December 19th, 2016

C M Y K

C M Y K

www.morungexpress.com

MonDAY • DeceMber 19 • 2016

DIMAPUR • Vol. XI • Issue 348 • 12 PAGes • 5

T H e

ESTD. 2005

P o W e R

The most powerful symptom of love is a tenderness which becomes at times almost insupportable Bollywood stars to spice up youth fest at Chungtiayimsen

Thousands wait to leave war torn Aleppo PAGE 09

reflections

By Sandemo Ngullie

— Victor Hugo

PAGE 02

PAGE 12

Violence erupts in Manipur, vehicles torched NSF condemns

DIMAPUR, DECEMBER 18 (MExN): The Naga Students' Federation (NSF) has condemned the “barbarism meted out to the innocent Naga people at Imphal,” while stating that “Nagas have always belief in the democratic and non violent means to assert our rights.” “But the act meted to the Nagas has become intolerable. Harassing and detaining innocent Naga travelers, the vandalization of the church, the burning of the vehicles is totally unacceptable,” a press note from the NSF said. It further cautioned that the Government of Manipur “will be solely responsible if any untoward incident happens to any Naga in the state of Manipur.”

CBi inquiry? oh, but do you have a valid reason for demanding CBi inquiry?

‘Naga people must defend our rights’

The Morung Express Poll QuEsTion

Vote on www.morungexpress.com SMS your anSwer to 9862574165 Do you think ACAUT Nagaland can provide an alternative political party and contest in the elections? Why? no

T R u T H

Real survive scare to win club cup with Ronaldo hat-trick

Nagaland CM asks for intervention from Centre

Yes

o F

A man walks past several vehicles torched by a mob at imphal East District in Manipur on December 15.

newmai news network

others

Imphal | December 18

Public Information

counter-blockade supporters.

22 Ukhrul-bound vehicles were completely charred. Many passengers were reported injured by stones pelted by the counter blockade supporters. Only two passenger vehicles including a bus managed to slip away.

State security personnel were escorting the Ukhrul and Kamjong bound vehicles, but the mob managed to overpower the security personnel. Additional security forces rushed to the area but it was too late.

Meanwhile, hundreds of passengers are now stranded.

The stranded passengers were given accommodation in a community hall before they were shifted to the 2nd Manipur Rifles battalion.

In another incident, a skir-

The Situation in Manipur turned extremely volatile today after 22 vehicles bound for Ukhrul and Kamjong districts were burnt down by a large mob at Khurai morung@gmail.com area of Imphal East district. Following the incident, the district Editor, administration of Imphal East The Morung Express district promulgated indefinite curfew in the whole of the district since 4:00pm today.

22 vehicles, including passenger carriers, were torched by counter-blockade supporters in Imphal East’ Khurai area along Imphal-Ukhrul road.

The arson attack started from morning. Cops resorted to firing tear gas canisters and DIMAPUR, DECEMBER rubber bullets to disperse the 18 (MExN): The Assam Rifles today refuted allegations that its personnel had detained one person on the basis of planted evidence.

A press note from the PRO, Morung Express news Women Police Station, Dimapur.

Assam Rifles, Nagaland Dimapur | December 18 The child was left to stated that troops of the AR had, “based on specific in- In a delayed report, it was walk back home on her telligence, along with police learnt that a 66 year old own after the offence had representative conducted man raped a minor at Old been committed—bleedan operation in Tuensang Showuba village here on ing profusely, she fell unconscious by the roadside. on December 12.” It stat- December 13.

As per the police, She was taken home by ed that while carrying out search of the house of one the incident occurred at neighbours and later adY Kiumesean Yimchun- around 3:00pm on De- mitted to CIHSR, according ger, the troops “recovered cember 13 when the 66 to the OC. The accused was arweapon and ammunition year old accused lured a which were illegally kept by 9 year old girl child from rested on the evening of the individual.” “The allega- the neighbourhood to his the same day but not withtion of AR personnel plac- house. She was on her way out civilian action. On having the said weapon inside back home from a shop ing learnt of the incident, the house is fabricated, fac- nearby when this hap- women from Old Showutually incorrect and laugh- pened, informed the Of- ba village came together ficer In-Charge (OC) of and beat up the accused, able,” the AR further said.

Press statements, memorandums, articles, reports and news related documents should be sent to

AR refutes allegations that it planted evidence

mish was reported from Khurai Puthiba Nandeibam Leikai where a large number of agitators attempted to prevent about 60 Ukhrul district-bound passenger vehicles.

The packed vehicles escorted by cops were stopped by the locals, which led to a skirmish between the agitators and police. However, the police managed to control the crowd and the vehicles managed to leave for Ukhrul.

It was further reported that agitating womenfolk of Sagolband Bijoygovinda area in Imphal West blocked movement of goods vehicles. The large number of protesters pulled down essential items from Keithelmanbi-bound Tata Magic vans.

The womenfolk from the Sagolband Bijoygovinda Mamang Leikai Meira Paibi bodies threw away the goods on the streets at Bijoygovinda.

Meanwhile, Nagaland Chief Minister, TR Zeliang has written to his Manipur counterpart seeking urgent and immediate intervention to ensure that the lives and property of Nagas in the Imphal valley are secured.

He also wrote to the Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh informing him of the situation in Manipur and urged urgent intervention from the Government of India.

The CM informed that the Nagaland Government, on its part, is taking all steps to “safeguard the safety of the Meiteis residing in or travelling through Nagaland.”

DIMAPUR, DECEMBER 18 (MExN):The NSCN (IM) today asserted that “leaving aside all our differences, Naga people must unite to defend our history, our land, our rights and our people from the adversaries.”

A press note from David Mero, Kilonser, Ministry of Education, NSCN (IM) alleged that present conflict in Manipur state was “lit by the Manipur Chief Minister Ibobi Singh by deliberately announcing creation of several districts slicing from the land of Nagas without consulting the Nagas. It added that “targeting their lives through serial bombings is tantamount to attacking the whole Naga people.”

It alleged that the Manipur Naga People’s Front (MNPF) “who own responsibility for the bombings are the puppet paid to serve the interest of Manipur valley based militants sponsored by Ibobi Singh.”

Stating that “lives of Naga people in Imphal valley is at risk,” the press note alleged that “they are not allowed to worship at church and threatened not to celebrate Christmas. They are prohibited to buy foodstuff from the market.”

It further alleged that more than forty (40) vehicles owned by the Nagas and belongings of passengers mostly students who are on their way to their respective villages for Christmas were burnt down and destroyed indiscriminately.

“Also they are forbidden to leave for their native villages. Today it is happening to Naga people in Manipur but tomorrow it may happen anywhere. It is time the whole Naga voiced as one to defend and rescue our brothers and sisters,” it said.

Further stating that the Government of India has “officially recognised the unique history and legitimate right of Nagas to integration,” it asked the Nagas of Nagaland state to “appreciate the maturity and experience on the part of India for rectifying past mistakes, that piecemeal solution cannot sail alongside the strong waves of the present day universal quest for peace and solution to all conflicts.

Minor raped; accused in judicial custody ‘Good Governance Day’ on Christmas informed the OC of the Women’s PS. He was later taken into police custody by the Women PS based on a complaint filed by the women’s group.

An FIR has been filed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POSCO) against the accused who has admitted to the crime to the police, informed the OC. He has already been forwarded to judicial custody.

Meanwhile, the case is under investigation. The Police have sent material evidence for exami-

nation to Kolkata from where an FSL report is expected, only after which a chargesheet will be filed.

The case will be heard by a fast track court in Dimapur, stated the OC. The POSCO Act of 2012 provides for special care to be provided to child victims of sexual abuse by the local police. It also makes provision for special courts, public prosecutor and police units for cases of this nature, with stipulated care to be given to the child who has faced sexual abuse at every stage of investigation.

ACAUT Nagaland calls for PM’s intervention Morung Express news Dimapur | December 18

The ACAUT Nagaland submitted a memorandum on December 18 to the Governor of Nagaland calling for the Prime Minister’s intervention to curb corruption in the state.

The memorandum to be forwarded to the Prime Minister demanded CBI inquiry into the “whole PDS (Public Distribution System) scam in Nagaland” spanning decades.

The memo while highlighting the circumstances surrounding the ACAUT’s stand on the PDS in Nagaland held that the “scam” could be the largest in the country even surpassing the scam in Arunachal Pradesh that cost Gegong Apang dearly.

Justifying the December 9 exposé and the subsequent action of the ACAUT, the memo stated that the ACAUT Nagaland visited M/S Lotha Trading Ageny and RZ Lotha Agency (godowns) based on a tipoff. As per the memo, the two godowns belonged to Tinku Sethi and Nirmal Jain and were running contrary to PDS guidelines. FIRs were lodged against the two firms based on the caretakers’ statements and

Guv appeals state govt to arrest corruption Morung Express news Dimapur | December 18

The Governor of Nagaland, PB Acharya responding to the ACAUT Nagaland memorandum to the Prime Minister stated that it will be forwarded to the Prime Minister’s Office.

Responding to queries from the media subsequent to the submission of the memorandum, the Governor stated that the ACAUT as an anti-corruption body is justified to expose corruption. It however should not come at the cost of “taking law into your own hands,” he added. against the Food & Civil Supplies (F&CS), Nagaland as well, it added.

“Later revelation has shown that RZ Lotha the state stockiest has executed power of attorney in favour of G. Sarkar and A. Jain.”

The memo citing RTI replies tipped the “PDS scams” at “multiple thousand crores.” Pointing out alleged anomalies in the wheat distribution segment as per records supplied through RTI, the memo stated that the Nagaland F&CS distributed more wheat than the quantity reportedly supplied by the Central government during

Commenting on the highhanded police action of December 15 on anti-corruption demonstrators, he said that the government has a duty to maintain law and order. He added that whether the police action was justified or not is upto to the court to settle provided someone appeals. On the flipside, he said that the government should also not misunderstand any movement that is in the interest of the people.

Taking a general stance, he said, “Corruption is here in the state” and it is for the government to respond to the people’s grievances. Appealing the government to deal with corruption with an iron hand, he said, “We have to arrest the corruption… whosoever it may be.”

2003-07. As per the records, 72.8 crore kg of wheat was distributed in Nagaland as against a total supply allocation of 51 crore kg between 2003-04 and 2014-15. This, it added, is inspite of the fact that wheat is not a stable of the Naga diet.

Out of a total of 20.19 crore litre of SK oil allocated to the state during 2003-04 and 2014-15, the memo alleged that only 8.28 crore litres were distributed. Stating some 11.9 crore litre was diverted during the period; it estimated that in monetary terms the diversion would amount to around Rs. 500 crore.

Stating that wrong-doers are being let scot-free while “whistle blowers and anti corruption activists are harassed and jailed,” the ACAUT Nagaland called upon the PM to initiate a “full and impartial” CBI inquiry in to the PDS in Nagaland. It further alleged that the people named in the PDS scam as carrying out “Benami transactions” by fronting business in Naga names to escape IT returns.

The ACAUT has meanwhile, in a press note, thanked those who showed their support during the signature campaign and the public rally.

CM says he expressed opposition to centre’s move DIMAPUR, DECEMBER 18 (MExN): Nagaland State Chief Minister, TR Zeliang today informed he along with other Chief Ministers from the North East had earlier this year opposed the central government’s move to hold December 25 as ‘Good Governance Day.’ A statement from the CMO informed that the Nagaland CM had apprised the PM that to hold such an observance on the date, no matter how noble the gesture or intention, would deeply hurt the religious sentiments of Christians.

“The Chief Minister is of the considered opinion that though Good Governance is constitutional right of the people, and though the date has been fixed to coincide with the birth day of revered leader of the nation and former Prime Minister of India, Atal Behari Vajpayee, the day being Christmas Day is inappropriate to hold any official function or occasion,” it stated.

It informed that as recent as December 12 last, the Chief Minister had written to the Prime Minister bringing to his notice the objections raised by various organisations in Nagaland against the declaration of December 25 as Good Governance Day. The Chief Minister pointed out that the Government of India has been continuously observing Christmas day as a national holiday ever since India’s Independence, and even before.

He had suggested to the Prime Minister that

DAN govt is least bothered: Congress DIMAPUR, DECEMBER 18 (MExN): The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) has stated that with Christmas just 5 days away, the DAN government has remained “silent, much worse impervious to the sentiment of perturbed Christian community in the State over BJP Government’s declaration of Good Governance Day on Christmas Day, likewise Judges’ Day on Good Friday and Yoga Day of Fathers’ Day.” It alleged that this “offensive arrangement was done not accidentally or thoughtlessly but intentionally on Hindutva mission to dissuade and thereby finish off every Christian related event or practice in land of future Hindustan.” A press note from the NPCC stated that that the DAN Government is “least bothered to raise any finger on such sensitive religious issue that otherwise might displease their BJP masters and affect material benefits.”

It claimed that the government is “sleeplessly, tirelessly busy pulling out every penny from its pocket, pulling out every human force and spending more than necessary to blow non-traditional-Hornbill Festival out of proportion.” The NPCC said that the present government has “forfeited the importance of celebrating Statehood Day on 1st December and even the universally observed Christmas Day.” While stating it is probable that the Nagaland State Government may not celebrate Good Governance Day, “only because of intense pressure brought by churches and civil societies,” the Congress however stated that Good Friday and Fathers’ Day are no less important to the Christians. “So also Statehood Day is far more significant than a cultural mela which the state government is trying to stage as the ultimate achievement of Nagaland,” it added.

If the government cannot ensure religious safety it must go, the NPCCC said, while stating that “this is not just a regular problem; this is a dangerous threat to our very existence. We will not allow some people to use power for religion or religion for power.”

The NPCC further said that it stands with churches, civil bodies and conscious individuals “who have seriously questioned the silence and indifference of the state government.” the ’Good Governance Day’ could be observed on some other more convenient date, so as not to hurt the sentiments of the minority Christian community in India.

“In the event that

changing of date is not possible, Nagaland State may be exempted from the obligation to organize any such official function on 25th December,” the Chief Minister had requested the Prime Minister.

2

MonDAY 19•12•2016

NAGALAND

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Kiphire extends solidarity Alempang Ward wins inter-ward CWS in fight against corruption beat contest in Mokokchung Kiphire, December 18 (mexN): The Citizen's Welfare Society (CWS), Kiphire has lauded the joint team of ACAUT and Concerned Citizens of Nagaland for “busting and unearthing” what it called multicrore PDS rice scam in Dimapur recently.

The Society in a press release extended solidarity to the joint team in their fight against “the corruption that threatens livelihoods, undermines development and

Morung Express News

Mokokchung | December 18

Five-member band from Alempang Ward lifted the 1st Inter-Ward Beat Contest Mokokchung, which was held at Town Hall on Saturday night and witnessed by retired Additional Development Commissioner, Planning & Co-ordination, Dr. Temsuwati as the chief guest.

The beat contest organized by Temulonger Telok on the theme – Music a soul, a thing for everything – was participated by nine bands representing nine wards of the town. The bands were made to present two 80’s rock music of their choice and the contest was judged by a panel of judges consisting three veteran musicians, namely Lanuakum, Tangit Imsong and L Alemtemsu.

After a night of rock music, the band from Alempang Ward emerged the ultimate winner; they also won three individual prizes in different categories.

The band from Sangtemla

dashes hopes for greater social justice.”

Meanwhile, it condemned the “dastardly act” of the Government and law enforcing agency in suppressing the voice of the common people against corruption when it resorted to brute force in dispersing and disrupting the peaceful rallies in Dimapur.

“The Society is also dismayed at the tardy response of the government in dealing with corrupt culprits and

criminals involved in the scam. These facts alone suggest the state government’s practice of shielding corrupt officials and criminals that are in collusion with higher rung officials across the department,” it added.

It further appealed to all right thinking citizens of Nagaland to launch a plan to fight corruption.

The Society also backed the demands put forth by ACAUT for a CBI probe into the entire PDS imbroglio.

NEISSR alumni for peace, equality The winners of the 1st Inter Ward Beat Contest Mokokchung, Alempang Ward holding the trophy along with the judges and others at Town Hall, Mokokchung on December 17.

Ward was adjudged the 1st runner-up.

The winning band was awarded a cash prize of Rs 20,000 plus certificates and a running trophy. The 1st runner-up was given cash prize of Rs 12,000 and certificates.

In the individual prize category, the Best Vocal was bagged by Taliyanger (Alempang Ward), Best

Guitarist – Pangjungsoba (Alempang Ward), Best Bassist – Imnajungla (Alempang Ward), and Best Drummer – Imlitoshi (Salangtem Ward).

Earlier in the programme, the chief guest Dr Temsuwati appreciated the organizers for coming up with the idea to host the first inter-ward beat contest, which he said will

provide a platform to the young upcoming musicians in the society. Pointing out that Mokokchung is known as the land of pioneers, he also challenged the audience to make Mokokchung a model district.

In this regard, he asserted that a model district would need model people and good leaders. He therefore challenged the youths to

become role models and responsible citizens for others to emulate and further urged the people to be united and bring about positive changes in the society.

Meanwhile, besides the participating bands, guest artists from ‘Four of Us’ band and also from Temulonger Telok entertained the audience with their special presentations.

Dimapur, December 18 (mexN): The Alumni Association of the North-East Institute of Social Science and Research (NEISSR) has asserted that it stands in support of individuals or groups who voice out for peace and equality and stands against any injustice.

Against the backdrop of the incident where ACAUT Nagaland members were imprisoned recently, the association stated it is “aggrieved by the situation where the good citizens

seeking for justice are being imprisoned.” It also voiced out against the corruption(s) prevailing in our society.

In a press release, it further asserted that the following ethics and cultures of the society have been breached: “The search for justice has been suppressed; The culture of the peaceful assembly of citizens is threatened with fear; The prior duty of the government to govern its people with justice is far more questionable; The

genuineness of the government is at stake.”

The alumni also stated if at all the government would like to run the State with an icon of justice, then the government must first learn to respect and treat everyone equally with justice and not according to its own whims and fancies.

“As long as injustice prevails and justice not delivered, the association will stand for the truth for the rights of the people and strongly stand against corruption and injustice.”

Bollywood stars to spice up youth fest at Chungtiayimsen

moKoKchuNg, December 18 (mexN): A host of celebrities from the Indian film industry and other dignitaries are set to captivate the 2nd Youth Fest 2016 organized by REM Group (a business conglomerate) at Chungtiayimsen in Mokokchung. The fest will formally kick off on December 19 at 7:00 am and end on December 20.

Under the theme, Peace, Progress & Prosperity, the fest is being organized as part of REM Group’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) with an aim to promote the talents and provide platform to the youths towards self-sustenance and dignity, according to a press release from Media Cell, REM Group.

Among the special guests are well known Bollywood celebrities like Mahima Chaudhry and Rajpal Yadav. The chairman of AbhiAn 82-year-old man clips his 78-year-old wife’s fingernail while they enjoy the early morning sunlight together outside their kitchen at Yimyu in Mokokchung.

‘Management Games for Trainers’ meDziphema, December 18 (mexN): Extension Education Institute - North East Region (EEI - NER), Assam Agricultural University (AAU), Jorhat in collaboration with State Agricultural Management and Extension Training Institute (SAMETI), Nagaland organised a training on ‘Management Games for Trainers’ from December 14–17 at SAMETI, Medziphema. The training was aimed at equipping ATMA functionaries from all districts with skills for imparting need based training to the clientele group, the farmers.

The resource persons for the training were Dr. AK Bhattacharya, Professor, EEI, AAU, Jorhat and Dr. BL Khuhly, Research Associate, EEI, AAU, Jorhat. A plethora of topics such as Concept of management and management games; Application of management games and their advantages in job accomplishment; Management game I (conflict manage-

Dr. AK Bhattacharya, Associate Professor, EEI, AAU Jorhat along with ATMA functionaries during the off-campus training at SAMETI, Medziphema.

ment), Management game II (Ego gram); Management game III (Leadership); Management game IV (Listening); Management game V (A systematic approach); Management game VI (A systematic approach-A); Management game VII (Synchronise walking); Management game VIII (A systematic approach-B); Management game IX (A systematic- C); Consolidation of lessons learnt were imparted by the resource persons. The training course also comprised

of feedback presentation and course evaluation.

The valedictory function was chaired by Sentinaro Longchar, DPD SAMETI, while feedback from the trainees was given by Subenthung Odyuo, DPD Mon and Watisenla Imsong, ATM, Tuensang.

In his speech, Course Director, Dr. AK Bhattacharya encouraged the trainees to take the training experience to their respective posting places and impart the knowledge to the target group.

Avishek Sinha and Keka Ghoshal, Bollywood film producer Rebecca Changkija, Bollywood director Shiraz Henry and the Adrika dance group are set to take part in the two-day youth fest.

The first day of the fest will be kicked off with a ‘Half-marathon race’ at 7:00 am, followed by indigenous games competition and

Livingstone Foundation Hr. Sec. School wins Jury’s Choice Award at India’s School Merit Awards

Dimapur, December 18 (mexN): Livingstone Foundation Hr. Sec. School Dimapur was felicitated with the Jury’s Choice Award as India’s Best School for Exemplary Contribution in the Field of Education at the India’s School Merit Awards 2016-17 which was held at the Grand Chancery Pavillion, Bengaluru on December 10.

The award was received

Santa Claus in Angami traditional attire stands tall along National Highway at Sechu Zubza in Kohima district. (Morung Photo by Chizokho Vero)

rav Infra & Realtors Pvt Ltd, Gurav Sehgal is also among the special guests, while the Advisor Security to the Chief Minister & President National Association of Progressive Civil Servants, Sandeep M Tamgade (IPS) will grace the fest as the guest of honour.

Besides, other well known celebrities like Bollywood singer

career counseling. A formal programme will be held at 2:00 pm and it will conclude with a Bollywood night.

The second day will witness more competition hour in different indigenous games like cockfight, tug-of-war, earthen pot making, essay competition etc. The main attractions of day two will be the beat contest ‘Clash of the Bands’ and the Bollywood night in the evening, where the Bollywood stars will take to the stage and enthrall the audience. There will also be different stalls like food stalls for the visitors to relish the cuisines.

The REM Group has extended invitation to all the public to come and enjoy the youth fest “which is aimed at celebrating and promoting youth life towards a positive, self-sustaining and dignified Naga society.”

on behalf of the school by its Chairman cum Principal, Andrew Ahoto along with his wife Ani Yepthomi, Director of the Junior High, Livingstone Foundation Hr. Sec. School, a press release informed.

