December 22th, 2015 by The Morung Express

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www.morungexpress.com

TuesDAY • December 22 • 2015

DIMAPUR • Vol. X • Issue 348 • 12 PAGes • 4

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ESTD. 2005

P o W e R

Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it’s Christmas Cow is Yahoo India’s ‘Personality of the year’

NSTCB Ltd sensitizes on saving and investments

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T R u T H

— Dale Evans

FIFA takes the whip to Blatter and Platini

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to Preserve and Protect

reflections

By Sandemo Ngullie

Community conservation project at Sendenyu making strides towards protection & preservation of wildlife our Correspondent Kohima | December 21

After deducting some for my daughter’s wedding,Here’s your salary or...hehe... what’s left of it !!

The Morung Express Poll QuEsTion

Vote on www.morungexpress.com SMS your anSwer to 9862574165 This Christmas, should the Church be doing more to uplift the underprivileged and living in poverty? Why? Yes

others

NSDMA issues advisory KOHIMA, DECEMBER 21 (MExN): The Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority (NSDMA) today issued a weather advisory asking all picnickers and trekkers to douse camp fires completely to avoid spreading of jungle fires during the dry season. Owing to extreme cold weather conditions, the public is warned not to venture out into frozen lakes or other freezing water bodies, it informed. The NSDMA also informed the public to contact the State Emergency Operation Centre through the toll free no 1070 and landline no 0370 2291122 in the event of any emergencies.

Fire destroys house in Kohima KOHIMA, DECEMBER 21 (MExN): A house belonging to Lazami Catholic Women Association and located near Leprosy colony, Kohima was razed to the ground by a fire on December 21 at around 4:36pm. Although there was no report of casualties, properties belonging to three families, who were staying on rent were completely destroyed, sources from the Fire department said. The bamboowooden house is suspected to have caught fire while one of the households was cooking rice on firewood.

neilangunuo sanchu, winner of the 8th Angels Mega Model Hunt 2015 (middle) with 1st Runners up, Azho Kalpana (left) and 2nd runners up, Alen Phom (right) at the 8th Angels Mega Model Hunt 2015 held at Bamboo Hall Kisama on December 21. The event was managed by Get Gorgeous society nagaland and powered by nagaland Contractors & suppliers union. (Morung Photo)

Parliament passes bill to prevent Israel's Vice Premier resigns atrocities against SCs and STs NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 21 (PTI): Parliament on Monday passed a crucial bill that provides for stringent action against those involved in crimes against scheduled castes and tribes, wrongfully occupying their land or dedicating such women as a 'devadasi'. The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill also provides for establishing special courts to try such offences and the rehabilitation of victims and aimed at prohibiting the commission of offences against members of the SC and ST communities. Assaulting or sexually exploiting an SC or ST woman is an offence under the bill which states that any intentional touching of an SC or ST woman in a sexual manner without her consent, using words, acts or gestures of a sexual nature, dedicating an SC or ST women as a devadasi to a temple, or any similar practice will be considered an offence. Wrongfully occupying land belonging to SCs or STs is an of-

fence under the bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha in August. It also declares as an offence garlanding with footwear, compelling to dispose or carry human or animal carcasses, or do manual scavenging, abusing SCs or STs by caste name in public, attempting to promote feelings of ill-will against SCs or STs or disrespecting any deceased person held in high esteem and imposing or threatening a social or economic boycott. The Bill specifies that a nonSC or ST public servant who neglects his duties relating to SCs or STs shall be punishable with imprisonment for six months to one year. The measure, which seeks to amend the 1989 Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, also has certain new categories of actions to be treated as offences like forcing an SC or ST individual to vote or not vote for a particular candidate in an illegal manner.

JERUSALEM, DECEMBER 21 (REUTERS): Israeli Vice Premier Silvan Shalom, a veteran politician in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party, resigned on Sunday following allegations that he had sexually harassed several women during his career. The decision to step down by Shalom, who also served as the country's interior minister and once held the post of foreign minister, was not expected to affect the stability of Netanyahu's government. Israeli media have reported in recent days that several women have complained that Shalom harassed them. Israel's attorney general on Sunday instructed the police to investigate the allegations. "I have decided to resign my position as minister and member of the Knesset (Israel's parliament)," Shalom said in a statement, adding he was worried about the toll that recent events might take on his family. Shalom is not the first high-level Israeli politician to be forced from office in a scandal regarding allegations of sexual misconduct. Former Israeli president Moshe Katsav left office in 2007 and was later sentenced to seven years in prison after being convicted of twice raping an aide when he was a cabinet minister in the late 1990s, and sexually assaulting two other women who worked for him while he was president. Katsav denied any wrongdoing.

Noticing the threat posed to the flora and fauna in their area, the community at Sendenyu, under Tseminyu Sub Division of Kohima District have responded by taking up initiatives of their own to preserve and protect the biological diversity in their area. The story of the project, called the Sendenyu Community Biodiversity & Wildlife Conservation (SCBWCC) was briefed to Nagaland state Governor, PB Acharya during his recent visit to Sendenyu village in connection with the Rengma Students’ Union (RSU) conference. The community project consists of Sendenyu village and its offshoot villages – Sedenyu New and Thongsiinyu. The Sendenyu community conservation works began with the Sendenyu Village Council Biodiversity & Wildlife Conservation Act, 2001, wherein various rules and regulations for conservation were framed and enforced. Also as part of the conservation effort, an area of about 20 square kilometers of village land has been demarcated as Village Community Biological and Wildlife Protected Area, with a vision to preserve and protect the rich and diverse natural heritage. All denizens of the Sendenyu community are directly the stakeholders of SCBWCC. The area has been home to various birds that are normally found in ev-

ergreen sub-tropical wet climatic conditions. However, most of the animals have become extinct due to excessive hunting, lack of their natural food due to encroachment of their habitat by humans. Following enforcement of conservation in the Protected Area (PA) and other village community lands, today, many animals have returned – such as wild boars, barking deer, sambar, hog badgers, several packs of Indian wild dogs, bears, leopards, macaques, flying fox, flying squirrel, civet, slow loris, otter etc. The area also has a host of amphibians and reptiles. A variety of bird species such as barbets, different woodpeckers, partridges and quails, pheasants, doves, pigeons, owls, cuckoos, bulbuls, flycatchers, bush-robins etc are found in the area. As part of a long term strategy for sustainability of conservation, initially, farmers have been advised to do away with jhum cultivation (slash and burn) and to adopt more scientific, productive and ecofriendly farming such as horticulture and wet terrace cultivation. As a result, more green coverage is maintained; thereby facilitating increase in organic soil carbon content and other nutrients in the soil, increase in moisture, retention, reduction in soil erosion etc. Micro-check dams and water harvesting ponds have also been dug in the PA to recharge underground water and also to

provide drinking water for wild animals. Initially, the conservation works began with contributions from members and well wishers. The Nagaland State Government has also contributed to the success of the conservation project by providing LPG connections to the families whose land falls within the PA, contributed funds for construction of watch towers, part fencing of the PA, and honorarium pay for three forest guards. Fines imposed by the village council on violation of conservation rules such as poaching, trapping, illegal collection of medicinal herbs range from Rs. 2000 to Rs. 50,000. In an effort to document the rich biological diversity heritage, all the major landscapes, rivulets, lakes and ponds, natural spring sources, flora and fauna including wild edible fruits, medicinal plants, timber of commercial value, different species of bamboos, etc found within the land have been listed and are in the process of documentation. The Sendenyu Community Biodiversity & Wildlife Conservation Committee believes that the sustainability of community conservation will depend on improving the economic livelihood of the community. “Therefore, it is pertinent to promote eco-tourism, shift from primitive method to modern, scientific, ecofriendly farming and green village approach,” the Committee stated.

Nagaland Govt for effective enforcement of Coal Policy DIMAPUR, DECEMBER 21 (MExN): Directorate of Geology and Mining, Nagaland State has issued a general information to all public, licensees, village councils and stake holders for effective enforcement of the Nagaland Coal Policy (first amendment) 2014. The circular from the directorate informed on Monday that the coal challans bearing CC-ML/14 for coal season 2014-15 has

been invalidated and new coal challans bearing series CC-ML/15 is being used for transportation of coal. Observing that unscrupulous element may approach licensees for utilizing Nagaland coal challans to carry coal extracted from neighboring States due to restriction imposed by National Green Tribunal (NGT), the circular put word of caution not to en-

tertain any such request or misuse Nagaland coal challans or counterfeit, fake, duplicate the original challan using the name of the licensees. This being a serious offence is punishable under the law, it added. The circular also informed that Nagaland coal challans is valid only to carry Nagaland coal by the valid licensees of Nagaland and shall not be used

or sold out to any outsider agency/party to carry any other coal other than Nagaland coal. Further, the police and the administration has been requested to cross check the coal challans and also assist concerned district-in-charges for curbing illegal transportation of coal and seize and book the culprit as per the provision of law, whenever such offence is detected.

Meluri hosts first ever hair trimming festival Morung Express news

Barbers gone on vacation, local youths volunteer with scissors Dimapur | December 21 and razors for a trim, shave or a haircut to the town’s populaceEating Naga King Chillies and making it the most unique indigenous festival for the year 2015

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climbing greased bamboo poles are passé. Meluri, a small town in Phek district, has shown the way towards putting context to celebration. On December 19, its local ground hosted a ‘Hair Trimming’ Festival. In this month of opulent and ritual marriages, jubilees, anniversaries, and festivals including the so-called ‘festival of festivals’ –the Hornbill—and the upcoming Christmas and New Year, the Hair Trimming Festival stood out for its unique conceptualization and noble intention. Perhaps the first of its kind, the Festival, in its humble demeanour, elicited both delight and relief from citizens. Organized by Tizü Club (consisted of working professionals and citizens from the Meluri area spread across the State), the Festival was a much needed initiative as the two barbers of the Town, who are from Bihar, had departed for holidays in early December and will be back only in January 2016,

left: The oldest citizen of Meluri, sousatho, taking part in the recent Hair Trimming Festival organized by Tizü Club. Right: The youngest participant, Arhutsia Phoji (6 year old).

leaving the Town devoid of a barber for the whole month. In Meluri “we have limited barbers and they have left for vacation, therefore we invited local youth to come forward to take up the initiative,” said Souvitho Nyusou, President of Tizü Club, while speaking to The Morung Express on the intent of organising this unique event. Responding to the call, initially 21 people from the area volunteered for the job. However, as the

day progressed, “we lost track as many more joined in,” he said. The citizens (customers) were a bit apprehensive at first given the singular nature of the Festival but later joined in bulk as initial hesitancy gave way to enthusiasm, adding festive fervour to the event. Around 120-130 people came for hair cut and shaving, ranging from a 6 years old Arhutsia Phoji to the oldest citizen of Meluri, Sousatho, aged around 95 years,

the Club President informed. “Even Naga Style cutting and shaving was done to cater to diverse need of the people.” Formed about two months ago, the Tizü Club’s immediate focus is on social service especially among the youth, though nothing definitive is in place as of now, said Nyusou. While the event was free, the ‘customers’ voluntarily started giving free-will donation from which the Club provided refreshments to the barbers. “Shopkeepers provided refreshment and paanwalas chipped in with betel nuts and other products. It was reminiscent of a gala with numerous onlookers watching the process.” For the Tizü Club, it was also a way of initiating young local barbers to the public so that they do not hesitate to open up their own establishment, the president informed. He added that many of them were formally uneducated. Seeing the good initiative, the citizens further encouraged them to organise such events frequently and also help young people establish their own shops, he said.

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TuesDAY 22•12•2015

NAGALAND

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

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NSTCB Ltd sensitizes on saving and investments

Tuli, December 21 (mexN): The Nagaland State Co-operative Bank Ltd Tuli branch organized Financial Literacy Consultancy & Credit Camp week at Aopenzu Village, Anaki Village and Kangtsung Village, under Tuli Block which is supported under FIF and managed by NABARD. During the visits to these villages, FLCC Co-ordinator Temsulepden shared the purpose of saving and investments and how these things can be done. He said that basic daily needs should be carefully managed so that there is a room for saving which in return yield interest and serve our purpose in future days. He requested the participants to make saving provision before any expenditure is made on the hard earned income and if one does make such provisions of saving, surely he will manage any financial hindrances in days ahead. Branch Manager, NStCB Ltd Nchumthung Kikon highlighted the Banking operation of Nagaland State Co-operative Bank ltd over Nagaland and shared success stories of its operation at other parts of the dis-

trict and the state as a whole. The Branch Manager expressed that Tuli Branch, which began operating since 1978 is now ready to bloom provided all the surrounding villages co-operate and bank with our own local bank the NStCB. Also lamenting on non operation of the Village VDB accounts in the branch, the Branch full potential of extending its credit facilities to help the farmers is hindered as there are certain office procedure to provide loans through VDB accounts and further requested the Village Councils and the VDBs to bring their account with NStCB ltd so that any loans available to the Village can be provided. The Branch Manager also highlighted on the development taking place in the Bank viz., the SMS Alert and NEFT/RTGS been available, reminded that one need not go further instead come to NStCBs as the bank has the 2nd largest operating branches in Nagaland i.e., 21 branches all over the state and further expansion of bank branches are in the management programmes which is begin operating soon.

MEx File

ANSTA informs

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Dimapur, December 21 (mexN): The All Nagaland School Teachers Association (ANSTA) has informed that it will remain closed from December 22 to January 15, 2016 on account of Christmas and New Year. While extending Christmas greetings to teachers across the state, ANSTA wishes them to celebrate the season with true peace, joy, hope, love and reconciliation/reunion in the family. The Association in a press release issued by its president Ponchulo Wanth and general secretary Visato Koso added that owing to its wide coverage, when carrying out its various activities by maintaining its constitutional status quo might have displeased some of her members, “for which it seeks forgiveness from the concerned members.”

DRFCB general meeting on Dec 28

Dimapur, December 21 (mexN): The Dhansiri River Flood Control Board (DRFCB) has convened a general meeting on December 28, 11:00 am at its office Marketing Complex, Purana Bazaar, East Dimapur Nagaland. Therefore, all office bearer, Executive members and landowner residing near the Dhansiri river bank and its tributaries have been requested to attend the meeting without fail.

NSSATA Wokha Unit elects new team

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Wokha, December 21 (mexN): Nagaland SSA Teachers’ Association Wokha Unit held a general meeting at Lotha Tribal Council Hall and elected a new team of executives for the tenure 2015-17. The newly elected members are Yiben R. Humtsoe President, Z. Libenthung Murry General Secretary, Kumchenthung Murry Vice-President, under SDEO Wokha, Lucy Patton VicePresident, under SDEO Bhandari, Mhonyani Lotha Assistant General Secretary, under SDEO Wokha,Henry Nongothung (ssistant General Secretary, under SDEO Bhandari, Lucy Tsopoe Finance Secretary and Advisors: Mhomo Kikon, Yilobeni Ezung, and Abemo Ezung.

The programme included discussions of various types of accounts offered by the bank with different rates of interest, all types of loans available and how they can approach the bank for account opening and pursue for loans. The programme also included discussion hour and all queries from the villagers were supported by FLCC Coordinator and the Branch Manager. NSTCB Ltd, Tuli Branch Manager Nchumthung Kikon in a press release stated that during these FLCC week, all together 487 persons participated including Village councils executives, Church Board, VDBs’, SHGs, entrepreneurs, student leaders, farmers, house wives and unemployed youths. While thanking the Council and the Church for the programme arrangement, the Branch Manager challenged the Village to open basic saving account of all the household as listed and become the second Village in Nagaland after Changtongya Village to have 100% account with the Bank. The Branch Manager requested the villagers to come forward for any queries any time at the branch.

Tseminyu SDPDB celebrate preChristmas with Persons with disabilities

Dimapur, December 21 (mexN): The District Public Relations Officer’s (DPRO) office, Dimapur celebrated pre-Christmas at the office on December 19. Exhorting the gathering, DPRO Dimapur, Lolano P Khuvung urged the gathering to celebrate Christmas in true sense by remembering Jesus and being especially conscious to the poor and less fortunate people. She also thanked the staff for their cooperation and support throughout the year. A staff from the office, Asemo, who also gave a short speech, called upon the gathering to rededicate themselves and to celebrate Christmas in real manner. The programme was chaired by Information Assistant of Dimapur, Sepu and invocation and benediction was offered by Arenla and Nikile respectively.

Joint Director of social welfare retires

kohima, December 21 (mexN): The Directorate of Social Welfare bid farewell to its Joint Director Khehoto Sema, who retired on superannuation after serving 35 years, on December 19 at the directorate’s conference hall in Kohima. In his farewell speech, Khehoto Sema thanked God for enabling him to attain the superannuation in good health and also shared his experiences as an officer under different capacities. Director of Social Welfare, T. Merangtsungba Aier gave the farewell speech on behalf of the department, while Yentsao, Asst. Superintendent, spoke on behalf of the ministerial staff. An official of the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) also gave a short farewell speech and shared the memorable association with the retiring. The programme was chaired by Joint Director Tulula Pongen, while invocation was pronounced by Assistant Director Tosheli Zhimomi, and vote of thanks was tendered by State Programme Officer (ICDS) Yanrenthung.

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Parliamentary secretary for housing Er.Levi Rengma and others with the persons with disabilities during pre-Christmas celebration at Tseminyu on December 21. (Morung Photo) Our Correspondent Tseminyu | December 21

In coinciding with the last monthly meeting of the year 2015, the Tseminyu Sub-Divisional Planning & Development Board (SDPDB) had get-together with the persons with disabilities in the form of pre-Christmas here at ADC office premises. Speaking on the occasion, parlia-

mentary secretary for housing and chairman Tseminyu SDPDB, Er.Levi Rengma extended best wishes to one and all to have a joyful Christmas and joyful heart in this festive season. Stating that everyone is concern for the welfare of the persons with disabilities, the parliamentary secretary assured that he will take up the grievances of the persons with disabilities in the Rengma area.

There are 122 persons with disabilities registered under Rengma Handicapped Union at present. They expressed gratitude to Er. Levi Rengma and Tseminyu SDPDB for having get-together for the first time with them in this festive season. Tseminyu additional deputy commissioner Vikhweno M. Meratsu, Rengma Hoho president Kenyuseng Tep and several other officers present on the occasion.

