February 6th, 2017

C M Y K

www.morungexpress.com

MonDAY • FebruArY 06 • 2017

DIMAPUR • Vol. XII • Issue 34 • 12 PAGes • 5

T H e

ESTD. 2005

P o W e R

Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict

Philippines government says church “out of touch” in attacking drugs war PAGe 09

reflections

By Sandemo Ngullie

Exotic Echo – reflecting our voice to the world

Our Correspondent Kohima | February 5

The Angami Youth Organization (AYO) media cell today informed that the bandh in Kohima will continue on February 6 from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. The following will be exempted from the purview of the bandh: All educational institution including government and private schools, government and private colleges, district administration and police stations, fire and emergency services, all banks, all central government offices, BSNL/ Telecom and Head Post Office, Nagaland State Transport (NST), Power Sub- Stations, Kohima Municipal Council (KMC), Nagaland Public Services Commission (NPSC), Nagaland Board of School Education (NBSE), Primary Health Centres and Dispensaries, hotels / eateries, Business community, private vehicles and pedestrians.

Restriction on govt offices in Mokokchung

C M Y K

M o ko kc h u n g, F e b r ua ry 5 (Mexn): The Ao Senden Joint Coordination Committee has resolved to “restrict” the functioning of all government offices and movement of government registered vehicles till their demands, through the Naga Tribal Hohos, are met. This “bandh” will be imposed in the Mokokchung administrative headquarters and sub-divisional administrative headquarters under Mokokchung district. Establishments exempted from the restriction are: Business establishments, Medical services, Banks, Postal, Power department (SDO Mokokchung Div) PHED Controlman, Fire and emergency Services, Telecom, NST & Private Transportations, MMC garbage workers and Vehicles, paramilitary forces Security personnel, Media persons, Educational Institutions, DEO & SDEO Officials and Principals from different Colleges. However, government designated vehicles belonging to DEO, SDEO and Principal shall not be allowed to ply. This was resolved at a meeting held on February 5, and informed through a press note from Ao Senden JCC Convenor A. Bendangnukshi Jamir and CoConvenor N. Bendang Jamir. It appealed for the “general public” to “bear the inconvenience” as the said “movement” is “solely for our welfare and rights.”

ICC begins ‘Big Three’ rollback despite India objection PAGE 12

will continue ‘i helplessly watched my NMA work as ‘Voice for wife drain her life away’ the Voiceless’ Imti Longchar

Bandh to continue in Kohima

T R u T H

— William Ellery Channing

PAGE 02

With not even the basic of medical facility, road communication cut-off, a young farmer from Kengjung village shares his ordeal of helplessly watching his wife die at childbirthamid hope that authorities intervene to save lives in the village i belive in total equalityheights weight etc etc.

o F

Kengjung | February 5

As the flow of blood became rapid and it did not seem to subside, Hathung, 28, standing by the bedside with a soiled cloth, one of the countless which lay strewn on the floor, watched his wife Keshe drain her life away in helpless despair.

He turned around; saw the same helpless looks in the eye of his relatives who had gathered by the bedside during a stormy evening at Kengjung village in 2015.

August 1, 2015 to be exact, Keshe, who had been down with bouts of fever for days, had just given birth to a baby girl. Complications arose when she started suffering from postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), a leading cause of maternal mortality in rural areas where medical help is hard to come by.

Childbirth is a risky affair in Kengjung village, which is located some 80 kilometers of back breaking road from Noklak town, under Tuensang district.

There is neither a dispensary in the village nor a nurse to assist women giving birth. The situation is aggravated by a cultur-

Hathung (28) seen here in Kengjung village in Tuensang district. (Photo by Imti Longchar)

al taboo, which restricts women from giving assistance during childbirth- if problem arise in the health of the woman giving birth.

The superstition that health complications faced by women during birth would be ‘transmitted’ to those assisting her restricts womenfolk, except for some elderly few, to lend a hand during childbirth.

In such an insurmountable setting, Hathung watched with hopelessness

as her wife breathed her last. “I watched her die and I couldn’t do anything,” the simple unforgiving refrain from the grieving farmer, despite knowing it was beyond his human power to save her.

The only flicker of hope had been an ambulance, which was available at Thonokyu, a subdivisionthree hours away, Hathung said. Multiple landslides had cut-off the road to Thonokyu. The other option- would have been a

seemingly never-ending five-hour drive to Noklak town, if one had access to a vehicle, was also cut-off by landslides.

Every monsoon, from June to October, Kengchung village is completely cut-off from the rest of the world by landslides. It is during this time that the inhabitants become more susceptible to health complication. Even a simple illness can turn life threatening in the absence of

medical care.

Though inexperienced in natal care, Hathung had helped deliver their first child without much a difficulty. However, this time, things were different.

“I remember. Keshe had not being feeling well for quite a while. However, we could not procure medicine because we never have enough money. The road was also completely blocked by landslide, even if we could take her for treatment,” Hathung recalled.

There is remorse in the heart of the young farmer.

“Only if there had been a dispensary or a nurse…a professional helper in child birth to help us, Keshe may have survived…” Hathung said wistfully. However, these are thoughts, which the young farmer would rather not discuss because it does not give any solace but only anger and more hurt.

“I only wish the government can bring us a dispensary and a medical practitioner here in the village so that lives can be saved and we don’t have to watch our dear ones die every time,” Hathung expressed.

Imti Longchar is a journalist with The Morung Express and had travelled with the team to Kengjung

kohiMa, February 5 (Mexn): In the face of mounting patriarchal opposition, the Naga Mothers’ Association (NMA) has stood firm and reiterated that it will not be dissolved “on the direction of outside forces,” and that its work of being a “Voice for the Voiceless” on women’s rights and social issues will continue.

“The NMA was founded in 1984 by a group of committed Naga Mothers for social changes and till today, we carry on the vision and work for peace and social change, without any compromise or favour,” stated the NMA in a press release it was compelled to issue today after multiple tribe-based women organizations in Nagaland State were pressurized to withdraw from the NMA. The Association objected to the statement from “a respected body” alleging that the NMA has “lost direction and the confidence of the people.”

The NMA reminded that the legal case taken up on the women reservation issue had been with the “full support and consent” of the NMA tribe units, the Watsu Mungdang, Tenyimia Women Organisation, Eastern Nagaland Women Organisation and the Naga Women Hoho Dimapur under the Joint Action Committee on Women Reservation (JACWR).

In the successive consultative meetings held with the Naga Hoho, ENPO on December 12, 2016 and another on December 19, 2016 with the different tribe bodies in the APO Hall, the JACWR had made its stand known to the apex bodies that the JACWR “stood for reservation and democratic election and not nomination, which was offered to the women leaders,” noted the press release.

The decision of the JACWR not to be able to withdraw the Special Leave Petition (SLP) at that point of time was conveyed to the leaders. However, given the “compulsive situations faced by the women, the JACWR later agreed on withdrawal of the SLP in the interest of peace in the society,” it stated.

For those who continue to express disbelief that the petition for withdrawal of the SLP has been submitted to the Supreme Court, the NMA informed that “the Petition for withdrawal of the Civil Appeal and the Writ petition in the Supreme Court has been duly filed in the Supreme Court on the 30th January 2017, and a copy given to the respondent party, which is the State government. Anyone can cross check the Supreme Court website and verify the Petition by the two petitioners.”

Accordingly, the decision to dissolve the JACWR was taken on February 1.

Firm against tyranny: DNYF cM calls for consultative meet

Morung Express News Dimapur | February 5

The current imbroglio concerning Urban Local Bodies (ULB) polls which has engulfed the state has resulted in the ruling dispensation coming under increasing attack from various quarters.

On Sunday, the Dimapur Naga Youth Front (formerly Dimapur Naga Youth Organisation) accused the state government of violating human rights and in

this regard, asked the Chief Minister to step down on moral grounds instead of “boasting” about the number of MLAs backing him.

Claiming that Nagas in Dimapur are prepared to go to any extent to fight for justice, the DNYF vowed that it will stand firm against the “tyranny” of the present government.

Further, the Youth Front demanded the immediate restoration of internet and mobile services.

Mobile and internet servic-

es in the state remain suspended since January 30.

The Front warned of “stern action” if its demand goes unheeded.

Meanwhile, the Youth Front extended condolences to the families of Khriesavizo Metha and Bendangnungsang. The DNYF also extended sincere appreciations to the youths of Diphupar, its village council, and the Angami Youth Organisation for their commitment and for “inspiring the Nagas”.

Penalty of equal amount for receiving cash over Rs 3 lakh

neW DeLhi, February 5 (PTi): In a bid to check generation of black money, a steep penalty awaits those accepting cash in excess of Rs 3 lakh, beginning April 1, to settle any transaction. A ban on cash transaction of more than Rs 3 lakh has been proposed in the Budget for 2017-18. In an interview to PTI, revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia said the penalty for doing cash transaction will be steep and the receiver will have to pay an amount equivalent to the cash received. “Supposing you do a transaction of Rs 4 lakh in cash, then the penalty would be Rs 4 lakh. If you do a transaction of Rs 50 lakh, penalty would be Rs 50 lakh,” he said, adding that the penalty will be levied on the receiver.

So, if someone buys an expensive watch for cash, it is the shopkeeper who will have to pay the tax, he said, adding that the provision is to deter people from doing large cash transactions. Demonetisation brought to account the stock of black money and now the government wants to stop future generation of the same. The government, he said, will track all large cash transactions, and also curb the avenues of conspicuous consumption through cash. People with large sum of unaccounted money usually

spend it on holidaying or buying luxury items like cars, watches and jewellery. The new cash curbs will mean that such spending avenues are curtailed, disincentivising people from generating black money.

Adhia said that the previously notified rule of quoting PAN for any cash transaction above Rs 2 lakh stays.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had in his Budget for 2017-18 proposed to insert Section 269ST in the IncomeTax Act to state that “no person shall receive an amount of Rs 3 lakh or more by way of cash in aggregate from a person in a day; in respect of a single transaction; or in respect of transactions relating to one event or occasion from a person”.

However, the restrictions will not apply to the government, any banking company, post office savings bank or co-operative bank. Adhia said the Budget proposes to levy penalty on a person who receives Rs 3 lakh and above. A panel of Chief Ministers headed by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had in its interim report just days before the Budget recommended a cap on cash transactions beyond a threshold and a tax on payments of over Rs 50,000 as a way of discouraging people from using physical currency.

kohiMa, February 5 (Mexn): Nagaland Chief Minister TR Zeliang has called for a Consultative Meet with all tribal Hohos on Wednesday, February 8, 10 am at the State Banquet Hall, Kohima, to discuss the various problems and issues arising out of the ULB elections in the State and to discuss how these issues could be resolved amicably.

This was stated in a

one dies after falling from cliff Morung Express News Kohima | February 5

A student of St. Joseph’s College Jakhama, hailing from Thekrujuma village, fell off a cliff called Chieziezho above the College on February 4 and died. His body was retrieved early morning of February 5 following joint efforts by local youth and the State Government.

A group of student trekkers had gone up to the cliff on February 4. Two stayed back even as the rest returned, of which one student went missing at around 2.30 pm. A whole night search led to his body being spotted at around 7.00am Sunday. The search and rescue operation was conducted by the Southern Angami youth in coordination with the State Disaster Response Force of Home Guards and Civil Defence. The student was said to have fallen down a vertical cliff almost 1500 feet high amidst strong winds and into a forest fire; his body, clothes and equipment were found partially burned.

A send off ceremony was held in Jakhama on Sunday morning.

press release from the Media Cell of the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) today.

The CMO has requested the presidents of Naga Hoho, CNTC and ENPO to attend the meeting with four members, and the presidents of APO, Ao Senden, Sumi Hoho, Lotha Hoho, Chakhesang Public Organisation, Pochury Hoho, Zeliangrong Baudi Nagaland, Rengma Hoho, Yimchunger Tribal Council, United Sangtam

Likhum Bumji, Khiamniungam Tribal Council, Chang Khulei Setsang, Phom People’s Council, Konyak Union, and President, Nagaland GB Federation with four other members .

Apart from deciding to submit a memorandum to the Prime Minister of India to exempt Nagaland State from Part IX of the Constitution through an Ordinance, the Nagaland State Cabinet also decid-

ed to “request the Prime Minister to impress upon the Government of Myanmar not to construct any fencing along the IndoMyanmar international border in order to uphold the age-old traditional landholding system of the Naga people living on both sides of the border, the Free Movement Regime between India and Myanmar, and the Act East Policy of the Government of India.”

ntAc shocked by Govt decision

kohiMa, February 5 (Mexn): The Nagaland Tribes Action Committee (NTAC), Kohima, has expressed shock over the decision of the Nagaland State Legislative Assembly Cabinet to submit a memorandum to the Prime Minister of India to “amend Part IX-A” of the Constitution of India.

“The Nagaland Assembly, being empowered by the constitution, has been using the Article 371(A) to enact laws like the Nagaland Municipal Act 2001 and other Laws. Using the same pow-

er it has been amending them as well,” reminded a press release from the NTAC Convenor KT Vilie and Secretary CT Jamir.

They found shocking that these facts have been ‘forgotten’, instead calling for an amendment to Part IX-A of the Constitution of India. “This move of the Cabinet is sheer mockery of the State Assembly itself, the Democracy of the State and the people of the State in general,” stated the NTAC. Maintaining that this decision is a “total sell out” of the Ar-

ticle 371 (A) of the Constitution, the NTAC felt that this “confirms” the “urgency of the demand for Chief Minister’s resignation before further damage to the State is committed.”

Meanwhile, the Committee appealed to all “government servants” and the “general public” to continue to extend their “co-operation” to the “ongoing people’s movement” till “normalcy” is attained through the NTAC’s “non-negotiable demand for justice from the Government of the day.”

Naga Hoho condemns ‘unfortunate events’

kohiMa, February 5 (Mexn): The Naga Hoho has expressed ‘pain’ over the “chain of unfortunate events” in Nagaland State. “These were the consequence of the Govt of Nagaland’s unwillingness to listen to the voice of the people,” the Naga Hoho stated today in a ‘condemnation’ note from its General Secretary Mutsikhoyo Yhobu.

Maintaining that the Naga Hoho will “remain steadfast” with the Naga people despite its “shortcoming and failures,” it reminded how the Hoho

has been “consistent in its opposition to the election of the ULBs vis-à-vis the municipal act.” Various consultations were held and communiqués given to the extent of serving an ultimatum to the government, which, however, went “unheeded,” the Naga Hoho lamented.

It condemned the acts of the government and its machinery that led to the killings and injuries, while giving condolences to the bereaved families.

The Naga Hoho stated that when “power hungry and cor-

rupt people rule, the government becomes blind and deaf to the suffering and cries of the people.”

Further, when the government “does not listen to the voice of the people, can treacherously betray its own commitments made in the presence of our highest sacred institution and even goes to the extent of taking the lives of the son of the soil,” it has “lost the moral right to govern the people and it should gracefully step down if the leaders have any conscience,” maintained the Hoho.

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monDAY 06•02•2017

NAGALAND

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Exotic Echo – reflecting our voice to the world

(Above) Sonnie Kath, founding member of Exotic Echo Society (EES) at the EES office.

(Right) Loinloom products of EES ready for display.

Shührazhüo A. Mao Dimapur | February 5

T

he word ‘Echo’ means the reflection of a sound. When Sonnie Kath, alongside some others, established the ‘Exotic Echo Society’ (EES) in 2008, first as a self help group, she imagined the Society to echo the losing cultural dynamics of the Nagas to society at large.

“We want to let people hear our voice,” says Kath, founder member and entrepreneur at EES. The Society began with bringing together exploited women weavers to gain experience of fair labour practices. “Women are tied down with responsibilities for which they have to stay at home most of the time. Exotic Echo wanted to make home based work productive for rural women,” explains Kath.

With the help of a few others, particularly Indranil Biswas and family, Exotic Echo today has 200 members, consisting mostly of home workers and school drop outs, all women.

There are around 90 full time weavers who

earn Rs. 3000-4000 per month.

Livelihood through Tradition It is not easy for the EES to support such an enterprise. The EES is able to sustain the livelihoods of these weavers because of how they operate, without huge infrastructure.

Raw materials like cotton are cultivated in Phek district.

“Cotton cultivation is not labour intensive and gives high income as the market price is Rs 240/- per kg,” informs Kath. However, a number of other difficulties play up as the sector remains disorganized. “Even the Nagaland government has no handloom directorate till date,” she laments.

In order to keep up, Indranil Biswas, another founding member of EES, came up with the idea of a Loinloom Festival with the theme ‘Livelihood through Tradition’. The Festival, held every winter, not only supports the livelihoods of those working at the EES, it also opens up local talent to tourists and other interested people from outside Nagaland State. “They really enjoy the weaving festival,” says Kath, who co-organizes the Festival.

Their products are comparatively more expensive than others because these are considered “artistic textiles.”

“The weaving is highly time consuming and woven with great strength by the women. This is practiced by only a few tribes in the world,” Sonnie Kath explains of the traditional Naga back strap weaving method, also known as a Loinloom. Making the yarn takes a lot of time and skill, after which it is dyed from February to April before the rains start in the region. Another important factor in making the loinloom textiles is that finishing is done with a natural dye and there are no added chemicals.

work with Weavers’ Studio which also promotes traditional products. Then there is Mahalaxmi Saras exhibition, which is an initiative of the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India,” lists Kath, the vibrant woman entrepreneur.

In Goa, their NGO partner organizes retreat programs (Samata Holistic retreat center) which focus on promoting everything natural and organic, especially food products.

Products get huge national and international exposure on this platform. There is an upcoming exhibition in Laos, and a major exhibition in Japan in 2019, organized by Biodye. Local weavers will be taken to these for live demonstration of their work that goes into producPromotion & marketing ing the loinloom textiles—to “showcase the The Exotic Echo Society promotes itself amount of hard work, skill and dedication it through exhibitions. The loinloom festivals takes and also the amount of time given for this are held every December in Diezephe village. long process,” maintains Kath.

The next exhibition they will participate in is at Craft Museum, New Delhi.

Tribal pride “The government hosts only typical tribal Loinloom weaving is about tribal pride. handicrafts to be displayed for a month. Lots Entrepreneur Sonnie Kath acknowledges of foreigners, especially Europeans, like our that “Our own people don’t respect the hiscotton products. In Kolkata, we share a net- tory and culture behind the textiles we wear.”

Entrance exam for AR Public School

2nd inter collegiate gospel beat contest

Kohima, February 5 (mexN): Kros College is all set to conduct the 2nd edition of Inter Collegiate Gospel Beat Contest from February 13-14. Gugs Chishi, Director, Music Task Force and musician Alobo Naga will grace the occasion as invitees. Judges will be Mele Pucho, Director, Symphony Academy of Music/Symphony School of Music Kohima, Bendang Kichu, drummer of Divine Connection and Kosapong, musician, guitar teacher, Symphony Academy of Music.

Angami Catholic Union appeals to pray

Kohima, February 5 (mexN): In view of the prevailing situation in Nagaland, Angami Catholic Union (ACU) has earnestly appealed to its members and all well wishers to pray for the same in their families, village churches, centres and parishes. “In view of the uneasy calm prevailing amidst continued indefinite shutdown on the State government across Nagaland, and in view of the urgent need to find an amicable solution to the issues that have arisen out of the ULBs election in the state, it is imperative that we turn to the source of true wisdom-Almighty God,” stated a press release from Rocus Chasie, Convenor, Advisory Committee and Vikehielie Victor, Vice President of ACU. “May God guide, direct and inspire our leaders to take decisions that are wise, just and balanced,” it added.

CNTC postpones meeting

Dimapur, February 5 (mexN): The Central Nagaland Tribes Council (CNTC) has postponed its meeting scheduled for February 7 at its Dimapur office in view of the Nagaland Tribes Action Committee’s meeting planned to be held on the same day in Kohima. The CNTC meeting has been postponed till further notice, informed its General Secretary, Imtinochet.

Red Cross essay, painting, photography contest

Kohima, February 5 (mexN): All the intending participants for the Junior & Youth Red Cross Essay, Painting & Photography competition have been informed that the last date of submission of entry to the competition has been extended till March 31, 2017 due to “unavoidable circumstances.” This was informed in a press release issued

by Dr. Kepelhusie Terhüja, General Secretary, IRCSN.

FUNERAL SERVICE

She points out how during the days of Naga foreparents, headhunters had different shawls as did feast givers to demarcate their positions in the village and society. Common folk wore other common shawls.

According to her, foreigners and tourists who buy this stuff have better understanding and appreciation of the significance, work and time given to develop these textiles and other tribal influenced products.

However, problems persist with many others copying tribal art without permission or acknowledgement of the tribes. Kath quotes GK Rao, an intellectual on the matter, who said that the government can give “constituent rights to tribeswomen.” This means that whenever anyone wants to replicate a particular design from a particular tribe in their art/craft works, they would have to first seek permission from the tribeswoman who is the keeper of these patterns.

For Kath, Article 371-A should be used to protect and further rights such as these to preserve “tribal pride.”

The writer is currently an intern at The Morung Express

Kohima, February 5 (mexN): Assam Rifles Public School (ARPS) will conduct an entrance exam in Imphal, Agartala, Dimapur and Jorhat Nodal Centres for selection of Below Poverty Line (BPL) beneficiary students of North East to study at ARPS under the sponsorship of North Eastern Council (NEC) on February 12. A press release from PRO, Assam Rifles informed that students should be in possession of the following documents during the admission to verify socio economic A boy with a bamboo basket is seen returning from the forest with his mother carrying firewood at Kengjung Village, some background: 80 kilometer away from Noklak Town under Tuensang district. (Morung Photo) • Annual income not more

than Rs 60,000/- per annum.