India’s School Merit Awards is an award programme organized by the Education Today Group in association with Gems Education to honor and felicitate top schools of India

under CBSE, IB, ICSE and other State Boards in various fields.

Livingstone Foundation Hr. Sec. School was the only school from the entire State of Nagaland to be awarded at the award event where top notch schools from the region like St. Joseph’s School, Darjeeling and The Assam Valley School, Tezpur were also felicitated in various categories, the release added.

Governor of Nagaland, PB Acharya interacting with Dr. Kahuka Sema and staff of Family Health Clinic, Dimapur who were promoting Venus Viva at the Dimapur Night Carnival on December 17. (Inset) Governor undergoing a treatment with Venus Viva.

Holy Cross Parish youth celebrate silver jubilee Dimapur, December 18 (mexN): The Catholic Youth Association (CYA) of Holy Cross Parish, Dimapur celebrated its silver jubilee with Most Rev. Dr. James Thoppil, Bishop of Kohima, as the main celebrant on December 18.

Rev. Fr. PJ Thomas, Parish Priest, Holy Cross, Dimapur, George Anthony, Parish Priest, Lakhuti along with many other priests concelebrated the Holy Eucharist.

Albert, president of CYA in his welcome address enumerated the service of the CYA since its inception in 1991, incidentally during the tenure of the now Bishop of Kohima and Fr. Joseph K.M. when they were the parish priest and assistant priest respectively of Holy Cross Church, informed a press release from Fr. Thomas Toretkiu, Bishop’s Secretary.

Bishop in his homily greeted and congratulated the youth of Holy Cross, Dimapur. “Like any jubilee, this celebration must look to the past with gratitude, live the present with passion and look to the future with hope,” he urged.

While reflecting the read-

Bishop of Kohima with others during the silver jubilee of CYA of Holy Cross Parish, Dimapur on December 18.

ings of the fourth Sunday of Advent, the Bishop cited the example of St. Joseph who went beyond his personal and community plan to carry out God’s plan and invited the youth to be open to God’s plan, which at times may be contrary to one’s plans and programs.

Like in Joseph’s life, the Bishop said, God intervenes in ours too now and then to reverse our plans.

“Against all odds, Joseph decided to marry Mary because he clearly saw it as God’s will. As we prepare for Christmas, we are invited to imitate his faith which prompts us to fore-

go our plans or change our decisions in order to accept God’s,” he stated.

Rev. Dr. James further noted that Joseph’s decision not to put Mary to public disgrace and dismiss her quietly indicates his Christ-like compassion for wrongdoers and the erring. “Without any trace of compassion towards the erring, how can we welcome the Lord who came to desire mercy and not ritual sacrifices (Mt 9:13; 12:7)?” the Bishop asked. “…Sometimes we are so much led by our selfish desires, personal ambitions and public or peer pressure that we

fail to act on what we believe to be true and right. In and through Jesus God becomes Emmanuel, that is, a God comes to walk neither ahead of us nor behind us, but along with us. As God chose to be Emmanuel and dwell among us (Jn 1:14) each one of us could choose to be an Emmanuel – a sign of God’s presence – for the world around us.”

In the short felicitation programme, L. David Rongmei, the first president of CYA, shared his experience. He said that the catholicity of the Church is manifested when youth of the parish come together

without distinction of tribe or tongue. He urged the CYA to work for the glory of God without self interest or any distinction.

Wilfred Humtsoe said the invocation prayer for the felicitation program and Adrian Mahung, Convener, said the welcome address. The jubilee choir presented the anthem and voices of Stephen Ngullie and Romet mesmerized the audience. Mhabeni Yanthan and Ketho Angelus anchored the programme, while Thungbeni Humtsoe, general secretary, Jubilee proposed the vote of thanks.

Monday 19•12•2016

NORTH-EAST 3

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Curfew in Imphal, mobile internet snapped after violence Imphal, December 18 (pTI): In the wake of heightened tension and violence, parts of Manipur capital Imphal were today brought under indefinite curfew and mobile internet services were snapped at various places to prevent spread of rumours over an alleged attack on a church.

The curfew was imposed this noon and covers Porompat and Sawombung subdivisions of Imphal East district, said an order issued by the District Magistrate. It will continue till further directions.

Earlier in the day, the state Cabinet decided to shut down mobile internet services in Imphal West district with immediate effect, taking serious note on the prevailing situation here following three blasts on Friday.

The Imphal West District Magistrate issued an

order directing telecom operators to shut down mobile data service in the district immediately until Newmai News Network lowed to happen. "How could such further orders. incident take place in high security Senapati | December 18 The action came in the zone?" it asked. wake of tensions following The United Naga Council (UNC) while Alleging that the violence was sponFriday's blasts and an alstrongly condemning the act of the mob sored by the Manipur Government, the leged attack on a church. at Khurai area, has accused the Manipur Council insisted that the state governMajor areas of the state Government and the Central Govern- ment had had let loose a "reign of terror" capital fall in Imphal West ment of inaction on the prevailing situa- on innocent Naga public. district where the three tion in Manipur and warned that the two Besides injury to many, today's atblasts had taken place governments will be held responsible for tacks had damaged properties worth within an hour on Friday the consequences of today's mob attack. crores of rupees, the UNC claimed. evening.

The UNC claimed that 45 vehicles While stating that the State GovernThe Cabinet decision were vandalised by the mob at Khurai ment “provides adequate security to came after analysis of the area in Imphal East district this morn- trucks transporting goods for the valley,” prevailing law and oring. It also said that the area falls within the Council censured the state governder situation and to halt the municipality area where the Gov- ment for ignoring the lives and properspreading of rumours ernor, the Chief Minister, the Deputy ties of the Nagas in Imphal. through social networking Chief Minister/Home Minister, the Further, the UNC has urged Nagas to sites, officials said.

Chief Secretary and the Director Gen- remain alert to face any eventuality. "We The move was preeral of Police (DGP) are stationed but should remain firm and united at this ceded by a 24-hour bandh mob action such as today's was al- juncture," the UNC statement added. called to protest hill based militants' attacks on Manipur Police in the last few The capital today saw days in different parts of the snatched several weapons lence by deploying a large number of police person- violence by protesters who state that left three police- from the IRB personnel.

All measures were be- nel at sensitive areas of the were agitating against the men dead and 14 others injured. The militants also ing taken to contain vio- state, a police officer said. ongoing economic block-

UNC condemns violence

ade in the state and a series of terrorist attacks. A number of vehicles were set on fire or vandalised.

The landlocked state has been experiencing severe hardship in supply of essential items since November 1 after United Naga Council (UNC) imposed an indefinite economic blockade on the two national highways that serve as lifeline for the state.

The blockade was imposed following the state government's announcement of formation of seven new districts, four of which have been formally inaugurated.

Tension in the state heightened after suspected militants continued their violent attacks on Manipur Police and other state forces in the last few days that left three policemen dead and 14 others injured last Thursday.

The attack was followed by triple bomb blasts at Nagaram area in Imphal West district allegedly by Manipur Naga People's Front on Friday.

In another incident,

suspected militants overpowered a small outpost of Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) at Nungkao area yesterday in Tamenglong district and fled with nine service weapons.

AffidAvit

AffidAvit

I, Shri. Ilungongbe Kenn S/o, Pauhia Kenn of Jalukie Town, PO & PS Jalukie, Peren Dist. Nagaland hereby declared that: 1. That I am the deponent of this affidavit. 2. That the name Ilungongbe Kenn and Ilunggongbe is of same person.

3. I hereby declared that my correct name is Ilungongbe Kenn and shall be use for all official purposes in the future.

I, Mr. Mireisim Disuang S/o.

Lt. Deirai, of Peren Dist. Nagaland hereby declared that: 1. That I am the deponent of this affidavit. 2. That the name Mr. Reisim and Mr. Mireisim Disuang is of same person. 3. I hereby declared that my correct name is Mr. Mireisim Disuang and shall be use for all official purposes in the future.

Regd. No. 288

Deponent 1st Class Magistrate

Regd. No. 290

Deponent 1st Class Magistrate

RNPO(NE) condoles NE student slips from hostel balcony, dies Assam BJP celebrates pre-C'mas DImapur, December 18 (mexN): The Rongmei Naga People’s Organization (North East) has expressed shock to hear of the untimely demise of musician, singer and composer Guru Jiangam Kamei.

Referring to Guru Jiangnam as “Rongmei music doyen”, a condolence message from the RNPO stated that his demise is a huge loss to the music world and that he will always be remembered for his contributions.

“Guru Jiangam’s singing appealed to connoisseurs and laymen alike, and imprinted in the hearts of thousands of music lovers in Northeast especially amongst the Zeliangrong people in Manipur, Nagaland and Assam,” the message from the RNPO read.

“As musician and archetypical pleasant human being to scores of people both in and outside Manipur, he will be deeply missed by everyone whose lives he touched in so many different ways.”

The RNPO conveyed heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family and prayed for the departed soul to rest in peace.

“He will always be alive with his music,” it added.

JaIpur, December 18 (pTI): A 19-year-old B.Tech student from the North East, who was trying to hide from the warden after allegedly drinking with friends and entering into an argument with some others, died after trying to climb down from the third floor balcony of his hostel at a private university in Rajasthan's Tonk district.

The student Haatma was injured on the intervening night of December 14-15 and was admitted to a private hospital in Jaipur and died last evening, SHO, Niwai, Ramavtar Singh Takhar said today.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju has taken "very serious" note of the incident and asked the "authorities and Rajasthan Police to conduct proper and speedy inquiry and submit a report". SP Tonk Priti Jain said that no suspicious activity was found in CCTV footage of that night. "The student consumed liquor with four other students of northeast in the hostel room of one of the students on the night of December 14.

After some time, the boys had heated argument with some other boys and

started shouting. When the hostel warden came, all of them ran away from there to hide," Jain said.

The boy, who died, entered the room of some other student in a hurry, which is visible in the CCTV footage. He hid in the balcony and was trying to get down from there through a pillar but slipped and fell down from the third-storey.

In the pandemonium on the campus of K N Modi University, no one heard his cries.

When the situation got normal after some time, all the other students went to their respective rooms to sleep and Haatma was found lying in an unconscious state in the morning. "We have collected all the evidence and the statements of other students who were drinking with him have been recorded.

His family members gave us a complaint which is being examined," she said.

The family members along with leaders of some students union of North East arrived in Tonk yesterday and have been shown the CCTV footage and other evidence.

Dhruva Saikia Guwahati | December 18

In a first of its kind in Assam, the ruling party BJP, through its Minority Cell led by Syed Muminul Aowal, organized a pre-Christmas celebration at a restaurant in the city on Saturday which was graced by the Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

Sonowal was joined by two others ministers – Atul Bora and Keshab Mahanta, MP Biswajit Daimari , and MLA from Bokajan Dr N Momin.

A large number of Christian luminaries, church leaders and believers from 45 churches, including the principals of Don Bosco and Saint Mary’s High School, also attended the occasion.

The Chief Minister in his speech said that the government would endeavour to strengthen the bond among all sections of the people, in the light of the philosophy of Integral Humanism espoused by BJP’s ideologue Deendayal Upadhyaya.

MP Daimari said that though BJP is conceived as a party for Hindus, the programme is a sign to the contrary.

The programme began with a dance by Korean artists.

45 churches from Guwahati participated in the programme.

The programme was a brainchild of Syed Muminul Aowal, president of BJP Assam state unit Minority Morcha.

Cultural items were presented by a number of churches, much to the delight of the nearly one thousand people gathered.

iN tHE GAUHAti HiGH COURt

(tHE HiGH COURt Of ASSAM: NAGALANd: MiZORAM ANd ARUNACHAL PRAdESH) KOHiMA BENCH

W.P.(C).NO.202(K)2016 To

All Nagaland Pre-Service Teachers Association …Petitioners

Sl. ResponName of Primary Teacher No. dent No. 1 7 Smti. Waisenla 2 8 Smti. G.Lydia Yeptho 3 9 Smti. Alito V.Awomi 4 10 Shri. Rokokholie Seyie 5 11 Shri. Lettinkhup Doungel 6 12 Shri. K.Botovi Aye 7 13 Smti. Neilabeinuo 8 14 Shri. Nungtoksunep 9 15 Smti. Keneitsiu Keyho 10 16 Smti. Marina Ayemi 11 17 Shri Vitopu P.Chishi 12 18 Shri L.Rishilong 13 19 Smti. I.Chipen Imlong 14 20 Shri Puloto I.Aye 15 21 Smti. Lopilo Shitiri 16 22 Shri N.Kuluka Chishi 17 23 Smti. Sendongkala 18 24 Smti. Ngangshimongla 19 25 Smti. Aghatoli P.Sumi 20 26 Shri. Senenlo Kath 21 27 Smti. S.Toli 22 28 Smti. Visielhouno Chase 23 29 Smti. Juvika Z.Shohe 24 30 Shri. Kejingse Yimchunger 25 31 Shri Amento Sumi 26 32 Shri. Tokishe T.Yeptho 27 33 Smti. Veswuvolu Dawhuo 28 34 Smti. Inatoli H.Yepthomi 29 35 Shri Hitoka Yeptho 30 36 Smti. Livi K Kiba, 31 37 Shri Chiphachu Trakha 32 38 Shri Hinoka A. Zhimomi 33 39 Shri Kiyeto Z.Tuccu 34 40 Smti. Hanenli Kez 35 41 Smti. D.Kalivi Swu 36 42 Smti. Limanaro 37 43 Shri Tokato K. 38 44 Shri Akumtoshi 39 45 Shri H.Khetoho Aye 40 46 Shri John Sema 41 47 Smti. Akatoli Tuccu 42 48 Smti. Alito Swu 43 49 Smti. Kikali R.Chishi 44 50 Smti. P.Litoli Shohe 45 51 Smti. Kavitoli H.Assumi 46 52 Shri Tohuto A.Yeptho 47 53 Smti. Kaviholi Aye 48 54 Shri. Vechosu Rakhon 49 55 Smti. Mudosalu Rakho 50 56 Shri. Vezoto Lohe 51 57 Shri. Sezokho 52 58 Shri. Thepuzo Keyho 53 59 Smti. Khruvotalu 54 60 Smti. Titikuli Tahe 55 61 Shri. Vikeyi Koza 56 62 Smti.Teisovino 57 63 Smti.Tavi Sekhamo, 58 64 Shri. Terho Letro 59 65 Shri. Vekhrolo Koza 60 66 Shri. Kewekhe Lashu 61 67 Smti. Kuthoselu Nakhro 62 68 Shri. Jacob Domeh 63 69 Shri. Zekotso Khape 64 70 Smti.Akhole Ritse 65 71 Shri.Medo K.Thirah 66 72 Shri. Kutsho Kreo 67 73 Shri. Zasheto Chizo 68 74 Shri. Thupukhruyi Lohe 69 75 Shri. Kewekhape 70 76 Shri. Kuzhoyi Vese 71 77 Smti. Bedusulu Lohe 72 78 Shri. Keneingulo Koza 73 79 Shri. Faithson 74 80 Smti. Tafi

Place of Posting GPS Diphupar ‘Ao’ GMS Sarbura, GPS Toluvi GPS Medziphema GPS Phaipijang GPS Pukhato GMS Bamunpukhuri‘B’ GPS Aoyim GPS Piphema GPS Khekiho GPS Khehokhu GPS Sarbura GMS Chekiye GMS Kushiabill GMS Nahabari GPS Nihoto GPS Town Primary GPS Indisen (Ao Kashiram) GPS Darogajan GMS Dubagaon GPS Doshehe GMS Tsuuma GPS Shitovi GMS Showuba GPS Pimla GPS Aghunato village GPS Lingrijan GMS Rangapahar GPS Bamunpukuri GPS Padumpukhuri GPS Burma Camp GMS Kiyeto GPS Yeveto GPS Tenyiphe-I GPS Pihekhu, GPS Tohoi GPS Zuheshe GPS Hezulho GPS Hovishe GMS Zukihe GMS Hovishe GPS Nikhekhu GPS Nikihe GPS Hezulho GPS Luhevi GPS Zutoi GMS Vishiyi GPS Thipuzu GPS Phuhgi GPS Yoruba GPS Dzulha GPS Chozuba‘A’ village GPS Thevopisu Sector ‘B’ GPS Sumi GPS Khezhakeno GMS Chizami Old Town GPS Tsupfume GPS Lawouza GPS Komuno GPS Chizami GPS Phola Bawe GPS Razeba village GPS Kami village GPS Pfutseromi GPS R.D. Block Kikruma GPS Lasumi GPS Tezatse GMS Khuza, GPS Losa Basa GPS Lozaphuhu village GPS K.Khuno GPS Losami Tephe GPS Kanjan GPS Kuzatu

SDEO Dimapur Dimapur Dimapur Dimapur Dimapur Dimapur Dimapur Dimapur Dimapur Dimapur Dimapur Dimapur Dimapur Dimapur Dimapur Dimapur Dimapur Nuiland Dimapur Dimapur Dimapur Dimapur Dimapur Dimapur Dimapur Dimapur Dimapur Dimapur Nuiland Dimapur Dimapur Dimapur Dimapur Dimapur Nuiland Nuiland Nuiland Nuiland Nuiland Nuiland Nuiland Nuiland Nuiland Nuiland Nuiland Nuiland Nuiland Chozuba, Phek Chozuba, Phek Chozuba, Phek Chozuba, Phek Chozuba, Phek Chozuba, Phek Pfutsero, Phek Pfutsero, Phek Pfutsero, Phek Pfutsero, Phek Pfutsero, Phek Pfutsero, Phek Pfutsero, Phek Pfutsero, Phek Pfutsero, Phek Pfutsero, Phek Pfutsero, Phek Pfutsero, Phek Pfutsero, Phek Phek Phek Phek Phek Phek Phek Meluri, Phek Meluri, Phek

Sl. ResponName of Primary Teacher No. dent No. 75 81 Smti. Luchhu 76 82 Shri. Rhosatho Nyuwi 77 83 Smti.Mercy 78 84 Shri. Yiluchu 79 85 Smti. Cusuni 80 86 Smti. T.Lily 81 87 Smti. Lusi Fithu 82 88 Smti. Akou Huozha 83 89 Smti.Neilhoutseiu Khoubve 84 90 Shri. Kevilesa Rupre-o 85 91 Shri. Kekhriesetuo 86 92 Smti. Ketseie 87 93 Smti. Neihenuo Chadi 88 94 Smti. Zhanuo Thevo 89 95 Shri. Kejvuyhun Seb 90 96 Shri. Lot Semy 91 97 Smti. Seketonu Kweho 92 98 Smti. Vizovole Noho, 93 99 Smti. Neivonuo 94 100 Shri. Tepukevi Thapru 95 101 Smti. Puleno Sothu 96 102 Smti. Zekhovinuo Yietsu 97 103 Smti. Vakhrakrole Teresa 98 104 Smti. Kevihienuo Sophie 99 105 Shri. Neivilhou Kuotsu, 100 106 Smti. Keneilhouvonuo Mepfhuo 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119

107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125

Shri. Chusiviko Chusi Smti. Keviyienuo Rose Theyo Smti. Vimetsinu Shri. Kevilhoupra Linyu Smti. Yavilhoukhonuo Smti. Keviseyienuo Solo Smti. Neikethono Kruse Smti. Olika Chishi Shri. Khetoho Sumi Shri. Kaviho Kakuho Smti. Kiyetoli S.Zhimo Shri. Yeloka H.Sumi Shri. Kinito Ayemi Smti. Rubika T. Shri. Kavi K.Chishi Shri. Aloto Zhimo Smti. Lito V. Shri. Khevuto H. Shri. Aketo Z.Sema

120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147

126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153

Smti. Ikali K. Smti. Grace H.Yeptho Smti. Liza Chishi Shri. Tokhuye Z Wotsa Shri. Daniel Smti. Shikatoli Y. Kibami Smti. Anatoli Chishi Smti. N. Kaholi Sema Shri. Kakuto Sumi Smti. Lovitoli Sumi Shri. Aboka H.Achumi Shri. Inaghu N. Shri. Bovito T.Tucca Smti. Yevili Kinimi Shri. Ngukavi Assumi Shri. Toshika Shri. K.Ilonto Sumi Shri. Lungba Pame Shri. Meliamgging Nchang Shri. Lalminlum Singsit Shri. Paotinngam Shri. Caleb Chuilo Smti. Aguina Shri. Jhangthang Singson Shri. Kepualung Smti. Namridinliu Smti. Lhingneilhai Thomsong Shri. Haiamhing Pame

Versus

The State of Nagaland & 216 Ors.