St. Mary’ Parish Catholic Youth celebrates Silver Jubilee meluri, December 21 (mexN): Catholic Youth of St. Mary’ Parish, Lozaphuhu celebrated the 25 years of its existence with a four-day programme from December 17 to 20. The Silver Jubilee Celebration culminated with the Holy Eucharist presided over by Bishop James Thoppil, Bishop of Kohima on December 20. Rev. Fr. Patrick Neikhalo, Parish Priest of the St. Mary’s Parish, Lozaphuhu extended words of welcome to the bishop and the whole congregation. Bishop in his homily reminded the three important characteristics of Jubilee. “It is a time to remember the past with gratitude, to live the present with passion and to look to the future with hope. Jubilee is an occasion to remember, recall and be grateful to all the people who led us to the present state,” he said. Referring to the readings of the Day which spoke of the coming of Je-

sus, bishop reminded the congregation, “we should not celebrate Christmas just an occasion for nice feelings, instead, commemorating Jesus’ birth should inspire us to carry out God’s word as Mary and Jesus did, in perfect obedience to God’s will and thus to become true disciples.” Earlier in the day bishop unveiled a monolithic to mark the importance of the occasion. Referring to the Old Testament, he said that Patriarchs of old had ordered the people to raise a monolith to mark important occasions. Other highlights of the programme included penitential rite, sessions, indigenous cultural competitions, quiz etc. The programme began with a spiritual preparation of adoration and Penitential rite on December 17, which was animated by Sr. Chisahulu Rose, MSMHC. The silver Jubilee celebration offi-

cially kicked off on December 18 with solemn Eucharistic celebration presided over by Rev. Fr. Jose Lukose, Parish Priest, St. Xavier’s parish, Meluri and the inaugural ceremony thereafter, which was officiated by Bony Zholia, President Chakhesang Catholic Union. Rev. Sr. Roseline Chani, UFC, St. Xavier, Meluri animated the first session. She spoke on the theme, “Sacraments with special reference to Holy Matrimony’. Fr. Sojan Puthankudy, youth director and chancellor of the diocese of Kohima spoke on the theme, “Impact of the Mass media on the Youth”. He highlighted usefulness of it and then spoken on the potential harm it can have on the youth if not used wisely. “Media can be an information provider, means for socialization, motivation or persuasion, debate or discussion, obtains support for education, enhancing cultural

promotion, channel for entertainment and to build a strong integration among the community,” he said. While on the other hand he also cautioned that unchecked media use can lead young people to Blind Imitation, gather wrong messages, build negativity, adapt unhealthy lifestyle, fall into addiction to media, self-hatred, create health problems, changed outlook on things and people and create write or wrong dilemma. He cautioned the young people to use the media wisely for constructive purpose, always being mindful of its positive usefulness. Fr. Solomon Vizo, spoke on the theme, “upholding the Christian Moral Values in the 21st Century’. Fr. Spoke on the challenges that we face today in upholding the moral values and emphasized on the need to cultivate the moral values given by the church for a happy

and contented life. He also called on the youth to be prudent and wise in what they do in their life. The Jubilee celebration ended with a colorful cultural programme, a festal meal and valedictory session. Jubilee Band, St. Francis Xavier Church, Lanyezo, Jubilee Choir, Lozaphuhu, CYA, CWA, presented the special songs and Traditional dances during the cultural programme. As the youth movement of of Lozaphu parish step into the Golden years, bishop James while congratulating Mr. Huveta Paul, the president, his team and the whole community for organizing well the silver jubilee programme, reminded them to not only hold on to the faith they have but live and share it with others, as the motto of the movement suggests. This was stated in a press release issued by Thomas Toretkiu, Secretary to Bishop.

Community building-cum-indoor stadium at Khezhakeno Farmers Interest Groups undertake exposure trip

Pre-Christmas at DPRO office, Dimapur

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Guest and others during the inauguration of the Zhipfhemi Khel of Khezhakeno village newly constructed community building-cum-indoor stadium on December 12.

pfuTsero, December 21 (mexN): The Zhipfhemi Khel of Khezhakeno village inaugurated its newly constructed community building-cum-indoor stadium on December 12. Khape Koza, District & Session Judge graced the inaugural programme as chief guest and unveiled the monolith with an ‘Act of

Dedication’ led by Dr. Vetso Koza, Associate Pastor, CBCK. The chief guest addressed the Khel members to be cooperative and work with unity and further called upon the youth to pursue good education and wealth with a change of time and shun any antisocial activities. He encouraged

the community to work for progress and development in the path of self sustenance. The programme was chaired by S. Dilo Koza, Convener, Organizing Committee, while invocation prayer was said by Dr. Khape Ladu, Pastor, CRC, Dimapur Town. Host of dignitaries attended the programme.

Training on vermicompost production conducted phek, December 21 (mexN): Vocational training on vermicompost production was conducted by T Esther Longkumer, ACTO (Soil Science), KVK Phek, ICAR-NRC on Mithun at KVK, Porba from December 15 to 18. Lecture was delivered on different topics related to vermicompost production, namely importance and benefits of vermicomThe participants during the vocational training conducted at posting, different methods KVK, Porba from December 15 to 18. involved in making of ver-

micompost, application doses to crops and also as a source of income generation. On the third day, a video show on vermicomposting practices followed in different places was shown to the participants. On the concluding day, procedure for vermicompost preparation was demonstrated in the KVK farm. Altogether, 10 youths participated in the programme.

kohima, December 21 (mexN): An exposure trip to Meghalaya for the Farmers Interest Groups (FIGs) of Kohima and Dimapur District was organized by the Department of Horticulture, Government of Nagaland under National Vegetable Initiative for Urban Clusters (NVUIC) 2014-15 (Special Scheme under RKVY) from December 16 to 20. The group visited the ICAR Regional Centre Barapani/Regional Research and Training Centre, Umran/Dewleieh Farm, Department of Horticulture Government of Meghalaya Umsing and visited the Potato Belt, Upper Shillong coinciding with the visit for sightseeing to Cherapunjee. The visit was lead by Keneitsu Lezietsu and Achinaro, Horticulture Assistants from the Directorate of Horticulture Kohima and was coordinated by Pawan Kumar, Joint Director of Horticulture. On December 17, the FIG Groups visited ICAR Barapani Complex for a tour of the different vegetable nurseries field and other research farms in the ICAR Complex Barapani which was coordinated by Dr. H Rymbai, Scientist Horticulture Division ICAR, Barapani. On December 18, the team visited RRTC, Umran

and visited various organic farms, vegetable nursery and fields, spices processing unit, food processing unit, beekeeping and poultry and floriculture unit. The team visited the Dewleieh Horticulture Farm, Department of Horticulture, Government of Meghalaya. At Umsing, the team was given a tour of the various Hi-Tech Floriculture units such as Gerbera, Sub Tropical Orchid etc. The team visited Mother Plant Block of Strawberry under Hi-Tech conditioned and Strawberry field in the open cultivation fields, HiTech Root stock of Citrus done undertaken in collaboration with ARGOS of Israel for production of Budded Citrus planting materials. On December 19, the team on the way to sightseeing to Cherapunjee area also visited the Potato Belt of Upper Shillong. The exposure trip was highly beneficial for both the FIGs and the Departmental Officials as they have had a firsthand experience on the various production aspects of various horticultural crops and have learnt about many new Technologies and innovative ideas which can be easily adopted and replicated in our State. The team returned on December 20.

DNT TXT & DRV DIMAPUR TRAFFIC POLICE in collaboration with THE MORUNG EXPRESS

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Friends of the Poor Society led by Dr. Bendangjungshi Director visited Sharon Home of Hope and distributed blankets to the children on December 21.

TuesDAY 22•12•2015

NORTH-EAST

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No fresh HIV case detected during July-October: MSACS aizawl, December 21 (Pti): No fresh HIV positive cases were detected in Mizoram during July to October last, according to the Mizoram State AIDS Control Society (MSACS). Although the state is the second highest in the country in terms of HIV prevalence, mass awareness and education resulted in checking further spread of the dreaded disease, MSACS officials said today. The MSACS has detected 10,448 HIV cases since October 1990 till June this year. The officials, however, maintained that the recent trend in the HIV cases was alarming as 69.31 per cent of HIV patients had been infected through intercourse, while earlier sharing of needles and syringes among drug abusers was the main cause of the infections.

Mizoram to draw additional power during festive season aizawl, December 21 (Pti): Mizoram will draw additional power during Christmas and New Year festivities, state Power and Electricity department engineer-in-chief L Pachuau said. The additional power would be drawn on December 24 to December 26 and again from December 31 to January 2, 2016 through the Indian Energy Exchange, Pachuau said. "We would purchase average additional power to the tune of 1.8 lakh units per day during the six days," he said. Superintending Engineer, State Load Dispatch Centre, however, Vanlalrema said that the number of units drawn could be variable and would depend on power situation.

BJP absolves self from Cong infighting in Arunachal itaNaGar, December 21 (Pti): Absolving itself from the Congress infighting in Arunachal Pradesh, BJP today said it has nothing to do with the dissidence among ruling party MLAs that has lead to a political turmoil in the state. "It is an open secret that the ruling Congress conspired a well planned political coup in the state having sensed that rebels in the party will dislodge the government with the Governor advancing the Assembly session to December 16, instead of January 14 next year," BJP state unit president Tai Tagak told reporters at the Arunachal Press Club here. Tagak's reaction came in the backdrop of Con-

M’pur gets Rs 34 crore central assistance for natural disasters New Delhi, December 21 (Pti): The Centre today sanctioned Rs 2,443 crore for four states -- Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Odisha and Manipur -- as central assistance for natural disasters faced by them. The fund was approved by the High Level Committee (HLC) for central assistance to states on drought, landslides and floods headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh at its meeting attended by, among others, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

Making allocations out of the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF), the HLC approved assistance for Chhattisgarh to the tune of Rs 925 crore, Rs 1,104 crore for West Bengal and Rs 34 crore for Manipur, an official statement said. It also reviewed the decision in the case of Odisha and approved assistance of Rs 380 crore for the state. The HLC examined the proposals based on the report of the central teams which visited these states in the wake of severe natural disasters.

NML: 'Proposals approved for 12 states including two in NE New Delhi, December 21 (Pti): There is no scope for the setting up of new libraries under the 'National Mission on Libraries (NML)', the government today said while announcing that project estimates of 12 states have been approved for the upgrade of libraries. "The proposals of 12 states have been approved and fund released to three of them," Culture and Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma said in a written reply in Lok Sabha. However, he added that "there is no scope of establishment of new libraries under the scheme of National Mission on Libraries". The approved project estimate of State Central Libraries and District Libraries in 12 states for infrastructure and technology upgrade under NML covers Rs 2.06 crore for State Central Library, Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh and Rs 2.23 crore each for HKM State Library, Bhubaneshwar (Odisha); Krishnadas Shama State Central Library (Goa); State Central Library, Bangalore (Karnataka); Birchandra State Central Library, Agartala (Tripura) and State Central Library, Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh). Other approvals include Rs 2.22 crore for State Central Library, Kolkata; Rs 1.12 crore for State Central Library, Hyderabad (Telangana), about Rs 1 crore each for State Central Library, Aizawl (Mizoram), State Central Library, Jaipur and State Central Library, Gandhinagar. Approved project estimates for libraries under the Ministry of Culture include Rs 2.34 crore for Delhi Public Library and Rs 4.52 crore for Central Secretariat Library in the national capital, Rs 3.98 crore for Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, Patna; Rs 6.91 crore for Thanjavur Maharaja Serfoji's Saraswati Mahal Library, Thanjavur and Rs 4.26 crore for National Library, Kolkata. Sharma said the scheme of 'National Mission on Libraries - Upgradation of Libraries - provid-

ing services to the public' has been approved with a total outlay of Rs 400 crore for the 12th Plan period. The components of NML are creation of national virtual library of India (NVLI) and NML model libraries, quantitative and qualitative s urvey of libraries and capacity building, he said. The minister said that the Mission will improve the infrastructure at selected libraries and upgrade technology in 35 State Central Libraries and 35 District Libraries (to be identified by state governments) and 6 libraries under the Ministry of Culture.

There was a 14 per cent deficit in southwest monsoon this year due to the influence of the El Nino phenomenon. Last year, there was a monsoon deficit of 12 per cent. Rainfall deficits were experienced even as there were floods in some other parts of the country. NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, Agriculture Secretary Siraj Hussain and senior officers from the ministries of home, finance and agriculture attended the meeting.

gress blaming the BJP for engineering a conspiracy to topple the Nabam Tuki government. He further alleged that as part of a Congress "strategy" its senior party leaders were not attending to the grievances of dissident MLAs or coming forward to reconcile or resolve the crisis in the state. "It is a well planned strategy of the AICC to defame the BJP-led NDA government. The recent political drama presented the people of the state in poor light," he said. "The rebel MLAs were boycotting a series of Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meetings since November 8, which did not draw any attention or disciplinary action. The state is forced to witness un-

ruly behaviour between the two Congress groups," Tagak said. BJD MP seek Governor's removal A BJD member's motion seeking removal of the controversial Arunachal Pradesh Governor under a rule that entails voting is under the consideration of the Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. After Bhartruhari Mahtab today sought to know her response to the notice he had given for motion under Rule 184 against the governor, the Speaker said it was under her consideration. Immediately after Mahtab raised the issue, all AIADMK members were on their feet seeking to support the move.

Yoga to be introduced in Tripura schools from next yr aGartala, December 21 (iaNS): The Tripura government will introduce yoga as a subject in schools from classes one to eight from the next academic year beginning January, Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said here on Monday. "Yoga would be introduced as a subject in government-run and government-aided schools from classes one to eight from next academic year beginning January," Sarkar said, addressing a function organised in connection with a state-level yoga competition. He said: "Due to shortage of yoga trainers and teachers, it would not be introduced in all schools from the next academic year. All schools under a block would be made into a cluster for teaching yoga." The state's school education and sports and youth affairs departments has already drawn up a plan for this purpose, the chief minister said. He urged the yoga associations to help the government in making the plan a success.

9 rebel Assam Cong MLAs disqualified Guwahati, December 21 (Pti): Assam Assembly Speaker Pranab Kumar Gogoi on Monday disqualified nine rebel Congress MLAs from the House membership with immediate effect for joining BJP. “The Speaker issued the orders this evening. As per the rules, he disqualified the nine Congress MLAs with immediate effect for joining a different political party while getting elected from another party,” Assam Assembly Principal Secretary Pranab Kumar Das said. The nine MLAs are: Jayanta Mallah Baruah, Pijush Hazarika, Pallab Lochan Das, Pradan Barua, Abu Taher Bepari, Kripanath Mallah, Rajen Borthakur, Binanda Kumar Saikia and Bolin Chetia. The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee had already expelled these MLAs from the primary memberships in November. The principal secretary said that Congress chief whip Nilamani Sen Deka had filed a complaint with the Speaker on December one for disqualification of the members. Accordingly, the Speaker issued notices to all the nine leaders giving them one week’s time to reply, he added. “However, they sought more time on December 8 and the Speaker gave another week’s time till December 14. He called a hearing on December 19, when all the concerned people from both sides came. The Speaker heard the arguments of both the sides,” he said.

EC team in Assam for poll assessment Guwahati, December 21 (iaNS): The full team of the Election Commission led by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Nasim Zaidi arrived in Assam on Monday to assess the preparedness ahead of next year's legislative assembly elections. Zaidi, accompanied by the two Election Commissioners A.K. Joti and O.P. Rawat, met leaders of various political parties. Most of the parties in the state appealed to the poll panel to hold the elections before Bohag Bihu or Rongali Bihu, the most popular and colourful festival of Assam celebrated in midApril. Leaders from other political parties -- Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Bodoland People's Front (BPF) -- also met the poll panel team. The Communist Party of IndiaMarxist (CPI-M), however, appealed to the commission to hold the elections after Rongali Bihu so that people can enjoy their favourite festival.

FELICITATION We, The Women’s Wing of The Naga People’s Front (NPF), Phek Division, would like to extend our heartiest congratulations to Mr. Pusazo Lürüo, for being appointed as The Chairman of The Honey Bee Mission, Nagaland, recently. It is not only an important personal achievement for him, it is also a notable milestone for his people. And we celebrate it wholeheartedly. We would also like to express our gratitude to The Government of Nagaland and The Naga People’s Front (NPF) in its decision on the said appointment. Lastly, We Thank the Almighty God for all his blessings, and we wish Mr. Pusazo Lürüo, The very best in all his future endeavours. R. Sevo Khusoh Asst. Press Secretary NPF Women’s Wing Phek Division

Vezovo Swuro President NPF Women’s Wing Phek Division

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THE MORUNG EXPRESS

‘India, Singapore, UAE, Hong Kong to exchange information on illegal bank accounts soon’ New Delhi, December 21 (ANi): India is close to signing collaborative jurisdictional agreements with three countries -- Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong -- for dealing with challenges related to the siphoning of black money, said the Central Board of Direct Taxation (CBDT). A spokesperson of the CBDT told ANI in an email interview that the CBDT is in the process of coming up with a revised note before December 31, 2015 that will provide guidance to financial institutions, regulators and tax department officers for ensuring compliance of norms decided at the recent sixth meeting of Automatic Exchange of Infor-

mation (AEOI) which held in Delhi this month. “Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore will fall under jurisdictions which have committed for AEOI from 2018, although they have yet to sign the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) for the AEOI,” the CBDT spokesperson informed ANI. “Once Singapore and the UAE sign the MCAA, India would be able to exchange information automatically with these countries from 2018 onwards, where as the treaty negotiation with Hong Kong is underway,” the spokesperson added. The CBDT spokesperson further revealed that AEOI will help create an environment of transparency between 75 coun-

tries that have signed the MCAA, including nations like Switzerland and the Brtish Version Ireland (BVI) etc. “The AEOI, when fully implemented, would enable India to receive information from every country in the world, including offshore financial centres and tax havens, and would be the key to prevent international tax evasion and avoidance, and would be instrumental in getting information about money stashed,? the spokesperson added. She also revealed that the CBDT has constituted an ‘Information Security Committee’ to ensure confidentiality of date received from foreign countries that will ensure a transparent environment

to deal with the problem and challenges of black money. The Information Security Committee, she said, “will apply processes such as ratification and information security policies and procedures (ISPP) to ensure implementation and management review, besides focus on maintaining continuing suitability, adequacy and effectiveness of ISPP.” External security reviews and ensuring that action is taken to rectify any identified shortfalls will be the Information Security Committee?s top-most priority, along with its responsibility for taking disciplinary action in cases of a breach of the ISPP, the CBDT spokesperson said.

Insofar as Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) were concerned, the CBDT said that the AEOI sees NRIs, green card holders and students residing in the United States as being already covered under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) between India and the United States, but added that the AEOI can take special privilege in including them under its committee. It may be recalled that at the sixth meeting of the AEOI, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha had said that non-disclosure of foreign assets will increasingly become a risky affair for tax payers, as strict bank secrecy will ensure sooner than later a new environment of operational transparency.

For oil-producer Nigeria, India is top export destination: NBS AccrA, December 21 (iANs): India has taken the first place as Nigeria’s major export destination with earnings of $2.02 billion from the sale of crude oil, representing 17.5 per cent of the country’s total export for the third quarter of this year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. For the 2014-15 financial year, the Indian High Commission said, the country imported $13.53 billion worth of crude and petroleum products $13.96 billion in 2013-14. “Bilateral trade between India and Nigeria in 2014-15 stood at $16.36 billion, which was two percent less compared to the previous year’s figure of $16.98 billion,” the high commission added. It said India’s exports

to Nigeria have grown gradually during the last few years - from $1.08 billion in 2007-08 to $2.68 billion in 2014-15. Nigeria is India’s largest trading partner in Africa and India is the largest trading partner of Nigeria globally. From the NBS figures, Netherlands is the second major export destination with $1.2 billion representing 10.5 percent, followed by Spain with $1.04 billion representing 9.1 percent, the NBS said. The NBS said the value of the nation’s merchandise exports totaled $11.58 billion in the third quarter of 2015 and represented a decrease of $1.59 billion or 12.1 percent, over the previous year’s figure of $13.17 billion. The decline was at-

tributed to a fall in crude oil exports by $1.85 billion or 18.8 percent over the preceding quarter. “Nevertheless, the structure of exports is still dominated by crude oil, which contributed $7.99 billion or 69.1 percent to the value of total domestic exports in 2015. Natural liquefied gas recorded $1.31 billion of the total export value during the period under review,” the NBS added. Nigeria’s total external merchandise trade decreased by $1.67 billion to $1.9 trillion in the third quarter of this year. It attributed the decline to a $320.6 billion or 12.1 percent decline in the value of exports as well as imports decline of 17.4 billion or 1.0 percent against the levels recorded in the preceding quarter.

