December 2nd, 2015

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wednesdAY • december 02 • 2015

DIMAPUR • Vol. X • Issue 328 • 12 PAGes • 4

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Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers — Aristotle Getting to Zero: World AIDS Day celebrated in Kohima

India’s ‘real dirt’ lies in minds, needs a clean-up: President PAGe 8

ISL: Chennaiyin FC ends Mumbai’s play-offs hopes

PAGe 2

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Hornbill festival makes a colourful start nagaland Government’s scholarship Quandary Chizokho Vero

Kisama | December 1

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The much hyped 10 day long Hornbill Festival made a colourful start today at the picturesque Naga Heritage Village Kisama, about 10 kms from Kohima.

Gracing the festive occasion, Nagaland State Governor, PB Acharya said the festival is a joyous occasion when all people of Nagaland can recall with pride and satisfaction the significant achievements made by the Nagas during the past years.

He said Nagaland has achieved remarkable progress over the last five decades, particularly in education and healthcare.

Stating that the festival aims to preserve, promote and protect the unique cultural diversity and rich traditions of Nagaland, Acharya hoped that all visitors would experience the warm hospitality of the Nagas.

Apprising on the different activities at Kisama, Acharya said the 16 Naga tribes and sub tribes are showcasing their culture, dance, music and food, handloom and handicrafts.

He added that Kisama at present is a mini Nagaland.

Reiterating that peace is needed for progress and development, Acharya said “violence has no place in our society. Tourists must realize that Nagaland is peaceful and vibrant.”

Making referencing to the Framework Agreement signed between the NSCN (IM) and the Government of India, Acharya said “this can serve as a new paradigm for security and federalism, reconciling respectfully the aspirations

reflections

By Sandemo Ngullie

Differing versions emerge on non-payment of scholarships to 150 students by government Morung Express news Dimapur | December 1

nagaland’s governor P.B. Acharya and Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang along with others pose for camera after the inaugural function of Hornbill Festival on December 1. (Morung Photo)

of the Nagas with the larger vision of a strong India.” He appealed to all factions to join the peace process for a graceful and permanent solution of the Naga issue.

Nagaland State Chief Minister, TR Zeliang said over 52 years of statehood, the people of Nagaland have continued to maintain and preserve their unique culture and tradition and also progressed in various fields. “We also continue to preserve our culture and traditions by celebrating the Hornbill Festival,” he said.

He said Nagas are moving fast on the journey to modernity and civilization, and equally trying to preserve the hallmarks of Naga identity.

Zeliang said through this year’s Hornbill Festival, the state wants to promote eco-friendly activities, to show solidarity

with the fight against global warming and climate change. “We will try to avoid use of all forms of disposable plastic products,” he informed.

He said the Hornbill Festival will soon become a major tourist attraction and event, not only at the national level, but at the global level; and hoped that it becomes one of the important drivers of the state’s economic development.

He stated that the Hornbill Motor Rally has become a truly national event, while the Hornbill Music Concert has become an international event, with the participation of foreign artists. The CM added that the Naga Chef competition is not only about cooking but about bringing out the best of Naga cuisine and an avenue for the youth to put Naga food in the global map.

He added that Naga-

land’s rich cultural heritage, its natural beauty and abundant natural resources, including minerals and oil, and its strategic location etc are yet to be truly exploited to the state’s advantage.

With its cultural and historical links with the ASEAN region, and with its educated English speaking youth, Nagaland can play a significant role in the government’s ‘Look East’ or ‘Act East’ policy, he said.

Once the ‘Act East Policy’ is in full swing, Nagaland and its people can form a vital link and bridge between mainland India and the South East Asian Countries, he added.

The CM further said that peaceful resolution of the Naga political issue has become the main agenda of the State Government, mass based organizations, NGOs, civil societies, business organizations as well

as the people.

The signing of the Framework Agreement has given a “renewed hope for an early settlement of the Naga Political issue, in a manner acceptable to the Nagas,” he said and appealed to all Nagas, including the various Naga political groups to unite and work together for the common goal of permanent peace in Nagaland.

Earlier, Rev. Dr. Phuveyi Dozo invoked God’s blessing while Y Phonlong, Angh of Longcheng village, Mon pronounced traditional blessings. Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, C Apok Jamir proposed the vote of thanks. Scintillating performance from Dreamz Unlimited billed as “Unity” as part of inaugural celebrations and hosted by Sky Entertainment evoked thunderous applause from the crowd.

Contradictory versions have emerged on why the Nagaland State Government has failed to release scholarships to the 150 unfortunate students studying in an Engineering and Technology College in Modinagar, Uttar Pradesh.

The students from Nagaland had to leave Divya Joyti College of Engineering and Technology campus midway after the deadline given by college authorities to pay their pending tuition fees expired.

The tuition fees were to be paid from the scholarship funded by the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs and released by the respective State government. According to the Times of India report, the college had informed that an accumulated amount for tuition bills for Nagaland Government had run up to Rs 1.86 crore.

The students’ were pursuing engineering courses under an initiative of the Eastern Naga Students’ Union Dimapur (ENSUD), who had signed the MoU with the said college under the scholarship programme.

By Tuesday, a total of 136 disheartened Naga students had left the college campus, while around 10 remaining students chose to stay by paying the tuition fees on their own.

A disillusioned Vikehieto, one of the students who enrolled this year said he would be returning back to Nagaland.

Similarly, like him, other students who were compelled to leave are urgently knocking on the doors of other colleges in and around Delhi for admission.

In the midst of anxiety amongst the students and their guardians, Parliamentary Secretary for Higher and Technical Education, Deo Nukhu when contacted maintained that the department was not made aware of these students studying outside Nagaland under the scholarship programme.

According to the Parliamentary Secretary, a number of NGOs undertake such scholarship programmes under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs for professional and technical courses and fail to notify the Higher and Technical Education Department.

When they did not go to the department, how can we pay scholarships to the students, he questioned. Nukhu said the department would verify on the issue.

“They should also submit in written to the department on the issue instead of blindly putting it up in the newspaper,” he added.

Contradicting the Parliamentary Secretary’s claim, ENSUD President, Stephen Chang asserted that the union had approached the Parliamentary Secretary as well as the department over the programme.

“We met the Parliamentary Secretary, he asked us to submit the list of the students. Later when we went to submit the list, he was busy so we handed it over to his personal secretary,” Chang revealed.

He added the Joint Director of Higher and Technical Education Department was also aware of the programme.

It is also learnt that the Ministry of Tribal Affairs had released Rs 5.45 crore on June 2014 and another Rs 17.58 crore only recently for the scholarships to the Nagaland State government.

In a new development, apparently with media scrutiny on the issue, Divya Joyti College of Engineering and Technology is learnt to have asked the students to return back while promising them that they would take only 50 % of the tuition fees.

“Many of the students’ now don’t want to go back to the college after made to face such harassment. We are looking for other alternative arrangements,” Chang informed.

Meanwhile, the Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) has demanded that the State Government explain to the people why it has not released the scholarship to the students.

“Such harassment and ill treatment of our own children - our future - cannot and will not be tolerated. Responsibility for the unacceptable lapse should be fixed immediately on whoever has mismanaged the issue and the government should resettle the affected students to their college without further delay,” NPCC president K Therie said in a press statement.

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is there reason to HiV/AiDs: time to Act is noW celebrate Dec 1?

‘Accept us as we are’ Morung Express news Dimapur | December 1

We have all reached a level of stagnancy PART - II

Morung Express news Dimapur | December 1

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next we have a special rock song by the band Krtrrtn..i mean..Krt..r..rzxy..er..K .. k..kukrr..yvxz..v yeaat! never mind. By some boys in tight jeans and long hair.

The Morung Express Poll QuEsTion

Vote on www.morungexpress.com sMs your answer to 9862574165 If you consider Nagaland to be a Christian State, is it upholding secular and inclusive values?

Yes

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no

others

PM greets Nagaland on Statehood Day KOHIMA, DECEMBER 1 (MExN): Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi today extended greetings to the people of Nagaland on the occasion of Nagaland Statehood Day. “Best wishes to the people of Nagaland on their Statehood Day. I hope Nagaland scales new heights of progress in the years to come,” the Prime Minister said in a message through the Press and Information Bureau.

For a long time after statehood, achieved on December 1, 1963, the boundary between the Naga people drawn as a result of the Nagaland State was considered “artificial.” The feeling of “this state, that state” did not come into play until later. But the “artificial” perception of the boundary led to blindness towards corruption; the oft thought paradigm being, “It is Indian money, so let us do anything we like.”

Corruption now has become the essential tool to approach many walks of life in Nagaland.

Based on such thoughts, The Morung Express asked the people of Nagaland State if there is any reason to celebrate December 1?

Compelled to celebrate The political boundary drawn through the Naga territories is being recognised in stronger tones today, socially and politically. There are the ‘Nagas of Nagaland’ and then there are the others. The gains made by some through the State have made ‘Nagas of Nagaland’ take a parochial as well as condescending view of the Naga minorities in other States. Unemployment has egged on this process in no small measure.

For Naga Hoho President, Chuba Ozukum, “we don’t agree with the celebration,” though the 16 point agreement has created a situation wherein “Naga people are enjoying statehood and taking rest in the midst of our journey to reach our political destiny.”

“Whether we like it or not, the 16 point agreement was signed by a minority of Naga people and the State was established—now the Government

of Nagaland is compelled to celebrate December 1,” notes Ozukum. In the wake of it, many Naga families have prospered and “forgotten the spirit of Naga nationalism.” They have become influential to the point of directing the future Naga course—“they will prefer to live under the Government of India,” fears the Naga Hoho president.

“I think it’s a politically correct decision (to celebrate) the Statehood given to Nagaland—the new State has created more opportunities and freedom for Nagas of Nagaland to govern ourselves, to assert our unique political history and cultural identity,” feels aspiring civil services candidate, Renthungo Odyuo.

However, border conflicts over territorial limits have become the order of the day, he observes.

For concerned citizen Gugu Haralu, the December 1 celebrations have become a mundane ritual to be observed every year without reference to the ongoing context. “No, we have no reason to celebrate because there is no joy left in this State,” she asserts. “The State’s priorities have become upside down—while there are no scholarships for students, we are doing this grand celebration. Where have the big slogans of progress and development gone?” wonders Haralu.

For the state of affairs today, she blames both the government and the people. “We have all reached a state of stagnancy.”

Is that reason to celebrate?

College Lecturer Alemtula Longchar offers her perspective on “Half a century with Mother India.”

“The rest of India either can’t locate us on the map or think we only dance around log drums in our wonderfully colourful ‘native’ costumes. Our constant companions, the Army believe we are crude enough to deserve 19th century laws. Our ‘leaders’, both ‘local’ and ‘non-local’, still try to appease us with coloured beads and magic mirrors. Celebrate Statehood Day? Why not?”

When you look at the HIV/AIDS map of India, Nagaland stands out in red.

Among 195 countries in the world, India has the third highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS with a prevalence rate of 0.35. Nagaland State currently has an HIV prevalence rate of 0.88 (general population), making it blink out red in the map of the Indian Union.

Between April and September 2015 alone, 883 new HIV positive cases have registered for Anti Retroviral Treatment (ART) with the Nagaland State AIDS Control Society’s centres. Of these, 459 cases were registered in the ART Plus Centre in Dimapur, which has not received any funding, whether for running the centre or staff salaries, since August this year.

Despite these discouraging figures, People Living with HIV (PLHIV), doctors, administrators, support groups and workers came out in large numbers today to observe the 28th World AIDS Day at the Town Hall here today—to share their experiences, express solidarity and remember those who have died of the epidemic. With the theme ‘Getting to Zero: The Time to Act is NOW,’ the program was organised by the Dimapur District AIDS Prevention and Control Unit in collaboration with district level partners and partner NGOs. In engaging with these groups every World AIDS Day, observed since 1988, the world hopes to eradicate the epidemic by 2030. Is that possible for Nagaland?

“There is self stigmatisation and fear among patients to access the free ART given by the Government, which could lead to drug resistance and treatment failure in the future,” informed Dr. Hotoka Hesso, Medical Officer at the ART Plus Centre, Dimapur, while presenting the reality of HIV/AIDS in Nagaland.

Only 69% of the 18,952 PLHIV in Nagaland registered for ART as of September 2015. Only 57% of them started treatment, informed the doctor.

“I am Lucy, living with HIV, a widow, with a son who is HIV free,” said the president of Dimapur Network of PLHIV in her testimony on World AIDS Day. “I am here to challenge everyone on HIV/AIDS today—church leaders as well as all stakeholders,” she said, affirming that “we don’t need just financial support but for you to accept us as we are. We don’t need your pity.”

She urged the PLHIV community to come together and fight the Virus.

“We cannot always depend on others.

We must come together and lead the fight ourselves,” she encouraged.

In his solidarity message, Pastor Yanbemo of the Eyilo Ministry said that it has been working with PLHIV since

2009, running entirely on church funding. With several programs slated for the “Eyilo members,” the Eyilo Ministry has been able to create a space for sharing and caring, of fellowship and empowerment, for people struggling with the Virus. The Ministry has welcomed people from all backgrounds, wiping out discrimination on the ground of race or religion.

In her solidarity message, Vimenuo Liegise, General Secretary of Naga Women Hoho Dimapur, asserted that it is time for families to start talking about sex and sexuality, and educate children on related matters, so that the society is empoweredto make its own decisions.

Worse still, it is getting harder to provide any facilities to PLHIV due to the delay in disbursing funds by the Government of Nagaland. A change of pattern in funding—from directly to NSACS through NACO to through the State exchequer—has resulted in “7 to 8 steps being added in the disbursement of funds leading to delays of funding to the ART centres and payment to staff for up to 6 months each time,” said Dr. Hesso.

The collapse of these systems could put at stake the challenge to HIV/AIDS, which India is known to have been quite successful at.

“Let us be courageous in looking to the future though,” encouraged Dr. Hesso. HIV/AIDS is merely a “chronic manageable disease” and its early detection, treatment and lifestyle modification can enhance chances of survival by up to 35 years from the time of detection.

ciety towards you.”

“For us, you are the real heroes,” said Yhome, while expressing solidarity with PLHIV and HIV/AIDS workers, and saluting them for their “bravery and courage.” The HIV/AIDS challenge has to be dealt with “action, not words,” he maintained. So, “let us stop preaching and start acting.”

World AIDS Day is a day for us to “retrospect, observe and share solidarity,” noted the DC Dimapur. “We rededicate ourselves to this cause and we will give you our best,” he pledged in his short and precise speech.

In a separate speech, Fr. CP Anto, Director of Peace Channel, stated that the “biggest problem” faced by the world today is not “unemployment, illiteracy or discrimination” but the “lack of love and commitment.”

“If we have love and commitment, we can immediately put a stop to the spread of HIV/AIDS,” he asserted, further asking the congregation to practice several models presented by the Eyilo Ministry as well as the Naga Women Hoho Dimapur at today’s program. He also asked the Peace Channel model—information, formation and transformation—to be applied in tackling HIV/AIDS.

‘On behalf of society, I apologise’

“On behalf of society, I apologise to you for not understanding you, for discriminating against you,” said Kesonyü Yhome, DC, Dimapur, the guest speaker at the World AIDS Day program today. “We are sorry for our failures as so-

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Getting to Zero: World AIDS Day celebrated in Kohima Morung Express News Kohima | December 1

In Nagaland, according to the SIMS report, 19097 people in Nagaland have been tested HIV positive since 1999 to October 2015. Since then efforts rendered

by NGOs, activists, NSACS and stakeholders has led to a visible improvement in new infections however the spread of HIV continues to increase through sexual route which is major concern.

Sharing this concern on World AIDS day, Dr. Meguosielie Kire, Project Director, NSACS said, “Today is another opportunity to reaffirm our efforts and commitment to the theme and vision of ‘Getting to zero; Zero new infection, Zero Discrimination and Zero HIV related deaths’.”

The World AIDS Day was commemorated in Kohima at State Academy Hall Kohima on December 1 with Neivor Rutsa,

Chairman Village Council as the Chief Guest.

During the commemoration, Abou Mere, Director Kripa Foundation asserted that the lack of political will and action from our state government is hampering the HIV/AIDS program which will lead to many new infections in the state and will face grave challenges with more health and financial burden. The complacency of the people and especially the state government may quickly erode all hard won gains of the fight against HIV/AIDS. “The hopes for ending the communicable diseases depend in large measure on our ability to provide the required leadership, uninterrupted resources for prevention and treatment program to all who need it.” added Mere.

Affirming that the purpose of the government is to protect the individual rights to its citizen

Mere also questioned the rationality of the government in spending million of rupees on Hornbill Festival to preserve our Naga culture or talk about peace, development and political solution.

“It is also imperative that our state develop the ‘Drug Policy’ to ensure a collective response to address the multi-dimensional problems of drug related health and human rights issue and to prevent the catastrophic loss of human life in Nagaland,” stated Mere who however informed that the Social Welfare Department did not facilitate or forwarded the ‘Drug policy ‘ which was endorsed by the then Chief Secretary, BanuoZ Jamir.

“Stigma and discrimination Neivor Rutsa declares open the cycle marathon on World AIDS day held at Kohima. (Morung Photo) against HIV and AIDS and selfand ensure that rights are up- fulfill it under Article 14. How- on HIV program in civil deposit stigmatization has been a maheld, the Constitution of India ever, Mere questioned why the for months thereby weakening jor factor in prohibiting clients guarantees the Right to Health Government of Nagaland HIV intervention program and to avail services, it is time that we equip ourselves with the and the obligation of the State to has kept the ‘life saving money pit our people life at risks’.

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correct information about HIV and AIDS and be more responsible with our attitude,” said Dr. Kire while lauding the Faith based organizations, NGOs, stakeholders and government department for their effort in fighting HIV/AIDS. Dr. Kire also informed that 53 NGOs in Nagaland are working for the HIV prevention among the bridge population and high risk group of people and that it is through this effort that the route of transmission through Injecting Drug Users (IDU) and other high risk activities have been minimized.

Dr. Kire stated that there are many facilities like designated STI/RTI clinic for Sexually Transmitted infections, early infant diagnosis, blood transfusion services provided by the NSACs, which people can avail.

The commemoration concluded with a cycle marathon flagged off by Neivor Rutsa.

Tripartite Committee formed for NPF Minority Wing celebrate Statehood Day BJP Nagaland ready to bring State govt out of bankruptcy implementation of Majithia Wage Board

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Kohima, December 1 (mexN): In pursuance of the Working Journalists and other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1955, the Governor of Nagaland has constituted the Tripartite Committee with representatives of the State government, newspaper managements, and working journalists/ nonworking journalists (see box) for ensuring and monitoring the speedy implementation of the recommendations of the Majithia Wage Board in Nagaland.

A notification from the labour and employment department, Nagaland informed that the Committee will review the implementation of the recommendations and submit its report on the status and compliance of such Government orders as per recommendation of the Majithia Wage Board within six months from the date of issue of the notification.

Government representatives:

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inister/ Parliamentary Secretary of Labour & Employment, Nagaland – Chairman; Commissioner & Secretary Labour & Employment Department, Nagaland, Secretary, Justice & Law Department, Nagaland, Director, Information & Public Relations, Nagaland, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Labour & Employment, Govt. of India – Members; Labour Commissioner, Nagaland – Member Secretary.

Newspaper Management representatives:

Proprietors of Nagaland Post, Nagaland Page, Eastern Mirror, The Morung Express, Tir Yim Yim, Capi, Nagamese Khobor – Members.

Working journalists & non-working journalist employees' representatives:

Presidents and general secretaries of Nagaland Press Association, Kohima Press Club, Dimapur Press Club, and Mokokchung Press Club – Members.

It said that the term of the Committee will be for a period of three years from the date of its constitution.

The first sitting of the Committee should be held within 30 days from its constitution. The Committee will devise its own procedures of sitting and venue of the

meeting as per convenience of the Committee.

The Office of the Labour Commissioner, Nagaland, shall render secretarial assistance to the Committee, the notification issued by the commissioner & secretary of the department, Mhonbemo Patton said.

NPF Minority Wing members with the Madrasa Darul Uloom (Muslim Community) in Dimapur during the celebration of Nagaland Statehood day held on December 1.

Dimapur, December 1 (mexN): NPF Minority Wing celebrated Nagaland Statehood day in grand manner with social activities through distribution of food items to children with prayers and meeting in two Tribal Hostels Ebenezer Orphanage Home, Razhuphe (Christian Community) and Dayanand Vidyaniketan Tribal Hostel, Purana Bazar (Hindu Community) and also in Madrasa Darul Uloom (Muslim Community) in Dimapur.

President Minority Wing Central Bishnu Bhattacharjee with its Wing

President Dimapur Divn Suresh Paira and with all the party officers were present on this celebration. Minority Wing President Bhattacharjee greeted people of Nagaland on 52nd Statehood day and prayed with his team for Unity, Peace and harmony. He said in his address, the State Nagaland is progressing efficiently under the guidance of NPF President Dr Shurhozelie Lezitsu and leadership of Chief Minister TR Zeliang.

He added, for brighter future of the State and Nation children’s should be taken special care with best pos-

sible facility available in our Country.

Santosh Shastri Co-Ordinator of Dyanand Vidya Niketan Nagaland lauded the gesture of NPF Minority Wing shown towards the orphan students and activities for the people of Minority citizen in Nagaland. Dr Shiromoni Secretary DVN tribal Hostel highlighted the scopes of tourism in Nagaland through Peace and harmony with other developmental activities.

This was stated in a press release issued by NPF Minority Wing, Central General Secretary Debendra Rana.

Dimapur, December 1 (mexN): Expressing concern at the hardship faced by the government of Nagaland due to bad financial condition, BJP Nagaland today stated that the party being a DAN coalition partner is ready to find solutions to the bankruptcy crisis.