Place of Posting GPS Upper Phor GPS Meluri GPS Matikhru GPS Hutsu Village GPS Shatuza GPS Phokhungri GPS Kukegwo GPS Meriema GPS Ziezou GPS Nachama GPS Phekerkriema Bawe GPS Zhadi Kimho GPS Chiecha Basa GPS Seiyhama Village GPS Tseminyu Town GPS Khenyu GPS Kezieke GPS Kezoma Village GPS Mezoma GPS Khuzama GPS R.Khel Viswema GPS Mitelephe GPS P.Khel Viswema GMS Bayavu GPS Sechü (Zubza) GPS High School Area Kohima GMS Mezoma GPS Mezo Phetsu GPS Kidima GMS Daklane GPS Mezoma GPS Kigwema ‘B’ GPS Thekrejuma GHS Shovishe Memorial GPS Satoi GMS Aghuito GPS Shoto GPS New Town Satakha GPS Satakha Old Town GPS Yehemi GPS Lotisa New GPS Tsutoho GPS New Colony Zunheboto GPS Yemishe Project Govt. High School Zunheboto Project GPS Lizu Old GPS Alahuto GPS Apukito GPS Baimho GPS Laghilato GPS Alahuto GPS Litsami GPS Aotsakili GPS Hekiye GPS Viyilho GPS Akhakhu GPS Lukhuyi GPS Asuto Village GPS Awohumi GPS Awohumi GMS Kichilimi GPS Ghathashi GMS New Beisumpui GPS Nchangram GMS Saijang GPS Old Soget GPS Poilwa GPS Old Tesen GPS Ahithibung GPS Beisumpuikam GPS Tening Christian Village GMS Saijang Village GMS Mhaikam

SDEO Meluri, Phek Meluri, Phek Meluri, Phek Meluri, Phek Meluri, Phek Meluri, Phek Meluri, Phek Chiephobozou Chiephobozou Chiephobozou Chiephobozou Chiephobozou Chiephobozou Chiephobozou Tseminyu Tseminyu Kohima Kohima Kohima Kohima Kohima Kohima Kohima Kohima Kohima Kohima Kohima Kohima Kohima Kohima Kohima Kohima Kohima Zunheboto Zunheboto Zunheboto Zunheboto Zunheboto Zunheboto Zunheboto Zunheboto Zunheboto Zunheboto Zunheboto Zunheboto Zunheboto Zunheboto Zunheboto Zunheboto Zunheboto Zunheboto Zunheboto Zunheboto Zunheboto Aghunato Aghunato Aghunato Aghunato Pughoboto Pughoboto Pughoboto Pughoboto Peren Peren Peren Peren Peren Peren Peren Peren Peren Peren Peren

… Respondents

Sl. ResponName of Primary Teacher No. dent No. 148 154 Shri. Haisuiteulung Newme 149 155 Shri. Diswangbo Nchang 150 156 Smti. Rosaling 151 157 Shri. John Sitlhou 152 158 Smti. Wilamthun Nchang 153 159 Smti. Iluchule Disuang 154 160 Shri. Kiedirie 155 161 Shri. Haokholen 156 162 Smti. M.Vonchano Ezung 157 163 Smti. R.Mhonyani Patton 158 164 Shri. Y.Chonben Murry 159 165 Shri. Achumthung 160 166 Shri. Lidemo T.Odyuo 161 167 Smti. Arhoni N.Tsopoe 162 168 Shri. N.Libenthung Ovung 163 169 Smti. Emilo Ezung 164 170 Smti. Chibeni Kithan 165 171 Smti. Rose Mary Tungoe 166 172 Smti. Sorenbeni N.Odyuo 167 173 Shri. Chonben Humtsoe 168 174 Shri. R.Myanthung Murry 169 175 Smti. Achumi Ngullie 170 176 Shri. Yanpo Odyuo 171 177 Smti. Emilo Jami 172 178 Shri. Y.Joseph Tungoe 173 179 Smti. Nsungbeni L.Yanthan 174 180 Shri. Mhonthung 175 181 Shri. Opongthung Yanthan 176 182 Smti. Mhonbeni Patton 177 183 Shri. Ajanthung Odyuo 178 184 Shri. Nungshisosang 179 185 Shri. Taliwati Longchar 180 186 Shri. Aoshilu Muzur 181 187 Smti. Tiamongla 182 188 Shri. Imijangba 183 189 Shri. Samaner 184 190 Shri. Imtiyongdang Longkumer 185 191 Smti.Kileminla 186 192 Smti. Songsonginla 187 193 Shri. Sangtilong Kichu 188 194 Smti. Imnasenla I.Aier 189 195 Shri. Lanutushi 190 196 Shri. Pangersosang 191 197 Shri. Watimaong 192 198 Smti. Aochila Pongen 193 199 Smti. Nukshienla 194 200 Shri. Kikatemsu 195 201 Smti. Tiamongla 196 202 Smti. Toshinaro 197 203 Smti. Bendangtula Ao 198 204 Shri. Arenmongba Aier 199 205 Smti. Imlirenla 200 206 Smti. Tiasongla 201 207 Smti. Satemkala 202 208 Smti. Temsuinla 203 209 Smti. Rongsenkala Longkumer 204 210 Smti. Imnasangla Tzudir 205 211 Smti. Merenyangla 206 212 Smti. Menangkumla 207 213 Shri. Imnangangin 208 214 Shri. Tianukshi 209 215 Smti. Repalila 210 216 Shri. S.Limasangwa 211 217 Shri. Wapangtemjen

Place of Posting GPS Nzauna GPS Jalukie ‘B’ GPS Kipeujang Peren GPS New Chalkot GPS Nchangram GMS Peren GMS DC Colony GPS Pellhang GMS Wokha Town ‘A’ GPS G.H.S.S. Ward GPS N.Longidang GPS Pyochu GPS Phiro ‘B’ GPS Aree Old GPS Lotsu GPS Meriyan GPS Wokha Town ‘B’ GPS Old Riphyim Sector ‘A’ GPS Sunglup GPS Riphyim old-A GPS N/Longidang GPS Chudi GPS Marakjo GPS Upper NST Ward GPS Wokha Village ‘B’ GMS Wokha Town-C GPS Tsuchanphen GPS Lakhuti GMS Lio-Longidang GPS Longayim GMS Kumlong GPS Chungtia ‘B’ GPS Chakpa ‘A’ Govt.School Kobulong GPS Liden Ungma GPSMopungchuket ‘A’ GPS Mongda Chuchuyimlang GPS Mopungchuket GPS Alongchen Sungratsu GPS Khensa Old GPS Longpha Govt. High School Longsa GPS Resongkong Longmisa GPS Jangjang Longmisa GMS Sabangya GPS Tongpangriju Longkum GPS Waromong Compound GPS Tsurmen GPS Mangkolemba GPS Longtho GPS Longphayimsen GPS Luyong GPS Yimchenkimong GPS Tekongkulem GPS Yimsenkiong Waromong GMS Puneboto GPS Yimjenkiong GPS Lirmen GMS Yaongyimsen GPS Dongdong Asangma GPS Asangma GPS Ongjina Asangma GMS Yaongyimsen GPS Pongentenem

SDEO Peren Peren Peren Peren Peren Peren Peren Peren Wokha Wokha Wokha Wokha Wokha Wokha Wokha Wokha Wokha Wokha Wokha Wokha Wokha Wokha Wokha Wokha Wokha Wokha Bhandari Bhandari Bhandari Bhandari Mokokchung Mokokchung Mokokchung Mokokchung Mokokchung Mokokchung Mokokchung Mokokchung Mokokchung Mokokchung Mokokchung Mokokchung Mokokchung Mokokchung Mokokchung Mokokchung Mangkolemba Mangkolemba Mangkolemba Mangkolemba Mangkolemba Mangkolemba Mangkolemba Mangkolemba Mangkolemba Mangkolemba Mangkolemba Mangkolemba Changtongya Changtongya Changtongya Changtongya Changtongya Changtongya

NOTICE UNDER ORDER V RULE 20 OF THE CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE, 1980.

Take notice that the above noted writ petition has been filed by the above name Petitioners before the Hon’ble Gauhati High Court, Kohima Bench, where you have been impleaded as respondents No. 7-217. The Hon’ble High Court, vide order dated: 07-12-2016 issued notice to you to appear before the Hon’ble High Court on 31.01.2017 at 10:30 A.M either personally through pleader to act on your behalf and show cause, if any. If you fail to appear on the date so fixed i.e. 31.01.2017, the matter shall be heard and decided ex-parte in your absence.

Given under my hand and seal of this court on this the 16th day of December 2016 at Kohima.

Deputy Registrar (Judl.), Gauhati High Court, Kohima Bench

4

MonDAY 19•12•2016

business

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Himachal achieves 100% Aadhaar saturation ShimlA, December 18 (iANS): With the generation of 72,52,880 Aadhaar cards, Himachal Pradesh has become the sixth state in the country to achieve 100 per cent Aadhaar saturation, an official said on Sunday.

The other five states are Delhi, Telangana, Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh, a spokesperson for the state Information Technology Department said. “In order to maintain 100 per cent Aadhaar saturation, we have deployed 780 tablets through Anganwari workers to cover 0-5 age group in the state and 250 tablets will be deployed through health institutions to cover new born babies,” he said.

Govt to soft launch malware cleaning system from Dec 20 New Delhi, December 18 (PTi): Government will kick start operations of a long-awaited malware and botnet cleaning centre with soft launch on December 20, a programme aimed at automatically disinfecting computers and mobiles from viruses and malicious software for free. “Major cybersecurity initiative of Digital India.

Soft Launch of BotNet cleaning centre of India CERT from December 20,” Ministry of Electronics and IT, Additional Secretary Ajay Kumar tweeted today.

Botnet is a network of malicious softwares that can steal information, take control of device function and carry out cyber attacks like Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) that prevent access of websites. Government has earmarked Rs 100 crore for setting up this facility. The project was expected to be launched in 2014.

The software will be available for free from the BotNet centre, he said. The new system will do away need of installing anti-virus software in PC and mobile phones. “We are expecting that from around December 26 complete system will be operational,” Kumar said.

‘Of 24 life insurers, only 19 post profits in FY16’ New Delhi, December 18 (PTi): Of the 24 life insurance companies operating in India, only 19 insurers remained profitable in 2015-16 with the sector’s overall profits dipping by 2.57 per cent.

During 2015-16, the life insurance industry reported profit after tax at Rs 7,414.97 crore as against Rs 7,611.31 crore for 2014-15, said the annual report by Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).

The life insurers which reported profit are: AvivaLife, Bajaj Allianz, Birla SunLife, Canara HSBC, DHFL Pramerica, EXIDE Life, HDFC Standard, ICICI Prudential, IDBI Federal, India First, Kotak Mahindra, Max Life, PNB MetLife, Sahara India, SBI Life, Shriram Life, Star Union, Tata AIA and LIC of India.

The other five companies are: Aegon Life Insurance Company Ltd, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance, Bharti Axa Life Insurance, Future Generali India Life and Reliance Nippon.

State-owned Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) alone reported profit after tax at Rs 2,517.85 crore, an increase of 38.06 per cent over Rs 1,823.78 crore for 2014-15.

The report further said the total net profit of non-life insurance industry dropped to Rs 3,238 crore as against Rs 4,639 crore in 2014-15.

All the four public sector insurers reported net profit during the year 2015-16.

Quoting Swiss Re report, IRDAI said during 2015, the life insurance premium in India (inflation adjusted) increased by 7.8 per cent when global life insurance premium increased by 4 per cent.

The Indian non-life insurance sector witnessed a growth of 8.1 per cent (inflation adjusted) during 2015 whereas the growth in global non-life insurance premium was 3.6 per cent only.

FiRe StatiOnS

KoHIMA soUtH: 0370-2222952/ 101 (O) 9402003086 (OC) KoHIMA nortH: 7085924114 (O) dIMAPUr: 03862-232201/ 101 (O) 9856156876 (OC) CHUMUKedIMA: 7085982102 (O) 8732810051 (OC) woKHA: 03860-242215/101 (O) 8974322879 (OC) MoKoKCHUnG: 0369-2226225/ 101 (O) 8415830232 (OC) PHeK: 8414853765 (O) 8413822476(OC) ZUnHeBoto: 03867-280304/ 101 (O) 9436422730 (OC) tUensAnG: 8414853766 (O) 9856163601 (OC) Mon: 03869-251222/ 101 (O) 9862130954 (OC) Kiphire: 8414853767 (O) 9436261577 (OC) Peren: 7085189932 (O) 9856311205 (OC) LonGLenG: 7085924113 (O) 9862414264 (OC)

mumbAi, December 18 (PTi): Two plush properties belonging to troubled businessman Vijay Mallya, Kingfisher House in the city and Kingfisher Villa in north Goa, will be re-auctioned this week by the 17-lender consortium at lower reserve prices compared to the failed previous three auctions.

The reserve price for over 17,000 sqft Kingfisher House near the airport will be auctioned on Monday at Rs 115 crore, which is 15 per cent lower than the failed second auction held in August, when the minimum price to sell the asset was fixed at Rs 135 crore.

At the first auction of the erstwhile headquarters of Kingfisher Airlines in March, the lenders had kept the reserve price at Rs 150 crore.

The prime property, which has a built-up area of over 17,000 sqft and is located in the plush Vile Parle area near the domestic terminal.

Civil Hospital emergency-

New Delhi, December 18 (iANS): Axis Bank Chief Executive Shikha Sharma on Sunday said the bank has hired global accounting firm KPMG to do a forensic audit for enhanced due diligence and building more safeguards after cases came to light of bank employees involved in corruption following demonetisation.

An Income Tax Department raid last week at an Axis Bank branch in Noida unearthed Rs 60 crore from the accounts of 20 shell companies.

In a letter assuring Axis Bank customers that Axis bank fundamentals are on “solid footing’, Sharma said the bank is tracking the sudden surge in account activity and have “proactively identified potentially suspicious accounts”.

“This proactive identification has been one of the inputs in investigation by the regulatory authorities, who are visiting some of our branches to seek out information. Further, we have hired KPMG to conduct a forensic audit for enhanced due diligence and building more safeguards,” Sharma wrote.

“The recent media reports around the

nagaland Multispecialty Health & research Centre

248302, 09856006026

eden Medical Centre

248288

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The Kingfisher Villa at Condolim in north Goa will be put under the hammer on December 22 at a reserve price of Rs 81 crore, which is 5 per cent lower than the auction held in October, when the lenders had tried to sell the sea

Embarrassed, upset over conduct of a handful of employees says CEO

we4 woMen HeLPLIne

232224 229529 229474 MH Hospital 227930 231081 Faith Hospital 228846 shamrock Hospital 228254 Zion Hospital 231864 224117 227337 Police Control room 228400 Police Traffic Control 232106 east Police station 227607 west Police station 232181 CIHsr (referral Hospital) 242555 242533 dimapur Hospital 224041 248011 Apollo Hospital Info Centre 230695/ 9402435652 railway 131/228404 Airport 229366 Indian Airlines 242441 225212 Chumukedima Fire Brigade 282777 nikos Hospital and 232032, research Centre 231031

LoVe MeAt Meet Messes Mete PeAr Peer reAL rots sACrIFICe seCretIon seMBLAnCe sHeePIsH sIMULtAneoUs soFtenInG soUtHwest sPeCtACLe sPrIGHtLY strUCtUre trYst twICe

Interior of Kingfisher Villa

facing property at Rs 85.29 crore.

The villa was once used

by Mallya to host lavish parties.

Previous auctions of both these properties failed as none of the bidders came forward, citing

higher reserve prices.

Similarly,the lenders also could not find takers for the various Kingfisher brands which were given as collaterals for the loans worth over Rs 7,000 crore.

These brands had been valued at Rs 4,000 crore but

later valuers appointed by the lenders found them to be worth under Rs 100 crore only.

Also, the Service Tax Department too failed twice to get any bidders for the luxury jet in its possession.

While Mallya owes over Rs 850 crore to the department, the luxury jet was originally valued at over Rs 150 crore.

Besides these two immovable assets, the lenders are once again auctioning the movable properties worth Rs 15. 72 lakh, kept at the Kingfisher House on January 5.

These assets includes 10 cars ranging from Toyato Camry & Innova, and Honda City & Civic among others, and will be auctioned on an individual basis.

All the properties are being auctioned by SBICap Trustee on behalf of the lenders.

Mallya owes over Rs 9,000 crore to lenders like SBI, PNB, IDBI Bank, BoB,

Allahabad Bank, Federal Bank and Axis Bank, among others.

This includes a little over Rs 6,000 crore in principle amount and the rest in accrued interests and penalties.

The lenders could collectively recover around Rs 1,200 crore by monetising collaterals, primarily pledged stocksof various UB Group companies.

Mallya had left the country on March 3 this year and is currently said to be in Britain.

Last month, CBI had initiated an extradition request to bring him back from Britain through a special court in Mumbai.

The investigative agency secured a non-bailable warrant against Mallya, following it with an extradition request from the special court to competent authorities in Britain.

Last month, a local court here had declared him a proclaimed absconder.

KPMG to do Axis Bank’s forensic PM Modi to launch skill audit to boost safety: Bank CEO development initiatives today

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conduct of a few of our employees have left me embarrassed and upset. We have fallen short of your expectations because a handful of people did not follow our fully compliant and robust processes. We have taken the toughest action against such employees and we will do so in every case of divergence from our Code of Conduct,” she said.

“I would like to reassure you that the bank has always been committed to the highest standards of operational control and continues to fully cooperate with the authorities. We have been tracking sudden surges in account activity and have proactively identified potentially suspicious accounts,” she added.

Sharma regretted that the misdeeds of a few people “have eroded the hard work of 55,000-plus employees, who have been at the front end beyond working hours, displaying extraordinary patience and commitment to their responsibilities.”

“We have made every effort to ease the transition by making special arrangements for senior citizens and differently abled people at our branches, using micro-ATMs to deliver cash to BSF personnel, ensuring salary disbursement to government and corporate employees across the length and breadth of our country,” Sharma said.

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dustry in Kanpur to place one lakh youth under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana. Moreover, the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme will also be launched formally, the official said.

The Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras are stateof-the-art Model Training Centres (MTCs) which the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneur-

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ship intends to establish in every district of the country.

The model training centres envisage to create benchmark institutions that demonstrate aspirational value for competency based skill development training. They would focus on elements of quality, sustainability and connect with stakeholders in skills delivery process.

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Us dollars sterling Pound Hong Kong dollar Australian dollar singapore dollar Canadian dollar Japanese Yen euro thai Baht Korean won UAe dirham (Aed) Chinese Yuan

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KANPur, December 18 (PTi): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil tomorrow a clutch of skill development initiatives aimed at skilling unemployed youth and also lay the foundation stone of the Indian Institute of Skills here.

“Apart from launching 31 Kaushal Kendras which will serve as skilling centres and target mainly unemployed youth for training purposes, the Prime Minister will also inaugurate an exhibition named Kaushal Mahotsav,” a senior official in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship told PTI. “The PM will also lay the foundation stone for the Indian Institute of Skills in Kanpur which will focus on providing industrial training,” the official added. The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship is also set to enter into a strategic partnership with the leather and textiles in-

CROSSWORD # 3808

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Simple Rules - Fill in the grid so that every row, every column, and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.

Game Number # 3803

Answer Number # 3802

ACROSS 1.Church alcove 5. Befuddle 10. Kind of moss 14. Mend (archaic) 15. Entices 16. Shoestring 17. Image breaker 19. Sea eagle 20. Black bird 21. Timber uprights 22. Paths 23. Subjugate 25. Avoid 27. Beer 28. Laminated metamorphic rocks 31. Potatoes 34. Anagram of “Peril” 35. Letter after sigma 36. Small 37. Small songbirds 38. If not 39. Anagram of “Ail” 40. Fetch 41. Howled 42. Umpires 44. Tavern 45. Portents 46. Knightly 50. Healed 52. Russian emperors 54. Caviar 55. Not legs 56. Authorizing subordinates 58. Sandwich shop 59. Habitual practice 60. Trees of the genus Quercus 61. Articulates 62. A chemical compound 63. Being DOWN 1. . Put up with 2. Smooth brown oval nut 3. Tucks away 4. Poetic dusk

5. Nook 6. Coarse edible red seaweed 7. “Darn!”

8. Decreasing 9. Eastern Standard Time 10. Beseeches 11. Seriously 12. Skin disease 13. T T T T 18. Opaque gems 22. Den 24. Gentlewoman 26. V V V V 28. Secluded valleys 29. Alleviate 30. Sought damages 31. Sun 32. Heap 33. In an unvarying manner 34. A woman priest 37. Small songbird 38. Nobleman 40. Engendered 41. Light wood 43. Vomiting 44. Swap 46. A measuring instrument 47. Operatic solos 48. Recesses 49. Anxious 50. Scoundrels 51. Component of urine 53. Petty quarrel 56. Fitting 57. Foot digit Answer to Crossword 3807

monday 19•12•2016

NAGALAND

NaSu biennial general conference concludes Morung Express News Rüsoma | December 18

The valedictory programme of 44th biennial general conference of Northern Angami Students' Union (NASU) was held on December 18 with Neilasa Sopfü, DIG, Fire and Emergency, Government of Nagaland as the guest of honour at Rüsoma Village.

Addressing the gathering, the chief guest said it is high time for the students to question themselves if they are able to compete with the rest of the world. “These days, students are becoming lazier in their studies and wasting their time in unwanted activities,” asserted Sopfü, who viewed that to become a good student and a successful person one should dedicate oneself so that one can become someone in the society.

Narrating the stories of global prominent leaders, Neilasa said that most leaders achieve their

success with their sheer hard work, and not because of privileges.

Sopfü challenged all the students to be sincere and hard working “else failure is not far away from them.” Further, the guest of honour exhorted the NASU outgoing executives and the incoming executives to give their best for the welfare of the students’ community and be good leaders.

NASU also elected the new office bearers for the tenure 2017-19 headed by Kevilelhou Zumu as president, Zhapuneituo Zhale as general secretary, Aso Khana as treasurer along with 7 other members.

The programme was chaired

by Khriezotuolie Francis, while invocation was pronounced by Khrieo Mezhü, pastor, CRC Rüsoma. Chiechama Village Students' Union presented a special song and vote of thanks was pronounced by Selabeituo Theünuo Education Secretary, NASU.

Guv asked to address hardship faced by public service aspirants Dimapur, December 18 (mexN): The Public Service Aspirants of Nagaland (PSAN) had a meeting with the Nagaland Governor at Raj Bhavan on December 16 and submitted a representation on the hardships faced by public service aspirants and also the various alleged anomalies unearthed through the RTI queries by PSAN. A press note from the PSAN media cell informed that during the meeting, it raised their concerns on the issues related to contractual and backdoor appointments, rampant deputation, non adherence to service rules, lack of transparency in the exams conducted by NPSC, etc.

Further, the PSAN put forward the proposal of Nagaland

having a separate Staff Selection Board/Commission in line with the Staff Selection Commission at the central level, for recruitment to those posts which do not come under the purview of

in various departments and it is our demand that those appointees that haven't been regularized be terminated immediately and their vacancies be advertised for recruitment so as to provide equal opportunities to all in matters of recruitment to public offices as enshrined in article 16 of the Indian Constitution.”

It also asked that the NPSC declare and make public the marks scored by candidates in all stages (Prelims, Mains and Oral interview) of exams conducted by it so as to maintain transparency; provide answer keys for Technical exams and also for Paper 1 of the NCS/NPS/NSS & other Allied Services Main exam; and complete the entire process of examinations in one calendar year.

PSAN put forward proposal for separate Staff Selection Board/ Commission in Nagaland NPSC so as to prevent malpractices by the departments in the recruitment process.

The PSAN informed that the Governor assured the members that he would look into the matter(s) with seriousness and do whatever was necessary.

Meanwhile, the PSAN informed that through RTI queries, they have “unearthed contractual appointments made

Governor inaugurates GPP office cum library Annual Prayer Day of Kohima, December Achumi Kuposhukulu 18 (mexN): The new office building cum library of the Gorkha Public Panchayat (GPP) was inaugurated by the Governor of Nagaland, PB Acharya on December 17 at GPP complex, Chandmari here.

The Governor in his speech encouraged the Gorkha community in Kohima to build up good leaders in order to bring more unity, friendship and social justice in the society, said a press release from PRO, Raj Bhavan. Acharya also urged the parents to give good education to their children so they will be able to compete in the bigger realm.

