January 23rd, 2015

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The Morung Express

Dimapur Vol. X issuE 21

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The trouble with learning from experience is that you never graduate PM launches ‘Beti BachaoBeti Padhao’ [ PAGE 8]

List of nominees for the 87th Academy Awards [ PAGE 11]

The Morung Express Poll QuEsTion

no

others

Public Information

[ PAGE 12]

noke-nPf hits out at Dr. shurhozelie

nagaland toh tarkhan laka papa laka asee toh!

Yes

– Doug Larson

[ PAGE 9]

By Sandemo Ngullie

Are Nagas committed and prepared to overcome family and tribal relations in the fight against corruption?

Friday, January 23, 2015 12 pages Rs. 4

Developmental works underway Djokovic, at Kumlong Community Ground Serena rush through at [ PAGE 2] Melbourne Disenchanted militants Park eye IS with envy

reflections

Vote on www.morungexpress.com sMs your answer to 9862574165

”

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Chase outlaw, of Hamburg, Ariz., dismounts sun Dome during the Professional Bull Riders Buck off, in new York’s Madison square Garden in the 3rd week of January. The top 35 bull riders competed during the PBR event, returning to new York for the ninth consecutive year. (AP Photo)

Myanmar says Kachin rebels trying to scuttle peace deal

DIMAPUR, JANUARY 22 (MExN): Strongly reacting to what it described as “personalised remarks and below the belt attacks”

by Dr. Shurhozelie against some “senior most leaders” of Naga politics, the NokeNPF camp today reminded him to learn from the example that has been set by senior leaders instead of continuing with his autocratic and dictatorial style of functioning. It also reminded him to stop insisting forcefully that “what is good for him is good for the party and the State.”

In a press note, the Noke-NPF Press & Media Cell, while censuring the personalised attacks and “dragging” family connections into the public domain, responded with an array of instances it argued will bring out the truth and reveal the “true colours” of Dr. Shurhozelie.

Listing a number of instances since 1998, the press note tried to show how in all these years Dr. Shurhozelie has allegedly led the regional party disarray. In the more recent allegations, the Noke-NPF stated that in 2014, when a change of guard for the chair of chief minister was imminent, “against all democratic and parliamentary norms,” he set up a core committee for selection of a new Chief Minister and then carried out a forceful signature campaign to favour his candidate and threatened the Members with disqualification if they withdrew their signatures.

Moreover, it was alleged

that Dr. Shurhozelie “facilitated and encouraged” the legislators to camp in a wildlife resort in Kaziranga in Assam from where the decision to select the leader of Nagaland was done under the most unconstitutional and unethical circumstances. “Till today, he has not spoken a single word against the Kaziranga episode,” noted the Noke-NPF. It alleged then that “he initiated a constitutional amendment to the NPF constitution to lengthen the period of his term from three to five years.” He then appointed a search committee which re-elected him as President for another term. Likewise he appointed search committees for all divisions for appointment of new office bearers.

There are no constitutional provisions in neither the Constitution of the NPF nor the Constitution of India nor any constitution that allows search committees to re-elect a party president. “His re-election was merely announced and taken approval of during the general convention.

It was not, by any means, an election,” it maintained.

Dr. Shurhozelie had always said, as per the NokeNPF, that the regional party is not like any national party as there is no high command and that the people and the workers at the grass root are the real high command of the party. “Today, he is eating his own words as, his autocratic and dictatorial style of functioning has exposed the fact that he has always been behaving like the super high com-

mand. If indeed, he believes that the grass roots are the real high command of the party, he should understand that Noke Wangnao and Kaito Aye have the unanimous support of the clear majority of the NPF at the grass roots level as 40 assembly constituencies and 10 divisions have extended support to them,” stated the party, also listing the support of 22 elected MLAs and both the MPs. The Noke-NPF went on to question, “Is he not responsible for the disqualification of the three BJP MLAs which has deeply hurt the sentiments of the BJP high command and had adversely impacted the governance of the State? Why did he personally boycott and not attend the visits of Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi when these leaders of the country visited Nagaland?”