• Aadhaar Card/ Ration Card endorsing BPL (Below Poverty Line) status duly certified by Government representative/ issuing authority.

• Certificate duly signed

by Gram Pradhan/Village Headman stating that living standard of parents of the students is Below Poverty Line.

• Character certificate of last two years duly signed by the Principal of the school in which the student had last studied.

• Result sheet of past two years duly verified by Principal.

NPRAAF appeals CM and his cabinet to resign

Dimapur, February 5 (mexN): Nagaland Public Rights Awareness and Action Forum (NPRAAF) has condemned the killing of Bendangnungsang Longkumer and Khriesavizo Metha on the night of January 31 in a police firing in Dimapur.

A press release from the Information and Publicity Wing of the Forum opined that the unfortunate situation could have been averted had the State government honored the agreement made between the Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) and the government witnessed

by NBCC on January 30 at Chumukedima to postpone the ULB elections. It maintained that the government “with its unholy act” has lost

KTC condemns January 31 incident

TueNsaNg, February 5 (mexN): The Khiamniungan Tribal Council (KTC) has condemned the January 31 incident in Dimapur, where two youths – Bendangnungsang Longkumer and Khriesavizo Metha – were killed.

In solidarity with the rest of Naga tribes, the KTC paid homage to the “brave departed souls who have given their supreme sacrifice for the people’s good will and mandate to govern.

NPRAAF appealed to the Chief Minister TR Zeliang and his cabinet to immediately resign “without much waste of time weighting the gravity of the social unrest in the State rather than demanding more paramilitary forces

common cause of the Nagas.”

A press release from P Mongchuo, President and Puchai PM, General Secretary of KTC further expressed condolences to the bereaved families.

The KTC also termed the incident “highly uncalled for owing to the serious lacunae in the existing state government machinery.” It demanded that the State government should immediately bring justice and answer to the cry

from the Center to intimidate people’s movement or going signature drive with MLAs to hold on to chair disregarding people’s voice, after having lost its credibility.”

Stating that the situation has flared up beyond interpretation of Article 371A “as the people have

of the Nagas. The KTC held a meeting regarding the issue on February 4 at its HQ Noklak and unanimously resolved to stand with the rest of the Nagas though the election to the Noklak Town Council (NTC) was held as per the directions received from the State Election Commission (SEC). Further, KTC resolved that “it stands unquestionably clear in abiding with the general interest of the Nagas,” the release added.

lost faith in the Government,” NPRAAF further said the decision of the cabinet to meet the Prime Minister to exempt Nagaland from purview of part IX-A of the constitution of India is “hilariously foolish”.

The Government, it said, should call a special assembly session to again

revoke the Nagaland Municipal Act “reiterating the 2012 resolution and further revoking the 2016 resolution.” The 60 legislators need not go to Prime Minister's door for exemption from the purview of part IX-A to “stultify” itself, it added.

Meanwhile, NPRAAF

termed it wrong to impose ULB elections against people’s wish “though it views women’s reservation policy good and progressive.”

Stating that the voice of the Nagas must be “paramount”, the Forum supported the civil societies’ “legitimate demands”.

Further, it stated, “NPF should not try to politicize and project the unprecedented situation in the State as power struggle between Chief Minister TR Zeliang and MP (Lok Sabha) Neiphiu Rio as the civil societies spontaneously opposed the ULB polls and the Lok Sabha MP has done nothing wrong coming back to Nagaland from Delhi in solidarity with the Nagas as the lone MP directly elected by the people.”

DBS provides financial help to students from poor background

The funeral service of Late Rev. Wekheno Kath Rengma will be held at Sishunu Baptist Church, Sishunu village, on 6th February 2017 at 11 am. The funeral service will be organized jointly by the CRBC (Council of Rengma Baptist Churches) ordained Ministers and Sishunu Baptist Church. Late Rev. Wekheno Kath Rengma was the first ordained Minister from among the Northern Rengmas.

Sd/Funeral Committee

Dimapur, February 5 (mexN): Dimapur Bangali Samaj (DBS) today provided financial assistance to students from weaker sections of the society in the form of admission fees and distributed textbooks in a special function organized at Shree Shree Ram Thakur Ashram here.

A total of 75 students were given admission fees and admitted to various schools in the city, while ten students of different classes were provided textbooks, informed a press release from N. Barua, Finance Secretary, DBS. One very important aspect of the function, the release

said, was the help rendered to ten students of Shashtri Samaj, whose members live in the tents near railway tracks.

At the event, DBS President, Kamalakant highlighted the various philanthropic projects undertaken by the Dimapur Bangali Samaj and pledged further to continue the good work being done by the Samaj with the active cooperation of its members, according to the release.

Prof. Debasish Datta (retired) and Prof. KP Avikasit (retired) graced the event as the chief guest and guest of honour respectively. Other dignitaries who attended the

function included Advocate Swapan Paul, Advocate Yogendra Gupta, Sunil Chakraborty, Abhijit Bhattacharjee, Prabir Sarkar, RM Bagchi, Shankar Debnath, Prof Chhanda Dutta, Prof. Dulal Mazumdar, Ram Prasad Paul, Nirmalendu Baruah, Harender Gupta.

The guests congratulated the Bangali Samaj for their noble venture and exhorted the students to accept the challenges of life by pursuing their studies in all earnest and becoming good human beings and better citizens, and also to share the social responsibilities after being able to do so, according to A young student receives textbooks provided by the Dimapur Bangali Samaj on February 5 in Dimapur. the press release.

Monday 06•02•2017

NORTH-EAST 3

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Political realignments could see Over 600 affected by dengue in Mizoram some strange bedfellows in Tripura AgArtAlA, FebruAry 5 (IANS): A year ahead of the assembly polls in Tripura - under Left rule for over two decades now -- a realignment of opposition parties and leaders has already begun as they seek to defeat the existing dispensation -- making for some rather strange alliances.

Biplab Kumar Deb, the Tripura unit chief of the Bharatiya Janata Party (B JP), has held separate meetings with Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Biswabandhu Sen and former Congress legislature party leader and incumbent MLA Ratan Lal Nath, raising the possibility that the duo might join the saffron outfit.

"To defeat the ruling Left parties, a 'mahajote' (grand alliance) would be formed among the opposition political parties," Deb said rather enigmatically when asked wheter Sen and Nath would join the BJP, adding: "During the 24 years of uninterrupted rule of the Left Front, no development had taken place in Tripura. Central funds were misused and unemployment has risen."

The TMC's main leader and legislator Sudip Roy Barman has endorsed Deb. "We would go any extent to

form a 'mahajote' among all opposition parties" to defeat the Left Front in the assembly elections, Barman asserted.

Barman, then with the Congress, had quit along with five MLAs and joined the TMC, opposing his party's alliance with the Left in the West Bengal assembly elections last year.

A 'mahajote', it should be remembered, is a rare phenomenon in Indian politics. It was last seen when the Janata Dal-United (JDU), the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress came together to roundly defeat the BJP in the 2015 Bihar assembly elections.

The JD-U attempted a similar exercise for the February-March Uttar Pradesh assembly elections but it fell through due to the lack of enthusiasm by the state's ruling Samajwadi Party, which has tied up with the Congress.

The Congress' Nath told reporters that, at the moment, he would not disclose the issues discussed with the BJP's Deb -- but did leave a window open.

"The BJP government at the Centre is doing many good things for the people," said Nath, who, during a recent debate in the state assembly on demonitisation, supported Prime

Date for Mizoram-HPC (D) talks to be fixed soon AIzAwl, FebruAry 5 (NNN): The date for the fourth round of peace talks between the Mizoram government and the Hmar People’s Convention (Democratic) would soon be fixed, a senior official of the Mizoram State Home department said on Saturday. The official said that the meeting of Home department officials to be chaired by Additional Secretary Lalbiakzama on Tuesday next would deliberate on fixing of the next round of parleys and also the issues to be taken up during the coming talks. Meanwhile, Lalthalien, member of the HPC (D) delegation told media that the delegation would be led by LT Hmar, working chairman of the outfit as was during the third round of talks. The first round of peace talks was held on August 10 last and the second round on October 5, 2016. The talks revolved around giving more autonomy and power to the Sinlung Hill Development Council (SHDC) formed following the agreement signed in 1994 between the erstwhile underground HPC and the Mizoram government.

Woman, son among three Indians freed by Dhaka AgArtAlA, FebruAry 5 (IANS): A young woman and her six-year-old son were among three Indian nationals freed by Bangladeshi authorities, police said on Sunday. "The woman had eloped with a youth and crossed over to Bangladesh in February last year. They were apprehended and jailed," a police official said here.

After being in jail for a year, the three returned to their homes in Belonia in southern Tripura.

Railways aims for new heights with train to Tawang at 10,000 feet guwAHAtI, FebruAry 5 (tNN): Aiming to take railway services in the region to new heights, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has planned to bring trains to Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang. Tawang is located at a height of 10,000 feet on the border with China. Survey work for the project will start next year. NFR general manager (construction), H K Jaggi, said three strategic lines connecting Bhalukpung to Tawang, Murkongselek (Assam) to Pasighat in Arunachal and Silapathar (Assam) to Bane in Arunachal were in the pipeline.

The estimated cost of the project is Rs 50,000 crore to Rs 70,000 crore. Jaggi said the Bhalukpung-Tawang line would be the most challenging as it would pass through terrain with altitudes ranging from 500 feet to 9,000 feet.

"It may not follow the same route as the existing road.

For example, the highest point on the way to Tawang is Sela (13,700 feet). The survey will find out ways of building tracks by avoiding high-altitude zones," he said. Naharlagun, 10km from Itanagar, was the first in Arunachal to get rail connectivity in 2014. Junior rail minister Rajen Gohain said the Budget had sanctioned a survey to check feasibility of connectivity for river island Majuli. He said a 100km line would connect Majuli's Kamalabari and Garmur with Dhakukhana via Jorhat to Gogamukh.

Minister Narendra Modi.

On his part, state Congress President Birajit Sinha said he has written to the party high command in Delhi to take disciplinary action against Nath "for breach of discipline".

In another political development, three rival tribal-based parties in Tripura have come together and called for a 12-hour shutdown on February 8 to oppose the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016.

The Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT), the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) and the National Conference of Tripura (NCT) formed the All Tripura Indigenous Regional Parties Forum (ATIRPF) to oppose the bill introduced in parliament by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.

The shutdown has been called in the jurisdiction of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) to oppose the bill that aims to recognise illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.

The TTAADC was formed in 1987 under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution to protect and safeguard the political, economic and cultural interests of the tribals.

The politically important council

constitutes two-third of Tripura's 10,491 sq. km area.

The INPT and IPFT would also organise a "Delhi Abhiyan" (march to Delhi) this month end to press their demands with the central government.

Just how this movement pans out is bound to have an impact on the assembly elections. This is because tribals, who constitute onethird of Tripura's 3.7 million population, play a crucial role in politics in the ethnically-mixed state with 20 of the 60 assembly seats and one of the two Lok Sabha seats reserved for them.

For the moment, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPIM), which leads the Left Front and has a substantial base among both tribals and non-tribals, doesn't seem too concerned about any new alliances emerging.

"We are not bothered about the so-called grand alliance among the opposition parties. The Left Front government has done many things for the development of the state and its people. Between 51 to 54 per cent of the electorate has always been voting in favour of the Left Front," CPI-M Central Committee member and state unit Secretary Bijan Dhar said.

AIzAwl, FebruAry 5 (PtI): Dengue has affected at least 649 people in Mizoram since February 2016 till last month, according to the official of Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP). “All the districts except Lawngtlai were affected due to the disease and six cases have been found in January itself,” IDSP

State Nodal Officer Pachuau Lalmalsawma said.

“643 such cases were reported in the state during 2016 while six persons were affected last month from Aizawl district,” Lalmalsawma said. The officer said, “Mizoram faces endemic situation as large number of people were found to be affected locally

Video on Arunachal's Kro-Cheykor festival wins tourism film award KolKAtA/ItANAgAr, FebruAry 5 (IANS): A community-based video that captures the intriguing Kro-Cheykor festival of Arunachal Pradesh's Sherdukpen tribe has bagged the honour for the best tourism film in the state's tourism awards.

The 14-minute video encapsulates the fest celebrated by the Sherdukpen community in Shergaon village in the state's West Kameng district nestled within thick forests.

The documentation is an effort of Genesis 4, a group of youth under 30 who represent different

parts of northeast India.

They were trained in the first video documentation batch of Green Hub, a youth and communitybased video documentation centre for recording the environment, wildlife and people's biodiversity in northeast India.

The film is a mesmerising record of the rituals and customs that show how Buddhist religious texts were brought from Lhasa and installed in the village.

The Arunachal Tourism Awards also recognised Tawang for the 'Best Tourist Destination' of the year (2016-2017), while Pappu

Butterfly find enriches Indian faunal diversity Shiv Sahay Singh The Hindu

Marking an important addition to India’s rich wildlife, researchers have described Limenitis rileyi, a butterfly spotted in Arunachal Pradesh three decades ago as the first record of the species in the country.

London-based naturalist Purnendu Roy told The Hindu that he had found a single male species in July 1987 from Upper Dibang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh at an attitude of about 1,800 metres.

Roy said that in 1987, there was no Internet and information on butterfly species was not widely available in the public domain. H.C. Tyler, who described the species in the 1940s in northeast Myanmar, did not describe it in great detail.

Due to lack of information, Roy had tentatively identified his find as a species related to Limentis rileyi that is found in Myanmar and China.

Now, he has described it in detail in a paper in the latest edition of Journal of Threatened Taxa. The species has previously

Limenitis rileyi. (Photo: Natural History Museum, London)

been recorded in south-eastern Tibet, Myanmar and northern Vietnam.

It was only after taking expeditions to Arunachal Pradesh with another naturalist Sanjay Sondhi a few years ago, that Roy approached the British Natural History Museum to identify the butterfly that he had found in 1987.

He found that it was the first record of Limentis rileyi in India.

and majority of the cases have been reported from Aizawl. There are other patients who apparently got infected during their stay in Aizawl.” He stated that ‘Aedes aegypti’ mosquito was the cause of the disease outbreak and added that no casualties have been reported in the state due to dengue so far.

Over the past few years the forest of Arunachal Pradesh, sharing borders with Myanmar, China and Bhutan, have been the site for identifying new species of butterflies or first records in India.

In 2013, Roy identified a new species of butterfly, Callerebia dibangensis, named after Dibang valley from where he collected the specimens.

Difficult to access Naturalist Sanjay Sondhi said

that the Dibang wildlife sanctuary is a remote area, very difficult to access but rich in biodiversity.

“There has been no sustained biodiversity assessment and if it is done it will reveal interesting details,” said Sondhi, a trustee of the Dehradun based Titli Trust. Sondhi, who has worked extensively in the western part of Arunachal Pradesh, said that over the past few years he had found at least two additions to Indian butterflies: the Tibetan brimstone and the Ludlow Bhutan glory.

The Tibetan brimstone, a sub-species seen just once before in history, that too in China-occupied Tibet by British naturalist Frank Ludlow in 1938, was located in 2013 at Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary in West Kameng district of the State.

The Ludlow Bhutan glory, which was thought to be exclusive to Bhutan, was found at Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary in 2012.

In 2015, scientists discovered a tiny butterfly from Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh and named it the banded tit (Hypolycaena narada).

Passa Valley bagged the award for the 'Emerging Destination' of the year.

Ace mountaineer Anshu Jamsenpa was chosen as the 'State Tourism Icon' of the year. Tawang Festival won the award for 'Best Cultural Tourism Festival', while the awards for 'Best Tourism Festival (Music)' and 'Best Tourism Festival (Adventure)' went to the Ziro Festival of Music (ZFM) and the Orange Festival of Music & Adventure.

Tom Meitei was honoured as the 'Best Tourism Photographer' at the award ceremony held recently in Itanagar.

Manipur polls: NPF awards tickets to 15 candidates SeNAPAtI, FebruAry 5 (mexN): The Central Election Committee of Naga People’s Front (NPF) has finalized the party’s official candidates for the ensuing 11th general election of Manipur State in 15 constituencies.

The candidates who have been awarded NPF tickets are: Mathiudin Kamei (40 Jiribam A/C), ST Victor Nunghlung (41 Chandel (ST) A/C), Kh. Armstrong Charanga (42 Tengnoupal (ST) A/C), K. Leishiyo (43 Phungyar (ST) A/C), Samuel Risom (44 Ukhrul (ST) A/C), Khashim Vashuin (45 Chingai (ST) A/C), M. Thangboi Haokip (46 Saikul (ST) A/C), Dr. V. Alexander Pao (47 Karong (ST) A/C), L. Dikho (48 Mao (ST) A/C), K. Raina (49 Tadubi (ST) A/C), L.K. Chongloi (50 Kangpokpi A/C), Sehpu Haokip (51 Saitu (ST) A/C), Awangbow Newmai (52 Tamei (ST) A/C), Janghemlung Panmei (53 Tamenglong (ST) A/C), Thongjamlen Haokip (57 Henglep (ST) A/C). This was informed in a press release issued

by Honreikhui Kashung, General Secretary (Admin), NPF Manipur State unit.

Rongali: Promoting Assam’s Incidents of heinous crimes tourism, diverse culture on decline in Assam: DGP guwAHAtI, FebruAry 5 (PtI): Rongali, a three-day festival promoting tourism and showcasing the essence of Assam's diverse culture is a concerted effort to create a niche in the country's annual tourism festival circuit attracting people from across the country and abroad, the organisers say. The festival is showcasing traditional houses, food, music, dance, lifestyle of the different local communities such as Bodo, Mising, Karbi Dimasa, Tiwa, Sonowal Kachari, Singpho, Deuri, Tai Phake, Thengal Kachari, Ahom, Bhatia and others.

Around 35 colourful dance forms, mask-making workshop from Samaguri Sattra in Majuli, Mati Akhara, Bhaona, Bihu workshop, musical performances and photography exhibitions are some of the major highlights of the festival.

The festival also aims to develop the Brahmaputra riverfront as a major centre for aero-sports with enthusiasts from all

over the country participating in parasailing, paramotoring, hot air-modelling.

Ten pilots from across the country are participating in the event to popularise Assam as a destination for adventure sports, said the festival's chief organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta. Another attraction is the traditional Dragon Boat race or 'Naokhela' along with traditional local sports of the state in collaboration with Assam Directorate of Sports. "We also aim to make Guwahati-the hub of music with India's best rock bands and musical talents performing each evening", Mahanta said.

Rock bands like Parikrama, Euphoria, Bollywood singer Ash King, YouTube sensation Arjun from London and North Esst talents such as Joi Barua, Zubeen Garg, Alobo Naga and Band and India's top DJs Nucleya, Teri Miko and Zaeden are performing during the festival, which began on February 3.

guwAHAtI, FebruAry 5 (PtI): Director General of Police (DGP) Assam Mukesh Sahay said the incidents of heinous crimes in the state have come down during 2016.

However, cyber crime is on rise in recent times, especially after the government’s thrust on digital economy increased, the top cop said.

“Cases of heinous crime in Guwahati and the state in 2016 have come down. This is happening for the first time after many years,” Sahay told reporters in Dehradun. The list of such crimes broadly in-

cludes murder, dacoity, crime against children and women, extortion and kidnapping, he said.

Asked about the numbers, he informed that final figures are being analysed at this moment. About cyber crime the DGP said, “In dealing with such crimes, the Assam Police does not have much expertise.

“Evidences that we collect are sent to forensic labs outside the state. As an immediate step, we will set up a mobile forensic lab with the help of the IT Department of the Centre and the Assam government,” Sahay said. The top cop said the

state police will gradually have its own forensic laboratory (for cyber crime).

“We have also submitted a proposal to set a cyber police station to deal with digital crimes,” the DGP said.

Sahay also lauded the effort of a joint police team in rescuing a 15-month-old child from the hands of kidnappers yesterday.

Panic gripped the city after the 15-month-old boy was kidnapped from his residence from Sijubari area of Hatigaon here. The baby was later rescued from South Salmara district of Assam from a deserted hideout.

Manipur polls: Those found guilty of corruption Zoom Air looks at starting operation would be punished, says Ram Madhav from Arunchal Pradesh's Pasighat

ImPHAl, FebruAry 5 (PtI): Accusing the Manipur government of being involved in rampant corruption, BJP National General Secretary Ram Madhav said on Sunday that if BJP came to power it would investigate allegations of graft against the present regime and those found guilty would be punished.

He also assured that if BJP came to power then the state would no longer witness economic blockade.

Madhav, who is presently in the poll-bound Manipur, accused the Okram Ibobi Singh government of being involved in corruption and smuggling of foodgrains and fertilisers. "The state government and ruling party are involved in corruption and smuggling of foodgrains, fertilisers and also helps in smuggling of nar-

cotics. Manipur is the third least developed state in the whole country," Madhav alleged while addressing a press conference.

"If BJP comes to power our first priority would be to provide clean, corruption-free and progressive government in the state. We would also ensure that there is no economic blockade in the state and everybody enjoys the fruit of development," Madhav said. Economic blockade has led to extreme shortage of essential commodities including food items, lifesaving drugs and motor fuel in the state.

Answering media queries, he said, "If BJP comes to power, any allegation made against the incumbent government would be investigated and those found guilty will be punished."

Questioning the utilisation of

funds sanctioned by the central government, Madhav expressed shock that several dam projects have been stalled for more than three decades.

Promising zero tolerance in corruption, transparency in governance, the BJP leader said the state needed development and progress in every sector.

"Under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is committed to clean politics, the state can excel in everything. We have zero tolerance towards corruption," he said.

Stressing on the need for infrastructure development in the state, Madhav said, "The state which has abundant natural water reserve does not have proper sanitation and water provision, with 85 per cent of people having no access to proper sanitation."