A press release from the Media Cell, BJP Nagaland highlighted that due to the crisis, the State government is unable to carry out normal developmental activities and release payment attracting unrest in the State.

The State government is also not able to pay its 10% share in various Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS).

The main intention of the BJP Nagaland, according to the release, is to support the people of Nagaland acquire benefit from the Central government and the present situation compelled it to be the bridge of help between the two parties.

The party recalled that in 2003, the Central government headed by prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee rescued the DAN govern-

ment by waiving the deficit of Rs 365 crore. Recently, a package of Rs 10,0000 crore was announced by Nitin Gadkari with an assurance to declare the Trans–Eastern Highway from Mon-Kiphire and Trilateral Highway from Dimapur–Pangsha linking districts of Nagaland with Myanmar in line with Act East policy. BJP had led the Fourteenth Finance Commission to recommend Deficit Grants-in-aid for the year 2015-20 Rs 18475 crore for Nagaland, it added.

As a coalition partner, BJP Nagaland said, it is prepared to work to bring in more development facilties for all round development of people. “However, the NPF which is the bigger coalition partner must extend co-operation and confidence for realization of assistance. Otherwise, the effort of the BJP Nagaland to improve the miserable finacial condition will prove futile and completely cripple the deficit crunched NPF-led BJP government for failing to generate its mechanisms,” it stated.

Gandhi Shilp Bazar underway in Dimapur ‘The Reluctant Daughter’ book released

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Managing Director, NIDC Ltd., Takuyabang Jamir inaugurates the 10-day ‘Gandhi Shilp Bazar’ on December 1.

Dimapur, December 1 (mexN): A 10-day ‘Gandhi Shilp Bazar’ organized by Nagaland Handloom & Handicrafts Development Corporation Ltd. and sponsored by Ministry of Textiles, kicked off here at Urban Haat on Tuesday.

The bazaar was inaugurated

by Managing Director, NIDC Ltd., Takuyabang Jamir. Around 100 artisans from various states like Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir, and Uttar Pradesh, besides host Nagaland state are taking part in the bazaar.

According to NHHDC officials, some of the objectives of the Gandhi Shilp Bazar include: • To protect and create awareness about Indian handicrafts by organizing marketing events in India and abroad.

• To provide direct marketing outlets to craftspersons living in far flung, remote and hilly areas by inviting them for participation in various marketing events in different cities for augmenting their sales.

• To establish direct contact of the craftsperson, producer, groups, SHGs with exporter, buying houses and other marketing organizations for regular and continuous flow of orders without middlemen.

• Identification of markets for export of handicrafts, research and survey of markets abroad, identification of prevailing designs, competitors’’ taste and fashion prevailing and suggest measures.

• Introduction of design technology innovation by sending craftsperson/designers and technologists abroad for study/development of new and innovative designs.

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Author N Jamir (4th from left) and Associate Prof Narola Neizo (5th from Left) along with others after the release of the book ‘The Reluctant Daughter’ authored by N Jamir on December 1. (Morung Photo) Morung Express News Mokokchung | December 1

’The Reluctant Daughter’, a book that portrays the Naga women, their issues and also abuses in the present world, was formally launched by Associate Professor, Narola Neizo (English Lecturer at FAC, Mokokchung) at Long-

CACWF Country Gospel Nite & Buffet

Dimapur, December 1 (mexN): The Chumukedima Area Christian Women Fellowship Organised Country Gospel Nite & Buffet on 27th November, 5:00pm to 7:00pm in the premises of Baptist Church Chumukedima in aid of Old Age Home Building Project with Kiyaneilie Peseyie, Minister for Social Welfare & Parliamentary Affairs as the Chief Guest and O. Alem, IPS, (Rtd) DGP, Nagaland as the guest of honour.

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The artists of the night were - Abiogenesis, Thungchamo Odyuo, Joint Director, RD, Rev. Dirang Lungalung, Rev. Manen, Amongla Tali and Neikethono Secü. Gift hampers were presented to the ‘Best Dressed Country outfit’ male and female and Lucky coupon Nos. It was a real country night with guests & well-wishers dressed in cowboy hats, checked shirts & boots with hay, kerosene lanterns and bon fire.

kumer Kilem here today in the presence of an array of dignitaries.

Associate Prof, Narola Neizo while realizing the book said that the book will have a “rippling effect” on the readers. She congratulated the author (N Jamir) for writing the book – The Reluctant Daughter – and

also for bringing up the issue about women and related issues in the society.

Twenty-nine year old, Nungsanglemla Jamir, who goes by the name N Jamir, is an English Literature graduate. N Jamir (or Nungsanglemla) is the daughter of Chujangniken and Tiamongla Longkum-

er from Aliba village.

Priced at Rs 300, the book – Reluctant Daughter - will be available at all the stores at Nagaland: Mokokchung: Students Book Centre, Connect Book Stall & ABAM Book Depot Dimapur: OM Book Store & Christian Literature House Kohima: Bible House

Tohanba inaugurates pay and use toilet

Result of State Level Bird Photography Competition

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The Okotsoe Mission Society (OMS) released its first mission annual magazine titled, ‘YITHENPVÜI’ in Lotha which means ‘herald’ or ‘ messenger’ or ‘Proclaimer’ on November 29 at Emerald Inn, Duncan, Dimapur. The purpose of this magazine is to reach out to more people, especially the youth for God’s mission through media such as this. It was released by Rev. John Ovüng, Pastor, Senjum Lotha Baptist Church, former Executive Secretary, KBES, and former Director of CLC, CBCNEI.

Kohima, December 1 (mexN): The Nagaland Institute of Health, Environment & Social Welfare (NIHESW), Kohima organized a state level bird photography competition for the students of classes VII to XII as a special event to mark its silver jubilee which will be held on December 19.

The competition involved photography of any wild bird in their locality, the name of the place where the photograph was taken, identification (local, common and scientific name) and a short essay about the bird.

Lezosopfunuo (Class: VIII) of Government Middle School, Seiyhama, Kohima was adjudged first, Ketsu Zumu (Class: VIII)

of Government Middle School, Seiyhama, Kohima second and Suduvo Chizo (Class: XI) of Mt. Sinai Higher Secondary School, Kohima third. The consolation prize went to Kezawalie Sopfunuo (Class: VIII) of Government Middle School, Seiyhama, Kohima.

The first, second and third position holders will be awarded cash prizes of rupees 7000, 5000 and 3000 respectively along with citations. The consolation prize holder will be awarded an amount of rupees 500 along with a citation. The prizes will be given away during the formal silver jubilee program of NIHESW on December 19, 2015 in the Zonal Council Hall at Kohima.

Parliamentary secretary for municipal affairs and economics & statistics R. Tohanba and others during the inauguration of KMC Pay & Use toilet in Kohima on December 1. (Morung Photo) Our Correspondent Kohima | December 1

Parliamentary secretary for municipal affairs and economics & statistics R. Tohanba today inaugurated the Kohima Municipal Council (KMC) Pay & Use toilet here at “Y” junction along local ground road.

This was constructed under TFC during 2014-15.

Speaking on the occasion, Tohanba said that such kind of public utility will also facilitate cleanliness and proper sanitary system in the city. He called upon the users to have morale code of conduct by paying the fee to sustain the

provided facility. KMC superintendent Zakiekhotuo Kiso said the pay & use toilet building was constructed at Rs. 6.90 lakh.

The function was chaired by KMC chairperson Kovi Meyase. Kohima deputy commissioner Rovilatuo Mor also present on the occasion.

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Over 4,000 km of road in NE to improve connectivity No IS threat along borders Rupesh Dutta IANS

Over 4,000 km of roads and highways are to be constructed over the next few years in the northeastern states to improve connectivity and change the fortunes of the region, a top official has said.

This constitutes the bulk of the 6,841 km of roads and highways to be built in India's hilly states, which include Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, at an estimated cost of Rs.45,164 crore (nearly $7 billion), said Anand Kumar, the first managing director of the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (NHIDCL), which was created in 2014.

"We are the first to start 18

projects in Tripura, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh with a total length of 600 km at a cost of Rs.6,500 crore. This year we have started five projects in Arunachal Pradesh," Anand Kumar told IANS. The NHIDCL took over the projects of the Border Road Organisation (BRO) and the Public Works Department (PWD) of the states concerned and has started showing results in no time in terms of improving the shoddy condition of the roads and highways in the region, he added.

Terming infrastructure the prime factor that can change the fortunes of the region, Anand Kumar said the corporation has taken all measures to maintain transparency and ensure that road and highway construction

is all done with perfection.

"For transparency, we have handed over the work to regional contractors in small packages at a pre-estimated cost. These ensure that there is no misuse of funds by handing over a large stretch to a single contractor," Anand Kumar said.

The company has decided on 11 projects in Manipur, nine in Meghalaya, three in Mizoram, four in Nagaland, 23 in Arunachal Pradesh and seven in Tripura. In several projects, Japanese infrastructure major JICA has also chipped in.

The Imphal-Moreh project is being funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), considering it is the link between India and Myanmar.

Emphasising that projects in the remaining northeast-

ern states will be started within months, Anand Kumar, a 1984 Kerala batch IAS officer, said that there are several projects for four-lane roads, including the NH-39 that connects Dimapur and Kohima - considered Nagaland's main business route which is in a pathetic state during the monsoon.

"It is not an easy geographical area to work in, with undulating terrain and geological surprises. We try our best and, most importantly, after each road and highway is constructed by the local contractors, to whom we give out the work, our engineers do the quality check and if found below standards, we take the necessary action against them," he said.

Anand Kumar admitted that land acquisition and for-

Manipur registers zero new HIV/AIDS death Our Correspondent Imphal | December 1

Manipur, which has the highest adult HIV prevalence in the country, has recorded zero death and also zero new HIV positive case during the last three years, Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi said while observing the World AIDS Day here on Tuesday.

Manipur AIDS Control Society (MACS) organised the event on the theme "Getting to Zero" at the 1st Manipur Rifles parade ground.

Addressing the function, Ibobi said plans are afoot to set up HIV/AIDS testing facilities at every Health Centres including that of hill districts of the state where ART Centres would also be made available. He mentioned the benefits provided to individuals from BPL and APL

categories, who are living with HIV, under the Manipur State AIDS Prevention and Control Policy.

The Manipur Chief Minister expressed the concern that the state still has the highest HIV prevalence in the country and called upon all NGOs and civil societies to fight the menace together. He also commended the efforts made by MACS in tackling the problem.

Health Minister Phunhzathang Tonsing who was also present at the occasion said though there is a declining trend in HIV prevalence in Manipur, a worried and vulnerable state of affairs is being faced by pregnant women. Tonsing said there is still a long way to go ahead to achieve the Getting to Zero which remains a big challenge. A voluntary blood donation camp was held to mark the occasion.

Winner of the Pond’s Eclectic Model Hunt 2015, Binita Chhetry from Guwahati, is flanked by 1st runner-up, Kaheli Chophy from Dimapur, and 2nd runner-up, Nandita Saikia from Guwahati. The Model Hunt was held at ITA Machkhowa Auditorium, Guwahati.

Migrants, AIDS keep Assam on edge

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Based on the analysis of the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) data, it showed a rising trend of HIV positivity among pregnant women. The analysis of the data also revealed a stable trend of HIV positivity among general clients, said Chiranjeev Bhattacharjya, state epidemiologist, ASACS. Adult HIV prevalence in the state has shot up from 0.04% in 2007 to 0.07% in 2011. As annual new HIV infections have shown a downward trend in high prevalence states of Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland, annual new HIV infections in Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh have increased.

Both in Assam and Tripura, the rate of increase in annual new HIV infections is highest. The rate of posi-

tivity per thousand in Assam is 4.93. "This is something we have to work on.

Evidence suggests that both in Assam and Tripura there are some emerging pockets of HIV infections. The same evidence suggests that HIV infections are mostly concentrated among female sex workers, injecting drug users and among men having sex with men, added Bhattacharya.

The HSS data revealed that HIV epidemic in the state is mostly focussed on high- risk groups like injected drug users comprising a 1.46%, men having sex with men (1.4%) and female sex workers (0.46%).

But challenges remain in collecting accurate data from the bridge population (migrant and truck drivers) due to the absence of HIV

BORDER ROADS ORGANISATION NOTICE INVITING TENDER (NATIONAL COMPETITIVE BIDDING) 1. The Commander 15 BRTF, PIN-930 015, C/O 99 APO on behalf of President of India invites tender(s) from the eligible contractors for the following work(s):Particular of work Cost &Time Details of tender of work documents Tender No.11 of (a) Cost : (a) Cost of tender : 2015-16 (Re-Tender) Rs. 18.31 Rs. 500/Supply and stacking of lakh (b) Availability :On Stone Boulder, Stone (b) Period of or after 03 Dec metal 40 mm and completion: 2015 Coarse Sand for Pmt 120 days (c) Submission : works between km (c) Earnest Up to 1200 hrs 0.00 and km 60.00 on money : on 29 Dec 2015 Maram-Peren Road Rs.36,620/under 98 RCC/15 BRTF/Project Sewak in Nagaland State.

Note: Full notice of tender, any change in above details, tender document (including eligibility criteria) and other details may be obtained from BRO Website www.bro. nic.in (link:Tender) or Central public procurement portal www.eprocure.gov.in for any queries, please contract on telephone 0370-2260542.

EE (Civ)

CAREER COUNSELING IN HEALTH SECTOR Attention!! Class XI, XII, and graduates (preferably Science) with parents /guardians are invited to a counseling session at CIHSR (Referral Hospital), Dimapur for sponsorship in MBBS and other Para Medical Courses at CMC Vellore/Ludhiana and Nursing and other courses at CIHSR. Date: 12.12. 2015

Time: 9.00 a.m onwards

You may register for the counseling at the Front Desk CIHSR or contact Front Desk at 03862-242555/533 Those requiring sponsorship are required to attend the counseling session.

Davp: 37102/11/0434/1516

GUWAHATI, December 1 (TNN): Assam remains vulnerable to HIV transmission owing to an increasing migrant population and its close proximity with high AIDS prevalence states like Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram.

This was revealed in the new data divulged by Assam State Aids Control Society (ASACS) on Monday.

As on September 30, 11,122 people were identified as HIV- positive. Despite the fact that Assam is categorized as a low HIVprevalence state with 0.07% of an estimated adult HIV prevalence as compared to the national prevalence of 0.27%, there is still a lot to worry about.

As on September 30, 4,268 HIV-positive cases were detected in Kamrup (Metro) districts, 2413 in Cachar, 734 in Dibrugarh and 513 in Nagaon.

As per data collected from recent HIV Sentinel Surveillance (HSS) among ante-natal clinic attendees or pregnant women, Karimganj, Tinsukia and Karbi Anglong districts have shown a consistent high HIV prevalence.

Cachar and Sonitpur districts have both recorded more than 1% HIV prevalence among pregnant women as per HSS, 2015.

Sentinel Site in Assam.

Sentinel sites can be defined as special study fields to focus on groups at risk of contracting HIV infection risk. The government of India still hasn't allocated such sites in Assam for which it is impossible to study the role of such population in spreading HIV infection.

Similarly, a trend analysis couldn't be performed in MSM as there are no consistent sites for this high-risk group.

est clearance are emerging as one of the prime factors in road construction in Assam and Meghalaya. "We are taking it up with the forest ministry and are soon likely to see an end to the problem."

He also emphasised on seven key strategies that NHIDCL follows, including use of e-tools through which bidding for tenders is done online. Existing procedures and processes are also being revisited to effectively monitor road construction and prevent graft.

Other strategies include continuous capacity building, use of new and appropriate technologies, creation of a scientific and innovative temper, speedy dispute resolution mechanism and regular consultation with stakeholders.

of North East: BSF official

AgArtAlA, December 1 (IANS): There is no threat from the Islamic State terror group along India's borders in the northeastern states, a BSF official said here on Tuesday.

"There is no threat of IS terrorists on India's northeastern frontier. Our border is safe and secured," Border Security Force (BSF) Tripura frontier Inspector General M.F. Farooqui told reporters. "The IS is not an issue in this frontier and there is no impact of the terrorist group in this border," he added.

He said that from 25 battalions in 1965, the BSF now has 186 battalions comprising 2.5 lakh troopers and officers

currently posted on 13 frontiers, including three frontiers in the northeastern states.

Raised in December 1, 1965, the BSF is celebrating its golden jubilee with many functions and programmes.

The BSF on the 856-km Tripura frontier has seized contraband valued at Rs.9.52 crore this year.

The BSF official said the number of camps of militants in northeast India was decreasing in neighbouring Bangladesh as the present government in that country was very supportive of "All disputed issues with Bangladesh have been religiously followed up by the BSF," he said.

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WednesdAY 02 •12•2015

Nagaland

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

workers oriented SVEP launched in Jakhama block Anganwadi on Swachh Bharat Abhiyan SVEP is a multipurpose scheme which is open to anyone who has the sincerity and willingness to start an enterprise.

Kohima, December 1 (mexN): Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Program (SVEP), an entrepreneurship development program under National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) has been launched in two blocks in Nagaland - Chumukedima and Jakhama. The program will be facilitated and monitored by the Nagaland State Rural Livelihoods Mission (NSRLM) under the Rural Development Department and implemented by Entrepreneurs Associates (EA) as the Project Implementing Agency (PIA).

Launching the program at Jakhama RD Block on November 30 as chief guest, CL John, Minister for RD and REPA, said SVEP is a multipurpose scheme which is open to anyone who has the sincerity and willingness to start an enterprise. He said Jakhama and Chumukedima blocks have the privilege of being selected as pilot

team for bringing the program to Nagaland, the only state in the North East to begin the initiative.

He also encouraged Entrepreneurs Associates, stating that the Rural Development is putting a lot of faith in the NGO. Guest of Honour for the launch Er. Vikho-o Yhoshu, MLA, said it was a privilege to be a selected block under SVEP. He said the program would benefit all in the selected block and will pave way for others in time to come.

He also released an information brochure on SVEP published by NSRLM. Project Director DRDA Kohima Kevipodi urged the villages to derive maximum benefit out of the program and said the block is conducive and suitable for such initiatives.

Neichute Doulo, Chief Executive Officer of Entrepreneurs Associates stated that this was a small initiative towards great achievements. He hoped the venture would spill out to the rest of the State and to other North East states and even have a nationwide impact. He said Nagas in general are not fond of businesses, but reminded that not everyone can get

blocks and the onus is upon them to take the program further and make it a success.

Remarking on the attitude of the Nagas towards businesses, the minister said Nagas are still hesitant to take up enterprises and are still backward when it comes to work culture, a press release said.

Challenging the blocks to break this mindset and become producers instead of beggars, he encouraged Jakhama block to start producing enough tomatoes and potatoes to meet the demand of the entire State as the place is favourable for such products.

He also reminded about the Central government’s aim to make North East region the organic headquarter of India, and emphasized the importance of taking advantage of such opportunities. He underscored the need to strengthen work culture and stop relying on outsiders for any kind of business which can instead be done

by Naga people. He further stated that the time has come to stop depending on the government and instead become producers and give back to the government.

He lauded Motsuthung Lotha, Mission Director, NSRLM and his

ICAR organises Skill Development Training meDziphema, December 1 (mexN): ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Jharnapani (Medziphema) organized four days training on “Skill Development for Tribal Farmers through Food Processing and Value Addition” during November 23 to 26.

Altogether twenty three farmers and rural youth from Mon, Longleng, Wokha, Mokokchung, Zunheboto, Tuensang, Kohima, Dimapur districts of Nagaland and Khasi and Garo hill of Meghalaya were attended the training. The inaugural programme was graced by Sara S. Jamir, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Medziphema as the chief guest.

Jamir in her inaugural address has expressed that due to non availability of processing and value addition, post harvest losses are common in Nagaland and this type of training will grow awareness among the local farmers for storage

and preservation of fruit and vegetables. She has also advised the farmers to learn about the techniques of processing and value addition properly so that they could take it as future venture for income generation.

Dr. B.C. Deka, Joint Director, ICAR, Jharnapani welcomed the house and expressed the main aims and objective of training programme. Dr. Deka stressed on practical oriented hands on training and entrepreneurship development. During the training, hands on practical demonstration was imparted on pickle, jam, jelly, tutty-fruity, gur (jaggery), aloe-vera soap making, mushroom production technique, industrial fruit juice production, fibre extraction and its product (bag, door mat, table mat, coaster, cap wall hangs) making and soybean processing and value addition.

The lectures on methods of preservation, low cost storage and preservation

structures, post harvest handling of fruits & vegetables and post harvest waste management for vermi-composting were also delivered.

The resource persons were Dr. H.D. Talang, Dr. Anamika Sharma, Dr. P. Chowdhury, H.D. Singh, V. Kenny Rhetso, Zames Kikon, Narola Anichari, Mhalo Tungoe, Jessica Dohtdong, Temjen Imsong and Vinika K. Aomi.

The valedictory address was delivered by Dr. Anamika Sharma, Programme Coordinator, KVK, Dimapur followed by the Chairman’s address of Dr. KK Barman, Principal Scientist (Soil Science).

Dr. Barman stressed on the women empowerment through food processing and value addition and cited an example of Indian women becoming successful entrepreneur at UK by making samosa (singara).

Vote of thanks was delivered by Dr. P. Chowdhury, SMS (SWCE) KVK, Longleng.

Game Number # 3422

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Sitimi, December 1 (mexN): The orientation programme on Swachh Bharat Abhiyan for Anganwadi workers in Sitimi recently. It was attended by more than 30 Anganwadi workers under the ICDS project.

CDPO and DWO in charge ZT Sangtam spoke on the importance of Swachh Bharat and hoped

According to a press release, the Board deliberated on the issues pertaining to the infrastructure projects in progress, development of school and the steps for improvement of NDA intake of the cadets. Gp Capt Sanjay Gaekwad, Principal,

briefed the Board on the financial grant and the support being received from the Government of Nagaland and HQ 3 Corps.

