December 9th, 2015

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wednesdAY • december 09 • 2015

DIMAPUR • Vol. X • Issue 335 • 12 PAGes • 4

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T R u T H

Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses — Confucius Storm over Herald case: Cong alleges vendetta, Govt denies PAGe 8

reflections

By Sandemo Ngullie

Kohima-Dimapur 4 lane project

Top 5 Mokokchung events this December

Involve local contractors or face agitation: NCSU

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PAGe 5

‘extend naga Unity beyond culture’

naga civil society an important stakeholder of the peace process Morung Express news Kohima | December 8

Two plate of Mc rum and...?

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The Morung Express Poll QuEsTion

Vote on www.morungexpress.com sMs your answer to 9862574165 Is the annual Hornbill Festival benefiting the ordinary people of Nagaland?

Yes

no

others

Public Information All press statements, memorandums, articles, reports and news related documents should be sent to the official email address:

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Press releases will be accepted only till 8:00 pm Editor, The Morung Express

Power supply to Pughoboto, Tseminyu & Wokha disrupted

(Right to left) interlocutor to the indo-naga peace talks, Rn Ravi with Parliamentary secretary for Tourism, C Apok Jamir and Parliamentary secretary for Work & Housing, Er levi Rengma during day 8 of the Hornbill Festival at Kisama. (Morung Photo)

our Correspondent Kohima | December 8

Interlocutor to the Indo-Naga Peace Talks, RN Ravi today urged the Naga people to come together, while affirming that “unity is not impossible.”

Speaking at the morning session of the ongoing Hornbill Festival at Kisama on December 8, Ravi expressed optimism at the “spirit of unity displayed through the celebration.” He stated that the Nagas have every reason to be proud of their unique culture, at the same time, the obligations to preserve it. “I have an appeal to the Naga people to please extend the unity beyond culture... extend it to other facets of Naga life…” he further urged.

While assuring that India is serious towards finding a solution to the Naga political issue, he however said that the Naga people, including the armed groups have to unite in order achieve it.

Referring to the division within Naga society as his most “extreme concern,” Ravi, however, stated that by “seeing the spirit of cultural unity, unity is not impossible.” “I am touched by the spirit of unity being celebrated despite the diverse culture of the Naga people.

KOHIMA, DECEMBER 8 (MExN): Power supply to Wokha district, Tseminyu and Pughoboto sub divisions have been disrupted due to technical problem at the 132/33 kV Sub-Station at Wokha. This was informed today in a press note from the Executive Engineer, Transmission Division, Kohima. “While the Department is trying its best to restore the said SubStation at the earliest, the public is requested to bear with the inconvenience caused which is highly re- NEw DElHI, DECEMBER 8 (IANS): The govgretted,” it stated. ernment is keeping a close watch on some insurgent groups trying to regroup in the northeast, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju DIMAPUR, DEMCE- said on Tuesday.

BER 8 (MExN): The Naga “There are reports of Christian Fellowship some insurgent groups try(NCF) Chennai has in- ing to regroup in the northformed those who cannot eastern region,” Rijiju statget in touch with their fam- ed in a written reply in the ily members and friends in Chennai after the recent heavy rains and massive flooding to contact the NCF Chennai Pastor, Wapangtoshi at 09840127998 immediately to take the necessary steps with the help of the city authorities. A press note from the NEw DElHI, DECEMNCF Chennai Pastor in- BER 8 (MExN): Nagaland formed that after the dev- state Chief Minister, TR Zeastating rain and floods liang on Tuesday met union in Chennai, life is back to HRD Minister Smriti Irani to normalcy with electric- enlist her help in setting up a ity, mobile, Internet, ATMs, centrally-sponsored school flights, trains, buses, etc., of planning and architecin all parts of the city. “So ture in the state. far there have been no caDuring the interaction, sualties reported from the the CM suggested that the Chennai Naga community institute be set up at around members despite a large Dimapur area, as there is number of Naga students no such school in the enleft the city for safety and tire North East Region at also because of their institutions have been closed present, informed a press down due to the rains,” he note from the Chief Minstated. He meanwhile cau- ister’s Office (CMO). He tioned against rumours also stated that the School on social media and asked of Planning and Architecpeople not to panic with- ture (SPA) would meet the out proper verifications. requirement of the entire The NCF Chennai Pastor North East Region.

The Union Minister refurther acknowledged the people and churches for portedly accepted the protheir concern and prayer posal and has asked the Chief Minister to submit for the Nagas in Chennai.

Culture defines the unique identity... it is the under feeling of Naga nationalism,” he said.

Conveying Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s wish that “resolution of the Naga issue has to be on the principle of equality and mutual understanding and respect,” Ravi stated that “there is no big or small and there cannot be a better foundational principle than this

rible things have happened in the past; there are deep wounds of having lost the dear ones.” “Now we have to make a choice... do we remain hostage with the bitter memories, do we remain trapped in the past or should we move forward to meet our destiny and dream,” he stated.

Acknowledging that it is not easy and “rather impossible to forget the past,” Ravi however stated that “it will be not fair for the future.”

Let us strike a balance between memories and dreams. For this to happen, Naga society has to unite, he urged.

Ravi further made it clear that the process towards solution to the Indo-Naga issue is inclusive and all stakeholders will be taken on board. “I have been reaching out to all the different groups, civil societies, including the Naga armed groups,” he assured. Therefore, he urged the Naga people to appreciate the importance of this occasion and opportunity.

Meanwhile appreciating the efforts of RN Ravi towards the Naga issue, Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, Apok Jamir, said that it is the collective effort of the Nagas that will ensure the fulfilment of dreams.

Let us strike a balance between memories and dreams, urges RN Ravi on which the whole hope of solution is built and to achieve this, it is very important to be united.”

This “foundational principle,” he said has been enunciated in the Framework Agreement signed between the Government of India and the NSCN (IM). “It is just the beginning... crucial yet a significant step that we have decided to work out the solution in the spirit of equality and mutual understanding,” Ravi said.

Ravi conceded that “lots of bitter memories are there as most hor-

Interlocutor to the Indo-Naga Peace talks, RN Ravi today said that “Nagas should not give up sovereignty,” while stating that the Constitution of India is “flexible, adaptable, it can be changed.”

He said this while talking to media persons after a three hour long closed door meeting with various Tribal Hohos at Capital Convention Centre, Kohima. It may be noted that media persons were not allowed to enter the hall during the interaction.

“Our approach is inclusive. The solution that we wish to arrive is comprehensive. When I say inclusive, it is not just Naga armed groups but it is also the civil society. They being the important stakeholders, the civil society, I wanted to get their views, their doubts and their questions,” he added, while terming the meeting as “positive.”

57 representatives of various Naga tribes were given time to express their views on the current Naga political issue. Ravi said that it was just an exercise in reaching out, to know what is there in the mind of the Naga people.

Ravi stated that the Government of India is trying its best to bring a solution early, a solution which is comprehensive and inclusive. “And as a result reaching out to the rest and trying to persuade. It takes time,” he explained.

On NSCN (K) ban and DAA On banning of the NSCN (K), Ravi viewed that the abrogation of ceasefire was done by the NSCN (K) while the GoI waited. “In between the Naga civil society made appeal, we tried, the Government of India tried and I made it public despite they having abrogated the ceasefire. But when violence continued and they started forming alliances with groups in Assam, Manipur. Perhaps, we lost hope,” said Ravi. He stated that one cannot perceive the Government of India banning the group as an act out of its choice.

Regarding the Disturbed Areas Act (DAA), Ravi stated that the Act has been in place for the last 60 years. We were hopeful that we will be able to dispense it, stated Ravi but lamented that the

‘argument of not extending it’ was lost after the abrogation of ceasefire by the NSCN (K).

‘Any act of violence must be accounted for’ On atrocities committed by the armed forces and the question of justice, the interlocutor replied that “any act of violence must be accounted for.”

However, as an interlocutor, Ravi mentioned that redressal was not his prerogative and that he is not a judge on what is happening whether it is violence committed by the security forces or the Naga political groups. On being asked whether the Government should take cognizance of the atrocities committed by the armed forces, Ravi noted: “they must take cognizance.”

Naga civil society share concerns Meanwhile, Dr. Vilhousa Seleyi, President, Angami Public Organisation (APO) informed that the meeting was a frank and informative interaction with mutual trust. Dr. Seleyi asserted that the main emphasis APO put forward in the meeting was the creation of proper interstate and historical boundaries.

“Even if the political issue is solved, if the land/territorial and historical boundaries are not settled then there will always be tension and problems,” he said and appealed to the stakeholders to settle the mentioned issue with political will and political power.

Issues raised by the other Hohos during the meeting included the division of a tribe in different states and countries, unification of all Naga political groups, and the collective settlement of all Nagas spread across four states and two countries.

While there were mixed reactions, Chuba Ozukum, President, Naga Hoho noted that it was a fruitful and informative meeting with concerns raised by the Tribal Hohos on the Disturbed Area Act, AFSPA, unity of all Nagas, sovereignty etc.

“We have insisted upon the Government of India to expedite the process towards finding an early solution,” stated Ozukum, further pointing out the Naga Hoho’s position on Naga sovereignty and integration as non-negotiable.

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Indian Govt watching insurgent groups ‘Centre examining Manipur’s three bills’

NCF Chennai informs C M Y K

Lok Sabha. “The activities of such groups have been kept under close watch.”

According to the minister, the government had taken up with some neighbouring countries where some of the Indian insurgent groups were said to be setting up hideouts or temporary camps. “These countries have assured our government that they will

not allow anti-India activities from their soil,” he said.

Rijiju said the central government was supplementing the efforts of the state governments of the region to curb the activities of the insurgents by deploying additional central security forces, sharing intelligence, and giving financial assistance to strengthen police forces.

NEw DElHI, DECEMBER 8 (IANS): The central government has received three bills passed by the Manipur assembly on August 31 and is discussing them with the concerned ministries, union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said on Tuesday.

“The government has received the three bills passed by the state legisla-

ture on August 31 this year and reserved by the governor of Manipur for President’s assent,” Rijiju told the Lok Sabha. He said the government was scrutinising the three bills with the help of other departments.

He was answering a question by Nagaland’s parliamentarian Nephiu Rio as to the status of the three bills and whether the

government has taken cognizance of the impact of the three bills on public sentiments of the hilly areas of the state.

The three bills include Protection of Manipur People Bill, Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (Seventh Amendment Bill), and the Manipur Shops and Establishments (Second Amendment) Bill.

Manipur has witnessed violence and death of nine tribals following the passing of the three bills in a specially called assembly session on August 31 this year. Hundreds of people also have been protesting in the national capital for over a month, demanding that the central government refuse to clear the three bills.

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Nagaland CM wants centrally- Assam-nagaland Border Dispute sponsored architecture school UNTABA slams Nagaland govt for failing to file counter-suit

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concept note for follow up action.

Meanwhile Lalthara, Advisor to the Chief Minister told IANS that “it was a courtesy call but there was a lot of discussion regarding education in Nagaland.

The CM has emphasised on setting North East’s first school of planning and architecture in Nagaland.”

Zeliang discussed with Irani about collaborations and setting up of new universities to boost education in the state, which currently has only one central university, he added.

The location of the proposed school was not decided yet, but the Chief Minister apprised Irani of the resources that the state government could make available to the project, Lalthara said. “Minister Irani has

asked the CM to send a proposal once he returns to Nagaland, so that the issue can be officially taken up.” Irani had recently been invited to Nagaland’s Hornbill festival, which she had declined on health grounds.

Later on the Nagaland state CM also called on Union Finance Minster, Arun Jaitley and reminded him about the memorandum submitted to him earlier, requesting for financial assistance for completion of all the ongoing projects being undertaken in the state under state plan, such as NCA, SPA and SCA etc which have been discontinued. The Union Finance Minister reportedly assured to look favorably into the needs and requirements of the state.

With Inputs from IANS

DIMAPUR, DECEMBER 8 (MExN): The United Naga Tribes Association of Border Areas (UNTABA) today stated that any likely judgment that may be delivered by the Supreme Court on the pending suit regarding the Assam-Nagaland border dispute “can never be accepted by the Naga people as a whole, least of all - the people living in and around the border areas.”

The current hearing or cross-examination may or may not be final, said the UNTABA, in a press note from its Chairman, Hukavi T Yepthomi and General Secretary, Imsumongba Pongen.

UNTABA stated that the pending ‘original suit’ No. 2 of 1988 on Assam – Nagaland border issue being considered in the Supreme Court is “long

overdue.” With apprehension on the ‘likely outcome’ of the trial on the “inherent historical, traditional and political rights of the Naga people over our land and its resources, the recorded histories of which precedes the formation of the present State of Assam,” the UNTABA said it had already prepared to file a writ petition in the Supreme Court so as to counter the original suit as well as to claim the “inherent rights of the Naga people over our land and its resources in a legal course.”

However, it informed that the Advocate General of Nagaland state and the political leadership in the Government of Nagaland (GoN) had requested the association to wait, since the Government of Nagaland as respondent No. 3

would be filing a counter Suit. “Now it appears that the GoN have failed to file a counter Suit on the stipulated time line as assured to the association,” the UNTABA lamented.

The UNTABA asserted that the history of the Naga people over its land “precedes the formation of the present State of Assam because the recorded history of the Naga people over its ancestral and traditional land and its resources started from ‘Treaty of Yandabo’ in 1826 followed by the formation of ‘Rengma Naga Hills’ in 1841; the formation of first administrative headquarter at Asaloo for Naga people in 1852, the formation of ‘Naga Hills District’ in 1866 headquartered at ‘Samaguting’ or present Chumukedima and the final boundary

demarcation of Naga territories in 1875 and the subsequent divisions of Naga areas into different territories for administrative purposes of those days.”

It further stated that these recorded histories on the inherent rights of the Naga people over its territories and resources was recognized by the Government of India in the first and original ‘Political Agreement’ made between the ‘Interim’ GoI and the Naga people represented by the undivided Naga National Council (NNC) in June 27 – 29, 1947 at Kohima just prior to the declaration of Indian Independence, known as ‘Nine Points Agreement’ for the perusal of the ‘Constituent Assembly’ for re-organization of the States of independent India.

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CNTC commemorate 3rd anniversary

The three heads of the apex bodies of the Ao, Sumi and Lotha commemorate the 3rd anniversary of the CNTC and its elevation to a state level body at the programme held at the Lotha Hoho Ki, Dimapur on December 8.

Morung Express News Dimapur | December 8

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The Central Nagaland Tribal Council (CNTC) celebrated its third anniversary in Dimapur on December 8. The day also marked the official declaration of the CNTC as a state level body.

The function had in attendance Lotha Hoho chairman, Mhao Humtso; the president of the Ao Senden, Imolemba; and the president of the Sumi Hoho, Toniho Yeptho. It was hosted at the Lotha Hoho Ki, Dimapur. The decision to elevate the status

of the CNTC was taken after leaders of Dimapur-based frontal bodies of the three tribes emphasised on the necessity, which was subsequently endorsed by the apex bodies Ao, Sumi and Lotha, it was stated.

Mhao Humtsoe, in his speech said that “disunity” is one of the main reasons that are preventing Nagaland from progressing.

Stating that people in a democracy has the right to form unions provided it is for the welfare of the society, he added that no union will succeed in realising it stated aims and objective if

the people involved are not in consensus.

Toniho Yeptho, while urging the members of the CNTC to work in unison, stated that it must strive to be an organisation which would bring a good name to the state.

Imolemba also emphasised on the importance of unity and stated that change and advancement can come only when there is unstinted consensus driven by one common goal.

Hokiye Yeptho, president of the CNTC gave the presidential address.

Two from Nagaland receive National Awards Top 5 Mokokchung for empowerment of Persons with Disabilities events this December Dimapur, December 8 (mexN): The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India conferred National Awards 2015 for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities to 52 outstanding Person with Disabilities (PwDs), State Government & Departments, organisations & individuals that are working for the empowerment of PwDs on the ‘International Day for Persons with Disabilities’ & Launching of Accessible India Campaign 2015 on December 3 at Plenary Hall, Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.

The awards were given away by Arun Jaitley, Finance Minster in presence

of Thaawarchand Gehlot, Minister SJ&E. For the first time in the history of Nagaland disabled person has received the National Award. Two awardees from Nagaland namely, Tiaba Tzudir (Intellectual Disability) of Changki village, a special athlete of Special Olympics Nagaland (SON) for Best Role Model in Mental Retardation category. He was awarded a certificate along with cash award of Rs.1 lakh.

Katibenla (Locomotor disability) of Khensa village received the Nationa Award for Best Creative child from Care & Support Society, Mokokchung. She

was awarded a medal along with cash award of Rs.50 thousand. Katibenla sings and recites poems and has recently released a CD album “Ku Salang”.

Meanwhile, a press release stated that the annual SON Special Christmas will be on December 15 at Dimapur Ao Baptist Arogo, Khermahal church at 11:30 AM. All the PwDs, families of PwDs, NGOs and Schools for PwDs, individuals, churches and fan of special athletes are invited to celebrate the joy of Christmas spirit together. There will also be Christmas gifts to PwDs and this 5th Special Christmas is sponsored by DABA.

Peren district review whole year DPDB meeting minutes

pereN, December 8 (Dipr): The Peren monthly DPDB meeting was held on December 7 at DC’s Conference Hall under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner Peren Lichamo where the whole year DPDB meeting minutes was reviewed.

Actions taken or on the process was deliberated upon where the chairman voiced strong concern over the various proposals which was sent to the higher authorities. He stated that the responsibilities lie

with the concerned head of offices to pursue the matter in right earnest.

Chief Medical Officer, Peren Dr. Nganshimeren, who is also the convener of the recently concluded Inter-Departmental Badminton Tournament, gave a brief report on the overall performance and accounts of the committee.

The meeting decided that in the future the ADC of the Hq and the DSO will be the convener and the member secretary respectively of the committee, by designation.

DFO Jalukie gave a power point presentation on the activities of the department.

The board endorsed the application for repairs of road within Mhainamtsi Village to the PWD Department. LRSO, Peren later presented the activities of the Department in a magazine “Glimpse” which was released by the Chairman.

The meeting was followed by the advent Christmas feast hosted by the Chief Minister TR Zeliang, who is also the Chairman of DPDB Peren.