Ko l KAtA / N e w DelHI, FebruAry 5 (IANS): Zoom Air, India's 10th national scheduled airline which received an air operator's permit (AOP) on February 3, is in talks with the Arunachal Pradesh government to connect newly built Pasighat airport with its operational network, an official said on Sunday.

"We are looking to connect Pasighat airport in Arunachal Pradesh. In fact, we are in talks with the state government. We need to take some clearances from the state and Arunachal government also requires

to get some clearances from Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)," the airline's Executive Director and CEO Koustav Mohan Dhar told IANS. "It would take some time to get all the clearances. To be realistic, the operation in Pasighat is expected not before end of March," he added.

The airline will launch its scheduled commercial operation on Delhi-Kolkata-Durgapur-Delhi route on February 12.

"We are staring operation from February 12 with the triangle services-DelhiKolkata, Kolkata-Durgapur

and Durgapur-Delhi route.

There will be daily flights on these routes," said Dhar.

He also said that the airline planned to start the reverse triangle operations in evening on the same route by early week of March.

Incidentally, the Delhibased airlines is starting its operation from Kaji Nazrul Islam Airport at West Bengal's Durgapur after Air India withdrew its operation on the Kolkata-DurgapurDelhi route in June last year due to "operational reasons".

The new operator will have flights in regional routes.

"We are doing Delhi-Allahabad Kolkata-Shillong as of now. We also start operation on Delhi-AmritsarDelhi route. We will explore regional routes and will have services in many of such routes," he said.

On Friday, the DGCA granted the AOP to Zexus Air Services which will run the operation with the brand name Zoom Air. "This certifies that Zexus Air Services Pvt Ltd is authorised to perform commercial air operations....in accordance with the operations manual and Rule 134 of the Aircraft Rules 1937," said the AOP.

4

MonDAY 06•02•2017

Business

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

RBI likely to maintain status quo on Feb 8 New Delhi, February 5 (PTi): With banks flush with funds post demonetisation and surging oil prices likely to fuel inflation, the Reserve Bank may refrain from lowering benchmark interest rate at its policy review meet this week.

However, with services sector contracting for the third straight month in January, there are hopes that the central bank will be accommodative in its monetary policy.

Although banks and industry have been pitching for cut in benchmark repo rate (short-term lending rate), the 6-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) headed

by RBI Governor Urjit Patel may adopt a cautious approach on February 8, especially in view of spike in crude oil prices and growing protectionist sentiment with Donald Trump taking charge as the US President.

Oil (Brent) prices have risen to USD 56.8 per barrel, while President Trump has announced a host of protectionist measures. For calculating the subsidy expenses, the Finance Ministry has taken into account average crude oil price of USD 65-70 for the next fiscal.

According to Bandhan Bank Chairman and Managing Director Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, RBI is unlikely to cut rate as banks are flush with funds.

“We are expecting 25 basis point cut in repo rate because macro economic factors like inflation, fiscal deficit are conducive for reduction. Given the growth oriented budget, there is widespread speculation that RBI would respond in the same spirit,” Bank of Maharashtra Executive Director R K Gupta told PTI. There are expectations of 25 basis point rate cut as there is excess liquidity in the system, UCO Bank MD CEO R K Takkar said.

to prepare for JEE Tax dept scans 1-cr accounts How Main 2017 in 60 days under ‘Operation Clean Money’ New Delhi, February 5 (PTi): In a bid to clamp down on unaccounted money funnelled into bank accounts post demonetisation, the tax department has scrutinised and matched as many as 1-crore accounts and asked 18 lakh people to explain the source of fund.

The tax department has run big data analytics through more than 1-crore accounts in its data bank and done matching with the taxpayer profile of the holder, a top source said.

As per I-T records, there are 3.65 crore individuals who filed income tax returns. Besides, there are over 7 lakh companies, 9.40 lakh Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) and 9.18 lakh firms who filed ITRs during Assessment Year 2014-15.

Also, over 25 crore zerobalance Jan Dhan accounts were opened as part of the financial inclusion drive.

Sources said I-T department is scrutinising all categories of accounts and will send out more SMS/emails for suspicious deposits under ‘Operation Clean Money’.

“We have initially matched 1-crore accounts with the profile in our database and identified 18 lakh people with suspicious deposits of over INR 5 lakh. We will expand the scope of data analytics further and match the profiles with our data base,” the source told PTI. In order to reduce harassment of taxpayers, the revenue department has mandated only officers in the rank of Assistant Commissioners and above to issue notices in case of unsatisfactory response received

Nano’s road ahead remains in doubt as Tata Motors switch gears MuMbai, February 5 (PTi): Remaining non-committal over the future course of Nano, Tata Motors said the decisions will be taken in alignment with the board as the time and the need appears.

As it prepares to be future ready, Tata Motors is finding it difficult to answer queries on whether the Nano will be a part of the journey ahead as the issue is proving to be a sensitive one involving those at the top level of the Tata group.

Although the company has adopted a new passenger vehicles (PV) strategy with an aim to achieve “sustainable financial performance” and to be amongst the top three PV makers in India by 2019, its top management is shy to elaborate what role will Ratan Tata’s dream project play going forward.

Tata Motors has said that it would reduce the number of PV platforms to just two from the current six by 2018 when it shifts to what it called as ‘Advanced Modular Platform (AMP)’ to “deliver 7-8 product variants from two platforms for greater coverage and sizable

economies of scale”.

“I can’t tell you right now because these are decisions in line with the PV strategy. These decisions are going to be taken in alignment with the board as the time and the need appears,” Tata Motors MD and CEO Guenter Butschek said when asked if Nano will be a part of the company’s future by 2018.

He said the new PV strategy was presented to the board of directors of the company in the middle of last year.

The board is provided update on the progress made on a regular basis, Butschek said, adding “so it (board) is fully encouraged and (is) behind this strategy...”

Under the new PV strategy the company is looking for economies of scale, reduce capital expenditure through the less number of platforms and address more segment of the market where it is not present currently that will lead to higher profitability.

Yet the issue of Nano is something that hangs uneasy with the company’s senior management. Ousted Tata Sons Chairman Cyrus Mistry

had alleged that Nano project was responsible for the losses of over Rs 1,000 crore.

Nano has been one of the point of contentions between Tata and Mistry, who had also alleged Tata Motors is unable to shut down the loss making small car due to “emotional reasons” and doing so would also stop the supply of “gliders” to an entity that makes electric cars in which Tata has a stake.

Butschek said the company’s presence in the entry level hatchback segment, where Nano is positioned right now, is something which needs to be decided as it is a very competitive segment.

Industry analysts said while the company has decided to move on the advance modular platform, “the strategy raises some concerns regarding the future of some of Tata Motors’ existing nameplates, most notably the Nano”.

In the meantime, Nano sales continued to be on a downward spiral. During the AprilDecember period this fiscal, it sold 6,714 units as compared to 17,258 units in the same period last fiscal, down 61%.

leisure

CROSSWORD # 3849

SUDOKU

Answer Number # 3843

banknotes with information in its database to identify tax-payers whose cash transactions do not appear to be in line with the taxpaying profile.

It has also asked taxpayers to e-verify the deposits they made in their accounts post demonetisation and respond to queries of any mismatch on the tax e-filing portal.

The source further said people who have received queries from the tax department about their deposits while replying in the e-filing website can also offer their remarks if it was their cash in hand.

“If the cash in hand is as per the balance sheet, no questions will be asked and the case would be closed.

We have put enough safeguard to ensure that there is no harassment to tax-payers,” the source added.

Beware! Don’t be duped by fake e-wallet apps New Delhi, February 5 (PTi): Digital payments have gained popularity among consumers but have also brought in the threat of cyber criminals placing fake e-wallet apps to dupe users.

According to cyber security solution firm Kaspersky, no such incident has been reported yet but the probability of cyber criminals adding fake apps on app stores remains high.

“Digital payment companies ensure that the transactions are safe on their apps. Besides, there are checks like two-factor authentication for ensuring secure transactions for consumers,” Altaf Halde, Managing Director at Kaspersky Lab, South Asia, said.

In such a scenario, cyber criminals could look at tricking consumers into downloading fake apps that look almost like the genuine one, allowing a backdoor entry into their smartphone.

While financial institutions like banks and mobile m-wallet companies take steps to protect customer information, users also need to take precautions as negative experiences could lead to losing trust in digital transactions.

The government’s move to demonetise high-value currency notes in November last year has given a

massive push towards adoption of digital payment methods including credit/debit/ Rupay cards, UPI and mobile wallets.

The government had also launched BHIM app to facilitate epayments. Launched on December 30, the app has already been adopted by over 125 lakh people.

“The convenience that digital payments bring is massive. However, there are also risks involved.

Consumers need to be informed and careful when they download app.

They should ensure they are downloading the genuine apps and not the fake ones,” he said.

Asked how consumers could spot the fake apps, Halde said the fake ones “almost resemble the real ones but there is still a difference”.

“The logo might look exactly same but the spelling might be different.

The key is to carefully check before downloading just any app,” he added.

Besides, consumers should install security solutions on their phones.

“Consumers should install security solutions on their phones just like they would on their PCs. Since a large number of consumers now carry out financial transactions through their smartphones, it is important that they protect it,” Halde said.

-With inputs from Venkat Ramana, Head JEE, T.I.M.E. Hyderabad std code: 03862

DiMaPUR ACROSS 1. Outcropping 5. Backbone of an animal 10. Does something 14. Country bumpkin 15. Work hard 16. Indian dress 17. “Get up and go” 19. Stair 20. Offer 21. Doctrine 22. A bushel has 4 of these 23. A ceremonial staff 25. Squash 27. Shack 28. Steep spiral descent 31. S S S S 34. An ape 35. Mineral rock 36. Again 37. Advances 38. Current 39. Delivery vehicle 40. Make a counterfeit 41. Secluded valleys 42. Inscription 44. Caviar 45. Give a speech 46. Jelly 50. Unit of weight for gems 52. Daughter of a sibling 54. Stir 55. Leave out 56. He works with rocks 58. Medium-sized tubular pasta 59. Stitched 60. Small island 61. Cheers 62. Delete 63. A musical pause DOWN 1. Baby beds 2. Anagram of “Incur” 3. Put up with 4. Obtain 5. Bordeaux wine 6. Despiser

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

Game Number # 3844

about bank deposits post demonetisation.

Under ‘Operation Clean Money’ launched by the Income Tax department on January 31, the department has sent SMS and emails to 18 lakh people who have made suspicious deposits of Rs 5 lakh and above between November 10 and December 30.

“If the department is convinced with the reply of the assessee, the case will be closed and that will be communicated by SMS and email. But, in case of unsatisfactory reply, the decision to issue notice will be taken

by Assistant Commissioner and Commissioner rank officers,” the source said.

The department has used data analytics for comparison of deposits made after the November 8 decision to scrap high-value

TaHaMZaM

std code: 03871

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Police station Fire Brigade

222246 222491

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Civil Hospital emer

232224

MH Hospital

227930 231081

Fire Brigade

2222952

Faith Hospital

228846

naga Hospital

2222916

shamrock Hospital

228254

oking Hospital

2243339

Zion Hospital

231864 224117 227337

Bethel nursing Home

2224202

northeast shuttles

08974997923

Police Control room

228400

KoHIMA Ps/oCs Contact numbers

Police Traffic Control

232106

north Ps

railway

131/228404

Answer to Crossword 3848

Airport Indian Airlines

229366 242441 225212

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With just 60 days left for the JEE Main 2017, students may have just started doing revision and mock tests along with their preparation for board exams. Each test must be followed by an in-depth test analysis to know your weak areas. The following plan may help you in preparation.

• Students must give equal weightage to all the subjects, prepare a time table and follow it properly. Remember it is the quality of time spent and not the quantity alone. Hence, take short breaks of 5 to 10 minutes after every one or two hours of regular study • Relax completely when you take a break. Overnight study is not advised and one should sleep for at least five to six hours at night.

• Refer fewer books for theory, at present many preparation books are available in the market for JEE Main and cause a lot of confusion to students about which books should be chosen for preparation. It is advised to avoid the study material which is having repeated questions based on the same concept.

• Only solving NCERT books may not be sufficient to crack conceptual problems asked in the entrance exam but surely NCERT physics and chemistry books will give you the required basic concepts • Focus on solving the problems on your own, do not look for the solutions without attempting a question. Start with conventional methods of solving, while gradually improving. In short, build your own shortcuts and ways for problem solving • Practice of JEE level questions is necessary as it improves your reasoning and analytical ability • Apart from studying books, students should also concentrate on the previous years question papers of JEE Main. It will help you to manage your time in the examination. By solving these papers, students will get an idea of exam pattern, question weightage.

• JEE (Main) is not difficult, but tricky. Many students fail to score in actual JEE due to lack of planning on how to write the exam. Once the revision of all topics is done, students should schedule at least one mock exam per week. First 15 minutes of the exam need to be used for reading the instructions, question paper • For solving of questions from each subject restricted for 45 minutes, since subject wise cut-off is not there in JEE main, spend last 30 minutes for the subject which is easy in that particular paper. Speed and accuracy are important aspects, this will come with extensive practice of mock papers • The most important thing is clarity of concepts and regular practice in problem solving. Both speed and strike rate matter. You need to be quick and accurate to achieve high scores. High speed with less accuracy can actually ruin your results • Try the shortest approach to MCQ/elimination method. Do not get tensed by comparing your performance with others, you need to compare your present performance with past performance.

• While preparing for your studies never ignore your health. At the time of preparation, do yoga and meditation, it will help you in developing inner peace, poise, confidence and power of concentration • These matter a lot and will help you on the day of the examination. Don’t over stress yourself. Five to six hours of sleep every night is a must, especially three-four days before for physical and mental fitness. Short naps may help you to regain freshness, but avoid over-sleeping during the day.

229529 229474

KOHiMa

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Moos MUFFIn needLess nerVoUs PrAYed PreFer PrIsM reACt reALLY reAr roUGH rUst sALoon sALt sCrAPe sLeeP stACK tHere tIPs trAIn UrIne woMAn

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east Police station

227607

west Police station

232181

south Ps

CIHsr (referral Hospital)

242555 242533

Zubza Ps

dimapur Hospital

224041 248011

8575045507

Officer-in-Charge 8575045517 8575045505

Kezocha Ps

248302, 09856006026

eden Medical Centre

248288

C

Officer-in-Charge 8575045516 tseminyu Ps

Officer-in-Charge 8575045515

nagaland Multispecialty Health & research Centre

R

Chiephobozou Ps 8575045506

Khuzama Ps

232032, 231031

A

8575045508

Officer-in-Charge 8575045518

nikos Hospital and research Centre

E

8575045502

Officer-in-Charge 8575045520

Apollo Hospital Info Centre 230695/ 9402435652

S

8575045501

Officer-in-Charge 8575045510

Chumukedima Fire Brigade 282777

O

std code: 0370

8575045549

Officer-in-Charge 8575045538

H

women Cell

8575045509

Officer-in-Charge 8575045519 Control room

8575045500 (Emergency No. – 100)

FiRE STaTiONS

KoHIMA soUtH: 0370-2222952/ 101 (O) 9402003086 (OC) KoHIMA nortH: 7085924114 (O) dIMAPUr: 03862-232201/ 101 (O) 9856156876 (OC) CHUMUKedIMA: 7085982102 (O) 8732810051 (OC) woKHA: 03860-242215/101 (O) 8974322879 (OC) MoKoKCHUnG: 0369-2226225/ 101 (O) 8415830232 (OC) PHeK: 8414853765 (O) 8413822476(OC) ZUnHeBoto: 03867-280304/ 101 (O) 9436422730 (OC) tUensAnG: 8414853766 (O) 9856163601 (OC) Mon: 03869-251222/ 101 (O) 9862130954 (OC) Kiphire: 8414853767 (O) 9436261577 (OC) Peren: 7085189932 (O) 9856311205 (OC) LonGLenG: 7085924113 (O) 9862414264 (OC) we4 woMen HeLPLIne 08822911011 WOMEN HeLPLIne 181 CHiLD weLFAre CoMMIttee Toll free No. 1098 childline

MOKOKCHUNG

std code: 0369

Police station 1 Police station 2 Police station Kobulong Police station tuli Police station Changtongya Police station Mangkolemba Civil Hospital

9485232688 9485232689 9485232690 9485232693 9485232694 9485232695 2226216

woodland nursing Home

2226263

Hotel Metsüpen (tourist Lodge) 2226373/ 2229343

CURRENCY NOTES BUY (rs) seLL (rs)

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

66.13 83.06 8.25 49.91 46.73 50.46 58.19 71.33 1.82 0.0554 17.42 9.37

69.11 87.06 9.19 52.35 49.01 52.93 61.47 74.77 2.03 0.0618 19.41 10.43

monday 06•02•2017

NAGALAND

Vision 2030: Focus on improving healthcare infra NCRC appeals for peace Our Correspondent

‘State should have adequate healthcare workers by 2025’

Kohima | February 5

Nagaland state is facing a huge challenge in its endeavour to provide health care that is accessible and affordable to all, according to the Nagaland Vision 2030 document.

“Public health care infrastructure is what the people depend on in a state and still has locations that are not connected by proper roads,” the document stated adding that in the present times, the government will continue to play the primary role in providing health care but the focus needs to gradually shift to promoting more private investments in health care delivery.

For the immediate short term goals, the state should, in the next five years, aim to refurbish the existing hospital network. Presently, the few private hospitals are concentrated only in the urban areas of Kohima and Dimapur, and to some extent in Mokokchung and Wokha. The tertiary care

View of the Imkongliba Memorial District Hospital, Mokokchung. (Morung Photo)

segment that is in its nascent stage needs a dedicated and focused push by the state government, so that by 2030, the tertiary cancer care centre and the Nagaland Medi-

cal College and hospital become fully functional.

The vision document stated that Nagaland has an impressive health care infrastructure of 396 sub centres,

128 primary health centres and 21 community health centres for a population of 19, 78, 502 (Census 2011).

Strengthening the existing physical infrastructures

TR must resign for peace and normalcy: ZEF PEREN, FEbRuaRy 5 (MExN): “T.R. Zeliang as Chief Minister has to resign for peace and normalcy to return to Nagaland.” This is the conviction and committed demand of “prudent” Zeliang elders, according to a press release from Itingtiebe Siang, Convenor of the Zeliang Elders’ Forum.

Reacting to a statement from the Zeliang Peoples’ Organisation Nagaland which claimed that there is no such organisation called Zeliang Elders’ Forum, the Convenor of the ZEF clarified, “Nagaland was burning and to contain the troubled minds of the people a need was felt to express the concern voice of the elders, so came the Zeliang Elders’ Forum.”

The ZEF maintained that the Pres-

ident of ZPO (N) has no right to disrespect or fail to recognize the supreme sacrifice of the two Naga youths late Khriesavizo Metha and late Bendangnungsang Longkumer in protecting the rights of the Nagas.

Insisting that lawlessness “as could be foreseen” was ushered in by the state government in Nagaland, the ZEF sought to lay the blame on the state government under TR Zeliang for having refused to heed the voice of the people.

Reacting to claims from the ZPO (N) that the demand for resignation is “politically motivated”, the ZEF Convenor maintained that “No real issue here is politically motivated or politicized” and instead blamed the ZPO (N) for being constantly “ill-advised”.

Questioning the ZPO (N) decision to back the chief minister, the elders’ forum argued that the ZPO (N) is going against the wishes of the people of Nagaland. “Have things not turned lawless and order less under the reign of a partyless opposition-less state government headed by T. R. Zeliang?” the ZEF asked.

The elders’ forum also dared the ZPO (N) to be present at the Coordination Meeting convened by the Nagaland Tribes Action Committee at APO Hall, Kohima on Tuesday, February 7, 11:00 am.

The elders’ forum further remarked that the ZPO (N) be held solely responsible should any untoward incident or harassment befall any Zeliang hereafter.

and relocation of some centres are required to remove inaccessibility and also to reduce low usage of health facilities. It is a fact that even though the state would continue to remain the larger player in providing services, given the present and the future expected levels of public expenditure, inducement of private investment in this sector is critical.

The Vision document pointed to a need for total revamp in the healthcare system. The state should look at introducing a system of user fee even in government run medical facilities so that the public feels both a sense of ownership of the hospital and in turn confident to demand a certain level of service delivery, it stated. The success of Naga Hospital in management of its affairs after being turned into a separate authority needs to be studied and should be replicated, it added.

To balance out the skewed pattern of private investments and low government spending in

health care infrastructure, the vision document suggested the sector look at devising a strategy of area wise investment so that the first push of growth covers the uncovered and the under-served areas. “Merely investing in upgrading the hospital infrastructure without all round growth will show only a partial picture of development,” it stated.

Further, it stated that roads, electricity, along with doctors and medicines are required to complement efficient delivery of healthcare services.

The Vision suggested that the state have adequate health care workers by 2025, set up diagnostic centres in all districts and establish at least a medical college and a cancer specialty centre by 2023. Simultaneously, the vision document also recommended establishing super specialty health care service by 2025, integrating health services, and introducing health insurance coverall by 2030.

ZEF a non-existent organization: NPF 7 Peren A/C Youth Wing PEREN, FEbRuaRy 5 (MExN): The Youth Wing of the Naga People’s Front 7 Peren A/C has claimed that the Zeliang Elders Forum (ZEF) is a non-existent organization.

In an open letter addressed to Itingtiebe Siang, GB Peren Town, the Youth Wing stated that the latter posing as Convener of a non-existent organization had raised “serious false allegations” against the Chief Minister. In this regard, the Youth Wing demanded that

Siang immediately provide a sincere apology in the local dailies. Local dailies had on February 4 published the statement of ZEF asking the Chief Minister to resign.

The NPF 7 Peren A/C Youth Wing demanded that Siang publish the clarification within 3 days of publication of this press release failing which it warned of necessary measures either in person or in a court of Law “the outcome of which will be your sole responsibility.”

