February 25th, 2016

C M Y K

www.morungexpress.com

thursDAY • februArY 25 • 2016

DIMAPUR • Vol. XI • Issue 53 • 12 PAGes • 5

T H e

ESTD. 2005

P o W e R

If you wish your merit to be known, acknowledge that of other people Passenger fares and freight tariff Hike? Railway Budget decides today PAGE 08

reflections

By Sandemo Ngullie

Go home folks, he is not stark raving mad. He’s talking to his wife using this thing called Bluetooth.

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The Morung Express

Smartphone ads can put users’ personal data at risk new yorK, February 24 (IanS): In-app advertising can put personal information of millions of smartphone users at risk of being leaked between ad networks and mobile app developers, says a new study. The researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology examined more than 200 participants who used a custom-built app for Android-based smartphones to ascertain how much a mobile app creator may uncover about users because of the personalised ads served to them. It was found that 73 percent of ad impressions for 92 percent of users were correctly aligned with their demographic profiles. The study also found that based on ads shown, a mobile app developer could learn a user’s gender with 75 percent accuracy, parental status with 66 percent accuracy and age group with 54 percent accuracy. Income, political affiliation and marital status could also be predicted with high accuracy than random guesses.

T R u T H

— Oriental Proverb

Australia’s return to the top hit by controversy

PAGE 02

PAGE 12

nepal air crash kills all 23 aboard Nagaland CM asks tribes

Kathmandu, February 24 (IanS): All 23 people on board a Nepali airliner were on Wednesday killed when it crashed in the mountains of western Nepal early in the morning, officials here said.

The Tara Air Viking 9NAHH Twin Otter had taken off from the western Nepali tourist resort of Pokhara at 7.47 a.m. for Jomsom from where trekkers usually commence their hike.

Deputy director of Pokhara airport Yogendra Kumar told IANS that the plane, which carried 20 passengers besides a three-member crew, lost contact with the air traffic control (ATC) within minutes of taking off.

The passengers included two infants and two foreign nationals, Kumar said.

The plane remained missing for nearly four hours after losing contact with the Pokhara ATC and its wreckage was found scattered over a forested mountainside in Soli Ghoptebhir of Myagdi district, Civil Aviation Minister Ananda Prasad Pokhrel told news men in Kathmandu.

Citing Nepal Army rescue teams which had reached the crash site, Pokhrel said: “The plane has crashed and all its occupants have been killed.”

Located 200 km west of capital Kathmandu, Pokhara is the second largest city of Nepal. It is a popular tourist destination and the kick-off point for climbing expeditions to the 8,091-metre Mt Annapurna.

Jomsom too is the starting point for many trekkers in the Himalayas.

The aircraft was added to the Tara Air fleet last September.

Among the occupants were a Chinese national and a Kuwaiti

to disband armed groups

A family member cries as he waits at the airport after a Twin Otter plane, operated by private Tara Air, crashed in bad weather, in Pokhara, Nepal, February 24. (REUTERS)

and the others were Nepali nationals, BBC reported.

Army spokesperson Brigadier General Tara Bahadur Karki confirmed that all 23 people aboard the plane were killed in the crash. Karki said a Nepal Army team had reached the crash site and located the wing and tail section of the plane, the Kathmandu Post said.

The plane’s wreckage was found after four hours of intense search and rescue operation. Eyewitnesses said the debris of the plane were scattered over a large area and the aircraft was still burning, the report added.

One local said the weather at the site was extremely cold and the area was likely to get rainfall.

Police constable Phool Kumar Thapa Magar who was

among the first to reach the crash site said it was situated on a very treacherous terrain and the debris of the plane were scattered over an area of some 200 metres.

“No one has been found alive,” Myagdi district Deputy Superintendent of Police Bishwa Raj Khadka said, adding that it was difficult to identify the bodies due to the raging fire at the site.

Two helicopters sent for the rescue bid were unable to land due to dense fog, he added.

Roshan Manandhar, the pilot of the ill-fated plane, in his final conversation with Pokhara Air Traffic Control, reported that the flight was normal, said Jasoda Subedi, chief air traffic controller at Pokhara airport, the media report added.

“See you back, Ghorepani normal, good day,” were the

Flu can evade the human immune system: Study london, February 24 (IanS): Influenza commonly known as “flu” can hide itself undetected in an individual’s body by the person’s immune system, reveals a study.

The influenza virus that affects mainly the nose, throat, bronchi and occasionally lungs contains a protein that helps in outsmarting the immune system -- which can track viruses and alert the body of the entry of foreign virus into the human cells to multiply.

“The virus contains a protein that masks the virus entering the cell. In this way, the influenza virus can spread more easily before the immune sys-

tem recognises that it is a virus and attempts to fight it,” said Christian Holm, associate professor at Aarhus University in Denmark. The researchers discovered this by giving cells in the laboratory an evolutionarily conserved influenza virus protein.

The result was that the cells became poorer at defending themselves against both influenza viruses and other types of viruses indicating that the recognition mechanism in the immune system that the influenza virus evades is generally important for the body’s ability to defend itself against viruses, concluded the researchers.

former Parl secy and founder sMc, t saku Aier passes away

C M Y K

‘Value of art & culture is important’

o F

dImaPur, February 24 (mexn): Former Parliamentary Secretary and Founder of Saku’s Mission College (SMC), Dimapur, Er T Saku Aier passed away today in Dimapur. He was reported to have been keeping ill health since 2014 and passed away today at Zion Hospotal, Dimapur at 3:00am. He was 88.

Born on February 7, 1934, Aier was an Engineer by profession and was also appointed as Parliamentary Secretary of Housing, Labour & Employment in 2008. He was elected to the Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) in 2008 from 30 Alongtaki Constituency.

He served in various other capacities as well, including: Founder of the Subordinate Engineers Service Association; and Founder and President of the All Nagaland Diploma Engineers Service Association.

MP from Nagaland State to the Lok Sabha, Neiphiu Rio expressed sadness at Aier’s passing away and termed him as “not only a leader and a politician but also an educationist who contributed much to society.” “His demise is a significant loss to his community in particular and the Naga people in general. His contribution for the wellbeing of society will be remembered for a long time to come,” he stated. The Nagaland MP further expressed condolences to the bereaved family.

Nagaland Sate Chief Minister, TR Zeliang in a message today condoled Aier’s passing away and stated: “he was all-out in support of the marginalised and spoke for the betterment of the downtrodden like the daily wage earners involved in the unorganised sector of construction industry in Nagaland.”

The CM said that Aier would

be remembered most by the thousandsofstudentsoftheCollege he founded in 1994 called Saku’s Mission College, Dimapur, “whose prioritized aim was to impart comprehensive quality education… and to develop the dormant as-yet-unexplored potential in each individual student even beyond the academic arena and the involvement of each and every student in the ecumenical mission.”

“In his death, I have lost a good friend and the Naga society has lost an esteemed member who was sincerely determined to make the society a better place for the future generations,” the CM added.

The CM, on behalf of the Nagaland State Government conveyed “heartfelt condolences to the family members of the deceased and prayed that the Almighty grant solace and comfort to them.”

Condolences on page 5

last words from the captain.

“The weather at Pokhara and Jomsom is fine today (Wednesday). So we have no clue about what went wrong,” said Bhim Raj Rai, media officer at Tara Airlines, soon after the plane was reported missing.

But the areas adjoining the suspected crash site were covered in a cloud of dust on Tuesday following dry landslides in Mt Annapurna South base since Monday night.

The expected flying time for the plane from Pokhara to Jomsom town is approximately 20 minutes.

Over 100 people have died in plane crashes in the Himalayan nation in the past five years. The last crash was on February 16, 2014, when a Nepal Airlines Twin Otter crashed in Masinelek, Argakhanchi, killing 18 people.

dImaPur, February 24 (mexn): Nagaland State Chief Minister, TR Zeliang today met with a 7-member delegation of the Eastern Nagaland Peoples’ Organisation (ENPO) led by its Vice President, Sashi Naga and the Eastern Nagaland Legislators’ Union (ENLU) represented by senior legislator C Kipili Sangtam to work out ways to bring peace in the eastern parts of Nagaland state.

A press note from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) informed that the CM appealed for cooperation from tribe bodies in apprehending the perpetrators of the February 6 killing of a couple in Shamatore, leading to unrest and violence in the region.

The CM specifically asked the bodies to “disband armed groups which were reportedly kept by different tribes to protect them in times of need.” “Having such armed groups ostensibly to protect the tribes is a very dangerous phenomenon and should be disbanded henceforth,” the CM said.

The ENPO delegation informed the CM that the decision to disband armed groups was decided upon at the ENPO meeting at Longleng in May 2015 and said “however such a resolution would be reiterated very shortly in the days to come.”

The ENPO told the meeting that it has been meeting various tribe bodies in their area and urging them to cooperate with the Nagaland Government and law enforcing agencies in apprehending the perpetrators of the killing.

The CM assured that the perpetrators will be caught and tried “according to the laws of the land no matter whether they are militants or insurgents belonging to any group or tribe because murder is a crime and shall not be condoned in any manner.”

The CMO further quoted the

ENPO Vice President as stating that “both the Yimchungers and the Sangtams were unanimous that the culprits should be arrested and brought to book without further delay, and that the ENPO leaders have also convinced the tribal bodies not to serve ultimatum to the Government giving specific time limit to bring the culprits to book.” He however, expressed apprehension that the Special Investigation Team constituted by the Government was “dragging its feet on the issue.”

The delegation further briefed the CM on the ground reality in Pungro sub division, informing that 219 households were destroyed affecting a population of 1362 persons, out of which 456 were students and 119 were Government employees.

On the ENPO’s request that the Disaster Management Agency grant relief and aid, the CM clarified that the SDMA deals with natural calamities, and as such would not be the appropriate authority to intercede in this matter. Regarding the rejection of the Rs 1 Lakh ex gratia and government employment to the next of kin of the murdered couple, the CM clarified that he could not increase the amount, since it was the standard practice of the Government to grant such an amount.

The CM expressed concern at the “recent Quit Notice served to some villagers in Peren district resulting in displacement of hundreds of people and that even after the Notice was revoked the affected persons were yet to relocate.” He asserted that “uniform treatment should be given to all, and partiality cannot be the norm.”

The Chief Minister “reiterated that no one has the license to kill and that the guilty, no matter what their political or tribal inclinations or affiliations are, will be dealt with as per the laws of the land.”

Ban hits vehicular traffic from Manipur

ImPhal, February 24 (IanS): Plying of buses and trucks from Manipur to Nagaland was affected on Wednesday morning after a Naga students’ body announced an indefinite ban on vehicles to protest against alleged harassment of their members by Manipur Police.

Hundreds of vehicles were stranded along the highway due to the ban, announced by the Naga Students Federation (NSF) after the Manipur government refused to book certain police commandos who allegedly harassed NSF delegates on Febru-

ary 14.

The NSF claimed that the commandos detained the delegates at Mantri Pukhri and snatched their mobile phones when they were on their way to Ukhrul district to attend a Naga seed-sowing festival.

However, Manipur Police maintained it was routine checking and the delegates were not detained or harassed in any manner.

Meanwhile, All Manipur Students Union (AMSU) leader Ranjit Sarangthem asked the NSF here on Wednesday to end

its indefinite ban on the vehicles of Manipuris and warned of a counter-ban on vehicles owned by the Nagas in Manipur and other Manipuri-inhabited areas in the north-eastern region.

Youths suspected to be Naga students snatched the papers of over 30 trucks after intercepting them at Mayangkhang and Ningthoukhang in Senapati district of Manipur along National Highway-2. Sarangthem demanded the return of these documents to their owners.

The AMSU leader said if the Manipur commandos were

guilty of high-handedness against the NSF delegates, the issue should be resolved with the Manipur government but the common people should not be harassed.

Manipur Director General of Police L.M. Khoute urged his Nagaland counterpart L. Doungel to ensure the safety of the vehicles, drivers and passengers belonging to Manipur in Nagaland.

Nagaland Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang also appealed to the NSF to call off the ban to prevent harassment of innocent people.

NSF questions the GoM on February 14 incident KohIma, February 24 (mexn): In the backdrop of the harassment of a team of Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) executives in Imphal, Manipur State, on February 14, by the Manipur Police Commandos, the NSF has raised the issue of the safety of Naga people, particularly those travelling on Nagaland vehicle Registration numbers, through Imphal.

Highlighting the broader issues that the episode has brought to fore, the NSF, in a statement issued today, asked the Government of Manipur (GoM) if Nagas are the “problem makers” of Manipur State, as said to them by the Manipur Police Commandos who detained them for more than an hour on the morning of February 14.

The statement recalled the whole incident as it occurred on the day. “Why and on what ground did the Government agency ask the Nagas not to take Imphal route to reach Ukhrul for the festival?” the NSF has asked the Government of Manipur to answer, among many other

questions.

“What sort of sufferings the hill people have caused to the other people of the State?” questioned the NSF and asked what the GoM wants from the Nagas.

“What is the intention of the GoM in disturbing the Nagas every now and then?”

The NSF reminded that it had submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister of Manipur on February 16 with a three-point demand: To terminate the duty officer in-charge from service and the suspension of all the police personnel involved in the incident; Assurance to provide safety and security of the Nagas and Nagas vehicle in and around the valley areas; and, To officially tender a public apology to the NSF. “The NSF officials came down to Imphal to register our protest and resolve the matter..but they didn’t even bother to meet us. The failure of the GoM to respond..compelled the NSF to believe that the GoM entrust(ed) the duty-party to harass the Nagas travelling to Ukhrul for Lui-Ngai-Ni festival,

in particular to the NSF officials.

And also if possible to make us disappear if nobody knows about us,” alleged the NSF in its statement.

Challenging the GoM’s claims that it was “normal checking and frisking,” the NSF stated that the duty party spoke “openly and aggressively on communal lines. The duty party accused the hill people of creating problems in the valley.”

In that, it asked “If it is just a normal checking then, why were we detained for more than 90 minutes? Why were they not stopping any other vehicles but only the Nagaland Registration car? What was the motive of duty party for forcefully trying to take NSF to an undisclosed location?”

The NSF also found “unacceptable” that an armed force had tried to “impose Manipuri language to people who can’t speak Manipuri.”

“Nagas travelling in the valley have never been safe; especially the Nagas driving Nagaland Registration has become very risky,” alerted the Federation.

Reminding the GoM of a similar incident in 2010 when NSF members were barred from entering their ancestral lands, the NSF maintained that lately their officials have been facing “this kind of treatment time and again from the GoM. This time, “the NSF officials were questioned for passing through Imphal valley and not Senpati to Ukhrul. Do they mean to say that Imphal valley is only for a particular community?”

In this scenario, the NSF appealed people to examine “who first went communal.”

While appealing for support for “this people’s struggle,” the NSF reminded that since its inception, the NSF has been “tirelessly fighting for justice; justice against fake encounter, justice against communal attitude by the government agencies, justice against the imposition of a foreign language, justice against the harassment meted out to the innocent people, justice against insecurity in our own land, justice against atrocious attitude of the armed forces & militarization.”

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thursDAY 25•02•2016

NAGALAND

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

‘To save lives, be a blood donor’

KohIma, February 24 (DIPr): HIV/ AIDS awareness and blood donation drive organized by the State College of Teacher Education Kohima in collaboration with Red Ribbon Club and Voluntary Blood Donor Association Kohima was held on February 24 at SCTE-K, Kohima under the theme “To save lives, you don’t have to be a doctor, but just be a blood donor”.

Speaking on the importance of blood donors, resource person and President, Voluntary Blood Association Kohima, Kholi Dolf mentioned that voluntary blood donation is an ideal example of attrition in action and it is the highest firm of charity and one which can blind the society regardless of class, race, color or religion. He stated that donating blood is the greatest gift one can do for mankind. Many patients are dying in hospital due to shortage of blood, he said and urged the trainees to donate blood to save human life and dwell on the criteria on blood donation on guideline. He called upon the gathering to join the voluntary blood donors association and that the awareness drive is the right platform. He called upon them to be ambassadors and educate the students after returning to their respective place.

Resource person from Red Ribbon Club, Assistant Director, Ainato Yeptho speaking on the topic ‘role and responsibilities’ stated that Red Ribbon Club is a movement to create on HIV/AIDS through service education and events. He said that the main objective is to harness the potential of the youth equipping them with correct information on HIV/AIDS prevention care and to sup-

‘Value of art & culture is important’

port. It intends to build their capacities as per educators in spreading the message on positive health behaviors and to increase voluntary blood donation from among the youth which also aim to facilitate life skill development to enable young people to deal with vulnerabilities, he added.

Resource person, Assistant Director, Voluntary Blood Donor Association, NSACS, Alipoker stated that HIV lives in body fluids like seminal fluids, vaginal fluids and blood and more that 85% of all HIV infection occurs due to unsafe sex.

He mentioned that prevention is the only choice so everyone should get themselves tested and timely use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) health lifestyles can help people with HIV and AIDS lead a normal life. He advised those persons who are infected to adhere strictly to the guidelines of ART, healthy lifestyle, good nutrition and a positive mindset. He asserted that the virus does not discriminate and can affect anyone so prevention is the only cure.

The programme was chaired by Toshiyala Tzudir and welcome address was delivered by Co-convenor, RRC, SCTE-K. Altogether 19 trainees and faculty member from SCTE-K donated blood. The blood donors included Khrievino Sale, Keneingunuo Vizo, Mhashesuno Mekro, Megowheno Khate, Limatula Longchar, Rangluiheing, Razoulhoutuonuo, Koheiding Anthony, Tirsha Thapa, Mughaketo Chishi, Kutobo X. Kinimi, Ekongthang Kithan, Toshiyala Tzudir, Ghusheto N. Sumi, Bok- Participants perform cultural presentation at the ‘Discovery ishe Aye, Rantauzembe, Jennifer R. Murry, North East- A Cultural Yatra, 2016’ held at Don Bosco Higher Elizabeth Walling, T. Alemla Longkumer. Secondary School, Zubza on February 24. (DIPR Photo)

‘Discovery North East- A Cultural Yatra 2016’ held at DBHSS Zubza ZubZa, February 24 (DIPr): ‘Discovery North East- A Cultural Yatra, 2016’ organised by the North East Zone Cultural Centre, Dimapur in collaboration with the Department of Art and culture, Kohima, Nagaland was also held at Don Bosco Higher Secondary School, Zubza on February 24. The programme was graced by Commandant 37th Assam Rifles, Col. Ananya Bonal as the chief guest and Commandant 87 Battalion CRPF, Neeraj Yadav as Guest of Honour.

Col. Ananya Bonal in his speech stated that the value of art and culture is important in the present context and added that without art and culture one’s life would not be fulfilled. He said that the people of North- East celebrating together with its different cultures showcase the unity in diversity which is the pride of the Nation.

Joint Director NEZCC, Talinokcha in his introductory speech highlighted on

various Zonal Cultural Centres in India where the NEZCC covers the eight North Eastern States. He said that under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, besides various schemes, the most important scheme was the National Cultural Exchange programme, which has been successfully implemented across the country. The Cultural Yatra 2016 is also being successfully implemented across the State covering 32 Towns and Villages, he informed.

Stating that Unity in Diversity is the pride of the Nation, Talinokcha said that the NEZCC has designed this program with its main objective to bring artistes from various States in order to have better understanding and unity among the states. He said that the second objective was to identify the new Art form from different parts of the region.

Chair man, V.C .C .

Sechü, Mhasikhotuo Zhunyu delivered the welcome address while Don Bos-

co Hr. Sec. School, Sechü Principal Fr. Samuel invoked God’s blessing and welcome song was presented by Don Bosco Hr. Sec. School, Sechü.

In the Cultural presentation, the following Cultural troupes participated with their various items as follows: Badhai (SCZCC) from Madhya Pradesh, Ka Shad Mastieh from Meghalaya, Eme- Relo (Adi Community) from Arunachal Pradesh, Chakari Dance (WZCC) from Rajasthan, Bihu Dance from Assam, Thang- Ta from Manipur and folk song and dances from Sechu Youth Organisation Cultural troupes and Sechu Zubza Youth Organisation.

Besides Village elders and Departmental Officials, the programme was also attended by Social Activist, Niketu Iralu who is also a member of initiatives of change, India along with Dr. Vilasier Iralu and his wife from New Mexico who works for India Health Service.

CIH Nagaland organises National Seminar

DImaPur, February 24 (mexN): A 3-days National Seminar on 'Integrated Development of Horticulture in Sub-Tropical and Hill Region' was organized

by Central Institute of Horticulture, Nagaland in collaboration with Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat and co-sponsored by National Horticulture Board, Gurgaon at Horticultural Research Station, Kahikuchi, Guwahati from February 17 to 19.

The seminar focused on streamlining and setting the agenda for horticultural development in sub-tropical and hill regions while deliberating on recent technological innovations in the horticulture sector.

Addressing the inaugural session as chief guest, Dr

Dr SK Malhotra, Dr. AK Singh and others during the release of souvenir and other publications during the National Seminar on 'Integrated Development of Horticulture in Sub-Tropical and Hill Region'.

SK Malhotra, Agriculture & Horticulture Commissioner in the Union Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, said the horticulture sector plays a pivotal role in ensuring food, livelihood and nutritional security in the country. Focusing on various schemes for the development of the agri-horti sector, he said climate-smart horticulture

is the need of the hour.

Dr. AK Singh, Managing Director of National Horticulture Board & guest of honor, underlined the importance of high-tech horticulture and blending of technologies to enhance productivity and quality of horticulture commodities.

Dr. Lallan Ram, Director of Central Institute of Horticulture, Nagaland, in his wel-

LLIN for Dimapur Urban Area launched

Dr MA Wati CMO Dimapur with others during the launching of Long Lasting Insecticidal Net (LLINs) for Dimapur Urban Area at East Police Colony on February 18.

DImaPur, February 24 (mexN): Following the launch of Long Lasting Insecticidal Net (LLINs) for Nagaland state on February 15, at District Hospital Dimapur, office of Urban Malaria Vector Borne Disease Scheme (UMVBDS) has launched the LLIN for Dimapur Urban Area with Dr, MA Wati, Chief Medical Officer, Dimapur as chief guest at East Police Colony on February 18.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr MA Wati CMO called upon the public to use the LLIN throughout the year. He also stated that the Menace of Malaria, Dengue, JE and others related vector born can be simultaneously controlled with the help of public, for which he advised the public to keep their surrounding and drainage need and clean.