Kiphire, December 8 (Dipr): The monthly meeting of Kiphire District Planning & Development Board cum Advent Christmas was held on December 4 at Alihkhyong, Zungki Valley under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner & Vice Chairman DPDB Kiphire, A. Chumremo Odyuo.

After review of the last meeting minutes, the Board discussed the issue of two taxi permit which proposes to ply between Kohima and Kiphire. The matter was decided to be forwarded to RTO Kohima for further necessary action. Regarding the setting up of Pungro SDPDB, ADC Pungro was entrusted to forward certain information to the State Planning Department.

The Board discussed widening of approach road & construction of drainage towards new college campus. As the college is likely to be shifted in a short while the board requested the PWD (R&B) to prepare a technical estimate for submission to the Urban Development.

R&B was requested to help out

in maintaining the road and as when BRGF is released. Regarding the new College transformer, the board advised the college authority to pursue to the Government for permanent transformer.

The proposal for construction of drainage, power supply and repair of hanging bridge at Alihkhong, Zungki Valley was also discussed. After thorough deliberation, the board looked for the possibility on the matter under LADP. Proposal for installation of 100 nos of street light at Kiphire Town on strategic location was discussed and the Board directed SDO (Electrical) to prepare technical estimate and submit it in the next monthly meeting.

As directed by the board, Food & Civil Supplies & SDEO presented their departmental activities. The next departmental activities will be presented

by District Administration and Forest Department. Vote of thanks was delivered by Pudusul Luho, DPO & member secretary DPDB.

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brief address said that NBDA was established with a commitment and target to sustain the propose rejuvenation of Tuli Paper Mill and presently availability of bamboo in the State is around 9 lakh metric tonnes. With the fact that bamboo needs to be harvested in 3 years the NBDA has decided to tie up with NRL as their requirement is 2 lakh metric tonnes per annum, mission director of NBDA stated.

He further informed that Nagaland would be sourcing bamboo semi products to NRL and was hopeful that semi processing units would be started in Nagaland. He said that NBDA will be working on promoting bamboo entrepreneurs

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It’s beginning to look like Mokokchung is really into festive mood – the Christmas lights are on, festive songs are cranked to full volume and there’s plenty of carolling. The town looks cleaner now than any other season of the year.

If you are looking to indulge in some serious festive cheer in Mokokchung this December, here is our Top 5 list of Mokokchung’s biggest and best happenings to get you into the holiday spirit:

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Mokokchung 125 years: It’s the quasquicentennial year of the town and an elaborate 6-day programme has been laid to commemorate the milestone occasion, slated for 12th through 17th of December at Imkongmeren Sports Complex (ISC). From the state chief minister’s visit on the 12th to the Shillong Chamber Choir concert on the night of 17th, the busy ISC is set to get busier than ever before this December.

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ZSU 56th General Session 2015

Zhavame, December 8 (mexN): The Zhavame Students’ Union 56th General Session is slated to be held on December 28 and 29 at Public Amphitheatre, Pame Tsudu, Zhavame Village, under the theme “Get switched on and break the barriers”.

Vechisalü Nukhu, Additional Secretary, Horticulture, Government of Nagaland, has kindly consented to grace the occasion as the

Chief Guest. Boveio Poukai Duo, General Secretary, Naga Students’ Federation will grace the occasion as the Guest of honour.

On December 28, introductory session resource speaker Rev. Dr. Yiepetso, Principal, Baptist Theological College Pfütsero will be speaking on the topic “Wear your Learning.” Neisazo Domeh, Superintendent, Food and Civil Supplies, Longleng will grace the

APC and Mission Director NBDA and GM of NRL exchanges the signed MOU at Dimapur on December 8. (DIPR Photo)

and hinted that more than 200 people will be given indirect employment when sourcing of Nagaland bamboo to NRL takes shape.

General Manager NRL, Ekka informed that NRL is implementing a BioRefinery in Assam for producing bio-ethanol from

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Mokokchung | December 8

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Mass wedding at Losami Baptist Church, Phek District, Nagaland on December 8, Left to Right, Acho & Achele, Aku & Awule, Akhro & Asele, Akhope & Achele. Photo by: Tshetsholo Naro

occasion as the Valedictory Guest.

He will articulate on the topic “Explore the Possibilities”.

The union will be conducting its General Assembly Cum Election on December 28, 5:00pm.

All the Pioneers of ZSU, Leaders, Seniors, Teachers, Student members and well wishers are cordially invited to the 56th General Session of the Zhavame Students’ Union 2015.

NBDA and NRL signs MoU for sourcing bamboo

Dimapur, December 8 (Dipr): Numaligarh Refinery Limited, a Government of India Public Sector Enterprises under Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India and Nagaland Bamboo Development Agency on December 8 signed a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) for sourcing 2 lakh tonnes of semi processed bamboo Annually. The MOU was signed

by APC and Mission Director NBDA, Imkonglemba IAS representing the Government of Nagaland and General Manager (Marketing and business development) NRL, Golaghat B.Ekka in the conference hall of NBDA Dimapur.

Imkonglemba in his

Morung Express News

Children’s Christmas Cake Carol Competition, popularly known as C5, is another event the whole townsfolk look forward to every Christmas season. Organized by the Youth Department of Mokokchung Town Baptist Church since 1989, this event has become a part of Christmas tradition in Mokokchung. Little children aged between 4 to 12 years from the 9 fellowships of the MTBA compete here. The 27th edition of C5 is scheduled for December 18 to be held at the town square. You might want to save the date.

December 18.

Kiphire DPDB cum Advent Christmas held

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

available non-food biomass feedstock Bamboo to be implemented within 3 years time. NRL has joined hands with a Finland based technology provider M/s Chempolis who has 3rd generation technology to convert bamboo to ethanol in commercially viable basis which is much ahead of other established technology providers for conversion of bamboo to ethanol, the official from NRL informed. He also said that for the proposed project NRL would be sourcing bamboo from Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.

He was optimistic for availing long term supply of Bamboo for the Bio Refinery on mutually beneficial terms for both Nagaland

and NRL with the signing of the MOU. Team Leader NBDA Khrienuo Metha, NBDA members, Managers Business Development, Atanu P.Sharma and Rajiv Changkakoti from NRL were also present during the signing of MOU. The signing of MOU today between the two parties would enable to identify bamboo catchment area for primary processing by the communities for converting into bio-fuel.

The project would enable to set up bamboo processing clusters in the state of Nagaland which would ultimately help the farmers to promote bamboo plantation and processing for value addition.

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The annual Mokokchung Christmas Cake Race is yet another event that has become a part of Christmas tradition in Mokokchung. It is an inter-ward relay race competition held on the Christmas Eve day, the 24th of December. The Mokokchung Municipal Council organizes this annual competition where both men and women from all of the 18 wards under the municipality compete. The course of the race normally starts at the town square and then stretch along the heart of the town’s main roads before culminating at the starting point. All the teams get the same prize – huge Christmas cakes – but the winners get to keep the bragging rights until the next year.

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Christmas day has come and gone and the town is at the threshold of a New Year. And then Squadron happens! Many Decembers will come and go but this December is certainly going to be the one that will be remembered for a very long time in Mokokchung. The Squadron 25th Anniversary Concert is scheduled for December 29.

The busy Imkongmeren Sports Complex is the venue, again.

Squadron, the band that needs no introduction, is gearing up to put on their ‘best concert ever’ and Mokokchung is on the brink of encountering its ‘largest concert ever’. It is an open air free-entry concert organized by the Mokokchung Town Lanur Telongjem. Save the date and be a part of the sea of humanity at ISC, come December 29!

ASU Presidential meeting

Kohima, December 8 (mexN): The first Presidential meeting of the Angami Students' Union, 2015-2017 will be held on December 12 at APO Hall at 11 am. All unit Presidents and General Secretaries and senior leaders are requested to attend the meeting.

KTBWU advent Christmas cum installation service

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If Sydney is the New Year’s Eve Capital of the world, Mokokchung is the New Year’s Eve Capital of Nagaland.

Kohima, December 8 (Dipr): Kohima Town BapHeld every December 31st since the 1970s reportedly, tist Women Union will be celebrating Advent Christmas New Year ’s Eve music extravaganza, the countcum Installation service on December 11 at 3.00pm, at down the and the fireworks display is simply an experience out Rengma Baptist Church Kohima, where new team of of- of the ordinary. The town square, fondly called ‘police point’ fice bearers for the year 2016 will also be installed. Rev. by the locals, is the quintessential venue for this one of the Yashila from Ao Baptist Church Kohima will be the main many events Mokokchung is known for. “A New Year won’t speaker while Ms Asune Demo will lead the service. All be a New Year if there’s no show on December 31st at police the members are requested to attend the service. point,” or so the adage goes. Come witness why.

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5 from NE receive Akademi award Supongsangla Jamir of Nagaland receives award for her excellence in the field of choral music AgArtAlA, December 8 (tNN): Five persons from the northeast received the Sangeet Natak Akademi's Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuba Puraskar award 2013 and 2014 on Monday.

Yumnam Bhumeshwor Singh of Manipur received the award for excellence in the musical tradition Natya Sankirtana Pung; Mridusmita Das and Anwesa Mahanta of Assam were awarded for their talent in Sattriya dance. Delong Padung of Arunachal Pradesh received the award for excellence in folk music and Supongsangla Jamir of Nagaland was awarded for her excellence in the field of choral music, said Akademi chairman Shekhar Sen. Tripura governor Tathagata Roy, along with Sen, presented them with the award and Rs 25,000 in cash.

The Akademi instituted the award in 2006 to encourage prodigies in the field of music, dance, drama and folk performance.

As many as 17 musicians, 16 dancers, 16 theatre artists and 17 practitioners of folk and traditional performing arts and puppetry were awarded this time.

Orange-laden truck ‘Next of kin of victims of militant hijacked in Tamenglong violence not entitled to govt jobs’ Our Correspondent Imphal | December 8

A truck laden with oranges was reportedly hijacked by unidentified people in Tamenglong district near Barak. The oranges, meant for the Orange Festival, 2015, were being transported from Joute Pabam and Arjun Ram villages under Tousem Police Station. The hijacking took place last evening, reports said Tuesday.

Tamenglong district headquarters is set to host the 12th edition of the twoday long Orange festival which will begin tomorrow (Wednesday) amidst a boycott call given by the United

Naga Council (UNC).

UNC appealed to people to stay away from the event being organised by the Manipur government.

It said people of Tamenong should not welcome the Chief Minister and all officials when they come to the district to celebrate it.

The council had on December 9 said the state government was organising the festival when people in the hill districts would be mourning for the nine departed souls killed in the recent violence occurred in Churachandpur district.

It also alleged that orange farmers are neglected by the state government.

People will mark the 100th day of the Churachandpur protest and honour the nine 'martyrs' tomorrow. The violent incident came after the Manipur Legislative Assembly passed three ILP Bills on August 31. Tribal people in the state have dubbed the controversial Bills as 'antitribal' and demanded their withdrawal.

Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh will attend as the chief guest at the occasion. A total of 223 orange stalls from different parts of Tamenglong are taking part in the celebration. Tamenglong oranges are known for quality and taste.

gUWAHAtI, December 8 (PtI): The next of kin of the victims of militant violence and the injured are not entitled to either Assam or central government jobs as per rule, said Kamrup (Metropolitan) district Deputy Commissioner Dr M Angamathu today.

Referring to the October 30, 2008 serial bomb blasts in Guwahati, Angamathu at a press meet here said "There is no provision in both the Assam and central government rules to provide jobs to the extremist affected families."

"There is also a Supreme Court order rejecting job prayers in such instances stating the next of kin (NOK) and the injured can only receive compensation," Angamathu said.

"The issue of NOK and injured getting government jobs keep coming up from time to time. I have cleared the misconception that there is no such provision in the Assam and

central government," the DC said.

"I had a meeting with all the affected families and clarified to them on the job issue. They have understood. Some of them wanted old age and widows pension, Indira Awaaz Yojana houses, admission in Kendriya Vidyalaya schools and bank loans.

We have assured them of help," Angamathu said.

Altogether 53 persons, including a CRPF security personnel, had died and 376 injured in the October 30 serial blasts at Ganeshguri, Chief Judicial Magistrate Court complex and Pan Bazar here, he said.

There were 32 deaths in Ganeshguri, 13 in the CJM complex and eight in Pan Bazar, Angamathu said adding, the victims were from Assam, Meghalaya and Nagaland.

As per the Assam Government rules, Angamathu said in extremist violence, the NOK of each deceased

Rally against Chakma, Hajong settlements held

ItANAgAr, December 8 (PtI): The All Arunachal Pradesh Students' Union (AAPSU) along with the Joint Action Committee on Chakma Hajong Issue Namsai (JACCHIN) today convened a people's referendum rally at Namsai against permanent settlement of Chakmas and Hajongs in the state.

A three-point memorandum was also submitted to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs through Namsai DC. The rally adopted resolutions, which include no non-native group or individuals should be granted rights of permanent settlement in Arunachal Pradesh, the provisions of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873 must be strictly

adhered to and the Centre along with the state government must file a curative petition in the Supreme Court without delay against its decision to grant citizenship rights to the Chakmas and Hajongs. A mass signature campaign to protest the September 17 Supreme Court verdict of granting citizenship to the Chakma and Hajong refugees was also conducted during the rally.

Addressing the rally, AAPSU president Kamta Lapung called for actively fighting for indigenous tribal rights. He said it was time to act and not merely do the talking for the rights. AAPSU general secretary Biru Nasi said if the Chakma and Hajong refugees were given

citizenship, then at least one lakh persons would become part of the system and that would drastically marginalise the local indigenous populace.

He also pointed out that there were numerous communities in the state with a few thousand population, which need to be protected. "If the government and the court do not consider this factor, then the local communities will be annihilated," Nasi said adding, the Centre did not file a review petition against the September 17 order and if it fails to file a curative petition, then that would only show that it was biased.

The AAPSU General Secretary

war Dutta, 30, were arrested on Monday evening on a complaint lodged by Gitimallika Gogoi, member of the Juvenile Justice Board, police said.

Gogoi had visited the NGO to teach drawing to the children. During the course of a class, most of the 21 inmates of the home

reportedly opened up and related their harrowing experiences to Gogoi.

“Eight girls said they had been sexually exploited by Borgohain for a year.

We registered a case against him and the home supervisor under Section 6/17 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences

Arunachal assured of funds for road projects

ItANAgAr, December 8 (PtI): Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has assured Arunachal Pradesh that all road projects including state highways and the Itanagar- Banderdewa four-lane national highway for which DPRs have been submitted, will be taken up without land compensation. The minister's assurance came when state PWD Minister Gojen Gadi accompanied

by Power Minister Tanga called on him in New Delhi yesterday, Gadi informed PTI over telephone today.

The minister made it clear that no new proposals would be approved.

Gadi submitted a memorandum to the Union Minister for early

release of funds for 53-km AkajanLikabali-Bame state road in West Siang district, the foundation stone of which was laid by Gadkari at Likabali on November 4, and the fourlane Itanagar-Banderdewa NH415. The memorandum also sought funds for restoration and rigid pavement works and 407-km doublelane Potin-Pangin sanctioned on BOT (Annuity) hybrid beside Pasighat-Pangin (NH-229) from 41.3km to 57-km, among others.

Gadkari pointed out that whatever DPRs for highways have been submitted by the state government would be considered without land compensation and no fresh proposal would be received, Gadi said.

Assam House asks Centre to reinstate spl Category status gUWAHAtI, December 8 (PtI): The Assam Assembly today unanimously adopted a resolution demanding the Centre to reinstate the Special Category status to Assam immediately. The government resolution was moved by Planning and Development Minister Ajanta Neog and it was accepted by all. The resolution demanded the Centre to reinstate the earlier status regarding the funding of Central schemes.

Following withdrawal of the status, the funding pattern was changed from 90:10, where 90 per cent of money was coming from the Centre. The House also decided to send an all-party delegation to the Centre for pressing its demand for Special Category status to Assam.

Rabhas appeal for security gUWAHAtI, December 8 (tNN): The All Rabha National Council (ARNC) has urged chief minister Tarun Gogoi to ensure the safety of Rabhas residing in Meghalaya and West Bengal.

The ARNC submitted a memorandum on the matter to Gogoi, Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma and his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee.

"We have a number of problems but no government has ever tried to solve them.

Some of our people are living in Meghalaya and others in Bengal. We request the Assam chief minister to raise the issue of development with his counterparts in

Meghalaya and West Bengal," general secretary of ARNC Gobinda Rabha said.

The ARNC demanded land rights for Rabhas in Meghalaya. "These people have been living there for ages. We request the state governments to ensure land rights for them," he said. Reacting to the extension of the metropolitan area by Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), the Rabha council has asked the authorities concerned to exempt the areas which fall under the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council. "All areas which fall under the tribal belt should be left out of the proposed expanded metropolitan area," said Rabha.

Tight security for Tripura civic polls

AgArtAlA, December 8 (IANS): Civic polls in the Left-ruled Tripura on Wednesday will see tight security measures across the state as well as along the India-Bangladesh border, officials said here Tuesday.

"Over 6,600 security forces, including centralpara military personnel, would be deployed to hold the civic polls peacefully.

The BSF has been asked to intensify their vigil along the India-Bangladesh border," Inspector General of Police (law and order) Anurag told reporters.

He said, "In all, 86 mobile patrolling teams would conduct close surveillance during the polls. Adequate number of personnel from CRPF, BSF and Assam Rifles would be deployed in and around the polling stations."

Elections would be

held on Wednesday to the 49-seat Agartala Municipal Corporation, 13 municipal councils and five Nagar Panchayats across the state.

In Jirania Nagar Panchayat in western Tripura, the ruling Left Front led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist) has got a majority uncontested.

Currently, except in Ambassa Municipal Council in northern Tripura, the CPI-M-led Left parties are ruling in all the municipal bodies, including the politically important Agartala Municipal Corporation.

There are a total of 886 contenders, including 429 women, from all parties in the fray.

The Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party, Trinamool Congress besides the Left Front are among those contesting the elections to the

Act of 2013,” Naba Kumar Bora, officer in charge of Diburagarh police station, said, adding that medical tests would be conducted on the arrested duo.

