C M Y K
DIMAPUR • Vol. XI • Issue 19 • 12 PAGes • 5
www.morungexpress.com
thursDAY • JAnuArY 21 • 2016
T H e
ESTD. 2005
P o W e R
You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you do not trust enough Militants storm Pakistan university, kill at least 20 PAGE 09
reflections
By Sandemo Ngullie
— Frank Crane
PAGE 02
PAGE 12
connectivity the hinder for ne development
Morung Express News Dimapur | January 20
Dr. Kamei Aphun wins ‘Asian Most Critical Contributor Award’
T R u T H
Kohima Press Club observes Djokovic, Williams storm 15th Foundation Day through in Melbourne
Indo-Japan workshop in Dimapur dissects key issues; to embark on sector specific studies to identify potential products which can craft the ‘Make in Northeast’ not just a phrase but an actual reality
Sir, will you please stop screaming and howling? Road’s bad, but we’re not going to die ok? Beside... we’re already inside your office compound now!!!
o F
Can the North East region ever rise from the vicious cycle of under development? Can the initiative ‘Make in Northeast’ be finally linked with the production network of South East Asia? These were key issues that various commentators deliberated on Wednesday at the concluding session of the two-day workshop on “India-Japan partnership towards meeting the challenge of infrastructure development in India’s Northeast” at Hotel Acacia, Dimapur. While various perspectives were put on the table, at the end, there was a common consensus that ‘Connectivity’ (or the lack of it) was the apparent root cause as well as the remedy for the dismal underdevelopment of the North East region.
to development in NE are both topographical as well socio-cultural realities. The reality, he opined, is the fact that, most of the populace in the region are primarily tribal society practicing agrarian economy manifested in form of shifting cultivation often associated with old and subsistence technology. Life style revolves around the shifting cultivation, Jamir maintained, inhibiting to some extent, the transition to industrial process. Strict land tenure system often protected under constitutional mechanism act as an obstacle to industrialization process, he further implied. “Unemployment problem is a myth,” he argued backing his assertion that enough land are available for cultivation as the density of population in the NE is very low at about 77 per Sq Km. Likewise, in his presentation, the former North East Council Member and Union Secretary of Tourism, MP Bezbaruah expressed concerns that while NE has
Former North East Council Member and Union Secretary of Tourism, MP Bezbaruah speaking at the concluding session of the two-day workshop on “India-Japan partnership towards meeting the challenge of infrastructure development in India’s Northeast” at Hotel Acacia, Dimapur on January 20. (Morung Photo)
huge comparative advantages the region possess in form of huge forest coverage, good socio-economic indicators , hydro power potential as well mineral reserves, the potentiality often remain unutilized. For instance, he informed that in 2015, India’s trade with South-East Asia was to the tune of $ 100 Billion, but the share from NE was miniscule at 0.01% adding that trade from the region to its neighbor is only a meager1-2%ofthetotalpotential.
bottlenecks, Bezbaruah batted for making ‘connecting corridor’ under Act East Policy to Eastern development corridor. Identify products with comparative advantages, produce items that reduces import and demanded in South Asia, he offered. Among others, he saw potential for Make in NE product in food processing, limestone based industries, horticulture and exotic cash crops, polymers, fishing, and high value export oriented plastic Strategy for Make as well as health care services. For sustaining Inin Northeast Attributing unutilized do-Japan Cooperation in potential to infrastructural NE, Bezbaruah suggested
DIMAPUR, JANUARY 20 (MExN): Dr. Kamei Aphun who is presently teaching Sociology at the prestigious Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, Delhi has won the ‘Asian Most Critical Contributor Award’, jointly awarded by Peking University (China), Nippon Foundation (Japan) and Asian Dialogue Society (Singapore). Son of late Achong Kamei and Amurei Kamei of Sangaiprou Rongmei Challenges to Colony, Dr. Aphun has rep- development resented India at many InFor former Nagaland ternational Conferences Chief Secretary, Alemtemacross the globe and has shi Jamir, the challenges been participating at the “Building a Better Asia: Young Leaders Dialogue” held at Japan, China, Thailand and India from 2008 to 2014. In recognition of his overall leadership and critical thinking, he was NEw DElhI, JANU- fund for startups,” Singh startups which will bring awarded with this prize. ARY 20 (PtI): In a first- said. The declaration of dynamism, new thinking of-its-kind initiative, the Sikkim as the first organic and create jobs,” the MinisCentre is planning to have state of India has opened ter said. Israel’s Ambassador to a venture fund to promote up new vistas for startup startups in Northeastern initiatives in organic farm- India Daniel Carmon said Urges law enforcing states of the country. Ad- ing in Northeast, he said. A startups can grow almost dressing a conference or- 3-day mega NE festival will anywhere, but in order to agencies to initiate ganised by industry lobby be held at Pragati Maidan really cultivate them an ecoprompt action and ASSOCHAM, Minister of here from February 12 to system has to be in place. arrest the culprits State for Development of 14. It will aim at showcas- “Israel applauds this initiaDIMAPUR, JANUARY NE (DoNER) Jitendra Singh ing the vast resource and tive and would be happy 20 (MExN): The Changki said India is on the verge of potential of the Northeast- to share its experience in Union Dimapur (CUD) on becoming a world power ern states, Singh said while developing suitable ecoWednesday condemned on the basis of the strength inaugurating ‘Start Up In- systems, comprehensive the threat meted out to of its youth and are thus the dia 2016’ organised by the mechanisms that will enits bonafide member by real torchbearers of ‘Startup Associated Chambers of courage unique and susCommerce and Industry of tainable economic growth armed miscreants on Jan- India’ mission. “The DoNER Ministry India (Assocham). “We be- in India,” Carmon was uary 18. The incident in question occurred at the is contemplating the feasi- lieve that India’s economic quoted as having said in the residence of Er Sungtiba bility of creating a venture future lies in encouraging conference. Amer at Padumpukhri around 7:30pm. In a condemnation note, CUD alleged that four unidentified fully masked person with fire arms (pistols) jumped KolKAtA, JANUARY 20 (IANS): No- dency would certainly want government’s over the fenced wall of Er bel laureate Amartya Sen on Wednesday help but (it should) not (be) dominant. “We have to cultivate the highest qualSungtiba Amer’s residence said that India needs tolerance “very badity of education, elitism in that sense. Dely” but also underscored the importance and assaulted the caretaktachment would not work,” he said. of skeptical tolerance. er of the house at gun point Calling for scepticism and reasoning in An aluumni of erstwhile Presidency while asking about the College which has now developed into the the activities, be it history or science, Sen whereabouts of the house Presidency University, Sen discussed the the author of “The Argumentative Indian” owner. On reply from the influence and contributions of early 19th - stressed on being relevant to society. caretaker that the owner century poet Henry Louis Vivian Derozio “Presidency has to ask constantly are had gone out, the armed in education and society. we relevant in India or in the world. What miscreants threatened and “The general idea was to accept any we can we do? We live in very difficult intimidated that the house kind of belief that comes from any side. times with violence, with battle against owner’s life would not be Tolerance is a very great virtue, and right hunger, undernourishment, illiteracy and lack of education and bad education at the spared and at the same now in India we need it very badly. “In addition, there is a need for skepti- school level being the dominating feature time warned they would be back, the CUD reported. In cal tolerance which was one of the things of the country,” he added. He also said that democracy was not this connection, CUD said Derozio had. He didn’t have enmity for it was taking the incident any group but questions for every group,” just majoritarian rule. “In India, when we say democracy may seriously and warned that he added. be under some threat, what are the issues? Sen was conferred the D.Litt. (honoris any attempt by any individ“First of all, democracy is not just a ual or group of creating fear causa) by the Presidency University here. Presidency University has its roots in majoritarian rule, it also involves minorpsychosis to Er Sungtiba the Hindu College, established in 1817. It ity rights, it involves liberty and liberty of Amer and his family memwas named Presidency College in 1855. expressions and so on.” bers will not be tolerated “Secondly, what is now called majorDerozio was assistant headmaster of Hinunder any circumstances. du College. ity is not in fact majority... It’s mostly pluThe union also appealed Calling Derozio’s legacy as an inheri- rality... You might get 30 or 39 percent and all right thinking citizens tance, Sen urged current batch of Presi- then you sweep the parliament because to condemn such dastardly dency students to address the major issues the Indian constitution makers were act. It has also requested confronting India. But he cautioned against aware of that, they discussed that in the the law enforcing agencies too much interference by the government. constituent assembly. to initiate prompt action “They didn’t talk so much that minor“When we live in a society where there and arrest the culprits at are major issues to be addressed, we have to ity could become a majority in parliament the earliest and deliver be- address that not as a government college but but they discussed the upper house havfitting punishment. remember our origin is a civil society. Presi- ing a status of its own,” he added.
people to people contact by harnessing strong cultural and historical links as well as establishing institutional linkages. Taking a different perspective, Alemtemshi Jamir said, “Some semblance of economy can come-up if only inter-state trade within the NE Region is enhanced.” “We need to restructure the thinking process and redefine ‘Act East as Act West Policy’,” he argued reasoning that development in Myanmar and others might take some time due to various geopolitical considerations. For him, the manifesta-
tion of Make in NE product need not necessarily be in tangible approach, but in forms of human capital including education, healthcare cares and hospitality and other services industry which the regions has strong endowment. Agrobased, bio-diversity and post-harvest infrastructure were some of his other suggestion. For this to succeed, Jamir passionately advocated for linear cities along the foothill in the region which he claimed won’t affect the present land structural system in the region and in which the Japanese could effectively intervene. The Joint Secretary of Ministry of Development for North East, SL Meena who also spoke on the occasion said the government is doing special focus on NE development to rectify its apparent isolation and geo-political questions.
The Road ahead
How attractive is the region as a potential market and as investment destination? What are the bottlenecks inhibiting development? How policies are formulated and decimated to the general population? If there is agro-based potential, where are the markets? These were some of
the questions raised at the roundtable session held after the presentation. In his concluding observation, Director of ICRIER, Rajat Kathuria said that while a landlocked problem can be solved by connectivity, there was a coordination failure in the NE policy implementation and called for better monitoring and accountability. Ram Muivah, the Secretary of NEC said infrastructure like roads and other utilities being public goods, it was the responsibility of the government to provide required amenities to the public in order to facilitate development of the region. “Honestly, who wants to visit or bring development if there are no roads to that particular region?” Muivah alluded stressing the importance of connectivity. The workshop, which was conducted by Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations along with India Foundation, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia and the Government of Nagaland, concluded with a task to embark on sector specific studies to identify the potential products which can craft the Make in Northeast not just a phrase belted out in policy corridor but an actual reality for the people of the region.
Govt planning ventures fund to Pope tells Davos elite: Consider promote startups in north east your own role in creating poverty
CUD condemn Jan18 incident
‘India needs tolerance very badly’
C M Y K
DAVoS, JANUARY 20 (REUtERS): Pope Francis told members of the world’s wealthy political and economic elite on Wednesday that they should not be deaf to the cry of the poor and must consider their own role in creating inequality. New technologies such as robotics must also not be allowed to replace humans with “soulless machines,” he said in a message to the World Economic Forum in Davos. “To all of you I appeal once more: ‘Do not forget the poor!’”, he said. The pope, who wrote a major encyclical on climate change and protection of the environment last year, also urged business leaders to see to it that the planet does not become “an
empty garden.” The annual Davos meeting brings together many of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful people to consider issues such as economics, climate change and war, with an eye to working on solutions to them. It has been criticised by antiglobalisation activists and others, however, as a forum for organisations that have been responsible for the problems in the first place. They are boosted by reports such as one from charity Oxfam estimating that 1 percent of the world’s population owns 99 percent of the wealth. Francis, who has made the defence of the poor a hallmark of his papacy and has in the past called money “the dung of the
devil”, said businesses and wealthy societies must acknowledge their role in creating poverty. “Weeping for other people’s pain does not only mean sharing in their sufferings, but also and above all realising that our own actions are a cause of injustice and inequality,” he said in the text of a message read for him by a top Vatican cardinal. “Once we realise this, we become more fully human, since responsibility for our brothers and sisters is an essential part of our common humanity. Do not be afraid to open your minds and hearts to the poor. In this way, you will give free rein to your economic and technical talents, and discover the happiness of a full life, which
consumerism of itself cannot provide,” he said. Francis, the first pope from the global south, has in the past excoriated unbridled capitalism, calling for the redistribution of wealth and for economic policies that put people above profits, positions that have prompted criticism from economic leaders. “We must never allow the culture of prosperity to deaden us, to make us incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other people’s pain, and sensing the need to help them, as though all this were someone else’s responsibility and not our own,” he said in the message read by Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana, the Vatican’s justice minister.
‘Unemployment problem, a ticking time bomb’ Morung Express News Dimapur | January 20
Deputy Commissioner, Dimapur, Kesonyu Yhome IAS has said that the rising number of educated unemployed youth in Nagaland was extremely alarming and added that the issue was a ticking time bomb. Speaking at the one day programme on Pradhan Mantri Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) at Pinnacle Skills, Dimapur on Wednesday, Yhome stressed on the urgent need to address the issue in right time although he added that the time to attend to the problem was overdue. “The alarming number of 70, 000 registered educated unemployed youth is extremely disturbing not forgetting those who have not been registered yet,” Yhome said. With the advancement of technology, many people have been thrown out of employment since it is now about people who have skills to works, he added. He pointed out the irony of education system stating that illiterate or
DC Dimapur, Kesonyu Yhome IAS addressing students in Dimapur on Wednesday. (Morung Photo)
uneducated people somehow find avenues to earn livelihood while educated people find it difficult to do so. “This is the tragedy of our education system,” Yhome asserted.
However, Yhome also gave due credit to the education system of the past which his contemporaries have all evolved. “But what was relevant in the past is not relevant today,” he added. He urged upon the people to understand this matter and reorient their entire horizon to a new direction reiterating that the 21st century does not have space for unskilled people. He expressed the hope that the central flagship programme of PMKVY would take the youths for a giant leap and begin a new chapter towards a positive direction. Dr. Sapna, in charge of Northeast, National Skills Development Corporation talked about availability of potentials for self employment in the northeast region. She said that the region has been isolated for sometime but that it was high time to give importance to northeast. More than hundred students were registered to attend the PMKVY programme.
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thursDAY 21•01•2016
NAGALAND
THE MORUNG EXPRESS
Kohima Press Club observes 15th Foundation Day
Kohima, January 20 (mExn): The Kohima Press Club (KPC) today observed its 15th foundation day here at KPC Conference Hall. A souvenir titled “Reminiscing 15 years of KPC and beyond…” and KPC constitution was formally released on the occasion by KPC president Xavier Rutsa and former president Kopelo Krome. KPC was officially taken off on January 20, 2001. Limawati Ao, additional director Directorate of Information & Public Relations (DIPR) congratulated the KPC for attaining 15 years and wishes the club to grow from strength to strength. He called upon the journalists to maintain high degree of truthfulness, saying that truth will push the people and the nation forward. A press note stated that on the occasion President KPC Xavier Rutsa in his presidential address said some few pioneers in the field of media based at Ko-
(Left) Kopelo (L) and Xavier releasing KPC constitution booklet (Right) Members of KPC and others during KPC’s 15th foundation day in Kohima on January 20.
hima, formed KPC on this day 20th January 2001 and the club has completed 15 glorious years of the journey today. Rutsa said KPC is the oldest Press Club in the state and has been pioneering in leading the fourth estate to a greater height over the last fifteen years, and has done a commendable yeoman service to the society and today KPC is able to stands on its feet and well recognized amongst the society.
President informed that the club started with humble beginning and today KPC has 42 registered members, working both in print and electronic media and more members to join the Club soon. Highlighting the past 15 years, Rutsa said seven persons have hold the office of KPC President and six persons hold the post of General Secretary. He said the 1st KPC President (Lt. Dipak Chetri), the 3rd
General Secretary Lt. Daiho Mao and two members Lt. Kevi M Sanyu and Theyeveyi Cumu left for heavenly abode. Rutsa said observing the foundation day the KPC 15th anniversary souvenir and KPC (amended) constitution booklet also releasing. President also acknowledged the pioneers and all the members for the active support and cooperation rendered to KPC on all occasion.
KPC adviser Kopelo Krome, Oken Jeet Sandham senior member KPC and additional director DIPR Limawati Ao also address the gathering where they congratulated the KPC for completing its 15th years of existing. They also encouraged and advised the young coming up journalists in the state to work hard and render the yeomen service to the public. The programme was chaired by Ng Solomon Sha
Ashelo, Chairman of the Shilloi Lake Management Committee, rows in a boat while taking visitors for sightseeing at the very famous Shilloi Lake. The Chairman informed that the year 2015 alone the Shilloi Lake attracted more than 1000 visitors, out of which 825 visitors spent a night availing the facilities like guest houses, meeting hall, playground, helipad etc. Shilloi, a still water body resembling the shape of a footprint, is a tectonic lake located in Meluri, under Phek district. ‘Guarded or protected’ in the Lurathura dialect, Shilloi was once bounded by evergreen Pine trees and mineral rich mountains, having a unique beauty. However, the future of this picturesque lake does not bode well if the watershed area where the lake is being fed is not well protected and preserved. (Morung Photo)
joint secretary KPC, invocation prayer proposed by Rana Chetri mission convener NBCK, obituary reference led by KPC president, special songs presented by Kim Seyie, KPC general secretary and treasurer annual report were given, KPC 15th anniversary souvenir and KPC (amended) constitution booklet were released by Kopelo Krome KPC adviser and Xavier Rutsa president KPC. The KPC saw some sig-
nificant changes and development in 2015. A record 42 members enrolled in the Club’s annual membership drive. In October, a three member delegation of the Club attended a meeting convened by Nagaland Press Association at Dimapur where matter relating to the welfare of journalists in Nagaland was discussed such as inclusive provision of journalists’ welfare fund and accreditation rules of the state government, and
implementation of Majithia Wage Board in Nagaland. Subsequently, in December, in pursuance of the Working Journalists and other Newspaper Employees and Miscellaneous Provisions Act of 1955, the state government constituted the Tripartite Committee representing the state government, the newspapers management and the working journalists, non- working journalists for ensuring and monitoring the speedy implementation of the recommendations of the Majithia Wage Board in the state of Nagaland. The president and general secretary of KPC will also represent the working/non-working journalist (employees) in the Committee. The KPC will soon interact with the members of Dimapur and Mokokchung Press Club to strengthen fraternal ties. Officials from DIPR also attended the function.
Tsurila Yim wins first Miss Yimchungrü beauty contest
DAPO general assembly on Jan 23 Miss Yimchungrü 2016, Tsurila Yim (middle), flanked by first runner up Hantsula Yim (left)
DimaPur, January 20 (mExn): The Downstream and second runner up Berela Yim at the first Miss Yimchungrü beauty pageant held at ShaAffected People’s Organization (DAPO) has convened its mator public ground on Tuesday night. 2nd General Assembly on January 23 from Menshangpen Morung Express News from Moya village, also un- or heart” when it comes Village at 9:00am. The Advisors and all the members/repder Pungro Sub-division, to love and choosing a Shamator | January 20 resentatives from the respective 10 villages are requested emerged first and second life partner, the Economto attend the assembly positively, informed press note Nineteen-year-old runners-up respectively. ics students replied: “I will from the DAPO Secretary, Wobemo Tsopoe. Tsurila Yim, a second seDaughter of Yantsu- follow my head because I mester BA Economics mong of Penkim village am a practical person. In from St. Joseph College under Pungro Sub-divi- the context of the modern Jakhama, was crowned sion in Kiphire district, the world, one has to be practimoKoKchung, January 20 (mExn): A ‘Greater Miss Yimchungrü in the fair beauty from a warrior cal to forge ahead”, she said. “Moreover, I no longer Revival’ or Tesübuba Asentenshi Tsünglu will be held in first Miss Yimchungrü tribe aspires to become a all the Ao Baptist churches of Mokokchung town in tan- beauty contest held Tues- chartered accountant or, believe in fairy tales”, Tsudem from January 22-24, 2016 where twelve respected day night in the evening walk the modeling ramp. rila added with a sigh. The newly-crowned Judges of the Miss YimAo revival speakers will speak on various topics and forty session of the inaugural counselors will offer personal counseling to those inter- day of the golden jubilee Yimchungrü queen who chungrü contest includested. The revival is being organized by the Ao revival celebration of Yimchun- was also crowned Miss ed famed model Ethiel speakers and coordinated by the Mokokchung Town grü Akherü Arihako (YAA) Yimchungrü Students’ Konyak, Kaisa Akiu and Baptist Churches Mission (MTBCM) which is a consor- at Shamator town public Union Kohima (YSUK) Vineet Jaiswal and K Asang in 2015 said her favourite and K Lakiumong were the tium of the ten Ao Baptist churches in the town. The re- ground. Hantsula Yim, a pastimes are dancing and hosts of the show. vival is sponsored by the Alempang Baptist Church on acThe beauty pageant count of its Silver Jubilee due to be celebrated 2017. This 24-year-old MA student spending quality time with was graced by director, was state in a press note issued by chairman of MTBCM from Pungro town and her close friends. Asked whether she NEC Pvt Ltd. S Bhattachaand pastor of Mokokchung School Compound Baptist 18-year-old Berela Yim, a class XII student hailing would follow her “head rya, as chief guest. Church, Mangyang.