Chief Secretary of Nagaland, Pankaj Kumar (IAS) also graced the func-

Dimapur, December 18 (mexN): The executives and elders of Achumi Kuposhukulu observed their Annual Prayer Day on December 15 hosted by the outgoing president, Shikuto Achumi, retired Jt. Director of Social Welfare Department at Naharbari, Dimapur. Vika Achumi, retired DIG, Nagaland Police has taken over as the new president of the team, informed a press release.

At the programme, invocation prayer was said by Tokhuli, blessing the clan was said by Rev. Heikhu Achumi, while anointing the outgoing and the new president was done by Rev. Dr. Hevukhu Achumi, Executive Secretary, WSBAK. Dr. Luhevi Achumi, who was recently conferred a doctorate in social work, exhorted the gathering, while Viheshe Achumi, retired Jt. Director of Industries emphasized on unity and brotherhood among the clan and Sumis in general.

Pukaxu Achumi, Mghato Achumi and Izhexu Achumi elaborated on the second edition of Achumi migration and descendants’ magazine. Ghoheje Achumi chaired Governor PB Acharya inaugurating the new office cum library at GPP complex, Chan- the programme and Kiyevi Achumi read out the annual dmari, Kohima on December 17, 2016. (Photo: PRO Raj Bhavan) report. Khevishe Achumi, Vice President, Western Sumi tion as guest of honour. The main highlight of the event, of thanks was proposed by Hoho in his vote of thanks thanked God that the clan is showcase of Nepali cultural which was presided over Gayatri Devi, Advisor and witnessing many promising upcoming leaders and inteldance and attires was the by Dr. Santa Gurung. Vote former President GPPK. lectuals to lead the community and the Nagas.

Advance Christmas curtains down on Dimapur Night carnival the DNC more colorful, enjoycelebrated at KLBC able and fascinating. He also Morung Express News

Kohima, December 18 (mexN): Kohima Liangmai Baptist Church (KLBC) celebrated advance Christmas at their church premises on December 18 under the banner ‘Serve one another with peace and love’.

Pastor N. Silubo Zeliang exhorted the church members to follow the teachings of Christ and to come out voluntarily in serving people and dedicate themselves to serve God by serving people, stated a press release. “As we celebrate advent Christmas let the Prince of Peace rule our life and command us as His faithful servant,” he urged.

The programme was chaired by Er. Achakbo Newmai, deacon and the Christmas greeting was brought by Namgangbi Chawang, deacon. The women department of the church also enacted the birth of Jesus Christ.

Dimapur |December 18

The 5-day Dimapur Night Carnival at Naga Shopping Arcade jointly organized by the district administration, DCCI, BAN and EDBA culminated with Advisor, Urban Development, SI Jamir as the special guest.

Addressing the crowd, Jamir lauded the organizers for taking all pain and sacrificing to let the people come out and have quality time.

“Once we all come together, we should think for our society and if we do something good for the Dimapur, then the town will go forward,” he said.

He appealed to the people to all come together and make

picked lottery number 002349 as the winner of the Nissan Datsun Go. Stall No. 46 (C) Thatch House belonging to Temshilong Sanglir was adjudged the best stall and was award Rs. 15,000 along with citation.

Stall No – 30, 31, 32 (A) belonging to Inner Wheel Club Dimapur, and Stall No – 45 (E) Funbooth, owned by Atsen Murry, claimed second and third respectively. The second prize winner earned Rs. 10,000 while Funbooth won Rs. 5,000.

On the last day of the carnival, thousands of people Advisor, Urban Development, SI Jamir along with organizers thronged the venue with friend of the carnival upon arrival at the venue on December 18.

(Morung Photo) and family.

MEx FILE Nagaland: Over 1.90 lakh students in govt institutions Our correspondent Kohima | December 18

There are more than 1.90 lakh students in government institutions in the state. Out of this more than 1.89 lakh students are enrolled in govt schools and 5347 are enrolled in govt colleges. This was revealed in the Nagaland vision document 2030. Approximately, 2.44 lakh students are enrolled in private schools in the state and 17007 students enrolled in private colleges. About 4841 students are studying outside the state. The vision document stated that the state's endeavour in the next 15 years will be to overcome the challenges and weaknesses confronting the system. For this, it stated that the pertinent focus needs to be on improving the learning outcomes and focussing on technical and vocational education.

CPO appeals for communal harmony Dimapur, December 18 (mexN): In view of the violent incident which happened in Manipur state today, the Chakhroma Public Organisation (CPO) has appealed to all peace loving citizens of Nagaland to maintain communal harmony within the state. The CPO urged all the constituent villages under its jurisdiction not to be carried away emotionally out of the situation in Manipur state. “Instead, give any possible helps regardless of the community to any of the Manipur bound passengers travelling along National Highway, if they are in need,” stated a press release from Vichütuolie Mere, president, CPO. The organisation further appealed that the Manipur government bring normalcy in all the Naga inhabited areas in their state.

At the same time, it conveyed sympathy to all those who have become victims of today’s unfortunate incident.

YUTT condemns AR action TueNsaNg, December 18 (mexN): The Yimchungru Union Tuensang Town (YUTT) has condemned the “ghastly act” of 40th Assam Rifles in searching the house of former vice chairman of Tuensang Town Council Kiumuhean and arresting him on “false allegation” on December 11. In a press release, YUTT further questioned the activities of the Assam Rifles “who are actually supposed to be the protector of public.” Seeing the recent incident, the union lamented, “the so called motto ‘Friends of the hills people’ (of Assam Rifles) does not arise at all.” The union also called upon the right thinking citizens to condemn such activities meted upon the innocent public by the security personnel.

DBS wishes Merry Christmas Dimapur, December 18 (mexN): President and members of Dimapur Bengali Samaj (DBS) have wished each and every citizen of Nagaland a merry Christmas and prosperous 2017. “May the birth anniversary of the apostle of peace i.e. Lord Jesus bring peace & prosperity to one & all. May the brotherhood amongst all the communities in Nagaland continue as ever,” wished a press release from KK Paul, President, Dimapur Bengali Samaj.

IVR pre-Christmas celebration on Dec 22 Dimapur, December 18 (mexN): The pre-Christmas celebration of Industrial Village Razhüphe (IVR) will be held on December 22, 2:00 pm at the residence of village council chairman cum Head GB, TL Angami. A meeting in this regard and also to discuss various important development issues within the IVR was held on December 17 at TL Angami’s residence. The council has specially invited the pastors and leaders of the three churches, Razhüphe Baptist Church IVR, Hindi-Nagamese Revival Church IVR, and Sumi Baptist Church IVR, to attend the programme. Further, all VCM members, VDB members, all village Vigilance Committee leaders and members, all IVR mother unit leaders and members, all IVR Council Advisors, the School Management Committee (SCM) members along with all teachers of GPS- IVR, and all GBs including VLO & BLOs, all the sick persons, and widows have been invited.

Public SPace

Who is responsible in making Nagaland better for tomorrow?

H CYE members of Dimapur Town Nepali Baptist Church presenting a special number at the 25th anniversary programme of Healing Ministry for Handicapped People, held at Dimapur Railway Station premises on Sunday. Rev. Ashok Prasad and Rev. Mome Prasad were the speakers of the anniversary celebration.

Merhulietsa colony celebrates pre-Christmas Kohima, December 18 (mexN): Merhulietsa colony in Kohima celebrated preChristmas with Pastor Sentisashi Aier delivering the Christmas message at its colony taxi parking junction on December 17 night.

Pastor Sentisashi spoke on how Jesus was born and came to this world with the purpose to save the sinners, informed a press release received here. He reminded that though Jesus was the son of God, born in a humble manger without proper place and cloth, Christmas became very important historic event showing the love of Christ for the humanity.

The pastor further challenged the gathering with a strong Christmas message to love, to forgive and live according to God’s will in life. He maintained that when any one is in Christ and have right relationship with

God in life, he/she will be a different person.

The celebration also witnessed numbers of Christmas songs from Angami church, Ao Baptist Church youth, Sumi Baptist Church, Sumi SABCK Merhulietsa fellowship and Nagamese fellowship.

The programme was led by Ketu Viluo, invocation prayer proposed by Alito V. Swu Women pastor SABCK, Christmas greetings delivered by secretary Merhulietsa Colony Panchayat, scripture reading

by Meribeni Humtsoe, vote of thanks was tendered by president, Merhulietsa Youth Organization.

There was also a solo competition where Vikoneino Medoze bagged the first prize, Chietonü Hibo, Neisevinuo Khezhie and Marüphro bagged second, third and fourth prizes respectively.

ow amazing grace the name Nagaland itself proclaims if rebuilt? Reflecting to Bible, the relationship between God’s work and human work should be restored as decrees established during the reign of King Cyrus of Persia. The word of the Lord by the mouth of all the believers about The Great Nagaland must be accomplished. The Lord has blessed the land so it should be His people’s responsibility in making the better place to dwell in it and honour his name.

But how, at times in pensive mood when thought toss about our land mesmerize responses triggers shunning all the brighter sight regardless of our rich heritages. The scenario in which the present generation exists isn’t a curse however, imagining the sorts of corruption engulfing the nooks and corners of our society might be a jinx which needs to be weeded out using the extreme unity. Those selfless sacrificial acts and legacy of our great leaders should

be retrieved forth to use as a present tools. In each mind of our people we believe, Nagaland is one of the God chosen’s land and proudly say and write , “ Nagaland for Christ”, but where we are today?.We use the symbol of Unity but where is our Unity when our house is divided? Are you the one paving better ways or obstructing object towards our right for better Nagaland? After all we are not chasing the wind of vanity.

Henceforth, are all equally in all forms responsible in achieving the dream reality of better tomorrow.

In hundreds of good and bad of Nagas, to cite the simplest instance as, it is really overwhelming that young generation Nagas are fond of reading and emulating for various reasons and occasions and it is pretty sure that Nagas are history lovers and ever eager to learn the struggled of our great leaders too.

It is infact, we have a cherishable diversity, rich cultures and tradition and most importantly an unique history. Now, do we see and read across ev-

ery single lines and tears fall while studying across to and fro the story upholding the pages the book content? The better Nagaland floats over it. It feels delighted wherever we notice a man we knew playing benevolent role in any act as a lead in those books we came across. Surprisingly as human being many questions flushes our brain about the bravo man. Such basic queries are who is his father, who his grandfather is? Which village, what tribe does he belong and what clan? Is he real Naga by blood? And even to the extent of how their sons/daughters are, and so on. The reality is, this man is your father, brother and son of the Naga soil.

Contrastingly, if the same figure is self-centered with mind defiled everybody will nod their heads in negative. Even the boneless tongue of his bloodline will smartly deny revealing the genetic relationship because who wants to drag oneself in the hypocrisy.

We are part of the present chapter whether we like and admire or not.

The good work you write may be crucial and might have errors but, to err is human; to forgive is divine so nobody cares if you dare timely awake your conscience and rectify in sober.

At times, mistakes can hurt but courage is the remedy.

One can magically transform mistakes into blessings. When we don’t heed and learn from mistake forgiveness is not learn and so it will be comparable to holding a crusade for mistakes to be more fruitful in our life. Remember, that mistakes attract more trouble and forgiveness attracts more blessings so the choice is ours.

The decade’s long fight towards ushering better Nagaland tomorrow has taken away many great personalities of our society and we are not equipped to speak about them because we are yet to united and prepared.

We see our brother’s death, sees many homeless, friends without father, were they not sacrificed themselves to make better Nagaland for tomorrow?

Let their flooded blood

flow not in vain but through their precious blood for land converts the evil of hatred into love, joy, peace, forgiveness, oneness, enabling to exercise the positive thinking and give no chance to mistakes.

Yesterday had gone, counting on you is today and waiting now is better tomorrow. Since our God himself is a positive mind.

He loves those who follow positive way of life. “Waiting for a better tomorrow is also a form of worship”. Let us develop positive thinking as it also helps building our personality and as a result we will enjoy success and see our better land. We do not have an equivalent Great power like an American to dream ‘Great NAGALAND dream’ and I don’t think we can copy-paste the dream for ourselves but at this juncture we can define our own dream to rebuild, reshape and reconcile. If you love Nagaland let this be your ultimate answer, “I will make better Nagaland for tomorrow because I am responsible for it”.

Mugha Kiba Swu Govt. High School, Lazami

The Morung Express “Public Space” is to provide space for diverse opinions to be expressed and heard. The opinions in the “Public Space” do not reflect the views and position of the newspaper nor the editor.

6

Monday 19•12•2016

IN FOCUS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

The Power of Truth

The Morung Express volume Xi issue 348 By moa Jamir

The new impunity

R

ecent events, particularly the inglorious ‘baptism’ of unpaid teachers in Kohima in November and use of tear gas and water cannon against peaceful anticorruption rally, is taking us into an unprecedented terrain in governance and polity where the edifice of democracy lies doused and trampled – metaphorically and literally.

A terrain, where dividing lines between legitimacy and legality is blurred and fuddled, a stark reminiscent of another familiar draconian law - AFSPA. Such unleashing of ‘State Powers on its own citizens is alarmingly assuming a dangerous precedence. It needs immediate rectification.

At the outset, it makes one wonder whether the concept of impunity, hitherto existing in social and political spheres, are creeping into administration and governance.

Anthropologist Winifred Tate describes impunity as "the lack of punishment and sanction for the perpetrator of an abuse and the failure to provide reparations for the victims... produced by indifference, inadequate information, or ignorance of the abuse, as well as by active obstruction of investigations and legal proceedings.”

Drawing upon that Randy David in the Inquirer.net opined that “impunity” is no longer treated only as the result of a failure to “take notice or to assume responsibility for a wrongful act; rather, it is something that can be actively produced, either deliberately or unintentionally.” This impunity of corruption is being actively nurtured and on verge of gaining legitimacy in our context with an indifferent public incapacitated by years of systemic and endemic corruption.

On the other end, it is also creating rooms for a sycophantic relationship between executive and legislature whereby any form of opposition both in and outside the Assembly is sought to be crushed.

For instance, the Police admitted that “orders from the top” had made clear that the Against Corruption and Unabated Taxation (ACAUT) Nagaland public rally organised for unconditional release of its activists should not be held at any cost on December 15. They were arrested on December 12 on a counter FIR lodged by an alleged accused. A peaceful signature campaign the two other days before the rally were met with similar resistance from the police.

The Commissioner of Police promulgated Sec. 144 CrPc (curfew) within 100 metres radius of the Dimapur City Tower on December 15 with the apprehension of “disturbance of public peace and tranquility” and thereby justified to prevent “breach of peace.”

Going by this yardstick, any large gathering can be considered under the ambit. But if such imposition is based not on the ‘intensity’ of the apprehension but on political exigency, the impunity has had reached a perturbing stage.

Are we heading towards formal legitimization of kleptocracy through coercion and intimidation?

Thousands have pinned hope on ‘social media warriors’ for redemption. Looking at the recent events, one cannot help observe, with agonising awareness, that there is a colossal disconnect between online idealism and practical reality.

As a conscientious person, cynicism is justified and support should remain issue based. One can doubt the integrity or intention, but it does not negate the event itself. The fight against corruption is not about particular individual or organisation, but in everyone's interest.

Righteous indignation should not be only yardstick for trivializing any fight against corruption but this has become a norm in the social media. Did any of the incidents in the unfolding events inspire any change of attitude?

The occasion calls for collective responses where impunity should be relegated to background and joint actions assume pre-eminence.

For any comment, drop a line to moajamir@live.com

lEfT wiNg |

Miriam Pemberton Foreign Policy In Focus

The Pentagon’s $125-Billion Cover-up

L

et’s say you ask somebody a question. They give you an answer you don’t like, so you pretend you didn’t hear it. Probably all of us would cop to something like this at some time in our imperfect pasts.

For most of us though, that pretending hasn’t included trying to hide $125 billion.

The Pentagon has a little image problem: Google “Pentagon waste” and you get more than 500,000 hits, including stories about $600 toilet seats and $7,600 coffee makers. The finances of the largest agency in the federal government are so screwed up, it’s the only one that still can’t pass an audit.

So a couple of years ago the Pentagon paid some consultants to find ways to cut down on this waste. If some good ideas came out of this, Pentagon officials figured, they could show how concerned with efficiency they were and apply the savings to their wish lists of pet military projects.

It didn’t turn out quite that way.

In three months the Pentagon brass had on their desks a report outlining $125 billion in proposed cuts — nearly a quarter of the total budget — mostly to the workforce that manages things like accounting, human resources, and property management for this enormous operation. This workforce has ballooned in the last decade, even as the ranks of soldiers, sailors, and airmen and women have shrunk.

The report didn’t even get to the real waste in the Pentagon budget, like the $1 trillion it’s planning to spend to replace our entire nuclear arsenal, or the $1.4 trillion it’s shelling out on the F-35, a plane that after 19 years in development still can’t reliably beat the models we already have.

But it still made the Pentagon leadership nervous.

They’re in the midst of pleading poverty. They go around talking about a “gutted” military, even as that military sits on more money than the Reagan administration ever gave it.

OMG, they thought: What if this blueprint for cutting waste resulted in actual cuts to their budget?

What if, instead of being plowed back into other military projects, that $125 billion were freed up for roads or schools or green energy, or applied to the deficit?

They couldn’t let that happen. So they pretended not to hear this news and buried the report.

It blew up on them when a recent Washington Post story exposed this act of suppression. Now it’s generating exactly the sort of media attention they were trying to avoid.

Members of Congress have vowed to get to the bottom of this cover-up of billions in wasted taxpayer money.

In a way, this $125 billion is funding a big federal jobs program — more than a million people doing jobs that a fraction of them could handle just fine. But this is the kind of make-work program conservatives have been complaining about for years.

Why not use the savings outlined in the report — and billions more, by saying no to budget-busting weapon systems we don’t need — and put people to work doing things our country actually needs? Like educating our children, making the transition to clean energy, and building the transit systems we need to boost the economy and avoid the worst effects of climate change.

The country is in a no-more-business-as-usual mood right now. Let’s make sure that applies to the Pentagon.

Miriam Pemberton directs the Peace Economy Transitions project at the Institute for Policy Studies.

C O M M E N T A R Y

Thalif Deen Inter Press Service

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: 50 Years of the UN Failure

C

ome 2017, the United Nations will mark the 50th anniversary of one of the world’s longstanding unresolved political problems firmly entrenched on the UN agenda: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict dating back to the Six Day War in June 1967.

When Antonio Guterres takes over as the new UN Secretary-General on January 1, he will inherit a rash of ongoing political and military conflicts, including the six-year-old civil war in Syria, the devastating bombings in Yemen, the Shia-Sunni killings in Iraq, the widespread political chaos in Libya, renewed violence in the Central African Republic, the continued atrocities in Darfur and South Sudan and the rise of global terrorism.

But one of the most elusive problems — crying out for a solution despite half a century of negotiations and unimplemented Security Council resolutions —will be the demand for a Palestinian homeland.

As Guterres told reporters December 12: “We need a surge in diplomacy for peace when we see this multiplication of new conflicts — and old conflicts that seem never to die”.

Perhaps the Israeli-Palestinian conflict seems destined to live forever—and has never shown signs of dying in 50 long years.

Mouin Rabbani, Senior Fellow with the Institute for Palestine Studies and Contributing Editor at Middle East Report, told IPS: “As the UN commemorates the 50th year of Israel’s occupation, we need to recognize that the world body is in many respects but a shadow of the organization it was in 1947, when the General Assembly adopted a recommendation to partition Palestine, or even 1967 when the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip commenced.”

What capacity it does retain to act effectively has, when it comes to Palestine, been deliberately and completely paralyzed by the United States, acting on Israel’s behalf, he declared.

Indeed, it has in this respect been somewhat ironic to watch (US Ambassador to the UN) Samantha Power and other US diplomats incessantly whine about Russia shielding the Syrian regime at the UN Security Council these past several years, said Rabbani, who is an Associate Fellow of the European Council on Foreign Relations, and Policy Advisor to Al-Shabaka – The Palestinian Policy Network.

“Will Palestinians be condemned to another half century of military occupation?”, he asked. “If they have to rely on the United Nations for salvation from Israel the answer would be “almost certainly”, but fortunately this is not the case.”

Asked specifically of the UN’s role, Rabbani said among recent Secretaries-Generals none have been more timid in their dealings with Israel and

the US, and more solicitous of US and Israeli policy, including on the Question of Palestine, than outgoing Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

“His tenure has been a disaster for Palestinian rights. Full stop. So the mere fact of his departure and replacement is welcome news”, said Rabbani.

Vijay Prashad, the George and Martha Kellner Chair in South Asian History and Professor of International Studies at Trinity College, Connecticut, told IPS it seems that the partition plan and two state solution has been destroyed

by Israeli settlements.

The UN policy is out of step with this reality. The new Secretary-General will have to confront this position, viz the virtual impossibility of a two state solution.

What remains? What kind of Palestinian future is possible? These kinds of questions need to be asked, said Prashad, who has written extensively on Middle East Politics and is the author of “The Death of the Nation and the Future of the Arab Revolution”.

Israel will refuse both one state and two state solutions. It wants to annihilate the Palestinian Question, he noted.

“The Palestinians are playing defense. What kind of positive strategy is possible for Palestine and will the new Secretary-General enable such a discussion? I hope so,” said Prashad, coeditor of the recently-released “Land of Blue Helmets: the United Nations in the Arab World”.

Asked what his message would be,

if and when he meets with US President-elect Donald Trump, Guterres, avoided a direct answer.

“Well, to restore confidence, I think the first thing that is important is to tell the truth. Sometimes the truth is ignored in political relations around the world.

And when people talk to each other, the truth is that many times there are different perceptions about each other.’

“And I believe it is with truth that I need to engage with all governments in the world and, of course, also with the next Government of the United States, showing a clear will to cooperate in relation to the enormous challenges that we’ll be facing together,” Guterres declared.

Rabbani told IPS predicting about how a Trump administration will approach the Question of Palestine is a difficult task, primarily because Trump is an empty vessel with multiple – and therefore essentially no – views of his own.

“But as is generally the case with empty vessels, they tend to be filled by those with privileged access. And in this case the indications are not good.”

Regarding Guterres, Rabbani pointed out the new Secretary-General (SG) will be operating under the same constraints any other SG would encounter, but has the advantage that the UN is no longer as fully dominated by the US as it has been in recent decades.

It also seems reasonable to presume his ambitions exceed being an errand boy for Washington like his predecessor, Rabbani noted.