Economy stagnant, lack Apple cuts prices of latest iPhone 6s Bankruptcy bill tabled in LS Delhi, December 21 (iANs): Finance Minof direction in govt: PC and 6s Plus by up to 16% in India New ister Arun Jaitley on Monday tabled in the Lok Sabha the

New Delhi, December 21 (PTi): Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram today tore into government’s management of economy saying there is “complete lack of direction” with no command over situation and the economy is “stagnant”. Nineteen months into government, he also asked the BJP-led government where are the jobs and private investment promised by the party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “The Government seems to be stalled. The mid-year (economic) analysis (tabled in Parliament last week) is a confession that the Government has not been able to push growth. “They have begun the exercise of tempering expectations down to about 7.2-7.3 per cent, a far cry from what they said at the beginning of financial year that they will achieve a growth rate of 8-8.5 per cent,” he told PTI in an interview. Also, the government has started talking about not being able to achieve the fiscal deficit target of 3.5 per cent of GDP for 2016-17. “All these points to a lack of command over the situation and lack of capacity to deal with the problem,” he said adding “This is complete lack of direction.” In its Mid-Year Economic Analysis, the government on Friday

lowered its economic growth forecast for 2015-16 to 7-7.5 per cent from 8.1-8.5 per cent. It said the target of bringing it down to 3.5 per cent in the next will face pressure from higher outgo on central staff wages due to implementation of the 7th Pay Commission and Defence pensions. Asked where was the government lacking, he said, “I don’t think they have a command over the situation. Where are the jobs they promised, where is the private investment that they said will happen once they come to office?” Stating that the Indian economy is “stagnant”, Chidambaram said when UPA left office, the country recorded 6.9 per cent growth in 2013-14. “First quarter of 2014-15 growth was 7.3 per cent or so. Now one and a half year later, we seem to be stuck in the same groove of 7.3 per cent. So it is fair to say that the economy is stagnant for the last 18 months. There is no uptick, no upturn at all,” he said. Foreign direct investment (FDI) was coming in but no more than what came earlier, he said. “In the last 10 years FDI has been range bound--USD 35-45 billion a year. This year also we are getting the same amount of FDI, about USD 45 billion. There is nothing unusual about the figure.

New Delhi, December 21 (AgeNcies): Apple cut prices of its latest iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus by up to 16 per cent just two months after their launch in India to boost flagging sales in what is historically its most crucial quarter as demand for the flagship devices nosedived from a Diwali high. The price of the iPhone 6s 16 GB model, which was introduced at Rs 62,000 on October 16, has fallen by 11-16 per cent and now ranges between Rs 52,000 and Rs 55,000, according to four large retailers who spoke to ET on condition of anonymity. The price cuts are across all variants - 16 GB, 64 GB and 128 GB — of both models. The average difference in prices of all iPhone 6s and 6s Plus devices between launch time and now is about 15 per cent, a top executive at a national retailer said. The reduction also narrows the gap with prices of iPhone 6 devices launched in 2014, making an upgrade more attractive for customers. “The price difference

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between the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s was a lot, so many customers are not willing to upgrade to the new model,” said a senior executive of another national retailer. This is the first time that the price of an Apple flagship has been brought down within two months of launch, underlining concerns around the initial pricing, said Tarun Pathak, senior analyst at Counterpoint Technology Market Research. Apple declined to comment on the matter. Apple had introduced the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus at Rs 62,000-Rs 92,000, about Rs 8,000-Rs 9,500 more than launch prices of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. The models wereRs 14,000-Rs 16,000 costlier than those available in the US, Middle East and Hong Kong, raising concerns that demand would be hurt. Apple imp or te d almost 320,000 of the latest iPhones in October in India, the world’s fastest-growing smartphone market, sparking hopes of its best ever quarter. Shipments have slumped since then and the latest data suggests that imports of the new models fell 62 per cent to

120,000 in November. The latest price cuts come after Apple iPhone 5s prices were slashed for the third time in three months, now starting at Rs 24,999, almost half its September price. The price cuts indicate that Apple maybe trying to revive demand in the October-toDecember quarter, which has historically been the strongest period for the company due to its flagship launches. Industry insiders said Apple’s distributors are selling the iPhone models at marked-down prices, allowing retailers to offer all models at discounted rates. Pathak stressed that the iPhone 5s, launched in 2013, could take the wind out of iPhone 6s sales, given the massive price difference between them. Analysts said the price cut could re-ignite iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus demand in the coming months. “Now that they have aligned prices, we can see some sales happening in future quarters, which will also sustain Apple in the typically weaker periods of January to September,” Pathak added.

DAILY CROSS WORD

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Insolvency and Bankruptcy Bill, 2015, proposing to enact a single bankruptcy code setting deadlines for processing insolvency cases. Jaitley had announced this on Saturday, saying the government intends to bring important legislative measures on structural reforms during the remaining three days left of parliament’s winter session, notwithstanding the setback on the GST Bill. The proposed law aims to reduce delays in resolution of insolvency cases and improve recoveries of amount lent to companies. The draft bill has proposed a timeline of 180 days, extendable by another 90 days, to resolve cases of bankruptcy. The new bankruptcy code will help India in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business ranking. The current set of competing codes on the matter often results in the bankruptcy process dragging on for years, inflating costs for the parties concerned. At present, Asia’s third-largest economy has competing laws with unclear jurisdictions to deal with the liquidation or revival of companies.

Greeting

Dear Eza & Baba Congratulation on your 40th wedding anniversary may our almighty grant you both good health in the years to come too With love and best wishes from your daughters, grandchildren and son in laws DIMAPUR Civil Hospital:

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TuesdAY 22•12•2015

NVcO questions cM, government exotic Roots lounge opens in Kohima Kohima, December 21 (mexN): With regard to the Chief Minister TR Zeliang’s statement that not every appointment can be pointed out as backdoor since due process as required by the rules is followed, the Nagaland Voluntary Consumers’ Organisation (NVCO) has questioned whether the State government adheres to Article 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India in the process of public employment by issuing advertisement, inviting applications from eligible candidates, and whether it holds a proper selection where all eligible candidates get a fair chance to compete. The CM's statement appeared in local dailies on November 20. Referring to the CM terming the ACAUT’s PIL on backdoor appointment as improper, a press release from Media Cell, NVCO stated that the PIL is very much proper to public and for the generation as the fight against backdoor appointment is to mete out justice by ensuring “Equality of appointment in matters of public appointment” enshrined as a fundamental right in Article 16 of the

Constitution of India so as to bring about a positive change in public administration and achieve the goals/ ideals laid down in the Constitution. “It is also the fight against all those employed who have been appointed/ recruited in various departments of the Govt. of Nagaland bypassing the constitutional scheme of public employment through the modus operandi of illegal, backdoor, contractual, adhoc, casual, temporary, deputation, irregular, etc. modes of appointment in collusion between the bureaucrats and the politicians,” it added. Meanwhile, NVCO said that the CM saying the court had decided to refer the ACAUT’s PIL matter to the Union Government is misleading as the Union of India is just impleaded as one of the respondents in the PIL. The release highlighted that the Govt. of Nagaland O.M.NO: AR-3/ Gen-179/2007(Pt) dated 13th January 2010 stated, “It has come to the notice of the Government that a number of unauthorized appointments have been made by certain Heads of

Departments on the eve of their retirements without following the prescribed procedure. Now, the Government has taken a decision that all those irregular appointments made by them should be immediately cancelled by the concerned Administrative Heads of Departments and also criminal prosecution of the guilty officials be taken up by filing an FIR in the Vigilance Commission and all payments of pensioners’ benefits should be withheld till criminal case is disposed off.” Further, it said that a landmark judgment passed by the Gauhati High Court, Kohima Bench in one of the State of Nagaland cases stated, “Appointment made without following appropriate procedure under the Rules holding the field and without advertisement and without inviting applications from open market would amount to infringement of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution and so regularizing a service of the candidate otherwise not appointed by following prescribed procedure would not be valid mode of appointment.

The entry of these appointees into the service having been achieved through back door cannot acquire any right and so regularization of their services would amount negating the prescribed procedure at the cost of Article 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India. Even taking recourse to a scheme framed under Article 162 of the Constitution to circumvent the procedure prescribed under a statutory rule would be contrary to the constitutional mandate. It is the established law that no regularization is permissible on the strength of a Cabinet decision adopted in exercise of power under Article 162 of the Constitution of India and consequently such regularization is liable to be struck down.” The NVCO also questioned the State government why it is taking so long to put into place Lokayukta in Nagaland when there are so much corrupt practices in the State. “Lokayukta is to be established in Nagaland so as to punish the corrupt public servants and also amassing wealth to their known sources of income,” it said.

Nagaland chapter of FANS launched Morung Express News Dimapur | December 21

The Nagaland chapter of Forum for Awareness on National Security (FANS) was launched Monday here at Hotel Acacia by officials from FANS North East chapter. Around 15 persons attended the launching programme, which also featured an in-

teractive session. The officials informed that FANS was formed in 2014 with headquarters in New Delhi, to address the urgent need for common man to understand “the existing national security scenario” and his “responsibility” to the same. FANS identified corruption, crime against women, Maoism, drug peddling and smug-

gling of weapons, fake currency and drug from across the border as serious threats to the security and development of the nation. FANS members include retired senior defense personnel, members of judiciary, bureaucracy and diplomats. According to the general secretary of FANS North East chapter Dr AK Borah, FANS is a non-polit-

ical and non-religious organization. Other representatives of FANS North East chapter included its president, Wing Commander (Rtd) MK Borah, joint secretaries, Aashaa Bora and Pawan Agarwal. Currently, the Nagaland chapter is led by Vice-President Yihamo Patton and Secretary Inakali Assumi.

Morung Express News

situation. Private enterprises such as the newly opened lounge must encourage young people to take up more of self employment projects, he said. Nukhu further hoped that the restaurant will provide the space in fostering unity among different communities and tribes and that it will uphold the Christian spirit and morality. The evening was made livelier by Senti Desert King, who entertained the crowd with his originals as well as famous oldies. The newly opened lounge is located below NPSC office. The proprietor of the lounge is Arila Thonger, one of the finalists of Naga Chef 2014. The restaurant specialises in North Indian dishes, Naga cuisine, and South Indian dishes with Hyderabadi biryani as one of its special attractions. It opens from 10:00 am in the morning to 8:00 pm.

Kohima | December 21

Exotic Roots Lounge, a family restaurant and lounge, was inaugurated on December 21 at Secretariat area here by Parliamentary Secretary, Higher and Technical Education, Deo Nukhu. Stating that what Nagaland requires today is initiatives for self employment, Nukhu said Exotic Roots Lounge is an example of promotion of self employment in the capital. With various offices and directorates in the vicinity of the restaurant, Nukhu hoped that it will cater to the needs of the employees where they can dine and at the same time discuss and talk on various issues. Nukhu viewed that private enterprises should grow in Nagaland even though the State government might have resource constraints in the current The Exotic Roots Lounge located below NPSC office.

Declare Ruzazho as national heritage village: NSCBMDS to Modi Kohima, December 21 (mexN): The Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Memorial Development Society (NSCBMDS), Nagaland has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare Ruzazho village in Phek district as National Heritage Village. Chairman of NSCBMDS, Dr. Er Vekho Swuro recollected that in May 1944, INA troops led by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose came to Ruzazho from Burma and held first ever public meeting. Netaji appointed Poswuyi Swuro as the Dobashi in the area

and eight Gaon Bura to administer Ruzazho village and its areas. He asked the villagers to contribute food items and personal service like scouting and guide in the fight against the British. He spontaneously received support from the villagers and stayed in the village for about a week with his troops, the chairman said. It was informed that Government of Nagaland had proposed to Modi to declare Ruzazho as National Heritage Village in order for all citizens of India and abroad to pay utmost respect to the brave sacrifice they

made for the country. “It is to commemorate the glory and to repute the immeasurable passion they had within themselves to earn sovereignty from the bondage of British colonialism,” Swuro said. “It is to bring alive the lost memory and the sweat that was shed for our motherland; the sweat and blood that Netaji and his troops unsparingly shed to enable us, the future generation to live as we are today.” According to Swuro, declaring Ruzazho as National Heritage Village will genuinely benefit the rural and urban class of India by

creating employment opportunities, in-sourcing and outsourcing historical memories, improvement of harmony etc, “which will directly or indirectly benefit the government in governance in the long run.” Stating that the Nagas have done their part by helping Netaji and INA, NSCBMDS appealed to Modi to look into the proposal by Nagaland government by declaring Ruzazho as National Heritage Village during the celebration of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s birthday on January 23 in Kolkata, where he will be the chief guest.

NCSU head office to be closed from Dec 23-Jan 18 Kohima, December 21 (mexN): The Nagaland Contractors' & Suppliers' Union (NCSU) Head Office,

Kohima has informed all the members that the union office will remain closed from December 23 till January

18 for Christmas and New Year holiday. The union has wished all blessed Christmas and prosperous New Year.

NpF of 16th A/C pfutsero informs

PheK, December 21 (mexN): The NPF of 16th A/C Pfutsero has informed that ongoing improvement/ widening of Pfutsero Town road along the border road (till Razeba gate) will be on hold for the festive season and will continue from first week of January, 2016. The road will be open for unrestricted traffic from December 23, 2015 to

With Christmas just around the corner, the houses at Chiechama village in Kohima district are seen decorated with Christmas star. (Morung Photo)

January 5, 2016. Thanking all the land owners, public and commuters for not raising any objection and giving full co-operation to the work, the NPF further solicited full co-operation of all, especially the land owners. It also requested the commuters crossing Pfutsero Town, especially those traveling from Kohima - Kip-

hire/ Meluri/ Phek, etc. and vice versa, to bear with them and abide by the traffic direction in Pfutsero – to take the old British road for light and medium vehicles. Heavy vehicles, including NST buses, can ply as usual but may be blocked for some time, for which, it expressed regret. The NPF further wished all a Merry Christmas and Prosperous New Year.

Public SPace

Christmas Greetings from NNC/FGN Council of Nagalim Churches

warm Christmas greetings and many good wishes for the coming year to each and every family of the Naga Nation. The people of Nagaland in the last many decades had faced deteriorating socio-economic and political conditions underpinned by agony, bloodshed and division amongst ourselves. Naga people had been longing for peace. This season as we reflect the miraculous birth of

ith deep commitment to serve the Naga Nation I joined the movement on Jan 23rd, 1987. I was more encouraged when I saw Chairman Isak Chishi Swu, Vice Chairman Khaplang, Ato Kilonser Th. Muivah and C- in-C Kholi working together for the nation but the following year i.e. April 1988 split took place among them inspite of my advice to them not to fight among the same national workers. Because it would profit the enemies and weaken the Naga struggles. Alas! My advice was not heeded nor taken into account and my saying came true, Nagas and nonNagas both suffered. Naga pub-

Christ, the spirit of this birth lies in bringing warmth and peace to such afflicted and the downtrodden. This is the spirit of Christmas, which Christ dictated to Isaiah: “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free”. The insurmountable difficulties and oppression we had faced as one

nation still continues. However, we are constantly reassured because it is God who in His wisdom first brought the different regions of Nagas together and call them as one. This Christmas, our hope is once again rejuvenated as we remind ourselves that God never breaks a promise, just as He kept His promise to the Israelites for the birth of Messiah many centuries before the prophesy came to be. We reminded that Christ

was born to a very humble family under very humble circumstances, but in His humility there is the saving power of Grace and forgiveness. As the whole Naga Nation celebrates Christmas, we pray that you and your family receive the gift of love and may the amazing grace of the Prince of Peace fill your homes with peace. (Brig. (Retd.) S. Singnya) Kedahge, Federal Government of Nagaland (NNC/FGN)

AppeAl lic are forced to be in confusion. Many co-workers lost their lives during that period and the years following. In 2003, I had to finally obey to my conscience and to support the visionary leadership of chairman Isak Chishi Swu and General Secretary Th. Muivah. It was not my weakness in not taking men and arms along with me because my wisdom told me not to make business out of such practices. But to my utter surprise, my wife and children were forcefully kicked out of my residence at Mon Town. From that day till today they established their office in my residence. They may make Himalaya allegations against me

and my family but there is no iota of truth in them; that is purely the work of jealousy. If my cow-shedlike residence is accused of, what about skyscrapers and Taj Mahallike marble buildings belonging to those so-called national workers who used to roam in Town and cities within few years without undergoing under the bush or inside the jail for a single day? Of course I don't want to stoop that low and talk about a single house when with my all in all I have been shouldering my national task throughout my golden years. But remember it has been more than 13 years now. Please, please vacate my residence; it purely belongs to me and my family but no

one else. Is there any NGOs, the like of Naga Hoho, ENPO and KU, I ask their intervention in the case of my family residence, because it is very unfortunate and unwise to keep on discriminating a committed and humble national worker like me. So far I recollect my life and my career, I don't have any animosity with anyone, big or small. I don't have any due with anyone or any organization either. All I have done is I give my whole life, whole time and everything in whole just for the cause of Naga Nation. Kuknalim In Naga National Service Tongmeth Wangnao Member collective Leadership NSCN/GPRN

extend Christmas Greetings

ear countrymen, as the festive mood drives us around and the whole world is busy preparing to celebrate the Birthday of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I on behalf of myself and the Council of Nagalim Churches would like to bring the joy of Christmas greetings to all the citizens of Nagalim. What a joy and privilege it is to commemorate once anew the Birthday of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Through His love and grace once again we are in this season. As we prepare ourselves for Christmas, we are being challenged once again how we should commemorate it. Yes, God wants us to enjoy the Birthday of His only begotten Son, who brought the good tidings of great joy to all mankind. But my dear fellow believers, how are we preparing physically and spiritually to commemorate our Saviour's Birthday. Are we preparing to please our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ or preparing to please our flesh? How sad it is to see many people celebrate Christmas in eating, drinking and make party for physical enjoyment. In Roman 14:17 says, "For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace

and joy in the Holy Spirit." Also we see in Ecclesiastes 12:8 says that such kind of celebration is' ....vanity of vanities..." Friends, let us retrospect our way of celebration and ponder the value, how costly it is the day to remember, love , respect and honor our Baby Jesus the King of kings and the Lord of lords who brought peace , joy and eternal life for us. Therefore, my dear beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, as we celebrate Christmas this year, let us pray and prepare our hearts to receive Christ into our lives. God in His love has given us His peace and joy, which human words cannot describe and explain of its wonder. No word is adequate to express or translate God's love for us, and His redeeming work in Christ. The Good News that the Angels brought to the shepherds that night is for us today, God's salvation is not only to the rich or educated but to everyone who believes in Him. I am also sending this Good News to all the prisoners. Dear friends, human love may have limitation and the world may fail you. But God's love never fails. Luke 4:18 talks about the proclamation of the Good News of "liberty to the

captives, recovering of sight to the blinds, to set liberty to those who are oppressed, (and) to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."(ESV). Dear citizens of Nagalim as we prepare ourselves to commemorate Christmas let us also forgive one another's past mistakes and let us reconcile with each other and our Lord Jesus Christ to receive His blessing. I want to say thank you to all the citizens of Nagalim and friends for your fervent prayer support through which our President Isak Chishi Swu's health was recovered and could sign the Peace agreement. Yet, I humbly request you all once again to kindly continue to pray for his health as he has been admitted to hospital again for further treatment. Let us also pray for our chief negotiator Ato kiloser Th. Muivah, Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi and interlocutor R.N.Ravi for early political final solution. I wish everyone a very happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year 2016. Peace be in Nagalim. Kuknalim Kuknalim. PS Vaison Vemai Vice President Council of Nagalim Churches

The Morung Express is introducing “Public Space” as part of our intention to provide deliberate space for the opinions of the people to be expressed and heard through this newspaper. Nonetheless, The Morung Express points out that the opinions expressed in the contents published in the “Public Space” do not reflect the views and position of the newspaper or the editor.