Dibrugarh district SP Bir Bikram Gogoi said the allegations of custodial sexual abuse were found to be true during interrogation.

termed the Inner Line Permit exemption for the Chakma and Hajong refugees as a medium to make them tribals in order to revoke the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873. "The Supreme Court judgement did not consider the socioeconomic and cultural factors. The apex court should take into account the aspirations of the Arunachalees," said member of AAPSU Core Committee on Chakma Hajong refugee issue Prof Nani Bath.

Various organisations from different districts of the state participated in the rally which started from the Poi Pee Mau Ground and culminated at the Nimki field near DIG (Eastern Zone) office.

local urban bodies.

State Election Commissioner G. Kameswara Rao told the media that by-elections to some seats in gram panchayat and panchayat samitis would also be held on Wednesday.

"Electronic Voting Machines would be used to conduct the elections in the municipal bodies while old Bungo and Godrej type ballot boxes would be used for the by-polls to the gram panchayats and panchayat samities," said Rao, who was earlier the chief secretary of Tripura.

He said that 537,968 people, including 268,754 women, are eligible to cast their votes in the municipal elections. The 144-year-old Agartala Municipal Corporation is the oldest municipal body in the northeastern region.

gUWAHAtI, December 8 (PtI): Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said BJP is a "khichidi" party with members from all other parties such as Congress, AGP and BPF and extremists.

"How can they win and run a government with so much of khichidi? They are taking people from everywhere -- AGP, BPF and extremists," Gogoi told reporters outside the Assam Assembly.

"They have also taken those from Congress who are just opportunist and condemned people. In fact, BJP has become a party of condemned people," he said. Gogoi said Congress will fight the forthcoming Assembly poll on its own and win with full majority.

Asked if former Congress Minister and now a BJP leader, Himanta Biswa Sarma, is an asset or liability, Gogoi alleged: "Himanta is a big asset for them.

He knows all the tricks. He

PUBLIC NOTICE

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Shortlisted candidates will be called for interview.

receives Rs three lakh as compensation, while each seriously injured gets Rs 50,000 and those with simple injuries Rs 10,000 each.

"On this basis we have fulfilled the entitlement of giving Rs three lakh each to the NOKs of the 52 civilians, Rs 50,000 each to the 238 seriously injured and Rs 10,000 each to those with simple injuries," he said.

An additional Rs three lakh each was also given directly from the Centre as a three-year lock in account to the NOKs, the DC said.

The CRPF personnel got compensation as per their force rule from the Central Reserve Police Force, he said.

The October 30, 2008 Assam bombings triggered by the NDFB insurgent outfit had claimed nearly 90 lives and left almost 500 injured in the serial blasts in Guwahati, Barpeta Road in Barpeta district, besides Kokrajhar and Bongaigaon districts.

NDFB militant killed

Assam orphanage officials held for sexually abusing minor girls BJP a 'Khichidi' Party: Gogoi

gUWAHAtI, December 8 (Ht): Two officials of an orphanage in eastern Assam’s Dibrugarh town were arrested for alleged sexual abuse of minor girls living there, police said on Tuesday. Rubul Borgohain, 40, superintendent of the Smile Children Home, and supervisor Gitanjali Kon-

3

has money power and he knows the tricks to manipulate with parties and extremists."

Gogoi termed as "baseless wild allegation" Sarma's criticism that the Chief Minister had influenced the Assembly Speaker to suspend 12 MLAs yesterday. "In fact, I requested the Speaker through the Parliamentary Affairs Minister that suspension order of five BJP MLAs be reviewed. And now they are blaming me...

When did I get time to influence the Speaker? It was happening in front of everyone," Gogoi said.

On the first day of the Winter Session yesterday, five BJP MLAs and seven rebel Congress members, who had recently declared their allegiance to the opposition party, were suspended from the Assembly for the entire Session for disobeying the Speaker's ruling and creating noisy scene in the well of the House.

gUWAHAtI, December 8 (AgeNcIeS): A National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) militant was killed in an encounter today in Assam's Kokrajhar district.

It was around 5.20 AM when the encounter took place between NDFB (S) cadres and security forces at Silaimatha forest area, IGP Dr L R Bishnoi said.

A cadre, Nerswn Brah-

SELECTION TRAIL TO SPORTS ACADEMY, INDIRA GANDHI STADIUM, KOHIMA

The Department of Youth Resources & Sports will be conducting selection trail for the enrolment/ admission of students to the Indira Gandhi Stadium Sports Academy for the academic session 2016-17 in four disciplines- Football (Girls), Taekwondo, Wrestling, Archery and Boxing from 15th- 16th December, 2015.

The eligibility criteria for selection are as follows:1. Football (Girls) – Under 12-14 years 2. Wrestling – Under 12-14 years 3. Archery – Under 14 Boys – 6 nos Girls – 7 nos 4. Taekwondo (Boys) – Under 14 Under 14 – 3 nos Under 17 – 1 nos 5. Boxing – Under – 16 Boys – 3 nos Girls – 4 nos Interested candidate are asked to produce attested copy of Birth Certificate and Medical Fitness Certificate and to report at the selection venue i.e, Indira Gandhi Stadium, Kohima, by 10.00 A.M. Candidate are informed to attend the test at their own expense as no TA/DA will be provided.

For more information, all concerned are asked to contact the respective coaches.

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ma alias Naidaw, who was involved in the 2012 BodoMuslim violence has been identified as the killed militant, added the IGP. An AK-47 rifle with two magazines, 44 rounds of ammunition, two bags, two mobile phones, extortion notes, a solar power plate, clothes, blankets and other materials have been recovered from the rebellion while the hunt for the others is on.

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Business

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Indian industry group to launch 1 physical gold exchange st

MuMbai, DeceMber 8 (reuTerS): A bullion association in India is planning to launch the country’s first physical gold trading exchange, in an attempt to bring transparency to the market for the precious metal in the world’s second biggest consumer.

The Mumbai-based India Bullion and Jewellers Association (IBJA), a group consisting of gold dealers, traders and jewellers, is talking with industry officials about launching the exchange next year.

A dedicated physical gold exchange could lead to standard gold pricing in India, and could also bring transparency to a market which can involve large cash transactions.

“We are planning to launch the exchange in six months,” Ketan Shroff, an IBJA spokesman told Reuters. “Discussions are going on regarding its structure and ownership.”

A customer tries a gold necklace at a jewellery showroom on the occasion of Dhanteras, a Hindu festival associated with Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, at a market in Mumbai.

(REUTERS Photo)

The exchange, which government to monitor Shaktikanta Das floated will start with two to three gold trade, he said. the idea of setting up a nadelivery centres for gold Last week, India’s eco- tional gold exchange. and silver, will help the nomic affairs secretary India’s push for an ex-

change follows the gold monetisation and sovereign bond schemes launched last month designed to mobilise the country’s gold hoard and reduce imports of the precious metal which are exacerbating the trade deficit.

A physical exchange is likely to mean jewellers, retailers, refiners and banks can trade over a regulated platform.

The Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) and National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) offer gold futures contracts in India, but there is no platform for physical trade.

“There is a need for an exchange that will cater to small jewellers’ demand,” said Kumar Jain, vice president of the Mumbai Jewellers Association.

“Sometimes we need to pay hefty premiums.

That won’t happen as demand-supply will become

transparent on exchange platform.”

China, the top gold consumer, runs such a bourse, where all domestic production and imported gold has to be bought and sold.

Shroff said IBJA was looking for partners to launch the Indian exchange as an anchor investor, or promoter, cannot hold more than a 26 percent stake in a commodity exchange.

Banks, the main importers of gold, would also be interested in participating. At the moment, banks are not allowed to trade on Indian commodity exchanges offering futures contracts. “ The government should allow banks to participate in a physical exchange,” said a bullion dealer with a private bank.

“Without their presence, liquidity will be limited.”

Iranian team checks out Indian Enfield suffers production loss of 11,200 bikes Delhi, DeceMber ees and issues with our local facilities between December tea practices at farm and factory New 8 (reuTerS): Eicher Mo- suppliers, the company will 1-6, 2015.”

KOlKaTa, DeceMber 8 (ageNcieS): India is hopeful of boosting exports to the high– value Iranian tea market following the just-concluded visit of an Iranian team, which included officials from ISIRI, and health ministry officials.

ISIRI is Iran’s official standards body under the Ministry of Trade. It is described on its website as the ‘sole organisation in the country for developing and designing official standards’.

While it is usual for trading countries to interact through trade, industry and official delegations, this visit was unique in that it was an interaction solely on quality and safety issues.

“During the February visit by an Indian delegation, Iran raised pesticide residue in tea issue and it was then decided to invite them to check out the Indian tea industry’s good agricultural and manufacturing practices”, a commerce ministry official told The Hindu.

The three-day visit to a tea estate and a factory in Assam and the Tocklai Tea Research Station in Jorhat (also in Assam) took place last week. The Indian side was represented by industry, the Tea Board of India, a tea research

scientist as well as officials of the Indian Food Safety Authorities and also officials from the Central Insecticides Board and Registration Committee, a central government body which advises, regulates and manages the uses of pesticides in India.

It may be mentioned that Iran with an estimated per capita tea consumption of 1.2 kg (against India’s 700 grams) is considered an important market as much for its potential for importing large volumes of teas as its preference for high-value orthodox tea. The unit price of teas that are exported (mostly from Assam) average at around Rs.250 a kg. Orthodox teas are made in the same way as crush tear and curl CTC teas, but with most of the leaf remaining in tact, they are subtly flavourful and are the beverage of choice of discerning tea-drinkers the world over. They also fetch better prices.

India has been vying with Sri Lanka for a larger share of the market. Between January and September 2015, around 12.77 million kg of Indian teas were exported to Iran against 13 million kg a year ago. Exports stood at 18 million kg in 2014 and the aim is to increase it to 20 million kg this year.

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“Many parts of the supply chain still continue to be affected due to the aftermath of floods. Due to the rains, in November, the company lost production of 4,000 motorcycles.”

The company added that while it continues to monitor the situation closely, it “would be able to assess the insurance loss in due course, once the full normalcy is restored.”

Eicher Motors shares were trading up 1.13 per cent at Rs 16,410 apiece, in the morning session on BSE.

drug delivery, it is highly desirable to make the electronic devices soft and stretchable to fit the environment of the human body,” Zhao said.

The “smart wound dressing” of the device releases medicine in response to changes in skin temperature and can be designed to light up if, say, medicine is running low. When the dressing is applied to a highly flexible area, such as the elbow or knee, it stretches with the body, keeping the embedded electronics functional and intact.

Zhao said the electronics coated in hydrogel may be used not just on the surface of the skin but also inside the body, for example as implanted, bio-compatible glucose sensors, or even soft, compliant neural probes.

DAILY CROSS WORD

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New YOrK, DeceMber 8 (iaNS): Engineers have designed a sticking bandage that releases medicine in response to changes in skin temperature. Designed by Xuanhe Zhao, associate professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s department of mechanical engineering, the hydrogel is a rubbery material, mostly composed of water, designed to bond strongly to surfaces such as gold, titanium, aluminum, silicon, glass, and ceramic.

The sticky, stretchy, gel-like band can incorporate temperature sensors, LED lights and other electronics, as well as tiny drug-delivering reservoirs and channels. “If you want to put electronics in close contact with the human body for applications such as health care monitoring and

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SUDOKU

be running at approximately 50 per cent capacity this week, and plans to be back up to 100 per cent capacity by next week,” Eicher Motors Ltd said in a regulatory filing.

Elaborating on the loss suffered by the company due to floods, it said: “Prima facie, there is no damage to equipment or property and all our employees are safe and secure. The company had production loss of 7,200 motorcycles due to the closure of both the company’s manufacturing

New bandage senses temperature, delivers medicine

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LEISURE

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tors today said it has suffered a production loss of 11,200 Royal Enfield motorcycles so far due to heavy rains and flooding in Chennai.

“Due to heavy rains and flooding in Chennai, both of Royal Enfield’s production facilities in Thiruvottiyur and Oragadam were shut since December 1, 2015.”

“The company resumed production of motorcycles on December 7, 2015. However, due to a high rate of absenteeism by the company’s employ-

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New Delhi, DeceMber 8 (PTi): The government has received a representation alleging hoarding of pulses by big traders and importers in “a foreign country”, Parliament was informed on Tuesday. “A representation alleging hoarding of pulses by big traders/ importers in foreign country has been received,” Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said in a reply to Lok Sabha.

“Under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, and the Prevention of Black-marketing and Maintenance of Supplies of Essential Commodities Act, 1980, action can be taken against domestic hoarding only,” he added.

Paswan was replying to a query on whether the government has taken note of the fact that the Confederation of All India Traders has held big retail companies responsible for the current scarcity of pulses. The advisories for strict action against hoarding and blackmarketing have been issued to all states/Union Territories.

In reply to a separate query, Paswan said that over 1.30 lakh tonnes of pulses have been seized during 14,134 raids conducted across 14 states. Out of the total pulse stocks seized, 51,732.27 tonnes have been disposed of so far in the market.

The government, he said, is not considering any proposal to constitute a specialised body to track and check food prices. Pulse prices are still ruling high despite several government measures as there is a domestic shortage due to fall in production by two million tonnes in 2014-15 crop year (July-June) on account of poor monsoon.

‘Low inflation to give biggest global pay boost in three years’ lONDON, DeceMber 8 (reuTerS): The slowing world economy looks set to get a boost from stronger consumer demand next year, as low inflation boosts the real value of workers’ pay rises to a three-year high, a survey said on Tuesday.

A plunge in oil prices has pushed inflation sharply lower, and means real wages are predicted to rise by an average of 2.5% globally in 2016, the study by human resources firm Korn Ferry Hay Group showed.

Nominal wage growth of 4.9% across a range of 24,000 firms and organizations around the world was in line with recent years. But the fall in inflation was putting more money into the pockets of consumers globally, Benjamin Frost, a consultant with Hay Group who oversees its salary databases, said.

“A lot of what they seem to be doing is spending that money and companies are generally not doing badly either,” Frost said. “They are sharing the love with pay increases and hopefully that will come back around into their tills again.” U.S. workers were on course for a 3.0% increase in wages at the start of 2016, resulting in a 2.7% increase in real pay when taking in account projected annual inflation of about 0.3% at the same time, the study showed.

In Britain, wage growth of 2.5% and projected inflation of just 0.2%meant British workers were on course for stronger real wage growth than the 2% average expected for employees in Western Europe. Central banks, such as the Bank of England, are watching to see if the fall in inflation results in lower pay rises in cash terms, which would push down on future inflation and reduce the need for raising interest rates from their rock-bottom lows.

The study was drawn from data from companies and organisations in 110 countries. The biggest gain in real wages by region was expected in Asia where workers in China were likely to see a 6.3 percent increase in 2016 as demand grew for skilled workers despite the economy’s economic slowdown, it said.

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Police Control Room

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227607 232181

CIHSR (Referral Hospital)

242555/ 242533

Dimapur hospital

224041, 248011

Apollo Hospital Info Centre:

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Railway:

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Indian Airlines

229366

ACROSS

1. Disparage 5. Squad 9. Snip 13. A coniferous tree 14. Courtyards 16. Type of cereal grass 17. Umpires 18. Estimate 19. Beers 20. Mongolian dwellings 22. Clumsiness 24. Greek letter 26. Operatic solos 27. Median 30. A written version of a play 33. Revere 35. Water vapor 37. A late time of life 38. Face with masonry 41. Calypso offshoot 42. Governs 45. Evoked 48. An evergreen shrub 51. Strong and proud 52. Wreckage 54. Agitate 55. Flat grasslands 59. Place 62. Send forth

DOWN

1. Agile 2. Place 3. Inimical 4. Repair 5. Children’s game 6. Decorative case 7. Sporting venue 8. Penny pinchers 9. A surveying instrument 10. Anger 11. Frosts 12. Untidyness 15. Savory jelly 21. Sun 23. Sailors 25. Food thickener 27. Affirm 28. Partial veil 29. French for “Summer” 31. Plague 32. Captured

34. Night before 36. Fabricated 39. L 40. Layer 43. Fickle 44. Render unconscious 46. Murmurs 47. First 49. Delineated 50. Hard glossy coating 53. Push 55. Peddle 56. Dogfish 57. 8 in Roman numerals 58. Anagram of “Ties” 60. Dull pain 61. Not nights 64. Antlered animal Ans to CrossWord 3440

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. Overact 65. Ancient Peruvian 66. 53 in Roman numerals 67. Satan 68. Sore 69. Nonclerical 70. Scallion 71. Dregs

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

H

E T R O L M N A I O Y O G U R T O J N R

Government receives information of alleged pulses hoarding by foreign importers: Food Minister

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

65.17 98.16 8.14 47.51 46.33 48.44 52.52

68.12 102.90 9.06 49.85 48.62 50.82 55.48

Euro

70.34

73.76

Thai Baht Korean Won New Zealand Dollar Chinese Yuan

1.76

1.96

0.0541

0.0602

43.59

45.73

9.77

10.88

WEdnEsdAY 09•12•2015

NAGALAND

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Kma-Dmp 4 lane project Involve local contractors or face agitation: NCSU kohiMa, DeceMber 8 (Mexn): The Nagaland Contractors and Suppliers Union (NCSU) today stated that it would resort to agitation in the form of an indefinite bandh on the NH 29 Kohima-Dimapur road if their demand for job wise breaking up of the 4 lane Kohima-Dimapur road is not met.

The NCSU President, Pele Khezhie and General Secretary, John Kath in a letter to the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari reminded that the Minister had assured to accommodate local contractors in the said project on several occasions.

However, when the tender for the project was floated by the NHIDLC with the date fixed on 6.11.2015 for bid submission closing date, the assurance was not complied

with, it stated. The NSCU lamented that local contractors were denied the opportunity to even participate in the tender process as the tender value is “too high for the local contractors to qualify.”

“No matter how efficient the local contractors may be, there were no huge projects in the state of Nagaland in the past and as such, local contractors could not get requisite criteria to qualify tender in such a huge project,” it added.

The NCSU reminded that it had submitted a representation on October 29, 2015 to the Union Minister’s office to keep the tender in abeyance till alternative arrangements are made. Accordingly, the tender was postponed to November 18, 2015 for bid submission closing date.

