, raided different pockets of Dimapur town in the month of No-

vember. During the raids carried out by District staff, Narcotic Cell, and Mobile Squad, 245 persons were arrested and 242 cases registered. Meanwhile, 180 kg, 914 SP/RP tablets, 2528 bottles of assorted liquor, 3320 bottles/cans of beer were seized, Dy Commis-

sioner of Excise (HQ) Lanuwati Jamir informed, adding revenue of Rs 4,18,000 was deposited.

In a press release, Jamir said that all the liquor offenders have been booked and penalised under NLTP Act’ 89. The department is contemplating to conduct

such raids and arrests in coming days, he added.

“The State Excise is conducting surveillance round the clock to thwart any attempt to smuggle liquor in the town.”

The release also informed that checking of vehicles/ restaurants and

lounges will be performed regularly in order to maintain peaceful atmosphere in the city during Christmas festival. Jamir further requested the public to cooperate and support Winner of Gospel Voice Hunt Nagaland 2014, Vania Chawang Zeliang. the department in order to successfully implement the DimaPUr, December 19 (mexN): Rs 15000 (fifteen thousand) + one album NLTP Act’89.

Vania Chawang Zeliang has won the and vocal course. Meanwhile, emergGospel Voice Hunt Nagaland (GVHN) ing as 2nd runner-up, Ganta Mohan Rao Season - 1. She walked away an award of took home Rs 10000 + one Mp3 album 1 lakh + video album and vocal course. and vocal course. The show was judged The grand finale was held at Jumping by Sunep Lemtur, song writer, musipowerful resource humanity Bean Cafe, Dimapur featuring BLOOD- cian, professional recordist, national has ever seen and that they X (Hindi) band, on December 18. On the and international awards holder and to seven finalists. missionary, informed a press release are at least 50% of the popu- final day, it was down st lation. “So it becomes very Mhabeni was the 1 runner-up and won received here. important that this ratio is also channelized properly that we are able to achieve great things for our society.” energy, music task force and chairman She further requested Our Correspondent DPDB Kohima, Khriehu Liezietsu will the womenfolk not to con- Kohima | December 19 grace the concert as chief patron. fine themselves to the four Meanwhile, a Lucky Draw will be held walls of their house while A mega concert “Methaneilie Jütakhrieemphasizing that women the Minstrel ‘Old Flames of Local Music,” in the midst of the concert, in which the have much more potential, will take place on December 20 at the Ko- winner will be awarded with the legend’s which needs to be explored hima Local Ground, starting from 5:00 pm. own special guitar, CDs of 25 albums of the More than 5000 fans are expected to turn singer and a book containing the lyrics of and be given out.

R.Rang Peter, MCS, up at the concert, according to event orga- the songs, all autographed by the singer.

Chief Executive Officer, nizer Tsütuonuomia Youth Organization To be eligible for the lucky draw, one has to be an official member of the “Methaneilie ADC, Senapati, who was (TYO), Kohima Village.

The concert is an initiative to promote Jütakhrie Fans Club” page; information one of the guests of honour also shared that “mothers Methaneilie’s songs and to promote him and details of which are available on Facebook, where the page is actively operated. and sisters are equal part- as a person.

Through this concert, the singer enviTickets for the show are available at ners in decision making” and that, women are very sions to encourage the differently abled Western Book Depot, Charry Store (Old persons to take up life’s challenges and to NST), Sporstworld (Taxi Stand), Love active agents of change.

Pharmacy (Phoolbari), WTF Hotel (near Earlier, the Parliamen- reach for their goals.

It was informed that the proceeds from Catholic Cathedral), Popular Bakery (P.R. tary Secretary also unveiled the Jubilee monument and the concert will be used for charity pur- Hill), Plaza Bakery (Razhü Point), Car Liner (New Sectt.), Solo Enterprise & Phrenuo unfurled the jubilee flag. pose.

The show will also feature rapper L.C. Hotel (High School Junction) and the GarThe souvenir was also released by him. The occa- Sekhose, who will rap few songs of Metha- dens (Super Market, Dimapur). One can sion was marked by several neilie. get ticket on the spot also. The tickets have Parliamentary secretary for youth re- been classified as general ticket Rs. 100 (Adcultural demonstration sources and sports, new and renewable mit one) and donor-Rs. 2000 (Admit two). and special music.

Tungjoy Women Society celebrates Golden Jubilee

Members of Tungjoy Women Society perform during their golden jubilee celebration on December 19.

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TUNGJoY, December 19 (mexN): Parliamentary Secretary for Higher Education and SCERT, Deo Nukhu today asserted that women are not only agents of change but are also peacemakers. He said this in the context of the theme, “Women for Change” while

addressing the Golden Jubilee Celebration of the Tungjoy Women Society, which was celebrated with much fervour.

He also stressed on the importance of education in today’s modern world while calling upon the gathering to strive and educate more

and more women. He said education is one of the most important investments any society can make and in this regard, also impressed upon that when a man is educated, it may only be himself, but when a woman is educated, every child of hers is educated. Further

stating that Tungjoy is one of the biggest villages in Senapati district, he expressed hope that Tungjoy women will lead the way and also hoped that women from the area will go on to join the elite services..

Speaking as guest of honour, Jacintha Lazarus, IAS, Deputy Commissioner of Senapati impressed upon that when women come together, a lot of changes can happen. Complimenting on the theme, she said, “Any civilization we have seen, it has always gone to its highest peak when women were involved in it, when women were given their due respect.” She added, no civilization or society can sustain when women are not given their due respect.

In the meantime, she said, “it is also necessary on the part of the women to put us in such a position that the respect is earned, not given just by the mere thing that we are women.” She asserted that women are the most

Methaneilie Jütakhrie’s concert today

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REgional

The Morung Express

Saturday

20 December 2014

Pay Rs. 10 lakh to family Assam Assembly's winter of Manorama, SC tells govt session ends sine die New Delhi, December 19 (The hiNDu): The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the government to pay Rs. 10 lakh to the mother of Manipuri girl Thangjam Manorama, who was allegedly killed

by Assam Rifles personnel in 2004.

A Bench of Justices T.S. Thakur and P.C. Ghosh told the government to pay the amount within four weeks.

The Bench admitted the petition challenging a Gauhati High Court order holding as valid the appointment of a commission of inquiry to go into the circumstances leading to Manorama’s brutal death.

In November, the inquiry report was handed over to the Supreme Court revealing the “bru-

tal and merciless” torture of the girl by an Assam Rifles team.

After remaining under wraps for a decade, the report by the Judicial Inquiry Commission graphically revealed the last hours of “brutal and merciless torture” Manorama allegedly suffered at the hands of her captors before she was shot dead.

The Manorama case had led to widespread protests against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and is partly attributed to calls for review of the law, especially by the Justice J.S. Verma Committee in 2013.

The report, submitted to the State government way back in December 2004, was never made public. The apex court

had demanded it as part of a hearing on a PIL seeking probe into custodial deaths in the North-Eastern States.

“This is one of the most shocking custodial killing of a Manipuri village girl,” C. Upendra Singh, retired District and Sessions Judge, Manipur, who was Chairman of the Commission, wrote in the investigation report.

He describes how Manorama was picked up by “a strongarmed troops of 17th Assam Rifles” in the night between 10-11 July 2004 from her home in Imphal East District.

She was found dead with multiple gunshot injuries on genitals and thighs at Ngariyan Yairipok Road, hardly two km away from a police station.

guwAhATi, December 19 (PTi): The five-day long Winter Session of the Assam Legislative Assembly ended sine die today after it passed some important Amendment Bills and witnessed noisy scenes, mainly over stopping of subsidised foodgrains to tea garden workers.

The Assembly passed the Assam Protection of Interests of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) (Amendment) Bill 2014, tightening the law to safeguard interests of depositors in financial establishments like chit funds by not allowing any anticipatory bail to anyone committing an offence under this Act. The House also passed The Assam Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill 2014, The Assam Entry Tax (Second Amendment) Bill 2014, The Assam Agricultural Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2014, The Assam Tax on Luxuries (Hotels, Lodging Houses and Hospitals) (Amendment) Bill 2014 and The Assam Taxation (Liquidation of Arrear Dues) (Amendment) Bill 2014.

The session, which started from December 15, witnessed noisy scenes over the Central government's decision to stop the subsidised foodgrains to tea garden workers.

While the Ministers and ruling party MLAs charged the BJP with discrimination against the Congressruled state, oppositions like AIUDF and AGP raised concerns about the situation. Speaker Pranab Kumar Gogoi also warned the BJP MLAs of deteriorating law and order situation in tea garden areas.

"If distribution of subsidised rice is stopped and a law and order situation arises, who will be responsible? So instead of shouting here, please convey to your leadership in Delhi that if it is not resolved, bad days are coming," Gogoi had said to the BJP MLAs during the Question Hour yesterday.

The House ended its business this afternoon sine die after condemning the terrorist attack at a school in Peshawar of Pakistan.

Dimapur

3

Over 3 years, 70 pregnant women found HIV+ in Tripura

AgArTAlA, December 19 (iANS): About 70 pregnant women have tested HIV-positive in Tripura in the past three years, an official of the Tripura State AIDS Control Society (TSACS) said here Friday. "Though, 70 pregnant women have been tested HIV-positive since 2012, if they undergo prescribed treatment available at the government hospitals, the chance of getting HIV infection to their babies will be reduced to a large extent," a TSACS official told IANS. "The TSACS has been testing around 6,000 blood samples every month of the suspected HIV carriers and people living in high and semirisk zones," the official said, refusing to disclose his identity. According to the official, Tripura has 1,370 HIV-positive people, of whom 581 were AIDS patients. Of the around 70 pregnant women, who have been tested HIV-positive, 20 were tested positive in 2012, 32 in 2013 and 17 this year.

Advising pregnant women to undergo the HIV test before and after their deliveries, the official said the TSACS and the state's health department have been trying hard to ensure 100 percent institutional delivery, specially for all the expectant mothers who have been tested HIV-positive, for well-being of their kids.

Centre bringing policy for NE Assam youth's 5 Second Shot to PK Fame Beggars Description people’s safety in metros: Rijiju

'I am ready with a policy and I am going to lay down certain laws through Home Ministry next week'

ShilloNg, December 19 (PTi): The Union Home Ministry is coming up with a 'policy' to look into the safety and security of the North East people residing in metros besides introduction of NE subject in the syllabus of CBSE from next season.

"I am ready with a policy and I am going to lay down certain laws through Home Ministry next week," Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju said while addressing at Golden Jubilee celebration of Synod College in Shillong on Friday.

"We are going to give directions and advisories to all the states and certain provisions for every ministry of Centre for the well being of NE region," he said.

PM likely to inaugurate railway service to Arunachal

iTANAgAr, December 18 (PTi): Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is scheduled to visit Arunachal Pradesh for the first time in February next, is likely to inaugurate the railway service here, Chief Minister Nabam Tuki said after inspecting the Naharlagun railway station.

Tuki inspected the Naharlagun railway station on Thursday and took keen interest in the ongoing finishing works and directed to accelerate the process besides verifying the counter for issuing inner line permits and the police check gate set up within the railway station complex, an official release said today.

The Chief Minister informed that the Railway Ministry has consented to introduce Rajdhani Express to link national capital New Delhi from next year, the release said.

Tuki was accompanied by local MLA-cum-UD Parliamentary Secretary Techi Kaso, Capital deputy commissioner Mige Kamki and a group of engineers led by chief engineer (WZ) K Waghe. Tuki also inspected the proposed site for construction of international standard cricket stadium at Borum village near railway station Naharlagun.

The proposed stadium would have sitting capacity of 50,000 spectators and would be executed by the PWD. The Chief Minister while briefing the engineers, advised to ensure adequate parking place in their plan.

Tuki hoped that with the stadium coming up, there would be lot of business and industries prospects in the area and advised the departments to keep avenues open.

Informing that CBSE will have a chapter about the NE region from its next season, Rijiju said, "It is not enough that we learn only the history of mainland India but it is absolutely necessary that the mainland India should study the history of North Eastern region."

Rijiju, hailing from North East's Arunachal Pradesh state, also expressed personal concern on the increased cases of discrimination against the people from the region.

"I feel very sad. Such incidents are happening everyday," he said informing that everyday he receives messages that some NE boy is being beaten up in Chennai and some NE girl was harassed in Pune.

The minister further informed that the Centre is also going to have all kinds of recruitments drive in all central armed forces, military or any other uniform organizations with special emphasis and special care to ensure that the people of NE region are also being recruited.

AFFIDAVIT

Regd.No: 3267/2014 Date:19/12/2014

By this deed I, the undersigned Jenle Meren Pongen (New name) previously called J. Meren pongen (Old name) R/o H.No.470 Electrical Colony, Kuda Village Nagarjan, do solemnly declare that from this date I shall be known and distinguished not by my former name/surname, but assumed name/surname of Jenle Meren Pongen

"We are going to see that the information and broadcasting Ministry propagates to ensure that NE people are visible," he said.

Highlighting more on the plan of actions, he also informed that every police stations in the metropolitan cities of India will be having committees where anybody from NE region resides in the colony will be part of the committees.

"If anything happens to any of the NE persons and if police fails to take action, that police will have to face the prosecution," he said.

He said, "Why not look properly as we are very important region in this country. We are proud to be Indians, we are proud of NE region but we want to be proud with dignity and honour. It is everybody wants as a citizen of this great nation."

guwAhATi, December 19 (iNDiAN exPreSS): From a street beggar to a virtual celebrity, life has, indeed, come a full circle for Assam youth Manoj Roy - courtesy “PK”.

Manoj was chosen from eight beggars for a scene in the Aamir Khan-starrer, which was released on Friday. Aided by a stick, as he stands by the roadside to beg, Aamir comes to him dancing and steals some coins from his begging bowl. The scene lasts for about five seconds, but it was enough to shoot Manoj to fame overnight.

Born at Bedeti in northern Assam’s Sonitpur district and son of a daily-wage earner, Manoj lost his mother when he was all of four days old. He dropped out of school when he was in Class V and chose to beg to eke out a living.

Lost Notice Lost of PLI Book

Name: Kanu Barman Sainik School Punglwa, Policy No. BH 66323-CS. If found please contact: 9402988734

AckNOwLEDGEMENT The Panchayat of Ward 16 would like to acknowledge and thank the residents and members of Ward 16 for keeping up the good name of the Ward by securing the First Prize in the “Ward Cleanliness Competition 2014” for the second year running by adhering to all directives and maintaining overall cleanliness throughout the year. Your co-operation and participation in the cleanliness drive has brought us laurels in the form of the First Prize this year too. It is with great hope and expectations that the Panchayat wish and hope to receive such endeavours and enthusiasm in the coming days too. The Ward 16 Panchayat would also like to acknowledge and thank the Kohima Municipal Council for recognising the ward and its activities taken up throughout the year and for setting up such platforms and organizing competitions for upliftment of “Clean Kohima”.

NEIBO-O KIRE Chairman Ward No. 16 Panchayat Kohima: Nagaland

LIMA IMSONG Secretary Ward No. 16 Panchayat Kohima: Nagaland

“My father would often fall sick.

Not knowing what to do, I left for Delhi and started begging at Jantar Mantar, pretending I was blind. One day, two gentlemen came calling asking me if I knew acting. I said it was acting that is giving me two square meals.

They gave me `20 and a phone number before leaving. When I called up, I was asked to go to Nehru Stadium.

The next day, when I reached the stadium, I found myself in a crowd, all members of the film unit. I was taken to a place for audition where I saw seven other beggars, all blind.

I knew nothing about the film or the actors involved.

If anything, it was food, offered for free, that drew me there for six to seven days till my selection,” Manoj said. He said he could not believe his eyes when he was accommo-

dated in a five-star hotel in Delhi.

With the money that he earned by acting in the film, he went to Mumbai and stayed there for some days before visiting his native village. “Back home, I got a hero’s welcome. The promo was enough to win hearts. People now

PReseNts DiMaPUR cHRistMas BooK FaiR 8-20 DECEMBER 2014

9:00 AM-5:00 PM (Sunday Closed) coNtact:  03862-229370, 9862008081 dimapur@ombooks.org Visit FoR

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call me PK Honey Singh. I have a Facebook account and a job in a village shop. Also a girlfriend.

I will meet her for the first time on Christmas,” Manoj said with a chuckle. “I am now looking forward to acting in Assamese and Bengali movies,” he added.

LAST DATE FOR ADMISSION TO IGNOU PROGRAMMES EXTENDED The last date for submission of filled in application forms for all the programmes offered under Common Prospectus (Masters, Bachelors,Diploma & certificate Programmes) at IGNOU has been extended up to 31st December, 2014 (with late fee Rs.300/-). The Student Handbook & Prospectus can be obtained from Study Centres or from IGNOU Regional Centre, Kohima. Interested candidates may send their filled in application forms to IGNOU Regional Centre, Kohima.

4

Dimapur

public discoursE

Saturday 20 December 2014

The Morung Express

How then shall we celebrate…Christmas?

C

hristmas is the time to worship God for remembering the world and sending His beloved Son into the world to deliver us from sin and death and to build His kingdom. However, our minds have become marred and conditioned to think of shades of white-redgreen colours, new dresses, carols, eye-pleasing decorations, Christmas trees, Santa Claus, gift exchange, porky feasts, pleasantries within family and also among friends and acquaintances whenever we think of Christmas. All these have become non-negotiable in observing Christmas today.

Although, they are intended to be joyful and cultural expressions of remembering and celebrating “the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14), the issue with our generation is that the celebration has been muddied with consumerism and syncretistic empty traditions! For some, they could be even a mere narcissistic pursuit rather than to sincerely pursue and be conformed to the true meaning of Christmas!

How then shall we celebrate Christmas? How then shall we celebrate the Immanuel—God with us? These questions should lead us to enquire how the biblical community celebrated God’s presence in their midst— deliverance and blessings. Only then we will find the basis to be guided and regulated in the way we celebrate Christmas to please and glorify Jesus Christ.

For this purpose, we shall quickly explore Nehemiah.

Nehemiah served in a privileged position as the cupbearer to the Persian king, Artaxerxes (Neh. 2:1), when Israel was still under the powerful Persian in the first half of the 5th century BC. Nehemiah remembered Jerusalem and got the favour and permission of the king to rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem (Neh. 2:79). It was finally rebuilt (Neh. 6: 15; 7:1) in spite of intense opposition and mockery (Neh. 2:10; 4:1-3, 7-8). Then the whole people gathered to hear God’s word being read to them (Neh. 8:1:2) after seven years—“a time of the year of remission of debts” (Deut. 31:9-13). The people were attentive and understood the law of Moses which was read

and explained by their leaders (Neh. 8:3-9). They saw how they had fallen away from the standard of the law and mourned and wept but they were told to rejoice and celebrate for “[t]his day is holy to the LORD your God” (Neh. 8: 9-10). They were specifically told to “[g]o, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength” (Neh. 8: 10).

This was during the time of their fall festivals—the feast of Trumpets, the feast of the Day of Atonement and the feast of Booths/Tabernacle, in their seventh month (Neh. 8; Lev. 23).

