January 16th, 2015

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The Morung Express

Dimapur VOL. X ISSUE 14

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www.morungexpress.com

Friday, January 16, 2015 12 pages Rs. 4

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If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?

‘Militants may attack schools during Barack Obama tour’

Kidman shows her silly side in ‘Paddington’

‘We should not bottle up our future’

[ PAGE 8]

– Albert Einstein

[ PAGE 2]

We hope to play the WC final: Dhoni

[ PAGE 9]

[ PAGE 12]

Pope to focus on poor & exploited in Philippine

[ PAGE 11]

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nagaland cM accused of corruption

• NPF (Noke) alleges that TR Zeliang was recipient of Rs. 786,643,125 • Demands immediate resignation of the Chief Minister • Calls for investigation by “competent authorities of the country”

DiMaPur, JaNuary 15 (MexN): In a shocking revelation, the Naga People’s Front (NPF) led

by Noke Wangnao today named Nagaland Chief Minister, TR Zeliang, as being the recipient of “black money” through two international currency transfers in 2014 amounting to a combined total of Rs. 786,643,125.

This allegation was disclosed during a press conference on the evening of January 15 at Sovima, where Kaito and his supporters (legislators) are camped. Newly elected NPF president, Noke Wangnao; Lok Sabha MP and former chief minister, Neiphiu Rio; Rajya Sabha MP, Khekiho Zhimomi, NPF Legislature Party Leader, Kaito Aye, and NPF secretary general, Abu Metha, were present at the press conference during which media personnel were provided hard copies of international currency transfer documents and related press statements.

According to the international currency transfer documents furnished by the Noke led NPF, the staggering cash was allegedly transferred to the bank accounts of TR Zeliang and his wife in two separate transactions. The first transaction document dated August 16, 2014 shows an amount of 70,00,000 Singapore Dollars being transferred to the recipient, TR Zeliang. The second transaction document dated September 29, 2014 indicates that an amount of 1,00,08,500 Singapore Dollars, was made to recipient, TR Zeliang, Kevizenuo Rangkau. In this particular currency transfer document, the purpose for the

reflections

By Sandemo Ngullie

transaction was recorded as “to purchase the condominium.”

In a press statement issued to the media, NPF President, Noke Wangnao and NPF Legislature Party Leader, Kaito Aye assured that “we will fix responsibility and punish him as per the law of the land once a popular government is installed in the State. Any bureaucrat or politician, who is obeying the illegal instructions of the minority Chief Minister, will also be held responsible for their actions.”

They stated that the “motive” behind Dr. Shurhozelie Leizietsu’s decision to stand behind the present CM “is the exchange of enormous amounts of black money that are changing hands through multinational companies and being deposited in foreign banks.”

This money, the statement said, is being used to “lure” MLAs and party workers to favor the CM. This alleged transfer of “black money,” it added, is a “direct admission of corruption” and a “threat to national security.” As such, it called for investigation into the matter by “competent authorities of the country.”

The statement further noted that these “revelations…require his immediate removal as Chief Minister.” It accused the CM of “selling Nagaland and the rights of the Naga people for his own personal gains” and that “this exposure is over and above the fact that he has lost the majority of support from the NPF and DAN MLAs.” To legislators under “confinement,” and “not involved in these illegal kickbacks,” it urged them

Details of alleged money transactions

Transaction A through DBS Bank Ltd, Singapore on 16.08.2014 • 70,00,000 Singapore Dollars transferred to the recipient name of TR Zeliang.

According to the NPF this amounts to Rs. 32,37,50,000 (Rupees thirty two crores, thirty seven lakhs and fifty thousand).

• Recipient’s address: 32/D Two Exchange Square 8, Connaught Place, Central Hong Kong.

• Recipient’s bank details are: Royal Bank of Canada (Hong Kong), 17/E Cheung Kong Centre 2, Queen’s Road, Central, Hong Kong.

• Sender’s name: Ramasamy Veeran.

Transaction A

cM refutes allegations, welcomes investigation

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agaland state Chief Minister, TR Zeliang has meanwhile refuted the allegations on “black money” transfers and “corruption” made by the Noke led NPF. Speaking to The Morung Express on Thursday evening, the CM termed the allegations as “totally false” and an act of “poto “judge for themselves these actions and denounce this sell-out vehemently.”

The Noke led NPF further claimed to have “several more revelations” of the present CM’s involvement in “high corruption and how he has been releasing hundreds of

Kohima | January 15

Brahma to be new CEC

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New Delhi, JaNuary 15 (iaNS): Harishankar Brahma would be the new chief election commissioner of India an official release said Thursday. Brahma, the second from the northeast to hold the post after J.M. Lyngdoh (2001-04), will assume office Friday (Jan 16) as incumbent V.S Sampath retires Thursday. The appointment of Brahma, the senior-most member of the Election Commission, was made by President Pranab Mukherjee, the release said.

A 1975 Indian Administrative Service officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre, 60-year-old Brahma, who hails from Assam, is a former union power secretary.

litical desperation.” Terming it as a move to “confuse the public,” he also welcomed investigation into the matter.

The CM asserted that neither he nor his wife have any bank accounts abroad. “We have never opened any bank accounts or own property anywhere outside the country,” he

crores as payments to selected contractors for his self gains.” “In just a few months as Chief Minister he has accumulated hundreds of crores and he has concentrated solely on making money…” it added.

Even under the present political imbroglio, the statement further ac-

stated. While refuting all allegations, the CM said that the documents furnished by the Noke led NPF were faked or forged.

The Nagaland CM further welcomed investigative agencies to probe into the matter saying that “it will be good for the state.” “The people of the state will come to know the truth,”

cused the CM of “clearing dozens of files everyday making crores and crores of payments under illegal circumstances and making money by keeping all his few MLAs and Ministers under forced confinement” in Kohima.

It reiterated that legislators supporting Kaito

he said, and added that the investigation should also reveal all those from the state of Nagaland who have foreign bank accounts. “One who lives in a glass house should not throw stones at RCC buildings,” he said. This move by political rivals, he added would be the “last bullet which will hit no target.”

Aye have already tendered their resignations “protesting against the illegal, unconstitutional and dictatorial orders of the erstwhile NPF President Dr. Shurhozelie and also due to the fact that TR Zeliang is now in the clear minority.” “Though he has not accepted the resignations till

date, he is misusing his position to clear files of these departments as well,” it alleged. The Noke led NPF concluded that Zeliang has “not only demeaned the office of the Chief Minister but also embarrassed himself and brought disrepute to the entire establishment.”

Transactions A and B amounts to a total of 17,008,500 Singapore Dollars. When converted to Indian Rupees (@ of Rs 46.25 to 1 SGD), it is equivalent to Rs. 786,643,125.

Nagaland cabinet recommends 3 nDfB (s) militants arrested in Kohima • All three handed over to NIA special NLA session on Jan 20 • Suspected of involvement in Our Correspondent

Alright, alright, alright.

There’s more inside the brake light.

Transaction B

Transaction B through OCBC Bank, BHD, Peoples Park Centre, Singapore on 26.09.2014 • 1,00,08,500 Singapore Dollars transferred to the account of TR Zeliang, Kevizenuo Rangkau. This amounts to Rs 46,28,93,125 (Rupees forty six crores, twenty eight lakhs, ninety three thousand one hundred and twenty five). The recipient being the name of Zeliang’s wife.

• Recipient’s address: 46/1138 Jalan Tun Razak, Korong, Kaula Lumpur.

• Recipient’s bank details: Swift Code PCK 33386, RHB Bank BHD, Tower 2, Jalan Pururaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Clearing code MYR. • Sender name: Raguvaran Murali and sender’s contact person: Ramasamy Veeran.

• Transaction and signature verified by Chan Leo, present Assistant Vice President of OCBC Bank.

The Nagaland State Cabinet in a meeting held here today recommended the summoning of a special Assembly session on January 20, stating that the Assembly is the only place where the elected members can express their minds.

“Summoning the Assembly is the right thing and the government is functioning and there is no reason why the Governor should not summon the House,” said DAN spokesperson Yitachu in a press conference here today.

He said the government under the leadership of the CM, TR Zeliang will prove his majority on January 20 and the people of the state will know the truth of the current political impasse. He informed that the Speaker will forward the Cabinet’s recommendation to the Governor. Yitachu added that the Governor would have to summon the assembly as per the law, Constitution of India and Assembly rules.

Yitachu added that agreements or undertakings signed with the party have legal sanction and any member violating them is liable for party disciplinary action, amountingtoevendisqualification.Hestatedthatthe assembly is being summoned in which all 60 members will be able to express their minds on where they stand.

The DAN spokesperson further said that the alliance enjoys the majority of the house, with the CM as its leader and Dr. Shurhozelie Liezietsu as chairman.

“As far as the government is concerned, DAN alliance is intact and what-

ever letter of support, the BJP and any of other members from NPF might have given to the dissident group, those are illegal” he said adding that none of the DAN alliance partners have officially withdrawn from the alliance.

“So the formation of another NPF party does not arise and it is illegal which cannot be taken cognizance by any court,” he said. “ So when BJP is an alliance member where NPF is also in alliance to the DAN then the BJP MLAs have to be with the DAN,” he stated, adding that the BJP MLAs will vote for the sitting CM, TR Zeliang.

On the state BJP leaders visit to Delhi as summoned by the high command, Yitachu said “there is no way they can go outside the party directives. If the party decides to pull out from the DAN alliance that is a different thing but as long as they are bonafide members of DAN alliance then we stand together, we work together and function together.”

Yitachu said that now the NPF has 29 MLAs as far as the party functionary is concern. He said that nine members have been suspended and they cannot attend any meeting be it of the party function or any of the party legislative forums.

“They are no more NPF. They have been suspended. Therefore, they do not constitute the NPF MLAs as far as the party is concerned. Therefore, within the effective strength of 29, Chief Minister TR Zeliang has support of 16 NPF legislators which constitute majority of the NPF legislature,” he said. He further informed that before the assembly is summoned, a DAN Legislature meeting will be convened before January 20.

DiMaPur, JaNuary 15 (MexN): Three members of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (S), suspected to be involved in the recent killings in the Kokrajhar and Chirang districts of Assam, were arrested by police in Kohima at around 9:00 am, January 14.

A press note from the Kohima Police informed that under the supervision of the Kohima SP, a team led by SDPO Kohima ,comprising of DEF Kohima and Mobile Unit personnel, conducted a search and counter insurgency operation and apprehended the three suspects from a private house on the outskirt of Kohima town along the Wokha Road. The three suspects were identified as Ojoi Basumatary @ Buhum (32) from Kokrajhar, Assam; Dilip Basumatary @ Bir Baisa (40) from Chirang, Assam and Khamrei Basumatary @ Urla (35) from Chirang, Assam. Kohima police, in a press note stated that the three arrested are the “prime accused in the December massacre” in Kokrajhar and Chirang districts of Assam.

During the preliminary investigation, it was learnt that relentless operations conducted by the Assam

December killings in Assam

From Left: Ojoi Basumatary, Dilip Basumatary and Khamrei Basumatary.

Police and the Indian Army following the December killings had compelled the three to sneak into Kohima via Dimapur. Police informed that they had arrived in Kohima a few days ago and were planning to escape to Myanmar.

Police further said that Khamrei has been residing in Kohima for the last 6 years and is the Southern Deputy Commander of NDFB(S). According to the police, he has been providing shelter to NDFB Cadres passing through Kohima. Additional inputs stated that earlier, in October 2010, he had evaded arrest after police launched a manhunt to capture

suspected NDFB cadres holed-up in Dimapur. In the operation, 4 NDFB cadres were arrested. Before shifting base to Kohima, Khamrei had stayed in Dimapur under the cover of an autorickshaw driver. In Kohima, he was working as a manual labourer. Of the two other NDFB cadres arrested, Ojoi was identified as the Eastern Commander, 3rd Battalion, NDFB(S) and Dilip as the Secretary Forest and Council member, NDFB(S).

Meanwhile a statement from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) informed that the December 23 Sonitpur killings were carried out under the direction

and leadership of Ojoi Basumatary, while Khamrei Basumatary was involved in the Kokrajhar killings on December 23, and also in Baksa district in May last year. The NIA stated that Dilip Basumatary “is responsible for coordination activities of the NDFB in the reserved forest areas of Assam along the India-Bhutan and Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border,” and was also “actively involved in the conspiracy” behind the recent killings in Assam.

Seven mobile phones, two copies of a Martyr Speech delivered by NDFB (S) interim President, IK Songbijit and a diary with details of cash transactions were seized. After completing legal formalities and obtaining a transit warrant from the Court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kohima the three cadres were handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Guwahati on January 15.

Meanwhile, the Nagaland Chief Minister has acknowledged the efforts by the police and other agencies in arresting the militants. The operation, the CM stated in a press note “amply demonstrates the capabilities of our police personnel.”

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2 ‘We should not bottle up our future’ Dimapur

Friday

Dr SC Jamir attends Ongpangkong Student’s Conference in Mokokchung

Dr. SC Jamir, Governor, Odisha speaking as the Chief guest at OKM, Mokokchung Village on January 15.

Morung Express News Mokokchung | January 15

The Ongpangkong Student’s Conference (OKM) got underway at Mokokchung Village from January 14 where student delegates from seventeen villages from the Ongpangkong range, Mokokchung are converged under the theme, “Imbibing changes”.

Gracing the second day as the chief guest, Dr. SC Jamir, Governor, Odisha said that the time has come for the Nagas to leave the C M Y K

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16 January 2015

station of procrastination and board the wagon towards the future. He added that the Nagas have been self- paralysed for more than sixty years at their own choosing and that the time is ripe to choose their destination. To this end, he stated that the student community has a larger contribution to make towards a positive future for Naga society. “We should not bottle up our future like a bonsai tree by wasting our time retrospecting on the past glories and culture

and traditional beliefs but contribute for the larger interest of the Naga people,” Jamir stated Lamenting on the dormancy of the Ao tribe as a whole on the present scenario, he said that the past leaders from Ao community were enlightened and far sighted who contemplated not only for the Ao community but the Naga society as a whole. Supplementing in support to his views, he opined that the present Naga leaders tend to emphasize and give importance to past history and cultural debates instead of deliberating about the future of Naga society.

He also challenged the gathering to shy away from the practice of corruption and other social vices and asked the village council leaders, church leaders and student communities to change the mindset and take a larger responsibility in the revival for a better future for Nagaland.

Earlier at the function, N. Subo Pongen, Pastor, Mokokchung village Baptist Church invoked God’s blessing; Imtisungkum, President, Ongpangkong Kaketshir Telongjem(OKM) gave the welcome speech. Meyinungsang, Winner, Naga Orpheus Hunt 2013 presented a special song and Jemtimenba Longchar, President Ao Students’ Conference (AKM) also exhorted the gathering.

The Morung Express C

Sukrunye celebrated across Nagaland

attendance in DPDB meeting was very discouraging and urged the members to be more regular in the attendance and also to be interactive in the meeting.

The DC also informed the members to issues a circular to their concerned staff on important functions and directed their staffs to be available in the stations and also attend the forthcoming Indian Republic day on January 26.

ADC Planning & Member Secretary DPDB, Kohima Ketoho Luho highlighted about the last year Inter-Village Exposer Program and also informed that this year it would

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Morung Express News Dimapur | January 15

The Chakhesang community of Seluophe Village in Dimapur district celebrated their premier Sükrünye festival Thursday at Seluophe Village with retired director of Agriculture, Lhiwepelo Mero, as the ‘Feast Father’ on the occasion. The festival was also celebrated in various parts of the state.

The celebration was marked by folk songs and cultural displays and competitions including Naga wrestling, spot jumping, greased poled and climbing for women.

Chakhesang men and women and children of the village attired in their traditional attires attended the festival, which was also attended by a sizeable number of invitees from other tribes, The ‘feast father’ in his address said Sükrünye festival marks the beginning of a new year where the father bestows blessings on his children for them to be successful in their endeavours and occupations.

Mero said with the advent of Christianity, the old Naga way of life like headhunting and other strenuous physical occupations have been replaced by focus on education and new standards of living.

Now the blessing of the father is more on education so that the children can becomes independent and self-sustainable. He urged upon the Chakhesang community to be self independent and learn how to sustain themselves rather than depending on others including politicians and other corrupt practices for their livelihood.

Advisor, CCS, Nuvosa Hoshi, explained on the significance of the festival and chairman of the festival committee, Vekhosayi Ringa, delivered the welcome address.

The programme was followed by a community feast.

Chakhesang youths taking part in a Naga wrestling competition during the Sükrünye festival celebration held at Seluophe Village on Thursday. Photo by Caisii Mao

Neiphiu Rio calls for quality education

PHEK, JANUARY 15 (DIPR): Member of Parliament from Nagaland Neiphiu Rio graced the Chakhesang Students Union General Session Cum Sükrenye Celebration at Sakraba Village under Phek district on January 14.

Addressing the gathering, the Chief Guest said that within a span of 200 years the literacy rate of Nagaland has gone up to 79.55, which is higher than the national average but further said that the quality of education was yet to prevail in trust sense. As such, he challenged the students to seek out realistic knowledge and urged

them to have work culture. He also suggested them to pursue studies in technical education and get to know latest technologies as everything nowadays tends to be technology oriented.

He further lauded the Chakhesang community for having consistency in preservation of culture and tradition of which he said is the need of the hour. “The Chakhesangs are reckoned as backward tribes but the most progressing tribes in Nagaland’, he added.

Earlier, Rio unveiled the monolith of the 68th General Session of Chakhesang Students Union.

DPDB members urged to be committed KOHIMA, JANUARY 15 (DIPR): The Kohima DPDB meeting for the month of January 2015 was held at DPDB Hall, Kohima on January 15 with DC, Kohima W. Honje Konyak as the chair.

The DC apprised the members to review their assigned duties with more lucrative ideas for the developmental activities in the new beginning of the year. He also stated that many developmental activities were achieved in the last year and further appealed the members to be committed in their works and come up with new ideas for new achievements.

He said that showing a poor

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cover another ten villages by six teams led by Engineers. He said that some amount has been enhanced with an earmark of Rs one lakh for each team for their expenditure. This year also the best teams would be awarded prize money of Rs. 25 thousand each in the category of urban and rural teams.

Kohima DC informs The Kohima DC has also informed all individuals who have applied for the post of LDA/DB in the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Kohima to collect their admit cards from January 19onwards. Applications who have not sub-

mitted (2) two passport photograph are requested to do so.

Examination fee of Rs. 200/for LDA post and Rs. 100/- for Dobashi post will be released at the time of issuing admit card.

No applicant will be allowed to appear for the exam without admit card.

He further informed that construction of pucca drainage along the National Highway-29/02 is being taken up by the Border Roads Organization in and around Kohima town. A co-ordination meeting on January 13 informed that the drainage lines need to be corrected wherever necessary, particularly at Mohonkhola area. In the

Day 3 at ‘Maati Ke Rang’ festival

DIMAPUR, JANUARY 15 (MExN): Day three of the Maati Ke Rang festival, being held at the NEZCC Complex, Dimapur saw visitors flocking to food courts serving delicacies from across India. The fishery pond at the NEZCC complex was converted into a food court.

Woven in bamboo, the food court provided a range of flavours—Kachoris dipped in succulent chutneys from Rajasthan, Makki ki Roti, Sarso ka saag from Punjab, Chilli Chicken and Egg rolls Kolkata style, sticky rice and hot beans out of a Naga kitchen.

As part of the Maati Ke Rang 2015 Children’s Activities, a ‘painting competition’ was also arranged with the theme of the drawing competition today was: My region, My tradition. The competition saw 160 children participate in different categories of drawing and colouring. The schools that took part in the activity are: Holy Cross Hr. Sec. School, Delhi Public School, Livingstone Senior Sec. School, Ebenezer Home, SD Jain Hr. Sec. School, Pranab Vidyapith Hr. Sec. School, Shalom Public School, Don Bosco Hr. Sec. School, Hollotoli High School, and Livingstone Foundation Hr. Sec. School.

Winners of Group A (6-12 years) were Kaina Dutta (1st), Mansi Karwa (2nd) and Maharshee Paul (3rd).

The Group B (13-15 years) were Jason Murry (1st), Renuka Debnath (2nd) and Prokash Sarkar (3rd).

Judges for the event were Lepden Jamir and Joydeep Bhattacharya.

Meanwhile, children in dozens were seen playing around at the bouncies, trampolins, All Terrain Bike rides, rock climbing and sliders in a mini mela meant to entertain the children. They were also seen appreciating the murals at the Buddhist exhibition. According to Madhubani artist, Sunita Jha, from Bihar, “Young people in Nagaland have the ability to appreciate art—all they need is some more exposure and training in art forms to be able to become splendid artists themselves.”