‘Greater Revival’ in Mokokchung
ATMA Kohima District with an objective to learn improved farming practices and organised an exposure tour to Kolkata from January 12 to 15. The team consisting of ten members visited The Central Institute of Fisheries and Education, Kolkata where the officials interacted with Br. B K Mahapotra, Principal Scientist and his staffs. The team toured the Institute and visited the fish museum, Laboratories and machineries for processing of value added fish products. The visit to various places was very educational and a good exposure for the team.
Ritika Mehta murder: NHRA Khaozaosie-Hok-Ah festival celebrated appeal to apprehend culprits DimaPur, January 20 (mExn): The Nagaland Hotels and Restaurant Association (NHRA) has made appeal to the law enforcing agencies to give its best effort in apprehending the murderer of Lt. Ritika Mehta, the proprietor of Apna Hotel who was also the secretary of the Association. While extending full moral support to the investigating agencies NHRA stated that they have confidence on the police that they will perform their duty without any fear, bias or favor by apprehending the culprits who are still at large. They also stated NHRA is positive that the police will take the most advantage in identifying the culprits which is available through CCTV and is in their custody whereby we accept it safe and free from manipulation. The Association also
made an appeal to the public to extend any support wherever possible so that the progress of investigation is not impeded. Reiterating the condemnation of killing late Ritika Mehta, the NHRA strongly pronounced that “our society do not deserve to be taken ransom by such heartless and unmindful criminals.” Therefore, the Association request and appeal all “that taking the life of one another can never bring solution rather it will only multiply bitterness and create social insecurity.” The NHRA added that with “total confidence on the competent investigation agency look forward that in spite of the one month taken, delay would not be injustice rather time taken would bring befitting justice to all involved.”
Relief fund drive for Manipur earthquake victims DimaPur, January 20 (mExn): The Concerned Citizens of Dimapur along with CAN Youth organization, will be organizing a three days fund drive event from January 22 till 25 at Bata Char Ali and Holy Cross Junction for the earthquake victims of Kabui Khullen Village. The organisers inform that “Love Your Neighbour” will be an event where they will practically show “our neighbour that we care.” Interested citizens, organizations, Churches and Societies can contact the numbers for further information: Neitho Khusoh @8131897678 and Samuel Walling @ 9612393941
DC Wokha notifies
DC Tuensang Alem Jongshi speaking at the celebration programme of Khiamniungan Khaozaosie-hok-ah festival day held on January 20. (DIPR Photo)
TuEnsang, January 20 (DiPr): The celebration programme of Khiamniungan Khaozaosie-hokah festival day was held on January 20 at CS Junction Tuensang Town. Government of Nagaland has recognized and declared Khaozaosie-hok-ah festival as one of the important festivals of the Khiamniungan tribe. DC Tuensang Alem Jongshi speaking as the chief guest said, “January
20 is a day of liberation for the Khiamniungan, showing the identity of the tribe and unity of the people.” He said that festivals should be celebrated with merry making and preservation of our fore father's culture. He encouraged the tribe to stay united with the other Nagas and extend co-operation to the Government for better living. Festival Convener, M. Liang narrated the significance of Khaozaosie- Hok-
ah festival where he said this is the day for peace, reconciliation among themselves and thanksgiving day for the year’s harvest. He said that the festival is celebrated by exchanging and sharing drinks and meat with dancing and merry making after burning the fields is done. Guest of honour, CKS President, Nokshang Chang exhorted the gathering stating that all the Na-
gas are Christians but still it is necessary to understand and observe the cultures and traditions of our forefathers. He mentioned that the time of festivals should be to forgive and forget between every individual and village. He also said that it important to teach our children about the forefathers ways of life. Welcome address delivered by President KUT and war dance presented by Sanglao Cultural Club.
WoKha, January 20 (DiPr): Deputy Commissioner, Wokha, A.Robin Lotha, has informed that in view of the prevailing security situation and the forthcoming Republic Day celebration, credible inputs through various intelligence agencies are being received of likely sabotage activities being planned by insurgent groups. In the light of the above circumstances, carrying of or movement with any kind of weapons (even licensed arms) for hunting or for any other purpose is hereby restricted till 31st January 2016
LLRSU golden jubilee meeting DimaPur, January 20 (mExn): The Lotha Lower Range Students’ Union (LLRSU) has convened an important meeting to discuss on issue of the inactive functioning of LLRSU office, and to deliberate on forthcoming (50 years) Golden Jubilee 2017. Therefore, LLRSU request all affiliated units, members, senior members, leaders, former leaders and concern citizens of LLRSU to attain the meeting positively on January 28, 1:00 pm at Bethesda Youth Welfare Centre, Welford Colony Dimapur.
ThursDAY 21•01•2016
NORTH-EAST
THE MORUNG EXPRESS
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'No grand alliance for Cong in Assam' Woman nabbed with explosive devices GUWAHATI, JANUARY 20 (AGENCIES): The Congress wants to go it alone in the Assam assembly elections, Tarun Gogoi, who is completing his third consecutive term as the state's chief minister, has said. One of the senior most leaders of the Congress, Gogoi told NDTV, "There is no need of any pre-poll alliance." "We would like to go for tactical understanding where our appeal to voters will be either vote for Congress or any such likeminded party which can defeat the BJP and its allies in the polls," he added. When the Grand Alliance, of which the Congress is a part, won the assembly elections in Bihar in November last year, Gogoi was among the first Congress leaders to suggest that the experiment of "anti-BJP forces" coming together be
Arunachal Has the Highest Number of Govt Job Holders ITANAGAR, JANUARY 20 (UNI): With a ratio of 1:14, Arunachal Pradesh has the highest number of government service holders in comparison to other developing states in the country, said Planning Secretary of Government of Arunachal Pradesh, Sonam Chombey. Addressing the opening session of a daylong conference, organised by the ASSOCHAM on “Linking Prospective Food Entrepreneurs with Government Schemes & Markets” in collaboration with the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, GOI with the initiative of state government on Monday,Chombey urged youths not to run for white collar jobs as there were very limited vacancies. Instead of running behind government jobs, he appealed them to build their future by starting up their own business in agri and horti sectors. The programme was sponsored by NABARD, SBI, Arunachal Pradesh energy development agency, CIH, NEDFi and others, attended by resources persons and many enthusiastic young promising entrepreneurs with key objective to sharpen the entrepreneuring skills of the first generation as well as tiny entrepreneurs in agro-food processing sector by linking them with the support service providers. She said besides agri/horti cultivation, the state has tremendous scope in spice and bamboo production.
Heavy snowfall in Sandakphu, Nathu La GANGTok/SILIGURI, JANUARY 20 (IANS): Heavy snowfall was reported from Sandakphu in West Bengal's Darjeeling district and Nathu La, Tsomgo and Juluk of Sikkim on Wednesday. Due to the weather condition in Sikkim, tourist vehicles did not venture out to spots like Tsomgo and Baba Mandir in East Sikkim district, police said. The decision was taken as the road to Tsomgo was shut due to snowfall and to prevent accidents. The Sikkim weather office forecast more snowfall and dense fog in the upper reaches of the hills over the next three days. Visibility will go down to below 100 metres in the northern West Bengal districts also due to fog over the next three days. Since Wednesday morning, vast stretches of Darjeeling district including Sukhiapokhri, Lodama and Jorebungalow were wrapped in a thick veil of fog. Siliguri and Darjeeling towns, as also large parts of Sikkim, experienced heavy rain between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning.
Former Tripur governor joins AIUDF
GUWAHATI, JANUARY 20 (IANS): In what is being seen a blow to Assam's ruling Congress ahead of the assembly polls, party leader and former Bihar and Tripura governor Devananda Konwar on Wednesday joined the AIUDF of perfume businessman Badaruddin Ajmal. Konwar joined the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) at a public rally at Chenga in Barpeta district. Ajmal formally welcomed Konwar to the AIUDF, saying it will prove to be beneficial for the party. Konwar had joined the Congress in 1955 when he was a student leader and worked in various capacities in the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC).
Devananda Konwar
Though he did not divulge the reasons behind his joining the AIUDF, the difference of opinion with Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is believed to be one of the main factors. Konwar had served in the 1991 cabinet of then chief minister Hiteswar Saikia and in the Gogoi cabinet of 2001. He was, however, dropped from the council of ministers after differences with Gogoi. The education-
ist turned lawyer turned politician, who represented Thaora constituency in Sivasagar district, lost the 2006 assembly election. In 2009, Konwar was appointed governor of Bihar till 2013. He also held additional charge of West Bengal governor from December 2009 to January 2010. He was appointed Tripura governor in March 2013, and was removed from the post on June 28, 2014. A controversy broke out when Konwar was Bihar governor in 2012 when the state's accountant general, who reports to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), in an audit of his expenses, objected to the expenditure incurred by the governor from January 2009 to March 2012.
repeated in Assam and othAssam will go to the goi's latest statement puts er state assembly elections. polls in April this year. Go- an end to speculation re-
Our Correspondent
garding a possible alliance between the Congress, Badruddin Ajmal's AIDUF and the AGP. The Assam chief minister, who is once again projected as Congress's chief ministerial candidate, also ruled out any threat from a proposed alliance between the BJP and Bodo parties. Whenever these parties came together in the past, the alliance helped the Congress in the polls, he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had hit out at Gogoi in his speech yesterday for problems faced by the state, especially shortage of electricity, during the 15 years that he has been chief minister. Gogoi hit back at PM Modi saying, "He always get his facts wrong and he doesn't know that most of the rivers in Assam cannot be used for electricity generation."
Leather entrepreneurs in Tripura learning new skills AGARTALA, JANUARY 20 (ANI): Footwear artisans of Tripura who traditionally have been learning the art from their forefathers, are being trained on the latest machines and with scientific knowledge. Due to available of various fashionable items in the market the local leather artisans were facing difficulties. They were unable to make such items as did not have the knowledge and skill in making of quality footwear items using modern machineries and so unable to market their products. It is in this context, NB Institute of Rural Technology, Arkaneer a nonprofit making organization in association with Welfare for SCs, OBCs and Minorities Department, Govt. of Tripura has come forward and set up training cum common facilities centre for leather goods artisans of Tripura at Arundhutinagar Industrial Estate, in West Tripura District. The training centre is first of its kind in the state of Tripura where the leather artisans particularly the youths go through one year's training in skill development training programme through application of
science and technology. "For the last six months I am learning to make various kinds of bags like ladies bags, purse, handbag, China bag, diary bag etc. I am taking the training so that it is useful in future and I am interested in starting a business of making bags," said Archana Rishidas, a Trainee. The trainees designed by IGNOU consist of two semesters of six months each generally undergo the following training: awareness phase, theory on leather technology, practical training, advance training and production of leather goods like shoes, various bag items, purse and setting up of units. The absolute emphasis of this program is to enable the students acquire a solid foundation from which they can design footwear, bags, garments or other utility goods from leather and specialized executive training in leather upholstery is provided in with the latest techniques and technology by experts from outside the state so that they man produce quality products which has huge potential in the local as well as market outside. "I have been a student here last
year but from last August I joined here as a trainer. In present group there are 20 students of which seven are male while 13 others are female. First they learn to make various fashionable bags available in the marker and after completion of six months we teach them to make shoes. After training I got job here, moreover, this is common facility centre and so if they want they can continue to work here and I have done that," said Sampa Das, Trainee turned Trainer. Various machineries have been installed at the training centre so that the young artisans learn how to design the right product for the right market and how to develop their design in the most efficient way. Moreover, during the training the trainees are also given a better understanding of the unique characteristics of leather, its product performance, design, production and quality craftsmanship to ensure that trainees have a 360 degree view of the work so that after completion of their course these young able designers have exciting career prospects. Beside the trainees during the training also get monthly stipend of Rs 1200.
Lui-Ngai-Ni celebrations from Feb 14
DImAPUR, JANUARY 20 (mExN): The annual seed sowing festival of the 16 Naga tribes in Manipur, LuiNgai-Ni, will be celebrated on February 14 and 15. According to a press release from the United Naga Council, the apex Naga body in Manipur State, it was informed that the festival was accorded official recognition on December 24, 1986, while February 15 was declared a state holiday. In 1997, the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, also listed Lui-NgaiNi as one of the tourist festivals of India.
Celebrated in the Naga Districts of Manipur on a rotational basis, this year, Lui-Ngai-Ni is being hosted by the Tangkhul Naga Long (TNL) at its district headquarters in Ukhrul, UNC informed. The festival will be participated by thousands of Naga delegates with colorful festivity, while many delegates from various communities, states and even abroad are coming to participate in the festival, it added. Cultural Folk Dances and songs, Traditional attire display, Naga artists and renowned artists from different parts of the coun-
try will entertain this year’s festival, UNC stated. Meanwhile, as per the UNC Presidential Council Meeting held on October 29, 2015 at UNC Office, the following members are appointed to be the members of State Level Organising Committee (SLOC) LuiNgai-Ni (Naga Seed owing) Festival, 2016: Convenor – TS Warngam, Vice President, UNC; Co-Convenor – Seth Shatsang, President, ANSAM; Member Secretary – W. Asha, GenSecretary, NWU; Treasurer – K. Kaikho, Finance Secretary, UNC; Member
NGT orders demolition of roadside shops and dhabas in Kaziranga NEW DELHI, JANUARY 20 (PTI): The National Green Tribunal has ordered demolition of roadside shops and eateries along the animal corridors near Assam's Kaziranga National Park in the wake of increasing wildlife casualties due to vehicular traffic on the National Highway-37 which passes through it. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar directed the Ministry of Environment and Forests to take clear instruction on the issue and file an affidavit within 10 days. "We make it clear that all the shops and dhabas run within 100 metres from the end of the road of National Highway or located in the forest/protected area, or bridges constructed or within 500 metres of the National Kaziranga Park, would be liable to be demolished," the bench said. During the proceedings, various dhabas, resorts and other commercial establishments moved applications for appointment of a Local Commissioner to bring on record the actual physical condition of the shops and dha-
bas run by them. Director of Kaziranga National Park, M K Yadava, who was directed by the green
panel to conduct surprise inspection of the national highway, also submitted his inspection report.
– WS Kanral, President, CNPO; Member – K. Moses Maram, President, NPO; Member – Weapon Zimik, President, TNL; Member – Thomas Kamei, President, ZB, Manipur; Member M. Dili, President, Mao Council. The SLOC may form sub-committees for smooth functioning of the festival as and when required, UNC stated in their release. In this regard, the United Naga Council has appealed to the public to extend fullest support and co-operation to the State Level Organising Committee.
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NAGALAND PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION KOHIMA
Dated Kohima, the 20th Jan, 2016
ADDENDUM NO.NPSC/AVDT/NON-TECH/1-2010: Reference to the Commission’s Advertisement NO. NPSC-3/2015 Dated 29th July, 2015 and Addendum dated 12th August,2015 and 6th Oct,2015 the following posts shall be added under NCS,NPS,NSS & Allied Services, 2015. ITEM NO.16 : 2 (two) posts of Block Development Officer (Class-I Gazetted) under Rural Development Department. ITEM NO.17 : 1 (one) post of Station Superintendent (Class-II Gazetted) under Nagaland State Transport Department. QUALIFICATION: Item No. 16 to 18 : Bachelor’s Degree in any discipline including Divinity from Recognized University. SCALE OF PAY: Item No. 16 : PB-3, Rs. 15,600 – 39,100, GP- Rs. 5,400. Item No. 17 : PB-3, Rs. 9,300 – 34,800, GP- Rs. 4,600. AGE AS ON 01-01-2015 : Minimum Maximum. Item No. 16 & 17 : 21yrs. 30yrs. Provision to exercise post preference will be given after declaration of Mains Written Examination. Other terms and conditions of the Advertisement referred to above remain the same. Sd/- SARAH R. RITSE Secretary, Nagaland Public Service Commission, Kohima.
Imphal | January 20
Security forces arrested a woman along with explosive devices on Wednesday in Gwaltabi area along Imphal-Ukhrul road. Puprangla Hungyo, 53, wife of late Ajoy Hungyo of Sorde village under Phungyar in Ukhrul district, was carrying the explosive devices inside a bag in a passenger bus which was coming from Imphal towards Ukhrul, a police report said. Personnel of 16 Assam Rifles apprehended her along with the items around 7:30 am. Nine detonators, explosive materials and three fuses were recovered from
her possession. She along with the devices has been handed over to Lamlai Police Station. In another incident, one member of the HPC-P (Hmar People ConventionPresident) was arrested by personnel of Jwalamukhi Battalion under Senapati Brigade of Red Shield Division during an operation in Senapati’s Sapermeina area on January 16.
Search operation In view of the upcoming Republic Day celebrations, Manipur Police has been carrying out search operation in many parts of Imphal city area in the last four days. Routine checking by
police has been intensified to ensure security to people during celebration of the forthcoming Republic Day, a police official said. More areas of the city and other important places would be searched in the coming days to thwart anti-national activity, he added. On January 25, 2015, militants exploded eight bombs in and around Imphal and five in other parts of the state. The Coordination Committee (CorCom), a conglomerate of six militant organisations of Manipur every year imposes general strike on January 26 to boycott the Republic Day celebrations in the state.
'Gaon Bura commands high respect in Arunachal’ ITANAGAR, JANUARY 20 (PTI): State Home Minister Tanga Byaling today said the 'Gaon Bura' institution, set up under Assam Frontier (Administration of Justice) Regulation 1945, commanded high respect in the tribal society of Arunachal Pradesh. Addressing over 500 'gaon buras' and 'gaon buris' (village heads) of state's total 9,500 during their foundation day here today, Byaling expressed concern over the fading away of customary laws, and said the Constitution framed in 1947 by Dr Ambedkar included the GBs' powers. He stressed on reviving and popularising traditional laws to eradicate prevalent social evils, communal living with harmony besides documenting for survival. He announced a guest house-cumoffice and assured the the four-point memorandum of Gaon-Buras demanding enhancement of honourarium would be taken up in the cabinet. "You (GBs) are the government repre-
sentatives in every village for which you have been appointed with powers," lawmaker Pani Taram as guest of honour said while assuring all support of the GoAP. Free electricity and colour TV to all GBs as promised would continue, Taram said and advocated an in-depth research through an expert team in 189 circles of 20 districts for documentation in response to demand for codification of customary laws. He announced a member of each GB family would be absorbed in GoAP to the thunderous applause of the gathering. Supreme Court Chief Justice Dr A S Anand had said while inaugurating the Itanagar permanent bench of Gauhati High Court here in 2000 that "Customary laws are important". He had dispelled apprehension about any threat to customary laws, saying the HC would pave the way to blend the good aspects of traditional laws for assimilation with the statutory and codified laws.