IN FOCUS The Power of Truth

The Morung Express X issue 348X issue 185 Thursday 9volume July 2015 volume

A Free and SelfReflective Press The media in Nagaland needs to hold itself accountable to the highest levels of journalistic ethics and principles which is its central responsibility as the fourth pillar of democracy

ournalists, around the world in varying contexts, risk their lives on a daily basis in unprotected situations while acting in the public’s interest by bringing stories, and sharing experiences through reporting unfolding situations. Their intention and actions are to inform and empower people in order for them to make knowledgeable decisions and actions. As a whole journalists want to reveal the truth, promote justice and peace; facilitate pluralism and encourage political and cultural expressions. These attributes are reflected through the media as a public institution which is essential to every democracy enabling it to take its place as the revered fourth pillar of democracy. A media that is constrained by rigid polities, restrictive legislation, intimidation or societal dogma reflects a government that lacks democratic principles and practices. There can be no free press if journalists exist in conditions of poverty, corruption and fear! Such conditions have direct implications on society that is seeking to evolve as a value based society. Any deliberate assault on the institution of the free press, therefore, is seen as an attack not only on democracy, but the people that make up the society. This does not simply refer to isolated acts against members of the institution; rather, it means any systematic or deliberate action that threatens, intimidates and assaults the very idea of a free press; and, in essence, the very people that make up the media institution. Invariably the concept of a free press is naturally connected to the idea of public safety and security. Unfortunately, the ideas of safety and security have become very relative in an increasingly polarized world which is characterized by exclusivity, public mistrust, rising violence and fear. In the Naga context, the institution of the press needs to be strengthened and supported by the public. While it has weathered many difficult circumstances and assumed an important role reflecting society’s progress through its narratives, it still needs to be vigilant regarding cultivating and stabilizing public trust, as well as taking a role in shaping and enabling inclusive and participatory democratic processes for positive change. The gap between society and the institution of the press is widening. This gap has increased the press’s vulnerability, making it a soft target to those who seek to intimidate and silence it. The public has failed to rally in support of the press, and has not raised serious concerns around issues that are endemic to the survival and the well-being of a free and independent press. A free and independent media in Nagaland is an absolute necessity! Of course, the media in Nagaland is not above reproach or criticism, and, in fact, welcomes it. The media in Nagaland needs to hold itself accountable to the highest levels of journalistic ethics and principles which is its central responsibility as the fourth pillar of democracy. This requires deep reflection and self-criticism within the media fraternity and the commitment to take pro-active measures to enable remedial steps in order to remain responsive and accountable to its public, which is the people. It further requires that journalists are open to a process of constructive criticism, self-growth and discerning development in order to be more relevant and effective to the rapidly changing situation and conditions of our time. There is no doubt that a free and independent media in Nagaland is one of the primary means necessary to raise the people’s voices and publicly express their free will. The question is, whether the media in Nagaland can rise to this challenge in a responsible and sensitive manner with the support of the public and without being shackled by pressures both from within and without. Absolutely, the freedom of the press needs to be upheld as the fourth pillar of democracy!

lEfT wiNg |

Katy Migiro Thomson Reuters Foundation

Most women in Kenya are abused on public transport

TuesDAY 22•12•2015

he majority of female passengers on public transport in Kenya say they have been harassed, with abuses ranging from derogatory comments to rape, but few report the abuse, according to a survey published on December 16. Some 54 percent of almost 400 women interviewed by Kenyan advocacy group Women's Empowerment Link (WEL) said they had experienced gender based violence, defined as physical, sexual or psychological harm, while using public transport. "(Respondents) witnessed female passengers being stripped naked ... but the female survivors neither received any help nor reported the violation," WEL said in a report of the survey. "Most passengers, both male and female, uphold a culture of silence and do not intervene." Videos of men stripping and assaulting women in buses for wearing clothing regarded as immodest went viral online in 2014, leading to a protest demonstration in the capital, Nairobi. Although Kenya has strong legislation protecting women against violence, prosecutions are rare. Respondents said insults were the most common form of abuse that women experience while using public transport, followed by being forced to board vehicles against their wishes and indecent touching. "If you refuse to get into the matatus (minibuses), they either insult you or throw bad words about how you look and your body," said director of WEL, Grace Mbugua, describing how one tout picked up a woman who was walking by and carried her inside his minibus. Drunkenness among transport workers contributes to the problem, Senator Beatrice Elachi, a former matatu owner and women's rights advocate, said at the launch of the survey. "We need to deal with the alcohol," she said. "Very early in the morning, young people are already drunk. Yet they are the ones now to usher you into the matatus. You even find drivers, some of them, drunk." Touts often touch women's backsides as they push them into vehicles, pretending to help them get on board, according to the survey. Young girls are particularly vulnerable. "(Motorbike taxi) operators often drop the girls further from their intended destinations or in secluded areas so as to try and secure sexual favours from them," the report said. One motorbike taxi driver who was HIV positive was arrested after respondents said he had got several underage schoolgirls pregnant, Mbugua said. More than six out of ten respondents said they knew someone who had been abused, but only 13 percent of victims reported the attack.

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

C O M M E N T A R Y

John Feffer Foreign Policy in Focus

Obama: The Fairy-Tale President? Obama's made a lot of Faustian bargains over the last seven years. But given his likely successors, what we got over the last two terms may be as good as it gets

n fairy tales, the hero makes a wish. After a few trials the wish comes true, and everyone lives happily ever after. But only in this Disney version of fairy tales is wish fulfillment so straightforward. In Goethe’s modern fairy tale, a scholar dreams of knowledge and power. A stranger grants his wish, but the ambitious Faust must pledge his soul to the Devil to seal the deal. In the famous short story “The Monkey’s Paw,” a distraught mother rubs the animal’s amputated limb and wishes for her dead son to return. When the knock on the door comes late at night, she realizes that her dead son has indeed returned, but not necessarily to life. The moral? Unless you’re two-dimensional and Technicolor, be careful what you wish for. Those who aspire to occupy the Oval Office, should their wish come true, are not guaranteed a fairy-tale ending. Indeed, few exit the presidency without giving up their soul (or large parts thereof). Some are even haunted by the dead who come knocking at midnight, demanding to be heard. Presidents watch their hair turn grey and their shoulders slump from the weight of the office. Barack Obama became president of the United States seven years ago. He made many a difficult bargain in order to fulfill his wish to become America’s first African American commander-in-chief. In the process, he’s auctioned off parts of his soul to different vested interests and, as a result, disappointed many. Some commentators on the left have blasted his presidency because it doesn’t conform to their Disney understanding of American politics (in which the fairy leftist waves a wand and all Americans suddenly become Swedish socialists). Many commentators on the right have dismissed the Obama administration from day one because it doesn’t conform to their Reaganesque understanding of American society (in which gummint shrivels up like a raisin in the sun leaving Americans free to choose, starve, and fire their semi-automatics). But there are also plenty of people in the middle who have grown cynical of the Obama administration, because seven years is a long time to sustain hope and pray for change. This broad slice of the electorate expected peace, and they’ve gotten a lot of war. They hoped in the wake of the financial crisis for an economy geared to the 99 percent, and they’ve seen the raucous return of the rich. They expected a transformation of the way Washington does business, and they witnessed a continuation of business as usual. It’s best, of course, to approach American politics with diminished expectations. Such realism applies double when the president himself is a realist. The Barack Obama who took office in 2009 was no revolutionary, though many mistook the radical fact of an African American winning the presidency for a radical agenda. Obama promised to end one war (Iraq), not all wars. He offered a modest program of economic reforms, but he was also heavily funded during his campaign by Wall Street donors. And he was a centrist Democrat taking the reins of a government increasingly hobbled by the lunatic fringe of the Republican Party. Only against the backdrop of the president’s constrained ambitions and Washington’s dysfunctional politics do the first seven years of the Obama era make any sense at all. Coming on the heels of perhaps his greatest accomplishment — a global commitment to tackle climate change — it’s time to look at what Obama has and hasn’t done as president. There’s one year left in his term. But Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are already vying to be in the on-deck circle. Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio are itching to be the last-minute pinch-hitter. There’s an excellent chance that U.S. foreign policy after January 2017 will be more militaristic, more beholden to the rich and powerful, and more embedded in the Beltway’s business as usual. And that’s if Hillary wins. There’s also a possibility, should the inevitably right-wing Republican candidate cobble together a majority of the resentful, that the United States will return to the armed exceptionalism of the Bush era. At this critical juncture, then, we need to be cleareyed about Obama’s accomplishments in order to brace ourselves for 2017. It’s been seven years of turbulence. Buckle up and prepare for a crash landing. The Green Miracle The most telling moment in the recent climate change talks came when U.S. negotiator Todd Stern walked into the assembly in Paris, with the representative of the Marshall Islands by his side, and received a standing ovation. At a similar meeting in Bali eight years before, the U.S. team consistently played an obstructionist role and endured one round of boos after another. “If for some reason you are not willing to lead, leave it to the rest of us,” Kevin Conrad, the negotiator from Papua New Guinea, told the U.S. delegation. “Please, get out of the way.” At the very last moment, the Bush team signed a watered-down version of an accord that effectively pushed the hard choices off for the next administration. This time around, however, the United States was willing to lead — not only at the Paris conference itself, but also in all the patient negotiations required in the lead-up to the gathering. This included a compact with China, a commitment to provide more funds to developing countries to ensure sustainable economic growth, and a push to get as many countries as possible to make pledges to reduce their carbon emissions. In the end, 186 out of 196 countries stepped up to the plate. Yes, the resulting agreement in Paris could have required the international community to make more binding commitments, provide more funds for poor-

er countries, and allocate more urgent subsidies of renewables to ensure that the global temperatures won’t exceed a 1.5 degree Celsius jump (at Foreign Policy In Focus, Oscar Reyes gives seven good reasons to be skeptical of the COP21 results). But the very fact that the United States helped to negotiate a lowering of the aspirational threshold from 2 degrees to 1.5 represents a sea change in government policy. Of course, these accomplishments are the result of significant lobbying by environmentalists and scientists. But the Obama administration, compared to its predecessor, is far more open to such lobbying (perhaps because environmentalists and scientists actually serve in the administration). More importantly, the way the United States has engaged with other countries on this issue reflects a fundamentally different attitude toward diplomacy. Perhaps we have all become accustomed in the last seven years to the United States acting like an adult in the international community. But the rhetoric of the Republican presidential aspirants is a stark reminder that the tantrum style of foreign policy — “I will rip up that Iran deal on day one of my presidency!” — is only a few swing votes of the Electoral College away from the Oval Office. The climate deal is just one of a series of diplomatic accomplishments for the Obama administration. It not only negotiated a nuclear deal with Iran, but also pushed it through a largely hostile Congress and over the objections of key Democratic senators like Charles Schumer and Ben Cardin. It ended more than a half-century of hostility with Cuba even without a regime change in Havana. And it secured a détente with Burma that helped to speed that country’s peaceful, democratic transformation. This diplomatic hat trick is all the more remarkable when set against the diplomatic failures of the administration. An agreement with North Korea— the Leap Day deal of 2012 — fell apart almost immediately when Pyongyang announced a satellite launch. Secretary of State John Kerry racked up a lot of air miles trying to advance negotiations between Israel and Palestine, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasn’t interested in giving any ground (quite literally in this instance). The reset with Russia went back a little too far into the past, all the way in fact to the Cold War, because of an eagerness on the part of NATO to push eastward and on the part of Russian President Vladimir Putin to push westward. In these three cases, the Obama administration could perhaps have proven more skillful, more willing to take risks, and more open to twisting the arms of allies (for instance, Israel). But the president is fundamentally a cautious leader. With Iran, Cuba, and Burma, he had the U.S. business community and U.S. public opinion pushing vigorously from behind, and the Republican Party opposition simply couldn’t push hard enough in the opposite direction. Obama had no such tailwinds with North Korea, Palestine, and Russia, plus he encountered some significant headwinds from the headstrong trio of Kim Jong Eun, Netanyahu, and Putin. For those of us pushing for additional diplomatic breakthroughs, the lesson is to enlist the support of the business community (often a bitter pill to swallow) and transform, however slowly, U.S. public opinion. Civil society has to do the heavy lifting, which is as it should be. Leadership in the absence of some degree of popular support is autocracy, and the results aren’t likely to be sustainable either. The National Security President If Obama had focused for the last seven years exclusively on diplomacy, he might have lived up to the Nobel Peace Prize that he received, in a burst of premature extrapolation, only a few months after his inauguration. But as the president took pains to point out in his Nobel acceptance speech, he’s no pacifist. He opposes many wars because he recognizes the diminishing utility of military force. But where he believes that force can yield results, he will let fly drones, call down aerial bombardment, and even dispatch U.S. troops. It’s not so much a moral decision — his nod to “just war” doctrine notwithstanding — as a tactical one. Moreover, Obama has presided over a strengthening of the surveillance state and an almost maniacal hounding of national security whistleblowers. The president has never pretended to be a libertarian, though he voiced some cautions about the Pa-

triot Act when he was senator and promised to close the Guantanamo detention facility as his first act in the Oval Office. As president, Obama has been rather consistent in his support of an activist government. It just so happens that he believes that government should provide both universal health care and universal surveillance. The war in Syria has flummoxed the Obama administration (as it has so many other countries). The president has been careful to resist pressure — from Democrats and Republicans alike — to introduce U.S. ground troops in the fight against the Islamic State (or against “radical Islam,” Bashar al-Assad, Russian forces in Ukraine, the Houthis in Yemen, or any of the other threats du jour). At the same time, Obama has showed no compunction whatsoever in funding “moderate” militias, sending in military “advisors,” and partnering with countries like Turkey that have their own dubious agendas. It’s a middle path tailor-made to piss off just about everybody — those who want to crush America’s enemies by all means necessary, as well as those (like me) who believe that even these more judicious (and often extrajudicial) flexings of American muscle will produce more virulent strains of extremism. Even The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank, who has generally made fun of warmongers, took the president to task for his uninspiring efforts at counterterrorism. “President Oh-bummer,” he labeled Obama. Having exhausted his rhetorical powers, the president has perhaps tired of trying to persuade America of his middle course (though he continues to press his case that his strategy is succeeding against the Islamic State). Whether Obama’s heart is in this exercise of American power, he’s certainly made such discriminate deterrence a hallmark of his administration. To secure his diplomatic achievements, perhaps the president believes that he has to demonstrate his willingness to punch, and punch hard. It’s a Faustian bargain, and one at the heart of the presidential enterprise in America. Every president in the modern era has expanded American power — even Jimmy Carter in the last two years of his term — while negotiating peace deals in selected locations. It’s the price of empire. The leaders of Costa Rica and Norway don’t face such conflicts. Beyond the Horizon When it comes to foreign policy, the future looks like more of the same — if we’re lucky. Hillary Clinton, a former secretary of state, is no stranger to diplomacy. But she’s also demonstrated time and again that she must overcompensate — as a Democrat, as a woman, as a former 1960s activist — to “act tough” in order to command respect in a violent, patriarchal world. She’s also proven even more committed to kowtowing to the Netanyahu strain of Israeli politics, which will make any movement forward on a host of Middle East issues considerably more difficult. Bernie Sanders has a better position on some foreign policy questions, but I doubt that middle America, however appalled it might be at economic inequality, is ready to elect an avowed socialist (I would love to be proven wrong in this regard, though). In his last year, then, Obama will be scrambling to institutionalize the more pacific parts of his legacy, as quietly as possible. That will mean fulfilling the terms of the nuclear deal with Iran, clearing obstacles from the path of engagement with Cuba, implementing his Clean Power Plan, continuing to repair America’s international reputation (for instance, by restoring U.S. funding for UNESCO), and preserving State Department funding from congressional attacks. The other part of his legacy — drone strikes and aerial bombing, broad-spectrum surveillance, Special Forces operations around the globe — won’t need protecting from a successor. I was a realist eight years ago when I wrote that Obama’s middle-of the-road policies would produce a “Goldilocks apocalypse.” American foreign policy of the last seven years was flawed in so many ways, and we’re still on the road to this catastrophe of the middle way. Obama is no Disney hero, and there’s no unambiguously happy ending. But as I survey the post-2016 alternatives, I’m increasingly concerned that, for the immediate future at least, what we got over the last two terms is as good as it gets.