It also reminded Dr. Shurhozelie of a special emergency meeting of the party in 2002, in which Dr. Shurhozelie also participated, that had removed the then president late Huska Sumi. “At that point of time Huska Sumi paved the way in the most gentlemanly manner and did not try to forcefully remain in his chair or continue to issue threats and intimidations or spread false propaganda and rumours. He should learn from the example that has been set by senior leaders instead of continuing with his attitude of forcefully insisting that what is good for him is good for the party and the State,” it concluded.

of the Kachin Indepen- While there have been few YANgoN, JANUARY 22 killed by army soldiers.

The government has dence Army of trying to de- battles in recent days, Tin (AP): Myanmar’s government has accused ethnic been seeking a nationwide rail those efforts by briefly Soe said several bombs rebels of trying to scuttle a peace pact following more abducting a state minister have gone off at police stanationwide peace deal, as than six decades of armed earlier this month, detain- tions and government oftensions soar in the north- conflict with ethnic minori- ing three policemen and fices. He didn’t know who ern state of Kachin, where an ty groups seeking greater au- carrying out several attacks set them. It did not appear activist said sporadic clashes tonomy. More than a dozen in the jade-mining region that anyone was hurt. morung@gmail.com between the army and in- armed groups have agreed that remains largely under He said more than 1,800 to sign a cease-fire but intheir control.

These are “depeople have been trapped surgents have trapped more Press releases will be surgents in Kachin and Shan liberate acts of provocation for nearly a week in the vilaccepted only till 8:00 pm than 1,800 villagers.

Meanwhile, emo- states have so far held out, against the army with the lage of Kansi because of Editor, tions were running high saying they want the right to intention to harm the peace sporadic clashes, a claim negotiations,” he said on his denied by Ye Htut. Tin Soe The Morung Express in the state capital, Myit- self-determination.

Information Minister Ye Facebook page Monday. said more than 100 trucks kyina, where a funeral is Rebels and civilians in are on standby to take the planned Friday for two Htut said the government ethnic Kachin volunteer wants to reach a deal by Feb. Kachin have blamed the civilians to safety, but army teachers, said Tin Soe, an 12, the day when a group government. KIA spokes- checkpoints set up on the official with the opposition of ethnic leaders signed man La Nan said his group road have so far prevented National League for De- an agreement 68 years ago is committed to the peace an evacuation. However, mocracy party. The United with independence hero process and accused Myan- three trucks carrying food, States has called on au- Gen. Aung San as part of ef- mar’s army of escalating each with a Buddhist flag KohIMA, JANUARY 22 thorities to investigate al- forts to break free from their military operations and and monk on board, were (MExN): The Nagaland legations by activists that colonial British masters. systematically attacking able to enter the village in Baptist Church Coun- the women were raped and He accused members Kachin outposts since 2013. recent days, he said. cil (NBCC) has said that Churches in Nagaland are “deeply concerned” about the political crisis that has developed within the NPF a committee to look into whether granted to the state by article er this or something else may be Legislators. In that, the the new law is even applicable for 371(G) of the Constitution. considered for the state.”