KohiMa, FEbRuaRy 5 (MExN): The Nagaland Christian Revival Churches of Kohima has expressed deep pain and concern on the present imbroglio which has led to the death of two Naga youths.

The NCRC met during its Thanksgiving Service on February 5 at CRC Kohima Village for the recent successful conclusion of Revival and healing convention, a press release informed.

“We expressed our deepest condolences to the bereaved families of the two youths who lost their lives during the unfortunate police firing on January 31,” the NCRC stated and prayed for the Almighty to grant the needed strength and grace to the bereaved families to bear the loss and overcome the grief.

While making an earnest appeal to the public to maintain peace and harmony, the NCRC also requested the State Government to do the needful so as to avoid further escalation of violence and bring about a peaceful solution to the problem at the earliest.

TUCT for MLAs to resign DiMaPuR, FEbRuaRy 5 (MExN): The Tribal Union Chumukedima Town (TUCT) has urged all “apex tribals” of Nagaland to “do the needful to let their respective MLA/Ministers/Parliamentary Secretary to resign.” The TUCT expressed resentment and condemned the “high handedness” of the Chief Minister of Nagaland and the Cabinet while reaffirming its support for the JCC and NTAC “till logical conclusion is reach.”

In a press release from its General Secretary Mhathung Shitio and President Neisalie Losou, the TUCT extended condolence to the bereaved families of the victims of January 31 violence and for speedy recovery of the injured.

NPF general secretary tenders resignation KohiMa, FEbRuaRy 5 (MExN): The General Secretary of the Naga People’s Front (NPF), Besupra Swuro, today tendered his resignation to the President of the regional party on “moral ground.”

In a letter to the NPF President, Swuro stated that he was “unable to adhere to the directive of the party in the matter of ULB elections in Nagaland” which led him to tender the resignation.

The emotional resignation letter recollected the years that Swuro spent participating in party activities, particularly from 1988-2003 when the “regional party a subject of mockery but internally the party was truly united and the party workers enthusiastic and in high spirits.”

The leader remained “deeply indebted” to the party leadership for “inspiring” him to “participate, serve and gain knowledge of regional politics.”

Dimapur Eastern Nagas uphold NTAC, JCC demands DiMaPuR, FEbRuaRy 5 (MExN): The Eastern Nagaland tribes residing in Dimapur district have upheld the demands of the Nagaland Tribes Action Committee (NTAC) and Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) for resignation of the state Chief Minister TR Zeliang, termination of erring police personnel, and suspension of officers involved in firing incidents both at Dimapur

and Longleng.

A decision in this regard was taken during an emergency joint meeting of the Eastern Nagaland People’s Union Dimapur (ENPUD), Eastern Nagaland People’s Union Chumukedima (ENPUC) and Eastern Nagaland People’s Union Diphupar Area (ENPUDA) along with 6(six) Tribal federating units at Dimapur on February 5.

According to a press re-

lease, the meeting resolved to stand by the resolution of the apex ENPO to extend its support to the demand of the voice of the Nagas as put forth by the NTAC and JCC. It also unanimously resolved to extend its fullest support and cooperation to the Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) towards imposing of bandh within Dimapur as endorsed by the ENPO till the demands are fulfilled.

Meanwhile, the joint meeting extended its deepest condolences to the bereaved family and also prayed for quick recovery of the injured persons.

While acknowledging all tribal units and youths for their cooperation in the past relating to public movement with regard to holding of ULB elections, the three unions appealed Pedestrians access the streets of Kohima on Saturday as a semblance of normalcy returned with educational inall to continue to cooperate stitutions, banks, business establishments and shops opening two days after violent mobs went on a rampage in in the coming days.

Kohima vandalising and setting afire government offices and vehicles. (Morung Photo)

Public SPace Opposition to Women’s Reservation: A need for Introspection Supongbenla Longkumer

C

onflict and violence can remain a separate entity without a chain reaction.

Conflicts and differences are inevitable and occur in our everyday life situations. However violence can be contained, and avoided. But sadly the current situation in Nagaland has proven otherwise proving time and again that we have not learnt from our past and that we continue to be a society driven by violent reflexs rather than peaceful dialogue.

After years of fighting for the 33% reservation to finally availing support from the state government, the matter has gone from hopeful to worse. It is in these crucial moments that we need to reflect on where our society has come to. What started off as something that would have facilitated the presence of women in ‘modern’ decision making bodies has only turned the state into a playground for political gains and power. In addition to it, the need to put the onus of the outcome of the violence onto a particular group/ organisation or person is completely unnecessary.

Over a span of a month, there seem to be a mushrooming of ‘Apex Bodies’ and ‘Representatives’ of the Naga people. Although made up of only one spectrum of the society, they claim to represent the ‘wishes of the Naga people’.

Using Article 371 A as pretext to

safeguarding the ‘rights’ of the Nagas is merely a diversion from the larger true picture. Based on a basic right, women groups such as Naga Mothers Association and Watsu Mundang have been tirelessly trying to affirm and appeal for many years for the implementation of the 33% reservation. But sadly, their activities are only highlighted and applauded when carried out within the ‘traditional’ framework where women could play an extension of the laid down role which has been appreciated, accepted and appropriated in accordance with the culture, norms and traditions of the Naga society. There was no opposition as long as it did not challenge, disrupt or threaten the men’s position in the political field, a space which is deemed fit only for men, a space that traditions and cultures have secured and reserved and a space which has been prearranged by virtue of belonging to the ‘superior’ gender.

Underneath the politics between different parties, the subtle rationale such as ‘we are not against merits and demerits of women’ or ‘women can participate within the 100%’, ‘women can participate if they want, we are not stopping them’ etc we need to understand why there is a need for such actions. It should be understood that when you deny the reservation, you not only disrupt the minute leverage of affirmative action that women have which has been brought about consider-

ing that historically and culturally women have been sidelined and forbidden to participate in political spaces but also demarcate women’s spaces and the possibilities of what they can achieve. It is in this deep rooted patriarchal practice and understanding that women ‘belong’ only to certain spaces which is deemed appropriate and right that all hesitations and oppositions branch out from. This hesitation towards the reservations needs to be explored and discussed further keeping in mind the future of the people because when you say ‘Naga People; it is not only the male population but also the female population whose lives and future matter just as much.

The fact that affirmative actions are very well appreciated, accepted and utilised while applying for higher education and jobs both within the state and beyond, but is fiercely rejected when women themselves campaign and fight for it only projects the pretence and sham of the society towards women. There has been many ‘predictions’ that the reservation would lead to high divorce rates, immorality of the women, disrupt the fabric of the Naga society so on and so forth. All these assumptions in connection to the granting of the reservation remain merely an excuse because if one were to talk about morality, if one were to comprehend the large scale corruption, if one were to talk about unity and togetherness, I think our

Naga society has an immensely long journey and an enormous amount of work to mend the fabric of the society, to live a ‘morale’ life and holistically understand what equality means.

Let us also remember that we continue to be part of one of the longest movement in demand for sovereignty. That women have played integral roles both within the movement and beyond. That we come from a culture that has not allowed women’s participation in decision making bodies and that we have had only one women being elected as MP way back in 1977.

Hence, it becomes pertinent that we re-envision our society along these lines. All actions and steps taken should be done keeping in mind that we are active participants in history making.

It is important for the young people to also actively participate, negotiate and re imagine peace and equality because if we don’t, then the future is going to look the same as the past. Has history not taught us anything? Do you imagine a nation or a society where women are discouraged and forbidden to participate efficiently in all spheres? Do you imagine the Naga society where women’s role and notion of ‘equality’ is highlighted and romanticised based only on the cultural practices of dances, and traditional rituals? Or is it that women do not come into view at all when you imagine an inclusive society?

WHY IT MATTERS

N. Yanpothung Ezung,

W

ith a new moon of the year, my anticipation is mounting high for welcoming yet another year with curiousity and expectations. History has taught and re-enforced us with treasures of insights and experiences to envision what lies beyond one’s own being. We have had enough cramps and failures with lesser success stories to share and appritiate. We have come a long way working and hopping to see our society transformed in a creative and bright haome for the citizens: A home where every good things exist and functions.

We all hope to see a new, better, stronger, peaceful and corruption free society from 2017 where the “Good” of our society is not pinned down by multiple corruptions. The answer to all questions of corruption come down to the individual for when the individual is corrupted, the society becomes corrupted because it is the conglomeration of relations and interrelations of these individuals that makes the society. We become corrupt when the larger society is corrupted and that is why it matters. Corruption has become so pronounced and has effected us profoundly and that is why it matters.

There are piles of questions people are still wondering about and trying to find solutions to these pertinent and perinnial question rather than just finding a way out to live with it unattented. Let us consider the following queries: 1. why has our state of affairs never seemed to improve?

2. why the churches are failing to make us a good christians?

3. why has our government became so corrupted?

4. why has our politicians failed to deliver their promises to the people?

5. why has the bureaucrats became so complacent over the ails of our society?

6. why the central government is still able to cheat and play with us like stupid nuts?

7. why is there a rise in formation of NGOs and civil societies?

8. why is our state still economically backward?

9. why big projects and developmental activities are not able to make a stay in our state?

10. why our NPGs are not able to make a visible progress?

11.why most of us have forgotten our duties while fighting for our rights?

12. why has our governance and administrations became so loose?

13. why is our security not secured?

14. why is our society so activities oriented rather than result oriented?

15. why can’t we have a good roads, better health care facilities, better water and electric supplies?

16. why do we still need to fihgt and shout for our basic needs to the government?

17. why is our educational system so lame?

18. why is media so dependent on surface informations?

19. why is the problem of unemployment still on the rise?

20. why have we become so reluctant to discover ourselves and to come out of our selfishness, greed, laziness, jealousy, hatred and prejudical nature? And the list goes on.

These are some of the questions of life that is gnawing our society and that is why it matters.

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

6

Monday 06•02•2017

IN FOCUS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

The Power of Truth

The Morung Express volume XII Issue 34 By moa Jamir

The road ahead

O

nce again the state of affairs in Nagaland exploded, literally and figuratively, exposing the fragility and the inherent contradictions in our society. The ‘deconstruction’ of the society where the political, socio-economic and democratic process were again found wanting. A sense of dejavu prevails as another “genuine movement” confronts the Nagas with pertinent questions, with answers buried along with the tragedy and fire that ensued.

While the intransigent position of social organisations coming into direct confrontation with the position taken by the ruling dispensation was the immediate trigger, a preliminary analysis of the event would suggest the writing was clearly on the wall which the latter failed to perceive. Years of political ineptitude of the ruling dispensation leading the general dissonance culminated into the social unrest with dramatic repercussions. Does it reaffirm a stereotyping of our society by others? Yes and No. But the undercurrents for such an event have been simmering for a long time.

The event was preceded by everyone claiming the ultimate truth, but none sagacious or magnanimous enough, to detour from monologue to genuine dialogue. But the Church precariously managed to generate a pact. While careful observers had expressed concerns over the ambiguity of the ‘January 30th Statement,’ everyone heaved a sigh a relief that things were finally turning from monologue assertion to a process of dialogue.

At ground level, the atmosphere was cordial and one could sense a feeling that the monologue was suddenly giving a way to dialogue and consultation. For by that juncture, the discourse had dramatically shifted from the issue of women reservation to many contentious areas which could only be sorted by genuine dialogue, and not an adamant stance. However, it was not to be.

The next day, the state government decided to go ahead with the Urban Local Body elections, after agreeing ‘in principle’ to postpone it for two months, purportedly citing a High Court ruling.

The issue escalated thereafter. In a sort of diabolical masterstroke, the government singularly managed to infuriate the radicals, disgust the moderates, shame the progressives, and put the general populace in a quagmire; even the Church was made ill at ease.

In 1997, political commentator Fareed Zakaria wrote in Foreign Affairs that, “Democratically elected regimes, often ones that have been reelected or reaffirmed through referenda, are routinely ignoring constitutional limits on their power and depriving their citizens of basic rights and freedoms.” He termed the same as ‘illiberal democracy’ which was contrary to liberal democracy which consists of two distinct aspects free and fair elections (democracy), and the rule of law, separation of powers and the protection of fundamental freedoms (constitutional liberalism). It can lead to erosion of liberty, the abuse of power, ethnic divisions, and even war and cast a shadow on democratic governance, he prophesied.

Was the event in Nagaland a case of illiberal democracy in confrontation with inherent contradictions in the society that the state of affairs spiraled out of control with tragic repercussion? Conspiracy theories and conjectures are making rounds. But What is the road ahead for progressive politics in the State which currently remains hijacked by the events happening around us? The answers lie in genuine introspection for each stakeholder. This also calls for wide ranging consultation at all levels.

A drive towards an egalitarian society is a continuous process molded through time. Can we ensure equality with justice? This is the question every Naga must ponder.

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

lEfT WING |

Sophie Hares Thomson Reuters Foundation

UN: To beat poverty in Latin America, tackle inequality

H

elping Latin Americans overcome economic pressures and natural disasters requires fresh efforts to build a more skilled labour force and widen social safety nets, said a top U.N official for the region, where poverty is ticking up again.

Ending gender and racial divides, and narrowing the gap between urban and rural economies are also key, said Jessica Faieta, Latin America and Caribbean director for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

While inequality remains high across the region, Bolivia, Peru and Dominican Republic have been "flagships" in balancing economic growth with a strong social commitment to vulnerable parts of their populations, she added.

"We feel there is a need for a new set of policies that create a cushion to enable people and communities... to sustain these kinds of shocks that are not necessarily all related to disasters - they are related to the day-to-day life of losing the breadwinner in the house, for instance," said Faieta.

Latin America has made progress in tackling poverty. More than 90 million people entered the middle class between 2003 and 2013, due to stronger economies combined with a rise in social spending and greater emphasis on education.

Another 220 million, over a third of region's population, moved out of extreme poverty but have struggled to make the leap to the middle class, according to UNDP. But the same policies may not be viable to prevent people falling back into poverty, Faieta warned, as economic woes plague many countries hit by a downturn in resource prices.

"Resilience requires a new set of policies," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

In the past two years, the number of poor has started to rise again around the region, with UNDP warning that up to 30 million people are at risk of sliding back into poverty.

They include women, indigenous groups, young and LGBTI people, Faieta said.

"There's a group of people that, regardless of the growth or progress in the last decade, did not really benefit from this progress. And this is related to the high levels of inequality in our region," she said.

JOBS FOR THE GIRLS Policies to support those left out should focus on social protection including healthcare for all, and life and unemployment insurance, Faieta said.

Steps allowing people to own assets that can help them earn an income or be sold in times of hardship, such as a motorbike, taxi or small plot of land, would also boost their resilience, she said.

Moves to encourage savings and give workers better skills are important too, along with provision of care for children and the elderly, which is mostly done by women, she said.

"If there are systems that enable this to be... recognised as an income-generating activity and enable more women to be employed, that's one more income that could be in a home," she said.

Faieta said declines in Latin American poverty levels could not be credited to socialist political ideologies alone, in response to arguments by some that progress could be reversed as more conservative governments take power.

C O M M E N T A R Y

New Internationalist

Little insects, big impact A By introducing bee hives to their fields, Indian farmers are improving productivity – and lives s a child, A Parthiban used to look for bees on his way to school, as he walked past palms, tamarind and banana trees. This luxuriant vegetation is typical of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, and Parthiban would explore under rocks and look up at the flowers hanging from the trees to seek out the little insects that he had seen in his biology books. They would be flying about everywhere. Today, Parthiban is 43 years old, but he is still interested in the tiny pollinators – though they are harder to find.

Three days a week, Parthiban drives a bus between his home town, Gobychettipalayam, and the city of Madurai.

The rest of the week, he is a beekeeper.

In his tamarind fields he has been investigating the benefits of pollination on his plantations and biodiversity. ‘How does the work of the bees affect the productivity of my trees?’ he wondered. His experiments have received the support of the Indian government, and he now works with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) as a trainer. In this way, he is trying to bring back to the landscape the green and the buzzing of his childhood.

Parthiban is not the only one to recognize the high value of pollinators in improving the crop production, which in turn improves the quality of life, nutrition and well-being of the Indian people. ‘Of the 160 million hectares of cultivated land in India,’ explains Professor Shashidhar Viraktamath from the University of Bangalore, ‘55 million depend on bees for their pollination.

This means that more than one third of our food exists thanks to these services.’ India is the world’s second-largest producer of fruit and vegetables, after China, and 99 per cent of its harvest is for domestic consumption. So the disappearance of bees could have a huge effect on people’s economic situation.

As a child, A Parthiban used to look for bees on his way to school, as he walked past palms, tamarind and banana trees. This luxuriant vegetation is typical of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, and Parthiban would explore under rocks and look up at the flowers hanging from the trees to seek out the little insects that he had seen in his biology books. They would be flying about everywhere. Today, Parthiban is 43 years old, but he is still interested in the tiny pollinators – though they are harder to find.

Three days a week, Parthiban drives a bus between his home town, Gobychettipalayam, and the city of Madurai.

The rest of the week, he is a beekeeper.

In his tamarind fields he has been investigating the benefits of pollination on his plantations and biodiversity. ‘How does the work of the bees affect the productivity of my trees?’ he wondered. His experiments have received the support of the Indian government, and he now works with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) as a trainer. In this way, he is trying to bring back to the

landscape the green and the buzzing of his childhood.

Parthiban is not the only one to recognize the high value of pollinators in improving the crop production, which in turn improves the quality of life, nutrition and well-being of the Indian people. ‘Of the 160 million hectares of cultivated land in India,’ explains Professor Shashidhar Viraktamath from the University of Bangalore, ‘55 million depend on bees for their pollination.

This means that more than one third of our food exists thanks to these services.’ India is the world’s second-largest producer of fruit and vegetables, after China, and 99 per cent of its harvest is for domestic consumption. So the disappearance of bees could have a huge effect on people’s economic situation.

‘India is losing its pollinators,’ says Parthib Basu, professor at the University of Kolkata. ‘The two main contributory factors are loss of natural habitat and pesticides. We have assessed the potential effect on the pollination on five different food crops, and the annual loss can be estimated at about $726 million. It’s not just about the lost money, though. This reduction could affect a family’s diet. It is about the loss of food – hunger, basically.’

Although far from any university, Parthiban is investigating the same subject. On his free days he takes his motorcycle and drives to his tamarind fields, where he now has 450 hives, all built by himself. After several years of observation he has been able to verify that the production of his 250 trees has risen from 1,000 to 4,350 kilograms, thanks to the bees’ contribution. He now provides training for his neighbours on how to increase productivity and consequently

improve their nutrition.

Food for thought Women beekeepers in the region of Maharastra, located in central-west India, are also asking these tiny insects for help in the fight against hunger.

Neema Ramesh Bilkule, a 28-yearold beekeeper, has to walk two kilometres from her house to her hives, which are located under a wooden hut in the small village of Kevdipada, a sevenhour drive from Mumbai. She waves at her neighbours working in the rice fields in the rain.

Neema lives in a house that she and her family built using mud and cow dung – a typical practice in this area. She has been a farmer her entire life and has been keeping bees for two years.

‘Neema is taking part in our training programme with over 500 farmer women from very poor or tribal areas,’ explains Rhea Cordeiro from Under the Mango Tree, an Indian NGO which encourages beekeeping as an important way to ensure food supplies for this rural population. ‘Thanks to the hives located near their crops, Neema’s community has seen increased productivity of 30 to 60 per cent in crops that benefit from pollination, like tomatoes, guava, mango and aubergine.’

This finding is confirmed by research being carried out at the University of Kolkata. ‘After one year of studies in six different kinds of crops, we have been able to verify a rise in productivity of 30 to 48 per cent thanks to the presence of hives,’ says Ritam Bhattacharya, a researcher at the university. ‘We are currently investigating the effect of apiaries on the agriculture practised by tribal families.’

These little insects not only affect

the productivity of the crops but also the health of the people. Researchers from Harvard University published a study last year in the The Lancet about the possible nutritional consequences of the disappearance of pollinators.

Among them, 71 million people could suffer malnutrition and lack of vitamin A, while 173 million could suffer a shortage of folic acid. Both these micronutrients are key to good health. Pregnant women and children could be the most affected, with increased chance of mortality caused by infectious diseases, blindness and neural tube defects.

The communities of farmers who live in poor and remote areas work 80 per cent of the agricultural land in India. Most support themselves on just two or three hectares. After the monsoon, they harvest and store the food that will feed them all year. If supplies run out before the next harvest is ready, these families must make difficult decisions. The most common one is that husbands move to the city to look for jobs, mostly in the construction industry. ‘Thanks to the hives, this last harvest gave enough food for the whole year, and it was better quality. My earnings from selling guava at market went from 20,000 to 60,000 rupees [$293 to $879],’ states Vimal Dileep Vadvi, a beekeeper and Neema’s neighbour.

Beyond the economic benefits are the health of Vimal and Neema’s families – they are getting stronger every day.

Translation by Cecilia García.

Hunger4Bees is a project with the collaboration of Journalism Grant, Innovation in Development Reporting Grant Programme (IDR) from the European Centre of Journalism.

We Need a New Social Movement Against Inequality Dr Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah

O

Inter Press Service

xfam’s latest estimate that just eight super-rich people – down from 62 last year and 388 just six years ago – own more wealth than the poorest half of the world population is a clarion call to change the way we think about and try to tackle inequality.

Twenty years ago, as a young economics student, I was taught to look at the distribution of resources within and between nations. Most of the measures we looked at were averages: what is the average per capita income in a country; or what is the average rate of growth. Even when looking at inequality we used measures like the Gini coefficient that looked at distribution across a whole population. Oxfam’s work shows just how poor these standard economic measures have been at tracking what has really been going on when it comes to wealth.