MEx FILE KDCC pre-Christmas celebration kohiMa, DeceMber 8 (Mexn): The Kohima District Congress Committee (KDCC) is all set to celebrate pre-Christmas on December 12, 1:00 pm at NPCC conference hall, Congress Bhavan, Kohima. Short speech will be delivered by Ex-Minister Seyiekuolie Kesiezie and NPCC President K. Therie. Dr. Er. Vikuotuolie Angami, Ph.D will deliver message. The service will be led by Abalie Medoze, General Secretary (Adm), while welcome address will be delivered by KDCC President Kevi Vizo. All the PCC members, DCC presidents, frontal chiefs, ACCC presidents have been requested to attend the same.

Angami Community Seluophe Village meeting DiMapur, DeceMber 8 (Mexn): Angami Community Seluophe Village has convened a general meeting on December 12, 10:00 am at the local ground, Seluophe village. Therefore, whoever has property or land in the village have been requested to attend the meeting without fail. A press release from General Secretary Pfulhulie Metha and Chairman Lhoutsolie Nakhro warned that the community will not take any responsibility for those who fail to attend the meeting even if any untoward incident occurs relating to their property, land or plot in the near future.

It further stated that on November3, while laying the foundation stone for the project, the Union Minister had made the same assurance regarding eligibility of local contractors.

Meanwhile, it reminded that without changes of the earlier tender terms and conditions, the tender was again postponed to November 30, 2015 for bid submission closing date and lastly it was postponed to December 12, 2015.

The NCSU reiterated that its demand is for breakup of the present contract work package into job wise packages so that local contractors would get the opportunity to qualify for the project.

The NCSU appealed for the Union Minister to fulfil his assurance to this end, failing to do so, the union cautioned that it would initiate agitation.

5

Modernization of meat shops in Mokokchung lauded Mokokchung, DeceMber 8 (Mexn): Mokokchung Chamber of Commerce and Industries (MCCI) today acknowledged that the modernization of five meat shops in Mokokchung, sponsored by the Department of Industries and Commerce under the National Mission of Food Processing Industries, is a welcome development.

The beneficiaries of the scheme have all thanked the government and the

Mokokchung Municipal Council, MCCI said in a release issued by its President, Moasangba Jamir and Information Secretary, Limalenden Longkumer.

Supong Aier (mutton) and Nungshiwapang (chicken) have started operating their business at Salangtem New Market, while S.Tali Imchen (pork) and Opangrenla (chicken) have also started their businesses located at Arkong Ward and Sungkomen Ward respectively. The

above four are located in Mokokchung Town, while the fifth shop is located at Liroyim village.

During an interaction with MCCI, one of the beneficiaries, S. Tali Imchen (39), who is a second generation meat business owner with 17 years of experience, said that he started operating his modernized meat shop on December 3. His shop is located near SBI Regional Business Office, Arkong Ward and is well fur-

nished. It is fully tiled and has air conditioning, deep freezer, display cabinet chamber, digital weighing machine, meat dryer, fly catcher, meat mincer and meat chopper board, the release said.

All the other three meat shops in the town are also equally modernized. The beneficiaries while saying that they procured all the facilities after being sponsored by the government added that they would on

their part work dedicatedly.

“This is an indicator that Mokokchung is slowly developing. It also makes the town more beautiful.

We now work and sell under hygienic conditions and the customers also get their money’s worth,” said Tali Imchen. He added that when businesses prosper, Mokokchung will automatically develop and hoped that the government will sponsor more beneficiaries in the near future.

UBCA-NEI annual conference underway in Dimapur DiMapur, DeceMber 8 (Mexn): The two-day 8th annual conference of the United Baptist Churches Association North East India (UBCA-NEI) got underway on December 8 at Youth Oasis Centre, Eralibill with “Embracing the eternity” as the theme of the conference.

Rev. Dr. Jolly Rimai, Mission Secretary, CBCNEI, Guwahati and Rev. L. Hevuto Awomi, Executive Secretary, UBCA-NEI will be the speakers of the twoday conference, while Rev. Y. T.

Lotha, Advisor, UBCA-NEI will exhort the congregation.

Speaking at the opening service, Rev. Hevuto made references from the Bible, quoting scriptures Hosea 10:12, Hebrew 3:13, Esther 4:14 and Matthew 7:21-24 and challenged the congregation to seek God when the time is right.

The opening service was chaired by Imsupong Nokdir, Pastor, UBC Advasi and recorded by Elika, Women Pastor, UBC, Thahekhu Block 3.

Rev. Dr. Khashito Aye, President, UBCA-NEI welcomed the delegates. Members of UBC Balijan, Karbi Anglong, Assam presented welcome song, while UBC Thahekhu and UBC Bamunpukhuri presented special songs. Elina, women leader, UBC Walford, read scripture from the Bible.

Akhala Jamir, women chairperson, UBCA said the invocation and Beena, pastor, UBF Chekiye pronounced the benediction.

Executive Secretary of UBCA-NEI, Rev. L Hevuto Awomi delivering a message at opening service of the conference at Youth Oasis Centre, Eralibill on December 8.

Naga woman wins award in choral music Leadership development DiMapur, DeceMber 8 (Mexn): A Naga woman has been awarded the prestigious Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar for 2013-2015 in the field of choral music.

Supongsangla Jamir was named one of the 36 recipients of the award by the General Council of Sangeet Nadak Akademi. The award ceremony was held at Rabindra Satabarshiki Bhavan in Agartala.

A press release informed that Supongsangla Jamir is the music conductor of The Refiners Choir Nagaland which has 27 members and has been continuously performing choral music under the initiative of Sangeet Natak Akademi with Yangerlemba and his wife as coordinators from Nagaland.

The Refiners Choir Nagaland has performed at the Festival of Choral Mu-

programme conducted

Supongsangla Jamir receives the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar in the field of choral music.

sic and Traditional Drum in Shillong in September 2014, Sur Sangam in Karnataka in May 2015, Festival of Diverse Musical Expression in Delhi in October 2015, Festival of Cho-

ral Music and Instrumental Ensemble from North East Region of India in Gujarat in April 2015. They have also performed at the Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) conference in May 2015

and many more events.

Supongsangla Jamir has also been invited to perform at the Festival of India which is scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka in January 2016, the release added.

kohiMa, DeceMber 8 (Mexn): A programme on leadership development and detergent powder and dish wash gel making was organised by National Cooperative Union of India, Cooperative Education Field Project, Kohima on December 5 at Chetheba Council Hall.

The inaugural programme was graced by Velasa Nakro, Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Nagaland. In his speech, he encouraged the participants to be practical and responsible corporators and to avail the opportunity of acquiring skill development training which is very useful for every household.

He also emphasized on local products for one's own use and expanding them to commercial purpose, which will ultimately add to the family's income. Earlier, the invocation prayer was pronounced by Mezahü Medeo, Vice Chairman, Chetheba Council.

Welcome address was delivered by Dutaki Nyekha.

Short speech was delivered by Chairman, Chesezu village. The program was chaired by Ketholenuo, Project Officer, NCUI, Kohima.

Keneivono Rakho demonstrated on detergent washing powder and dish wash gel making. The program was attended by 50 participants from the villages of Thenyizu, Cesezu, K Basa, K Bawe and Phuyoba and Chetheba.

Passes for NLA session kohiMa, DeceMber 8 (Mexn): In view of the tenth session of the 12th Nagaland Legislative Assembly scheduled for December 14, car passes and official gallery passes will be issued from December 11 onwards. Ministers/ Advisors (Cabinet status)/ Parliamentary Secretaries and AHoDs are to collect car passes and gallery passes from Special Secretary (Home Department), Nagaland, Kohima. HoDs/ media are to collect car passes from Assembly Secretariat reception counter gate number 1. MLAs/ PS/ PA and other departments have been directed to collect car passes from Security Branch, Nagaland Legislative Assembly Secretariat. A press release from Commissioner & Secretary, NLA, N Benjamin Newmai further informed to collect the car and gallery passes in advance to avoid eleventh hour rush.

Chang men demonstrate construction of traditional house during Hornbill Festival at Kisama, Naga Heritage Village on December 8. Morung Photo/ Chizokho Vero

RSU general conference kohiMa, DeceMber 8 (Mexn): The Rengma Students’ Union (RSU) will be holding its 38th general conference from December 17 to 19 at Sendenyu village under Tseminyu sub-division of Kohima district. The conference will be held under the theme “Envision, Enlighten and Empower.” Nagaland Governor PB Acharya will grace the inaugural function as the chief guest.

Technical problem at sub-station Wokha Wokha, DeceMber 8 (Mexn): Public have been informed that due to some technical problem at 132/33 kV sub-station in Wokha, power supply to Wokha district, Tseminyu and Pughoboto sub-divisions has been disrupted. While the department is trying its best to restore the sub-station at the earliest, the public have been requested to bear with the inconvenience caused “which is highly regretted.” This was stated in a press release issued

by Executive Engineer, Transmission Division, Kohima.

NPF, 60 A/C resolves to uphold reconciliation kiphire, DeceMber 8 (Mexn): The NPF party of 60 A/C (Pungro-Kiphire) has unanimously resolved to uphold reconciliation spirit among the party, to unite and work for strengthening the NPF under the leadership of Dr. Shürhozelie, President and TR Zeliang, Chief Minister. This was decided during the introductory cum oath taking programme of NPF, 60 A/C (Pungro-Kiphire) on November 25 at Hopongkyu Memorial Hall, Kiphire Town. All the newly inducted office bearers took an oath administered by NPF President, Kiphire division Lipongkyu Sangtam. Working president of the division Litsapi Sangtam delivered the welcome address, while short speeches were delivered by RL Akumba, former MLA, T Lisepi Mongzar, CEC Member, Hankiumong Yim, Advisor, Atongla, Women Wing president, Kyuman Yim, Advisor, and T Yangseo Sangtam.

Hotoshe Sema (in picture) of GHS Suruhuto has been honoured with the prestigious "Bharat Jyoti Award" in recognition of his yeomen services rendered with excellence in the fields of science and technology, education, industry, fine arts, politics and social work. The award was given in a presentation ceremony cum seminar on "Economic growth and national Integration" organized by the India International Friendship Society, Delhi on December 7 at India International Center, New Delhi. The award comprised of memento and Certificate of Excellence.

MOKKOS'15: Cosfest to be held in Mokokchung Mokokchung, DeceMber 8 (Mexn): Coinciding with the celebration of 125 years of Mokokchung Town, Mokokchung District Art & Culture Council in collaboration with Associates for Performing Art & Theatricals

(APAT) will host MOKKOS'15 cosfest at P. Shilu Ao Memorial Park (adjacent Imkongmeren Sports complex) on December 15.

During the event, there will be chibi competition (costume playing) for children 10 years and below and

open cosplay competition (no age limit), which will be judged by members of Nagaland Anime Junkies. A grand total of Rs. 30,000 and other gifts await the winners, informed the organisers.

There will also be live music at the venue with

Electronic Dance Music at HIMF 2015 kohiMa, DeceMber 8 (Mexn): Electronic Dance Music (EDM) marked the eighth day of the Hornbill International Music Festival 2015 at Hockey Ground, IG Stadium, Kohima. The EDM night was something special as the crowd, mostly youth, danced and enjoyed to the tune of the music presented by the featuring artists that included Jinx, Gavin, Amar feat Ruokuosanuo, Tali, Sunep, Akummika and Ina, said a press release from Media Coordinator, HIMF 2015.

According to Gugs Chishi, Project Director, Music Task Force, the Electronic Dance Music is a new wave of music that is taking over the music world. “This is something the young people love. This music is going all over the world and draws big crowds,” Gugs said.

The activities and pro-

MTF Project Director, Gugs Chishi, along with the featuring artists of the Electronic Dance Music night at IG Stadium, Kohima on December 8.

grammes of the Hornbill International Music Festival will continue at IG Stadium till December 10.

On December 9, there will be ‘Country and Blues’ night, which will feature Lipok, Viva La Club, De Band, John Panmei and the Band, Mahila

Band, Prolitarians, East Wind Wood Band, Purple Fusion and Cotton Country.

The Hornbill International Music Festival 2015 will come to a close on December 10 with the ‘Heralding Christmas’ night. Welcoming the Christmas season, artists will

entertain the audience with Christmas songs.

The artists for the culmination programme are Noune Kuotsu, Virie & Zaza, Oren Mozhui, Mengu Suokhrie, Power Faith, Incipit, and Chakhesang Baptist Church, Ministers’ Hill, Kohima.

Tune Up Channel, finalist and adjudged the best band in Nagaland at the recently held Hornbill International Rock Contest, headlining the show. Interested cosplayers can participate in the event for free. For further details, contact: 7085474785, 908978004.

Hornbill Festival: December 9 highlights * Cultural performances by various Naga tribes - 10:00 am to 12:00 am * Traditional Fire Making Competition and “Dare to Swallow Fire” show - 12:00 noon * Exhibition cum sale of handloom & handicrafts products continues - 9:00 am to 5:00 pm * Naga Hipfest Photo Competition 2015 continues - 10:00 am to 4:00 pm * Floral galleria and farmer’s mela continues - 10:00 am to 5:00 pm * Naga Chef- The Entrepreneurial Round Season III culminates - 10:00 am to 5:00 pm * Craftscape 2015 continues - 10:00 am to 5:00 pm * Artist’s Corner continues - 10:00 am to 5:00 pm * Ziplines continues - 10:00 am to 5:00 pm * NAAME’s Adventure activities continues - 10:00 am to 5:00 pm * Cultural performances by various Naga tribes - 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm * Hornbill Night Carnival continues - 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm * Miss Nagaland 2015 at RCEMPA, Jotsoma - 5:00 pm

WednesdAY 09•12•2015

IN FOCUS

6

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

The Power of Truth

The Morung Express X issue 335X issue 185 Thursday 9volume July 2015 volume By dr. asangba Tzüdir

C O M M E N T A R Y

Dan Connel Foreign Polic in Focus

The Afars: Eritrea’s Forgotten Refugees

Human RigHts: Reflections on The Afars, a tightly knit Muslim minority in one of the most inhospitable corners “Our Rights, Our Freedom Always” of Africa, are determined to keep their home and the culture that sustains them

T

he theme for this year’s Human Rights day, ‘Our Rights, Our Freedom Always’, somehow gives a reassuring message that the existence of human rights and freedom holds primacy for a meaningful celebration of human life and living. Yet, it generates sad feelings to see gross violation of human rights everywhere. It is commonplace to see people getting killed and Women being raped and brutally murdered and worst of all is that the charges would still be heaped upon the dead, more often to justify the killings. On another level, there is also the phenomenon where the ‘state’ decides whether its citizens should live or die or be given a slow ‘death’. Besides the questions concerning human rights, it highlights the vulnerability of life under sovereign machinery of the State that licenses a life as one that can be killed or shut down. Thereby, on the whole, the gradual loss of existential meaning is not just a mere theoretical postulate but a fact. Where is the scope for those civilised principles of jurisprudence? What does it mean to have a right?

As legal fiction, ‘exceptions’ today seem to govern the very ‘rule of law’ like in the case of AFSPA which is initiated by a ‘state of necessity’ thereby promulgating an entire area as disturbed.

Thereby the underlying reality is that, Human Right becomes a mere theoretical postulate wherein a life can be simply reduced to a life that can be killed. And while it can be contested regarding the assertion that the ‘exceptional laws’ today has become the rule of law, it also presses upon an underlying theory of law which accounts for the existence of a realm of human life and activity that is not subjected to law or rights thereby undermines rights, freedom, human dignity and moral values.

One can relocate the experiences of the Nazi ruled concentration camps as a praxis of the ‘state of necessity’ that becomes an exceptional space wherein the camp inmates are stripped of all rights, humanity and their names replaced by a mere numbering waiting their death within their dying hope to die as humans. In the modern day, the camp can be taken to be any ‘spatial perimeter’ where killing is legitimated through ‘exceptional laws’ which negates all forms of rights. It not only proves the paradigm of biopolitics but also the way in which the very ‘rule of law’ operates. Thus, the modern State brings a nexus between sovereign power and the human life wherein the body can be either transformed into a subject of the political or a condemned body of biopolitics where life ceases to have any value having detached beyond any discourse on rights, freedom, justice, ethics and morality. The end result is that the sovereign states can claim unaccounted power and the constitutional sanction to even, perpetrate, indefinitely, a regime of gross violation of human rights.

Reflecting on the current existential realities in our state in relation to rights and freedom, both in principle and practice - of living under exceptional laws; states unthinkable denial of basic rights; and the curtailment of rights and freedom to voice out the truth by the ‘powers that be’, we only get negated and reduced to a bare dehumanized life.

Thus, in envisioning a scope for rights and freedom triggered by the many incivilities, and forward assertion of our life and dignity, there is need for rethinking on the whole issue of ‘meriting’ one’s ‘allegiance’ to the ‘regimes’ that contravenes with the very spirit and ethos of Human Rights. This demands a serious reflection of our rational and moral selves in asserting “our rights and freedom… always”.

(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 |

Bhavana Akella IANS

Modi's 'convenient' action at CoP-21

A

s India and the world have had their eyes on Narendra Modi from even before the crucial Conference of Parties-21 (CoP-21) UN Climate Change Conference began, he was conveniently seen saying that climate change was "not of India's making".

Greenpeace said although India's emissions could be low compared to the "developed", it needs to secure a deal as "it is paying the price". Even as New Delhi, has been termed the world's most polluted city, according to a study by the WHO, the international media dubbed India as a "villain" and "spoiler" during the much anticipated CoP-21. India's stand that the deal which will emerge at the end of the conference will be "equitable, but with differentiated responsibilities" is being taken with a pinch of salt by the world media.

"Convenient Action: Continuity for Change" (LexisNexis, 203 pp, Rs.995) -- authored by the PM -- which was launched recently in Paris before the global leaders as the CoP-21 proceeded, assumes a similar convenient tone - more of Gujarat, where he spent 3 terms as a chief minister, but very little of India - and has very little to say about the rest of the country, except for a mention of a 'green' building in Delhi and a picture of a rig in the Krishna Godavari basin.

This book is a sequel, a revised and updated version of "Convenient Action", which Modi wrote in 2010 as the Gujarat CM. There is no mention of any energy-related projects taken up or their status in any other part of the country, despite the book being launched at the time of the crucial global climate change conference, where India was positioning itself as a game-changer.