NBCC has requested all and among non-believers, men the state to implement given the “No Act of President,” the arThe committee decided that Christians and churches to are much more likely to be defiautonomy granted to it by the In- ticle states, “in respect of….own- as a first step it will examine how set aside a special time on nite than women”. dian Constitution. ership and transfer of land, shall Nagaland, which is also granted January 25 (Sunday) and For example, not only are The committee met for the apply to the State of Mizoram un- considerable autonomy over pray for the “quick arrival men twice as likely as women of a just and peaceful soluto say that God does not exist, AIzAwL, JANUARY 22 first time on Thursday to exam- less the Legislative Assemblyof the land and its resources by the (ENs): As controversy hits the ine whether The Right to Fair State of Mizoram by a resolution so Constitution, deals with the new tion among the NPF Leg- LoNDoN, JANUARY 22 but male atheists are far more NDA government’s modification Compensation and Transpar- decides.” At Thursday’s meeting, law. It also decided that a constiislatures.” All concerned (AgENcIEs): Is there a God or likely than female atheists to to the new land acquisition act ency in Land Acquisition, Re- Revenue Minister R Romawia said tutional expert should be conhave been called upon to is after life real? Women are much say that they definitely do not through an ordinance, a cautious habilitation and Resettlement the government needs to “careful- sulted before the government “fervently pray for them as more likely to believe so than believe in live after death (63% Mizoram government has set up Act 2013 passes the autonomy ly examine the law and see wheth- starts considering the matter. versus 36%). they are our Christian poli- men, researchers have found.

“Belief — or disbelief — in A new study of more than ticians as well as members of our local churches.” The 9,000 British people in their God and in life after death do appeal was sent today by 40s, published by UCL Insti- not always go together,” Profesthe NBCC with “prayer and tute of Education (IOE), shows sor Voas explained. “A quarter of in the name of God, and that 60% of the women but only those who said they were agnosour Lord Jesus Christ, the 35% of the men believe in life af- tic also said they believe in life ter death. More than half (54%) after death. However, nearly a eternal Reconciler.”

VOTING CARD of the men surveyed said they third of the people who said that FoR AGAinsT noT suRE were atheists or agnostics, com- they believe in God -- despite AGE Break up Male Female Total Percentage Male Female Total Percentage Male Female Total Percentage occasional doubts — do not bepared to only a third (34%) of the 18-30 9266 7810 12.84% 9632 8655 13.75% 110 77 0.14% women. There was also a gender lieve in an after-life”.

31-49 8737 8645 13.07% 8867 8054 12.72% 90 77 0.12% Professor Voas also points split among atheists. Men were 8163 7788 11.99% 7992 7749 11.83% 77 56 0.10% KohIMA, JANUARY 22 much more likely to be definite to the very high level of belief in 50-65 7682 7578 11.47% 7604 7544 11.39% Nil Nil Nil (MExN): In view of the Re- that death is the end — 63% both God and life after death 66-79 48 0.13% 29 15 0.03% Nil Nil Nil public Day celebration on against 36% of women. among Muslims. Almost nine 80 and above 138 Grand Total 33986 31869 49.5 % 34124 32017 49.72% 277 210 0.36 January 26, the Sr. SuperinUCL scientists said “Next in ten (88%) of the small number tendent of Police, Kohima week another significant step on of Muslims in this survey — only SMS votING has issued traffic regula- the road to gender equality will be 82 were interviewed — said they AGE FoR AGAinsT tions to be enforced from taken with the consecration of the knew God really exists and had Break up Male Female Total Percentage Male Female Total Percentage 6:00am as part of the se- Rev Libby Lane as the first female no doubts about it.

18-30 47 20 8.95% 133 104 32% curity arrangement. Only bishop to be appointed by the 45 10 7.35% 178 78 34.22% “A high proportion (71%) 31-49 vehicles with car pass will Church of England. It is the huge of those who described them- 50-65 12 02 1.87% 50 50 13.36% be allowed entry inside disparity in the proportion of men selves as ‘evangelical’ — Bap- 66-79 01 01 0.26% 01 04 0.66% the main gate to the Secre- and women who say they believe tists and certain other Christians 80 and above 01 Nil 0.13% Nil 02 0.26% tariat Plaza. No vehicle will in God and life after death”.