NAGALAND PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION KOHIMA
NO.NPSC/CON-35/2009:
Dated Kohima, the 20th January, 2016
NOTIFICATION
In pursuance of the Commission’s Advertisement No. NPSC-3/2015 dated 29.07.2015 and Addendum of even number dated 12.08.2015, 06.10.2015 & 20.01.2016, the Written Examination was conducted for NCS, NPS, NSS & Allied Services (Preliminary) Examination-2015 on 26.09.2015 and with reference to Notification NO.NPSC/C/ AK/2009 dated 06.10.2015 and 02.12.2015, the Commission is pleased to declare the written examination results and allow the candidates bearing the following roll numbers (in ascending order) to sit for the Main Examination. 10078 10194 10371 10519 10620 10853 11060 11251 11362 11607 11732 11868 12036 12212 12334 12474 12573 12752 13110 13244 13451 13784 14030 14326 14438 14536 14667 14891 15013 15157 15310 15424 15573 15757 15997 16191 16344 16571 16743 16833 17022 17167 17278 17406 17524 20237 20540 20737 21014 21168 21435 21678 21901 22194 22496 22644 22923 23238 23493 23784 24105 24393 24665 24782 25207 25579 30196 30733 30992 40320 40455
10093 10217 10404 10522 10633 10903 11083 11256 11369 11634 11755 11873 12061 12214 12345 12483 12595 12773 13116 13247 13499 13803 14038 14341 14441 14543 14690 14910 15019 15172 15316 15453 15588 15769 16002 16235 16384 16578 16760 16861 17027 17169 17288 17429 17530 20247 20545 20772 21027 21169 21453 21731 21934 22219 22519 22647 22932 23239 23499 23878 24128 24457 24668 24847 25303 25617 30254 30747 40037 40321 40460
10112 10247 10410 10530 10638 10930 11084 11267 11431 11643 11773 11890 12080 12216 12399 12486 12601 12832 13120 13267 13625 13804 14084 14352 14470 14569 14726 14927 15027 15178 15319 15454 15591 15781 16008 16238 16387 16584 16763 16877 17045 17171 17308 17436 17559 20253 20622 20773 21040 21191 21515 21748 21952 22230 22522 22659 23043 23260 23573 23903 24167 24461 24695 24875 25321 25620 30280 30768 40107 40351 50165
10114 10260 10431 10545 10663 10939 11111 11277 11438 11647 11789 11914 12091 12220 12401 12507 12602 12870 13142 13319 13629 13829 14146 14372 14476 14584 14783 14943 15029 15189 15334 15457 15616 15793 16033 16243 16425 16586 16764 16884 17056 17180 17311 17442 17566 20274 20624 20823 21052 21206 21532 21751 21969 22253 22551 22678 23070 23307 23600 23912 24205 24472 24710 24890 25328 25633 30312 30777 40114 40353 50220
10135 10281 10459 10567 10709 10951 11132 11300 11440 11669 11814 11926 12101 12247 12402 12511 12604 12919 13144 13333 13649 13837 14204 14373 14479 14585 14820 14947 15032 15207 15352 15465 15695 15800 16036 16268 16429 16604 16774 16887 17068 17191 17321 17449 17587 20363 20635 20851 21103 21214 21563 21774 21972 22314 22566 22700 23071 23312 23648 23941 24208 24486 24713 24964 25374 25645 30351 30837 40117 40357 50258
10144 10283 10477 10569 10720 10957 11139 11309 11508 11678 11818 11939 12128 12268 12414 12512 12611 12939 13150 13344 13688 13892 14214 14374 14491 14596 14825 14968 15040 15213 15355 15467 15703 15842 16056 16269 16439 16627 16780 16914 17077 17197 17330 17452 17604 20396 20668 20884 21108 21282 21597 21776 21991 22359 22572 22844 23087 23322 23700 23943 24216 24488 24717 24998 25375 25675 30420 30852 40189 40362 50345
10157 10291 10486 10582 10741 11006 11167 11317 11510 11696 11826 11965 12144 12274 12429 12531 12615 13024 13155 13367 13719 13927 14225 14376 14496 14597 14861 14970 15056 15214 15390 15502 15723 15845 16057 16273 16440 16654 16796 16970 17094 17205 17332 17453 20075 20426 20676 20887 21117 21300 21613 21791 21997 22376 22583 22856 23099 23387 23710 23992 24265 24514 24733 25010 25428 25687 30430 30868 40226 40385
10166 10293 10488 10584 10797 11023 11183 11327 11537 11706 11833 11975 12157 12275 12431 12533 12706 13078 13195 13426 13729 13957 14278 14377 14507 14622 14866 14971 15070 15288 15400 15525 15730 15880 16095 16290 16525 16691 16799 16978 17098 17210 17356 17462 20094 20437 20691 20943 21119 21305 21626 21800 22033 22406 22587 22860 23142 23424 23721 24015 24270 24604 24748 25110 25446 30035 30500 30938 40266 40390
10171 10313 10500 10589 10799 11024 11190 11343 11540 11712 11844 11995 12176 12318 12455 12547 12725 13089 13196 13427 13769 13993 14296 14392 14523 14643 14882 15000 15085 15294 15406 15538 15748 15890 16112 16328 16539 16720 16814 16984 17129 17264 17396 17466 20101 20444 20698 20993 21134 21313 21634 21858 22040 22432 22601 22879 23164 23425 23729 24021 24288 24647 24765 25121 25473 30070 30525 30941 40274 40415
10176 10330 10502 10617 10836 11051 11199 11361 11599 11724 11860 12013 12194 12330 12468 12571 12726 13090 13218 13444 13776 14028 14308 14393 14535 14650 14889 15006 15154 15297 15415 15560 15754 15950 16138 16335 16568 16726 16816 17012 17163 17266 17402 17470 20163 20528 20736 20995 21139 21416 21645 21894 22191 22481 22626 22914 23180 23467 23742 24028 24348 24661 24775 25176 25575 30179 30620 30990 40315 40434
1. Written examination for Mains is tentatively scheduled to be held in the middle part of March 2016. 2. Information of exam dates and downloading of Admission Certificate for the Main examination shall be notified shortly. 3. Selected candidates will be required to submit self-certified or attested copies of their documents only after declaration of Mains result. 4. Marks-List of the Preliminary Examination can be accessed in the Commission’s website at www.npsc.co.in (SARAH R. RITSE) Secretary, Nagaland Public Service Commission, Kohima
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ThursDAY 21 •01•2016
Business
THE MORUNG EXPRESS
‘Fourth industrial revolution India set to grow fastest at 7.5% may hit emerging economies’ Davos, January 20 (PTI): Emerging economies are less likely to benefit from extreme levels of automation and connectivity achieved through the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which has the potential to dramatically change the course of economic development, says a report. While emerging economies are likely to suffer, the developed nations might benefit from the Fourth Industrial Revolution, according to a white paper released by financial services major UBS at the WEF annual meet here. Low and middle-skilled jobs are increasingly under threat of replacement, a scenario that would further polarise labour force and increase income inequality, it noted. “Extreme levels of automation and connectivity achieved through the Fourth Industrial Revolution have the potential to dramatically change the course of economic development and the distribution of wealth,” the white paper said. This could have significant implications for global economies, the relative competitiveness of developed and emerging nations
and investors, it added. Citing current assessments of relative competitiveness, the white paper said emerging markets “may be less well placed to profit from the Revolution benefits”, relative to developed markets. The paper said increased connectivity poses many potential advantages, but also elevates risks related to cyber warfare
and geopolitics. “Connectivity increases the risks posed by cyber threats and the magnitude of these threats rises further as a result of networks becoming more connected. Extreme connectivity also fosters geopolitical tensions, as it increases the ability of diverse groups to organise and protest,” it noted. A unique feature of the Revo-
lution would be the implementation of artificial intelligence, it said. Further, UBS said that developed economies are likely to be relative winners at this stage, whereas developing economies face greater challenges as their abundance of low-skill labour ceases to be an advantage and becomes more of a headwind. “Economies with the most flexible labour markets, educational systems, infrastructure and legal systems are likely to be relative beneficiaries as they are well positioned to adapt their workforces and business models to a highly automated and connected world,” the white paper said. Many developing markets have relied on importing low and middle-skilled jobs to drive economic growth, but do not have the infrastructure, educational or regulatory systems to quickly adapt to a world that would demand more high-skilled labour and investment in high-tech manufacturing or knowledgebased businesses, it noted. ‘Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution’ is the theme of this year’s WEF meet.
India gears up to launch satellite every month Apple seeks nod to open single brand stores in India
s r I h a r I k o T a (anDhra PraDesh), January 20 (Ians): India is preparing to launch one satellite every month to meet growing needs from its space-based assets, including transponders and scientific instruments, a top space official said on Wednesday. “We have started this year with the launch of the fifth navigation satellite, which is a great success as it was precisely injected into the intended orbit. We are lining up a series of satellites for launch in almost every month to meet the demand,” ISRO chairman A.S. Krishna Kumar said here. The state-run space agency is bracing up to launch two more navigation satellites in February and March, followed by earth observational, remote-sensing and communications-based spacecraft from its spaceport here, using 1- to 4-tonne rockets with indigenous cryogenic engines. “We have a long way to go, as we have to first complete the
constellation of seven regional navigation satellite system (IRNSS) in the next 2 months and embark on other missions to launch various types of satellites for multi-purposes,” Kumar told scientists at the mission control centre after the fifth satellite was precisely deployed in the intended orbit. The space agency said later that the satellite (IRNSS-1E) was injected into an elliptical orbit at 20,655 km an apogee (away from earth) and 282 km perigee (nearer to the Earth) at an angle of 19.21 degrees to the equator and its intended orbit. The organisation’s master control facility at Hassan, about 180 km from Karnataka, will conduct four manoeuvres to position the 1,425-kg satellite in the geo-synchronous orbit in the next two weeks. “With this launch, we have proved again that our PSLV (polar satellite launch vehicle) workhorse is a reliable rocket to carry various types of satellites for diverse applications and needs across the country,”
Kumar said. Using strap-on boosters, the PSLV-C31 was the 33rd launch mission and 32nd successful launch consecutively since its first version blasted off over 2 decades ago in September 1993. “Speeding up the space programmes, we had launched 5 missions in 2015, including four PSLV and one GSLV (geo-synchronous launch vehicle) rockets. Since July, we had launched four missions with each in August (GSLV), September and December,” satellite centre director M. Annadurai told IANS. With the successful launch of the GSLV in August 2015, GSLV-Mark-III in December 2014 and GSLVMark II in January 2014, using indigenous cryogenic engine which runs in supercooled temperatures, the space agency plans to launch one more GSLV-Mark III as its heaviest rocket this year to carry 4-tonne satellites in the geo-stationary orbit, about 36,000 km from the earth.
MuMbaI, January 20 (reuTers): Apple, the maker of iPad and iPhone, has sought permission from the government to open single brand retail stores and also enter the e-commerce business in the country. “The company has sought permission for single brand retailing and sell its product online also,” they said adding Apple has not mentioned the amount of investment and number of stores it wants to open. The development comes after the government relaxed the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy for single brand retailing. The government may also relax sourcing norms for entities undertaking single brand retailing of products having ‘state-of-the-art’ and ‘cutting edge’ technology and where local sourcing is not possible. Single brand retailers are also allowed to take e-commerce route for such trading. At present, 100% FDI is permitted in the sector. But beyond 49%, permission of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) is required. The company sells its products through Apple-owned retail stores in countries including China, Germany, the US, the UK and France. It has no wholly-owned store in India and sells its products through distributors such as Redington and Ingram Micro.
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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 # 3467
washIngTon, January 20 (Ians): Growing at the fastest pace, India is projected to grow at 7.5 percent in 2016 and 2017 fiscal as China slows to 6.3 percent in 2016 and 6.0 percent in 2017, according to the IMF. The slower pace of China’s growth primarily reflects weaker investment growth as the economy continues to rebalance, the International Monetary Fund said in its January update of the World Economic Outlook (WEO). India and the rest of emerging Asia are generally projected to continue growing at a robust pace, although with some countries facing strong headwinds from China’s economic rebalancing and global manufacturing weakness. Growth prospects in parts of Asia have diminished somewhat as a result of the unexpectedly big external spillovers from China’s growth transition, the WEO said. In contrast, India, a major net commodity importer, continues to grow at the fastest pace among emerging economies. Growth forecasts for most emerging market and developing economies reveal a slower pickup than previously predicted. Still, growth is projected to increase from 4 percent in 2015- the lowest rate since the 2008-09 financial crisis- to 4.3 and 4.7 percent in 2016 and 2017,
respectively. Global growth, currently estimated at 3.1 percent in 2015, is projected at 3.4 percent in 2016 and 3.6 percent in 2017 with growth in advanced economies projected to rise by 0.2 percentage point in 2016 to 2.1 percent, and hold steady in 2017. The pickup in global activity is projected to be more gradual than in the October 2015 WEO, especially in emerging market and developing economies. In advanced economies, a modest and uneven recovery is expected to continue, with a gradual further narrowing of output gaps. Risks to the global outlook remain tilted to the downside and relate to ongoing adjustments in the global economy: a generalized slowdown in emerging market economies, China’s rebalancing, lower commodity prices, and the gradual exit from extraordinarily accommodative monetary conditions in the United States. If these key challenges are not successfully managed, global growth could be derailed, the WEO warned. In emerging market and developing economies, policymakers need to manage vulnerabilities and rebuild resilience against potential shocks while lifting growth and ensuring continued convergence toward advanced economy income levels, the WEO suggested.
Auto rickshaw aggregator Jugnoo raises Rs 37 crore from Paytm new DelhI, January 20 (anI): The funds will enable Jugnoo to expand pan-India, launch new offices, improve supply quality, incentives and rewards targeted towards driver welfare and performance improvement, scaling up marketing and advertising campaigns. India’s leading on demand auto rickshaw aggregator Jugnoo has raised Rs 37.32 crore in Series-B round of funding led by Paytm in participation with Snow Leopard. The rickshaw aggregator has extended its services in 22 cities with 2 million users and 30,000 transactions per day. Jugnoo had raised Rs 20.3 crore in the first tranche of this round, adding Rs 16.9 crore in the second tranche, making it a total of $5.5 million for the Series-B round. The funds will enable Jugnoo to expand pan-India, launch new offices, improve supply quality, incentives and rewards targeted towards driver welfare and per-
DAILY CROSS WORD
CROSSWORD # 3479
Answer Number # 3466
formance improvement, scaling up marketing and advertising campaigns. Samar Singla, Cofounder and CEO, Jugnoo, said, “We see great prospects lined up for Jugnoo with this funding. Our growth is improving with each new city expansion. We will invest this funding to increase our presence to 25 more cities over the coming 6 months and provide access to the remotest corners of the country.” “Jugnoo is providing a perfect solution to those dependent on public transport for their daily conveyance. By inDIMAPUR Civil Hospital:
creasing auto utilization and bringing structure into this space, they have transformed the market completely. There is an offering that makes complete practical sense in today’s scenario,” said Chris Kolenaty, Founder Snow Leopard Ventures. Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder and CEO of Paytm said, “Since its inception, Jugnoo has been showing a very promising growth. With its focused approach and high user engagement, they have succeeded in understanding the auto-rickshaw space really well.”
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1. To cast aside (archaic) 5. Tabs 10. Self-satisfied 14. Angel’s headwear 15. Fable writer 16. South American country 17. To begin with 19. Unrestrained revelry 20. 2,000 pounds 21. Belly button 22. The vistas above us 23. Trespass 25. Broiled 27. Genus of macaws 28. Dominance or power 31. Numbskull 34. Loins 35. French for “Friend” 36. Type of sword 37. Flora and fauna 38. Make a sweater 39. Not high 40. Abrasive 41. Relaxes 42. Infuses 44. Liveliness 45. A forehead dot 46. Go-between 50. Not last 52. A stone fragment
54. Nigerian tribesman 55. Midmonth date 56. A remarkable development 58. Boyfriend 59. Choose by voting 60. Curved molding 61. Rice beer 62. Coils 63. Where a bird lives
DOWN
1. Hindu loincloth 2. Moses’ brother 3. A hard kind of stone 4. Mist 5. 2nd largest country 6. Throw with effort 7. Small island 8. Tollhouse 9. Secret agent 10. Uttered 11. Lines of longitude 12. Desire 13. Not gals 18. Accustom 22. An outer surface 24. Dash 26. Dogfish 28. Smelter waste 29. Leave out 30. Pesky insects
31. Sandwich shop 32. Atop 33. Newsflash 34. Like a girl 37. Hairless 38. Yachting cap 40. Clue 41. Kingdom 43. Kleenex 44. Flyers 46. Javelin 47. Burn slightly 48. Double-reed instruments 49. A nine-piece musical group 50. Little lies 51. Bright thought 53. Equal 56. Dowel 57. A very long period Ans to CrossWord 3478
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ThursdAY 21•01•2016
NAGALAND
'Nagaland power sector Theologian Dr Downs visits Molungkimong suffers 60% T&D loss'
(LEFT) Sales of Electricity by Class of Consumers (FY 2013-2014). (TOP) Power purchase from Central Generating Stations and other sources (FY 2013-14). (Source: Nagaland Electricity Regulatory Commission) Morung Express News Dimapur | January 20
The operational loss in transmission and distribution (T & D) of Department of Power, Nagaland is nearly 60%, an official from the department told the Indo-Japan workshop today, inviting surprise reactions and animated posers from the gathering. Er. Kasho Chishi was speaking at the concluding day of the two-day workshop entitled “India-Japan partnership towards meeting the challenge of infrastructure development in India’s Northeast” at Hotel Acacia, Dimapur. While attributing the losses to a large extent to the topography of the state, the executive engineer from the department further informed that it is in the process of streamlining the losses. At present, the power demand of the state is nearly 350 Megawatt (MW). While the state has an installed capacity of 27 MW, another 200 MW is sourced from other states. The total projected
demand of the state by the year 2019 is 400 MW. It ser ves about 2.16lakh consumers as on March 31, 2014 with annual consumption of about 490.00 Mega Unit (MU), according to the Nagaland Electricity Regulatory Commission. In this regard, the President of the Association of Power Engineers of Nagaland (APEN), Er Keviletuo Yiese, in its general conference last year, pointed out the hurdles in meeting the challenges and growth of the department. Against the projected demand of 400 MW and energy requirement of 2765.67 MU by 2019, the State faces an estimated shortfall of 50% and 71% respectively if the capacity addition and systems constraints are not addressed, he had told the conference. He also disclosed that the department runs on a very high Aggregate Technical and Commercial losses (AT&C) at 68%, mainly due to high percentage of under billing and non-billing of electricity bills.
Accordingly, Er Chishi today was asked how the department plans to meet the huge expected rise in power demands in 2019. He replied that the state is exploring various avenues to enhance both power generation as well as transmission capacity of the existing infrastructure in the state. In this regard, he informed that a soft loan of Rs 729 crores from the World Bank is being availed to develop and expand the power sector’s infrastructure in Nagaland. The loan is part of the Rs 5,111 crore project to develop and expand infrastructure in the power sector in six NE states. The State has 75 MW Doyang Hydro Project which is run by the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO), 24 MW Likimro Hydro Electric Project, 1 MW Lang Hydro Electric Project and 1 MW Tehok Hydro Electric Project. When another attendee asked whether Communitisation under Na-
galand Communitisation of Public Institutions and Services Act in 2002 has generated any relief to the T&D losses, the Engineer informed that it was implemented only in rural areas and that its impacts were minimal. The Communitisation process focused on three very important areas: Elementary education, Grass root health services and Electricity management. Replying to a question on whether the state is benefiting out of the Doyang Hydro Project in Wokha, he stated that since the project is a central initiative, upon completion the state gets a percentage out of the power generation and the rest are shared with other State according to ratio stipulated by the centre. Further asked if the corporatization of electricity department is being implemented in the state like in other states, Chishi informed that reforms are being undertaken in a larger perspective in the state and it is in the process of finalization.
Dr. FS Downs (front row fourth from left) along with the Brewster Baptist Church, USA, and church leaders and village council members of Molungkimong Village at Molongkimong Baptist Church on January 19.