The meeting was also attended by Col PNSS Subrahmanyam, Staff Officer- 2, HQ 3 Corps, Lt Col

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Dimapur, December 1 (mexN): With the theme ‘Towards Progress’, Reguri village of Pochury tribe celebrated its golden jubilee on November 22.

Andrew Ahoto, Chairman of Livingstone Foundation Hr. Sec. School and President, ANPSA Dimapur and M Joshou, president of Pochury Mothers’ Association were the chief guest and guest of honour respectively.

A press release informed that the jubilee began with the unveiling of the jubilee memo-

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rial stone and unfurling of jubilee flag by the chief guest.

The main programme was held at Reguri Baptist Church, where the chairman of Reguri Village Council, D Lisiru welcomed the gathering and Chichu’s Village Chief exhorted the people to remain in love and unity. A brief history of Reguri village was presented by T. Mazhu, Ex. Village Council Member and a silent prayer was also said in memory of all the departed village pioneers and

leaders, it added.

Speaking on the occasion, Andrew Ahoto remarked that the old people had built the village through thick and thin, therefore the young people of today must never forget them. He reminded the youth to be skillful stating “people can steal your assets but not your skills.” He also encouraged them to have continued respect for elders and learn the virtue of discipline from even the simplest of ants. He further urged the people to be like a good seed as one

DAILY CROSS WORD

CROSSWORD # 3434

Jitendra Dogra, Vice Principal, Pollem Tep, Addl Director of School Education & Nodal Officer, BK Nanada, Principal, DPS, Dimapur and Advocate Zhasakhoto Vupru, parents’ representative.

The chairman also inaugurated “Col BS Ra-

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can never count the plants in one single seed though one may be able to say how many seeds are present in an apple. He called upon the people to celebrate the jubilee through reconciliation and forgiveness as is enshrined in the Holy Bible.

Guest of honour, M. Joshou encouraged every person to bring good name and also thanked the chief guest and his wife for all the contributions and help extended in the past for the uplift of her village. She viewed that upon DIMAPUR Civil Hospital:

that it is child friendly.

Distributing the flex to the workers on the day, CDPO also asked the Anganwadi workers to maintain IEC program which will help improve the centre.

Anganwadi workers were also asked to maintain 11 MIS register properly which is also to be submitted on the last part of every month.

thore Riding Club” at the school. The meeting concluded with the chairman releasing the school annual magazine “Vibrant Strings-2015” and awarding Participation Certificate of NCC Combined Annual Training Camp to the cadets.

P O W E R C A R D I A C M U S C L E Q G

completing 50 years, a person becomes matured enough to understand and perceive everything in a better perspective and thus becomes careful in his words and deeds.

Highlights of the programme included the release of the Golden Jubilee souvenir, presentation of numerous songs and dances, a showcase of traditional folk dance by the girls of GMS Reguri and self-composed folk song presented by the Women Society of Reguri led by its president.

STD CODE: 03862 232224; Emergency229529, 229474

Metro Hospital: Faith Hospital:

227930, 231081 228846

Shamrock Hospital

228254

Zion Hospital:

231864, 224117, 227337

Police Control Room

228400

Police Traffic Control

232106

East Police Station West Police Station

227607 232181

CIHSR (Referral Hospital)

242555/ 242533

Dimapur hospital

224041, 248011

Apollo Hospital Info Centre:

230695/ 9402435652

Railway:

131/228404

Indian Airlines

229366

ACROSS

1. Auspices 5. A long way off 9. Yachting cap 13. Habit 14. Slumber 16. Copied 17. Overhang 18. Lariat 19. Type of cereal grass 20. Celebrities 22. Bags of wool 24. A jaunty rhythm 26. Caper 27. Not success 30. A company of performers 33. Issuing commands 35. Dusk 37. 12 in Roman numerals 38. Willow 41. South southeast 42. Abominable snowmen 45. Psychological disorders 48. Words to a song 51. Queen of the jungle?

52. Nautical miles 54. Cashews and almonds 55. Outlying areas 59. Artist’s workstand 62. Pearly-shelled mussel

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1. Female sheep (plural) 2. Satyr 3. Falsehood 4. Germless 5. American Sign Language 6. Imperfection 7. Fable writer 8. Vacation destination 9. Hardy coarse-haired sheep 10. Sweeping story 11. Kiss lightly 12. Midmonth date 15. Located near the poles 21. Aspersion 23. Kiss 25. Threesome 27. Cunning 28. Disney mermaid 29. N N N N 31. Ownership 32. Relieves

34. Martini ingredient 36. Untidyness 39. Snake-like fish 40. Wreckage 43. Annoying 44. Drop down 46. Debauchee 47. One of the Great Lakes 49. Metal money 50. Streak 53. Drive 55. Dethrone 56. “Do ___ others...”

57. Layer 58. Glance over 60. Feudal worker 61. Not more 64. Barely manage Ans to CrossWord 3433

KOHIMA: 0370 2222952/ 101 (O) 9402003086 (OC) DIMAPUR: 03862 232201/ 101 (O) 9436017479 (OC)

CHUMUKEDIMA: 03862 282777/101 (O) 9856158740 (OC) WOKHA: 03860 242215/101 (O) 9862039399 (OC)

MOKOKCHUNG: 0369 2226225/ 101 (O) 9436012949 (OC)

Nagaland Multispe- 248302, cialty Health & 09856006026 Research Centre

PHEK: 8414853765 (O) 9862130954(OC)

KOHIMA

ZUNHEBOTO: 03867 280304/ 101 (O) 9856156876 (OC)

STD CODE: 0370 100/2244279 2222222 2222111 2222952 2222916 2243339 2224202 08974997923

TUENSANG: 8414853766 (O) 8414853519 MON: 03869 251222/ 101 (O) 9436208480 (OC)

CHILD WELFARE COMMITTEE 63. Daughter of a sibling 65. Ascend 66. Flower stalk 67. Talk 68. Charged particles 69. Ripped 70. Sea eagle 71. 1 1 1 1

FIRE STATIONS

Chumukedima Fire 282777 Brigade Nikos Hospital and 232032, 231031 Research Centre

Police Control Room: North Police Station: South Police Station: Fire Brigade: Naga Hospital: Oking Hospital: Bethel Nursing Home: Northeast Shuttles

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that implementing the programme in each Anganwadi center will help the centre in many ways.

He asked the Anganwadi workers to maintain sanitation and hygiene.

CDPO also said that Anganwadi centers can be free from waste by proper waste disposal and also asked the workers to take care of the centre’s environment so

Reguri village celebrates golden jubilee

Answer Number # 3421

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pereN, December 1 (mexN): The 14th Local Board Administration (LBA) meeting was held at Sainik School Punglwa on November 30. Maj Gen Deepak Saxena, VSM, Chief of Staff, HQ 3 Corps & Chairman of LBA chaired the meeting.

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

SUDOKU

Anganwadi workers under the ICDS project during the orientation programme on Swachh Bharat Abhiyan held at Sitimi.

LBA meeting held at Sainik School Punglwa

_

LEISURE

into government jobs which are already beyond saturation point.

He however cautioned that business cannot thrive on subsidies and therefore anyone who takes up an enterprise should be sincere and put in a lot of hard work in order to achieve success.

Motsuthung Lotha, MD NSRLM said the program was for every citizen and is a special intervention under NRLM. Although there are no immediate benefits, he said, people who take the program seriously and take up enterprises under the program would attain success and benefit in the long run.

The program was also launched in Chumukedima RD Block on November 28.

SVEP has a long term vision of providing support to 1 crore village enterprises and also providing direct employment to 2 crore people. The main objective is to help rural poor come out of poverty by helping them set up enterprises and supporting the enterprise till it stabilizes. The programmatic intervention will address the three ecosystems of knowledge, advisory and finance, the release said.

Toll free No. 1098 childline

KipHire: 8414853767 (O) 8974304572 (OC)

WE4WOMEN HELPLINE 08822911011

MOKOKCHUNG: Police Station 1:

STD CODE: 0369

2226241

Police Station 2 :

2226214

Civil Hospital: Woodland Nursing Home:

2226216 2226263

Hotel Metsüpen (Tourist Lodge):

2226373/2229343

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

CURRENCY NOTES

222246 222491

BUY(Rs)

SELL(Rs)

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

64.86 98.05 8.1 46.56 45.74 48.50 52.55

67.80 102.83 9.02 48.86 47.98 50.90 55.52

Euro

68.90

72.26

Thai Baht Korean Won New Zealand Dollar Chinese Yuan

1.75

1.95

0.0543

0.0605

42.24

44.32

9.76

10.88

WednesdAY 02•12•2015

Rotary Club honours MMC town cleaners and sweepers Morung Express News Mokokchung | December 1

Rotary Club of Mokokchung commemorated Statehood Day and 125 years celebration of Mokokchung Town by honouring the Mokokchung Municipal Council town cleaners and sweepers and by organizing a special meeting on the theme "Clean Mokokchung" at Rotary House, Mokokchung.

The Rotary Vocational Awards were given out to all the town cleaners and sweepers of MMC by the Deputy Commissioner, Sushil Kumar Patel (IAS), who stated that the credit for the cleanest town goes to the people of Mokokchung. He added, "No doubt Mokokchung is the cleanest town in the state, but times are changing and more challenges are ahead. We need to focus on sustainable cleaning and waste management." He also said that issues of carbon emission, water sanitation and gray water management should be addressed seriously.

MMC Town cleaners and sweepers with the DC Mokokchung and members of Rotary Club Mokokchung at Rotary House, Mokokchung.

M. Bendangnukshi Longkumer, first town chairman, N. Bendang Jamir, former town chairman, O. Pangjung Longkumer and members from the town cleaners also gave short speeches.

The reason on how and why Mokokcuhng is considered as the cleanest town in Nagaland and the struggles and hardships faced by the MMC and the town cleaners and sweepers were addressed. The problem of low wages, insufficient funds

and non-cooperation of citizens towards the cleaning community was discussed at length.

It is to be noted that the wages for the cleaning community is paid from the sanitation tax collected from the traders in Mokokchung Town and there is no contribution from the nonbusiness community or the State government.

The Rotary Club of Mokokchung acknowledged the presence of the cleaning community and their

service towards keeping the town clean. The Rotary Club also hoped that more people will be engaged in addressing the problem of waste management and pollution which is increasing at a fast pace. It further wished that the citizens will be more aware towards these problems and the problems and struggles faced by the cleaners and sweepers who tirelessly and without complaints work towards making Mokokcuhng the cleanest town in the State.

DCCI appeals not to seek donation, asks to decorate shops Dimapur, December 1 (mexN): While lauding the recent NSCN (IM) notification against seeking all sorts of donations by any of its departments/ regional authorities or individuals, the DCCI has appealed to all other NPGs to desist from seeking any kind of donations from the public and business community to facilitate a peaceful passage of the festive season.

In a press release issued by

its president Hokivi Chishi, the Dimapur Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) also urged all business establishments in Dimapur not to entertain any donation from any organization.

Meanwhile, the DCCI informed all the business establishments in Dimapur Town to decorate their business premises and to compulsorily put up stars preferably with CFL bulbs outside their shops. The

DCCI also appealed to the owners of buildings facing the main roads in Dimapur to urge their tenants to set up decorative pieces to complement the festive season and add beauty to the town.

The DCCI also urged all citizens and shoppers to be aware of pickpockets and other anti-social elements who will be on prowl taking advantage of the festive season. Stating that gambling is also likely to galore

in many places, the DCCI appealed to the police to take preventive measures and to stop such illegal activities which create disturbances and ruckus during the festive atmosphere.

DCCI further urged police to be more proactive in maintaining peaceful law and order during the festive season.

The DCCI wished all citizens a very happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

KTDSSU appeals for Sumi students of Seyochung village Kiphire, December 1 (mexN): The Kiphire Tuensang District Sumi Students’ Union (KTDSSU) has appealed to the Home Commissioner of Nagaland not to alter the order on issuing Indigenous/ ST/ BT certificates to Sumi students of Seyochung village in Kiphire district.

In a letter to the Home Commissioner, KTDSSU president Yashika Achumi urged to maintain status quo with special measures to safeguard the welfare of the genuine Sumi students of Seyochung.

The letter recollected that the Guwahati High

Court, Kohima Bench in its Order dated September 15, 2014 had directed the State to issue Schedule Tribe (ST), Indigenous Inhabitant, and Backward Tribe (BT) certificates to the Sumi students of Seyochung village. Thereafter, Secretary, Home Department issued an approval letter for the same on September 17, 2015. As such, office of the Commissioner of Nagaland issued a letter to the Deputy Commissioner, Kiphire informing of the approval of the government to issue Indigenous/ ST/ BT certificates to the Sumi students.

“The genuineness and

eligibility of the Sumi students of Seyochung village claiming their stance is 'prima facie' undaunted before your department which has been positively reciprocal,” stated the letter.

KTDSSU highlighted that the issue has been compounded by the Sangtam community of Seyochung village under the umbrella of Seyochung Village Council taking silent procession at Kiphire Town protesting against the issuance of Indigenous Inhabitant certificate to the Sumi students of Seyochung village, thereafter, submitting a representation to the Deputy Com-

missioner of Kiphire the same day.

“This is hampering and jeopardizing the future of Sumi students of Seyochung village succumbing to the distraught atmosphere of the area,” it added. The genuineness of the sumi students of Seyochung village to avail Indigenous Inhabitant certificate cannot be compromised. A section of community consciously trying to deny the birth right of other section through coercion is unacceptable under any circumstances and is perceived as an attempt to dominate and conceal the identity of others.”

NUN shows resentment to State government Kohima, December 1 (mexN): On the occasion of World AIDS Day today, Nagaland Users’ Network (NUN) showed its resentment towards the State government by wearing black

ribbons instead of the usual red ribbon and displayed banner at the State Academy Hall here. NUN was protesting against State government hampering the HIV services by delaying release

of HIV programme funds.

The non-release of fund, according to a press note from NUN coordinator, has compromised the quality of HIV service in the State.

NUN also appealed to the

State government to take the HIV prevention programme on a serious note and consider it a priority, which will prevent new infections and HIV related deaths.

World AIDS Day observed in Peren pereN, December 1 (mexN): World AIDS Day was observed in Peren with the theme ‘Getting to Zero’ at Baptist High School on December 1. The programme, organised by the District AIDS Prevention Control Unit (DAPCU), Peren in collaboration with Helpdesk (District Level Network) Jalukie, was graced by the Addl. Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Peren, S. Tainiu.

173 participants comprising students and faculty/ staff of Baptist High School, HIV facility staffs, members of NPDP+ and DAPCU attended the programme.

A press release from DAPCU Peren informed that S. Tainiu, while speaking on the theme ‘Getting to Zero’ expressed concern about the issues related to HIV/AIDS. She cited that positive attitude towards

people living with HIV is important and encouraged all to show love and care and not to discriminate. She also shared that one should be responsible in protecting ourselves and our loved ones from HIV. The ADC also urged the students to live their lives responsibly as they are the future and the ones to take up leadership positions one day.

The District Programme

Officer, DAPCU, Khriethonuo Tungoe conducted an awareness session on basics of HIV/AIDS with the students and staff of the school.

District HIV scenario, routes of transmission, prevention, treatment and facilities available were shared during the session. Interaction followed, during which, misconceptions and doubts of the students were clarified, the release added.

Appeals for release of HIV/AIDS funds

Dimapur, December 1 (mexN): Several NGOs of Dimapur district have expressed concern to the Chief Minister of Nagaland regarding nonrelease of funds for HIV/ AIDS programme in Nagaland. They stressed that the non-release of fund by Nagaland Government on time for HIV prevention programme is going to create a serious setback to HIV prevention related issues, a threat to the public health

Dimapur based NGOs write to Chief Minister

response and can undermine the concerted efforts that have been achieved in controlling new HIV transmission and HIV related deaths over the last one and half decades.

The global theme being focused on getting to "Zero" (zero new infection, discrimination and zero AIDS related deaths), the NGOs urged the CM to recognise that "urgent un-

precedented action is critical to contain HIV infection or we may end up losing many lives in our State.”

The letter was appended

by Dimapur based N-Naga DAO members - Bethesda Youth Welfare Centre, Prodigals' Home, North East Drugs & HIV Training Centre, Akimbo Society, Guardian Angel, Community Awareness and Development(CAD) Foun-

dation, DNP+(Dimapur Network of Positive I-11V & AIDS), and RAF (Rural Area Foundation).

N-Naga Dao Wokha pleas The members of Network of Nagaland Drugs and AIDS Organizations (N-Naga DAO), Wokha district unit have also expressed deep anguish with regard to non-release of fund to the grassroots HIV

Targeted Intervention Program implementers in Nagaland.

In a press release, the unit also said that the nonrelease of fund by the Government for HIV prevention for significant months is going to create a serious setback to HIV programme.

It expressed belief that the decision makers will treat this request with utmost importance for a fasttrack HIV programme in the State.

Artists perform at NIAPA’s “Culture in Motion” Season 3 as part of Hornbill Festival at Bamboo Hall, Kisama on December 1. Meanwhile, fashion show showcasing NIAPA’s associate clothing brand MOI will take place on December 2 at the same venue at 5:00 pm. (Morung Photo)

BAN Buzz: Promoting entrepreneurs and a place to hangout Morung Express News Dimapur | December 1

December 1 kicked off the inauguration of the Hornbill Festival and the commemoration of the 52nd Statehood Day. However, it is not all festive mood for most sections of the Naga society. Seen here is RMSA Written Exam 2014 Qualified Candidates Forum still fighting for their rightful claim of a fair, accurate selection of candidates. The RMSA candidates forum gathered at the PR Hill junction to agitate against the anomalies in the results published on November 30. The agitation was suspended but will continue tomorrow. A press note from the forum’s convener, Kakika Z Sumi informed that they had started their agitation on December 1 at 7:00am, but was suspended at the request and “positive interference” of the Angami Youth Organisation and the Angami Students’ Union “assuring full support to the forum for its cause.” It informed that they would continue their agitation on December 2 starting 9:00am outside the RMSA office.

It is December and Kohima is abuzz with the Hornbill Festival. Down in Dimapur, a similar buzz has begun though in a smaller scale.

With the dual intention of promoting Naga entrepreneurs and creating a healthy hangout for the denizens, the Business Association of Nagas (BAN) is organising a street fair at Nyamo Lotha Road below the footbridge. The fair, christened BAN Buzz started on the evening of

December 1 and will continue till December 14. It will open daily at around 7:00 pm as the traffic dies down and continue till 10:00 pm.

While it has become a tradition of the BAN to decorate the Holy Cross junction during the festive season, this year, it came up with the idea to organise the street fair and decorating the place as well.

Dr. Khekugha Muru, secretary, BAN informed that the basic concept behind BAN Buzz was to One of the stalls at the BAN Buzz street fair organised by promote Naga entrepre- the BAN at Nyamo Lotha Road, Dimapur on December 1.

Estonia officials in Nagaland Morung Fest 2015 from December 3 to enlighten on e-Governance Our Correspondent

Kohima | December 1

Four officials from e-Governance Academy of Estonia are currently in Nagaland to enlighten the people of Nagaland about the widespread benefits of embracing IT and e-Governance.

The team, comprising Dr. Liia Hanni, e-Democracy Programme Director, Dr. Arvo Ott, Executive Director and Chairman of the management board, Annela Kiirats, Head of eGovernance Trainings and Masi Pedak, senior expert came to Nagaland on invitation of the State government in connection with the training programme on e-Governance for Information Technology for Nodal Officers of all departments held here Monday.

Minister for transport, civil aviation and IT & C,

Minister P. Paiwang Konyak, Commissioner & Secretary for IT&C, KD Vizo along with Estonia officials at Hotel Japfü, Kohima on December 1. (Morung photo)

P Paiwang Konyak along with the department officials interacted with the team over a dinner at Hotel Japfü this evening.

KD Vizo, Commissioner & Secretary for IT&C said that the department had recently submitted proposals to the Ministry of Communication & IT for 9 projects, which include CM dash board, e-NagaCabinet, enterprise architecture, Aerial OFC, e-Na-

ga Village, Single Window e-Business, NagaNet, WiFi Hotspot and e-Naga Training Centre which are likely to be considered shortly by the Ministry.

“If these projects are implemented, the state of Nagaland will be as advanced as any other states in India and the dream of making the state of Nagaland the land of e-Governance will soon come true,” he said.

Dimapur, December 1 (mexN): Hectic preparations are going on at the Agri Expo here for the ‘Morung Fest 2015’scheduled for December 3 and 4. Organised by the Ao Students’ Union Diphupar (ASUD), the Morung Fest 2015 is based on the theme ‘Vibrance of the Nagas’.

The Morung Fest 2015 has been included in this year’s Hornbill Festival calendar, hence, many people from outside are expected to show up, according to the convenor of the organising committee Opanglemba.

A press release from Morung Fest Media Team said that L. Asangla Imchen, team leader of the Morung Indigenous Food Contest, said 16 stalls are being prepared for the event, where 14 tribes from Nagaland will participate in the contest. There will be a special vegetarian stall.

Members of the Tang-

khul team who had won the Morung Indigenous Food Contest in 2013 said they will introduce a new special item in their menu prepared from the Chatric Fish, a rare fish found in the interiors of Ukhrul district. The pricey item will be accompanied by a complimentary traditional gooseberry juice that has been kept for more than seven years known as Shiksui Theira, the release said.