From 2:00pm to 3:00pm, Alo(Top to Bottom) Children participating in the painting competetion. Alobo Naga and bo Naga & The Band (ANTB) performed in the event. the Band performing. A view of the food courts.

process of correction/ rectification of unruly constructions of footpaths, steps, varandahs, etc those that are encroaching towards the roads are necessary to be removed which may cause inconvenience to the residents/ house owners and the general public.

The correction works has been scheduled to commence with effect from January 18 by the Special Task Force to be headed by the District Administration. The DC has therefore requested all the concerned to bear the inconvenience and at the same time to extend their fullest co-operation to the executing team.

He was accompanied by Parliamentary Secretary Deo Nukhu; SP Phek, Rukuwelo; General Secretary Naga Hoho, Mutsikhoyo Yhobu; ADC Phek, K Mero besides other officials. The programme was chaired by Thupukutho Lohe, while invocation prayer was said by Pastor Sakraba Baptist Church Kuduhuto.

Welcome address was delivered by organizing Committee Convener Kuzhovesa Soho, Presidential address by CSU President Seve R. Vadeo, Cultural presentation by Zapami students Union, greetings by Joseph Nguri Vice president NSF and benediction by Vezotha Vadeo.

NSA organizes talk at JNU

DIMAPUR, JANUARY 15 (MExN): The NSA (Naga Scholars Association) organized a special talk by the acclaimed Naga writer Easterine Kire at Jawaharlal Nehru University on January 13. Speaking on the topic “Don't Label Me” she stressed on how we need to resist labeling because it creates 'expectations' and it is also a form of control.

Borrowing from Franz Fanon she asserted that labeling is problematic as it is akin to “psychological colonialism”. Citing the case of how writers from the Northeastern part of the country are often seen only as those who write on “conflict” alone, she said such stereotyping only lim-

its the growth of the writers. She also gave examples of her experiences of travelling around the country to attend literary meets where she is often boxed under 'feminist writers' by virtue of being a woman or 'writers from conflict zone' just because she is from the Northeast.

Chaired by Dr. Veio Pou of University of Delhi, and attended by a large crowd of scholars from different universities in Delhi, the talk was followed by a lively discussion on how scholars from different disciplines could apply the thoughts shared by Easterine Kire. This was informed through a press note from Sulila Anar, Centre for Law and Governance, JNU.

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REgional

The Morung Express

NEDF appeals for respect of Human Rights, repealing AFSPA Imphal, January 15 (mExn): The North East Dialogue Forum (NEDF) in collaboration with civil societies (Social Youth Organisation Sanjenbam, Meira Paibi of Lairenkabi, Heibongpokpi, Lamban, Lamlongei, Tera Urak, Kadangband, Phayeng, Singda, Haorang Keirel, Haorang Khunou) organized a mass rally cum public meeting on “International Humanitarian Law and Right to Life” at Lairenkabi Dramatic Hall, Imphal West, Manipur on January 15.

A press release from U. Nobokishore, NEDF convenor today highlighted that the people of Manipur are experiencing grave human rights violations both from Indian Security Forces and Manipur State Security Forces and armed non-state actors. “Besides, many women were raped, raped and murdered, molested and killed by the government’s security forces.”

It cited the case of “Operation Bluebird” that was

carried out in and around Oinam and its surrounding 30 villages of Senapati district in Manipur for nearly 4 months in 1987 by 29th Battalion of Assam Rifles.

Stating that these extremities were committed by security forces intentionally, NEDF declared they are committed under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958. The release also noted that many innocent youths who were arrested during the peak of insurgency between 1980 and 1999 had disappeared, and their whereabouts have not been known till today. Recently, 8 human skulls and several skeletons were found in the old Tombisana High School Complex on December 26, 2014, it added. The school was occupied by some Central Paramilitary Forces during the height of insurgent activities in the state in early 1980s, according to the release.

The NEDF has called upon Indian Armed Forces and Armed Non-State Ac-

NEDF demands to Prime Minister 1. Repeal Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958.

2. Investigate the discovery of eight human skulls and several skeletal from Tombisana High School campus and constitute a three-member Independent enquiry commission headed by a retired judge for investigating the matter.

3. Investigate to identify the culprit regarding to the FIR No. 95(12)2014 LSG-PS U/S 307/326 IPC & 25(1-C) A Act that “on November 27, 2014 my son namely Chandam Ishworjit @ Naoba who was posted at the Lamsang Police Station serving as a VDF personnel being service No. V111370 was shot at from his back while he was attending his duty at the Sentry Tower.”

4. Constitute a special investigation team to make sure that perpetrators of all crimes are brought to justice.

5. Establish a separate department to deal with gender based discrimination.

6. Direct the Government of Manipur to fill up two Judges of the Manipur High Court which remain vacant till date since full-fledged High Court.

7. We strongly urge Government of India to ratify Rome Statue of International Criminal Court (ICC). tors to respect and implement International Humanitarian Laws, Geneva Conventions 1949’s common Article 3 and Additional Protocol II of 1977.

The organizing com-

mittee also maintained that since the imposition of AFSPA, 8983 people have been killed till date according to Interlocutor R.N Ravi and 2335 people were killed from 2005-2014

according to Ministry of Home Affairs. The release also said the committee has documented from local newspapers atleast 904 cases only in Manipur relating to violence against women. However not a single person has been held accountable, it added.

birds), cock fights etc. are held at many places across the state. The most prominent ones are the bulbul fights at the Haigriv Madhav temple in Hajo near Guwahati and the buffalo fights in Aahatguri in Morigaon district.

"It's a cultural legacy of the people of Hajo to organise bulbul fights. However, we could not hold the event today (Thursday) as there was a ban by the Supreme Court. District officials came to me yesterday (Wednesday) and asked me not to hold such fights citing the Supreme Court

Mizoram lifts 17-year-old liquor ban aIzawl, January 15 (ptI): Mizoram today lifted the 17-year-old ban on consumption of liquor in the state nevertheless with strict punishment for drunken driving and brawls in public places. The state government enacted Mizoram Liquor Prohibition and Control Act (MLPC), 2014 coming into force today replacing the stringent Mizoram Liquor Total Prohibition Act of 1995, Commissioner of Excise and Narcotics L Hmunsanga said.

The new legislation legalises consumption of liquor for the first time since last 17 years in the state. The law however, would be extremely strict on drunken driving and drunken brawls in public places and would invite imprisonment for several months, the official said. Though the MLPC Act was now in force, wine shops would be able to sell liquor only from March as preparations were in full swing for the implementation of the new law. State Excise and Narcotics Minister R Lalzirliana had earlier hinted that retail wine shops would be run by sick PSUs like Mizoram Food and Allied Industries Ltd (MIFCO).

Woman arrested for spreading false news about gangrape and murder on Whatsapp aIzawl, January 15 (EnS): Police in Mizoram capital Aizawl have arrested a 22-year-old woman accused of spreading false news about a gangrape and murder through the Whatsapp messaging service.

Home Minister R Lalzirliana has meanwhile urged residents of the state to exercise caution when it came to spreading apparent news items on social media sites and messaging applications, saying unverified news reports often spread like wildfire.

According to IGP Zorammawia, at least 50 cases of misuse of such communication channels – including sending offensive messages and pictures – have resulted in police cases being filed, two dozen of them in the past year alone.

Aizawl SP C Laldina said Thursday Ruth Chalthansawmi of the city’s Saron Veng locality was arrested and charged with spreading false information.

Rumours that seven men had gangraped and killed an unidentified woman in the Tuikhuahtlang locality began spreading on Whatsapp and other social media on Tuesday evening, quickly escalating to the point local leaders and police were kept on their toes trying to confirm if the incident did take place.

The accused, the SP said, has told police she had

composed the “breaking news” message as a “joke” she shared in a group of about a dozen friends and that it must have leaked from there although she later posted in the same group it was only meant as a joke.

Police began investigating what turned out to be false rumors after locals registered an FIR. The rapid spread of information about incidents, especially tragic ones, across Mizoram through social media has sometimes led to various law and order problems in the state.

order. We had prepared for it and people were anxiously waiting for the event," said Shiva Prasad Sarma, the doloi (head administrator) of the temple.

aGartala, January 15 (IanS): An executive of a chit fund has been arrested in Tripura by the CBI for allegedly collecting deposits of more than Rs.10 crore, an official said here Thursday. This is the first arrest in the state by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the multi-crore rupee chit fund scam.

"The CBI Wednesday arrested Subhendu Deb Choudhury, director of Cosmic Negotiator Limited (CNL) and the agency officials have been interrogating him at the west Agartala police station," said an official of the Tripura government. He said: "The CNL started its op-

erations in Tripura 2005 and collected deposits of over Rs.10 crore before closing down their offices in 2010."

The official said the CBI has been looking for company chief Sanjit Chakraborty, who has been absconding. Both Choudhury and Chakraborty are residents of Hailakandi in Assam. The CNL's head office is in Shillong and registered office in Kolkata.

The Tripura government in 2013 has referred 37 cases to the department of personnel and training of the central government to be probed by the CBI, but the agency has taken up only five cases, including the case relating to the CNL.

1.

Notice is hereby given to all consumers and stakeholders that the Department of Power, Government of Nagaland a deemed licensee engaged in the distribution and retail sale of electricity has filed before the NERC Kohinma, the Aggregate Revenue Requirement (ARR) and Tariff application for distribution and retail sale of electricity for the year 2015-16 under section 62 of the Electricity Act, 2003 and NERC (Terms and Conditions for determination of Tariff) Regulations, 2010.

The Commission now admitted the Petition of department of Power and registered the Petition vide case no:__________ of 2014 of NERC. The summary of ARR for the year 2015-16 is given in Table below: Sl. No. 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

Particulars Cost of Fuel Cost of power purchase Employee costs R&M expenses Administrative and general expenses Depreciation Interest charges (including interest on working capital) Return on equity Provision for bad debts Total revenue requirement Less non-tariff income Net revenue requirement (10-11) Revenue from existing tariff Revenue from sale of surplus power Gap (12-13-14)

FY 2015-16 (Projected) 0.08 253.24 90.01 15.93 3.06 17.84 47.61 55.96 2.30 486.03 8.20 477.83 230.21 5.37 242.26

2. The distribution losses for the year 2015-16 have been projected at 26.91%.

3. It is proposed to cover the revenue shortfall through additional revenue from proposed Tariff revision. Copies of the filing and application referred to at Para-1 above are available in the offices of the Additional Chief Engineer (D&R), Department of Power Government of Nagaland, Kohima.

4. Interested parties may peruse the said ARR and Tariff proposals and take note thereof during the office hours at the above office of charge.

5. Copies of the above documents can also be obtained from the above office on payment of Rs. 100/- per Petition either in cash or through DD from Additional Chief Engineer (D&R), Department of Power Government of Nagaland, Kohima.

6. Summary of Tariffs and charges for retail supply of Electricity to consumers proposed by the Department of Power for the year 2015-16 are indicated in the schedule.

7. Objections/suggestions, if any on the ARR filings and Tariff proposals submitted by the Department of Power, Government of Nagaland together with supporting material may be filed with the Secretary, NERC, Kohima, old MLA Hostel complex Nagaland, Kohima – 797001 in five copies in person or through registered post so as to reach him on or before 28th Jan 2015.

8. The objections/suggestions as above should be filed in five copies and carry full name and postal address of the person sending the objections and should be supported by an affidavit duly attested. If the objection is filed on behalf of any organization or any class of consumers, it may also be specifically mentioned if the person putting in objections/comments also wants to be heard in person.

9. The NERC after perusing the written objections received in response to this notice may invite such objectors as it considers appropriate for a hearing on the specified dates, which will be notified by the Commission in due course.

Superintending Engineer Department of Power Government of Nagaland Kohima

OFFICE OF THE

EXTRA ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER CHUMUKEDIMA : NAGALAND

Ref. No: Adv-1/2015-16

CBI arrests chit fund executive

AGGREGATE REVENUE REQUIREMENT AND Tariff PETITION FILED BY THE SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER, DEPARTMENT OF POWER, GOVERNMENT OF NAGALAND WITH NAGALAND ELECTRICITY REGULATORY COMISSION FOR FY 2015-16

UNITY VILLAGE 5TH MILE DIMAPUR

Chairman MSMS

15/01/15

INFORMATION This is to inform all the Village Councils under Extra Assistant Commissioner, Chumukedima, that there will be a Social Outing on 17th January 2015 at T. L. ANGAMI PARK, New Chumukedima Village at 12:00 Noon as decided in the meeting held on November, 2014 at Chumukedima Town Council, Conference Hall.

Therefore, all the Village Council Chairman, Village Council Secretaries, VDB Secretaries, Head GBs, and one GB from each Village are hereby informed to attend the said Social Outing without fail.

SI. No. 1 A

1

Proposed Rate Rs./kWh 4 3.40 4.75 5.50 6.50

4.50 5.30 6.00

4.90 5.90 6.70

3

CATEGORY 'C' BULK

5.40

5.90

4

CATEGORY 'D' COMMERCIAL (a) < 60 kWh (b) 61 to 240 kWh (c) > 240 kWh

5.70 6.80 7.90

6.20 7.40 8.60

5

CATEGORY 'E' P.W.W.

5.30

5.60

PRESS STATEMENT

6

CATEGORY 'F' Public Light

To be recovered from consumers *

To be recovered from consumers *

Date: 13-01-2015

7

CATEGORY 'G' INTERSTATE

5.40

5.90

We the Undersigned 2013 NPF Candidates and CEC members of the 52-Longkhim-Chare A/C, 53-Tuensang Sadar-1 A/C and 57-Thonoknyu A/C held a meeting and have resolved to support the leadership of Shri. G. Kaito Aye, the leader of the NPF Legislature Party and also strongly reaffirm support to the new team of NPF Central Office bearers led by the Party President Shri. Noke Wangnao.

8

CATEGORY 'H' AGRICULTURE

2.70

3.00

9

CATEGORY 'I' TEMPORARY CONNECTION

DLF Rs. 8.00 Others Rs. 11.00

DLF Rs. 9.00 Others Rs. 12.00

10

Kutir Jyoti (point)

Same as DLF

Same as DLF

11

SINGLE POINT METERED RURAL

3.25

3.40

12 *

SINGLE POINT METERED URBAN 4.00 4.40 Charges for public lighting have to be recovered from the Consumers of Domestic, Commercial, Industrial and Bulk categories at the rates shown below: Domestic Rs. 10 per connection / month Rs. 10 per connection / month Commercial Rs. 15 per connection / month Rs. 15 per connection / month Industrial Rs. 20 per connection / month Rs. 20 per connection / month Bulk Supply Rs. 25 per connection / month Rs. 25 per connection / month

Sd/(S. HENO KHIAMNIUNGAN) Ex-NPF Candidate CEC member NPF 57-Thonoknyu A/C

2

Summary of Existing and Proposed Tariff Schedule Existing Rate CATEGORY Rs./kWh 2 3 CATEGORY 'A' DOMESTIC (a) 0 to 30 kWh 3.25 (b) 31 to 100 kWh 4.35 (c) 101 to 250 kWh 5.00 (d) > 250 kWh 5.80 CATEGORY 'B' INDUSTRIAL (a) < 500 kWh (b) 501 to 5000 kWh (c) > 5000 kWh

(THUNGBEMO PATTON) Extra Assistant Commissioner Chumukedima: Nagaland

We are also shocked to know that the action taken by the former President Dr. Shurhozelie on suspension of its NPF legislators by misusing his power is unconstitutional and we hereby condemn it strongly.

Sd/(L.ELAM CHANG) Ex-NPF Candidate CEC member NPF 53 Tuensang Sadar-1 A/C

Sd/(L.T. SANGTAM) Ex-NPF Candidate CEC member NPF 52-Longkhim-Chare A/C

3

IN-RESPECT OF

MOUNT SARAMATI MONTESSORI SCHOOL 1. Graduate/UGT (ARTS) preferably professionally trained.

2. Physical Education Teacher 3. Fine Arts Teacher.

Interview on 24 January (Saturday) during 9 AM-12 Noon at the School Office. Walk in with relevant original documents.

Dimapur

PUBLIC NOTICE

Sarma, however, rued the fact that the district administration intimated them about the court order only Wednesday - just a day ahead of the event.

VACANCY

16 January 2015

DEPARTMENT OF POWER, GOVERNMENT OF NAGALAND, KOHIMA

Assam honours SC, breaks tradition on animal fights GuwahatI, January 15 (IanS): Assam Thursday broke a more than a century-old tradition to honour the Supreme Court ban on animal fights. The state stayed away from holding traditional animal fights during one of its biggest festivals, Bhogali Bihu.

The decision not to hold the traditional events came after the state government Wednesday issued instructions to all deputy commissioners and police superintendents, asking them to stop holding such events. Buffalo fights, fights of bulbuls (song-

Friday

4

businEss

Friday

Dimapur

16 January 2015

The Morung Express

Rural India slowdown threatens RBI cuts repo rate by 25 basis point Modi's promise of "better days"

Chennai, January 15 (ianS): With the inflation rate coming down to below eight percent by January 2015 as targeted and likely to be below six percent by January 2016, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reduced the repo rate by 25 basis points, said bank Governor Raghuram G. Rajan Thursday.

The much awaited reduction in key interest rates by the RBI governor also fulfilled his promise made at the last monetary policy review to cut key lending rates as soon as inflation eases.

The move came as a surprise as it broke away from the standard RBI practice of announcing the lending rates every two months in a financial year.

The announcement, though anticipated, was expected to be made at the next monetary policy review meeting scheduled for Feb 3.

After the surprise move, equity markets, especially interest sensitive stocks, zoomed. Bonds and rupee too surged drastically.

In a statement, Rajan said: "In its public interactions, the RBI had committed to initiate the process of monetary easing as soon as data indicated that medium term inflationary targets would be met."

He said with this commitment in mind, it has been decided to reduce the

Indians walk in front of a garment shop in Mumbai, India, Thursday, January 15. The Reserve Bank of India cut its key interest rate Thursday by a quarter percentage point in a surprise move that adds impetus to government efforts to revive Asia's third-biggest economy. (AP Photo)

policy repo rate (the rate at which RBI lends to commercial banks) under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points from 8.0 percent to 7.75 percent with immediate effect.

Rajan also said the RBI has decided to keep the cash reserve ratio (CRR) of scheduled banks unchanged at four percent of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL).

He said the RBI would continue to provide liquidity under overnight repos at 0.25 percent of bankwise NDTL at the LAF repo rate and liquidity under 7-day and 14-day term repos of up to 0.75 percent of NDTL of the banking sys-

tem through auctions, and continue with daily variable rate repos and reverse repos to smooth liquidity.

Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF stands adjusted to 6.75 percent, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 8.75 percent with immediate effect, he said. According to him, lower than expected inflation has been enabled by the sharper than expected decline in prices of vegetables and fruits since September, ebbing price pressures in respect of cereals, and the large fall in international commodity prices, particularly crude oil.

"Crude prices, bar-

ring geo-political shocks, are expected to remain low over the year. Weak demand conditions have also moderated inflation excluding food and fuel, especially in the reading for December. Finally, the government has reiterated its commitment to adhering to its fiscal deficit target," Rajan said.

Lauding the RBI's move, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry's (FICCI) president Jyotsna Suri pointed out that the cost of finance was an important factor for giving boost to the industrial sector, which has been under stress for a long time now.

"This measure will

help in improving the investor sentiment. FICCI hopes that this will be the beginning of further cuts in the policy rate by the central bank, and will enable its transmission into lower lending rates by the banks,” Suri said.

Commenting on the policy announcement, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) director general Chandrajit Banerjee said the rate cut would propel investment demand, spur spending in rate-sensitive consumer durables and give a fillip to construction activity. “Going forward, CII hopes that while maintaining a delicate balance between growth and inflation, the RBI would shift its stance in favour of growth, given that the trend in inflation is clearly subdued," Banerjee said.

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) also applauded the RBI decision and observed that the move has correctly assessed the industry's need.

"The RBI view that any further cut in rate would depend upon further moderation of food inflation and current account deficit is well acknowledged.

This move will bring cheer for industry, economy as whole and for the common man," said Rana Kapoor, Assocham president.

World's newest airliner begins first commercial flight DOha, January 15 (aP): The world's newest jetliner, the Airbus A350, took to the skies Thursday carrying its first paying passengers from the Gulf Arab nation of Qatar.

The Qatar Airways flight departed the Qatari capital Doha bound for Frankfurt, Germany. It marks the debut of the relatively lightweight, twin-aisle, long-range plane, which promises to connect smaller cities with major aviation hubs nonstop at a cheaper cost for airlines.

For passengers, the new plane offers wider panoramic windows and larger overhead storage space plus the ability to limit connections.

The A350 is the third —

and final — major new aircraft in a decade. First there was the double-decker Airbus A380, which debuted in October 2007. It's the world's largest passenger jet, designed to carry up to 525 passengers between some of the largest cities on the planet.