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TuesDAY 22•12•2015

PERSPECTIVE

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Beyond Paris and the temptation to despair George Lakey

Waging Nonviolence

’m no stranger to despair — it almost killed me. At age 39, I was diagnosed with a kind of lymphoma that was usually fatal. I’m exactly twice that age now. The healing took an extraordinary mobilization of resources from inside me and from my community. But first I had to learn the biggest lesson of all. I remember that challenging time now, as I read the news from the Paris climate talks. Many of us, frankly, did not hold high expectations for the gathering. In 1973, I published my prediction that governmental leaders would fail us on fundamental environmental issues. I proposed an alternative strategy that would not rely on politicians to take care of us and called it a “living revolution.” Still, when heads of state gather in the bright lights of mass media, there’s often hope against hope. Against our better judgment, we can set ourselves up for discouragement and worse. When facing the prospect of my dying, I found an approach that went beyond both despair and desperate hope. I remember groaning in a hospital bed after massive surgery when the surgeon came in. He explained, “We couldn’t get it all, so radiation and chemo will be next.” I noticed the surgeon would no longer meet my eyes. Today’s analogy to his ominous message might be the environmentalists who tell us that it’s already too late — we can’t really save ourselves from climate calamity. As I digested my grim diagnosis I began to feel a complete victim. I asked myself, why me? I’m young and chose a healthy lifestyle. I have children to care for, and I work for a better world. My primary community, Movement for a New Society, organized a care team for me in the hospital. MNS member Ellen Deacon invited her dad to visit me. When he walked into my room, the pain was roaring and tubes were coming in and out of me. Ellen’s dad simply said, “My daughter told you I’d drop by in case you needed anything. Not very long ago I was where you are now.” That got my attention. “I realize we’re all different,” he said, “but what turned me around was when I decided to take responsibility for the cancer I had grown.” Every fiber within me shouted “No!” “I’m not talking about blame, here,” he said. “I’m simply talking about owning my situation, realizing that the rest of me had something to do with the cancer cells multi-

e Climate Justic No Excuses

plying. You might want to consider it.” I said as graceful a goodbye as I could under the circumstances, and went back to feeling sorry for myself. Later, though, his words came back to me, along with his healthy vibrancy. I began to consider what he said. If I somehow had the power to cooperate with the growth of the cancer cells, would that imply that I had the power to non-cooperate as well? If I can grow tumors, could I also shrink them?” The idea was too far-fetched for me to believe it. Yet, as a working hypothesis, it was very attractive. I like being powerful. I felt powerless at the moment, pathetically so. I could choose to stay with pathos (I do like opera), or I could choose power. Ellen and the others in the Movement for a New Society community put me in a love bath, 24/7. To the alarm of the supervising nurse, they wouldn’t let me alone. They sat beside me while I slept, sang and held me while I shook with fear. My dad had reared me to be a stoical individualist, but even his influence couldn’t prevent my surrender to the love. I could tell it was surrender because I so often became a blubbering idiot with them, pouring out decades of stored-up pain and disappointment and,

yes, despair. I was unprepared to strategize my healing, so my comrades helped out. They researched, helped me examine my lifestyle with a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats), pointed me toward resources I’d never heard of. They wisely left each decision to me — this was about empowerment, after all. I kept in mind the very real chance of dying, reading books about it and building into my life qualities that I wanted to enjoy on my way out, if that’s how it went. My strategy also included new disciplines and new forms of struggle, to support a renewal of life. Even if the probability is low, I asked myself over and over in the middle of the night, why not go for it? Dealing with our collective threat Afterward, I looked back on that year of mobilization, painful as it was, as one of the best of my life. I realized that, because of my stubborn denial, I needed the death threat to get myself together. My growth curve transformed limiting beliefs and gave me glimpses of what the mystics and saints have long been getting at. I did know of people who resigned themselves to their cancer, turned on the television, and sank into oblivion. I

chose love and possibility and reached for a new degree of liberation. Maybe our society’s denial also needs the death threat to get itself together and make its own breakthrough. Already in the late 1960s I “got the memo” about environmental crisis. I did little activism for the cause, however, because the movement’s mainstream was so determined to bark up the wrong tree. Most environmentalists’ belief in a middle school civics version of American politics kept groups to the right of Greenpeace unwilling to tap their full power. In the past five years I see environmentalists shifting. Global conferences in Kyoto and Copenhagen revealed the truth to some, and Paris is revealing it to more: Politicians will not — and can not — save us, any more than I could have healed from cancer with bandaids. The environmental/economic crisis is way too fundamental to be handled by masses of people who ignore the source of their own power, which is literally called “people power.” As with my cancer, the turn-around begins by taking responsibility, by accepting that somehow or other we’ve been avoiding operating from our true, life-affirming selves. Once we accept that we gave our power away to politicians and the corporate heads who control them, we can choose to

take our power back. As with my cancer recovery, a self-assessment will be useful. We’ll find we need to love each other instead of playing identity politics one-upmanship. If we’re on the oppressed end of one of the many “isms,” we’ll need to root our action in self-respect rather than attacking our comrades. We’ll need to interrogate class in ourselves, and become blubbering idiots, as we let go of the superiority moves that divide our efforts. By understanding class we’ll see how white supremacy, economic injustice and climate chaos are all maintained by the 1 percent and the institutions they control, such as the university and the Democratic Party. We’ll also need to accept some good news, which is that the pace of change is not even. Predictions of doom usually assume a steady pace, but in fact there is often acceleration when masses go into motion. The four years between the Montgomery bus boycott and the 1960 sit-ins seemed like an eternity to civil rights organizers, but the years following 1960 were like a speeding train, almost impossible to keep up with. Nor would our SWOT analysis be complete if we overlook the positive indicators that showed up in Paris. Strategically, the main lesson I learned in getting the goods on cancer was to be holistic. Let’s live the revolution now, even while we engage in the earlier stages that build the revolutionary movement. Let the timid ones see our affirmative organizational cultures that accept the emotional highs and lows that go with the struggle. Let’s act with awareness that a broad social movement includes diverse roles (advocacy, building alternative institutions, and so on), then affirm each role while enhancing the direct action that, in the United States, has suffered decades of neglect. As environmental activist Joanna Macy teaches in her books and workshops, denial of despair doesn’t make it go away. In fact, in my life, despair was killing me. Post-Paris is our opportunity to get with friends, and do the raging, grieving and anguishing that might be coming up. Children are right to have tantrums, and we grown-ups are too — without needing to overturn police cars to be all drama-queen about it. When we choose to express our emotions safely and with each other, we send a subtle but clear message to our own selves that we are powerful indeed. By releasing our own emotions in a responsible way we free our agency and restore our sense of confidence. Will humankind succeed in taking on the unjustly organized economies that are propelling the crisis? No one can really know for certain. I personally know what it means to look at slim odds. And I know I can choose to go for it.

We need a new strategy: Human Governance is a casualty of Rights are not enough anymore India's confrontationist politics

Cathleen Berger

n 29 November, the #COP21 international climate talks kicked off in Paris. Shaken by recent atrocities, the French government decided to ban demonstrations for the duration of the conference - a decision which spectacularly backfired as thousands of people left their shoes on the main square, gaining huge traction on social media and making France’s unprecedented crackdown on civil liberties an international news story. As one widelyquoted demonstrator remarked: ‘The shoes are marching for us’. A recent incident in Turkey offers an instructive parallel. On 10 October, Ankara’s main train station was bombed by terrorists allegedly linked to Da’esh, killing 95 and wounding 300 - the deadliest terrorist attack recorded in the country’s history. The government's response was to fire tear gas at bystanders, ban all press coverage of the attack, and - crucially - impose a slowdown on Twitter and Facebook. On one level, both examples illustrate a deteriorating rights climate in France and Turkey. But they also underline the paramount importance of social media as a conduit for dissent and its expression in the right to peaceful assembly. The French case demonstrates that social media is recognised as a crucial tool for exercising rights which are denied or repressed in physical forums. Turkey shows us that governments are aware of this, and have made internet shutdowns and other infrastructure or content manipulation part of their standard toolkit for repressing dissent and citizen mobilisation. These are not isolated examples. The 2011 Arab Spring was, of course, the first prominent example of a mass movement organised via social media; but the same dynamic was also at play in the 2014 Umbrella Revolution, where students in Hong Kong bypassed governmental internet blocks using social media and circumvention tools. Recent presidential elections in Burundi coincided with blocked websites and slowed connections, while the horrific ongoing civil war in Syria has seen the deployment of physical airstrikes in direct correlation with network disruptions, leading researcher Anita Gohdes to coin the idea of the internet as a weapon. These are just a few prominent examples, but they amply demonstrate that information and communications technologies (ICTs) are an emerging terrain of contestation between civil and state actors - creating new opportunities for both the exercise and restriction of rights. It is clear human rights should be as valid online as they are offline. But the human rights offering which exists today is the bare

minimum of what states could agree upon internationally. With the advent of the digital age, shouldn’t we be asking for more? One reason for the unsatisfying realisation of human rights online is the inherent complexity of the internet. As a technology it can be intimidating to laypeople, with an unwieldy technical infrastructure governed by arcane languages, codes and norms. Although barriers to entry are theoretically low compared to previous communications technologies, few people outside of specific technical communities ever deal with ICTs for anything other than consumption, communication or simple word-processing. A broader approach, exploring the ethical or political dimensions of internet issues, is therefore typically left to those who write and build the tools - a state of affairs wholly counterintuitive to scrutiny and democratic oversight. One result has been the emergence of a broad binary of traditional human rights defenders (typically older) and digital rights defenders (younger), with little focused communication between the two sides. This absence of dialogue inhibits meaningful oversight of governmental action and allows for the formation of crucial legislative and technical grey areas, which governments do not hesitate to exploit, often to the detriment of human rights. The recent barely publicised passage of a highly invasive data retention bill in Russia, and the relative lack of outcry against the UK’s extraordinary Investigatory Powers Bill, currently being fasttracked through its parliament with little scrutiny, are examples of this. How do we solve this problem? It requires, first off, a much more focused theorisation of how rights function in the digital age than has previously been attempted. Can all rights be directly translated online? What do freedom of religious belief, nondiscrimination, the right to due process, freedom of movement, and social and economic rights actually mean online? France, Turkey, the Arab Spring and other examples are indicative of how ICTs can enable ‘assembly’ in the physical world, but should ‘assembly’ in its virtual sense - for example, a political discussion on Google Hangouts, or a decentralised online campaign like 'The Day We Fight Back' - also be protected as a human right? Would it then be considered a distinct form of assembly? Would it be a separate digital right? Or should we be moving beyond this presumed binary of online and offline altogether? Perhaps we need a new conception of rights. A conception which, instead of simply only guarding the limited offering we have now, makes a positive case for dissent as a wider civic responsibility. Dissent, defined here as the holding or expression

of opinions at variance with those commonly or officially held, could serve as an organising principle for all different rights struggles. The full exercise of dissent, after all, would reasonably require strengthened versions of all the protected human rights we already have (e.g. right to assembly and association) as well as the recognition of currently unprotected or inadequately protected rights (e.g. anonymity, encryption, access). Under this umbrella, we could then push for the positive recognition of dissent as a bedrock of a healthy society without which there can be no creativity, innovation, disruption, progress and - crucially democracy. Since 9/11, governments have, with considerable success, attempted to reframe dissent as criminal deviance, and human rights as a pesky encumbrance which risks national security. The only way to effectively fight this is through a paradigm shift: we need to strongly and loudly make a positive case for dissent, for criticism, for engagement, and define what freedom and citizenship really mean in the 21st century. Human rights are not, surely, the end goal of our efforts. They are the tools that help us achieve our fullest potential, which is something joyous, chaotic and unpredictable, not dry and legislative. But this isn’t what is happening. We fight the erosion of our rights on different fronts, with little coordination of our efforts. The result is division and confusion. Perhaps that is why the recent securitisation of cybersecurity discourse and legislation has caught many in the rights community off guard. It isn’t an attack on one single right, but rather the reframing of the definition of security towards systems and away from humans, with consequences across a wide range of different rights. Because we have no competing positive narrative to fight it with, all we can do is pick at the edges, raising concerns about privacy here, about data protection there. So how do we organise; and how do we then contest such efforts? We could start by encouraging better communications between rights struggles, to avoid the silos that have become characteristic. We could shift our messaging away from the risks of individual rights disappearing - often intangible and hard to visualise - to emphasise the crucial importance of dissent as a principle. And we could build and design tools that protect our anonymity and keep our ideas and communications private which are, at the same time, easy to use, visually appealing, fun and engaging. With governments rolling back rights all over the world, both online and offline, one thing is at least certain: we need to get into a position to start pushing back.

Amulya Ganguli

IANS

he contrast between the two main opponents of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Delhi could not have been more stark. On one side is the 130-year-old Congress, the so-called Grand Old Party whose grandeur has begun to fray at the edges. On the other is the new kid on the block, the Aam Admi Party (AAP), which is just over two years old. Probably because of its youth, the AAP displays a kind of aggression which, in the last few days, has crossed all limits of decency with its leader, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a coward and a psychopath following a raid by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the Delhi secretariat. To this date, Kejriwal hasn't withdrawn his remarks, presumably because it is not in his nature to do so. Throughout his career of a few years as a public figure, his combativeness has been the most distinctive feature of his persona. It has also won him not inconsiderable support among mainly the lower middle classes because of the belief that he is a fearless fighter against corruption. His diatribes against the Congress and personally against industrialist Mukesh Ambani are noteworthy in this context. Kejriwal has been engaged in running battles with both Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung and Police Commissioner Bhim Sain Bassi over the inadequate powers, in his view, of the Delhi government. Now, the chief minister has made the prime minister and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley his targets. Perhaps he wants to get his own back for Modi having once quoted the AAP leader's claim of being an anarchist to advise him to join the Naxalites in the jungle. Even if Kejriwal receives some support for castigating the CBI for acting at the Modi government's behest - as has come from Nitish Kumar and Mamata Banerjee - his abusive diatribes against the prime minister have undermined his standing to a considerable extent. This setback may be the reason why he is now concentrating more on Jaitley for the latter's suspected involvement in financial irregularities in the Delhi and District Cricket Association. But, as Jaitley has pointed out, the charges - of which he claims he was cleared by the Manmohan Singh government - are meant to divert attention from the allegedly shady financial deals of Kejriwal's principal secretary which led to the CBI raid. The murkiness of the entire affair is obvious but, to the average person, what will be highly disconcerting is that in the midst of these personal and political battles, the governance of both the country and of the

state of Delhi is bound to suffer. With parliament held hostage by the warring MPs and the shadow cast over the Delhi government by the CBI, neither can Modi push forward his legislative programme nor can the chief minister focus on the nitty-gritty of routine administration.Meanwhile, the air pollution in Delhi continues get worse while the city earns the infamy of being the ‘rape capital’ with 1,813 incidents in 2014 - the highest in the country - compared to 1,441 in the previous year. It is now clear that the goods and services law will miss the deadline of being enacted by April next year, although it is being supported by an increasing number of parties, of which the latest backers are the Janata DalUnited, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Trinamool Congress. However, it is not the AAP which poses the main hindrance to its passage in parliament, but the Congress which has apparently made up its mind to stall Modi's development plans at any cost lest their enactment boosts the government's image. Hence Jaitley's poser to the party of Jawaharlal Nehru about the "legacy" it wants to leave behind. But the legacy about which there will be greater concern is the deterioration in the conduct of politicians. For one, they do not seem to mind holding parliament to ransom, thereby compelling the government to wonder whether the time has come when the country has to be run via executive decisions rather than legislative action. For another, the kind of language which Kejriwal has used - and which was resorted to by a union minister who called Modi's opponents "haramzade"or illegitimate offspring - point to a depressing lowering of the calibre of today's politicians. The description of media personnel as "presstitudes" by another union minister, Gen. V.K. Singh (retd), falls in the same shocking category. It is possible that the feud between the BJP and the AAP is the outcome of the fact that while the former is still unable to digest the fact of its massive defeat nearly a year ago at the hands of a fledgling party, the AAP suffers from an inferiority complex over the Delhi government's lack of powers compared to other states. It wants to hide this feeling of inadequacy with arrogance and abuse. The two parties, led mostly by those belonging to the urban middle class, also have a streak of righteousness which makes them prickly. Although the BJP is no longer the party with a difference, it retains some of that earlier hauteur while the AAP's self-image is that of an outfit of angels intent on cleansing corruption. Such haughtiness cannot but lead to confrontations.

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.

TuesDAY 22•12•2015

INDIA

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Jaitley takes Kejriwal to court Congress calls for a Joint Parliamentary Probe New Delhi, December 21 (iANS): Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday filed a defamation suit against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and sought Rs.10 crore in damages for accusing him of corruption when he headed the DDCA. Kejriwal retorted that he and his AAP can't be intimidated. Even as a combative Jaitley defended himself in parliament against the corruption charges, fellow BJP MP Kirti Azad, who has been alleging major financial bungling in the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) for years, demanded to know why the minister had not sued him. The Delhi High Court said it would hear on Tuesday the defamation suit slapped against Kejriwal, who took on Jaitley from the day the CBI raided his principal secretary Rajendra Kumar for alleged corruption. Jaitley also reached the Patiala House Court in the company of several party leaders and ministers where, as his supporters raised slogans in his support, he filed a criminal defamation complaint against Kejriwal and AAP leaders including Kumar

India's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley gestures from his car as he leaves a court in New Delhi on December 21. India's finance minister sued Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for 10 crore rupees ($1.51 million) on Monday for slander, escalating a battle between the ruling party and the opposition that has stalled key reform legislation in parliament. (REUTERS Photo)

Vishwas, Sanjay Singh and Ashutosh. Even as Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah defended Jaitley, saying he was respected for his honesty and integrity, Kirti Azad demanded a time-bound probe by a court-monitored Special Investigation Team into the DDCA affairs. He said a CBI inquiry would take too much time. "I have been raising the issue of corruption in DDCA since long," the former India player told IANS, hours after Jaitley filed the

case against Kejriwal. "So the defamation case should have been filed against me. It is unfortunate that the defamation case was not filed against me," Azad said. The Congress, which faced Jaitley's wrath in the Lok Sabha, sought a Joint Parliamentary Probe instead. Jaitley refuted the allegations against him, saying the DDCA when headed by him gave a "proper" cricket stadium to the national capital. He said 43 corporate boxes were created

and tickets were sold in advance for 10 years to raise financial resources. The minister, who was frequently interrupted by Congress members, said the stadium was built at a total cost of Rs.114 crore. Taking a dig at the Congress, Jaitley said the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here was renovated for Rs.900 crore for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The Delhi government called a special session of the assembly on Tuesday to set up a panel to probe the

alleged financial irregularities in the DDCA. Kejriwal said the session would discuss the "DDCA scam and CBI raids on the Delhi Secretariat". "Jaitley cannot intimidate us with court case. We will continue our fight against corruption," he tweeted. Azad, a Lok Sabha member from Bihar, on Sunday alleged massive corruption in the DDCA. He said he had done no wrong by raising an issue involving Jaitley. "What wrong I have done? I am fighting against corruption and my fight is not against any individual or any party," he told IANS. The cricketer-turnedpolitician vowed to pursue the DDCA case - which he has been raising for 8 years - till its "final conclusion". Azad said the probe into the DDCA by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), done under the previous Congress-led UPA regime, was of a civil nature. He alleged that the DDCA gave out contracts to fake companies, paying them crores of rupees in cash, and had fudged the audit of accounts.

Firstaid training mandatory for bus/truck drivers from July'16 New Delhi, December 21 (PTi): First-aid training and learning of life saving techniques will become mandatory for heavy commercial vehicle drivers from July 2016 to get a driving license (DL) or while getting it renewed in the country. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in association with the International Road Federation and Automobile Association of Upper India are jointly organising this heavy vehicle driver train-

ing programme starting from Delhi and NCR Drivers, a statement said. "During the programme, 10,000 drivers of heavy vehicles will be trained initially in first aid, basic life support and rescue systems," Road Transport and Highways Secretary Vijay Chhibber said at the nationwide launch of the programme here. "Untrained people are often frightened to touch casualties - but early intervention can save lives or decrease the impact of injuries,

leading to quicker recovery or lesser injuries for the victims," said K K Kapila, Chairman, Geneva based International Road Federation (IRF). The Enhanced First Aid for Drivers programme is specially developed for IRF by a team of international experts to world class standard, the statement said. The IRF is introducing this initiative under a newly launched arm - International Collaborative Centre for Mitigation of Adverse Outcomes from Traffic Incidents (ICMO).