Introducing the updated book, Modi writes: "One year (as prime minister) is definitely not enough to reap far-reaching fruits. However, with an updated information on Gujarat, I have delineated towards the end of this book a series of actions and policy measures that have been initiated during the last one year which will have definite and incremental effects on our preparedness to deal with climate shocks in future."

As Modi begins the chapter 'Climate Ethics', he draws uncanny parallels between UN reports, which term climate change as an "unsustainable ecological debt", and Atharva Veda, from which he quotes a few lines hailing "Mother Earth". "The suktas of Atharva Veda had embodied the very same message thousands of years ago," Modi writes. He also makes India's stand at the CoP-21 clear through the book, by quoting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, saying that there can be no model that "fits all", and that "culture" was not taken into consideration in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs/2000-2015).

The book hails Gujarat's model with examples from various districts of the state - and stands as nothing less than a state brochure. It presents the dam height and increase in storage level of the Sardar Sarovar Project, some glossy images of recreational spots around the Sabarmati river, and various other 'green' projects of the state and their "success" stories. To be fair, a March 2015 report of India’s Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation says Gujarat ranks in its ability to produce renewable energy only after Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. Towards its conclusion, the book also lists the PM's "foreign collaborations" on climate change which in reality are only "proposed collaborations" and "decisions to enhance high-level dialogue".

T

housands of refugees have made their way to eastern Ethiopia across Eritrea’s porous southern borders in recent years.

Many traveled by foot through the Danakil Depression, one of the lowest and hottest places on earth. Others slipped across the heavily militarized frontier with Djibouti. Still others escaped in small, single-sail dhows to Yemen. But they fly below the radar of most western media, aid agencies, and analysts, largely because they remain in the region rather than joining the flood of other Eritreans trying to reach Europe.

They are the Afars, a tightly knit Muslim minority that has long made their home in one of the most inhospitable corners of Africa — and are determined to keep it and the culture that sustains them. In the 19th century, European colonial powers and a rising Ethiopian empire carved up the parched lands of this proud warrior people, largely for their strategic location on the Red Sea. Now, like the Kurds, they are divided among three countries — Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Eritrea.

By far the largest number lives in the arid plains and volcanic hills of eastern Ethiopia, which is where most of those fleeing Eritrea end up. I spent a week there as part of a year-long project on the Eritrean refugee experience that has taken me to camps and communities from North America and Europe to Israel, East and Southern Africa, and South and Central America.

Many tell similar tales of political repression, desperate escapes and perilous desert, jungle or sea crossings to find a place where they can rebuild their lives in relative freedom and security, though each account has its twists. But the Afar stories carry the added dimension of an assault on their culture and identity by a highly centralized state run by the army that won the country’s independence nearly 25 years ago, the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front.

The EPLF runs Eritrea as if it were still a guerrilla base area, combining an obsession with secrecy with a compulsion for control that leaves no room for disagreement and has left thousands in prison for petty political crimes — or for simply trying to leave. But the Afars are as determined to hold onto their identity as to their culture, which frequently gets them into trouble.

Afar Voices Ali Ahmed, whom I met in the Assayita refugee camp, fled in 2007 to avoid a compulsory national service originally mandated for 18 months but extended indefinitely in 2002. The extension came after a devastating border war with Ethiopia that was halted by a truce in 2000 but never resolved, leaving Eritrea on a permanent war footing.

Ali said he left after watching too many friends “disappear” into the army and never return. But he was also angry over the arrests of prominent Afar elders on what he insisted were specious charges of disloyalty designed to break up their traditional system of self-administration.

Abdalla Mohammed, 32, from a small village outside the port of Assab, fled Eritrea in 2009 after 10 years in national service, but he cited the treatment of the Afars as the main reason he left. “There was no equality,” he told me when I met him in Assayita.

“They abused our language, our culture, our religion.”

He said it finally became too much, so he started planning his flight as he waited for the right moment. “To leave is very difficult,” he observed, leaving unsaid the fact that border guards have long had shoot-to-kill orders. During the Eid celebrations at the end of the Ramadan fast, he slipped out, walking 16 kilometers in one night to reach Ethiopia. He went straight to Assayita and has been there ever since.

Mohammed, also in Assayita, had grown up within the liberation movement and had himself been an EPLF fighter. But in 2004 he found he was losing the use of his left leg and was diagnosed with diabetes, so he requested leave to go to the Asmara capital for treatment. When he was refused, he went on his own Two Indian-American makers of a new film about immigrants in America believe immigration, which has emerged as a key issue in US presidential elections, is "incredibly critical" for both America and India.

"We think immigration is incredibly critical not just for America but also for India," says Rishi Bhilawadikar, writer/producer of "For Here or To Go?" a comedy drama set against the backdrop of the 2008 recession about many personal battles faced by immigrants.

"Indian Americans are key contributors to growth and competitiveness," he said in an interview with IANS pointing to Sundar Pichai and Satya Nadella, CEOs of Google and Microsoft respectively as examples.

"As artists we hope a story like 'For Here or To Go?' humanises the situation and can contribute towards action in bringing about sensible immigration reform," Bhilawadikar said.

Rucha Humnabadkar, San Francisco-based director of the film, agrees, saying one of their goals "is to show that the immigration debate is about people and people's lives and not just numbers or policy. We hope to put a human face to this largely political issue."

"Immigration is a complex demographic phenomenon and there needs to be a broader discussion that goes beyond the theme of illegal immigration to the US," she said.

"Presidential candidates must take a more comprehensive approach, which involves attracting and retaining the brightest and smartest minds

but still lost his leg. Upon his return, he was fired for going without permission. Angry, disabled, and impoverished, he decided to flee.

“I had served this organization since my childhood in the field [with EPLF],” he said. Rebuffed by the authorities, he had turned to an Afar sultan to plead his case and was given money for a boat trip to Yemen.

He had to flee there, too, when Yemen collapsed into chaos and civil war last March, taking a small boat to Djibouti and making his way to the refugee camp. He said he has no idea about his future: “Just I am here.”

Life in the Assayita Camp The Assayita camp is perched on a barren, rockstrewn hillside two kilometers from the town of the same name. Once the regional capital, the dusty settlement of one-story stone and adobe buildings is now something of a backwater, reachable on a barely passable, sand-swept, rutted road. The camp is an hour’s drive from the newly built regional capital of Semera and the busy two-lane highway that links Ethiopia’s heartland with the port of Djibouti, through which 90 percent of its imports come.

The refugees here are free to come and go, and there is constant traffic by three-wheeled bajajs (motorized rickshaws) and donkey carts between the camp and the town. But there is little for them to do there but shop for basics not provided in monthly UN distributions, if they even have the money to buy anything.

Assayita and a second Afar camp to the north at Berhale are administered by Ethiopia’s refugee authority (ARRA) and supplied by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. A handful of Ethiopian organizations run small projects, but there are no European or American NGOs here, despite the fact that many are active in camps elsewhere in Ethiopia. In this and other respects, the Afars are caught in a vicious circle. Because they remain in the region instead of risking the dangerous — and expensive — trans-Sahara and Mediterranean Sea crossings that have gotten so much attention, they fall through the proverbial cracks.

UNHCR counted nearly 29,000 Afar refugees at the start of 2015, but more have come since, many choosing to live in the towns with distant relatives without registering. A principal difference between them and those of other ethnic groups is that most arrive with or are joined by their large, extended families. They tend to settle near others from their places of origin, creating more or less stable enclaves. This is a key factor in discouraging secondary migration, but money is another.

Most are too poor to afford the fees smugglers charge for transit to Europe or North America and

lack the diaspora connections highlanders often have to wire the money to them. Some younger men register for resettlement to a third country with the UN — mainly the United States or Australia — but if it doesn’t come through, they stay in the camp. Others who have more resources choose to stay rather than give up on their homeland.

Unsafe Anywhere, Unwilling to Leave Abdalla Mohammed Abdalla fled Assab to Yemen in 2005. He had just arrived in the town of Assayita with 17 members of his extended family when I met him in a mud brick building that ARRA had rented for new arrivals. The women and children were spread out on mats in two rooms in the otherwise unfurnished house. A dozen soldiers, most of them non-Afars from the Eritrean highlands, some still in their uniforms, occupied two other rooms in the rear, also unfurnished.

Abdalla had been an underground cadre of the EPLF in the 1980s during the independence war and was elected to the Afar regional assembly in the 1990s.

He said he did his national service as an organizer for the EPLF-sponsored youth union and in the Afar administration. But after he refused to withdraw from Assab during the border war, when most highlanders working in the city fled — “I was born in Assab. I would never leave!” he explains — he was accused of “accepting” a potential Ethiopian occupation if the city had fallen (which it did not), and he was jailed.

He said he was sent to the Neferer Prison near the now defunct Assab oil refinery and kept there for five years, beaten frequently and repeatedly called a traitor for not leaving his post with the other officials. Upon his release, he used personal connections to get a boat to Yemen and left immediately, settling in the small Yemeni port of Mokha, where he found work with local fishers and did day labor. His family soon followed.

When the civil war broke out in Yemen and Houthi militiamen captured Mokha, Djibouti Afars came to evacuate the many Eritrean Afars there. But Abdalla said he feared staying in Djibouti because Eritrean security services sometimes kidnapped high-value refugees and they’d already come twice to Yemen to get him. So he brought his family to Assayita instead, determined to stay close enough to Eritrea that he could return if and when the political situation there changes and he can finally feel safe.

Dan Connell is a visiting scholar at Boston University’s African Studies Center. He’s reported on Eritrea for almost 40 years is working on a book on the refugee experience. Visit his websitedanconnell.net for more information.

Immigrants 'critical' for both America and India arun Kumar IANS

from around the world, which is what will continue to help this nation to truly remain innovative and drive sustained economic growth."

The film tells the contemporary story of ambition and ambivalence of Desi immigrants, "Americans in mind and Indians at heart," through the struggles of Vivek Pandit, a young Silicon Valley software professional awaiting the renewal of his work visa.

Bhilawadikar, who came from Mumbai to study interactive storytelling and video game design, said the idea of the film started with his own "experience of trying to be an entrepreneur as an immigrant in 2007, many of which still exist."

"At the time reverse brain-drain phenomenon was picking up and a lot of American educated immigrants had started returning to their home countries largely due to the immigration process."

"The story examines this fascinating dilemma of millions of people trying to make a home away from home and the choices they face today," he

said.

This experience "exemplified by the Indian ethno-bubble of the Silicon Valley," Bhilawadikar said, "started getting captured in a blog - 'Stuff Desis Like" and later into the script of 'For Here or To Go?'" "Rishi and I have the advantage of being exposed to both worlds this story straddles," said Humnabadkar, who hails from Pune. She decided to direct the film when she realised "it wasn't just my story but also that of many friends and family members."

"At the heart of it, it's a story about cultural assimilation in a foreign land, and asks the question where is home and where do you belong?" she said.

Interviewing several San Francisco Bay area Indian immigrant families, they came across stories of "the visa struggles of immigrant entrepreneurs, students victimised in the Tri-Valley university scam, the 'reverse brain drain' phenomenon during the recession, and the tragic wave of Sikh shootings that followed 9/11."

"We understood that the film we

WRITE-WING

needed to make would be the first of its kind, a narrative that unifies the experiences of a very strong and growing South Asian minority across all strata of American society," Humnabadkar said.

When asked about the ongoing debate in India about growing intolerance, both Bhilawadikar and Humnabadkar felt they didn't "qualify to make comments" as it was "something that's not part of our everyday reality."

"That said, some of the reactions that I've read to the comments made by such accomplished names like Shah Rukh Khan or Aamir khan do little more than proving their points," said Bhilawadikar.

Humnabadkar agreed, suggesting a "healthy public debate" about the subject. "It is important for a democratic nation to protect its secular fabric, be it discussion of immigration in the US or intolerance in India. We must find unity in diversity."

"As immigrants from all walks of life know so well, every journey brings forth new stories to tell," said Humnabadkar, when asked what next. Her first feature film won the Jury Award at the 10th Seattle South Asian Film Festival, 2015.

"Many Cups of Chai Films will continue to look to tell fresh, contemporary stories which are relevant to what's happening in our world today," said Bhilawadikar.

After "an amazing festival run," he said, "As a tiny team of two, we will continue to search for the right investors and collaborators that'll help us release the film worldwide."

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 09•12•2015

PERSPECTIVE

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Business companies urged to support communities adapt to climate change

“Companies depend on the health and resilience of the communities in which they operate, source materials and sell their products”

F

Thomson Reuters Foundation

F

or many, December is the wake-up call to prepare filing your taxes. But if you follow the discussions, the stress is more on saving taxes than paying them. The government also incentivises saving by giving rebates and reductions. This encourages citizens to save for the future and also save on taxable income.

The most common and popular vehicle to save tax is using Section 80C of the Income Tax Act to directly reduce your taxable income to one-and-a-half lakhs, therefore, paying an effective rate on a lower slab of income. Suppose, your annual income is Rs. 3,00,000 and you have invested Rs. 1,50,000 under any of the schemes of Section 80C, your effective taxable income will be 3,00,000-1,50,000=1,50,000.

But section 80C covers a horde of products to choose from. So, here we are presenting the most common products for your understanding.

The Newspaper with an Opinion The Morung Express

Women in the Naga society are increasingly exposed to modern ideas and concepts due to factors like contemporary education, media and technology, the globalization process, and Westernization associated with Christianity. However, the truth is that their social reality continues to be constrained by the traditional modes of thinking. These ideals are based on a rigid patriarchal value system that which has been handed down through generations. This is especially visible in the political milieu of Nagaland where our leaders are mostly men. A society can never fully develop until all sections of society stand for themselves and make their voices heard..

Megan Rowling

rom coconut growers in the Philippines whose trees were wiped out in Typhoon Haiyan to palm oil prices squeezed by El Ninolinked droughts, the bottom line of consumer products giant Unilever is taking bigger hits from extreme weather.

With storms, floods and droughts hiking its business costs by an estimated 300 million-400 million euros ($325.44 million-$433.92 million) a year, it is moving to deal with those impacts, which are becoming more severe with climate change.

In the Philippines, Unilever has provided stormhit communities with tree seedlings. In Tanzania, the multinational is restoring degraded land and supplying higher-yielding tea plants to growers, as well as setting up a factory to buy excess production that is currently thrown away.

"This is not us doing charity, this is not us doing corporate social responsibility," Pier Luigi Sigismondi, the company's chief supply chain officer, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"We can secure the supply of our business for the long-term, as we make a positive impact on the smallholder farmers and protect the environment at the same time."

But do companies call work like this adaptation to climate change? If not, should they?

There is pressure, both inside and outside the U.N. climate negotiations in Paris, for more private-sector involvement in adaptation efforts to enable people and economies to adjust to worsening extreme weather and rising seas as the planet warms.

Businesses are increasingly moving to protect their own assets - and in some cases, their workers from floods, extreme heat and other threats.

But this has been a lower priority than reducing their emissions through using more renewable energy and energy-efficient technologies, said Lila Karbassi, head of environment and climate at the U.N. Global Compact Office, which works with the private sector on tackling climate change.

"The issue of adaptation is lagging a little bit behind," she said.

No matter how far governments agree to curb global warming at crunch talks in Paris this week, "there will be unavoidable impacts" companies need to prepare for, she said.

While this message appears to be filtering through to boardrooms, there is debate about how far corporate efforts on adaptation should go.

In a report issued at the Paris climate summit on Monday, the U.N. Global Compact said companies increasingly recognise climate change as a critical factor for business continuity and competitiveness. But a narrow focus on risk management is not enough, it said.

"Companies depend on the health and resilience of the communities in which they operate, source materials and sell their products," it said.

7

A farmer dries cocoa beans at a plantation in Gantarang Keke Village, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. (REUTERS Photo)

"Corporate adaptation strategies that do not co- brands and five major raw materials suppliers on the ordinate with public adaptation efforts or acknowl- ground to pool knowledge in a common platform edge the vulnerabilities of these communities are in- called "CocoaAction". complete and will not ensure business continuity."

Getting the best adaptation strategies to millions of farmers requires "uncommon collaboration" in RESPONSIBLE ADAPTATION the market, as well as time and money, he noted.

The report lists 17 case studies of what it calls "responsible corporate adaptation".

POOREST NOT PROFITABLE They range from Israeli company Netafim introBut action by companies that produce and use ducing a new rice cultivation strategy to decrease commodities can only be a partial solution to helpwater use in India, to Sompo Japan Nipponkoa ing the poorest people cope with climate change imGroup developing a "weather index insurance" pro- pacts, said Tim Gore, climate change and food policy gramme to protect against climate change-induced head with Oxfam International. crop damage in Thailand.

Helping poor farmers adapt to climate impacts Karbassi noted it had been hard to find many for the most part "are not profit-making investcase studies that fitted all the criteria for inclusion ments", he said. in the report.

"Whether it's a subsistence farming community One problem is that companies have been tak- in Africa, or people living below sea level in Banglaing measures to protect their supply chains from ex- desh that are out of reach of the private sector, how treme weather for years, including impacts on food are we going to make sure those people are getting and water supplies. That started before such activi- any kind of support?" ties were branded as climate change adaptation.

That is why developing countries and aid agenPieter Pauw, a researcher with the German De- cies have been pushing for a commitment on govvelopment Institute, pointed to the complications ernment spending for adaptation in the new globof identifying which elements of a project to use less al climate deal due at the end of this week in Paris, water, for example, actually count as climate adapta- where wrangling over responsibility for climate fition rather than just water efficiency. nance is fierce.

And while some commodities firms may be workYet more collaboration between governments ing to help the small-scale producers that supply and business will clearly be required to adapt on the them with tea, cocoa, coffee or tobacco, that leaves scale needed, with tens of billions of dollars needed many other subsistence farmers struggling to keep each year, experts say. up their yields of maize or beans without any kind of Policy makers should provide information and help, he said. guidance, look for common areas of interest, fund Even reaching the million or so farmers in Mars' research and development and provide subsidies for global supply chains is challenging, Barry Parkin, things like micro-insurance, the Global Compact rethe confectionery giant's chief sustainability officer, port said. told a discussion on corporate adaptation in Paris on The U.N.'s Karbassi said there was much work to Monday. do to build good partnerships to boost adaptation for The company is working to strengthen its farm- the poorest. ers' resilience through "dramatically improving" "I think it will be a huge trend in the next five to 10 their yields and livelihoods. years to see how businesses can be associated with To achieve wider reach, Mars is collaborat- governments to help the most vulnerable people afing with four of the world's other biggest chocolate fected by climate change," she said.