Dimapur, January 20 (mExn): Theologian, researcher and writer, Dr. FS Downs along with his wife visited Molungkimong village in Mokokchung on January 19. Significantly, Dr Downs visit to the village comes after almost two decades since
his visit as the main speaker during Molungkimong Baptist Arogo’s 125 years celebration in 1997. On his recent visit, Dr. Downs, now 85 years old, visited the Lychee tree which he had planted in the name of the Quasquicentennial at Molungkimong back in 1997.
Dr. Downs has done extensive research and written books on Christianity in Northeast. He and his wife along with the Brewster Baptist Church have been touring Northeast India for the past few days. On January 12, Dr. Downs dedicated the ren-
65th CBCC General Assembly from Jan 22 Dimapur, January 20 (mExn): The 65th Annual General Assembly of Chakhesang Baptist Church Council is scheduled to be held from January 22 to 24 at WACBCC Mission Centre, 7th Mile Village, Dimapur. With the theme “Abundant Life (John 10:10),” the meeting will be addressed by Rev. K. Luruo, Dr. Adela Mero, Rev. Dr. Zelhou Keyho and Rev. Khrotso Mero, a press release from Rev. Dr. V. Tetseo, Executive Secretary, CBCC informed. The main highlights of the General Session shall include presentation of the Annual reports of the
various ministries under CBCC including Mission, Youth, Children and Women ministry besides various Council projects like Baptist Theological College, Chakhesang Mission Higher Secondary School and Daeshing Academy School. The Council’s business session shall start one day ahead of the Annual Session when all the CBCC Executive members meet at Dimapur, the release stated. All the local churches under CBCC are informed to send 6 delegates each having above 500 baptised members and 4 delegates having less than 500 bap-
tised members. The official delegates are requested to arrive and register by 12 noon on January 22. Other programme participants include: Husazulu Chuzho who will lead the Bible study; Apoyi Nyekha and Kehepe Letro – Music Directors; Athono Dzudo and Kelevinuo Kin - Pianists. The programme will be presided over by the Council President Rev. K. Luruo and Vice President Rev. Dr. W. Lohe. This 65th General Session shall be hosted by the Western Area of Chakhesang Baptist Church Council at their mission centre, 7th Mile Village, Dimapur.
ovated Miles Bronson Library at Eastern Theological College, Jorhat. On January 15, he visited the NBCC and WW II Cemetery in Kohima. The following day, he visited Vankhosung College in Wokha while on January 18, he visited the Clark Theological College in Impur.
KYS 75th Anniversary on Jan 22 KOHima, January 20 (mExn): The Khamima Youth Society (KYS) of Kigwema will be celebrating its 75th Anniversary on January 22 at Khamima Zakie, Kigwema at 10am. Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Dr. Neikiesalie (Nicky) Kire will be the chief guest for the Platinum Jubilee celebrations while MLA Vikho-o Yhoshü will be the chief host.
Severe cold wave gripped the state on Wednesday with rainfall being reported in different parts of Nagaland. (LEFT) Raindrops seen through a windshield of a car in Church Road, Dimapur. (MIDDLE) A group of youngsters gather around a fire in Pfutsero. (RIGHT) A shawl wearing man passes through Pfutsero town, one of the coldest places in Nagaland. (Morung Photo)
Public SPace
World Economic Forum Annual Meeting: ‘The Fourth Industrial Revolution’
T
he 46th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, Davos 2016 begins today at Davos-Klosters, Switzerland. The summit will bring together 40 heads of state and government, 300 public figures, and over 2500 business leaders, policy makers, social entrepreneurs, Young Global Leaders and Global Shapers, representatives from International Organizations and thought leaders from across the Globe with the goal to strategize and achieve the objective of the World Economic Forum and avoid the dangers of digital age. The World Economic Forum is the world’s foremost multi-stakeholder community with the mission ‘to improve the state of the world.’ The theme for this years’ conference is, ‘Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution’. This fourth Industrial
Revolution refers to ongoing transformation of our society by the advances in the abundant digital technologies, artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, 3-D Printing, nano-technology, robotics, biotechnology, and other areas of science. Professor Schwab, the Founder of the World Economic Forum, in his recently published book, “The fourth Industrial Revolution” argues, this revolution is disrupting every industry in every country and it’s time for humanity to buckle up and steer it in the right direction. He expresses his concern about how decision-makers are too often caught in traditional, undeviating (non disruptive) thinking or too absorbed by immediate concerns to think strategically about the forces of innovation shaping our future. This years’ meeting will address these challenges and how the ad-
vancements, intersections and promises can benefit humankind and positively affect every industry and society. At the Davos 2016, a noteworthy attendance in the discussions is the presence of Global Shapers. 50 Shapers are at the event representing the voice of the youth and to shape the agenda across national, regional and global issues. There are 5000 shapers worldwide across 450 cities. Shapers are young individuals between the ages of 20- 30 years of age from different walks of life with great potential for future leadership roles in society.The Global Shapers Community created by the World Economic Forum provides an opportunity for young leaders across the world to interact with global, industry and agenda leaders. The WEF has initiated three hubs in North East India,
Kohima hub, Imphal hub and Shillong hub to provide young people the opportunity to contribute to the discussions and ensure that all communities have the chance to move issues affecting them forward locallythrough the opportunities provided by the different WEF Forum meetings. The forum has curated over 300 debate sessions for major big areas of concern: inequality, security and identity. The four days debate will range from focus on the rise of robots, the relentless rise of automation and even more intelligent machines and seek to address Global Security Issues keeping in mind the increased terrorist attacks and refugee crisis and migration. The apparent worry of Chinese economy and the crude oil prices falling below $30 a barrel will be discussed at length and its impact on the economies
around the world. Though the success of the Paris Climate deal 2015 is divided, the meeting at Davos 2016 seeks to build upon the existing deal. The attendees face a steadily divided world with significant wealth gaps widening at a pace faster than we could imagine. There is an unexpected increase in a widening trust gap between the population and the political leaders and these are some of the biggest challenges to be addressed at the Annual World Economic Forum 2016 from 20th- 23rd January. 120 sessions will be live-streamed to a global audience and can be participated through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Google+. Discussions and questions are welcome to the Global Shapers through #ShapingDavos. Limabenla Jamir. Global Shaper, World Economic Forum
An appeal to CM for 24x7 electricity during examination season
S
tudents have already set their time and attention in full motion preparing to face another season of examination, particularly class 12, 11 and 10. So are the parents,pulling up their socks to face all odds during the one-month long examination.The fate of students—the future Naga generation, is being determined from these exams. During this period, what matters every student and parent most is the irregularity of electricity at night— prime time of concentration in studies. Today, I am compelled to raise a question: Why does the electricity go irregular during the examination period? If power shortage during February-March period is a natural phenomenon, how unlucky are the students of Nagaland to demonstrate their best in the worst period? If such exists, alteration of examination schedule to a rainy season along with
complete change of school calendar is a point to ponder by the NBSE.The well-to-do families have private generators, invertor, emergency lamps,government-support facility etc. but not all can. Is this issue new? If someone considers it as new, it will be just that that the thought of sufferings of the public appears in written form. As any other Naga, I have been experiencing this problem eversince 1980s. Variation of thoughts has been striking my mind all these years. What I could reason are: is power failure during exams a regular signal to alert the State for timely payment of dues to the Company, be it from Manipur, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, or NEEPCO?Or,is it due to failure of the public in paying Electricity billsor revenueshandled otherwiseor officials bribed by the Candle tradersor State’s electricity sold while purchase made from external
agency and profit fall out of govt. exchequer?I hope it’s not an attitude or a treatment by the suppliers to spoil Naga generations or a play against ignorance of the State. God forbids. More disastrous than performance in exam is the mental tortureof the student. The health of tomorrow’s generation will reflect the precautionary measure rendered on the students by leaders managing the government today. Therefore, I appeal the government to take necessary measures and enable smooth 24x7 electricity beginning from this exam season.The corrective step, if taken,will demonstrate the level of efficiencyof the government in putting its effort for the welfare of the people.Putting forth the system to take its due place- a long felt desire, will be highly laudedto the leadership. Rajuselie Lhousa Mission Coumpound, Kohima.
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.
ThursDAY 21•01•2016
IN FOCUS
6
The Power of Truth
The Morung Express Xi volume issue 19 X issue 185 Thursday 9volume July 2015
Need for Inclusive Conflict Resolution
C
onflict resolution is endemic in all cultures as it involves negotiating its encounter with the world. However, conflict resolution in the modern world has become, more than ever before, a politically explosive concept because it is interpreted differently by different political entities and by different cultures based on their own contextual positions and experiences. In the process the idea of a shared humanity has given way to power politics. Consequently, in today’s situation, the study, approaches and models of conflict resolution has become primarily exclusive, thereby, violating its own innate principle of inclusivity. In today’s world, conflict resolution has been packaged and exported by States, Governments and the powers that replaced the politics of "cold war" with an ideology of "hot peace" to help sustain State dominance over Peoples. Within this context the diversities of rich indigenous peace cultures and indigenous knowledge systems have been negated. It is therefore unfortunate that the term conflict resolution is widely accepted in third and fourth world nations without much critical thought and without looking into its own cultural traditions and practices of building peace. The Kenyan artiste and activist Babu Ayindo noted that “From Pax Romana on, or the Incas and the Aztecs, or the British and American empires, or Hitler’s Thousand-year Reich, imperialisms have always sought to monopolize the world. There is nothing modern about the modern world; there are still troglodytes!” Is the dominant definition of conflict resolution part of this monopoly? The implication of the State approach to conflict resolution is that it has been responsible in systematically negating indigenous knowledge which has led to eroding indigenous approaches to peacebuilding that is more holistic, people-centered and one that examine issues of culture, justice, nature, history and human development. This erosion of indigenous understanding and concepts of Peacebuilding is primarily due to the inability of the dominant knowledge system and the Western notions of education to recognize and value the indigenous knowledge system. Consequently, it has stifled genuine dialogue between cultures and between peoples. Hence, there is a dire need to consciously promote critical partnership between the first world and the fourth world – more specifically the modern and the indigenous – in the search for new paradigms in resolving and transforming conflicts. In this regard, those involved in conflict resolution must do an honest and thorough research in examining indigenous concepts and contribute towards evolving inclusive approaches of conflict resolution and peacebuilding. All concepts need to be contextual so that their application is relevant and purposeful. It is within this need that genuine dialogue with humility can begin to enhance understanding between the Western and indigenous knowledge system. This is inevitable for humanity to co-exist in mutual respect. We need to ask the difficult and honest questions if the process of dialogue is to lead to meaningful understanding. This understanding needs to consciously and critically act in creating a new culture – a culture of justpeace. For the Nagas, the need to critically examine conflict resolution theories and practices is of upmost importance. While there is a growing need to introduce conflict resolution courses to our education system, it needs to begin by first educating ourselves on the values and practices of our own indigenous peacebuilding concepts and values. Given the historical and political legacy, it is important that Nagas do not fall into the politics of conflict resolution.
lEfT WING |
Steven Shafarman CommonDreams
A Dream and a Plan — the Full Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.
M
artin Luther King, Jr. day, 2016. This year, as in the past, we’ll hear excerpts from his 1963 speech, “I Have a Dream,” and references to his 1964 Nobel Peace Prize — but probably nothing about his 1967 plan to make the dream come true. Yet his plan is now imperative, more relevant than when he was alive. Americans must act to resolve extreme poverty, income inequality, global warming, racial and gender injustices, and other matters. Yet what are we hearing from the presidential candidates? Mainly the standard litany of conventional policies. King’s plan: “I am now convinced that the simplest approach will prove to be the most effective — the solution to poverty is to abolish it directly by a now widely discussed measure: the guaranteed income.” Moderate Democrats and moderate Republicans supported guaranteed income in the 1960s. Lyndon Johnson appointed a national commission that held hearings around the country, and unanimously called for “a new program of income supplementation for all Americans in need.” Leading economists endorsed it, including Paul Samuelson, James Tobin, and John Kenneth Galbraith; also Milton Friedman, who called his version a “negative income tax.” Richard Nixon’s Family Assistance Plan passed the House of Representatives by two-to-one, twice, but was then blocked in the Senate. The updated version, basic income, is remarkably simply. Set an amount, say $800 or $1,000 a month, and provide that to every adult citizen unconditionally. Fund it by cutting programs that become superfluous, welfare, corporate welfare, crony capitalism, excess defense spending, and so on – federal, state, and local – and by eliminating tax breaks and deductions, almost all of which benefit the superrich and other special interests. Where the cost of living is high, local and state governments can supplement it. Adjust the amount occasionally to prevent inflation, recessions, and other economic difficulties. Basic income is a floor, solid and sturdy, replacing a social safety net that’s ragged and unraveling. Every American will have money for food and shelter at least, plus the freedom to choose what’s best for ourselves, our families, and our communities. Folks who are unemployed or underemployed will be able to get by. Instead of expecting big corporations and wealthy individuals to create jobs for us, we’ll find or create jobs for ourselves; we’ll be the “job creators.” King was most concerned about justice, equality, and dignity, and he envisioned significant benefits with guaranteed income: A host of positive psychological changes inevitably will result from widespread economic security. The dignity of the individual will flourish when the decisions concerning his life are in his hands, when he has the assurance that his income is stable and certain, and when he knows that he has the means to seek self-improvement. Personal conflicts between husband, wife and children will diminish when the unjust measurement of human worth on a scale of dollars is eliminated. Enacting a basic income will require a mass movement, and the foundations are already in place with Black Lives Matter and Occupy Wall Street. We have reasons to be confident of success. Ideas about economic security were central to the Populist and Progressive movements of the 1880s and 90s. Social Security was enacted in response to two mass movements for guaranteed income, the Townsend Plan and Share Our Wealth. Those movements can be our models and inspiration. “The curse of poverty has no justification in our age,” King wrote. “The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty.” This is how we can truly honor King’s legacy: Join the movement for basic income. And enact it.
THE MORUNG EXPRESS
C O M M E N T A R Y
Rajesh Makwana Commondreams
A New Era of Global Protest Begins R
esearch by Dr. David Bailey provides empirical evidence for what many activists and campaigners have long suspected: that we have entered a prolonged period of dissent characterised by an escalation in the magnitude and diversity of public protest. The UK-based data clearly indicates that the catalyst for this upsurge in social unrest was the financial crisis of 2008, which continues to have a detrimental impact on economic security for the vast majority of citizens – even while the combined wealth of the richest 1% continues to soar. Although many would regard 2011 as the year that mass civil disobedience peaked across the world (as exemplified by the emergence of Occupy and the Arab Spring, or ‘The Protestor’ being named person of the year by Time magazine) Dr. Bailey’s calculations show that 2015 was in fact the year that public mobilisations in the UK hit a record high. It’s not hard to see why protest activity is on an ascending trajectory, especially in light of government policies that continue to redistribute wealth upwards to an affluent minority. As opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn pointed out in response to the current direction of policymaking in the UK, “[this government is] slashing public services, especially at local level, for those who rely on them for security and a decent life. It is driving the NHS and social care into crisis, while accelerating the privatisation and break up of our health and education services.” Unsurprisingly, most of the protests reviewed in Dr. Bailey’s research were austerity-related and convened in response to concerns around pay and working conditions in the public sector, cuts to social services, the privatization of essential services or the lack of affordable housing. More recent catalysts include climate change and the refugee crisis – pressing international issues that remain wholly unresolved and likely to cause further mobilisations in the period ahead. Indeed, with continuing economic stagnation, more austerity measures and growing levels of hunger and poverty anticipated in the coming months, there is every reason to believe that the scale of public disaffection and dissent in the UK will continue to escalate in 2016 and beyond. Rising protest as a global trend The evidence from the UK tallies closely with the situation in other countries, as well as the general perception that social discontent is on the rise across the globe. A spate of studies and meta-analysis in recent years depict how large-scale citizen mobilisations have been intensifying for more than a decade, reaching a new peak in the past five years. According to the conclusion of an extensive study exam-
F
rom Warren Buffett to Bill Gates, it is no secret that the ultra-rich philanthropist class has an over-sized influence in shaping global politics and policies. And a study just out from the Global Policy Forum, an international watchdog group, makes the case that powerful philanthropic foundations—under the control of wealthy individuals—are actively undermining governments and inappropriately setting the agenda for international bodies like the United Nations. The top 27 largest foundations together possess assets of over $360 billion, notes the study, authored by Jens Martens and Karolin Seitz. Nineteen of those foundations are based in the United States and, across the board, they are expanding their influence over the global south. And in so doing, they are undermining democracy and local sovereignty. Notably, foundation spending on global development is skyrocketing, jumping from $3 billion per year over a decade ago to $10 billion today. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation leads the way, giving $2.6 billion in 2012, the report notes. In addition, the Gates Foundation is the largest non-state funder of the World Health Organization. Meanwhile, many of the wealthiest people on the planet are individually jumping into the fray, with 137 billionaires from 14 countries last year pledging large sums to philanthropy. Some among them, like former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, have been criticized for abusing their power and influence in
In line with the steady rise in social unrest over the past decade, it’s likely that we will witness an unprecedented escalation in large-scale citizen protests across the globe in 2016 and beyond ining the complexities of global protests, “The current surge of protests is more global than the wave that occurred during the late 1980s and early 1990s, reaches every region of the world, and affects the full range of political systems—authoritarian, semiauthoritarian, and democratic alike.” But it’s not just the magnitude of protest that has been multiplying; the number of people engaged in public rallies is also rising. A study analysing 843 protests that occurred between 2006-13 in 87 countries concluded that 37 mobilisations attracted one million or more participants. For example, in 2013 around 100 million people marched against inequality and dire living standards in India, and 17 million citizens mobilised in Tahrir Square to oust Egypt’s President Morsi – possibly two of the largest demonstrations in history. Commentators also acknowledge the instrumental role that the internet and social media have played in engaging the population during Occupystyle campaigns, and that global communication networks have even facilitated the spread of protests across national borders. In terms of motivation, the evidence suggests that most protests take place in response to pressing socio-economic concerns, the violation of basic human rights or a lack of democratic governance. Put simply, the majority of protests constitute a demand for wealth and political power to be shared more equitably among citizens. Skeptics might argue that citizen protests are unnecessarily disruptive and do more harm than good, or that they are ineffective at changing laws and regulations. However, the research demonstrates that
this is not the case. Although some 63% of stipulations made by protestors between 2006-2013 were not met by their governments, many of these were for systemic reforms which can only be implemented progressively over time. Moreover, the influence that large-scale demonstrations have on public consciousness should not be underestimated – a point well-articulated in the film ‘We are Many’, which details how the anti-war marches that took place prior to the invasion of Iraq influenced Egyptian activists during the Arab Spring almost a decade later. A new expression of democracy It’s reasonable to conclude from a simple analysis of these trends that a revolutionary change is taking place in the global political landscape. As policymaking becomes increasingly subverted by powerful vested interests, the resulting democratic deficit is being filled by concerned citizens who are demanding that governments take heed of their collective demands. This signifies a fundamental shift in the relationship between citizens and the State, and heralds a new expression of democracy that is still in its infancy but already capable of shaping public opinion, influencing policy discussions and even toppling governments. The peoples’ voice is likely to strengthen dramatically during 2016, especially in response to a deteriorating geopolitical, socio-economic and environmental situation that necessitates a far more effective form of intergovernmental cooperation than has yet been achieved. In response to this epochal challenge, perhaps citizens campaigning on separate issues or based in different countries will also begin to coalesce their activities more concretely around a common set of principles and global priorities, such as a united demand for governments to finally secure basic human rights universally. Without such expressions of international unity and solidarity among both policymakers and protesters, it is difficult to imagine how today’s converging crises can be addressed in a way that upholds the global common good. The only certainty is that government ministers will invite further social unrest if they fail to act on the rising demand for real democracy and justice that is at the heart of the current wave of popular unrest. The way forward has long been clear to global activists and engaged citizens: curtail the power of elites and corporations, and ensure that governance systems truly serve the people and protect the biosphere. As a minimum – and in line with the growing demands of a disaffected majority – this necessitates a radical decentralisation of power and the redistribution of wealth and resources across the world as a whole.