These festivals were instituted

by God for them to remember how He had delivered them from Egypt, sheltered them in the wilderness and gave them victory over their enemies in order to occupy the Promised Land. So, to rejoice over the fact that the LORD had been gracious to them once again in rebuilding their city wall and also to celebrate their festival, “all the people went away to eat, to drink, to send portions

and to celebrate a great festival, because they understood the words which had been made known to them” (Neh. 8:12).

What catches our attention on this first day of celebration is the instruction to “send portions” to those who had “nothing prepared”. While the people were encouraged to indulge in fine food and drink, they were also instructed to share with others in need—particularly the Levites, alien, orphan and widows (Deut. 26: 11-13).

In order to rebuild His own people, God gave the grace to Israel to complete the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem.

This was then followed by the ministry of the Word and festive celebration. The implication is that the primary importance was the rebuilding of God’s people—God’s true and spiritual temple, rather than the material rebuilding of Jerusalem. In order to claim and build His own people, God has made the Word become flesh to deliver us from the bondage of sin and death, and to shelter and bless us with the blessings of the spiritual Promised Land—heaven. Jesus Christ was born to accomplish this

Expectation and Disappointments!

C

hristmas is just round the corner and many of us, if not all, must be gearing up with different plans on how to celebrate this Christmas. As a kid we grew up expecting gifts from our parents during this season in the form of clothes, candy, toys and other playing stuffs. We still expect things from our parents though the perspective might have changed overtime; the child in us seems to be still the same craving for different things from people around us.

The recent visit of Prime Minister Narandra Modi to Nagaland was humorously compared to that Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, highly applauded with great expectation.

Many of the Nagas expected him to bring some good news to the on-going peace process, but nothing of that sort happened and many of the passionate Nagas were left disappointed. On the other hand the spirit and attitudes of the Nagas were badly criticized by different people wading through the media wrap-ups, stating that Nagas should learn to be more pragmatic and self-respecting nation, and not go gaga over high profile visitors. It should have been treated as just another head of state passing through, and not as that of a Santa Claus on his sledge who would shower gifts. Many a times we tend to wait on certain powerful people to do good things for us and get disappointed, like the Nagas who have been disappointed recently, at times we also wait upon certain thing with wrong motives and when things does not happen in the way we want, we tend to complain. In the similar vein even in our Christian life, a similar fate can be upon us if we wait and expect apart from the Lord.

Today, if we look around, the perspective of Christmas celebration wears completely a different look, the concept of first Christmas is slowly turning out to be a distant memory.

The festival which supposed to be celebrating the birth of Christ, the gift of love and the plan of redemption seem to have little relevance, as the pendulum of celebration drastically swing towards festivity rather than dwelling on the meaning and purpose of celebration. The commercial in-

dustry is partly to be blame for making Christmas a massive event of shopping, coercing people to embrace the deviated meaning of Christmas to meet their ends, advertising their product in such a way that Christmas would be incomplete without owning their products. For instance, the concept of Christmas tree, Christmas stars, Santa Claus etc. have taken the centre stage of the celebration, making us believed that Christmas is incomplete without these stuffs, and somehow we have become a victim of this project.

Christmas wasn’t about digging so deep into our bank accounts or savings. But Christmas is turning out to be a burden formany,ascompeltomeetcertainexpectationsaround,and in turn many would be left with huge debts. And the saddest part is that, even after several months of celebration, many would be still trying to shovel out ways and means to repay the debts that they have borrowed for Christmas celebration.

Many a times we think a well celebrated Christmas is all about having new clothes, lots of meat, well organised gatherings wherein, we get all sort of entertainments. Well, I am not completely against the idea of material celebration but focusing too much on feasting and other materialistic entertainment would certainly kill the purpose of celebration. And I think it’s important on our part to lend a serious thought on the evolving trend of Christmas celebration!

We also have a tendency of always expecting on others to do good things for us and not willing to act on our part. But as we all wait to celebrate this Christmas, I feel our perspective towards celebrating Christmas should change from childlike attitudes, always expecting and waiting on God to bring gifts, but learn to imitate God in giving gifts to others, as He has gifted us with the gift of hope and love. So, this Christmas as we prepare to celebrate let’s make sure that we prepare in the right spirit and wait on the Lord who will never disappoint us, like the things of the world has disappointed. Wishing you all a blessed Christmas!

Wungnaongam Pou

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LEISURE

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

SUDOKU Game Number # 3089

mission of building up God’s people—spiritual temple, and when he was on this mission he was intensely opposed and mocked. Today, the church— which is God’s people and spiritual temple, is on the mission of accomplishing what Jesus Christ has begun. No doubt, the church is intensely opposed and mocked even in our times!

Therefore, while celebrating this great and holy day of our God, the birth of Jesus Christ, the Bible tells us that the rebuilding of God’s people is the primary importance rather than any outward social and cultural accomplishments. It is also awesome that God would even tell His people “how” to celebrate His abiding presence in and through His word and acts—of deliverance and blessings to rebuild His people. Today, as we enter into another Christmas season to celebrate the day when ‘the Word became flesh and dwelt among us in order to deliver and to bless’, let us not forget to “send portions” to those who are in need!

As we celebrate with family, friends, acquaintances and the church, may we be enlightened

M

by the Word to remember and share generous portions to the Levites, aliens, orphans and widows in our churches and neighborhood! The portions you share may be in terms of sincere and godly words of affirmation and encouragement, meaningful and helpful gifts, quality time, loving hugs or pat and significant services to rebuild their lives.

Loud noises, busyness and glittering things are often distracting and deceptive! Be careful not to be distracted and deceived by them this Christmas! Instead, meditate on the true meaning of “the Word became flesh” to deliver and to rebuild God’s people. Find God’s heart and remember the weak and forgotten people in your world and share your blessings to rebuild their lives! Find God’s heart in the lives of those whom we have overlooked due to the loud noises of crackers and carols, busyness of Christmas trees, Santa Claus, gift exchange, get-together of loved ones and glittering decorations!

Find God’s heart in the lives of those who minister God’s word to us, strangers, orphans, wid-

ows, sick, aged ones and those who are often overlooked and ignored!

How then shall we celebrate …Christmas? How then shall we celebrate the Immanuel— God with us? Remember how God has delivered and blessed you! Remember how God has graciously and generously rebuilt your life and then as you celebrate, remember to “send portions to him who has nothing prepared [the Levites, aliens, orphans and widows]; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” Jesus said, “freely you have received, freely give” (Matt. 10:8). All those who have understood the words made known today will go and celebrate this Christmas by “sending portions” (Neh. 8:12).

May the joy of the Lord give you the grace to “send portions” to deliver and bless lives! May the joy of the Lord in your life be their joy and strength too as you “send portions” generously and joyfully in rebuilding lives this Christmas!

Peter T. Kent Tseminyu

Signs of Judgment

ultitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Daniel 12:2 It is not pleasurable to see sinners die in their sleep; neither do we desire our loved ones to experience what they dread. In this life we have choices to take, decisions to make and vows to fulfill. This demands total attention to what is now being read and it is expected of us to take the next plunge of faith into the mysteries of the Word. It is with certainty I declare that every step we take here in this life will have eternal consequences. In these last days the sins of the sinners have increased so much but grace has increased more. What we see now is, we see sinners enjoying the evil pleasures of sin, indulging in sex, parties, dances, adulteries and the likes. But the point is how long can they continue in their sins: A time will come when they will have to die, when they will have to be buried and after death comes judgment (Hebrews 9:27). The word is crystal about the destruction of the wicked; In view of this God commands everyone to be holy; without which no one will ever see God. The sinners of Noah and Lot’s time had to pay the price for their sins and it will be a tragedy if anyone is to be destroyed like them (Romans 6:23). This calls for total repentance, confessions and

brokenness in the body of Christ and we urge everyone who has read this to seriously see it. I trust you will understand me in this; the sinners lost in their sins only comes to their senses when death or destruction strikes their families or their loved one’s. The truth has to be preached and it may certainly cause some hurts and pains but in the end it will prove to be a ray of light.

The word speaks of God as love but it also depicts him as a consuming fire (1 John 4:16). Every word which comes from the mouth of God are to be accepted in fear and trembling. It has a power to either save r condemn; it has the authority to either bless or curse. It is always God’s desire to see the best of us and if we truly desire to love God, we must love God in truth and spirit. Since we represent His bride, His passions and His desires, the acts of our ways must justify our love for Christ. The time of physical separation will surely come but if we are ready, we are. In view of this it is important for us to be equipped to face the future. In this life, chances and opportunities are given to us that we may invest in our relationship with Christ. Trust this: It is for an eternal cause that we are in a relationship with Christ and it will be to our joy and gain to love God passionately in the truth. Hell is only for satan and the sinners and since we represent God’s

DAILY CROSS WORD

CROSSWORD # 3097

Answer Number # 3088

body, the acts of our ways must depict holiness. This is God’s command and whoever heeds it will have more reasons to rejoice in the next life.

Even if we are to die before the second coming of Christ we will have no fear of death if God’s love is in us. The sealed ones are sealed and the ones who are not will have more reasons to repent for their sins and unbelief.

It was for the cause of holiness that Christ died to make saints of sinners and it will be to our gain to meditate on Christ, sacrifice and to live for holiness. Somehow this is causing you to think of what you think and I trust the next step you take will affect your stance and positions in the next life. It is with righteous conviction I declare that everyone who comes to Christ in repentance will never be turned away (John 6:37). The signs of judgment depicted will have eternal consequences and it is in this interest of the Church of God for every one to embrace the powers which leads to eternal life. God calls upon everyone on the face of the earth to desire His face, His passions and His holiness. This is what the message is and we trust you will not disappoint God with your next move - God is the judge.

Ambrose.J.Chakre Founder President Ambrose Foundation in Christ Ministries Kohima Nagaland

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ACROSS 1. Region 5. Expert 10. Border 14. Wild hog 15. Betel palm 16. Not mine 17. Hostility 19. L L L L 20. Prompt 21. Coral island 22. Napped 23. Protein in hair and nails 25. Cowboy movie 27. Record (abbrev.)

28. Kindling 31. Not our 34. Strike 35. Pair 36. Not tame 37. Thicket 38. Focusing glass 39. Big fuss 40. Hotel employee 41. Pantywaist 42. Guard 44. In song, the loneliest number 45. Automaton 46. Patron 50. Hold responsible

52. Fertilizer ingredient 54. 56 in Roman numerals 55. Greek letter 56. Lacking moral discipline 58. A song for 2 59. A form of oxygen 60. Handout 61. Cocoyam 62. Adult male singing voice 63. Mimics

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30. Prying 31. It was (contraction) 32. Conceal 33. Stetched 34. Observe 37. Walking stick 38. Mortgage 40. Wicked 41. Sound of contempt 43. Chief ingredient in ketchup 44. The first event in a series 46. Shorthand 47. A single-masted ship 48. Small egg 49. Ascends 50. Remain 51. Blaring 53. Computer symbol 56. A parcel of land 57. Actress Lupino Ans to CrossWord 3096

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2226241

Police Station 2 :

2226214

Civil Hospital: Woodland Nursing Home:

2226216 2226263

Hotel Metsüpen (Tourist Lodge):

2226373/2229343

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

CURRENCY EXCHANGE CURRENCY NOTES US Dollars Sterling Pound Hong Kong Dollar Australian Dollar Singapore Dollar Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen

222246 222491

BUY(Rs)

SELL(Rs)

62.55 98.07 8.05 51.36 47.55 53.92 52.69

62.99 99.18 8.14 52.10 48.12 54.57 53.33

Euro

77.62

78.48

Danish Krone

10.42

10.56

Norwegian Krone New Zealand Dollar Swedish Krona

8.43

8.52

48.20

48.94

8.25

8.34

LOCAL

The Morung Express

Saturday 20 December 2014

Dimapur

5

Support for Pil demanding Municipal Directorate Land verification at New Chümukedima Dimapur, December 19 (mexN): A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in August 2014 demanding implementations of Nagaland Municipal Act 2001 has found support from the Youth Association of Nagaland (YAN).

A press release from YAN President, Hetoi Chishi, and Spokesperson, Alise Sangtam, stated that the creation of separate Municipal Directorate in Nagaland is a long pending matter, which

would pave the way to safety measures for the younger generation. “The role of civic bodies i.e. Municipal Councils and Town Councils shall become more effective and vibrant in terms of various developmental activities, civic amenities, health environment and many others,” the release stated.

It informed that YAN had come to learn that a PIL has been filed before the High Court on August 4, 2014 by one Nuksungti-

la (Advocate) who is also well associated with various social organizations in the state, wherein the need for improvement on roads condition, proper drainage system, sufficient drinking water, hygienic garbage dumping system etc. are some serious concern for effective implementations of Nagaland Municipal Act 2001.

It may be noted that the Ministry of Urban Development, GOI, New Delhi has

on 23/11/2012 directed all chief secretaries of states and union territories to take immediate action for creation of municipal cadres in all the states and UTs. It stated that the 2011 census shows the state’s urban population as 7,07,523 out of the total 19,80,602, and also cited a local daily as having reported that the state is amongst the top five states in India exceeding the national average in urbanization by 10.70%. “Taking

all these into consideration, the YAN strongly feel that separation of municipal department will definitely make much difference in terms of developmental activities and for the improvement of implementing various schemes and projects meant for the welfare and benefit of urban populace especially the urban poor, which are also mandated by 12th schedule of the constitution of India,” YAN’s release stated.

Dimapur, December 19 (mexN): Land allottees at New Chümukedima ‘B’ are informed that verification of land allottees headed by the Sub-Committee is under process.

A press release from Sub-Committee Convener, Theja Angami, and Secretary, Keneiselie Zatsu, requested all share holders to contact the sub-committee at the earliest with necessary documents so as to authenticate their allotted

land/area and avoid misunderstanding or disputes.

All undeveloped area/land stands cancel as stated earlier, the release from the Sub-Committee stated.

Any individual or group who require clarification may get in touch with the Sub- Committee, it added.

It also notified land allottees or individuals selling any land under the area to obtain “No Objection” from the concern Land Owners.

“Or else, sellers or buyers

Chumu Night Bazaar Day-2 SBI TLC for customer convenience Morung Express News Dimapur | December 19

Dimapur, December 19 (mexN): The four-day Chumu Night Bazar which commenced on Thursday at the Chumukedima Local Ground amid much fan-fare and gaiety entered its second day. Jacob Zhimomi, Parliamentary Secretary Law and Justice, was the Chief Patron on Friday.

In his speech, Zhimomi, who is also the local MLA, expressed excitement to be in the midst of his own people of Chumukedima, the only notified Town of his constituency. He also ex-

pressed encouragement to see the local populace and the Chumukedima administration under EAC Thungbemo Patton working together towards the development of Chumukedima by giving privilege to local entrepreneurs to enhance the economy and at the same time, giving the people of Chumukedima a reason to make this year’s Christmas a special one. Further extending Christmas and New Year wishes, Zhimomi gave his commitment to work for the people of Chumukedima.

‘Tech Learning Centre’ (TLC) – part of a country-wide initiative to create awareness on the various e-banking services provided by the State Bank of India to its customers - was launched in Dimapur on December 18. Online banking services are provided for the convenience of customers to make basic business transactions easier and less time-consuming.

By utilising the available online services customers can avoid long queues and make transactions from the comfort of home or anywhere, provided there is internet connectivity. Further, customers can utilise self-service kiosks set up by the bank to deposit and transfer cash, update pass books and even exchange high denomination note with small change.

These services, dubbed as ‘alternate channels’ by the bank, are still not utilised by many customers prompting the SBI to launch the TLC programme for enhancing cus-

tomer awareness on its usage.

“It was felt that many customers still visit branches for their routine transactions because they feel electronic channels are complex and risky,” said Binod Kumar Srivastava, Regional Manager, SBI, Regional Business Office (RBO), Dimapur during the launch today at SBI RBO, Naga Shopping Arcade.

“Maybe it is our shortcoming that we have not been able to make customers more aware.”

Stating that online portals provided by the bank are secure, Srivastava appealed customers to utilise the services without apprehension.

Customers can visit the TLC, located within the RBO, Dimapur premises, the third Friday of every month between 3:00 to 5:00 pm for informative sessions on the advantages of the ‘alternate channels’ and how to make use of the services. In addition to making cash transfers, a customer can clear bills, make mobile and TV recharges through e-banking, either using a phone or a personal computer.

TBC platinum jubilee Parliamentary Secretary for Planning & Coordination and Monitoring Cell Neiba Kronu and lady wife with DGP band during a dinner hosted by them on account of Christmas on December 18. (Morung Photo)

Konyak Baptist Bumeinok Dimapur celebrated advance Christmas on December 7 at the church premises. Menlei, Advisor to Konyak Nyupuh Sheko khong Dimapur (KNSK) unit spoke on ‘what Christmas means to us.’ Performances from Moba Inggang band, Golden Crown Center choir, Lily & friends marked the celebration.

Public SPace Four Varnas oF BJP: one Book, one religion, one Language and one Culture Dr. John Mohan Razu, Professor Of Social Ethics, CTC, Mokokchung

U

nion Ministers and senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seem to be thriving by making indiscreet statements that hurts communities belonging to other faiths and others who believe in the secular fabric of India. It has become a regular feature and a pattern for the BJP and its outfits such as RSS, VHP and Bajrangdal that makes all sorts of polemical utterances that creates controversies related to religion and secular credential of our country. For instance, Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj proposed that the Bhagavad Gita be declared ‘national scripture’. By proposing Bhagavad Gita she did not enter into a discourse or debate about what should be the ‘national scripture’, instead prepared the stage for a communally polarised religio-political debate on a Hindu religious scripture. This is indeed a well-thought of and carefully devised strategy of the BJP. It all started with the PM Modi who gifted a copy of Gita to a foreign counter-part during his recent visit and said that ‘by now the secularists would be involved in making hue and cry’. To his surprise nothing happened. However, in order to keep the issue alive the external affairs minister followed it up. The BJP government at the Centre is regularly getting into trouble and has shown no semblance of being productive. The atrocious statement made by four-time MP glorifying Nathuram Godse, Gandhi’s assassin. The MP, a sadhu who has decided to become a leader, made the assassin famous, nationalist and a patriot for shooting an unarmed old man, a staunch believer of non-violence—venerated as Mahatma—called--as the Father of the Nation. The entire country knows that this is the view of the Sangh which would create ripples and bring a stop to the proceeding of the parliament.

However, the other issue that surfaced recently is religious conversion. This is one of the major issues that have been irking BJP and Sangh Parivar for a long time since it concerns Hindus who gets converted to Islam or Christianity.

So, conversion from Hindu fold to others troubled and disturbed the ultra-fundamentalists. Despite the fact that the numbers of such conversions today are very low in numbers, but certainly a worrisome factor for BJP’s and RSS’s ideology, vision and future. Keeping these

intact and striving hard to revert the process, some days ago Muslims who were being supposedly converted in Agra, the former Mughal capital. The BBC reported that “some 250 people had attended a havan (a basic ceremony). Most residents of the slum are poor, ragpickers ... said that they had been promised ration cards (BPL) and other basic amenities by a local Hindu activist if they attended the event”.