The Morung Literary Committee will organise painting, quiz and photography contests. According to Wapang Ozukum, a member of the literary committee, the painting competition under the theme ‘7 (seven) Billion Dreams, One Planet: Consume with Care’ has been introduced with an aim of creating awareness about the environment and ecology among the youth, especially students. The quiz competition will be conducted by

one of the top quiz masters from North East. The photography competition will be based on the theme ‘Vibrance of the Nagas’ and each and every member of the public will be eligible to participate in it. A nominal amount will be charged as registration fee and the participants shall be required to take the photos at the venue during the two-day event.

Enyar Jamir, in charge of the Morung Choir Competition said the judging criteria this year will be the same as the previous edition.

The Morung Volleyball Tournament will be conducted on two courts at Agri Expo.

The Morung Nite will close the event with Polar Lights, one of the popular bands from Nagaland, performing on stage. Special appearances from The Steppers and The Chosen Generation Crew will be featured.

neurs. While requesting the people of Dimapur to support the initiative, Dr. Muru said that visitors can come and have a good time. The stalls, which have been limited to 15 to avoid congestion, will cater food and indigenous products. Visitors can also request songs at a makeshift ‘jukebox’ at the venue for a nominal fee, Muru informed.

Dr. Muru, further extended gratitude to the Commissioner of Police and the ACP (Traffic Zone I) for their assistance.

MEx FILE JDU MLA Nganlang claims merger with NPF Kohima, December 1 (mexN): JDU MLA, BS Nganlang today submitted documents to the NLA Speaker, claiming merger with the Naga People’s Front (NPF). Letters from the Nagaland state Chief Minister, TR Zeliang and NPF President, Shurhozelie Leizietsu as such asked the NLA Speaker to show him as an NPF member in assembly records.

KTDSSU supports USSC demands Kiphire, December 1 (mexN): Condemning the attack on a class-8 student of Loyola Higher Secondary School, Kiphire by Atsase Sangtam of NSCN (R) and his accomplice Pitsase, the Kiphire Tuensang District Sumi Students' Union (KTDSSU) has supported the demands of the United Sangtam Students' Conference (USSC) made through media on December 1. The Union in a press statement said that the demands of USSC would facilitate the safety of students and public in general and are substantial needs of the hour.

It also appealed to the responsible authority to book the accused at the earliest. Further, the Union said it is distraught by the act, while asking why they (accused) should attempt the life of a student when claiming themselves as “freedom fighters.” The Union reiterated that people living in Kiphire district are peace loving people and such “act of stupidity and cowardice is intolerable.” The Union further supported the 12-hour complete bandh of Kiphire Town called by the USSC on December 2 as it demonstrates the discontentment of the student community as a whole.

WednesdAY 02•12•2015

IN FOCUS

6

The Power of Truth

The Morung Express X issue 328X issue 185 Thursday 9volume July 2015 volume By dr. asangba Tzüdir

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

C O M M E N T A R Y

Desmond Tutu and Mpho Tutu CommonDreams

COP21: Humanity's Last Chance Saloon

SHOWCASING HORNBILL: 'A narrow window of Commodifying or Promoting Knowledge opportunity opens in Paris.

No longer must our future Within the blending of ‘tradition’ and ‘modern’ the hornbill festival opens the window to the be directed and dictated commercially escapist world of Naga culture by financial interests' n an earlier editorial on hornbill festival, the focus was

I

drawn on the need for remodelling hornbill festival from the developmental point of view in the larger interest of peace and unity among the Nagas. As a sequel to it, the festival will be a worthy reflection from the vantage point of its benefits and see whether it really benefits the Nagas in the long term. To be beneficial is not about exhibiting and commodifying in the pursuit of selling. It lies in how we ‘present’ ourselves to the world; the long term benefits will follow suit.

Primarily, the main objective of the festival is to showcase Naga culture – The traditional culture of the Nagas. But to ‘suit’ the changing times it comes with a blend of tradition and modern and within this blending the Nagas open the window to the commercially escapist world of Naga culture and given the disproportionate tendencies towards ‘deceptive style’ and opportunistic capitalism, it rather hoists the banner of a ‘trade fair’ where everything is commodified including humans. This happens when we fail to truly present ourselves even as we are still struggling to write about our true identity and what makes each of us a Naga.

A tourist remarked, “...for the changing times a bit too much of ‘nakedness’ is shown and much can be improved with better promotion about the Nagas.” Indeed, the Naga caravan has much to offer beyond songs and dances and the colourful dress.

A deeper reflection makes one question on how we showcase our traditional values where our true identity finds its roots. We seem to be so proud and a contended lot to present ourselves as the Naked Nagas thereby reinforcing the stereotyping about the Nagas as naked and ‘barbaric’ headhunters. Aren’t we invoking primitivity? And when the festival is so opened to commercialisation and commodification of our culture, the Naga narrative becomes reduced to framed pictorial images for pleasurable consumption of the ‘others’ wherein we happily and ignorantly continue to reinforce the various labels on the Nagas. We seem to be marketing ourselves but at the end of the day it is the ‘others’ that is marketing us in their own terms. To put it rhetorically, to do away with the festival will be like stopping a flood to save vegetation. Having entered the 16th edition of the festival nothing much has changed in terms of innovations.

Over the years it has attracted many tourists both domestic and international and what largely remains to be seen is that, the festival has so much of promise and potential to make it a global event in the form of large scale participation from other culturally vibrant countries and thereby create meaningful discourse and cultural exchange. This calls for an urgent necessity to resurrect our sense of sights and sensibility and the way we portray ourselves to the world. Sometimes we make a mockery of ourselves and fail to disseminate the ‘right’ knowledge of our cultural values beyond symbolism and materialism. It becomes meaningful only if values are added to the material. The challenge that still remains is promoting the right knowledge about our culture and tradition. The content of the festival should portray the uniqueness of our cultural values rather than getting trapped in the tension between tradition and modern.

In perspective, with changing times there is an urgent necessity to unlearn and relearn about our tradition and culture if the objective and claim of the festival is aimed at “reviving, protecting and sustaining the richness of the Naga heritage and traditions.” Therein lie the long term benefits and credibility of the Hornbill festival.

(Dr. Asangba Tzüdir is Editor with heritage publishing House.

He contributes a weekly guest editorial to the Morung Express. Feedback and comments can be mailed to asangtz@gmail.com)

lEfT WING |

Megan Rowling Thomson Reuters Foundation

UN aims to build defences of poor against climate change

U

.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that climate-related disasters are taking an ever greater toll on the poor and can wipe out decades of development gains, as he launched a global partnership to boost the resilience of vulnerable communities. The impacts of climate change - from intensifying droughts and floods to sea-level rise - are strengthening, as ecosystems and food and water supplies come under increasing pressure, he said.

Economic losses from disasters have increased by more than 50 percent over the past decade, he noted. The hardest-hit are poor people, including small-scale farmers, fishing communities and indigenous people, he added. "As climate impacts increase, we will see greater disruption to economies and international security," he told an event on the sidelines of U.N. climate talks in Paris. "It is imperative that we strengthen resilience and build adaptive capacity, especially in small island developing states, the least-developed countries and most African nations," he added.

His new A2R initiative will equip countries to better anticipate hazards, absorb shocks like extreme weather, and reshape their development to reduce climate risks, the United Nations said. It will bring together businesses, such as insurance companies, governments, U.N. agencies, research institutions and others to mobilise financing and knowledge, coordinate their activities and develop new tools. Freundel Stuart, the prime minister of Barbados, said his island country needed access to low-cost financing, or it "can't strengthen resilience to climate change". The Netherlands, a low-lying nation with much experience of defending itself against flooding, said it would contribute an additional 50 million euros ($52.8 million) to a programme to boost resilience in developing countries.

And France is backing the fledgling Climate Risk Early Warning System (CREWS), which aims to equip all the most vulnerable countries with warning systems by 2020. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation is working with the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the World Food Programme on a common strategy to build resilience to climate impacts by acting before, during and after crises, it said. That approach has so far shown promising results in Guatemala, Kenya and Niger, it said.

Ban's resilience initiative will also support the work of the Africa Risk Capacity insurance scheme and partners. By the time a new global climate deal enters into force in 2020, more than 30 countries should be provided with $2 billion in insurance coverage against drought, flood and cyclones, his office said. The U.N. chief said the world had got "a little bit smarter and cleverer" at tackling climate impacts, with a new global framework to reduce the risk of disasters agreed in March and sustainable development goals adopted in September.

But much of the learning had come from "hard lessons", he noted. Nick Mabey, CEO of environmental policy group E3G, said Ban Ki-moon had laid down a challenge to the international community to take climate risk more seriously. "Now and beyond Paris, countries and the private sector will need to support the reforms to deliver resilience,” he added.

W

e are in uncharted territory. Never before have representatives of the entire human family had the opportunity to sit down together and collectively change the trajectory of our species and our earth.

Leaders of the world’s nations gathered for the 2015 Paris Climate Conference this week will (for the first time in 21 years of United Nations climate negotiations) seek to achieve a universal, legally binding and enforceable agreement on climate change. Their goal is to limit global warming to less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels.

Should global warming exceed 2°C, many leading scientists and economists concur, mitigating the impacts will become unaffordable. Low-lying nations will disappear under rising seas, there will be more extreme droughts and storms, and up to 30% of species could disappear. We are already halfway to 2°C, and are already seeing the impacts in changing weather patterns and the first wave of climate refugees.

The closest we have come to achieving global consensus on anything in the past was the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons that opened for signature in 1968 and has been ratified by 191 of 195 recognised states. But it is surely much simpler to agree not to fire nukes at each other than it is to agree to alter deeply entrenched behaviour patterns, reign in consumptiveness, threaten personal wealth and undermine powerful business interests.

Which is exactly what we have to do.

COP21 is therefore clearly about much more than the weather. It is about us. For thousands of years we have drifted apart, accumulating wealth at the expense of each other (the only family we have) and our only earth. Here we have a unique opportunity to see beyond our own noses and bank balances and rediscover our common humanity.

It is an opportunity to address inequality; for powerful people and nations to acknowledge that their environmental wellbeing, their security and sustainability, is dependent on the wellbeing, security and sustainability of others. To acknowledge our inter-dependence, and the strengths and vulnerabilities we share. If we “carry on as usual”, there may not be another opportunity.

The days of not understanding the disastrous human and environmental consequences of rampant consumerism and greed are gone. Our leaders can no longer claim not to know. If they don’t take action they will be saying very clearly that they don’t care.

Should they grasp the opportunity, and develop a legally binding treaty to mitigate climate change, it will signal the end of the age of reckless consumption, exploitation and greed.

But failing to grasp the nettle will send a direct message of contempt to poorer nations and people, who cannot afford the costs of mitigating the impacts of increasing temperatures. It will trigger unprecedented economic and refugee crises, and dramatically deepen global insecurity.

It’s a simple equation, really. Agree on mechanisms to enforce adherence to environmental justice, or consciously embrace injustice and add fuel to the fire of human division and pain. We know that the only answer is to reduce carbon emissions, and the only way we can do that is by reducing our dependency on carbon fuels.

And that is why we support the campaign to divest from fossil fuels and invest in sustainable technologies. Continuing to spend Trillions of Dollars searching for new oil, gas and coal reserves we will never be able to use is a self-fulfilling prophecy of doom.

That is why we say: Global warming is the human

C

orruption is a widespread and global phenomenon, ranging from “narco-corruption” in Central America to “petty corruption” in Eastern Europe, such as candidates buying votes with buckwheat and sunflower oil before elections. Rather than focusing on the issue itself, Shaazka Beyerle explores how corruption is being curbed with civil resistance in her new book “Curtailing Corruption: People Power for Accountability and Justice.” Beyerle documents and analyzes civic grassroots initiatives that have expressed clear demands, reached their objectives, employed an array of nonviolent actions, and were sustained over a period of time. Twelve fascinating accounts are presented in the book with country-specific context, campaign attributes and outcomes.

Beyerle begins by conceptualizing the link between corruption and violence. One place that corruption flourishes is in post-conflict settings in which illicit structures profit through the arms trade, and the trafficking of drugs and people — causing much human suffering. For instance, since the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo began in 1998, 3.5 million lives have been lost, while military and rebel groups have enriched themselves off of the country’s resources. Beyerle explains that civil resistance by citizens who are impeded by the nexus of paramilitary groups and organized crime sometimes leads to successful campaigns.

Every case study in the book takes place over the last 20 years, and some are still ongoing. The geographical scope includes Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Korea, Turkey and Uganda. Beyerle argues that the collective power of citizens who strategically use

Nations most at risk of climate change urge lower warming cap

L

megan rowling Thomson Reuters Foundation

eaders from a group of 43 countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change called on the first day of U.N. climate talks for a new deal that puts the world on track to limit global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius.

To achieve that goal - which is tougher than the expected 2 degree Celsius cap at the talks would require cutting carbon emissions to zero and adopting 100 percent renewable energy by 2050, the nations said. Meeting it would demand much higher ambition at the talks than is now on the table, with experts saying current pledges from over 180 nations to curb planet-warming emissions add up to a temperature rise of at least 2.7 degrees Celsius.

Global warming is expected to hit 1 degree C this year. Costa Rica's Minister of Foreign Affairs Manuel Gonzalez said his country's experience was that committing to reduce emissions could boost rather than harm economic growth. "Keeping warming to a minimum of below 1.5 degrees won't simply deliver safety and prosperity, it will also deliver justice," he said.

A declaration from countries in the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) said global emissions should peak as soon as possible, and at the latest by 2020.

The group includes middle-income, least-developed and small island developing states, from the Philippines, Bangladesh and Costa Rica to Ethiopia and the Maldives.

Saleemul Huq, director of the Dhaka-based International Centre for Climate Change and Development, told a gathering on the sidelines of the Paris negotiations that sticking to an internationally agreed warming limit of 2 degrees Celsius meant roughly 100 million people would "fall between the cracks".

Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III said Climate Vulnerable Forum countries are estimated to be suffering economic losses from climate extremes of at least 2.5 percent of GDP each year even though they account for less than 2 percent of global emissions.

His country was experiencing climate change rights challenge of our time. If we do not address it, collectively, it can only mean we have decided that the rights of some members of the human family are more important than others.

A narrow window of opportunity opens in Paris next week. No longer must our future be directed and dictated by financial interests.

"in the starkest possible terms", through powerful storms and flooding, he said. The Philippines suffers an annual average of 50,000 deaths from weather disasters, he added.

Money channeled into emergency spending to deal with the crises was money the country might otherwise be spending on its development, he said. "Building back better is becoming less and less of a guarantee, given the new (climate) normal might still be replaced by an even newer normal that is even more destructive if we fail to act," he told the event.

QUALITY OF LIFE The Climate Vulnerable Forum declaration also called for the Paris agreement to enshrine an international mechanism to address unavoidable climate-linked "loss and damage", such as the effects of rising seas and creeping deserts.

This is a sticking point in the negotiations, as rich nations fear they will be forced to foot the bill for permanent harm caused by climate change.

The Climate Vulnerable Forum said developed countries should continue to take the lead in providing funding to poorer nations, from a floor of $100 billion per year by 2020. But finance ministers from 20 vulnerable countries have also set a target of mobilising $20 billion in new investment for climate action by 2020 themselves, drawing on all sources including international, domestic, regional and private finance.

In addition, the forum called for faster progress towards an equal split in financial backing for emissions reductions - which now get the bulk of cash - and measures to cope with climate change.

Whether the agreement that comes out of the Paris summit is ambitious or not is a "key difference for all of you and many others", U.N. climate change chief Christiana Figueres told members of the forum.

She said she had yet to see them working together "in an articulate and coordinated fashion" for a new U.N. agreement.

"The quality of the Paris agreement equals the quality of life of the most vulnerable in every community - that is the simple equation, that is the stark challenge that brings us here today," she said.

Anything less than a legally enforceable treaty on carbon emissions will be to condemn our children to inheriting a disfigured world and a blighted family.

We know that God has given us new ways of generating electricity from the sun and the wind and the oceans. Let us follow the God that makes all things new. When we do that, we are filled with hope.

Curbing corruption with civil resistance Elena Volkava Waging Nonviolence nonviolent actions created political will where it did not exist before, and developed social accountability for improving government processes.

For instance, in Brazil in 2008, a coalition of 44 civic groups, including religious, professional and trade organizations, collected 1.6 million handwritten signatures to introduce legislation to Congress that would prevent individuals with a criminal record from running for elected office. This was followed by massive digital civil resistance, which included mass emails sent to legislators and an online petition in favor of the bill signed by two million people, among other nonviolent actions. Beyerle sites one of the campaigners, Graziela Tanaka, who said, “the movement took on an air of people power omnipresence, congressmen could not run away from it.”

Beyerle said she was inspired to pursue this multi-year project after she heard about the 1997 “One Minute of Darkness for Constant Light” campaign in Turkey at a conference, which she also included as a case study in the book. This civil resistance campaign mobilized 30 million people through low-risk mass actions — like turning off lights simultaneously (hence the name of the campaign), banging pots and pans, holding candlelit vig-

ils, mailing “stolen” copies of the high court inquiries to legislators — and succeeded in empowering citizens to overcome their fear of confronting the criminal syndicate ruling the country at the time. Since the campaign happened before the Internet boom, Ersin Salman, a public relations professional — with a group of regular citizens from all walks of life — reached out and received support from about 60 print columnists who then spread information about the mobilization.

The goal of the movement was to pressure the government to take specific measures against corruption and links between the state and organized crime. In many ways the campaign succeeded, as mafia leaders, police, military and business officials were brought to trial. Although collaborators in the government were set free, citizens changed the profile of the parliament in the following election. Furthermore, a series of nonviolent campaigns followed on issues including university entrance exams, the privatization of water, and nuclear reactors, among others. The “One Minute of Darkness for Constant Light” altered the relationship between Turkish citizens and power holders. “Now even generals are answerable to the people,” Salman said.

The synergy between anti-corruption efforts and peacebuilding that Beyerle

WRITE-WING

depicts is particularly interesting. Despite their differences, both have overlapping long-term goals — like social and economic justice, government accountability and the protection of human rights. Beyerle argues that in places like Afghanistan, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where those involved in organized crime reap the benefits of instability and easily win seats in parliament, a successful transition to democracy and stability is difficult to achieve, although it is nevertheless possible.

The various campaigns covered in the book do not follow one specific “magic formula” to root out corruption, but in each case organizers put significant energy into strategizing and planning. Furthermore, toward the end of the book, Beyerle offers 15 general lessons gleaned from the campaigns she documents. I found a few of these lessons particularly important, like unity, which involves building coalitions that increase diversity and lead to high levels of participation. Another point that she highlights is the importance of using low-risk mass actions, which help citizens to overcome fear in hostile environments. She argues that there are also intangible qualities that can be cultivated, such as an honest image, which builds credibility and stimulates wide support, and legitimacy, which prevents intimidation like she skillfully describes in her case studies of Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, India, Italy and Uganda.

The overall message of the book is one of hope. It is nonviolent, strategic and collective action that creates shifts in attitudes. Across a diverse set of the cases, Beyerle shows regular citizens moving “from resignation to action,” and succeeding in their struggles against corruption in the process.

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

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

WednesdAY 02•12•2015

PERSPECTIVE

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Ghana: women at war in a country at peace

The Newspaper with an Opinion The Morung Express

Yakin Erturk

opendemocracy The agenda for women, peace and security The Global Study on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325, women, peace and security has reiterated that the “participation of women at all levels is key to the operational effectiveness, success and sustainability of peace processes and peacebuilding efforts.” Civil society actors as well as states have increasingly been focusing on gendered aspects conflictaffected settings and on women’s role in peace efforts.

The adoption of SCR 1325, including seven subsequent resolutions on women, peace and security has evolved into an impressive international normative framework that expands the due diligence obligation of states and other stake-holders in combating violence against women. Its impact so far, despite the shortcomings in implementation, has been phenomenal in recognizing and empowering women’s peace movements across the globe and in engendering the security sector which has traditionally been distant to the international gender equality agenda.

However, the question remains; how relevant is the binary of war and peace from the perspective of women’s realities in many parts of the world? Are women at peace in countries that are technically in peace?

The case of Ghana Ghana is a country technically in peace. As such, despite extreme poverty, deep inequality among various segments of society, including women and men, widespread violence and injustice Ghana is rarely on the international agenda. The realities of the vast majority of women are all indicative of a war in the making.

The underlying assumption is that war is not spatially or temporally bounded and that the gendered aspects of war are a continuum of the gendered aspects of peace. Therefore, the fact that a war in its conventional sense does not exist does not imply peace for all. As Carol Cohn has written, “weapons of violence, and representations of those weapons, travel through interlocking institutions – economic, political, familial, technological, and ideological.”

Ghana is an ethnically, linguistically, culturally and religiously heterogeneous society, which results in variations of social convention and customary practice. There are also considerable economic disparities between the coastal regions and the marginalized northern parts of the country. However, the strong patriarchal normative framework and the principle of male supremacy are prevalent in both matrilineal and patrilineal communities. Although social attitudes are gradually changing, especially in rural settings, women continue to occupy a subordinate and dependent position to men in virtually every domain of life.

Diverse forms of violence against women are a widespread phenomenon despite the relatively promising legal framework and other measures.

The use of violence, to enforce patriarchal control over women enjoys widespread social acceptance. Women victims of violence are often expected to silently endure abuse. Women who report their husbands or other family members to the authorities may be ostracized from the family and the community. Some of the most striking forms of violence women are subjected to are presented below.

Trokosi ritual servitude Some communities in the southern Volta Region and certain districts of the Greater Accra Region still practice a custom that was outlawed in 1998, which involves ritual servitude and sexual exploitation of girls. The custom requires a family to offer a virgin daughter as a trokosi (slave/wife to the gods) to a traditional fetish village shrine to ward off the punishment of the gods for crimes or moral wrongdoings committed by a family member. The misdeeds for which atonement is sought may often date back generations.