While assistant Director - Urban Vector Borne Disease Scheme (UVBDS) Kikolul Khieya also stated that UVBDS will be covering the more than 100 colonies of Dima-

CHSS Homecoming Fete 2016 DImaPur, February 24 (mexN): All CHSS Alumni are requested to avail of the tickets for the 1st Homecoming Fete 2016 on 12 March at the School Campus. The Musical night features well-known alums like Nise Meruno, Moanungsang, Jack Pucho and former Headmaster Meken Sangma and his band. The outlets for the tickets are- CHSS Campus, Beehive Bakery (Near Holy Cross), Beehive Bakery (Nagarjan Point), Ashish Electronics (Stranger) Nyamo Lotha, Sunny Shoes Store and Regent Shoes Store (MP Road), Hot Pot Restaurant (Eros Lane), Pencil Work Graphics (City Tower Area), The Soloist Work Station ( Duncan).

A simple act of kindness: With heads bowing down in prayer and with the aim to “Reach to those, who needs most”, Jericho a sub-wing of the Women’s Forum, St Joseph’s College Jakhama successfully concluded its ‘Hanger Movement’ by visiting Eden Garden Children Home Khuzama and Bright Morning Star Children Home High School on February 20.

MEx File Baptist Church and first Fellowship secretary, BPFKT dedicated and release the Jubilee Souvenir while Rev C Lima ES, USBLA delivered a message on the topic “Serve for His purpose” on the second day, Silver Jubilee Stone tablet erected at BPFKT New Millennium Hall, Delux Point Kiphire Town was dedicated by Rev. G Kiyeto V/President NBPU in the presence of Church Elders and believers and shared the word of God on the topic “Believers are one in Christ”. Meanwhile, BPFKT acknowledge Chumremo Odyuo, Deputy Commissioner, Kiphire and family for extending all the support, BYE KTBL for leading praise & worship throughout the programme.

dinate officers for the meeting cum picnic. It was decided that all the expenses of the meeting cum picnic will be borne by Officers Club Mokokchung (OCM) for which DC approved withdrawal of Rs. 50,000 from the OCM. After discussions the meeting also decided to enhance annual membership of OCM from Rs. 500/- to Rs. 1000/-

Peace Prayer prog at Kiphire held KIPhIre, February 24 (mexN): In order to restore peace in the Town and the District, the Baptist Pastor’s Fellowship Kiphire Town (BPFKT) had organized Peace Prayer programme at Deluxe Point Kiphire Town on February 22, starting from 6:30 am.

Various Church Leaders, believers, GBs, DBs, NGOs and Citizen attended the programme. The programme was chaired by S Mughaho Pastor, President BPFKT, while a special song was presented by Police Baptist Church. Peace Message was delivered

by Rev. Imdangmeren Ao, Pastor Ao Baptist Church, Kiphire. He pointed out that real peace comes through forgiveness and through which it heals the wounded in the community and the World. Mass Prayer was observed at the end of the programme.

pur Urban in phase wise. Therefore he Mkg DPDB meeting cum picnic called upon the Council and GBs to posiBPFKT celebrates Silver jubilee tively co-operate with the Department. He moKoKchuNg, February 24 (DIPr): also directed the public to follows the do’s KIPhIre, February 24 (mexN): The Mokokchung District Planning & Developand don’ts.

Baptist Pastors’ Fellowship Kiphire Town ment Board (DPDB) meeting cum picnic will He also stated the LLINs which have in(BPFKT) celebrated its Silver jubilee on be held at State Agricultural Research Station secticide incorporated in the fiber, which February 6 and 7 under the theme “Believ- (SARS), Yisemyong on March 7, about 16 kms can kill mosquitoes and insects, which will ers are one in Christ” (Acts 4 :32) with Rev. G from Mokokchung town. This was decided at be effective for 5 years without washing or Kiyeto, Vice President Nagaland Baptist Pas- the meeting called by DC & Vice Chairman, upto 20 washes. He advised the public to tors’ Union (NBPU) and Rev. C Lima, Execu- DPDB Mokokchung, Sushil Patel in his office wash the Nets with clean plain water and ask to dry in a shade area as and when retive Secretary USBLA as main speakers. On chamber on February 24. DC informed all quired. He also advise the public not to use the day one Rev Khumtsa, Pastor Ghokhuvi the Heads of Offices to also call their suborthe net for fishing or other purpose other than personal or family protection, which is even safe for babies and pregnant women.

Program was chair by M Zachamo Ezung LDA/SK, Short speech by Hekato GB East police colony, Vote of thanks was delivered by Ajem Changkija.

KohIma, February This was stated in a press release is- 24 (mexN): The Cathosued by Kikolul Khieya, Assistant Direc- lic community of New Retor –UVBDCS, Dimapur. serve, Phesama celebrated the inauguration of their new church on February 14. His Lordship, Bishop sistance Wokha Unit. The medical officers from various Primary Health Center who James Thoppil DD, Bishop attended the programme were Dr Tsanglao of Nagaland, blessed the MO, PHC Wozhuro, Dr Aben Murry, PHC church, while Irene SeHumtso, Dr Khyothungo MO, PHC Niryo, queira, one of the major Dr Kezo, MO School Health, Dr Mhonchan benefactors of the Church, inaugurated it.

ZLO and Dr Oren, Dentist.

During his homily The official declaration of LLIN distributions was made by the chief guest and the at the Eucharist, Bishop vote of thanks was pronounced by Renjamo James congratulated the SW. The programme was followed by free people of New Reserve for distributions of LLIN and Do’s and Don’ts successfully building their pamphlets pertaining to the usage of LLIN church and urged them was distribute by the team of NVBDCP staff to make it truly a house of Zuchamo MTS, Chophao SW, Renjamo SW prayer. He also thanked along with concerned ASHA of the village the Jesuit Fathers for servand the Chairman of the village council.

Altogether two villages Hanku and N ing the people of the area Longchum were covered and total num- with so much dedication ber of 482 different sizes of LLIN was pro- and commitment.

The New Reserve Phesama church inaugurated on February 14.

Speaking on the occavided to them and ASHA were instructed to carry out for monitoring post LLIN dis- sion, Fr. Hector D’Souza, present Development Di- truly miracle that has been osity of donors.

Vikho Yhoshii, Parliatributions and encourage using the medi- the former Jesuit Provin- rector for the Kohima Jesu- achieved through coopercated nets. cial of South Asia and the its, hailed the church as a ation of people and gener- mentary Secretary for Vet-

LLIN distribution launched at Hankvu Village

WoKha, February 24 (mexN): The formal launching programme of LLIN (Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets) distribution was held at Hankvu Village under Wozhuro and Ralan on February 19. The programme was chaired by Dr. Enrithung Lotha, Chief Medical Officer, Wokha.

The chief guest, A Robin Lotha, Deputy Commissioner, Wokha and Chairman of District Health Society in his speech highlighted about proper usage of the LLIN and encouraged active participation in all health activities and other developmental activities. In the keynote address, Dr Zuben Kikon, DVBO highlighted the importance and concept of free LLIN distributions and its advantage in prevention and control of Mosquito Borne Diseases.

The other officials who attended the programme and shared their thoughts and views were Chumren, SP Wokha, KC Murry, Controller of Examinations Global Open University, Dr. Zumomo Ovung, Honorary Secretary IRCS and Yilobemo, Office As-

come address, highlighted the potential of the sector in theNortheast.Specialremark was given by Dr. NK Mohan, Chief Consultant, CIH & Dr. Elizabeth Saipari, Joint Director, Department of Horticulture, Mizoram and vote of thanks was pronounced by Dr. Sarat Saikia, Chief Scientist of Horticultural Research Station, Kahikuchi.

The souvenir and other

publications were released by the chief guest and guest of honor during the inaugural programme.

A total of 9 technical sessions & a session on poster presentation were conducted where eminent scientists from all over the country presented 10 lead papers, 23 oral presentations and 17 poster presentations during the seminar.

Over a hundred delegates from twenty states of India participated in the event.

During the closing programme, the Chairman of all the technical sessions presented the report & recommendations made during the session. The closing programme was chaired by Dr. K K Jindal & co chaired

by Prof. Sisir Mitra.

New Reserve church inaugurated erinary and Animal Husbandry, Treasuries and Accounts and Rovileto Mor, DC Kohima graced the occasion with their presence.

The programme that followed the Eucharist included a welcome speech

by Khouizo, a short history of the Church by Neilavono Monica, special numbers by the Catechism children of New Reserve, the Jesuit candidates of JTC, Phesama and the CYA of St. Paul Parish, Phesama, and a vote of thanks by Neichulhou.

The Catholic community of New Reserve expressed gratitude to all those who helped make the program a grand success, especially the members of the Baptist and Revival Churches of the area for their whole hearted cooperation.

ThursDAY 25•02•2016

NORTH-EAST

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

3

Call to make engineers and masons Mnp to stockpile rice, fuel to tide over blockades assist in North East disaster recovery Iboyaima Laithangbam IANS

New Delhi, FebrUary 24 (iaNS): An international conference on disaster mitigation and management in India's northeastern region has called for a special cadre of engineers trained to assess damage as well as an "army" of masons and artisans to deal with post-disaster scenarios. The two-day conference, "When the Mountains Move and the Waters Rise", urged governments, scientists, researchers and civil society groups to break out of their silos, disciplines and departments and develop fresh approaches to disaster scenarios.

Organised by the Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research at Jamia Millia Islamia in collaboration with National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), the North Eastern Council, the central government, and National Centre for People's Action in Disaster Management(NCPDP), Ahmed-

abad, the two-day conference that concluded on Wednesday focused on health and shelter.

The conference underlined the lack of a network of specially trained engineers "who can be the first assessors of damage" based on sound engineering and science to provide a rational basis for a just compensation package, according to a statement issued by the organisers.

Another priority was to create communities of trained caregivers who can counsel those suffering the effects of trauma.

Institutes like National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (Nimhans) could take a lead in this sector.

"The suddenness of calamities often caught governments unawares. Thus, in terms of postdisaster capacity building, governments and partner groups need to have the curriculum and trainers to launch rapid training

North east Briefs

Political conference in Ukhrul

UkhrUl, FebrUary 24 (MexN): The Naga People's Front (NPF), Ukhrul Division is organizing a one day Political Conference at Town Hall, Ukhrul on February 29 from 11:30 a.m. onwards. According to a press release from the organizing committee, NPF Manipur State Unit President Awangbow Newmai and his colleagues along with NPF leaders/workers/well wishers from Chandel, Tamenglong and Senapati will participate in the one day programme. This political conference will be the first and the biggest event organized by the NPF, Ukhrul Division in Ukhrul District HQs in 2016, the release informed. Party workers of all ranks and files, supporters and well wishers and also the public have been invited to attend the same.

1 die, 13 injured in mishap ShilloNg, FebrUary 24 (PTi): At least one person waskilledand25otherswereinjuredwhenaTripura-bound bus fell off the road and rolled down into a 150-feet gorge in Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills district around midnight last night. Additional Deputy Commissioner K Nongbri said at least one person has died in the accident which took place at about midnight in the accident-prone stretch of NH 44 at Ratacherra area. He said the 25 injured were rushed to a hospital. The night bus from Guwahati was bound for Tripura and police and fire personnel have rushed to the accident site, he said. NH 44 is the only national highway that links Agartala with the rest of the seven NE states.

Meghalaya gets new chief justice ShilloNg, FebrUary 24 (iaNS): Justice Dinesh Maheshwari of Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court was on Wednesday sworn-in as the chief justice of Meghalaya. Governor V. Shanmuganathan administered the oath of office to Chief Justice Maheshwari at a ceremony at Raj Bhavan. Chief Justice Maheshwari, 57, succeeds Justice Uma Nath Singh who retired as chief justice on January 14. Since then, Justice Sudip Ranjan Singh served as the acting chief justice of the state high court.

programs which will create an army of artisans (masons, carpenters etc.) for rebuilding programmes," the statement said.

Those who participated included technical experts from Nepal and India, especially from the northeast, representatives of the NIDM, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), state disaster management authorities (SDMAs) of Mizoram and Assam, Andhra Pradesh, as well social scientists and other Himalayan scholars, environmentalists, activists and officials from the UN. According to the recommendations of the conference, while it is not possible to make all infrastructure disaster-free, it is important that every vulnerable human settlement in the northeastern region be assessed with regard to multiple, current risks.

This information must be put in the public domain in simple

from January 14 to December 16 and December 17 last year, which was convened in makeshift venues.

During the session, which was attended by all the 21 rebel legislators who included 11 BJP members

Blockades, which are almost a way of life in Manipur, could soon become a thing of the past with the inauguration of a broad gauge railway line to Jirbam, some 220 km from here that will enable the state to stockpile rice, fuel and other essentials as these will no longer have to be transported by road. The arrival of the first goods train from Silchar over the weekend with 1,250 tonnes of rice means that truckers will no longer have to drive down to Dimapur in Nagaland to pick up the foodgrain on a highway that is often prone to blockades.

This apart, they will be saving some 30 km each way. The train to Jirbam will run once a week and a similar service will ply to Tripura capital Agartala.

Meanwhile officials said that the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) will soon start stockpiling fuel at the proposed railhead at

gal taxes in the guise of goods tax, road tax and godown tax.

Armed cadres of some outfits are seen openly extorting these taxes in some towns along the National Highway-2 (NH-2) that snakes through Nagaland.

Anti-social elements also earn easy money by masquerading as foreign-trained insurgents, officials said.

Drivers who refuse to bring money from the truck, bus and oil tanker owners are beaten up, the vehicle's documents seized, kidnapped and in some instances shot dead, officials said. Officials also said that once rice and fuel are stockpiled in Imphal the frequent blockades would not hit the people where it hurts the most.

Whenever there are blockades, all petrol pumps go bone dry and ubiquitous roadside vendors sell one litre of petrol at Rs.150 or even higher. And, while most consumer items vanish from the market, the prices of those still available are jacked up with immunity.

TKS expresses outrage over POST VACANCY Post : M.A (History) Manipur Government’s inaction 1)2) 11 (One) (One) Post : M.A (Education)

UkhrUl, FebrUary 24 (MexN): The Tangkhul Katamnao Saklong (TKS) today expressed outrage at the Government of Manipur for “turning a blind eye” to the harassment of the executives of the Naga Students' Federation by the Manipur Police Commandos recently.

A press release from the TKS further alleged that the Manipur government had ‘turned a deaf ear’ to the memorandum submitted by the Federation. “The authorities have only exhibited that it is not at all bothered to even look into the incident and solve it at the earliest,” the student body maintained.

Stating that a sevenday time frame was given to the state government to look into the matter, TKS contended that “they have not budged an inch and have only let the situation escalate further”. “Such harassment cases are not only being perpetuated by the Manipur Police Commandos but the higher authorities, especially the state government have always looked the other way,” the Saklong maintained.

TKS argued that the Federation was compelled to resort to such extreme measures because of the “indifferent attitude” of the Manipur state government.

“Any untoward incidences shall be the sole responsibility of the Government of

Kalikho Pul to face floor test today iTaNagar, FebrUary 24 (PTi): The newly-installed Kalikho Pul government in Arunachal Pradesh will face a test of its strength in the Assembly tomorrow on the first day of a three- day session.

Deputy Speaker Tenzing Norbu Thongdok told PTI that a new Speaker would also be elected as the seat was lying vacant since December 16. Governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa today summoned the seventh session of the Assembly from February 25 to February 27. Thongdok said the customary governor's address was also scheduled for tomorrow.

With February 26 being a holiday due to Nyokum festival of the Nyishi community, the motion of thanks to the governor's address would be taken up on the last day of the session. "The business of the house has been decided in the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting held under my chairmanship today in presence of its members including Chief Minister Pul, Leader of Opposition (BJP) Tamiyo Taga, Pema Khandu and Paknga Bage," Thongdok said.

The session has been summoned after Pul was sworn in as the eighth chief minister of the state on February 19 after over three months of political instability. The Union Cabinet had on January 24 last recommended for imposition of President's Rule and it was imposed on January 26. It was lifted less than a month later on February 19.

The Himalayan state had plunged into political turmoil after 21 dissident legislators led by Pul revolted against the then chief minister Nabam Tuki and the governor had advanced the sixth session of the Assembly

local languages.

Governments, academic institutions, the private sector and civil society organisations need to develop innovative partnerships. Local communities need to acquire the sustained competence to innovate and absorb other forms of knowledge, technologies and practices.

Traditional ways of habitat planning need to be built into a repository while exploring ways of connecting the best of the vernacular to “modern” processes through participatory methods and recognition of local knowledge, the conference recommended In post-disaster conditions, it has been observed that due to lack of preparedness precious time is lost, resulting in avoidable hardships.

The progress of shelter and rehabilitation construction should be placed in the public domain, the recommendations said.

Mallom, 10 km from here. The newly-constructed depot can store 5,124 kilolitres (kl) of petrol, 11,796 kl of diesel and 5,055 kl of kerosene.

There is another IOC depot at Chingmeirong near Imphal, but it can store only 840 kl of petrol, 3,341 kl of diesel and 2,528 kl of kerosene enough for just a few days.

Tribal groups in Nagaland have been calling frequent blockades, shutdowns and general strikes along the two national highways linking Manipur to Assam on many localised issues. On one occasion some Naga organisations had imposed a blockade for 103 days and it would have continued had it not been for the fact that Congress president Sonia Gandhi and then prime minister Manmohon Singh had visited Manipur ahead of the 2012 assembly elections.

Officials said that the blockades apart, all vehicles from Manipur are forced to pay ille-

and two Independents, the house with Deputy Speaker Thongdok at the chair impeached Speaker Nabam Rebia and elected Pul as the new leader. The case on it is being heard on daily basis in Supreme Court.

Manipur,” the TKS stated.

Meanwhile, the Saklong has appealed to the public to restrain themselves and be cautious at the same time until the state government has ceded to the Federation's memorandum demands.

NOTICE FOR LOSS OF PATTA This is for public information that I, Mrs. Kedipunuo w/o Mr. K.Yepthomi have lost my Patta -7881, Ward-9, issued on 01.09.2014

by Chumukedima Village Council. Individual, groups, society etc are informed not to entertain any loan, lien, mortgage with the Patta. Defaulters will be doing so at their own risk and loss and the Pattadar shall hold no responsibility whatsoever.

TRANSFORMATION CRUSADE Theme: “Arise and Shine…”

(Isaiah 60:1)

Date: 25th Feb. 2016 Time: 4:30 PM Venue: Khouchiezie (Local Ground), Kohima 1.Leader

: Pastor Letuolie Pienyü Pezielietsie CRC

2. Pianist

: Mrs. Ako-ü Kiewhuo

3. Conductor

: Mrs. Neibano V. Swuro

4. Invocation & Offertory Prayer : Pastor Ruokuowhelie Pienyü

Upper Naga Bazar Baptist Church 5. Speaker

: Mr. Velavoyi Keyho Pastor, Phezoucha Nagamese Baptist Church, Kohima

This crusade is for all. Come with faith and receive the Blessings of Salvation, Deliverance, Healing and the Confirmation message.

3) 1 (One) Post : Computer Instructor (PGDCA/MCA with knowledge of VB,SQL,PL/SQL) 4) 1 (One) Post : Office Assistant (DCA with Hardware knowledge)

Interested candidates may apply with resume and documents on the interview day.

Interview : Sl. No. 3 & 4 – 27th Feb, 2016 Time : 9:00 a.m

Sl. No. 1 & 2 – 12th March, 2016 Time : 10:00 a.m Contact-

: 03862-242254 (O) : 9436073053 (M) : 9436005272 (M) Principal, Unity Christian Hr. Sec. School, Diphupar

SITUATION VACANT JUBILEE MEMORIAL SCHOOL (Affiliated to CISCE, New Delhi) Salangtem Ward, Mokokchung, Nagaland

WALK- IN - INTERVIEW 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Graduate with B.Ed/TTC/UGT (Pre Primary & Primary Section): 1 Post Maths& Science (Primary & Middle Section) B.Sc (PCM) with B. Ed: 1 Post Asst. Teacher for Ao Language: 1 Post Qualification: Graduate with B.Ed (preference will be given to those who have cleared Proficiency Test conducted by Ao Senden Literature Board) English for Primary and Middle Section: 1 Post Qualification: B.A. (Honours) B.Ed/TTC/UGT PGT for Environmental Science (10+2 ISC) Qualification: M.Sc in Agriculture/Botany/Zoology with B.Ed PGT for History (10+2 ISC) Qualification: M.A. in History with B.Ed PGT for Economics (10+2 ISC) Qualification: M.A. in Economics with B.Ed

Scale of Pay for Sl.No.1 to 4 : 8000 – 240 – 12800/- P.M. plus D.A. 70%, HRA, M.A. etc.

Sl.No. 5 to 7 : 9300 – 280 – 14900/- P.M. plus D.A. 70%, HRA, M.A. etc.

Perks: CPF, LTC, Gratuity etc. (EXPERIENCED HANDS AND ICSE & ISC BACKGROUND PREFERRED)

DATE OF INTERVIEW: 27th of February 2016 at J.M. School Complex (Written Test at 8:30 A.M.) Interested candidates may report at J.M. School office along with all original documents latest by 8:00 A.M. on the same day. Please note that NO CALLING LETTERS WILL BE ISSUED separately.

Sd/S.K. Maiti Principal, J.M. School Ph.No. 0369-2226319

Sd/Chairman BOG, J. M. School

NAGALAND PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION PHEK TOWN YOUTH SOCIETY LAUDS AZO KOHIMA

Dated Kohima, the 24 February, 2016 th

NOTIFICATION

NO.NPSC/CESE-2012:: In pursuance to the Commission’s Advertisement No.NPSC-2/2015 dated 07.07.2015, Notification dated 14.07.2015 & Addendum dated 23.07.2015, for recruitment to Assistant Professor(s)/Lecturer(s)/TRA and PGT(s) under the Departments of Higher Education, SCERT and School Education, the Commission is pleased to declare the candidates bearing the following roll numbers to have qualified for the Viva-voce:

The Phek Town Youth Society (PTYS) organized an exposure trip to Gangtok (Sikkim) from January 27- 31, 2016. As a Non- Governmental Organization the PTYS sought the financial assistance of MLA Kuzholuzo (Azo) Nienu and with whose contribution/support the tour was a grand success. Your generosity and support meant a lot to us sir. Your good deeds and dynamic leadership have become an inspiration to many of our youth who we hope will one day be willing to take the torch of doing social services for a good cause in the years to come. Thank you once again for sponsoring the trip and for your gracious support toward the PTYS.