Over 27 lakh new assesses brought under income tax net country-wide New Delhi , December 21 (PTi): Over 27 lakh new assessees from across the country have been brought under the tax net by the Income Tax department as part of its ambitious drive to bring one crore fresh taxpayers within its ambit this financial year. Top sources in the Finance Ministry, quoting official data, said the maximum number of new assessees have been added from the western states like Gujarat, Goa and Maharashtra. "More than 27 lakh new assessees have been identified and added to the existing tax base till recently. These new individuals and entities have been included after the department had launched a drive in the middle of this year to bring at least one crore new taxpayers under the net within

this financial year," sources said. Admitting that achieving the target was a "tough task", they said the I-T department's field offices have informed the Finance Ministry that about 60-70 per cent of it would be reached by the set deadline. "The western region of the country comprising Gujarat, Goa and Maharashtra have taken an early lead. It is expected that other regions will get good numbers by the end of this fiscal on March 31, 2016," they said. The department is extensively taking the help of a special electronic module called 'non-filers management' to identify and detect financial and other links to get hold of those who have the potential to pay Income Tax but are not paying.

India welcomes Nepal's Parties seek early passage of juvenile Bill Officer discloses her transgender steps to defuse political crisis New Delhi, December 21 (PTi): Cutting across party New Delhi, December 21 (iANS): India on Monday welcomed steps taken by the Nepalese government to resolve the four-month-old political impasse following the adoption of a new constitution by the Himalayan nation in September. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was informed by Nepal's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kamal Thapa on Monday that the Nepalese cabinet has taken some important decisions to address and resolve demands regarding the constitution raised by agitating Madhes-based parties, the ministry said in a statement. "These decisions include amendments to the Constitution on participation in the state organs on the basis of proportionate inclusiveness and delineation of electoral constituencies on the basis of population," it said. "The demarcation of provinces is also to be addressed through an appropriate arrangement in the constitution on the basis of political consensus. Similarly, other demands, including citizenship, are to be resolved through negotiations and consensus." According to the statement, India welcomed these developments as positive steps that help create the basis for a resolution of the current impasse in Nepal. "As a neighbour and well-wisher, India was deeply concerned at the unrest stemming from internal differences in Nepal on the constitution. We urge all Nepali political forces to now demonstrate the necessary maturity and flexibility

to find a satisfactory solution to the Constitutional issues through constructive dialogue in an agreed timeframe," it stated. "We are confident that a return to normalcy in Nepal would create a more secure and predictable climate for unimpeded commerce between our two countries." At least 55 people have lost their lives in the four months of violent protests after the adoption of the new constitution with agitating Madhesi political parties and ethnic groups of the Nepal Terai demanding amendments in the statute that they deem discriminatory and ignoring their rights. A new bill introduced in the Nepalese parliament on December 15, that aims to amend the constitution, ensures constitutional guarantee of inclusive proportional representation of various ethnic minorities in various state entities apart from the Nepal Army and redrawing the electoral constituencies based on population. However, the Madhesi parties opposed the move, saying they had not been consulted before tabling the bill. The southern plains comprise over 50 percent of the population of Nepal and if this bill is passed, the plains will have majority representation in parliament after the next general election. Due to the ongoing agitation, thousands of Nepal-bound cargo vehicles have not been able to enter Nepal from India since last four months. As a result, Nepal is facing serious shortage of essential supplies like food, medicines, fuel and other items.

lines, lawmakers today sought the passage of the amendments to the Juvenile Justice Act at the earliest amidst the clamour over the release of the juvenile convict in the December 16 gangrape case even as BJP and Congress traded charges over the delay in clearing of the legislation. Following the Supreme Court's dismissal of a plea against the release of the juvenile offender, the focus has shifted to the proposed amendments and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that "the government is ready and very keen to pass this juvenile Bill". "We are ready to bring supplementary agenda for this today itself," he said outside Parliament. Targeting Congress, he added that "the Bill has been thrice listed in the past for consideration and passage in Rajya Sabha; however, the House has not been able to run". "Because of the Opposition, particularly Congress, the Bill till date has not been passed. There is concern and outrage in the country," he said while urging the party to facilitate the passage of the Bill. "I would appeal to Congress to please help in getting the Bill passed. I hope it will cooperate," said Prasad. TMC leader Derek O'Brien said the various parties should rise above politics and allow the passage of the Bill. "The nation wants this Bill

Can't block release of juvenile convict: SC identity in public

New Delhi, December 21 (iANS): The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea to block the release of the juvenile convict in the 2012 gang rape case citing absence of law in this regard, even as the victim's parents protested at Jantar Mantar for more stringent guidelines to tackle criminals like him. "We share your concern," the apex court's vacation bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit said, dismissing the Delhi Commission for Women's plea and observing that "everything has to be in accordance with law, we have to enforce law". "We need to have a clear legislative sanction," the court said, making it clear that given the law as it stood today, it (DCW) could not ask for further detention of the convict, who is now aged 20.

Expressing disappointment, deceased victim Nirbhaya's parents said they knew the Supreme Court won't be able to help them as there has to be a new law to deal with a situation like this. Badrinath, father of the para-medical student who was gang raped and brutalised in a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012, told reporters they were being let down by the Narendra Modi government but people were stiil with them. "People are still with us. It's the government which has failed us. I have no hope of justice from Modi," he said. They also said that they would fight for a new law so that criminals like him do not get away because they were not of a certain age when the crime was committed. "We will continue our fight to get the bill passed on the is-

sue," Badrinath said. The parents of the victim also expressed fear that the Supreme Court ruling on the issue would encourage more such crimes to be committed against women. "There is no provision (to convict juveniles) or to punish them. They (courts) are more concerned about the accused. Women have been cheated and they continue to be cheated. Nobody wants to do anything about women's safety," Nirbhaya's mother said. The juvenile, who was under 18 years of age when he was arrested for the brutal rape and brutalisation of the para-medical student who died of her injuries later, was tried under the Juvenile Justice Act. He was put in a remand home for three years, the maximum permissible under the legal provisions.

passed. In the next two days, parties should rise above politics and pass this Bill. I appeal to the Congress party for it," he said. O'Brien asked the government to list the Bill as soon as possible, saying that would allow a detailed discussion on the proposed amendments, including the provision allowing for children between 16-18 years to be tried as adults in cases of heinous crime. "We want the government to list this Bill as soon as possi-

ble. It should be listed today or tomorrow. We should discuss this Bill for 4-5 hours, move the amendments and pass it before Wednesday. No deliberate delaying tactics on this, the issue is very serious," he said. But stating that "the Nirbhaya accused will not be affected even if it (the Bill) is passed, Congress leader Pramod Tiwary charged that the "government is guilty for the release of the accused and of not being able to pass the Bill".

Union Minister Uma Bharati said she will appeal to Congress president Sonia Gandhi to allow passage of the Bill in the interest of the girls in the country. "I would also tell Nirbhaya's parents that the court decision was within the criminal law of the country. We have to change the law and we are ready to do so. This is an issue of concern for the country that because he was not 18 years old, he went free," she said.

PArADiP, December 21 (PTi): Coming out boldly in defiance of social conventions, a 32-yearold Odisha government gazetted officer has made public her transgender identity, saying how it was the Supreme Court’s decision that empowered her to fully embrace her selfhood. Born Ratikanta Pradhan and serving in the Orissa Financial Service, the officer has now adopted a new identity as Aishwarya Rutuparna Pradhan. Posted as Commercial Tax Officer (CTO) in Paradip Port Township, Pradhan takes pride in her identity. She said that the April 15, 2014, Supreme Court ruling recognising transgenders under the third gender category and guaranteeing their constitutional rights was the shot in the arm that she needed to take her decision. “The very day that the apex court delivered its landmark verdict, I made up my mind to opt for third gender identity instead of male gender,” she recalled.A post graduate in public administration and a graduate from Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Pradhan had interned with a newspaper before opting for a clerical job in a bank. Later, she had cracked the state civil service.

'Mother Teresa has been like God for me' Cow is Yahoo's India 'Personality of the year' Anurag Dey IANS

As the world celebrates the Vatican approving sainthood for Mother Teresa, a 50-year-old woman, whose "miracle" cure from cancer was instrumental in the 2003 papal recognition that the nun has entered heaven, says the Nobel laureate has been more of a god for her for the past 17 years. Diagnosed with ovarian tumour and apprehending death, Monica Besra says she was "miraculously cured" in 1998 after prayers on the first anniversary of Mother Teresa's death. "When I looked at Mother's picture, I saw rays of white light coming out from her eyes. Then I fell unconscious. When I woke up the next morning, the lump was gone," the tribal woman from West Bengal's South Dinajpur district told IANS, remembering the fateful night of September 5, 1998 "She has been like god for me, a saint for me. It's great news that she will be declared a saint now," said Besra, who now lives with her five children in Nakor village, some 400

km from Kolkata. Besra's cure was subsequently recognised by the Vatican and the nun was beatified in 2003 as the "Blessed Teresa of Calcutta" -- the first step towards sainthood. Having attended Mother's beatification ceremony, Besra wishes to attend her canonisation expected to take place in 2016. "It's all for Mother that I am living a healthy and happy life. My life would be fulfilled if I can attend her sainthood ceremony," said Besra, who has been crying in joy ever since the announcement that Pope Francis has recognised a second miracle and approved her canonisation. While Besra and many others have been rejoicing over Mother Teresa's elevation as a saint, the Science and Rationalists' Association of India (SRAI), an organisation promoting rational thinking, has opposed the canonisation contending it will spread superstitions. SRAI president Prabir Ghosh, who has dismissed Besra's 'miracle cure' as propaganda by the Missionaries of Charity, said that while Mother Teresa rightly deserves sainthood for her service to man-

kind, attributing miracles to her would be "criminal". "Living in the 21st century, when science has made so much progress and people are planning for space tourism, what can be more ironical and equally damaging that something like a miracle is being promoted. "If she is bestowed with sainthood for her service to mankind, it will be a great thing. But to attribute miracles to her is criminal. It will only spread superstitions and take people away from medical science," Ghosh told IANS. Ghosh, who has extensively campaigned against Besra's claims of a miraculous cure, is mulling to do the same again this time. "We have already proved that Besra was healed because of extensive medical treatment and not because of any miracle. I know my opposition to her sainthood will create controversy but it is my duty to promote rational thinking. "We cannot allow this farce of sainthood, and spreading false stories of magic cure which would only mislead our poor common people," he added.

New Delhi, December 21 (iANS): Yahoo on Monday said the 'cow' pipped all other contenders in 2015 to emerge as the personality of the year in India. "In an unexpected twist, the humble 'cow' emerged as 'Personality of the Year', trumping other high-profile contenders for the top spot," Yahoo said in a statement on its "Year in Review" for India which captures the year's top trends, happenings and events. "It started with the Maharashtra government announcing a ban on sale of beef in the state -- a move which led to massive debates online and offline, spiralling into the 'beef controversy'," it said. The Dadri mob lynching, award wapsi -- eminent writers returning national awards -- and numerous discussions centred on 'intolerance' further propelled the bovine to claim the overall top spot,

Rescued cattle are seen at a "goushala", or cow shelter, at Aangaon village in the western Maharashtra in February. (REUTERS File Photo)

the statement said. For the fourth consecutive year, among the most searched female celebrities in showbiz, former adult movie actor Sunny Leone stood first, pushing Bollywood beauties Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone to the second and third spots, while Salman Khan

emerged as the top male celebrity. Though the high-profile Delhi and Bihar assembly elections created a lot of buzz in the political scene, Prime Minister Narendra Modi came first as the most searched Indian politician, the statement said. In the most searched

news events category, terrorist organisation Islamic State, late former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and cricket's showpiece event ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 took the top three slots, respectively. As usual, cricketers were the most searched sportspersons in India. M.S. Dhoni claimed the first position, while tennis sensation Sania Mirza made the cut for the first time with her high-octane doubles performances partnering Swiss star Martina Hingis, the statement said. Interestingly, bilingual period film "Bahubali" was the No.1 among the most searched movies. Yahoo also listed the top 10 positions for the most searched gadgets, epic selfies of 2015, bike launches, best Instagram account, top Bollywood moments and top fashion trends of 2015.

TUESdaY 22•12•2015

WORLD

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Obama chides Republicans for lack of any alternative on IS HONOLULU, December 21 (reUters): U.S. President Barack Obama said his administration is open to some “legitimate criticism” for failing to adequately explain its strategy to counter Islamic State, though he chided Republican presidential candidates for criticizing his policy without offering an alternative. In a Dec. 17 interview set to air on NPR public radio at 5 a.m. ET on Monday, Obama attributed his low approval ratings for how he has handled terrorism to the saturation of Islamic State attacks in the media after the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris that killed 130 people. Obama noted that the United States has carried out 9,000 strikes against the Islamic State and taken back towns including Sinjar, Iraq from the militant group. “When you ask them, ‘well, what would you do instead?’ they don’t have an answer,” Obama said of Republican candidates he has observed in televised debates. The interview is one of many recent attempts by the president to ease Americans’ fears following the Paris attacks and the shootings by a radicalized Muslim couple in San Bernardino, California on Dec. 2 that killed 14 people. A national survey by the Pew Research Center found 37% of respondents approve of the way Obama is handling terrorism, while 57% disapprove, the lowest rating he has received on the issue. In his year-end news conference before leaving for a two-week vacation in Hawaii, Obama urged Americans to stay vigilant against homegrown threats while not allowing themselves to become terrorized or divided. “Now on our side, I think that there is a legitimate criticism of what I’ve been doing and our administration has been doing in the sense that we haven’t ... on a regular basis ... described all the work that we’ve been doing for more than a year now to defeat ISIL,” he said, using an acronym used to describe Islamic State. Asked if he would consider instating a no-fly zone in Syria, as Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has suggested, Obama said such a move would not serve to counter Islamic State since the militant group does not have an air force. Obama also used the interview to criticize Republican frontrunner Donald Trump for exploiting the fear of blue-collar men who have had trouble adjusting to recent economic and demographic changes. Obama said Trump is exploiting their “anger, frustration, fear.” “Some of it justified but just misdirected. I think somebody like Mr. Trump is taking advantage of that. That’s what he’s exploiting during the course of his campaign,” Obama said.

IS radio show seeks new recruits in Afghanistan

Residents, with their belongings, return to their villages on a pickup truck after Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) fighters said that they retook control of the area from Islamic State in the southern countryside of Ras al-Ain in May. (REUTERS File Photo)

JALALAbAD, December 21 (reUters): Islamic State militants in eastern Afghanistan have taken to the airwaves to win recruits as they try to build strength and replace the Taliban as the leading force in the Islamist insurgency. Officials have been increasingly concerned by the broadcasts, which encourage young people to find a sense of direction in the radical movement. If the broadcasts take hold, officials fear they will feed off a growing sense of hopelessness among many inured to war and struggling to get by in an increasingly tough economic climate. “Most of our people are jobless anyd this radio will encourage lots of people to join their ranks,” said Ahmad Ali Hazrat, head of the provincial council in Nangarhar. “Now Daesh are seven kilometres outside Jalalabad city and if the government doesn’t act soon it will expand its broadcast and recruit even from Kabul,” he said, using the term widely used for Islamic State. The 90-minute daily Pashto language broadcast, called “Voice of the Caliphate”, consists mainly of interviews, messages and songs about Islamic State.

It can be heard in Nangarhar, the eastern province where Islamic State has established its stronghold. It controls several districts wrested from the Taliban, who are seeking to re-establish their hard-line Islamist regime after being toppled by U.S.-led military intervention in 2001. In one programme, an Islamic State member said the broadcasts were to counter the negative public image of the group fostered by reports of extreme violence. “There are many projects to defame us,” the member, identified as Jan Aqa Shafaq, said. “Most of our young generation, these ‘lipstick young’ who shave closely and wear the kind of clothing that does not distinguish them from females, create such propaganda.” Islamic State is a relatively new force in Afghanistan and there is some dispute about how strong it is, how many members it commands and how closely it is linked operationally to the movement’s main arm in Iraq and Syria. Security officials say many members are former Taliban fighters who have fallen out with the current leadership or who are seeking a more extreme form of militant activity.

Syria funds suggest IS link to militants arrested in Indonesia JAKArtA, December 21 (reUters): Some of the Indonesian men arrested at the weekend after tip-offs that they were planning a string of militant attacks had received funding from Syria, hardening evidence of their links to Islamic State, police said on Monday. Officials said the raids in five cities across the island of Java, during which nine people were detained and bomb-making equipment was seized, may have foiled plans to target New Year celebrations. Police said they remained on high alert, underlining concern about a resurgence of militant at-

tacks by Indonesians who have returned from fighting with the radical Islamic State group in Syria. “They received transfers of funds ... they have a connection with Syria,” national police spokesman Anton Charliyan told a news conference. “What we gather so far is they are linked to the ISIS group,” he said, using a common acronym for Islamic State. “They got the money from a senior ISIS figure who works as a coordinator to link ISIS to Indonesia.” Police suspect that four of those arrested belonged to the al Qaedaaffiliated Jamaah Islamiah group. Media reports on Sunday said

some of the men had planned to launch attacks in Java and neighbouring Sumatra island on Shia Muslims, who represent a tiny minority in Indonesia. Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population, the vast majority of whom practise a moderate form of the religion. Indonesia saw a spate of attacks in the 2000s, the deadliest of which was a nightclub bombing on the holiday island of Bali that killed 202 people, most of them tourists. Police have been largely successful in destroying domestic militant cells since then, but they now worry that the influence of Islamic

State could pitch the country back into violence. Charliyan said the militants appeared to be planning attacks on certain public locations, government and police officials and “those considered enemies of ISIS”, but gave no details. At one home raided in Central Java, officials found bomb-making material and instructions, books about jihad, a map of Jakarta and electronics. Authorities plan to deploy about 150,000 security personnel to safeguard churches and other places around the country during Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Security and surveillance had already been stepped up in some areas following last month’s attacks in Paris, which Islamic State claimed responsibility for. Media reports said the Java raids were prompted by intelligence from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Australian Federal Police. “This is a problem that both of our countries are very vulnerable to,” Australian Attorney-General George Brandis, who is visiting Indonesia with Justice Minister and counterterrorism czar Michael Keenan, said after talks with Indonesian counterparts.

Pope tells Vatican officials reform will go ahead with ‘firm resolve’ 14 gram almonds daily can boost your health state what has been, and ever shall be, the object of sincere reflection and decisive provisions. The reform will move forward with determination, clarity and firm resolve ...,” he said. At the same gathering last year he issued a stinging criticism of the Curia, listing a catalogue of “diseases” in the bureaucracy including careerism, scheming and greed that had infected them with “spiritual Alzheimer’s”. Returning to the theme on Monday, he said: “Some of these diseases became evident in the course of the past year, causing no small pain to the entire body and harming many souls, even with scandals.” This was an apparent reference to a current trial in the Vatican where five people, including two members of the Curia and two journalists, are charged with the theft of confidential papal documents.