For the ultra-rightists the whole act means a re-conversion to Hinduism, which they call “home coming. For the poor receiving money for the purpose imply: “Money isn’t God, but by God. So it’s no less than God”. So, those who live in abject poverty and acute economic deprivation, money indeed are not less than God. Accordingly, the Dharam Jagran Samiti an RSS body is seeking donations for conversion – Rs 5 lakhs to convert a Muslim and Rs 2 lakh to convert to a Christian to Hinduism. Why is the difference? Has BJP’s faith politics for sale? Its letter soliciting cash contributions claims that Christians and Muslims have become a “problem” for the country and says, “Bandhuwar (Friends) lots of money will be required in the ‘ghar vapsi’ because the work of conversion is increasing – more workers and more people need to be covered.”

It goes against the criticism of RSS and BJP of those Christian agencies and Muslim organisations that were/are involved in inciting and luring communities/individuals with cash or in kind. RSS is replicating the same strategy some of the Christian agencies and missions from abroad followed. The activities of the RSS in tribal areas have been funded by a US-based agency known as International Development Relief Fund (IDRF).

According to the Campaign to Stop Funding Hate, based in the US, 82 per cent of all IDRF funding goes to the RSS in India and 70 per cent of the monies are used for “Hinduisation/tribal/education” work, aimed at spreading Hindutva ideology among tribals.

The main focus of the RSS is the reconversion of Christians. RSS, VHP and their outfits believe that reconversion would lead to “national integration”. This strategy paid dividends for the BJP – by increasing its influence in the tribal areas and by communally polarising the voters. Conversions activities among Muslims have been of low key and less publicised. Nonetheless RSS is deeply committed to bring them back to its fold. Re-conversion becomes mandatory for RSS and BJP

because those who embraced other religions should “confess” that their ancestors were Hindus which enables their return to the Hindu fold. RSS has allocated Rs.50 lakhs per month for conversion as well as re-conversion. In collusion with BJP, the BJP governments both at the Centre and the states abuse the government machinery by promising ration and adhar cards, and host of other incentives.

BJP is making deep inroads into different parts of the country that include West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu. Kerala, parts of North-East and the pockets where the Dalits and the Tribals are densely located. Ultra-fundamentalists outnumber the moderates within the BJP. They do have a sway and form the majority in the current BJP government at the Centre.

For example, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti who referred to all non-BJP supporters as “illigetimate”; Giriraj Singh, who asked all opponents of PM Modi to go to Pakistan and Sanjeev Baliyaan, who stands accused of communal riots in Muzaffarnagar. Only Yogi Adityanath with his allegations of “love Jihad” is yet to be accommodated. The government at the Centre allows openly some to indulge in re-conversion; others to foment communal violence; a few to rewrite history and tinkers with the education system and the rest to keep trumpeting that the government is committed to inclusive governance and development.

Ever since PM Modi government assumed office, it is embroiled in a series of controversies over allegation of ‘saffronishing’ history, education system and language. Education has always been the RSS’ prime target to “saffronise” right from M.M. Joshi as HRD minister who asked the UGC to fund courses in Vedic astrology. Towards this end, it is Sanskrit which is yet again being used as the “primary weapon”.

The latest controversy to have hit the government is the recent order by Union Human Resources ministry to replace teaching of German with Sankrit in Kendriya Vidyalayas across the country. The move has indeed back-fired. BJP and RSS are firmly committed to the Hindu culture which for them its foundation is based on Sanskrit language. The RSS and Hindu fundamentalists want to expand the Sanskrit literature from less than to 5 five per cent to majority of the population because it is foundational to their claims of Vedic belief systems. BJP and RSS want to link the ancient language with

shall do at his own risk in case of dispute,” it stated.

The release further informed that the Jesus Followers Church at New Chumukedima ‘B’ was inaugurated and dedicated on December 14 by Rev. Ketsütso in the presence of the villagers, founder and leaders from various walks of life. He exhorted the gathering on the theme “Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.”

a particular religion. The ultrafundamentalists claim Sanskrit as pure, refined or perfect. Do they mean that other languages as impure and polluted?

In a world of rationality and logicality their claims posit irrationality and regressive thought-process.

In conjunction to this, the HRD ministry of the BJP government has declared that the birthdays of former PM AB Vajpayee and Hindu Mahasabha leader Madan Mohan Malviya be observed as ‘good observance day’ on December 25, which is the important festival for the Christians and others as well.

Would the government dare to declare holiday on Dewali for schools or name the day as Inter-faith Day? To aggravate further more especially the Christians and the Muslims, the conversion ceremony of the Muslims and the Christians are to be held on the day of Christmas that too in the presence of the hard core MP BJP Yogi Adithyanath.

The PM Modi has not addressed to these hate-speeches nor deterred nor stopped nor condemned these nefarious forces. PM Modi has been moulded by RSS ideology and thus started his political carrier as a staunch RSS cadre and so he uses other hard core leaders and MPs as his mouth piece. The real mask of BJP PM Modi is Hinduization of the Indian society and for that he needs the support of Sangh parivars.

Increasingly we keep hearing the voices of hatred and divisiveness that go all out to separate and divide communities. By words and deeds the Hindutva brigades spewing out ugly message to all those who do not conform to Hindutva’ vision and idea of India. The BJP and RSS believe in cultural nationalism and so their stooges go all out against “love jihad”. In the name of “Indian culture” India portrays a mosaic of diverse cultures. India has always been a melting point of diverse cultures represented and characterized by diverse attires, cuisines, architectures, metaphysical and philosophical thinking, traditions, usages and cultural ethos. Now BJP and Hindutva outfits talk about one culture. Take for instance PM Modi and so-called the promoters of “Indian culture”: the way they and their children dress, the schools and colleges they studied and their children study, the way they think and the food they eat shows exactly the opposites.

Over a period of time Islamic and Christian cultures have spread through the breath and length of India, touching all sections of so-

ciety and permeated into various spheres of our life. Who are these ultra-rightists to dictate and classify some as Indian culture and others as alien? How can BJP, RSS and other cultural fanatics treat a cultural system—the livelihood of a nation—as anti-national? Debate and discourses should precisely be on this and not on who is a majority and who is a minority? The optimist in me continues to simmer with hope, resolve and resilience.

As the tract record of the BJP government and its rampant fringe groups manifest total disrespect and callousness for an inclusive Indian society. The scenario that we witness is one of arrogance and intolerance of the ruling party at the centre.

BJP came to power on the plank and promise of “development”. Did the PM Modi mean “one language”, “one culture”, “one religion” and “one book” as development? Now the nation should know that BJP’s notion of development is not what Modi promised at the time of elections. BJP’s conception of development has four varnas: One Book, One Religion, One Language and One Culture. All these varnas constitute BJP-RSS vision of a Hindu Rashtra. Hindu Rashtra is indeed diametrically antithetical to secular and plural fabric of India. For the majority of the Indians the Indian Constitution is the soul of India. Indian Constitution is the book on which the secular fabric, our ethos, ethics, culture, religion, language and host of others stand.

Let us not speak about enacting anti-conversion laws which BJP and RSS are keen, but we should invoke Article 25 that settles all the debate: “Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion.”

All of us who are concerned for peace and triumph of reason and justice must be keenly aware how small an influence of reason and honest good will exert upon events in the political field.

–Albert Einstein There is no simple religion.

There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy.

Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.

--The XIV Dalai Lama It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get.

--Confucius

Kohima, December 19 (mexN): The Thipuzii Baptist Church (TBC) under Phek district will celebrate its platinum jubilee cum dedication of new church building from December 22 to 23. Rev. Dr. Vezopa Tetseo, Executive Secretary CBCC will dedicate the new church building on December 22. The main speakers of the platinum jubilee include Rev. P. Bonny Resii, General Secretary Asia- Pacific Baptist Federation and Rev. Dr. Zelhou Keyho, Prof. of Old Testament Studies, OTS, Bade.

WHaT sHouLD BE THE QuaLITIEs/InTEGrITY/ CrITErIa To BECoME CanssEa oFFICE BEarErs? To lead some sections of Nagaland Govt. employees, the CANSSEA’s office-bearers must be men/women of integrity like truthfulness/ honesty in their dealing of Association matters as well as in their respective office system of functioning. But due to absence of such values in some of them in the past many service Associations such as Nagaland Doctors’ Association; Nagaland Civil Service Association; Nagaland Police Service Association; Nagaland Secretariat Service Association; Nagaland Engineers’ Association etc. have not been perhaps convinced to affiliate or join the CANSSEA. Even at present, the present CANSSEA team of office-bearers have already given a misleading statement that it had taken a decision on the 19th September 2014 to support the 2009 Retirement Act against the welfare of the majority Govt. employees which is a total lie. Let us see how good or efficient is the President of CANSSEA who is also a Joint Director of Urban Development Department in development and his planning? Also, the General Secretary of CANSSEA who is also an Account Officer of Horticulture Department where the then Mission Director of ATMA and now the present Minister of Agriculture, Nagaland who has been found the only MLA out of the 60 Legislators, is in support of 2009 Retirement Act as per his written document found in the P&AR’s office. The question is whether this Account Officer is to be proved innocent or in connive with the corruption impasse in which several crores of misappropriation are transacted by the said Minister as per allegation.

If the two key present office-bearers of CANSSEA, the President and the General Secretary are not able to clarify their stand of moral/personal integrity in relationship with the said Minister of Agriculture Department, Nagaland, we don’t think that they can rightly promote the welfare of the Nagaland Govt. employees, be it senior or junior ones for they have been keeping silent inspite of an RTI case filed against them by the Nagaland Govt. Senior Employees Forum (NGSEF) on the 20th Nov. 2014 with 30 days to reply which is expiring on the 20th Dec.2014 (the RTI case filed on the same day was replied by the P&AR department on the 26th Nov. 2014), either to withdraw their said misleading statement or to apologize for their mistakes failing which, they have to either resign gracefully or impeached by the CANSSEA and affiliated or non-affiliated Associations as members of the Nagaland Govt. employees or drag them to the court of the Chief Information Commissioner of Nagaland for delivery of justice to the Retirement issue.

As for the NGSEF, it has been pursuing on the Govt. to review and amend the said Act with charity of mind in its representation to save the state Excheaquer due to incurring a very heavy pension payment as well as to provide good governance with an expertised senior employees for which it will be an opportunity for the present Ministry to review and amend the said improportionate Act or Bill at the earliest if at all our Govt. doesn’t want to face more financial crunch at this stage.

Ruovihulie Angami Co-founder & Advisor & Spokesman Nagaland Govt. Senior Employees Forum (NGSEF)

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

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

6

People, life, etc... saturday | 20 december, 2014

What makes nonviolent movements explode?

Mark Engler and Paul Engler Waging Nonviolence

W

hy are some protests ignored and forgotten while others explode, dominating the news cycle for weeks and becoming touchstones in political life?

For all of those seeking to promote change, this is a critical question. And it was a particularly pressing concern after the financial meltdown of 2008.

In the years following the crash, America entered into its worst economic crisis in three quarters of a century. The unemployment rate reached into double digits, something that had not happened in the lifetimes of more than a third of all Americans.

State governments reported record demand for food stamps. And yet, debate in Washington, D.C. — influenced by the activism of the insurgent Tea Party — revolved around cutting the budget and trimming social programs. “We were basically having an insane national discussion,” remarked economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman.

It took an outburst of popular action to change this.

And that outburst came in an unexpected form.

By the fall of 2011, three years after the economic downturn had begun, political observers such as Krugman had long wondered when worsening conditions would result in public demonstrations against joblessness and foreclosures. Labor unions and major nonprofit organizations had attempted to build mass movement energy around these very issues. In the fall of 2010, the “One Nation Working Together” march — initiated primarily by the AFL-CIO and the NAACP — drew more than 175,000 people to Washington, D.C., with demands to combat runaway inequality. The next year, long-time organizer and charismatic former White House staffer Van Jones launched Rebuild the Dream, a major drive to form a progressive alternative to the Tea Party.

According to the rules of conventional organizing, these efforts did everything right. They rallied significant resources, they drew on the strength of organizations with robust membership bases, they came up with sophisticated policy demands, and they forged impressive coalitions. And yet, they made little headway. Even their largest mobilizations attracted only modest press attention and quickly faded from popular political memory.

What worked was something different. “A group of people started camping out in Zuccotti Park,” Krugman explained just weeks after Occupy burst into the national consciousness, “and all of a sudden the conversation has changed significantly towards being about the right things.”

“It’s kind of a miracle,” he added.

For those who study the use of strategic nonviolent conflict, the abrupt rise of Occupy Wall Street was certainly impressive, but its emergence was not a product of miraculous, otherworldly intervention. Instead, it was an example of two powerful forces working in tandem: namely, disruption and sacrifice.

The haphazard assembly of activists who came together under the Occupy banner did not follow the time-honored rules of community organizing. But they were willing to risk actions that were highly disruptive, and they put on display a high level of sacrifice among participants. Each of these contributed momentum to their escalating drive, allowing a loose and underfunded collection of protesters to alter the terms of national debate in ways that those with far greater organizational might had been unable to manage.

Time and again, in uprisings that steal the spotlight and shine light on injustices that are otherwise ignored, we see these two elements — disruption and sacrifice — combining in forceful ways. Examining their strange alchemy yields many intriguing lessons.

The power of disruption The amount of momentum that a movement generates can consistently be linked to the level of disruption its actions cause. The more that a protest directly affects members of the public, and the more it interferes with an adversary’s ability to do business, the more likely it is to draw widespread attention. Snarling traffic, interrupting a public event, shutting down a convention, stopping a construction project, making a scene at the mall, or impeding operations at a factory — all of these reflect varying degrees of disruption.

San Francisco housing organizer Randy Shaw quotes former Washington Post reporter and Berkeley journalism dean Ben Bagdikian, who explains that, in the corporate-driven media, the disenfranchised and their social movements are seldom able to break into the mainstream news cycle at all, and even more rarely on favorable terms. “[S]ince World War I hardly a mainstream American news medium has failed to grant its most favored treatment to corporate life,” Bagdikian writes. Meanwhile, “large classes of people are ignored in the news, are reported as exotic fads, or appear only at their worst — minorities, blue-collar workers, the lower middle class, the poor. They become publicized mainly when they are in spectacular accidents, go on strike, or are arrested.”

As the mention of strikes and arrests suggests, moments of unusual unrest provide opportunities for those without money or influence to break through attitudes of indifference — and to highlight social and political injustices. “Our power is in our ability to make things unworkable,” argued prominent civil rights organizer Bayard Rustin. “The only weapon we have is our bodies, and we need to tuck them in places, so wheels don’t turn.”

A variety of scholars have echoed Rustin’s insight and elaborated on the dynamics of disruption.

For Frances Fox Piven, the eminent sociologist and social movement theorist, “protest movements are significant because they mobilize disruptive power.” Piven has specifically been interested in the type of disruption that occurs when people are willing to “break the rules” of social decorum and step out of conventional roles. In their classic 1977 volume, “Poor People’s Movements,” Piven and co-author Richard Cloward explain, “Factories are shut down when workers walk out or sit down; welfare bureaucracies are thrown into chaos when crowds demand relief; landlords may be bankrupted when tenants refuse to pay rent. In each of these cases, people cease to conform to accustomed institutional roles; they withhold their accustomed cooperation, and by doing so, cause institutional disruptions.”

Piven has forcefully argued that such unrest is the engine of social change. In her 2006 book, “Challenging Authority,” she contends that the “great moments of equalizing reform in American political history” have been responses to periods when disruptive power was most widely deployed.

Gene Sharp, the godfather of the field devoted to studying “civil resistance,” has emphasized similar aspects of noncompliance and disruption. When he devised his now-famous list of “198 methods of nonviolent action,” Sharp divided the tactics into three categories.

The first encompasses methods of “protest and persuasion,” including public assemblies, processions, displays of banners and formal statements by organizations. These make up the bulk of routine protest actions in the United States, and they tend to involve minimal disruption.

Sharp’s other two categories, however, involve increasingly confrontational measures.

His second grouping, “methods of noncooperation,” encompasses economic boycotts, student walkouts and workplace strikes. Meanwhile, his third category, “nonviolent intervention,” includes sit-ins, land seizures and civil disobedience.

This last category involves not only a refusal to participate in political or economic structures, but also intent to actively interrupt normal daily activity. Such interventions, Sharp writes, pose a “direct and immediate challenge.” A lunch counter sit-in, after all, is more urgently troublesome for a storeowner than a more removed consumer boycott. And, Sharp contends, since “the disruptive effects of the intervention are harder to withstand for a considerable period of time,” these actions can produce results more swiftly and dramatically than other approaches to nonviolent conflict.

Occupy everywhere The scenario for confrontation offered by Occupy Wall Street fell into Sharp’s third category, and owing to this, it possessed a different tenor than the marches and rallies that had come before. Because the “One Nation Working Together” march had taken place on a weekend, and because it was viewed as a standardissue march in Washington, D.C. — one of several major rallies that took place within just a few months in the nation’s capital — it could be easily overlooked, even through it brought out more than 175,000 people.

In the long run, the breadth of participation in a protest movement matters; but in the short term, a sense of drama and momentum can trump numbers.

Occupy Wall Street involved a much smaller number of people, particularly at its beginning. Yet it set out to generate a much greater level of disruption. Activists intended to go to the investment banks in the heart of Manhattan’s financial district and erect an encampment on their doorstep, impeding the daily business of those most responsible for the economic crisis.

Although the police ultimately pushed protesters into a location several blocks from Wall Street itself, the occupation at Zuccotti Park effectively posed a dilemma for those in power. They could allow activists to hold the space indefinitely, permitting a staging ground for continual protests against the area’s financial institutions. Or police could act on behalf of the country’s wealthiest 1 percent and shut down dissent, a move that would perfectly illustrate the protesters’ claims about what American democracy had become.

It was a no-win situation for the state.

While authorities pondered these unattractive options, the question of “how long will the occupation hold?” fostered a growing sense of dramatic tension for the public.

The tactic of occupation had other advantages as well. One was that it could be replicated. Somewhat jokingly, a few weeks in to the mobilization, organizers unveiled the slogan “Occupy Everywhere!” Much to their surprise, it actually happened: the disruptive impact of Occupy grew as encampments sprung up in cities throughout the country. They even sprouted internationally, as with Occupy London, which set up shop directly outside of the London Stock Exchange.

As Occupy progressed, protesters staged sit-ins at banks and marches that blocked streets and bridges.

By the end of the year, Occupy-related actions had resulted in an estimated 5,500 arrests in dozens of cities, big and small — from Fresno, Calif., to Mobile, Ala., from Boston to Anchorage, Alaska, from Colorado Springs to Honolulu.

Such actions propelled Occupy forward. However, like all exercises in disruption, they also posed risks.

While tactics that interrupt business as usual are the most likely to draw attention, this attention is not necessarily positive. Because these actions inconvenience people and create disorder, they risk inviting a negative response — backlash that can reinforce status quo injustices. Therefore, the use of disruption places activists in a precarious position. In crafting scenarios for political conflict, they must carefully cultivate sympathy, working to ensure that observers recognize the legitimacy of their cause. Strategic judgment is needed to maximize the disruption’s transformative potential, while at the same time minimizing backlash from the public.

The use of sacrifice It is precisely for this reason that disruption pairs well with a second key factor that works as kindling for mass uprisings: personal sacrifice. Movements are primed to flare up when participants demonstrate the seriousness of their commitment. One main way of doing this is through showing a willingness to endure hardship and inconvenience, to face arrest, or even to risk physical harm in dramatizing an injustice.