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Best for:It is good for conservative investors at lower level of taxable income.

• National Savings Certificate: Tips: Good for conservative invesReturns: Again this varies, as it is linked to government bond. Currently tors. at 8.5 per cent for five years and 8.8 per • Senior citizens saving schemes: cent for ten years.

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government bond. At present, 9.2 per cent quarterly.

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• Employee Provident Fund and VolTips: To avoid volatility, invest untary Provident Fund: through SIP. Returns: Currently 8.5 per cent Safety: Very safe.

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The 21st Century Women and Politics in Nagaland Mhasilie Koza, Asst Professor, Department of Commerce

T

he most crucial impediment to social development in the 21st century is the exigency to incorporate women into decision-making institution and bodies at all levels. Thisneeds to be addressed as the Naga society today stands at the crossroads over the very question of including women in decision-making. The recent high court ruling on the 33% reservation for women in the municipal and town council in Nagaland is a major landmark in Naga women’s history. But their social reality continues to be constrained by the traditional modes of thinking based on Patriarchal value system. The pattern of socialization of girls and the social norms of motherhood resulting in the dichotomy of public and private sphere is accountable to a large extend for undermining Naga women’s public role in the 21st century. Women in Naga society are characterized with a very low sense of political efficacy. The low political efficacy of the Naga women demands consideration in the light of their extremely low level of participation in the political process of the state.

Conscious political awareness and civic education becomes crucial to combat the problem of low political efficacy on the part of the Naga women. The pessimistic female political efficacy in Naga society can be a response to the increasing criminalization of our political state of affairs.With the overriding elements of “Muscle Power” and “Money Power” ruling in the Naga electoral practices, women generally feel helpless being confronted by such typically ‘masculine’ representation of these political activities. It then results in a general distrust of political and the political system.

The low political aspiration of the Naga women is totally incongruous when the demand for political empowerment of women throughout the entire world is an increasing phenomenon under the sway of the women’s movement. Women all over the globe were clamoring for the right to be part of the decision-making institutions particularly after the UN international Decade of women.

The emergent picture that Naga women showsvery nominal interest in entering the highest decision-making body in the state raises questions regarding the social and political environment of Naga society. Naga women need to get involved in the public affairs of the state with the understanding that it is their civic duty as responsible citizens. Notwithstanding the low political aspiration of the women, many of them are visibly of the opinion that more women in Nagaland should stand for elections and be a part of the state legislature. Naga women also strongly feel that having women legislators would usher in a more fair and just society undoubtedly a positive inference to the increased gender awareness on the part of the Naga women. There is a strong emergent perception among the Naga women for the need to improve their social and political position in society. Women of the day fells that having women legislators would draw attention of women into politics which would then make possible a review of traditional law in matters like inheritance and property rights, marriage and divorce, custody of children, all of which were heavily biased against women.

Why are all our politicians always men? In Nagaland, many of the male politicians have been tarnished with allegations of corruption. The blame games played by the various political parties have deteriorated the functioning of the government. Simple issues are politicized instead of solving them. We actually have never seen our male leaders “in action” raising their voices against corruption. So perhaps there is no heavenly advantage of having male politicians. Women today are walking hand in hand with men trying to make a difference in the world. There is no point of holding back women just because “they are supposed to stay at home and look after the children”. They can do that, and much more. .

Many Naga women are of the opinion that only then would they be in a position to break free from the traditional dominance of male opinion and decision-making in all spheres of life and take control of their own destiny. Through increased participation in the administration of public life, women could fight for their rights and privileges which would ultimately result in “the opposite sex looking upon us as subjects and not objects”. Naga women were known for their aptitude of hard work and enterprising spirit, even to the point of surpassing their male counterparts on their count. A widespread belief popularly held bywomen in the state was that they ought to be given a fair chance so that their capabilities would be realized to the fullest possible extend which hitherto was repressed through generation of patriarchy and related norms.

In Nagaland, the political process in general, and the electoral practices in particular, have over the yearsdepicted a very negative image. It is significant to note that one vital factor that deterred Naga women from politics was the negativity associated with politics. Therefore,it is believed that having more capable women legislators in the legislation would bring about a greaterpositive transformation in the image of political activities.

“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.

8

WednesdAY 09•12•2015

INDIA

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

killed as train rams Storm over Herald case: Cong Driver into another in Haryana alleges vendetta, Govt denies Sonia, Rahul to appear in court on December 19 NEW DELHI, DECEmbER 8 (IANs): Giving a brief relief to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi and others in the National Herald newspaper case, a court approved their inability to appear in court on Tuesday but asked them to be present on December 19.

The Congress, however, accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of running a political vendetta against it, saying there was nothing illegal done by them and it will fight it out in the court of law. The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed the plea of the Gandhis to quash the summons issued to them by a trial court on BJP leader Subramanian Swamy's complaint regarding the acquisition of National Herald and asked them to appear before trial court on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Congress leaders and workers held a protest march from Teen Murti to 7 Race Course Road in New Delhi area over the issue.

NEW DELHI, DECEmbER 8 (PTI): The National Herald case today created a political storm with the Congress paralysing Parliament, accusing the Government of "political vendetta" against its leaders, a charge strongly denied

by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who asked Sonia and Rahul Gandhi to face trial.

Asserting that the Congress party and its leaders have a lot to answer for, Jaitley dared them for a debate on the matter in Parliament instead of disrupting it tomorrow.

A day after the Delhi High

Court dismissed the plea of the Gandhis and others for quashing of summons in the Herald case, Congress members forced repeated adjournments in both Houses of Parliament shouting slogans against the Government.

No business could be transacted before the final adjournment a little after 3 pm.

Meanwhile, a local court today gave the Gandhis and four other accused exemption from personal appearance today but asked them to be present on December 19 when the case will be heard.

After a strategy meeting at the Parliament House before start of proceedings, Sonia Gandhi said, "I am the daughter-in-law of Indira Gandhi. I am not scared of anyone.

I am not disturbed."

She invoked the legacy of the late Prime Minister when she was asked to comment on a union minister's comment "why is she afraid of facing the court."

Speaking in Cuddalore, the party Vice President said he "absolutely" saw "political vendetta" alleging that the Centre thinks it can stop him from asking questions.

"That is not going to happen.

This is the way Central government functions. I absolutely see a political vendetta," he said.

Later speaking to reporters in Chennai, Rahul Gandhi dared the government to do "whatever they want to do" but he would not back off an inch.

"I have said before they will do what they will. I will do my job in the opposition job which is to ask questions from the government. I am not afraid of these things. I will not back off even an inch. Let them do whatever they want to do," he said.

The impact of the collision was so severe that the guard bogie of the mail train and the engine of the EMU were badly damaged resulting in the the driver and assistant of the EMU getting trapped, according to railway officials. (PTI Photo)

PALWAL (HARyANA), DECEmbER 8 (IANs): The driver of a local train was killed and several others were injured when the EMU shuttle train rammed into a stationary train from behind in Haryana's Palwal district on Tuesday morning in foggy conditions, police officials said.

The accident took place near village Baghola in Palwal district, about 60 km from New Delhi, when the EMU (electric multiple unit) shuttle train rammed into the Lokmanya Tilak-Haridwar Express that had halted on the same track since it did not get a signal to move forward.

Dense fog was said to be the reason

behind the accident. Northern Railway spokesman Neeraj Sharma confirmed the death of the EMU shuttle train's driver.

Eyewitnesses alleged that rescue teams arrived late at the spot and did not even have gas cutters and other equipment to help bring out the trapped passengers. They alleged that the EMU driver was alive after the mishap but died since he could not be evacuated immediately.

Railway authorities said they were trying to restore traffic on the route. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar spoke to Palwal deputy commissioner and asked him to step up rescue and relief work.

Sushma Swaraj to engage with Pakistan after Modi, Doval

Govt to launch injectable contraceptives for women NEW DELHI, DECEmbER 8 (PTI): Government has decided to introduce injectable contraceptives for women in the public health system and family welfare programme, Union Health Minister J P Nadda said today. "The government has decided to introduce injectable contraceptive for women in the public health system and family welfare programme. In the first phase it would be launched only in the medical colleges and district hospitals where dedicated counsellors for family planning are in place," the minister said in reply to a question in Rajya Sabha.

He said that the government had conducted a high-level meeting of prominent gynecologists from across the country including heads of departments of medical colleges and professional and technical organisations which discussed the safety concerns in detail."It was concluded in the meeting that menstrual irregularity and demineralisation of bones are temporary phenomena which disappear once the injectables are discontinued. Rare case of demineralisation of bones would be managed through external supplementation," Nadda said.

The first dose would be administered by a trained doctor in the facility after proper screening and counselling and the government has planned dedicated technical content and capacity-building plan for providers for all states, he said.

Sanjay Dutt to be freed from jail by March 7, 2016 PuNE, DECEmbER 8 (IANs): Incarcerated Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, whose five-year sentence for his involvement in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts was confirmed by the Supreme Court in March 2013, will be freed from prison by March 7, 2016, official sources said here on Tuesday.

The sources indicated that barring last-minute glitches, Sanjay would be released by March 7 after completing the remaining 42-month period of his sentence. Dutt was acquitted of terror charges under the TADA, but found guilty of possessing illegal arms, acquired ostensibly to protect his family during the communal conflagration that engulfed Mumbai after the demolition of the Babri Mosque on December 6, 1992.

Following the apex court orders, his bail was cancelled and he was ordered to surrender within four weeks, which he complied with on May 16, 2013 and was lodged in Arthur Road Central Jail. A week later, he was shifted to the Yeravada Central Jail, Pune, where he has been lodged since then and has earned the reputation of being a well-behaved inmate. Of the five-year sentence, the actor had already served 18 months as an undertrial and was required to undergo another 42 months, which is now on the verge of completing. In between serving time, Dutt was granted either parole or furlough on various grounds, attracting a lot of criticism from various quarters.

NEW DELHI, DECEmbER 8 (IANs): India and Pakistan are set to hold the third bilateral engagement at the top level in less than 10 days with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj reaching Islamabad on Tuesday for a conference on Afghanistan.

Following an impromptu meeting between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif in Paris on the margins of a global climate change conference on November 30, the national security advisers of the two sides met in

Bangkok on December 6 and discussed all major issues, including Kashmir.

Swaraj is expected to take this process forward during her likely meetings with Pakistan Prime Minister Sharif and his Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz on the margins of what is called the 5th Ministerial Conference on Heart of Asia Istanbul Process.

This is also the first ministerial visit from India to its South Asian neigbbour since the then external affairs minister S.M. Krishna went to Pakistan

in 2012. But the visit is likely to include more.

After the Bangkok meeting between India's Ajit Doval and Naseer Khan Janjua of Pakistan, along with foreign secretaries S. Jaishanker and Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Swaraj is also expected to take up a host of other issues.

A joint statement issued by the two sides in Bangkok said: "Discussions covered peace and security, terrorism, Jammu and Kashmir, and other issues including tranquility along the LoC (Line of Control

that divides the two counties)."

Sushma Swaraj's visit has evoked keen interest in diplomatic circles and among stakeholders. “What seemed impossible just weeks ago has turned into a remarkable, almost unprecedented, round of diplomacy at the very highest levels," the Dawn newspaper said in an editorial ahead of the Indian minister's visit.

"The meetings must, first and foremost, be welcomed by every right-thinking Indian and Pakistani. Not talking to each other should be an unac-

ceptable state of affairs when it comes to the two South Asian neighbours."

The main purpose of the visit though is the conference -- The Heart of Asia Istanbul Process -- that was established in 2011 at the initiative of Afghanistan and Turkey.

The Fifth Ministerial Conference is expected to adopt a forward looking Islamabad Declaration entitled "Enhanced Cooperation for Countering Security Threats and Promoting Connectivity in the Heart of Asia Region".

Odd-even formula: Restrictions will 'Take message of Ambedkar, be on the basis of dates, not days Vajpayee, Vivekananda to people' NEW DELHI, DECEmbER 8 (IANs): In a change from its earlier plan, the Delhi government on Tuesday said private vehicles with odd and even registration numbers will ply on odd and even dates respectively from January 1.

"It will be date-wise," Transport Minister Gopal Rai said, days after the government said odd numbered vehicles would ply on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and those with even numbers on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Rai clarified that odd numbered vehicles would be allowed on the roads on odd dates "like 1, 3, 5 and so on" and even numbered vehicles on even dates "like 2, 4, 6 and so on". The rationing of the huge bulk of vehicles on Delhi's roads, aimed at curbing alarming

levels of air pollution, would not apply on Sundays when all vehicles can ply, the minister said.

The restrictions will apply from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The formula would be experimented from January 1 to 15 to see if it succeeds.

There has also been no decision yet on the hundreds of thousands of two-wheelers which environmentalists say also contribute to pollution and need to be curbed.

The complete blueprint for the ambitious odd-even formula - including categories that would be exempt - would be ready by December 25, Rao said. The Delhi government said it had held detailed discussions with Delhi Traffic Police and Delhi Metro in a bid to coordinate what is expected to be a mammoth exercise.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal

will hold a further review meeting of all departments on December 10. The Delhi announced the oddeven formula in response to judicial warnings of rising air pollution, and after the Delhi High Court said that the national capital was becoming a "gas chamber".

The plan has been widely welcomed by environmentalists, and also Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur. Criticism from opposition parties has since abated.

Minister Rai said 1,000 lowfloor buses would be bought immediately in a bid to meet the need for more public transport when the number of vehicles fall steeply on the roads from January 1. Delhi has nearly 90 lakh registered vehicles, almost a third of them cars. Some 1,500 new vehicles are added every day.

NEW DELHI, DECEmbER 8 (IANs):Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday expressed satisfaction over the debate on the Constitution and B.R. Ambedkar in parliament, and asked MPs to take the message of Ambedkar to their constituencies.

"The prime minister said the debate was good and such a good debate was heard after long (time). He said this should not be just a two-day affair and the message should be taken to the people in their constituencies," an informed source said.

He also said that the birthdays of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, which is on December 25, and Swami Vivekananda, on January 12, should be celebrated in a grand way. The prime minister asked MPs to go to the people with the messages of Ambedkar, Vajpayee and Swami Vivekananda.

The MPs were also given a demonstration of the 'Narendra Modi mobile application' that provides important information about the prime minister and his activities. "The app gives all relevant information about prime minister, his programmes, the progress of important flagship government schemes like Jan Dhan, and also has the media reports on these," a minister said.

Scant aid for low-caste villagers hit by Tamil Nadu floods - charities CHENNAI/NEW DELHI (THomsoN REuTERs FouNDATIoN): Hundreds of poor lower-caste families who lost their homes and jobs after devastating floods swept Tamil Nadu have been neglected by government relief efforts, a survey conducted by two charities has found.

About 280 people have died and more than 400,000 have been displaced across Tamil Nadu since torrential rains began in early November, swelling rivers and reservoirs and inundating the state capital Chennai and neighbouring coastal districts.

A study of the first days of the floods found that although low-caste or "Dalit" families were the group worst hit by the floods, few had received any help, said National Dalit Watch and Social Awareness Society for Youth – Tamil Nadu.

"No relief has reached the community properly till now. During the distribution of food relief there has

been priority to the families having concrete houses, people having connections with leaders of villages," the report said.

"Relief camps and medical facilities have been organised far away from the villages, or are in dominant caste areas which Dalit people cannot access due to the lack of transport and fear of discrimination and violence," it added.

Government officials in Cuddalore district said the report was incorrect and helping marginalised Dalit communities was considered a priority after a disaster.

"In times of inundation, Dalit colonies are usually more affected since they are in low-lying areas," Gagandeep Singh Bedi, Cuddalore's Monitoring Officer for Disaster Relief, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"The state government is very sensitive to the needs of Dalits. For them, we have built a temporary

shelter in record time."

The rains, the heaviest in a century, hit Chennai last week, putting some areas under eight feet (2.5 metres) of water, trapping people on rooftops with no power or communications.

The rains have now stopped, water levels are dropping, and the government has set up relief camps across Tamil Nadu.

Dry food and tarpaulins are being distributed, but some interior areas have been difficult to reach due to damaged roads.

The survey polled 1,500 families in Cuddalore district, more than 40 percent of them Dalits, from Nov. 19 to 21. It found that 95 percent of damaged houses, 92 percent of livestock lost and 86 percent of crops lost belonged to Dalits.

Caste-based discrimination was banned in India in 1955, but centuries-old attitudes persist in many parts of the country and low-caste Indians still face prejudice in every sector.

Hindu couple name new born daughter after Muslim saviour

Flood-affected people raise their hands to receive free food being distributed by Indian Navy personnel in Chennai. (REUTERS Photo)

Aid workers say that in times of flood or drought, many Dalits do not get the same access as highercaste Indians to emergency aid such as clean water, dry food rations or shelter.

In most Dalit villages surveyed in Cuddalore's

Parangipettai and Bhuvanagiri blocks there was no clean drinking water, and in some areas dominant castes had refused to share their water sources with Dalits, the survey showed.

But government officials said the bulk of the re-

lief budget had been spent on helping rebuild and repair over 70,000 damaged homes of Dalits. "District and state government are aware and make conscious efforts to ensure that the poor and Dalits are given the greatest care," said Bedi.

CHENNAI, DECEmbER 8 (PTI): Among tales of humanity emerging from rain-battered Chennai is a story of a Hindu couple who have named their newborn after a Muslim who came to their rescue when the crisis blew them over.Chitra and Mohan, hailing from Urapakkam which suffered one of the worst flooding in the city's southern neighbourhood, named their daughter Yunus after the MBA graduate, who rescued the pregnant woman from neck-deep waters and moved her to a hospital. The couple thanked Yunus by naming their daughter after him, with the businessman now promising to take care of his namesake's educational expenses.