“I know little regarding his personal views on the Israel-Palestine conflict, though given the fact that he is a former European social democrat premier his views presumably fall within the European/EU mainstream. “ But the more important point is that this will be less about his personal views and more about the environment in which he operates and his willingness (or otherwise) to use his political clout.

“Will he want to expend political capital on Palestine when he may prefer to or feel he needs to spend it on other files such as Syria? This is difficult to divine.”

And it will depend not just on his priorities and preferences, but crucially upon how energetically this matter is promoted by member states and international public opinion.

“So I would see his tenure as an opportunity that I very much hope the Palestinians manage to utilise. But once again, I would advise to spend less time examining his personal views and preferences, and more on the environment in which he operates,” said Rabbani, a former Senior Middle East Analyst with the International Crisis Group.

Oxfam International Executive Director Winnie Byanyima said Guterres, whose appointment is arguably one of most challenging jobs on the planet, brings a wealth of experience and leadership to the role to guide the UN in the years to come.

“The new Secretary-General must face up to a world of numerous protracted conflicts, reprehensible breaches of the rules of war and a massive global displacement crisis,” she said.

But besides the ongoing political problems, he must also readily confront the extreme economic inequality crisis that is trapping people in poverty, undermining economic growth and threatening instability around the world.

Referring to the gender gap at the UN, Byanyima said: “Governments in seventy years have picked only men to lead the UN; the journey to find a woman, feminist Secretary-General goes on. We do however fully expect that the new Secretary-General will be a feminist Secretary-General who puts women’s rights and gender equality at the very core of the international agenda.

“And for the UN to be relevant, effective and accountable – in a world so different from the times when it was founded in 1945 – Mr. Guterres must spearhead essential reforms to the UN.” She also congratulated Ban Kimoon for his outstanding, dignified leadership.

“Among his achievements were ushering in the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement: both will be remembered in history for charting a better

Govts are moving from managing disasters to managing risks Katie Peters & emma lovell Overseas Development Institute

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wenty months ago in Japan, the world’s governments signed a global framework to take action to manage disaster risk - the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. What happened next?

In early November amid Delhi smog 16 times above the safe limit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on neighbouring governments to ramp up their commitments to action on reducing disaster risk.

In hosting the Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction he illuminated the potential of social media and digital technologies in mapping disaster risk, talked of the pursuit of vibrant and visual methods of learning from disaster experiences, and of the need to get serious about financing risk management, suggesting that "all public expenditure must include risk mitigation".

Being the first regional consultation in Asia since the global goals and targets were agreed in Sendai, this event marked the start of a process to support governments to shift away from the previous Hyogo Framework’s focus on "managing disasters", towards the new mantra of "managing risk".

Despite being 20 months since the goals and targets were agreed in Sendai, for some the consultation was premature. Without agreed indicators for the targets – being negotiated in parallel in the U.N. Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) headquarters in Geneva

– a regional platform with the purpose ing joined-up action between the diof reorienting ambitions to the new saster and climate communities. framework had some limitations.

Just two weeks later – and with the U.N. COP22 climate talks and the Despite hesitancy, on 5th November, agreement of the indicators and terAsia officially adopted the: minology for disaster risk reduction • Delhi Declaration – a call on all gov- in-between - an equivalent Ministerial ernments and stakeholders in Asia meeting was convened in Africa. to deliver a 10-point plan articulatLike the Asian event, the Africa Plating the shift to risk management; form produced a Mauritius Declaration, • Asia Regional Plan for the Imple- a Programme of Action and set of stakementation of the Sendai Frame- holder commitments to action. Unlike work – a 15-year roadmap and the Delhi Declaration, climate change detailed two year plan signalling featured, as did the complementary Parimmediate priorities; is Agreement on climate change, and the • Voluntary action statements – ar- need for "integrated approaches for diticulating individual contributions saster risk reduction and climate change towards the plan. adaptation and mitigation".

It’s hard to disagree with many of In comparison to the previous rethe sentiments of the Delhi Declaragional platforms untion and Asia Reder the Hyogo rein, gional Plan or the those in 2016 were themes discussed by more forward thinkthe 4,000 attendees ing, focused on the from across the region. But the process world we want to create by 2030 – one in was not without struggle. which risk is proactively managed across Climate change, though appearing government departments. The disaster in the plan, does not feature in the dec- risk reduction community was also relaration. Hesitancy and constraints on flexive, recognising that at times it can the part of government delegations to inadvertently reinforce silos that prevent stick within their disaster risk reduc- whole-of-government responsibility for tion remit meant that the pursuit of the management of disaster risk. coherence across the post 2015 frameIn spite of the new commitments works, a core theme in the debates, was and declarations, the most exciting not explicitly endorsed. opportunity of the past few months is It will be two years before progress one that completed in the two weeks towards these contributions will be as- between the Asian and African minissessed, in Mongolia in 2018. Only then terial meetings. will we know whether the political hesHidden away at the UNISDR headitancy to include climate change in the quarters in Geneva, government repredeclaration acts as a barrier to promot- sentatives and world experts on disaster

wRiTE-wiNg

risk succeeded in designing a set of indicators that can now be used to monitor progress on the Sendai Framework.

And with this, they cemented an innovative process which connects the progress we’re making on reducing disaster risk to our hopes of pursuing sustainable development over the coming 15 years.

What does this mean? It means the political attention afforded to the sustainable development goals (SDGs), the funding for monitoring support, and the institutional incentives to achieve those goals by 2030 have been tied to attainment of progress on the Sendai Framework. The foundations are laid at the international level; this now needs to be driven forward at the national level where the case for embedding disaster reporting should and could become part and parcel of the remit of reporting on the SDGs, and part of the national statistic offices.

This is a success for coherence, and presents a tangible pathway for linking progress, monitoring and action across the disasters-development agenda. The disaster risk reduction community is finally coming of age, under the Sendai Framework, the 2030 agenda, and with new Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Robert Glasser, at the helm.

As Zambia voiced so eloquently at the Africa platform, and Indonesia at the Asian Ministerial, the hope is that governments will seize the opportunity presented by the linked monitoring frameworks to achieve change at the pace required by 2030.

We wait in hope.

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

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

MonDAY 19•12•2016

PERSPECTIVE

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

MOROCCO: Women set a model for Rural Communities Anna Boots

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Fair Observer

he growth of cooperatives is one example of how women in the Middle East and North Africa are fighting back and showing resilience.

North African women have long been celebrated in their societies as protectors of traditional culture.

While this role is undoubtedly critical to any society, the relegation of women to perceived “traditional” spheres has, at times, served as a tool of their marginalization.

In the North African context of the past half-century, it became common for men to move to cities and pursue well-paying jobs in “modern” sectors of the economy, while women stayed at home in rural villages, raised children and led their lives in traditional ways.

But as challenging economic circumstances across the region in the wake of failed structural adjustment policies have left many men unemployed or underemployed, increasing numbers of women are turning this dynamic on its head and using their monopoly on traditional knowledge in creative and innovative ways. In the absence of well-paying, regular work for men, especially in rural areas, women are using traditional knowledge to generate income—and oftentimes providing the glue that holds together families and communities.

TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE IN MOROCCO Take the Middle Atlas Mountains of Morocco, a poor, rural region where many men are struggling to find work, and where both the shortage of jobs and cultural norms prevent many women from seeking work outside their homes. In recent years, a growing focus on women’s roles and economic development from Moroccan communities, the government and foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGO) has opened opportunities for women to use their traditional skills—ranging from carpet weaving to herb-gathering to couscous making—to earn income through participation in cooperative business. Utilizing skills that many women previously used within their households to provide for the basic needs of their families, they are now using them to generate outside income through sales to their community members, other Moroccans and, most notably, to tourists.

Cooperatives act as small busi-

nesses, where several women come together to pool their resources and knowledge, and increase their market representation in a given industry. In many villages, the success of artisan cooperatives has inspired awe amongst the men, who have seen their incomes decay drastically in recent decades while women have started to earn wages in unexpected ways.

In some places, successful cooperatives are the pride of the village, and anyone you encounter on the street will know where the cooperative is and who works there.

Successful cooperatives often become the focal point of village politics, sometimes attracting meddling men who seek to profit from these successful female enterprises. In the best of cases, they become collaborative community efforts, where women and men combine their skills and resources, working together to improve the livelihood of all community members.

In many cases, women become the primary breadwinners in their families through work in a female cooperative, and critically, many unmarried, widowed or divorced women are able to support themselves through this work.

What is perhaps most remarkable about the success of some women in generating income through their artisanal skills is that they do so in addition to all the other work they are responsible for. In rural Morocco, women are responsible for the vast majority of household management tasks, ranging from cooking and cleaning to collecting firewood, tending to livestock and, most importantly, rearing children. Sometimes, an unemployed male will step up and

support a working female in the household with these tasks, but in the majority of circumstances they are left to women, even when they are also working to support their families outside of the household.

This combination of responsibilities makes for long, exhausting days for many rural women. In the best circumstances, the companionship women find from other women in the cooperatives provides them with vital emotional support.

PROS AND CONS OF COOPERATIVES Cooperatives are not perfect solutions to gender inequality or rural poverty—in Morocco or anywhere else in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). They are the targets of intense foreign meddling that often has more deleterious effects on communities than beneficial ones. And, like most human institutions, they open up opportunities for exploitative power dynamics that pit people against each other and exclude the most vulnerable in communities from sharing in the wealth they have helped to generate.

These and other dark sides of the cooperative sector are often under-emphasized by foreigners and Moroccans who look to cooperatives as a model for solving gender inequality and rural poverty.

But some of the dynamics highlighted by the growth of this industry are encouraging ones—namely, the innovative and creative power of so many Moroccan women, and the increasing opportunities for these women to use traditional skills to generate monetary value in addition to intrinsic value.

Cooperatives are undoubtedly supported by the tourist industry,

and thus might only be successful in countries like Morocco where tourism has remained relatively unaffected by increased instability across the region. Even so, many consumers of artisanal products produced by women’s cooperatives are other Moroccans, and many isolated cooperatives use the internet to bridge gaps between themselves and potential customers. These strategies could potentially be utilized by women in similar situations in MENA countries without thriving tourist economies.

The growth of women’s cooperatives is but one example of how, in a climate of marginalization, poverty and oppression due to their gender and rural status, women across North Africa are fighting back, raising themselves up and bringing their families and communities with them.

Anna Boots is a Fulbright Student Researcher in Morocco who is interested in the intersection of gender, cultural production and globalization. Currently, she lives the town of Azrou in the Middle Atlas Mountains and spends much of her time with women’s weaving cooperatives in the region. Outside of her research, she studies French and Moroccan Arabic, and enjoys exploring the mountains and traveling around Morocco. She graduated from the University of Chicago with a Bachelor’s degree in History and a concentration in Human Rights.

This article is being published with the permission of Fair Observer. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.

7

Mr. Trump, here is what other presidents learned from the CIA Tim Weiner

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Reuters

residential transitions are perilous times. One tradition of creating continuity is for commanders-in-chief in waiting to be briefed by the Central Intelligence Agency. Some presidents-elect can’t get enough of the top-secret stuff. Some half-listen as they gear up in great haste to take office.

Until now, none has disdained the secret briefs, denigrated the CIA, and declared, in the words of Donald J. Trump, “I’m, like, a smart person” – declining to hear almost everything and anything the spies have to say.

This willful ignorance has no real precedent. It may well be that Trump really doesn’t want to know about Russia’s hacking the 2016 election, an epochal event that he doesn’t believe actually happened. He may think he that he doesn’t need to know more about North Korea’s nukes, Syria’s army and the fall of Aleppo, or the correlation of forces in the Middle East. He may spend the next five weeks – or the next four years – saying, in effect, my mind’s made up, don’t confuse me with facts.

But he could learn a lot by reading up about the CIA’s opening the kingdom of secrets for prospective presidents over the past 40 years.

In 1976, the Director of Central Intelligence – George H. W. Bush – prepared to fly down to Plains, Georgia, to brief Jimmy Carter. Getting there was half the problem for the world’s premier intelligence service. The CIA’s Gulfstream jet couldn’t make a landing on the sod airstrip in Plains. A quick call to the Pentagon gleaned the information that Bush would have to helicopter in to Peterson Field, but the CIA’s navigators couldn’t find it on the map.

They called down to Plains. They were directed to Peterson’s field – a peanut farmer’s plot on the edge of town.

What Bush gave Carter wasn’t brief.

It was a six-hour tour of the world – the Soviet Union, China, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Egypt, Iraq and more. Carter wanted to know about America’s strategic nuclear arsenal and its spy satellites.

He sought a day-long follow-up. Eight CIA experts joined Bush and Carter in Plains two weeks later for a deeper dive.

And in a final meeting on November 19, 1976, Bush revealed two really deep secrets. One was that a number of foreign leaders, including King Hussein of Jordan, were on the CIA’s payroll. The other was that Bush wanted to stay on at the CIA. “If I had agreed to that,” Carter said years later, “he never would have become president.”

A very different scene unfolded when the CIA’s briefers met Ronald Reagan at Wexford, a sumptuous Virginia estate once owned by John and Jackie Kennedy, in 1980. Reagan gave them

an hour: 15 minutes on Saddam Hussein, 15 minutes on the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, 15 minutes on the Saudis, and 15 minutes on Iran. Members of Reagan’s entourage ran in and out of the room like characters in a screwball comedy. The hour went by quickly.

Then, in late 1988 and early 1989, came Bush 41’s turn to be briefed. He had loved his year as director of Central Intelligence – the CIA must have seemed to him like his Yale fraternity, Skull and Bones, but with a billion-dollar budget. Before and after his inauguration, he soaked up daily briefs and wanted more – the raw intelligence underlying them, direct reports from CIA station chiefs overseas, spy-satellite imagery. But the CIA couldn’t deliver insight or foresight on the fate of its main enemy, the Soviet Union. It had “no idea in January 1989 that a tidal wave of history was about to break upon us,” said Bob Gates, who ran the CIA for Bush 41 and the Pentagon under Bush 43 and Barack Obama.

In December 1992, Bill Clinton had few profound ideas about America’s strategic interests after the Cold War. His CIA briefers drove over to the Arkansas governor’s mansion in Little Rock from their rooms at a $38.50-anight Comfort Inn, but they drove back wondering whether the president-elect cared much about what they said. He chose a new CIA director, Jim Woolsey; they met exactly twice during the next two years. “I didn’t have a bad relationship with the president,” Woolsey reflected. “I just didn’t have one at all.”

Things were very different eight years later. Alarms flashed red; al-Qaeda's leader, Osama bin Laden, loomed large.

Clinton had grave fears; so did CIA director George Tenet. After the Supreme Court declared Bush 43 the victor in December 2000, both men warned him about the group. The president and the president-elect met alone for two hours in Crawford, Texas. Clinton remembers telling him: “Your biggest threat is bin Laden.” Bush swore he never heard that. The question remains whether Bush was listening. By contrast, Barack Obama paid attention to his CIA briefers while a howling recession pounded the United States at the end of 2008.

Does the CIA have the presidentelect’s ear? Does he believe what he hears? Does Donald Trump truly disbelieve that Russia wants to disrupt democracies? The dilemma that will face American intelligence in the Trump administration was defined long ago by Richard Helms, who ran the CIA under Presidents Johnson and Nixon. “If we are not believed,” Helms said, “we have no purpose.”

Tim Weiner is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter. His books include “Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA.”

The Morung Express POLL RESULTS

Do you think that reservation for women in local urban bodies will affect Naga customary practices?

Some of those who voted YES had this to say: 13 • It will ... but for the better • Yes because reservation against will of people is unlawful.

Some of those who voted NO had this to say: 89 • No. System of municipalities in towns is very different from village governing system. So the question of customary laws doesn't cover the municipalities, unlike at the village level.

• No. we nagas take all man and women equally • No, never. They have their own rights to demand their reservation in local urban bodies and hope it will bring some positive changes in present society. SO being an advance people and society, we must change our inclusive mindset and go forward for equality and according to me its not the time for us to talk about the customary practices. But we should look beyond this practice, which will bring a total positive impact in our present corrupted set up, socially, economically, politically and religiously. So its my hope and dreams that giving the reservation for women in our local urban bodies will make a difference for the good of our Naga people.

• Not at all. If reservation is against article 371a, Nagas should first do away with the ST quota that we are enjoying. Some men in position are so insecure of their position that they bring in the non relevant 371a to secure their fishing ponds. It's time to weed out those regressive and

rustic so called leaders.

• No. Reservation has to do with representation and governance, which has nothing to do with customary practices. People who are opposed to reservation will keep harping that women reservation will affect Naga customary practices. This is misleading and very wrong.

• No. I don't think this will affect the Nagas customary law • NO, women reservation will not affect customary practices nor will it touch Article 371 (A). The unfounded fear of tribal institutions reveal that they do not have the legal understanding of Article 371 (A). Little knowledge is dangerous.

• Some village have women vdb Secy and the life just go on as usual..... No hassle tussle in old customary law • No. Advancement in science and technology, human resource development and empowerment of women cannot effect Naga customary practices. The threat lies in the wilful disregard for customary practices by the Nagas themselves.

• No way. Ours is the most resilient of customs and heritage.

Despite occupation, division and conversion our Naganess still remains strong. I really think that the participation of women in decision making will strengthen our sense of Naganess and customs. But thats just my view • NO. The contention that reservation of women in local urban bodies will affect the foundation of Naga cultural practices is

65%

or ethical foundation but violation of traditional cultural practices is NOT one of them.

26% 09% YES

NO

an intellectually dishonest position to hold. It is based on two unfounded premise, that is neither based on fact or reason.

1. That Naga Culture is inherently 'inviolable'.

2. That Tradition is a standard of value That Naga Culture is inherently 'inviolable': No culture in modern times can exist in isolation. A culture should be dynamic and evolve with time as it interacts with other culture(s). In fact 'violability' should be the rule and a culture should grow by imbibing enabling values from outside, while it discards its own destructive beliefs and practices. That Naga culture is inviolable is based on an unfounded idea that old and ancient is good and has utility. But old is not necessarily golden. For example: there is nothing gloriously noble or moral about head-hunting. Also, most tribal taboos and beliefs grew out of ignorance about reality and appear as nothing but superstition. And

OTHER

a culture that does not recognise women's rights as human rights and disregard women's values and aspirations is certainly not deserving of any degree of reverence. A culture is only good as long as it creates a conducive environment for all individual members to realize their potentialities. That can only be achieved when a culture is open to criticism or scrutiny of its beliefs, practices, values and institutions.

To take tradition as a standard of value, is an irrational stance. Tradition means stagnation. A society that keeps stagnation as a benchmark is bound to disintegrate into decrepitude and decay. A tradition loses vibrancy when it is a closed system. Only when it is open to enabling influences from without will it be able to harness strength to confront destructive forces inside and construct institutions and means to foster human flourishing. Affirmative Action to encourage women participation in public life may have a doubtful empirical

Some of those who voted OTHERS had this to say: 36 • If some of the customary practice are deterrent for the Naga people (men and WOMEN) to grow..to develop..to empower.. perhaps it is time to change! Didn't we give up headhunting? Didn't we adopt Christianity? Aren't we wearing clothes? Didn't we change to progress? Development needs women! Period!

• Wrong question. It will affect Article 371(A), the only safety valve achieved by blood sacrifice. The wiser approach is to squash the 33% reservation and formulate our own localized reservation encompassing both rural and urban bodies.

• Any legitimate practice must be tested and validated. We have a way that is unique. If eventually this addition....ie women empowerment in practice is not a discovery. In most cases it has become necessitated by circumstances of activism issues of modern times. Menfolk can continue to perceive an illusion of know all about and defend all ..... Heed the call. ....

For the times are a' changing (Bob Dylan) Women do have a place in this world ....this realisation must top any other consideration. Not Utopia proposed by our Menfolk....... The road to hell is definitely paved with lovely intentions....

• Naga customary practice as a

perfected form of art universally declared and accepted as the norm world over will definitely be impacted terribly ... If some deficiency does exist the solution are......I cannot see any!!

• Actually women can compete with menfolk in every field/ level. So this reservation dont need, it only create more division in the society • in Naga society I think women are doing much better in terms of education n church participation :) but perhaps platform has not being given enough to participate in politics. hopefully this will pave the way...

• In everything we do there's affects .......and we nagas witnessed the 33% woman's reservations affecting the naga society before its implementations!!!!! When naga womenfolks can shake the entire society fighting for 33% reservations and still proudly declares that we naga women's are no less we naga women's are equals to menfolk's than there are so many unforeseen things coming along with the movers & shakers. Even without the 33% reservations also naga society is messed up the practice of matriarchal customs ........I hope we womenfolks don't take undue advantage of the 33% reservations. Bdw 33% reservations proves that we womenfolks are no equals to menfolk's when God made every gender / humans EQUALS IN HIS OWN IMAGE. • I don't know... Only time will tell

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

MonDAY 19•12•2016

INDIA

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Opposition slams centre over new Army Chief

New Delhi, December 18 (AGeNcieS): The Congress on Sunday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to explain the circumstances behind the appointment of Lt. Gen. Bipin Rawat as the new Army Chief superseding seniors.

"We would like to ask the Prime Minister what was the compelling reason why this supersession has taken place. Why the principle of seniority, which has held now for almost two decades, was not respected," Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari told a press conference here.

"Is it that these officers who have been superseded were unqualified in any manner or is it whimsical cherrypicking which has been done by the BJP-led government?

"Not only is this supersession unprecedented, probably this has happened for the first time that three senior Generals (Commanding different armies) have been superseded," Tewari added.

The government on Saturday appointed Lt. Gen. Rawat as the new Army Chief and Air Marshal B.S.

Dhanoa as the new chief of the Indian Air Force.

The appointment of Lt. Gen. Rawat has ignored the seniority of Eastern Army Commander Lt. Gen. Praveen Bakshi and Southern Army Commander Lt. Gen. P.M. Hariz who have spent longer years in service.

"It is not the first time this government has done this. The appointment or the non-appointment of a full-time Enforcement Director, the ad-hoc appointment in the CBI, which has been questioned by the Supreme Court, is an extremely serious matter which shows this government has scant regard for institutional integrity.

"Why is there a delay in the notification for the next Chief Justice of India?"

Chief Justice T.S. Thakur is retiring on January 3. The government is yet to announce the next Chief Justice.

Speaking to ANI here after taking to Twitter to voice his annoyance with the decision, Congress leader Manish Tewari assured that this was not a personal attack on the new Chief of Staff but a legitimate question.