A girl designated to become a trokosi is usually committed at a very young age (6 to 10 years old) to the shrine, where an initiation ritual betrothing the girl to the gods is performed. The ritual establishes a relationship of spiritual bondage between the girl and the shrine. From the moment of her betrothal, the trokosi must wear special insignia indicating her status and outsiders are prohibited from having any sexual contact with the girl. If a man sleeps with a trokosi, his family is believed to have incurred the wrath of the gods, therefore, must also offer a virgin daughter to the shrine. Meanwhile, the man who had sexual relations with the trokosi is ritually “purified” and the girl remains a trokosi at the shrine.

Once a trokosi reaches puberty, the shrine’s fetish priest (tronua) sleeps with the girl to consummate the marriage between her and the gods. Daughters born from such sexual relations also have certain obligations to the shrine.

After serving several years at the shrine, a trokosi may be released from servitude if her family pays for a special ceremony. Released trokosi are allowed to marry, but are often unable to find a husband. If a trokosi dies during her servitude, her family is expected to replace her with another girl.

In 1998, the government passed a law against ritual servitude (among other things), criminalizing the practice of trokosi, however there have been no prosecutions under the law. Most government officials are under the impression that the practice has since almost vanished. Yet, information from various sources indicates the opposite at the practice continues to thrive. According to reports there were at least 23 shrines in the Volta Region and 3 in the Greater Accra Region, which still accepted trokosi.

In many districts, the local authorities are reluctant to enforce the law against ritual servitude, fearing a popular backlash. Some also seem to fear adverse spiritual consequences for themselves.

While a number of central state institutions, including the Commission on Human Rights, Administrative Justice, and the Ministry for Women and Children’s Affairs have taken a strong stance against the practice of trokosi, there are many elected politicians who fail to publicly denounce it in order not to alienate key constituencies.

International Needs Ghana (ING) and NGOs have led efforts to liberate trokosi and put an end to the practice. According to ING’s own estimates 3,500 girls have so far been liberated and 50 shrines have stopped accepting trokosi. ING seeks to liberate trokosi with the cooperation and consent of affected communities and shrine priests. Communities willing to cooperate are provided with much needed development infrastructure such as schools and boreholes. Shrine priests are encouraged to accept livestock or monetary donations, instead of girls, from families seeking to appease the gods. Once

agreement is reached, a ritual is performed to break the spiritual bondage tying the trokosi to the shrine.

Liberated trokosi are provided with the skills to reintegrate into ordinary life at the ING Vocational Training Centre.

Female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM) has been traditionally practiced by several ethnic groups from northern Ghana as well as by immigrants from neighboring countries, where FGM is highly prevalent. In 1994, Ghana criminalized the practice. Since then, successful prosecutions of those performing FGM have been reported especially from the Upper West and Upper East Regions. In 2007, parliament further strengthened the law against FGM by increasing the maximum penalty to 10 years of imprisonment and extending the range of persons who can be prosecuted for involvement in an act of FGM. Officials at all levels of government, including the President, have also publicly condemned FGM. While there are indications that the practice of FGM in Ghana may be declining as a result of these initiatives, new cases continue to be reported. Civil society organizations and medical practitioners note that FGM is increasingly performed on younger girls, who are less likely to resist or report the crime. Some families apparently also send their daughters abroad to have the procedure carried out with impunity. Officials have stated that the Ghanaian law banning FGM does not apply extraterritorially; therefore it is not possible for the Ghanaian authorities to take action against its citizens who perform FGM in a neighboring country, even if they find out about such cases.

Violence in the context of child labor - kayaye Child labor is prevalent and many rural families living in extreme poverty send their daughters to urban areas to live with more affluent families, where they serve as domestic workers in exchange for shelter, food and sometimes a minimal income. The ILO (2004) found that most girl domestic workers started their work between the ages of 11 and 16 and worked 8 to 12 hours per day without sufficient rest, which would imply that they are engaged in one of the worst forms of child labor as defined by ILO Convention No. 182.

Girls also migrate on their own from impoverished areas in the north to the big urban centers in the south, where they work in the markets and streets as head load carriers (kayaye) or in other jobs. Most of the girls are only 10-14 years old when they first migrate. An estimated 90 % of the girls are illiterate and they typically migrate to escape extreme poverty and lack of other options. Many girls also see the kayaye experience as an opportunity to acquire the dowry they will need to get married later on in life.

Family problems, including exploitation and abuse, are often additional factors pushing girls to leave their homes. It is an old tradition for families who are not socio-economically well off to send especially their girl children to live with relatives who are better off; it was traditionally meant to meet the children’s basic needs and foster family solidarity and kinship ties. However, with the erosion of social convention underlying such relationships among families, today these children are often exploited and abused by their relatives and some sought salvation in working as kayaye.

The girls who head south migrate often with the knowledge and consent of their family. Once they arrive in the urban centers, the kayaye have to work and live on the street, under dangerous and miserable conditions. Being vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, they often have to seek the “protection” of older street boys in exchange for sex. As a result many end up getting pregnant outside marriage and are often ostracized when they return to the north as single mothers. There are reports that indicate that organized networks increasingly approach impoverished families to recruit girls as kayaye.

Some girls abandon kayaye work altogether and are fully drawn into Ghana’s growing child prostitution sector, which increasingly also seems to cater to foreign child sex tourists. Girls have reportedly also been trafficked and subjected to commercial sexual exploitation in other West African countries and Western Europe. While the government has reacted by adopting a comprehensive Human Trafficking Act in 2005, still more needs to be done to enforce the Act and strengthen Ghana’s anti-trafficking cooperation with neighboring countries.

Violence against women accused of “witchcraft” Belief in supernatural forces is quite widespread and deeply rooted in Ghana and there are many cases especially in rural areas, in which women—and occasionally men —are accused of practicing witchcraft to bring harm to members of their family or community. Being accused of practicing witchcraft is a very serious charge that can have grave consequences. Accused women are often driven violently from their homes and communities, physically assaulted and, in extreme cases, also murdered.

Despite its serious ramifications, an accusation of witchcraft can be easily triggered. A community member may dream that a certain woman is a witch or an adverse event may occur in the community that cannot be explained, such as a suspicious or unexpected death of a community member. In such instances for various reasons a person will be made a scapegoat with witchcraft allegations. In some cases, witchcraft allegations seem to be deliberately directed at women who are successful and are seen as a

threat to the patriarchal order.

Violence against women branded as witches is reported from all regions, but the practice is more visible in the north due to the existence of so-called “witches’ camps”. This misleading term refers to settlements established with the consent of the local community, where women accused of witchcraft, and in some cases family members who flee with them, can seek refuge and protection from persecution by their own community or family. In that sense, a witches’ camp is a protection mechanism comparable to a women’s shelter in the contemporary sense.

For instance, the settlement in Gambaga (East Mamprusi District, Northern Region) is officially called the Gambaga Outcast Home. Its origins are said to date back to 1900s, when a local imam took pity on the women accused of witchcraft and provided them with refuge in a field nearby the village. Eventually, the local chief (the Gambarana) assumed this protective role. The Gambarana is thought to have special spiritual power to determine whether a woman is a witch or not. It is also believed that he can purify witches and extinguish their supernatural powers.

The local population in Gambaga interact with these women, since tradition holds that the local gods neutralize a witch’s power to practice her craft once she comes to Gambaga. Nevertheless, a certain stigma remains and women accused of witchcraft can usually only engage in certain limited incomegenerating activities such as firewood collection that do not require contact with the villagers. Since these women also lack the support of their own family, they are completely destitute.

There are national level programs that provide support to women outcasts and facilitate their return to their own villages and normal lives. However, since the convictions of the local population about witchcraft are very strong, these programs do not question the very notion of witchcraft, but rather address the social and spiritual dimensions of each individual case in negotiating the home communities to allow the women to occasionally visit her family and eventually to fully remove the woman’s supposed witchcraft powers and reconcile her with her community.

Situation of widows While customary law denies women the right to inherit, it obliges the heirs of the deceased to maintain his widow and children. In many cases, however, not even this obligation is respected and those invoking customary inheritance rights evict widows from their homes. The Intestate Succession Law seeks to protect widows against eviction by making it a criminal offense to evict a widow or her children from the family home within the first six months of the husband’s death. Unfortunately, this protective norm is often wrongly interpreted as permitting evictions after six months have passed.

Several communities practice levirate marriage/widow inheritance, requiring the widow to marry (formally or informally) her late husband’s brother as recourse. In other communities, the woman is “inherited” by one of the sons born to another wife of the deceased husband. These marriages are more than a social support arrangement for the widow, since the man is permitted to have sexual relations with the widow. The children born from these relations are considered to be the deceased husband’s, and thus, are often neglected by their biological fathers. Widow women are in no position to refuse such arrangements.

Joint responsibility for change The realization of commitments to gender equality made under the Constitution and the state’s international obligations remains a serious challenge in Ghana, where women’s subordinate position is maintained through discriminatory and harmful practices. The Domestic Violence Act of 2007 marks an important step forward, but more needs to be done to support women’s empowerment and change mindsets in society.

Constitutionally recognized traditional authorities and the customary law, which wield considerable influence over the populous, often pose additional challenges for the advancement of women. The state authorities and civil society, with the support of the international community, need to engage and, where necessary, compel the customary system to fully respect the rights women and girls are entitled to under the Constitution and international law.

High levels of poverty and the external debt burden limit the government’s margin of operation to prioritize the allocation of sufficient resources for universal basic education, gender parity in education and the economic and social development of marginalized regions and districts. The international community has a responsibility to support the government’s efforts to promote gender equality and eliminate violence against women through targeted funding and technical cooperation, further debt relief and, perhaps most importantly, fairer terms of trade.

Yakin Ertürk was the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women (SRVAW) 2003-2009, and until recently Professor of Sociology at Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey.

She also undertook numerous international assignments, including as a member of the International Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic by the UNHRC (Sept 2011March 2012). She is a member of the Board of the Asylum and Migration Research Center in Ankara, and served on the Council of Europe, Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT).

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Learning is rapidly shifting from conventional methods of classroom teaching to more practical learning strategies. In a conventionalclassroom environment, an introvert student may not reach the expectations of a teacher; because they need more time and space to develop their ideas and express them. In most cases the extrovert students stand out more and receive appreciation, whereas the introvert students often tend to be sidelined in the classroom.

There is nothing wrong in being an introvert, and as teachers, one must be observant of the different personalities in the classroom and try to create an active learning classroom that makes the introverts feel safe to express themselves. We take a closer look at how teachers play a vital role in providing support to help introvert students.

The Shy versus The Outspoken Judy Dimhoihkim, Head of Department of Education

O

ur classrooms are composed of students from different spectrums; the extrovert, the introvert, and the ambivert. Extroverts are outgoing, socially confident persons, while introverts prefer keeping to themselves. Ambiverts have a balance of extrovert and introvert features in their personality.

I intend to focus on the introverts who we usually see as quiet, reserved, and active listeners. They are shy. Most of the time we tend to focus on the ambiverts and extroverts, unconsciously ignoring the introverts. In fact most of our teaching, classroom activities, and learning are associated with the extroverts and ambiverts. Teachers need to realize the importance of student’s identity. Extroverts will always be lively and participate actively, which might not be the case with the introverts. A third to a half of the population are introverts, so that means one out of every two or three people we know are introverted. Just as forcing the extrovert to be an introvert would be futile, we should also give space to the introverts to do what they think is best whether it be reading, writing, thinking, or any other activity. Their identity should be identified and respected. As much as the extroverts crave for social stimulation, the introverts need a quieter place, a more low-key environment where they feel most alive. They need quiet time to refuel. Research has proven that introverts are better with grades and are more knowledgeable, even though an ideal student, according to most of us, would be the extrovert.

It is time for a teacher with all her/his innovative practices to create a safer learning environment for introverts. They should be given more choices with regards to choosing their assignments and classroom activities. Most of them are better at writing than speaking. They work best on their own, rather than in a group. They need time to prepare for interaction, conversation, and process their thoughts and emotions. An uncomfortable task, like forcing them to respond in front of the class, is an attack on their identity.

There are times when the introverts are expected to be more like the extroverts, which is quite impossible. We all recognize ourselves as belonging to one or the other type. We need a better balance. This is mostly important when it comes to boosting creativity and productivity, because when psychologists look at the lives of most creative people, they find that people who are great at innovative ideas have had a serious streak of introversion in them. This solitude is a crucial ingredient for creativity. Some of our transformative leaders in history like Gandhiji, Eleanor Roosevelt, etc have been introverts. These people describe themselves as being quiet, shy, and soft-spoken. Susan Cain, the author of the 2012 non-fiction book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, says that when it comes to leadership, introverts are routinely passed over for leadership position. This is because introverts tends to be very careful, and much less likely to take outsize risks, both of which are favourable qualities required for these positions.

We need a classroom with teachers who are able to identify the students and teach accordingly. Apart from teaching students to work on their own, schools need to teach the students to work together as a group. Space should be given to both introverts and extroverts. They should be encouraged to come back with their own ideas which they generate by their own unique means. It is important for teachers to stop using negative labels for introversion. Failure to respond, and preference to work alone are often wrongly understood as problem cases. We must recognize their identity rather than force them to alter their personality! They might not always raise their hand when asked a question or respond as expected, but introverts are more of active listeners, which is a vital part of participation. As teachers, we want all our students to feel confident, so we have to provide them the vehicle for self expression. This could be through non-traditional modes of assessment such as painting, writing, chart-making, and thus provide them a tool for coping.

To support my views, here is my experience as a teacher where I’ve come across different kinds of students. Being part of our college’s mentoring programme, my mentees are mostly introverts.

They are shy, reserved, aloof from the group, and whenever we had a group mentoring session, it always ended up with me being the active participant. When I approached them asking how they would want the session to be conducted, surprisingly they told me that they would prefer a one-on-one session. Following their requests we had few sessions and it was an absolute success. The common problem my introverted mentees faced was expressing their ideas, giving presentations, and conversing with their classmates(their socializing skills). Many times, they are down and depressed, and tell me how difficult it is for them to socialize and be understood by their fellow mates and teachers. I found a way to solve this problem by providing them with an environment for socializing with a friend with a similar temperament. It’s a relief for introverts to find other introverts with whom they share interests. They are now much happier, and more adjustable individuals with the capacity to never give up. The key here is to maximize the environment favourable for different spectrums of students so as to optimize their talent and excel in life.

“Degree of Thought is a weekly community column initiated by Tetso College in partnership with The Morung Express. Degree of Thought will delve into the social, cultural, political and educational issues around us. The views expressed here do not reflect the opinion of the institution. Tetso College is a NAAC Accredited UGC recognised Commerce and Arts College.

For feedback or comments please email: admin@tetsocollege.org”.

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.

wednesdAY 02•12•2015

INDIA

8

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

HIV Orphans in India Struggle with the Disease and for Their Future Malini Shankar

Inter Press Service

A

lready 15 million people are accessing life-saving HIV treatment, according to UNAIDS. New HIV infections have been reduced by 35 per cent since 2000 and AIDS-related deaths have been reduced by 42 per cent since the peak in 2004.

As the globe marks World AIDS Day, December 1, experts say still there is much to do to end the spread of HIV and Aids.

Ending the Aids epidemic is part of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, to be reached by 2030.

UNAIDS says Asia and the Pacific have the second largest population of people living with HIV, at an estimated 4.8 million [4.1 million–5.5 million] people.

Figures for India are difficult to pin down as there is a wide gap in data collection and dissemination.

According to a UNAIDS Gap report from 2014 said India has the third largest HIV epidemic in the world.

In 2013, HIV prevalence in India was an estimated 0.3%.

This equates to 2.1 million people living with HIV. In the same year, an estimated 130,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses.

India’s HIV epidemic is slowing down with a 19 per cent decline in new HIV infections, 130,000 in 2013, and a 38% decline in AIDSrelated deaths between 2005 and 2013. Despite this, 51 per cent of deaths in Asia are in India.

Children living with HIV face tremendous chal-

Students wait for their face paint to dry before an AIDS awareness rally inside a school on the eve of World AIDS Day, in Chandigarh, November 30. (REUTERS)

lenges. IPS correspondent Malini Shankar spent time with some of these children in Bangalore and this is what they shared with her: Dr. Ashok Rau, the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Trustee of the Freedom Foundation in Bangalore said, spending time with these children “certainly helps, if done in a very sensitive way, because children and people living with HIV and AIDS still suffer from stigma and discrimination with social acceptance still very poor.”

Neethi, 12, is new to the Freedom Foundation orphanage and is still feeling the difficulty of the transition. “I am studying in the 6th Standard (grade).

I was 2 ½-years-old when my mother died. I do not

remember her face either.

She died of HIV/AIDS. No I do not know how old she was or if she had it first or Dad had it first. After my mother’s death my father left me in the care of my maternal grandparents.”

She described how her father remarried and his second wife also had HIV. She went to live with them but she said she entered a hostile environment. She said at some point after her mother died, she was diagnosed with HIV. “In the hospital I was admitted to the female paediatric ward. I had been put on a drip and my hand was swollen. So my dad was feeding me the evening supper. At 8.00p.m. the hospital staff sent my father packing because visit-

ing hours were over. He was made to sit outside and my dad asked my step mother to feed me because no men were allowed to stay in the female paediatric ward. But my step mother refused to feed me and instead she took it and ate it herself,” said Neethi.

After this Neethi’s father decided to move her to the Freedom Foundation.

“My father realised that my step mother was ill-treating and abusing me. My father brought me here and admitted me here. He is still alive, he visits me, showers me love, and calls me once a week. I am desperate and I crave for love because I feel the world does not care for people like me, counsellors tell me to be brave and to face the world.”

Hamsini, 16, is fighting

hard to come to terms with her future. Her father died a decade ago and her mother six years ago. “I did not know that my parents were HIV-positive. It was when my younger sister too succumbed to HIV that I was tested. It was not known for sure if I was HIV-positive because the test results were not conclusive.”

She described the stigma attached to the disease and how she suffered. “After my parents and sister died, I was being stigmatised and discriminated, emotionally abused and insulted by relatives. I felt confounded at this new reality. Then I was brought here to Freedom Foundation and about three years ago when the tests confirmed that I too am HIV-positive.”

India restores govt funding for AIDS programme after criticism

NEW DELHI, DEcEmbEr 1 (rEutErs): India will fully fund its AIDS control programme federally, the health minister said on Tuesday, restoring support months after it was criticised for slashing its contribution and asking individual states to fill the gap.

India's globally-lauded AIDS programme has been in disarray since last year due to payment delays that worsened after Prime Minister Narendra Modi slashed the federal budget in February by a fifth and asked states to pitch in.

Several states complained of lack of clarity about how much they need to contribute and payment delays have left thousands of health workers unpaid and hampered prevention activities.

He a l t h Mi n i s t e r J.P.Nadda said Modi had

decided the expenses incurred in running the nationwide programme will be borne by New Delhi, effectively restoring the earlier funding arrangement.

"We can't be complacent ... the government of India is very serious on this issue," Nadda said while addressing a gathering on the occasion of World AIDS Day in New Delhi.

It was not immediately clear whether the budget cut would be restored, but an official at the National AIDS Control Organisation said they were in talks with the finance ministry.

The United Nations envoy for AIDS in Asia and the Pacific told Reuters in October new HIV infections in India could rise for the first time in more than a decade, as

states were mismanaging the prevention programme.

Government data released on Tuesday showed 86,000 new HIV infections were recorded in 2015, compared to 128,000 in 2007, but the rate of decline has slowed.

"The slowdown identified in the rate of decrease of new HIV infections in last few years is a key issue," the government said in a statement.

"The current estimates highlight key challenges that will need to be addressed with urgency."

India's AIDS programme has been largely successful -- estimates showed HIV prevalence during 2007-15 declined from 0.34 percent to 0.26 percent among adults, while annual HIV-related deaths declined by more than half to 67,000.

Basavalinga, 15, comes from Gulbarga one of the northernmost districts in the state of Karnataka.

“I came to the Freedom Foundation orphanage in 2009. My father died of HIV/AIDS in 2005 and my Mother died of HIV/AIDS in 2007. But I remember in 2004 when I was only four years old, someone had come and told me that I was suffering from an incurable disease. My parents took me to someone who branded me on my stomach with a hot iron rod. The scars are still there,” he said.

“After both my parents succumbed to HIV/AIDS my uncles were taking care of me, but they started illtreating me and discriminating me among other children. That is when I sensed

that something was wrong.

In 2007 I was tested for HIV and it was positive but my uncles took care of me till 2009 and that was when I was brought to Freedom Foundation orphanage. “ Tejas and his 14-year old brother Tarun come from Malur in Kolar district near Bangalore. Their entire family was hit hard by the disease. Both have been at the Freedom Foundation for six years. Tarun is not sure if he is HIV positive.

“But my younger brother Tarun is HIV-positive. My father had three wives and he had two sons with each of his three wives but all my parents are now dead and gone, they all died of HIV/ AIDS. I do not know if my stepbrothers are also HIVpositive,” he said.

Ashok Rau, the Freedom Foundation’s CEO told IPS, “Children need school fees, books, uniforms for effective integration. The criterion of seamless integration is education and life skills besides medication and effective counselling; many have got married and are living productive lives as young adults.”

“Our counselling and support for integration has had some amazing success stories: some of our HIV orphans have gotten married, some others are working in leading multinationals, and corporate sector; it vindicates the need for education, training in life skills and mainstreaming these orphans.” Rau said funds are badly-needed to keep the orphanage going.

India's 'real dirt' lies in minds, Heavy rains disrupt normal life in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry needs a clean-up: President

AHmEDAbAD, DEcEmbEr 1 (IANs): President Pranab Mukherjee here on Tuesday exhorted people to go strongly with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swachh Bharat Mission but ensure the society was first cleansed from within as evinced by Mahatma Gandhi through his life.