Then came the lightweight Boeing 787, which carried its first passengers in October 2011. Thanks to its lower operating costs, the jet, marketed by Boeing as the Dreamliner, has led to new nonstop flights between cities that previously didn't have enough passengers to merit such service.

As with the Dreamliner, the A350's lightweight design allows it to burn significantly less fuel than other

jets of similar size. A little more than half of the structure is made of composite materials such as plastic reinforced by carbon fibers. Add in titanium and advanced aluminum alloys and more than 70 percent of the plane is made up of lightweight materials.

Airbus says the A350 will help open up nonstop routes like Shanghai to Boston, Massachusetts or Paris to Santiago, Chile.

The A350 can fly 276 to 369 passengers, depending on the variant and the airline's choice of seating configuration.

Qatar's version is fitted out with 36 business class seats that turn into fully flat beds and boast 17-inch TV screens, and an economy

class section with 247 seats, with smaller TVs. The state-backed airline has put considerable faith in the new model, with orders for 79 more planes. It received its first double-decker A380 from the European plane maker in September.

"The delivery of this new aircraft category into the Qatar Airways' fleet ... is a moment of absolute national pride for Qatar Airways and the state of Qatar," Qatar Airways CEO Akbar al-Baker said at an inauguration ceremony last week.

Unlike the Dreamliner, which was grounded in early 2013 for three and a half months because of problems with its lithium-ion

_

LEISURE

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

SUDOKU Game Number # 3110

batteries, Airbus — at this point — has decided to forego lithium-ion technology on the A350 in favor of traditional, but heavier, batteries.

Boeing has 1,071 orders for its 787, with 228 of the jets now in service around the world. Airbus has 778 orders for the A350 from 41 different airlines and jet leasing companies including, British Airways, China Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and United Airlines.

The plane that flew to Frankfurt Thursday is the first of 80 such jets quicklygrowing Qatar has ordered.

A larger version of the jet, which is scheduled to start flying in 2017, aims to compete with Boeing's long-range 777-300.

PaDali, January 15 (reuterS): Sugarcane grower Nilesh Kadam has abandoned plans to buy a tractor. He doesn't have enough money, like many farmers hit by erratic weather and sliding prices for the cotton, soybean and rubber they produce.

Tougher times in rural communities spell bad news for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who swept to power last May with a promise of "better days" new jobs and development to lift hundreds of millions of Indians out of poverty.

"I was expecting a hike in cane prices this year, but mills are paying 20 percent less than last year. I don't have enough money to buy even a motorcycle, let alone a tractor," says the 29-yearold Maharashtrian farmer.

It's not just the weather gods and capricious markets that are to blame for the hardship besetting Kadam's village of Padali, 280 kilometres south of Mumbai. A shift in government spending ordered by Modi is also hitting rural consumers and the industries that serve them.

"Rural consumption was one of the pillars holding up growth," said Aditi Nayar, senior economist at ICRA, the Indian arm of ratings agency Moody's. She expects weak demand in India's rural areas to have contributed to a slowdown in economic growth in October-December from 5.3 percent in the previous quarter.

Tractor maker Mahindra & Mahindra is idling its factories for a few days a month after sales slid by nearly a

third towards the end of last year. Consumer goods firms and auto makers have also reported weak sales.

More than 800 million of India's 1.25 billion people live in the countryside, accounting for 35 percent of the economy.

Welfare Cutbacks Seeking to woo rural voters, India's last government raised grain purchase prices, bailed out indebted farmers and promised 100 days paid labour a year to anyone who wanted it. The measures boosted the spending power of rural consumers and cushioned business from a fall in urban demand after the 2008 financial crisis. Eventually, though, they stoked inflation and forced the Reserve Bank of India to hike interest rates.

To cap inflation and state borrowing, Modi has limited rises in farm support prices to below the inflation rate and scaled back the jobs scheme. He wants to invest savings in infrastructure and skills to boost India's longterm growth. While inflation has eased with these policies, firms that profited from booming rural demand are struggling due to the sudden slowdown.

Rajesh Jejurikar, chief executive of the farm equipment and twowheeler division at Mahindra & Mahindra, said delayed rains, poor crops and reduced disposable incomes had hit tractor sales at the market leader.

Trends show a striking divergence between town and country sales of twowheelers: motorcycles -

more popular in the countryside - fell 3.5 percent in December while scooters, ridden mainly by city dwellers, leapt 24 percent from a year earlier, industry figures show.

Global Commodities Fall Modi's shift from policies that support demand to ones boosting investment and productivity have also coincided with a steep fall in global prices of farm commodities, making imports cheaper and hitting Indian exports. "Exports of many commodities have become less lucrative and in some cases unfeasible," said Faiyaz Hudani at Kotak Commodity Services.

The government's ability to ramp up spending on roads, railways and irrigation projects that would benefit rural India is, meanwhile, hobbled by budget constraints.

Aides to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley have advised him to loosen fiscal deficit targets in next month's budget to create room to invest. It's not clear, though, whether he will do so as that could delay a growth-boosting interest rate cut by the central bank.

Since his general election triumph, the BJP has racked up a series of gains in state polls - including in Maharashtra. But Kadam, who voted for a rival party, isn't convinced and says the patience of rural voters is being tested.

"During the campaign, Modi was saying better days are coming. Where are the better days?" the young Maharashtrian farmer asks. "He has made things worse for us."

Solar, wind power to become cheapest in Asia: Scientists helSinki, January 15 (ianS): Finnish scientists believe that renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, will become the cheapest energy for consumers in Asia in next 10 years.

A joint project conducted by Finnish Technical Research Center (VTT) at the Lappeenranta University of Technology and the University of Turku

DAILY CROSS WORD

CROSSWORD # 3119

Answer Number # 3109

has successfully modelled comprehensive energy systems based entirely on renewable energy sources for China, South Korea and Japan, Xinhua reported.

The project has recently won an award in Japan for its pioneering simulation work. China, a leading energy consumer in the world, has become the world's largest investor in solar and wind energy, said VTT's DIMAPUR Civil Hospital:

Pasi Vainikka. "China possesses significant wind and solar energy resources, so a power network based on renewable energy sources has the potential to become profitable very quickly," Vainikka was quoted as saying. The researchers predicted that the price of solar electricity will drop by half within 10-15 years, so that the relative industries will become more profitable.

STD CODE: 03862 232224; Emergency229529, 229474

Metro Hospital:

227930, 231081

Faith Hospital:

228846

Shamrock Hospital

228254

Zion Hospital:

231864, 224117, 227337

Police Control Room

228400

Police Traffic Control

232106

East Police Station West Police Station

227607 232181

CIHSR (Referral Hospital)

242555/ 242533

Dimapur hospital

224041, 248011

Apollo Hospital Info Centre:

230695/ 9402435652

Railway:

131/228404

Indian Airlines

229366

Nagaland Multispe- 248302, cialty Health & 09856006026 Research Centre

W

O

R

House and Home BEDROOM

BLINDS

KITCHEN

SHADES

PORCH

GUESTS

WINDOW

FAMILY

DOOR

PARTIES

FLOOR

LOVE

WOOD

PANTRY

BANNISTER

HALLWAY

RAILING

LIBRARY

CUPBOARDS

TUB

DRAWERS

FIREPLACE

COUNTERS

BATHROOM

WALLS

SHELF

SASH

MIRRORS

CURTAINS

LIGHTS

LOCKS

FURNISHINGS

TILE

PAINT

SHOWER

WALLPAPER

APPLIANCES

PLANTS

BASEMENT

FLOWERS

WALKOUT

TABLE

GARAGE

TOILET

D

L P K F X X V O S A O D P D I I D O F U

O Z P A G A R A G E B B E S Y J J J I S

S

C W N R T F X T A J A P I A J Z K N A H

K I P H B Z P A I N T A A S H A D E S E

E

S N P W D L K B A A H R W H J Q L W O L

O D L O V E V L C U R T A I N S E J Q F

O O N O W U P E B T O I L E T Q Z R K L

G W L D A O R O F P O E L I G H T S N O

A

F A M I L Y N F U I M S P H U F P D G O

K L J R L Y F I R E P L A C E L N R A R

I K E G S P L A N T S I P A S O Z A B A

R

T O H V A P P L I A N C E S T W J W I P

C U P B O A R D S D O O R M S E H E L H

C

H T O A P G W P H B L U L I B R A R Y A

E U R S Q Y R A I L I N G R E S L S H Z

N B C E D B A N N I S T E R D N L H Q S

H

M G H M V D N T G N U E U O R B W O O O

F D G E U N L R S D S R X R O K A W Q I

F F R N J E P Y Y S G S P S O G Y E B G

V C K T I L E F F G S V Z D M I K R Z K

ACROSS 1. Opaque gems 6. Russian emperor 10. Smelting waste 14. Permit 15. As well 16. Layer 17. Make fun of 18. Retained 19. Indian music 20. Large African antelope 22. Module 23. Brace 24. Enclose in 26. Sharpen 30. Night before 31. Excluding 32. Rime 33. Green 35. Sausage 39. Raider 41. Lie 43. Little 44. Location 46. Dwarf buffalo 47. Calypso offshoot 49. At this time 50. Past tense of Leap 51. Environment 54. The products of human

creativity 56. Burden 57. Exile 63. Litter’s littlest 64. Component of mammalian urine 65. Audio communications 66. Therefore 67. Small brook 68. Choose by voting 69. Lascivious look 70. Negatives 71. Blinks

DOWN 1. Pledge 2. Urgent request 3. Winglike 4. Misplaced 5. Broom 6. Buys out 7. Roomette 8. Vipers 9. Damaged by decay 10. Functional 11. Tropical vine 12. Auspices 13. Grille 21. Diacritical mark 25. Nothing (British) 26. Iota

27. Sharpen 28. Overhang 29. A type of semiconductor 34. Private lessons 36. Graphic symbol 37. Cease 38. Not this 40. Dam 42. Salamanders 45. Fatuously 48. Reddish-brown 51. Type of mushroom 52. Accustom 53. Move forward suddenly 55. Termagant 58. Diva’s solo 59. Timbuktu’s land 60. Biblical garden 61. Notch 62. Infants Ans to CrossWord 3118

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

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

CHUMUKEDIMA: 03862 282777/101 (O) 9856158740 (OC)

MOKOKCHUNG: 0369 2226225/ 101 (O) 9436012949 (OC) PHEK: 8414853765 (O) 9862130954(OC) ZUNHEBOTO: 03867 280304/ 101 (O) 9856156876 (OC)

MON: 03869 251222/ 101 (O) 9436208480 (OC) KipHire: 8414853767 (O) 8974304572 (OC)

Toll free No. 1098 childline

Police Station 1:

DIMAPUR: 03862 232201/ 101 (O) 9436017479 (OC)

TUENSANG: 8414853766 (O) 8414853519

CHILD WELFARE COMMITTEE

MOKOKCHUNG:

KOHIMA: 0370 2222952/ 101 (O) 9402003086 (OC)

WOKHA: 03860 242215/101 (O) 9862039399 (OC)

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

KOHIMA

FIRE STATIONS

STD CODE: 0369

2226241

Police Station 2 :

2226214

Civil Hospital: Woodland Nursing Home:

2226216 2226263

Hotel Metsüpen (Tourist Lodge):

2226373/2229343

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

CURRENCY EXCHANGE CURRENCY NOTES

222246 222491

BUY(Rs)

SELL(Rs)

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

61.85 93.03 7.96 50.1 46.14 51.45 52.1 0

62.28 94.08 8.04 50.84 46.69 52.08 52.73

Euro

72.86

73.68

Danish Krone

9.79

9.90

Norwegian Krone

7.97

8.06

47.65

48.39

7.72

7.81

New Zealand Dollar Swedish Krona

LOCAL

The Morung Express

Friday 16 January 2015

‘DaN coordination committee meet International performances in violation of NPF constitution’ mark Day-3 of Maati Ke Rang

Kohima, January 15 (mExn): The Shurhozelieled Naga People’s Front (NPF) today termed the meeting of DAN Coordination Committee held under the chairmanship of G. Kaito Aye on January 14 as “utterly in violation of the rules and procedure of NPF constitution as well as the Election Commission of India.”

The party press bureau stated that the “legitimate and constitutionally standing” DAN Coordination Committee is headed by Dr Shurhozelie Liezetsu

as chairman, K.G. Kenye as member secretary and the following as members – Dr. M. Chuba Ao, President, BJP Nagaland State Unit, James Vizo, General Secretary, BJP Nagaland State Unit, Mhonjan Lotha, President JD (U) Nagaland State unit, Yimso, General Secretary NCP Nagaland State Unit, Er. T.L. Semdhok, Vice President, NCP Nagaland State unit and M. Krose of the NCP Nagaland State unit.

“Such responsible and high level body cannot be

brought about or put in place under the mere influence and interest of any group of people, but only in accordance with the strictly laid down rules and formalities which, under no circumstances be flouted,” the press bureau stated in a release. “The NPF led DAN (will) ensure that the people who have given us the mandate will not be fooled or betrayed and reassure that the Government under the leadership of T.R. Zeliang, Chief Minister is in safe hands.”

St. Xavier’s Church Zhavame begins yearlong Golden Jubilee celebrations ZhaVamE, January 15 (mExn): St. Xavier’s Catholic Church, Zhavame on Wednesday kick-started its yearlong Golden Jubilee Celebrations by inaugurating and blessing its newly constructed Golden Jubilee Memorial Building by Very Rev. Fr. Guria Nestor, SDB, Salesian Provincial, Dimapur. He was also the main celebrant for the Eucharistic Celebration and the chief guest for the occasion.

As an act of inauguration, the chief guest also released two pigeons after the Holy Mass, to signify peace and love and for the congregation to keep these gifts in preparation for the main golden jubilee celebrations scheduled to be held early next year. A crucifix was further handed over to the only surviving church pioneer, which will be passed on from household to household throughout the year.

In his message, Very Rev. Fr. Guria Nestor dwelt on the message of faith, cooperation and resilience.

Also, with reference to the tragedy that the St. Xavier’s Church faced last year, he encouraged the congregation by asking them not to take it as a punishment, while emphasizing, “These are moments when God really wants us to show our faith.” He further extended his prayer support and wished the congregation a Happy Jubilee Year.

Rev. Fr. Neisalhou Carolus, Vicar General, Diocese of Kohima, who graced the occasion as the guest of honour unveiled the foundation for the new church building. In his short speech, he said that God will help them to rebuild their church and that it is not just the material building outside but also the building of the human community.

The programme was

graced by a host of priests including Rev. Fr. Anthony Rozü, Parish Priest of Lozaphuhu, nuns, and church leaders of several churches from the neighbouring villages as well as representatives from Catholic Association of Nagaland, Nagaland Catholic Women Association, Nagaland Catholic Youth Movement, etc.

Highlights of the cultural programme included a welcome song by CYA, welcome address by Rev. Fr. Pappusamy, Parish Priest, Razeba, special number

by Mothers’ Association, cultural dance by CYA, vote of thanks by Francis Dukru, Convener, Organising Committee and benediction by Sarhünyi John Krocha, Catechist of St. Xavier’s Church Zhavame.

Sarhünyi Stephen Dukru and Vishü Rita Krocha were the comperes.

Dimapur police seize ganja SSC Dimapur, January gation, it added. chairman 15 (mExn): Dimapur police personnel seized 55 kg Two persons arrested Two persons identified to visit of marijuana from a truck bearing registration num- as Letingam Henuna (38) ber AS01BC-8671 at Dil- and Chungthang Singsit Kohima lai Check Gate, Dimapur (38) were apprehended on January 11. The driver and the handyman of the truck managed to escape while the vehicle was being searched, informed a press release issued by Addl. Superintendent of Police/ PRO, Dimapur. The seized contraband and the truck have been kept at police custody for further investi-

by the staff of Space-M for stealing a mobile phone from their showroom and handed over to Dimapur West Police Station on January 14. Informing this, Addl. Superintendent of Police/PRO, Dimapur said that a case has been registered at Dimapur West PS for further investigation.

Skill Development Programme held in Mkg moKoKChung, January 15 (mExn): Rudichulare MPCS Ltd, in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE) Guwahati conducted an Entrepreneurship Skill Development Programme on Motor Winding & Pump Set Repair (MWPS) from November 4, 2014 to January 14, 2015. The event was sponsored by the Ministry of Micro Small Medium En-

terprise (MSME), Government of India.

The programme was conducted with the view to help the participants upgrade their skills and explore opportunities. The participants were methodically briefed by the resource person and trainers during the practical and theory class. All together thirty participants successfully attended the programme.

Dimapur, January 15 (mExn): The evening show at Maati Ke Rang 2015 on January 15 saw the display of an array of cultures from the nations that India is surrounded by. The International Folk Dance Show was held at the NEZCC complex in Dimapur from 6:00pm-8:00pm.

The program started with a scintillating performance by Waluniba Lemtur who played western classical music on guitar—fluid and perfect notes streamed from his fingers.

Chief Guest for the program, Kavita Acharya, wife of the Governor of Nagaland, then felicitated the winners of the mini marathon held on January 13.

The international programs began with a soothing delivery of timeless ghazals by Alok Kumar Sen and his team from Bangladesh. The powerful performances from the interna-

Waluniba Lemtur performs at Maati Ke Rang 2015 on January 15 evening.

tional brethren continued with the Shazaam Dance from Bhutan, a Duet Dance and two more performances from Myanmar, the Tha-

securing 1st class in master of Social work, Thejanino Khate for winning the 25th All Nagaland Tennis Championship, Vilasier Khate for winning the 3rd NE Cash Prize Tennis Championship, Riku Khape for winning the Nagaland Badminton Association Junior Boys double, Sedevisie Liegise for 1st Class in Msc. Agri, Kethozhavi Liegise for securing top rank in Class 12, Seyievilie Nakhro for best Endurance and Best Naga Cadet, NEPA Meghalaya and for being

is observed on January 15.

A press release from PRO (Defence), Kohima informed that a team from the blood bank of Naga Hospital Authority, Kohima (NHAK) conducted the camp supported by doctors and staff of 154 General Hospital. Ac-

The DC meanwhile spoke on the benefit of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. Highlighting that a bank account or Aadhar card is needed for subsidies such as SSP, LPG and MGNREGA, he informed that the account can also be used for receiving government subsidy. He further asked that Aadhar card number be updated in both the account and government department.

The meeting entrusted ITI Principal Phek and LRSO Phek to present PowerPoint presentation in the next DPDB meeting.

Public leaders Vechita and Remyi, who attended the meeting, also encouraged the district officers stating that they would continue to extend their cooperation and protect the officers whenever problem arises and also requested the officers to be in their posting place regularly.

outstanding in different categories Kenizono Khate (class 1), Eriteu Khape (class 5), Thejakhono Khate (class B), Vikedono Savino (class A) and Sadzevilie Nakhro (class 4).

Earlier, welcome address was delivered by the Kuda Village Chairman, Alhoulie Belho who also chaired the programme.

Kelhousetono Nagi, deaconess KVBC offered invocation while vice chairman, Kuda Village Council Kevitsozie Liegise delivered vote of thanks.

cording to the release, 44 units of whole blood groups were collected and handed over to the NHAK blood bank. All the donors and other participants were educated on the importance of voluntary blood donation, the release added.

WTLE elects new office bearers Corrigendum was elected. The team will be led by Chibo Yanthan - chairman, W. Rentsamo Humtsoe - vice chairman, Benjamin Ngullie - secretary, N. Chenithung Yanthan - jt. secretary, R. John Kikon - treasurer, Chenio Yanthan and James Yanthan - auditors and Thunglamo odyuo - press secretary.

The newly elected press secretary in a release stated that earlier, Rev. Wosamo Humsoe, home evangelist BTBC said prayer, while Pongdenro Okho and Wokha Town Lakhuti Eloe Okho presented welcome song and special numbers respectively. Rev. David Yanthan, field evangelist KBES blessed the new office bearers.

Phek DPDB discusses renaming of villages phEK, January 15 (Dipr): The monthly Phek District Planning and Development Board meeting for January was held in the DPDB conference hall, Phek under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner & Vice Chairman DPDB Phek, Murohu Chotso on January 12.

The meeting discussed the name list of selected villages on the basis of crops production – Zapami Garlic village, Thipuzu Kiwi Fruit village and Agekho Maize village, brought up

by District Agriculture Officer and District Horticulture Officer, Phek. The ATMA was entrusted to review the matter thoroughly and finalise. The house also asked SDEO Phek to furnish the actual shortage of teachers in the district, which will be discussed in the next DPDB meeting.

ru people’s Dance of Nepal, an Ethnic Costume Show, ending with Thang Ta martial arts from Manipur (this time playing with fire).