The ways in which strategies of nonviolent escalation make use of personal sacrifice are often counterintuitive and commonly misunderstood.

Unlike some forms of moral pacifism, strategic nonviolence does not seek to avoid conflict. On the contrary, it uses methods of unarmed protest to produce highly visible confrontations. Going back to Gandhi’s experiments in mass mobilization, commentators have noted that such nonviolence has little to do with passivity; in fact, it can more accurately be considered as a form of asymmetric warfare.

In “War Without Violence,” an early study of Gandhian strategies published in 1939, Krishnalal Shridharani notes that both war and satyagraha — Gandhi’s approach to nonviolent resistance — recognize suffering as a core source of power. In the case of war, this notion is straightforward: “By inflicting suffering on the enemy, the warriors seek to break the former’s will, to make him surrender, to annihilate him, to destroy him, and with him all opposition,” Shridharani writes. “Suffering thus becomes a source of social power which compels and coerces.”

The main twist with nonviolent action, of course, is that participants do not seek to impose physical suffering, but are willing to face it themselves. “Gandhi’s whole theory is based on the concept of suffering as a source of … social force,” Shridharani explains. “In Satyagraha, it is by inviting suffering from the opponent and

24, a hot day that marked the one-week anniversary of the occupation. On that occasion, protesters hiked two-and-a-half miles to Union Square, then turned around to return to Zuccotti. But before they made it back, the NYPD penned in groups of marchers and started to make arrests. In total, 80 people were taken into custody.

The arrests themselves were significant, but the most consequential product of the day’s activity would be a video of a police officer later identified as Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna. The video showed two women who had been penned in to orange police netting standing and talking calmly.

Unprovoked, Bologna walks up to them, pulls out a can of pepper spray, and lifts it towards their faces.

Then he sprays them at virtually point-blank range.

Grainy cell phone footage captured the scene of the women dropping to their knees in pain, crying out in agony, and cupping their eyes.

Video of the malicious attack went viral, accumulating over a million views within four days. It became the incident that put Occupy Wall Street on the map nationally, spurring a new flood of articles about the mobilization. Rather than deterring participants wary of facing violence, as one might expect, the video fueled public outrage. It motivated new occupiers to join the assembly in Zuccotti, and it prompted many who lived further away to start encampments in their own cities.

A second important development occurred exactly a week later, at a larger march marking two weeks of occupation. For this procession, protesters made their way toward the Brooklyn Bridge. As they approached, the NYPD directed marchers onto the bridge’s main roadway. There, they promptly surrounded the assembly and methodically arrested some 700 people, binding their wrists with plastic zip-tie cuffs. Several activists on the pedestrian walkway above live-streamed video of the arrests, making the event an Internet sensation even as it was still taking place.

The roundup involved the most arrests by far for Occupy to that date — and represented one of the largest mass arrests in the New York City’s history. Yet, like the previous week’s video, footage of the police action on the Brooklyn Bridge did not dampen dissent. Instead, it conveyed a sense of escalating momentum and attracted fresh participants. Just a few days later, on October 5, Occupy held its largest march yet, bringing out 15,000 people, including delegations from the city’s most prominent labor unions.

The idea that repression can actually help a movement, rather than hurt it, is a notion that stands a conventional understanding of power on its head. And yet, the ability of nonviolent demonstrators to benefit from the zealousness of authorities is a well-studied occurrence within the field of civil resistance. This phenomenon is commonly described as “political jiu-jitsu.”

Dictatorial security states and heavily armed police forces are well prepared to deal with violent outbursts, which conveniently serve to justify heavyhanded repression and legitimate a trend toward militarization. The corporate media is all too willing to play along, with local news stations fixating on acts they perceive as violent and valorizing attempts to restore order. What confounds and destabilizes authorities is a different type of militancy. Gene Sharp writes, “Nonviolent struggle against violent repression creates a special, asymmetrical conflict situation,” in which the use of force by those in power can rebound against them and embolden opposition.

There is a parallel here to the martial art of jiujitsu, where practitioners use the momentum of an opponent’s blow to throw him off balance. “Harsh repression against nonviolent resisters may be perceived as unreasonable, distasteful, inhuman, or harmful to… the society,” Sharp explains. Therefore, it turns the public against the attackers, provokes sympathetic onlookers to join the demonstrations, and encourages defections even within those groups that might regularly be opposed to protests.

No greater friend than its enemy As Occupy progressed, this dynamic continued to fuel the mobilization at critical moments. One highly publicized incident involved demonstrators at the University of California-Davis. On November 18, 2011, police arrived on the Davis campus in full riot gear and began to remove tents that students had erected. A group of perhaps two dozen students sat down along a walkway, linking arms, to try to stop the eviction.

Within minutes, campus police officer John Pike approached with military grade pepper spray and began dousing the students. Video showed Pike casually strolling down the line of protesters, spraying toxic fluid, while those seated on the walkway doubled over and attempted to shield their eyes. Once again, footage of the attack began circulating almost immediately. In the aftermath of the soon-notorious incident, outraged students and faculty called for the resignation of UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi. Nationally, the event helped keep Occupy in the headlines — and turned Lt. Pike into an unlikely Internet celebrity. Popular memes on Facebook and Twitter featured Photoshopped images of Pike “casually” pepper spraying everyone from the Mona Lisa, to the Beatles, to the founding fathers.

Occupy is hardly unique as a mobilization that grew stronger as a result of efforts to quash protests. While too many factors are at play in a given protest to ensure that the gains of enduring abuse will be worth the cost, there is a rich history of repression serving as a turning point for movements promoting change.

Certainly this was the case in the push for civil rights in the segregated South. As Rep. Emmanuel Sellers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, remarked in 1966, “There are times when the civil rights movement has no greater friend than its enemy. It is the enemy of civil rights who again and again produces the evidence … that we cannot afford to stand still.” Likewise, Saul Alinsky argued, “A Bull Connor with his police dogs and fire hoses down in Birmingham did more to advance civil rights than the civil rights fighters themselves.”

Alinsky gives the civil rights protesters too little credit, just as Occupy activists often receive slight acknowledgement for what they did right in propelling inequality to the fore of national discussion. The truth is that, despite the demonstrated power of sacrifice and disruption, it is rare that groups risk either in significant measure — and even rarer that the two are combined in thoughtful and creative ways. Yet if we want to predict which movements are most likely to explode in the future, we would do well to seek When repression fuels resistance out those committed to conducting new experiments The first pivotal event occurred on September with this potent and combustible mixture. not after inflicting suffering upon him that the resultant power is produced. The basic formula is the same, but its application is about-face. It almost amounts to putting the energy in reverse gear.”

Contrary to the stereotype of nonviolent adherents being starry-eyed and naïve, Gandhi was startlingly frank about the potential consequences of this form of political conflict. In his drive for Indian self-rule, he argued, “No country has ever risen without being purified through the fire of suffering.”

There is a strong spiritual component in Gandhi’s explanation of how this works. This aspect of his thinking has historically been appealing to religious-minded interpreters and sometimes off-putting to more secular-minded readers. Gandhi invokes ideas ranging from the Hindu concept of ascetic renunciation, tapasya, to the Christian emphasis on the redemptive suffering of Jesus — pointing to how forms of self-suffering have motivated religious movements for centuries, often with history-shaping consequences.

The modern tradition of civil resistance, which is interested in the strategic use of nonviolent conflict rather than the moral demands of pacifism, has adopted a different emphasis. It has drawn out the more practical side of Gandhi’s thinking. Even those not inclined toward spiritual considerations can find impressive results in the empirical record of protests in which participants have been willing to put their bodies on the line.

Nonviolent actions involving the risk of arrest, reprisal or physical trauma allow those who undertake them to display courage and resolve. When participants must ask themselves how much they are willing to sacrifice for a cause, it clarifies their values and strengthens their commitment. It can become a moment of personal transformation. Within successful social movements, organizers constantly ask members to make sacrifices — to make contributions of time, energy and resources; to risk tension with neighbors or family members who prefer to avoid controversial issues; or even to endanger their livelihood by standing up on the job or coming out as a whistle-blower. Nonviolent confrontations often involve making such sacrifices visible, creating scenarios in which those involved can publicly convey their seriousness of purpose.

Personal acts of sacrifice thus have public repercussions. They both draw attention and invite empathy: A bus boycotter willing to walk five miles to work rather than to ride on segregated public transportation; a teacher going on hunger strike against school budget cuts; an environmentalist who commits to sitting in an old-growth tree for weeks to prevent it from being cut down; or an indigenous rights advocate who chains herself to a bulldozer to prevent construction on a sacred site. Gandhi contended that these displays could effectively activate public opinion, serving to “quicken the dead conscience into life” and “make people think and act.” When bystanders see someone in front of them suffering, it is difficult for them to remain detached and uninvolved. The scene compels them to pick a side.

A common misconception about nonviolent action is that it is necessarily focused on touching the heart of the opponent and leading to a conversion. In fact, the impact of sacrifice can have little to do with changing the views of one’s adversaries — and much more to do with affecting one’s friends. When someone decides to risk their safety or to face arrest, their decision has the effect of mobilizing the communities of people closest to them. During the civil rights movement, the students who organized sit-ins at lunch counters in cities such as Nashville, Tenn., experienced this phenomenon. They soon found that their parents, their ministers, and their classmates — many of whom had previously been reluctant to speak out — were drawn in by their actions.

As the documentary “Eyes on the Prize” explains of the 1960 Nashville protests: “The local black community began to unite behind the students. Black merchants supplied food to those in jail. Homeowners put up property for bail money. Z. Alexander Looby, the city’s leading black lawyer, headed the defense.” Family members were especially galvanized. “Parents worried that arrest records could hurt their children’s future, and they feared for the safety of their children.” In response, they “turned to the power of their own pocketbook,” launching an economic boycott in support of the sit-ins.

A powerful combination Independently, sacrifice and disruption can each produce forceful results. But together, they form an unusually effective pairing. Sacrifice helps to address two of the great problems of disruptive protest: the risk of backlash and the danger of swift and severe repression.

First, by invoking an empathetic response in the public, sacrifice dampens negative reactions and allows for mobilizations to attempt more profound ruptures of business as usual. Second, sacrifice can take the crackdowns that often accompany disruptive protests and turn them into unexpected assets.

Such was the case with Occupy, where sacrifice complemented disruption in critical ways. From the start, protesters signaled an intention to endure significant hardship in order to voice an ongoing objection to Wall Street’s misdeeds. One of the first images associated with the movement, a publicity poster released in advance by the Canadian magazine Adbusters, featured a ballerina atop Wall Street’s infamous charging bull. The dancer posed serenely while police in gas masks amassed in the background. The text of below the bull read simply, “#OccupyWallStreet. September 17th. Bring tent.”

The poster’s suggestion that camping gear would be required for the mobilization — and that police reprisal would be a looming danger — immediately set the action apart from countless other demonstrations, in which participants might show up for an afternoon with a sign, chant for an hour or two in a permitted area, and then call it a day and go home. As Occupy commenced, media and participants alike were drawn to the spectacle of protesters ready to sleep on slabs of concrete in lower Manhattan’s sterile financial district in order to bring populist discontent to the doors of those who presided over the financial crisis.

Interest did not build immediately, however. As MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann noted, “After five straight days of sit-ins, marches and shouting, and some arrests, actual North American newspaper coverage of this — even by those who have thought it farce or failure — has been limited to one blurb in a free newspaper in Manhattan and a column in the Toronto Star.”

It took two further developments to break through the de facto blackout of the protest. Each would involve even greater personal suffering, and each would ignite outrage about police suppression of free speech.

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

7

Morung Youth Express

Saturday

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

20 deceMber, 2014

Critical Analysis of the Lingo-Pluralism in Nagaland: A Historical Perspective Introduction The lines in the prelude contain the substance of this small write-up. Here is an attempt to bringing into light the possible foundation of the present Naga languages; the pidgin and its lingo-communal effects on the tribes of Nagaland. This presentation will have weighty inclination towards the delineating the missing aspects of Naga languages and their implications on social and communal synthesis. This work has a historical overtone making a link to the present scenario of indecisive lingua-franca. It is not research-based presentation, but mostly a surmise based on empirical experience.

Definition of the Title Critical Analysis: This means judgmental observation and comments with more intent on pointing out problems and demerits of the structure and usage of Naga language.

Lingo-Pluralism: It means the multiplicity and variegated dialects spoken among the tribes of Nagaland.

Here, the word Lingo may not be taken as a technical jargon, but means the language of a particular group of people.

Historically, the Nagas took the same route of migration; with almost on the agreed version that they moved from Mongolia, and southward to China. Story of their sojourn in Yunnan province, their next migration through the Chindwin and Irrawaddy rivers; and further movement to the present land through Burma is gaining credibility. Some writers have recorded, with confidence, the account of the Nagas’ migration as mentioned here. The Nagas belong to the same ancestral lineage, which would safely mean the same family, their language to be so diverse and multifarious is a mystery.

Within a small family, each one speaking an entirely different lingo is strange. Migration history (story) with a substantial amount of credibility tells us that the Nagas belong to the same family. I may attempt to make little distinction between ‘same family’ and ‘one family’, sincerely welcoming differing opinion. Same family may imply broader in relation than one family; the former refers to extended lineage from the same blood relation, and the later to a closed nucleus family identified by very intimate relation by marriage. This subject may seem tricky and run into unending debate.

Yet again, the Nagas make themselves peculiar by having more languages and dialects than the number of tribes. For example, the Chakhesangs speak two completely different dialects – Chokri and Kheza. The name ‘Chakhesang is a misnomer as to the present time insomuch as the third acronym ‘sang’ has come out of the name to be known as ‘Sangtam.’ Similarly, the Aos have two principal dialects, and sill the third, though spoken by one village, has its entity. The Rengmas, though has no significant geographical area, speak two dialects – the northern and the southern difference. Another extreme case here is the Konyaks. Every Konyak village speaks its unique dialect unintelligible to its next village. Should we call it a blessing of richness of diversity, or a bane of confusing diversity? Here lies the fertile spot for debate and counter-debate.

Empirical Analysis of Diversity In our daily living as members of a family, we are confronted with the ills of sectarian tendency among the Nagas. There is that ‘them’ and ‘us’ feeling amongst us. The basic cause is not the racial difference, not the distance of the inhabitation, and not by appearance or cultural differences. The sole reason is language differ-

Dr. KN Nekha Asso. Prof.

Wangkhao Govt. College, Mon

The matter concerning the history of the diversity of Naga dialects which should be a subject of curious discussion; an intriguing complexity and sleep-stealing thought has remained elusive. An answer that never has come to anyone’s satisfaction; a knowledge that has not found serious seekers, should one day emerge an open book and dispel the mystery through a sustained search for the truth. ence amongst us. It is but natural that language difference is bound to act as an asunder; it creates distance between ‘they’ and ‘we.’ The fact of the problem is not abstract but it is true and tangible, and therefore, we are dealing with empirical problems in this paper.

For a Naga, tribal family is identified by the dialect he belongs to. The Naga communities are so compartmentalised on account of dialects groups. One can imagine if there had been only one language, the social cohesion among the Nagas would have been more robust. But given the reality of the condition with us, no amount of regret will do anything better. What we must do is accept what nature has pre-destined, and tolerate the diversity. The crux of the matter is diversity is the reality and the people should learn to live with it.

The likely origin of the language diversity The Nagas speak Tibeto-Burman language as classified by linguistics. But no deliberate attempt has been made to locate the time and circumstances where people of the same language group had taken new trajectories of language deviation. The premise of this paper points to the time and space as the reason. Along the passage of time as the people went on for further migration, punctuated with long stopovers at particular places, leaving the basic language intact, the words and meanings had undergone a massive metamorphosis.

For example, the trace of language diversion among the Sumis indicates new words formation at every point of migration. The original places of first habitations still use the old version, from which new forms have evolved. In the same manner all the Naga tribes have evolved new forms of words and intonations. What is evident now as disagreement about the dialects is that even within one tribe there are regional feelings and frictions; and such small differences make the progress of literature difficult. Few examples, the Chakhesangs are headed for two separate entities, the Konyaks have difficulties in the attempts of making the language of Wakching the common literature. But initial hurdles are being overcome by now. The Angamis are in near discord among the Central and periphery areas. Ura Academy has impacted tremendously the development of Tenyide. The Sumis have less keenness to synthesise the uneven nuances prevalent in different regions. But Sumi Tsaiko Mqo (Sumi Literature Board) has achieved something significant in its literature despite much difficulties. The Aos are trying to come to terms with multiple distinct dialects, no serious tussle though.

Out of three major dialects of the Aos -Mongsen, Chungli and Chanki, the common literature is Chungli. This common literature came to be accepted by sort of default because of the strong effect of Christianity in that language-speaking area from where the new religion spread to other areas. RengmasDialect variation in other Naga tribes are not noticeable in significant degree

Back to the context, the Nagas must have been speaking one language at one point of time when they lived together somewhere there away from the present land. The writer may strongly assume that their language must have diversified only after moving to their present tribal territories. Why saying this? Almost all words of the Nagas are same, except with a difference of a letter or at the most two. It is regretted that now the Nagas had to be identified with multifarious tribes speaking different dialects. The disadvantages of different tribal identity are mutual mistrust, nepotism, favouritism and disharmony. The root cause of the birth of numerous Naga dialects have been surmised to be the result of continuous migration, in the process evolved new words and meanings as the ancestors moved away from one another in time and space.

A small state having no common language is a poser for the intellectuals and all concerned. Communal harmony has a barrier in the absence of c common language. Was it fated that the Nagaland state had to adopt someone’s language and lost it due to lack of sense for language learning? There is the need to find out the point of time and circumstances where dialect variation took place. The illeffects of Nagamese on the Naga generations should be thought over seriously by academics, politicians, social activists and upcoming generations.

Problem of Lingua-franca It is going to be herculean task to forge a common Naga language. Which tribe’s dialect should be picked up? Suppose some tribes have advanced to a well developed literature, and bring up the proposal in the Legislative Assembly; will there be a consensus? Greater lobby may be witnessed in this attempt. To detour the bullfight among the advanced tribes someone may offer to suggest a minor and most innocuous tribe’s dialect.

Can there be a chorus of ‘AMEN’? Both the mentioned alternatives are not impossible solution.

How and from where did this so-called Nagamese come to our kitchen? Many Naga homes take pride in making this rootless pidgin rule over their children.

Where will this language take us? This paper presenter had on several occasions made vehement fight against popularisation of this language. Nagamese is not our mother language, so also English is not.

If small children and old people alike can learn and speak Nagamese by virtue of being learning animals, can they not learn English in the same manner?

Nagamese does not help in any way – academically, commercially, politically and professionally. Without restrain the writer would state that our English proficiency has been sacrificed at the altar of Nagamese.

This presenter is being audacious to postulate that Nagamese is the corrupted form of Assamese brought by those Naga tribes living contiguous to Assam. The

Your Waitress, Your Professor Brittany Bronson

O

The New York Times

n the first day of the fall semester, I left campus from an afternoon of teaching anxious college freshmen and headed to my second job, serving at a chain restaurant off Las Vegas Boulevard. The switch from my professional attire to a white dress shirt, black apron and tie reflected the separation I attempt to maintain between my two jobs. Naturally, sitting at the first table in my section was one of my new students, dining with her parents.