The vastly unequal accumulation of wealth transcends national boundaries.

While we spend a lot of time comparing the size of GDPs, it is now individuals, and not states, who are accumulating wealth in eye-watering quantities.

A little bit of inequality is to be expected; indeed one could argue it a normal part of economic life in a market-based system. But the tragedy of the current economic order is not just the extreme levels of inequality but also the social attitudes that have normalized it.

There are those who argue that efforts to reduce inequality will stifle competition and constrain enterprise and growth. Greed is good, they say.

Haven’t you heard about trickle-down economics? Well, I’ve heard and, along with a growing number of others, I’m not buying it.

Even the World Economic Forum’s own Global Risk Report cites severe income inequality as the single greatest threat to social and political stability around the world. Contemporary capitalism is creating deeply unstable growth. The inequality it engenders is bad for humanity, not only in the sense that it is unjust, but in that it leads instrumentally to negative outcomes for society as a whole. It is a corrosive force, hampering our fight against poverty and sowing the seeds of social unrest.

The mandates of our governments are heavily, disproportionately, influenced by the priorities of this wealthy elite. The super-rich are rigging the rules of the game in their favour.

Governments are going to be neither able nor willing to tackle inequality until mass social mobilisation demands that they do so. We need to examine the attitudes and beliefs that perpetuate and increase inequality.

We need to stop believing that what is happening now is normal, inevitable even. It’s not. We need to make extreme personal wealth an unacceptable reality and its defenders, pariahs.

What matters most in the fight against

inequality is how we think. We need to establish new norms around inequality, wealth and poverty.

A growing number of civil society organisations, trade unions and faith groups have come together to form a new Fighting Inequality Alliance. Our aim is to build upon work already begun by grassroots movements such as Occupy to change social norms around wealth accumulation. Only a global peoples’ movement can begin to counterbalance the power and influence of the 1%. Only a growing tide of peaceful protest can challenge inequality as a global social norm and force governments to respond.

Until we achieve this change in attitude, governments will not fundamentally alter the way they manage our economies. We won’t see tax havens eliminated, or all workers receiving a living wage. We won’t see increased government spending on public services funded by more progressive tax systems. We won’t see more transparent policymaking or meaningful strengthening of financial regulations.

We need a new global economy that works for the majority. But until the majority stand up and make themselves heard – until their influence overwhelms that of the wealthy elite – we will not achieve it.

Already, we are beginning to see exciting new thinking around wealth redistribution, such as this from Laurence

WRITE-WING

Chandy at the Brookings Institute. But, what if, instead of focusing on redistribution solutions, we look to prohibit the accumulation of enormous personal wealth in the first place? While it is commendable that some of the world’s richest people including Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Mark Zuckerberg will give away much of their fortunes not all billionaires will follow suit.

Were we to establish new rules, or norms, around how much wealth one individual can legitimately amass, some would no doubt argue that we would damage the economic growth incentive. But, we’re talking about marginal billions here. The innovators, the technology pioneers of our age, are not going to alter their investment decisions or risk tolerance should they stand to gain 1 billion rather than 10.

Nor is all this quite so radical as it might sound. Take the example of inheritance taxes. While the details of these law’s application may be contested, the legitimacy of its existence is not. We accept that there should be limits to how much wealth is hoarded inter-generationally. Why not something similar at the global level? My point is this: if we limit our thinking to taxing the super-rich or trying to encourage more billionaires to behave like Gates, Buffet or Zuckerberg, we may achieve some redistribution but not address the drivers of inequality.

As the world heads towards its first trillionaire, we need to change the rules of the wealth game.

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

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

MonDAY 06•02•2017

PERSPECTIVE

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

7

Is ASEAN Really Worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize?

Girls freed from brothels learn Public faith in government and institutions are at a very low ebb Hindi to retrace trafficking routes Luke Hunt

A

The Diplomat

crisis of integrity has emerged between what governments say and how things actually are. An erosion of faith in the system, which decides how people live their lives, has been as steady and as real as climate change in recent decades.

Fake news and systemic doping in sports, along with Russian propaganda, have added to existing doubts over the trashing of the environment and government data like unemployment, inflation, or debt figures; the printing of money, cronyism, jailing of dissenters or using the courts to sue and shut opposition down have all contributed to rising cynicism.

Questioning faith in government has also been amplified by social media and the arrival on the political scene of Donald Trump as U.S. president and a similarly uncouth Rodrigo Duterte as Philippine president and current chair of ASEAN. As U.S. president, what Trump has said has knocked the stuffing out of his country’s foreign policy and its political relationships across the board – whether with journalists, the CIA or NATO. His argument with the media over crowd sizes at his own inauguration was self-defeating.

At a regional level, Duterte has had a not too dissimilar impact when it comes to China and traditional ties with the United States, while his home-spun tough guy image, his war on drugs, and admissions that he has killed people, have earned him comparisons with Adolf Hitler.

It’s a double act that is taking politics to a new level in Southeast Asia, unnerving people and raising levels of distrust with government to untested levels.

Yet it was against that backdrop, in a column published by the Straits Times in Singapore and dedicated to Trump, that Kavi Chongkittavorn suggested the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) might be worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize.

ASEAN and Its Lack of Inner Peace The European Union won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012 on the basis that its raison d’etre had prevented a repeat of World War II. Chongkittavorn, a columnist for The Nation in Thailand, draws some unlikely parallels with ASEAN. “Like the European Union, ASEAN should be a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize in the coming decade, given its long and impressive stretch of peace and stability,” he wrote in what is essentially an open letter to Donald Trump

about what’s great within ASEAN, which functions mostly as a trade bloc.

He says the signing by foreign ministers from the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore of the Bangkok Declaration half a century ago saved the region from the scourges of many potential wars.

Chongkittavorn insists ASEAN only uses nonviolent means to resolve conflicts and has a longstanding tradition in that it does not promise what it cannot deliver. These touted attributes, Chongkittavorn argues, should merit ASEAN the biggest trophy for world peace, ever.

It’s a most unlikely scenario, but we are in changing times.

The Peace Prize is given to individuals and institutions that “have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”

ASEAN does not pass muster on that criteria.

History students are entitled to ask where was ASEAN when Cambodian leader Norodom Sihanouk was striking deals with the communists to allow his territory to be used for ferrying weapons up and down the Ho Chi Minh trail, or, why he joined the Khmer Rouge and urged his citizens to follow suit. They did, creating one of the darkest chapters of the 20th century.

Tens of thousands of soldiers died in 1979 when Vietnam and China went to war and perhaps just as many more died during Hanoi’s 10-year occupation of Cambodia.

There are at least three separate insurgencies in the southern Philip-

pines, which have been largely ignored

by ASEAN for the last 50 years, while a separatist rebellion has been mostly overlooked for the past 13 years in Thailand’s south.

The 2008-2013 border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand at Preah Vihear was only resolved by legal action in a UN-backed court. ASEAN was not involved. ASEAN mediation efforts with Beijing over disputes in the South China Sea have also been famously scuttled from within.

It took years before the regional bloc even acknowledged there was an issue with the Rohingya in Myanmar, where another 13 civil conflicts, at least, with a variety of ethnic groups carry on without the slightest bit of interest from ASEAN. The U.S.-championed “War on Terror” has topped the security agenda in Indonesia, the Philippines, and to a lesser extent Thailand, Malaysia, and Cambodia. Indonesia has seen bloody conflicts in Aceh and Poso.

Thousands upon thousands of lives have been lost while ASEAN sticks to its mantra that it never, ever dabbles in its members affairs. The only slight veering from that path occurred in mid2015 when Myanmar was told improve its relationship with the Rohingya or leave ASEAN. Relationships between Naypyidaw and the ethnic Muslim minority have deteriorated even further since then, under the leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi, herself a Nobel laureate.

A Nobel Struggle for Legitimate Laureates The Nobel Committee in Stockholm has its own crisis of integrity,

with many choices over the decades failing to win the support of the wider public. In a particularly embarrassing case, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and his North Vietnamese counterpart Le Duc Tho won jointly in 1973 for the Oslo Peace Accords, which amounted to little. South Vietnam was annexed by Hanoi and disappeared as an internationally recognized state two years later.

The 1992 prize was won by Rigoberta Menchú for her work with indigenous people. Her memoirs, which had brought her to the attention of the Nobel Committee, turned out to be partly made up.

Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan won the prize shortly before he was linked to an arms for food program in Iraq, where contracts were improperly diverted to his son’s company.

In 2004, the prize was awarded to Wangari Maathai for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy, and peace. She once reportedly said that HIV/AIDS was developed by Western scientists to depopulate Africa. She later denied these claims.

A very popular Barack Obama won his peace prize eight years ago, having just barely assumed the presidency, raising suspicions the Nobel Committee was pulling a stunt to bolster support from within the youth demographic.

Then the EU finally won for its contribution to the advancement of peace and reconciliation. Former laureates complained in the name of historical accuracy, arguing the EU was “clearly not a champion of peace.”

The gulf between what people believe and what they are told is as wide as the canyon which divides rich and poor. The world’s eight richest have as much money as the poorest half of the planet.

If the Nobel Committee wants to improve its public image with credibility then it really should shy away from any nomination, which are not difficult to arrange, afforded to ASEAN. To add the 10-nation group – including a military dictatorship, two communist countries, and a sharia state – to the winners circle of Nobel peace prizes would simply add another name to an ignoble list of winners and cast even further doubts over global institutions and why they matter.

The alternative would be to hand ASEAN the prize and promote it as an ideal trading bloc for the 21st century with Duterte at the helm, the EU as its role model, and Trump – the focus of Chongkittavorn’s column – as a moral backbone toward which to aspire.

How a Spring Revival Scheme in Sikkim Is Defeating Droughts Athar Parvaiz

B

Inter Press Service

ina Sharma, a member of the Melli Dhara Gram Panchayat Unit in the southern part of India’s northeastern Himalayan state of Sikkim, is a relieved woman.

For the past three years, Sharma said, she has received hardly any complaints from villagers about water disputes.

“Until a few years back, our springs were staying almost dry for five months from December to April. During those months I often used to get complaints from the villagers against their fellow villagers as they would fight for water,” Sharma told IPS. People in most parts of the mountainous Sikkim, and those in other mountainous areas across the region, use spring water for their personal consumption, kitchen gardens, farms, cattle and poultry. According to Sikkim First, an economic and political journal, about 80 per cent of Sikkim’s rural households depend on springs for drinking water and irrigation.

From experts in Gangtok to laymen in the far-off villages, everyone agrees that erratic rains and frequent droughts have resulted in the drying up of springs in many parts of the state, especially in south. Some say that the problem became worse after the 2011 earthquake in Sikkim.

Many studies, including the IPCC’s 5th Assessment Report, have reported changes in precipitation and temperature in the Himalayan region in recent years, but the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) says there is a major need for more research on Himalayan precipitation processes, as most studies have excluded the Himalayan region due to the region’s extreme, complex topography and lack of adequate rain-gauge data.

Adapting to changes, the Sikkim way Thankfully, Sharma said, the water security scheme of Sikkim’s rural development department for recharging the springs “seems to be working in our village” since it was started in 2012. “We get water all year round now,” she said.

According to the people and the government officials in Sikkim, hun-

Women are always hit hardest by water scarcity as they have to travel longer distances to fetch water, which increases their workload and compromises their ability to perform other essential and livelihood functions. (Credit: Pem Norbhu)

kim have been drying up, especially from November to May in recent years.

This has compelled the government to think of a scheme to revive the drying springs and lakes by artificially recharging the springs.

The brain behind devising this innovative scheme is Sandeep Thambe, an Indian Forest Service officer with a mechanical engineering background who has also carried out extensive research on water and environmental issues in Sikkim and is currently a professor at the Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIMF), Bhopal.

Hari Maya Pradhan, a woman who lives alone in her home in Melli Dhara, said that she had decided to give up rearing poultry and cattle as a livelihood option because she had to endure so many hardships to access water. “But now I feel a lot better after the villagers worked hard and dug up the ponds [which help in recharging the springs],” Pradhan, who has two cows and a small poultry unit, told IPS. Before the village’s water crisis subsided, students of the local Nelligumpa Secondary School had to regularly take two litres of water from their homes to

“Many times we protested and were preparing to take all our students to Gangtok to stage a protest demonstration. But our woes got automatically addressed when our springs started producing water in the dry season as well,” said Norbhu Tshering, the school in-charge.

Connected to nature In almost all parts of Sikkim, people directly connect plastic pipes to the small springs spread above their habitations to avail the natural water supply.

But in the south and western parts of Sikkim, getting water from the springs all through the season has become impossible for more than a decade.

In 2009, this prompted Tambe, who then served in the Sikkim government’s Rural Development Department, to start the Dhara Vikas (or Spring Development) programme for reviving and maintaining the drying springs and lakes particularly in southern and western parts of the state.

The scheme was later launched under the centrally sponsored Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), with technical support from other government agencies and organisations like

stitute Dehradun.

According to Tambe, the core thrust of Dhara Vikas is to catch the surface runoff water and use it to recharge groundwater sources after identifying the specific recharge areas of springs accurately through scientific methods by digging staggered contour trenches and percolation pits.

“With increasing population, degrading health of watersheds and impacts of climate change, the lean period discharge of these springs is rapidly declining,” Tambe said, adding that artificial recharging has thankfully shown encouraging results.

He said that less than 15 per cent of the rainwater, as has been estimated in various studies, is able to percolate down to recharge the springs, while the remaining flows down as runoff often causing floods.

“Hence, a need was felt to enhance the contribution of that rainwater in ground water recharge, thereby contributing to rural water security,” Tambe told IPS. Women, Tambe said, are always hit hardest by water scarcity as they have to travel longer distances to fetch water, which increases their workload and compromises their ability to perform other essential and livelihood functions.

Reduced access to water, he said, also impacts health, hygiene, and sanitation.

Sarika Pradhan of Sikkim’s Rural Development Department said that 51 springs and four lakes in 20 droughtprone Gram Panchayats of Sikkim have been revived so far as the rural development department has mapped 704 springs in the village spring atlas, which provides information about all the mapped springs.

Her colleague, Subash Dhakal, said that trenches and percolation pits have been dug over an area of 637 hectares under MGNREGA for reviving these springs and lakes with an average cost of 250,000 rupees (USD 3,787) per spring. *Research for this story was supported by a grant through The Forum of Environmental Journalists in India (FEJI) in collaboration with the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE) Media Fellowships in Environmental

Roli Srivastava

B

Thomson Reuters Foundation

abli has a copy of a month-old Hindi newspaper under her pillow that she regularly pulls out to read about the Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's postponed visit to India - her finger running across the words, connecting her to her homeland.

Trafficked from Bangladesh and sold into a brothel in Mumbai, Babli started learning Hindi last year at a shelter in Kandivali, a northern Mumbai suburb, where she was put up after being rescued.

She can now read, write and speak the language fluently thanks to Hindi classes that help girls identify their trafficking routes and record more accurate testimony.

An inadvertent outcome of these lessons at the Rescue Foundation shelter is that a handful of the girls have also bagged places in regular schools this year.

"I was brought to Kolkata from Bangladesh, but I couldn't read the names of train stations that I crossed on my way to Mumbai," Babli told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"I realised I was in Mumbai from snatches of conversations of people around me days after I reached the city."

Babli's mother tongue is Bengali, like thousands of girls trafficked to Mumbai every year from Bangladesh and the eastern Indian state of West Bengal - two culturally similar regions separated by a porous border.

More than 80 percent girls sold for commercial sexual exploitation in India in 2014 were from West Bengal, according to government data.

Illiteracy is a major obstacle to anti-trafficking efforts with most trafficked girls having never been to school or forced to drop out early, campaigners say.

"During the investigation, the girls were never able to recall places they crossed before they reached Mumbai," said Triveni Acharya of Rescue Foundation.

"Now we use a map in Hindi, show them the border area and ask them to identify states or districts they may have crossed."

A study by the Dasra NGO marked the northern Hindispeaking towns of Varanasi and Gorakhpur as hubs in the trafficking routes towards Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai.

Activists say identifying routes is important to step up police vigilance in these areas but also to protect the girls who go back home after a court case, and are once again exposed to trafficking risks.

Girls stay at the shelter until their matter is settled in court, which can take several years. Some go back home after they turn 18, while others choose to stay on to pursue a career.

KEY WITNESSES Between 500 and 28,000 girls are trafficked from Nepal and Bangladesh into India annually, according to the estimates of various non-profit groups.

"People living on the border of West Bengal and Bangladesh share the same culture, celebrate the same festivals and speak the same language - Bengali," said Vivian Isaac of My Choices Foundation, who has mapped India's trafficking patterns.

Acharya of Rescue Foundation hit the language barrier a decade ago and hired Bengali translators to understand what the rescued girls were saying.

"Up to 2005, most girls trafficked to Mumbai were from Nepal. But after that, [they were] largely from Bangladesh, West Bengal and also the northeastern state of Assam," Acharya said.

While Bengali translators helped, nuances that could enable an effective investigation were lost. And that's when Hindi lessons started at this shelter about a decade ago.

"The girls started understanding questions posed at them in courts," said Harish Bhandari, a lawyer who fights trafficking cases in lower and district courts, where although English and Marathi are used, judges switch to Hindi to enable communication.

"These girls are key witnesses in trafficking cases and it is important for them to understand the court procedure and the real intent of questions they are asked."

In two cases, girls revised their statements once the charge sheets were prepared, adding more information once they were able to express themselves better, Acharya said.

BACK TO SCHOOL What started as informal classes at the shelter is now an organised activity. Every morning, girls assemble for Hindi, English and Mathematics lessons given by trained teachers.

This year, some girls have got into regular schools and 10 of the nearly 80 girls aged between 15 and 17 living here will sit the high school exam in March.

The Hindi lessons have even helped Hindi-speaking girls like Pari, a teenager who grew up in Mumbai and is now at the shelter. She said she couldn't read the official papers she put her thumbprint on.

"We should know what we are signing," she said.

Pari started school this year. She said she quite enjoys Hindi lessons both at the shelter and school and even has a favourite story - that of a young girl who begrudges the attention her mother gives to her baby brother.

She said she has a younger brother who she has not seen in a while.

For Babli, her love for the language is limited to daydreams of making connections with her home. She looks for news on Bangladesh in the Hindi newspaper the shelter subscribes to.

While she missed the news that Hasina's visit to India was postponed, she is excited about another story she has been following - a new passenger train between India and Bangladesh.

Babli said she will teach Hindi to young girls in her village when she goes back home on this train.

"And this time, I will read the names of train stations."

8

MonDAY 06•02•2017

INDIA

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Sasikala set to be Tamil Nadu CM, DMK shocked CheNNai, February 5 (iaNS): Tamil Nadu is set to get its third woman Chief Minister. AIADMK MLAs on Sunday elected General Secretary V.K. Sasikala as their legislature leader, two months after her mentor J. Jayalalithaa died.

The legislators unanimously chose Sasikala, who is not a member of the assembly, for the post. And she lost no time in saying that outgoing Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam himself wanted her to head the government.

Addressing the legislators, the 59-year old Sasikala, a long-time confidante of Jayalalithaa, said Panneerselvam had also insisted earlier that she become the party head too.

Panneerselvam, who had earlier been acting Chief Minister twice, sent his resignation to Sasikala, party sources said.

The main opposition DMK said it was "shocked" that the AIADMK had chosen an administratively inexperienced Sasikala as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, one of India's biggest states.

"People didn't vote for Sasikala," DMK Working President M.K. Stalin said.

The DMK said Sunday was a "black day" for Tamil Nadu.

Sasikala said: "Since everyone stressed that one person should hold both the posts - Chief Minister

V K Sasikala. (File Photo)

and General Secretary of the party - I agreed."

According to AIADMK sources, Panneerselvam proposed her name and the other MLAs seconded it to show unanimity in the party.

Sasikala belongs to the Thevar community, which has a dominant say in the AIADMK. Bharatiya Janata Party's Tamil Nadu President Tamilisai Soundararajan agreed that electing Sasikala was the AIADMK MLAs' right but wondered what was the urgency.

Born in 1957 in Thiruthuraipoondi, about 330 km from Chennai, Sasikala was married to M. Natarajan, a

Modi government trying to end quotas: Mayawati SiTargaNj (uTTarakhaND), February 5 (iaNS): Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Sunday accused the central government of trying to do away with reservation for Dalits.

"The BJP-led government is trying to end the quotas for Dalits, it is trying to end reservation," Mayawati told an election rally here.

Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress, Mayawati said: "The Dalits and tribals are treated as vote bank by these two parties."

The BSP leader raked up the issues of Hyderabad University's Dalit student Rohit Vemula who had committed suicide as well as atrocities on Dalits in Una in Gujarat.

"The BJP and the Congress are the same within. That's why Dalits and tribals of Uttarakhand are not getting job promotions."

The former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh appealed to the Dalits and backwards to vote for the BSP in the 70-member Uttarakhand assembly election of February 15.

"Uttarakhand people need to remove the BJP and the Congress and bring the BSP to power to herald a change," Mayawati said.

She blamed the "wrong policies" of the central government for price rise and rising poverty.

"The Modi government is a government of corporates.

And its wrong policies have failed to control inflation and poverty."

Indian media focuses more on China's rise: Study kolkaTa, February 5 (iaNS): Indian newspapers, in their coverage on China, have moved away from a "single-minded concern" with the border issue and now devote more attention to its status as a rising power, an analysis said on Sunday.

The focus is also on emerging issues like river water sharing and climate change, according to a report titled "Indian Media's Perception of China: Analysis of Editorials", published by think tank The Observer Research Foundation (ORF).

The report, which examines the data collected from select national newspapers, covering a period of three years from 2012 to 2014, says: "The newspapers devote more and more attention to China's status as a rising power or to emerging issues like river water sharing, environment protection and climate change or trade between the two countries and have moved away from a single-minded concern with the border issue."