2027 2036 2037 2038 2041 2050 2051 2053 2055 2058 2061 2065 2071 2073 2079 2086 2087 2090 2091 2101 2110 2116 2134 2139 2141 2143 2145 2161 2163 2168 2170 2180 2181 2184 2187 2209 2212 2214 2230 2231 2233 2257 2287 2327 2332 2335 2341 2361 2362 2372 2373 2418 2423 2425 2428 2439 2441 2442 2443 2449 2473 2498 2499 2511 2516 2525 2528 2546 2553 2557 2583 2584 2588 2590 2598 2606 Note: 1. Viva-Voce shall commence from 19th April 2016 onwards. Call letters shall be sent individually by post. Those who do not receive may collect from the Commission’s Office from 4th April 2016 onwards. Related information will be made available in the Commission’s website at www.npsc.co.in 2. With reference to Item No. 17 PGT (Commerce) under School Education Department, the number of posts is increased from 2 (two) to 3 (three).

3. The ratio of Candidates/Vacancies as per NPSC (State Civil & other Services) Recruitment Rules, 2008 under Rule 15(4) cannot be maintained in some posts in view of insufficient eligible candidates.

4. The following post(s) shall be re-advertised due to non-availability of eligible candidates: Item No

Name of Post

4

Asst. Prof. Mathematics

7

Asst. Prof. Physics

13

Lecturer Mathematics

15

TRA Physics

22

PGT Mathematics

23

PGT Physics

Department

No of Post(s)

Hr. Education

1

-do-

4

SCERT

1

-do-

1

School Education

4

-do-

4

Sd/- SARAH R. RITSE Secretary, Nagaland Public Service Commission, Kohima

FUNERAL SERVICE Funeral Service of

DR. PANGjUNG (LONGKHUM), Retired Director of Health Services Nagaland at his Diphupar residence on February 25, 2016 at 11:00am.

4

ThursDAY 25•02•2016

Business

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

State annual verification and ‘Johnson & Johnson must pay $72 million stamping of weights, measures for cancer death linked to talcum powder’ St. LouiS, February 24 (reuterS): Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) was ordered by a Missouri state jury to pay $72 million of damages to the family of a woman whose death from ovarian cancer was linked to her use of the company’s talc-based Baby Powder and Shower to Shower for several decades.

In a verdict announced late Monday night, jurors in the circuit court of St. Louis awarded the family of Jacqueline Fox $10 million of actual damages and $62 million of punitive damages, according to the family’s lawyers and court records.

The verdict is the first by a U.S. jury to award damages over the claims, the lawyers said.

Johnson & Johnson faces claims that it, in an effort to boost sales, failed for decades to warn consumers that its talc-based products could cause cancer.

About 1,000 cases have been filed in Missouri state court, and another 200 in New Jersey.

Fox, who lived in Birming-

ham, Alabama, claimed she used Baby Powder and Shower to Shower for feminine hygiene for more than 35 years before being diagnosed three years ago with ovarian cancer. She died in October at age 62.

Jurors found Johnson & Johnson liable for fraud, negligence and conspiracy, the family’s lawyers said. Deliberations lasted

Kohima, February 24 (mexN): The annual verification and stamping of weights, measures, and weighing and measuring instruments for the year 2016 is being undertaken by the Legal Metrology & Consumer Protection Department, Nagaland as per the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 and the Nagaland Legal Metrology (Enforcement) Rules, 2011.

Therefore, all traders, vendors and users of weights, measures, and weighing and measuring instruments are directed to submit their weights, measures, and instruments for verification and stamping at the Office of the Assistant Controller of Legal Metrology & Consumer Protection in the respective districts as per Section 24 of the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 and Rule 14 & 15 of the Nagaland Legal Metrology (Enforcement) Rules,

“We have no higher responsibility than the health and safety of consumers, and we are disappointed with the outcome of the trial. We sympathize with the plaintiff’s family but firmly believe the safety of cosmetic talc is supported by decades of scientific evidence.”

Trials in several other talc lawsuits have been set for later this year, according to Danielle Mason, who also represented Fox’s family at trial.

In October 2013, a federal jury in Sioux Falls, South Dakota found that plaintiff Deane Berg’s use of Johnson & Johnson’s body powder products was a factor in her developing ovarian cancer.

Nevertheless, it awarded no damages, court records show.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc (VRX.TO) now owns the Shower to Shower brand but was not a defendant in the Fox case.

The case is Hogans et al v.

Johnson & Johnson et al, Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis, Missouri, No. 1422-CC09012.

four hours, following a threeweek trial.

Jere Beasley, a lawyer for Fox’s family, said Johnson & Johnson “knew as far back as the 1980s of the risk,” and yet resorted to “lying to the public, lying to the regulatory agencies.” He spoke on a conference call with journalists.

Carol Goodrich, a Johnson & Johnson spokeswoman, said:

State Credit Plan for Nagaland launched Project to computerise 1.55 lakh post Kohima, February 24 (mexN): The State Credit Plan for the state of Nagaland for the year 2016-17 was launched at the State Credit Seminar organized by the Nagaland Regional Office of NABARD on February 22 at Kohima. Pankaj Kumar, IAS, Chief Secretary to the Government of Nagaland was the chief guest on the occasion.

The seminar saw participation from senior level State Government officials of the Agriculture and Allied Sector Depts and RD Dept, ICAR representative, RBI, senior bankers of Commercial Banks, Nagaland State Cooperative Bank and Nagaland Rural Bank. The Seminar discussed issues under various sectors that need to be addressed in order to improve credit flow at the ground level during 2016-17.

“We at NABARD have been constantly endeavouring to ensure ground level credit flow and greater financial inclusion of the poor and weaker sections.

We undertake the exercise of making district-wise assessments of potential available for lending under various productive sectors through our Potential Linked Credit Plans (PLPs).

The aggregation of the district-PLPs for 2006-17 have projected a credit flow of Rs.1098.24 crore for the State indicating an increase of 21.30 per cent over the last year. Out of

the total credit potential for the State under total priority sector, Rs.588.22 crore has been assessed under agriculture,” stated A Chakrabarty, General Manager, NABARD while addressing the State Credit Seminar 2016-17.

While dwelling on the theme of the State Credit Plan of “Accelerating the pace of capital formation in agriculture and allied sector”, he stressed on the need for a focused approach towards investment credit, the major driver of private sector capital formation in agriculture, as it would lead to much needed increase in capital formation and consequent increase in agricultural productivity.

While launching the State Focus Paper, Chief Secretary Pankaj Kumar in his address, appreciated NABARD for preparing the State Credit Plan and organising the seminar where all stakeholders concerned could deliberate on the estimated credit potential of the state and implementation of the Plan. He expressed concern over the 29 RD blocks in the state remaining unbanked till date. With the Credit Deposit Ratio of the state hovering at around 30% he emphasised the need for the individual banks to improve their Credit Deposit Ratio.

Kumar also stressed on the huge potential under horticulture and animal husbandry sectors and financing Self Help Groups

ATMA Kuhuboto block conducts BFAC meeting Dimapur, February 24 (mexN): Block Farmers Advisory Committee (BFAC) meeting was held on February 16 at S. Hotovi Village organised by ATMA Dimapur, Kuhuboto Block.

The meeting was started with an invocation pronounced by Tokuho, BFAC member. The meeting minutes was highlighted by Akavi V.Holo, BTM (ATMA), Kuhuboto Block and Wochamo Patton, A.O & BTT Convenor (ATMA), Kuhuboto Block gave a brief introduction on how ATMA as an extension service works and function its activities for the upliftment and welfare of the farmers.

The meeting was then opened to the members for their valuable inputs and outputs. The members participated actively by pouring out and sharing their experiences in the field of agricultural sectors. Each member took a turn to give their supplements and almost all the members shared about the problems and grievances faced by the farmers, as 90% under Kuhuboto block are dependent on agriculture.

The members also gave a positive feedback on how the farmers are benefited through various training and demonstrations conducted at the block level by ATMA. The members also encouraged the ATMA officials to continue the good works carried out by imparting more extension technology knowledge through trainings and demonstrations in various agriculture and allied sectors.

The meeting was conducted under the chairman of Visheli, who is also a BFAC member, under Kuhuboto Block. The meeting concluded with a fruitful interaction among the members on various topics related to agricultural extension and its allied sectors. The members also discussed on the tenure of chairmanship and finally decided that the tenure of the chairmanship will be of 3 (three) years. Altogether 20 BFAC members attended the meeting.

ogy (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011.

Packaged commodities should bear the mandatory declarations on the packages such as the name of the commodity, the Maximum Retail Price (MRP), month and year of the manufacture, the net quantity, and the name and address of the manufacturer or packer or importer. Defaulters failing to comply with the laid down rules shall be penalized as per the Legal Metrology Act & Rules.

This was stated in a press release issued by Legal Metrology & Consumer Protection Joint Controller & HoD Bizo M. Kuotsu.

NEWLY OPENED CROMPTON

EXCLUSIVE SHOWROOM

J.B. Electricals, Shan Complex, Opp. metro hospital, Circular Road dimapur

offices to cost nearly Rs 5,000 crore

having good track of loan recovery. He urged upon improving recovery of loans particularly from the defaulting salaried employees of the State Government.

Aridaman Kumar, DGM, RBI urged all the stakeholders to work together for achieving the credit potential projected in the State Credit Plan.

Imkonglemba, IAS, Agriculture Production Commissioner, Government of Nagaland also spoke on the occasion and emphasised on coordination between the Bankers and the Line Departments at the grass root level.

A presentation on the sectoral projections under agriculture and allied sector, Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and other priority sectors of the Credit Plan was made

by NABARD followed by discussions amongst all the stakeholders.

New DeLhi, February 24 (pti): A Rs 4,909 crore project for computerisation and networking of 1.55 lakh post offices across the country is being implemented by the government, Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the project involves providing a central server-enabled integrated, modular and scalable solution for all operations of the Department of Posts.

These include provision of Core Banking and Insurance Solutions in all departmental post offices and provision of 1,000 ATMs. “As on February 22, 2016, 17,057 post offices are utilising Core Banking Solution. Core Insurance Solution is rolled out in 805 head post offices and the corresponding sub offices. 510 ATMs have been installed,” he said during Question Hour.

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CROSSWORD # 3513

SUDOKU

2011. Users of unverified weights and measures shall be prosecuted under Sections 33, 34 and 35 of the Legal Metrology Act, 2009.

Further, all dealers and repairers of weights and measures are to submit applications to the department for the renewal of Dealership and Repairers’ License or for issue of fresh licenses under Section 23 of the Legal Metrology Act, 2009.

Packers, manufacturers, and importers of packaged commodities including food and bakery products are asked to submit applications for Packers’ License to be issued by the department as per the Legal Metrol-

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

Game Number # 3500

Answer Number # 3499

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N W Z R V k N E d P N A k J W k O E A W

6. Clobbered 7. Cab 8. margarine 9. A lofty peak 10. Stubbornly unyielding 11. Territories 12. Paper with a crinkled texture 13. Sounds of disapproval 21. “___ maria” 25. Prefix meaning “Modern” 26. Carpets 27. Sweeping story 28. Tumbled 29. Vague 30. Satan 31. Beers 33. Plateau 34. Anger 35. Baking appliance 36. Egghead 38. Expression 41. Caviar 42. Appeal 44. Card with one symbol 45. Pretext 46. Old hat 47. Church recesses 48. mogul 50. Border 51. defrost 52. maguey 53. French for “We” 54. Religious splinter group 55. Countercurrent ANS TO CROSSWORd 3512

dImAPUR Civil Hospital:

STd COdE: 03862 232224; Emergency- 229529, 229474

Metro Hospital: Faith Hospital:

227930, 231081 228846

Shamrock Hospital

228254

Zion Hospital:

231864, 224117, 227337

Police Control Room Police Traffic Control East Police Station West Police Station

228400

CIHSR (Referral Hospital) Dimapur hospital

242555/ 242533

Apollo Hospital Info Centre:

230695/ 9402435652

Railway:

131/228404

Indian Airlines

229366

232106 227607 232181

224041, 248011

Chumukedima Fire 282777 Brigade Nikos Hospital and 232032, 231031 Research Centre Nagaland Multispe- 248302, cialty Health & 09856006026 Research Centre

kOhImA

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

STd COdE: 0370 100/2244279 2222222 2222111 2222952 2222916 2243339 2224202 08974997923

08822911011

S d d A F O W F C S T J g k S C Q P S d

T R W F F L A m E S X O I E R N k g Y U

k k E A U Y Y S N h U R R I C A N E S C

C

S Z F h J g N E g E P B d S J I h h T k

O I C R T Y L A R C A N U C k S B S E S

H

g h k h X N P A O S B R U I N S Z A J I

V S R E g N A R L I Z S R E L I O Z E R

g C P R F d O P U A d g N I N T h g I L

KoHIMA NoRTH: 7085924114 (o)

CHUMUKEDIMA: 7085982102 (o) 8732810051 (oC) WOkhA: 03860242215/101 (o) 8974322879 (oC) MoKoKCHUNG: 0369-2226225/ 101 (o) 8415830232 (oC) PHEK: 8414853765 (o) 8413822476(oC) zUNHEBoTo: 03867-280304/ 101 (o) 9436422730 (oC) TUENSANG: 8414853766 (o) 9856163601 (oC)

kIPhIRE: 8414853767 (o) 9436261577 (oC) PEREN: 7085189932 (o) 9856311205 (oC) LONgLENg: 7085924113 (o) 9862414264 (oC)

WE4WOmEN hELPLINE

R

KoHIMA SoUTH: 0370-2222952/ 101 (o) 9402003086 (oC)

MoN: 03869-251222/ 101 (o) 9862130954 (oC)

Toll free No. 1098 childline

mOkOkChUNg:

FIRE STATIONS

DIMAPUR: 03862-232201/ 101 (o) 9856156876 (oC)

ChILd WELFARE COmmITTEE

A

g N g k h U d F I A F I S L A N d E R S

Korean foods, Coffee, Waffle & Korean goods Add:- 4th mile (CBZZ Building), diphupar, dimapur Contact : 8730852766

STd COdE: 0369

Police Station 1:

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

67.02 95.02 8.35 47.95 47.67 48.64 59.09

70.05 99.65 9.30 50.32 50.02 51.02 62.44

Euro

74.27

77.88

Thai Baht Korean Won UAE Dirham (AED) Chinese Yuan

1.82

2.02

0.0526

0.0587

17.66

19.67

9.94

11.08

ThursdAY 25•02•2016

NAGALAND

education a must to develop Founder of SM College dies; condolences offered any society: Pb acharya VB Infants' Digital Home opened in Kevijau village Dimapur, February 24 (Dipr): Governor of Nagaland PB Acharya today asserted that education is a must to develop any society. Education empowers a person and a person who is empowered by education should not be a seeker but giver of job, Acharya added during the inauguration of a VB Infants' Digital Home initiated by Janjati Shiksha Samiti, Dimapur at Kevijau village in Dimapur.

He observed that many students graduating from different universities and colleges are not employable and are not assets to the society, while also sharing on the importance of skill education. The Governor further said that in addition to rich culture and tradition, the State of Nagaland has lots of natural resources with which the State can become second to none.

Acharya also released the first publication of annual magazine "Naga Bharati" during the function.

Parliamentary Secretary M. Nikon in his speech laud-

ed the Janjati Shiksha Samiti, Dimapur for initiating such a unique venture which could help build a productive India. He observed that opening of such digital home might seem a small start, but it is a revolutionary project and it should be taken to every district in Nagaland. He also released the Academic Calendar 2016.

VB Infants' Digital Home is a computer based children digital pre-school.

It aims to teach children through kids-cum-general laptop along with smart class learning process without school bag and books.

Kohima, February 24 (mexN): Naga People’s Front (NPF) Central Hq. Kohima today expressed sadness at the death of T Sakusangba (Saku) Aier, former Parliamentary Secretary and founder of Sakus Mission College, Dimapur, in the early hours of February 24.

In a condolence message, NPF Press Bureau remembered Aier as “a simple and refined gentleman who also gave his best services towards encouraging the education of the younger generation.” Noted for his philanthropic activities and effort towards social uplift, late Saku Aier was an active politician

who represented the 30th Alongtaki A/C for the 2008 to 2013 tenure, it added.

The President of NPF, Dr Shürhozelie Liezetsu and all ranks and files of the NPF Central have extended sincere condolences to the wife and children of the deceased and prayed that God give them strength and solace to overcome the grievous loss.

In a separate condolence note, NLA Speaker Chotisuh Sazo expressed shock over the death of T Sakusangba (Saku) Aier.

“Late Er. T Sakusangba Aier perpetually upheld highest decorum on the floor of the Nagaland Assembly. In his life, he at

all times upheld honesty, probity, and the principle of public thinking and simple living. He has contributed abundantly for the development of the state of Nagaland. He has demonstrated greatest concern for the welfare of the poor,” Sazo said. The NLA Speaker on behalf of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly further extended condolences to the family.

Minister for National Highways and Mechanical Engineering, Nuklutoshi has also expressed shock at the untimely demise of T Sakusangba Aier. The Minister in a note said that Aier was active in church activities and was always con-

one arrested with ganja Healthy lifestyle camp held in Zunheboto ZuNheboto, February 24 (mexN): The District Health Society, Zunheboto organised a healthy lifestyle camp under the National Programme for Prevention & Control and Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke ( NPCDCS) at District Hospital, Zunheboto on February 23.

Speaking on the impor-

tance of healthy lifestyle, Dr. Akaho, Senior Specialist, District Hospital, Zunheboto highlighted what diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and cancer are, a press release from District Media Officer, CMO office, Zunheboto informed. He explained about the types, symptoms, complications, the risk factor and their

treatment and prevention and early diagnosis.

He said that the healthy lifestyle camp is one of the outreach programmes under the NPCDCS. FGD, Counselling and one to one sessions were carried out by IEC personnel. Pamphlets and leaflets were distributed free.

The team of medical personnel was led by Dr. G.

Hokishe, CMO, Zunheboto, Dr. Akaho, Senior Specialist, DH, Dr. Aron, MO, DH, Dr. Nitovi MO, DH, Dr. Shevosa, Surgeon, DH, Dr. Mughalu, Dr. Kikato, and supporting nurses, Lab. Tech, Ophthalmic Assistant. The district team comprised BPM, Zunheboto Block, ASHA Co- ordinator, Lab tech and nurse (MMU) and RBSK team.

Cyber security awareness seminar on Feb 27 The arrested person with the seized ganja.

Kohima, February 24 (mexN): The District Intelligence Branch (DIB) personnel of DEF Kohima seized 210 kg of ganja from a vehicle intercepted between Kidima and Viswema in Kohima district on February 23.

A press release from PRO, Kohima Police informed that the DIB personnel were conducting “reckee” between Kidima and Vishema Village based on information that some illegal consignment were on the way to Kohima from Manipur when the vehicle carrying the ganja sped away ignoring the signal of the police to stop.

The Police chased the vehicle during which three warning shots from .38 service pistol were fired

by DIB personnel, the release added. Subsequently, the vehicle (Mahindra

Bolero - silver color) bearing registration number NL-03-2584, Engine No. – GA74M94462, Chassis No. – MA1PL2GAK72M56583 was intercepted from a bridge between Kidima and Viswema.

The vehicle along with the driver and consignment of contraband ganja were taken to Khuzama Police Station for further verification, the PRO said.

The driver of the vehicle identified as Nipuni Athili (31) was accordingly taken into Police custody for further investigation.

In this connection, a regular case vide Khuzama P.S Case No. 008/16 U/S 20(B)(II)(C) NDPS ACT has been registered against Athili on charges of transporting and possessing contraband ganja.

nicky Kire meets nPF Minority Wing officials Dimapur, February 24 (mexN): Dr. Neikiesalie Nicky Kire, Minister for Forest Environment & Wildlife & Ministerial in charge of NPF Minority Wing met with the president and office bearers of NPF Minority Wing (Central & Division) in Kohima on February 24.

A press release informed that issues related to participation, contribution and role of linguistic minorities in the field of politics and other developmental activities were thoroughly discussed in

the meeting.

The Minister advised the Minority Wing team to work with more dedication to strengthen Naga People’s Front and work on its motto for the betterment of the people.

Kire further lauded the participation and contribution of “Linguistic Minority Members” in the regional NPF party to build bondage of trust and brotherhood, the release added.

The President and Vice President of NPF Dimapur di vision also attended the meeting.

Dimapur, February 24 (mexN): The Society for Cyber Security is organizing a one-day seminar cum workshop on February 27 titled “Cyber Defender Dimapur 2016” at Holy Cross School auditorium in Dimapur from 10:00 am.

Subimal Bhattacharjee, who is a globally recognized defence and cyber security analyst based in New Delhi, will be the resource person.

A press release issued

by Cyber Defender Co-ordinator, Zule Awomu said that in today’s connected world, cyber threats can have real, lasting and often devastating consequences, not only compromising our national security, but damaging our economy as well. “Cyber intrusions and attacks have increased dramatically in recent years as adversaries become more sophis-

ticated in the use of the world’s critical network of computers, communications and infrastructure,” he added.

The release further pointed out that most of the targeted or victims of cyber threats are at the age group of 15-35 years, mostly the youths and students. Therefore, there was a need for a seminar cum workshop to make the people of Dimapur in gen-

eral and the youth in particular to be aware of various forms of cyber threats, it added.

Various schools and colleges have been invited to the programme, which is expected to be attended by various community leaders along with their respective team.

The programme is free of cost. Anyone interested to join the programme can call Zule at 9774069075.

Alternate farming system in the face of wild elephant threats WoKha, February 24 (mexN): Awareness programme on alternate farming system in view of the ongoing threats posed by wild elephants was organised in New Wokha village on February 22. The programme, organized by the Hammock Resort Group, was held at the conference hall of The Hammock Resort.

Chairperson Dr. Chumben Murry highlighted the importance of the programme, which was initiated solely for the people affected by wild elephants in the district and how different approaches can be adopted in order to sustain livelihood.

Resource person, C Peter Yanthan, District Agriculture Officer (DAO), Wokha spoke about the habitats, behaviour, food habits and nature of elephants. Speaking on how to avoid elephants, he pointed out that in order to get a solution one should study and understand the problem. Elephants avoid certain crops like chilli, ginger, pepper, turmeric, oilseeds, cocoa, tea and fruit trees like mango and lemon. Hence, proper planning

with such crop reduces the risk of damage, he stated, adding elephants are also afraid of bees. The buzzing of bees repels the elephants thus avoiding areas infested by bees.

He further said that resorting to Bee Keeping in and around the field parameters not only keeps away the mammals, but ensure additional income to the farmers. Pointing out that elephants are intelligent and have territorial consciousness, Peter informed that smearing urines of other elephants on the bark of trees warns the elephants of other herds in that area forcing them to change routes.

Another resource person, Kilemsungba Ao, District Horticulture Officer, Wokha, spoke on the importance of resorting to antiviolence when it comes to avoiding the elephants.