“With all due respect to General Rawat’s professionalism and brilliance as a soldier and no personal animosity to anybody, there is a legitimate question as to why has this supersession taken place. After all, Lt. Gen Praveen Bakshi who commands the Eastern Command, the Southern Army Commander Lt. Gen Mohammed Ali and the Central Army Commander are all senior to the gentleman who is being designated,” Tewari said.

Reiterating his demand for an answer to the legitimate question as to why this supersession has taken place, the Congress leader added that the government’s defence saying the grand old party superseded in the 80s and therefore the ruling dispensation has the right to do so is complete “non sequitur”.

“Every situation has its own context and therefore nothing can be extrapolated out of context in order to justify supersession. Why were these three senior army commanders superseded? Did the government have anything against them? Was their pro-

fessionalism in question? What was the reason that the fourth incumbent was picked and I guess the Army being a public institution the country deserves those answers,” Tewari stated.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Defence (MoD) sources have stated that Lt. General. Bipin Rawat, who has been appointed as the next Chief of Army Staff, was found the best suited among current batch of candidates of Lt. Generals, to deal with emerging challenges, including a reorganized and restructured military force in the north, continuing terrorism and proxy war from the west, and the situation in the North-East.

Lt. Gen. Praveen Bakshi, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Indian Army’s Eastern Command at Kolkata, and the senior most General to succeed Dalbir Singh, was superseded in the appointment.

And Air Marshal Dhanoa was commissioned into the fighter stream of the IAF in June 1978. He has served in various squadrons, and in the Intelligence Directorate of Air Headquarters.

Spare the forces: BJP to Congress

New Delhi, Deceber 18 (PTi): The BJP on Sunday condemned Congress for its attack on the government over the army chief appointment, saying there should be no politics on defence forces and asserted that Lt Gen Bipin Rawat has been elevated keeping in mind the current security scenario. The party said the new army chief was picked up from a pool of five seniormost officers, who are all competent, and Rawat’s appointment should not be seen as a negative against others.

Lashing out at the opposition party, BJP said Congress politicising the appointment of the army chief shows its “frustration” after it has been pushed to the “margins” of national politics following successive electoral defeats.

“They are all competent officers but under the prevailing security scenario, the government found Lt Gen Rawat as the most

suitable candidate. We will urge to all political parties to not do politics over it,” BJP National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said after the government came under flak for ignoring the seniority norm in picking Rawat.

Responding to the Congress’ critical comments regarding the impending appointment of a new Chief Justice, Sharma said the opposition party should not reach a premature conclusion and wait for an appropriate time. “If any party has flouted the democratic norms most, it is the Congress party. BJP has always adhered to democratic norms,” he said.

Congress and the Left have questioned the appointment of the new army chief by superseding two officers, asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to spell out the “compelling reasons”, and wondered if it was “whimsical cherry picking”.

India and Tajikistan commited to help Kabul ‘New urban missions to still be the focus area in 2017’

New Delhi, December 18 (iANS): India and Tajikistan are committed to helping Afghanistan in its peace process, President Pranab Mukherjee has said.

"We are committed to assist our mutual friend and neighbour Afghanistan to realise the goals and aspirations of its people, through an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process," Mukherjee said.

He made the comments while hosting a banquet in honour of his Tajikistan counterpart Emomali Rahmon at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Saturday.

Rahmon's visit to India comes on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of India-Tajikistan diplomatic relations.

In his banquet speech, the Indian President said Rahmon's visit bore testimony to the abiding friendship between the two nations.

Both countries desired to strengthen the defence and security co-operation in order to effectively address various concerns, he said.

"The world, and particularly our region, is, today, faced by the growing threat of terrorism.

"Both India and Tajikistan are opposed to this menace in all its forms and manifestations... For us, development and progress of our nations is of utmost importance.

"India recognises President Rahmon's role in ensuring peace and stability in Tajikistan which has a similar salutary effect in the region," Mukherjee said.

The President said India was grateful to Tajikistan for supporting its rightful claim to a permanent seat in the UN Security Council and its membership of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation.

India was among first countries to recognise emergence of Tajikistan on dissolution of the former Soviet Union.

Rahmon arrived here on Friday after visiting Kochi. The visiting dignitary is on a five-day visit to India from December 14.

New Delhi, December 18 (iANS): Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said the progress of implementation of new urban missions was encouraging in 2016 and will continue to be the focus area during the new year.

"On the whole, 2016, the first year of execution of new missions has been encouraging.

We would like this momentum even to be further enhanced so that intended outcomes are realised within stipulated time frames," Urban Development Minister Naidu told reporters.

Naidu said decentralisation of project formulation, their appraisal and approval besides substantial hand holding by both the urban ministries resulted in speedy approvals.

"City governments were required to adopt new approaches in place of the earlier business as usual attitude. They rose to the occasion to a large extent and that is evident

New Delhi, December 18 (PTi): Seeking to stem the flow of black money in polls, the Election Commission has urged the government to amend laws to ban anonymouscontributions of Rs 2,000 and above made to political parties.

There is no constitutional or statutory prohibition on receipt of anonymous donationsby political parties. But there is an "indirect partial ban" on anonymous donations through the requirement of declaration of donations under section 29C of The Representation of the People Act, 1951.

But, such declarations are mandated only for contributions above Rs 20,000.

As per the proposed amendment, sent by the Commission to the government, and made part of its compendium on proposed electoral reforms, "anonymous contributions above or equal to the amount of rupees two thousand should be prohibited."

Only yesterday, the government had said that political parties depositing old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes in their accounts will be exempt from income tax+ provided the do-

nations taken are below Rs 20,000 per individual and properly documented.

Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said the government is not tinkering with the tax exemption available to political parties and they are free to deposit old 500 and 1000 rupee notes in their bank accounts. But these deposits will, however, be subject to the condition that individual donations taken in cash do not exceed Rs 20,000 and are properly documented with full identity of the donor.

The Commission has also proposed that exemption of Income Tax should only be extended to political parties that contest elections and win seats in Lok Sabha or assembly polls.

Section 13A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 confers tax exemption to political parties for income from house property, income by way of voluntary contributions, income from capital gains and income from other sources.

Only income under the head 'salaries and income from business or profession' are chargeable to tax in the hands of political parties in India.

death due to heart attacks and strokes owing to genetic factors as compared with people of other nationalities, a local newspaper reported citing specialist doctors.

Indians are more likely to be affected by cardiovascular diseases at an earlier age as compared to Westerners, Gulf News quoted Dr Dinesh Babu, a consultant of cardiovascular disease in Abu Dhabi, as saying on Sunday.

Genetic factors, stress and lifestyle make people from the subcontinent more vulnerable to heart attacks and strokes, he said.

In the West, the onset of heart diseases usually occurs in the 60-70 age group but in the Indian subcontinent, heart disease sets in people in their 40s and 50s, said Babu, as he cited studies conducted on Indians living in the US, Canada, Europe and Singapore.

The World Health Organisation's (WHO) global disease statistics show cardiovascular diseases, including brain and heart attacks, as the two major causes of premature loss of life. The underlying reason for both health crises is due to the nar-

in the pace of implementation.

"The new-found spirit of competition among states and cities is giving positive results. Ease of doing business in urban areas is improving rapidly," he said.

Later, the Urban Development Ministry said in a statement that brisk execution of urban infrastructure projects, approval of smart city plans for 60 cities, credit rating of cities for resource mobilisation through municipal bonds, Swachh Bharat Mission picking up momentum in urban areas, enactment of Real Estate Act and notification of Real Estate Rules, made the year 2016 a new landmark in urban development.

"Under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), a total of 490 projects with an investment of Rs 6,571 crore have taken off the ground. And under Smart City Mission, that involved the complex

task of converting city-wise Smart City Plans into projects warranting elaborate technical planning, 87 projects in 19 cities worth Rs 5,768 crore are under execution with seven of them already completed, even though the first batch of 20 smart cities was announced in January, 2016," the statement added.

According to the Ministry, Swachh Bharat Mission in urban areas got close to half-way mark of mission targets in building toilets during 2016.

"As against the target of building over 66 lakh individual household toilets, 27,81,883 have already been built and construction of another 21,43,222 toilets is nearing completion as the mission gained momentum in 2016 while 5.08 lakh community and public toilet seats are required to be built by 2019," the government said.

Indians more prone to die from heart diseases Rs 10.50 cr assets DhAbi, December 18 (iANS): rowing of these blood vessels owing to cho- seized from 'chaiwala' Ban anonymous donation to political parties: EC Abu Indians are more likely to face premature lesterol deposits.

Indians are vulnerable to higher obesity ratios in the abdominal region, Dr Babu said. Even diabetes and high blood pressure are more common in the Indian population as compared to Westerners, he said.

Dr Paul S. Thoppil, a cardiologist in Abu Dhabi, said people from the subcontinent have smaller arteries which compounds the problem of cholesterol deposit. He said there is an increase in patients (in age bracket of 32-45) with cardiovascular diseases.

Some of the significant factors that have contributed to Indians becoming more prone to heart attacks and strokes are industrialisation and globalisation leading to unhealthy eating patterns. Babu also blamed lack of exercise and smoking, that have led to an epidemic of conditions such as diabetes, blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Babu said that, given the situation, Indians need to start their regular medical check-ups after age 30, as compared to Westerners who are advised to do them after the age of 40.

SurAT, December 18 (PTi): The Income Tax department has seized alleged unaccounted assets worth Rs 10.50 crore from a tea seller-turned-financier after raids were conducted against him in Surat as part of the anti-black money crackdown post currency scrap. The I-T department sleuths recovered cash of Rs 1.45 crore, with new currency being at 1.05 crore, bullion worth Rs 1.49 crore, gold jewellery valued at Rs 4.92 crore, other ornaments worth Rs 1.39 crore and silver ingots priced at Rs 1.28 crore. "The total value of the assets seized from the financier, who earlier worked as a 'chaiwala', is Rs 10.50 crore," I-T sources said as they refused to reveal the identity of the person citing ongoing probe.

They added that while 13 of his bank lockers have been opened till now, four more are in the process to be opened and the expected seizure of assets may increase. The sources added that the interception was made in the city as part of taxman's anti-black money probe post demonetisation.

Scared Nepal rhino spooks UP villagers In PM Modi's Varanasi, stink & development go hand-in-hand lAkhimPur-kheri, December 18 (iANS): A lost, scared, lone rhinoceros from Nepal, wandering around near this district town the past eight months, attacked villagers on Saturday night after being cornered and forest officials are now preparing to tranquilise it.

Forest officials, who tracked the animal since last week and hoped that it finds its way back home to Bardiya National Park in Nepal, have now decided on action, following uproar from local people, since there is the worry that it might kill someone. There is also the fear that further exposure also risks its poaching.

"We had approved the tranquilisation... We, however, still prefer the safe way that it finds its way back to Nepal," Conservator of Forests of Lucknow Division Eva Sharma told IANS. Now spooked, the rhino on Saturday attacked a few villagers near the district centre and charged at two forest rangers in Laharpur Forest Range in nearby Sitapur district. Due to its mobility, officials haven't been able to gather much information on the age and sex of the animal.

A rhino had killed a man in Lakhimpur-Kheri district in 2006 in an ugly turn to the man-animal conflict. It was finally caught from Meerut district and shifted to Kanpur Zoo. The forest officials have now kept the tranquillization experts and veterinarian from the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) on stand-by.

First spotted in May this year, the rhino has been living in its natural habitat of the Terai region in Lakhimpur Kheri, ranging from the grasslands near Dudhwa National Park to the agriculture fields a few kilometres from the city.

The rhinos of Nepal, unlike rhinos in Dudhwa, are free-ranging, which means that they are not confined to any area.

They often cross the border through two

active green corridors -- Kataraniaghat along the Sharda and Ghaghra rivers in Bahraich and Lakhimpur Kheri districts, and the second from Lagga Bagha in Pilibhit district of Uttar Pradesh.

"We had been tracking the rhino for the last two weeks. It is changing its location very swiftly and at present is wandering between Kheri and Sitapur. An official from WTI was here for inspection... we will call the experts for tranquilising once the animal is localised," Divisional Forest Officer, South-Kheri, Akhilesh Pandey told IANS. Once localised to a particular area, the WTI experts would give two to three days' slot to tranquilise the rhino.

Pandey, who had been tracking the animal, said they are trying to route the rhino towards Sharda river so that it can find its way back to Nepal through tha corridor along Dudhwa via grasslands of Ghaghra river. The present location of the animal is about 25 km from the corridor.

"If it doesn't go back, we will have no other option but to make attempts to tranquilise it," he added.

Mayuk Chatterjee, a rhino expert from the Wildlife Trust of India, said that the Forest Department has been advised to keep track of the animal.

"Unlike a tiger or leopard, it's not an easy task to locate and tranquilise a rhino.

Its skin is hard, so you only have specific spots where you can tranquilise it. Besides, there are always risks of mortality," Chatterjee told IANS. He added that while rhinos are not a threat to humans, the panicked people is what scares them.

"Animals know their way around... it is the people who might do something that would make the rhino attack them. Department should talk to people and avoid crowd formation," Chatterjee said.

Vishal Gulati

I

IANS

n this ancient city that is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency, development and stink literally go hand-in-hand -- the latter in spite of the ambitious Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, or Clean India Mission, having been launched here more than two years ago.

As you walk down the markets and bathing stairways of this temple-dotted city along the Ganges, a river revered by Hindus, the garbage strewn all around raises an almighty stink. A cluster of cows and bulls squatting in the middle of roads poses a threat to passersby and commuters.

"Benaras (as Varanasi was earlier known) has a rich, grand cultural heritage but it's literally stinking. You can see garbage even in the city's upscale areas," Smith Williams, a tourist from the US, told IANS. He said vehicular and industrial pollution is alarmingly high. "It's amazing to see the people here are literally gasping for breath."

His wife Emily said stray animals, especially cows and dogs, were a nuisance in the city's lanes -- and pointed to a herd of cows standing around aimlessly.

Varanasi, also known as Kashi, rightly described by

historian Mark Twain as being older than history, older than tradition and older than even legend, attracts a significant number of foreign tourists, apart from those within the country.

They are mainly from China, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Japan, Myanmar, Taiwan and Vietnam who travel to cover the Sarnath-GayaVaranasi Buddhist circuit.

The Buddha delivered his first sermon at Sarnath, about 15 km from here.

Another area of concern is toxic particulate pollution that has resulted in an eight-fold increase

in respiratory diseases among children in the past decade, according to a new report, "Varanasi Chokes".

Corroborating observations from private doctors, it blames abnormally high air pollution levels -- that spiked five times higher than the average this winter for several days -- for the rise in asthma cases.

On the flip side, local taxi operator Suresh Dubey echoed many citizens in saying that Modi has contributed a lot in developing the city's basic infrastructure like the ongoing construction of a four-lane highway, link-

ing this city with the Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow.

"The Lucknow-Varanasi highway, with an almost four-km-long flyover at the entrance of this city will definitely help ease the traffic chaos," added Dubey, who has been driving a taxi in Varanasi for over two decades.

Locals see a major jump in central funding for developing and improving the city's infrastructure with Modi being elected as a Lok Sabha member from here.

"With the initiatives of Prime Minister Modi-ji, the basic amenities will start

shaping up in the years to come," auto rickshaw driver Chand Seth said. He said it is also the duty of the local civic body and the state government to develop basic amenities in Varanasi.

A team led by the Varanasi Municipal Corporation Mayor visited Kyoto in April last year to make Varanasi a smart city on the pattern of the Japanese city, but deterioration persists. "There is need for strong political will to improve things," said pediatrician Pradeep Jindal, who is based in the Sigra area.

Octogenarian Tripti Devi, who was born and brought up in this city, said Modi normally walked straight to Dashashwamedh ghat during his visits.

"Dashashwamedh ghat and its adjoining Sheetla and Rajendra Prasad ghats are one of the cleanest places.

Modi should visit other ghats too so that the deteriorating conditions would improve there too," she said.

Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe witnessed the Ganga "aarti" at Dashashwamedh ghat on December 12 last year.

As part of the Project Infrastructure Development for Destination and Circuits Scheme, Rs 18.23 crore has been sanctioned by the central government for basic amenities for the tourists at the ghats.

mondAY 19•12•2016

WORLD

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Thousands wait to leave war torn Aleppo ALePPo, december 18 (AFP): Buses began entering the last rebel-held parts of Aleppo on Sunday to resume the evacuation of thousands of increasingly desperate Syrian civilians and rebels trapped in the besieged enclave.

As international alarm grew over the plight of the residents including women, children, the sick and wounded, the UN Security Council was to vote on whether to send observers to the battleground city.

The evacuations were suspended on Friday, a day after thousands of people had begun leaving the rebel sector under a deal allowing the regime to take full control of Aleppo.

Buses started entering several neighbourhoods on Sunday under the supervision of the Red Crescent and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) "to bring the remaining terrorists and their families out," state news agency SANA said, referring to the rebels.

The main obstacle to a resumption had been a disagreement over the number of people to be evacuated in parallel from two Shiite villages, Fuaa and Kafraya, under rebel siege in northwestern Syria.

A rebel representative told AFP on Sunday that a new agreement had been reached under which evacuations would take place in two phases from Aleppo, Fuaa and Kafraya as well as Zabadani and Madaya, two rebel towns besieged by the regime in Damascus province.

The UN Security Council was set to meet at 1600

shooting before the convoy was turned around.

The main regional supporters of the rival sides in the devastating civil war have engaged in a flurry of diplomacy to try to secure a resumption of evacuations.

The official Iranian news agency IRNA said the foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey and Iran would meet Tuesday in Moscow to discuss the conflict.

People warm themselves around a fire while waiting to be evacuated from a rebel-held sector of eastern Aleppo, Syria December 17, 2016. (REUTERS)

GMT in New York to vote on French proposals to dispatch monitors to oversee evacuations and report on the protection of civilians.

The draft text said the council was "alarmed" by the worsening humanitarian crisis in Aleppo and by the fact that "tens of thousands of besieged Aleppo inhabitants" are in need of aid and evacuation.

"Our goal through this resolution is to avoid another Srebrenica in this phase immediately following the military operations," French Ambassador Francois Delattre told AFP, referring to a 1995 Bosnian war massacre.

But the proposals face resistance from veto-wielding Russia, a key backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Families have been sheltering during the night in freezing temperatures in bombed out apartment blocks in Aleppo's Al-Amiriyah district, the departure point for evacuations before they were halted.

An AFP correspondent who visited a hospital in the rebel sector saw appalling conditions with patients lying on the floor without food or water and almost no heating.

No food, water Abu Omar said that after waiting outside in the cold for nine hours the previous day, he had returned on Saturday only to be told the buses were not coming.

"There's no more food or drinking water, and the situation is getting worse

by the day," he said, adding that his four children were sick because of the cold.

Dozens of trucks with humanitarian aid crossed the Turkish border Saturday into Syria, piling supplies in a buffer zone.

Aleppo has seen some of the worst violence of the nearly six-year war that has killed more than 310,000 people.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura estimated that as of Thursday around 40,000 civilians and perhaps as many as 5,000 opposition fighters remained in Aleppo's rebel enclave.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) appealed for safe passage for the civilians still trapped in the city.

"People have suffered

a lot. Please come to an agreement and help save thousands of lives," said ICRC Syria delegation head Marianne Gasser.

"We cannot abandon these people."

A Turkish official said 90 wounded from Aleppo have crossed into Turkey for treatment since Thursday.

Before evacuations were suspended around 8,500 people, including some 3,000 fighters, left for rebel-held territory elsewhere in the north, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

On Friday, a convoy of evacuees that had already left east Aleppo when the operation was suspended was forced to turn back.

The ICRC said it was looking into reports of

UN Vote France has proposed that UN officials should monitor evacuation efforts and report on the protection of civilians and the UN will vote on Sunday on whether to send observers to the stricken city.

There are concerns that the motion may be resisted

by Russia, an ally of Syria's president and a vetowielding Security Council member.

Moscow has vetoed six resolutions on Syria since the conflict began in 2011.

The draft resolution asks UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to redeploy UN humanitarian staff already in Syria "to carry out adequate, neutral monitoring... and to report on evacuations from besieged parts of Aleppo and protection of civilians".

The resolution also demands the protection of all doctors, hospitals and ambulances, after reports that Syrian forces had bombed all the medical facilities in Aleppo.

The text specifically mentions the border hospitals of Atmeh, Darkoush, Bab al-Hawa and Bab al-Salamah, where many of the evacuees would be taken.

9

Suicide bomber kills 43 soldiers in Yemen Aden, december 18 (reUTerS): A suicide bomber killed at least 43 soldiers in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden on Sunday, officials there said, a week after an attack by the militant Islamic State group killed 50 troops nearby.

The officials said the soldiers were queuing to collect salaries near a military base in the Khor Maksar district when the attacker blew himself up. At least 60 other troops were wounded, they said.

Aden is the temporary capital of Yemen's internationally recognised government in exile in neighbouring Saudi Arabia. The administration has struggled to establish its control in the city as militants have launched dozens of attacks against its forces.

Al Qaeda and Islamic State have exploited nearly two years of war in the impoverished country to carry out assassinations and bombings, mostly in lawless southern Yemeni areas nominally controlled by the government.

Saudi Arabia and its allies in a mostly Gulf Arab military coalition have been bombing Yemen's dominant Houthi movement in parts of the country under its control since it drove the government from power in March 2015. They have failed to dislodge the group from the capital, Sanaa.

Ivorian opposition seeks returns to mainstream YAmoUSSoUkro, december 18 (reUTerS): Voters in Ivory Coast cast their ballots in parliamentary polls on Sunday as the main opposition party seeks to challenge President Alassane Ouattara’s near monopoly of the legislature.

The Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) has largely boycotted politics since a 2011 war which saw then President Laurent Gbagbo, its founder, ousted and many of its leaders jailed.

More than 3,000 people were killed in the brief 2011 civil war that followed Gbagbo’s refusal to accept his defeat to Outtara in elections. Since then, the world’s top cocoa grower has drawn back investors and the economy is set to grow by 8 percent this year.

Dozens of people gathered outside polling stations early on Sunday in the opposition stronghold of Yopougon.

“Our candidate needs to get in,” said 32-year old Jean Adepo. There were no signs of tensions.

Ouattara’s coalition RHDP is promising more growth for the French-speaking West African country.

But the FPI says there is a need for a strong counterweight to Ouattara in order for there to be long-term stability amid complaints from rights groups that national reconciliation has stalled.