"While the border remains a sensitive issue, the newspapers are of the view that there are multiple areas in which India can move forward in its relations with China."

The report authored by Rakhahari Chatterji and Anasua Basu Ray Chaudhury is part of a larger study of public perception of India-China relations.

The two countries fought a brief war in 1962. The 3,488-kilometre-long Line of Actual Control (LAC), remains undefined between the two neighbours. China claims India's Arunachal Pradesh as its own while New Delhi calls Chinese-occupied Aksai Chin.

China, the world's second-largest economy, is the No. 1 trading partner of over 120 countries.

The national newspapers chosen from India are The Times of India, The Hindu, The Indian Express, The Economic Times and The Financial Express.

In each of the newspapers, the authors looked at the editorial pieces relating to China - "as these articles are indicative of a newspaper's overall perception".

Their report said the media devoted considerable time and space to China-related matters even though its concern with China is not overwhelming, while it further showed that though the border still remains a "very sensitive issue" for India in particular, the newspapers do not allow it to hijack all other issues.

The researchers found the print media's interest in China is expanding to cover its domestic issues as well.

Tamil Nadu government official.

In the 1980s, Natarajan urged South Arcot District Collector V.S. Chandralekha to introduce Sasikala to Jayalalithaa so that the then AIADMK Propaganda Secretary would get due publicity.

With Jayalalithaa finding Sasikala's work satisfactory, they became friends. After a while, Sasikala moved into the Poes Garden residence of Jayalalithaa in Chennai.

Sasikala used to accompany Jayalalithaa on her trips, often seated behind the charismatic actorturned-AIADMK leader.

Jayalalithaa publicly called Sasikala a sister not related by blood.

But despite their closeness, Sasikala maintained a low profile publicly although she was actively involved in managing the party affairs.

Their relationship turned sour in 2011 and Jayalalithaa told Sasikala and her family members to leave her residence. But they patched up later, ensuring Sasikala's return to the AIADMK. Supporters of Sasikala point out that she assisted Jayalalithaa in the party affairs - and was with her during her tough times.

Govt launches Measles Rubella vaccine campaign

Sasikala praises 'loyal brother' Panneerselvam

The health ministry said the nationwide campaign will reach out to and cover 41 crore children in the age group of 9 months to 15 years

CheNNai, February 5 (PTi): VK Sasikala who was on Sunday elected as the leader of the AIADMK legislature party+ , said the development in the party had shattered the hopes of the opposition parties in the state. "The development has come shattering the expectation of our political opponents that there will be a split in the party after the demise of our Amma (Jayalalithaa)," Sasikala said after party MLAs unanimously elected her as their leader.

Sasikala had a special word of praise for Panneerselvam, stating "whenever the party faced tough times and whenever there were difficulties in Amma becoming the chief minister, it was our dear brother Panneerselvam who has been loyal." "It was Panneerselvam who had first persuaded me to become the Chief Minister and General Secretary as well when Jayalalithaa passed away," Sasikala told party legislators in her acceptance speech. She said the AIADMK would strive for the welfare of the people of Tamil Nadu.

beNgaluru, February 5 (iaNS): With an aim to eradicate Rubella and Measles from India, the Union Health Ministry on Sunday launched the Measles-Rubella (MR) vaccination campaign here, targeting 41 crore children across the country.

According to the ministry, after the campaign the MR vaccine will be introduced in routine immunisation, replacing the two doses of measles vaccine given to children at 9-12 months and 16-24 months of age.

"The government is committed to eradicating Measles and Rubella from the country. We have taken this as an achievable target. This shall be taken up in a mission mode and rolled out in partnership with state governments and NGOs, among others.

"In this nationwide campaign, the ministry will reach out to and cover 41 crore children in the age group of 9 months to 15 years," said Faggan Singh Kulaste, Minister of State for Health, at the campaign launch.

The campaign will first be launched in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Goa and Lakshadweep, covering nearly 3.6 crore target children. However, it will later be extended to cover the entire country.

According to a Helath Ministry statement, all children aged between nine months and less than 15 years will be given a single shot of MR vaccination irrespective of their previous measles/rubella vaccination status or measles/ rubella disease status.

"MR vaccine will be provided free of cost across the states from session sites at schools as well as health facilities and outreach session sites," the ministry said.

Measles is a deadly disease and one of the main causes behind child mortality in the country. It is highly contagious and spreads through coughing and sneezing.

Globally, in 2015, measles killed an estimated 1,34,200 children, mostly under the age of five years. In India, it killed an estimated 49,200 children.

Rubella is generally a mild infection, but has serious consequences if infection occurs in pregnant women, causing congenital rubella syndrome (CRS), which is a cause of public health concern.

Currently, Measles vaccine is provided under Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP). Rubella vaccine will be a new addition.

Earlier on Sunday, Panneerselvam and other ministers met Sasikala at the Poes Garden residence of Jayalalithaa where Sasikala continues to live.

Days earlier, Sasikala named to various party posts some ex-ministers and others who had been earlier shunted out by Jayalalithaa.

She also reached out to those seen as a threat to her and placated them before becoming the party General Secretary.

Milk and Dairy Development Minister K.T. Rajenthra Bhalaji said: "Now a brave Tamil woman will be the Chief Minister. Can't

a Tamil woman become Chief Minister?"

Tamil Nadu's first woman Chief Minister was Janaki Ramachandran, the widow of the late M.G. Ramachandran, the AIADMK founder. She was in office only for a brief period.

She was succeeded by Jayalalithaa, who in May last year led the AIADMK to another victory in assembly elections.

Like Jayalalithaa, Sasikala too has faced corruption charges. The Supreme Court is yet to deliver a ruling in the disproportionate assets case. If it goes against her, it will be a blow to her and the AIADMK.

'Kashmir is core dispute between India & Pak' Centre committed to ending Indian forces". iSlamabaD, February 5 Council resolutions". triple talaq: Ravi Shankar He was speaking on the occa"However, all the Indian bru(PTi): Upping the ante, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today said Kashmir is the "core dispute" between India and Pakistan and the dream of peace and prosperity of the people of the region will remain elusive without resolving the issue. Describing Kashmir issue is the "unfinished agenda of partition and the oldest disputes in the UN Security Council, Sharif said "for the last seven decades India has denied the people of Kashmir the right to self-determination promised to them by the international community through numerous UN Security

sion of 'Kashmir Solidarity Day'.

"The people of Pakistan join their Kashmiri brothers and sisters in observing Kashmir Solidarity Day today to reaffirm our moral, diplomatic and political support to the legitimate struggle of the Kashmiri people for their basic human rights, especially the right to self determination enshrined in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions," Sharif said.

Pakistan, he said, "strongly condemns the systemic state terrorism and brutal killings of the innocent people of Kashmir by

talities have failed to deter the people of Kashmir from their cause for freedom from Indian subjugation," he said.

"Jammu & Kashmir is the core dispute between Pakistan and India. The dream of peace and prosperity of the people of this region will remain elusive without resolving this dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions," Sharif said.

"We urge India to stop bloodbath in....Kashmir and allow the holding of free and fair plebiscite under the UN auspices," he added.

Woman seeks nod for abortion: SC forms medical board New Delhi, February 5 (PTi): The Supreme Court has constituted a medical board to examine the "condition and advisability" of permitting medical termination of pregnancy of a woman who has sought permission to abort as the over 21-weekold foetus lacks kidneys, besides having multiple anomalies.

A bench of Justices S A Bobde and L N Rao, in an interim order, directed the seven-member medical board of Mumbai-based King Edward Memorial (KEM) hospital to examine the 21-year-old woman and submit the report before it.

"The board shall examine petitioner number one (woman) and submit a report about her condi-

tion and advisability of permitting a medical termination of pregnancy, forthwith," said the bench which also issued notice to the Centre on the plea and listed the matter for hearing on February 7.

The woman has approached the apex court seeking permission to terminate her pregnancy contending that the foetus does not have kidneys, besides having multiple anomalies. The law prohibits termination of pregnancy after 20 weeks, even if there is a fatal risk to the mother and the foetus.

"The petitioner found out in the 21st week of her pregnancy that the foetus doesn't have kidneys. She had to undergo two scans before this could estab-

lished and the foetus has multiple anomalies," the woman has said in her petition. The medical board constituted by the bench consists of doctors from the departments of psychiatry, obstetrics and gynaecology, medicine, radiology and anaesthesia.

In a separate case, the apex court had on January 16 allowed a Mumbai-based woman, who was in her 24th week of pregnancy, to terminate her pregnancy under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act while taking into consideration the report of medical board of KEM Hospital which had suggested that the foetus would not be able to survive without the skull.

luCkNow, February 5 (PTi): The Centre is committed to ending the "evil social practice" of triple talaq, Union law minister and senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said today and asked Samajwadi Party, Congress and BSP to make their stand clear on the contentious issue.

"The government respects faith but worship and social evil cannot coexist," he said.

"I want Akhilesh Yadav, Rahul Gandhi and Mayawati to clarify their stand on the issue of triple talaq. Our (BJP's) stand is very clear. The issue is not related to religion but involves respect and dignity of women," Prasad said at a press conference here.

"We are the only party which respects women. Neither do other parties offer a good place to women nor do they respect them," the BJP leader claimed.

Speaking at a press conference in Ghaziabad yesterday, he had said the Centre might take appropriate steps to ban triple talaq after the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections as the tradition denies respect to women.

Prasad had said, "every pernicious practice" cannot be part of a religion and the Centre would raise the issue in the Supreme Court on three points -- justice, equality and dignity of women.

Referring to the SP-Congress

alliance in Uttar Pradesh, he said, "This is an alliance of desperation between two dynastic parties... alliance of desperation between crime, criminals and corruption."

Ridiculing the pre-poll tieup, he claimed the "confluence of Ganga and Yamuna" will end up with one party merging with the other after the polls.

"Which party will merge with which party will be seen after the polls. This is nothing but a theatre of the absurd," the BJP leader said.

He also touched upon the salient features of BJP's manifesto and the Union Budget and explained how it would help the poor.

Yesterday, while speaking to mediapersons in Ghaziabad, Prasad had alleged that Samajwadi Party and Congress have entered an alliance as both parties "indulge in corruption, crime and loot".

"Both parties are opportunist and have tied-up with each other just to stop the landslide victory of BJP," he claimed.

Not a single big industry was established in Uttar Pradesh during the tenure of Akhilesh Yadav-led SP government, the BJP leader alleged, adding the funds sanctioned by the Centre for the development of the state has not just due to the feud within the Yadav family.

HRD to bring 'graded regulatory mechanism' in UGC: Prakash Javadekar New Delhi, February 5 (PTi): The HRD ministry will bring in a "graded regulatory mechanism" as part of key reforms in the University Grants Commission (UGC) to usher in greater transparency, freedom and autonomy, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Sunday.

The HRD minister also announced that 'SWAYAM', an open web-based platform from which 2000 courses will be run for students across the country, will be launched next month.

Referring to the Union Budget 2017, Javadekar said that it reflects the government's vision of raising quality in the education sector, which has got additional funds this time to the tune of Rs 6,000 crore.

He said that as per the Right to Education Act, learning outcomes are being defined and will be part of the coming academic session.

All universities to have 'Grievance Redressal Cell' within four months: Delhi High Court directs UGC New Delhi, February 5 (iNDia ToDay): The Delhi High Court, on Friday, after identifying the need to address the grievances faced by scores of students in colleges and universities, directed the University Grants Commission (UGC) to set up 'Grievance Redressal Cell' in all varsities within four months.

A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal said appointment of an 'ombudsman' in every university and a grievance redressal committee (GRC) for every college or group of colleges were "mandatory" and were provided for under the UGC (Grievance Redressal) Regulations of 2012.

The court said failure of the universities to appoint ombudsman or to constitute GRC for colleges "would defeat the very object of grievance redressal mechAnother initiative is an innovation fund of Rs 100 crore for schools which will be introduced in educationally backward districts, he said.

anism provided under the regulations".

It also directed Delhi University (DU) to "take necessary steps forthwith and appoint the ombudsman" in terms of provisions of the regulations "as expeditiously as possible preferably within a period of four months from today".

The court's ruling came while disposing of a PIL filed by a former law student, who had alleged non-compliance of the UGC regulations with regard to appointment of ombudsman by universities, particularly DU. As per the regulations, the ombudsman "shall be a part-time officer appointed for a period of three years or until he attains the age of 70 years, whichever is earlier", the bench noted in its judgment.

(With inputs from PTI)

He said a separate exam agency has also been announced which will conduct major exams, many of which are being conducted by an "overburdened"

CBSE, he said. The CBSE's main focus is to look after school education. Speaking about UGC reforms, Javadekar said that thrust is to give more autonomy to

good institutes and "monitor mid-level and monitor more those in the lower rungs".

"Everybody would be incentivised to go upwards," Javadekar told reporters here. Referring to the IIM Bill, which is expected to come up in the current Parliament session, Javadekar said it indicates the shape of things to come.

He referred to SWAYAM which is a MOOCs platform and said that it would become what ATM is for money.

"It will be any time learning and anywhere learning," he said while thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for the budget provisions.

The HRD minister also referred to the announcement made in 2016 budget about creating 20 world class institutions, and said that consultations are complete and guidelines finalised. He said institu-

tions would be asked to file applications and the process would start soon.

They wold be know as institutions of excellence, Javadekar said.

Javadekar also said that the HRD ministry is working in a major way to bring reforms in teachers' education.

Asked about exceptionally high cut-offs in some DU colleges, the HRD minister said that it is true that a situation has come where even after scoring 90 per cent students are disappointed and said that the issue will be looked into.

About the names for VC in Aligarh Muslim University, he said that the decision will be taken as per procedure. He was also asked about certain UGC regulations on admission in PhDs related to which some students were agitating in JNU. Javadekar said if required the students could come and meet him regarding their grievances.

MondAY 06•02•2017

WORLD

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

9

US court refuses to immediately restore President Trump’s travel ban WASHINGTON/BEIRUT, FEBRUARy 5 (REUTERS): A U.S. appeal court late on Saturday denied a request from the U.S. Department of Justice to immediately restore a immigration order from President Donald Trump barring citizens from seven mainly Muslim countries and temporarily banning refugees.

The court ruling dealt a further setback to Trump, who has denounced the judge in the state of Washington who blocked his executive order on Friday. In tweets and comments to reporters, the president has insisted he will get the ban reinstated.

Trump says the temporary immigration restrictions on citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, and on all refugees, are necessary to protect the United States from Islamist militants.

Critics say they are unjustified and discriminatory.

The judge’s order and the appeal ruling have created what may be a short-lived opportunity for travelers from the seven affected countries to get into the United States while the legal uncertainty continues.

In a brief order, the appeals court said the government’s request for an immediate administrative stay on the Washington judge’s decision had been denied. It was awaiting further submissions from Washington and Minnesota states on Sunday, and from the government on Monday.

The government’s appeal says the decision by judge James Robart in Washington poses an

Iraq says ruling against Trump travel ban is move in right direction

Demonstrators against the immigration rules implemented by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, rally at Los Angeles international airport in Los Angeles, California, U.S., February 4, 2017. REUTERS

immediate harm to the public, thwarts enforcement of an executive order and “second-guesses the president’s national security judgment about the quantum of risk posed by the admission of certain classes of (non-citizens) and the best means of minimizing that risk”.

Trump denounced the “so-called” judge in a series of tweets on Saturday and told reporters: “We’ll win. For the safety of the country, we’ll win.”

der has drawn criticism even from U.S. allies and created chaos for thousands of people who have, in some cases, spent years seeking asylum in the United States.

Iraqi Fuad Sharef, together with his wife and three children, spent two years obtaining U.S. visas, and had packed up to move to America last week, but were turned back to Iraq after a failed attempt to board a U.S.bound flight from Cairo.

On Sunday, the family IRAQI FAMILY checked in for a Turkish AirThe president’s Jan. 27 or- lines flight to New York from

Pain relievers during flu may up heart attack risk TAIpEI, FEBRUARy 5 (IANS): People who use pain killers for treating respiratory infections like common cold or flu may be at an increased risk of heart attack, researchers have warned. The findings showed that using the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) during an acute respiratory infection could raise the risk for a heart attack by 3.4-fold.

The risk was 7.2 times higher when patients received the pain-relieving medications via a drip in the hospital.

“Physicians should be aware that the use of NSAIDs during an acute respiratory infection might further increase the risk of a heart attack,” said Cheng-Chung Fang from the National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei City.

On the other hand, when patients had an infection but did not take the drugs their risk was 2.7 times greater compared to a healthy person. But, that dropped to 1.5 when they took the drugs while infection-free, the researchers said. Patients seeking relief from cold and flu symptoms should consult with their doctor or a pharmacist before using NSAIDs, Fang added.

In the study, published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, the team aimed to investigate whether two potential cardiac risk factors -- an acute respiratory infection, such as a cold or influenza, and NSAID use -- have a combined, joint effect on heart attack risk. The researchers compared 10,000 Taiwanese patients for their risk of heart attack over time, across different bouts of respiratory illness and NSAID use. The results revealed a stronger association with a heart attack when both the risk factors were present. However, additional research is needed to clarify the apparent combined effect on risk and how the effect might be managed, the researchers noted.

Third-hand smoke may affect growth of baby NEW yORk, FEBRUARy 5 (IANS): Exposure to the sticky residue of tobacco smoke -- or third-hand smoke -- left behind on the furniture and walls of your home may significantly affect your baby’s growth and immunity system, researchers have found.

The findings showed that the residue of the smoke puts babies and toddlers at much greater risk because they come into contact with contaminated surfaces while crawling or teething during their critical period of immune system development.

“We suspected the young are most vulnerable because of their immature immune systems, but we didn’t have a lot of hard evidence to show that before,” said lead author Bo Hang, scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) in California, US. Further, the dangers associated with smoking continues for a long time, even after the cigarette is snuffed out, the researchers said. For the study, appearing in the journal Scientific Reports, the team studied the changes to body weight and the hematopoietic system after three weeks of exposure for two age groups of mice: birth to 3 weeks (neonatal) and 12-15 weeks (young adult).

They were compared to a control group of mice that were not exposed to smoke. The results revealed newborn mice exposed to smoke weighed significantly less than mice born in a control group. In addition, newborn and adult mice exposed to third-hand smoke showed persistent changes in blood cell counts.

There were lower levels of platelets and specific types of white blood cells -- associated with inflammation and allergic reactions -- in the smoke-exposed mice. “The effects on blood cell count persisted even after exposure ended. Changes remained at least 14 weeks after exposure ended for the neonatal group and two weeks after it ended for the adults,” Hang said.

Istanbul.

“Yeah, we are very excited.

We are very happy,” Sharef told Reuters TV. “Finally, we have been cleared. We are allowed to enter the United States.”

Rana Shamasha, 32, an Iraqi refugee in Lebanon, was due to travel to the United States with her two sisters and mother on Feb. 1 to join relatives in Detroit until their trip was cancelled as a result of the travel ban.

She is now waiting to hear from U.N. officials overseeing their case. “If they tell me there is a plane tomorrow morning,

BAGHDAD, FEBRUARy 5 (REUTERS): Iraq is satisfied with a U.S. appeals court ruling against a travel ban imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, a government spokesman said on Sunday.

The ruling given late on Saturday denied a request from the U.S. Department of Justice to immediately restore Trump’s order, which a judge in Washington state had blocked on Friday.

“It is a move in the right direction to solve the problems that it caused,” the Iraqi spokesman, Saad al-Hadithi, told Reuters.

Trump’s executive order last week put a 120-day halt on the U.S. refugee program, barred Syrian refugees indefinitely and imposed a 90day suspension on people from seven majority Muslim countries - Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

Religious minorities persecuted

I will go. If they tell me there is one in an hour, I will go,” she told Reuters by telephone in Beirut, saying their bags were still packed. “I no longer have a house here, work, or anything,” she said.

An official at Beirut airport said three Syrian families had left for the United States via Europe on Sunday morning.

LEGAL ARGUMENTS In his ruling in Washington state on Friday, Judge Robart questioned the use of the Sept.

11, 2001, attacks on the United

by the Islamic State group, and other Iraqis fleeing violence, were among those affected.

The ban would have prevented a total of 20,000 people in “precarious circumstances” in the seven countries targeted from resettling in the U.S. during the 120 days covered by the suspension, according to the United Nations.

Baghdad protested against the ban, calling it unfair and saying that no Iraqi had been involved in attacks on U.S. soil.

But it refrained from retaliating as it seeks to maintain U.S. support for Iraqi forces battling Islamic State in Mosul.

The U.S. has more than 5,000 troops deployed in Iraq, providing critical air and ground support for Iraqi and Kurdish forces fighting the militants, who declared a self-styled caliphate over parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014.

States as a justification for the ban, saying no attacks had been carried out on U.S. soil by individuals from the seven affected countries since then.

For Trump’s order to be constitutional, Robart said, it had to be “based in fact, as opposed to fiction”. The 9/11 attacks were carried out by hijackers from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Lebanon, whose nationals were not affected by the order.

The Justice Department appeal criticized Robart’s legal reasoning, saying it violated

the separation of powers and stepped on the president’s authority as commander-in-chief.

The appeal said the state of Washington lacked standing to challenge the order and denied that the order “favors Christians at the expense of Muslims.” The U.S. State Department and Department of Homeland Security said they were complying with Robart’s order and many visitors are expected to start arriving on Sunday, while the government said it expects to begin admitting refugees again on Monday.

Dozens killed as heavy snow blankets ‘ISIS recruiting child refugees’ parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan kABUL, FEBRUARy 5 (REUTERS): Dozens of people in Afghanistan and Pakistan were killed after heavy snow and avalanches hit over the weekend.