Pope Francis leads his Sunday Angelus prayer in Saint Peter’s square at the Vatican on December 20. (REUTERS Photo)

The leaks were the basis of two books published last month that depicted a Vatican plagued by greed and graft and where the pope faces stiff resistance to his reform agenda. Francis noted cases “of resistance, difficulties and failures” by some Curia employees opposed to his reforms. Joking that some in the Curia still

needed “Curial antibiotics,” he added that “diseases and even scandals cannot obscure” the good work that many of them do for the 1.2 billion-member Church. In a separate address to non-clerical Vatican employees and their families, Francis asked “for forgiveness for the scandals there have been in the Vatican,

especially recently,” and asked them to pray for those who had “erred”. Shortly after his election 2 years ago, Francis set out to reform the Italiandominated Curia, whose power struggles and leaks were widely held responsible for Benedict XVI’s decision in 2013 to become the first pope in 6thC to resign.

New YOrK, December 21 (IANs): Eating a moderate amount of almonds daily can enrich the diets of adults and young children, says a new study. “Almonds are a good source of plant protein -essential fatty acids, vitamin E and magnesium,” said one of the researchers Alyssa Burns from University of Florida in the US. For the 14-week study, the scientists gave almonds daily to 29 pairs of parents and children. Most of the adults were mothers with an average age of 35, while their children were between 3 and 6 years of age. The children were encouraged to consume 14 grams of almond butter daily and parents were given 14 grams of almonds per day. An online dietary recall was used to find out what adults had eaten and how much. That way, re-

Waste spill buries buildings in China, at least 85 missing

Excavators work at the site to search for survivors among debris of destroyed buildings in Shenzhen, Guangdong province on December 21. (REUTERS Photo)

sHeNZHeN, December 21 (reUters): At least 85 people were missing in China on Monday a day after a giant flow of mud and construction waste spewed out of an overfull dump in a boomtown and buried 33 buildings in its latest industrial disaster. The site should have been closed in February, but workers said mud and waste had continued to be

dumped there, a news portal run by authorities in the southern city of Shenzhen said. Premier Li Keqiang ordered an investigation into Sunday’s landslide in the city, just across the border from Hong Kong. The mudslide smashed into multi-storey buildings at the Hengtaiyu industrial park in the Guangming New District, toppling them within seconds in

collisions that sent rivers of earth skyward. “The mud had been building up for a few years,” said Han Bin, who lives by the site and witnessed the wall of mud sweep towards the buildings on Sunday. “We didn’t realise this could happen.” The frequency of industrial accidents has raised questions about safety standards after

three decades of breakneck growth in the world’s second-largest economy. Just four months ago, more than 160 people were killed in big chemical blasts in the northern port city of Tianjin. State television showed devastation in Shenzhen, with bits of broken buildings sticking up from heaps of mud stretching out over the industrial park. More than a year ago, a government-run newspaper warned Shenzhen would run out of space to dump waste from a building frenzy. Besides new buildings, a network of subway lines is being built in Shenzhen, and large volumes of earth are being excavated and dumped at waste sites. “Shenzhen has 12 waste sites and they can only hold out until next year,” the official Shenzhen Evening Post, published by the city government, said in October last year. Once a sleepy fishing village on the Communist side of a Cold War frontier, Shenzhen was chosen by Beijing three decades ago

to help pioneer landmark economic reforms, and it has boomed ever since. The mudslide at the business park had covered an area of more than 380,000 square metres (94 acres) and was 10 metres (11 yards) deep in parts, Shenzhen Vice Mayor Liu Qingsheng told reporters, according to Xinhua. Almost 3,000 rescuers were at the scene, Xinhua said, with sniffer dogs and drones. Rescuers were focusing on several areas where sensors had detected signs of life, it added. U N S TA B L E WA S T E MOUNTAIN The Ministry of Land Resources said the accumulation of a large amount of waste meant that mud was too steep, “causing instability and collapse, resulting in the collapse of buildings”. Media said no foreign companies were believed to have been affected. A nearby section of China’s major West-East natural gas pipeline exploded, state television said, though it was not clear if

this had any impact on the landslide. Xinhua said the pipeline was owned by PetroChina, China’s top oil and gas producer, that the 400-metre-long ruptured pipe “has been emptied” and a temporary pipe will be built. PetroChina wrote on its microblog the pipeline blast had hit at least one industrial user, a Hong Kong power plant operated by Castle Peak Power Co Ltd, a company majority owned by a subsidiary of CLP Holdings, that had switched to coal for power generation. Fourteen factories, 13 low-rise buildings and three dormitories were among the buildings flattened. Xinhua said the government revised the number of missing to 85 from 91. It did not say why. Xinhua said 14 people had been rescued and more than 900 people had been evacuated from the site by Sunday evening. State television said the 85 missing included 59 men and 32 women.

searchers could measure diet quality. The scientists based their conclusions about improved dietary intake on participants’ scores on the Healthy Eating Index (HEI), a tool used to measure diet quality and adherence to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

The results indicated that when parents and children were eating almonds, their HEI increased for total protein foods, seafood and plant proteins and fatty acids, while they ate fewer empty calories. For all components, a higher score indicates higher diet quality.

CENTRAL HINDI DIRECTORATE

CIVIL SERVICES HINDI COURSE APPLICATION PRFORMA (MEDIUM: ENGLISH ONLY)

(Free Correspondence Course of Hindi Language for the Civil Services Main Examination)

Central Hindi Directorate organizes free special Correspondence Course of Hindi Language for the candidates who belong to the North-Eastern States of India i.e. Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland and Sikkim and opt. Hindi for the compulsory language paper in the Civil Services Main Examination, conducted by the UPSC. Candidates who wish to appear in the Civil Services Examination and want to opt. Hindi for the compulsory paper may apply for admission to this special course. The application form is given below. The closing date for submission of duly filled up and signed application form is 28.02.2016. For more details, you can log on to www. hindinideshalaya.nic.in. Application Form 1. Name of the Course

: Civil Services Hindi Course

2. Name of the applicant (IN CAPITAL LETTERS)

3. Father's Name

4. Date of Birth

5. Category

: General/SC/ST/OBC/PH

6. Nationality 7. Sex or Gender

8. Mother Tongue

9. Home State

10. Permanent Address

11. Academic Qualifications

12. Degree Examination Passed alongwith the : name of the University and Subjects (Attach Documents) 13. In which year you want to appear at the Civil Services Examination of UPSC

14. Postal Address with Pin Code & Tel. No.

Dated:

(Signature of the Applicant) (With name in Capital letters)

Application may be sent to: The Assistant Director, Department of Correspondence Courses, Central Hindi Directorate, West Block-7, R.K.Puram, New Delhi-110066 Notes: 1. There is no fees for this course. 2. Central Hindi Directorate has neither any Branch in the country nor has authorized any Institution/Agency/ Person to run the above course. 3. Admission will be given on Fist-cum-First served basis.

Davp: 21252/11/0008/1516

VAtIcAN cItY, December 21 (reUters): Pope Francis told Vatican administrators on Monday that he intended to press ahead “with firm resolve” to cleanse the Church’s bureaucracy which has been rocked by scandals and charges of greed and corruption. In traditional Christmas greetings to the Curia, the central Vatican administration, the 79-year-old pontiff said he had flu and excused himself for reading the speech seated, though he showed no signs of illness and later stood to greet the dozens of officials. As it was last year, his speech was dominated by his intentions of ridding the Vatican’s bureaucracy of spiritual “diseases” - a reference to alleged corrupt practices among top administrators - despite resistance in the Church hierarchy. “It seems necessary to

TuesDAY 22•12•2015

SPORTS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Festive joy for Leicester as Real are on fire LONDON, DECEMBER 21 (REUTERS): Shock leaders Leicester City are certain to go into Christmas at the top of the table in England while champions Chelsea began the post-Jose Mourinho era with a 3-1 home win over Sunderland. Bayern Munich, who announced Carlo Ancelotti would be replacing Pep Guardiola as coach in the summer, enter the Bundesliga's winter break with an eight-point lead. Real Madrid crushed nine-man Rayo Vallecano 10-2 to close the gap on joint leaders Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in Spain. ENGLAND Claudio Ranier i's Leicester City, bottom of the Premier League a year ago, will go into Christmas as leaders whatever happens in Monday's meeting of the two teams just below them, Arsenal and Manchester City. A 3-2 win at Everton was Leicester's seventh victory se Mourinho era with a 3-1 in eight games on Saturday, triumph over Sunderland the same day as champions at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea began the post-JoLouis van Gaal's Man-

GERMANY Champions Bayern Munich go into the winter break with an eightpoint lead at the top of the Bundesliga after winning 1-0 at Hanover 96 but they will spend the second half of the season knowing that coach Pep Guardiola has decided to hand over the reins to Carlo Ancelotti in the summer. Bayern, on track for a record fourth consecutive title, have 46 points with second-placed Borussia Dortmund stuck on 38 after conceding two late goals to slump to a 2-1 defeat at Cologne. Surprise packages Hertha Berlin tightened their hold on third place with a 2-0 victory over Mainz 05, their fifth win in six matches.

chester United suffered a shock 2-1 home defeat by struggling Norwich City, losing their place in the top

four to Tottenham Hotspur who won 2-0 at Southampton. On Sunday, Liverpool slumped to a 3-0 defeat by

SPAIN Atletico Madrid missed a chance to seize top spot outright from Barcelona when they were beaten 1-0 at Malaga while chasWatford who stayed above ing Real Madrid closed to them in seventh place fol- within two points of the lowing a fourth successive leaders thanks to a 10-2 demolition of nine-man win.

Rayo Vallecano. Captain Gabi was sent off for Atletico 11 minutes into the second half and Malaga made the breakthrough three minutes from time. Real put hapless Rayo to the sword at the Bernabeu as Wales forward Gareth Bale helped himself to the first four-goal haul of his career, Karim Benzema netted a hat-trick and Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice. Barca and Atletico have 35 points, with the Spanish and European champions having played one game fewer. Real are third on 33 while Celta Vigo and Villarreal stayed hard on their heels when they each won 2-0, at Granada and Real Sociedad respectively. ITALY Inter Milan's lead was cut to one point as they lost 2-1 at home to Lazio, the home team's Felipe Melo giving away a penalty and being sent off. Napoli and Fiorentina, in joint second position, both won to close the gap on Inter.

AS Roma eased the pressure on coach Rudi Garcia with their first win in eight games, beating Genoa 2-0. Champions Juventus registered their seventh straight victory, coming from behind to down Carpi 3-2 in the first ever Serie A meeting between the clubs. Inter have 36 points, Napoli and Fiorentina are on 35 and Juventus 33. FRANCE Paris St Germain sunk Caen 3-0 to head into the winter break with 51 points, breaking the record for the most amassed during the first half of the season set by Olympique Lyonnais in 2006. Lyon lost 2-1 at Ajaccio thanks to a Mohamed Wael Larbi double while Angers' good run came to an end with a 1-0 defeat at St Etienne. PSG are 19 points clear of second-placed Monaco who have 32 after drawing 0-0 at 10-man Troyes. Angers, in third, have 31 and Caen are on 30.Tenthplaced Olympique Marseille drew 1-1 at Girondins Bordeaux.

AON bags ‘Star of the event’ at JK tyre Orange 4x4 fury Impressive Sterling will make history: City's Silva DIMAPUR, DECEMBER 21 (MExN): The AON team comprising of Tokavi Holo and Senthungo Ovung who partnered up with Ujjal Namshum and Ingpeng from team MOCA (Manabhum Offroaders Club of Arunachal) won the tittle "Star of the event" at the recently concluded JK Tire Orange 4x4 Fury of Arunachal. A total of 9 teams with 2 cars each from all over India participated in the extreme category, AON was placed at 7th position.

Renault complete purchase of Lotus F1 team LONDON, DECEMBER 21 (REUTERS): Renault have completed their takeover of the Lotus Formula One team and paid debts to creditors including the British tax authorities, the London High Court heard on Monday. "We have a completion of the share purchase," a lawyer for the French car company told the judge, Mr Justice Birss, at a hearing that formally dismissed an insolvency petition that would have put the team into administration. "We have the keys, so to speak," he added. The share purchase

agreement (SPA) that made Renault the controlling shareholder had been due for completion on Dec. 16 but the court heard that the acquisition was finalised only late last Friday. Jeremy Bamford, counsel for the revenue and customs (HMRC), confirmed payment had been received and cleared on Monday. Other petitioning creditors said they had also been paid in full. Lawyers for Proton, the Malaysian car company that owns the Lotus sportscar brand, did not attend the hearing with the court informed that the petition-

er had either been paid or reached an arrangement. "The insolvency procedure has worked in the way intended," Birss said in summing up, with the company saved and debts paid in full. The case had been adjourned repeatedly to allow Renault time to decide their Formula One future and complete the takeover of a team that employs some 480 people at their factory in central England. Renault, an engine supplier to former world champions Red Bull this season, are returning to Formula

Players must respond to Hiddink, says grateful Branislav Ivanovic

Branislav Ivanovic celebrates scoring the first goal for Chelsea. (ReuteRs Photo)

LONDON, DECEMBER 21 (REUTERS): Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic welcomed interim manager Guus Hiddink back to the club on Monday but warned his team-mates that they bear the responsibility for results. The Serbian full back is one of few players, along with John Terry and John Obi Mikel who were at the club during Hiddink's previous period in charge, when he led them to an FA

Cup win in 2009. "He was the one who gave me a proper chance in this club," Ivanovic told Chelsea's website (www. chelseafc.com). "I know how good his work was the first time he was here and I am grateful to him for that moment, but it was a long time ago. "Now is a new challenge, a completely different situation. I think his first aim is to stabilise us, so we can play like we did against

Sunderland." With Hiddink watching from the stand alongside former Chelsea hero Didier Drogba, Ivanovic headed an early goal in the 3-1 win at home to Sunderland on Saturday. Individual players were booed, however, for their perceived part in the sacking of popular manager Jose Mourinho and the team are still in the Premier League's bottom six, three points above the relegation places. "All of us have a responsibility for what has happened and all of us are responsible for where we are in this moment," Ivanovic added. "The manager is not on the pitch, it is the players, so we lose the games and the thing we can change in the future is ourselves. "We have to be honest with each other and honest with ourselves, then win a couple of games in a row and stick with that for a long time to get back to winning regularly, because it is important for the club." Chelsea play at home to buoyant Watford on Saturday, then visit Manchester United two days later.

One as a full constructor by buying back the team they previously owned. The team was sold by Renault to Luxembourgbased Genii Capital, who renamed it Lotus, after a Singapore Grand Prix racefixing scandal that rocked the sport in 2009. As Benetton and then Renault, the team had won world titles with Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso. This season Genii injected only enough cash into Lotus to keep the team on the grid, while leaving a string of creditors waiting to be paid.

MANCHESTER, DECEMBER 21 (REUTERS): Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling has been among the most impressive players this season and the 21-year-old "will make history", midfielder and team mate David Silva has said. Sterling, who joined the Sky Blues from Liverpool during the off-season, has scored eight goals in 23 appearances so far, including smashing in his first hat-trick in the 5-1 dismantling of Bournemouth in October. "He (Sterling) is going to make history. ed and he's got a lot more media ahead of Monday's He's technically very gift- to come," Silva told British Premier League clash

against Arsenal. "He has only just turned 21, so he is going to improve and get more experience, and read the games a lot better. "He has a lot more time to prove how good he is -- and he is pretty good already. It's not just his ability either. He has a great personality that is going to help him a lot." City bolstered their squad over the summer by bringing in big money signings, including Sterling and Belgian Kevin De Bruyne, after a disappointing title defense last season when they finished eight points behind champions Chelsea at second.

'Trump match' will be turning point in PBL: Saina NEw DELHI, DECEMBER 21 (IANS): Indian star Saina Nehwal on Monday expressed her excitement about the ‘trump match’ rule and said it will be the turning point in the 2016 Premier Badminton League (PBL) starting on January 2. PBL organisers have brought in few chances to make the league exciting. Apart from the matches being played up to 15 points, one more will see each team getting to strategically select one of the five

matches that they play in a tie as their "trump match" where a victory gives the team a bonus point and a loss gives it a negative point. A team cannot put the same player in the "trump matches" proposed by them more than twice in the league stage and once in the knock out stage. And World No. 2, Saina, who will turn out for Awadhe Warriors, felt that winning the 'trump match' will be the "key". "What is exciting me

the most is the new rule of 'trump match'. I think that will be the turning point for any team during any day. So using it effectively will be the key for each team," Saina said in a release. With her team boasting names like Christinna Pedersen of Denmark, Sai Praneeth Bhamidipati, Cai Yun of China, Hendra Gunawan of Indonesia and Bodin Issara of Thailand to name a few, Saina is all confident of her team giving a strong fight to the opponents on the court.

"It’s a great moment for all of us as PBL is all set to commence with the best players of the world and we will see tough competition between us," the London Olympics bronze medallist and 2015 World Championships silver medallist said. Saina's Awadhe will face Mumbai Rockets in Mumbai in the tournament's opener. Other teams in the league are Delhi Acers, Hyderabad Hunters, Bengaluru Top Guns, Chennai Smashers.

With ISL, India taking small but steady strides in world football KOLKATA, DECEMBER 21 (IANS): The Indian Super League (ISL) trophy has changed hands and flown down to the south of the country with Chennaiyin FC winning it against FC Goa 3-2 on Sunday but it has also put in signs which say that the nation slowly but steadily is taking small strides in world football. The tempo at which the games were played at and the quality of goals can be well compared to the top B-Leagues around the world. Even the final was a nail-biter as Chennaiyin clinched it in the dying minutes of added time. Even though the likes of World Cup winners like Italy’s Marco Materazzi and Roberto Carlos of Brazil have helped grabbed eyeballs with their new role as tacticians, football on the pitch too has been absorbing. “It has been bigger and better this year. ISL should remain on this track as it would help Indian football grow big,” Materazzi had said. It is infact noticeable that ISLÂ’s top player this

season John Stiven Mendoza hails from Corinthians, one of the biggest powerhouses of Brazilian club football. The Colombian grabbed the golden boot award for netting 13 goals this season including the winner in the final. Another foreigner also made it a habit of finding the back of the net, Iain Hume. The bald marksman not only helped last year’s champions Atletico de Kolkata make the semis but made sure they went out with their heads held high.

The Canadian was just behind Mendoza and finished with 11 strikes and was fit as a fiddle throughout the tournament even at 32. "Players are coming here to prove they are not finished. It is not that every one's coming here in the twilight of their career when they have nothing else to do. I was here to prove a point. Many of the players proved that they were up for the challenge here," Hume had told reporters here. FC Goa’s Brazilian for-

ward Reinaldo Oliviera and Mumbai City’s Sunil Chhetri scored seven goals each in the league. Coming to the men who mattered between the sticks, it was Rehenesh TP for NorthEast United FC who topped the list for making the most number of saves (45). Delhi Dynamos’ Spanish goalkeeper Antonio Doblas was second on the table with 45 stops. Mumbai’s Subrata Paul and Amrinder Singh of Atletico have made 40 saves each.