The FPI will field 186 candidates for the 255 parliament seats. Ouattara’s supporters hold about 85 percent of seats in the outgoing National Assembly.

‘Iran showing commitment to N deal’ Academics slam UN ban on child labour

neW York, december 18 (reUTerS): Iran has shown commitment to the deal on its nuclear programme agreed with world powers, the head of the United Nations atomic energy watchdog said on Sunday, following complaints by Tehran over what it calls a U.S. violation of the accord.

The White House said on Thursday that a bill extending U.S. sanctions against Iran for 10 years would become law without President Barack Obama's signature, adding this would not affect overall implementation of the nuclear agreement.

"We are satisfied with the imple-

mentation of the (agreement) and hope that this process will continue," IAEA director general Yukiya Amano was quoted as telling reporters in Tehran by the IRNA news agency.

"Iran has been committed to its engagement so far and this is important," Amano was quoted as saying after meeting Iran's nuclear energy chief, Ali Akbar Salehi.

Under the 2015 deal, Iran curbed its nuclear fuel production activities in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.

In response to the U.S. sanctions move, Iran ordered its scientists on Tuesday to start developing systems for nuclear-powered marine vessels.

That action is expected to worsen tensions with Washington, already heightened by a promise by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's to scrap the deal.

Iran on Saturday also requested a meeting of a commission comprising representatives of signatories to the accord that is overseeing its implementation. [nL5N1EC0MJ] "At the meeting, we brought up some of our complaints, and clarified some matters," said Salehi, quoted by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

"As we have repeatedly said, we will not violate the agreement, unless the other party does that."

China says US ‘hyping up’ drone incident beIHInG, december 18 (reUTerS): China will return an underwater U.S. drone seized by a naval vessel this week in the South China Sea, both countries said on Saturday, but Beijing complained that Washington had been "hyping up" the incident.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to take an aggressive approach in dealing with China over its economic and military policies, jumped on the unusual drone seizure with a pair of provocative tweets, accusing Beijing of stealing the equipment.

The drone, known as an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV), was taken on Thursday, the first seizure of its kind in recent memory. The Pentagon went public with its complaint after the action and said on Saturday it had secured a deal to get the drone back. "Through direct engagement with Chinese authorities, we have secured an understanding that the Chinese will return the UUV to the United States," Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement.

The drone, which the Pentagon said was operating lawfully was collecting data about the salinity, temperature and clarity of the water about 50 nautical miles northwest of Subic Bay, off the Philippines.

It was seized just as the USNS Bowditch was about to retrieve it, U.S. officials said.

China's Defense Ministry said a Chinese naval vessel discovered a piece of "unidentified equipment" and checked it to prevent any navigational safety issues before discovering it was a U.S. drone.

"China decided to return it to the U.S. side in an appropriate manner, and China and the U.S. have all along been in communication about it," the ministry said on its website.

"During this process, the U.S. side's unilateral and open hyping up

President Barack Obama said on is inappropriate, and is not beneficial to the smooth resolution of this issue. Friday it was fine for Trump to review Washington's policy toward Taiwan, We express regret at this," it added. but he cautioned that a shift could lead to significant consequences in 'KEEP IT!' Trump, a Republican who takes the U.S. relationship with Beijing.

"There's probably no bilateral office on Jan. 20, waded into the dispute on Twitter early on Saturday relationship that carries more sigfrom his seaside resort club Mar-a- nificance and where there's also the Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, where potential, if that relationship breaks down or goes into a full-conflict he plans to spend the holidays.

"China steals United States Navy mode, that everybody is worse off," research drone in international wa- Obama told reporters. ters - rips it out of water and takes it to China in unprecedented act," he said. HEIGHTENED TENSIONS The drone incident has raised fresh After China said it would return the drone, Jason Miller, a spokesman concerns about China's increased milfor Trump, tweeted a link to a news itary presence and aggressive posture story, saying: "@realdonaldtrump in the energy-rich South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion in trade gets it done."

There was, however, no evidence is shipped every year. Brunei, Malaysia, that Trump had played any role. U.S. the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam officials said the negotiations took also have claims to the waterway.

New satellite imagery shows Chiplace in Beijing during the overnight hours in the United States. Miller did na has installed weapons, including not respond to requests for comment. anti-aircraft and anti-missile sysHours later, while riding in a mo- tems, on all seven artificial islands torcade back to his resort, Trump it has built in the South China Sea, a tweeted his second jab. "We should U.S. research group said this week.

Without directly saying whether tell China that we don't want the drone they stole back - let them keep the U.S. drone was operating in waters Beijing considers its own, China's it!" he said.

Trump has previously threatened Defense Ministry said U.S. ships and to declare China a currency manipu- aircraft have for a long period been lator and force changes in U.S.-Chi- carrying out surveillance and surveys nese trade policy, which he says has in "the presence" of Chinese waters.

"China is resolutely opposed to led to the greatest theft of American this, and demands the U.S. stops this jobs in history.

Trump has also raised questions kind of activity," it said.

China will remain on alert for about the most sensitive part of the U.S.-China relationship: whether these sorts of activities and take necWashington would stick to its nearly essary steps to deal with them, the four-decades-old policy of recogniz- ministry said without elaborating.

The Global Times, published by ing that Taiwan is part of "one China."

After his Nov. 8 election victory, the ruling Communist Party's official Trump accepted a congratulatory People's Daily, earlier cited an unphone call from President Tsai Ing- identified Chinese source as saying wen of Taiwan, prompting China to they believed the issue would be resolved smoothly. lodge a diplomatic protest.

London, december 18 (IAnS): A group of international academics has condemned the UN convention banning child labour as "harmful", saying the policy ignores benefits and reflects Western prejudice.

In a letter to The Observer newspaper, they argued that allowing young children to work could have positive effects which were not being taken into account, the Guardian reported on Sunday.

The researchers, who work in the fields of child development or human rights, said the UN committee has ignored available evidence in favour of "outdated and ill-informed Western prejudices".

They said the UN policies could have a negative impact on the ground.

One of the signatories, Dorte Thorsen of the school of global studies at the University of Sussex, said:

"Banning children from work doesn't bring them back into school.

"In fact, it might do the opposite if they were working to pay their school fees," the Guardian quoted him as saying.

He pointed at India and Africa nations and said: "We are seeing collectivization movements of child workers, a unionization where they are trying to participate in politics, be heard, as opposed to this being a story of victimization and oppression."

Richard Carothers, a Torontobased child development expert at the International Child Protection Network, called the UN policy "hard-headed attitude of the big bureaucratic international agencies".

"Children need to be protected from nasty situations, and there is a debate about whether the percentage of working children in nasty situations is a small

percentage or a very small percentage," Carothers said.

Thorsen also criticized Britain's Department for International Development Minister Priti Patel for pressuring British companies to scrutinize their supply chains for evidence of child labour.

The experts also pointed at children, who were forced into hazardous, dangerous or illegal work because more regulated employment became closed to them.

Around 193 countries have committed to ending child labour by 2025 under the UN's sustainable development goals.

The academics want the existing minimum age (15 in some countries, 18 in others), to be abandoned, arguing that "age-appropriate" work could be beneficial for children in both the developing and the developed worlds.

Venezuelan President postpones currency move

cArAcAS, december 18 (reUTerS): Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro suspended on Saturday the elimination of the country's largest denomination bill, which had sparked cash shortages and nationwide unrest, saying the measure would be postponed until early January.

The surprise pulling of the 100 bolivar note from circulation this week - before new larger bills were available - led to vast lines at banks, looting at scores of shops, anti-government protests and at least one death.

Maduro, speaking from the presidential palace, blamed a "sabotage" campaign by enemies abroad for the delayed arrival of three planes carrying the new 500, 2,000 and 20,000 bolivar notes.

"One plane, contracted and paid for by Venezuela, was told in flight to change direction and go to another country," he said, without specifying who had given the orders. "There's another which was not given flyover permission."

The 100 bolivar bills, officially out of use since Thursday and worth just 4 U.S. cents at the black market currency rate, can now be used until Jan. 2, Maduro said.

Many Venezuelans had

People carry stolen goods on the streets of La Fria, Venezuela on December 17. (REUTERS)

found themselves without the means to pay for food, gasoline or Christmas preparations in a country already reeling from a profound economic crisis.

About 40 percent of Venezuelans do not have bank accounts, and so cannot use electronic transactions as an alternative to cash.

Adding to the chaos, Venezuela has the world's highest rate of inflation, meaning large bags of cash must be humped around to pay for basic items.

'STUPID AND DESTRUCTIVE' In the southern mining town of El Callao, a 14-year-old boy was shot dead during looting on Friday, authorities confirmed.

An opposition legislator reported three fatalities.

The Democratic Unity

opposition coalition said the socialist leader should resign for incompetence and for inflicting yet more suffering on Venezuelans.

"We have a government utterly stupid and destructive in economic management, whose only goal is to keep power at whatever price," said opposition leader Julio Borges.

Maduro had justified the 100 bolivar note's elimination as a way of strangling mafia and smugglers on the frontier with Colombia. He has also closed border crossings with Colombia and Brazil until Jan. 2.

Earlier on Saturday, about 400 people in western Tachira state jumped fences and defied security personnel to surge into Colombia in search of food and medicines, which are scarce in Venezuela, witnesses said.

In southern Bolivar state, people broke into dozens of shops and warehouses in various towns, witnesses and business leaders said. Authorities declared a curfew in Ciudad Bolivar and the state governor said 135 people had been arrested.

Security forces fired teargas in Venezuela's largest second city, Maracaibo, to stop looters, witnesses said. Some protesters burned 100 bolivar bills.

Addressing thousands of supporters at a rally in Caracas, Maduro blamed the opposition for stirring violence and said some members of the Justice First and Popular Will parties were arrested for colluding with mafias.

The 54-year-old successor to Hugo Chavez, whose popularity has plunged during three years of recession, says domestic political foes supported by the United States are sabotaging the economy to undermine his government.

Critics say it is time for Maduro to go after 18 years of socialist policies have wrecked the economy. But authorities have stymied an opposition push for a referendum to remove him before the next presidential election due in late 2018.

mondAY 19•12•2016

SPORTS

10

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Vijender retains WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title

Vijender Singh lands a right during the fight against Francis Cheka.

new deLhi, december 18 (iAnS): India's Vijender Singh outpunched Tanzania's Francis Cheka by technical knockout at the Thyagaraj Stadium here on Saturday to defend his WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title.

The 31-year-old Indian took just three rounds to conquer the current African champion in the International Boxing Federation (IBF) Super Middleweight division to extend his unbeaten streak to eight bouts since turning professional.

Cheka, a veteran of 16 years at the professional level, had won 32 of his 43 bouts before Saturday's fight and was expected to give a strong challenge to Vijender.

But the Haryana pugilist proved far too superior to his 34-year-old opponent.

The 2012 Beijing Olympics bronze medalist used his superior strength and height advantage over the 5'10 Cheka to good effect, dominating most of the exchanges.

Vijender was a bit cagey at the start, trying to get the measure of his opponent with the African throwing most of the punches in the early stages.

Vijender however, successfully defended the early punches from his opponent and started dominating the first round.

Cheka was trying to make it hard for Vijender to score with his impressive fitness and mobility, but the Indian used his superior reach to build up a 3-1 lead by the end of the opening period.

The Tanzanian came out firing on all cylinders in the second round with Vi-

jender continuing with his cautious approach.

But the Indian soon increased the tempo and dominated the second round as well, landing seven punches to Cheka's three.

The third round witnessed the Haryana boxer completely dominating the contest as he cornered the Tanzanian and peppered him with powerful punches prompting the referee to stop the contest and award the bout in Vijender's favour by a technical knockout.

Indian boxers dominated the undercard fights as well, winning four of the five bouts.

In the first fight of the evening, Rajesh Kumar beat Uganda's Mubaraka Sseguya by a split decision in the Lightweight category. The first judge scored it 39-37, the second 37-38 and the third 39-37.

In the same category, Kuldeep Dhanda outpunched Indonesia's Egy Rozten by a unanimous decision.

In the Welterweight division, Deepak Tanwar outclassed Indonesian Sutriyono Bara Boys by technical knockout. Deepak has won all his four fights so far at the professional level.

Dharmender Grewal overpowered Ugandan Abasi Kyobe by unanimous decision in the Cruiserweight division.

All three judges decided in the Punjab boxer's favour by a 40-36 margin.

The only Indian defeat of the night came when Australia's Scott Edwards pipped Pardeep Kharera by unanimous decision in a Welterweight contest.

Higuain haunts Roma as Juve go clear Turin, december 18 (AFP): Gonzalo Higuain struck a first-half winner as record-equalling Juventus underlined their credentials for a record sixth consecutive title with a battling 1-0 win over Roma on Saturday. Roma travelled to Turin determined to reduce their four-point deficit to the five-time consecutive Serie A champions before the Christmas break. But de-

spite an improved second half, Luciano Spalletti's men failed in their attempt to beat the champions in a league fixture for the first time since 2010.

Juventus moved seven points clear of Roma, in second, and were given a further boost when AC Milan were held to a goalless home draw by Atalanta that left them third at nine points in arrears.

ibra lifts Man united, 10-man leicester earn dramatic draw

London, december 18 (AFP): Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice as Manchester United won 2-0 at West Bromwich Albion, while champions Leicester City weathered the dismissal of Jamie Vardy to come from 2-0 down and draw 2-2 at Stoke City.

Jose Mourinho's United drew level on points with fifth-place Tottenham Hotspur, who host Burnley on Sunday, after winning at West Brom to record three successive league wins for the first time since August.

Ibrahimovic opened the scoring in the fifth minute with a header from Jesse Lingard's fine right-wing cross at the conclusion of a magnificent team move.

After Ben Foster had pushed a shot from Wayne Rooney onto the bar, Ibrahimovic added a second in the 56th minute.

The former Paris SaintGermain striker darted between two defenders before scoring via a deflection off Craig Dawson, leaving him with nine goals from his last 10 appearances and 16 for the season.

"I keep saying that for me it is not his body, for me it is more up here," Mourinho told BT Sport, pointing to his head.

"It is a pleasure to see him play, his happiness. It's fantastic for a 35-year-old guy."

He added: "That was

Zlatan Ibrahimovic shoots to score Manchester United's second goal (AFP Photo)

very good. We played really well at Crystal Palace and today, even better."

Leicester avoided a ninth defeat of the campaign thanks to an impressive fightback in a stormy game at Stoke, which left Claudio Ranieri's men three points above the relegation zone in 15th place.

Vardy was shown a straight red card in the 28th minute for a two-footed challenge on Mame Biram Diouf, ruling the England striker out of Leicester's entire festive programme.

Bojan Krkic put Stoke ahead with a 39th-minute penalty after Danny Simpson was adjudged to have handled his cross, with Joe Allen tapping in a second in first-half stoppage time.

But Leonardo Ulloa halved the deficit, smuggling a header over the line from fellow substitute Demarai Gray's cross, before Christian Fuchs teed up Daniel Amartey to head in an 88th-minute leveller.

Discussing whether Vardy deserved to be sent off, Leicester manager Ran-

India beat Belgium to win Junior Hockey World Cup

Lucknow, december 18 (PTi): India today created history by winning the FIH Junior Hockey World Cup after a gap of 15 long years with a clinical 2-1 victory against Belgium in the final, here tonight.

The hosts scored two beautifully crafted field goals in the first half through Gurjant Singh (8th minute) and Simranjeet Singh (22nd) while controlling the proceedings for better part of the game to emerge as deserving winners.

The team coached by Harendra Singh in association with senior team's chief coach Roelant Oltmans accomplished what the 'Class of 2001' comprising of some of the best of their times like Gagan Ajit Singh, Yugraj Singh achieved then.

Having finished a lowly 13th in the last edition of the tournament in New Delhi, it was a mission for the hosts to rewrite history and the hosts duly achieved that riding on its brilliant performance in the 11th edition

of the event.

It turned out to be a historic day for India as they reclaimed the title for the second time in the history of the tournament. India had last won the tournament way back in 2001 in Hobart.

It was also the first time that a host nation had won the tournament since its inception.

Cheered by a vociferous home crowd, the Indians produced a clinical performance a "perfect game" which the team's coaching staff was eying for in order to revive the fortunes of the game in a nation, which has boasted of a rich hockey tradition.

Belgium scored a late consolation goal through Fabrice van Bockrijck's penalty corner conversion in the 70th minute.

Earlier in the day, six-time champions and title holders Germany had to contend themselves with the bronze medal after outclassing Australia 3-0 in the third-fourth place play-off match.

ieri said: "One manager says yes, one says no. If you listen to me, I say 'no'. If you listen to Mark Hughes, he says 'yes'.

"I don't know if he touched the player, but he touched the ball. I was angry (with the referee) because I saw my players fight and there were so many yellow cards, but it was a normal battle in the Premier League.

"Itcouldbeaturningpoint today, but we have to wait and see the next matches."

- Negredo at the double Middlesbrough moved above Leicester to 14th place

after beating Swansea City 3-0 courtesy of a first-half Alvaro Negredo brace and a Marten de Roon volley.

Swansea dropped to second-bottom, with Sunderland climbing off the foot of the table after Patrick van Aanholt's 49thminute goal secured a 1-0 home win over Watford.

Hull City are now bottom following a 1-0 defeat at West Ham United, who prevailed through Mark Noble's 76th-minute penalty after the visitors had hit the post three times.

Leicester in dock over stormy scenes SToke-on-TrenT, december 18 (AFP): England's Football Association will study referee Craig Pawson's report before determining whether to take punitive action against Leicester City following their eventful 2-2 draw at Stoke City.

The main flashpoint of Saturday's Premier League game saw Leicester striker Jamie Vardy dismissed in the 28th minute by Pawson for a two-footed challenge on Stoke forward Mame Biram Diouf.

Pawson was criticised for not dismissing Manchester United's Marcos Rojo for a similar foul against Crystal Palace in midweek and he was confronted by Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri at half-time. "I don't know.

I don't want to speak about this.

Every match is different," Ranieri said when asked about Pawson's performance in the wake of his failure to dismiss Rojo.

In the final seven minutes of the half, Stoke scored twice and Pawson booked five Leices-

ter players. It prompted stormy scenes at half-time, when Ranieri and his players confronted the official, who, in turn, appeared to have objects thrown at him by visiting supporters as he left the field.

For their total of six bookings, in addition to Vardy's red card, Leicester can expect an automatic FA fine, triggered when a team collects six or more cautions. But Pawson's report will be studied closely by the authorities this week before they decide whether further action is warranted.

Former elite referee Howard Webb added to the controversy by saying that, following the Rojo incident, Pawson should not be allowed to officiate the forthcoming Liverpool-Manchester City clash. "He's been given, on New Year's Eve, Liverpool against Manchester City. I don't think he should be on that game, no, not after the performance he gave on Wednesday night," said Webb.

public discourse

NO ISSUE IS BEYOND HUMAN REACH Aaron Keishing

“I

was once asked why I don’t participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I’ll be there.” - Mother Teresa Peaceful solution need not be impossible. Any conflict can be solved without resorting to violence. People resort to violence because they think it is impossible to solve the issues in peaceful manner, and/or peaceful co-existence is impracticable and/or unreal.

“But that is dangerous, defeatist belief. It leads to the conclusion that communal riot or war is inevitable, that mankind is doomed, that we are gripped by forces we cannot control. We need not accept that view. Our problems are manmade; therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man’s reason and spirit have often solved the seemingly unsolvable, and we believe they can do it again,” (President, John F. Kennedy, June 10, 1963).

Strikes, bandhs and blockades should be banned permanently or kept as a last option, when all

attempts to negotiate have failed.

Moshe Dayan said, “If you want to make peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.” But people fear negotiations as much as they fear peace.

People have begun to believe that it is useless to speak of peaceful coexistence between communities; it is useless to speak of Manipur peace. Yes, it will be useless until the rigid and one sided leaders of the communities adopt a more enlightened attitude. Peace loving people are supposed to be racially neutral, but to do so is extremely dangerous; we will be suspected by both sides. But if we don’t do it, if we completely align ourselves with one side or the other, we will lose our chance to work for peace.

To work for peace and/or reconciliation is to understand both sides.

Doing only that will be a great help for peace. Sadly, people of the State of Manipur have completely identified with one side, one ideology, which is the root cause of communal strife.

We, as individuals and as a community, must re-examine our own attitude towards the possibilities of peace, towards other communities, for our attitude is as essential as theirs. And every sensible person of Manipur who

despairs of communal strife and wishes to bring peace, should begin by looking inward, by examining his own attitude toward the possibilities of peace. Social Medias can be used for exchanging peace, because peace is life itself.

Ironically, Facebook and Whatsup have become the tools to promote enmity between communities, and to circulate rumors, and to spread wanton provocative statements, with intent to cause riot. Even newspapers are turning as mediums to exchange threats between the so called welfare civil organisations.

Today, writing peace is more dangerous than writing strife.

People are happier to help for the cause of destruction, mass brawl, and communal strife than for peace, and seem to have no curiosity to question why they chose to brawl. Was there any better strategy? How long shall we keep on fighting? Will fighting truly end injustice, or fighting itself is injustice? Will blockade/ counter blockade really bring fair solution, or blockade/ counter blockade itself is unfair? It is very easy, in this state of affairs, to incite and inflame the two groups of people against one another, to spread fears and to instill new ha-

treds on top of those that already exist. We cannot change the ugly situation between communities by fighting, and fighting and fighting. “You never change anything by fighting the existing. To change something, build a new model and make the existing obsolete,” said Buckminster Fuller. Economic blockade, bandh and strike must go, make them obsolete; we have to invent new methods of agitation. Blockade, bandh and strike must not be the best modes of submitting grievances or agitation. We must stop illegal mode of agitations, for laws and agitations must go hand in hand. If the communities of Manipur wish to have a prolonged and indefinite period of peaceful co-existence and economic prosperity, they have only got to behave in a peaceful and helpful way toward one another.

To err is human, but no group, leader or individual shall be a persistent offender. And enmities between communities, as between individuals, shall not last forever.

A nation State is not built by following a negative path. We should not pursue solution by adopting illegal means. It is not enough to say we must not pursue violence. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not

merely on the negative expulsion of communal strife but on the positive affirmation of peace. Peace is far superior to the violence; legal means are far superior to illegal means. We must transform from negative blockade, bandh and strike race, in which no one is secure, gain and/or no one can win, to a positive contest to harness humanity’s creative genius for the purpose of making peace and prosperity a reality for all the communities of the State of Manipur.