Ultra-Rich 'Philanthrocapitalist' Class Undermining Global Democracy sarah lazare Commondreams
As foundations and wealthy individuals funnel money into global development, what "solutions" are they pursuing? pursuit of questionable policies. "If these and more ultra rich fulfill their pledges, many billions of dollars will be made available for charitable purposes," the authors argue. "It must be noted, however, that the increase in philanthropic giving is just the other side of the coin of growing inequality between rich and poor." As political scientist Gary Olson argued Friday in Common Dreams, "Just to be clear, some Big Philanthropists have done some good work. However, as Peter Buffet (Warren Buffet's son) has argued, philanthropy is largely about letting billionaires feel better about themselves, a form of 'conscience laundering' that simultaneously functions to 'keep the existing system of inequality in place...' by shaping the culture. What's more, the report warns, "The influence of large foundations
in shaping the global development agenda, including health, food, nutrition, and agriculture...raises a number of concerns in terms of how it is affecting governments and the UN development system." The risks of "philanthrocapitalism" are manifold, the researchers argue, including: "fragmentation and weakening of global governance"; "unstable financing"; and "lack of monitoring and accountability mechanisms." "What is the impact of framing the problems and defining development solutions by applying the business logic of profit-making institutions to philanthropic activities, for instance by results-based management or the focus on technological quick-win solutions in the sectors of health and agriculture?" the report poses. A close look at the forces at work within the groups controlling the cash flow re-
WRITE-WING
veals numerous causes for concern. "Through their multiple channels of influence, the Rockefeller and Gates foundations have been very successful in promoting their market-based and bio-medical approaches towards global health challenges in the research and health policy community—and beyond," the authors state. Moreover, the report continues, "there is a revolving door between the Gates Foundation and pharmaceutical corporations. Many of the Foundation's staff had held positions at pharmaceutical companies such as Merck, GSK, Novartis, Bayer HealthCare Services and Sanofi Pasteur." Looking at agriculture and farming, meanwhile, the Gates Foundation is undermining self-determination and local solutions in measurable ways. "The vast majority of the Gates Foundation's agricultural development grants focus on Africa," the report notes. "However, over 80 percent of the U.S. $669 million to NGOs went to organizations based in the U.S. and Europe, with only 4 percent going to Africa-based NGOs. Similarly, of the U.S. $678 million grants to universities and research centers, 79 percent went to grantees in the U.S. and Europe and only 12 percent to recipients in Africa." Both the Gates and Rockefeller Foundations have been slammed by international grassroots groups, including the global peasant movement La Via Campesina, for their international role in exporting big agricultural models, privatizing food policies, and expanding the power of companies like Monsanto.
Letters to the Editor should be sent to: The morung express, House No. 4, Duncan Bosti, Dimapur - 797112, Or –email: morung@gmail.com All letters (including those via email) should have the full name and Postal address of the sender. Readers may please note that the contents of the articles, letters and opinions published do not reflect the outlook of this paper nor of the Editor in any form.
thursDAY 21•01•2016
PERSPECTIVE
THE MORUNG EXPRESS
7
What Do We Owe Each Other? Two Thirds of 2015 T
Aaron James Wendland New York Times
he thousands of refugees who continue to arrive in Europe each day face barriers: not only physical barriers — walls, fences, barbed wire — but an even deeper resistance, in the nationalism and xenophobia bubbling up across the Continent. A handful of recent events — Islamic State attacks in Istanbul, Paris and elsewhere, as well as the mass assault of women in Cologne, Germany, on New Year’s Eve — continue to feed a deep-seated and often irrational fear of the “other.” And then there is the debate about refugees coming to the United States, where a nationalist sentiment has also emerged, often in the rhetoric of certain presidential candidates. Now, in Germany and elsewhere, doors are closing. But what are the potential consequences of this resistance to outsiders, to those in need? Is it justified? Do we owe the suffering and dispossessed something more, if we are to call ourselves ethical beings? Few philosophers confronted questions like these more directly than Emmanuel Levinas. Born into a Jewish family in Kaunas, Lithuanian in 1906, Levinas moved to France in 1923 and studied philosophy in Germany under Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger in the late 1920s. Levinas made a name for himself in the 1930s as one of the first interpreters and defenders of Husserl’s and Heidegger’s phenomenology in France, but his commitment to and understanding of phenomenology’s often arcane search for the meaning of being was transformed during the Second World War. Levinas was drafted into the French Army in 1939. He was taken prisoner by the Nazis in 1940. And while his status as an officer saved him from being sent to the concentration camps, all the members of his immediate family were killed by the Nazis for their Jewish faith and ancestry. After the war, Levinas’s abiding concern was to describe the concrete source of ethical relations between human beings: our ability to respond to the wants and needs of others. The epigraph to Levinas’s “Otherwise Than Being” reads: “To the memory of those who were closest among the six million assassinated by the National Socialists, and of the millions upon millions of all confessions and all nations, victims of the same hatred of the other man, the same anti-semitism.” The book that follows is a profound meditation on the essence of exclusion. It is also an uncompromising account of a basic hospitality that constitutes our humanity. And Levinas’s extensive body of work has much to teach us about the nature and danger of nationalism as well as the necessity of welcoming and protecting vulnerable human beings. Nationalism is the result of identification and differentiation and it follows from the similarities and differences we see between ourselves and others. As an American, you share the same upbringing with many of your fellow citizens. Your background is different than that of most Britons or Italians. And it is partially by recognizing the traits you share with Americans and then distinguishing them from citizens of other states that you develop your sense of identity. But as we know from history, this identity building, taken to extremes, can often lead to horrible things. Levinas traces the roots of virulent nationalism to the sharp distinctions we draw between “same” and “other.” And while identification and differentiation enables the formation of personal identity, it can also result in hostility when the traits we use to distinguish ourselves from others are totalized and taken as absolute. “Totalization” occurs when members of one group take a feature of another group to be both definitive of that group and all members in it. Generalizations like “Americans are outgoing,” “Brits are reserved” and “Italians are passionate” are often unfairly applied to individual Americans, Britons or Italians. And negative stereotypes such as “Jews are greedy,” “Blacks are dangerous” and “Muslims are terrorists” have a history of leading to unjust aggression against members of those communities. In each of these examples, we reduce others to a simple or single category that distinguishes “them” from “us” in an absolute way. And this reduction often produces an allergic reaction to others; a re-
An Internally displaced Syrian youth carries a baby inside a refugee camp in the Hama countryside, Syria. (Reuters Photo)
action exemplified by the rush to build fences around Europe to keep Afghan, Iraqi and Syrian refugees out. Levinas’s antihistamine for our allergic reactions involves three things: an appeal to the “infinity” in human beings, a detailed description of face-to-face encounters and an account of a basic hospitality that constitutes humanity. Infinity is Levinas’s technical term for the idea that other people are always more than our categories can capture. You may be a British Anglican from the Midlands, but you’re much more than that. You are a father, a son and a husband. You have black hair, blue eyes and a graying beard. You have political opinions and controversial beliefs about the beginning of the world. And so on, ad infinitum. Similarly, a Syrian refugee may be Muslim, but she’s much more than that! She is a mother, a daughter and a wife. She has black hair, brown eyes and a sharp jaw-line. She has political opinions and controversial beliefs about the beginning of the world. And so on, ad infinitum. By calling attention to this infinity in human beings, Levinas was trying to show us that our identifications and differentiations always fail as adequate descriptions of others. And he aims to interrupt our totalizing and xenophobic tendencies by indicating the irreducible humanity of other human beings. Concretely, the irreducible humanity of other human beings is found in the face. Faces confront us directly and immediately and they refuse typologies. Levinas indicates the irreducibility of others by speaking of God’s presence in the face, but his account of the face also illustrates another aspect of human beings: vulnerability. The face is naked, exposed, and open to attack. It is hungry and thirsty. And it seeks protection and nourishment. Levinas invokes the stranger, the widow and the orphan as examples of deprivation. We could also add asylum seekers and embattled exiles as acute cases of suffering. However, Levinas’s general account of vulnerability shows us how hospitality in the face of another’s need constitutes individual human beings and bespeaks
a humanity that precedes and is more fundamental than the establishment of all national boundaries. Hospitality, according to Levinas, involves curtailing our enjoyment of the world when confronted with another’s wants. It is exemplified by the act of welcoming another into our home and sharing our possessions. Welcoming and sharing with others determines who and what we are as specific human beings. Levinas expresses this idea in a discussion of subjectivity in which the self is described as a host and hostage to others. We are hosts to others because welcoming them into our world is a precondition for a relation of identification and differentiation between us. And we are hostages because our personal identity is determined by how we respond to the demands others place upon us. For instance, your identity as an Italian high school teacher is achieved with your recognition and response to the fact that others want an education. Likewise, a Syrian man’s status as a trafficker of refugees is possible via his recognition and response to an exile’s need for safe passage across the sea. With these examples we discover that our place in a distinct human community is based on our ability to respond to the wants and needs of others. Yet Levinas shows us that hospitality not only determines our identities in specific communities but is also the mark of humanity — hospitality is the basis of human community as such. The existence of distinct human communities presupposes our ability to welcome and share our property with others. “To recognize the other,” Levinas wrote in “Totality and Infinity,” “is to come to him across the world of possessed things, but at the same time to establish, by gift, community and universality.” Once our enjoyment of the world has been questioned by another’s need, hospitality establishes human community in the act of giving and with the creation of a common tongue. Language, Levinas wrote in his work, is universal because it is the very passage from the individual to the general, because it offers things that are mine to the other. To speak is to make the world common, to create commonplaces. Language does not refer to the generality of concepts, but lays the foundations for a possession in common. It abolishes the inalienable property of enjoyment. The world in discourse is no longer what it is in separation, in the being at home with oneself where everything is given to me; it is what I give: the communicable, the thought, the universal. While the creation of a common tongue is the basis of human community, language also allows us to label others and thus explicitly identify and distinguish our selves from them. This facilitates our tendency to overlook a face in need and see a “Syrian” or “Muslim” that is not like me. The foundation of a human community also raises the question of “other others” whereby any face-to-face encounter may be interrupted by the face of another. We are asked, in other words, to share our possessions with all human beings. Levinas sees this request as an infinite but impossible responsibility, since we could give what we have to anyone, but we do not have enough to give to all. In the face of this impossible responsibility we require justice: the systematic organization and distribution of resources amongst human beings. And from here we are not far from the formation of nation states with rigid identities and physical boundaries and the barbed-wire resistance with which we began. Although we seem to have come full circle, Levinas has taught us that our responsibility for others is the foundation of all human communities, and that the very possibility of living in a meaningful human world is based on our ability to give what we can to others. And since welcoming and sharing are the foundation upon which all communities are formed, no amount of inhospitable nationalism can be consistently defended when confronted with the suffering of other human beings. “In the relationship between same and other, my welcoming of the other is,” as Levinas puts it, “the ultimate fact.” It is the hospitality of humanity, or a peace prior to all hostility. And in this primary peace, in this basic welcoming of refugees, Levinas reminds us that “things figure not as what one builds but as what one gives.” Aaron James Wendland is a research fellow at the University of Tartu, in Estonia, and a co-editor of the books “Wittgenstein and Heidegger” and the forthcoming “Heidegger on Technology.”
Conflicts undermine battle against rural poverty
T
Thalif Deen Inter Press Service
he ongoing battle against rural poverty is in danger of being undermined by a growing number of insurgencies and political upheavals – mostly in Africa. Currently, nine out of 16 UN peacekeeping missions are in strife-torn Africa, including in Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Sudan, Central African Republic (CAR), Sudan and Cote d’Ivoire. At the same time, an African Union (AU) peacekeeping mission is standing by in politically-troubled Burundi which is on the brink of a civil war. Asked if current conflicts are setbacks in fighting rural poverty, Dr Shenggen Fan, Director General of the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), told IPS: “Absolutely.” “We have seen increased correlation between conflict, poverty and hunger. It is the regions or countries in conflict, (where) poverty and hunger levels are the highest”. In some of the conflict zones, he pointed out, hunger and poverty have actually increased compared to the global level where they actually declined. “As we know, most of the hunger and poverty are in rural areas. We must break the vicious circle of conflict and hunger/poverty,” said Dr Fan, who received the 2014 Hunger Hero Award from the World Food Programme (WFP) in recognition of his leadership in fighting hunger worldwide. Addressing the UN’s Economic and Financial Committee last October, Carla Mucavi of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) emphasized the need for intense agricultural and rural development — since 75 percent of the world’s poor lived in rural areas of developing countries. Last September, the WFP said it was increasing food aid to hundreds of thou-
sands of hungry people, many severely malnourished, who have fled to Chad, Niger and Cameroon to escape attacks by Boko Haram militants in northeastern Nigeria. According to the WFP, nearly three quarters of a million people in countries bordering Nigeria are facing a worsening food crisis linked to increased violence by Boko Haram. Danielle Nierenberg, President, Food Tank: The Food Think Tank, told IPS poverty equals food insecurity in many rural areas of the developing world, particularly sub-Saharan Africa. When harvests are bad or there isn’t enough food to the last though the hunger season, the rural poor don’t have any safety net, she said. As a result, malnutrition, stunting, and micronutrient deficiencies impact millions of people living in isolated rural areas. Unfortunately, when people are hungry and angry—as a result of lack of jobs, lack of rural infrastructure, lack of education, or the impacts of climate change—they become “hangry”, she added, coining a new word. “This can lead to social unrest like we saw during the Arab Spring or today in Syria. That’s why it’s important for governments to invest in not just rural areas, but also in making rural areas economically and intellectually stimulating places for youth to live and where they see agriculture as an opportunity, not a burden.” She said investing in the next generation of agricultural leaders—not only farmers, but scientists, extension agents, researchers, and policymakers who care about food agriculture—is not only important for food security, but also for national and international security. “If we really care about preventing terrorism and social unrest, we need to invest and support rural agriculture and livelihoods”, she declared. Asked if conflicts are also forcing migration from villages to urban areas — or vice versa (depending on the location of the fighting), Dr Fan told IPS conflict
and wars force people to move from their homes to other regions or even other countries. Increasingly, these refugees live in urban centers or in non-agricultural regions (Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, and lately Europe). Most of the refugee camps are close to cities. “Thus we must pay increasing attention to poverty and hunger in urban areas as people are moving to cities either because of economic reasons or conflict. The climate change will further complicate the challenge”, Dr Fan declared. Reflecting on the shortage of water and sanitation facilities in poverty-stricken rural communities, Tim Brewer, Policy Analyst at the UK-based WaterAid told IPS the lack of basic public health services such as water and sanitation is a huge and significant problem in rural areas of developing countries. He said more than 426 million people in low income and lowermiddle income countries don’t have access to clean water, and more than 1.35 billion in these countries do not have basic sanitation. “Rural poverty frequently goes hand-in-hand with the lack of access to safe water,” he pointed out. For instance, on average, one-third (32.3%) of all Sub-Saharan Africans do not have access to clean drinking water and more than 70% don’t have access to a decent, private toilet. In rural areas, the numbers are even more dramatic: almost 44% of rural Sub-Saharan Africans don’t have access to clean water, and nearly 77% of rural Sub-Saharan Africans don’t have access to basic sanitation, Brewer said. “We also see far higher numbers of people in rural areas — 700% more than in urban areas — depending upon surface water, namely ponds, rivers and lakes, which suggests long, dangerous walks for water.” Rates of open defecation, which carries huge risk of infection transmission, are also much higher in rural areas. This
is true in virtually all developing countries, he noted. The chore of fetching water often falls to women and girls, taking up precious time that could be spent caring for family, earning an income, studying or at leisure. Illnesses caused by dirty water and poor sanitation mean lost productivity and lost time in school, as well as straining fragile health systems – all further entrenching the cycle of poverty, Brewer said. “Diarrhoea remains one of the top three causes of child death. Sepsis claims half a million new born babies worldwide each year, and is caused by infections which can often be prevented by good hygiene practices – which require water and sanitation services to be in place.” He said the number of people with access to clean water worldwide is growing but progress has been uneven, particularly in poorer countries. Drought, flood and extreme weather shocks exacerbated by climate change are also making lives more difficult; poor communities find it harder to come back from natural disasters, especially if their access to water and sanitation was already fragile. Conversely, Brewer said, sustainable and robust water and sanitation services help poor communities to be resilient to these shocks, as well as to other changes such as increases in population when people move. “Access to safe water and basic sanitation, as well as good hygiene practises like handwashing with soap, are the first essential building blocks in development.” In September, world leaders ratified 17 new Global Goals to eradicate extreme poverty and build a fairer, more sustainable world. In rural areas particularly, goals to end poverty, malnutrition, preventable diseases and gender inequality depend on achieving universal provision of the human rights to basic water and sanitation, he declared.
Journalist Deaths were Acts of Reprisal Katherine Mackenzie
O
Inter Press Service
f the 69 journalists who died on the job in 2015, 40 per cent were killed by Islamic militant groups like Al-Qaeda and Islamic State. Startlingly more than two-thirds were targeted for murder, according to a special report by the Committee to Protect Journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in its annual report that nine of those killings took place in France, second to Syria as the most dangerous country for the press in last year. Globally 69 journalists were killed due to their vocation, including those slain for their reporting and those caught in crossfire or in conflict. The total for 2015 is higher than the 61 journalists killed in 2014. The CPJ says it is investigating the deaths of a further 26 more journalists during the year to determine if they too were work-related. In 2012, 2013, and 2014, those killed in Syria exceeded those than anywhere else in the world. But the fewer number this year dying on the job in Syria only means it is so dangerous that there are fewer journalists working there, said the report. Many international news agencies chose to withdraw staff anf local reporters were forced to flee, said the CPJ. The report cited difficulties in researching cases in conflict including Libya, Yemen and Iraq. CPJ went on a research mission to Iraq last year investigating reports that some 35 journalists from the Mosul area had gone missing, were killed or being held by Islamic State. The militant group has a grip on the city so the CPJ said it could only confirm the deaths of a few journalists. The committee’s report said it had received reports of dozens of other journalists killed but could not independently confirm the deaths or if indeed, journalism was the reason. It said several of these journalists are currently on CPJ’s missing list. The Charlie Hebdo massacre that took place in Paris last January was claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Eight journalists at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo were targeted. Islamic State in October murdered two Syrian journalists living in exile in Turkey, Fares Hamadi and Ibrahim Abd al-Qader. Abd al-Qader was given CPJ’s 1015 International Press Freedom Award as he was an early member of Raqaa is Being Slaughtered Silently, a Syrian citizen journalist group. “In Bangladesh, members of an Al-Qaeda affiliate or another local extremist group, Ansarullah Bangla Team, were suspected in the hacking or stabbing murders of a publisher and four bloggers, including U.S.-Bangladeshi writer Avijit Roy, who was attending a book fair when he was killed,”said the report. The Taliban in Pakistan claimed responsibility for the shooting of Zaman Mehsud, president and secretary-general of the Tribal Union of Journalists’ South Waziristan chapter and reporter for the Urdu-language Daily Ummat and Daily Nai Baat newspapers. In Somalia, Hindia Haji Mohamed, a journalist and the widow of another murdered journalist, was killed in December when a bomb blew up her car in an attack claimed by the Islamic militant group al-Shabaab. Governments around the world were jailing at least 110 journalists on anti-state charges. This is out of 199 total jailed, according to CPJ’s most recent annual prison census.—It shows how the press is being cornered and targeted by terrorists and also squeezed by the squeezed by authorities saying there were committed to fighting terror as well, it said. More than two thirds of the journalists killed in 2015 were targeted and murdered as a direct result of their work. The report said about one third of journalists’ deaths worldwide were carried out by criminal groups, government officials, or local residents who were, in most cases, drug traffickers or those involved in organized crime. They included Brazilian Gleydson Carvalho, shot dead by two men while he was presenting his afternoon radio show. He was often critical of politicians and police Brazil had six killings last year, the highest since CPJ began keeping records in 1992. But Brazilian judicial authorities have made headway in combating impunity by getting six convictions in murder cases in the last two years, said the report. South Sudan registered for the first time on CPJ’s index of slain journalists when unidentified gunmen attacked an official convoy killing five journalists traveling with a county official. The motive is still unknown but there have been various accusations. Some say this could have been the result of the power struggle between former Vice President Riek Machar and President Salva Kiir which set off the civil war in 2013. The murders of the five landed South Sudan on CPJ’s Global Impunity Index, which highlights countries where journalists are murdered and there is no one held responsible so their killers go free. South Sudan, Poland and Ghana appeared on CPJ’s killed database for the first time. In Poland, Łukasz Masiak, was fatally assaulted in a bowling alley after telling colleagues he feared for his life. He was the founder and editor of a news website and reported on crime and drugs and pollution. In Ghana, radio reporter George Abanga, was shot dead on his way back from covering a cocoa farmers dispute. CPJ cites these trends from its research: • Seventeen journalists worldwide were killed in combat or crossfire. Five were killed on a dangerous assignment. • At least 28 of the 47 murder victims received threats before they were killed. • Broadcast reporting was the most dangerous job, with 25 killed. Twenty-nine victims worked online. • The most common type of reporting by victims was politics, followed by war and human rights. CPJ, in 1992, began compiling detailed records on all journalist deaths. If motives in a killing are unclear, it is possible that a journalist died in relation to his or her work and CPJ classifies the case as “unconfirmed” and continues to investigate. CPJ said its list does not include journalists who died of illness or natural causes or were killed in car or plane accidents unless the crash considered hostile action.