Army personnel donate blood

Kohima, January 15 (mExn): The 154 General Hospital in Zakhama Military Station organised a blood donation camp on January 14 to sensitize people about the importance of Kohima, January 15 blood donation and to com(Dipr): The Staff Selection memorate Army Day, which Commission (SSC), Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Department of Personnel & Training has informed that the Chairman of Staff WoKha, January 15 Selection Commission, (mExn): The Wokha Town New Delhi will be visiting Lakhuti Ekhung (WTLE) Kohima on January 21 to under the aegis of “Nzontsu undertake an awareness Khumshumta-2015” held campaign to spread aware- its general meeting cum ness among the youth of get together on January 10 Nagaland about the vari- at Krishi Vigyan Kendra ous job opportunities and premises, Wokha.

K. Elias Lotha (IPS) DIGP employment avenues (HQ) Nagaland in his greetavailable through SSC. The campaign will be held at ing, during the first session, auditorium, Kohima Col- challenged the youths to belege, Billy Graham Road, gin with their studies through Kohima at 9:30 am on Jan- God alone and to acquire uary 21. All the youth or- their education thoroughly. ganisations, educational He also assured to extend his institutions and educated co-operation towards the Ekunemployed youths have hung in particular and the vilbeen requested to avail the lage in general.

During the second sesopportunity to gain awaresion, new team of office ness, which is being facilibearers for the year 2015-17 tated free of cost.

Members of Pastor’s Fellowship (comprising of various churches and denominations) in Wokha town participate in a prayer walk on January 11 evening. The walk started from the heart of the town and ended at Niropen colony. The pastors went to various important and strategic places and prayed for the salvation of the people, Chairman Keshwega Seb, pastor of Rengma Baptist Church Wokha, stated in a press release.

Around fifteen pastors joined the prayer walk, it added.

Pughoboto SDPDB meeting held pughoboto, January 15 (Dipr): The monthly meeting of Pughoboto Sub-Divisional Planning and Development Board (SDPDB) was held on January 13 in the office of the Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Pughoboto.

SDPO Pughoboto submitted a detailed report for shifting of the present Police Station at Ghathashi.

After thorough discussion, the House forwarded the matter to the Home department for restoring the status of armed personnel at Ghathashi Police Station.

After the review of the last meeting minutes, SDO (Civil) & member secretary SDPDB Pughoboto distributed work for the forthcoming Republic Day 2015 celebration.

5

MEx FILE Governor extends greetings to army Kohima, January 15 (mExn): On the occasion of Army Day on January 15, the governor of Nagaland, PB Acharya expressed happiness that “our army has been maintaining the highest standard of professionalism and excellent role in each and every task assigned to them.” In a message, Acharya acknowledged, “They (army) have also ensured the protection of our territorial integrity, fought the blight of terrorism and provided comfort to fellow citizens in times of natural calamities.” “I am sure that the Indian army will continue their efforts with confidence and address the problems with distinction, keeping in view the best interest of the nation.” The governor further extended best wishes and warm greeting to all officers, soldiers, ex-servicemen, and their families. He also paid his respect to all the “gallant soldiers” of Nagaland who made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty and added they will remain the pride of the nation.

DDEO Dimapur informs

Kuda Village celebrates 74th Village Day Dimapur, January 15 (mExn): Kuda Village celebrated its 74th Village Day on January 15 at Kuda Youth Hall. Dr. Rokonito Nakhro, Assistant Professor, SASARD and Assistant Pastor Kuda Village Baptist Church, the speakers spoke on the topic “Living a life of integrity in today’s world,” Luoviü Razou exhorted on “Maintaining the culture and traditions of our forefathers”.

A press release informed that on the day, awards were conferred to Menokhono Sakhrie for

Dimapur

Meanwhile, AD C Pughoboto Nokchasashi called upon all concerned officers for their co-operation to make the Republic Day celebration successful.

The next SDPDB meeting has been scheduled for February 6, 2015. The meeting ended with vote of thanks from ADC & Vice-Chairman SDPDB Pughoboto.

Apropos to the news item ‘68th WSBAK youth conference,’ which appeared on January 15 issue of this daily, Rev. Ikuto Zhimo, Youth Secretary, WSBAK has clarified that one of the names of the speaker should be read as KI Yanger, Secretary (Power), Government of Nagaland and not as rendered. He expressed regret for the inadvertent error.

Dimapur, January 15 (mExn): The Deputy District Education Officer (DDEO), Dimapur has reminded all the head of institutions, teacher in-charges of Government Higher Secondary Schools/ Government High Schools/ Government Middle Schools/ Government Primary Schools to comply with the directives of the Department of School Education order no. ED/SSSM1 2013 dated Kohima, December 4, 2014. Stating that all the GPS will now be from pre-primary to class –IV and the GMS from class V to VIII, the DDEO R Amongla Jamir informed the head of institutions to make necessary arrangements/ adjustments so as to enable the students coming from GMS seeking admission in class IX after passing class VIII get admitted.

30th ACYA convention from Jan 16 Dimapur, January 15 (mExn): The 30th Triennial Convention of the Angami Catholic Youth Association (ACYA) will be held from January 16 to 18 at Holy Cross Church, Dimapur. Rev. Fr. Pezalhoukho George Rino, Spiritual Director, ACYA will inaugurate the Convention. Most Rev. Dr. James Thoppil, D.D. Bishop of Kohima will grace the occasion as the Main Celebrant.

The inaugural session will be held at 3:00 pm on January 16 and the High Mass at 10:00 am on January 18. All affiliating regions, village CYAs, former leaders, invitees and well wishers have been invited.

IPPI to be held on Jan 18 in Kma Kohima, January 15 (mExn): The Chief Medical Officer for Kohima, Dr Avino Metha today informed that the first round of Intensive Pulse Polio Immunization (IPPI) for all children upto 5 Years will be held on January 18 and followed by house to house on January 19 and 20. A press note from the CMO informed all parents, community leaders, women representative, youth representative and church leaders of all villages and colonies under Kohima District to mobilize children to avail polio vaccine at the nearest polio booth.

NPF Kiphire supports Kaito KiphirE, January 15 (mExn): The NPF Kiphire division has condemned the “dictatorial action” of Dr. Shurhozelie in suspending the “constitutionally elected NPF legislators.” NPF Kiphire division president, R Joshua Sangtam in a press release further stated that the division endorses the election of Noke Wngnao as the new NPF president and at the same time extends fullest support to G Kaito Aye.

Kiphire judicial office undergoes inspection KiphirE, January 15 (Dipr): Joint Secretary for Law and Justice, Rajiori on January 13 inspected the Judicial Office in Kiphire. Rajiori was welcomed by the Deputy Commissioner, Kiphire and HoD of Judicial office Kiphire led by District and Session Judge, Judicial Magistrate and APP Kiphire. The Joint Secretary inspected the office building, staff quarter and DBs’ court and had a short meeting where some important grievances of Kiphire district were discussed. The meeting was attended by representatives of USLP, DBS, DBS staff members of APP office, DLSA and Magistrate office.

Public SPace

The NSCN leaders must admit their misdeed: NNC

A

nother statement of the so-called NSCNIM released on 13th Jan. 2015 again, which appeared in Morung Express, saying;“Another tragic event that took place in Naga history is the treacherous Shillong Accord signed on September 11, 1975. It is another black day for the Nagas. However, NSCN under the dynamic leadership of Isak Chishi Swu and Th. Muivah saved the future of the Nagas from the high treason of the accord”.

This statement revealed once again their refusal to admit their misdeed. Pope Francis, when he reached in Sri Lanka on Wednesday January 14, 2015, said; “to uncover the truth of what happened during its bloody war as part of healing process”, so also the NSCN leaders must admit their misdeed and accept the truth as part of healing process among the Nagas. This is the only way for

them to make their history good and heal the wounds in the minds of Naga people. Continuingly telling lies or trying to conceal their misdeed can never make different.

The history will not write by NSCN leaders/ cadres or it will not write based onyour (NSCN’s) false statements, but, in future after thoroughly researching what truth is,the historianswill write the truth as truth and wrong as wrong. They will never write truth as false and the black as white. Today you may claim or say, the Accord as treacherous act, but the historians will research whether the signing of the accord or the formation of NSCNwas a treacherous act, and will write which was in facta treacherous act. Please don’t think that the defection from the national mainstream NNC/ FGN and fighting against your own people by join-

ing hands with the enemy is not a treacherous act.

Though you claim the nation was saved by Muivah and Isak, but the Naga people who believe in God our Lord know the fact that GodAlmighty has saved our nation in 1975.

The Naga people are thus glorifying His name for saving Nagaland. But you, instead of glorifying His name,claim the nation was saved by Muivah and Isak, that is a blasphemy and treacherously killing your own people is a sin in the sight of God and man.

My intention is not tocondemn anyone of you (NSCN leaders/cadres) by telling the truth, but I want all of you to accept the truth and admit your misdeed and join hands once again with all Nagas and work together in one accord for our nation, so that we may achieve our cherish goal sooner.

Thomas NNC Member

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

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IN-FOCUS

The Power of Truth

The Morung Express FrIDAy 16 JAnuAry 2015 volumE X IssuE 14

Power Democracy!

E

lection-based democracy does not guarantee justice, nor does it create conditions that are necessary for the improvement of all quality of life. All it really cares about is statistics, and so long as the statistic reflects the desired outcome, it has manufactured consent.

Unfortunately, statistics are just numbers and not about people’s aspirations. Statistics are unable to convey and articulate the values, needs and interests of what constitutes a people’s yearning. The question of statistics in election-based democracy and government-making needs to be further interrogated when people themselves feel that their needs has been usurped, and hence, not represented in the democratic process. If consent continues to be manufactured without the free will of people, statistics by itself will be co-opted into a framework that creates conditions for tyranny by the elected.

Worldwide, steps are continuously made to make distinctions between the prospects of democracy as a vision, and the mechanisms required to achieving them. Yet it must be said that the distinction between democracy as a fundamental right on one hand and as an instrumental and procedural right on the other hand has not been adequately distinguished due to cultural and contextual assumptions.

The lack of distinction between these two faces of democracy has effectively negated the viability of democracy.

In Nagaland state, democracy has been limited to an instrumental procedure. Therefore, the confusion of democracy seems to lie in the problem that democracy is often presented as nothing more than a form of the State itself. This effectively reduces democracy to occasional electoral politics which leads to a heightened level of fracturing within the society, a decrease in the level of quality governance and leadership and an increasing use of power. The present political crisis is a manifestation of all these symptoms.

In these pressing times, Nagas are required to rethink what democracy means for the Naga people. It would be unhealthy to visualise democracy only as a set of institutional and structural arrangement. In fact, consistent with indigenous ethos of life, democracy needs to be exercised primarily, as an attitude, a cultural disposition that promotes justice, pluralism and inclusion in which people are able to co-exist in right relationship with one another.

The crisis in the Nagaland state government due to internal differences and ‘the game of thrones’ call for selfcriticism at all levels of society. If not, democracy in Nagaland state will be nothing more than an event where the tyranny of the elected prevails.

lEfT WING |

Mazie Nakhro, Ph.D

Day 9: Why the Long Wilderness Journey?

Thought-Provoking Questions: Why are the Nagas still unable to enter into their "Promised Land"? Could our sins of self-centeredness and rebellion against God be the reasons for our long "Wilderness Wandering"?

What does God say? Read Numbers 14:26-35 The book of Numbers presents God as the Warrior-King.

God organized all Israelites into a military camp and got them ready to march forth as a conquering army to take the Promised Land. But there was a condition for Israel's possession of the land: they must faithfully follow the Lord's command.

As long as the Israelites obeyed the Lord, their lives and journeys went well. But when they disobeyed Him, they had to pay the price in defeat, delay and death in the wilderness.

Sadly, the people rebelled against God again and again. Even Moses failed to correctly execute the Lord's order once.

So what did God do? He punished the Israelites by letting them wander in the wilderness for 40 years. Otherwise, they would have taken about a month to cover the distance from Egypt to Canaan, which is a little over 250 miles. Instead of enjoying stable settlement, they shifted from place to place, having to stay at around 50 different places. The wilderness became a testing ground--an arena in which Israel had the opportunity to display their commitment to the God who had called them. But they failed miserably. So, the Lord decided to let the whole of the first generation, except Joshua and Caleb, perish in the wilderness.

Okay, so now what?

We the Naga people are trying to get into our "Promised Land" without God. That's why we have been wandering in our "wilderness" for many, many years. I hope God has not decided to keep out the older generation from seeing our "Promised Land."

The past has a vote but not a veto," said Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan. This means that the past has a say on our present, but we need not allow it to trump the present. We have a responsibility to critically engage what we have received from our older generation in the context of our present challenges, so that we avoid their mistakes and adjust our responses to what is best for us today.

As for God's plan, it is always built around certain principles that cannot be compromised or negotiated. He desires to bless us, but the blessing is predicated upon our submission to His rule. Are we submitted to Him? What about you?

Prayer: Lord, may I not look at the obstacles and say, `It can't be done!" May I walk forward in strong faith to do Your will because You have always kept Your promises. Amen.

Taken from the book “Breakfast with the King: The 100-Day Devotional” by Mazie Nakhro

S O U N D BITE

"

We would definitely like to repeat our performance from 2011. But the change in conditions will be a factor and we will have to play accordingly," Dhoni said at the launch of the team's new ODI kit designed by team-sponsor Nike for the upcoming season.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

THE EDIT PAGE

C O M M E N T A R Y

Udit Thakur Foreign Policy

India Doesn’t Understand Its Rape Problem Two years after the horrific gang rape in Delhi, India has yet to grapple with the complex psychological and gender issues at the heart of the matter

“R

apists must be hanged,” said Aasan Koyi, from behind the counter of his south Mumbai coconut water stall on a recent afternoon. “Some people work; some study. Other people only know how to do obscene things. For that, they must be hanged.”

Koyi’s cold logic echoes the sentiment that has swept through much of India since the fatal gang rape of a 23-year-old woman in New Delhi in December 2012. In September 2013, a Delhi court sentenced four of her rapists to death.

Others have given up on the justice system altogether.

In July, villagers in West Bengal responded to the alleged murder and gang rape of a 7-year-old girl by beating the 60-year-old man they suspected of the crime to death.

In October, locals in the city of Ganganagar in Rajasthan apprehended a 40-year-old as he allegedly tried to rape a teenage girl. They dragged him into a nearby butcher shop and castrated him with a meat cleaver.

These incidents don’t occur in a vacuum. Protesters, politicians, and celebrities have advocated vocally for harsher punishments for rapists, from public execution by firing squad to surgical castration.

But violent retribution, judicial and extrajudicial alike, has done little to end rape. Statistics from India’s National Crime Records Bureau show that incidents of reported rape in the country increased 35.2 percent between 2012 and 2013.

Rather than solving the rape problem, the bloodlust pulsing through India has instead squelched the country’s ability to address the problem’s roots — something Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has said it intends prioritize. In 2013, for example, a whopping 94 percent of rape cases involved offenders the victims knew, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. Rape, in other words, most often occurs between friends, neighbors, and family members — a troubling social reality India refuses to grapple with.

Kavita Krishnan, secretary of the advocacy group All India Progressive Women’s Association, argues that the obsession with punishment “deflect[s] attention from the accountability shared by the state” — its failure to address social norms that lead to sex crimes against women. These norms often emerge from legal and educational institutions that place little to no premium on gender equality. India’s preoccupation with capital punishment gives “individuals a way to distance themselves from potentially sexist beliefs they may themselves hold.”

In the aftermath of the 2012 Delhi gang rape, India’s then-ruling United Progressive Alliance government assigned a group of prominent legal experts, led by former Chief Justice J. S. Verma (now deceased), to draw up a set of amendments to the country’s criminal code to help expedite trials and punishments for sex offenders. But the group, known as the Justice Verma Committee, soon found that creating a safe society for women would require far more than new legislation.

I

t is the function of intelligence services to be invisible in the case of success and to be an object of blame in the case of failure. This was certainly the case when it came to the terror attacks on the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and elsewhere in Paris last week, with French security, one of the world's most efficient services, coming in for direct criticism and with additional blame attributed to other European intelligence agencies.

The BBC for or example wrote July 10, "Nearly every modern terrorist attack is followed by accusations of socalled intelligence failure. In the case of last week's attacks in France, the charge has added force: the suspects were known not just to French but also to other European and American authorities; one had travelled to Yemen over a threeyear period and another had been convicted of earlier seeking to travel to Iraq; and they were plugged into long-established European jihadist networks."

Similar reports have appeared in most of the major news media.

As Asia Times columnist Spengler noted last week: "In the 'no-go' zones of France now effectively ruled by Muslim gangs, moreover, the terrorists can intimidate the Muslim population.

France already has lost the capacity to police part of its territory, which means that it cannot conduct effective counter-terror operations."

This is misleading: the practice of intelligence agencies through most of history has relied on the vulnerability of criminals in order to monitor threats to the state. Intelligence services rely on informants for information. It is more common in the cinema than in

A woman shouts slogans during a protest outside police headquarters against alleged police negligence in the murder and suspected rape of a woman in New Delhi, India on Tuesday, January 13, 2015. The body of the woman was found Saturday morning in a park in the country's capital bearing signs of torture and rape, according to local news reports. (AP Photo)

“Our original mandate was to recommend changes to the law,” explained Abhishek Tewari, counsel for the committee. “But … we realized that the solutions to problems of sexual assault and rape required a much larger, holistic approach,” he said. As the group consulted with social workers, psychologists, and other experts on gender-based violence over its 30 days of work, it “came to realize that there had never been a serious study in India directed at understanding the psychological factors that drive rape,” Tewari said.

The result: a 644-page report of unprecedented depth, one that couched rape in India as an issue of deeply rooted social and gender inequity. Published in January 2013, the Justice Verma Committee report included numerous legal reform recommendations, such as stiffer sentencing and an expanded list of criminal offenses against women. It also advised against capital punishment or chemical castration as punishments for rape, citing a lack of empirical evidence that either deters violence. The report even included interviews with victims of human trafficking and child abuse, using their testimonies to help draft recommended guidelines for police and medical personnel on how to care for and respond to rape survivors. The committee also recommended creating sex education programming in schools.

Colin Gonsalves, a senior advocate of the Supreme Court of India and founder of the Human Rights Law Network, a group of Indian legal experts who offer legal aid to disadvantaged members of society including victims of sexual assault, calls the report unprecedented. “The fact that it was so extensive and put together in only a month made it a truly ground-breaking document.”

But on March 19, 2013, some two months after the report’s release, India’s lower house of Parliament passed a bill that ignored many of the Justice Verma Committee’s most substantive recommendations. While the bill expanded the list of punishable offenses for violence against women and issued stiffer sentences per the committee’s recommendation, it failed to criminalize marital rape. What’s more, the bill defied the Verma Committee, recommending the death penalty for repeat rapists.

Since the report’s release, many of its most substantive ideas for police and educational reform have been ignored. The committee had, for instance, pointed out bias and lack of gender sensitivity in

the police force, and had recommended sensitivity training and awareness initiatives. But today, “you still have policemen who will tell victims to take a shower after a suspected case of rape,” says Shwetasree Majumder, a researcher for the committee.

The BJP may yet pick up the baton. Modi raised the hopes of many when he questioned socially accepted approaches to sexual assault in his Independence Day speech last August, almost three months after coming into office. “Young girls are always being asked so many questions by their parents, like ‘Where are you off to?'” he asked. “But do these parents ask their sons where they are going?” By holding parents responsible for teaching their sons “the difference between right and wrong,” Modi’s comments seemed encouraging in the face of a national conversation that has otherwise sought to supplant serious social introspection with vengeance.

But the likelihood of a deeper conversation on issues of rape and sexual assault in India seems in doubt. Few public officials have echoed Modi’s fresh thinking. On the contrary, Subramanian Swamy, a senior member of the BJP, recently made statements in which he stated his preference for castration of rapists as opposed to execution.

Lalitha Kumaramangalam, chair of the National Commission for Women, a government advisory body tasked with protecting and promoting the rights of women, and a member of the BJP’s National Executive, said she is “hopeful” that Modi’s government will implement some of the Verma Committee’s recommendations. But when asked for her party’s stance on recommending the death penalty for rapists, she was less accommodating. “As a party, we endorse no lenient measures for people considered hardened criminals.”

In April 2014, a Mumbai court handed down death sentences for three men convicted in the 2013 gang rape of a journalist. Ujjwal Nikam, the public prosecutor in the case, said he sought the death penalty because he “wanted to send a message to likeminded persons that if they commit such crimes the death penalty is inevitable.”

“For the government, legislation was the easiest change they could enact,” says Nikhil Mehra, an advocate who served as a researcher with the committee. “Generating serious societal change, on the other hand, is much more difficult.”

Charlie Hebdo: A failure of policy Gunter Bachmann AsiaTimes Online real life for security services to sucessfully infiltrate undercover operatives into terrorist organizations.

The security services tolerate a certain level of criminal operations in return for information on graver threats.

That is not only the case in state security matters; consider the relationship of the FBI, for example, to the Boston gangster Whitey Bulger over many years.