"The real dirt of India lies not in our streets, but in our minds and in our unwillingness to let go of views that divide society into them and us; and pure and impure," said President Mukherjee, who inaugurated here a new Archives and Research Centre at the Sabarmati Ashram as well as addressed the 62nd convocation of Gujarat Vidyapeeth founded by Mahtama Gandhi in 1920.

"We must make a success of the laudable and welcome Swachh Bharat Mission. However, this also must be seen as just the beginning of a much

larger and intense effort to cleanse minds and fulfil Gandhiji's vision in all its aspects," he said.

An many as 24 doctorates, 49 Masters in Philosophy, 405 post-graduates, 369 graduates degrees and 59 post-graduate diplomas were awarded at the convocation.

Speaking on the occasion, Mukherjee said, "Gandhiji propounded the principle of Nai Talim for social reconstruction which states that knowledge and work are not separate. The constituents of Nai Talim are the three H: Heart, Hand and Head. To put this philosophy into practice, Gandhiji promoted an academic curriculum of 'basic education for all'."

Mukherjee explained Mahatma Gandhi made the beginning from Gujarat and the Vidyapeeth.

"With ashram shalas and buniyadi schools operating in the remote areas,

Gujarat is perhaps the only state where Nai Talim exists in an institutional form. Nai Talim infers charitra nirman or character building, whose relevance is increasing by the day. Learning with value-orientation must guide our approach in education," the President said.

Pointing out that Swatch Mission and Nai Talim worked complimentary to each other, Mukherje said, "Gujarat Vidyapeeth provides education aimed at building character, competence, culture and conscientiousness in students.

This is needed to regenerate the country according to Gandhian ideals".

"Despite growing urbanisation, 68 percent of the country's population still resides in rural areas.

Intervention in food security, education, skill development, employment, technology dissemination, health and nutrition, hous-

ing, drinking water and sanitation would go a long way to uplift the quality of rural life and address poverty concerns," he said.

Mukherjee said students of Gujarat Vidyapeeth are trained to support rural development in line with Gandhi's vision.

"They keep the campus clean through their own labour, and the Vidyapeetth educates students in charkha and computer with equal enthusiasm and students are imbibed with the spirit of 'dignity of labour'."

The President said such traditions in community life are not built in a day.

"It must be our endeavour to proliferate this noble practice. Swachh Bharat, according to Bapu, implied a clean mind, clean body and clean environment.

Every citizen has a duty to create a clean external and internal environment of self and society to make Swachh Bharat possible."

cHENNAI, DEcEmbEr 1 (PtI): Heavy rains, on Tuesday, lashed parts of Tamil Nadu -- including Chennai -- and neighbouring Puducherry, disrupting scheduled flights and inundating several areas.

The weather office has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on Wednesday as well, especially over the northern districts of Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram.

“The trough of low pressure now lies over southwest Bay adjoining Sri Lanka off Tamil Nadu,” officials at the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) told PTI. Under its influence, widespread rains are expected across the state on Wednesday, with the possibility of “scattered heavy to isolated very heavy rainfall over coastal districts,” officials said.

The weather office forecast “isolated extremely heavy rainfall” for Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur which have been already been facing the brunt

Don't learn lessons in intolerance from Pak: Rahul to Modi

NEW DELHI, DEcEmbEr 1 (IANs): Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being silent on incidents of intolerance, and asked him not to learn "wrong lessons" from Pakistan, which according to him has failed as the neighbouring country's leaders crush the voices inconvenient to them.

"India is successful because we have given our people the space to talk. We have been peaceful because we have embraced our people and let them be part of the conversation. Our greatest strength is our tolerance," Gandhi said while taking part in a debate in the Lok Sabha on intolerance.

"They (Pakistan) have failed because their leaders crush the voices that are inconvenient to them.

Their biggest weakness is their intolerance. Let us not learn wrong lessons from

them," he added.

Gandhi also asked the prime minister to start listening to the people.

"Will the prime minister start to listen to the voice of our people? Or will he stand by and watch as his colleagues trample on the voice of this country.

"Will he simply place the Constitution on an elephant and walk in front? Or will he do his job and defend what it stands for? Will he let our beautiful India continue to sing? Or does he think he can condemn our nation to silence?" Gandhi asked.

Gandhi accused Minister of State of External Affairs V.K. Singh of challenging the Constitution with his remarks on the killing of two Dalit children in Haryana. "He called Dalit children dogs. He directly challenged the Constitution by equating Dalit children with dogs. How does the prime minister allow him to con-

tinue (in the council of ministers)?" Gandhi asked.

V.K. Singh triggered a huge row in October when he citing the example of a dog's stoning while commenting on the burning of two Dalit children in a Haryana village. He later said he was misunderstood. Gandhi said Modi did not speak on incidents such as the lynching of a Muslim man in Uttar Pradesh and the killing of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar in Maharashtra.

"Mohd. Akhlaq was killed in cold blood because he was a Muslim.

Dabholkar, Pansare and Kalburgi are shot dead in cold blood by fanatics. The man ultimately responsible for their protection remains silent," he said.

Gandhi also took a dig at Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for his "manufactured protest" remarks against those who returned

their awards over rising intolerance. "Do you think people like Narayanmurthy, Raghuram Rajan and P.M Bhargava have nothing better to do then to manufacture protest against you?

They are saying it because they are disturbed like millions of people in this country," Gandhi said.

"Give them the respect of trying to understand what disturbs them. Don't brush people aside. Go and listen to them," he urged.

India will remain tolerant: Rajnath Singh Meanwhile, "India is, was, and will be tolerant", Home Minister Rajnath Singh asserted in parliament on Tuesday. Replying to a debate in the Lok Sabha on the situation arising out of incidents of intolerance in the country, he said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government was being targeted in the

name of intolerance.

"There have been attacks in the name of intolerance. We are not tolerant due to pressure from somebody but it's in our culture," he told the Lok Sabha, adding that anybody trying to disturb peace in the country would be dealt with strongly. The union minister said the subject of the debate is "dangerous and self-destroying". "This subject is dangerous and selfdestroying. What kind of message are we sending to the world? This allegation is not against the government but against Indian society," the home minister said.

At the same time, Rajnath Singh asked the opposition parties to "honour the mandate the NDA government has got". Earlier in the day, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju declared that despite belonging to a minority community, he never feared anything.

Parts of Tamil Nadu, including Chennai, and neighbouring Puducherry, disrupted by heavy rainfall.

of the northeast monsoon since last month.

Education institutes in the rainfall-affected areas were also closed on Tuesday due to heavy downpour, officials said.

In Chennai, people found it tough to make it to their workplaces on time with the incessant rainfall resulting in water-logging in several areas. Many of them opted to travel by

state government buses, suburban train services and metro trains.

Most roads were left in a damaged state, with motorists finding it hard to navigate through potholes.

At Adyar, a part of the road near the Madhya Kailash intersection had caved in on Monday, prompting authorities to redirect traffic from the busy stretch.

Flight operations also

took a hit due to the inclement weather. Airport officials said one flight, which left Colombo this morning, had to return.

Puducherry -- where the downpour has not ceased since last night -recorded 15.2cm rain in the last 24 hours ending at 0830 hours on Tuesday, disrupting normal life and forcing educational institutes to remain shut.

Volkswagen to recall 323,000 diesel cars in India: govt official

NEW DELHI, DEcEmbEr 1 (rEutErs): Volkswagen AG's Indian unit has agreed to recall 323,000 diesel cars, starting this month, for violating the country's anti-pollution norms, a senior government official said on Tuesday.

In November, India found cars made

by Volkswagen's local business had violated nitrogen oxide emissions norms.

The government found significantly

higher variation in some of Volkswagen's and sister brand Audi's diesel cars.

Ambuj Sharma, additional secretary in the ministry of heavy industries, said on Tuesday that the vehicles to be recalled by Volkswagen would include Audi and Skoda cars. A Volkswagen Group India spokesman declined immediate comment but said the company will issue a statement shortly.

Jharkhand declared drought affected rANcHI, DEcEmbEr 1 (IANs): The Jharkhand government on Tuesday said it had decided to declare the entire state as drought affected and would ask the central government for relief.

"The state cabinet decided to declare the entire state as drought affected. The state government will make representation before central government for relief," N.N. Paney, additional chief secretary and in charge of the cabinet department, told reporters.

The state government would invite a central team to assess the situation and

provide relief to the state government, he said. Scanty rainfall this year affected Jharkhand's agricultural yield, particularly paddy.

The state cabinet also agreed to call the assembly session from December 15 which will end on December 22.

Other cabinet decisions included increasing to Rs 3 crore the annual Local Area Fund of a legislator with Rs 50 lakh to be utilised for making toilets and provision of two milch cows to women living Below Poverty Line (BPL) with a subsidy of 90 per cent.

WednesdaY 02•12•2015

WORLD

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

9

Myanmar: HIV patients shunned despite the progress in treatment LONDON, December 1 (ThOmsON reuTers FOuNDaTiON): Shortly after Cho's husband passed away at his parent's home his family called to tell her he had died of AIDS and said she should get tested.

Cho vividly remembers rushing to a clinic in the sweltering heat to get a blood test. She breathed a sigh of relief when it came out negative.

But then she started losing weight and began falling ill more often. In September, the former market stallholder went for another HIV test. It was positive.

"As soon as I found out I had HIV, I felt really sad as well as upset," the 43-yearold said, wiping tears from her cheeks.

Within two days, she had admitted herself to a clinic and hospice for HIV patients founded by a member of parliament from the National League for Democracy (NLD). Her family, who live in the impoverished Hlaing Thar Yar township in Myanmar's main city Yangon, did not want her to live with them.

Although the virus cannot be transmitted by day-to-day contact, they feared she would infect her younger sister's child.

They support her financially, but would rather she never came home, said Cho, whose name has been changed to protect her identity.

"My 21-year-old daughter has not come to visit me once since I arrived here, but at least she speaks to me on the phone, so it's

not bad," she told Myanmar Now, an independent news service supported by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. The hospice is home to nearly 300 patients, many with similar stories of rejection.

Myanmar has one of the highest rates of HIV infection in Asia. Under reforms by a semi-civilian government since 2011, access to medication has improved compared to a few years ago when cash-strapped clinics had to turn patients away.

Some 210,000 people in Myanmar live with HIV/ AIDS, of whom around 160,000 need life-saving antiretroviral treatment (ART) based on World Health Organization guidelines, according to aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).

There is no official data on the proportion of patients with access to ART. MSF, long the main provider of HIV treatment in the Southeast Asian nation, says it currently gives ART to 35,000 HIV patients. Treatment is also becoming available at more state hospitals.

"Now you can get ART in government-run hospitals in many states and regions," MSF doctor Soe Yadanar said ahead of World AIDS Day on Dec. 1. Yet the stigma faced by people living with HIV lingers. shuNNeD Ignorance and fear surrounding the HIV virus which causes AIDS are among the many challenges that will face Myanmar's new government, elected

Number of AIDS deaths among young Asians doubles over past decade: U.N.

A nurse tests a blood sample during a free HIV test at a blood tests party, part of a campaign to prevent HIV infection among male same-sex couples, in Bangkok, Thailand.

(Reuters Photo/File)

on Nov. 8, in overhauling a neglected health system and changing attitudes fed by misinformation and a conservative culture.

A 48-year-old mother from Ayeyarwady Region has a similar tale to Cho. She says her community shunned her family when their HIV status came to light three years ago.

"Since I got HIV, nobody asked me to work at their homes any more," said the woman, a labourer who looks much older than her years.

She and her five-yearold son, also HIV positive, survive on fruits and vegetables from their garden.

"Without a job, we don't have money. Sometimes it's really difficult to find

food," she said.

Like Cho, the woman only discovered she and her son had HIV after her husband died and a friend who was worried about her health took her to a clinic.

The boy has little idea of his condition except that he needs to take regular medication, his mother said. But his friends at kindergarten seem to know. "My friends never ask me to join them when they're playing. They stop playing if I'm included," he said.

MSF's Soe Yadanar said much of the stigma is linked to a lack of knowledge about HIV, and poor families not having anyone to care for people living with HIV. "We've seen cases where if someone looking

after a patient with HIV dies while the patient is unwell, other people don't want to take care of the person with HIV anymore," she said.

Soe Yadanar added that while access to ART is becoming easier, there are still challenges in delivering treatment because of a shortage of staff, particularly doctors.

For Cho, who is now on ART, taking care of her health and diet is her main focus.

But she has no illusions that her family will ever accept her again. "My daughter is worried that if she gets married, her husband would use my condition against her," she said. "So I think I'm going to spend whatever time that is left of my life in this hospice."

BANGKOK, DecemBer 1 (ThOmsON reuTers FOuNDATiON): The estimated number of adolescents dying of AIDS in the Asia Pacific region has more than doubled since 2005, experts said on Monday, warning of a "hidden epidemic".

UNICEF urged Asian countries to improve teenagers' access to testing, saying many young people do not know their HIV status because of parental consent requirements for tests.

The Asia Pacific region has made enormous strides against HIV/AIDS in the adult population, with a 31 percent drop in new HIV infections between 2000 and 2014, and 28 percent decline in AIDS-related deaths between 2005 and 2014.

However, one in seven new infections in the region last year was among 15 to 19-year-olds, and the estimated number of AIDS-related deaths for adolescents aged 10 to 19 has shot up 110 percent to 6,600 in 2014, from 3,100 in 2005, a U.N. report said on Monday.

At-risk adolescent groups include gay and transgender youth, injecting drug users, and people who buy and sell sex.

"This is the first, definitive report on adolescents - teenagers between 10 and 19," said Wing-Sie Cheng, UNICEF regional adviser on HIV and AIDS. "This report has been a culmination of more than two years of efforts to try to get all available data to help us understand the picture of the epidemic facing them. We're talking about a hidden epidemic."

The report said an estimated 50,000 adolescents aged 15 to 19 were infected with HIV last year.

Across the region, an estimated 220,000 youths between 10 and 19 are living with HIV, with cities such as Bangkok, Hanoi and Jakarta being the "hubs of new infections", it said.

The 10 hardest hit countries are India, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, China, Cambodia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Pakistan.

But the report said it is likely that less than a third of HIV-positive adolescents receive life-prolonging antiretroviral therapy.

Surveillance in the region is problematic because in many countries teenagers are not allowed to get HIV tests unless their parents sign consent forms.

Only 10 Asia Pacific countries allow young people to access HIV testing and related services without parental permission.

"Many do not want their parents to know that they've had sex. That puts a barrier between them and testing," Wing-Sie said. "If they are turned away from testing, they may be carrying the HIV virus without knowing."

Niluka Perera, project officer for the Youth Voices Count network for young gay men and transgender people, called for greater use of social media, apps, smartphones and tablets to reach young people.

The Asia Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health (Apcom), which launched a drive in Bangkok last year to encourage young gay men to get tested, announced last week that it had received a £795,195 ($1.19 million) grant from the UK-based Elton John AIDS Foundation to expand the campaign to cities in Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

China or India: Difficult choice Thatcher voted most influential woman of past 200 years for new Myanmar government Amitava Mukherjee IANS

Even as the Aung San Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy (NLD) is expected to form a new government in Myanmar, China has lost no time in diagnosing the import of the party's victory and is all set to recalibrate its policy towards the country to steal a march over India towards gaining a deeper strategic depth in this ASEAN nation.

China's standpoint became clear when Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in the middle of November that his country expects Myanmar to continue its friendly relations with Beijing although a new dispensation is set to emerge in Naypyidaw. China has reasons to feel uncomfortable as Suu Kyi has close personal bonds with India.

General Aung San, her father and the legendary Burmese liberation hero, enjoyed close personal relationship with the Indian political leadership.

Suu Kyi herself spent a good amount of her life in Delhi. She studied first in the Jesus and Mary Convent and then in Lady Shri Ram college.

Because of this fact, China had extended her a warm reception in Beijing in June when President Xi Jinping had met her, breaking protocol.

The ground reality is that China is way ahead of India in matters of strategic depth in Myanmar. In a classic example

of establishing relationships with the Indian Ocean littoral states, China has recently constructed two pipelines originating at Kyaukpyu in Myanmar and terminating in Kunming for transporting oil and gas. The purpose is to lessen reliance on the route passing through the Malacca Strait. Given Myanmar's strategic importance in South Asia, China has been constantly increasing its economic footprint in the country. Last year China's cumulative foreign direct investment in Myanmar stood at $14 billion. Bilateral trade reached $6 billion in 2013 while the corresponding figure for India-Myanmar trade was around $2 billion.

Most probably, any government led

by Suu Kyi will try to maintain a balance in its relations with the two Asian giants.

But the task for her will be difficult because while China acts, India deliberates and dithers. A tell-tale example of this is the Kaladan Multi-modal Transport Project which envisages connectivity between the Indian ports in the east and Myanmar's Sittwe port - along with river and road connectivity with Mizoram. The project was scheduled to be completed in 2013, but is delayed due to slow river engineering works.

In spite of delays in some Indiasponsored projects the race for leverage over Myanmar is going to be intense and interesting. New Delhi has worked out high speed data links in

32 cities of Myanmar and several Indian companies like ESSAR, GAIL and ONGC Videsh Ltd. have invested in the country's energy sector. Most importantly, India has extended duty-free tariff preference to Myanmar. It is true that compared to China, India's trade with Myanmar has been showing a tardy trend. But from a paltry $12.4 million in 1981 to a little more than $2 billion in 2013 is certainly not bad progress.

Moreover, the balance of trade is in favour of Myanmar by 4:1. It mostly exports to India primary agricultural products like beans, pulses and forest products while India sends pharmaceutical products, steel and iron goods, electrical machinery, mineral oil, and rubber products, among others.

But India's concern should lie in the development and utilization of the huge energy reserves that Myanmar possesses. The country has the world's biggest gas reserves - estimated to be more than 90 trillion cubic feet. Myanmar has apportioned the job of exploration and development of oil and gas fields to companies of various countries like the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), Daewoo (South Korea), Itera(Russia), ONGC Videsh and GAIL (India), among others. In the same vein, Myanmar chose China, instead of India, for supplying 6.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas for 30 years beginning from 2005.

LONDON, DecemBer 1 (reuTers): Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is the most influential woman of the past 200 years, according to a survey of Britons published on Tuesday which showed men place a higher value on political influence than women do.

Thatcher, who was Britain's first - and, so far, only - woman prime minister, led her Conservative party to three election victories, governing from 1979 to 1990, the longest continuous term in office for a British premier in over 150 years. She died in April 2013.

Thatcher's policies on trade unions, privatisation and the Falklands war left Britain bitterly divided over her legacy, and the survey by British pensions and insurance firm Scottish Widows highlighted the depth of her influence in the country.

With 28 percent of the vote, Thatcher beat scientist Marie Curie into second place with 24 percent.

They were followed by the Queen with 18 percent, Diana, princess of Wales with

In this file photo a delegate holds a portrait of Margaret Thatcher during a tribute to the former conservative prime minister. (Reuters Photo/File)

17 percent and women's rights campaigner Emmeline Pankhurst with 16 percent.

Nun Mother Teresa, British nurse Florence Nightingale, Queen Victoria, U.S. civil rights activist Rosa Parks and U.S. television host Oprah Winfrey made up the rest of the top 10 most influential women.

The results show that royal women are considered more influential than innovators, scientists and politicians, Scottish Widows said.

Scottish Widows, founded in 1815 to support women widowed in the Napoleonic Wars, sought to uncover the factors that people perceive make a women influential.

It found men were more likely than women to equate female influence with political activity. A third of men and only a quarter of women chose Margaret Thatcher as the most influential woman overall.

Women were also more likely to emphasis values such as 'demonstrating

strong principles and values', 'being strong-willed and driven' and 'having compassion' as being important, whereas men were more likely to stress values such as 'having charisma' and 'having talent'.

"The difference that exists between men and women over what makes a women influential is interesting – it suggests that women believe influence comes from a woman's internal values and drive – i.e. from decisions that they can make about how to be, rather than from characteristics they possess – and men emphasise the opposite," said historian and author Suzannah Lipscomb.

The survey of 2,000 respondents also found that younger people were more likely to value ambition as a factor in women having influence, with 27 percent of 18-24 year olds choosing this as a key attribute, versus just 9 percent of 55-64 year olds.

Older people put more emphasis on compassion, with 25 percent of over65s choosing this attribute compared with 16 percent of 18-24 year olds.

After leaders’ rhetoric, climate negotiators start work on deal ‘Shortage of supplies in Nepal PARIS, DecembeR 1 (ReuteRS): With encouragement from 150 world leaders ringing in their ears, government negotiators in Paris were on Tuesday left to turn the rhetoric into reality and agree a draft text of a global deal to slow climate change.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping made common cause on Monday with other countries to stress the urgency of an agreement to slow a rise in global temperatures blamed for spurring floods, heat waves and rising sea levels.

But as the leaders left Paris, negotiators from 195 countries were left to work on a draft text of more than 50 pages still riddled with disagreements.

The main sticking point is how to come up with the billions of dollars needed to finance the cleaner energy sources that are badly needed if emerging countries are to develop without relying heavily on fossil fuels.

Many delegates said the large turnout at the U.N. climate summit in Paris, weeks after attacks by Islamic State militants killed 130 people, was a sign of hope after the last summit collapsed in failure in 2009 in Copenhagen amid rancour between rich and poor nations.

French President Francois Hollande said he was encouraged by the start of talks that are planned to run until Dec. 11.

"It's set off well but it has to arrive too," he told reporters.

He said there were "two reefs.

Either we overload the vessel and it sinks or we empty it and it goes nowhere."

The technical talks repeated little of Monday's grand language. Countries restated their negotiating positions with few hints of likely compromise.