This scene is a cliché of the struggling teacher, and it surfaces repeatedly in pop culture — think of Walter White in “Breaking Bad,” washing the wheels of a student’s sports car after a full day teaching high school chemistry. Bumping into a student at the gym can be awkward, but exposing the reality that I, with my master’s degree, not only have another job, but must have one, risks destroying the facade of success I present to my students as one of their university mentors.

In class I emphasize the value of a degree as a means to avoid the sort of jobs that I myself go to when those hours in the classroom are over. A colleague in my department labeled these jobs (food and beverage, retail and customer service — the only legal work in abundance in Las Vegas) as “survival jobs.” He tells our students they need to learn that survival work will not grant them the economic security of white-collar careers. I never told him that I myself had such a job, that I needed our meeting to end within the next 10 minutes or I’d be late to a seven-hour shift serving drunk, needy tourists, worsening my premature back problem while getting hit on repeatedly.

The line between these two worlds is thinner here in Las Vegas than it might be elsewhere. The majority of my students this semester hold part-time survival jobs, and some of them will remain in those jobs for the rest of their working lives. About 60 percent of the college freshmen I teach will not finish their degree. They will turn 21 and then forgo a bachelor’s degree for the instant gratification of a cash-based income, whether parking cars in Vegas hotels, serving in high-end restaurants or dealing cards in the casinos.

In a city like Las Vegas, many customer-service jobs generate far more cash (with fewer work hours)

than entry-level, office-dwelling, degree-requiring jobs. It can be hard to convince my 19-year-old students that the latter is more profitable or of greater personal value. My adjunct-teaching colleagues have large course loads and, mostly, graduate-level educations, but live just above the poverty line. In contrast, my part-time work in the Vegas service industry has produced three times more income than my university teaching. (I’ve passed up the health benefits that come with full-time teaching, a luxury foreign to the majority of adjuncts at other universities, to make

time for my blue-collar work.)

Indeed, for a young academic like myself, the job market is bleak. I’m pursuing advanced degrees and a career in the academy despite the lack of employment prospects, because my first and true love is learning. However, it will take earning a doctorate — and thus several more years of work — before I can earn a sustainable income in my chosen pursuit.

Living these two supposedly different lives, I’ve started to see their similarities. Whenever I’m try-

ing to meet the needs of my more difficult guests (“Do you have any smaller forks?” “You don’t carry wheat bread? What kind of restaurant doesn’t carry wheat bread?”), I recite, along with my colleagues, the collective restaurant server mantra: “I need a real job.” The same thought gets passed among adjuncts in my department: “I need a real teaching position. I need to publish a book.”

I know this path takes time, and I’m trying to do it right. So why do I still experience a great feeling of shame when clearing a student’s dirty plate? Embarrassment is not an adequate term to describe what I felt when those parents looked at me, clearly stupefied, thinking, “This waitress teaches my child?”

It is a shame I share with many of my bluecollar colleagues, a belief that society deems our work inferior, that we have settled on or chosen these paths because we do not have the skills necessary to acquire something better. It is certainly a belief I held for the majority of my undergraduate experience.

But not all my restaurant co-workers are college dropouts, and none are failures.

Many have bachelor’s degrees; others have real estate licenses, freelancing projects or extraordinary musical and artistic abilities. Others are nontraditional students, having entered the work force before attending college and making the wise decision not to “find themselves” and come out with $40,000 in debt, at 4.6 percent interest.

Most of them are parents who have bought homes, raised children and made financial investments off their modest incomes. They are some of the kindest, hardest-working people I know, and after three years alongside them, I find it difficult to tell my students to avoid being like them.

My perhaps naïve hope is that when I tell students I’m not only an academic, but a “survival” jobholder, I’ll make a dent in the artificial, inaccurate division society places between bluecollar work and “intelligent” work. We expect our teachers to teach us, not our servers, although in the current economy, these might be the same people.

If my students can imagine the possibility that choosing to work with their hands does not automatically exclude them from being people who critically examine the world around them, I will feel I’ve done something worthwhile, not only for those who will earn their degree, but for the majority who will not.

hill tribes, not in the long past, used to emerge from the nearby villages to border Assam towns for shopping, and in the afternoon disappeared into the woods. In this prolonged contact necessitated by trade, some Nagas of few decades back picked up broken Assamese, and the contact increased in due course, thus more members became broken Assamese speakers among the Nagas. The tragedy is that this rootless language has no advantage for its users. And now this pidgin has taken its turn to uproot the Nagas’ native languages Had the Nagas been speaking the actual Assamese, that could have some practical value. Chiefly because of regrettably poor pronunciation and intonation (as most Naga tribes do in speaking others’ language) of the imported language (Assamese) it has turned into Naga-mess.

Some linguistics suggested adoption of Nagamese as the common language of the state. But there are inherent ramifications as regards the official communication, language proficiency in the face of competitions, and the relevance to the age of globalisation. With the gatecrushing, or by invitation, of Nagamese, the Naga society is now in the real mess of language disintegration.

Conversely, language has its natural bonding effect, and our ancestors used this instrument in making friendship among different tribes. They were polyglot in their own right, speaking at least understanding two or three Naga dialects. They maintained inter-tribal friendship and close relation. The inter-tribal friendship sometimes could be possible by accident. During barter society someone goes out to another village with his merchandise, lands at a stranger’s home and made fast friend with the host. From that moment the two families (of the same tribe or inter-tribal) became best and perennial friends even for children and their offspring. The point here is, after the arrival of Nagamese there is no compulsion to learn each other’s dialect and hence no sense of harmony with each other. The necessity of learning each other tribe’s language has been diluted thanks to the fast spreading of the Nagamese.

There have been counter-arguments for and against popularization of Nagamese in Nagaland. Newsrooms in All India Radio, Kohima and DD Kendra, Kohima, are, by audio and visually, presenting Nagamese news, music CD’s and Nagamese films are gaining ground. Now with the increasing town-returned school and college drop-outs in the villages, and the mono-lingual (Naga dialect) generation of the aged population being out of their presence in the villages, intrusion of this rootless language into the new generation is going to strangulate the indigenous language of the Nagas.

Shall we not view the importance of Mother Tongue from the perspective of having it as MIL to our advantage as others are doing in competitive examinations? The otherwise is either Hindi or English, in which we need proficiency. Out of such options our people brazenly choose for none, and they become inseparable from and indispensable with Nagamese.

Schools, colleges and University campuses are not expected to cling to and promote Nagamese, but go for what is useful, helpful and the best policy.

Lastly, primary language should be strengthened because it is the foundation for learning foreign language. The linguistics says that foreign language is best learnt through mother language. So, the point is clear here, if we have to forgo the chance of faring well in the native language, the only alternative is the international language. The way it is said, you know what it means.

This paper was presented during institutional-level seminar organised by the Department of History, Wangkhao Govt. College, Mon, on September 20, 2014.

Your net addiction could help when it comes to WW-III

I

Nury Vittachi | IANS

spend so much time on the internet that Amazon.com has replaced its "You May Also Like" recommendations list with a popup note saying: "Turn this off and go for a walk, you fat lazy slob."

It's hard to get us 21st century people, especially males, off our screens. Our wives sometimes try to get us to move using the trendy word "Yolo," which stands for You Only Live Once. But this doesn't work in Asia, where most people believe in reincarnation.

"Stop bugging me, I'll log off and do something in my next life."

I began to realize just how serious a web-surfer I was when I detected three signs of being a net junkie: 1) The links on every webpage on the whole internet are dark red which means you've clicked them before, 2) Your entire "best friends" list is of people you've never met, and 3) Your "bookmarks" list is longer than an actual book.

Of course, I myself am not a problem addict, although I must admit, during my brief visits to the real world I spend an inordinate length of time annoyed that real life doesn't have a "back" button. Massive design oversight there.

If you do have internet addiction, a service set up just for you is netaddictionrecovery.com . Yes, it's online. My wife thinks that camps to beat web addiction should be physical places. True, but who's going to go to them unless they have Wi-Fi? The odd thing is that sitting looking at a screen is strangely exhausting. I saw a news report recently about a flight in Wuhan, central China, which couldn't land for 30 minutes because air traffic controllers had fallen asleep at their screens. The report didn't say how they eventually managed to wake them, but I suspect the Boeing 737 "buzzed" the window of the airport control tower with the pilots hanging out of the cockpit windows shouting: "Hey! Wakey-wakey."

The same week, there was a newspaper story about a guy who hijacked a night flight in France to take him to Geneva. The French air force had to escort it because the entire Swiss air force had gone home. Switzerland has a longstanding "we're not playing" policy on wars, so they clearly haven't internalized the fact that military action is not a nine-to-five thing. World War III's going to be interesting. "Guet nacht, esteemed enemy combatants, it's five o'clock, time to go home to relax with a plate of raclette and some online extreme yodeling videos. See you tomorrow!"

My hope is that whoever organizes World Wars will delay the start of the next biggie until the whole thing can be fought in Minecraft world or Sim City. Then all those hours I've "wasted" can be put to good use.

Until then, the good news is that human society is adjusting to the existence of screen addicts. In Chongqing, China, someone has painted markings on the pavement to create a slow lane for people who walk while staring at phones. Actually, I suspect some sort of "Chongqing Association of Snatch-Thieves" has painted those lines for their own convenience.

Should one risk it? Sure. You only live once. Or twice. Or thrice.

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

Dimapur

NATIONAL

Saturday 20 December 2014

Home ministry asks schools to follow SOP in terror attack

New Delhi, December 19 (iANS): In the wake of the terrorist attack at an army-run school in Pakistan’s Peshawar city, the home ministry has asked schools in India to follow the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued in 2010 for dealing with any terrorist attack, an official said Friday.

The SOP was issued to all the schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

In the SOP the ministry had suggested various measures like mock drill, concrete boundary wall, 3 or 4 gates each manned round-the-clock, said the official.

“Telephone numbers of the Police Control Room and local police station should be...updated regularly by the school authorities. These details should be displayed at prominent places so that in case of crisis, the staff or security guards or any one in the school can contact the police,” the SOP prescribes.

“A visual anti-sabotage check of the entire school should be carried out by the security staff of the school before the children start arriving in the morning. They should also check the footpath in front of the school, all along the boundary wall including parking area to detect any suspicious objects lying unattended there,” said the SOP. The SOP also said barbed wire may be fixed on the iron grills above the boundary wall to deter any one from jumping over the wall. More than 140 people mostly students were killed in the Dec 16 terrorist attack in Peshawar.

CBI files progress report into coal scam case involving MP New Delhi, December 19 (iANS): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Friday filed a progress report of investigation it has conducted in coal block allocation case involving a Rajya Sabha MP - a case in which the agency had earlier sought closure but the court had not agreed.

The report was filed before Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar who posted the matter for Jan 29.

The CBI earlier filed a closure report in the case that involves Rajya Sabha member Vijay Darda, among others. Refusing to accept the closure report, the court Nov 20 asked CBI to further probe the matter and file progress report.

The CBI had filed the closure report after an initial report against JLD Yavatmal Energy Ltd., its directors Vijay Darda, his son Devendra Darda, Rajendra Darda, Manoj Jayaswal, Anand Jayaswal and Abhishek Jayaswal and other unknown people.

Filing the closure report, the agency had said that no undue benefit was given to JLD Yavatmal Energy by the coal ministry in allocating the blocks and nothing substantial has emerged to establish cheating or criminal conspiracy by the government officials and the company’s directors.

The probe agency earlier in its first information report alleged that JLD Yavatmal had wrongfully concealed previous allocation of four coal blocks to its group companies in 1999-2005. But in its closure report, the CBI had said even if this information had been revealed, it would not have been disqualified the company from getting the coal blocks.

Modi second in list of 30 top-performing world leaders beiJiNG, December 19 (PTi): Prime Minister Narendra Modi was placed No 2, behind Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a list of 30 top-performing world leaders by a Japanese market research firm.

German chancellor Angela Merkel was on the third place in the list that also measured the confidence of citizens in their leaders.

The survey of more than 26,000 respondents, conducted this fall by Tokyo-based GMO Research rated Xi, Modi, and Merkel the top-performing world leaders, with scores of 7.5, 7.3, and 7.2 respectively on a scale of one to 10. The survey results were published by Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Centre for Democratic Governance and Innovation, and were analyzed by Anthony Saich, a China expert at the school.

The top three were followed by French President Francois Hollande (6.3), Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (6.1), and Putin (6.0) at the bottom.

Obama (6.6) received middling marks, just ahead of British Prime Minister David Cameron (6.5).

In regards to the confidence citizens have in how their leaders handle domestic and international affairs, Xi topped the list in both categories at 94.8 per cent and 93.8 per cent respectively, with Modi slightly trailing behind with 93.2 per cent and 93.3 per cent respectively. Russian President Putin came in third with 86.2% and 86%.

Elaborating on the high ratings Xi got, Saich said “in countries where a single party dominates, or where public debate about political leaders is constrained, citizens typically rated their own officials much higher than did respondents in nations with a multi-party system and a more open and robust press.”

On Modi’s performance in the list, Saich said: “Two things did surprise me — how well Modi came out. I just put that down to the fact that he’d only just been elected and so I suspect that a lot of people didn’t really know very much about him, and his own nationals were probably still in the phase of him having won the election.”

Other than these leaders, the survey also featured Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and South African President Jacob Zuma. The survey questioned people from 30 countries, including 12 from Asia, four each from Africa and the Americas, eight from Europe and two from Oceania — Australia and New Zealand.

The Morung Express

India, Bangladesh can work on mutually beneficial projects: Modi New Delhi, December 19 (iANS): India conveyed to Bangladesh that it is willing to work on mutually beneficial projects during a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Bangladesh President M. Abdul Hamid here Friday.

During talks between Modi and Hamid, both sides warmly recollected their joint endeavours during the Liberation struggle of 1971, according to tweets posted by the ministry of external affairs spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.

Modi conveyed to Hamid that “India’s Act East Policy starts with Bangladesh. India ready to work on mutually beneficial projects,” said a tweet. He also told Hamid that “India is willing to be catalytic agent to boost regional cooperation”.

Hamid also reiterated an invite to Modi to visit Bangladesh. Modi said he is keen to visit Dhaka and would do so at an early date next year, said sources.

Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on President Hamid and told him that

‘India attaches highest importance to Bangladesh’

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, receives Bangladesh’s President Abdul Hamid before a meeting in New Delhi on Friday, December 19. Hamid is on a six-day visit to India. (AP Photo)

India is keen to strengthen bilateral ties.

Hamid arrived here Thursday on a six-day official visit - the first visit by a ceremonial head of state of Bangladesh since 1972.

He is here on the invite of President Pranab Mukher-

jee, and will be a guest in Rashtrapati Bhawan. President Mukherjee had paid a state visit to Bangladesh in March 2013.

The visit of the Bangladesh president will contribute to further strengthening and expanding the

close bilateral relations between the two countries, the external affairs ministry said. Hamid will visit Amjer, Agra, Jaipur during his stay. He will visit Kolkata before returning to Dhaka on Dec 23, the Bangladesh mission here had

GST bill tabled in Lok Sabha

New Delhi, December 19 (iANS): The government Friday initiated legislation for the much awaited reform of the indirect tax system by tabling the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill in the Lok Sabha.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley introduced the constitutional amendment bill for implementing the GST saying the objective of the legislation is “the seamless transfer of goods and services across the country”. Describing it as the single most important tax reform since 1947, he said the bill will be taken up for discussion in the next session of parliament.

The proposed tax reform would be a “win-win” situation for both state and central governments, he added. “GST will be a win-win situation for both state and centre. GST will be the single most important tax reform, with potential to convert entire country into a single market, and avoid taxation over taxation,” he said.

The GST proposes a national sales tax that will replace a myriad of overlapping state duties that deter investment. Emphasising that he wanted the bill to be debated so that suggestions can be taken into account, the finance minister said that he had on Friday achieved a “near consensus” with the Empowered Committee (EC) of State Finance Ministers on GST in a meeting here.

“This is not a partisan legislation.

We will ensure that the interest of every state is taken care of, that no state

will lose a rupee of revenue,” Jaitley said. GST reform would strengthen the principle of “co-operative federalism” as the central and state governments would need to work together to take decisions which would require 75 percent majority approval in the GST Council.

“In the meeting I had with the states, they were not divided on political lines. They wanted comfort on centre-state relations. This marks a high point of Indian federalism,” Jaitley told the media post-introduction of the bill. The previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had in 2011 introduced a Constitution Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha towards the introduction of the GST. States sought a five-year compensation package and asked for its inclusion in the bill.

Jaitley told the house that states will receive Rs.11,000 crore this fiscal towards partial compensation of the losses suffered by them for reduction in central sales tax (CST). While the CST is levied by the central government on inter-state movement of goods and collected by states, the issue of compensation arose because the central government cut the CST from 4 percent to 2 percent in phases, after state-level VAT was introduced from April 1, 2005.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs Wednesday approved the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill paving the way for its tabling. Earlier,

finance ministers of seven states in a meeting here Thursday rejected the draft Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, saying it does not address their concerns on the issues of compensation, entry tax, and the tax on petroleum products.

The states also want petroleum, alcohol and tobacco to be kept out of the purview of the GST. Seen as a key to facilitating industrial growth and improving the business climate in the country, the GST bill needs to be passed by a two-thirds majority in both houses of parliament and by the legislatures of half of the states to become a law.

By subsuming most indirect taxes levied by the central and state governments such as excise duty, service tax, VAT and sales tax, GST proposes to facilitate a common market across the country, leading to economies of scale and reducing inflation through an efficient supply chain. Full implementation of GST could lift India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth by 0.9-1.7 percentage points, according to a study by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER).

Commenting on the development, Sachin Menon, chief operating officer of KPMG India, said: “This is a moment in history, a turning point in India’s history of fiscal reforms and all the architects who worked for bringing in GST since 2006 would remembered for their contribution to the nation.”

New Delhi, December 19 (iANS): President Pranab Mukherjee Friday said India attached “highest importance” to bilateral relations with Bangladesh, an official statement by the Rashtrapati Bhavan said.

Receiving his Bangladesh counterpart Abdul Hamid in the Rashtrapati Bhavan here, Mukherjee welcomed him and complimented him for his role in the consolidation of bilateral relations.

“India attaches the highest importance to bilateral relations with Bangladesh, a close friend and neighbour.

India has always believed that a strong, stable and prosperous Bangladesh is in its interest,” Mukherjee said.

“It is greatly satisfying for India to see that Bangladesh, today, represents a high growth economy with a promising future - the impressive strides made on human development, healthcare, education, women’s empowerment and other socio-economic fronts.”

Reciprocating the sentiments, Hamid praised Mukherjee for having been a “friend of Bangladesh for long” and said the people of Bangladesh held the Indian president in the highest of regard. Mukherjee handed over recordings of transmissions made by All India Radio and Doordarshan during the Liberation War of 1971 to Hamid. announced earlier.

The visit comes as the Narendra Modi government is readying to go ahead with the India-Bangladesh land swap agreement. Under the swap, India will exchange 111 enclaves measuring 17,160

acres with Bangladesh and receive 51 enclaves covering 7,110 acres. Almost 51,000 people reside in these enclaves. The territories involved in the exchange are in the states of Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya and Tripura.