Narrating the experience, Yunus said, "I realised on the night of December 2 something is not right and I thought of helping my friends in Urapakkam area, which was one of the worst-hit areas due to the heavy rainfall." The screams of a woman in the area initially sounded like a frightened reaction to Yunus and his friends, but "later I realised she was undergoing labour pain", Yunus told PTI."At first, my objective was to take her and the family to a safer place and we moved her to nearby Perungalathur by boat. That 15-minute journey is unforgettable," he said.

However, he got the surprise of his life when Mohan informed him that he has named his daughter Yunus. In a text message to Yunus, Mohan informed him of the birth of his daughter and his decision to name her after him.

WednesdaY 09•12•2015

WORLD

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

9

Trump: Banning Muslims from US similar to WWII policy wAShINGtoN, DeceMBer 8 (reuterS): Republican Donald Trump on Tuesday dismissed growing and heated criticism of his proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States, comparing his plan to the detainment of people of Japanese, German and Italian descent during World War Two. “What I’m doing is no different than FDR,” Trump said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” program, referring to then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who oversaw the detentions.

“We have no choice but to do this,” Trump told ABC in one of a series of television interviews one day after he released his proposal. “We have people that want to blow up our buildings, our cities. We have figure out what’s going on.”

Trump defended his plan to prevent Muslims, including would-be immigrants, students, tourists and other visitors, from entering the country following last week’s California shooting spree by two Muslims who authorities said were radicalized.

The real estate mogul and former reality TV star, who leads the pack seeking the Republican nomination to run for president next November, said Roosevelt’s policies were worse.

During World War Two, more than 110,000 people were forcibly detained in U.S. government detention camps. Roosevelt issued the policies immediately after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, authorizing law enforcement to target “alien

Muslims in Asia denounce Trump’s call for “US ban”

US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign stop in Spencer, Iowa on December 5. (REUTERS Photo)

enemies.”

Trump’s was the most dramatic response by a presidential candidate following the San Bernardino, California, rampage, even as other Republicans have called for a suspension of U.S. President Barack Obama’s plan to allow some refugees from Syria.

Critics said Trump’s plan would likely be unconstitutional for singling out people based on their religion. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees freedom of religion.

Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson dismissed those concerns, telling MSNBC the Constitution does not apply to non-U.S. citizens. “In this country you have the freedom of religion until your religion persecutes other religions,” she said.

Myanmar parliament approves nationwide ceasefire accord NAY PYI tAw, DeceMBer 8 (IANS): Myanmar’s Union Parliament on Tuesday approved the Nationwide Ceasefire Accord (NCA) signed between the government and eight ethnic armed groups in October.

Under the October 15 deal, the two sides agreed on some post-ceasefire steps for adherence by both sides and on the unfinished peace process which calls for inclusion of seven other non-ceasefire-signatory groups in the truce, Xinhua news agency reported. The two sides were also set to draw up a political framework within 60 days after the formal NCA signing and start a political dialogue within 90 days.

Accordingly, the framework for political dialogue between the government and ethnic armed groups has been completed by a special drafting committee of the tripartite Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC) which comprises representatives from the government, ethnic armed groups and political parties.

The draft framework for political dialogue is expected to be approved by the UPDJC on December 14 in accordance with the timeline of the ceasefire term and the first round of formal dialogue is scheduled to start before January 14, next year.

The peace process began in November 2013 when the government’s Union Peace Making Work Committee (UPWC) and ethnic armed groups’ National Cease fire Coordination Team (NCCT) met in Myitgyina, Kachin state’s capital, for the nationwide ceasefire talks.

Generation of Syrian children face ‘catastrophic’ psychological damage LoNDoN, DeceMBer 8 (thoMSoN reuterS FouNDAtIoN): A generation of Syrian children are facing “catastrophic” psychological damage with one in four inside Syria at risk of developing a mental health disorder from witnessing traumatic events, a global children’s charity said on Tuesday.

The psychological needs of children fleeing fourand-a-half years of war remain largely unmet due to lack of funding, spiraling numbers of refugees and overstretched resources in host countries, Save the Children said in a report.

“The repercussions for the future mental health of an entire generation could be catastrophic,” Ian Rodgers, country director for Save the Children in Lebanon, said in a statement.

“In addition to the obvious psychological damage caused by witnessing traumatic events and extreme violence, there are a myriad of secondary, under-funded and often over-looked, daily causes of psychological and social damage once a displaced child arrives in a new community.”

Some 10 percent of children participating in Save the Children programmes in the Iraqi Kurdistan region had lost at least one parent, while in Lebanon a “considerable portion” have been out of school for at least three years, the charity said.

Normal routines, such as being able to go to school and seeing their parents carrying out regular household duties, are crucial for children, Rodgers said.

Among teenagers acute stress is leading to suicidal thoughts and self-harm, with a few suicides documented in some locations, said Save the Children.

Other widely reported issues include speech disorders, problems with hearing or vision, and bed wetting, the charity said.

“Leaving children untreated has a negative impact later on – they can become aggressive, depressed, and acquire phobias,” Reem Nasri, Save the Children psychologist said.

Republicans warned that if Trump is the party’s nominee, his stance could hurt in a general election against Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

“Donald Trump is Hillary Clinton’s Christmas gift wrapped up under a tree,” Republican candidate Carly Fiorina said on Twitter.

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican, told reporters the plan was “not conservatism.” But he said he would support the party’s presidential nominee.

Democrats, meanwhile, blamed Republicans for Trump’s extreme language and warned it could help him with primary voters. “Donald Trump is standing on the platform of hate, and, I’m sorry to say, hate that the Republican Party has built for him,”

said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat.

Clinton tweeted, “Tell Donald Trump: Hate is not an American value.”

Huma Abedin, a top aide to Clinton, sent a fundraising email Monday night declaring her own Muslim faith. “Unfortunately, Trump is leaning into the kind of fear of progress that very well could help him win the nomination,” Abedin wrote.

Polls have shown a stark divide between Republicans and Democrats in how they view Muslims.

Trump’s proposal also drew criticism in France, which had its worst attacks since World War Two on Nov. 13 when shootings and suicide bombings in Paris killed 130 people.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, in a post on

ISLAMABAD, DeceMBer 8 (reuterS): Muslims in Pakistan and Indonesia on Tuesday denounced Donald Trump’s call for a ban on Muslims entering the United States, dismissing the U.S. Republican presidential front-runner as a bigot who promoted violence.

Trump’s statement on “preventing Muslim immigration” drew swift and fierce criticism from many directions at home, including from the White House and rivals for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

Trump, responding to last week’s California shooting spree by two Muslims who the Federal Bureau of Investigation said had been radicalised, called for a complete block on Muslims entering the United States “until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on”.

Twitter, said “Mr Trump, like others, is feeding hatred and misinformation. Our only enemy is radical Islam.”

A spokeswoman for British Prime Minister David Cameron called Trump’s comments “divisive, unhelpful and quite simply wrong.”

Two international refugee organizations rejected Trump’s comments, saying U.S. presidential campaign rhetoric threatens resettlement efforts. Muslims in Pakistan and Indonesia also denounced it.

Trump pointed to the events in Paris as well as San Bernardino and warned repeatedly that an attack on the scale of Sept. 11, 2001, could happen again if officials don’t act first.

He said he did not know how long a ban would remain in place but said it

“It’s so absurd a statement that I don’t even wish to react to it,” said Asma Jahangir, one of Pakistan’s most prominent human rights lawyers.

“This is the worst kind of bigotry mixed with ignorance. I would imagine that someone who is hoping to become president of the U.S. doesn’t want to compete with an ignorant criminal-minded mullah of Pakistan who denounces people of other religions ... Although we are not as advanced as the U.S., we have never elected such people to power in Pakistan.”

Tahir Ashrafi, the head of the Ulema Council, Pakistan’s biggest council of Muslim clerics, said Trump’s comments promoted violence.

“If some Muslim leader says there is a war between Christians

would not be lifted until Congress acted. He also said Muslim Americans would be allowed back into the country after overseas trips.

Trump told MSNBC that people would be asked about their religion at U.S. borders and that the ban would extend to Muslim leaders of other nations. He said he would not support internment camps, as was done in World War Two. Some observers poked fun at Trump. British author J.K. Rowling wrote on Twitter that Voldemort, the archvillain of her popular Harry Potter series, “was nowhere near as bad” as Trump.

The Democratic mayor of St. Petersburg, Florida, Rick Kriseman, said in a tongue-in-cheek tweet that he was barring Trump from visiting the city.

and Muslims, we condemn him.

So why should we not condemn an American if he says that?”

Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Armanatha Nasir said his government would not comment on election campaigns in other countries, while adding that his country had made known its position on terrorism.

“As the country with the biggest Muslim population in the world, Indonesia affirms that Islam teaches peace and tolerance,” he told Reuters. “Acts of terror do not have any relation with any religion or country or race.”

Din Syamsuyddin, chief of Indonesia’s Muhammadiyah, the second-largest Muslim organisation in the country, said Trump’s comments were a joke.

Trump’s comments divisive and wrong: UK PM Cameron LoNDoN, DeceMBer 8 (reuterS): British Prime Minister David Cameron thinks a proposal

by U.S. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump to ban Muslims from entering the United States is divisive and wrong, his spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

Trump was responding to last week’s deadly shooting spree in California by two Muslims whom the FBI said had been radicalised. He likened his proposal to World War Two policies implemented by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt against people of Japanese, German and Italian descent.

“The PM (Prime Minister) completely disagrees with the comments made by Donald Trump, which are divisive, unhelpful and quite simply wrong,” Cameron’s spokeswoman told reporters.

Britain has an estimated 2.7 million Muslim population. Earlier this year, the government said fighting extremism was one of the defining battles of this century and announced a strategy primarily designed to counter the ideology promoted by Islamic State militants, al Qaeda and other radical Islamists.

Frequent green tea consumption Infertility gene in mosquitoes raises may hamper fertility, says study the possibility of curbing malaria Ten milligrams of green tea caused morphological abnormalities in reproductive organs New York, DeceMBer 8 (IANS): Are you a green tea lover? Read this carefully as the cup packed with anti-oxidants and other health benefits may adversely affect your fertility and development in case of frequent use, warn researchers.

In experiments over fruit flies, the team from University of California-Irvine discovered that excessive consumption adversely affected development and reproduction in fruit fly populations.

According to them, one should avoid high dose of green tea or any natural product as nutraceuticals such as green tea, while growing in popularity, are largely unregulated.

“While green tea could have health benefits at low doses, our study and others have shown that at high doses, it may have

adverse effects,” said Mahtab Jafari, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences.

“Further work is needed to make any definite recommendations but we suggest that green tea should be consumed in moderation,” she added.

For the study, Jafari and colleagues investigated the effects of green tea toxicity on the development and reproduction in fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.

Embryos and larvae were subjected to various doses of green tea polyphenols.

Larvae exposed to 10 milligrams of green tea were slower to develop, were born smaller and exhibited a dramatic decline in the number of emerged offspring.

Ten milligrams of green tea made the flies more susceptible to starvation and heat stress but protected them against dehydration.

Female offspring showed decreased reproductive output and a 17 percent reduction in lifespan while males were unaf-

fected, the study found.

Ten milligrams of green tea caused morphological abnormalities in reproductive organs such as testicular and ovarian atrophy.

Jafari believes that high doses of green tea may cause “too much” apoptosis or cell death.

Derived from the plant Camellia sinensis, green tea is popular worldwide for its purported brain and heart health and anti-cancer properties.

Jafari noted that in other tests with mice and dogs, green tea compounds in large amounts dramatically reduced body weight and, in mice, negatively affected embryo development.

“We are planning to measure total consumption and identify and quantify the metabolites of natural products in flies,” Jafari pointed out, adding that these experiments will enable us to have a better understanding of toxic doses in humans.

The paper appeared in the Journal of Functional Foods.

LoNDoN, DeceMBer 8 (IANS): For the first time, researchers led by the Imperial College London, have genetically modified malarial mosquitoes so that they carry a gene that disrupts egg production in female mosquitoes.

They used a technology called “gene drive” to ensure the gene for infertility is passed down at an accelerated rate to offspring -- spreading the gene through a population over time and raising the possibility of reducing the spread of disease.

Within a few years, the spread could drastically reduce or eliminate local populations of the malaria-carrying mosquito species.

The mosquito species Anopheles gambiae is a major carrier of malaria parasites in sub-Saharan Africa, where 90 percent of annual malaria deaths occur.

Malaria infects over 200 million people each year and causes more than 430,000 deaths. “Scientists have been trying to tackle malaria for more than 100 years. If successful, this technology has the potential to substantially reduce the transmission of malaria,” said study co-author professor Andrea Crisanti.

Normally, each gene variant has 50 percent chance of being passed down from parents to their offspring. In the team’s experiments with Anopheles gambiae, the gene for infertility was transmitted to more than 90 percent of both male and female mosquitoes’ offspring.

The technique uses recessive genes so that many mosquitoes will inherit only one copy of the gene.

Two copies are needed to cause infertility, meaning that mosquitoes with only one copy are carriers, and can spread the gene through a population. This is the first time the technique has been demonstrated in Anopheles gambiae.

The team targeted three different fertility genes and tested each for their suitability for affecting a mosquito population through gene drive, demonstrating the strength and flexibility of the technique to be applied to a range of genes.

The team aims to improve the expression of their gene drive elements. Exploring target genes is also helping the researchers to learn more about basic mosquito biology. The results were published in the journal Nature Biotechnology.

Many ignore Beijing smog warnings despite ‘red alert’ BeIJING, DeceMBer 8 (reuterS): A blanket of humid, still air resulting in smog that is expected to shroud Beijing for at least three days triggered the capital’s first ever pollution “red alert” on Tuesday as many residents ignored warnings to limit their time outdoors.

By early morning, hundreds of people, including toddlers, had packed Tiananmen Square to watch the flag-raising ceremony, according to photos by state news agency Xinhua.

State radio said some people were ignoring vehicle use restrictions, which on Tuesday banned vehicles with odd numbers at the end of the licence plate getting on the roads, though the roads were noticably quieter.

Environment Minister Chen Jining called a special meeting on Monday night to urge more supervision in Beijing and its surrounding cities including Tianjin as he increased the number

of environmental inspection teams to 12, according to ThePaper.cn, a statebacked news website.

Although smog has always been a public health concern in Beijing, the government’s response system has come under extra scrutiny in the past week because it came under heavy criticism for not issuing a red alert during an episode of heavy smog which exceeded hazardous levels. Chinese researchers have identified pollution as a major source of unrest around the country.

Greenpeace called the red alert “a welcome sign of a different attitude from the Beijing government”.

“From repudiating PM2.5 (particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers) to today’s issuance of a red alert, in just a few years, this is a nearrevolutionary change in thinking”, Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of the influential state-run Global Times tabloid, wrote on his micro-

A boy wearing a mask sits on the shoulders of a man as they watch a flag-raising ceremony amid heavy smog at the Tiananmen Square, after the city issued its first ever “red alert” for air pollution, in Beijing, China on December 8. (REUTERS Photo)

blog on Tuesday.

The Beijing City Emergency Office said “still weather, reduced cold temperatures and an increase in humidity” prompted the red alert, according to Xinhua.

A red alert means that about half of vehicles will be taken off the roads, heavy vehicles will be banned, most schools will be advised to cancel classes, businesses are recommended to implement

flexible working hours and all “large-scale, outdoor activities” should be stopped.

Despite this, many residents tried to circumvent the rules. State radio showed a picture on its official microblog of a police-

man removing paper stuck to a vehicle’s licence plate to obscure its final digit.

By late morning on Tuesday, the U.S. embassy’s monitoring station recorded an air quality index of 250, which puts air pollution levels in the “unhealthy” region.

Those who did struggle to the office posted pictures on social media of themselves wearing industrialstrength face masks.

“I feel like I’m engaged in chemical warfare,” wrote one commuter.

Still, the ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily, without a hint of irony, praised China’s contribution to fighting climate change in a commentary on Tuesday, written to coincide with the Paris climate talks.

“People everywhere are looking forward to China’s continuous progress on the road to green development, acting as a model for the world to tackle the challenge of climate change.”

10

wednesdAY 09•12•2015

SPORTS

Leicester can win title if they boost squad: Ferguson LonDon, December 8 (reUTers): Leicester City could win the Premier League this season if the club's owners back their manager with funds in the January transfer window, former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has said. The Foxes are two points clear of Arsenal at the top of the division with more than a third of the season gone, and Ferguson urged the management to add to their "limited" squad. "What is the manager Claudio Ranieri saying to the owners? Because if I were him I'd want an investment in January because this is a big opportunity," Ferguson told the Daily Telegraph. "They (Leicester) could win the league the way they are playing at the moment and they have goals in their team. "At the moment, he (Ranieri) can pick the same team because he has a limited squad and is doing very well.

"But if he wants to win the league, I think he should add to it. And I think there may be a great chance." The Foxes have a tough run of fixtures against Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool and Manchester City before the transfer window opens, and Ferguson questioned whether the squad has the depth to be fighting for the title at the end of the season. "For a small club historically like Leicester City, they have a challenge. How far can they go with this present squad, can they last the whole season?" he said.

"This is a team with fantastic vitality, speed, energy... but, the question is, how long will it last? Have they the resources to continue throughout the season?"

Medziphema Inter-Ward Volley Tourney underway meDzIPhemA, December 8 (mexn): The 3rd Inter-Ward Volleyball Tournament of Medziphema Town was officially declared open by Zhaleo Rio, MLA, 5 Ghaspani II A/C, in a grand function at Local Ground, Medziphema Town today. In his speech, Rio urged the youths to take the tournament as a privilege and a foundation for the future. Touching on the theme of the tournament, “Excel in Unity,” he pointed that there are disguised elements ready to mislead people, and stated, "We should be united as one." Altogether, 11 teams are vying for the trophy which will culminate tomorrow afternoon.

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

sri lanka rocked by drug shock beaten rousey faces ahead of New Zealand Test up to six months out

WeLLIngTon, December 8 (AFP): Wicketkeeper Kusal Perera's shock suspension after failing a drugs test has left Sri Lanka reeling ahead of the two-Test series against New Zealand starting in Dunedin on Thursday.

After Dhammika Prasad's series-ending back injury, it was the second damaging blow for Angelo Mathews' new-look side in what was always going to be an uphill battle in testing New Zealand conditions.