“Elephants have a strong memory and have revenge tendency. As such, when people try violent ways forcing them to retreat, causing injury or harm, the consequences are more destructive, resulting to huge losses,” he said. Therefore,

it is important to follow non violent approaches like creating noises, creating sounds, using beehives fences, growing crops the elephants avoid. He stressed on the use of black pepper in the field or orchards or plantation area which not only repels the elephants but also has a great market value with additional health benefits.

Meanwhile, Dr. Mhonlumi Tsopoe, Poultry Farm Manager, Veterinary Department, Wokha spoke on animal husbandry as an alternate farming system.

She spoke on the different aspects of rearing animals, market value, health value and upliftment of economy through the system. She stressed on the importance of poultry, piggery and cattle rearing. Further, it was highlighted that meat demand in the district is very high, yet production meets only half of the requirement. Hence, taking up animal husbandry at a large scale may be a better option for the people in view of the present situation while ensuring adequate supply to our needs, she added.

Mhomo Murry, Fishery Officer, spoke on the importance of integrated farming system, a system where one can obtain maximum benefit from different components. Integrated farming system has a great advantage since the system incorporates agricultural crops, animal husbandry, fishery etc in a particular area, Murry said. He added that one should take proper planning based on resources and threats which will ensure success of the system and a sustainable future.

A press release from DAO, Wokha, C Peter Yanthan further informed that leaders and farmers present interacted with the officials and discussed on what best can one do to make the elephants retreat since people are facing imminent danger as the elephants approach closer causing mass destruction to the fields.

Dr. Chumben Murry encouraged the farmers to focus on the wide aspects of alternate farming system as a solution to the threats as well as follow practices that are within their ability to avoid the elephants.

Tribute to Sir Suresh of QMHSS With love, we remember those glorious past, Gentle and kind, education was a bliss We admire, for you taught well, we learnt to last, Under you, learning was such a bless.

Nagaland govt notifies on tax exemption Kohima, February 24 (Dipr): The Government of Nagaland has notified that the following categories of goods will be exempted from the payment of entry tax: Heavy goods vehicles above 10 MT of payload; Heavy passenger vehicles above 35 seating capacity; and vehicles belonging to manufacturers that do not have authorized dealership in the State of Nagaland. This was notified by the Finance Department and shall come into effect from the date of commencement of the Nagaland Entry Tax Act, 2013, and may be withdrawn at any time.

LLIN distribution in Duncan Bosti Dimapur, February 24 (mexN): The Duncan Bosti Council has informed all the house owners of Duncan Bosti that distribution of Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLIN) for Duncan Bosti will be held on February 26, 9:00 am onwards at Duncan Community Hall.

Interactive session with MSME Minister on Feb 26 Kohima, February 24 (mexN): Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is organizing an interactive session with the Minister for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME), Government of India, Kalraj Mishra on February 26 at the conference hall of Chumukedima Police Complex from 4:00-5:00 pm. This will be followed by one to one meeting with the Minister on MSME related issues in Nagaland, informed CII-Nagaland Branch in a press release. CII has invited all the CII & YI members from Nagaland and interested entrepreneurs and associations, particularly from MSME sectors, to come and participate in the programme. Further, it informed that the maximum number of participants is being fixed at sixty only; therefore, all the interested entrepreneurs have been requested to confirm to the following mobile numbers: 9436012641/ 9862030230.

COPU NLA members informed Kohima, February 24 (mexN): Members of the Committee on Public Undertakings (COPU), Nagaland Legislative Assembly have been informed that the evidence meeting scheduled to be held on February 26 with the department representatives of Industries & Commerce for NHL and Department of Geology & Mining for NSMDC has been postponed due to unavoidable circumstances. Informing this in a press release, Additional Secretary NLA, K Sekhose has requested the members to take note of the postponement.

DDCC consultative meeting Dimapur, February 24 (mexN): A consultative meeting of Dimapur District Congress Committee will be held on February 27, 11:00 am at Congress Bhavan here. The meeting will be addressed by NPCC officials, according to a press release from Dimapur DCC Secretary, Khrozote Kapfo, which added that it is compulsory for all office bearers of village unit/ wards ACC office bearers, DCC office bearers, frontal and officials representing Dimapur district to NPCC, Youth Seva Dal, Minority and PCC members to attend the meeting.

NLVDP cum industrial exhibition from today Dimapur, February 24 (mexN): Br. MSME Development Institute, Old Industrial Estate, Dimapur in association with Alaphra Group, Dimapur is organizing two days National Level Vendor Development Programme (NLVDP) cum Industrial Exhibition on February 25 and 26 at Super Market (near Hotel Saramati), Dimapur. The inaugural function will be held at 10:00 am on February 25, where Amenba Yaden, Parliamentary Secretary of Industries & Commerce, Govt. of Nagaland will be the chief guest. All have been invited to attend the inaugural function and visit the exhibition.

1 dies in hospital; body unidentified

UBCA church leaders’ seminar Dimapur, February 24 (mexN): The United Baptist Churches Association, North East India (UBCANEI) will conduct a one day church leadership seminar for pastors, women leaders, youth leaders and Sunday School supervisors on February 27 starting 7:30 am at UBC Thahekhu, Block 3 Dimapur. Rev. Dr. Phughoto Aye, Advisor, UBCA-NEI and Rev. YT Lotha, President, UBCA Council will be the resource persons of the seminar. Executive Secretary of the association Rev. Hevuto Awomi has informed all the church leaders under UBCA-NEI to attend the seminar.

Fifteen years or so gone, but each day was an experience, A window to the outside world – you opened.

You taught, and it filled us with exuberance.

You go, we stay; the moments stay sharpened.

We say a prayer for you: God be your guide As always. God be with you, and as you move on Take good memories of yours students Take memories of those you led on and on.

Above all, take memories for you will be dearly missed.

With love and prayers, Apong B. Imchen & sisters, alumni of Queen Mary's Higher Secondly School Mokokchung

also shocked by the demise of Er T Sakusangba Aier. The tour team include: Y Patton, Home Minister; Yitachu, Education Minister; Pukhayi Sumi, Parliamentary Secretary; Dr Benjongliba Aier, Parliamentary Secretary; Dr Longrineken, Parliamentary Secretary; Khriehu Liezietsu, Parliamentary Secretary; and Benjamin Newmai, Commissioner and Secretary, NLA. “In his death, the Naga people have lost a politician and a technocrat and the void created by his death will be difficult to fill,” the members said. They further extended condolences to the wife and children of Aier.

Dimapur, February 24 (mexN): A non-Naga male, aged around 35-40 years, wearing black shirt and grey pants was admitted to the District Hospital, Dimapur on February 20. He died on the same day, a press release from PRO, Dimapur Police said. The dead body has not been claimed by any person and is yet to be identified. The body is kept in the morgue of the hospital. For more details, contact East Police Station, Dimapur, the PRO said.

Public SPace

Teachers don't die, for they live in the hearts and souls of the students, You are one that will live on, for just being the teacher that you were and are.

God bless you. And farewell, dear teacher.

cerned for the growth of the NPF party, particularly in Mokokchung district. “In his death, the Naga people and the NPF party have lost a dedicated politician and the void created by his death will be difficult to fill,” Nuklutoshi said. On behalf of the Mokokchung district NPF, the Minister conveyed condolences to the bereaved family of late Aier and also prayed to God to grant them solace at this hour of grief.

Meanwhile, the sixmember Nagaland legislators’ study tour team along with the Commissioner & Secretary of NLA, who are currently on study tours to Japan and Indonesia, are

CorrigenduM Officials during the destruction of IMFL and ganja on February 24 at KMC dumping site in Kohima. As per direction from the District and Sessions Judge, Kohima, destruction/ pre-trial destruction of illegal IMFL, Spasmoproxyvon and ganja was conducted in the presence of Tukuno Vamuzo, Judicial Magistrate First Class, Alezo Kire, Government Pleader, Vikyato, APP, UBI Kedukha and other personnel.

Apropos the news article with the headline, ‘NGPTA criticize Edu Dept for neglecting primary teachers,’ which appeared on February 24, it is clarified that the representation was submitted by the Nagaland Government Primary Teachers Association (NGPTA).

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

ThursDAY 25•02•2016

IN FOCUS

6

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

The Power of Truth

The Morung Express volume Xi issue 53

By Aheli moitra

Community of not-so-commons

I

n not-so-distant Karbi Anglong in Assam, Nagaland’s neighbourhood, a group of tribes come together to build their respective morungs (traditional houses) every year—Karbi, Rengma, Bodo, Dimasa, Tiwa, Kuki, Garo.

Five days before the Karbi Youth Festival (KYF), held this year from February 15-19, local architects and builders from various villages of numerous tribes gather at Tarlangso in Karbi Anglong to take part in this collective construction of their varied identities. Bamboo, thatch, bathrooms, food and water are shared throughout the collective enterprise. On any afternoon, Rengma architects can be found napping in the neighbouring Kuki morung, or Tiwa bamboo experts sharing a joke with the Dimasa expert on musical instruments.

During the five days of the festival that follows, multiple large open amphitheatres, with open hillocks for seating, entertain thousands of people from Karbi Anglong. They come from all corners of the district to enjoy the annual fiesta, this year in its 42nd edition. The stalls set up at the venue offer traditional food & beverages, arts & crafts (being weaved/ crafted at the stall itself ), music and dance—both traditional and contemporary—at prices affordable for all classes, entertaining to people of all taste and colour.

The festival is organised every year by the Karbi Cultural Society, a non government body, with a major part of its funds drawn from the one day salary of all employees of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council.

The KYF becomes a lesson in solidarity every year.

Solidarity is unity - entailed in its construction- between people with common interests. In KYF’s case, solidarity manifests itself in coming together and building a contemporary culture through the meeting of various communities of the region—in understanding the exactness of our neighbour’s culture while practicing a dance or building a house. We become aware of the skills of our neighbour we can build a neighbourhood with. This creates a natural empathy towards the other, creating space for effervescent dialogue, growing solidarity and peace.

And this is visible through small efforts that the youth of Karbi Anglong are taking today. In January this year, a group of likeminded young people came together to form the Hill Peoples’ Cultural Forum—breaking away from age old animosity, the Kuki, Dimasa, Karbi and Rengma people have decided to chart out a path that best creates a shared future.

While onlookers (like us) of solidarity movements around the world wait and watch how these regional solidarities rise, activists in Nagaland may want to draw a lesson or two from such moves. Following a long tradition of asserting their identity and rights for the sake of peace, Nagas today are in a precarious position vis-a-vis their neighbouring peoples. A high level of antagonism has set in and relationships have soured over contesting nationalities.

In growing with the times, young Naga people now have the added responsibility to assert peace through solidarity in the region. In both Manipur and Assam, the Naga youth have taken this charge with grace—the All Naga Students’ Association, Manipur and the Rengma Naga Students’ Union, Karbi Anglong, have forged new relationships with peaceful entities of neighbourhood communities. They have pushed the boundaries of imagination, confident in their roles in a community of not-so-commons.

With the JNU and HCU alumni from Nagaland showing yet another form of larger regional solidarity, young Naga people are beginning to take the movement for peace to a whole new level. It can only lead us to roads where debates are open, dissent is understood and arguments varied. Long live these exciting times!

Suggestions to build solidarity may be sent to moitramail@yahoo.com

lEfT WING |

Rina Chandran Thomson Reuters Foundation

Classical Indian dance helps trafficking victims to heal

C

lassical Indian dance could be an effective form of therapy for victims of human trafficking and sexual violence, helping them to overcome their traumatic experiences and gain confidence, a pilot study has shown.

The six-month study of 50 female survivors in Kolkata and Mumbai found that dance movement therapy helped ease anxiety, depression, anger and post-traumatic stress when used alongside traditional counselling and other rehabilitation efforts.

"Often, in the rehabilitation of victims of trafficking and sexual violence, the impact on the body can be overlooked," said Sohini Chakraborty, the founder and director of Kolkata Sanved, a charity which carried out the research.

"Dance is about the body, and the women are somewhat familiar with these dance forms, so we can help them heal and create a more positive body image," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The rehabilitation of victims in India is often inadequate and inconsistent in a culture that does not encourage women to speak up or seek counselling, women's rights groups say. Yet gender-based violence remains high in the country, with more than 330,000 reported cases of crimes against women in 2014, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. The biggest ever survey of the health of human trafficking victims last year found high levels of abuse and severe physical and psychological health problems among survivors in Southeast Asia.

The notion of dance as therapy has been increasingly recognised over the years, due to the efforts of institutions such as the American Dance Therapy Association, founded in 1966.

Studies have shown it enhances the emotional, cognitive, physical and social well-being of the individual. Indian dance forms are uniquely suited to therapy, Chakraborty said, citing the energetic footwork of kathak.

Kathak can help release anger, while the elaborate hand and eye movements in bharatnatyam from Tamil Nadu can help express a range of emotions, she said. Folk dances can also encourage bonding, she added. The study was necessary to establish the impact of dance therapy through a scientific methodology, improve the quality of rehabilitation and encourage more shelters to provide this alternative to survivors of trafficking and sexual violence, Chakraborty said.

Kolkata Sanved's dance movement therapy module was particularly suited to the Indian context, said Dr. Upali Dasgupta, principal researcher on the study. "It's a non-judgmental, non-hierarchical therapy for these women who may otherwise be hesitant to express themselves," she said. "We already knew instinctively that dance had therapeutic effects, but now we know for certain that it does indeed work."

C O M M E N T A R Y

Jack Werner Foreign Policy In Focus

The Anti-War Position Sanders Can Represent W

hether it’s on the left or the right, the 2016 presidential race hasn’t substantially changed our public discussions about U.S. foreign policy. No candidate has challenged the normalized, covert operations of American Empire. No candidate has rethought the basic assumptions underlying the supremacy of U.S. military power.

And no candidate has discussed the continuities between George W. Bush’s and Barack Obama’s war on terror — or proposed any meaningful alternative.

Given a political climate of increasing jingoism and hostility, it’s not surprising that no presidential candidate has felt comfortable advocating a cohesive anti-war position. Rightly or wrongly, the November attacks in Paris confirmed in the eyes of many Americans that President Obama’s airstrikes against the Islamic State — otherwise known as Daesh, ISIL, or ISIS (pick your acronym) — have been inadequate.

There’s a great case to be made that military intervention in Iraq and Syria is only fueling the ISIS crisis. But more fundamentally, there’s a huge opening to critique the economic foundations of America’s wars — one that fits perfectly with the populist anger fueling the rise of Bernie Sanders.

From Right to Left First, a word on the right. On the right, well, we’ve entered into what Rod Sterling called the Fifth Dimension, the Twilight Zone of 1950s America — where Donald Trump’s outrageous racism and xenophobia are only matched by Ben Carson’s absurd myopia (remember, this candidate claimed the Affordable Care Act was the worst thing since slavery).

The deep-seated racial prejudice, sexism, and homophobia of the Republican Party are unraveling the conservative establishment from within.

So I wouldn’t expect anything substantive from the war party on Daesh besides calls for remilitarization, along with mocking provocations about Obama’s alleged weakness. And that’s exactly what we’re seeing with increasingly bad policy proposals. For example, Republican Iowa caucus winner Ted Cruz had the vacuous idea of “carpet bombing Daesh” — a plan, if we can call it that, which has been categorically dismissed by Army Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland as inconsistent with American values as well as strategically inept. Others have called it a war crime.

Kentucky senator Rand Paul, before recently dropping out, did speak about some of the pitfalls of the war machine with his isolationist strand of foreign policy. But like most libertarians, he completely avoided any discussion of the harder questions about American power — what ethical engagement looks like, how America’s global empire of military bases might be dismantled, and especially what the role of American capital in foreign policy should be. That’s the invariable weakness of any libertarian anti-war position.

On the left, Bernie Sanders has fumbled the Daesh question during the Democratic debates because he can’t fundamentally distinguish himself from Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. His form of argumentation goes something like this: First carefully deflect Clinton’s criticism by discussing her 2002 endorsement of the Iraq War, and then refocus the debate on domestic military concerns. His work on veterans’ issues in Congress becomes a substitute for astute commentary on the Middle East.

It’s clear that Sanders is outmatched on foreign policy, even by his own admission. But he doesn’t need to be.

Capitalism and American Empire Sanders could win foreign policy debates by challenging the foundation of American Empire.

Bill Williams had something to say about that in his seminal book The Tragedy of American Diplomacy, where he traced the emergence of American

L

ast month, the major agenda item at the World Economic Forum in Davos was the Fourth Industrial Revolution (FIR). Since FIR is already under way in some of the advanced economies there are fears that it will be very disruptive and create huge unemployment.

The Davos meeting was meant to discuss and allay these fears. I feel FIR for developing countries can, in fact, produce more employment and benefits.

What is FIR? Our societies are characterised by various industrial revolutions. The first revolution started in the late 1700s when muscle power was replaced by steam - mostly produced by coal.

The second one, which can be traced to early 1900s, was driven by electricity and characterised by big machines and assembly line manufacturing. The third, which began in the early 1960s was based on computers, information technology (IT), electronics and automated production.

The present revolution is characterised by the internet of things (IOT) -24/7 connectivity, rapid communication, miniaturisation of design and 3D printing which allows for manufacturing and production of goods wherever they are needed. I feel that IOT and 3D printing (or additive manufacturing) have the capability of allowing countries like India to leapfrog into the FIR. India is already a decentralised society where more than 60 percent of its population lives in rural areas and lacks the basic amenities of life. They live in one-room huts with nearly nonexistent electricity; cook on primitive biomass stoves that produce tremendous indoor pollution; and lack potable water and toilet facilities.

There's a huge opening to critique the economic foundations of America's wars — one that fits perfectly with the populist anger fueling the rise of Bernie Sanders

Empire to Secretary of State John Hay’s “Open Doors Notes” in 1899 and 1900. If Sanders read and followed Williams’s lead, he’d realize that at its core the American Empire runs on commercial expansion.

This was the key assumption animating the Open Door Notes, which became the Open Door Policy.

Williams argued that the Open Door Policy relied on two fundamental beliefs: (1) that American businesses would out-compete foreign companies given the free flow of direct investment, which was and is a form of Americanization; and (2) that American corporate capitalism would continuously expand the world’s economic pie and thereby secure world peace.

The Open Door Policy, Williams argued, guided American foreign relations over the course of the 20th century, turning military power into an agent of economic expansion. The two world wars in this sense resulted from the Open Door Policy working too well — that is, Japan and Germany realizing that they were being out-competed and marginalized in world affairs. Elsewhere, James Livingston has usefully applied Williams’s understanding of the Open Door Policy to explain President Obama’s pivot to Iran.

Why does all this matter for Sanders?

Bernie recognizes that American capitalism is defunct: It stopped serving the American people in 1973, when wages flatlined even as productivity soared. Yet he doesn’t incorporate this rudimentary critique of capitalism to explicate American foreign policy. Why not?

Oil and the Middle East Underlying all the problems the United States faces in the Middle East is the black tar of modernity: oil.

It’s the reason we’ve spent $7.3 trillion since 1976 patrolling the oceans, invading countries, and toppling leaders. That reliance on oil — along with complex Cold War politics and ideological support for Israel — put U.S. foreign policy on a collision course with the Muslim world. Since 1980, Andrew Bacevich calculates, the U.S. has invaded, bombed, and occupied 14 Islamic countries.

Seen this way, the contemporary problems of U.S. foreign policy are not political. They’re economic. The ideology of corporate capitalism is to blame.

In a sense, the Open Door Policy has worked too well again — American corporations have become too powerful and parasitic as multinational corporate oil interests guide, not follow, American foreign policy. In other words, Sanders loses these foreign policy debates because he doesn’t challenge the foundation of American Empire; he doesn’t represent a coherent anti-war position.

The Meaning of “Anti-War” What does it mean to be anti-war, anyway? To be anti-war isn’t to be against engagement, and it’s certainly not uncritical pacifism. It’s a way of thinking that demands a paradigm shift away from airstrikes, military advisers, and covert operations and toward understanding the systemic issues underlying American foreign policy.

It’s what Bill Williams started half a century ago when he reinvented the field of American diplomatic history.

A comprehensive anti-war position looks at Daesh as the logical conclusion of the worst failures of global capitalism — namely the global lack of opportunity in the marketplace that imprisons and marginalizes people, especially young Muslim men. Enshrouded with gluttonous wealth — and often supporting friendly neoliberal dictatorships that quash domestic opposition — Western countries become the symbol to destroy in order to reclaim agency against American and Western modernity.

When Thomas Piketty blamed Daesh on burgeoning inequality in the Arab world, he was right.

The problem comes into clearer focus when it’s wed to military power. Then the dominant world players start to look like their old colonial archetypes, with their military bases around the world (662 in 38 countries for the United States, and that’s just counting the big ones) and neoliberal trade policies that sap wealth, resources, and people from the so-called Third World.

Meanwhile at home, war culture becomes the source and product of a permanent war economy — or military capitalism — from the video games Americans play to the Jack Bauer TV shows they watch.

Anti-war Engagement But defending an anti-war platform doesn’t mean saying the United States can’t lead the world.

If anything, the United States is in the best position of any country to make lasting changes.

It could start by restructuring the United Nations so that the world body becomes more than simply a pawn of Washington’s interests or a resolution to be singlehandedly blocked. Furthermore, an anti-war America could use its dominant position to globally redistribute wealth through more equitable trade policies and a global minimum wage. It could finally curtail the bloated $46 billion it collects from foreign arms sales each year.

And Bernie Sanders can lead the way. His domestic critique of capitalism needs global awareness: He can and should explain America’s current military adventurism in the Middle East as an artifact of its oil addiction and a product of corporate capitalism. If he’s got the guts to say it out loud, Sanders could very well be the anti-war leader this country needs.

How India can benefit by leapfrogging into FIR Anil K. Rajvanshi IANS Their lives can be improved drastically by providing livelihood opportunities and amenities for households powered by FIR. Around 80 percent of the rural population is involved in the farming sector. At present, farming is non-remunerative and needs to be completely overhauled to make it attractive.

Thus, for increasing income for rural households I foresee the use of high-tech precision farming which could either be land-based or container-based. In container farming, all the inputs of farming are applied in an efficient way in enclosed shipping containers.

This container-based farming, as opposed to land-based farming, can grow any food (grain, vegetables or fruits) or fodder with the use of precise levels of light, temperature, humidity and nutrients. All these inputs are controlled by smart sensors and computers. This type of farming requires very few labourers, very little soil and water and is based on the principle of hydroponics or aeroponics.

There are claims by the practitio-

ners of container agriculture that it uses 90 percent less water than conventional agriculture and produces several times the yields that would have been obtained from land-based agriculture.

Such high-tech farms are coming up in urban areas in western countries and provide a model to be emulated in developing countries like India.