Mobile tower radiation: No telling proof of adverse health impact

New Delhi, December 19 (iANS): Seeking to allay fears among people about adverse impact of electromagnetic field (EMF) radiation from mobile towers, an expert has said there is no convincing scientific evidence that the weak RF signals from base stations and wireless networks cause adverse health effects.

“Considering the very low exposure levels and research results collected to date, there is no convincing scientific evidence that the weak RF signals from base stations and wireless networks cause adverse health effects,” Emilie van Deventer, Team Leader of the Radiation Programme at the World Health Organisation said in her presentation.

She was making her presentation at the International Telecommunication Union-T SG5 meeting in Kochi earlier this week. The topic was “Human Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields in India”. The Cellular Operators’ Association was also part of the meeting. Deventer, however, mentioned that there is need for clear roles and responsibilities in government on this topic and need for adoption and compliance of health-based standards.

She added that there is need for a public information programme and dialogue with stakeholders and need for promoting research to reduce uncertainty. Talking about the challenges that lie before governments, Deventer added that rapidly evolving radio frequency technologies, disparities in risk management measures and regulations around the world, and concern from the public are some of the key concerns.

In the short-term effects, she said: “To date, research does not suggest any consistent evidence of adverse health effects from exposure to RF fields at levels below those that cause tissue heating.” “Research has not been able to provide support for a causal relationship between exposure to EMF and self-reported symptoms, or electromagnetic hypersensitivity.”

India looks to sway Americans with nuclear power insurance plan

New Delhi, December 19 (reuTerS): India is offering to set up an insurance pool to indemnify global nuclear suppliers against liability in the case of a nuclear accident, in a bid to unblock billions of dollars in trade held up by concerns over exposure to risk.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is hoping the plan will be enough to convince major U.S. companies such as General Electric to enter the Indian market ahead of President Barack Obama’s visit at the end of next month.

Under a 2010 nuclear liability law, nuclear equipment suppliers are liable for damages from an accident, which companies say is a sharp deviation from international norms that put the onus on the operator to maintain safety.

From the 1950s, when the United States was the only exporter of nuclear reactors, liability has been channeled to plant operators across the world.

India’s national law grew out of the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster, the world’s deadliest industrial accident, at a factory owned by U.S. multinational Union Carbide Corp which Indian families are still pursuing for compensation. The law effectively shut out Western companies from a huge market, as energy-starved India seeks to ramp up nuclear power generation by 13 times, and also strained U.S.-Indian relations since they reached a deal on nuclear cooperation in 2008.

GE-Hitachi, an alliance between the U.S. and Japanese firms, Toshiba’s Westinghouse Electric Company and France’s Areva received a green light to build two reactors each. They have yet to begin construction several years later, according to India’s Department of Atomic Energy.

Even Indian suppliers refused to sell equipment until the law is amended or they can be sure they are indemnified against any liabilities. “We are working fast to address the concerns of suppliers. We are working on a solution with the insurance companies,” R.K. Sinha, Chairman of India’s Atomic Energy Commission, told Reuters.

“Encouraging Signal” State-run reinsurer GIC Re is preparing a proposal to build a “nuclear insurance pool” that would indemnify the third-party suppliers against liabilities they would face in the case of an accident.

Under the plan, insurance would be bought by the companies contracted to build the nuclear reactors who would then recoup the cost by charging more for their services. Alternatively, state-run operator Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) would take out insurance on behalf of these companies.

Sinha said New Delhi believed the insurance plan was the best option given how tricky changing the law would prove, and that the proposal should be ready within the next two months.

Details of the plan have yet to be thrashed out, and Sinha said the government was considering how it would better capitalise NPCIL. India wants to generate 62,000 megawatts from nuclear sources within two decades from the current level of 4,780 megawatts, even as other countries shift away from nuclear energy following Japan’s Fukushima disaster.

GE declined to comment on the Indian proposal to offer insurance cover. Westinghouse said it needed more information before it could comment.

Areva said in a statement that the creation of an insurance pool was an “encouraging signal”, and that the government appeared committed to working out a comprehensive solution soon.

However, India’s nuclear liability regime remained open to interpretation and an Areva spokeswoman said the company needed more clarification to make the legal framework acceptable.

Russia Muscling In One Indian company said it was ready to return to the 2,800 megawatt Gorakhpur nuclear power project in the northern state of Haryana it abandoned, once the insurance cover is in place.

The insurance scheme would convince Walchandnagar Industries Ltd, which makes heat exchangers for reactors, to restart supplying equipment for Gorakhpur, managing director and CEO G.K. Pillai told Reuters.

Moves to win over the Americans coincide with Russia’s push to build more nuclear reactors in India. Earlier this month, during President Vladimir Putin’s visit, Russia’s state-owned Rosatom said it would supply 12 nuclear energy reactors for India over 20 years, following two it has already built in the south of the country.

G. Balachandran, one of India’s foremost nuclear affairs experts, said Russia appears to believe it can operate with the existing nuclear liabilities law without suffering a loss.

This week U.S. and Indian

nuclear affairs officials, as well as representatives from the NPCIL Ltd, Westinghouse and GE-Hitachi met to advance implementation of the nuclear deal, an Indian foreign ministry official said.

The group is meeting again early next month, before Obama arrives, to move the discussion forward. Creating the insurance scheme to help projects get off the ground is GIC’s “top priority”, chairman Ashok Kumar Roy said in an email, although he cautioned that the timing, coverage and level of participation were yet to be finalised.

Bihar panchayat bans jeans and mobiles for girls GOPAlGANJ, December 19 (PTi): A village panchayat in Bihar’s Gopalganj district has, in a diktat, banned girls from wearing jeans and using mobile phones as these increase the chance of the girls “going astray”.

Confirming that such a diktat has been issued in Singha panchayat in Hathua block of the district, Hathua block development officer Jitendra Kumar said the decision was taken at a general meeting of panchayat officials in which mukhiya Krishna Chaudhary and sarpanch Vinay Kumar Shrivastav were present.

“According to the panchayat decision, the ban will be enforced within its jurisdiction with mutual understanding and without any coercion,” the BDO said. Mukhiya Krishna Chaudhary said jeans, trousers, and cell phones for girls have been banned as these have “pernicious effect” on them - mentally and physically. These also increase the chance of their “going astray”.

“The ban will come into effect from January 1, 2015. We have already requested parents and guardians in our area not to buy jeans and mobile phones for girls in their families. There will be no coercion in enforcing the ban,” Chaudhary said. There are no provisions to fine or punish if anybody flouts the ban, he added.

InternatIonal

the Morung express

Despite billions in aid, US still unable to get Pakistan to confront militants A Pakistani child attends a protest to condemn Tuesday's Taliban attack on the Army Public School on December 18, in Peshawar, Pakistan.

The Taliban massacre that killed more than 140 people, mostly children, at the military-run school in northwestern Pakistan left a scene of heart-wrenching devastation, pools of blood and young lives snuffed out as the nation mourned and mass funerals for the victims got underway. (AP Photo)

WASHINGTON, DECEMBER 19 (RE UTERS): Since 2001 the United States has tried virtually every strategy available to persuade Pakistan’s army to take the threat of militancy more seriously, but 12 years and $28 billion in aid later, all the American approaches are widely viewed as having failed.

First, the Bush administration heaped praise on former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, agreed to reimburse the Pakistani army for anti-Taliban military operations and launched drone strikes that killed al Qaeda leaders and militants wanted by the Pakistani government.

Adopting a more confrontational stance, the Obama administration unilaterally carried out the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, vastly increased aid to Pakistan’s weak civilian institutions and, at times, cut off aid to the Pakistani military.

Yet the militants continue to operate, ever more brazenly, as illustrated by Tuesday’s harrowing attack on a school in Peshawar, in which 132 students were killed by a faction of the Pakistan Taliban. And with the United States increasingly focused on other crises, Washington’s options for bringing about change in an increasingly unstable Pakistan are dwindling fast.

“There is great ‘Pakistan fatigue’ in Washington,” said Cameron Munter, who served as the American

ambassador to Pakistan from 2010 to 2012. “Not only have the last dozen years been very difficult, but other challenges - from Syria to Ukraine to Iran, to name a few - demand our attention.”

Although Tuesday’s attack sparked widespread condemnation, current and former U.S. officials expressed cynicism that the bloodshed would cause Pakistan’s military to change its view of militants.

Munter and other officials said the United States has been unable to break a powerful, army-backed narrative in Pakistan that militant attacks are the result of America’s war on terror. Foreign powers, not Pakistan, are responsible for growing militancy in Pakistan, according to the narrative. And Pakistan is not responsible for the problem and unable to stop it.

That narrative played out immediately when Pakistan’s army chief, General Raheel Sharif, flew to Afghanistan within 24 hours of the attack to meet Afghan leaders. They said they had information that the school attack was directed by militants hiding inside Afghanistan.

“We are hoping that we will see strong action from the Afghan side in the coming days,” said Pakistani army spokesman Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa.

One senior American official said he hoped the trip was not “communica-

tions Kabuki” designed to divert blame for the failure to stop the attack away from the Pakistani army.

Analysts said the army is failing to live up to its decades-long history of training, funding and sheltering some militant groups and using them as proxies to counter archrival India in Afghanistan and Kashmir.

Since 2001 a parade of American officials - from presidents to CIA directors - have repeatedly warned Pakistan’s generals that they will lose control of their militant proxies and eventually be attacked by them. Pakistani military officials have denied sheltering militants.

CHINESE PRESSURE? But some current and former U.S. officials said the sheer brutality of this week’s attack would intensify demands from Pakistan’s public for the army to confront militancy. James Dobbins, who served as the Obama Administration’s Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan from 2013 to 2014, said there was also growing pressure from Pakistan’s longtime ally China.

“I think they are pressing Pakistan to take this threat more seriously,” he said.

Munter, the former ambassador, argued that the problem reflects a more fundamental question of whether militants have become so entrenched that the Pakistani army cannot

defeat them.

The senior administration official was more optimistic, contending that even before the school attack, the Pakistani public was raising pressure on the army to act. The ongoing military operation in North Waziristan that militants said prompted the school attack was evidence of change. “There has been a growing sense in Pakistan that this is an issue that they need to deal with,” said the senior official, who asked not to be identified by name.

But Shamila Chaudhary, who served as senior director for Pakistan and Afghanistan on the National Security Council from 2010 to 2011, warned that as U.S. attention has shifted elsewhere, the steady deterioration of Pakistan’s institutions, security forces and economy has continued.

For years, Chaudhary said, she dismissed alarmist warnings from other U.S. experts on Pakistan that the country’s nuclear arsenal was unsafe. The inability of Pakistan’s security forces to protect a military-run school, she said, has given her doubts regarding Pakistan’s atomic arsenal for the first time.

“I will have a hard time saying to people that militants can never steal Pakistan’s nuclear weapons,” she said. “The more these things happen, that rate of risk goes ahead, and I just think, well, it could happen one day.”

Pak: 77 militants killed after school massacre

ISLAMABAD, DECEMBER 19 (AP): Pakistani warplanes and ground forces killed at least 77 militants in a northwestern tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said Friday, days after Taliban fighters killed 148 people — most of them children — in a school massacre.

Meanwhile, a Pakistani prosecutor said the government will try to cancel the bail granted to the main suspect in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks — a decision that outraged neighboring India and called into question Pakistan’s commitment to fighting militancy.

The violence at a school in Pakistan’s northwest earlier this week stunned the country and brought cries for retribution. In the wake of the mass killing the military has struck targets in the Khyber tribal region and approved the death penalty for six convicted terrorists.

The military said its ground forces late Thursday killed 10 militants while airstrikes killed another 17, including an Uzbek commander. Another 32 alleged terrorists were killed by security forces in an ambush in Tirah valley in Khyber on Friday as they headed toward the Afghan border, the military said.

On Friday morning, troops killed 18 more militants during a “cordon and search operation” in Khyber, the military said.

The military said the army chief, Gen. Raheel Sharif, was traveling to Khyber Friday to meet with troops taking part in the ground operation.

Khyber agency is one of two main areas in the northwest where the military has been trying to root out militants in recent months. Khyber borders Peshawar, where the school massacre happened, and militants have traditionally attacked the city before withdrawing to the tribal region where police can’t chase them.

The other area is North Waziristan, where the military launched a massive operation in June.

In the southern province of Baluchistan, Pakistani security forces killed a senior Pakistani Taliban leader along with seven of his associates in three separate pre-dawn raids, said a tribal police officer, Ali Ahmed.

The Pakistani army chief late Thursday signed the death warrants of six “hard core terrorists” convicted and sentenced to death by military courts, the army said.

It was unclear when the military planned to hang the six men, but authoritiesgenerally move quickly once death warrants are signed. Such executions are usually carried out at prisons under the supervision of army officers and then the bodies are handed over to relatives for burial.

There was no information on the men or the crimes for which they were convicted.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday announced that he would lift a moratorium on executions in terrorism-related cases. The government has not yet carried out any executions.

The lifting of the moratorium was aimed at demonstrating the government›s resolve. But the decision by an anti-terrorism court on Thursday to grant bail to the main suspect in the Mumbai attacks, Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, called into question that commitment.

Lakhvi is one of seven people on trial in Pakistan for the assault, but the trial has produced no results so far.

It has been closed to the media.

India reacted with outrage to news of Lakhvi›s pending release.

Special public prosecutor Abu Zar Peerzada said he would appeal to the High Court to cancel the bail and said Lakhvi had not yet been released.

Gaza receives only fraction of 5.4 billion pledge

GAZA, DECEMBER 19 (REUTERS): Two months after donors pledged $5.4 billion to help rebuild Gaza after the war between Israel and Hamas, Palestinian, U.N. and other officials say barely 2 percent of the money has been transferred.

The conference in Cairo had been hailed as a success, with Qatar promising $1 billion, Saudi Arabia $500 million and the United States and the Europe-

an Union a combined $780 million in various forms of assistance.

Half was expected to go to rebuilding houses and infrastructure in Gaza destroyed during seven weeks of fighting, and the rest to support the Palestinian budget.

But of the total, only $100 million or so has been received, according to U.N. and other officials. While the EU and the United States have accel-

erated some funding that was already in the pipeline, very few new pledges have come to fruition.

“We have received funding and pledges of approximately $100 million for shelter and repair,” said Robert Turner, director of operations for the U.N.’s Relief and Works Agency in Gaza.

“That money will be largely finished in January 2015. We have a shortfall (for shelter and homes) of

Australia: 8 children

killed, mother stabbed SYDNEY, DECEMBER 19 (AP): Eight dead children and a woman suffering from stab wounds were found inside a home in a northern Australian city on Friday, police said.

Police believe the 34-year-old woman with wounds to the chest is the mother of seven of the children, and the eighth child is believed to be one of her relatives, Detective Inspector Bruno Asnicar said. She was receiving treatment for her injuries and was in stable condition at a hospital.

Queensland state police said they were called to the home in the Cairns suburb of Manoora on Friday morning after receiving a report of a woman with serious injuries. When police got to the house, they found

the bodies of the children inside, ranging in age from 18 months to 15 years.

Asnicar declined to say how the children died. Forensic teams were still inside the home collecting evidence.

“As it stands at the moment, there’s no need for the public to be concerned about this other than the fact that it’s a tragic, tragic event,” Asnicar said. “The situation is well controlled at the moment. There shouldn’t be any concern for anyone else out of this environment.”

Officials had not yet identified any suspects, but were talking to a range of people, he said.

“Everybody who’s had any involvement at all in the past two or three days is

a person of interest,” Asnicar said.

Acting Chief Superintendent Russell Miller said officials believe it was an isolated incident and there was no threat to the rest of the community. Lisa Thaiday, who said she was the injured woman’s cousin, said one of the woman’s other sons, a 20-year-old, came home and found his brothers and sisters dead inside the house.

“I’m going to see him now, he needs comforting,” Thaiday said. “We’re a big family ... I just can’t believe it. We just found out (about) those poor babies.”

The street has been cordoned off and a crime scene will remain in place for at least the next day, Asnicar said.

$620 million and we are going to run out right in the hardest part of winter.”

Details of donor commitments are often hard to pin down as the headline figure frequently includes money set aside earlier but not yet paid out.

While that is the case with some of the funds for Gaza, particularly from the EU and the United States, the Arab states were in most cases making new commitments of support.

Officials said they had been among the worst at following through.

“The Arab countries haven’t paid anything until now,” Mufeed al-Hasayna, the Palestinian housing minister, said this month.

“The Europeans just a few millions, maybe something from the Swedes.”

It was not clear what happened to promises of $200 million from each of Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. In part, of-

ficials said, the problem is that it always takes time for donors to follow through on their commitments.

It is also difficult to transfer money to Gaza since Hamas, an Islamist group, remains in control.

The money was supposed to go to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, which planned to resume responsibility in Gaza and administer the money. That has not yet happened.

Police patrol near a house where eight children have been found dead in a Cairns suburb in far north Queensland, Australia on December 19. Queensland state police said they were called to the home in the Cairns suburb of Manoora on Friday morning after receiving a report of a woman with serious injuries. When police got to the house, they found the bodies of the children inside, ranging in age from 18 months to 15 years.(AP Photo)

Dozens of police descended on the home, and crowds of locals stood outside the police barricades, some of them wiping away tears.

“These events are extremely distressing for everyone of course and police officers aren’t immune from that — we’re human beings as well,” Ascinar

said.

The tragedy comes as Australia is still reeling from the shock of a deadly siege in a Sydney cafe earlier this week. On Monday, a gunman burst into a cafe in the heart of the city and took 18 people inside hostage. Two hostages were killed along with the gunman after police stormed

in 16 hours later in a bid to end the siege.

“The news out of Cairns is heartbreaking,” Prime Minister Tony Abbott said in a statement. “All parents would feel a gutwrenching sadness at what has happened. This is an unspeakable crime. These are trying days for our country.”

Saturday 20 December 2014

Dimapur

9

One million people wounded, diseases spreading in Syria: WHO

BEIRUT, DECEMBER 19 (REUTERS): One million people have been wounded during Syria’s civil war and diseases are spreading as regular supplies of medicine fail to reach patients, the World Health Organisation’s Syria representative said. A plunge in vaccination rates from 90 percent before the war to 52 percent this year and contaminated water have added to the woes, allowing typhoid and hepatitis to advance, Elizabeth Hoff said in an interview late on Thursday.

More than 200,000 people have been killed in Syria’s conflict, which began in March 2011 with popular protests against President Bashar al-Assad and spiralled into civil war after a crackdown by his security forces. “In Syria, they have a million people injured as a direct result of the war. You can see it in the country when you travel around.

You see a lot of amputees,” said Hoff. “This is the biggest problem.”

She said a collapsed health system, where over half of public hospitals are out of service, has meant that treatments for diseases and injuries are irregular. Hoff said that Assad’s government -- which demands to sign off on aid convoys -- is still blocking surgical supplies, such as bandages and syringes, from entering rebel-held areas.

Aid workers say Damascus argues that the equipment would be used to help insurgents. “What has been a problem is the regularity of supply,” she said. “The (government) approvals are sporadic.” Syrian officials could not be reached for comment on Thursday or Friday.