In eastern Afghanistan, at least 50 people died and dozens more were missing on Sunday after an avalanche buried a village in Nuristan, provincial governor Hafiz Abdul Qayum said.

“Based on information from district officials, 50 dead bodies have been recovered and the number may increase,” he said.

At least five other deaths from collapsed roofs were reported elsewhere in Nuristan.

In the northern province of Badakhshan, over the past two days as many as 19 people were killed and 17 injured by avalanches, collapsed roofs and road accidents, said Naweed Frotan, a spokesman for the provincial governor.

The government was working to reach at least 12 districts in Badakhshan that had been completely cut off, he said.

Heavy snow also blanketed the Afghan capital of Kabul, where the government closed its offices on Sunday.

In neighbouring Pakistan, at least 9 people, including children, were killed by an avalanche in the northern Chitral district, with as many as 14 residents believed to still be trapped in collapsed houses, district official Syed Maghferat Shah said.

“So far the rescue workers have recovered nine bodies and efforts are under way to retrieve more,” he said.

The avalanche struck a village of 25 houses, but evacuation operations were delayed by the weather, Chitral Deputy Commissioner Shahab Hameed Yousafzai.

“There is no way to rush the injured persons to Chitral hospital because all roads in the valley have been blocked due to heavy snowfall, ” he said.

In a separate incident in the Chitral region, a government rescue worker was killed when

an avalanche struck a check post near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, the commanding officer told Reuters.

The snow wreaked havoc on major roads in Afghanistan, including the Kabul-Kandahar Highway, where police and soldiers had to rescue around 250 cars and buses trapped by the storm, said Jawid Salangi, a spokesman for Ghazni province, where as much as two metres of new snow was reported.

“Fortunately we arrived on time and there is not a single casualty,” he said, noting that officials expected the road to reopen quickly.

The Salang pass north of Kabul was also closed under as much as two and a half metres of snow, according to police general Rajab Salangi, who oversees the area.

“It will remain blocked until the snow is cleared from the main road, facilities are provided and it is safe to travel,” he said.

LONDON, FEBRUARy 5 (pTI): The Islamic State (ISIS) terror group is paying smugglers in an attempt to recruit vulnerable child refugees from countries like Lebanon and Jordan, a new UK report has warned.

The report from counter-terrorism think-tank Quilliam to be released tomorrow claims that an estimated 88,300 unaccompanied children identified by the European Unions police agency Europol as having gone missing are at risk of being radicalised.

“Young asylum seekers are targeted by extremist groups as they are more vulnerable to indoctrination, make able fighters and, in the case of girls, can create a new generation of recruits. This report outlines national and international requirements to reduce the risk of child-trafficking, extremism and modern slavery,” Nikita Malik, a senior researcher at Quilliam, told the ‘Observer’ newspaper.

The report found that ISIS had offered up to 2,000 dollars to recruit within camps in Lebanon and Jordan. Last year, Jordanian special forces reportedly found what they described as an ISIS sleeper cell inside a refugee camp near Irbid,

north Jordan.

Additional reports indicated that ISIS had tried to recruit refugees by supplying food previously withheld from camp residents, the newspaper reports. The report said: “Young unaccompanied refugees are more vulnerable to radicalisation if they are separated from their parents, who remained in the country of origin at risk to violent and radical groups, or in a new host country”.

“There is no question that militant groups target refugee youth for recruitment. It has also been argued that refugee youth can become autonomously radicalised, through online content, for example,” the report said. Another so-called hotspot is the south Libyan town of Qatrun, where reports have indicated that ISIS, which is believed to have between 4,000 to 6,000 fighters in the region, has waived 450-pound smuggler fees to allow refugees to travel north if they joined its ranks.

The 171-page report proposes the creation of a safeguarding and resilience against extremism framework, which would be mandatory for organisations such as the UK s Home Office and the National Crime Agency.

Philippines govt says church “out of touch” in attacking drugs war MANILA, FEBRUARy 5 (REUTERS): The Philippine government derided Catholic bishops on Sunday as “out of touch” after they used weekend sermons to attack a war on drugs they said had created a “reign of terror” for the poor.

Members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) had dramatised President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign and, instead of criticising, should focus on contributing to the “reign of peace” that innocent people now felt, presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said.

The church assailed bloodshed that had caused suffering, and said killing people was not the way to deal with illegal drugs. In a pastoral letter read out on Saturday and repeated to congregations at churches on Sunday, bishops said it was disturbing that many Filipinos were indifferent to the killings, or even approved of them.

Abella, a former pastor, said the war on drugs had made the country safer, “far

from the ‘terror’ the bishops paint rather dramatically.”

“The officials of the CBCP are apparently out of touch with the sentiments of the faithful who overwhelmingly support the changes in the Philippines,” Abella said in a statement. More than 7,600 people have been killed since Duterte unleashed a ferocious crackdown seven months ago, more than 2,500 in police raids and sting operations.

Human rights groups believe many other deaths that police had attributed to vigilantes were carried out by assassins likely colluding with police. The government and police vehemently deny extrajudicial killings have occurred.

The CBCP’s message was read at numerous churches in Manila attended by Reuters, though not all. Church sources said the Archdiocese of Manila issued a circular telling parishes to read the pastoral letter, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters prior to the first readings.

The drugs war is a con-

tentious issue, with some bishops keen to make a stand and others hesitant to risk a backlash by criticising a campaign that enjoys broad public support.

Duterte has routinely attacked the Church, and as recently as this week called for a “showdown” with priests whom he has accused of having wives, engaging in homosexual acts, graft and child abuse.

“GIVE THEM A CHANCE” Katrina Rufael, an office worker who attended mass at the Baclaran Redemptorist Church, said the pastoral letter was justified. “We have to oppose the war on drugs, because we cannot just put an end to the life of people who have made mistakes,” she said. “Let’s give them a chance to change.”

Elsewhere in Manila, at the Chapel of the Eucharistic Lord, a packed congregation listened attentively to the plea to stop the killings.

“Life is a gift from God, and only God can take it away,” said Ligaya Reyes, a government worker. “It was

Filipino churchgoers pray in front of a Jesus Christ crucifixion statue after Rev. F. Carlos Ronquillo (not in photo), a Rector Superior of the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, talked about a pastoral letter from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) about the drug war of President Rodrigo Duterte during a mass at the Redemptorist church in Paranaque city, metro Manila, Philippines on February 5. (REUTERS Photo)

a strong statement, it should have been made a long time ago when the killing began.”

The statement was also heard at a chapel in the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters on Sat-

urday. Not all agreed with it.

“They’re not being killed if they just surrender,” said a policeman’s wife, who gave her name as Dolores and said the PNP had been unfairly depicted as murderers

for shooting drugs suspects resisting arrest.

“What the president’s doing right now ... he’s doing good. Because for the common people, it’s our safety.”

10

monDAY 06•02•2017

SPORTS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Spurs edge past Boro, Hull shock Liverpool

London, February 5 (aFP): Tottenham edged Middlesbrough 1-0 at White Hart Lane in a victory which saw them move ahead in the table while Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool hit a new low in a 2-0 defeat at Hull. Spurs, however, remain nine points behind title leaders Chelsea who beat Arsenal 3-1 early on Saturday.

Tottenham striker Harry Kane stepped up to convert the penalty for his 16th goal of the season after Son Heung-Min was fouled by Bernardo in the 58th minute.

It was a first win in three league games for Mauricio Pochettino's team, who are unbeaten in their last nine.

"When you don't kill the game you leave it open.

In the last second you can concede, that's the Premier League. Thankfully it didn't and we're happy," Pochet-

tino said.

At the KCOM Stadium, Liverpool fell behind in the 44th minute when Alfred N'Diaye took advantage of goalkeeper Simon Mignolet's poor handling to bag a debut goal.

Klopp's side were finished off in the 84th minute when on-loan Everton striker Oumar Niasse raced clear to boost third bottom Hull's survival bid.

"Obviously that was not good enough. We gave both goals away easily and the overall performance was not like it should be," Klopp said.

"It makes no sense for us to play like this. We need to wake up, that was not acceptable."

Liverpool have won only once in their last 10 games in all competitions and will be knocked out of Middlesbrough's Alvaro Negredo attempts an overhead kick. (Reuters Photo) the top four if Manchester City avoid defeat against - Goal rush former boss Sam Allardyce to demolish fellow strug- Selhurst Park.

Swansea on Sunday.

Sunderland stunned with an first half goal rush glers Crystal Palace 4-0 at Lamine Kone, signed

by Palace chief Allardyce when he was in charge at Sunderland, swept home after Palace goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey dropped a 10th minute free-kick.

The Black Cats were two up in the 43rd minute through Didier Ndong's first goal for the club.

Jermain Defoe put the result beyond doubt with two goals in first half stoppage-time. One furious Palace fan ran onto the pitch to confront defender Damien Delaney.

Sunderland remain bottom of the table but they are level on points with Palace, who dropped to 19th place.

Romelu Lukaku scored four times in Everton's 6-3 victory against Bournemouth at Goodison Park.

Ronald Koeman's side were ahead after just 31 seconds as Belgian forward Lukaku started his goal spree.

Everton doubled their advantage through James McCarthy in the 23rd minute and Lukaku notched his second six minutes later.

Bournemouth's Josh King set up a tense finale as he netted in the 59th and 70th minutes.

Lukaku struck again in the 83rd and 84th minutes to cap his memorable afternoon before Harry Arter's 90th minute reply and Ross Barkley's sixth for Everton.

West Ham bounced back from their mauling

by Manchester City with a 3-1 win at Southampton thanks to goals from Andy Carroll, Pedro Obiang and Mark Noble.

Watford consigned 10man Burnley to a seventh successive away league defeat with a 2-1 success at Vicarage Road.

West Bromwich Albion beat Stoke 1-0 thanks to James Morrison's sixth minute goal.

De Villiers steers S.Africa to Bayern held by Schalke as Lahm makes 500th appearance ODI series win over Sri Lanka

JoHanneSburG, February 5 (reuterS): AB de Villiers struck an unbeaten halfcentury to steer South Africa to a series-winning seven wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the third one-day international at The Wanderers on Saturday.

In a game that was delayed for over an hour by a swarm of bees that took up residence on the pitch, South Africa won the toss and sent the tourists in to bat, restricting them to 163 all out in 39.2 overs.

The dominant home side, playing in a changed pink kit in aid of breast cancer awareness, eased to victory with a full 18 overs to spare as De Villiers led the way with 60 from 61 balls.

He put on an un-

beaten fourth-wicket stand of 72 with JP Duminy (28) to guide South Africa to an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series.

South Africa have now won their last 12 ODIs at home, a record for the country. Niroshan Dickwella (74) and Upul Tharanga (31) had managed 60 for the first wicket for Sri Lanka as they made a positive start but, once seamer Kagiso Rabada (2-39) removed the latter, the collapse was on.

Only two other batsmen managed doublefigures as Sri Lanka lost 10 wickets for 103 runs to record another low score on what has been a dismal tour with the bat.

The players left the field for more than an hour with Sri Lanka on 117 for four in the 27th over as a swarm of bees

descended on the stadium and had the fielders dropping to the floor in panic.

The unwanted guests were finally coaxed away with buckets filled with honey and the match could resume.

Seamer Dwaine Pretorius (3-19), recalled to the side in the place of all-rounder Wayne Parnell, posted career-best figures in his fourth ODI. Quinton de Kock (eight) failed again with the bat at the top of the home side’s order, but Hashim Amla (34) and Faf du Plessis (24) steadied the innings before captain De Villiers compiled his 49th ODI half-century to finish the job.

The next match will be played in Cape Town on Tuesday before the series concludes in Pretoria on Friday.

berLIn, February 5 (reuterS): Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich survived several firsthalf scares in a 1-1 home draw with midtable Schalke 04 on Saturday as Philipp Lahm made his 500th appearance for the Bavarian club.

Second-placed RB Leipzig lost ground after losing 1-0 at Borussia Dortmund and were left fuming after Federico Palacios had a goal disallowed with almost the last kick of the game for offside.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored the winner for last season's runners-up after a superb run and cross by teenager Ousmane Dembele.

Bayern, who have 46 points from 19 games as they chase a fifth successive title, increased their lead over Leipzig to four points while Dortmund (34) points stayed third, ahead of Hoffenheim on goal difference.

Robert Lewandowski finished off a flowing move by clipping the ball over Ralf Faehrmann for this 15th goal of the season in the ninth minute but Schalke levelled four minutes later when Naldo's low free-kick found its way past Manuel Neuer.

Eleventh-placed Schalke, the fourth team to take a point from the Allianz Arena this season, then missed

Philipp Lahm of Muenchen acknowledges the fans after the Bundesliga match between Bayern Muenchen and FC Schalke 04 at Allianz Arena on February 4, 2017 in Munich, Germany. (Getty Images)

several chances for a halftime lead.

Neuer denied Sead Kolasinac who had a clear run on goal, then Guido Burgstaller hit the crossbar and finally Leon Goretzka dallied over a shot, allowing Juan Bernat to get back and tackle.

Lahm, 33, came on in the second half to a rapturous reception and Schalke were forced on to the back

foot as Bayern took control.

Javi Martinez drilled a shot just wide before some superb defending

by Matija Nastasic foiled the Bavarians.

"We can be very satisfied," said Schalke coach Markus Weinzierl.

"My team played really well and put the early setback behind them.

"We should have taken the lead

before halftime and in the second half we were put under pressure.....

We can certainly live with a point."

Dortmund's match with Leipzig was a stop-start affair until Dembele collected the ball near the halfway line, turned and beat Marvin Compper, then flicked the ball past Willi Orban before delivering a pinpoint pass which Aubameyang headed in for his 17h Bundesliga goal of the season.

Aubameyang and Marco Reus both squandered further chances in the second half and Dortmund almost paid dearly when Palacios broke clear to fire past Roman Buerki in stoppage time only to have his celebrations cut short by the linesman's flag.

Despite Leipzig's protests, replays showed that Palacios was marginally offside. Hoffenheim brushed aside Mainz 05 4-0 with Adam Szalai scoring twice in the last five minutes.

A second-minute goal from Genki Haraguichi gave Hertha Berlin a 1-0 win over Ingolstadt which kept them a further point behind in fifth.

A late penalty from Anthony Modeste, his 15th goal of the season, gave Cologne a 1-0 win over VfL Wolfsbug and Borussia Moenchengladbach scored three times in the last 20 minutes to beat Freiburg 3-0.

puBLic diScourSe

Naga Society Lies Wounded Again

T

Charles Chasie

he night of February 2 was reminiscent of “The Night of the Guerrillas” during the late 1950s and early 1960s yet again. Kohima lay burning while the Naga public, by and large, stayed cowering in their homes. The difference was that this time, it was the Nagas themselves who did the burning while the Indian Army stood by, ready to intervene should they be called upon to do so.

So, what brought this incident about? Immediately, the “issue” was the holding of elections to the urban local bodies (ULBs) in Nagaland with 33% reservation for women and the ego clashes between the various Naga tribe organizations and the State Government. People in other parts of India all think Nagas are suppressing women’s rights. The main issue is that Naga tribe bodies have been opposing the Municipalities Act from the time it was promulgated. The tribe bodies have been asking the Government to postpone the elections so that proper consultations could take place. On the other hand, the Government took the view that consultations had already been held. The spoiler in the equation was the Naga Mothers Association (NMA), and their joint action committee on women reservation, who saw the entire issue only through the prism of women rights, and precipitated events with their petitions in the courts.

What everyone failed to realize were the undercurrents that had been at work in Naga society even if these may not have been visible to many.

First, most Nagas have become disappointed with the failure of the Indo-Naga talks not yielding results even after 19 years. The disappointment is not with Government of India alone. The disappointment is also with the Naga political groups not be-

ing able to work out their differences and coming together to thrash out an acceptable and workable solution.

Their refusal to budge from their positions have angered and frustrated all Nagas. Strong feelings were simmering just below the surface.

Second, following from the above, most Nagas have realized that they needed to protect whatever little protections they have under the Indian Constitution. This was where Article 371A became so important to them.

Delhi’s arrogant attitude, particularly after the BJP came to power, did not help to assuage or calm Naga feelings.

The summary extension of the AFSPA and the fencing on the Indo-Myanmar border without any consultation are just two examples. Demonetisation and the suffering this caused only added apprehension. “If Delhi can do this to the rest of India, what about us?” seemed to be what was in everyone’s mind. And while the State Government is composed of Naga politicians, most Nagas have lost faith in them and cynically think all of them are there only for the money and would willingly dance to Delhi’s tunes if they can get money.

Third, it did not make too many waves to the same degree among all the tribes, but accompanying the ULB elections, under the same law, was the issue of taxation by the new municipalities/Town committees particularly if Smart Cities and Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) were also involved. Taxation has always been an abhorrent issue where Nagas are concerned. It led to the killing of the first British Political Officer in the Naga Hills in 1879 and the war against the British that followed which ended in 1880 at the end of the Battle of Khonoma, with a British soldier being awarded the Victory Cross (VC), the first in the Naga Hills. Taxation was again a large part of the reason for the rise, and sustenance, of Naga Nationalism although other reasons

were there. “Ura Uvie!” encapsulated the basic idea. The new Indian law about attaching personal assets for failure to pay taxes would seem to give credence to this original fear of the Nagas! Again the Nagas have been vehemently opposing the forcible taxations imposed by the Naga Political Groups (NPGs) although the NPGs claim they are fighting for the cause of the Naga people. The NSCNIM’s manifesto about nationalizing private property, particularly land, only gives rise to more apprehensions about their leadership. Land, particularly village land, gives identity to Nagas and without this they would become non-entities.

Fourth, the Naga Mothers Association (NMA), and particularly those leading on the women reservation issue, totally failed to grasp these undercurrents or even take into consideration their own cultural values. Possibly affected by modern feminism, they may have thought they were championing the cause of Naga women and that they would be remembered as pioneers of women emancipation in Naga society. They only managed to jump in where even Naga men fear to tread by going against their own village communities and tribe bodies.

According to newspaper reports, the tribe bodies were not against women participation in decision making. For example, Angami Public Organisation president was even quoted as having suggested that women be nominated to these urban bodies even up to 40% or 50% (Ref. Nagaland Post, January 29, Page 1). But the women had made up their minds and were not willing to listen to other views. They were content with intimidating the State Government and with their petitions in the High Court and Supreme Court. The result was not just the loss of lives, property and misery all over Nagaland but the Naga Mothers Associa-

tion now lie broken and in tatters, with several tribe women bodies having withdrawn from it and the committee on women reservation itself being dissolved. Far from advancing the cause of Naga women, their position may have actually been set back for several decades.

Fifth, the State Government became obtuse to the pleadings of all sections of Naga society. Tribe after tribe opposed the immediate holding of elections, asking only for deferment so that proper consultations could take place. The Government kept harping on Constitutional obligations to holding the ULB elections, seemingly totally intimidated by the women and court decisions. They even went back on an agreement inked with the JCC and the NBCC on the eve of the elections. What was forgotten in all these was that first and foremost, the Government is accountable to the people without whom there would be no parliamentary democracy in the first place.

What we have today is a further division of an already fragmented Naga society. Far from being encumbered, the Naga women seem to have proved how powerful they can be by intimidating the State Government and dividing Naga society as they like.

There seems to be two things that are out of character. First of all, Naga women have always been known for their “healing touch”. Throughout Naga history, while the men were out making wars, they took care of the family. When their men died or they came back wounded or disabled, their responsibilities grew. In many ways, Naga society survived because of Naga women. In traditional Naga society, even in the Angami one, women have always occupied a special place. Even in Khonoma, considered by many as a place where women did not count at all, the women were held in esteem. It was only that Khonoma people considered there

were areas of responsibility for men and women, both separate but equally important. This is not understood by those from outside. But an easy example is that at any important ceremony, or feasts of merit, without the woman, the ceremony could not be fully carried out. There are also safeguards for their protection as any insult to them is considered an insult to the family/clan. There is, of course, no gain saying that they are the hardest working and most contributing members of the community which everyone acknowledges.

Even in NMA and in recent times, the women had gained such high respect with their social activities and particularly their “Shed No More Blood” campaign among NPGs. Every Naga respected them and they were held in high esteem. But this time, they lost sight of the ground realities and their footing. They have managed to do immense damage to a society which has been wounded and hurting and which they had been helping to heal. Their loss is the loss of Naga society too because they formed just about the only neutral and objective organization left in Naga society whose voice was respectfully listened to. What a tragedy; A hope-filled story has become divided and disintegrated. It must not end here. The big question is who will pick up the pieces?

The other story that seems out of character is that of TR Zeliang. I am not here to make excuses for him.

When you are at the top, you have nowhere else to go but to take whatever is thrown at you and say “the buck stops here!” Blaming anyone or making excuses can only make things worse. And procrastination has never solved anything.

T R Zeliang became a surprise chief minister of Nagaland. Surprise because he came from one of the “backward” and smallest tribes and districts of Nagaland – Peren District

has only two MLAs – and would not have made it to the CM’s seat under ordinary circumstances. Obviously he was a compromise candidate but even if this was true it still showed ability and acceptability on his part. His government also managed to survive till now despite challenges and personal attacks. He went on to achieve some firsts – partially due to benefits accruing from previous government/s. All in all, T R Zeliang had shown he was a shrewd politician.

But in this case, something apparently went very wrong which is out of character. Everybody knew there were a lot of differences within the ruling Naga Peoples Front (NPF).

Was the problem from within his inner camp? It could not have been just the 33% women reservation or any possible intimidation from the Naga women? More people are willing to believe that the State Government only wanted the money that would come in the wake of the ULB elections. But it is still not totally convincing because the consequence would be political suicide and hara-kiri by someone who has proved himself to be a shrewd politician? Was he being the fall guy for some political play that had gone awry? What happens now will depend greatly on the chief minister and the party president.