Without revealing any sensitive information about sources and methods, it is possible to shed light on the events of the past week by reference to the John Le Carre novel A Most Wanted Man, released last year in a cinematic version.

The German counterterrorism authorities use a young Chechnyan refugee whose relationship to terrorism is ambiguous in order to entrap much larger prey. The debate between the Europeans and the CIA (portrayed cartoonishly by the anti-American Mr Le Carre) centers on whether to entrap a prominent Muslim religious figure with relationships to terrorist organizations and turn him to state service, or whether to neutralize him immediately.

A delicate balance between handlers and informants has kept Europe relative safe for the past decade. The

likes of the brothers Kouachi, the perpetrators of the Charlie Hebdo massacre, are typical of this delicate balance. They began as petty criminals and graduated to jihadist training in Yemen, all well known to the French authorities.

I do not know the specifics of the Kouachi case, but it is highly probable that Said and Cherif Kouachi were subject to regular monitoring by informants of the French government. The security services do not have powers of preemptive arrest. Unlike the security services of most Arab countries, they cannot indefinitely detain individuals who constitute a risk of future terrorist activity in advance of such activity.

Under the circumstances, the security services rely on networks of informants drawn in many cases from the criminal milieu. This has enabled French intelligence to preempt a number of terrorist attacks in the past. The disintegration of Syria and parts of Iraq during the past two years has overwhelmed the means by which intelligence services have coped with such threats in the past.

On October 16, 2013, the French daily Le Monde warned of a large number of ji-

WRITE-WING

hadists returning from overseas wars and their prospective threat to France. This was noted by English-language intelligence analysts such as the XX Committee blog.

The trouble, as John Schindler wrote January 10 in the cited blog, is this: "Western intelligence services since 9/11 have become very proficient at counterterrorism, with impressive collaboration in all disciplines, and France’s services rank among the best anywhere. If there was an 'intelligence failure' here, and we can be sure that embarrassed Paris politicos will be looking for one, it was small-scale.

The real problem is that French politicians, as in all Western countries, have absolutely no idea what to do with the burgeoning numbers of aspiring jihadist killers in their midst."

The disintegration of Levant with hundreds of thousands debt and millions displaced has honed the desperation of prospective jihadists. The ability of the intelligence services to keep the upper hand in the delicate balance has broken down. There are now a large number of jihadists in Europe - perhaps several thousands - prepared to undertake what they perceive as martyrdom in a situation which they view in apocalyptic terms. Weapons are easy to obtain; Bloomberg News reported on January 7 that the street price of a Kalashnikov automatic assault rifle of Eastern European manufacture is about 1,000 euros (US$1,185), and that is roughly accurate.

It is not in the shadow world of intelligence operations but in the daylight of public policy that solutions must be found to the terrorist threat.

Gunter Bachmann the pseudonym of a European official concerned with counterterrorism

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

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FRiday

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

16 January 2015

PERSPECTIVE NEWS ANALYSIS, FEATURE AND DISCOURSE

Why is there so little action on climate change? P

Pope's Filipino host is a humble, rising church star

A

Georgie Wingfield-Hayes

ccording to the World Bank, human-induced or “anthropogenic” climate change may raise the earth’s temperature by two degrees in the next 20 or 30 years. Once four degrees is reached—which may arrive by the end of this century—the polar ice will be gone, sea levels will have risen dramatically and extreme climate disruption will be a fact.

But climate scientists aren’t sure what will happen in the gap between these two scenarios. No-one knows where the point of no return is located, nor what the consequences will be of current climate changes for the human species and the planet. In effect, humanity is playing a game of Russian roulette. So what’s getting in the way of taking the necessary action?

To find out some answers to this question, I hosted a discussion in November of 2014 between George Marshall, the co-founder of the Climate Outreach and Information Network (COIN), and John Foster, a Lecturer in Philosophy at Lancaster University in the UK. The discussion was held under the auspices of the Institute for Leadership and Sustainability at the University of Cumbria where I’m currently studying.

I chose these two participants because they’re known for having very different views about how to respond to global warming. Marshall is the author of Don’t Even Think About It—Why Our Brains are Wired to Ignore Climate Change. An optimist at heart, he believes that there’s still time to avoid disaster, but only if bold new ways are found to engage people on the topic. Marshall’s book analyzes a broad spectrum of views on climate change from hurricane survivors to Tea Party activists.

By contrast, Foster’s book After Sustainability concludes that current action and advocacy strategies haven’t worked, and that societies need to accept the reality that awaits them in a future that will inch ever closer to that four-degree threshold of anthropogenic warming. In an echo of debates between other activists and thinkers like Carolyn Baker, Shannon Biggs and Jem Bendell, he views Marshall’s stance as little more than “willed optimism.”

Joining Foster at his office in Lancaster and connecting to Marshall by telephone, I started the discussion by asking each author to explain the lack of action on global warming.

Marshall calls climate change a classic “wicked problem:” “multifaceted in every respect …incomplete, contradictory and constantly changing.” These problems are very difficult for human minds to frame because people are accustomed to dealing with issues that have an identifiable, common enemy—something or someone that promotes a collaborative response. But in the case of climate change, people themselves are the ultimate perpetrators, and there’s nothing in the history books to help societies deal with a wicked problem like this.

“Climate change is so strange because it is based on anticipation,” Marshall continued, which “makes it challenging and dangerous. There is so much space for personal and cultural interpretation and socially constructed narratives.”

In his book he looks at how the public’s engagement in climate change has diminished in recent years, partly due to the advent of professional “denialists” like Myron Ebell who fuel doubt and make it easier for people to ignore the issue.

He also highlights the fact that even scientists who live and breathe the facts of global warming are often incapable of facing the emotional consequences of what they

A

cross the Indian subcontinent, fanfare surrounding President Barack Obama’s trip to New Delhi this month is raising expectations for the next phase in U.S.-Indian relations.

Whether Washington can broker any meaningful accords from the visit remains far from certain, but the president will benefit from a palpable buzz surrounding the trip.

Just by setting foot in the country, Obama will become the only serving U.S. president to visit India twice and the first American to fill the role of chief guest at India’s Republic Day parade on Jan. 26.

The extravagant celebration — a cross between a Soviet-style military parade and Macy’s Thanksgiving Day pageantry — honors the ratification of India’s constitution with a convoy of ornate floats, well-groomed camels, and newfangled ballistic missile systems.

The goal for Washington will be to advance its agenda on security, the environment, and bilateral trade, and repair ties with New Delhi after an embarrassing diplomatic tiff at the end of 2013 sunk relations to historic lows. Additionally, the high-level U.S. diplomatic push — which includes a visit this weekend from Secretary of State John Kerry — is meant to push back against Russia’s latest embrace of New Delhi, which included new defense and energy deals.

“The main objective is to build on the moment that has been in place ever since Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi took office,” said Michael Kugelman, an India expert at the Wilson Center. “India craves recognition on the global stage, and what better way than to have Obama in the country attending Republic Day at the request of the prime minister?”

The previous meeting of the two leaders took place in Washington in September, but it ended without any breakthroughs or major commitments. Diplomats on both sides are working overtime this month to make sure that doesn’t happen again.

Defense Ties Though the White House declined to outline a list of goals for the trip, a congressional aide familiar with the bilateral preparations said both countries are making a last-minute push to replace the 10-year defense framework agreement between the two nations that expires this summer.

Ideally, the compact would expand military-to-military partnerships — including joint training exercises, expert exchanges, interoperability, and technology transfers — and increase bilateral military sales. Another source familiar with the negotiations put the likelihood of an announcement on

This Thursday, December 4, 2014, file photo shows activists from different countries holding signs in support of the unborn on the sidelines of the Climate Change Conference, on a beach in Lima, Peru. (AP Photo/File)

know. Facts are dealt with by the rational brain, but it is the emotional brain that makes decisions around beliefs. Marshall thinks that scientists’ unwillingness to show emotion around the subject of climate change has been counterproductive to attempts to engage the public.

In addition, the denialists have come up with some highly emotive and effective arguments. One of the best examples is the 2006 Competitive Enterprise Institute film entitled “They call it pollution, we call it life.” Marshall describes the film as “devious and exasperating, but damn good communication.” “We need a completely different approach to engage people, one which has social and cultural meaning and that speaks to peoples’ emotions.”

Foster agrees that “denial is not just in those who resist the idea of climate change,” but in contrast to Marshall he believes that societies need to start focusing on “how we might behave once we stop pretending that serious and catastrophic climate change isn’t going to occur. The problem/solutions approach hasn’t worked.” Instead, people should realize that this is already a tragedy.

“This would allow us to find acceptance,” he said at one point in the conversation, “acceptance of what is happening, acceptance of ourselves and our limits, and acceptance that we are not in control, never have been and never will be.” Foster calls this “existential resilience,” citing Rob Hopkins’ Transition Handbook which defines community resilience as “the ability not to collapse at the first sight of oil and food shortages.”

Marshall rejects this call: “I don’t agree that time is up at all. If we could increase public engagement over the next 20 years we could change the outcome. If we still think we have a chance of pulling this back we will cope very differently than if we know that we can’t. Then we might indulge in defeatism.”

Nevertheless, both protagonists agree that the current trajectory of carbon dioxide emissions makes it impossible to stop climate change from taking humanity into uncharted territory. So what’s to be done?

For Marshall, the key is “to create as large a public base

of awareness and engagement as possible. First off, people have to accept that the issue exists at all.” Foster responded by saying that global warming itself is the only thing that will do this: “the agent of getting a widely held social belief in climate change… will be climate change”.

Marshall is less sure. In his research he’s found that current extreme weather events have done little to sway opinions: reactions still fall into patterns of prior belief. For example, the unprecedented wildfire of 2011 in Bastrop, Texas, destroyed 1,600 homes, ten times more than any other fire in Texan history. Yet in all of his interviews, not a single person could recall talking about climate change as a possible factor in the fire and the drought that helped to cause it.

In the latter part of his book, Marshall explores a number of social movements that have created or facilitated rapid change. He says that these “have largely been religious—or political movements that look and smell very much like a religion. I think there could be lessons to be taken from here.” Religious movements like the Mormons “constantly experimented with ways to engage new cultures. Climate change is not about an attitude. It’s not a voting preference. It’s a core conviction—by which I mean a belief. I am urging an approach that has a very high degree of proselytizing built into it, so for me the first condition of anything that we say or do on this is that it has to contain the compulsion and commitment to share.”

Foster has a different view. “Rather than climate change,” he offered, “maybe we need to look at this as peak hubris. A lot of what is happening is the unraveling of the hubristic human ambition to manage and control everything. You can see it in terms not just of climate and peak oil, but supra-national states and organizations that are too big for humans to handle, and financial systems that are too big to fail but fail nonetheless.”

He’s a proponent of what he calls “human re-wilding.”

“This is not about trying to reinvent ourselves as indigenous people, but finding a way of unlocking ourselves from our futile, escapist and destructive progressivism.”

At the end of his book Marshall sums up what can be done to engage people more effectively with climate change: • use narratives of positive change, since people respond to stories, not science • build a culture of co-operation, not unity—everyone doesn’t have to be or become the same • practice emotional honesty, which allows people to share feelings of grief and anxiety • relate climate change to the sources of our happiness— what’s important to us and our friends, families and communities; and • present the future as a journey of conviction—understand and validate peoples’ values first, and then come up with ways in which the issue of climate change speaks to them.

The COIN blog discusses specific ways of communicating with young people about climate change in these ways.

However, none of this goes far enough for Foster. He feels that we have to recognize how fragile life is, and how it is always teetering on the edge of the unknown. “I think that the way we live so widely in ignorance of this [fact] means that we don’t even recognize and acknowledge life, which is itself a kind of denial. Hence, what is coming could be a form of liberation…. if we can survive.”

Currying Favor Will Obama’s India trip produce more than just pomp and circumstance?

John Hudson a newly secured agreement at “50-50” given the time crunch diplomats on both sides are up against.

“A lot of this will come up to the last minute,” said the source. “What makes this hard is how quickly this trip has come after Modi’s trip to the U.S. in September.”

Since the end of the Cold War, New Delhi’s roster of military trading partners has expanded beyond Russia, even though Moscow remains its No. 1 defense supplier.

In December, the two countries pledged to remain strong partners and agreed to billions of dollars of deals, including the construction of 12 nuclear reactors in India by state-owned Rosatom and the assembly of 400 Russian multi-role helicopters in India.

In an effort for the United States to gain a foothold, many American observers are hoping the United States and India will announce a joint manufacturing project on a specific piece of defense equipment, but the path forward is unclear.

Until recently, the front-runner for this initiative was the Javelin weapons system, a ground-based anti-tank missile built by Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. But in October, India announced a $525 million deal to buy Israeli Spike anti-tank missiles, raising doubts about the prospects of the Javelin deal. Still, sources say the two sides may still collaborate on Javelin anti-tank missiles or another defense project. Such technology transfers play to both countries’ objectives: They help India advance its own domestic defense industry and often come with implicit guarantees that New Delhi will purchase American-produced weapons systems.

“If the two countries do manage to tee up another project — or decide to go ahead with Javelin — it will signal a breakthrough in U.S.-India defense ties, and also a boost for Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative,” said the American Enterprise Institute’s Sadanand Dhume.

Even if diplomats don’t manage to complete a deal in time for this month’s trip, many see the announcement of a joint project as inevitable in Obama’s last two years in office. “Expectations for a new piece of military technology that the

two countries will produce and co-develop have been heightened for this visit,” said Milan Vaishnav, an India expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “It increasingly seems like it’s only a matter of time.”

Pakistan A perennial sticking point between the two countries is America’s long and troubled security relationship with Pakistan, which receives roughly $2 billion in annual security aid from Washington.

Ahead of Kerry’s arrival in India this weekend, Islamabad accused New Delhi of killing four civilians on the India-Pakistan border. In response to the allegations, India said one of its border guards was killed in an offensive against those four Pakistanis, who New Delhi says were plotting an attack on Indian territory, which Pakistan disputes.

The border skirmish coincided with inaccurate reports in the Indian press stating that Secretary Kerry issued a certification of progress to Pakistan related to its counterterrorism measures under a U.S. law known as the Kerry-Lugar-Berman bill. Although U.S. assistance to Pakistan continues, the State Department denied making a declaration of Pakistan’s progress on fighting terrorists. (The United States and India have both expressed strong dissatisfaction with Pakistan’s efforts to fight violent extremists in recent years.)

Though Modi is unlikely to make Pakistan a focal point of the visit, America’s ties to Islamabad’s security apparatus are unlikely to avoid mention. “India can simply not understand why the United States continues to engage the Pakistani security establishment, which has links to radical organizations that target Indians and Americans,” said Kugelman.

In recent weeks, rumors circulated that Obama might add a last-minute stop in Islamabad, but experts say that’s unlikely on this trip. “The U.S. has invested a lot of diplomatic effort in ‘de-hyphenating’ the India-Pakistan relationship,” said Dhume.

“An unscheduled visit to Islamabad will be seen by New Delhi as a poke in the eye.” To

mollify Pakistan’s generals, Kerry will visit Pakistan instead of Obama.

The Environment Another top priority for the White House is an expanded agreement on the environment and greenhouse gas emissions with India, after Obama clinched a landmark green deal with China in November. The two countries are expected to announce joint efforts to combat climate change during the visit, which is seen as a crucial opportunity to convince one of the globe’s biggest carbon polluters to become more proactive on the issue. (India is the third-biggest producer of greenhouse gas emissions, behind China and the United States.)

However, the two leaders are only expected to announce a modest set of initiatives aimed at expanding research and access to clean and renewable energy technology — nothing quite as ambitious as the milestone deal struck in November between the Washington and Beijing to reduce carbon pollution.

“There is a potentially grand bargain to be had on energy and climate,” said Carnegie’s Vaishnav, noting Washington’s commitment to climate change and India’s interest in shale and liquefied natural gas exports. “But we know we’re not going to get a deal similar to the U.S.-China agreement.”

Lowering expectations in December, Todd Stern, the State Department’s climate change envoy, said, “I am expecting a useful meeting but we don’t have anything in the works of the kind that we were involved with in China.”

Trade Another major objective of the trip is to boost trade and investment between the two countries, for which the State Department is now laying the groundwork. On Saturday, Kerry will travel to Modi’s home state to attend the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit. The United States will participate as an official partner in the meeting, which was first launched in 2003 with the goal of attracting foreign direct investment to the region bordering Pakistan.

The two sides already resolved a divisive dispute over food subsidies in November, which threatened to upend a World Trade Organization deal to reduce international trade barriers. The next step for the two countries is to boost the two-way trade between the United States and India from $100 billion to $500 billion — a target agreed upon by both but with no immediate deadline.

Jim Gomez and Nicole Winfield associated Press

ope Francis will be welcomed in this Catholic heartland on Thursday by a Filipino cardinal who might one day succeed him: a boyish-looking priest who rode the bus as a bishop and has impressed many with his intellect, humble life and compassion for the poor.

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle sings on stage, preaches on TV and is on Facebook to spread the church's message. His down-to-earth demeanor, poignant homilies and accessibility to the masses reflect many of the same qualities that have enabled Francis to dazzle the world.

Those traits and his keen knowledge of theology helped the 57-year-old archbishop of Manila nurture the faith amid a tide of secularism, competition from other faiths, clergy sex abuse scandals and other crises that have rocked the Catholic world. He has emerged as Asia's most prominent Catholic leader.

When Tagle's name was mentioned in Vatican circles as among the possible successors to Pope Benedict XVI two years ago, even the remote prospect of a Filipino pope electrified many in the heavily Catholic Philippines and turned him into a celebrity.

"He became the darling of the masses," said Cynthia Campos of the Catholic group Couples for Christ. "He has this personal touch, presence or aura that allows him to connect with the young and the elderly, the rich and the poor," Campos said, adding she could not help comparing Tagle with Francis, whom she met last year in the Vatican during a synod of cardinals, bishops and lay workers.

Rita Asibar, a 53-year-old who lives with her three children in a Manila garbage dump, said she prays that Tagle will become pope someday. "That'll be good for all of us," Asibar said.

"Our prayers can easily reach God." The churchman who last drew such deep admiration among Filipino Catholics was Cardinal Jaime Sin, who died in 2005. An influential spiritual leader and moral compass, Sin helped rally multitudes in the massive "people power" revolts that ousted two presidents, including dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.

Sin's death left a vacuum in the church saddled with the task of shepherding Catholics in a country plagued by poverty, divisions, crime and long-raging Muslim and Marxist insurgencies. Unlike Sin, Tagle was not propelled by extraordinary political events; people who know him say he slowly carved a reputation for simple, day-to-day acts that defined him as a man of deep faith and compassion.

Even as a bishop, Tagle did not own a car.

He took buses or popular working-class minibuses known as "jeepneys" to church and elsewhere. He ate with workers and sang for church charities, impressing many with his baritone.

"He told me that from time to time, he would go to the slums and eat and exchange stories with the residents there," Campos said.

She added that the cardinal maintains Twitter and Facebook accounts to stay in touch with large numbers of tech-savvy Filipinos.

Both Benedict and Francis placed high hopes on Tagle. Benedict appointed him archbishop of Manila in 2011 and made him a cardinal in 2012. Francis followed up with a vote of confidence by naming him one of three presidents of the cornerstone of his papacy so far, the Synod on the Family, a two-year church study on providing better pastoral care for families.

Tagle has impressed with his call for the church to be more humble, to listen to ordinary Catholics and to look out for the poor and suffering.

He has voiced particular concern for the plight of Filipinos who must go abroad to find work to earn enough money to support their families back home. Such marriages, he says, can fail because of love and not hatred.

At the same time, Tagle has not shied from defending core church doctrine on contraception, helping lead the Philippine church's opposition to reproductive health legislation backed by President Benigno Aquino III. Congress, dominated by Aquino's allies, passed the legislation in 2012.

Tagle's appointment as Manila archbishop was initially met with surprise, given his participation in a controversial, progressive written history of the Second Vatican Council, the groundbreaking 1962-65 meetings that ushered the Catholic Church into the modern world.

Benedict spent the better part of the past quarter-century insisting that Vatican II was not a break with church tradition but rather a continuation, whereas the so-called Bologna school which produced the multi-volume Vatican II history viewed it much more as a rupture from the past.

Tagle was a young theologian when he wrote a key chapter in the series in 1999. He studied at the Catholic University of America under the American editor of the series, Father Joseph Komonchak.

Francis' visit to the Philippines, with the theme "mercy and compassion," comes after a difficult period of armed conflict and natural disasters, including Typhoon Haiyan, which leveled entire villages and left thousands of people dead and missing in November 2013 in central Leyte province, where the pope will spend a day to console survivors.

"The visit comes at that point when people would really be helped by a moral and spiritual boost coming from someone who really cares," Tagle said in an interview late Wednesday.

Campos said the combined presence of Francis and Tagle during the pope's trip will be a doubly reassuring sight.

While all the attention could help their evangelical work, the two church leaders apparently don't relish the attention heaped on them.