More than 6,500 cases of typhoid were reported this year across Syria and 4,200 cases of measles, the deadliest disease for Syrian children, Hoff said. There was just one reported case of polio, which can paralyse children within hours, in 2014 following a vaccination drive, but other new diseases appeared, including myiasis, a tropical disease spread by flies which is also known as screwworm, with 10 cases seen in the outskirts of Damascus.

Syrian activists in the Eastern Ghouta district of Damascus said that tuberculosis was also spreading due to poor sanitary conditions and a government siege on the area, blocking aid. The United Nations called on Thursday for more than $8.4 billion to help nearly 18 million people in need in Syria and across the region in 2015.

Hoff said that the WHO delivered more than 13.5 million treatments of lifesaving medicines and medical supplies in 2014, up nearly threefold from the year before.

But the problems were growing at an even faster pace, Hoff said, with poor water access and deepening poverty worsening the health crisis: “The needs are not possible to believe.”

After bail, 26/11 accused Lakhvi detained again ISLAMABAD, DECEMBER 19 (IANS): Mumbai terror attack mastermind Zakiur Rahman Lakhvi, who was granted bail Thursday, was Friday detained under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) at Rawalpindi›s Adiala Jail even as the court›s bail order came under scathing criticism from the Pakistani media. The government has also decided to appeal in superior courts against Lakhvi›s bail, Dawn reported quoting a senior government source.

An anti-terrorism court in Islamabad Thursday had granted bail to Lakhvi, one of the seven people charged with planning and helping to carry out the Nov 26-29, 2008, Mumbai terror attack which killed 166 people. The acceptance of his bail plea had come as Pakistan was mourning the deaths of 148 people, including 132 school children, in Tuesday›s Taliban massacre in a Peshawar school and New Delhi had made a visible effort to show solidarity with Islamabad.

Lakhvi is among seven people charged with planning and helping to carry out the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.

The six other men facing trial in Adiala Jail for their alleged involvement in the Mumbai attack are Hammad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jamil Riaz, Younas Anjum, Jamil Ahmed, Mazhar Iqbal and Abdul Majid. Meanwhile, the Pakistani media sharply criticised the court order granting bail to Lakhvi. While one daily said that it was an insult to the Peshawar victims, another said that the ruling exposed the flaws in the Pakistani system.

The Islamabad court›s decision to free Lakhvi «has undercut the building narrative of not discriminating between terrorists as well as the nascent gestures of solidarity between India and Pakistan» following the Tuesday carnage in Peshawar, The Nation said in an editorial.

When all of Pakistan is building a narrative against extremism, such steps are critical blows to the process, and therefore needs to be reversed. It is not only a terrible decision that harms the state’s objectives but is also an insult to the memory of the innocent 141 who lost their lives in Peshawar,» it added.

It also said that a a watershed moment in Pakistan›s tussle with extremism has now become “just another flash in the pan». Where on one side the nation is baying to hang all convicted terrorists and run all shades of militants to the ground, on the other we are quietly granting bail to a person who allegedly planned a terrorist attack.

How is this any different from the supposedly longgone day when we used to differentiate between ‹terrorists› and ‹strategic assets›? The decision has led to outrage in India; the inklings of trust and mutual suffering have been erased. Instead, we are still being painted as aggressors, where a moment ago we were viewed as the victims.

The distrust returns, as do the hurdles towards peace. According to the News International, the court granting bail to Lakhvi only showed how difficult it would be to tackle the militant menace when «our institutional processes are so flawed». In an editorial, it pointed out that India expressed its sorrow and observed silence to mark the Peshawar tragedy.

But we may have spurned our chance to make further progress. The decision by an Anti-Terrorism Court to grant bail to Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the prime suspect in the Mumbai attacks, might be pounced on by the Indians as evidence that the Peshawar attacks haven›t changed anything,» the daily said. His release, pending a government appeal, only shows how difficult it will be to tackle the militant menace when our institutional processes are so flawed,» it added.

The daily went on to say that «our political class is on the same page» on the battle against terror. It shouldn’t have taken the killings of more than 130 children to reach a consensus but in our mourning we have to show resolve - and that is what our political parties are now doing.

The editorial noted that «political unity alone won’t get the job done». We need the help of our neighbours. At the time of the 2008 Mumbai attack, Lakhvi was believed to be the operational head of Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT) that has been accused by India of carrying out the attack.

Lakhvi, along with Zarar Shah, was allegedly the key planner of the attack that killed 166 people.

10

Dimapur

LOCAL

Saturday 20 December 2014

‘Celebrate Christmas in your hearts’

Mon DPDB meeting cum advance Christmas celebration held MoN, DECEMBER 19 (DIPR): Mon District Planning & Development Board (DPDB) meeting cum advance Christmas celebration was held at Water Source Reservoir site, Sheangha Wamsa village on December 16 with Peihwang, Director, HADO, Mon as the speaker.

In his Christmas message, Peihwang Konyak remarked that the first Christmas was neither celebrated in a church nor palace, but in a manger and appealed to the gathering to cel-

ebrate Christmas in their hearts, within the family, office and society wherever they are without waiting for the church program.

Asserting that Christmas is all about Christ, his love, grace, peace, joy and happiness, he urged to spread the message of Christmas to the other communities.

Highlighting the political, social and economic scenario and the historical background of the period when Jesus was born, he said God sent Jesus Christ to the world when the full-

ness of time had come, to rescue and make “us” his children. He appealed to celebrate Christmas with love and grace besides merrymaking beginning from homes and offices.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Commissioner of Mon, Angau I Thou appealed to the officers and NGO leaders to adopt spirit of work culture, change their attitude and march ahead without any barrier. Highlighting that 60% of the State budget is spent for salaries of the government employees; she

expressed concern at the absences of government officials in DPDB meeting.

She said the absence of officers in important meetings show negligence to their duties and the district. She informed that it will be reflected in the APAR of those officers’ absent in the meeting. She also said that organizing DPDB meeting in remote areas where there is poor development should be taken as a challenge and not as punishment.

Chairman DPDB, Mon EE Pangteang in his mes-

The Morung Express

SPEED review meeting of DoLR DIMAPUR, DECEMBER 18 (MExN): A 2-day review meeting on Special Programme for Environmental and Economic Development (SPEED) under the department of Land Resources got underway at the Biodiversity Centre, Research and Demonstration Farm of the department at Razaphema village.

This meeting is to evaluate the performance, implementation and activities of SPEED in 50 villages, which was launched in December 2013 by the Department in commemoration of the 50th year of statehood, to improve quality of life as

its main objective.

Addressing the gathering, Senti Ao, Additional Secretary, Land Resources exhorted the participants stating that he would not hesitate to congratulate the department on the activities and success of SPEED in the state.

Mhathung Yanthan, Director, Land Resource said lot of changes and improvements have taken place with the launching of SPEED. Officers in-charge of 50 villages gave power point presentations highlighting various activities undertaken in their respective villages. They also gave feedback

of positive response of the villagers in the implementation of the scheme.

The seven core interventions covered under SPEED include Capacity Building, Health and Sanitation, Environmental, Social Sector, Natural Resource Management, Livelihood Enhancement Activities and Micro-enterprise through which the villages would be developed and empowered.

The 2-day review meeting will conclude on December 19 with interaction and celebration of advent Christmas. DPOs and APOs of all eleven districts are attending the meeting.

sage called upon the government officers to retrospect both failures and achievements, and to renew and strengthen the commitment to remove the backwardness of the district, while celebrating the birth of Jesus.

The President of Konyak Union, Chief Angh of Sheangha Chingnyu and Chairman, Village Council of Sheangha Wamsa also spoke during the programme.

The board decided to construct walls and provide CGI sheet roof for the Water Reservoir; construct CGI sheet roofing at Reservoir Rest Camp; construct footstep from Rest camp to Reservoir; Construct Guest House at Wamsa; and conserve forest areas surrounding the Reservoir by Forest department. Construction of auditorium for Government Higher Secondary School, Mon and opening of new GPS at newly recognized Totok Chinglen village were recDimapur Longsai Ekhung held combined picnic on Saturday at Khovanalla, 7th Mile (Chumukedima). Seen here are memommended and forwarded bers along with the office bearers of Dimapur Longsai Ekhung. to the respective depart- One day training cum demonstration was organized for farmers in Molvom and Sirhi Angami ment for necessary action village under Medziphema block by Naandi Foundation, supported by NABARD Dimapur under Tribal Development Fund (TDF) on December 11 and 12. at the DPDB.

Brahma Kumaris University Dimapur celebrate silver jubilee

DIMAPUR, DECEMBER 19 (MExN): Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishva Vidyalaya, Dimapur centre celebrated Silver Jubilee on December 14 in the presence of a gathering of about 350 people. Dr. Aotoshi, a renowned entrepreneur and social activ-

ist of Dimapur, graced the event as chief guest.

Chief speaker of the occasion, BK Mohan Singhal, National Co-ordinator of Scientist and Engineering Wings of Brahma Kumaris, from Mount Abu, in his address underlined that in this age of scientific

Officer’s Hill Colony Council 25th anniversary

KohIMA, DECEMBER 17 (MExN): The Officer’s Hill (Thegabakha) Colony Council, Kohima is all set to celebrate its 25th anniversary on December 30 at 12:00 at The Heritage, Old DC Bungalow, Kohima. Minister for social security & welfare and parliamentary affairs Kiyanilie Peseyie will grace the occasion as the chief guest. The function will be chaired by Y. Yanthan, vice chairman Officers’ Hill Colony Council. Welcome address will be delivered by organizing committee convenor Khrielakuo Sekhose while first council chairman Vilie Shiiya will make a short speech. Council chairman Kihoto Awomi will also address the function. Vote of thanks will be proposed by organizing committee coconvenor Vikehelie Victor.

Tening Lun Aruang 6th general session

KohIMA, DECEMBER 19 (DIPR): The 6th general session of Tening Lun Aruang will be held on January 6, 2015 at Tening Village, under the banner, ‘Together We Build.’ Tening Lun Aruang Chairman Akhabo and General Secretary Mathiukung in a press release informed that it is mandatory for all Tening Lun citizens residing outside and within the village to attend the session. They warned that stern action will be taken against those who do not attend the session. Meanwhile, Game and Sports Secretary Kunglungbo has informed that during the session, athletic competitions like race, shot-put, long jump, and Naga style wrestling would be held for both men and women; the winners will represent in the subdivisional and district level competition. The Organizing Committee has requested all the concerned citizens to take part in the session. The oldest man in the Village Rev. Huzubo will be the Honour Guest and inaugurate the 6th Tening Lun Aruang.

Meeting on Republic Day celebration held

KohIMA, DECEMBER 19 (DIPR): A preliminary meeting with regard to the celebration of Republic Day on January 26, 2015 was convened by the Home Commissioner Pankaj Kumar today in his office chamber. The meeting discussed various issues to observe the Republic Day in most befitting manner. The Home Commissioner has requested all departments concerned to attend the review meeting, which has been scheduled for January 14, 2015 at 11 am without fail.

advancement, materialism and consumerism, people around the globe have fallen prey to stressful and painful life. He explained how science has minimised the geographical distance, but broadened the distance between hearts, informed a press release.

Meanwhile, guest of honour, Labja Jaramusa, DEO, Golaghat lauded the activities of Brahma Kumaris in character building and creating a value based society and opined that Brahma Kumaris’ service, especially in Dimapur for last 25 years can bring positive change.

Mukalimi students hold annual session ZUNhEBoto, DIMAPUR 19 (DIPR): The students of Mukalimi village held their 41st annual session at the village on December 18 with Director of Health & Family Welfare Nagaland, Dr. Sukhato A. Sema as chief guest.

Stressing that youth could change the State, the chief guest challenged the gathering to learn knowledge, wisdom, good character and be humble to the Almighty God if they wish to see Nagaland prosper. He encouraged the students’ community to keep working hard, adding that success is not completely definable in one sentence and also failure is not the final.

Highlighting the im-

portance of education, Dr. Sema exhorted the students to try to be better, learned, morally sound persons, and wise citizens. He encouraged the students to sharpen their skills and wisdom by humility and obedience to the parents and elders. He also advised them to learn from parents, teachers and society the small things for stronger foundation, while there are more advantages for the younger generation with advancement in science and technology.

The chief guest also mentioned that the basic key to success is to acquire knowledge and mentioned that for leadership and management one needs vision and courage.

Grassroots comic workshop organised H&FW celebrates DIMAPUR, DECEMBER 19 volunteers created a story through advent Christmas (MExN): CAN Youth (formerly comic on RTI, Health, dropout

known as Youngs' Club) organised a media tools & grassroots comic workshop-cum-pre-Christmas celebration with CAN youth volunteers at its office on December 15.

A press note from CAN Youth Coordinator, Joel Zhove Lohe informed that the media tools & grass root comic is a form of communication which helps common people, especially illiterate people, understand and express issues and problems using cartoon tools.

Grassroots comics have a huge role to play in bringing a positive change in the community sector. During the workshop, the

NIIT Dimapur Winter Holidays

GYO celebrates golden jubilee

DIMAPUR, DECEMBER 19 (MExN): Gaili Youth Organasation celebrated its golden jubilee from December 13 to 17 with Parliamentary Secretary for School Education, Yitachu as chief guest. K.C. Angami, former president, Nagaland Govt.

Regd First Class Contractors’ Union was the guest of honour. The chief guest during the inaugural function unveiled the golden jubilee monolith while the guest of honour released a souvenir.

Following the inaugural function, Naga wrestling competition took place with 45 wrestlers divided into three groups. Hiareu-

sappe emerged champion while Heileubui claimed the runner-up prize. Kaibeu won the third prize and Irecha, Chairman, Village Council Gaili, claimed the fourth prize. Npangreu Kam Colony claimed the Group Champion prize.

On the second day, Folk songs and Traditional games were conducted. Six indigenous games were played and prizes were given to the first, second and third position holders. On the third day, Zhaphizo LRSO was the chief guest and inaugurated the jubilee trophy, where 8 women volley teams and 7 men football teams par-

students some exposure on the cultural heritage of Film Industry and its contribution to World Cinema. The students were also introduced to the technical aspects of tanks used in Indian Army and they had a memorable tank ride experience at Kirkee.

The students from Nagaland also attended classes during a visit to Aksharnandan and Jnana Prabodhini Schools on December 16, along with their host students to understand the education system in Maharashtra. As a part of career guidance counselling, students attended a lecture on “Careers in Medicine” by Dr. Pradeep Sethiya, Vice Principle, Medical College Pune.

After visiting Pune, the students will visit Dapoli.

District administrative officials, Moa Sangtam, SDO (Civil), Dimapur, Atobu Sumi, SDPO, Niuland, James Swu SDO (Civil) along with members of Survival Nagaland outside SN’s stall at the Night Carnival, Dimapur. Survival Nagaland has opened the stall to imbibe work culture amongst the youth in taking up any kind of job and encouraging local youths to work not only during special occasions but taking it as a career and not depend on the government alone to make a living. Egg-rolls, chicken pakora etc. are sold at the stall at very reasonable rates.

KohIMA, DECEMBER 19 (MExN): The Directorate of Health & Family Welfare Kohima celebrated advent Christmas at Medical College site on December 18.

Principal Director Dr. G. Kemp in his message shared that Christmas was a time for Christians to come together as a family and worship and thank God for all the blessings. He added that this was a time to introspect, look back and improve our lives.

Dr. Neikietuo, Director (H), gave a short sharing. Dr. N.M. Kithan, chaired the programme while Dr. Sao Tunyi invoked God’s blessing. Dr. Narola, Addl. Director, greeted the gathering. The benediction was pronounced by Dr. Kevingulie Khro, Jt. Director.

AR donates wheel chairs and crutches

DIMAPUR, DECEMBER 19 (MExN): Classes at NIIT Dimapur Center remain suspended from December 20 to January 3 on account of Christmas and New Year celebrations. The Center will reopen on Monday, January 5, a statement from the Head of Center, Imsurenla Imchen, informed. For any information, one may contact at niitdimapur@yahoo. co.in or visit the website LoNgLENg, DECEMwww.niit.com BER 19 (MExN): As part of the world disability day celebration, the 31 Assam Rifles under the aegis of HQ 7 Sector Assam Rifles, donated nine wheelchairs ticipated. The chief guest kicked off the first football match. After one whole day of playing football and volleyball on the fourth day, the fifth day witnessed the final of the Football championship between Frisky FC and Mount Pauna Knights where Mt. Pauna Knights emerged champions. Pausani Lungalang Junior Engineer, Urban Development Kohima, who was the chief guest at the closing gave away prizes.

A release from Heibwading, President Gaili Youth Organisation, and Lungsi (Asen) Haikube, Convener Golden Jubilee Committee informed.

State students’ visit to Pune

DIMAPUR, DECEMBER 19 (MExN): After quickly adapting to the routine of their hosts, the students from the state are now gaining firsthand knowledge of local customs, cuisines and other facets of day-to-day life.

As part of the program, they visited National Defense Academy on December 14 where they were shown various activities undertaken by the institute along with training of the cadets.

While interacting with Lt. Gen. Ashok Singh, GOC-in-C, Southern Command, students got the opportunity to get an insight of the organisation and chance to understand its functioning. Later in the day, a visit to the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) was arranged to give the

students’ issue. The resource persons of the workshop were Vezito Tetseo and Liangdee Pamai, volunteers of CAN Youth, who attended the complete training on grassroots comic in Guwahati.

The CAN Youth also celebrated pre-Christmas celebration with Rev. Robert Kikon from Soaking and Healing Room. The programme was chaired by Kevin Gonmei, invocation by Sedelo Vadeo, Bible Reading by Kivitoli Chishi, Special number by Chumthunglo T Jami and Closing Prayer

by Joel Zhove Lohe, Youth Coordinator, CAN Youth.

and three crutches to persons with disabilities at a function held Town Hall, Longleng on December 13. A press note from AR informed that the goodwill programme helped 12

persons with disabilities of different age groups.

They were identified from remote areas with assistance of Yingli Mission Society, an NGO working for a similar cause.

LFHSS observes Letter Writing Day

Students of Livingstone Foundation Hr. Sec. School participate in the Letter Writing Day held on December 16.

DIMAPUR, DECEMBER 19 (MExN): Livingstone Foundation Hr. Sec. School observed ‘Letter Writing Day’ on December 16 in collaboration with the Indian Department of Posts, Nagaland Division. It was one of a kind initiative; the Department of Posts for the first time set up a counter for ‘My Stamp’ especially for a school in Nagaland.

This facility of the Department lets the students and the teachers incorporate their own photographs alongside a stamp of their own choice. My Stamp facility is an initiative of the Department of Posts, India and was introduced in Nagaland this year.

Aochuba Yaden, Director, Nagaland Post was the

special guest on this occasion and he inaugurated the My Stamp Counter by having his photograph clicked for the stamp. The Chairman of the school, Andrew Ahoto led the Letter Writing.

More than 1200 students from Classes 1 to 12 participated in the daylong event where they wrote letters to their parents, relatives, friends and acquaintances on various topics like Christmas greetings, Thanksgiving, etc. The letters were then put in special First Day Cover envelopes especially designed for commemorating the Silver Jubilee of the school which had earlier been released on December 13 last year. Thereafter, the stamps of various assort-

ments were dispatched to the Post Office.