106 33 18.56% 362 238 80.5% were included in this category — Grand Total be allowed to be parked by Almost half of those surveyed also had no doubts about God’s part in the campaign, voicing paign was 101 years old. the roadside from 6:00am did not identify with any religion. existence,” he said. “However, DIMAPUR, JANUARY 22 OVERALL RESULTS their opinion through voting Interestingly, according to from Classic Island till Tele- Most of the remainder said they only 33% of those who identified (MExN): Over 1.3 lakh votes were cards and SMS. “This campaign a break-up of the poll, it was alphone Exchange, and from had a Christian background. A themselves as Roman Catholics polled during the NLTP Public FOR NLTP=49.33% was launched with the objective most 50-50 between voters supRaj Bhavan to New Secre- small number of respondents de- had no doubts. And the figure for Voting Campaign (2014) organ- AGAINST NLTP=49.90% to bring forward the voice of the porting the NLTP Act and those ised by North East Artist Network NOT SURE=0.36% tariat. While anticipating scribed themselves as Buddhist, those affiliated with ‘mainline’ (NEAN). A total of 65,994 of the public, it is in no way intended to against, with the latter group INVALID: 495 voting card and 09 co-operation from the gen- Jewish, Hindu, Muslim or Sikh.

Christian denominations — An- votes polled were in favour of the SMS (I.e.0.37% and 1.20%) pressurize policy makers rather edging the former in decimals. eral public, the police statProfessor David Voas, who glican, Methodist, Presbyterian NLTP Act, while 66,741 votes were an unbiased initiative to get an While acknowledging the reed that defaulting vehicles analysed the survey responses, and United Reformed Church against the Act. Only 487 votes November 30, 2014. idea of the people’s opinion,” sponse of the people to the camwill be towed and towing commented “Among believ- — was even smaller. Only 16% were polled in the ‘Not Sure’ catReleasing the poll results, stated the release. paign, NEAN also expressed recharge will be recovered ers, women are also much more of them said they had no doubts egory. The campaign had started NEAN through a press release The oldest person recorded gret at the late announcement of from the defaulters. on October 28 and culminated on stated that 1,33,726 people took to have participated in the cam- the poll results. likely to be definite than men, that God exists”.

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

Churches in Nagaland to pray for NPF legislators on Sunday

NEW LAND ACT: Cautious Mizoram looks to Nagaland is there a God? Decides to consult

Half of Britain does not believe in God

constitutional expert, before implementing

NLTP PUBLIC VOTING CAMPAIGN Over 1.3 lakh votes polled; 50-50 for and against

Republic Day traffic regulations for Kohima

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Dimapur

Friday

LocaL

23 January 2015

Need for transparency in Naga political issues, says Gov Acharya

The Morung Express C

Developmental works underway at Kumlong Community Ground

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Morung Express News

Mokokchung | January 22

Governor of Nagaland, PB Acharya with the Angami Public Organisation office bearers during a courtesy call at Raj Bhavan held on January 20.

Kohima, January 22 (mExn): The newly elected Angami Public Organisation office bearers paid a courtesy call on the Governor of Nagaland, PB Acharya at Raj Bhavan on January 20.

APO President Dr. Vilhusa Seleyi in a press release stated that the APO expressed hope that the Governor who is closely acquainted with the Naga people for many years would guide and act in all affairs for the benefit of the common people.

The Governor of Nagaland, PB Acharya welcomed APO’s visited and shared his views on the issues of Naga political negotiations and on the curC M Y K

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rent state of political situation. He said that the Naga issue is protracted over 50 years and negotiations have been prolonged to 17 years, in which he felt there is a need for transparency in the talks and should involve the public organization to ensure that the solution, which Prime Minister assured to bring about in 18 months, would be unanimously acceptable to all.

He felt urgent, that the civil societies should also be consciously concerned for a final solution.

The Governor voiced his observations on the State political scenario and said that the problem is internal party strife and is not ripe for his inter-

vention as the constitutional head. He however stated that the crisis is affecting the interest of the public and is a sad situation within the ruling NPF party, which was accorded a massive mandate by the people.

The Governor also impressed upon the APO, that civil societies should take pro-active roles in combating the malaise of corruptions in the Government system in the State. The Governor solicited for co-operation from the APO and civil societies and said that the Raj Bhavan is open to all, for the welfare and interest of the common people of Nagaland.