Perera, 25, one of Sri Lanka's new brigade following the retirements of several stars including Kumar Sangakkara, was sent home on Monday after returning a positive result to a banned steroid from a random test during their recent series against Pakistan. He is the second Sri Lankan international to fail a dope test following batsman Upul Tharanga's suspension for three months after testing positive during the 2011 World Cup. The loss of the threeTest keeper follows the back injury suffered by leading fast bowler Prasad in a warm-up match

against a modest New Zealand Board President's XI. It was not the hit-out the tourists were hoping for with Dimuth Karunaratne's 93 in the first innings, backed by 63 from Udara Jayasundara and 61 from Kithuruwan Vithanage in the second, the only scores of note.

The Sri Lankan batsmen can expect no mercy when the first Test starts at Dunedin's University Oval on Thursday with New Zealand coach Mike Hesson ordering green, seaming pitches to suit his pace attack. New Zealand are at their best playing at home, which Sri Lanka learned the hard way 12 months ago when bowling spearheads Tim Southee and Trent Boult took 22 wickets between them as the Black Caps completed a 2-0 series whitewash.

Mathews' side return a year later, still in a rebuilding phase, to face a settled New Zealand line-up looking for a confidence boost after losing their recent away series defeat to Australia.

- 'Pace and bounce' The Brendon McCullum-led New Zealanders are brimming with confi-

dence in home conditions where they have not lost a Test nor a series since going down 0-1 when South Africa visited in 2011-12. They are also a team that played better than the 0-2 scoreline in Australia last month would indicate.

"We are back in conditions we are familiar with and grounds we are familiar with and hopefully we can show the high standards we have shown over the last couple of years," said Southee Tuesday. "It's typical Dunedin weather.

We find it cold so I'm sure the Sri Lankans will find it even worse."

In Australia, only opener Martin Guptill and offspinner Mark Craig failed to shine but Hesson is prepared to keep faith with the out-of-form pair.

"Mark and Martin didn't perform to the level they would have liked over in Australia, but both have shown in the past what they're capable of and we're confident they'll make valuable contributions in the upcoming series," he said.

"We think it's a strong squad, but equally we've got a group of players on

the fringe of selection who are ready to be called upon if necessary."

Guptill aside, New Zealand are strong at the top of the order led by the impressive Kane Williamson who has averaged 89.90 in the past 12 months.

Ross Taylor has averaged 52 in the same period including a 290 against Australia while McCullum, as he showed with his 195 in the first Test against Sri Lanka a year ago, can destroy any attack once he gets going.

With New Zealand's two leading all-rounders, Corey Anderson and Jimmy Neesham, sidelined by injury, left-arm seamer Neil Wagner, who was not required in the Australia Tests, has had his chances of a start boosted by Hesson's call for green tops.

"I think our pitches need to be green to keep pace in them with the clay we use," Hesson said.

"If we go in with something that looks a bit dry then it tends to turn into a bit of a dead duck. We certainly like to keep the game moving with a wicket that's got a bit of pace and bounce."

Holly Holm of the US (R) lands a kick to the neck to knock out compatriot Ronda Rousey and win the UFC title fight by TKO in Melbourne on November 15. (AFP Photo)

Los AngeLes, December 8 (AFP): Fallen UFC world champion Ronda Rousey has revealed it could take up to six months to fully recover from injuries sustained in her brutal knockout defeat to Holly Holm last month.

Rousey told the upcoming edition of ESPN Magazine she had suffered damage to her teeth in the stunning loss to Holm which would prevent her getting back in the octagon

for several months.

"It might be three to six months before I can eat an apple, let alone take an impact," Rousey said in brief excerpts of the interview released Monday. Rousey's defeat to Holm in Melbourne was one of the biggest shocks in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Both fighters have expressed optimism for a rematch once Rousey has recovered and fulfilled

coNcAcAF decide against 9th ipl edition from April 9 selecting new president

mIAmI, December 8 (reUTers): CONCACAF, the crisis-hit governing body for soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean, whose acting president Alfredo Hawit was arrested last week, have decided not to appoint a new interim leader. Hawit was arrested in Zurich on Thursday and was indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice on corruption charges as part of their investigation into world governing body FIFA. The Honduran had taken over the helm of CONCACAF following the May arrest of previous president Jeffrey Webb, also on corruption charges, in Zurich before a FIFA meeting. Webb has pleaded guilty to the charges after being extradited to the United States.

Cayman Islander Webb himself had come to power after the downfall of longterm CONCACAF president Jack Warner of Trinidid and Tobago who has also been indicted and faces extradition to the United States, which he is fighting.

Miami-based CONCACAF announced on Monday that they would not select another interim president and would instead leave their executive committee (Exco) to run their affairs until a congress in Mexico City on May 12.

"The CONCACAF Exco concluded that, in light of current events, it is critical that the Confederation's next President be determined by a public election and the scrutiny that comes with it," read the statement. The organisation said their elected leaders would "serve in an advisory capacity" to CONCACAF's acting general secretary, Ted Howard, and director-level staff.

"It is critical for the Confederation's

future that the next President be elected by the full Congress, rather than statutorily appointed," Jamaican EXCO member Horace Burrell said in the statement.

"Under this leadership structure, CONCACAF can ensure there is sufficient time to publicly vet candidates while the Confederation focuses on continued implementation of strong reforms," he added. Burrell was banned for three months

by FIFA from taking part in any footballrelated activities for violations of FIFA's Ethics code at a meeting of the Caribbean Football Union in 2011.

That meeting formed part of the 'cash for votes' scandal surrounding Qatari Mohammed Bin Hammam's bid to be FIFA president. Burrell has denied any wrongdoing. The United States is a member of CONCACAF and it was a longtime American soccer official, Chuck Blazer, who became an important cooperating witness after secretly pleading guilty in 2013 to criminal charges.

Blazer was once CONCACAF general secretary and a former FIFA executive committee member. Officials from CONCACAF member countries Guatemala, Panama and Honduras were part of the latest Department of Justice indictments announced last Thursday.

Twenty seven soccer officials are under indictment in the United States over allegations they ran bribery schemes totaling as much as $200 million in the sale of television and marketing rights for soccer tournaments and matches.

In addition, 12 people and two sports marketing companies have been convicted in the investigation by U.S. prosecutors.

neW DeLhI, December 8 (PTI): The next edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be held from April 9 as two new franchisees -- Rajkot and Pune -- were added to the event as replacements for Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals.

The tournament will begin five days after conclusion of the ICC World Twenty20 which will also be hosted by India.

The ninth edition of the hugely-popular but controversy- marred League will conclude on May 29.

The Pune franchise was bought by Kolkata-based business tycoon Sanjiv Goenka's company New Rising, while the Rajkot bid was won by Intex Mobiles.

Rajkot and Pune will have draft picks on December 15 and Pune will get to pick the players first. The new teams will pick from among players, who were part of CSK and RR. Players from CSK and RR

will be divided into two groups of capped and uncapped and the top names will be sold through the draft system.

The two new teams will have a minimum of Rs 40 crore and a maximum of Rs 66 crore to buy their playersThe cricketers who will remain unselected will go to general pool to be available for fresh auction, scheduled for February 6 in Bengaluru.

Both the CSK and RR will be allowed back in the league after serving out their suspension. The BCCI also announced that the Franchise workshop will be held in Srinagar on January 13 and 14.

Appreciating the marvellous performance by India in the Test series against world number one side South Africa, the Board also announced an award of Rs 2 crores for the team.

India blanked the Proteas 3-0 in the four-match series.

several longstanding commitments including filming a Hollywood remake of the 1980s movie "Road House."

Rousey, 28, meanwhile insisted that despite the disappointment of the defeat she planned on returning to reclaim her crown while she remained in peak physical condition.

"Maybe I can't do it all before my prime, before my body is done," Rousey said.

"But... maybe I can."

Changs win Tug-ofWar competition KIsAmA, December 8 (DIPr): Day eight of the Hornbill festival was marked by the Tug of War game organized by the Department of Youth Resources & Sports at Naga Heritage village, Kisama.

Chang tribe emerged as the champions while the Kuki tribe bagged the runners-up.

The champions and runners up pocketed cash prizes of Rs. 20,000 and Rs. 10,000 respectively.

The Tug of War event is an indigenous game practically played by all Naga tribes from the olden days. All the sixteen tribes of Nagaland participated in the competition.

Oscar Pistorius - bailed, tagged and free to roam

PreTorIA, December 8 (reUTers): Oscar Pistorius, who murdered his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day 2013, was granted bail on Tuesday and has the freedom of South Africa's capital Pretoria as he waits to appeal his conviction in April.

The Paralympic champion, nicknamed "Blade Runner" because of the prosthetic legs he uses to race, was granted bail of 10,000 rand ($686), after spending the last two months under house arrest at his uncle's home in a wealthy Pretoria suburb.

Pistorius had been meant to serve the rest of a five-year sentence there but the Supreme Court upgraded the 29-year-old's conviction to murder from culpable homicide last week.

He will appear in court on April 18 to give an update on his appeal at the constitutional court.

He faces a minimum 15-year sentence for shooting Steenkamp in a case that has fascinated and divided South Africa, a country beset by high levels of violent crime.

Rights groups say the white track star has received preferential treat-

ment.

On Tuesday, South African High Court Judge Aubrey Ledwaba said Pistorius could leave the house between 7 a.m. (0500 GMT)and noon and, with permission from the authorities, travel within a radius of 20km (12 miles). Pistorius has been ordered to hand in his passport and wear an electronic tag.

There was no immediate comment from Steenkamp's family. Barry Steenkamp, Reeva's father, welcomed the murder conviction last week, saying "it was a fair decision".

public discourse

Analysing the relevance of ILP and our existing Government processes

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Yanpvuo Kikon

n today’s world, rational thinking and logical reasoning must be used to analyse our current laws, policies and the Government system, whether it is progressive or regressive in nature. If there is a law, we ought to understand the objective and impact it has on our political, economical and social structure. Taking the case of The Inner Line Permit (ILP), a law which was introduced by the British more than a hundred years back, which is basically an offshoot of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulations, 1873. Why was the ILP introduced? The ILP was basically introduced to protect Crown's interest in the tea, oil and elephant trade by prohibiting "British subjects" from entering into these "Protected Areas" (To prevent them from establishing any commercial venture that could rival the Crown's agents). In simple words, the sole purpose of ILP was to protect the “Self Vested Economic Interest” of the British Crown in the so called ‘Protected Areas’. The word "British subjects" was replaced by ‘Citizen of India’ in 1950. Despite the fact that the ILP was originally created by the British to safeguard their commercial interests, it continues to be used in India, officially to protect tribal cultures in North-Eastern India.

A law which was formulated to protect economic interest of the British Crown more than a century ago, is it relevant in our present generation? Is it serving the purpose of protecting the indigenous tribal population of our State? Is it being implemented strictly?

What are the loopholes at the administration, operational level and the grass-root checkposts? Or is it only being used as a revenue generating mechanism for our Government?

Or is there a need to amend this law to make it more business friendly but at the same time protect our tribal population? And the most important question, what is the purpose and outcome of this law? These are the questions which I would like to pose and also analyse it as a academic exercise from my personal point of view and understanding.

In Nagaland today, illegal immigration has become a critical issue which poses a threat to our future generation from becoming another Tripura or Assam. Our Apex organisations and social movements like ‘Survival Nagaland’ have been working towards ensuring that the illegal immigration issue is tackled effectively. The problem of Illegal Immigration can be addressed if we examine and devise an effective solution in which these laws are implemented such as the ILP application, checking, validation, ILP issuance and verification mechanisms. Whether the current system either needs a revamp or need to be amended by tweaking the law and making it more investment and business friendly but at the same protect our population against Illegal Immigration is a much needed debate at this juncture.

The existing loopholes in the ILP system in Nagaland would be: 1. We have heard of how some taxi drivers themselves keep fake ILP certificates to help illegal immigrants to cross the inner line.

2. Check gates here in Nagaland unlike Arunachal Pradesh are very loose when it comes to ILP that even without the requisite documents, Indian citizens can pass through the gates many a times.

3. Even if a fake ILP is issued, there is no existing e-Governance mechanism which

enables these check gates to validate the authenticity of the ILP number or document because only physical copies are signed and issued which can be easily forged.

4. Tourists and businessmen face a lot of inconveniences because they have to visit Government offices physically to apply ILP which is a huge disadvantage when it comes to attracting companies, business and investors to visit our State.

5. How many ILP's are rejected annually?

If all ILP applications are accepted, then what purpose is the ILP even serving?

Today, even if I apply using a fake ID proof, how is the DC office or the check post validating my ID with the Government database to check whether my driver’s license number, Aadhaar, Voter’s ID, Driver’s license number is actually authentic and exist in the database?

The solution to address these loop-holes would be to ensure that the Government at the highest decision making levels make sure that the online ILP application just like Arunachal but an improved version be implemented at the earliest. How will it work?

From the visitor’s end: A visitor simply needs to apply online without having to visit the Government offices by filling a simple online form and provide their ID proof numbers such as Voter’s ID number, Aadhaar number, PAN etc. without having to even scan and upload their ID proof documents.

From the verification/authenticating Government perspective such as Police and DC Office: The verifying officer can check the details which the visitor has filled up in the online form. The visitor’s ID proof such as the PAN, Voter’s ID number or Aadhaar can be authenticated by directly entering the ID num-

ber in the official Government database such ashttp://electoralsearch.in/ (To check whether the applicant’s ID is genuine) and other official Government database search engines to validate the authenticity of the applicant’s ID proof. We don’t need to upload or even carry Xerox copies of ID proofs because they can be easily photoshopped or forged. These databases are stored in highly secured data centers which are hack proof behind layers of firewall, allowing only VPN access with Host based IPS, Data privacy etc. At present, how is our Nagaland Government records stored? In paper files, inside offices with no proper Government data protection or security protocols which can even be misplaced or can even be lost forever if fire incidents or thefts occur.

There is a need to immediately migrate from century old colonial system into cost effective e-Government systems. These systems need to be enforced in the Police check gates and DC offices so that the problem of fake/forged documents are eliminated and even the problems of corruption and bribery in check-gates can be addressed. When government application and file processing goes online, it also reduces corruption to a great extent because people no longer have to pay bribes to get their jobs done. The power and internet problem is only an excuse by certain Government officials because of several reasons such as reduction in unaccounted revenue at lower levels, bribery, ‘Chai Pani’ income etc The challenge of insufficient power and internet is a manageable problem with enough power backup and Government offices can leverage on the State Wide Area Network(SWAN) and also opt for LAN/WAN or even opt for offline IT solutions.

We need easy, effective, logical, cheap and

practical solutions in Government systems because the world is progressing fast and if we are still stuck with century old mechanisms and laws which may be irrelevant in today's context and even if they are slightly relevant, if they are not even implemented effectively, then we are only hampering our own progress and development. It is also high time for our politicians and top bureaucrats to start analysing existing Government laws and protocols to make it more simple, effective, easy, corruption-free and people friendly by even amending laws and re-engineering existing Government and Administration processes through simple and cheap solutions without sticking to the system which the British had introduced hundred years ago, a system which was only built on mistrust and mechanisms which were slow, time consuming and a major hindrance to development and progress. The time has come for our Government to step up modernization, e-Governance initiatives and revamp our entire system starting from the ILP so that we not only save unaccounted Government revenue and expenditure but also become a productive, developed, progressive, corruption free and of course a happy State which has the potential to become a shining example for the rest of the country and the world.

Yanpvuo Kikon is an IT and e-Governance Consultant under the National e-Governance Division(NeGD) and also the founder of The Naga Blog, indihut and Native Station. | www.indihut.com | | www.facebook.com/tnbcyclingclub | | www.nativestation.in | | www.facebook.com/groups/thenagablog |

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.

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and ice creams.

Neither Gomez nor Horan has commented on the photographs of their outing yet. The outing marked the second time

they were spotted together.

Last week, they were reportedly seen making out at Jenna Dewan-Tatum's 35th birthday party at Bootsy Bellows here.

op Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra says she works 16 hours a day to get recognition and money and has no time to enjoy life. The nationalaward winning actress has become a household name not only in India but globally too with her American TV show “Quantico”. “Success is not a destination.... Success is a journey. You are successful if you are consistently successful,” Priyanka said in an interview here.

Asked whether money matters, Priyanka said, “I do make money as I work very hard for what I do. I don’t sleep at night, I work 16 hours a day, I don’t have weekends or Birthdays or Diwali.”

On whether Hollywood would be the next step, the 34-year-old actress said, “I have an agent in America since five years but I do work on my own terms. I am a star here in Hindi cinema so I don’t want to do anything for the heck of it. I have no desperation to prove a point to someone. I would do films there if it excites me.” Earlier Deepika Padukone had revealed that Priyanka was the first industry friend she made in Bollywood.

To which Priyanka added, “We had common friends...

We used to meet for movies and dinners.” So is it possible to be friends with contemporaries, the “Mary Kom” star said, “I can be friends with most of my colleagues I work with.” Priyanka and Deepika will be seen as Kashi Bai and Mastani in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s magnum opus “Bajirao Mastani”. Also starring Ranveer Singh as Peshwa Bajirao, the film releases on December 18.

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In what looked like an attempt to avoid fuelling of their dating rumours, both of them maintained some distance while walking at the venue.

They seemed to enjoyed their time together at the amusement park. In addition to riding a roller coaster, both of them enjoyed a number of games

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he pop star took to the stage at the Danforth Music Hall in Toronto on Monday night (07Dec15) to play a special acoustic concert for Stratford House of Blessing, which provides food and clothing to those in need in Justin’s native Stratford, Ontario.

During the show, titled An Evening with Justin Bieber, the singer thanked fans for coming out to support the cause and pledged all of the proceeds to charity. “It’s really good to be home,” Justin told the crowd. “You guys are special, very special... I think this is the best crowd I’ve ever been a part of. I’m having a great time up here tonight.” Justin performed a number of his hit songs, and even made the night a family affair by bringing his younger half-brother Jaxon and half-sister Jazmyn onto the stage with him.

The Baby singer previously raised money for Stratford House of Blessing back in February (15), when he donated items from his childhood bedroom to an auction on eBay.com and made $64,000 (£40,000).

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