Readers may please note that, the contents of the articles published on this page do not reflect the outlook of this paper nor of the Editor in any form.
8
ThursdAY 21•01•2016
INDIA
THE MORUNG EXPRESS
Irani denies 'Dalit versus non-Dalit issue'
H y d e R A b A d / N eW deLHI, JANUARy 20 (IANs): As protests continued for the fourth day at University of Hyderabad over a Dalit research scholar's suicide, the central government said on Wednesday that this was not a "Dalit versus nonDalit issue". Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani said there was a "malicious attempt to project it as a caste battle". Another central minister, Bandaru Dattatreya, insisted he did not influence the university to suspend Rohith Vemula - who killed himself - and four other students. "There has been a malicious attempt to project the issue as a caste battle. The truth is that, it is not," Irani told the media in New Delhi, in her first reaction to the raging row. She said the case was being "misrepresented". "It's not a Dalit versus non-Dalit confrontation," she said, adding there had been media debates suggesting that Vemula mentioned the names of people and organisations who forced him to commit suicide.
HC judge should probe scholar's suicide: Cong NeW deLHI, JANUARy 20 (IANs): The Congress on Wednesday demanded the removal of union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya and Hyderabad University vice chancellor Appa Rao over the suicide of a Dalit research scholarand sought a probe by a high court judge into their role and that of the human resource development ministry. Congress spokesperson Deepender Singh Hooda told the media here that the Hyderabad University had stopped payment of the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) stipend to Rohith Vemula, who committed suicide last Sunday, since July 2015 and asked if it was not a case of "clearcut harassment". Hooda accused PM Narendra Modi of keeping silent on the issue. Hooda said a university board had recommended removing suspension of all 5 Ph.D. students, including Vemula, but later "changed its stance" under pressure from the vice chancellor and the HRD ministry.
Rohith Vemula’s mother breaks down during a protest at Hyderabad Central University.
She flashed a letter, saying it was the only document police got while investigating the case. She also read out a few lines from the letter, suggesting what was being widely projected was not the truth. The other suspended students, who continued their protest on the campus, condemned Irani and accused her of trying to
twist the facts. The Joint Action Committee (JAC) for social justice, an umbrella of student groups, continue its protest at the university that remained shut. The protesters have vowed not to allow classes till Vice Chancellor Appa Rao resigns and justice is done to Rohith's family. A two-member committee sent by the human
resource development ministry continued its probe for a second consecutive day. Minister of State for Labour Dattareya, who represents Secunderabad in the Lok Sabha, clarified that he did not put pressure on the university to suspend any student. He said he merely forwarded two represen-
tations he got from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) to the human resource development ministry. Dattatreya extended his heartfelt condolences to Rohith's family. Politicians meanwhile continued to swarm the campus for the second day. On Wednesday, CPI-M general secretary Sitaram
Yechury sought President Pranab Mukherjee's intervention. The president is Visitor of the university. Addressing the students, Yechury demanded the sacking of central ministers Irani and Dattatreya and also the vice chancellor, saying all three were part of a criminal conspiracy. He called the probe or-
He accused HRD Minister Smriti Irani of trying to mislead the country on the issue. Hooda also referred to "five communications" of the ministry to the university following a letter by Dattatreya, and said "it clearly demonstrates the malice and malafide writ large". Hooda accused the Modi government of "anti-Dalit and anti-poor mindset" and said it had imposed a cut of Rs.19,734 crore in the Scheduled Castes sub-plan in 2015-16 and a cut of Rs.305.78 crore in the post-matric scholarship scheme for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in 2015-16. "Instead of apologising for the tragic loss of Rohith Vemula, Mrs. Smriti Irani is shamelessly describing it as 'not dalit vs anti-dalit issue'. The Congress demands that the prime minister breaks his silence and takes concrete action," he said. Hooda demanded that suspension of the remaining 4 Dalit doctoral scholars should be immediately withdrawn, and Dattatreya and Rao should be immediately removed from their posts.
dered by the ministry an eyewash, saying a judicial or CBI investigation should be ordered. When Republican Party of India leader Ramdas Athawale came to the campus, he had to face the ire of students who asked him to first withdraw support to the BJP-led NDA government. Police escorted him out. YSR Congress party
chief Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy also met the students and demanded action against the guilty. Trinamool Congress MPs Derek O'Brien and Pratima Mondal also met the students. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will visit Hyderabad on Thursday to meet the family of Rohith, an official told IANS.
UJC chairman warns Pakistan govt against crackdown Focus on peace-building to protect civilians in armed conflicts: India
MUZAFFARAbAd, JANUARy 20 (ReUTeRs): The Pakistanbased chief of a militant alliance fighting for an end to Indian rule in divided Kashmir openly condemned on Wednesday a crackdown by the Pakistan government against another group India blames for an attack on an air base. Syed Salahuddin, the chairman of the United Jihad Council (UJC), an alliance of pro-Pakistan militant groups based in the Pakistani-administered part of the divided Kashmir region, had claimed responsibility for the assault in Pathankot on January 2. The claim of responsibility was met with a sceptical response
among India's security establishment, which blames another group called Jaish-e-Mohammed. Last week, Pakistan arrested the head of Jaish-e-Mohammed as well as several other leaders of the group and shut down offices and seminaries linked to the outfit. "We are at a loss to understand whether they (the Pakistan government) are concerned about the interests of the country that feeds them or that of its enemy?" Salahuddin told a news conference, referring to the government's crackdown. "Pakistan is not only an advocate but also a party to the longstanding Kashmir dispute and therefore the Pakistani people, government and
'Indoor air pollution causing low birth weight' NeW deLHI, JANUARy 20 (IANs): One of the major reasons for low weight among newborns in rural India was the continuous exposure of pregnant women to indoor air pollution, according to doctors. Doctors have said indoor air pollution caused by the 'chulhas' burning wood, coal and animal dung as fuel was the major factor behind the occurrence of a slew of diseases including respiratory diseases among women. They said that apart from low birth weight, the continuous exposure of pregnaynt women to air pollution can also lead to brain deformity, asthma and improper growth among newborns. "For a woman, the time between conception and birth is perhaps one of the most vital life stages. "If a pregnant woman is exposed to too much of air pollution, carbon monoxide in the air causes interference in the passage of oxygen, which leads to oxygen insufficiency and hence results in low birth weight or even death," said Bandita Sinha, an obstetrics and gynaecology specialist at Apollo Hospital and Fortis. As per data released by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), 5 lakh lives are lost in India every year due to indoor air pollution. Most of them are women and children.
media should play the role of a patron rather than of an adversary." Salahuddin's public comments could cause further tensions between the two nuclear armed rivals, with New Delhi accusing Islamabad of tolerating groups openly hostile to India. He spoke at the Press Club in Muzzafarabad, capital of Pakistaniadministered part of Kashmir. Police outside the club made no move to arrest him. Following the Jan. 2 attack on the Indian air base, the United Jihad Council had warned that their attacks "can engulf all of India" if the issue of Kashmir's divided rule is not resolved. Since the attack in Pathankot,
UNITed NATIoNs, JANUARy 20 (IANs): The UN should focus on peacebuilding initiatives as the lasting solution to protect civilians during armed conflict and after, rather than making the task a part of the transitory peacekeeping operations, according to India. In his first address to the Security Council, India's newly appointed Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin said Tuesday, "Efforts at peace building should be initiated right at the beginning and the cause of the armed conflict addressed through national reconciliation and inclusive political processes giving all sections of society a stake in peaceful co-existence." Speaking at a debate on protection of civilians in armed conflict, Akbaruddin said the world body should "consider dis-aggregating the complex multidimensional nature of the UN peacekeeping mandates, and address issues confronting protection of civilians in armed conflict situations through focused peace-building activities, so that the transition to a post-conflict society can be sustainable." Because protection of civilians is primarily a national responsibility, he said that "contribution to national capacity building rather than intervention mechanisms should be the priority." Invoking the heroism of Gurbachan Singh Salaria, an Indian Army captain who was killed during the UN operations in Congo during the 1960s, Akbaruddin, said however that peacekeepers have and will continue to rise to the defence of civilians when they are in danger. "Even though the notion of 'ProMembers of the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) band ride their camels as they take part in the rehearsal for the Republic Day parade in New Delhi on January 20. (REUTERS Photo) tection of Civilians' was not part of the
Activists skeptical as Kerala becomes first in primary education goal
Seven year old twins Shahana (R) and Shahala (L) walk to their school in Kodinji village in the southern Indian city of Kerala July 28, 2009. (REUTERS File Photo)
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JANUARy 20 (THoMsoN ReUTeRs FoUNdATIoN): Activists welcomed the south Indian state of Kerala being named the first in the country to give a primary education to its entire population, but stressed the need to improve the quality of education. Vice President Hamid Ansari last week declared the coastal state of 34 million - popular among tourists for its backwater canals and lagoons - had achieved its goal to educate its
Pakistan has said it is clamping down on Jaish-e-Mohammed, which India has long accused Pakistani authorities of tolerating, while it investigates Indian assertions that the attack was the work of the militants based in Pakistan. India has demanded that Pakistan take action against the group and last week announced that the two countries would reschedule talks between their foreign ministers while the investigation into the air base attack was carried out. Jaish-e-Mohammed militants are blamed for a 2001 attack on India's parliament that nearly led to a war between the nuclear-armed rivals.
population to the primary standard of grade 4. Officials attribute the success to a scheme called Athulyam, which targeted over a period of 5 years more than 200,000 people between the ages of 15 and 50, including school dropouts, prison inmates and physically disabled people. Athulyam, which means unequalled, used limited resources, officials said, and relied on the participation of volunteers and civil society groups to identify and enrol individuals in more than 4,000 educa-
tion centres across the state. But activists in Kerala said they were not impressed by the declaration, adding that programmes like Athulyam would only make a difference if more investment went toward improving the overall quality of education. "Programmes like Athulyam may bring accolades to Kerala, but it will not help the people. A total revamp of the education system is needed if Kerala has to build on the achievements the state has made in the education sector," activist and writer M.N. Karassery said on Wednesday. Other activists agreed. "Several universities in the country are denying admission to students from Kerala as they feel that they got inflated marks," said M.G. Sasibhooshan, an activist and historian. "The Delhi University, for example, reduces 10% marks from the total marks obtained by a student in Kerala for admitting them to their course," he added. According to India's 2011 census, Kerala had a literacy rate of 93.9%, the highest in the country. But in 2013, northeastern Tripura claimed it had surpassed Kerala as the most literate state in India, with a literacy rate of 94.7%.
mandate" of the UN peacekeeping operations then, Akbaruddin said, Salaria and about 45 Indian soldiers made the supreme sacrifice to protect civilians. Salaria of the Gurkha Rifles led his company in December 1961 against the secessionist Katanga forces loyal to Moise Kapenda Tshombe, who were on a mission to encircle the UN headquarters in Elisabethville, now known as Lubumbashi. With bayonets, khukris and hand-grenades, they charged the much large force of Katanga gendarmes routing them. Tshombe, a supporter of Belgian colonialists, opposed the UN and its peacekeeping operations to restore peace in newly independent Congo. Salaria was posthumously awarded India's highest military honor, theParam Vir Chakra. Akbaruddin pointed out that it took the UN 35 years to recognise his sacrifice with a Dag Hammarskjold Medal. Akbaruddin reinforced the case for the Council consulting with troopcontributing countries. "As a developing country with years of peacekeeping experience, we feel frequent and regular consultation between the Council, the Secretariat and Troop Contributing Countries will enhance the credibility and effectiveness of the Council in protecting civilians," he said. The lack of consultations hurts "the troop contributing countries who put their troops lives at risk in the service of the UN," the host countries, the Council and, ultimately, the entire UN. Last month, the Council acknowledged that the consultation process with troop contributors was flawed and called "importance of substantive, representative and meaningful exchanges."
India must strengthen planned law to protect transgender people: RIghts grp NeW deLHI, JANUARy 20 (THoMsoN ReUTeRs FoUNdATIoN): India's draft law aimed at protecting the rights of the transgender community must be strengthened to allow people to be legally recognised by self identification rather than based on the opinions of experts, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday. India's upper house of parliament in April last year passed "The Rights of Transgender Persons Bill" which recognises the right of an individual to be termed as of a third gender and provides them with benefits in education and employment. The bill, which was introduced by a private member, is now in the process of being formulated into a possible law by the ministry of social justice and empowerment and will be put before both houses in the coming months. But New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said there were several problems with the current bill, including a proposal that identity certificates be issued to individuals based on the recommendations of a "screen-
Participants dance under a giant rainbow flag during Delhi Queer Pride Parade, an event promoting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights, in New Delhi. (REUTERS File Photo)
ing committee" of experts. "The Transgender Persons Bill will help protect and empower India's transgender population, but the government needs also to address the bill's shortcomings," Meenakshi Ganguly, HRW's South Asia director, said in a statement. "With the input of the transgender community, the government should ensure that a new law lays out a strong legal
framework in line with the constitution and international law, and provides effective enforcement." Campaigners say there are hundreds of thousands of transgender people in India but because they were not legally recognised, they have been ostracised, faced discrimination, abuse and often forced into prostitution. In April 2014, India's Su-
preme court recognised transgender as a legal third gender and, in a landmark judgment lauded by human rights groups, called on the government to ensure their equal treatment. HRW said the proposal of a committee -- including government officials, medical experts such as psychologists, social workers and members of transgender community -- to determine if a person qualifies as a third gender was not the only problem with the bill. The bill also needs to be expanded to take into account the specific concerns of intersex persons and must also address the rights of transgender and gender non-conforming children, including their right to access education, said the group. "The Transgender Persons Bill offers the promise of both changing archaic laws and thinking about transgender people in India," Ganguly said. "The government has taken the first steps to providing transgender people legal protections. Now it needs to strengthen the draft to ensure good intentions are turned into a reality."
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Militants storm Pak university, kill at least 20 CHARSADDA/ISLAMABAD, JAnuARy 20 (REuTERS): Armed militants stormed a university in volatile northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing at least 20 people and wounding dozens a little more than a year after the massacre of 134 students at a school in the area, officials said. A senior Pakistani Taliban commander claimed responsibility for the assault in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, but an official spokesman later denied involvement, calling the attack “un-Islamic”. The violence nevertheless shows that militants retain the ability to launch attacks, despite a country-wide anti-terrorism crackdown and a military campaign against their strongholds along the lawless border with Afghanistan. A security official said the death toll could rise to as high as 40 at Bacha Khan University in the city of Charsadda. The army said it had concluded operations to clear the campus six hours after the attack began, and that four gunmen were dead. A spokesman for rescue workers, Bilal Ahmad Faizi, said 19 bodies had been recovered including stu-
Soldiers gather outside Bacha Khan University where an attack by militants took place, in Charsadda, Pakistan on January 20. (REUTERS Photo)
dents, guards, policemen and at least one teacher, named by media as chemistry professor Syed Hamid Husain. Husain reportedly shot back at the gunmen with a pistol to allow his students to flee. Many of the dead were apparently shot in the head execution-style, TV footage
showed. The militants, using the cover of thick, wintry fog, scaled the walls of the university on Wednesday morning before entering buildings and opening fire on students and teachers in classrooms and hostels, police said. Students told media they saw several young
men wielding AK-47 guns storming the university housing where many students were sleeping. “They came from behind and there was a big commotion,” an unnamed male student told a news channel from a hospital bed in Charsadda’s District Hospital. “We were told by
teachers to leave immediately. Some people hid in bathrooms.” Thirty five of the wounded remain in hospital, a local police official said late on Wednesday. CONTRADICTING CLAIMS The gunmen attacked as the university prepared
to host a poetry recital on Wednesday afternoon to commemorate the death anniversary of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, a popular ethnic Pashtun independence activist after whom the university is named. Vice Chancellor Fazal Rahim told reporters that the university teaches over 3,000 students and was hosting an additional 600 visitors for the poetry recital. Umar Mansoor, a senior Pakistani Taliban commander involved in the December 2014 attack on the army school in Peshawar, claimed responsibility for the Charsadda assault and said it involved four of his men. He told Reuters by telephone the university was targeted because it was a government institution that supported the army. However, later in the day, official Taliban spokesman Muhammad Khorasani issued a written statement disassociating the militants from the attack, calling it un-Islamic. “Youth who are studying in non-military institutions, we consider them as builders of the future nation and we consider their safety and protection our duty,” the statement said.
Too much sugar during NKorea nuke test did not increase technical capability WASHINGTON, January 20 (Re- Then-Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel smaller and lighter.” adolescence leads to uters): North Korea’s Jan. 6 nuclear ordered 14 additional interceptors to Admiral Bill Gortney, commandtest did not expand its technical capabe put in place in March 2013 after er of Northern Command, has eating disorder: Study bility, but the U.S. government is keep- North Korea’s third nuclear test. said heU.S.believes North Korea already LOnDOn, JAnuARy 20 (IAnS): Over-consumption of sugar during adolescence may alter the brain’s reward circuits -- leading to substance abuse or eating disorders, warns a new study. The researchers found that this decrease in reward relates to reduced activity in one of the key hubs of the brain’s reward circuitry, called the nucleus accumbens. “In spite of the dramatic increase in the consumption of sweet palatable foods during adolescence in our modern societies, the long-term consequences of such exposure on brain reward processing remain poorly understood,” said senior author Martine Cador, director of The French National Centre for Scientific Research in the European Journal of Neuroscience. The nucleus accumbens plays a central role in the reward circuit. Its operation is based chiefly on two essential neurotransmitters: dopamine, which promotes desire, and serotonin, whose effects include satisfaction and insecurity. The new study in rats may provide significant insights into the long-term impacts of over-consumption of sugary foods during adolescence. The study shows that the enjoyment of such foods later in adulthood is reduced in those who over consumed early in life. Such long-lasting alterations could have important implications for reward-related disorders such as substance abuse or eating disorders.
ing a close eye on Pyongyang’s efforts to develop a thermonuclear warhead capable of reaching the United States, the head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said on Tuesday. “I would assess that their technical capability has not increased,” Vice Admiral James Syring told an event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “That said, everything that they’re doing continues to be alarming and provoking. ... We continue to watch it closely.” Syring gave no further details on what was North Korea’s fourth nuclear test. The United States has made no major changes in efforts to identify, track and intercept potential North Korean missile threats as a result of the latest test, he said. “If it was warranted, you would see our program change,” he said. “We are absolutely on the right path to stay ahead of that threat.” He said the Missile Defense Agency would have 37 ground-based interceptors in place in Alaska and California by the end of the year, and 44 such interceptors by the end of 2017.