"He doesn't want his humility extolled," Tagle spokeswoman Peachy Yamsuan said. Tagle said as much for the pope. After meeting Francis in November to discuss the Philippine trip, Tagle said the pope told him people were "creating their own Pope Francis."

"Who creates those stories? Who creates those legends?" Tagle quoted Francis as saying.

"Don't focus on me. Focus on Jesus."

8

Dimapur

The Morung Express NATIONAL ‘Militants may attack schools during Barack Obama tour’

Friday 16 January 2015

Kiran Bedi jOins BjP

jaya Prada, shazia ilmi likely to join BjP

BJP chief Amit Shah presents a bouquet to former IPS officer Kiran Bedi to welcome her into the party during a press conference in New Delhi. (PTI Photo)

NEW DELHI, JaNuary 15 (IaNS): Celebrated former IPS officer Kiran Bedi, who parted ways with AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal around two years ago, Thursday joined the BJP, saying Delhi needs a stable and honest government.

At an event attended

by Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, she also lavished praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his “inspirational leadership”. Bedi, India’s first woman police officer, and Kejriwal were partners in social activist Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption campaign which shook India in 2011, eventually leading to the birth of the Aam Aadmi Party.

Bedi and Kejriwal later fell out. Even as Kejriwal took a more and more stridently anti-Congress, antiBJP line, Bedi began to bat for the BJP and Prime Minister Modi. Addressing the media after joining the party formally by dialling a tollfree number, started for the party’s mass membership drive, the 65-year-old Bedi expressed her gratitude for Modi. “I’m grateful to the prime minister. I am here because of his (Modi) in-

spirational leadership,” she said, speaking in Hindi and in a style that indicated she was set to spearhead the BJP’s battle in the capital.

She credited the prime minister for pushing her to embrace political work from just being a social activist. “If people like me have changed, I think crores would have changed. A new faith has taken place after May (2014)... I have been inspired. “I devoted myself to the country since 1970 when I began teaching and joined the Indian Police Service in 1972. I have 40 years of administrative experience. That’s what I will give to Delhi.

“Delhi needs a strong, clear-headed, stable, experienced government.”

A former tennis player whose innings in Delhi Police is still widely remembered, Bedi said no evil would be tolerated in the city. She insisted that she knew how to get work done.

“I’m in a mission mode.”

Bedi took voluntary retirement in 2007 - 13 years after she won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for government work - when a junior officer was made the Delhi Police chief bypassing her.

She promised to make New

NEW DELHI, JaNuary 15 (agENcIES): As political battle in the capital heats up, there are reports that actor-turned-politician Jaya Prada and former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Shazia Ilmi are likely to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) further boost-

ing the saffron party’s prospects in the upcoming Delhi assembly election.

According to a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, the party is banking on Jaya Prada’s glamour quotient to win the New Delhi seat won

by Kejriwal in 2013 after defeating three-time chief

minister Sheila Dikshit.

Jaya Prada fought the 2014 Lok Sabha election as a Rashtriya Lok Dal candidate from Bijnor but lost. Ápart from Prada and Ilmi, rumours are rife that former AAP legislator Vinod Kumar Binny too is likely to join the BJP soon, the sources said.

Delhi - a teeming city of over 17 million - the No.1 capital in the world. “It’s a dream and we will realise it together. “I’m so happy the BJP has given me an opportunity to give to Delhi whatever I have.”

Shah and Jaitley said Bedi’s entry was bound to strength the BJP, which in December 2013 failed to get a majority in the 70-member assembly because of the AAP’s stunning debut performance when it took 28 seats. Shah said Bedi would very much contest the Feb 7 election but said the chief ministerial candidate would be de-

cided only after the results become known.

“She will certainly contest the election. Who will be the chief minister will be decided by the parliamentary board,” he said. In an obvious reference to Kejriwal, Shah quickly added that Bedi had not joined the BJP to contest against “any particular person”.

she had joined politics. “I have been fond of Kiran Bedi ji. I always tried to convince her that she should join politics. I am happy she did it today,” he tweeted.

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh also tweeted, “U Turn Ms Kiran Bedi? Or genuine change of heart? My best wishes to you. May God be with you.”

However, another Congress leader Ajay Maken was not so forthcoming.

“It is shocking and sad at the same time,” he said. Kiran Bedi was inducted into the party in the presence of party president Amit Shah at the party headquarters.

I am happy Kiran Bedi joined politics: Arvind Kejriwal

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday reacted to news that former IPS officer Kiran Bedi was inducted into the BJP, saying he was happy

18 army officers held for attacks on police

NaSHIk, JaNuary 15 (IaNS): At least 18 army officers involved in attacks on police personnel and a police station here have been arrested, police said Thursday.

“We have arrested 18 lieutenants from among the more than 150 army officers involved in the incidents yesterday (Wednesday),” Deputy Commissioner of Police Hemrajsingh Rajput told IANS. They have been

charged with assault, rioting, illegal confinement, preventing government servants from doing duty, as well as damaging and destroying government property.

Rajput said all those involved in the two incidents were officers and lieutenants from the nearby Deolali Camp’s School of Artillery. The assault on police personnel and the Upanagar police station had shaken the Maharash-

tra police establishment.

A detailed report was submitted to the director general of police in Mumbai.

The defence ministry has ordered a court of inquiry.

Late Tuesday, a lieutenant, Ashish Bagul, who was on leave, and a relative, Jayant Narad, attacked some policemen over a parking row, police said. They were also upset about the delay in lodging a police complaint. While Lt. Bagul was handed over to the army

authorities Wednesday morning with a request that action be taken against him, the other man was produced before a court, Rajput said.

The second incident took place Wednesday afternoon when a large group of young officers from the Deolali camp stormed the Upanagar police station.

In an apparent retaliatory move, around 150 of them, wearing track suits and helmets, assaulted

several police personnel and damaged the premises, leaving it looking like a war zone.

At least two women constables sustained grievous injuries. One policewoman, Namrata Desai, who heads the station, was confined and locked up in a room. Police driver C. Gangurde was beaten up and underwent critical surgery late Wednesday. His condition was reported to be stable Thursday.

Indian paramilitary soldiers patrol near the site of a gunbattle in Zampather, some 65 kilometers (40 miles) south of Srinagar, Thursday, January 15. Indian soldiers and police killed five suspected rebels during a fierce gunbattle Thursday in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, officials said. (AP Photo)

NEW DELHI, JaNuary 15 (TNN): There are inputs that terrorists might try to attack schools, army camps, national highways and civilian areas on the Republic Day and during US President Barack Obama’s India visit, Lt Gen KH Singh, GOC, 16 Corps, said on Thursday.

“About 200 militants in 36 launch pads across Pir Panchal range are trying to infiltrate into Indian side,” Lt Gen KH Singh said.

“L ike Ar my Chief Gen Dalbir Singh had already said, terrorist infrastructure in PoK is intact,” Lt Gen KH Singh added. Singh assured that country’s counter-infiltration posture is firmly in place and if any infiltration bid is made, it will be eliminated.

“The terrorist infrastructure across the border is intact. Pakistan Army’s support to the proxy war in J&K continues unabated despite suffering casualties its own country,” Army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag had

Published in 1989, the novel penned by Tharoor was his first work in fiction. 2014 marked its 25th anniversary.

However, he remarked, “There has been a lot of mounting intolerance that perhaps wasn’t there 25 years ago.”

Tharoor said he had to make some “very minor changes” to the manuscript since the publisher was facing the heat (in 1989) due to author Salman Rushdie’s fatwa. “I don’t know what saved me, had Indians suddenly become more mature or was it simply because the kinds of people who banned books were not trying to read English language books in 1989. “I was lucky the book didn’t get banned and thereafter, I haven’t looked back and worried about censorship or anything like that though I have written against the subsequent emanations of intolerance that we have seen with other writers,” said Tharoor. Tharoor, a former union minister, said he was quizzed by someone whether the book could have been written today and replied that he “couldn’t in all honesty assert with all confidence that it would have survived in the present climate of mounting intolerance that we seem to be living with, in our country”.

to wait and watch,” said Gen Suhag.

“Our threats and challenges continue to grow in intensity and commitment with our borders increasingly becoming more active. We also have to be prepared for the possible (terror) spillover effect from Afghanistan after the drawdown (of the US-led forces),” he said.

H o l d i n g that 110 terrorists were “eliminated” in J&K in 2014, the highest number in recent years, Gen Suhag said militants were now trying to sneak across the international boundary in the Jammu sector because of the “very strong” counterinfiltration grid set in place by his force along the Line of Control. India has often accused Pakistan of playing “a dual game”, assuring the world of its active participation in the global war against terrorism while brazenly encouraging antiIndia jihadi networks to thrive on its soil.

200 militants trying to infiltrate, terrorists may attack schools during Obama visit: Army official

india facing climate of mounting intolerance: shashi Tharoor koLkaTa, JaNuary 15 (IaNS): Admitting he was fortunate his book “The Great Indian Novel” wasn’t banned when it released 25 years ago, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor Thursday said there is a trend of “mounting intolerance” in India today and he was not confident if the same book would have survived in this age.

“The Great Indian Novel” was one of the first of its kind in India 25 years ago that poked fun satirically at both the hallowed heroes of the nationalist movement and also timeless legends of the great legend Mahabharata, said Tharoor, the bestselling author of 15 books, both fiction and nonfiction. “When the book came out, initially it was rather rapturously received in India because I had signed a separate contract with David Davidar to do an affordable Indian edition and it was very well received.

“To my both delight and horror the doyen of Indian writing at that time Khushwant Singh devoted an entire column to this book but he said , ‘Go out and buy this book immediately because it will be banned within a week’ a that was not what I wanted to see,” Tharoor said during a discussion at a literary festival here.

said on Tuesday, addressing his first press conference ahead of the Army Day on January 15.

Pakistan still has 44 terror-training camps directed against India on its soil, the majority of them being in Pakistan-occupiedKashmir. “At least 17-18 of them are active 24x7,” an-

other senior officer said.

Faced with continuing infiltration attempts by well-armed, equipped and motivated militants actively aided and abetted

by Pakistan Army, the Indian Army remains unconvinced that its rival force has stopped distinguishing between the “good” antiIndia terrorists and the “bad” ones posing an existential threat to the Pakistani state itself. “We have

Us court dismisses case against Modi

A Kalpavasi woman performs evening rituals after taking a holy dip at “Sangam”, the confluence of holy rivers of Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, during the annual traditional fair of Magh Mela in Allahabad, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Thursday, January 15. Hundreds of thousands of devout Hindus are expected to take holy dips at the confluence during the astronomically auspicious period of over 45 days celebrated as Magh Mela. Kalpavasis are Hindu pilgrims who renounce material comfort to spend a month on the bank of the Ganges River, where they take ritual dips and spend most of their time studying holy scriptures. (AP Photo)

NEW york, JaNuary 15 (IaNS): A US court has dismissed a lawsuit accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of failure to control the 2002 Gujarat riots, saying as a sitting head of government he was entitled to immunity. In dismissing the case filed by human rights group American Justice Centre (AJC) in New York, US District Judge Analisa Torres Wednesday upheld the US Department of State’s determination regarding immunity for Modi. A “sitting head of state’s immunity from jurisdiction is based on the Executive Branch’s determination of official immunity without regard to the specific conduct alleged,” she ruled.

Torres dismissed the plaintiffs’ argument that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act provided immunity only to foreign states and not to individual government officials and Modi was not entitled to common law immunity as the alleged acts took place before he became Prime Minister. AJC filed the lawsuit against Modi under the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991 and Alien Tort Statute in September on the eve of his first visit to the US. The dismissal of the case comes ahead of President Barack Obama’s second trip to India to be the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations. The lawsuit alleged Modi did nothing to control riots in his home state of Gujarat in 2002. Though Indian courts have cleared Modi, the allegations led the US to revoke his US visa in 2005.

But Obama overturned the ban by quickly inviting Modi to the USafter Modi’s election as prime minister.

daughter Centre seeks help of industry, academics on healthcare President’s to contest delhi polls MuMbaI, JaNuary 15 (IaNS) Union Health and Family Welfare Minister J.P. Nadda Thursday stressed on greater links between the government, industry and academicians to find solutions to healthcare challenges in India.

While the government is taking several steps to address healthcare challenges, the minister said there is a strong need to augment these by the way of industry-academic partners.

Nadda was inaugurating the three-day H3C Health Conference or Health - Care, Career and Commerce programme of the Ohio

State University (OSU), US, here.

The minister said though health is a state subject in India, the central government was closely involved in the sector by providing financial and technical support to states besides policy inputs.

“Shortage of human resources, doctors, nurses and paramedics is a major constraint in expanding holistic healthcare systems, especially in rural areas, for which innovative and cost-effective solutions must be found,” said Nadda.

He empahised the need for innovations in medical devices,

particularly the low-end devices which cater to the basic needs of healthcare in the country as the government is committed to providing affordable healthcare to all.

“The prime minister believes in outcomes...therefore our government is driven by three principles - skill, scale and speed,” he pointed out.

Nadda recalled India’s historic association with the OSU, which had played a key role in ushering in the Green Revolution that helped India become selfsufficient in food production.

Nadda also called for the need to scale up India’s linkage

with the US’ second largest public university by doubling the intake of Indian students from the present 700 to 1,500.

The conference, with focus on infectious and other diseases, is an outreach programme of the university aimed at giving it presence in select countries providing opportunities for studying and conducting research abroad.

The OSU India Gateway, which was launched here in 2012, aims to form research linkages between the OSU and Indian biotech and pharma companies and reach out to students.

The conference will have ses-

sions on clinical research, commercial and international business strategies from topics such as AIDS, cancer, gastroenterology, pharmacology, vision of a futuristic hospital in Mumbai.

Nobel laureate Luc Montagnier, who discovered HIV/AIDS, will deliver the key note lecture.

Founded in 1870, the OSU is one of the largest American universities with extraordinary research infrastructure, a massive research programme with annual expenses of nearly one billion dollars and ranks second in the US on industry-sponsored research.

NEW DELHI, JaNuary 15 (IaNS): President Pranab Mukherjee’s daughter Sharmishta Mukherjee was among the 15 candidates named by the Congress Thursday for the Feb 7 Delhi assembly polls. Sharmishta Mukherjee, 49, will contest from the Greater Kailash Colony assembly constituency in south Delhi. She will take on Aam Aadmi Party leader and former transport minister Saurabh Bhardwaj.

In the last assembly polls, Congress leader Virender Kasana had contested unsuccessfully from the seat. Besides, former transport minister Ramakant Goswami did not make the cut. He too was defeated from Rajinder Nagar in the 2013 assembly polls. The party has fielded Brahm Yadav in Goswami’s place. With this, the tally of declared Congress candidates for the polls has reached 64. Voting for the 70-member assembly will take place Feb 7 and results will be out Feb 10.

InternatIonal

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Friday 16 January 2015

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Pope to focus on poor & exploited in Philippine MANILA, JANuARy 15 (AP): Pope Francis said Thursday that his visit to the Philippines, Asia's largest Catholic nation, will focus on the plight of the poor, the exploited and victims of injustice — themes sure to resonate in a country where poverty afflicts nearly a fourth of the 100 million people.

Church bells tolled across the country and hundreds of children danced and waved small Philippine and Vatican flags as the pontiff emerged from his plane and was welcomed by well-wishers led by President Benigno Aquino III. A sudden gust of wind blew off his papal cap seconds after he appeared, and Francis grabbed futilely for it and then smiled and descended the stairs from the aircraft.

The pontiff revealed his priorities for the second leg of his Asian trip to reporters during his flight from Sri Lanka to Manila.

"The central nut of the message will be the poor, the poor who want to go forward, the poor who suffered from Typhoon Haiyan and are continuing to suffer the consequences," he said.

Powerful Typhoon Haiyan left more than 7,300 dead and missing and leveled entire villages in the central Philippines in 2013, including Leyte province, which the pope will visit Saturday to console survivors.

He said he also had in mind the poor who "face so many injustices — social, spiritual, existential."

"I think about them," he said, recalling a recent lunch he had with some Filipino workers at the Vatican who had left their families for jobs overseas.

The Philippines is one of the world's largest labor exporters. About a tenth of the population has left the country in search of work, and tales of their abuse and exploitation are common.

President Aquino has waged a campaign against poverty, an issue close to Francis' heart, although the Philippine leader has clashed with the local Roman Catholic Church over a reproductive health law that promotes artificial birth control. Congress, which is dominated by Aquino's allies, passed the legislation in 2012.

Among the pope's welcomers on the tarmac were a boy and a girl from a shelter for street children who handed him flowers. Francis embraced and kissed them.

"I told him bienvenido (welcome)," 9-yearold Lanie Ortillo said, adding the pontiff smiled and replied, "Yes, bienvenido." She added, "While I was hugging him I prayed that he could help more children, not only the two of us."

Francis then boarded his white, open-sided popemobile and his motorcade began rolling

along the 11-kilometer (6.8-mile) route to the Apostolic Nunciature in Manila, where he will stay.

Tens of thousands of people called his name and snapped pictures from behind concrete barriers topped by iron fencing and guarded by policemen along the entire stretch in a trip beamed live on TV nationwide. Francis constantly shifted from left to right, smiling and waving.

The government has declared national holidays during the pope's visit, which runs through Monday.

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, archbishop of Manila, said he hopes the visit by Francis, the first Latin American head of the 1.2 billion-strong Roman Catholic Church, would be festive and spiritually uplifting and nurture compassion at a time when the country is still recovering from recent deadly disasters, including Haiyan.

"It's like a big, big, big, big national fiesta," a beaming Tagle said in an interview on the eve of the pope's arrival. The visit, he said, "comes at that point when people would really be helped by a moral and spiritual boost coming from someone who really cares."

Meetings with Filipino families, Roman Catholic Church leaders and young people are also slated.

During his time in Sri Lanka, the pope traveled to the jungles of the war-torn north for a show of solidarity with the victims of the country's 25-year civil war, urging people to forgive one another "for all the evil which this land has known."

"It is very important to keep our country peaceful and have our religious strength become more and more after this visit," said Sumith Periera, an engineer who came to see the pope off.

The pope's trip has given Philippine authorities daunting security challenges, including an outdoor Mass in a historic Manila park on Sunday that officials say could draw a record 6 million people.

About 50,000 policemen and troops have been deployed to secure the pope in a country where relatively small numbers of al-Qaida-inspired militants remain a threat in the south despite more than a decade of U.S.backed military offensives.

Spanish colonialists introduced Christianity in the 16th century and today just over 80 percent of the Philippines' 100 million people are Catholics, with other Christians making up about 12 percent. Muslims account for 5.6 percent, most of them in the south.

There are limits to free expression

Pope Francis, right, accompanied by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, left, archbishop of Manila, waves to Filipinos as he arrives in Manila, Philippines on Thursday, January 15. Ecstatic crowds greeted Pope Francis as he arrived Thursday in the Philippines, Asia’s most populous Catholic nation, for the first papal visit in 20 years. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Man has 'slapped nature in the face' ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE, JANuARy 15 (AP): Pope Francis said Thursday he is convinced that global warming is "mostly" man-made and that he hopes his upcoming encyclical on the environment will encourage negotiators at a climate change meeting in Paris to make "courageous" decisions to protect God's creation.

Francis has spoken out frequently about the "culture of waste" that has imperiled the environment and he elaborated Thursday en route to the Philippines. While there, Francis will meet with survivors of the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan, which the government has said was an example of the extreme weather conditions that global warming has wrought.

"I don't know if it (human activity) is the only cause, but most-

ly, in great part, it is man who has slapped nature in the face," he said. "We have in a sense taken over nature."

"I think we have exploited nature too much," Francis said, citing deforestation and monoculture. "Thanks be to God that today there are voices, so many people who are speaking out about it."

Francis, who pledged on the day of his installation as pope to make the environment a priority, said he expected his encyclical on ecology to be released by June or July. He said he wanted it out in plenty of time to be read and absorbed before the next round of climate change negotiations opens in Paris in November after the last round in Peru failed to reach an agreement.

"The meetings in Peru were nothing much, I was disappoint-

ed," he said. "There was a lack of courage. They stopped at a certain point. We hope that in Paris the representatives have more courage to go forward."

The ultimate goal of U.N. climate negotiations is to stabilize greenhouse gases at a level that keeps global warming below 2 degrees C (3.6 F), compared with pre-industrial times. Negotiations culminating in the Nov. 30-Dec. 11 meeting in Paris will rise or fall on two key points: How to divide responsibility for global warming and how to pay to fight it. The developed world used fossil fuels to build roads, cities and houses and emerging economies want to have the same chances to grow as quickly as possible. Island nations and low-lying countries, meanwhile, fear rising sea levels will swamp them and need funds to adjust.

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE, JANuARy 15 (AP): Pope Francis said Thursday there are limits to freedom of expression, especially when it insults or ridicules someone's faith.