After many years, the Kumlong Community Ground, which is one of the most important landmark in the colony is getting a facelift, thanks to the initiative of some concerned colony leaders and the benevolence of Addl Development Commissioner Planning & Co-ordination, Temsuwati Longkumer who wholeheartedly came forward to foot the bills for the developmental works.

This community ground which is located in a convenient location in the colony serves as a community meeting place for holding important meetings, for sports (volleyball tournament) and other social activities.

The concerned leaders of the colony approached the ADC Planning & Coordination and apprised him of need to develop the community ground since it serves as the most important place for community gathering.

After a patient hearing, the ADC (Planning & Coordination) wholeheartedly consented to contribute towards the development of the community ground. He gave some amount of money and now works are going

Seen in the picture are workers busy constructing the retaining wall and drainage of the Kumlong community ground on January 21. (Morung Photo)

on in full swing, informed one of the colony leaders.

They are now constructing the retaining wall, which has been a long felt need of the community and also the drainage, which greatly affects the ground during the rainy season.

Once it is completed, the community ground would have undergone major

Neilezono, Chairperson, Mezavi MPCS exhorting the participants.

Dimapur, January 22 (mExn): A one-day awareness programme on Joint Liability Group (JLG) was conducted at Sechu-Zubza on January 20. The programme was organized by Mezavi Multi-Purpose Co-operative Society (MPCS) and sponsored by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) on the theme “Sharing Liabilities and Creating Assets”.

A press note issued by Bendang Aier, AGM, NABARD said that during the programme, the participants were sensitized about the role of “Group

nament is held every year in the month of December. Besides, this community ground also serves as a place for holding meetings, hosting concerts and other social activities.

Meanwhile, citizens of the colony have expressed heartfelt gratitude to the Addl Development Commissioner Planning & Co-

ordination, Temsuwati Longkumer for his concern and love for the colony members and also for his generosity. Besides, the citizens of the colony have also expressed gratitude to the concerned colony leaders for their foresight and initiative towards the development of the Kumlong community.

HIV/AIDS and harm reduction prog at Satakha conducted

Sharing liabilities and creating assets through JLG liability” and marketing of “One for all, all for one” philosophy as a business proposition where JLG members could avail loan from financial institutions without collateral but purely on the strength of peer partnership. This creates a win-win situation for stakeholders including banks who are able to tap a good loan portfolio through the group liability mechanism.

It is being increasingly realised that JLGs may be the most viable option for purveying credit, especially for taking up income generating activities and making a difference to lives of people living in rural areas. A total of four (4) JLGs in Jotsoma village have already been credit linked and their members are currently undertaking pig rearing activity. Bendang Aier, AGM, NABARD, Guhato, Manager, NRB, K. Sale, Senior Inspector, NStCB and Dr Temjen, SMS, KVK Kohima attended the programme as resource persons. Kono, Secretary and Neilezono, Chairperson of Mezavi MPCS pronounced the invocation and vote of thanks respectively.

changes, which would serve the community in a better way.

The Kumlong Community Ground, which is located in the lower part of the colony, houses the Angangwadi Community Centre in one part of the ground.

This ground also serves as a volleyball court where the annual BST Volleyball tour-

SataKha, January 22 (mExn): Nagaland Users’ Network (NUN) conducted an advocacy programme on HIV/AIDS and Harm Reduction with the stakeholders of Satakha on January 21 at Satakha Town.

Avita, NUN Program Manager chaired the programme. Highlights of the programme included overview of NUN as a State Members of Lions and Leo's Club of Dimapur giving polio drop to children in midland and Level drug users’ network Plaza Police Point in Dimapur on January 18 where more than 224 children were covered and some of its significant under the immunization drive. activities by Ketholelie Angami. Abou Mere spoke on

AKM caution defaulting government employees

moKoKchung, January 22 (mExn): The Ao Students’ Conference (AKM) has stated that during its “official visit” to governmental department under Mokokchung district found out that the attendance of staffs, including HODs in most of the departments were found to be dismaying.