Today the biggest crisis in farming in India is the lack of labour, low prices of produce, shortage of water and very poor soils. With precision landbased or container agriculture, powered by solar energy and other renewable energy systems, farming can become very efficient, high yielding and hence remunerative. To my mind this is the future of farming.

Land-based agriculture can be used for planting mostly perennial crops like grasses for fodder and trees for fruits, timber and the like.

Grasses and trees can bind the soil and stop its erosion.

Agricultural containers would eventually be owned by restaurant owners. Hence the A-Z of food production and utilisation would be run and

WRITE-WING

owned by the restaurants and may give rise to a large number of rural and urban restaurants. This will also generate huge employment opportunities.

Further, FIR based on 3D or additive manufacturing will also usher in a revolution in its own right. In 3D printing, parts or the product is built layer by layer at any place. The designing can be done anywhere in the world and it can be sent by internet to a 3D printer.

Thus the raw material -- metal powders in case of production of metal parts,or plastic wires for plastic products -- together with a suitable glue or solidification of raw material, forms the end product. 3D printing is being used to produce parts of rockets, whole machines and even body parts.

The technology of 3D manufacturing is rapidly progressing and is already becoming mainstream technology for small, specialised manufacturing facilities. Use of 3D manufacturing will also reduce the energy consumption in transportation of goods since they will be manufactured and made available wherever they are needed.

In most cases, prices would come down. We might therefore see a proliferation of high-tech small scale manufacturing facilities in rural areas. For rural mobility electric vehicles can form the backbone and could be charged by locally produced renewable electricity.

And 3D manufacturing may help in production of such vehicles in rural areas.

The FIR can usher in a decentralised and democratic society since the control of the means of production and usage will be in the hands of locals.

Anil K. Rajvanshi is director of Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute in Phaltan, Maharashtra. The views expressed are personal.

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.

thursDAY 25•02•2016

PERSPECTIVE

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Linguistic imperialism is alive and kicking in the subcontinent

D

Garga Chatterjee

uring its 56th session in 2002, the United Nations General Assembly put its stamp of approval on the UNESCO decision from 1999 that the 21st of February was to be observed as the International Mother Language Day. On 21st February 1952, the police of then Pakistan opened fire on students in Dhaka protesting the imposition of Urdu as the national language. Abdus Salam, Rafiq Uddin Ahmed, Abul Barkat and Abdul Jabbar were martyred by police firing. This mass movement changed politics of East Bengal forever, sowing the seeds of independence on the basis of linguistic identity in a province that had only 6 years ago voted overwhelmingly for Pakistan, based largely on religious identity. In a linear and simplified version of events, the language movement of 1952 in general and 21st February in particular marked the beginning of a struggle that ended with the liberation of East Bengal in the form of Bangladesh in 1971. This makes the 1952 language movement a very special moment in the autobiography of the Bangladesh nation-state. However, 21st February has also become a rallying point for various language and identity based struggles in South Asia which has long been the hot-bed of linguistic politics.

One may argue that the very concept of present day Indian Union, that is, a Hindu dominant territory claiming historical continuity with Delhi or Hindi-belt centred empires of yore, had its blooming during the 19th century Hindi-Urdu controversy. Urban Hindus of the Hindustani region (roughly the upper and middle Gangetic plains) wanted to displace Urdu, that is, Persianized Hindustani in Nastaliq script from the official language status and wanted to replace that with Hindi, that is, Sanskritized Hindustani in Devanagari script. Even as late as the decade of 1881-90, Urdu newspapers had double the circulation of Hindi newspapers. In time, Urdu and Hindi became proxies for Muslim and Hindu mobilization. In that process, shoring up Hindi numbers became crucial. Many languages of the Hindustan region (like Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Rajasthani, Braj, etc.) were nominally fused with Hindi by elite Hindus as a political tactic with devastating long-term consequences for the counted-asHindi-but-not-Hindi languages. The tactic proved successful as far as petitioning the British were concerned. Hindi also acquired the coveted official language status that Urdu already had. After the transfer of power on 15th August 1947, Hindi continued to be an official language alongwith English. Interestingly, the Hindi movement had two important mobilization planks. Firstly, Hindi people were at an disadvantage in the field of jobs when Urdu was given official status. Secondly, official documents like court documents in Urdu prevented their understanding by non-Urdu peoples. In an ironic turn of events, non-Hindi people now have inherited all of Hindi's 19th century disadvantages. They are disallowed by the Government of India to take most academic or professional exams (like IIT or AIIMS entrance) in their non-Hindi mother tongue. Government of India allows Allahabad High Court to run its affairs in Hindi but has consistently denied requests from Madras High Court to conduct affairs in Tamil, even though the state government supports it. There is no officially sanctioned text of the Constitution of India in any South Asian language except Hindi.

Post-1947, the Hindustani political plan to make Hindi the sole official language of the Indian Union was widely opposed in non-Hindi regions but took the form of a sustained massmovement led by the youth in what is presentday Tamil Nadu. Hindi was supposed to become

O

ne of the most urgent questions for anyone advocating or studying human rights is under what conditions they become a genuine threat to the structures of domination. The recent attack on human rights organizations in Israel sheds some light on this question.

Human rights groups in Israel, particularly those focusing on the rights of colonized Palestinians, have been criticized by different governments and an array of conservative political actors for years. Nonetheless, only relatively recently have Israeli human rights NGOs come to be considered a security threat that must be tamed through repressive legislation and incitement campaigns.

Many pundits have framed the intense assault on human rights organizations as part of the battle between liberal and illiberal forces within Israel. While this is definitely true, particularly when taking into account the proto fascist character of some of the political parties currently in government, the strife between these two camps does not fully explain the recent escalation.

This wave of repression must be understood as linked to the way that the state has come to perceive human rights NGOs as a threat to its ongoing entrenchment of the Zionist project. The threat of human rights is a threat to the ethnocratic state.

The publication of the Goldstone Report—the UN commission that investigat-

“If my mother tongue is shaking the foundations of your state, it probably means that you built your state on my land" Musa Anter, Kurdish writer assassinated by the Turkish govt in 1992.

the sole official language from 26th January 1965.

Massive protests broke out all over the state which the government tried to brutally repressed using police. Rajendran, a student, was murdered by the police and the movement took epic proportions. While 1965 is commemorated by New Delhi as the year of an Indo-Pak war, this was also the year when it rushed the army and central police forces to Tamil Nadu. The forces ended up killing at least 63 protesters – the unofficial numbers run into a few hundreds. The ruling Congress party in Tamil Nadu was decimated in the next election.

No national party has ever emerged as the strongest force in Tamil Nadu ever since. These protests managed to keep English as an official language alongwith Hindi till such time that non-Hindi people agree to Hindi's sole official status. The 1965 moment was preceded by anti-Hindi conventions by the Academy of Telugu as early as 1956. Similarly, Hindustani areas saw sporadic anti-English protests spearheded by the Samyukta Socialist Party and later on by then Jansangh. In reality, the 1965 anti-Hindi protests destroyed the sole official language plan permanently. Similar preferential treatment of Sinhala in SriLanka was among the many reasons that later coalesced into the cause for the liberation of Tamil Eelam. In Pakistan, Urdu has been long imposed on Sindh and Balochistan and the Sindhi and Baloch nationalist narratives draw heavily from this imposition.

However, language movements in the subcontinent can’t be reduced simply to a Hindi-Urdu or Hindi-Tamil conflict. Bangla speakers have always been the biggest minority in Assam province. In Bengali majority Barak valley of post-Partition Assam state, protests grew under the leadership of Cachar Gana Sangram Parishad, especially after the legislative imposition of Axomiya on Bangla speakers as the sole official language. In Silchar, the hotbed of the protesters, Assam Rifles, Madras Regiment and other security forces did flag marches. On the day of a protest strike on 19th May 1961, security forces killed 11 Bangla language protesters, including 16-year girl Kamala Bhattacharya, near Silchar Railway station. Bangla was thereafter recognized as an official language in Barak valley.

Bangla itself has had a record of dominating other languages, especially during the British colonial period when Banglas were extremely dominant as intermediaries and education professionals in the administration. The Bengali elite exercised their cultural 'soft power' in the form of

linguistic dominance. The Bangla script was imposed on Meitei after the conversion of the Manipur sovereign into Bengali Vaishnavism. For the longest time, Odiya and Axomiya was treated as dialects of Bangla with Bangla being the medium of school instruction in largely Odiya and Axomiya speaking areas. With the rise of a sizeable intelligentsia in Assam and Odisha who could affect the colonial government's policy inspite of deliberate obfuscations from sections of the Bengali intelligentsia, Bangla imposition was rolled back. In the post-partition period, Bangla has encroached onto the space of Tripura's own languages, most notably Kokborok. In Bangladesh, the original country of language rights movement, ethno-linguistic minorities (most notably the Chakmas of the Chittagong Hill Tracts) have Bangla thrust upon them leading to what can only be called a slow cultural “assimilation”. Some would call what has been unfolding in Tripura and the Chittagong Hill Tracts as cultural genocide. In West Bengal, a similar disparaging assimilationist attitude continues towards speakers of Kamta/Rajbongshi. Indian Union has wiped out 220 languages in the last 50 years.

The Jharkhand movement was originally a leftnationalist mobilization for the cultural, political, economic and linguistic rights of the sons of the soil. The state of Jharkhand was carved out with deliberate tribal minority, so as to protect the interests of settlers, who also control the economy. Hence it continues to be a Hindi state for most official purposes. In fact, many have ascribed the Maoist investment into Gondi language and communication as crucial to their Deccan power-base which maps onto the Gondi speaking zones. In Chhattisgarh where the government imposes Hindi on Gondi speaking children through primary education, thus artificially alienating the Gonds from their own culture and society. Primary education as a tool of strategic hamletting is cruel new “security” innovation. All through what is erroneously called the Hindi belt, multiple language movements are brewing, each wanting to their own identity and stopping their ennumeration as Hindi speakers. The Bhojpuri and Rajasthani language movements are at the forefront of these demands. The recent Chennai Declaration of Language Rights has become an important document that is bringing oppressed linguistic communities together. Language movements are now also played out in cyberspace as evidenced by the #StopHindiImposition hashtag that trended on 15th August 2015 during Narendra Modi's Red Fort speech in Hindi.

The problem is that almost all nation-state entities in South Asia have imposed their language of choice under various garbs like national/official/link language on the rest. This comes from a belief that some languages are better “uniters” of a nation-state than others. Following this idea, central governments have micro-managed use of language by promoting and expanding the imposition of their chosen language. Just last week, GOI decided that Hindi language support should mandatory for all new mobile phones. Linguistic imperialism is alive and kicking in the subcontinent. Hence, 21st February is not a historical marker. It is a day marking struggles of the present and resolutions for the future, towards a world without languistic dominance and imposition under the excuse of “national” unity, toward a world where all mother-languages have equal rights and so do their speakers. Those who have a problem with equal linguistic rights and support the preferential imposition of one language over other people under the specious argument of building unity actually have a problem with diversity. But there can be no unity at the cost of dignity and rights.

That is the broader of message of 21st February, the International Mother Language Day.

A WEEKLY COLUMN ON

Micro-Economics & Management By Mazie Nakhro

Do You Know Your Net Worth?

M

any of us wonder what we are worth. I’m not talking about what we’re worth as people, which is an entirely different subject. Here, I’m talking about what we are worth in monetary terms.

Determining our net worth in monetary terms is simple. For example, you can add up the value of all your assets, such as your home, your landed properties, your cars, your savings accounts, your investment accounts, your retirement accounts, and so on. Then, you subtract all your debts and other outstanding liabilities from these assets.

The resulting number is your net worth.

Now, what if I have accumulated a lot of assets through corrupt means? In such a case, what I have in my possession can’t really be considered as mine because they belong to others in the first place. These illegally acquired “assets” must be returned. And after all this, what still remains is my true net worth.

The net worth of people can be broadly divided into four categories. They are as follows: The Super-Rich: These people work extremely hard to get where they are. They buy things, as a general rule, with cash.

For example, Bill Gates, the richest man alive on earth, bought a custom-built house costing $40 million in 1997. This is what the super-rich do to avoid getting into debts or piling up interest payments on loan. Or, take the example of Warren Buffett.

Despite being the second richest man, Mr. Buffett still lives in the same 3-bedroom house which he bought after he got married more than 50 years ago. He drives his own car everywhere and doesn’t even have a driver, let alone security guards around him. He never travels by private jet, although he owns the world’s largest private jet company.

Typically, the super-rich aren’t in the habits of spending on everything and anything they want to have. As consumers they tend to be moderate and economically conservative. They neither show nor care to display their high economic status. But they are extremely passionate about their work and for savings and investing. When they become wealthy or gain control over their financial destiny, they contribute their time and resources freely to charitable organizations and struggling communities.

The High Income-Low Net Worth: Most people in this category typically draw their identity from their jobs and believe that they are successful if they earn a lot of money. They tend to spend up to their level of income. They spend more money, even if that means taking loans, to buy larger homes. But in getting what they want, they end up paying a bigger mortgage, higher property taxes, and spending more money on maintenance and decorating with all sorts of expensive trappings. To impress their friends and neighbors, they choose to live in upscale neighborhoods, wear brand name clothing, and drive luxury automobiles. Without a doubt, they work very hard to support their extravagant lifestyle, but they have very little to show in terms of their net worth because they aren’t disciplined savers and can’t sacrifice a highconsumption lifestyle in favor of investing for their future.

The High Income-High Net Worth: These people know that income spent frivolously is money wasted and gone.

In good times and bad, they buy what is useful and needed, and always look for quality. Since they are bottom-line focused, they will ask themselves whether it is worthwhile to spend the extra money on a new car or to invest in something that can yield profits down the road. As such, they don’t concern themselves with luxury vehicles or big buildings just for the sake of showing off. Rather, they would watch their money increase through investments.

Now coming to our Naga people, I’m very confident that almost all our gazetted-level officers in government services could easily learn to spend less and save more for investment in order to become crorpatis. Yes, they can do it if they invest at least 15 percent of their gross earnings and consistently invest them in stock purchases, mutual funds, and/or real estate.

(Note: In my last article, I mistakenly put 1 million US dollars as the equivalent to Rs.68.4 lakhs. This was a miscalculation. If the conversion rate of $1 is Rs.65, then a 1 million US dollars would be Rs.65 millions or Rs.650 lakhs or Rs.6.5 crores.)

Low Income-High Net Worth: Many ordinary Nagas can fit into this category because they have inherited properties, such as long stretches of raw land or forests where there can grow all kinds of things, or lease their properties, for a profit so that they can invest a portion of their earnings each month. Contrary to popular opinions, most people who have attained great wealth will tell us that it doesn’t take too much to become wealthy. But, at the same time, they will say that two things are absolutely necessary to become wealthy: (1) Live well below your means so you will have extra income to invest, and (2) invest in some reliable investment plans over a long period of time.

Not every one of us may aspire to be super-rich. As a matter of fact, it’s alright if some of us don’t become even crorpatis. But I believe that many of us, including our farmers and manual workers, can at least become lakhpatis. For sure, becoming wealthy isn’t easy. But it isn’t very complicated or impossible to achieve either---only if we are willing to pay the price and go through the path of self-discipline and careful financial planning.

The threat of human rights ed alleged Israeli and Palestinian violations of international law during the 2008-2009 Gaza War—was no doubt a watershed in the anti-human rights campaign. A few hours after the Report was published, NGO Monitor issued a press release characterizing it as an NGO “cut and paste” document. The claim was that a considerable amount of the findings were based on reports and testimonies provided by biased human rights organizations, several of them Israeli.

Within two days the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded, claiming that the Goldstone Report “ties the hands of democratic countries fighting terror worldwide; calls into question the legitimacy of national legal systems and investigations; [and] promotes criminal proceedings against forces confronting terrorism in foreign states and tries to expand the jurisdiction of the ICC beyond its Statute."

Danny Ayalon, Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister at the time, asserted that, “today the trenches are in Geneva in the Council of Human Rights, or in New York in the General Assembly, or in the Security Council, or in the Hague, the ICJ.” To mark Human Rights Day in 2010, Ayalon denounced the “biased use of human rights” by liberal NGOs, and,

Nicola Perugini and Neve Gordon

Human rights become a threat when they endanger state structures of domination in a joint press conference with representatives from NGO Monitor, he claimed that: “International Human Rights Day has been transformed into terror rights day.” Human rights were framed as promoters of “lawfare”—a legal tool used by non-state actors to threaten liberal states and achieve military objectives—and characterized as a security menace.

The threat that Ayalon was referring to has little to do with the radicalization of lib-

7

eral Israeli human rights NGOs in recent years. These NGOs had been filing reports to the UN and using similar strategies since the late 1980s. They did not, for example, transform themselves into grassroots social movements nor have they lent their names to the growing international Boycott Divestment Sanctions campaign, which has adopted a non-violent human rights based approach.

Rather, the transformation of the human rights NGOs into a threat involves the increasing use of universal jurisdiction in the ICC, as well as in regional and domestic courts, alongside the fact that the information that human rights organizations produce is used as evidence of egregious violations in these courts. But it is also informed by the increasing erosion of the international legitimacy of Israel’s discriminatory policies, vis-à-vis non-Jews in the occupied Palestinian territories and in Israel. The threat, in other words, emerges from broader changes in the international arena and is systemic.

Put differently, from a legal point of view, the Israeli organizations never constituted a threat to the state. Their petitions were filed within the domestic court system, which is both embedded within the state apparatus and which has almost always supported

state’s acts of dispossession and violence.

The threat is rather an outcome of long years of work, revealing how at times endurance and quantity can produce unexpected political effects. The press releases, reports, fact sheets, maps, pictures and videos produced by these (and Palestinian) NGOs have been circulating in the cyber sphere for many years now. Over the past decade a much broader international constituency has been receptive to this information. Gradually, the notion that Israel's rights abusive policies are merely temporal and are being imposed as a reaction against Palestinian violence lost all credibility. Increasingly, the evidence of abuse succeeded to engender diplomatic embarrassment and to trigger global grassroots political campaigns.

Repressive forces in Israel are concerned about the fact that the evidence of systematic violations gathered by local human rights NGOs—with the support of international funding—is exceeding the boundaries of the domestic debate. They are threatened because the accusations of abuse are piling into an immense archive of state orchestrated violence, an archive that can no longer be marshaled within the state's legal, political and symbolic space.

To paraphrase Antonio Gramsci, repressive forces are threatened because the state no longer manages to absorb human rights.

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

ThursdAY 25•02•2016

INDIA

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

BUDGET SESSION: Congress, BJP trade barbs in LS

NEW DELHI, FEbruary 24 (IaNs) Amid heated arguments between the opposition and the treasury benches, the Lok Sabha on Wednesday discussed the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) row and the issue of the death of a research scholar in Hyderabad University.

Initiating the discussion, the Congress accused the central government of using government machinery for crushing the voices of those who are opposed to the ideology of the BJP and the RSS. But the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took pot shots at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for standing with anti-nationals.

"Inside parliament, the ministers of this government take oath of constitution and outside they crush it. Using government machinery they are crushing the voices of those who oppose the ideology of RSS," Congress chief whip Jyotiraditya Scindia told the Lok Sabha.

"They targeted Kanhaiya Kumar, the student's union leader just because he was opposed to the ideology of RSS and had defeated an ABVP candidate in JNU election," he added.

The Congress MP from Guna in Madhya Pradesh also accused the BJP-led government of creating an atmosphere of intolerance in the country, alleging that efforts were on to crush any opposing point of view.

"What we have seen in the last two years is an atmosphere of intolerance in the country. There is every

Passenger fares and freight tariff hike? Railway Budget decides today

Commuters hang onto a crowded local passenger train in Patna. (REUTERS File Photo)

possible attempt to crush opposing viewpoint," Scindia said.

Scindia said the government wants a particular thinking to prevail.

Scindia demanded action against Human Resources Development Minister Smriti Irani and Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya over the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad university.

Participating in the debate BJP member Anurag Thakur accused Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi of standing with anti-nationals and said the Congress party would have to decide either they were with the martyrs of the

28 killed, 200 injured during Jat quota agitation: Haryana DGP HIsar (Har), FEbruary 24 (PtI): Twenty eight people were killed during the Jat quota agitation in Haryana, Director General of Police Yashapl Singhal said, while maintaining that the situation was fast returning to normalcy and no untoward incident had been reported from anywhere today.

"Twenty eight people have been killed during the stir.

We have arrested 127 persons and registered FIR against 535 others. Over 200 persons including few security personnel were also injured during the agitation," the DGP told a news conference here.

Singhal said that situation was fast returning to normalcy in various parts of the State. "No untoward incident had been reported from anywhere in the State today," he said.

Govt worried about Muslims alone: Togadia

country or with those who support terrorists like Afzal Guru.

"You will have to decide whether you are with those who attacked our parliament or those who protect it? You will have to decide whether you are with ideology of Gandhiji or Maoists," Thakur said.

Targeting the Congress and its vice president Rahul Gandhi, Thakur said: "Your leader goes and sympathises with those who were celebrating Afzal Guru as a martyr."

Thakur accused the Congress of "standing with those who call Afzal Guru a martyr", and sought to know from Congress president Sonia Gandhi wheth-

er Afzal Guru was a terrorist or not.

Thakur began by invoking the sacrifices of Captain Pawan Kumar and Lance Naik Hanumanthappa, adding the BJP stood with the soldiers and implemented the long-pending 'One Rank One Pension' (OROP) scheme.

"For them (Congress), it is family first, party next and nation last. But for us, it is nation first, party next and self last," he said.

Thakur, while quoting a reply of 2014 in parliament by the then union minister of state for home affairs, R. P. N. Singh, termed the Democratic Students Union (DSU) as one of the frontal organisations of

NEW DELHI, FEbruary 24 (IaNs): Will Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu increase passenger fares and freight tariff? That's the question that pops up as he presents his ministry's annual budget for the next fiscal amid shrinking margins, that is leaving little room for modernisation, upgrade and safety.

In the previous budget, the minister spared passengers from a fare hike, but freight rates were increased by 2.1% to 10%, even on commodities such as grain, pulses, urea and coal.

And in July 2014, the hikes amounted to 15 percent in passenger fares and 6.5% in freight.

Industry chambers have advocated a hike in passenger fares this time. "There is lack of political will to raise passenger fares, though the reluctance is not shared by passengers who will be willing to pay more if it is accompanied by better services like timely arrival of trains, cleanliness at stations, safety and improvement in food," Assocham said.

Introduction of new trains without much capacity addition in terms of new lines has be-

Maoists.

However, during his entire speech, the BJP leader didn't speak a single word about Rohith Vemula, the research scholar of Hyderabad University who committed suicide alleging harassment.