We must shift the bandhs race into a peace race, a race for building a safer place to live. “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline.

We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.” - Martin Luther King, Jr. Let us strive to build peace, a desire for peace, a willingness to work for peace, in the hearts and minds of all our people. My humble appeal to UNC and State Government to settle the ongoing issues at the earliest and restore normalcy in the State, before it is too late.

True love for the people is doing justice Rev. L. Suohie Mhasi

F

rom the very beginning of the current talk between the GoI and the NSCN (I-M), I have been saying and writing the same thing that all of the people should support the talk to be successful for the good of all. In the context of the situation, it is true love for the Nagas and before God and there is no alternative. Hatred, bitterness and seeking self-prestige should be flushed out from the heart and seek justice to be done. It is better to heal than to wound.

All of the grown up men and women have experienced that the consequence of the first talk between the GoI and the FGN being a failure was horrible. It is needless to mention the lengthy stories.

After 30 years that is from 1964-1997 the second talk between the GoI and the NSCN (I-M) was started and the talk continues inconclusive. The current talk is being led by another Political Group known as NSCN (I-M). But all political Groups are together on board of the same ship, sacrificing their lives together for the same cause and to score the same goal.

The failure of any Group is to be regretted by all and the success of each Group belongs to all. The fruit of their failure or success will affect all of the Nagas.

So all should contribute their best towards the cause.

If the ongoing talk is sabotaged to be a failure, any Political Organization or the general public cannot save the situation for any length of time. It is destructive and unchristian conscience which will do more harm than good to the people. “Search me, o God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Ps 139:23-24)

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.

MOnday 19•12•2016

EntErtainmEnt

Akun Wanghum

releases music video

Flashmob at Dimapur Night Carnival

I

‘

’ll stand by you’, a single music video by Akun Wanghum has been released on YouTube and distributed worldwide on global platform, MuSlate. Hailing from Mon district, Akun has been singing since his tender age. Inspired by both Indian and western music, he has been performing in many events and also has featured as a lead vocalist in Hindi album The Eastory Project. He released his first Hindi single later this year on indiehut. com. Recorded at Tribes Music & Media Lab, Dimapur, ‘I’ll stand by you’ is directed by Charles Crezen. The music is arranged by Alem Alia Jr. and mixed by Kevi Pucho (Ele- A group of young people performs flashmob entertaining carnival visitors on the last day of Dimapur Night Carnival at ment Indie). The video also features Tiajungla Ao. Watch Naga Shopping Arcade on December 18. A flashmob is a group of people suddenly performing an unusual or entertainthe video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/8LZmM1kec5s ing activity in a public place. The group sang Christmas carols and hymns. (Morung Photo)

Nise Meruno performed a concert series with the Capital City Minstrels in New Delhi recently. The venues were the Teen Murti Auditorium, Hungarian Cultural Centre, epicenter and the Vatican Embassy. The final concert was for the President of India at the rashtrapati Bhavan. seen here with Meruno is the conductor of CCM sharmila Livingston.

Malmsteen leaves Arunachal spellbound Late Singer Christina Grimmie Honoured With New Single

D

ressed in a tight fitting leather pants and black shirt, Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen left everyone spellbound with his maiden performance in India at Dambuk village in Arunachal Pradesh.

The attendees of the ongoing Orange Festival of Adventure & Music were left enthralled on Saturday as Malmsteen created magic with his guitar on the stage.

Hosted by Dambuk in the state’s Lower Dibang Valley district, said to be the tenth least populous district in the country, the festival was headlined by Malmsteen.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu was among the thousand attendees who enjoyed rock numbers churned out by the

star, who still sports eye make-up and leaves hair open like most of the rockers of the 1980s.

After the announcement of JK Tyre Orange 4x4 Fury champions, the international star performed to high on energy tracks, including his 1989 hit songs “Dreaming (Tell Me)” and “Heaven tonight”. The crowd cheered louder when he did his guitar solo.

During his performance, he asked the thrilled audience: “Are you spellbound?” Going by the hoots and applause, they were clearly left spellbound.

“He has never played in India and has a huge fan following in the northeastern region where heavy metal genre of music is more popular than in rest of the country. I wanted to do this for myself too as I am one of his

biggest fans,” Abu Tayeng, Director, Orange Festival of Adventure & Music, Dambuk, told IANS here.

Malmsteen is among the most technically accomplished hard rock guitarists to emerge during the 1980s.

His debut album “Rising Force”, which was largely instrumental, provided the major catalyst for the 1980s guitar phenomenon known as ‘shredding’.

The attendees, mostly from Arunachal Pradesh, spent Rs 2,000 to watch him perform live in Dambuk, known for orange orchards.

The fest also saw performances by French singer Antoine, Delhi’s Menwhopause band, Frisky Pints from Mizoram and more.

L

ate singer Christina Grimmie has been honoured with a new single released by former The Voice contestant Jacquie Lee. The 19-year-old released the music video for Somebody’s Angel on Thursday which highlights the tragedies that have taken place in 2016, including her friend Christina’s death, terrorist attacks in Brussels and Nice, France, and the Orlando nightclub massacre.

“I felt like this year we really needed it,” Jacquie, who came second on season five of the singing contest, told People. “We needed to all feel like we were taking this on together, especially near the holidays.”

The music video also features news clips covering the deaths of music legends Prince and David Bowie, actor Gene Wilder, and former world champion boxer Muhammad Ali. “Obviously Christina inspired the song, but it woke (IANs) me up to all of the tragedies that go on every day,” Jacquie explained. “I feel like those words really helped me get through Christina’s passing, so I wanted to make it open to everyone and tribute every person that we’ve lost this year.”

The emotional video ends with touching footage of Christina and Jacquie performing together, along with a sweet message, “In memory of all those who are Somebody’s Angel now.”

Christina was shot and killed by Kevin Loibl at a postconcert meet and greet in Orlando, Florida on 10 June (16), before the deranged fan took his own life.

Following her death, Christina coach on The Voice, Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine, offered to pay for her funeral, while Selena Gomez’s stepfather Brian Teefey, who had served as the young star’s manager, created a GoFundMe page to raise money to support the family.

And last month (Nov16), the family of the 22-year-old The Voice finalist revealed they will do their utmost to ensure her legacy lives on.

“As her family, we are fully committed to continuing her legacy as she would have wished and will be constantly updating you, the ‘frands’, with all Christina-related activities, including her unreleased music and new mixes of existing music,” the statement read.

David Guetta to perform in India for a cause

C M Y K

source: Contact music

G

rammy Award-winning DJ and music producer David Guetta will be back in India on a charitable note with the #Guetta4Good show here on January 12 next year. The profits from the special charity performance at the gig, put together by the organisers of Sunburn -one of the India’s biggest electronic dance music festivals -- will go towards educating underprivileged children.

The DJ will be making a special contribution towards underprivileged children with the help of children’s nonprofit organization Magic Bus, as all the funds raised from the performance will be donated to the latter. “India is a magical place. The energy that I get from the

country and the fans creatively inspires me. Music can change lives,” Guetta said in a statement.

Karan Singh, CEO of Sunburn, said: “The idea of using music as a medium to raise funds to support our children is one that has connected with the youth of India and am sure we will see an overwhelming response for David’s performance come January.” Guetta first toured India in 2012, and has subsequently performed to massive crowds all across the country. Other than his charity gig, Guetta will performing in Mumbai on January 13, in Hyderabad on January 14, and in Noida on January 15.

Michael Sheen To Quit Acting To Pursue Activism

A

ctor Michael Sheen is quitting the movie business to become a full-time activist citing an uncomfortable feeling of unease with the rise of the far right. The Damned United star is so determined to make his mark on dismantling the popular feeling of far-right, he is planning to leave his girlfriend and family in the US to move to Port Talbot in South Wales.

Sheen said: “In the same way as the Nazis had to be stopped in Germany in the Thirties, this thing that is on the rise has to be stopped. “It’s not going to look like this in 10 years’ time.

Everything has shifted. The dice are being rolled again.”

Sheen’s desire to move back to his native Wales stems from his hometown, population 37,000, voting for Brexit and he said he was keen to begin his activism back where he began. His fears were exacerbated with Donald Trump shock win over Hillary Clinton in the American election.

The father-of-one, who just celebrated his daughter Lily getting into college, first spoke of his desire to move back to the UK in March and presented his plans - that may also include directing - as a “new chapter”. source: Contact music

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MOnDAY 19•12•2016

SPORTS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Real survive scare to win Club World Cup TOKYO, December 18 (reuTers): Real Madrid suffered an almighty fright before a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick hauled them back from 2-1 down and gave them a 4-2 win over rank outsiders Kashima Antlers in the Club World Cup final on Sunday.

Two goals from Gaku Shibasaki stunned the European champions as the Japanese hosts took a 2-1 lead early in the second half before a Ronaldo penalty brought Real level on the hour.

The 11-times European champions then survived several more scares and a possible sending-off for captain Sergio Ramos before Ronaldo scored twice more in the first period of extra-time.

Real, who won the tournament for the second time in three years and were crowed champions for a fifth time overall, appeared set for an easy victory when Karim Benzema gave them a ninth-minute lead but Shibasaki changed the story by leveling one minute

C M Y K

Real Madrid's Marcelo and team mates celebrate winning the FIFA Club World Cup. (Photo: FIFA)

before halftime.

Kashima were the first Asian team to reach the final although they qualified for the tournament as champions of host nation Japan. Asian champions Jeonbuk Motors had lost in the quarter-finals.

Real went ahead when Luka Modric's volley was parried by Hitoshi Sogaha-

ta and Benzema tapped in the rebound.

Kashima refused to be overawed, continued playing their neat football and snatched a shock equalizer just before the break.

Shoma Doi's cross found Shibasaki, whose first touch was poor but he was gifted a second attempt when Raphael

Madhya Pradesh vs A&A from today DimAPur, December 18 (mexn): Nagaland Cricket Association is all set to host the last Group Match of the All India Cooch Behar (Under-19) four day cricket match between Madhya Pradesh and the combined A and A team of the BCCI from December 19 to 22 at Nagaland Cricket Stadium, Dimapur.

According to a press release, the match will start at 8:45 am daily and will be played till 3:45 pm.

The BCCI has already sent the officials to conduct the match.

Earlier, the NCA also hosted another match of the CB Trophy from November 14 to 17.

The Associate and Affiliate members team of BCCI has been picked up from Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Sikkim, Arunachal and Bihar. Nagaland has four of its Under-19 players in the A&A team namely, Sedezalie Rupreo, Puchu Das, Nagaho Chishi and Tahmeed Rahman.

The team had lost four of its matches – to Gujarat in the first match at Dimapur, to Saurashtra at Rajkot, to Hyderabad at Hyderabad, and to Jharkhand at Patna – but managed to draw the fifth match with Karnataka at Bangalore.

The NCA in this regard has requested all cricket lovers to come and witness the match at the NCA stadium.

Rahul's 199 powers India on Day 3 of fifth Test

Varane failed to clear and he smashed the ball into the net.

Shibasaki struck again six minutes after the break when he collected a poor Real clearance, got away from three opponents and fired a low shot past Keylor Navas from 25 meters.

Real were facing their first defeat since they lost

to VfL Wolfsburg in April, a run of 36 competitive games, until Lucas Vazquez was bundled over by Shuto Yamamoto and Ronaldo converted the resulting penalty on the hour.

Kashima continued to give as good as they got and had three good chances in the final minutes of normal time.

Fabricio's goalbound drive was tipped over by Navas and the Costa Rican goalkeeper came to the rescue again one minute later by blocking Mu Kanazaki's shot after he got free of the Real defense.

Yasushi Endo could have won it with the last kick but fired wide at the far post while Sergio Ramos was lucky to escape a second yellow card for a push on an opponent.

Ronaldo ended Kashima's dream when he collected Benzema's sliderule pass and fired past Sogahata eight minutes into extra-time, then settled the match six minutes later with an emphatic finish into the roof of the net.

Atletico take emotional third place

YOKOhAmA, December 18 (AFP): Atletico Nacional beat Mexico's Club America 4-3 on penalties to finish third at the FIFA Club World Cup on Sunday after an emotional three weeks for the Colombian side.

Miguel Borja swept home the decisive spot kick to seal victory for the reigning Libertadores Cup holders after they had squandered a two-goal lead over the 90 minutes in Yokohama.

Atletico, who failed to reach the final in Japan following their incidental part in the air tragedy that decimated Brazilian rivals Chapecoense last month, looked as if they would run away with the third-place clash after an explosive start.

Embarrassed by a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Japan's Kashima Antlers in midweek, Atletico went ahead after just six minutes

Atletico Nacional players celebrate (AFP Photo)

through a Miguel Samudio own goal.

Alejandro Guerra slammed in a second, but Michael Arroyo pulled one back with a ferocious volley seven minutes before the break. Substitute Oribe Peralta lashed home the equaliser from the penalty spot to make it 2-2.

Atletico, who made headlines when Chapecoense's squad were all but wiped out by a plane crash while en route to play them in the Copa Sudamericana final, were

cheered by a huge contingent of fans, many waving Chape flags in tribute to the fallen side.

"We felt the tragedy very acutely and discussed it with the players many times," Atletico coach Reinaldo Rueda told reporters.

"They are professional footballers but still terrible things like this can happen.

We can understand the pain the families and loved ones of Chapecoense must be suffering and it was on our mind while we played here in Japan."

ATK beat Kerala to win second ISL title

KOchi, December 18 (iAns): Atletico de Kolkata claimed their second Indian Super League (ISL) football title in three years bettering Kerala Blasters 4-3 (1-1) on penalty shootout in a lacklustre final here on Sunday.

The match was tied in 1-1 at the break and after 90 minutes of regulation time. Mohammed Rafi put the hosts ahead in the 37th minute and Henrique Sereno Fonseca equalised seven minutes later at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium here.

Jewel Raja turned out to be the jewel in ATK's crown,r calmly dispatching the last penalty, after Sameehg Doutie, Borja Fernandez and Javi Lara all converted their spot kicks. Only Iain Hume's shot was blocked by Kerala custodian Graham Stack.

The home team took first strike in the shootout. Antonio German, Kervens Belfort and Mohammed Rafique scored while Elhadji Ndoye blasted over from 18 yards and Cedric Hengbart's shot was acrobatically saved by ATK goalkeeper Debjit Majumder.

ATK also defeated Kerala in the final of the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2014.

The match received an early dose of pace with chances created at both ends, but poor technique coupled with signs of nervousness, prevented the two team's premier forwards from capitalising on the opportunity.

Kerala forward Kervens Belfort outran India international Pritam Kotal and found the in-form C.K. Vineeth free on the left, who undid the good work with poor technique.

The ball was quickly hurled towards ATK's star striker Iain Hume, who peeled away from his marker but was equally wayward in controlling the ball.

ATK gradually emerged stronger with Hume combining with his team's marquee goal scorer Helder Postiga. The Portuguese had a crack at goal from an acute angle but his effort went wide in the 14th minute.

ATK's Jewel Raja was creating a positive impression in midfield over his senior state-mate Mehtab Hossain, snatching the ball from him on several occasions, to bring winger Sameehg Doutie into action, whose crisp half-volley was blocked three minutes later.

Kerala's forward movement was channelised only through Bel-

fort, the Haitian's dragging his freekick over the bar.

ATK's offensive movement was more united with Lalrindika Ralte also getting into the act, helping Postiga reach favourable positions from where he could shoot at goal.

But for all their supposed supremacy, it was ATK who conceded first, from a set-piece movement that looked increasingly the only way they could score.

Mehtab's corner was guided in powerfully by Mohammed Rafi, who rose admirably above Kotal, and diverted the ball past an outstretched goalkeeper Debjit Majumder.

Kerala's sense of supremacy due to their obtained lead seemed accidental and ATK's equaliser, just a minute before the breather

by Henrique Sereno Fonseca, was deserved as they appeared more likely to score from open play.

ATK though had to resort to a corner to get level, Sereno outmuscling defender Sandesh Jhingan to direct his header past Stack.

The narrative, after the change of ends, remained pretty similar to the first session, Belfort being the focal point of Kerala's attacks and ATK trying a more organised and

holistic approach for goal.

The ball moved to and fro, but without any real purpose or conviction, and inability to carve open cautious defences led to both teams trying long range efforts.

The match settled into a mediocre rhythm. ATK coach Jose Molina tried to inject some energy into his team by replacing a tiring Postiga with Javi Lara.

The pace of the proceedings dropped noticeably, with players suffering cramps in the hot and humid weather conditions.

As the match meandered towards the end of regulation time, neither team could create definite scoring opportunities.

The extra-time was more of a forced exercise on the players.

Neither team were ready to go for the jugular, wary of getting caught on the break, preferring to keep ball possession to neutralise goalbound threat.

Penalties seemed inevitable and the only reasonable solution to the iron-gripped deadlock.

And when it happened, in due course, ATK emerged stronger at the fag end, just as they did in 2014 when they won courtesy an added time goal.

Rested Cavs down Lakers, Warriors crush Blazers

India's Lokesh Rahul (R) celebrates after scoring a half-century during the third day of their fifth and final Test match against England on December 18, 2016 (AFP Photo)

chennAi, December 18 (AFP): Lokesh Rahul said Sunday that the Chennai pitch might break and make life difficult for batsmen after his career-best 199 steered India's strong reply against England on day three of the fifth Test.

Rahul shared a crucial fourth-wicket 161-run stand with Karun Nair (71 not out) to make the England bowlers toil on a seemingly flat deck at Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium.

India were 391 for four at stumps with Nair and Murali Vijay (17) at the crease.

The hosts still trail by 86 runs in response to England's 477.

Rahul, who recorded his fourth Test century, was the ninth batsman in the world to get out on 199 after falling to legspinner Adil Rashid in the final moments of the day.

The 24-year-old batsman chased Rashid's widish delivery on the off-side to give away a catch to point as he crumpled into a heap with hands on head.

"I've never been somebody who has chased landmarks but getting a 200 will always be a proud moment for a batsman and I'm gutted that I missed out," he said.

Earlier Rahul, whose 12-match career has been hampered by injuries, had surpassed his previous best of 158 as he entertained a raucous home crowd with a couple of reverse sweeps.

He struck 16 fours and 3 sixes during

his marathon knock, prompting England skipper Alastair Cook to rotate his bowling options.

The tourists took the second new ball in the 85th over of the innings but Rahul and Nair made sure that India continued to mount the runs.

Nair recorded his maiden Test fifty in just his third match to play the perfect sheet anchor role as Rahul piloted the Indian innings till his departure.

England pacemen Ben Stokes and Stuart Broad worked hard to claim two crucial wickets of Cheteshwar Pujara (16) and skipper Virat Kohli (15) in the afternoon session.

It was the first time in the series that Kohli, who leads the batting chart with 655 runs, had been out for less than 40. He chipped a drive to extra cover off Broad.

Overnight batsmen Parthiv Patel and Rahul made England's bowlers toil earlier in the day with a 152-run opening stand, before Moeen Ali's off-spin prised out Patel -- the only wicket of the morning session.

It was India's first century opening stand in 32 innings and their best at home against England even though wicketkeeper Patel was filling in for regular opener Vijay, who got treated for a bruised shoulder before coming into bat.

India hold an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-Test series.

LOs AngeLes, December 18 (AFP): A little rest did a world of good for the reigning NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers, who showed spring in their step in a 119-108 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

LeBron James scored 26 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter. Kyrie Irving had 21 points and matched his career high with 12 assists and Kevin Love scored 27 points and pulled down 17 rebounds a night after Cavs coach Tyronn Lue rested the star trio.

Irving was back after a week off, having told Lue he had tired legs in last Saturday's victory over the Charlotte Hornets.

"It was warranted," Irving said.

"How I felt, knowing the importance of what was coming up in the season, I think it was a great group decision in terms of the rest that was needed."

The trend of resting star players who aren't injured has sparked debate -- in part as to whether it's fair to fans -- but Lue said Saturday he would consider resting Irving again.

"There will probably come another time where he's going to need a little rest also," Lue said. "Right now, he's feeling good and that's the biggest thing for me."

The Lakers, who snapped an eight game losing streak on Friday at Philadelphia, led by as many as eight late in the first quarter and maintained the lead into the second period.

But the Cavs had edged ahead 62-59 at halftime and didn't trail after the interval, although the Lakers cut the gap to 108-105 late in the fourth quarter after two threepointers from Nick Young.

"They hit some tough shots," said James, whose three-pointer

LeBron James (23) shoots over Luol Deng (9). (USA TODAY Sports Photo)

with 2:32 remaining stretched the Cavs' lead to 113-105.

"It was up to us to get a couple timely stops like we usually do in the fourth quarter and make a couple timely shots like we do -- and we did that."

Western Conference powers Golden State improved their league-leading record to 24-4 with an emphatic 135-90 triumph over the Portland Trail Blazers in Oakland, California.

Kevin Durant scored 13 of his 34 points in the first quarter as the Warriors jumped to an early lead.

Reserve Ian Clark added 23 points, Stephen Curry chipped in 19 and Klay Thompson scored 16 as Draymond Green contributed a double-double of 13 assists and 12 rebounds.

The 45-point margin of victory was the Warriors' biggest of the season, surpassing their 149106 drubbing of the Lakers on

November 23.

A day after connecting on a record 24 three-pointers in a win at New Orleans, the Houston Rockets rallied to notch their 10th straight victory, 111-109 in overtime over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

James Harden scored 10 of his 28 points in the extra period, handing out 13 assists with nine rebounds that left him one shy of a second triple-double in as many nights.

Forward Ryan Anderson scored 28 points and Eric Gordon provided his familiar spark off the bench with 20 as the Rockets erased a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit.

"We had a pretty off night overall, but we made shots when it counted and stayed with it," Anderson said.

- Westbrook triple-double Oklahoma City star Russell Westbrook was in familiar territory, notching the 50th triple-double of his career -- and 13th this season -- in the Thunder's 114-101 victory over the Phoenix Suns.

Days after Westbrook said he was tired of the talk about his streak of seven straight triple-doubles -- which ended last weekend -- he was at it again, pouring in 26 points with a career-high 22 assists and 11 rebounds.

It's just the fifth time since 1983 that a player posted a triple double that included at least 20 points and 20 assists.

New York star Carmelo Anthony called the Knicks' game in Denver a "must win" but his 29 points weren't enough for the visitors in a 127-114 loss to the Nuggets.

Kenneth Faried had a season-high 25 points and three blocked shots and Emmanuel Mudiay scored 22 for the Nuggets, who had seven players score in double figures.

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