Nuclear experts say North Korea likely gained data and practical knowhow from the test. They reject North Korea’s assertion that it detonated a hydrogen bomb. In an H-bomb, conventional explosives compress and detonate a conventional fission bomb, triggering a powerful secondary fusion device. The process likely used by North Korea, called “boosting,” involves an intermediate device that uses a hydrogen isotope to vastly increase the explosive power of an old-fashioned fission bomb, the experts told Reuters. Boosting is key to miniaturising a thermonuclear weapon, and Pyongyang must master miniaturization in order to build a warhead small enough to fit atop a ballistic missile that can reach the United States or other distant targets, experts said. ‘SMALLER AND LIGHTER’ Siegfried Hecker, a former director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, said the test “will certainly allow North Korea to increase the sophistication of its nuclear arsenal - specifically, to make the nuclear bombs
has the ability to miniaturise nuclear weapons and place them on missiles that could reach the United States. North Korea is likely moving along the miniaturization path, developing a boosting process and reducing the amount of chemical explosive needed to compress the core, experts say. “On those two levels, they can achieve some real weight savings,” said Hans Kristensen, director of the Federation of American Scientists’ Nuclear Information Project. North Korea has shown off two versions of a ballistic missile that appear to be of a type that could reach the U.S. West Coast, but there is no evidence the missiles have been tested. North Korea has also tested a space-launch vehicle that could be modified to work as an intercontinental ballistic missile. It also has released a video of a what it said was a successful test of a submarine-launched missile. Pyongyang has maintained its nuclear programs despite broad international sanctions, helped by lax enforcement of restrictions by its neighbour and main ally China.
Palin endorses Trump with a “hallelujah”
U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (R) thanks the crowd after receiving Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s endorsement at a rally at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa on January 19. (REUTERS Photo)
AMES, JAnuARy 20 (REuTERS): Sarah Palin, the politician-turned-reality TV star offered a passionate endorsement on Tuesday to Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, the reality TV starturned-politician, declaring that “the status quo has got to go.” Palin, a former Alaska governor who was Republican Senator John McCain’s running mate in the 2008 election won by Democrats Barack Obama and Joe Biden, appeared with Trump at a rally in Ames, Iowa, two weeks before the state’s
Feb. 1 caucus, the country’s first nominating process ahead of the Nov. 8 election. Trump is in a close race in Iowa with fellow conservative Republican Ted Cruz. Palin’s folksy, plain-speaking style has won her a loyal following among some conservatives, but she remains a polarizing figure, even among Republicans. It is unclear whether she can attract additional support to Trump, whose own blunt rhetoric has helped lift him to the top of the crowded Republican field.
“He is from the private sector, not a politician,” Palin said in an animated speech after joining the business mogul and former host of TV’s “The Apprentice” onstage. “Can I get a hallelujah?” She described Trump as an anti-establishment candidate who would “kick ISIS’ ass,” referring to the Islamic State militant group. Palin said there was nothing wrong with Trump being a multibillionaire and that it did not make him an elitist, citing all the time he had spent with
lebrity. Suggesting there were no fiercer fighters for conservative values than a small-town “hockey mom,” the former beautypageant winner professed a love of hunting with guns and thought it more important that the United States increase drilling for oil than fret about climate change. Since resigning her governorship in 2009, Palin has worked as a conservative political commentator and as the producer and star of lightly staged television shows about her large family enjoying Alaska’s rugged landscapes. But even some former admirers have wondered if her moment had passed, particularly after a speech a year ago before conservative Iowa voters that at times was hard to transcribe and even harder to follow. Joe Brettell, a Republican strategist in Texas, said he thought Palin would not help Trump much “beyond a jolt in the news cycle.” The crowd in Ames listened to Palin warmly but was divided afterward as to how valuable she would be. June Heidn, 62, said Palin was “inspiring” and might help Trump appeal to female voters. Mike Caruso, 40, said it did not help him as he weighs giving CELEBRITY APPEAL? Despite the Democratic vic- Trump his vote. “I think he’s pretty solid tory, Palin’s 2008 vice presidential run made her a national ce- without her,” he said. construction workers as a realestate developer. As Trump stood alongside, Palin said: “The status quo has got to go,” adding that the political establishment had been “wearing political correctness kind of like a suicide vest.” In a statement before the event, Trump said he was “greatly honored” by the endorsement. “She is a friend, and a high-quality person whom I have great respect for.” Trump has led national opinion polls among Republicans for months but is in a tight contest with Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas, for the support of Iowa Republicans, who lean conservative and whose evangelical Christians comprise a major voting bloc. Palin, who often discusses her Christian faith, is popular among that group and endorsed Cruz when he ran for the U.S. Senate in 2012. Cruz responded to her switch of allegiance with magnanimity. “Regardless of what she does in 2016,” he tweeted, “I will always be a big fan.” She devoted a large portion of her speech to deflecting criticism from Cruz and others that Trump, who did not oppose legal abortion at least for a time, was not a true conservative.
The reason for the conflicting claims was not immediately clear. While the Taliban leadership is fractured, Mansoor is believed to remain loyal to central leader Mullah Fazlullah. The Pakistani Taliban are fighting to topple the government and install a strict interpretation of Islamic law. They are loosely allied with the Afghan Taliban who ruled most of Afghanistan until they were overthrown by U.S.backed military action in 2001. By afternoon on Wednesday, the military said all four gunmen had been killed. “The operation is over and the university has been cleared,” Pakistan army spokesman General Asim Bajwa said. A security official close to the operation said he had seen the four gunmen’s bodies riddled with bullets. He said none of the gunmen was wearing a suicide vest, but they carried guns and grenades. RUMOURS OF ATTACK Television footage showed military vehicles packed with soldiers driving into the campus as helicopters buzzed overhead and ambulances lined up
outside the main gate while anxious parents consoled each other. Shabir Khan, a lecturer in the English department, said he was about to leave his university housing for the department when firing began. “Most of the students and staff were in classes when the firing began,” Khan said. Several schools had closed early at the weekend around Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, after rumours circulated of a possible attack. The area has been on edge since the December 2014 massacre by six gunmen in Peshawar. Pakistan, which has suffered from years of jihadist militant violence, has killed and arrested hundreds of suspected militants under a major crackdown launched afterwards. The Peshawar school attack was seen as having hardened Pakistan’s resolve to fight militants along its lawless border with Afghanistan. “We are determined and resolved in our commitment to wipe out the menace of terrorism from our homeland,” Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said in a statement after Wednesday’s attack.
IS media outlet confirms death of ‘Jihadi John’
DuBAI, JAnuARy 20 (REuTERS): A media outlet associated with Islamic State on Tuesday released a eulogy for “Jihadi John”, a member of the militant group who gained notoriety for his filmed execution of hostages, the monitoring organisation SITE reported. The militant was identified as Mohammed Emwazi, a British citizen of Arab origin. The U.S. military said in November it was “reasonably certain” it had killed him in a drone strike. Emwazi was described in Islamic State’s Dabiq magazine by his nickname “Abu Muharib al-Muhajir”. “On Thursday, the 29th of Muharram, 1437 (Nov. 12, 2015), Abu Muharib finally achieved shahadah (martyrdom) for the cause of Allah, which he had sought for so long, as the car he was in was targeted in a strike by an unmanned drone in the city of Raqqah, destroying the car and killing him instantly,” Dabiq said. Emwazi became the public face of Islamic State and a symbol of its brutality after appearing in videos showing the murders of US journalists Steven Sotloff and James Foley, US aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig, British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning, Japanese journalist Kenji Goto and other hostages. Shown in the videos dressed in black, a balaclava covering all but his eyes and the bridge of his nose, Emwazi became one of the world’s most wanted men. Born in Kuwait in 1988, Emwazi was taken to Britain by his family when he was 6 years old and graduated in computer programming in London. The U.S.-British missile strike believed to have killed him was months in the preparation but came together at lightning speed last November as two U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drones and one British MQ-9 cruised above the Syrian town of Raqqa, according to U.S. officials.
Thailand scrambles to drill wells amid drought, water shortages BAnGKOK, JAnuARy 20 (THOMSOn REuTERS FOunDATIOn): Thai authorities are rushing to drill thousands of wells across the country to ensure enough water for drinking and washing, as farmers grapple with a drought and a months-long water shortage. Authorities examined the water supply and demand nationwide - taking into account needs for agriculture, industrial use and human consumption - and decided to drill 4,300 more wells, said Suphot Tovichakchaikul, secretary of the National Water Board, comprised of water officials and chaired by the prime minister. “The most effective way to make sure that people have water to use this dry season is to drill underground wells,” Suphot, who is also chief of the Department of Water Resources, said in an interview in his office on Tuesday. The Thai government told farmers last year to limit their water use and grow alternative crops. The cabinet also approved a multi-million dollar budget in October to help farmers cope with the drought. “We estimate that the end of this year’s dry season is May 30. The water we have now has to last for the next four months,” Suphot said, pointing to posters detailing rainfall, farmland and reservoirs across the country. “We are focusing first on water for consumption and daily use - for drinking, bathing and washing. We have asked farmers for their cooperation to not yet use water for irrigation.” The government will divert a 3.5 billion baht ($96 million) budget from the Department of Groundwater Resources - originally set aside to dig 6,000 wells at temples, schools and farms - for the urgent construction of the 4,300 wells.
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upset B'desh NBA: Westbrook, Durant power Zimbabwe to stay in T20 series streaking Thunder over Nuggets DENVER, JaNuaRy 20 (aP): Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook each had double-doubles and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets 110-104 on Tuesday night. Durant finished with 30 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Thunder, who have won five in a row. Westbrook scored 27 points and added 12 assists but fell five rebounds shy of another triple-double. He had two straight coming in and five on the season. The Thunder have won 20 of 24 and are the only team in the Northwest Division with a winning record. They are 12 games in front of Utah. Danilo Gallinari scored 27 points but only seven after halftime for the Nuggets. Kenneth Faried had 17 points and 15 rebounds for the Nuggets. BUCKS 91, HEAT 79 Khris Middleton scored 22 points, Greg Monroe added 15 and Milwaukee clamped down defensively on short-handed Miami throughout. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 14 points for the Bucks, who have now beaten Miami five consecutive times. Hassan Whiteside scored 23 points and
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook dunks against the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center on January 19. (USA TODAY Sports)
grabbed 18 rebounds for Miami, which has dropped two straight and trailed by at least 22 in each of those games. Chris Bosh scored 23 and Luol Deng added 11 for the Heat. Dwyane Wade played through shoulder
pain and had only two points in 21 minutes. Miami was without four players, including point guards Goran Dragic and Beno Udrih for the second straight contest. The offence struggled without
them, as Miami shot only 36.5 per cent. PELICANS 114, TIMBERWOLVES 99 Anthony Davis scored 35 points and New Orleans overcame an early 17-point hole to beat Minnesota.
Jrue Holiday scored 19 points and Tyreke Evans added 13 for the Pelicans, who’ve won three of four and are four games out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with their next six
games at home. Eric Gordon scored 11 points but left the game late in the third quarter after apparently jamming a finger on his right hand. Andrew Wiggins scored 21 points and Karl-Anthony Towns added 20 points and 13 rebounds for Minnesota, which has lost 10 of 11. Ricky Rubio added 15 points, but the Timberwolves were outscored 6339 in the second half. PACERS 97, SUNS 94 Monta Ellis scored 20 points, Paul George had 19 and Indiana beat Phoenix to end a three-game losing streak. George added eight rebounds and Myles Turner scored 15 points for Indiana. Devin Booker had a career-high 32 points for the Suns, who lost for the 14th time in 15 games and fifth in a row. Brandon Knight added 21 points. The Suns fought back to trail 95-92 with 3.8 seconds left after an off-balance 3-pointer by Knight, but the Suns didn’t have enough time to complete the comeback. The Pacers led by 20 points in the third quarter with the Suns struggling all night to make shots. Joe Young’s 3 made it 71-51 with 3:08 to go, part of the rookie’s 11 points.
KhuLNa, JaNuaRy 20 (aFP): Malcolm Waller and Vusi Sibanda set up a big total as Zimbabwe crushed Bangladesh by 31 runs in the third Twenty20 international in Khulna on Wednesday to stay alive in the four-match series. Opener Sibanda struck 44 off 33 balls and Waller hammered 49 off 23 as Zimbabwe posted 187-6 before restricting Bangladesh to 156-6 in a packed Sheikh Abu Nasir Stadium. Sabbir Rahman made 50 off 32 balls for the home side, who won the first two matches by four wickets and 42 runs respectively, but found Zimbabwe's total too much of an ask. Sabbir put on 67 runs with Soumya Sarkar (25) for the second wicket to give Bangladesh a positive start before Zimbabwe took control of the game through their spinners. Leg-spinner Graeme Cremer claimed 3-18 while Sikandar Raza chipped in with 2-7. After losing the first two matches, Zimbabwe's Sibanda came out firing with stand-in skipper Hamilton Masakadza, putting on 45 in the opening stand in just four overs. Mohammad Shahid, playing his debut T20 for Bangladesh, broke the stand, with Mosaddek Hossain taking a catch at point to dismiss
Masakadza for 20. Shakib Al Hasan, who claimed 3-32, removed Richard Mutumbami (20) and Sibanda in successive overs to bring some respite for the home side. But Waller, who hit two fours and four sixes, and Sean Williams (32) added 74 for the fourth wicket to ensure Zimbabwe did not stall. "Good to be back in the series," Masakadza said after the match. "Early on, we spoke of the middle order coming together." "They did it today; it was a complete performance." Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza said brief rain that delayed the toss for 15 minutes helped Zimbabwe's batsmen because bowlers found it difficult to grip the ball. When the home team batted, the ball started to turn off the pitch for the spinners. Apart from Shahid, a string of other Bangladesh players made their T20 debut including Mosaddek, allrounder Muktar Ali and paceman Abu Hider. Batsman Imrul Kayes has also been brought into the squad, while several others were rested and batsman Mushfiqur Rahim and paceman Mustafizur Rahman are nursing injuries. The fourth and final match of the series will be on January 22 at the same ground.
Klopp says Benteke has a KAWA 25th anniv wrestling meet underway finale on long-term future at Liverpool Grand January 21 LONDON, JaNuaRy 20 (REuTERS): Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp has dispelled doubts about Christian Benteke's suitability to the team's highpressing style of play and said the striker has a longterm future at Anfield. Benteke, who joined from Aston Villa for a reported 32.5 million pounds ($45.97 million) during the close season, has scored seven goals in 24 appearances this season. Despite being the club's leading goalscorer, the Belgium international has struggled to nail down a regular starting place since Klopp replaced Brendan Rodgers at the Merseyside club in October. "Of course he has a future, that is not a question. He is a goalscorer and makes chances and so on, that is all good," Klopp told the British media. "This is how it works, we make a starting line-up and it ends at 11 then we make the bench. That is how we did it in the past, now we will do it in the future. He has always the possibility
Our Correspondent Pfutsero | January 20
The 25th anniversary Wrestling Meet of Khezha Area Wrestling Association (KAWA) under Phek district got underway here this
benefit. Stating that competing at the range and tribe level should not be the end, Kronu challenged the wrestlers to aim beyond with a broader vision to participate and win at higher arenas. He also unveiled the monolith of the 25th anniversary and released a souvenir and constitution
of KAWA. Also gracing the occasion, Lakha Koza, Commandant, 14th (IR) Battalion, Ruzaphema called upon the wrestlers to have a strong determination to emerge victorious. Meanwhile, the grand finale has been scheduled to January 21 due to inclement weather. It will re-
sume from 9 a.m. onwards. Earlier, the administration of oath to the 51 wrestlers was done by KAWA General Secretary Vikedou Thahu. The champion in Naga style will fetch a cash prize of Rs. 60,000 while second, third and fourth position holders will win Rs. 40,000, Rs. 30,000 and Rs. 20,000 respectively.
Waugh appeals for intervention to rescue Windies cricket
Christian Benteke of Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp manager of Liverpool celebrate at the end of the Barclays Premier League match between Liverpool and Swansea City at Anfield on November 29, 2015 in Liverpool, England. (Getty Images/File)
to play. "For the next game it could be different. We have to think about how we create chances. First of all we cannot hope that we can get the ball into the box and then maybe Christian will finish it." Klopp hailed Benteke as the "complete striker" and said having the 25-year-old on the bench is a sign of the quality available within the squad. "He is a complete striker, but you have to work
'Heavy' match-fixing in tennis' lower tiers: anti-corruption official
MELbOuRNE, JaNuaRy 20 (aFP): Match-fixing is commonplace in tennis's lower levels and efforts to fight it are inadequate, a senior anti-corruption official told AFP after cheating claims rocked the sport during the Australian Open. After an explosive report claimed match-fixing was repeatedly going unpunished, Chris Eaton of the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) criticised tennis's "opaque and secretive" anti-corruption body. Eaton, directory of integrity at the ICSS, said professional betting analysis showed "nil manipulation" of matches at the top levels of tennis, where players are highly paid and less susceptible to bribery. "However in the second and lower levels, manipulation indicators are heavy and regularly occurring," the former FIFA security chief said via email. Eaton's comments follow the BBC and BuzzFeed report that said 16 players who had reached the top 50 over the past decade had repeatedly been suspected of fixing matches, but never punished. Three matches at Wimbledon
morning with Parliamentary Secretary for Planning & Coordination, Monitoring Cell, Evaluation and Taxes Neiba Kronu as the chief guest. Addressing the gathering, Kronu called upon the youth to take up sports as profession as it has become a lucrative avenue to earn fame as well as financial
had fallen under suspicion and at least eight of the "core group" of players on the fixing radar were at the Australian Open Grand Slam tournament, which began on Monday, it said. Tennis authorities rejected any suggestion that evidence was suppressed and defended the workings of the Tennis Integrity Unit, which was set up in 2008 and has landed 18 convictions, including six life bans. The BBC and BuzzFeed reports' claims are backed up by anecdotal evidence including from Serbian world number one Novak Djokovic, who said he was once offered $200,000 to fix a match in Russia. Eaton hit out at the "poor choice of structure and process" for the Tennis Integrity Unit, saying it needs to be more open and relies too much on betting analysis, rather than field investigations. "Integrity is by definition open and transparent. The TIU is neither... by operating in the shadows they fail to practice what they preach," he said, calling for a "new independent and integrated integrity model.
for it. He hasn't finished his development (with us) and we as a team haven't either. You have to look at how (different styles) fit," the former Borussia Dortmund manager said. "To have Christian on the bench is a quality sign." Liverpool host fourth tier side Exeter City in the third round FA Cup replay later on Wednesday, after the 2-2 draw earlier this month.
SyDNEy, JaNuaRy 20 (IaNS): Former Australia Test captain Steve Waugh has appealed for some form of intervention to rescue West Indies cricket from its downward spiral. Waugh issued his appeal in the aftermath of the West Indies' heavy two-nil loss to Australia in the threematch Test series which ended recently, reports CMC. While the West Indies moved up to the top of the T20 rankings earlier this month, they are languishing at the bottom in Test and One-Day International ratings. “We have to ensure the West Indies are a force to be reckoned with because you can’t play Test cricket between three or four decent nations,” said Waugh said. “Someone must ensure they get back to the level they were (once) at.” Waugh has likened the Interna-
tional Cricket Council’s (ICC) apparent failure to pull the West Indies out of its hole to a scenario in the sport of rugby. “Someone has to step up and say: ‘We can’t let this happen to the West Indies’,”said Waugh who played 168 Test matches and scored 32 centuries. “It’s a bit like watching the All Blacks wither and die on the vine.” However the former Australian skipper says the biggest issue was the failure of crowds to attend Test matches. He is suggesting a uniform payment for all Test teams, saying that was something ICC could impose. “I think the ICC needs to put a fee on Tests and ensure everyone is paid equally,” he said. “They have to do that if they want to save Test cricket.”