The JNU has been on the boil after a police crackdown on students accused of shouting antiIndia slogans, while Hyderabad Central University had erupted in protests against alleged harassment of Dalit students following the suicide on January 17 of Rohith Vemula, who was one of the five suspended for clashing with an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad leader.

RAjyA SAbHA DISRUPtED oVER RoHItH VEMULA'S SUICIDE The suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula of Hyderabad University created an uproar in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, as Bahujan Samaj Party members raised slogans against the government and angry exchanges were seen in the house of elders.

The issue was raised by BSP leader Mayawati soon after the house met at 11 a.m. "This is not the first time a Dalit student committed suicide," the BSP leader said.

"Rohith Vemula was an Ambedkar supporter. The RSS did not like this, he was exploited," Mayawati said

come a norm. The issue that Prabhu will have to tackle is to improve the operating ratio that spells out how much of the revenue generated is spent on day-to-day operations.

In the last budget, the minister had targeted to bring the operating ratio down to 88.5%, or the lowest in nine years, from an unsustainable level of 93.6% in 2013-14 and 91.8 percent for 2014-15. But globally, a 75-80% or lower is seen as a healthy benchmark.

The network length of Indian Railways has also not expanded in the requisite manner. It has increased just 0.06 times since 1989-90, but passenger and freight traffic has increased 3.3 times and 2.2 times, respectively. The average train speed of 25 km per hour for freight and 70 km per hour for passengers is also among the lowest globally. The railways will also have to contend with a 40%(Rs.320 billion) jump in wages.

India boasts one of the oldest and the largest railroad networks in the world, ferrying some 23 million people.

referring to B.R. Ambedkar, the author of the Constitution who was a Dalit.

This was followed by sloganeering by BSP members, who called the government "anti-Dalit".

Amid the din, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned five times in the pre-lunch session, and when the house met at 2 p.m., angry exchanges were witnessed between Mayawati and Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani.

Mayawati wanted the government to disclose if there will be a Dalit member on the judicial committee looking into the circumstances around Vemula's suicide in the Hyderabad University.

"A Dalit professor was there whose decision you would not have accepted...

You want to say Mayawati ji, a Dalit is a Dalit only if Mayawati ji gives a certificate?" Irani said, causing a huge uproar among the protesting members.

Angry exchanges were seen between Irani and Mayawati, as BSP members once again raised slogans demanding justice for Vemula's family. No agreement could be reached and the protest continued, following which the house was adjourned for half an hour, and then again for 15 minutes.

When the house met again, members agreed to take up the debate on Thursday.

Agitators damaging public property Kanhaiya's bail hearing adjourned to pay, SC to lay down guidelines as Delhi police seeks fresh remand NEW DELHI, FEbruary 24 (IaNs): The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it would lay down guidelines to act against people damaging public property and holding people to ransom in the course of their agitation as it wondered where was the country heading.

Agitators can't destroy public property and hold everything to ransom to get their demands met, said the apex court bench comprising Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar and Justice C. Nagappan underlining that those involved in destruction of public property would not escape the consequences of their actions.

"What is happening?

Where is our country (headed for). One cannot burn the country's property. You can agitate peacefully. But what is this? - burning and ransacking", the court said with an obvious reference to the recent Jat agitation in Haryana which resulted in damage and destruction of public property,

dislocation of public transport including disruption of water supply to the national capital.

The court's strong observation came in the course of the hearing of a plea filed by Gujarat Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader Hardik Patel, seeking the quashing of sedition charges invoked against him by the Gujarat Police.

Saying that people and political parties must pay for damaging public property, the bench said, "We must take call on the issue and frame guidelines."

The court said it would address the larger issue after Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the court that petitioner Hardik Patel had sought the quashing of the FIR accusing him of sedition. He said now the chargesheet has been filed before the trial court and the same could not be tested by the top court.

The court was also told Hardik Patel's plea for bail was still pending before the sessions court and it (apex court)

ramPur, FEbruary 24(PtI): Senior VHP leader Pravin Togadia has criticised the government's policy for minorities, alleging they "are worried about Muslims alone"."In India, governments are worried about Muslims alone and tuition fees of lakhs of girls and boys of this community are being paid from the state exchequer, whereas parents of lakhs of students belonging to the majority community are not capable of paying their wards' fees," the International Working President of VHP said.

Addressing a gathering of Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) in Shahabad town of Rampur district last evening, he said if the trend continues and Hindus are pushed to the minority status, "who will enjoy the benefits of development?" He said such a policy has continued despite the fact that "political parties including Congress, BSP, SP and BJP do exist due to the support of the Hindus".The VHP leader said said if this is not checked, "Hindus will be thrown out of Assam, Meerut, NEW DELHI, FEbruary 24 (rEMoradabad and Rampur the way Kashmiri Hindus were utErs): Amid the clamour of unrest sweeping university campuses and the compelled to migrate". state of Haryana near New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided on a strategy that risks emboldening political opponents: silence is golden.

Advisers describe a leader who is on top of events, but who prefers not to get NEW DELHI, FEbruary 24 (PtI): More than 24.37 sucked into rowdy debate on India's pubcrore Permanent Account Numbers (PAN) have been lic square.

In recent weeks, thousands of students registered in the country till now, according to latest data.A senior Income Tax department official, quoting have protested across the country over the latest data, said a total of 24,37,96,693 PAN card numbers arrest of a student leader for alleged sedihave been allotted till now across the country even as the tion, while anger among the powerful Jat department has enhanced capabilities of various utilities community over caste-based job quotas to allot more and more of such unique IT-issued identity spilled into deadly clashes in Haryana.

"He (Modi) believes that his popularity to applicants. Government had late last year made quoting of PAN mandatory for all transactions, including pur- comes from being seen as a serious polichase of jewellery, above Rs 2 lakh from the beginning tician who gets on with his work," said a of this year apart from certain categories of economic leader of Modi's ruling party, who spoke deals."They (new PAN rules) are also expected to help in on condition of anonymity. "He does not curbing black money and move towards a cashless econ- believe in giving a running commentary."

An adviser said that Modi, 65, would omy," the Central Board of Direct Taxes had said.

Government has also brought out new measures for instead give a sober assessment of recent faster registration of new PAN applications by individuals unrest to parliament, which convened this and entities by allowing a special window in the official week for its budget session in a climate of e-business portal for making an application and allowing confrontation that is likely to further stall digital signatures as the new facility to obtain this unique his ambitious economic reform agenda.

Modi's reticence, also evident during identity. Special camps are also being held by the IT department in rural and semi-urban areas since late last floods last year and a high profile attack year for people to apply for new PAN.PAN is a ten-digit by militants in early 2016, has undermined alphanumeric number issued in the form of a laminated the image of a decisive leader who swept to card by the IT department to any person, firm or entity.at power in May, 2014, defeating a Congress government led by the taciturn Manmoinjuring 163 people.

should hold back the plea for bail till it was decided.

As the counsel for the Patidar leader sought adjournment of the hearing, saying that senior counsel Kapil Sibal was engaged in another court, the court said it would hear the matter on Thursday (February 25) indicating that the focus would be on the larger issue of ways to deal with agitators involved in destruction and damage of public property during an agitation.

Gujarat Police has accused Hardik Patel of sedition for an incident in Surat wherein the Patidar leader was caught on camera telling one of his followers that instead of committing suicide he should take revenge on the policemen.

Sibal had said, in the last hearing, that even if whatever Gujarat Police was saying was to be accepted, even then it did not attract the sedition charge.

Hardik Patel is leading the Patidar agitation, seeking reservation for Patels in education and jobs.

NEW DELHI, FEbruary 24 (IaNs): The Delhi High Court on Wednesday adjourned the bail plea hearing of JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested on sedition charges, till February 29 after Delhi Police said it will seek his fresh remand to "unearth any larger conspiracy".

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta, appearing for Delhi Police, told Justice Pratibha Rani that they were moving a remand application to seek Kanhaiya's police custody for the third time, to confront him with fellow Jawaharlal Nehru University students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya who surrendered on Tuesday night.

Mehta said the police remand of Kanhaiya, who is currently in judicial custody till March 2, is required to confront him with Khalid and Anirban and "unearth any larger conspiracy".

The court deferred the hearing till February 29 after Kanhaiya's advocates Kapil Sibal and Rebecca John asked the court to postpone the hearing as they will oppose the police remand application.

"Since two JNU students surrendered last (Tuesday) night, we need to confront them with Kanhaiya,"

ASG Mehta said.

Allowing police to move the remand application before the concerned court, Justice Pratibha Rani said: "We have to ensure that they don't suffer any scratch, that's my only concern."

Delhi Police opposed the bail plea of Kanhaiya and submitted a status report to the court.

If Kanhaiya is released on bail, "he may create law and order problems by conducting meetings in his support, hampering arrest of other accused people", said police.

Kanhaiya was arrested in a sedition case on February 12 after the event held on the university campus against the execution of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. He allegedly shouted anti-India slogans at the event.

Khalid and Anirban, along with three others, had gone missing from the JNU campus since February 12 when Kanhaiya was arrested. They surrendered on Tuesday night.

The police report said Kanhaiya, if released on bail, "may influence the witnesses and also hamper the investigation". The high court posted the matter for February 29.

Silence may not be golden as Modi lays low during unrest

Over 24.37 crore PAN alloted in country: IT dept

han Singh. "The silence raises questions about being on top of your brief," said Milan Vaishnav, an associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

"That conversation has begun: Modi is a person who we thought was a decider; a CEO-like leader. But if we are now getting signals that he is not necessarily the effective administrator we thought he was, that is becoming a problem."

A new opinion poll showed Modi's popularity holding up, while Congress has bounced back from its dire election showing of 2014, validating a strategy of blocking reforms and latching on to protests as they flare up.

If a general election were held now, Modi's nationalist alliance would win, but with a sharply reduced majority. Congress would double its seat share, according to the poll for India Today magazine published last week.

LEADERSHIP VACUUM? Modi's silence on unforeseen events contrasts with his reputation as an effective communicator, through rousing speeches and social media, when broadcasting his vision of inclusive growth and development for India's 1.3 billion people.

When he does retreat from public view, aides have been known to step in, not always with happy consequences.

After the arrest for sedition of Kanhaiya Kumar, a student leader in New Delhi,

Home Minister Rajnath Singh circulated a fake tweet that falsely suggested a campus protest had the support of a notorious Pakistani militant. Delhi's police chief showed no remorse when officers failed to prevent lawyers manhandling Kumar in court, while education minister Smriti Irani backed a decision to fly Indian flags, from 207-foot (63-metre) flagpoles, on campuses across the country as a reminder to "anti-national" elements.

Meanwhile, the unrest has revived Congress' leader-in-waiting, Rahul Gandhi, who has joined students on the barricades and shows no signs of ending opposition to a key tax reform that has been blocked in parliament.

In Haryana, its chief minister fell foul of the powerful Jat caste, which turned to violence when he failed to meet their demands for affirmative action on jobs and education.

More than a week of protests killed 19 people, injured 170, destroyed businesses, paralysed transport and cut water supplies to metropolitan Delhi. A spokesman for Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who is from Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, said he was determined to address the legitimate demands of the Jat community, while those responsible for the violence would be punished.

At the weekend, rather than intervening, Modi blamed unnamed outside con-

spirators for " hatching c o n s p i ra cies every day to finish and defame me". Lead-

ers have echoed his rhetoric, with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday criticising "false propaganda, anti-government propaganda".

"When Modi starts seeing a conspiracy in everything I think he is in serious trouble," said Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of "The Man, The Times", a biography of Modi.

"It is an admission that he is not able to manage the thrust of his government. So he has to apportion the blame to someone."

ThursdaY 25•02 •2016

WORLD

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

9

Conflict, powerful companies stoke land disputes in Kachin

WAI MAW TOWNSHIP, FebruAry 24 (THOMSON reuTerS FOuNdATION): La Laung Daung Nan vividly remembers the last day of April 2015. Alone in front of the two-acre plot of land her family had been allocated in a United Nations-led project, she waited for fellow villagers to turn up.

They had been sent by officials and were coming to take down the barbed wire that protected her rubber saplings from the trampling of cows and buffalos.

"When they came, I pleaded with them not to do it, that we are from the same village," she recalled, sitting on the bamboo floor of her stilt home with three other aggrieved farmers.

Her words fell on deaf ears. The next day, roaming animals seeking pasture left few traces of the 11-month-old saplings.

Daung Nan, her husband and 16 others in Naung Chain, a dusty village a 40-minute motorbike ride away from the state capital Myitkyina, are in a legal tussle with village authorities over land they consider theirs, but which officials say is part of 1,600 acres designated as grazing ground.

The villagers say they were not consulted about plans to turn their land into grazing grounds and believe it was a ploy by officials who planned to profit from renting out 300 acres to a Chinese company for a

Kachin, activists said.

"Many farmers do not dare to demand the return of land confiscated by the military," said Lahpai Zaw Tawng from Kachin State Farmers Network, who has been helping the Naung Chain villagers.

Many are hoping the new government and parliament led by the National League for Democracy (NLD) will keep its election promises, including fair resolution of disputes, establishing land tenure security and support for the landless.

The Kachin Independence Army in Kachin State Burma fighting for autonomy.

banana plantation.

Their battle is an illustration of land rights disputes engulfing Kachin state and the whole country, a largely agrarian nation emerging from decades of military rule where rights are fragile and victims of injustice have little recourse.

Sa Yaw Haung Khaung, the village administrator, defended the land seizure in an interview with Myanmar Now, an independent news service supported by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, saying officials acted according to the law.

He played down the im-

pact on villagers, saying the Chinese concession covered only 70 acres for growing watermelons. It would have generated income for the whole village but was abandoned following protests, he added.

RAMPANT LAND SEIZURES Campaign group "Land In Our Hands" said in a 2015 report Kachin, Myanmar’s northernmost state bordering China, has the second largest number of land confiscations after Shan state.

"Land confiscations in Kachin have been so rampant there is little vacant

land left," Bawk Ja Lum Nyoi, a fiery political activist known for taking on powerful interests, said.

"Villagers are too scared to speak up. There are more landless people now and many are struggling to survive."

Land disputes have been fuelled by the outgoing semi-civilian government of President Thein Sein's liberalisation policies that have driven up land prices and attract foreign and domestic investment, analysts said.

Fighting between ethnic insurgents and the army, which flared up again in 2011 after a ceasefire

fractured over long-held grievances, has weakened communities' rights and driven more than 100,000 civilians from their homes.

Many worry whether they will still be able to access their farmland when peace returns and accuse the army of seizing swathes of land.

Meanwhile, junta-era issues such as a heavy military presence across the state, oppression of ethnic minorities and the unchecked exploitation of natural resources persist.

If land disputes remain unresolved they will be detrimental to the peace process and overall stability of

LAND KEY TO PEACE & DEMOCRACY Changes in land ownership and use are among key issues in Myanmar's political and economic transition, with deep resentment and protests over acquisitions for infrastructure, development or large-scale agricultural projects.

Up to 70 percent of Myanmar's labour force is estimated to work in agriculture. The sector accounts for 44 percent of economic output, according to consulting firm McKinsey & Co. All land is owned by the government but farmers are given land use or tillage rights, making land use a particularly sensitive issue for small-scale farmers who make up the majority of the country's population of 51 million.

Yet these rights are neither respected on the ground in practice, nor

provide protection against land grabbing, activists said.

The "Land In Our Hands" report found 42.9 percent of respondents said they possessed legal documents issued by the government when their land was confiscated.

The issue is even more sensitive in ethnic areas.

Ethnic minorities make up an estimated 30 to 40 percent of Myanmar’s population, and ethnic states occupy some 57 percent of the total land area.

"Important questions around access to and control of land are at the heart of the civil war, and unless they are addressed well, real peace is likely to remain out of reach," the Netherlands-based Transnational Institute said in a report.

Bawk Ja, chair of the National Democratic Force (NDF) in Kachin, who took a powerful company to court over a land grabbing case and has been jailed for her political activities, agreed.

"Without resolving the land issue, there’s no way you can achieve real peace," she said.

RULED BY GUNS Activists like Bawk Ja and Zaw Tawng are educating villagers about their rights so they are better able to stand up for themselves. It is a long process.

Arr Ti, 65, and Yaing Myaw, 45, from Shwe Aite village, remember shaking

with fear during a meeting a few years ago with a senior military official.

"He put his pistol down on the table first before telling us we have to move.

Then he asked, 'Anyone want to say anything?'. I was so scared,” Yaing Myaw said.

But they've become emboldened. With help from Bawk Ja, they sent letters to central authorities about their cases, and defiantly returned to their homes and farms.

"I'm not giving in. It's my land," said Arr Ti, who was asked in 2006 to leave her orchard, which she has owned since 1982.

The army told her it was confiscated to build a telecommunications tower, but nothing has been built so far.

Land grabs have become so politically contentious that Myanmar's military-backed parliament set up the Farmland Investigation Commission in 2012.

In just two years the commission received more than 30,000 cases.

But it has heard only twothirds of cases and found in fewer than 1,000 that compensation was justified, according to Namati, a charity working on land rights.

Daung Nan and her husband, La Ban Khan Phan, have began to prepare their land in Naung Chain village again, while keeping up the fight to save it from becoming a grazing ground.

Dodos probably were smart, & Donald Trump secures third straight win not stupid as commonly thought WASHINGTON, FebruAry at a victory rally in Las Vegas.

NeW yOrk, FebruAry 24 (IANS): Dodo, an extinct bird whose name has entered popular culture as a symbol of stupidity, was actually fairly smart, new research suggests.

The overall size of the dodo’s brain in relation to its body size was on par with its closest living relatives: Pigeons - birds whose ability to be trained implies a moderate level of intelligence.

“It is not impressively large or impressively small -- it’s exactly the size you would predict it to be for its body size,” said lead study author Eugenia Gold from Stony Brook University in New York.

“So, if you take brain size as a proxy for intelligence, dodos probably had a similar intelligence level to pigeons. Of course, there’s more to intelligence than just overall brain size, but this gives us a basic measure,” Gold noted.

The researchers also discovered that the dodo had an enlarged olfactory bulb -- the part of the brain responsible for smelling -- an uncharacteristic trait for birds, which usually concentrate their brainpower into eyesight.

The study was published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.

The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) was a large, flightless bird that lived on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.

They were last seen in 1662.

Even though the birds have become an example of oddity, obsolescence, stupidity, and extinction, and have been featured in popular stories ranging from Alice in Wonderland to Ice Age, most aspects of the dodo’s biology are still unknown.

To examine the brain of the dodo, Gold tracked down a well-preserved skull from the collections of the Natural History Museum, London, and imaged it there with highresolution computed tomography (CT) scanning.

In the American Museum of Natural History’s Microscopy and Imaging Facility, she also CTscanned the skulls of seven species of pigeons.

When comparing the size of the birds’ brains to their body sizes, Gold and collaborators found that the dodo was “right on the line” - the overall size of the dodo’s brain in relation to its body size was on par with pigeons.

24 (reuTerS): Businessman Donald Trump inched closer to the U.S. Republican presidential nomination after easily outdistancing his rivals in the Nevada caucuses Tuesday, giving him his third win in four early nominating contests.

Broadcast networks called the state for Trump almost immediately after voting ended, with the state Republican Party confirming the victory soon after.

With returns still being tabulated, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida was in second place, with Ted Cruz, a U.S. Senator from Texas, coming in third.

Trump’s decisive win is likely to further frustrate Republican establishment figures who, less than a month ago, were hoping that the outspoken billionaire’s insurgent candidacy was stalled after he lost the opening nominating contest in Iowa to Cruz.

But since then, Trump has tallied wins in New Hampshire, South Carolina, and now Nevada, with a suite of southern states ahead on March 1, so-called Super Tuesday.

“If you listen to the pundits, we weren’t expected to win too much, and now we’re winning, winning, winning the country,” Trump said

Polls suggest Trump will do well in many of those Super Tuesday states, placing further pressure on Cruz, Rubio, and Ohio Governor John Kasich, another presidential candidate who was not a factor in Nevada, to come up with counter-measures quickly.

In the run-up to Nevada, most of Trump’s rivals left him alone, preferring to tussle with each other in a bid to be the last surviving challenger to the front-runner.

Not long after Trump’s win was certified in Nevada, Cruz’s campaign released a statement criticizing Rubio for not winning the state, but did not mention Trump at all.

Rubio, who has emerged as the Republican establishment’s favorite to derail Trump’s progress, can take some solace in finishing second. But that also has to be viewed as somewhat of a setback considering that he had frequently campaigned in Nevada, having lived there for years as a child. A CubanAmerican, he had attempted to rally the support of the state’s large Latino population.

Rubio had also benefitted from the departure Saturday of Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, from the race. That brought an influx

Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses supporters after being declared by the television networks as the winner of the Nevada Repulican caucuses at his caucus night rally in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 23. (REUTERS Photo)

of new funds, a bevy of endorsements, and a wealth of media attention. But none of it was enough to overtake Trump.

As for Cruz, he is facing mounting questions about the viability of his campaign. After Cruz’s Iowa win, Trump has made serious inroads among his core base of conservative supporters, draining anti-government hardliners and evangelicals..

The upcoming March 1 pri-

‘War crimes & illegal refugee returns marred 2015 human rights’ LONdON, FebruAry 24 (THOMSON reuTerS FOuNdATION): At least 30 countries illegally forced refugees to return to places where they would be in danger last year, Amnesty said on Wednesday as it warned that many governments were brazenly breaking international law.

War crimes or other violations of the “laws of war” were committed by governments or armed groups in at least 19 countries, Amnesty said in its annual review of human rights around the world.

Amnesty Secretary General Salil Shetty said that short-term national self-interest and draconian security crackdowns had led to an “unprecedented assault on human rights” in 2015.

“Your rights are in jeopardy: they are being treated with utter contempt by many governments around the world,” he said.

One of the most egregious examples of countries turning their backs on

Women take part in a performance entitled “Women in Black”, a social action created by Spanish artists May Serrano and Maria Seco to protest against gender violence and called by Amnesty International, in downtown Malaga, southern Spain.

(REUTERS File Photo)

asylum seekers took place when human traffickers left thousands of people from Myanmar and Bangladesh adrift on the open seas without food and water.

Hundreds are thought to have died from thirst and hunger as countries in the region played “ping-pong

in the sea” with them, Amnesty said.

In Europe, the report strongly criticised Hungary for sealing its borders to keep out thousands of desperate refugees and obstructing collective regional attempts to help them.

More than 1 million refugees and migrants ar-

rived in Europe last year, many fleeing war zones.

Amnesty said that, with the exception of Germany, the response to the crisis had been woeful.