Francis spoke about the Paris terror attacks while en route to the Philippines, defending free speech as not only a fundamental human right but a duty to speak one's mind for the sake of the common good.

But he said there were limits. By way of example, he referred to Alberto Gasparri, who organizes papal trips and was standing by his side aboard the papal plane.

"If my good friend Dr. Gasparri says a curse word against my mother, he can expect a punch," Francis said, throwing a pretend punch his way. "It's normal. You cannot provoke.

You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others."

Many people around the world have defended the right of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo to publish inflammatory cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed in the wake of the massacre

by Islamic extremists at its Paris offices and subsequent attack on a kosher supermarket in which three gunmen killed 17 people.

But recently the Vatican and four prominent French imams issued a joint declaration that denounced the attacks but also urged the media to treat religions with respect.

'Wrong policies will make One bn more people poor by 2030' 20-minute daily walk cuts early death risk LONDON, JANuARy 15 (IANS): Almost one billion more people globally may face extreme poverty by 2030 if world leaders fail to make concrete decision on inequality and climate change at two UN summits to be held this year.

The "action/2015", an international coalition of more than 1,000 organisations, warned that global poverty could rise for the first time in a generation if politicians make the wrong calls, The Independent reported Thursday.

The "action/2015" campaign will target the UN summit in New York in September, which will discuss a new agenda to replace the millennium development goals set in 2000, which expire this year.

The new agenda is expected to include ending poverty and

hunger, improving health and education, making cities more sustainable, combating climate change, and protecting oceans and forests.

The campaign will also demand tough action to tackle man-made climate change when UN-led negotiations on a new global agreement reach a climax in Paris in December.

Research for the campaign by the University of Denver shows that, if world leaders get it right, the number of people living in extreme poverty - less than 82 pence or about Rs.77 ($1.25) a day - could be reduced dramatically from more than one billion to 360 million by 2030.

By then, about 4 per cent of the global population would live in extreme poverty, down from 17 per

cent today. This would make eradicating extreme poverty achievable for the first time in history.

However, if the two summits get it wrong, the number of people living in extreme poverty could increase to 1.2 billion by 2030 --the first rise since 1993, and 886 million higher than if strong action is taken. Under this scenario, one in three of the world's population would live on under 1.32 pound or Rs.123 ($2.0) a day.

The goals of "action/2015" include an end to poverty in all its forms; ensuring fundamental rights, tackling inequality and discrimination and speeding up the transition to "100 per cent renewable energy".

Nobel laureate and campaigner for girls' education Ma-

PARLIAMENT OF INDIA

lala Yousafzai said: "People globally want an end to injustice, poverty and illiteracy. Our world is interconnected and youth are ready and mobilised more than ever to see real change take place.

Together, we are demanding our leaders take action in 2015 and we must all do our part."

The campaign "action/2015" is supported by more than 120 countries. Queen Rania of Jordan, Bill and Melinda Gates, rock star Bono, actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck and the mobile communications entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim have also extended their support to the campaign.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, Leader of Opposition in Britain Ed Miliband, and British politician Nick Clegg also have pledged their support.

LONDON, JANuARy 15 (IANS): A brisk 20-minute walk each day is enough to reduce an individual's risk of early death, say British researchers.

After analysing over 334,000 European men and women, they also found that twice as many deaths may be attributable to lack of physical activity compared with the number of deaths attributable to obesity.

"We found that just 20 minutes would make a difference. Physical activity has many proven health benefits and should be an important part of our daily life," said professor Ulf Ekelund from the Medical Research Council (MRC)

epidemiology unit at University of Cambridge.

For this, researchers analysed data across Europe participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Study. Over an average of 12 years, the researchers measured height, weight and waist circumference and used self-assessment to measure levels of physical activity.

The researchers found that the greatest reduction in risk of premature death occurred in the com-

parison between inactive and moderately inactive groups, judged by combining activity at work with recreational activity.

"Doing exercise equivalent to just a 20 minute brisk walk each day would take an individual from the inactive to moderately inactive group and reduce their risk of premature death by between 16-30 percent," the authors noted. The impact was greatest among normal weight individuals but even those with higher BMI saw a benefit.

Central Hindi direCtorate Scheme of Financial Assistance for Publications in Hindi.

PARLIAMENT OF INDIA

RAJYA SABHA SECRETARIAT

The above-mentioned scheme is being implemented by the Central Hindi, Directorate, D/o Higher Education. Ministry of Human Resource Development with a view to encourage Hindi writers to write in Hindi.

Financial Assistance for Publication of Hindi manuscripts:-

SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE PAYMENT AND SETTLEMENT SYSTEMS (AMENDMENT BILL, 2014 AS PASSED BY LOIN SABHA)

INVITES SUGGESTIONS ON THE BILL The Payment and Settlement System (Amendment Bill), 2014 has been referred to a Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha headed by Sh. V.P. Singh Badnore, M.P., Rajya Sabha for examination and report.

2. The Bill seeks to amend the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 which was enacted for the regulation and supervision of Payment Systems in India and to designate the Reserve Bank of India as the authority for that purpose and for matters connected therewith.

3. In order to have wider consultations, the Committee has decided to invite written memoranda containing suggestions from individuals/ organizations/ institutions/ experts interested in the subject matter of the Bill and also to hear them in person, in case they so desire.

4. Those desirous of submitting memoranda to the committee may send two typewritten copies thereof in double-space (either in English or Hindi) to Dr. Narmadeshwar Prasad, Joint Director, Rajya Sabha Secretariat, Room No 168, First Floor, Parliament House Annexe, New,Delhi-110001 (Tel. No 23035432), Fax 23093554, email: rsc3as@sansad.nic.in and namiprasad2009@rediffmail. com within, fifteen days indicating whether they would also be interested in giving oral evidence before the Committee.

5. The copies of the Bill may be obtained on a written request to the above-mentioned office or can be downloaded from the website of Rajya Sabha (http://rajyasabha.nic.in ) under the caption "Bills with the Committee."

Davp 31202/11/0018/1415

RAJYA SABHA SECRETARIAT PETITIONING PARLIAMENT (RAJYA SABHA) Parliament provides a unique grievance redressal system to all citizens of the country through Committee on Petitions of Rajya Sabha. This grievance redressal system is highly beneficial for all sections of the society as it provides inexpensive justice in a time-bound manner.

2. The Rajya Sabha Rules allow citizens to petition the Rajya Sabha on matters of general public interest which fall within the domain of the Government of India (excepting matters which are sub judice or for which remedy is available under the Law including, Rules, Regulations or Bye-laws made by or under the authority of the Central Government). Petitions should be submitted in the format given below (in English or - Hindi): To THE COUNCIL OF STATES (RAJYA SABHA) The petition of ……………………………..

(Here insert name and designation or description of petitioner(s) in concise form, e.g "A, B, and or "the inhabitants of …………………… " or "the Municipality of……………………….." etc).

(HERE INSERT CONCISE STATEMENT OF CASE) and accordingly your petitioner (s) pray that ……………………………………………………….. …………………………………………………………………………………….

(Here insert "that the Bill be or be not proceeded with" or "that special provision be made in the Bill to meet the case of your petitioner (s) or any other appropriate prayer regarding the Bill or matter pending before the Council or a matter of general public interest").

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Under this scheme financial assistance will be provided for the publication of manuscripts of Hindi reference books, manuscripts of knowledge and science, linguistics, literature, critics, sociology, culture and translations into Hindi from other languages. The manuscripts of fiction novels, dramas, poetry and thesises shall not be considered for financial assistance under the scheme. The scheme is applicable to writers only and not to publishers. The manuscripts should not less than 100 pages.

Procedure for applying :The applicant may send his application on the prescribed proforma to the Central Hindi Directorate alongwith one copy of the concerned manuscript latest by 15.02.2015. Applications received after the last date shall not be entertained. The manuscripts not accepted by the Directorate shall be collected by the applicants themselves.

The prescribed application form may be obtained from the following:Director, Central Hindi Directorate, (Department of Higher Education), Ministry of Human Resource Development, West Block No. 7, R. K. Puram New Delhi-110066 For further details please refer to our websitewww.hindinideshalava.nic.in

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Friday 16 January 2015

LONDON, JaNuary 15 (aP): Lionel Messi left FIFA's awards ceremony without a personal accolade again. Collecting a copy of FIFA's weekly magazine on the way out might have been worthwhile if he really needs to convince Barcelona of his ongoing value.

Flick through to Sepp Blatter's musing, and the FIFA president declares: "Barcelona would scarcely have become the gold standard in European football without Lionel Messi's 400 goals." Such an ego-boost will hardly make up for seeing Cristiano Ronaldo collect the Ballon D'Or for the second successive year.

With commercial strategies now as scrutinized as the coach's tactics in football, the perception is that Real Madrid was more active lobbying for Ronaldo than Barcelona was for its fourtime Ballon D'Or winner.

Messi hardly gave the perception of being a loyal Barcelona employee when he faced the cameras in Zurich. Rather than just responding to the inevitable question about his future with the usual declaration of loyalty to the club that turned him into one of the best players of all time, the Argentina captain seemed intentionally ambiguous.

"I am not sure where I will be next year," said the academy graduate under contract at the Camp Nou until 2019. "Nobody knows what the future holds.

Much less in the case of the football world, where so many things can change overnight."

That's particularly true when Messi's relationship with the Barcelona board and coach Luis Enrique

is reputed to be far from harmonious. Occasionally even a player as gifted as Messi needs to be indulged, not just in his pay packet.

"He's not as straightforward as he used to be," Esteve Calzada, former Barcelona chief marketing and commercial officer, told The Associated Press.

"He would say, 'Barcelona is my own team. I will retire here.' Something went wrong ... he's older, maybe prepared to listen to other things. I find it difficult to believe he will spend his whole career at Barcelona."

The all-time top scorer in the Champions League is undoubtedly coveted, but when you are the most talented player alongside Ronaldo your freedom of movement becomes limited. There are the four years remaining on his contract and a 250 millioneuro ($295-million) buyout clause. Then factor in Messi's ability to command an annual gross salary of 50 million euros ($59 million).

A club could need the ability to cover 500 million euros ($590 million) over five years to fund the signing of the 27-year-old forward — a potential cost on the balance sheets of 100 million euros ($118 million) a season.

In European football, that is far tougher with clubs' losses restricted under UEFA's Financial Fair Play regulations. English clubs have the edge potentially over Barca's other European rivals because of the wealth generated from Premier League and Champions League television revenue.

"For any club think-

The Morung Express

Messi's uncertain future, potential $600M cost ing of buying Messi, there would be some eye-watering numbers to consider," said sports lawyer Daniel Geey of London-based Fieldfisher. "There are only a few clubs that have such deep pockets.

"Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain with their UEFA imposed FFP spending restrictions would be hard placed to finance such a transfer, yet it may not be beyond the realms of possibility for Chelsea, Manchester United or Bayern Munich to finance such a deal through profits made, selling existing players or finding additional revenue streams to cover such expenditure."

Why, though, would Barcelona contemplate selling Messi? Particularly when the end of the season sees early presidential elections at the fan-owned team. Also factor in that any fee received in the summer transfer window could not be reinvested until 2016 due to a ban on any transfers imposed by FIFA for breaching rules on signing minors.

"For the current board it would not be good for them to go to the election

with the fact they would be selling the best player in the club history," Calzada said.

"And what would they do with the money?"

In the absence of the usual campaign pledges to sign players, extending the Argentine's contract could become an election tool.

The official word from Barcelona on Wednesday was that Messi is not for sale.

"We all think that Messi will be at Barcelona for years to come, that is what all (Barcelona fans) want," Enrique said. "We don't contemplate a squad without Messi."

One day, of course, that will come. Whether that is at the end of his career or when Barcelona finds an opportune moment to cash in on his brilliance might not become clear for a few more years.

"Barcelona is a very demanding environment," said Calzada, chief executive of London-based Prime Time Sport, which represents players and advises clubs. "His type of play is based on speed. As he will get older, he will not always be the best player in the world."

Barca can't even contemplate selling Messi, says Enrique MaDriD, JaNuary 15 (iaNS): Barcelona coach Luis Enrique has said that the thought of having a team without Lionel Messi is "not even something we contemplate". The future of the Argentina forward has been the subject of much speculation recently, following reports that he had fallen out with Enrique, reported Xinhua. Messi has been linked with a move to Premier League champions Manchester City and leaders Chelsea, but Enrique does not want to see the fourtime FIFA Ballon d'Or winner leave Camp Nou. "I don't know what the future holds for us," the 44-year-old told Spanish media Wednesday. "We all think that Messi will be at Barca in the next few years and that is what all the fans want. The thought of having a team without Messi is not even something we contemplate." Messi, who is Barcelona's all-time top scorer in all official club competitions, is under contract with the Catalan giants until June 2018. He has been instrumental in helping Barcelona win 21 trophies, including six La Liga titles and three UEFA Champions Leagues.

Lionel Messi of Argentina, one of the nominees for the FIFA Ballon d'Or 2014 award, attends a press conference prior to the FIFA Ballon d'Or awarding ceremony at the Kongresshaus in Zurich, Switzerland, Monday, January 12. (AP Photo)

Warriors beat short-handed Heat

OaKLaND, JaNuary 15 (aP): Stephen Curry made seven 3-pointers and finished with 32 points, and the Golden State Warriors overwhelmed the undermanned Miami Heat 10489 on Wednesday night for their eighth straight victory.

With a strained left hamstring sidelining Heat star Dwyane Wade, the NBA-leading Warriors (315) mowed down Miami the way they have most opponents recently. Golden State has won by an average of 19.8 points during its current streak.

The Warriors built a 19-point lead in the second quarter and responded every time Miami moved close. Chris Bosh had 26 points and seven rebounds but couldn't carry the Heat alone. Luol Deng added 19 points, and Hassan Whiteside had 10 points and 12 rebounds for Miami.

Wade left with the hamstring injury in the first half of the Heat's win at the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday

Miami Heat guard Mario Chalmers, foreground, is fouled by Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Oakland, Calif., Wednesday, January 14. (AP Photo)

night. The team said he is "day to day." Miami's victories at the Lakers and Clippers in a three-day span

marked the first time since Nov. 23 the Heat had won two straight — a stunning span of 24 games for the

four-time defending Eastern Conference champions, who are still adjusting to life without LeBron James. A

night later in Northern California, the Warriors wore down the depleted Heat (17-22) behind a familiar formula: smothering defense, pushing the pace in transition and finishing on the other end — often from long range.

Curry and Klay Thompson got Golden State off to a strong start behind their potent 3-point shooting, and the second unit helped stretch the lead to 19 points in the second quarter. The Warriors led 55-38 at the half. Miami moved within single digits in the third and fourth quarters, but in routine fashion, the Warriors quickly pulled away each time behind a big burst.

Curry shot 11 for 19 from the floor, including 7 of 10 from beyond the arc.

Thompson finished with 19 points, and reserves Andre Iguodala and Leandro Barbosa each scored nine points for Golden State.

The Warriors have won 15 straight and 17 of 18 games at home this season.

SyDNEy, JaNuary 15 (aFP): Australian pace bowler Brett Lee on Thursday announced he is to retire from all forms of cricket after a 20-year career, saying he was both emotional and excited.

The 38-year-old called time on his international commitments in July 2012, but continued to play Twenty20 in both the Australian Big Bash League and the Indian Premier League. His Sydney Sixers have one Big Bash regularseason match remaining, against cross-town rivals verse pageant on Jan. 25 the Sydney Thunder next in Florida. Arum said the fight would be held at the MGM, where Mayweather has fought exclusively for years. The 15,000-seat Our Correspondent arena would be scaled for Tsiese Basa | January 15 a $40 million live gate. He said with pay-per-view rev- The 24th NASA-C Games enues, the bout could gen- & Sports Meet comerate $200 million. menced here this mornWith a 60-40 split, that ing at Tsiese Basa. would mean a potential Gracing the inaugural $120 million payday for function, Roko Angami, Mayweather and his team PS to MLA Dr. Neiphrezo and $80 million for Pac- Keditsu exhorted them to quiao and his promoter. give their best in the seBoth would be record purs- lected field so as to achieve es for fighters. Mayweather greater heights. has resisted a Pacquiao fight Roko said that there use for five years, first claiming Pacquiao would not agree to drug testing and later saying he wasn't worth facing Our Correspondent him in the ring. But Arum said Pacquiao has long Botsa | January 15 since agreed to the testing, and the pressure has built The 22nd Northern Angami on Mayweather to come to Sports Association (NASA) Group-D Games & sports terms on the bout.

Oddsmakers quickly Meet got underway here toput out lines Wednesday in day with Col Manoj, comthis gambling city favoring mandant 11th Assam Rifles Mayweather in the bout. as the chief guest.

Addressing the gatherBoth the Westgate LV Superbook and William Hill ing, Col Manoj said music made him about a 2 1/2- and sports brings people to-1 favorite in man-to- together, while expressing that these two things man betting.

Pacquiao agrees to terms for Mayweather fight

LaS VEGaS, JaNuary 15 (aP): Manny Pacquiao flew to Los Angeles on Wednesday, preparing for a meeting with contestants of the Miss Universe pageant. Whether he has an even bigger date on May 2 seems entirely up to Floyd Mayweather Jr. Promoter Bob Arum said Pacquiao has agreed to all terms for what would be boxing's richest fight ever, a bout with Mayweather that fans have been demanding for five years.

The question now is whether the long-reluctant Mayweather will finally sign on the dotted line for what could be an astonishing $120 million payday for the fighter who flaunts his money better than anyone.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Arum told The Associated Press. "I don't want to be antagonistic and say he's not on board and not going to sign. The representation is that he is on board with this." Arum said negotiations with Mayweather's representatives over the past few weeks resulted in agreements on everything from the date and site of the fight (MGM Grand in Las

Brett Lee retires from all forms of cricket

Thursday at the Sydney Cricket Ground ahead of a possible finals clash.

"When that last ball's bowled I'll walk off happy and content," Lee said.

"I'm excited, I'm emotional, I'm happy, but I'm certainly not worried because I know that I've made the right call." Lee played 76 Tests for Australia, taking 310 wickets, and 221 onedayers with 380 dismissals.

His fastest delivery cracked the 161 kilometres per hour mark (100 miles per hour), with the blond speedster consistently bowling at 150kph over 20

years, making him a fearsome opponent through his sheer pace and toe-crushing inswinging yorkers.

"He has been an exceptional cricketer who gained fans around the world not only for his electrifying pace and performances with the ball, but the way that he played the game," said Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland.

"Sir Donald Bradman often said that it is a player's responsibility to leave the game in a better state than when they first became involved. Brett Lee has certainly done that."

24th NASA-C games & sports at Tsiese Basa

Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Vegas) to purse split (reportedly 60-40 in Mayweather's favor) to the type of gloves the boxers will wear.

But Mayweather has yet to personally agree to the fight, and the possibility remained that Arum was publicly discussing Pacquiao agreeing to terms to try to up the pressure on the unbeaten boxer to sign.

"We're waiting for Mayweather to sign a document saying, 'Yeah,'" Arum said.

Just what Mayweather

is thinking remains unclear. Though he declared on Showtime last month that he wanted the fight, he rarely speaks to the media between fights and his manager, Al Haymon, almost never speaks publicly.

Mayweather put out pictures of himself in front of a private jet and his new cars this week along with a picture of his Las Vegas mansion, but said nothing about the Pacquiao fight on social media. Arum said the ne-

Manny Pacquiao

gotiations have been at the highest levels, and Pacquiao agreed to all the demands by the Mayweather team.

"We took our stands on certain issues, but essentially we acquiesced on most things," Arum said.

Arum said he planned to meet with Pacquiao on Thursday in Los Angeles to formally get his fighter's signature on the terms of the bout. Pacquiao flew from the Philippines on his way to judge the Miss Uni-

to be a time when someone use to approach the players of any event to play but in the present generation one has to display his/her extra ordinary skill top get selected.

Expressing that sports has become a very lucrative profession for living, he challenged the sportspersons to be disciplined, dedicated and give their best with hard world to excel.

NASA-C general sec-

retary Visielie Sanchu chaired the programme.

Pastor of Tsiese Basa Baptist Church Lhoukuolie said invocation. Tsiese Basa Village Council Chairman Kruzo Mere delivered the welcome address and secretary games Medongulie Keditsu administered oath.

The closing function will be graced by President Chakhro Angami Kuda Union, Luolao Üsuo as the guest of honour.

22nd NASA- D games & sports meet underway are abundantly available among the Naga youths.

He therefore hoped that the Naga people will shine in higher levels of competition. He also asserted that the Assam Rifles will continue to the support the villagers in every possible manner.

Chaired by NASA Group D general secretary Thepfükhrietu Rüpreo the inaugural session commenced with 22 gun shots

while Pastor of Baptist Church Botsa Rev. Rüdilhou Rio said the invocation.