China's delegate Su Wei "noted with concern" what he called a lack of commitment by the rich to make deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions and

help developing nations with "Leaders still have the scars new finance to tackle global of Copenhagen on their hearts warming. and brains," Yvo de Boer, who was the U.N.'s climate chief in NiTTY GriTTY Copenhagen, said.

"It's back to the nitty gritty," "The fact that so many leadsaid Alden Meyer, of the Union ers came back here on the openof Concerned Scientists, adding ing day to send encouragement the opening day was "all good ... is a sign that they really want but that does not resolve the to move," he said. crunch issues."

A deal in Paris would be by "It is still a text with many far the strongest ever agreed to options," Peruvian Environ- bind both rich and poor nations ment Minister Manuel Pulgar to limit greenhouse gas emisVidal told Reuters, adding with sions, which scientists say have a shrug "but everybody has blanketed the earth, raised global shown their commitment to temperatures and begun upendhave an agreement." ing the planet's climate system.

The mood was brightened Liz Gallagher, of the Lonby major announcements in- don-based E3G environmental cluding a plan by India and think-tank, said the opening France to mobilise $1 trillion day had "made an agreement for solar power for some of the more likely". world's poorest people and a But she said the biggest gap private sector initiative led by was over climate finance. DevelMicrosoft co-founder Bill Gates oping nations want the rich to to mobilise billions of dollars pledge rising amounts beyond for new energy research and the current goal of $100 billion development. a year by 2020 to help them ob-

tain clean energy sources and adapt to the effects of climate change, such as more floods, droughts and intense storms.

Other disputes concern how to define a long-term goal for phasing out fossil fuels.

In June, developed nations in the Group of Seven (G7) signed up for a goal of decarbonising the world economy by 2100. China and India say they need to rely on coal to lift millions from poverty and prefer a shift to low-carbon development this century.

So far, pledges made by about 170 countries to curb greenhouse gas emissions beyond 2020, made in the runup to the Paris summit, are too weak to limit rising global temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above preindustrial times. That is widely viewed as a threshold for dangerous and potentially catastrophic changes in the planet's climate system.

threatens children’s life’

uNiTeD NATiONs, DecemBer 1 (iANs): Over three million children under the age of five in Nepal are at the risk of death or disease this winter due to a severe shortage of fuel, food, medicines and vaccines, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has said.

Over the past 10 weeks, vital imports of essential commodities were restricted at Nepal's southern border due to unrest over the country's new constitution, Xinhua reported.

The government's regional medical stores have already run out of vaccines against tuberculosis, while stocks of other vaccines and antibiotics are critically low, Monday's report said.

UNICEF cautioned that children still recovering from earthquakes in April and May could be the worst hit.

Earlier this month, UN Secretary-General Ban Kimoon expressed his growing concern over the blocking of essential supplies on the Nepal-India border, and called on all sides to lift these restrictions without further delay.

Over 200,000 families affected by the tremors are still living in temporary shelters, at an altitude above 1,500 metres where weather conditions would be harsh in winters.

Fears are also growing that the rising dependence on firewood because of the fuel crisis is increasing indoor pollution, which in turn could lead to a spike in cases of pneumonia.

Last year over 800,000 children under five suffered from this condition in Nepal and around 5,000 died, UNICEF said.

10

wednesdAY 02•12•2015

public discourse

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Nagaland conundrum: Are separatist groups Disability & Image of God collecting taxes or running extortion rackets?

Separatist groups claim they need to collect money to run their parallel governments. The government of India calls it a law and order problem Ipsita Chakravarty

I

Scroll.in

n Nagaland, two words are interchangeable: taxation and extortion.

Naga separatist groups operating in the region collect money. What name you give it depends on what you think of these groups.

This interchangeability of terms is eloquent – it speaks of the political limbo that the state has been trapped in for decades now.

The issue of extra-legal payments hit the headlines two years ago, when widespread protests broke out in the state. In May 2013, representatives of the Dimapur Chamber of Commerce complained to the Dimapur Naga Council, a social organisation in which all the tribes in Dimapur district are represented. The burden of multiple payments to underground groups had become unbearable, they said; it was choking businesses and crippling the market.

The Dimapur Naga Council called a meeting where business communities, student bodies, and social organisations like the Naga Women’s Hoho were in attendance. They declared themselves against such “injustice”, and formed the Action Committee Against Unabated Taxation, or ACAUT. (Today, the acronym stands for Against Corruption and Unabated Taxation, to reflect the group’s expanded sphere of activities.)

Back in 2013, ACAUT took to the streets demanding “one government, one tax”. All major tribal groups in Nagaland, including the Nagas, are listed as scheduled tribes under the Constitution, and are exempt from income tax under Section 10(26) of the Income Tax Act. But ACAUT was not referring to taxes levied by the state or Union government – it was protesting multiple payments made to different factions, and demanding one tax levied by one rebel government.

“Let me make this very clear – ACAUT is a mass movement and not an anti-national movement,” said Khekaghu Muru, co-chairman of ACAUT. “We are not against parallel governments raising tax, but it has to be one tax.

We believe that if we stop paying multiple taxes, the Naga political groups will listen to the voice of the people and will unify.”

The ACAUT protests, the first of its kind, opened up a new conversation on the legitimacy of the demands made by underground groups.

Taxation: ‘We are running a government’ Since its formation in 1980, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland has split into four different factions. Then there is the Naga National Council, which is divided broadly into two factions: Accordist and Non-Accordist.

Most of these factions run their own governments, from their respective headquarters.

Two of these groups are based near Dima-

pur. At Hebron, the NSCN (Isak-Muivah) runs the National Socialist Council of NagalandGovernment of the People’s Republic of Nagalim, or NSCN-GPRN. At Khehoi, the NSCN (Konyak-Kitovi) operates the Government of the People’s Republic of Nagalim-Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (Konyak-Kitovi), or the GPRN-NSCN. Both groups are candid about their tax collection. They are running a revolutionary government, they say, and any government needs money. Both claim to be a “people’s movement” mandated by the Naga public.

Khehoi takes annual "donations". “We go to business houses once a year,” said an NSCN(KK) leader. “We can’t survive without donations.”

Hebron operates a more elaborate system. A member of the Naga Army stationed at Hebron recalls that before the ceasefire was signed, when Hebron fought a guerrilla war from the jungles, people from nearby villages supported and protected them. The guerrillas lived on whatever the villagers provided – a bushel of rice, a bag of salt…

After the ceasefire, a formal system of taxation was put in place. These are not random sums extracted at whim. “We tax trucks coming in with goods from Assam or Manipur,” said a functionary at Hebron. “Sometimes we charge the tax at the stations. We have flat rates for every item. We also take an annual house tax from villagers. The amount is nominal – Rs 100-200 a year.” The so-called finance ministry operates the system and keeps accounts.

Of course, a government that collects taxes is expected to provide services in return. “No, that hasn’t happened yet,” said the official, after some hesitation. “We are in the revolutionary stage.

That will happen when the settlement comes.”

He was referring to the framework peace agreement signed between the government and the NSCN(IM) on August 3, which is seen as preamble for a peace accord that promises to bring a political settlement to the seven-decade-long Naga insurgency.

Extortion: it’s a law and order problem The ACAUT protests underline how the tendrils of the parallel taxation networks have spread across institutions in Nagaland, drawing in the state and Central government and creating a nexus between separatists, politicians and state employees.

The state government has its own defense.

“The government of India calls it a law and order problem,” said Levi Rengma, a member of the legislative assembly. “But when it signed ceasefires with the NSCN (IM) and other groups, it indirectly recognised these organisations. So now, if the Naga state government tries to intervene, the groups will say, ‘Who are you?’”

Muru of ACAUT explains how it works.

“Each of these groups has a finance ministry," he said. "These ministries send taxation letters to the various heads of department, accountants and drawing and disbursing officers in the state government. They are told to deduct a particular percentage of money for them [the Naga political group in question] for that financial year. Some state government officials will comply under duress; others have their own interests.”

A state government official might collect more than the amount demanded, for instance, and pocket the difference. “If any state government official is found to be indulging in this, we file an FIR and take legal action," Muru said.

"This practice has now gone down drastically.”

Earlier, each group would demand a deduction of about 24% from the salaries of all state

Hornbill Mania and Christians

T

he Hornbill fest is about to begin. The buzz around this bird festival has been one of the most debated issues among the Christian circles in Nagaland. To put it bluntly, this fest is no more than an idolatrous deification of a bird.

Literally, it has ruined the moral, spiritual and ethical life of so many. But people are asking, “What’s so wrong about a festival in a bird’s name? What’s so idolatrous in organizing shows, cultural dances, entertainments and showbiz? What rituals and rites are being practiced during this festival? Why do religious connotations always arise in such a situation?”

This festival is now slowly overshadowing the celebration of Christmas. The obsession about this festival is creating a Christ-less community in this land. At the moment, Christmas has no more appeal for most Christians. It’s “Hornbill, Hornbill and Hornbill.” This fest is nothing but the celebration at the cost of losing our next generation! It’s all party time. It’s time for our young people to indulge in revelries and merriment. The ten days of trivialities of spectacles and business affairs. It’s time to put the show and once this gets over, we all get back to our old and mundane routine of silly political mayhem and campaigns preparing for the next December.

“Land of Festivals” is what we are tagging ourselves with poor dusty roads, scarcity of water and irregularities of lights.Now people are dancing to the beat of the music and the drums but come tomorrow, we are all dancing to the bumpy roads all over again. When will this circle get over? When will our people rise beyond mere superficialities and stop these shows for once? When will our people rise to tell leaders that this is not what we want for our generation? It’s so disheartening that so much attention has been given to the 10 days fest than for the 10,000 youths that are ruined yearly. It pains to see our people blinded by a festival that has nothing in store for them. Finally, it is so troubling spiritually that this fest might entail in the downfall of our Christianity in Nagaland.

Vebu Khamo, Kohima Bible College

and Central government employees, excepting those in the paramilitary and armed forces.

The deduction was made once a year, and was in addition to the other demands made by the groups. So if four groups made the same demand in a particular area, it could amount to a 96% cut in salary. This practice is now on the wane, Khekaghu says.

ACAUT draws a distinction between such collections and actual extortion. “I don’t think any of the parallel governments would support extortion,” said Muru. “That is carried out only by anti-social elements acting in the name of Naga political groups but drawing money for their own gain. We have filed FIRs against individual cadres, but not against any organisation.”

Harassed police officials agree. Often, local goons claiming to act in the name of some political group extract money. The law, however, does not distinguish between thug and separatist, blackmail by mafia or taxation by a political group. When an FIR is filed, the accused is charged with extortion.

Problem of policing Collections by separatist groups is not new.

The Naga insurgency has been sustained by such practices for decades. However, it became more visible once the ceasefires were signed, and Naga political groups had more freedom in cities like Dimapur and Kohima. Earlier, when the armed groups operated mostly in rural areas, there wasn’t much vocal resistance. “With business communities [in the cities] now feeling the pinch, and with the growing variety of taxes, it started getting noticed,” said Shouka Khaketo, additional commissioner of police for crime, Dimapur.

Several factors combine to make policing difficult – the nexus between the state government and separatist groups, the intimate social ties between separatist cadres and ordinary people who both inhabit close-knit communities, and the conflicting impulses of frustration with parallel taxation and sympathy with the Naga political cause.

“We have to follow certain procedures, function within a judicially recognised framework,” said Khaketo. “People may express their frustrations and resentments in the media and various other platforms but officially, very few have come forward and complained. Until people make a complaint, we cannot make arrests.

Some arrests have been made, where we acted on complaints by people or inputs from intelligence agencies that a taxation drive was taking place somewhere.”

An arrest, however, is merely the beginning – then comes the difficulty of successfully prosecuting such cases. Witnesses turn hostile, complainants do not want to pursue the cases, and courts often let the accused out on bail, making it difficult to track them down later. In Dimapur at least, the ACAUT protests have not led to a spike in the number of complaints. In fact, quite the reverse. “In 2012, we registered 100 cases; in 2013, 65 cases, and in 2014, 75 cases,” said Khaketo. "In 2015, we have just reached the 60 mark."

Meanwhile, the conundrum remains.

When does taxation become extortion, and vice versa? The riddle can be solved only by a political settlement, where the role of Naga political groups and their relationship with the state is more clearly defined. For now, the corruption and factionalism that has crept into the system has delegitimised parallel taxation in many people’s eyes.

“Taxation is extortion,” said Niketu Iralu, a social activist and senior advisor to ACAUT. “Taxes are now being collected by those who are unworthy of the Naga people’s aspirations.”

Everyone wants to make Nagaland better, but participants are few

I

n today’s world, business leads the way.

When we look at the business situation in Nagaland, majority of the Non-locals have occupied the market and Nagas are nowhere to go. In terms of business, our Nagas have become slave to Non locals in our own state. For instance, if there is a festival for Non-local then all the shops will be closed down. Therefore, to rise from slavery to free man in business, one should have to unterstand that it is not only the duty of a particular local business man but it is the duty of every concerned citizen.

Majority of the Nagas wants to make Nagaland better, and instead of making non-local profit we want to make our Naga people profit; we don’t want the non locals to stay in our state. Then why are they increasing like this? Who brought them? And who led them to stay? We should have to think once: 1. They are becoming rich not because of others but we make them rich; because even if the local shop’s price is even higher by 1 Rupee, the customers prefer to go to a non local shop where they can buy at a cheaper rate. If we cannot sacrifice for one Rupee then how can we believe in the words “we can even sacrifice life for the nation”?

2. And even if the prices are same, one prefer to purchase from a Non-local shop, because they lure us with their sweet words and call us ‘Sir, Madam’ and bows down to us making us happy, but we should realize that, it is the exchange of our rights with their sweet words. We should have to understand that just by listening to their sweet words we are playing the greatest role in making them rich.

Based on the above mentioned points, we should understand that our people must not think of themselves only or the dealers should not speak to the customers in such

a way that it will hurt their sentiments. Taxi drivers or the rickshawalas also must not do extra charging thinking that nobody will say anything. The shopkeepers or the owners should maintain an equal market price with the non local shopkeepers so as to improve and grow their business.

While talking about the problems regarding the Non-locals in our place/state a great man once said, ‘‘we don’t need to work hard or spend so much time thinking if we don’t want to keep them in our state. Don’t let them stay in your rented house, in Nagaland except in Dimapur there is no house that belongs to them. And one thing is that if you have a shop to rent, don’t led them to run there. If we do that, what is there to worry about? Nagas permit them to stay and we make them wealthy.

Your shop/house is old, so Nagas doesn’t wish to stay there. Therefore, just because you want a small amount of money, you rent your house to a non local, which is exactly the same as selling the nation by few amount of money.

Even in Government Offices those concern citizen does not work at all. For those who are in work charge, fax they work very hard, when they are get regularized, they don’t come for work at all and walk their head held high and chest out thinking they own the whole world.

However, we have to recruit Nagas for the government jobs in Nagaland. But since Nagas are lazy unlike the non locals who are very hard working, it will be good if there is a machine where the selected Naga employees will be put into that machine and when they come out they will be like those non locals who are hard working and responsible. The world will be a better place if this kind of machine is invented.

Sentirenba, Kohima

A

Wati Longchar

n important biblical insight that has influenced the life and church is the doctrine of sin and creation of humanity. The presence of persons with physical impairment in society created much debate in the Christian church especially on the question of a perfect God, an imperfect creation and the consequence of sin, etc.

Two positions of the church may be cited here to show the interconnection between disability, sin and exclusion. (1) The concept of sin is differently used in Christian circles. Some theologians speak of `missing the mark’, the other speak of `dethroning God and enthroning self at the centre of one’s life’ etc. But the most crucial issue is: how does the Christian understanding of sin affect the lives of persons with disabilities?A dominant view of physical impairment is that it is the consequence of sin. Even today a majority of Christians would say that it is the consequence of sin, punishment from God and a curse to the family. This belief is further re-imposed by the doctrine of rebirth (karma samsara) in Hinduism and Primal religious belief in evil spirits. This wrong interpretation of disability linking it to sin has caused much damage to persons who live as healthy persons with disabilities. It has become a source of exclusion in society. Classical theologians regarded the “original sin” as the universal and hereditary sinfulness of humans since the Fall of humans.

It is accepted that since all human beings are the descendants of the first couples: Adam and Eve, they all inherited the sin of their parents and then all become sinners. Augustine taught that the original sin is transmitted through sexual act. The original sin has distorted God’s perfect order of creation the consequence of which is imperfect order of creation. Since imperfect creation is the result of sin, they do not come under the scheme of God’s grace. It is a direct consequence of sin and the work of demons: it is a curse and punishment from God. Though the offence the persons with disabilities commit is relatively insignificant and most often they are not even conscious of their so-called misdeeds, many people take it for granted till today that their disability is a manifestation of their own personal or parents’ sin in the past or in this present life. Unfortunately, the church views too seriouslyas sin, social acts like smoking, drinking, or going to movies on Sunday but neglects the sinful acts society commits to disabled people by way of discrimination, prejudice and exclusion that have serious consequences on their lives. This social sin is more serious. There are sufficient proofs that Christian theology of (the original) sin is the root of the denial and exclusion of persons with disabilities in society and church. It gives justification to escape from institutionalized form of social evil. Physical impairment as the work of demons and the consequence of sin has deprived persons with disabilities in church and public life. This wrong notion of the traditional view of sin has not only neglected people’s real life situations, but also affirms the op-

pressive context that does not give direction for transformation of life. This wrong understanding has contributed to exclusion of persons with disabilities from an active involvement in the spiritual, social and developmental life of the church. (2) Throughout the centuries, the churches have never acknowledged that persons with disabilities are created in the image of God. Some theologians exclude them by interpreting `the image of God’ in terms of `perfection’ – perfection which was understood in terms of physical and mental endowment. There is no beauty in the disabled. Any form of disability makes a person less than human – they are not created in the image of God. Some understood this in terms of `rationality’. Persons who cannot articulate do not represent God’s image. Some interpretations focus on the exercise of power. God created humans to exercise power and have dominion over the rest of creation, a capacity into which God invites humans to participate. Since persons with disabilities are not capable of exercising power, they do not reflect God’s image. The others interpreted this in relation to the human capacity for creativity and freedom. Since persons with disabilities cannot exercise creativity and freedom fully, they cannot be counted as full `being’. These are all able people’s interpretations and they do not respect life especially of those who live a healthy life despite physical impairments. The dominant interpretations of sin and the image of God justified extermination of people born with physical impairments. Killing, apart from “imperfect beings” like persons with disabilities, of any person is considered as sin because the human person is precious, created by God in his own image.

The Reformers who held deliberate discharge of semen as a crime were negative towards persons with disabilities. Onan deserved to die, (Gen. 38:8-10) taught Calvin, for the crime of the unproductive discharge of semen. Deliberate spilling of semen outside of intercourse between a man and a woman was considered a crime worthy of death. But in the case of persons with disabilities, Luther and Calvin held them in contempt and justified their removal from society by death as “an act well-pleasing to God”. A person with disabilities represents a distorted image of God and so they are sub-human and so a person does not commit a crime by killing a disabled person.

Discrimination, denial, exclusion at homes, churches and society is rooted on this understanding of God’s structure of creation. It perpetuates people to treat disabled people as inferior not only with respect to their specific physical limitations, but also to their “total being”. They are treated like second-class people, objects-of-charity or even abandoned. Some parents do not give them adequate food, medical treatment and some of them never take them out of their homes. Their presence is considered as a burden, but not as a precious gift. Society makes them absolutely dependent by denying privileges and opportunities in all sectors, including in the church. This is sin and it contradicts Kingdom values.

CHrIstMAs: OVEr 2000 YEArs AGO NOW

C

hristmas! For some it is ‘X-Mas’ where celebration of the birth of Christ seems without His presence. For others it is just a usual programme. For some it is a moment of laughter and enjoyment in the flesh. For others Christmas is an opportunity to enjoy special and high-grade drinks. For some it is just a vacation to be spent outside and freedom from home. And yes, no matter where, for others it is a time when Christ the savior is truly born in the hearts.

It happened in those days that a decree was passed from Augustus the Caesar who ruled the Roman Empire in between 31 BC to AD 14 that the entire world should be registered and the census accounted. Nevertheless, it came to be the right moment when the prophecy which states, “but you, O Bethlehem Ephrata, though you are the least among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting” fulfilled. The Savior of this world called Jesus, the Messiah, the redeemer was born!

‘Christmas’ is a moment when the birth of this Jesus, the Savior, the anointed one is celebrated not just to mark but to magnify. This very season of our savior whispers the minds and feeling of each and everyone. Over 2000 years have been now, but still the approaching Christmas is knocking the hearts of everyone and the echoing whisper has the air filled.

Over 2000 years ago; that ruler of the empire thought that another ruler against his kingdom was born, Over 2000 years ago, the Jews expected that a political king would come to liberate them on this earth. So when the child was born in a manger they could not accept Him as their Lord and king.

Over 2000 years ago and even today; those group of Jews reluctant to accept that the Messiah has come.

Over 2000 years ago, a star appeared in the east with a dazzling significance.

Over 2000 years ago, the magi from the east came to bow and worship the Lord of the wise.

Over 2000 years ago, the heavenly host appeared praising, “glory to God in the highest; and on Earth peace, goodwill to men!”

Over 2000 years ago, the shepherds when they had seen the child, came back spreading about what they had seen.

Over 2000 years ago, Simeon the just and devout took the baby in his arms and praise Jehovah.

Over 2000 years ago, Anna the prophetess spoke of the born savior to all those who look for redemption of Jerusalem.

Over 2000 years ago, king Herod put to death all the male children born in Bethlehem and all its districts from two years old and below.

Over 2000 years ago, a history came into being that God came to this world in the form of man.