“That Europe, which is the richest bloc in the world, is not able to take care of the basic rights of some of the most perse-

cuted people in the world is shameful,” Shetty said.

He called for the world to find legal and dignified ways for refugees to reach safety and said 1.2 million of them must be resettled without delay.

Amnesty condemned the killing in Syria of thousands of civilians in direct and indiscriminate attacks with barrel bombs and other weaponry and criticised lengthy sieges of civilian areas and the blocking of international aid to starving people.

It also said Saudi Arabia had committed war crimes in the bombing campaign it had led in Yemen and criticised it for obstructing the establishment of a U.N.-led inquiry into violations by all sides in the conflict.

“HIGH STAKES” Shetty warned that not only human rights, but also the laws and institutions meant to protect them, were under attack.

Many African countries have threatened to walk out of the International Crimi-

nal Court, which was set up to end impunity for leaders who commit war crimes.

Countries hampering cooperation with the ICC include Kenya, Ivory Coast and South Africa, which ignored a court order last year to arrest Sudan’s president.

Shetty also said too many governments were using the threat of violence from armed groups as an excuse to “take short cuts on human rights”. “The human rights of civilians cannot be sacrificed under some vague notions of combating terrorism,” he said.

Amnesty’s annual review, which includes reports from 160 countries and territories, said there had been some gains for human rights last year.

Three countries - Madagascar, Fiji and Suriname - abolished the death penalty in 2015, and Mongolia is set to do so in 2016.

Other countries launched national campaigns to end child marriage or passed laws to recognise same-sex relationships.

mary in his home state of Texas is looming as a make-or-break moment for him.

Despite early reports on social media of procedural irregularities at many Nevada caucus sites, the Republican National Committee and the party’s state chapter said voting ran smoothly. Higher-thannormal turnout was reported, although historically, few of the state’s citizens participate in the Republican caucus.

Headaches linked to gut diseases: Study LONdON, FebruAry 24 (IANS): People who regularly experience gastrointestinal symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation and nausea may have a higher prevalence of migraine and tension headaches, shows a study.

The researchers found that migraine and tension headaches may have genetic link with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

“Since headache and irritable bowel syndrome are such common conditions and causes for both are unknown, discovering a possible link that could shed light on shared genetics of the conditions is encouraging,” said study author Derya Uluduz from of Istanbul University in Turkey.

The study will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 68th Annual Meeting in Vancouver, Canada in April.

The researchers examined 107 people with episodic migraine, 53 with tension headache, 107 people with IBS and 53 healthy people.

Migraine and tension headache participants were examined for IBS symptoms and participants with IBS were asked about headaches.

The results showed a total of 54 percent of those with migraine also had IBS, compared to 28 percent of those with tension headache. Of the participants with IBS, 38 also had migraine and 24 also had tension headache.

The finding indicate that people with migraine were twice as likely to also have IBS as people with tension headache.

IBS, migraine and tension headache groups had at least one gene that differed from the genes of the healthy participants, the study found. “Discovering shared genes may lead to more future treatment strategies for these chronic conditions,” Uluduz added.

10

thursDAY 25•02•2016

SPORTS/Public diScOuRSe

Ecclestone welcomes F1 changes after 'wake-up' call GeNeVa, FebRUaRy 24 (ReUTeRS): Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone says the sport faces a brighter future after teams agreed a new qualifying format from this season, even if he had sought a more radical approach to liven up racing. Speaking to Reuters two days after he said current F1 was the worst it had ever been and he would not buy tickets for his family to watch races, the 85-year-old sounded a much more positive note. "I think now I’d be a bit more confident that we are going to see some good racing," he said in a telephone interview. "Then I’ll be happy."

Ecclestone said teams, who agreed the new qualifying format on Tuesday, had finally woken up and taken a step in the right direction with more change to come. "I think there’s lots of things we can do and will be doing," he said. "What people needed was a bit of a shake up.

I seem to be the only person that has thought we should do something in Formula One, to wake everybody up a little bit. And maybe that’s what’s happened.

"I wasn’t talking down the sport at all, quite the opposite. I was trying to sort of explain that unless we did something that’s the way we’d be going."

Formula One's core strategy group, which includes Ecclestone and the top six teams as well as governing body, approved a range of measures -- yet to be formally ratified by the International Automobile Federation -- in Geneva on Tuesday. The changes are aimed at making cars faster, louder, harder to handle and more aggressive for the 2017 season.

The new qualifying format was passed unanimously, meaning it can be introduced at this season's opening race in Australia on March 20 instead of waiting a year. Under the new procedure, the slowest drivers will be eliminated as the session progresses rather than at the end of each phase. The final shootout for pole will be between two drivers rather than 10.

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

FIFA votes on reforms to protect victim status in US probe

ZURICH, FebRUaRy 24 (aP): Electing a new president to replace Sepp Batter might be the second most important vote FIFA takes on Friday.

Hours earlier, leaders of 209 member federations can approve reforms designed to end a culture of corruption in world soccer that has been laid bare

by American and Swiss federal prosecutors.

FIFA legal advisers also badly want a “yes” vote to help save its status as a victim of corruption in the eyes of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Voting in favor will strip power from the new president and tainted executive committee, and control top officials by imposing term limits and stricter integrity checks.

More independent experts would oversee how FIFA earns and spends $5 billion-plus from each four-yearly World Cup income flow that dried up as new sponsors stay away to see what kind of post-election partner they would join.

“It is abundantly clear that football fans and FIFA's commercial partners will no longer accept anything short of full transparency in how football is governed,” warned FIFA's in-house panel, including presidential candidate Gianni Infantino, which drafted the reform slate.

The stunning American case has already indicted 41 people and marketing agencies since May, alleging bribery conspiracies worth $200 million so far. “There is a lot to fix about

the way football works,” FIFA executive committee member Moya Dodd, a former Australia international, acknowledged this week.

Dodd has been key to getting a greater role for women in a new-look FIFA, which is poised to commit “to respecting all internationally recognized human rights.”

Out of FIFA's reputational weakness and leadership vacuum - with Blatter and top administrator Jerome Valcke banned from office for unethical behavior - has come a progressive agenda that was unthinkable in years past.

Just as unlikely is that Issa Hayatou, FIFA's interim president, will preach the need for change from the stage on Friday.

Hayatou has led African soccer for 28 years with two recent election rule changes in his favor, and was reprimanded by the IOC in 2011 over a cash payment from FIFA's disgraced former World Cup marketing agency.

The Cameroon official's response to wrongdoing allegations at a December news conference in Zurich seemed at odds with FIFA's new pledge of “responsibility, humility, tone at the top, respect and candor.”

Still, Hayatou urged the 209 members this week to seize their chance and give the 75 percent vote needed to update FIFA statutes.

Hayatou also warned of “difficult work ahead,” with all confederations and members set

a 2018 target by FIFA to adopt key legal reforms. They include ending conflicts of interest in commercial decisions, and guaranteeing independence in financial audits and judicial bodies.

That has seemed the toughest sell to voters, who often ignored criticism of FIFA and Blatter by returning him to power.

“I didn't get any sense of people opposing it (the reform package),” said Dodd, of the 47-member Asian soccer body's meeting last week in Kuala Lumpur.

FIFA is weighing a scale of sanctions for missing the 2018 target, which could start with blocking funds from Zurich.

Regardless, change must start at the top, and FIFA could look very different in 60 days from Friday when new legal rules would take effect.

The toxic “executive committee” name would go, replaced by a FIFA Council growing to 37 members over the next cycle of continental elections. Six seats are reserved for women, who never sat on the so-called ExCo until 2012 when FIFA was 108 years old.

Whoever is elected president on Friday will stay in office for no more than 12 years, less than the 17-plus years of Blatter, and 24 under his disgraced predecessor, Joao Havelange of Brazil.

Even if the new president is a prince or a sheikh, he should never again have the same power in FIFA's empire.

A summary of the political revelations since the signing of the framework agreement

E

Kaka D. Iralu

ver since the signing of an Accord (Framework Agreement) between the NSCN IM and the GOI on Aug.3, 2015, there have been a lot of statements and write ups from various quarters. Some of them were official statements from the NNC and FGN; others were from the NSCN IM, while others were from individuals in the name of NNC. But in spite of all these statements, some Nagas still seems to not have understood anything from these official as well as individual statements. Allow me therefore to briefly summarize the important statements in my own words in the simplest form. I will however in some portions quote as well as point the reader to the various statements so that the reader can personally verify the statements as they were released in the local dailies.

1. ON SOVEREIGNTY AND SHARED SOVEREIGNTY The sudden announcement of the framework agreement of shared sovereignty and the possible early declaration of a solution were met by quick responses from the NNC and FGN authorities. Both the NNC President M.S. Adinno as well as the FGN President, General Viyalie Metha clarified through Press releases that the Naga nation’s stand was for complete Independence and not for an autonomous state within the Indian union or a shared Sovereignty with India. The NNC and FGN clearly stated that for the past 69 years they had been defending their declared sovereignty and not asking for a shared sovereignty with India.

They emphatically stated that the declaration of a nation’s independence was the exclusive prerogative right of any nation and that such a declaration did not require the permission of another neighbor nation or even the U.N.O. Re-affirming that the NNC and the FGN are the only mandated Political institution and executive Government of the Naga people; they had declared that “They will not be a party to any factions or organizations supported by any civil society that will commit Naga citizenship to any other country besides Sovereign Independent Nagaland.”

(For details, see “The Naga National Council and its stand” by M.S Adinno Phizo dated Aug 4, 2015; Federal Government of Nagaland, Press Release dated August 4, 2015; Sixty eight Independence Day speech of General Viyalie Metha dated Aug.14, 2015; Official Statement of the Federal Government of Nagaland, dated Dec 5, 2015. Most of these statements appeared in the local dailies the day after they were officially released.)

2. ON THE SHILLONG ACCORD AND ITS AFTERMATH The “Statement of the Joint Council NSCN” (IM) appeared in the Nagaland Post on Dec 28, 2015, wherein they had accused the NNC of having “failed to uphold the national trust by signing the infamous Shillong Accord of 1975” and that they (NSCN IM) are now therefore “the authentic political organization of the Naga people” and “the embodiment of the Naga national struggle…”. Further, on Feb.1, 2016 Rh. Raising’s 37th NSCN Raising Day speech appeared in the local papers. In his speech Raising had declared that “the future of the Nagas were

placed in a very dangerous situation of subjugation and annexation by the Indian State” because of the Shillong Accord. He further went on to say that “The history of the Nagas would have been sealed in the coffin of the infamous accord had there not been committed revolutionary patriots in the forefront under the dynamic leaderships of Isak and Muivah.” He went on to state that the “accord sharply divided NNC into two camps: those who upheld the accord and those who were against it.” He further stated that these pro-Shillong Accord group “seized power in a military coup” and “Isak Chishi Swu and Th.Muivah along with their cabinet members were arrested on fabricated grounds and detained in military custody to be executed.”

He ended by saying that Isak and Muivah were finally released in the first week of January 1980.

(See Nagaland Post Feb. 1, 2016 for details) But these false statements and fabrications of Naga history- especially of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s were immediately corrected by eye witnesses who were with Isak and Muivah in Eastern Nagaland at that time. Mr. Shopwan who is presently a Joint Secretary of the NNC for example, responded to Raising’s statement in the following manner: While acknowledging that Isak and Muivah were indeed kept under house arrest after the Martial law was declared, he pointed out that Lt. Col Subong was compelled to declare martial law because Muivah had taken over dictatorial powers by what amounts to a re-writing of even the Yehzabo of Nagaland. Muivah appointed himself as the General Secretary of both the NNC as well as the FGN. He started to dictate on even the NNC by centralizing all political powers and even giving the NNC President his portfolio of becoming President of both the NNC and the FGN. A resolution was even passed to the effect that “the NNC President A.Z. Phizo should be called back home by 1980. But if he fails to comply, he will be removed from the leadership.” He had further disqualified all national workers in Nagaland from service because of the Shillong Accord. He had undertaken all these unbelievable actions in order to topple Phizo, nullify the NNC and take over power through a communist socialist form of Government.

Shopwan also showed very clearly how Isak and Muivah were released not in the first week of January 1980 but in May 1979 and that they were the ones who killed T. Venuh Vice President of the NNC, Lorho Mao the speaker of the Tatar Hoho and 13 other top NNC/FGN leaders between Nov.27, 1979 to January 3, 1980. As proof of these facts, he recounted how Isak hosted the Tulini feast at Nuklaw on 12th June 1979 as thanksgiving for his release and also hosted the Naga Independence Day celebration on 14th August 1979 at Pongshom village which were both in Eastern Nagaland. In an earlier article dated Oct.12, 2015 under the caption “SHIFTING THE BLAME TO KHAPLANG BY THE NSCN IM OVER THE KILLINGS IN EASTERN NAGALAND IN 1979/1980”, he had even produced a copy of the report by Brig. Thungbo who had carried out the assassinations of all these top NNC and FGN leaders. The report as it appeared in the papers was submitted to Isak, Muivah and Khaplang dated 11th March 1980.

The false assertions of the NSCN IM were also fittingly repudiated by the retired General Thinoselie who pointed out in his state-

ment that since the four top leaders of the NNC, namely A.Z. Phizo, (President), Muivah, (General Secretary), Imkongmeren, (Vice President) and Isak Chishi swu (Chairman, Executive Council) were nowhere around the signing of the Shillong Accord, the NNC cannot be accused of having capitulated to India and betrayed the Naga nation through the Shillong Accord. He added that all these top leaders of the NNC were –one, in London, one in an Indian Prison and the other two in China when the Shillong Accord was signed on Nov.11, 1975.

He also pointed out that on careful examination, “the Shillong Accord had no legal binding on the NNC and FGN because they had not signed it.” (The Shillong Accord was signed as “Underground Representatives) He ended up by saying “Please do not mislead and deceive yourselves and our people anymore.” (See “Rejoinder to The position of the NSCN by Retd.

General Thinoselie, Morung Express dated Jan.19, 2016) Mr. Longsha Konyak who is presently a member of the Central Executive Council of the NNC further added the following statements: “ These condemnation and rejections of the Shillong Accord was not at all an NSCN IM record because NSCN or NSCN IM did not exist at that time (1975/76). The NSCN was formed only on Jan 31, 1980 and NSCN IM in May 1988. Therefore, neither the NSCN nor the NSCN IM were anywhere in the picture when the Shillong Accord was condemned in the 1970’s. The NNC did not fail to uphold the trust of the people. It is they -Muivah and Isak who have failed to uphold the trust of the people. They threw away the trust and mandate of the people when they defected from the NNC and formed another political organization without the mandate of the Naga nation.”

As for the Home government of the FGN at the time of the signing of the Shillong Accord, Longsha pointed out the following facts: “On the part of the FGN who were still holding the home government at that time in Nagaland, they issued a statement on 30th December 1975 where President Zashei on behalf of the FGN had clearly stated that because of Article 139 and 140 of the Naga Yehzabo, his government cannot accept clause 1 and 3 of the Shillong Accord. (Articles 139 and 140 of the Naga Yehzabo clearly state that only the Central Executive Council of the NNC can decide on the fate of the nation). This meant that clause 1&3 of the Shillong Accord cannot be used as a basis for any settlement between the GOI and FGN. As for those who call themselves “None- Accordist,” Longsha went on to state: “Condemnation of the Shillong Accord is also not the record of those who are calling themselves as “Non-Accordists” today. This is because all these so called “Non Accordist” were also with the NNC and FGN when the accord was condemned. It was only after they were driven out from the Peace camps (by the Indian Government) for having taken rehabilitation money that they started calling those who were in the Peace camps as “Accordist” and themselves as “Non-Accordist.” In fact, those who were driven away from the Peace camps by the Indian Government are the Accordist because they had already accepted rehabilitation from the Indian Government.” (See “Who has caused Divisions and Killings among Nagas? By Longsha KonyakMorung Express, Feb.2, 2016.)

This train won’t stop?

A

Jonah Achumi

n Aesop’s Fable goes like this, ‘An Eagle was soaring through the air when suddenly it heard the whizzing of an Arrow, and felt itself wounded to death. Slowly it fluttered down to the earth, with its life-blood pouring out of it. Looking down upon the Arrow with which it had been pierced, it found that the shaft of the Arrow had been feathered with one of its own plumes.

"Alas!" it cried, as it died: Moral: We often give our enemies the very means of our very own destruction.

In the name of development and bringing advancement here in our land, we cannot just debunk some of the most important issues that had been and will be bringing our own doom for the coming generations. Opinions by several other concerned citizens in the past have been raised on this issue about the railway connectivity from Dimapur to Zubza.

When one first hears it, one cannot but just gloat and cheer that finally a real development in our means of transport and communication is about to happen which will bring easier means of transporting raw materials, goods, products both finished as well as unfinished goods from within and outside. One very serious and dangerous issue this railway will be bringing along with its blessing is the curse of the long impending dangers that will be falling on our people, especially our coming generations. That is the complete deluge of the native population by the illegal immigration happening here at an alarming rate in our land which we are yet to wake up. Who doesn’t want development, of course anytime? But are we ready to bear the price that comes along with it?

With its porous borders, the Dimapur town and its adjacent areas have huge population of immigrants that have swelled up at an alarming rate over the years. Huge areas of Niuland, Chumukedima and Dhansiriphar is now already flooding with their abnormal population growth but we only pretend to be asleep when we are actually not. Here one big question about this Zubza railway link remains to be answered; Will the present ILP Check-post at Chumukedima be shifted to Zubza once this rail link has been introduced? Remember, the present ILP check gate has been shifted twice from the Nagaland Gate to Purana Bazaar and now to its present site at Chumukedima. And now yet again? Will the Article 371(A) be anymore relevant once this railway link has been launched?

In this age of globalization, many may label me as a xenophobic or an alarmist but before accusations are flayed and hurled, make sure that we are ready to face the consequences on the impact of globalization and its negative impacts which has reached our tiny state as we too cannot escape the winds of change blowing throughout every nook and corner of the globe. When we think about the positive aspects of any matter we should be ready to accommodate any negative issue or implications that come along with it.

Many propounders of globalization will argue and stand their ground that globalization has opened doors to the far unreached places and corners which before could not be opened or reached for one or the other reasons. And we cannot ever deny though development has increased, knowledge broadened, trade and development opened up or opportunities rained down due to Globalization but we cannot hide or ignore the other dark side of the Globalization which many small cultures, national identities, languages, communities and race are fast eroding and disappearing. Many small identities, cultures and communities are being swallowed by the bigger ones rapidly. So are we ready for that? Increased mixing of culture has greatly resulted in vast cultural diffusion and erosion of more homogenous cultures.

The homogenization of mix culture due to the globalization process results in the process results in the marginalization of small cultures and communities which ultimately results in their disappearance.

Throughout the history all over the world, the majority race subdues the minorities.

We Nagas cannot be termed as a major race in any circumstances. If we are and had been, would we have the need for Article 371(A) to protect our identity, our land and our resources? Take the example of the Jarawa tribe of the Andaman, the Govt. of India under a special act that prohibits outsiders to mingle and mix with the Jarawa tribe so that its language and the traditions of Jarawa race does not becomes extinct.

A small race of people, we Nagas which according to the last census data of 2011, our Nagaland population hardly stands presently at 20 lakh plus. But we all know the truth behind these boosted and inflated figures of our villages, subdivisions, circles, tribes etc by ourselves only for vote-banks. If we go by the church statistics of respective denominations, there would be some startling revelations of this stark reality of our inflated population figures. Our population in all actuality is sky-rocketed and shot up northwards by ourselves in our own conveniences only to increase our voters list, to get more subsidies, to cash in more central aids and to get countless governmental benefits, which are non deserving to many of us. We add up superficial census numbers to please ourselves and show others of how and what we are not and which in reality is quite contrasting.

Besides, airways, ship ways or roadconnectivity, the railways had opened and

boosted up the globalization phenomenon in its own way because of its cheap and safer transportation of goods, timely arrival at place and pace if not hampered by unavoidable circumstances, of course both natural or man-made. The railway connectivity’s only real achievement, besides connecting our interior regions with the mainland from the proposed railway connectivity of our hilly areas will be the confirmation and the fulfillment of our worst fears; Our Naga populace being submerged and absorbed in by the huge unabated influx of the outside population will be hard to sustain itself.

The Red Indians say’ the white men came and gave us the Bible and in return they took all our land’. It’s not about wanting any foreigners to come inside our land (I think we all do) but we as a very small race should instead protect and preserve not only our culture but our identity before we open the floodgates of an alien submersion and domination of our own people. With the advent of this railway line, the article 371(A) which protects and safeguards our identity, resources and our land will be a mere paper tiger and not something in spirit. Now why should we knowingly welcome this deluge of our local population which will be happening in a decade seem to be falling on deaf ears and blind eyes is something that is perplexing and an enormous bewilderment for the people who are worried about their future generations.

With a very little or a complete absence of infrastructures and sheer lack of development, keeping swathes of land under forests cover or just for the heck of its ownership status does not serve any purpose to the owner or anyone except for preservation of flora and fauna and only giving an impetus or boost for the environmentalists. Everybody wants to atleast mint some cash having such huge lands because only a bleak scope or an utter barren hope of future industrialization seems to be in stock for them because people need money to survive and to meet their essential needs which are increasing day by day. Sometime back I was conversing about this issue with higher echelons of some bureaucrats and technocrats. All shared same opinion and concern about the future of Nagas with the advent of railways in our hilly regions.

But as usual, we Nagas always end up in talks, talks and talks only. Not much walking the talk follows suit and every worthwhile discussion ends up in nothingness. Railways do channel the growth toward dense city agglomerations and along their arteries and eases traffic too.

But in a tiny state like ours, here we are expanding our high-ways into four-lanes, so is there any requirement for the railways in our interior parts and regions?

Damage to the environment also usually happens greatly and in a place like ours where we have weak environmental laws, the environment is sure going to suffer heavily. Though our local Naga employment opportunities and some small scale industries in our land may benefit us to a certain extent but the real big profits all go outside rather than the hosts.

Railways may bring increase of trade and commerce but due to easy accessibility and availability of markets, major players and big corporations start investing their huge sums for bigger returns.

As a result the government starts dancing to their tune. In many places and history of railways, it ends up sucking the milk and honey of a land and exploits the rich mineral resources making the land dry up to its bones that end up at profits for only the rich industrialists and investors. That’s what happened to Indians during the British Raj too.

The Indian Government in all sincerity should not encourage this venture as the North- East is already a hub of huge influx from outside especially from Bangladesh. If it is serious in erecting the border fencing to protect its frontiers and the NE states from the influx why be determined on bringing a railway in our interior parts?