NASA Group-D President Kechangulie Kense delivered presidential address while secretary games Methavilie Pielie administered oath to the participants.

Folk tune was presented by Botsa Women Organisation and special number

by Vilakhonuo Keditsu.

Entertainment

The Morung Express C M Y K

Friday 16 January 2015

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Falguni, Shane Peacock Kidman shows her silly receive Bharat Samman Award side in 'Paddington'

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icole Kidman knows most people don't consider her a comedic actress.

In her 31-year career, her roles have ranged from the morose to the deliciously sadistic. There are a few straight comedies in her resume, but Kidman is the first to admit that she just doesn't get many offers to do that type of work.

She's won an Oscar.

She's worked with Stanley Kubrick, Jane Campion, and Lars Von Trier. So how did she end up in a modest role as a delightfully villainous taxidermist in the children's film "Paddington" with a relatively unknown director at the helm?

The answer is simple: She was asked.

"The desire to run the gamut and be diverse is something you're taught at drama school," said Kidman on a recent afternoon at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. "We're trained in Shakespeare and then we're trained in Noël Coward and we're trained in mime classes. But a lot of times you're not given the opportunity to explore the things that you've cultivated."

For director Paul King, it was a no-brainer. But it wasn't Kidman's 1996 romantic fantasy romp "Practical Magic" that he was thinking of. He'd seen Gus Van Sant's "To Die For" and knew Kidman had to be his Millicent.

In the film, out Friday, Millicent is a leather-clad, stiletto-wearing femme fa-

tale who will stop at nothing to stuff the iconic talking bear from Darkest Peru and put him in a museum.

"He wrote it for me. I'm not sure if that's a flattering thing or not," Kidman laughed.

King, who had mostly worked in British television, knew it was a long shot.

"You should never write for an actor because they'll just say no. But I did have her in mind," he said.

The hard part was convincing everyone to actually put the script in front of Kidman. As King describes it, it's a process of being politely insistent.

Despite all the warnings that Kidman was "never" going to say yes, as soon as

she heard the name "Paddington," she jumped. Kidman had grown up reading Michael Bond's books in Australia and it just struck a nerve.

Ultimately, King said, she was the easiest person to cast. She signed on in just 12 hours.

"You don't often see the silly side of Nicole and she's such a funny, easygoing person," said King, who really put the actress to the test. On day one, she was hanging upside down on wires and it just got more challenging from there.

"I hope it gets a good response. It's smart," said Kidman of the movie, excitedly talking about how the physical comedy of the CG bear makes her two young

daughters "squeal with laughter."

Taken alongside a recent segment on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," where Kidman charmingly revealed that the host had missed an opportunity to date her years ago (the YouTube video has over 19 million views to date), it might seem as though the actress who once urinated on Zac Efron for a role, is in a new phase of her career.

The past year was not exactly a stellar one for the Oscar-winner either, with middling limited releases like the thriller "Before I Go To Sleep" and the historical drama "The Railway Man," and the mysterious non-release of "Grace of Monaco" in the United States.

"It's sad," said Kidman of the Grace Kelly drama.

"I put so much work into it.

I would have loved for it to have been embraced."

But Kidman insists that she's "not the actor who makes strategic choices.

If you look at my career, it's pretty random." Even the Fallon bit was "so not planned."

Still, she is taking the reins where she can. Kidman and Reese Witherspoon optioned the rights to the book "Big Little Lies," which is in development as a limited series. She's also staring in and producing the adaptation of the quirky ndian designer duo novel "The Family Fang."

Shane and Falguni "My life is a roller coastPeacock, who have deer. My career is a roller coaster. Some people get signed for the likes of Britsmooth sailing. I never get ney Spears, Katy Perry and Jennifer Lopez, have been that," she said. honoured with the Bharat Samman Award for 2014, constituted by the NRI Institute 27 years ago.

The Bharat Samman Awards are given to a select group of people of Indian origin by NRI institute, a non-profit NGO registered had the chance, long bebody, for outstanding fore he and I met and long achievements in the chobefore he died,” Marainisen field of activities.

Melehi added. “It pains me The award is a recogto read the headlines that nition to those who have allude to her losing him tragically when she was not present during his long and difficult illness. That said perhaps Daniel’s gift was to teach her how to love and appreciate Justin Theroux.”

Aniston, who married and divorced Brad Pitt, is engaged to Theroux.

Maraini-Melehi and McDonald had two children together. “After Daniel died, I reached out to her to give her back all the photographs from the time they were together,” MarainiMelehi wrote. “I never got an answer back from her.”

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JenniFer AniSton dissed by wife of her first true love: 'She was not present during his long and difficult illness'

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ujah MarainiMelehi, the widow of late actor Daniel McDonald, fired back via social media after the 'Friends' actress called him her 'first love.' Justin Theroux knows what “Leftovers” really feel like now.

Jennifer Aniston’s wistful recollection of an old flame has touched off a flame war with the dead man’s widow. Aniston, 45, called late actor Daniel McDonald "my first love" in an interview with the New York Times.

“He would have been the one,” Aniston continued. “But I was 25 and stupid. He must have sent me Justin to make up for it all.” That five-year relation-

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ship ended in 1994 and McDonald died at 46 from brain cancer in 2007. The New Yorker was a Broadway regular and guest star on several TV series’ beginning in 1984.

Aniston’s revelation touched a nerve with McDonald’s widow, Mujah Maraini-Melehi, who fired back with a heartfelt but angry missive on Facebook attacking the media and poking the “Friends” alum.

“Please respect our love and especially our Loss,” Maraini-Melehi, who recently remarried, posted to Facebook. “The children lost their father. I lost my partner.”

“I am sorry that Jennifer did not realize the treasure that was Daniel when she

make India proud and this is the first time ever, the NRI Institute has given an award to fashion designers for their work.

Commenting on the honour, Falguni said: “We work really hard to take our brand overseas and create recognition worldwide.

We feel all those late nights where we work simultaneously on India, New York and London timings to establish us globally have finally paid off.

“Year 2015 is already off to great start for us and we would like to thank the NRI Institute for bestowing this

honour upon us.”

Adding to this, Shane said: “We want to keep expanding and establishing our unique fashion talent globally. This award allows India to be in the fashion map internationally and testifies the power of India on the global front."

The duo has showcased their creations at the London Fashion Week and participated at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in Berlin. Their show was attended by American singer Ashanti and actress Michelle Williams, both of whom wore their outfits.

Kris brands Bruce photos 'mean'

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Kris Jenner is feeling outraged after InTouch magazine printed edited photos of Bruce Jenner as a woman, suggesting he is ready to tell the world he wants to live as a female.

'We must have lost our minds' Mary Murphy exits 'So

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ean Penn played coy when asked during his recent star-studded Haiti gala if he planned on marrying girlfriend Charlize Theron.

The 54-year-old actor walked the carpet with 39-year-old Charlize on Saturday at his fourth annual Help Haiti Home Gala in Los Angeles. He was asked by Extra correspondent Jerry Penacoli if he planned on marrying the

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blonde beauty.

'I can't even say things out loud,' Sean replied.

The Mystic River star then was asked if he was keeping silent about an engagement. 'I just hate looking at people on television talking about their relationships,' Sean said.

Sean smiled when told how happy he looked at the event. 'I can't imagine why,' he said referring to Charlize. 'She and I have been

very, very longtime friends.

We hit a speed bump and must have lost our minds, so here we are,' he said.

The Milk star also was pleased about the progress his Haitian relief organisation has made following the devastating 2010 earthquake in the impoverished nation.

'We're really moving into a good stage. The country still has great challenges economically, but the psychological recovery as well as the direct effect of the disaster recovery from the earthquake has really been extraordinary,' Sean said.

The devastating 7-magnitude earthquake struck on January 12, 2010 and killed an estimated 160,000 people Sean and Charlize made their first public appearance as a couple last year at his Haiti gala.

Charlize had a longterm relationship with Irish actor Stuart Townsend that ended in January 2010 and she later adopted a son Jackson in March 2012.

Sean was formerly married to Madonna from 1985 to 1989 and to actress Robin Wright from 1996 to 2010.

You think You Can Dance'

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ongtime judge Mary Murphy, who has been a part of 'So You Think You Can Dance' since 2005, will not return for the upcoming 12th season of the dance competition. The 56-year-old choreographer and ballroom dance champion confirmed the news in a statement, reported Ace Showbiz.

"I'm saddened of course to be released from my contract. I'm very grateful and proud to have been part of such an extraordinary television show, 'So You Think You Can Dance', for 11 seasons.

I'm sure there wasn't a person watching that didn't know I loved what I did!!," she said.

She also thanked "the dancers and choreographers who inspired and enriched my life every week."

There's no word yet on who will replace Murphy and join permanent judge Nigel Lythgoe on the panel.

Murphy first joined the show in the first season in 2005 as guest judge and choreographer. She was upped to a permanent position on the judging panel in 2007 and continued to serve the role in 2008.

For season 7, she was replaced by Mia Michaels as permanent judge, but later returned in the position for season 8 until the latest season 11.

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hey have been separated for over a year and finalized their divorce in December. But Kris Jenner still feels for her ex Bruce, especially now that he is being mocked

by InTouch magazine. On Wednesday the weekly doctored a photo of the 65-year-old reality TV star wearing lipstick, curled hair and a woman's green silk scarf for their cover. The headline was, 'My Life As A Woman.'

'She is outraged,' a source told TMZ. The insider, who is close to the Keeping Up With The Kardashians producer, also said, 'It's just mean to do whether or not it's true.' A source for the 59-year-old mother of six also said, 'She has con-

tempt for the magazine jumping to conclusions and then altering the image to fit its story.' Some of the bullet points on the cover are 'Kris panics over his big announcement,' and 'What he told the Kardashians.'

InTouch made it seem as if the former Olympian wanted to live his life as a woman. Though the athlete has stepped out with polished nails, longer hair and Spanx in recent months, he has never said he wanted to live his life as a woman. 'He will come clean in 2015 about transitioning,' a source told the weekly. 'This is his year of coming out.'

'When Bruce goes public, he wants to go big and come out as a transwoman on the cover of The Advo-

cate, the ultimate LGBT magazine,' added the source. 'He wants to look as glamorous as possible - full makeup with a bold wardrobe.' A rep for Kris and Bruce did not return calls to MailOnline.

TMZ's also has a source on Bruce that insisted he isn't bothered by the jab.

'He doesn't even pay attention to this stuff,' said the insider. Jenner was last seen on Tuesday getting coffee with son Brandon in Calabasas. He was also spotted fueling his Porsche.

UsWeekly reported last week that he was shopping around a reality series based on him and his sons.

They also claimed he has hired a camera crew that is not related to E! to film him.

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We hope to play the WC final: Dhoni

MELBOURNE, JaNUaRy 15 (PTI): Back at the helm after retiring from Tests, India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Thursday said his team will look for an encore when they start their title defence at the World Cup beginning next month.

"We would definitely like to repeat our performance from 2011. But the change in conditions will be a factor and we will have to play accordingly," Dhoni said at the launch of the team's new ODI kit designed by teamsponsor Nike for the upcoming season. "The Melbourne Cricket Ground is one of the best venues in world cricket, irrespective In this handout photo provided by SDP Media, members of the Indian cricket team Umesh Yadav, Rohit Sharma, R.Jadeja, of the format. We will aim Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, R.Ashwin are seen during the unveiling of the Indian team One Day to do better than we have International kit at Melbourne Cricket Ground on January 15, 2015 in Melbourne, Australia. done in ODI format over World Cup campaign on Cricket is a little tougher Australian conditions and rest post the Test series, the the last couple of years and February 15 in Adelaide back home and only a few have enjoyed the response players were back in trainhopefully we will be back to when they take on arch- people get to wear these from the crowds as well. It ing. The day was used in Wrestlers in action at Naga style wrestling championship as part of the 75th platinum jubi- play the World Cup final on rivals Pakistan in their first colours. So it is good to be was a good Test series for limbering up and getting lee meet of Kigwema Youth Organization at Kholera Ground, Kigwema on January 14. The March 29," he added.

Pool B encounter. here and donning this jer- us. Now I am eagerly look- some fielding drills after jubilee meet will go on till January 17. (Morung Photo) The bugle for the ODI Dhoni, who had sey again," he added. ing forward to the tri-series which the customary game season in Australia has shocked the world with his Kohli, who has been and then the World Cup. of football ensued. been sounded as for the sudden retirement from the in ominous form in the "Back to back World While all other players next two-plus months, fif- longer version of the game recent Test series against Cup wins will be a nice selected for the tri-series and ty-over cricket will take pre- after the drawn third Test at Australia, said he is looking milestone for this young the World Cup have joined MELBOURNE, JaNUcedence over anything else, the MCG, was back at the forward to a good outing team. It will do nicely for the squad, Ravindra Jadeja aRy 15 (aP): Rafael Nadstarting with the tri-series, helm of the ODI team. "I at the tri-series and World the new colours that have too is here. He didn't field as al says he's "working as involving India and Eng- am rested," he said with his Cup. "The mindset doesn't been unveiled today. That's such but did bowl gingerly, hard as I can" to be ready land, followed by the 2015 trademark grin, after Virat change whether we are what we are aiming for as a testing his shoulder. But it is for Monday's start to the World Cup. Kohli had captained India playing in whites or blue. team, that's what we want too early to predict his estiAustralian Open following India's first tri-series in the drawn fourth Test.

Every game is important for to achieve and we have the mated time of full recovery. a right wrist injury and apmatch is on Sunday at the "Irrespective of what me when I am representing vision for it," he added.

Meanwhile, the tri-series will pendix surgery which sideMelbourne Cricket Ground sport you play, it is always a the country," said Kohli.

The Indian team get underway in Sydney tolined him for most of the against Australia, while blessing to represent India "I have enjoyed the reached here yesterday and morrow with Australia taklast six months of 2014.

Dhoni's men will start their on the international stage. challenge of playing in after enjoying a five-day ing on England.

Nadal went through a strenuous workout at Melbourne Park on Wednesday, followed by a twohour exhibition match SyDNEy, JaNUaRy 15 (aFP): Australian Open in Melbourne.

Meanwhile, a sapping schedTwo-time Wimbledon champion against Mark PhilippousPetra Kvitova will play in the final ule finally caught up with Kerber. sis and Fernando Verdasco of the Sydney International after World No.22 Pliskova enjoyed a as part of a charity night to ending Tsvetana Pironkova's in- comfortable 6-3, 6-2 win over last open the renovated Margacredible run at the tournament on year's finalist. It had been a tough ret Court Arena, the AustraThursday. The Czech second seed few days for the German fifth seed lian Open's third court with proved too strong for the plucky and world No.9 who had to endure a retractable roof.

Bulgarian defending champion, three three-set matches, including On Thursday, Nadal a WTA record late local time finish said he recovered well from Spain's Rafael Nadal makes a backhand return during a practice winning their semifinal 7-5, 6-1.

Kvitova ended Pironkova's at 3.10am on Wednesday after rain the tough day of workouts, session on Margaret Court Arena ahead of the Australian Open quest for a 15th straight win at the delays disrupted the tournament but added it would be dif- tennis championship in Melbourne on January 15. (AP Photo) ficult to quickly reach the giving him some valuable back to the tour after a long Sydney tournament after the Bul- schedule.

Kerber had little more to oflevel of fitness to win the court time. "To start the sea- time not being competi- garian came through the qualifyson with a title, even if it's tive," Nadal said. "I lost in ing rounds to win the tournament fer and was dispatched in just 55 title this year "I'm back, and I'm only in doubles, is a great the first round in a match in 2014 and again had to qualify for minutes by Pliskova. "I been playing the whole week really well," the main draw this year. healthy, but it's hard to feeling," the 14-time Grand that can happen."

Pliskova said. "I won some good After a stiff contest in the open"I'm going to work hard come back after such in- Slam champion said in matches. Last week as well in Brising set the world No.4 finished off jures," Nadal said. "I will Doha. "When you lose early to be ready for Australia but Pironkova with the loss of just one bane I had few good matches, so in singles it's a good way to if that doesn't happen I'm hope for first round, secI'm feeling well and happy to play game in the second set. ond round, and take the still be in competition. A win going to keep working hard Kvitova set up an all-Czech fi- good before Melbourne. is always a good feeling and to be ready for Rio, then nal with Karolina Pliskova, who wins as they come."

"I was surprised that it was 6-3, Nadal was knocked out to have that feeling again Buenos Aires and Indian was a straight sets winner in the 6-2. I played her a few times and Wells and Miami." in the first round in a tour- was very positive." other semi-final over German fifth it was always a close match. "But Nadal had played only The third-seeded Nad- seed Angelique Kerber. nament at Doha two weeks I started to play really fast, pushago by a qualifier, but then eight singles matches since al will find out on Friday After a slow start that included ing her and dictating the game a teamed with good friend, Wimbledon before arriving who will be play in the first losing her opening service game, little bit and my serve was working Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic reacts after she won a break point in her Juan Monaco of Argentina, in Doha. "It was an impor- round when the tourna- Kvitova went to a new level and today as well, so maybe that's the match against Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria at the Sydney International to win the doubles final, tant week because I came ment draw is held.

Tennis tournament in Sydney, Australia Thursday, January 15. (AP Photo) looks in good shape for next week's difference between us."

Nadal working hard to gain full fitness

Kvitova to play Pliskova in all Czech final in Sydney

Ronaldo to attempt comeback

Sachin Tendulkar meets boxer Sarita Devi NEW DELHI, JaNUaRy 15 (IaNS): Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar Thursday met former World Champion woman boxer Sarita Devi, who is serving a oneyear ban imposed on her by the International Boxing Association (AIBA). Tendulkar has been vocal about his support for the troubled boxer, who controversially refused to accept the bronze medal at the Incheon Asian Games ceremony following a contentious semifinal loss to home challenger Jina Park.

"Met Sarita Devi. Could see the hunger for action in her eyes. Wished her success and wrote a message. Enjoy the game and always give your best," the former India cricket captain tweeted, posting a picture showing him presenting her an autographed T-shirt. Tendulkar earlier had also met Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, urging him to extend support to the pugilist.

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Ronaldo named greatest Portuguese footballer ever LISBON, JaNUaRy 15 (IaNS): FIFA Ballon D'Or award holder Cristiano Ronaldo has been named the best player in Portugal's 100-year football history. The Portuguese Federation announced the Real Madrid striker as their best ever in the Gala Quinas de Ouro ceremony on Wednesday. The ceremony was held as part of the commemorations of the 100th anniversary of the Portuguese Football Federation, reports marca.com.

The Real Madrid star, who wasn't present at the ceremony because of commitments for his Spanish club, managed to beat legends Luis Figo and Eusebio in the voting conducted for the award. Both FIFA president Joseph Blatter and UEFA president Michel Blatter were present in the ceremony. Ronaldo has scored 52 goals in 118 appearances for his national team whereas Eusebio netted 41 in 64 appearances and Figo managed 32 in 127 matches.

HOLLyWOOD, JaNUaRy 15 (aP): Brazilian star Ronaldo says he will attempt to make a playing comeback this spring with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers of the second-tier North American Soccer League.

The world player of the year in 1996, 1997 and 2002, Ronaldo is now 38 and hasn't played since February 2011 with Brazil's Corinthians. He spoke at a news conference Wednesday called to announce he has become a part-owner of the Strikers.

Ronaldo said his return to the game would help the league and football in America.

Asked whether the former World Cup winner would play, Ronaldo responded in English and said "that is not easy."

"I love to play," he said.

"That was my big love. But when I retired, it was because of my body. I had so much pain and so many injuries. "It isn't easy to get fit. I will try. I will train a lot."

Since retiring as a player, Ronaldo has become a part-owner of a marketing company called 9ine Sports and Entertainment, which represents Barcelona forward Neymar and mixed martial arts fighter Anderson Silva. He joins

Three-time FIFA player of the year Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima poses for photographers with a Fort Lauderdale Strikers jersey after talking about his new role as part owner of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers during a news conference Wednesday, January 14, in Hollywood, Fla. (AP Photo)

a team that lost to San Antonio in last year's NASL final last season. Fort Lauderdale averaged 3,092 for home games, almost half the league average of 5,989.

NASL Commissioner Bill Peterson, who attended the news conference, said his league will soon challenge Major League Soccer, which averaged 18,704 last year. MLS plans to start a Miami team led by retired star David Beckham, who is trying to find a site in Miami to build a stadium.

"We just finished our fourth season," Preston said. "We have 11 teams.

Our goal is to have 20 teams

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by 2018. Our goal is to line up against any club in the world by 2018."

The Strikers play in 55-year-old Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.

Ricardo Geromel, one of the team's owners, said a new stadium is planned.

The Strikers, who open their season on April 4 against the New York Cosmos, said they will try to bring in players from Brazil, using the connections of Ronaldo and their other Brazilian owners. "We want to have all the best players," Ronaldo said. "But we don't have the money yet. We have a budget."

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