Indian boy, 11, seeks glory on world golf stage Abhaya Srivastava
Agence France-Presse
In 11-year-old Shubham Jaglan's poor Indian village surrounded by sugar cane fields, few had ever heard of golf until recently let alone know someone playing the sport internationally. But Jaglan has stunned his family and village since picking up a club at the age of just five, winning backto-back junior titles in the US in 2015 and finishing sixth in a junior international event there. "In our village, boys were either into wrestling or boxing. Hardly anybody in my family had heard about golf," said Jaglan, whose father earned 10,000 rupees ($150) a month from farming a small plot of land. Jaglan's passion for what remains a rich man's sport in India started when a US-based golfing enthusiast opened a coaching clinic in his hamlet, not far from the capital New Delhi. Although the clinic closed three months later because youngsters were more interested in other, traditional Indian sports, Jaglan was hooked and continued practising his
Eleven-year-old Shubham Jaglan, India's No. 1 junior golfer and junior world golf championship winner, is watched by his father and caddy Jagpal Jaglan as he practices an iron shot at the Delhi Golf Club. (AFP Photo)
drives in the fields. For chipping and putting, his father set up an improvised three-hole green in the family garage, while sand piled on top of the roof served as a practice bunker. "We knew the sport was expensive, the equipment
and all," said his father Jagpal Jaglan, who is now his caddie. "It was a big struggle initially. Everything appeared beyond us. "But our son was so passionate about this sport that we decided to give it our all," he said.
Jaglan's achievements -- his handicap is already down to zero, or "scratch" in golfing parlance -- now dominate conversation in the quiet village where elders spend the days sipping chai (tea) and smoking hookah on charpoys
(traditional furniture) outside their homes. As Jaglan started competing in local junior tournaments, his talent began to dominate talk among Delhi's golfing elite. An intrigued Nonita Lal Qureshi, one of India's best-known women golfers, travelled to Israna village in Haryana state for a firsthand look at the young player. "I was really impressed by what I saw. But I wanted to test him further, so I invited him for a nine-hole game in Delhi," she told AFP. "What I then witnessed just blew me away. "I told the family they would have to move to Delhi if they wanted their son to become a golfing star." For the family of three used to rural village life, it was a huge decision to make. But the move has been eased by the Golf Foundation, a local sports charity run by former golfer Amit Luthra which helped find them cheap accommodation near the Delhi Golf Club. The prestigious club has given Jaglan free membership, while a reputed public school has waived his tuition fees. And his
trips to the US to compete at top junior level have also been funded by the same charity. "Had there been proper facilities back in our village, I think I would have stayed there because that's my native place, I could get to be with all my friends," Jaglan said wistfully. Jaglan, who idolises Spanish legend Seve Ballesteros, knows he faces huge challenges to compete on the world stage, but says he dreams of one day winning the US Masters. Only three Indians have ever qualified for the major championship which takes place in April at Augusta: Anirban Lahiri, the current Asian Tour Order of Merit champion who is ranked in the world's top 50, veteran Jeev Milkha Singh and Arjun Atwal. "He is an exceptional talent no doubt," Qureshi said, throwing a glance at Jaglan as he practised, wearing a pale green jumper with his name embossed on the collar. "Our job is to keep him grounded," said Qureshi, who has taken up coaching Jaglan. "God willing if everything goes well, who knows, we have a star in the making."
Thursday 21•01•2016
EntErtainmEnt
Christian girl wows ‘the VoiCe Kids’ after fleeing isis Mirna Hana,
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Christian girl who is an internet sensation after her spellbinding performance on ‘The Voice Kids’ has revealed how she fled Iraq when ISIS vowed to kidnap and kill her. Dubbed ‘the Babylon Princess’, baby-faced Mirna Hana, 11, wowed the judges in Beirut when she sang Iraqi love song 'Yesterday in a Dream' and Frozen's 'Let it Go'. A YouTube video of Mirna's breathtaking performance has been seen more than 11.8million times. But Mirna has told the heartbreaking story of how she ended up on the show – and how she was forced to leave Iraq for Lebanon eight months ago when her life was in danger. Mirna said: 'After we got to Lebanon, my dad told me that Daesh [ISIS] wanted to kidnap and kill me. From then I felt very scared at night, and I couldn't sleep alone, or be by myself.' In a video, the brave singer said: 'The Voice is a chance to sing for the world and to show that Iraq isn't just about war and things like that - there are beautiful sounds too.' 'Everybody knows the difficulties
11, escaped with her family eight months ago - and now her spellbinding performance has taken the world by storm
of Iraq, from ISIS and how they slaughter the people and how they take their houses,' her proud father said. 'They threatened us with the kidnapping our the little girl, so we came here. We left everything behind us - even my job with
the government,' he added. Now she will battle it out with other talented children to win the competition. A Facebook page celebrating Chaldean Christians posted messages of support for the young star. Introduced as
Jake T. Austin dating fan who Twitter-stalked for 6 years
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or those who believe famous people only date famous people, prepare to have your world turned upside down. “Wizards of Waverly Place” star Jake T. Austin is reportedly dating a girl who started contacting him via social media five years ago. Recently, Austin shared a pic on Instagram of himself and girlfriend Danielle Ceasar smooching, adding the sweet caption, “I’m crazy for her,” complete with heart emoji. Ceasar, whose Instagram account is now private, shared the same picture with the caption, “Every love story is beautiful, but ours is my favorite,” according to The Daily Mail. Jumping on the bandwagon and hoping for a miracle, fans have been commenting on Austin’s pic with shoutouts to their celeb crushes, including Cole Sprouse, Justin Bieber and Shawn Mendes. T h e 2 2 - y e a r- o l d Ceasar’s apparently been tweeting at Austin a ton over the years, and Capital FM took several screenshots of Ceasar’s tweets to the actor before she made her Twitter private. This includes the photo of the couple’s first meeting, taken at Planet Hollywood in New York in 2011. People on Twitter have been sharing their thoughts on the matter, using Ceasar’s old tweets as inspiration for dating that
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ctor, musician and all-round legend Jamie Foxx has saved a man’s life by pulling him from the burning wreckage of a car crash that happened outside his house. Following initial reports throughout Tuesday started by Gossip Cop, Foxx’s representative confirmed that the star rushed to the scene after a passing car lost control on slippery roads, flipped over and caught on fire on the road outside his home in Hidden Valley, California, on Monday night (January 18th). After dialing 911, the 48 year old actor assisted the victim, who was strapped into his car seat, by dragging him from the vehicle. Named as 32 year old Brett Kyle, the victim suffered serious injuries and burns and was taken to hospital, at the same time being “arrested for driving under the
'Mirna Hana, the Chaldean Princess of Babylon,' photos and videos of the rising star at family picnics in the park, concerts, at church and holding her own on stage performing duets with vocalists many years her senior are posted.
Karan Johar gets clean chit after 14 years in National anthem row
Oscars 2016: George Clooney and Lupita Nyong'o add to criticism
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s c a r- w i n ning actor George Clooney has accused the Academy Awards of "moving in the wrong direction" amid controversy over lack of diversity. For the second year running, no black or minority actors have been nominated in the four Oscars acting categories. Star Wars actress Lupita Nyong'o also said she is "disappointed by the lack of inclusion" in the nominations. Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs vowed to review its membership as stars pledged to boycott the ceremony. 'Calling for change' Clooney, who has won two Academy Awards, said: "We need to get better at this. We used to be better at it." Nyong'o, who won a best supporting actress Oscar for 12 Years a Slave in 2014, wrote on Instagram that she stands with those "calling for change" and that the awards should be a "diverse reflection of the
Oscars to honor Indian technician
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scars, also called Academy Awards felicitates the best talent in films, not just for Hollywood, but for International films also. It’s more like a dream and target for any passionate filmmaker, actor or any technician to grab at-least one Golden statue in their lifetime. This year, academy awards will be honoring an Indian origin technician Rahul Thakkar with Oscar of Technical achievement Award for his works and contribution with "Groundbreaking design". Rahul Thakkar will be awarded Oscar during annual scientific and Technical Awards presentation on February 13th along with 9
best of what our art has to offer today". Director Spike Lee, who was awarded an honorary Oscar in November, is among those boycotting
ith ct w t': e n en con you ht moming s e etim e rig find n ‘Somple at th stin on No.1 faer peo ke T. Au ith his 't matt Ja nce w oesn ' t a 'd rom says it they me d an how
one famous person who got away. Unfortunately, not all celebs seem to be as fully supportive of their fans as Austin is. Earlier this month, former One Direction singer Zayn Malik candidly admitted in his Billboard feature he hasn’t learned anything about women from fan girls. He stated, “I was raised
by a lot of women, so there’s nothing any fan girl could’ve ever taught me about any woman…I fully understood every person who’d come and see the band, because I have crazy aunties and crazy sisters who would fan-girl over actors. If people can’t have something, they want it.”
Jamie Foxx rescues man from burning truck influence”. “Two witnesses that were near the collision scene ran to the burning, overturned truck in an attempt to free the driver,” local police said in a statement late the following day. “One of the witnesses retrieved a rescue tool from his vehicle allowing the two
citizens to break the window, cut the seat belt, and extricate the driver.” The crash occurred at approximately 8:30pm, with no other vehicles involved. Foxx, a former Oscar winner for Best Actor in 2004 (for Ray), has not given any comment on the incident, but it comes just
over a week after he saw his daughter, Corinne, serve as this year’s Miss Golden Globe at the annual awards ceremony in Los Angeles. He recently finished filming his new movie Sleepless Nights, and will be starting work on Robin Hood: Origins within the next month.
the ceremony, saying on Instagram that he "cannot support" the "lily white" Oscars. Jada Pinkett Smith has also refused to attend be-
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n a major reprieve, director Karan Johar got a clean chit from a local court in Lucknow after 14 years of legal battle in a case filed against him on charges of insulting the national anthem in the movie Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gam. The complaint alleged that in the movie the national anthem was sung and some people in the picture hall stood up while some kept sitting as there was no caution before playing the song which caused dishonour to the national anthem. National Honours Act Section 3 of the Prevention of Insult to National Honour Act, 1971 states that whoever intentionally prevents the singing of the Indian National Anthem or causes disturbance to any assembly engaged in such singing shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both. A logical interpretation of this Section implies that only those who "intentionally prevent" or "cause disturbance" to the singing of the National Anthem are liable to be prosecuted under the Act.
LeONardO
announces another
$15 Million donation
Zareen Khan opens up on her humiliation at 61st Filmfare awards
other technical achievement award winners. The Academy will be honouring all other awardees on February 28th, the grand event of Oscar awards 2016. Its a rare yet proud honour for an Indian origin and though India sends an official entry every year to academy awards, none of them have seen the golden statue for Best Foreign film category. But films with Indian theme have given chance for Indians to grab some of these, in the likes of Gandhi and Sludog millionaire. Famous musician AR Rahman and legendary writer Gulzar won Oscars for their 'Jai Ho' song in Slumdog Millionaire in Nest Original Song category. Legendary filmmaker Satyajit ray was awarded Oscar for lifetime achievement in 1992 for his vision on cinema. Satyajit Ray accepted the award from his hospital bed, as he was ill during then. Resul Pookutty, who worked for Slumdog Millionaire as sound editor was awarded Greatest Sound Mixing award at Oscars. cause of the number of white nominees, saying in a video message on Facebook that people of colour should disregard the awards.
he Revenant star was honoured at the World Economic Forum’s Crystal Awards in Davos, Switzerland on Tuesday (19Jan16), and he confirmed he would be making another big donation during his
speech. "We simply cannot allow the corporate greed of the coal, oil and gas industries to determine the future of humanity," the 41-year-old actor told the crowd. "Those entities with a financial interest in preserving this destructive system have denied, and even covered-up the evidence of our changing climate. Enough is enough. You know better. The world knows better. History will place the blame for this devastation squarely at their feet. "Our planet cannot be saved unless we leave fossil fuels in the ground where they belong. Twenty years ago, we described this problem as an addiction. Today, we possess the means to end this reliance." Leonardo's foundation also made a $15 million donation to environmental charities last summer (15). While in Davos, Leo praised the progress that has been made in the fight against climate change. "Last month in Paris, world leaders reached an historic agreement that provides a concrete framework to reduce carbon emissions," he said. "This was an important first step, but we are a long way off from claiming victory in this fight for our future - for the survival of our planet."
Hillstar NOW SHOWING
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ollywood actress Zareen Khan recently became the talk of the town after the diva appeared in a completely bold and sexy avatar in her last release ‘Hate Story 3’. The actress not just grabbed a lot of attention but also won accolades for her performance in the movie. While Zareen was still in her success hangover of ‘Hate Story 3’, the recent incident at the prestigious 61st Filmfare Awards brought her crashing down to the reality. According to the media reports, the diva was apparently not invited to the award function after which Zareen not just gatecrashed the event but also created a scene there for not giving a seat next to Salman Khan. Ever since the incident, a lot has written and said about Zareen. But now the diva herself has cleared the air about the incident and talked about what exactly happened at the award ceremony saying. “First of all let me tell you this, and I’m sure you know it too that no one can gatecrash Filmfare, and I can back up with proof that I haven’t gate crashed. I don’t need to,” Zareen told a daily. If the gossip mills are to be believed, the ‘Veer’ actress was forcing the organisers to get her seated next to Salman Khan. However this was not possible as all the seats there were already occupied. Though, the chivalrous Salman did offer her his seat, but miffed Zareen vehemently rejected his offer and left the place.
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THE MORUNG EXPRESS
Djokovic, Williams storm through in Melbourne
Agnieszka Radwanska Serena Williams
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Melbourne, January 20 (aFP): Defending champions Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams stormed into the Australian Open third round on Wednesday as tennis authorities came under fire over their efforts to fight match-fixing. Djokovic had a third-set tussle with French teenager Quentin Halys before winning their night match 6-1, 6-2, 7-6 (7/3), joining Williams and Roger Federer in the next stage. As a match-fixing controversy continued to reverberate at Melbourne Park, Williams swatted Hsieh Su-Wei 6-1, 6-2 to reach the third round as she seeks a record-equalling 22nd major title. Williams eased lingering concerns over the state of her injured knee as she obliterated the Taiwanese, even pulling off possibly her first ever round-the-net shot for good measure. "It's always cool to do something fresh and new. I don't know if I have done that," said the American world number one, who showed no signs discomfort from her knee. "I moved much better, so slowly but surely feeling a little bit better," she added. Federer, who is trying to extend his record number of Grand Slam crowns to 18, then dismantled his 35th-ranked practice part-
Novak Djokovic
Bhupathi advances, Leander Paes loses Indian tennis veteran Mahesh Bhupathi made a strong comeback to the circuit by winning his men's doubles first round but his one-time partner Leander Paes had to bite the dust as he lost his opening match at the Australian Open here on Wednesday. Mahesh Bhupathi with his Luxembourg partner Gilles Muller took two hours and 13 minutes to oust local pair of Alex Bolt and Andrew Whittington 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-4 on Court No.7 of the Melbourne Park. Later on Court No.15, Paes and his partner Jeremy Chardy crashed out after losing in straight sets to Colombian pair of Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah. The 12th seeds took just an hour and 12 minutes to clinch the match 6-3, 6-4. Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna will play their respective women's and men's doubles first round matches on Thursday. (IANS)
Roger Federer
ner Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 7-5, 6-1. The all-time Grand Slam king came unstuck in the third round last year, when he was shocked by Andreas Seppi, and he is wary of another upset with Grigor "Baby Fed" Dimitrov up next. "It's the least I expect to be in the third round of a Slam, obviously, so I'm pumped up, playing well, feeling good," Federer said. "But there's always a danger, you know. Like last
year the third round was the end for me, so I hope to go further this time." Later Djokovic was no match for Halys, 19, who had a net cord to thank as he broke the Serb in the third set, which went to a tie-break. Petra Kvitova became the latest women's top-10 player to fall, joining Simona Halep and Venus Williams on the sidelines when she was shocked 6-4, 6-4 by Australian giant-kill-
er Daria Gavrilova. In a positive evening for the hosts, the combustible Nick Kyrgios overcame a mix-up with his shorts to beat Pablo Cuevas and set up a showdown with world number six Tomas Berdych. "Just a bit of a mix-up before the game," shrugged Kyrgios, who had to change his shorts midway after the pockets on his first pair weren't deep enough to hold balls when he was serving. Agnieszka Rad-
wanska's sky-high confidence took another leap upwards when she halted Eugenie Bouchard, back in form after suffering concussion at the US Open, 6-4, 6-2. On court earlier was five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova, who had little difficulty dispatching 105th-ranked Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2, 6-1. Japanese seventh seed Kei Nishikori beat his close friend Austin Krajicek 6-3,
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7-6 (7/5), 6-3 as he pressed his bid for a first Grand Slam title. And Italy's Roberta Vinci overcame Irina Falconi to move towards a potential semi-final rematch with Williams — whom she stunned in the US Open last four, ending her bid for a rare calendar-year Grand Slam. "Yeah, I watch it every day," deadpanned Williams, when asked if she had seen a recording of the match. "Every night to get ready."
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Australia win run-fest Once hit, now wary: Umpire Ward wears helmet after India meltdown
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Canberra, January 20 (reuTers): Paceman Kane Richardson claimed his maiden fivewicket haul to script India's spectacular collapse and bowl Australia to a 25-run victory in the high-scoring fourth one day international on Wednesday. Three batsmen struck centuries in the 671-run match between the world's top two one-day teams but it was Richardson's (568) incisive bowling that clinched the contest, while also earning him the manof-the-match award. Chasing 349 for victory, India were cruising at 277 for one before losing their last nine wickets for 46 runs to succumb to their fourth successive defeat in the five-match series. Opener Shikhar Dhawan (126) and Virat Kohli (106) featured in a 212-run stand for the visitors before the wheels came off India's chase at Canberra's Manuka Oval. Dhawan registered his ninth ODI century and Kohli scored his second consecutive hundred but India lost three wickets in 11 balls for the addition of one run that derailed them. For them, in-form Ajinkya Rahane came out to bat despite a split webbing of his fingers, but could score only two as India were all out for 323 in the final over. Earlier, Aaron Finch struck his seventh hundred in a blistering open-
Australia go 4-0 up in series
Canberra, January 20 (PTI): Hospitalised after being hit on his head during an assignment in India, umpire John Ward today wore a helmet while officiating in the fourth ODI between India and Australia here. In the course of Australia's 348-run first innings total, it was not just the bowlers who ended up getting hit. English umpire Richard Kettleborough was struck by an Aaron Finch drive in the sixth over of the innings and had to be taken off the field for medical care. Kettleborough was hit on his right leg. Paul Wilson then joined Ward in the middle. But perhaps rattled by the hit that Kettleborough took, Ward wore a helmet to protect himself thereafter. Ward took preventive action after he had to be hospitalised following a hit on his head during a Vijay Hazare Trophy match in India in December last year. The 39-year-old had been invited as an exchange programme umpire for that tournament.
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Kane Richardson celebrates the wicket of Virat Kohli during the Victoria Bitter One Day International match between Australia and India at Manuka Oval on January 20, 2016 in Canberra, Australia. (Getty Images)
ing partnership of 187 with David Warner to power Australia to 348 for eight wickets. Finch smashed a runa-ball 107 while Warner fell on 93 from 92 deliveries as the hosts continued to make merry against India's toothless bowling attack after opting to bat first. Australia had chased down each Indian target to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series and the tourists' battered bowlers did little better after finally getting the chance to bowl first.
Warner, who missed the last two matches due to the birth of his second child, started off with a maiden against Umesh Yadav but soon hit his stride with three fours in an over against seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Yadav also conceded three boundaries in the next over against the diminutive left-hander as Australia raced to 50 in the seventh over. Finch was equally destructive and a fierce straight drive from the right-hander off fast bowl-
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er Ishant Sharma (4-77) hit umpire Richard Kettleborough on the shin, forcing the official off the field. Finch mistimed a pull to be dismissed eight overs after Warner had played Ishant on to his stumps while attempting a slog over mid-wicket. Australia captain Steven Smith (51) and allrounders Mitchell Marsh (33) and Glenn Maxwell (41) chipped in with some quick runs. Sydney hosts the fifth and final one-dayer on Saturday.
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