Naga peoplehood today, lies in tatters, worse than ever before. Naga society needs to do serious reflection on what is happening to it and what are its priorities. The biggest gap in society is that there is no longer a single Naga organization that can think for and speak with objectivity, rationality and without fear or favour and be respected by the Naga public for its views. It is of no use talking about who destroyed such institutions and other structures of our society; we all contributed directly or indirectly.

Will this be the next first step towards our peoplehood as Naga people learn baby steps to start walking again?

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

Monday 06•02•2017

EntErtainmEnt

Paparazzi in New York is pretty unbearable, says Padma Lakshmi

Stay positive to conquer cancer, says Manisha Koirala Now ShowiNg

S

upermodel, TV host, cookbook author and socialite Padma Lakshmi, says in India she can move freely and that the paparazzi culture in New York is unbearable. Asked how different is the paparazzi culture in India different from the ones internationally, Lakshmi told reporters: "I would imagine somebody like Priyanka and you are coming from this culture to that culture it could be quite a shock because she is already such a big star here (India).

"So she would be used to of a lot of attention, but it doesn't really compare. It's not on the same level at all. Here I have been able to move freely, people are very respectful, they ask if they can take a picture most of the time...in New York it is pretty unbearable," she added.

The supermodel was here to walk as the showstopper for designer Tarun Tahiliani's latest collection titled "Chashme Shahi" at the Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) Summer/Resort 2017. Lakshmi says she also has had the paparazzi parked right outside her door. "If you are somebody who is a movie star, it can be really be obnoxious and I have friends in that situation. It's not pleasant and can be dangerous," she added.

The "Top Chef" host is also promoting her two culinary books in India and says her tour here has been really wonderful. "When I come to India I don’t work here. I just find more time to spend with my family and I have always missed having a grown up life in India. So just to go around the country and travel with my two books is been quite moving," she said.

Lakshmi thinks that her book has resonated with the people here. "It's been great to have the feedback from people, who have read it and I wanted the Indians to like it a bit more it was very important for me that it resonated it with everyday Indians. I am very happy to say that I think has," she added.

Lakshmi is looking forward to going to four more cities to promote her books. She will be travelling to Hyderabad, New Delhi and her last event will be in Chennai on Valentine’s Day. Source: IANS

revIseD TICKeT rATes (silver) : `.120 (Gold) : `. 200 (recliner) : `. 400

S

tay positive and drive away negative thoughts in conquering cancer, Bollywood actress Manisha Koirala, a cancer survivor, said here today. "It was painful and tough journey.

If I could do it, you too can do it," a release quoted her as saying at a debate jointly organised here by FICCI Ladies Organization (FLO), Apollo Cancer Institute and Cure Foundation.

Speaking about her successful battle against cancer, she said she used to consider chemotherapy as vitamin shots. "Divert your mind.

Do what you want to do. Watch comedy films, read, have a party atmosphere at home. You can easily conquer the cancer," Koirala said.

She ensured that she stayed positive all through her journey of treatment, she said.

The other panelists included Vijay Anand Reddy, Director, Apollo Cancer Institute. Noting that 55 per cent of

cancers are preventable as per WHO, Reddy stressed that screening and early detection are important. Don't fear illness and don't fear cancer and fear only finding it out late, a doctor on the panel told the audience.

"If you have cancer, don't hide it. Speak about it openly. Lot of family members hide it from patients. That breaks the trust, which shouldn't be done. Patient needs to be prepared mentally for the treatment," the release quoted another doctor as saying. Stressing on the importance of nutrition, the release quoted doctors as having said that it plays a very a crucial role in prevention of cancer and recovering from cancer. "Balanced nutrition reduces chances of developing of Cancer. Let cancer patients eat anything which is easily digestible.

More liquid food is preferred. Good consumption of hydratives and water is important," the doctors said.

Source: PTI

Brad Pitt refuses to pay Jolie Anjali Lama becomes first transgender $100,000 in child support model to walk Lakme Fashion Week

A

"This will pay for all of the kids' expenses as well as set up a trust fund for each child," the source told InTouch magazine.

Jolie is said to be hoping to get the divorce finalised in the next 90 days. "Angie wants the divorce finalised within the next 90 days, including custody and property settlements. But with everything she's asking for, it's unlikely that will happen. She's making ridiculous financial demands," the source added.

ctor Brad Pitt has reportedly refused to pay his estranged wife Angelina Jolie $100,000 in child support. According to a source, Pitt "has no issue taking care of" their six children -- Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, and twins Vivienne and Knox, but he will not pay her money to take care of their children, reports aceshowbiz.com.

Th e s ou rc e sa i d $250,000 will be put in each child's trust fund every year, which will be capped off at $5 million.

C M Y K

Source: IANS

Springsteen 'embarrassed' to be American

"B

orn in the USA" hitmaker Bruce Springsteen said at a concert here that he is embarrassed to be an American. The 67-year-old addressed the crowd as "embarrassed Americans" referring to US President Donald Trump in a newlysurfaced clip from his show here earlier this week, reports foxnews.com.

He sang a cover of "Don't hang up" mocking Trump's phone call with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. "We stand before you, embarrassed Americans. This is a song from 1965 by the Orlons and we're going to use it to send a letter back home," he said.

Springsteen also announced his band is part

of the resistance against the Trump administration. This isn't the first time the singer has taken aim at Trump. During an interview on "WTF" podcast in January, Springsteen said he doubts Trump "is simply competent enough" to be the President.

Springsteen said he planned to do his best to play a "very, very small part" in trying to ensure the US maintains its ideals.

He also added that there were "plenty of good, solid folks that voted for Donald Trump" and the outcome of the election is that Americans can now see that there are millions of people in the US who think differently than they do.

Source: IANS

Selena Gomez teases new music online

S

inger-actress Selena Gomez treated her fans to a tease of a new song, which is believed to be titled "It aint me" and a collaboration with Norwegian DJ Kygo. The unconfirmed title track's first tease on Instagram features a half profile of Gomez with a black X over her mouth, reports people.com.

The lyrics read: "I had a dream/ we were back to 17/ summer nights and liberties/ never growing up."

While it appears the singer is making new music, she is also busy as executive producer of the Netflix series "13 Reasons Why", an adaptation of the best-selling young adult novel.

Source: IANS

I

t was her big moment.

Anjali Lama sashayed down the catwalk in the swanky Mumbai auditorium. A fitted, cream dress highlighted her tall, slender frame. Her pulledback hair showed off her high cheekbones. Modelling at Lakme Fashion Week often seemed like a dream far beyond her reach, but Lama has become the first transgender woman to model at one of the top events on India’s fashion calendar and one sponsored by a top Indian cosmetics brand.

Growing up as the fifth son in a poor farming family in Nepal, Lama didn’t dream early in life to be a fashion model. First was the painful struggle to accept that he felt deeply female. “I knew even as a child that I didn’t like being a boy, wearing those clothes,” Lama said. The years in the village were hard. Other children in school made fun of the boy, then called Nabin Waiba, and he struggled with figuring out why he felt so uncomfortable. “I began to feel really confused and depressed. I kept asking myself ‘I’m a boy, so why do I feel this way?’ “I tried to change

but it was mental torture.”

Coming to Kathmandu as a teenager brought some anonymity but few answers.

“I would walk around the city and see the beautiful saris and dresses in shop and wish I could dress like that. I used to wish God had made me a girl,” she said.

A chance encounter with

transgender women turned Lama’s life around by putting her in touch with the Blue Diamond Society, an advocacy group for Nepal’s LGBT community. In 2005 she came out to her friends and family as transgender.

It was like a rebirth for me.

I remember thinking, ‘Oh my God, I’m not alone in this world. There are others like me,’ she said. Five years later she got silicone breast implants. The dream of a career in fashion followed.

“People began to notice me and tell me how I had the figure and height to become a model. That felt very nice.”

A magazine wrote a cover story about transgender people in Nepal and put her on the cover. She felt close to her dream but it continued to elude her. After years of struggling and getting only small gigs in her home country, Lama decided to try her luck in India’s massive fashion industry. “I felt I had to at least try and take a chance.”

And that chance came in December when after two failed auditions she finally made the cut. “I’m excited and trying to just enjoy this moment,” she said. “This is a dream come true.”

Source: AP

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Spiritualism gives you power: Rajinikanth

S

uperstar Rajinikanth, who is busy shooting for upcoming Tamil science-fiction action thriller "2.o", believes he's a spiritualist more than an actor. He says he will place spiritualism above fame, money and name because spiritual power is unmatchable.

"I would like to call myself a spiritualist more than an actor. I believe spiritualism is above everything and I would choose it over name, fame and money because spiritualism gives you power and I love power," Rajinikanth said on Saturday on the sidelines of the book launch of Deiveega Kadhal, the Tamil version of The Divine Romance.

The book has been written by Paramahansa Yogananda. Talking about the first guru in his life, the 66-year-old actor mentioned the spiritual discourses he attended as a child, courtesy his brother Satyanarayana Gaekwad. "My brother was my first guru who introduced me to spiritualism at a very young age. He later even enrolled me into Ramakrishna Mission," he said, and added that his second guru was Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.

He went on to add that he learnt about social problems through Dayananda Saraswathi, and about searching oneself via Ramana Maharishi.

Known for his regular visits to Himalayas, Rajinikanth said the place is filled with several divine secrets.

Source: IANS

02:00 PM

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11:00 AM | 05:00 PM

12

monDAY 06•02•2017

SPORTS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

City go third, United maintain unbeaten run Messi collects another record

Leicester City's defender Christian Fuchs vies with Manchester United's midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan during the English Premier League football match between Leicester City and Manchester United on February 5. (AFP Photo)

C M Y K

mAnCHester, FebruAry 5 (reuters): Manchester City climbed to third in the Premier League with a 2-1 victory against a dogged Swansea City on Sunday while Manchester United continued their push for a top-four finish with a comfortable 3-0 victory at champions Leicester City, extending their unbeaten Premier League run to 15 games.

At the King Power Stadium, Henrikh Mkhitaryan opened the scoring with a

cool finish after he galloped onto Chris Smalling's header in the 42nd minute and, with Leicester's defence still recovering, Zlatan Ibrahimovic added a second two minutes later.

Juan Mata stroked home their third goal after some delightful link up play with Mkhitaryan in the 49th and United easily closed out the game against a Leicester side who have yet to score a league goal in 2017.

United stay sixth but

have cut the gap to Liverpool and Arsenal, one and two points above them in fifth and fourth respectively, while Leicester are 16th -- one point above the bottom three in the relegation zone.

Gabriel Jesus scored twice, including a 92ndminute winner, as Manchester City climbed to third in the Premier League with a 2-1 victory against a dogged Swansea City on Sunday.

Jesus, preferred again

to top scorer Sergio Aguero, poked home to break Swansea hearts in the dying seconds in what was another eye-catching performance from the supremely-talented Brazilian.

It looked like City would be left to rue a host of missed chances when Gylfi Sigurdsson equalised in the 81st minute after Jesus had earlier opened the scoring in the 11th.

City climbed to third, one point adrift of secondplaced Tottenham Hotspur

while Swansea remained 17th, one point above Hull City in the relegation zone.

"I am very happy to score two goals," Jesus told Sky Sports with team mate Fernandinho acting as translator.

"I got into the team so quickly. Everyone at the club is helping me to get better every day but of course when things like this happen it is much easier.

"We played very well all game and of course we deserved to win because we tried to score goals since the first minute."

Swansea had been rejuvenated under new manager Paul Clement, having won three of their previous four league games to climb out of the bottom three, but it was always going to be difficult against their freeflowing hosts.

City had already created a flurry of chances in a dominant opening before Jesus reacted quickest to poke home a teasing David Silva cross.

City threatened to cut loose thereafter with their fluid, dynamic attacking quintet of Jesus, Silva, Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane and Kevin De Bruyne picking their way through Swansea's defence with alarming ease.

For all their dominance -- which yielded 74 percent possession at the break -- City were wasteful and failed to capitalise on a plethora of chances with Swansea, remarkably, making it to halftime without conceding a second.

as Barcelona sink Bilbao

Barcelona''s Argentinian forward Lionel Messi (L) vies with Athletic Bilbao''s defender Yeray Alvarez at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on February 4, 2017. (AFP Photo)

bArCeLonA, FebruAry 5 (reuters): La Liga champions Barcelona stayed on the heels of leaders Real Madrid by coasting to a 3-0 home win over Athletic Bilbao on Saturday as Lionel Messi became the club's top scorer from free kicks.

Paco Alcacer scored his first league goal since joining from Valencia last year by turning in a pass from Neymar in the 18th minute while Messi whipped in an angled strike in the 40th, his 27th goal from a free kick for Barca.

Aleix Vidal scored the most impressive goal of the game by finishing off an audacious solo run in the 67th minute.

Barca stayed second in the standings, moving one point behind Real Madrid having played two games more. The leaders were due to visit Celta Vigo on Sunday but the game was postponed after the Balaidos stadium roof was damaged by storms.

Third-placed Sevilla visit Las Palmas on Sunday.

Fernando Torres made the most of a rare start by scoring both goals as Atletico Madrid beat neighbours Leganes 2-0 on Saturday.

Torres, who made his debut for Atletico against Leganes back in 2001, looked lively throughout the game. He could have scored as early as the second minute when he came charging at goal on the counter-attack but his attempted chip missed the target.

He won a penalty in the 14th minute and followed up on the rebound to put the hosts in charge after Antoine Griezmann saw his spot kick repelled by goalkeeper Iago Herrerin.

Torres scored his second goal in the 51st minute, beating the offside trap and latching on to a through ball before calmly lifting it over Herrerin. Atletico are fourth in the standings on 39 points.

Valencia were thrashed 4-0 at home by tiny Eibar, Voro's side suffering a second straight defeat after their troubles had been temporarily eased by two consecutive wins. Valencia are 16th on 19 points, six above Sporting Gijon who occupy the final spot in the relegation zone. Eibar move up to seventh on 32 points.

Espanyol are also on 32 points, in eighth position, after winning 1-0 at Malaga, their third consecutive league win.

Boult bowls NZ to Chappell-Hadlee series win over Australia ICC begins 'Big Three' rollback

HAmILton, FebruAry 5 (reuters): Trent Boult took career best oneday figures as New Zealand completed a tense 24-run win over Australia in Hamilton on Sunday to regain the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy with a 2-0 series victory.

Boult took 6-33 as Australia, who only needed to square the series to retain the trophy, were dismissed for 257 on the final ball of the 47th over as they chased New Zealand's 281 for nine.

The home side's innings had been built on Ross Taylor's 16th ODI century with Dean Brownlie adding his maiden half century in his first ODI innings in more than two years.

Stand-in captain Aaron Finch (56) and Travis Head (53) had put Australia on track for victory but the visitors lost quick wickets after good partnerships before Boult returned to run through the tail.

"I think the collective bowled really well and we managed to take wickets

New Zealand celebrate after winning the Chappell Hadlee series 2-0 after the one-day international cricket match between New Zealand and Australia at Seddon Park in Hamilton on February 5. (Getty Images)

throughout and put pressure on them," man-of-thematch Boult said.

"It was a good series and great couple of games and we're happy to have (the trophy) back."

New Zealand won the first game at Eden Park by six runs but the second in Napier on Thursday was

abandoned without a ball being bowled due to an unsafe, wet outfield.

Marcus Stoinis, whose 146 not out in the first game almost singlehandedly clinched victory for Australia, looked like being the key wicket again on Sunday when he was well set on 42 with his side 198-6 in the

40th over.

The 27-year-old, however, did not quite get hold of a flighted delivery from left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner and holed out to Jimmy Neesham at long on.

Pat Cummins (27) and Mitchell Starc (29 not out) threatened to get the visitors home with a 51-run

partnership in five overs before Boult struck with three wickets.

"Australia showed why they are number one in the world," New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said.

"We felt like we had them under pressure but they kept coming at us. So credit to our guys to soaking up that pressure and taking the games deep and coming out the other side."

Earlier, Taylor's 107 and Brownlie's 63 laid the foundation for New Zealand's innings but the latter's dismissal sparked a middle order collapse and the hosts slumped to 209-6 in the 41st over.

Santner then provided a valuable 38 runs including two fours and a six to end the 50th and final over, which started with Starc taking two wickets from the first two balls.

"We felt that it was a target we could chase down," Finch said. "While we had a couple of guys get 50s, they don't win games at this level."

despite India objection

neW DeLHI, FebruAry 5 (reuters): The International Cricket Council (ICC) has agreed "in principle" to reverse the 2014 decision which effectively put India, England and Australia in control of the game's finances and administration.

Unsurprisingly, the influential the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) voted against the new proposal after failing to defer the vote in a threeday ICC board meeting that concluded in Dubai on Saturday.

Vikram Limaye, representing BCCI at the meeting, sought to defer the vote on the proposal until the next meeting in April, saying his body had had insufficient time to evaluate it.

Limaye, a financial executive, is one of the four administrators named by India's top court on Monday to run BCCI as part of administrative reforms imposed on the world's richest board.

The ICC board will take a final decision on a new financial model and governance structure at the April meeting, the governing body said in a statement.

"Today was an important step forward for the future of the ICC and cricket around the world," the ICC's Indian chairman Shashank Manohar said in a statement.

Former BCCI president Manohar has been critical of the 2014 changes, which he felt allowed the three major countries to bully the ICC. "I want the ICC to be reasonable and fair in our approach to all 105 Members and the revised constitution and financial model does that," he added.

"There are still details to work through and concerns to be addressed, but the principle of change is agreed and not for debate," said the 59-year-old lawyer, who led the working group which prepared a new constitution.

The proposed governance structure includes a new revenue distribution model, which seeks to address the current imbalance favouring the 'Big Three'.

The three-day meeting in Dubai also proposed a nine-team test league, a 13-team one-day league and advocated a regional qualification process for the World Twenty20.

The governing body is also considering test cricket status for Ireland and Afghanistan, provided they meet full membership criteria.

The chief executives committee agreed to extend the Decision Review System (DRS) to World Twenty20 matches, giving a level of consistency in the use of technology across international cricket.

The same committee also authorised the governing body to amend its anticorruption code to permit the use of cell phone data extraction equipment.

Kings topple Warriors, James hits milestone in Cavs win

Los AngeLes, FebruAry 5 (AFP): The Sacramento Kings stunned the Golden State Warriors 109106 in overtime to snap a 13-game skid against their league-leading Western Conference rivals.

Kings forward DeMarcus Cousins scored six of his 32 points in overtime and also contributed 12 rebounds and nine assists.

Matt Barnes produced a double-double of 11 points and 14 rebounds as Sacramento handed the Warriors their eighth defeat of the season against 43 victories.

Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 35 points and nine assists.

He made eight threepointers, but in the waning seconds of overtime missed two contested layups that could have given the Warriors the lead.

After Darren Collison's two free-throws with 2.5 seconds left gave the Kings a 109-106 lead, the Warriors had one more chance.

Draymond Green, wide open for a three-pointer at the top of the arc, bounced one off the rim.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr wasn't around to see it.

He erupted in anger in the third quarter when Green was handed a technical on the heels of a personal foul call against teammate Kevon Looney.

Kerr stormed toward mid-court, where assistant coach Mike Brown held him back, but he was thrown out of the game.

The episode ratcheted up the intensity, but the Warriors couldn't find their usual offensive flow.

All-Star Kevin Durant endured a difficult shooting night, connecting on just two of 10 from the floor and finishing with only 10 points.

Klay Thompson scored 26 and Green, who left the game briefly with a right knee contusion, finished Sacramento Kings forward DeMarcus Cousins, left, dunks over Golden State Warriors cenwith 16 points, eight re- ter JaVale McGee during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017, in bounds and six assists.

Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo)

"We got what we deserved, before I was tossed and after," Kerr said. "It was one of the worse games we've played all season.

We had no purpose, the ball didn't move... I didn't even recognize our team out there tonight.

"Maybe we were due for one."

points and three assists backing him up.

"It's hard (playing without Irving), but guys have to step up," James said. "Kyrie is more than just a playmaker or a scorer. He is one of our leaders.

"D Ligs (Liggins) and Kay (Felder) did as good as they could do," James added. "They made some mistakes, but as veterans - 'King' James reigns LeBron James scored 32 we have to pick them up." points and handed out 10 assists to lead the reigning - 'Pop' on top It was a milestone night champion Cleveland Cavaliers to a 111-104 victory for San Antonio Spurs over the New York Knicks coach Gregg Popovich as at Madison Square Garden. well.

Manu Ginobili and James, 32, took his career total points to 28,020, Tony Parker scored 18 becoming the youngest points each, combining to make 13 of 14 of their shots player to score 28,000.

James connected on from the floor in a 121-97 12 of 20 shots and directed victory over the Denver the offense with teammate Nuggets that put Popovich Kyrie Irving sidelined by a atop the list of coaching wins with one club. sore quadriceps.

Popovich, in his 21st Stand-in DeAndre Liggins scored five points season at the helm in without any assists, while San Antonio, notched his Kay Felder added four 1,128th win, moving past

former Utah coach Jerry Sloan.

Legendary Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach is third on the list with 795.

"Growing up, Jerry Sloan was one of the big names, watching the (NBA) Finals and stuff like that," Parker said. "To have Pop up there, he's going to keep it going.

It looks like he's not getting tired at all. He's not going to stop anytime soon."

Parker and Ginobili are displaying some impressive longevity themselves.

Popovich wasn't surprised at the energy provided off the bench by 39-yearold Ginobili.

"You can't make someone that's competitive noncompetitive," Popovich said. "You can't extract that juice from them."

Parker, 34, said staying productive was a matter of adjusting.

"It's a different stage in your career," he said. "I try to do the best I can with the guys around me."

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