Later the students had their photographs clicked in the My Stamp Counter for generating specially designed stamps with their own photographs.

The Chairman, Andrew Ahoto encouraged the students to keep the spirit of letter writing alive by participating in events like this and by continuously keeping in touch with near and dear ones through letters and postcards.

The Letter Writing Day was observed to encourage the students to instill in them the virtue and skill of writing good letters and to bring back the fond memories of the bygone days of communicating through letters.

Saturday

Entertainment

The Morung Express

20 December 2014

Dimapur

11

Foxcatcher Alo Wanth

C M Y K

Latest Poster Link presents:

F

oxcatcher is one of the January 2015 movies that has been whipping up a storm ever since it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival over the summer. It is one of the movies that I cannot wait to see and a brand new poster for the film has been unveiled. Foxcatcher marks the return of Bennett Miller to the director’s chair for the first time since the critically acclaimed Moneyball in 2011, and sees him return to the biopic genre once again. Based on shocking true events, Foxcatcher is a psychological thriller, which tells the fascinating story of Olympic gold medal-winning brothers Mark and Dave Schultz and their tragic relationship with a multi-millionaire benefactor, John du Pont.

Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, and

Mark Ruffalo have teamed up to take on the central roles of John de Pont and Mark and David Schultz. The cast list is completed by Sienna Miller, Vanessa Redgrave, and Anthony Michael Hall. Foxcatcher is a movie that has the critics in a spin for months and is tipped to be a major contender when the Oscar nominations are announced at the beginning of next year.

The movie has already picked up Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award Carell’s central performance is going to be one to watch out for over the awards season. If you are a film fan, January is going to be an exciting start to the movie year, with a whole host of already acclaimed movies on the horizon. Foxcatcher is one of them is set to be an early ‘must see’ film of 2015.

Foxcatcher is released 9th January 2015.

C M Y K

Sholozu Thong

Johnny Depp

& Amber Heard

Y

To Marry On New Year’s Eve?

J

ohnny Depp is set to spend New Year’s Eve in the Bahamas with friends and family, sparking rumours that he is set to tie the knot.

Steven Tyler, Marilyn Manson, Helena Bonham Carter, and Tim Burton are just some of the famous faces that have received an invitation asking them to spend new year with him and fiancee Amber Heard. The couple announced their engagement earlier this year,

and rumours are now circling that they will tie the knot as they ringer in the new year.

A source told The Sun newspaper: “Johnny is normally very low key, so the big New Year party came as a surprise. He’s invited most of his closest friends and their families to join him on his island. The highlight will be a big party. “It could be a straightforward bash but friends have wondered if it could be a ruse to have a wedding

without a big fuss.” The couple always intended to tie the knot at Amber Beach, but no definite date has ever been set. Johnny and Amber confirmed their engagement in January after less than two years of dating and threw a party to celebrate their betrothal in March. Depp was previously in a long-term relationship with Vanessa Paradis, with whom he has two children, daughter Lily-Rose, 15, and son Jack, 12.

oungest among six siblings, initially Sholozu Thong started singing in his local church, college concert and weddings. That was when he discovered the gift of music in him. After which he joined Golden Crown College for Bth and music to enhance his skills in the field of music.

He also holds 5th grade music theory certificate from the associated Board of Royal School of Music London. He was also the semi finalist at the recently concluded singing competition “YOU KNOW YOU GOT IT.” Sholozu in his own words says, “I give thanks to God for whatever I have experience so far. Music, the gift of God, and it is the only thing I aim to do in life.”

Sholozu is all set to release his first debut single “My Love” written and composed by Alo Wanth. He brings different flavors of music, and with a dynamic voice is sure to be alluring to music fans. The song will be available at Indihut.com for free from December 21, Sunday, 7:00pm onwards.

Alo wanth LINK is a One stop gate-

way for solo artist and singers who want to sketch their musical dreams into reality. A dimapur based group, AWL exists to promote/provide/ and guide young artists into the music industry. If you have passion in singing and dream to make your mark in the music industry by doing your own music someday but you don’t have any clue of how to embark your career in this stream. AWL is here to guide you and do the job for you. What AWL will do for you? AWL provides all the resource required for the artist from scratch to the finished product. AWL will write the music arrangements, melody lines, Lyrics and record the music for the artist, photo shoot/marketing online and offline, make music videos / create music albums, Ep releases or single releases for the artist and act as a mentor, guide and promote artist to live their musical dream. The only thing the artist has to do is sing and share his/ her thoughts to AWL. Interested artists can contact AWL at alowanth81@gmail. com or Alo Wanth on Facebook.

Kanye West ‘spends $74k on North’s Christmas gifts including diamond tiara and mini SUV’ K

C M Y K

im Kardashian recently said she didn’t want her daughter to grow up spoiled. But perhaps she should run that past husband Kanye West, as the rapper has reportedly spent $74,000 on 18-month-old North’s Christmas presents this year. An insider told Heat magazine that Kanye dropped $62,000 on a diamond-encrusted tiara as well as $12,000 on a toy replica of his matte black SUV. The source also revealed that Kanye thinks the tiara will be a great gift for Nori, saying, ‘so when she plays dressup she’ll be a real princess’ And the Stronger hitmaker is super excited to get the tot her own set of wheels to match his, the source said: ‘he thinks it’s the coolest thing ever.

Kanye has also been planning to surprise wife Kim, 34, with some extravagant purchases, with a source claiming, ‘For Kim, he’s got specially commissioned designer clothes, shoes, bags, and jewels, too. Well, actually he asked his stylist to do it,’ While it’s no surprise that little North will be spoiled rotten this Christmas, Kim recently opened up to the UK’s Evening Standard that she wants

her little girl to know the true value of hard work.

The reality star explained: ‘I was saying that earlier to my friends, “I wonder what [North’s] first job is gonna be”.

And they were like, “What? She’s gonna have a job?” and I was like, “Are you kidding me? Of course she is.” She will have to work for what she wants,’ Meanwhile Kimye were spotted on a gym date at Barry’s bootcamp on Wednesday amid rumours they recently argued about where Kanye will spend Christmas. The music producer has been busy working on his upcoming album and even spent Thanksgiving in Paris last month, while Kim and North were home in Los Angeles. And according to In Touch, the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star became livid after the rapper threatened to spend Christmas away too. ‘They had it out over it,’ a source told the publication. ‘Kim lost it and was in tears. She screamed that she’s tired of him being a distant father and husband.’ Adding to her anger is the fact that Kanye often spends the night at his Hollywood Hills bachelor pad instead of at home with Kim, claimed the magazine.

One Direction

C M Y K

Priyanka Chopra on Gracia and talent deals for TV shows with ABC

don’t buy each other

A

fter beauty pageants, movies and recording albums, actress Priyanka Chopra has decided to descend into television. Not the mundane saasbahu rigmarole but the American TV soaps in the same league as Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and Castle. And that’s not all she has been signed for a lead role. Featured in Black and White on the cover of Grazia, the actress recently unveiled the magazine’ s December addition, here. She opined that Grazia was a fashion forward magazine in her

Christmas gifts

opinion and she felt that the attitude transcended into their work ethic as displayed during her photo shoot. the actress was given an assorted ensemble of clothing and accessories that belonged to other people. She felt that, that was the essence of fashion for people needed to feel comfortable in what they wore. She also expressed her gratitude for getting the chance to be on the cover of Grazia.

When she spoke to the media about signing a deal with American Broadcasting Company (ABC) she said, “I am honoured and excited to have inked this deal with ABC. The fact that the network will be develop-

ing customised TV content, specifically with me in mind, is amazing. I’ve been a long-time fan of ABC shows, and an admirer of how the network has changed the landscape of TV through the diversity of their lead characters. To follow in the footsteps of game-changers like Sofia Vergara, Kerry Washington and Eva Longoria is a matter of pride for me. I am looking forward to this endeavour.” She was recently voted the world’s sexiest Asian woman through an annual poll by a local UK weekly newspaper called the Eastern Eye. She also has Zoya Akhtar’s Dil Dhadakne Do coming up.

Rita Ora and Ricky Hil split

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ne Direction have revealed that they don’t buy presents for one another. Harry Styles gave the news, claiming the band are festive Scrooges who stopped getting each other gifts three years back. “The last time we got each other Christmas presents was 2011.” he told the Daily Star newspaper. Liam Payne added: “We are not very good at buying presents, we used to be very organised back in the day.” It isn’t just Christmas where they don’t shell out however, as they also don’t buy for each other’s birthdays.

Liam was responsible for organising birthday celebrations and treats for the group but relinquished his role when none of the

other members would help out.

He explained: “It was difïcult being the leader of the birthday club. It was not ideal, because none of the guys wanted to help out. I needed an assistant and someone to control the money.” Harry also claimed that he’s on a health kick for the foreseeable future. “I’m on the wagon for fitness reasons. I work out really hard and the quickest way to see results is to cut out the booze - especially wine and beer... If anything, I usually have a vodka tonic but I’m totally dry for Christmas. It’s the worst timing because everyone’s partying but I’m testing myself. Ice-cream is off limits too - I love it so much.”

ita Ora and her boyfriend of six months Ricky Hil have called time on their relationship. The singer and rapper - both 24 - have gone their separate ways after dating for half a year, because they “drifted apart” due to her busy schedule. A source told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “Rita is so busy she is just flat out at the moment.

“She’s recording ‘The Voice’ on BBC1, she has campaigns for make-up, clothing and a perfume coming out. “Not to mention featuring in a Hollywood film, performing for the Obamas this week and recording her second album. “Realistically, she doesn’t have time for a steady relationship. It’s not acrimonious - they just sort of drifted apart.” She has however vowed to stay friends with Ricky, but realises it isn’t “practical” for them to continue their relationship.

The source continued: “They had

a great time in Marrakech last month for her birthday but since then she has been working non-stop in the States.

“As much as she liked Ricky, her career is her priority at the moment, while he’s working on his own album.

“They do share a lot of mutual friends, though, so they’re bound to stay in touch. “However it’s just not practical to be together right now.” This split comes as Rita’s second of the year after she separated from DJ Calvin Harris after over a year of being together in June. That break-up was also blamed

by Rita on her schedule, with her recently saying: “There’s only so much you can do when you don’t see each other. I really admire people who have long-distance relationships. It’s an incredible achievement. I couldn’t do it.

“It was the right guy at the wrong time.

I was about to start a tour, and he was also all over the place.”

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India's Johnson goading Warriors overcome slow start to beat Thunder tactics explode in faces

Australia's Mitchell Johnson plays a shot on his way to a half century on the third day of the second cricket test against India in Brisbane, Australia, on Friday, December 19. (AP Photo)

BrisBane, DecemBer 19 (aFP): India paid a big price for goading Mitchell Johnson with the incensed paceman turning around the second Gabba Test with an explosive batting cameo.

The tourists lit the fuse with their sledging of Johnson and bowling short to him and two hours later were left lamenting a smoking knock from the ICC Cricketer of the Year.

Johnson came into bat with Australia shaky at 247 for six and still trailing India by 161 runs with four wickets left. He took to the bowlers, peeling off 88 runs off 93 balls with 13 fours and one six, and shared in a ground record 148 runs with skipper Steve Smith for the seventh wicket.

When Johnson left the ground the home side were 13 runs in arrears and headed for an innings lead

of 97.

Smith, who raised his second ton of the series with 133 off 191 balls, praised Johnson's contribution to the dramatic turnaround for the Australians. "He came out and was positive from ball one," Smith said. "They tried to be quite aggressive with him bowling short and trying to get stuck into him and I think that played into his favour.

"Mitch and Rohit (Sharma) were having a little bit of banter. He took them on and they didn't really have an answer for him."

Johnson treated shortpitch balls with some aggressive pull shots for boundaries and clubbed off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for a mighty six over long-on.

With Smith and Johnson leading the rearguard assault Australia's tail re-

sponded, putting on 258 for the last four wickets.

Mitchell Starc chipped in with 52 off 59 balls, Nathan Lyon hit 23 and Test debutant Josh Hazlewood cracked an unbeaten 32 to frustrate India's attempts.

"At six for 240-odd it didn't look that way but the tail came out and batted beautifully," Smith said. "Both Mitchs batted outstanding and Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood on debut were very good at the end. To get us over 500 with a lead of 97 put us in a very good position.

"When your tail bats like that it's a nightmare for the opposition."

Smith's hundred, his sixth in Tests, continued a golden patch for the new Australia skipper. Smith was not dismissed in last week's Adelaide Test with knocks of 162 and 52 and it took India 704 minutes to finally get Smith's wicket over three innings.

Smith, 25, who took over the captaincy after Michael Clarke injured his right hamstring in the first Adelaide Test, was the fifth Australian skipper to score a century in his first Test as captain. "I said in the press conference before the Test match that I wanted to lead from the front with my performances, so hopefully I've done that so far in this game and hopefully it continues for me as well," he said.

Kolkata take on KKT Annual Sports Meet underway Kerala in ISL finale

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mumBai, DecemBer 19 (ians): After two-andhalf months of engrossing football, Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) face Kerala Blasters FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) final here Saturday -- with both having fought their way through some memorable encounters to set up a mouth-watering summit clash for the inaugural competition.

What will provide extra attention to what promises to be an enthralling contest at the D.Y. Patil Stadium will be a face-off between former cricketing teammates and opening partners Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, respective coowners of the Kerala and Kolkata franchises.

Where both the teams promise a competitive display of football, it is also a battle for two cricketing greats off the field as Kerala is co-owned by former cricketer Tendulkar, and Atletico by former Indian cricket captain Ganguly, who will be cheering their team on from the stands.

Kerala Blasters advanced to the finale after emerging victorious in a hard-fought encounter against Chennaiyin FC. Atletico's path to the final was also anything but smooth. After playing out a 0-0 draw at home against FC Goa, they defended resolutely away at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Margao to force the match into penalties, winning 4-2 after the shoot-out, following two legs of goalless football.

Atletico were forced to field a depleted side against Goa that forced their coach Antonio Lopez Habas to adopt a safety-first approach. They will still be without their leading striker Fikru Teferra, who was ruled out of the final with a hamstring injury.

He has since been released by the franchise.

He has a grade 1 tear in his hamstring and will fly to

South Africa for treatment.

While Atletico's offensive strength will be considerably lessened by his absence, their defensive might will be bolstered by the return of Indian international Arnab Mondal, one of the bright Indian faces of the tournament.

Kerala will rely heavily on their star forward Canadian Iain Hume to provide the thrust upfront. They may even for a two-man strike line, throwing in Englishman Michael Chopra alongside the Canadian.

The magnanimity of the occasion may even tempt coach-cum-goalkeeper David James to take to the field. Their mid-field will be powered by the Indian duo of Ishfaq Ahmed and Sushant Mathew. Mathew will take to the field with renewed confidence after scoring one of the goals of the tournament against Chennaiyin FC in the first leg of the semi-final -- a 25-metre left-footed strike.

mOKOKchung, DecemBer 19 (DiPr): As part of the 68th Khar Students Union (KKT) General Conference, the annual sports meet of KKT was graced by Parliamentary Secretary, Geology & Mining, Dr. Longri, as chief guest on December 18 at Khar village. Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) President, Tongpang Ozukum, was the guest of honour on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Longri urged the students to take the occasion not only as a sports event but an opportunity to learn the customs and traditions of the village. Dr. Longri maintained that education and sports go hand and hand, therefore as students one must give importance in both disciplines to excel in life.

The chief guest also urged the villagers to cultivate civic consciousness there and asked the students to be the agents in educating the people for a better society.

NSF president, Tong-

Parliamentary Secretary, Geology & Mining, Dr. Longri and Naga Students' Federation President Tongpang Ozukum kicking off the 68th Khar Kaketshur Telongjem (KKT) Annual Sports Meet on December 18 at Local Ground, Khar Village, Mokokchung. (DIPR Photo)

pang Ozukum in his speech expressed appreciation to all the students representing the different unit for showing enthusiasm in coming to their native village, which he said was a sign of unity. He urged the students to be more sincere in their studies saying that the future lies in their hand.

Earlier on the day a seminar cum mass social work was held in the village. The resource persons in the seminar were Narola Chuba and Imtipokyim jamir who dwelt on the topic “Civic sense; why bother” and “Civic consciousness and community” respectively.

OaKLanD, DecemBer 19 (aP): Golden State rallied from an early 17-point deficit to beat Oklahoma City 114109 on Thursday, with Stephen Curry having 34 points and nine assists for the NBAleading Warriors.

The victory moved the Warriors two games clear of Memphis for the overall league lead, while Oklahoma City slipped to a mediocre 12-14 record and lost star player Kevin Durant to a sprained right ankle.

In other games, Anthony Davis led New Orleans to victory at Houston, Milwaukee used good outside shooting to edge Sacramento, and Chicago was too strong for struggling New York.

Golden State's Curry added seven rebounds, and Klay Thompson scored 19 points for the Warriors, who played without injured center Andrew Bogut (right knee) and forward David Lee (left hamstring) again. Bogut is out indefinitely.

Durant scored a season-high 30 points on 10for-13 shooting in a spectacular first half that ended with him stepping on Marreese Speights' foot.

Oklahoma City had won seven straight games, which was the longest active streak in the league.

Houston's Anthony Davis had 30 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks to lead the Pelicans to a 99-90 win at Houston. The Pelicans trailed by one early in the fourth quarter before using a 7-0 run to take a 79-73 lead and they didn't trail again. Ryan Anderson scored the last five points in that spurt to help New Orleans snap a six-game skid in Houston.

Houston's James Harden entered leading the NBA in scoring and had scored more than 40 points in two of his last three games. But he had a tough night by his standards and made just eight of 23 shots, finishing

Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry, left, celebrates with Draymond Green after Curry scored in the final seconds of an NBA basketball game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday, December 18, in Oakland, Calif. The Warriors won 114-109. (AP Photo)

Celtics trade Rondo to Mavericks BOsTOn, DecemBer 19 (aP): The Boston Celtics traded point guard Rajon Rondo to Dallas on Thursday, cutting ties with the last remnant of their last NBA championship while giving Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks a chance at another title.

The Celtics will send Rondo and forward Dwight Powell to Dallas for Jameer Nelson, Jae Crowder, Brandan Wright, two draft picks and a $12.9 million trade exception.

Boston got a first-round pick in next year's draft and a second-rounder in 2016. The Celtics have eight first-round picks in the next four years, picking them up in trades for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce and even coach Doc Rivers as they shed the pieces of the New Big Three that earned the franchise its unprecedented 17th NBA title in 2008.

The Mavericks get a pass-first point guard — a four-time all-star — to team with Nowitzki, Monta Ellis, Chandler Parsons and Tyson Chandler in what they hope will make them a contender again. Dallas is 19-8 this season but in third place in the Southwest Division and sixth in the Western Conference.

The Mavericks, who won their only NBA title in 2011, have not won a playoff series since.

The deal has been years in the making, with the Celtics shopping Rondo every time a coach grows tired of his moods or his contract expectations grow too large for their budget. But every previous time Boston management decided that the offers weren't enough. with 21 points.

Milwaukee sank 10 3-pointers in the first half and hung to edge Sacramento 108-107,

Chicago's Jimmy Butler scored a career-high 35 points to lead the Bulls to a 103-97 victory over New York.

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