Over 2000 years ago and still Christ Jesus lives; whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Over 2000 years ago and even now the voice of the heavenly host, the still voice of the Holy Spirit about the birth of our savior echoes tenderly in the hearts of every Christian all around the world. The birth of our Savior is not a history or a festival alone to be observed and celebrated alone but the living testimony of our living God to be celebrated along. Christmas is all about the Living Jesus Christ who lives in you and me. Christmas is all about Christ in you and me. It is all about making Christ Lord in and over our lives. Christmas is all about letting Christ born in our hearts and enthroning Him over our lives. Christmas is all about sharing Christ to others. Christmas is giving our best for Christ and forgiving others in the name of Christ Jesus. Christmas is all about Christ testimony in us not just today, this season and this year but all through our lives and all through the years.

C. Wongtochingmak, Pastor Chang Baptist Church Dimapur

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

Wednesday 02•12•2015

Hornbill Festival PRESENTS

Dreamz Unlimited performs at the inaugural function hosted by Sky Entertainment on Nagaland Chief Minister TR Zeliang (L) and Nagaland GovDecember 1. (Morung Photo) ernor PB Acharya at the opening ceremony of the Hornbill Festival at Kisama on December 1. (Photo by Caisii Mao) © Caisii Mao

“Out of the Blue” in Dimapur City DECEMBER 15 2015, 6:00 PM NEZCC GROUND, DIMAPUR NAGALAND

Tourists make their way to Hornbill Festival. The festival attracts huge number of tourists on day one. (Morung Photo)

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Chief Minister inaugurates Farmer’s Mela

Nagaland Chief Minister, TR Zeliang inaugurated the Floral Galleria and Farmers Mela at Hortiscape at Naga Heritage Village Kisama on December 1. The CM was accompanied by his Cabinet Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries along with senior government officials. The Farmers Mela, sponsored by the National Horticulture Board (NHB) Government of India, consists of stalls set up by different associations, self help groups and floral companies from within and out the state showing varieties of flowers, fruits and vegetables. In the mela, state level exhibition cum competitions for fruits, vegetables, spices and flower were also organised by the Horticulture department. Prizes for different categories in flower section such as annuals and biennials, perennial, orchid (hybrid & indigenous), bulbs and tubers, indigenous foliage and flowers, cacti and succulents, ferns and foliage, bonsai and flower arrangement on dry and fresh and in fruits section and vegetables section will also be given out during the festival.

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Amenba inaugurates Bamboo Pavilion

Parliamentary Secretary for Industries and Commerce, Amenba Yaden inaugurated the exhibition cum sale of handloom and handicraft products on 1st Day of the Hornbill festival at Bamboo Pavilion.

About 116 stalls have been opened and some of the attractions at the exhibition include Black Stone Pottery, Techinutsu pickle, Naga herbs and spices, ‘Precious me Love’, Dulie Krotho and also stalls like Sisterhood network, I love Nagaland etc.

Answer these five questions for a chance to see MLTR live in Dimapur on 15 December, 2015 C M Y K

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Inauguration of Craftscape at Kisama

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To enter this contest, answer the questions, fill out your particulars below and send a cut out of this coupon to:

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• Ten winners with the most correct answers will be chosen through a raffle.

• Names of the winners will be published on the December 12 issue of The Morung Express. The winners will be intimated through phone and email.

• Winners can collect their tickets from The Morung Express office in Dimapur by showing a valid identity card, which matches the details filled in the coupons.

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THE MORUNG EXPRESS Contact No: House No 4, Duncan Bosti Email: Dimapur-797112, Nagaland

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The Naga craft portfolio crafts cape exhibition was inaugurated by the Parliamentary Secretary, Tourism, C.Apok Jamir at 2nd World War Museum compound Kisama on December 1. The exhibition is being organized by the Tribal Weave in collaboration with the Department of Tourism, Art & Culture and the Department of Rural Development, Government of Nagaland. The exhibition is a celebration of the timeless traditions that values of handmade products and it is an opportunity to meet Naga craft artisans and experience handmade distinctions of tribal craft specialties by skilled artisans who embrace dignified livelihoods in keeping alive the intangible heritage.

In the crafts cape exhibition artists from Mon, Meluri, Peren and Noklak districts demonstrated the cotton processing in the Naga textile grammar metal craft, nettle shawl, beaded

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Kids Carnival cum school & Hr Sec competitions

The Hornbill festival kids carnival cum school and Higher Secondary competition activities will be held from December 2 to 9 at Kisama village including essay writing, singing, painting, drawing, quiz competition, baking and chocolate making under the theme & topic ‘Hornbill festival Youth Role Model’, youth clean and vibrant Nagaland, your favorite carton/animation character, pride of Nagaland, Kohima-A-Smart city, general knowledge etc. According to the Synergy Group enterprise, the participants have to bring their own water colors, tools, charts papers for the painting and drawing competition. All the competition registration fee will be charged Rs/100. Timing for all the competition will b commence from 12.00 noon onwards and all the participants have been requested to reach the venue 30 minutes before the competition for reporting and registration.

Last date for registration of the quiz competition will be on 5th December 2015. For further details contact:- 03702260904/ 9089449886.

Zip Lining activity at Kisama

As a part of the 16th Hornbill festival 2015, Zip lining activity was conducted by Street Squad, Shillong at Kisama. On the first day “a flight in the winds” was first registered with Abenthung Kithan, a Nagaland University Botany PHD student from Old

NAAME adventure activities at Kisama

As part of the Hornbill Festival, Nagaland Association for Adventures Mountaineering and Education (NAAME) started adventure activities on the first day of the 16th edition of Hornbill Festival at Kisama on December 1. The adventure activities include Ziplining, Burma bridge, Water zorbing, Trampoline, Monkey crawling, River crossing, Tent pitching, Rappling, Land zorbing and Sumo fight. NAAME is also organising additional programmer this year called Dzukou trek under the theme ‘Conserve Dzukou’ which will be flagged off on December 5 near Windows to Nagaland at 10:00 a.m. Keyaking, Rappling and Rope activities will be performed on demonstration basis by mountaineers and averesters from neighbouring state of Assam and Manipur. Fooding and lodging will be provided at Dzukou on payment.

Interested participants may contact at 9866845544 and collect the form with Rs. 200 as registration fee. According to the President, NAAME, after the hornbill festival the adventure activities will be held at Green Park Dimapur.

Hornbill festival to be telecast at DD

The Hornbill festival programme will be telecast at DD NE and DD Bharati live at 10:00AM to 12:00 noon on Dec 2. Highlights will be telecast in the evening at DD, Kohima.

7th Music Awards of Nagaland on Dec 3

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necklace, bamboo basketry, wood- Changsu village as the first particicraft tradition in making the queens pant. The distance of the Zip lining is 250 meters and it takes about fifteen bag and bamboo mat making. seconds to reach the other end.The participants can avail this sport after Apok Jamir inaugurates signing of Indemnity Bond by paying Hipfest of Rs.500. The event is led by David Parliamentary Secretary for Ingty and eight of them are involved Tourism C. Apok Jamir inaugurated in operating the sport which will conthe Naga Hipfest Photo competition tinue till the last day of the Hornbill 2015 at the Kisama Heritage village Festival. on December 1. The Parliamentary Secretary also released postcards by the Photography club, Dimapur. A Artists’ Corner total number of 50 participants are inaugurated at Kisama taking part in the photo competition The Hornbill Art Festival 2015 on the theme ‘colour of Nagaland’. “The Artists’ Corner” showcasing the The winner receive a cash prize of Rs. last of the Tatood Headhunter: The 25,000/- while the second and third Konyaks, demonstrative Arts, Liveprize of Rs. 15,000/- and 10,000 each. sketching, caricatures, paintings, The results of the competition will be sculptures, live-music etc was indeclared on 8th December 2015. A augurated today the December 1 as daily smart phone contest is also be- part of the Festival at the World War II ing organised at the Hipfest where Museum premises, Kisama. Director, interested people can take photos Art & Culture, Vevo Sapuh graced the with their smart phones. There will inaugural programme as chief guest. be different themes for each day and The Convenor of the Art Festival 2015, entries will be accepted from 10 a.m. V. Nuodi, who spoke on the concept till 3 p.m. Results shall be declared the of the Art Festival, said the event is same day and the winner will receive to facilitate artists to promote and a cash prize of Rs. 5000/-. All pictures propagate with their creative talents should be taken within the confines to greater heights. Handmade bikes of Kisama, the Heritage village. are also displayed at the show.

STAGE

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he awards presentation ceremony of the 7th Music Awards of Nagaland 2015 will be held on December 3 from 5:30 PM onwards at the Amphitheatre at Kisama Heritage Village. The event has been included in the Hornbill Festival 2015 and is supported by the Department of Tourism.

CL John, Minister, Rural Development & REPA will grace the event as the chief guest.

The Music Awards of Nagaland is an annual event instituted in 2009 by the Native Trax Society to encourage, reward and honour local musicians and those involved behind the scenes

in the music industry of the state. A total of 31 nominations in various categories representing the best music videos and songs in various genres recorded during the year will be vying for these coveted awards.

The awards presentation ceremony will witness special performances

by Mengu Suokhrie, Virie & Zaza, Senti Longchar (Desert King), Sanepong Tzudir, Mendinaro, Fusion Slippers, Wangyat Wangsu, U-turn and Red Alert and the event will be hosted by Imli Lee (Déjà vu), Rapper & VJ for ‘Backyard Buzz’ a TV programme about the music and musicians of Nagaland.

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12

wednesdAY 02•12•2015

SPORTS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

WADA agree roadmap Stephen Curry stars ISL: Chennaiyin FC ends Russia, to reform anti-doping agency as Warriors march on Mumbai's play-offs hopes

cheNNai, December 1 (ageNcieS): Chennaiyin FC beat Mumbai City FC 3-0 in the Indian Super League (ISL) encounter at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Tuesday effectively ending Mumbai’s hopes of entering the playoffs.

First half goals from C M Y K

Stiven Mendoza (9'), Jeje Lalpekhlua (17') and Bernard Mendy (45'+2') were enough to seal the win for the hosts. The Blues of Chennai dominated the proceedings as the visitors struggled to get to grips with the conditions. The match had no spectators as

M Y K

sponsored doping and large-scale corruption in Russian athletics.

Russia -- whose antidoping agency RUSADA and anti-doping laboratory have been suspended over the report -- has vowed to retrieve IAAF membership in time for its track and field athletes to compete at next year's Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.

WADA's report accused RUSADA of "routinely" violating international testing standards and allowing athletes banned for doping to compete despite having been suspended from competition, among other damning accusations.

RUSADA has said it is already addressing the "deficiencies" identified in the WADA report and was committed to fighting doping.

"We will once again try (...) to reaccredit our laboratory, RUSADA, to receive new licenses," Mutko said.

"I hope we do this quickly.

The same goes for the AllRussian Athletics Federation (ARAF)."

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry drives past Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert during their game on November 30, 2015 at Vivint Smart Home Arena. (AFP Photo)

Chinese investors buy 13% Man City stake

LoNDoN, December 1 (reuterS): A consortium of Chinese investors is spending $400 million to take a stake of more than 13 percent in the group that owns soccer clubs including Manchester City and New York City FC, expanding the country's financial involvement in the game.

The consortium includes China Media Capital (CMC) Holdings and

CITIC Capital and the deal values the City Football Group at $3 billion, City Football Group said in a statement on Tuesday.

As part of the deal, new shares will be issued in City Football Group in addition to ones owned by Sheikh Mansour's Abu Dhabi United Group.

Ruigang Li, the chairman of CMC, will join the board of the City Football

NSA emerges 3rd in East Zone C

people stayed home amid heavy rains. Players had a tough time controlling the ball on the sloppy field.

With this win, Chennaiyin FC move to the fourth spot on the ISL table as Mumbai’s dreadful run from ISL season one continues.

moScoW, December 1 (aFp): Moscow and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have come to an agreement on steps to reform Russia's scandalridden anti-doping agency, the country's sports minister said on Tuesday.

"We have agreed on a roadmap," Interfax news agency quoted sports minister Vitaly Mutko as saying.

"It's clear what we have to do," Mutko said, declining to disclose the details of the roadmap.

The announcement comes days after Mutko met with WADA head David Howman in Frankfurt for talks on how to revamp Russian anti-doping agency RUSADA, which has been found non-compliant with international antidoping standards.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) suspended Russia last month after a bombshell report published by a WADA independent commission found evidence of state-

Dimapur, December 1 (mexN): The Nagaland Softball Association (NSA) emerged third in the 7th East Zone Softball Championship which was held at the Khuman Lampak Stadium in Imphal, Manipur from November 27 to 29. The state team won the third place by defeating Bihar 10-0.

MDCA tourney from Jan 5

mokokchuNg, December 1 (iaNS): Mokokchung District Cricket Association (MDCA) will hold the 25th MDCA Inter Club Cricket Tournament 2016 from January 5, 2016 onward at Imkongmeren Sports Complex, Mokokchung. Clubs can avail of the registration forms from the IDEA Office Mokokchung from December 7 onwards. Last date for submission of forms will be December 28. For further information, one may contact - 9402715454.

National TSD rally in Guwahati

Dimapur, December 1 (mexN): The Indian National TSD Rally Championship (INTSDRC) 2015, a National level Motor sports event, will be held in Guwahati on December 19 and 20 Assam. According to a press release from the North Eastern Motorsports Association (NEMA), the rally will be conducted in the Time-Speed-Distance (TSD) format as per the National Sporting rules and will be supervised by officials of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI). Concurrently, NEMA will also organize the 1st edition of the Raging Rhino Rally under the themes “Drive Safe, Ride Safe” and “Save Assam Rhinos.” The Raging Rhino Rally will be an open class TSD Rally for 4-wheelers for the participants of Assam and Northeast India, the release informed.

Group. The capital from the share acquisition will be used by City Football Group to fund its China growth, further international business expansion opportunities and on infrastructure.

Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Chairman of City Football Group, said: "Football is the most loved, played and watched sport in the world and in China, the exponen-

tial growth pathway for the game is both unique and hugely exciting. We have therefore worked hard to find the right partners and to create the right deal structure to leverage the incredible potential that exists in China, both for CFG and for football at large."

I n v e s t m e n t f ro m Sheikh Mansour has transformed the fortunes of Manchester City since 2008

and the club won the English Premier League in 2012 and 2014. As part of its international expansion, City Football Group now also includes New York City FC, Melbourne City FC and a stake in Japan's Yokohama F. Marinos.

Chinese property conglomerate Dalian Wanda this year bought a 20 percent stake in Spanish club Atletico Madrid.

Stoke stopper Butland not for sale, says manager Hughes

beNgaLuru, December 1 (reuterS): Stoke City's in-form goalkeeper Jack Butland will not be leaving the Britannia Stadium anytime soon and is undervalued at 20 million pounds ($30.2 million), manager Mark Hughes has said.

The 22-year-old has been linked with a move to Liverpool and Everton after keeping five clean sheets in 15 appearances for the club in all competitions this season following the departure of Asmir Begovic to Chelsea during the close-season.

"Jack's going nowhere.

People are aware of him - and they have been for a long time," Hughes was quoted as saying by British media. "Do I think that's a fair value? No. We wouldn't place a value on him," Hughes said, when asked about the 20 million pound valuation.

Butland, who begun his career with Birmingham City, was a surprise inclusion in England's squad for Euro 2012, although he did not make an appearance in the tournament.

Hughes praised the goalkeeper's rise but warned he should be fo-

cused on cementing his place in Stoke's starting eleven.

"Jack forced his way into the England squad when he was 19 He's had a great career progression, every step he's taken he's dealt with. Now it's about consolidating himself in a very good Premier League team. That's the challenge for him," Hughes said.

The Potters, who are 12th in the Premier League table, will rely on Butland to keep out a formidable Manchester City attack when they host the league leaders on Saturday.

LoS aNgeLeS, December 1 (aFp): Stephen Curry scored 26 points as the Golden State Warriors survived a furious late onslaught from the Utah Jazz on Monday to stretch their record-breaking unbeaten season start to 19 games.

Reigning NBA MVP Curry came to the Warriors rescue once again, producing a superb three-pointer with seconds left to put Golden State ahead 104-101 just moments after Utah had leveled.

It was yet another moment of inspiration from Curry, a talismanic figure for the reigning NBA Champions who have now edged one game closer to the Los Angeles Lakers' all-time winning streak record of 33 games. "This ranks up there. There have been some battles. We have had some lopsided victories, too," said Curry.

"What gets lost in the record are the tough games that we have had to claw our way out of. Like tonight. Hard-fought win to start the road trip."

Curry contributed six rebounds and five assists as the Warriors held their nerve in the face of a spirited Utah performance at the Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City. Draymond Green and Klay Thompson were the other standouts for the Warriors, contributing 20 points each. Green also had nine rebounds and seven assists. The defeat saw Utah's season record fall to 8-8.

Utah's points came through Gordon Hayward (24) and power forward Derrick Favors (23) while center Rudy Gobert had 13 points and 11 rebounds.

"It was fun. We knew this was going to be one of the tougher challenges for us," Warriors interim coach Luke Walton said. "(Utah) is very well-coached and they execute. They've got those bigs (Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert) that are a lot to deal with. Their crowd, once their crowd got into it, they had their confidence going."

Favors put Utah up by one late in the fourth quarter, only for Golden State to hit back immediately through Curry and

Green. Monday's game marked the start of a demanding seven-game road trip for the Warriors, with tough assignments in Charlotte, Toronto and Indiana.

- Gasol leads Bulls charge Elsewhere on Monday, Spanish star Pau Gasol inspired the Chicago Bulls with 18 points in a 92-89 win over the San Antonio Spurs. The Bulls victory snapped a fivegame winning streak for San Antonio, who lost for just the second time in 11 games.

The Spurs are 14-4 for the season, second only to the all-conquering Warriors in the Western Conference.

Gasol was one of five Chicago players to finish in double figures as the Bulls survived late pressure from San Antonio to hang on for the win.

Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard missed a three-pointer with four seconds left. That would have put his team back in front, while a late three-point attempt from Tony Parker was blocked by the Bulls Derrick Rose to end the game.

Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg paid tribute to his team's defensive effort.

"To hold that team to 16 fourth-quarter points was a great effort," Hoiberg said.

"They're obviously a great team with great firepower ... It was one of those nights where everyone who stepped on the floor contributed in a big way."

In Michigan, James Harden piled on 29 points and nine rebounds for the Houston Rockets but it was not enough to stop the Detroit Pistons from claiming a 116-105 victory. Reggie Jackson finished with 31 points for Detroit as the Pistons surged to a 28-point first-half lead which provided the basis of victory.

The Denver Nuggets meanwhile slumped to their seventh straight defeat in a 92-74 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in Wisconsin. Greg Monroe led the way for the Bucks with 18 points while Jabari Parker and Michael Carter-Williams chipped in with 16 points and 12 points, respectively.

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India face ICC sanction over 'Poor' Nagpur pitch

CRSA Sports Meet

Dimapur, December 1 (mexN): The Chukitong Range Sports Association (CRSA) will hold its Sports Meet on January 5, 2016. Categories for the meet include Football (Men), Volleyball (Men & Women), Khvürv-zhü Tsungta (tug of war -Men & Women), and Khoro Zotoro Emongta (Indigenous Go-Karting). The CRSA has meanwhile notified that each team/club will be allowed to have three guest players in the football category. For further information, one can contact the office of the CRSA.

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NTF to participate in Intl Taekwon-Do Championship

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Dimapur, December 1 (mexN): 13 members from the Nagaland Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) NTF has left for New Delhi to participate in the 30th National ITF Taekwon-Do Championship and 6th International Martial Arts Games 2015 World Championship. 25 different martial artists from around the world will participate in the Mega event which is scheduled to be held from December 3 to 6 at Thyagraj Indoor Stadium. Meanwhile, the executive members of the NTF had a meeting on November 29 and elected a new team of office bearers. The following are the names and designation: President – Otoka H. Yeptho, Vice President – Obed G. Zhimo and Sujit Roy, Secretary – Yimkongniken Aonok, Executives – Limakumba Aonok and Renjamo Ngullie, Chief Instructor and Technical Director – Israel G.Xuivi.

NeW DeLhi, December 1 (reuterS): Indian cricket authorities face a fine of up to $15,000 after the pitch used for the spin-dominated third test between India and South Africa in Nagpur was rated as "poor" by match referee Jeff Crowe, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Tuesday.

Forty wickets tumbled in three days at the VCA Stadium as India beat South Africa by 124 runs with more than two days to spare in the low-scoring contest to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series. "Jeff Crowe submitted his report to the ICC, expressing the concerns of the match officials over the performance of the pitch," the ICC said in a statement.

The report has been forwarded to the Indian cricket board (BCCI), which now has 14 days to respond.

After that, ICC general manager of cricket Geoff Allardice and chief match referee Ranjan Madugalle will rule whether the pitch was poor and whether it warrants a penalty. ICC rules decree that if they confirm that the pitch was "poor", a warning can be issued and/or "a fine not

exceeding $15,000 (imposed), with a directive for appropriate corrective action".

The Nagpur pitch offered prodigious turn from day one, prompting Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell to call it "diabolical", while former Australia opener Matthew Hayden termed it a "Bunsen burner" -- slang for a turner. Indian opener Murali Vijay's first-innings 40 was the highest individual score in the test, in which South Africa mustered just 79 in the first innings and lost all 20 wickets in the match to spinners.

Visiting captain Hashim Amla said the Nagpur track was the "toughest" he had faced in his test career, but assistant coach Adrian Birrell refused to blame the pitches for the team's series defeat. "We're not complaining at all," Birell told reporters at the Feroze Shah Kotla Stadium, in Delhi, on Tuesday ahead of the fourth and final test, which begins on Thursday. "We're playing in India and we're playing in Indian conditions. We relish the opportunity.

Unfortunately, we've not played to our full potential."

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