This railway link surely needs a serious debate involving the civil societies, student bodies, every Naga intellectuals and the church too. We need to give more seriousness about the repercussions on our future generations by the deeds we are doing without any thought at present .While our neighboring states govt. of Meghalaya and Manipur has started taking drastic measures against illegal immigration in their states, our state government is yet to show or make any step lackadaisical attitude and passive insensitivity in this serious issue will only bring decimation and depopulated Naga population in the very near future.

An old Arab proverb says ‘Trust in God but tie your camel.’ A more modern American version says ‘Trust in God but lock your car too’. Our land given by God should be our utmost duty to preserve and hand it over to our generations. I have written in the past about an old Red Indian proverb and I am writing it again now too ‘We do not own this land but we have borrowed it from our children’. Today I see many of our Naga people who starts saying that we should only be praying whenever such important issues are raised up.

Yes, prayers are very necessary and they bring wonders and miracles. But faith without work is hopeless as the Bible clearly says that. We should do our part and God will do the rest as God also helps only those who help themselves. As God has given us wisdom to do our part we ought to do that. Or else we may end ourselves like the Eagle in the fable above by our own deeds.

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.

Thursday 25•02•2016

EntErtainmEnt

Chinese singer exposes her lip-synching by holding her microphone UPSIDE DOWN

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well-known Chinese pop star accidentally revealed she was lip-synching instead of singing during a televised concert by brandishing her microphone the wrong way around. Sa Dingding, a 32-year-old folk singer-songwriter from Inner Mongolia, was performing yesterday at the Lantern Festival Gala broadcast on channel CCTV 15 when the embarrassing faux-pas occurred, according to a report

by People's Daily Online.

In 2009, China introduced a national ban on lip-synching by its pop stars following the controversy over the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, along with the promise of a hefty fine. Opening the song

with a section of interpretive dance, the star only realised she was holding her microphone upside down when she began singing.

The video shows Sa smiling sheepishly as she quickly reverses her mistake before carrying on with her performance like a true professional as if nothing had happened.

After the broadcast ended, Sa reportedly took to Sina Weibo to tell her 1.6 million followers: 'Next time I'll sharpen up my acting skills'. However, the post does not exist on Sa's account this morning. It's unclear whether or not she has taken it down. Some internet commenters were not surprised, believing lipsynching is not uncommon in China.

Demi Lovato clarifies criticism for Taylor Swift

D

emi Lovato is clearing the air following her latest comments on Taylor Swift's $250,000 donation to Kesha in the wake of her ongoing legal battle with Dr. Luke.

The singer says that sometimes situation compels her to say things that she shouldn't say.

Lovato on Sunday tweeted a message that could be construed as critical of Swift.

“Take something to Capitol Hill or actually speak out about something and then I’ll be impressed,” Sa, who released her she wrote on February 21. sixth LP 'The Butterfly Dream' in November last year, is known to sing in languages including Mandarin, Sanskrit, Tibetan, as well an imaginary language of her own creation.

In 2008 she won a World Music award from BBC Radio 3, being voted as the best singer in Asia and the Pacific.

Two famous Chinese starlets were handed a total fine of 80,000 yuan (£8,700) in January 2010 for miming during a staged concert in Sichuan, central China. One of the pair, Fang Ziyuan, made an almost identical mistake to Sa by holding her mic the wrong way up for half of her performance.

Lovato took to Instagram to vent her frustrations and clarify the original intent for her words aimed at the Grammy winner, reports eonline.com.

"As most people know, I tend to get fired up about the things I believe in, and although my heart and intentions are always in the right place, unfortunately sometimes my passion gets the best of me and causes me to say things that I probably shouldn't say," Lovato wrote.

"And when doing so takes away from the real reason I am speaking up in the first place. Our focus should be on the topic of victims of sexual and

H

K

onrad Annerud is making a name for himself with Leonardo DiCaprio’s face.

The Swedish musician made waves after a local newspaper realized the resemblance between the 21-year-old and Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio. Now, Annerud has his first modeling gig: a Ralph Lauren lookbook for Barneys New York.

The floppy-haired Instagram star, who recently signed a music deal with Universal, models the 2016 Spring Line, including a navy-blue pinstriped shirt and leather-

Source: MailOnline

in film and television over the past three decades.

Grant told the audience, "This is such a lovely surprise and a great honour and I’m very grateful to the BFI for thinking of me."

The British star was presented with the honour by Eric Fellner, the cochairman of production company Working Title, which has produced many of Grant's films, including Love Actually, Notting Hill

and Four Weddings and a Funeral.

BFI Chairman Greg Dyke also lauded the actor for his "prodigious" and "enormous" contribution to cinema, stating, "With impeccable comic timing and huge doses of his unique, ironic self-deprecating and very British charm, Hugh always pulls off the hardest thing of all a seemingly effortless performance. I can assure you

Sanjay Dutt to come out of jail with a salary of Rs.450

C M Y K

S

anjay Dutt is likely to walk a free man today after serving a jail term of 42-months in Pune's Yerwada Jail. Sanjay, son of late actor-politician Sunil Dutt, will walk out of the jail with just Rs 450.

The actor who worked as a semi-skilled-worker made paper bags and earned Rs 50 per day. He had earned over Rs 38,000 over a period

of five years but had spent a lot during his stay in the jail, a report in Times of India suggested.

"The actor should have received at least Rs 38,000 but he has already spent much of the amount on buying daily use items from the jail canteen. The balance to be paid to him is just Rs 450," The TOI quoted a source as saying.

Source: IANS

Leonardo doppelgänger books first modeling gig

Hugh Grant honoured with BFI Fellowship Award ugh Grant was honoured with the prestigious British Film Institute (BFI) Fellowship award during a ceremony in London on Tuesday night (23Feb16).

The Notting Hill star was presented with the organisation's highest honour during the BFI's Chairman's Dinner, where he was also saluted for his outstanding achievement

physical abuse being afraid to come forward with their stories. They're more likely to face retaliation and harassment than to see justice being serviced. Especially women," she added.

Lovato was also quick to specifically address Swift's donation after earlier criticism. "Everyone has their own way of giving support to others, and at the end of the day, helping victims is all that matters."

"Ultimately, the message I want people to hear is it's okay to come forward with your abuse and if you do decide to take action, you are not alone," she added.

The Bollywood actor was convicted by the Supreme Court of India in 2013 under the Arms Act for possessing a prohibited weapon in connection with the 1993 Mumbai blasts case. Sanjay had already served 18 months of his sentence as an under trial at Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail earlier.

Source: Zee Media Bureau

it’s not.

"He is a British icon and has been making literally billions of people all over the world laugh, cry and fall in love with him of course - for over 30 years."

Previous recipients of the BFI Fellowship award include Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ridley Scott, Dame Maggie Smith, Vanessa Redgrave, Sir Alec Guinness, and Michael Caine.

trimmed jogger pants. “Even if all people talk about is the fact that I’m a look-alike, f--- those guys, I’m here in NYC modeling,” Annerud told Barneys.

He’s already been recognized twice for his looks, he said, but Annerud also wants to be known for his musical talents, which he compares to Michael Jackson. “He’s like Jesus to me. I have Michael Jackson right there,” he said of a large black-and-white portrait of the musician tattooed on Annerud’s upper arm.

“This whole arm is going to be a smooth criminal theme.”

I have missed out on some of the biggest films: Raima Sen

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ctress Raima Sen, who is a known face in the BenSource: Contactmusic gali film industry, confesses that she is scared of auditions and she has missed out on some of the biggest films in Bollywood because of her laziness.

When asked the reason why her acting talent was not explored much in Bollywood, Raima says that she doesn’t think like that.

“I am very lazy. I have never gone to a director and asked to give a movie. I feel if a film is in my destiny, it will come to me,” she told IANS. "Also, I have never gone for auditions because I am scared of it. I have never tried Bollywood that much.

I get frightened when I go on to the stage. I feel I have missed out on some of the biggest films (because of this),” she added.

Raima will next be seen in Bollywood film titled “Bollywood Diaries”.

Talking about her character in the film, she said: "I am playing a girl called Imli in the film. She is very filmy and she wants to be part of

Raveena TanDon Jimmy Kimmel in talks to becomes 'highest paid' host 2016 Emmy Awards Bollywood actress on TV

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ctress Raveena Tandon, who will next be seen as a judge on upcoming dance reality show “Shine of India”, will reportedly get Rs.1.25 crore per episode thus making her the “highest paid Bollywood actress on TV”. Raveena, who has previously appeared on shows like “Sahib Biwi Gulam”, “Chhote Miyan”, “Comedy Ka Maha Muqabala” and “Simply Baatien With Raveena”, will co-judge the show along with actor Govinda and ace choreographer Saroj Khan.

According to a source close to the actress, she will get a huge amount from the makers. “Bollywood actors starring in TV series has now become an old saga. No doubt that these actors are paid a hefty amount as their presence not only doubles the entertainment quotient, but also it adds the much needed star value to the show. And maybe that’s the reason why Raveena has been paid a whopping amount of Rs.1.25 crore per episode for the reality show,” the source said. “This will make her the highest paid Bollywood actress on television,” the source added.

Interestingly, actress Shilpa Shetty and Madhuri Dixit, who previously appeared as judges on other reality shows, were said to have been paid Rs.1 crore per episode.

J

immy Kimmel is reportedly in negotiations to host this year's Emmy Awards.

It would mark the second time Kimmel would host the Emmy ceremony. His first round was back in 2012, reports variety. com.

He is also the creator and host of the American late-night talk show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!".

He’s also emceed numerous awards shows and industry

Source: NY Daily News

Bollywood film. She is full of life and keeps on thinking that when will someone notice her and give her a film."

“Bollywood Diaries” also features Ashish Vidyarthi, Karuna Pandey and Vineet Singh along with debutant Salim Diwan. The film is slated to release on February 26.

Source: IANS

Hillstar NOW SHOWING

gatherings, including the ESPY Awards, the American Music Awards and the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

This year’s Emmys will again originate from downtown Los Angeles’ Nokia Theater. The Television Academy has yet to specify the date beyond September.

The 68th Primetime Emmy Awards will be simulcast in India on Star World, Star World HD, FX and Star World Premiere HD. Source: IANS

11:00 Am

'Deadpool' mints Rs.29 crore in 10 days in India

R

yan Reynolds-starrer A-rated superhero film "Deadpool", which has been loved by critics and audiences alike, has raked in Rs.29 crore in just 10 days in the country.

"We are thrilled with the response for Deadpool from Indian audiences across the country. After a terrific opening, the film has had a great run at the boxing notching 29 crores in just 10 days. This is a fabulous number and beyond our expectations, considering it's not even a franchise film," Vijay Singh, CEO, Fox Star Studios, said in a statement.

"Deadpool has a massive word of mouth in both English and Hindi, and we are positive that the film will do extremely well in the coming weeks as well," he said.

In India, the film has outnumSource: IANS

bered the lifetime figures of franchise-based films such as aceStar Wars" and "Captain America" in just 10 days.

20th Century Fox is sitting pretty considering the movie cost a mere $58 million to make. Now the game of how to divvy up the spoils begins.

According to sources, star and producer Ryan Reynolds was paid $2 million upfront and is said to be the only actor eligible for box-office bonuses and backend compensation. He’s now likely to make more than $10 million from the movie and possibly much more, especially if it reaches $800 million in global sales as projected. The big payday is impressive considering Reynolds, 39, was ice cold after Green Lantern (2011) and R.I.P.D. (2013) flopped. He’s signed for a sequel, though sources say his WME

agents already are preparing for a big renegotiation that will significantly up his compensation for future installments.

Directed by Tim Miller, the film also stars Morena Baccarin, Ed Skerin, T.J Miller and Gina Carano.

Deadpool is a Marvel character who first appeared on the big screen as a villain in 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Fox quickly put a spinoff in the works, though the project languished as executives grappled with whether to make an R-rated superhero film and Reynolds' star power dimmed. When a test footage reel was leaked in August 2014, ardent fan reaction caused the studio to greenlight the movie with a budget in the $55 million-$60 million range.

Now it's turned into a bona fide new franchise for Fox. Source: IANS

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thursDAY 25•02•2016

SPORTS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Australia's return to the top hit by controversy Time's right, says departing McCullum

Australia, the new No. 1 Test side, pose with their the series trophies, New Zealand v Australia, 2nd Test, Christchurch, 5th day, February 24. (Getty Images)

C M Y K

ChristChurCh, February 24 (aFP): Australia sealed a 2-0 series victory over New Zealand to reach the top Test ranking Wednesday but captain Steve Smith was forced to defend their aggressive style as he was charged with dissent.

With Smith smacking 53 off 46 balls, Australia polished off the 131 runs they needed on the last day to reach their 201 target just after lunch in what was New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum's final Test.

The match had no sooner finished than Smith was charged over Tuesday's profanity-laced confrontation with the umpires that earlier saw fast bowler Josh Hazlewood fined 15 percent of his match fee.

Adam Voges was not out 10, while the only wickets to fall on day five were those of Joe Burns for 65 and Usman Khawaja for 45 as Australia finished on 201 for three to win by seven wickets. The victory confirmed Australia's superiority after they won the first Test by an innings and 52 runs, and allowed them to overtake India as the world's top Test side.

The brittle animosity throughout the series, which came to a head on Tuesday, was put aside the moment Voges hit the winning runs with a four.

Smith immediately searched out McCullum to shake his hand and congratulate him on his career.

"The way he played in the first innings to score the

fastest ever Test 100 is testament to the guy's character," Smith said.

"They were under the pump and he came out and took the game on and got them into a pretty good position."

McCullum's rollicking 145, in which he also reached a record 107 career sixes, was not enough to save New Zealand.

Man-of-the-match Joe Burns, having laid the foundations for victory with his 170 in the first innings, scored his fourth Test 50 before being bowled by Trent Boult for 65 just before lunch.

The series sweep made Australia world number one and earned them a US$1 million prize at the end of the cricket year.

Department of YR&S informs

KOhima, February 24 (mexN): The Department of Youth Resources & Sports has informed all sports associations/clubs/individuals that in the line with the sports policy for State Cash Awards, it will take up awards only for those disciplines sent through the Department for participating in the Regional, National and other outside tournaments.

Alonso rules out early exit from F1 barCeLONa, February 24 (aFP): Two-time former world champion Fernando Alonso has dismissed rumours he could take a sabbatical or even retire due to his frustration with McLaren's inability to compete at the front of the grid. The Spaniard signed a hugely lucrative three-year deal to join the Woking-based team in 2014, but suffered the most disappointing year of his career last season as McLaren's new partnership with Honda produced an unreliable car. Rumours emerged that the 34-year-old could fail to see out the season if he didn't see significant improvements from the MP4-31 early in the campaign.

However, he insisted he plans to fulfil his contract. "I am absolutely surprised, but every week there are rumours," said Alonso. Alonso managed more laps on his first day of pre-season testing in Barcelona on Tuesday than all of last season when his preparations were also hindered by a crash which forced him to miss the Australian Grand Prix. "Last year there was a lot of pain for us, but we learnt a lot of things and now with a completely new design and philosophy of power unit we have improved, but we still need a little bit of time."

United's Memphis says he has not justified price tag LONDON, February 24 (reuters): Manchester United winger Memphis Depay has said he has not lived up to expectations since his big-money transfer from Dutch side PSV Eindhoven, but is working hard to improve. Memphis joined United in June for a reported 25 million pounds ($35 million) after finishing the previous campaign as the Dutch league's top scorer with 22 goals, but has struggled to settle in England. The 22-yearold, described by manager Louis van Gaal as having the "potential to become a great footballer", has scored six goals in all competitions for United and two in the Premier League all season. "I haven't yet lived up to everything people expected of me," Memphis told British media. "I have a lot of expectations of myself, and it will come." The winger said he was working closely with former midfielder and United assistant manager Ryan Giggs in a bid to find consistency and eliminate the mistakes that have dogged his campaign. "He works a lot with me and he and Wayne Rooney give me lots to think about. That really inspires me because they are legends."

Mourinho says Man Utd top job is 'million dollar question' siNgaPOre, February 24 (aFP): Sacked Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said Wednesday he is "happy not to have a job" at the moment and kept coy about taking the helm at Manchester United, saying that was "a one million-dollar question". Mourinho spoke before students at a suburban secondary school in Singapore in conjunction with a scholarship foundation set up by Valencia Football Club owner Peter Lim, who is from the city-state. Asked by a student United fan whether he would be the next manager of the English Premier League club, Mourinho replied: "That's a one million-dollar question that nobody knows, and I'm the first one not to know." The Portuguese also said he was amused by all the media speculation about his next job following his sacking in December after a disastrous start to the season.

"Every day new things are coming, but the reality is that I have no job and at this moment I'm happy not to have a job."

ChristChurCh, February 24 (aFP): New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum insisted the time was right to quit international cricket on Wednesday despite hitting one of his best innings just days earlier.

It was not the way the 34-year-old wanted to retire, as Australia completed a 2-0 series sweep by winning the second Test by seven wickets.

But McCullum did mark his swansong in trademark fashion, setting records for the fastest century and most sixes in Test history (107).

When the match ended, with an Adam Voges four getting Australia to the 201 they needed for victory, there were emotional scenes as McCullum led his side from Christchurch's tree-lined Hagley Oval.

Australian captain Steve Smith, not out 53, ran over to shake McCullum's hand. When New Zealand had needed patience to occupy the crease for long periods of time to save the Test, McCullum could not hold back his natural aggression.

He smashed a first innings 145 in 79 balls, including the first ever 54ball century, and 25 off 27 in his second bat.

But despite his own he-

Brendon McCullum of New Zealand and his family look on during the presentation after his final test during day five of the Test match between New Zealand and Australia at Hagley Oval on February 24, 2016 in Christchurch, New Zealand. (Getty Images)

roics, what mattered most for McCullum was the result and it did not turn out as wanted in his 101st and final Test.

"It's not the ideal way to go out but at the same time, I've had a great time," he said. "We're obviously disappointed to lose the Test match and the series but the right team won."

As he shut down his international career there

were no tears from McCullum, although he was moved by a guard of honour by the Australians.

McCullum has been sidelined by a back injury in recent weeks and he said he knew it was "time to move on".

"The time's right. I came to that realisation when I made the decision and I knew I could steel myself for another couple of chal-

lenges," he said.

"Hopefully I've left and brought some fun and enjoyment and some real culture back into the set-up in the time that I've had as captain. Reflecting on his career, McCullum said he now felt relieved it was all over. "What comes with the good times also comes with its challenges. You walk away knowing that you've been able to front up and

try to go out there and get a performance on the board and I guess now you're a little bit relieved," he said.

He said he hoped to be remembered "as a guy who played for the right reasons and who, if in doubt, was prepared to take the positive option."

McCullum finished his Test career with 6,453 runs at an average 38.64. He scored 12 centuries and 31 half-centuries.

His swashbuckling style has produced multiple records. He is the only New Zealander to score a triple century, with 302 against India two years ago.

He also holds the record for the most consecutive Tests, never missing a game since his career began in 2004, and he is New Zealand's second most successful captain with a winning percentage of 35.48, behind Geoff Howarth's 36.66.

In Twenty20 internationals, where his big hitting was welcomed, he holds world records for the most runs (2,140), most centuries (two), most 50s (15), most sixes (91) and most fours (199).

He scored his fastest ODI 50 in 18 balls and has hit four ODI 50s in 20 balls or less, second only to Pakistan's Shahid Afridi who achieved the feat six times.

Messi magic leaves Arsenal spellbound

LONDON, February 24 (aFP): Lionel Messi left Arsenal spellbound as the Barcelona striker's clinical double sealed a 2-0 last 16, first leg victory that put the Champions League holders firmly on course for the quarter-finals on Tuesday.

Barca coach Luis Enrique joked this week that all he needed to do was shout 'Abracadabra' for Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez to deliver the kind of magic display that would bewilder the Gunners.

On this occasion, it was Messi who answered his coach's call with a secondhalf brace as the Spanish champions survived a stern examination from Arsene Wenger's side to escape the Emirates Stadium with a result likely to condemn the hosts to a sixth successive last-16 exit.

The leaders of La Liga, chasing a sixth European Cup triumph, are now unbeaten in 33 games in all competitions -- a blistering streak that includes 14 wins from their last 15 games.

After being dazzled by Messi's magic wand, it will take an act of astonishing escapology for Arsenal to go through in the return leg at the Camp Nou on March 16.

Messi had never scored against Cech in six encoun-

ters with the Arsenal goalkeeper during his time at Chelsea.

But the Argentine did have six goals in his four meetings with Arsenal and he extended his mastery over the Gunners in the 71st minute.

In the blink of an eye, Neymar turned defence into attack as he seized on a clearance, flicked a pass to Suarez on the left and sprinted onto the return ball.

For virtually the first time all night, Arsenal had left themselves exposed and Neymar slipped a pass to Messi, who was left all alone to plant an emphatic finish past Cech.

It mattered little as Arsenal sealed their own fate in the 84th minute when substitute Mathieu Flamini, exposed by Per Mertesacker's sloppy clearance, conceded a penalty with a crude challenge on Messi, who picked himself up to slot home from the spot.

Sturaro rescues Juve in dramatic Bayern draw Super-sub Stefano Sturaro came off the bench to hit a late equaliser in a 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich as outclassed Juventus rescued their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday. Bayern dominated

Messi scores from the spot. (Getty Images)

throughout a one-sided encounter at a packed Juventus Stadium and took a 43rd-minute lead through Thomas Mueller.

Arjen Robben doubled the Germans' advantage

on 55 minutes but the 2013 champions paid for a series of earlier misses when Paulo Dybala netted on the hour and Sturaro hit a dramatic leveller 14 minutes from time.

It leaves the tie still very much alive, although on this performance Pep Guardiola's men will be favourites to secure their lasteight place after the second leg in three weeks' time.

LPG NOTICE

All LPG consumers of Nagaland are requested to submit their Aadhar details to their concerned LPG distributor for continuing LPG subsidy and ensuring uninterrupted refill supplies.

KOHIMA LPG DISTRIBUTORS ASSOCIATION

Sania MirzaHingis extends unbeaten streak to 41 matches DOha, February 24 (Pti): Indian tennis star Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis survived a scare before pulling off a three-set win over the Chinese pair of YiFan Xu and Saisai Zheng in the WTA Qatar Open to extend their unbeaten streak to 41 matches here today.

The top seeded Indo-Swiss pair toiled for one hour and 24 minutes to prevail 6-4 4-6 10-4 over the unseeded Chinese duo to enter the quarterfinals. They got a bye in the first round in the hard court USD 2,818,000 prize money tournament.

Sania and Hingis have together won four titles this year out of an overall trophy count of 13.

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