Doblas had said sometime back said that "calmness" has helped him guard his citadel better. “A goalkeeper has to be calm. So whenever they were coming at me, I remained focused and calm,” Doblas had said after his sideÂ’s 1-0 win against ATK on October 29. There were 3505 tackles attempted in the tournament. Leading the charts in terms of number of challenges was Kerala Blasters midfielder Mehtab Hossain (69). He was closely followed by Thoi Singh of Chennaiyin who finished with 67. There were 186 goals scored in the competition out of which FC Goa scored 32, Chennai netted 29 and Atletico found the net 28 times. The tourney also witnessed red-card being flashed eight times yellow cards 250 times. A total of 48,451 passes were made out of which 75 percent were completed. There were 1526 shots on target and 2062 crosses delivered along with 1375 interceptions.

Tuesday 22•12•2015

head of its India release, which is slated for Christmas Day, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, the seventh episode of the "Star Wars" series, shattered numerous records around the world in its box office debut this weekend, ushering in a new era for the marquee franchise. Director J.J. Abrams' reboot launched to an esti-

shatters box office records

mated $238 million in North America, 14 percent ahead of the "Jurassic World", which debuted at $208.8 million this summer, reports thehollywoodreporter.com. Globally, "The Force Awakens" landed at $517 million after opening to $279 million abroad. If final weekend numbers are even better, the film has a shot at matching or eclipsing "Jurassic World", which garnered a whopping $524.9 million worldwide. "I would argue the two-year marketing campaign for 'Star Wars: the Force Awakens' was flawless in its execution," said Disney distribution chief Dave Hollis. "They tailored the campaign to every geography around the world, and did it in a way that still preserved some

of the mystery of the film while not leaving a single stone unturned." "The Force Awakens" is only the third movie in history to open at over $200 million, besides its immediate rival "Jurassic World" and "The Avengers". It is also the first movie to cross $100 million in one day in North America. "The Force Awakens" cracked the $100 million mark less than 24 hours after it started rolling out in theatres on December 17. The film hit $250 million in worldwide ticket sales in only three days after beginning its rollout overseas on Wednesday, thus becoming the fastest movie to cross $200 million globally. "The Force Awakens" scored the biggest opening weekend in key markets including Britain ($48.9 million, four-day), Germany ($27.3 million), Australia ($18.9 million) and Russia ($12.3 million). It debuted at No.1 in every market except for South Korea and Vietnam.

Cowell blasts Zayn Malik as ‘rude’

usic mogul Simon Cowell has slammed former One Direction member Zayn Malik for his rant about the band's music. Malik said that he left the band in March it so that he could make “real music” for a change. Cowell reacted by saying that his words were “rude”, and claimed that he would eventually rethink his opinChildren sing hymn during the Ao Baptist Church Diphupar, Christian Education Department pre-Christmas celebration held on December 20. The main highlight of the ion, reports mirror.co.uk. “I think once he has event was the carol singing from Ao dialect hymn book.

had a chance to reflect on everything he will probably reconsider what he’s said because it was a very, very democratic process in the band,” said Cowell, who mentored the band while they were on the reality TV show "The X Factor". “It is a bit rude to the people who wrote all the hits with them. And to the other band members. I mean they all wrote a lot of the stuff," he added. Cowell dismissed Malik’s complaints, as he added: “Life could have

been a lot worse, right?” Adding insult to injury after calling him “rude”, Cowell admitted that he hasn’t given 22-year-old Malik much thought since he sensationally quit the band sending fans of One Direction into a meltdown. “To be honest, I don’t even think about it too much because as soon as he left we sorted him out with a label who really were enthusiastic about him and then my loyalty was back with the boys,” he said.

PhiliPPines beauty crowned Miss Universe 2015 after botch up

(LEFT)Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez (L) stands by as Miss Universe 2014 Paulina Vegas transfers the crown to winner Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach (R) during the 2015 Miss Universe Pageant in Las Vegas, Nevada, December 20, 2015. Miss Colombia was originally announced as the winner but the host Steve Harvey said he made a mistake when reading the card. (RIGHT)Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez (L) stands by as Miss Universe 2014 Paulina Vega (C) transfers the crown to winner Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach.

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opens at $3.4 million overseas

hah Rukh Khan and Kajol-starrer “Dilwale” has stormed the international box office charts with the film earning $3.4 million on its opening day. The Rohit Shetty-directed film, which brings back the iconic pairing of SRK-Kajol after five years, has registered biggest ever opening for any Hindi film in UAE and is running to

packed housed over the weekend, said a release from Shah Rukh’s Red Chillies Entertainment. “Dilwale” has raced ahead of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, which released this week in Dubai and is credited as one of the most popular Hollywood franchises ever. Similar response has been echoed in UK, US and other parts of the world.

Hollywood actor Orlando Bloom deported from Delhi

ord of The Rings actor Orlando Bloom was reportedly deported from India after his e-visa was rejected on December 19, reports the Mumbai Mirror. The Hollywood star came to India on Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh's invitation and had planned to spend the Christmas here. The Troy star had arrived in New Delhi on Saturday by a 1.30 am flight, however he was sent back to UK by a 4 am flight. Sheetal Talwar, who has produced Romans, starring Mr Bloom, told Mumbai Mirror: "Orlando requested the officer to allow him some time to sort out the issue since he also had a stomach bug. The doctor on duty was summoned to attend to him but soon after, he was asked to leave.

The officers also threatened that the flight wouldn't leave unless he was on it." The reasons for the rejection has not been disclosed, but a new visa has now been issued to Mr Bloom, who is expected to fly back on December 20. Meanwhile, Amar Singh said: "Orlando's office was never informed that the visa has been rejected for whatever technical fault."

The action drama has become the year’s biggest ever opener for Hindi films in U.K.. It has entered the UK Top 10 Box Office Charts at No 2 position, a feat rarely achieved by Hindi films. In the U.S., people have poured in large numbers to watch SRK-Kajol reunite on screen and “Dilwale” has secured the 9th position in the U.S. box office charts.

In Malaysia, “Dilwale” has registered the biggest ever opening for any Hindi film. The film has secured the No 2 spot in New Zealand box office charts and in Australia, “Dilwale” has not only become the biggest opener of 2015, but also the biggest ever for SRK starrers. “Dilwale” has so far collected Rs 41.09 crore in India.

ia Alonzo Wurtzbach of the Philippines was crowned Miss Universe 2015, but only after some stage drama. The ceremony's host Steve Harvey mistakenly mixed up the winners' names at the event, where India failed to clinch the title for the 15th straight year. Wurtzbach beat as many as 79 contestants, including India's Urvashi Rautela who didn't find a spot even in the top 15, here on Sunday. The top three contestants included beauties from the Philippines, Colombia and the US, who beat others in rounds like national costume, swimsuit and evening wear. Earlier while announcing the results, Miss US

Olivia Jordan was placed third and Wurtzbach was announced as the first runner-up. As a result, there was a mix up in the crowning ceremony too. Miss Colombia Ariadna Guiterrez jumped with joy after the host took her country's name as the winner. She was crowned by another Colombian beauty -- Paulina Vega, who had clinched the crown in 2014. It could have been two Miss Universe titles in a row for Colombia but soon after Guiterrez took her first walk as the winner, the host admitted to have made a mistake in announcing the winners. "I will take the responsibility for this. It's on the card. Don't hold it against the ladies. Still a great

night," Harvey told the audience. Vega then returned to the stage, took away the crown from Guiterrez and placed it on the head of Wurtzbach, who looked equally shocked as the others. Wurtzbach, who believes that she is "confidently beautiful with a heart", thinks that the title is an honour with responsibilities. She wants to create awareness about HIV. Earlier during the pageant when she was asked about the US reopening a military base in the Philippines, she said the two nations have always shared a good relationship with each other and due to colonisation, the Philippines still has the US culture. She said she has no problem with it.

Apart from the judging panel that included actress Niecy Nash, celebrity entertainment mogul Perez Hilton, former Miss Universe Olivia Culpo and football legend Emmitt Smith, this year fans across the globe had a say in who should be crowned the Miss Universe. There was a surprise judge too -- the remaining 77 women, who could not make it to the top three, voted on the last answer. Musicians like Charlie Puth, Seal and The Band Perry added entertainment via their performances at Planet Hollywood here. India last won the Miss Universe title in 2000. Lara Dutta, now an actressproducer, had brought the crown home.

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BANNED FOR Eight YEARS FiFA takes the whip to Blatter and Platini

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ZURICH, DECEMBER 21 (REUTERS): FIFA President Sepp Blatter and European soccer boss Michel Platini were both banned from soccer for eight years on Monday for ethics violations, leaving the global game leaderless as it struggles with a swirl of corruption cases. The pair, who were also fined, had been suspended in October while an investigation was carried out into a 2 million Swiss franc ($2.02 million) payment that soccer's global governing body made to Platini in 2011, with Blatter's approval. The decision means that Blatter's 17 years at the helm of world soccer will end in disgrace, and spells the end of Platini's hopes of replacing the 79-year-old in a presidential election in February. The Swiss, who spent four decades at FIFA, came out swinging, holding a news conference to tell reporters that he was sorry only that the president of FIFA was being treated as a "punching ball". "I will fight for me and I will

fight for FIFA," said Blatter, unshaven and with a sticking plaster on his cheek, but defiant. He said FIFA's Ethics Committee had no right to relieve him of his duties and that he would challenge the decision in FIFA’s Appeals Committee and, if necessary, the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, and in the Swiss courts. The committee said it had not found evidence that the payment, made at a time when Blatter was seeking re-election, constituted a bribe, which meant the men were spared potential lifetime bans. VERBAL AGREEMENT But it said the transaction had nevertheless lacked transparency and presented a conflict of interest. Platini, like Blatter, has denied wrongdoing. The ethics inquiry began after the Swiss attorney general decided to open criminal proceedings against Blatter over the payment to Platini. The office is also investigating FIFA's award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup finals to Rus-

duties, failing to disclose said situation and the existence of personal interests linked to his prospective activities”. “By failing to place FIFA’s interests first and abstain from doing anything which could be contrary to FIFA’s interests, Mr Blatter violated his fiduciary duty to FIFA,” it added.

Sepp Blatter

sia and Qatar. Blatter and Platini argued that the payment followed from a verbal agreement they made in 1998, and concerned work that Platini did for FIFA between 1998 and 2002. “The evidence available to the adjudicatory chamber in

Michel Platini

the present case was not sufficient to establish, to the extent required, that Mr Blatter sought the execution or omission of an official act from Mr Platini,” said a statement, referring to the ‘bribery and corruption’ section of the code. But the committee's adju-

dicatory chamber did find that the payment had been “without a legal basis” and a breach of regulations governing gifts and other benefits. It said Blatter “found himself in a situation of conflict of interest, despite which he continued to perform his related

ABUSE OF OFFICE The chamber concluded that Blatter’s actions ultimately demonstrated "an abusive execution of his position as President of FIFA”. It also said Platini's argument that there had been an oral agreement for the payment had not been convincing, and that he, too, had abused his position as a FIFA vice-president and Executive Committee member. "Mr Platini failed to act with complete credibility and integrity, showing unawareness of the importance of his duties and concomitant obligations and responsibilities," it said. Blatter was fined 50,000 Swiss francs and Platini, who boycotted the ethics committee

hearing as unfair, 80,000. UEFA said it was disappointed with the ruling and "supports Michel Platini’s right to a due process and the opportunity to clear his name". Until his suspension, Platini had been the frontrunner to succeed Blatter at the top of world soccer. Following Monday's ruling, the British bookmaker William Hill made Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al Khalifa, president of the Asian Football Confederation, the 6-5 favourite, followed by Jordan's Prince Ali al Hussein on 13-8 and UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino, of Switzerland, on 5-2. In the United States, prosecutors have indicted 27 current or former soccer officials, including eight former FIFA Executive Committee members and the current heads of both the North and South American federations, over allegations that they ran bribery schemes connected to the sale of television rights for soccer competitions. Twelve people and two sports marketing companies have been convicted.

Jadeja climbs to No.7 in Test rankings Not afraid of Barcelona trio, says Ozil

DUBaI, DECEMBER 21 (IaNS): Indian spinner Ravindra Jadeja rose a spot in the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) Test bowlers' rankings by climbing to No.7 on Monday. He is one of the two Indians in the list along with off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who maintained his spot at No.2. The bowling chart is headed by South Africa's Dale Steyn, who leads Ashwin by just four points. Ashwin and Jadeja are

also there in the top-five of the ICC Test all-rounders' rankings with the former being at the top with Jadeja at No.5. Meanwhile, there are no Indians in the top-10 of the Test batsmen rankings. Elsewhere, Kane Williamson has become the second New Zealand batsman after Glenn Turner to top the Test batsmen rankings after producing a man-of-thematch performance in the Hamilton against Sri Lanka which helped the home side win the match by five wick-

ets and the series 2-0. Williamson scored 108 not out, his 13th century in 46 Tests, as New Zealand achieved the 189-run target with five wickets to spare. Williamson earned 11 points for his efforts, enough to jump two places ahead of England's Joe Root and AB de Villiers of South Africa in the No.1 spot. India stayed at No.2 in the Test team rankings with 110 points behind South Africa (114) and ahead of Australia (109).

ICC issues warning over Nagpur pitch DUBaI, DECEMBER 21 (IaNS): The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday gave an official warning to Jamtha Stadium in Nagpur, under their Pitch Monitoring Process, which hosted the third Test between India and South Africa from November 25 to 27. The sanction took into consideration that there had been no concerns

about the performance of the pitch after any of the other international matches played at this venue. In reaching the verdict, the ICC agreed with the "poor" rating given to the pitch by match referee Jeff Crowe, who observed that the pitch did not allow a fair contest between bat and ball. The finding was made

by ICC General Manager - Cricket Geoff Allardice and ICC chief match referee Ranjan Madugalle after watching footage of the match, reviewing the post-match reports from Crowe and considering the response provided by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Crowe on December 1 submitted a report to the

ICC stating that the pitch for the Test was "poor", triggering a review of the performance of the pitch. The report was forwarded to BCCI which had two weeks to give its response. India won the Test by 124 runs in which the hosts scored 215 and 173 while South Africa scored 79 and 185. The match got over in only three days.

REUTERS, DECEMBER 21 (REUTERS): Arsenal's defence do not fear Barcelona's prolific front three, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar, and are keen to test themselves against the world's best players in the last 16 of the Champions League, midfielder Mesut Ozil said. Arsenal paid the price in the draw, after they finished second in their group, and now face the holders for the third time in six years, having been knocked out by them on the previous two occasions. Messi, Neymar and Suarez have scored 52 goals between them in all competitions so far, and former Real Madrid man Ozil said it would be tough, but exciting, to face the side again in February and March. "Barcelona are the hardest team in the world to play against. Barcelona are the best team at the moment in the world. We know that," Ozil told the Times newspaper. "But as a player I look forward to encounters like

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this. For me it is important to have these big games, it's nice to play against the best teams; to compete with them is a big opportunity for us. "We respect Barcelona but they will respect us too. We are not afraid of Barce-

lona. We just need to play our game and we can beat them. There is no fear. In football everything's possible. "It is a tough match but I don't think our defenders were afraid after the draw. It's a big opportunity for

them to prove themselves against the best attack in the world, players like Suarez, Messi, Neymar. "It will be an exciting game, with the possibility of lots of goals, but it's not like we are afraid," he added.

ISL bouncers manhandled FC Goa co-owner, allege Dattaraj Salgaocar

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PaNajI, DECEMBER 21 (IaNS): Bouncers and security personnel stationed at the Indian Super League (ISL) final venue manhandled FC Goa co-owner Shrinivas Dempo and did not allow the team's owners to meet the players after the final match on Sunday, the team's other part-owner Dattaraj Salgaocar said on Monday. Salgaocar, who had filed a criminal complaint against Elano for the alleged assault, which led to the Brazilian footballer's subsequent arrest, also told reporters at a press conference that if Chennaiyin midfielder had apologised to him after the incident, he would not have pursued the matter. "We were not allowed to go inside and were kept out by I dont know some security or bouncers or whatever. They caught hold of Baba's (Shrinivas Dempo) shirt and badly manhandled him. Baba was furious. I was just behind... They were saying 'who are you and who is this (to Baba)'," Salgaocar said. The co-owner also said that while FC Goa management was barred from

Elano fracas could send wrong signal to foreigners in ISL: Zico

PaNajI, DECEMBER 21 (IaNS): FC Goa head coach Zico on Monday said that the fracas involving Chennaiyin FC marquee player Elano after the closely contested Indian Super League (ISL) final on Sunday night, which eventually led to the footballer's subsequent arrest, could send a wrong signal to foreigners keen on playing in the league. He revealed that it was the FC Goa management's decision to boycott the presentation ceremony following the ISL final on Sunday, in view of the scuffle between Elano and the Goa-based team's co-owner Dattaraj Salgaocar. "No doubt there is a problem when there is an interference from off-field meeting its players, the Chennaiyin FC counterparts were allowed free access, accusing ISL of preferential treatment to the Chennai-based outfit. Incidentally, Salgaocar is the brother in-law of Nita Ambani, who heads the IMG-Reliance combine which organises the ISL. The FC Goa co-owner also said, that the ISL did not take any action against

incidents, but we have a lot of positive points that have emerged," Zico said when asked if the incident would send a wrong signal to foreign footballers. Elano, a former Brazil international, was arrested and subsequently released on bail, after Salgaocar filed a complaint against the footballer for allegedly assaulting and abusing him. Elano's lawyer has however claimed the complaint filed by Salgaocar was false. For the first time, since losing 3-2 to Chennaiyin FC, Zico said that the decision to not participate in the post-match presentation ceremony was taken by the team owners and that he merely obeyed their instructions.

Elano despite complaints by the team management to the tournament's organisers, about the alleged assault by him and alleged hurling of abuses by the Brazilian player. "We thought some action would be taken against the player. They did not do anything. They said you write to us, we will see. It was at that time, to show that we have some pride, some self

esteem, I had to do what had to be done. I filed for the first time an FIR against Elano," Salgaocar said. Elano, who was arrested following Salgaocar's FIR was subsequently released on bail earlier today, even as his lawyer has insisted that the complaint against the footballer was false. Salgaocar also said that if Elano had apologised to him after the incident, he would

have not gone ahead with the registration of an FIR. "If Elano came to me immediately and apologised, I would not have done anything. I don't like to do all this, but he did not. There was arrogance. There was a sense of triumph and that coupled with everything, we had to do what was to be done," Salgaocar said. Dempo, who was also present at the press conference held in Panaji, also said that FC Goa would not have boycotted the presentation ceremony following the final, in which Chennaiyin triumphed, had ISL acted against Elano. "That was the minimum which should have happened," Dempo said. Dempo also said that FC Goa had asked ISL to red card Elano from the stadium premises and reprimand the player by not allowing him to attend the presentation ceremony, a request he said was not acted on. "We were very very upset," Dempo said, while explaining why team did not participate in the presentation ceremony or a post match press conference.

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