The AKM in an open letter addressed to the Deputy Commissioner, Mokokchung alleged that, “in some departments the office was even left completely unattended (Assistant Controller Legal metrological and consumer protection office).”

The student body in the open letter appended by its Vice President Akummeren Longchar and General Secretary Bendangkumba Aier urged all the defaulting government employees to be sincere in their duties

In Gratitude

in the interest of the public. It also requests all HODs to streamline their department so that no stones are left unturned towards the upliftment of Mokokchung district.

The Ao Students’ Conference further disclosed that some certain departmental heads such as “Project Director (DRDA), District Agriculture officer, who was found to be absent in his office during several official visit and interestingly District youth Resource officer Mokokchung who according to reliable source was an adhoc government teacher and was deputed to Mokokchung as DYRO.” Therefore, in this regard the AKM has requested the authority concerned to station immediately all the HODs and staff in their respective department for the interest of the public.

the topic- HIV/AIDS as a health Issue and emphasized on the need to address stigma and discrimination while Gwabinlo Seb highlighted the concept of targeted intervention programming through harm reduction approach.

Athrila Sangtam, ADC of Satakha graced the program as guest of honour. In her address, she thanked NUN for organizing such a program and stated that the programme was very informative and that she

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herself gained more insights on the subject matter. She urged upon the gathering to spread the information and knowledge attained today with the larger section of the society, while also assuring the full co-operation and support of the Administration to the cause. Zunheboto Sub division administration (ADC office) and NUN agreed to jointly organise similar programme in Satakha area for the stakeholders in the near future.

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Rev. John Simmons, Associate Executive Minister, Missions and Administration, West Virginia Baptist Convention speaks at the Mao Baptist Churches Association (MBCA) 3rd triennial fellowship held from January 16 to 18 hosted by Mao Baptist Church Kalinamei on the theme, “Jesus Christ the righteous one” 1 John 2:1. The other speaker was Rev. Dr. Jolly Rimai, Mission Secretary, CBCNEI. Connect Worship Ministry led the worship and Testament Band from Nagaland was the guest band.

Moon Moon Sen visits Nagaland Bamboo Resource Centre

“SAY NOT IN GRIEF HE IS NO MORE-BUT LIVE IN THANKFULNESS THAT HE WAS”

Mangkolemba SDPDB meeting held mangKolEmba, January 22 (Dipr): The monthly meeting of the Mangkolemba SDPDB meeting was held on January 21 at ADC office.

In the meeting, the house discussed and reviewed the work distribution for the forthcoming Republic Day celebration. To mark the day, the house decided to select needy persons so as to give assistance to them from the free will contributions by the officers and staff of all the departments in Mangkolemba. Further, ADC, Mangkolemba, Limawapang Jamir has informed all the staff to attend the Republic Day Celebration without fail.

ADC, Mangkolemba, chaired the meeting.

Army recruitment rally at Kohima Kohima, January 22 (Dipr): As received from Director Recruiting, Army Recruiting Officer Rangapahar a recruitment Rally will be conducted at Indira Gandhi Stadium, Kohima for all the Districts of Nagaland and Manipur States from February 24 to March 8. The recruitment Rally would be conducted for enrolment of male candidates in Soldier General Duty, Soldier Technical, Soldier Tradesmen, Soldier Clerk/SKT/IM and Soldier Tech (Nursing Assistant) for any further enquiry, contact ARO Rangapahar at 03862- 248845.

DOB: 16TH FEBRUARY 1970 DIED: 10TH JANUARY 2015

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To everyone who has supported us during the sudden demise of Mulunglemba Jamir (Alung), we would like to express our sincere thanks and appreciation. You many acts of kindness and sympathy continue to be a great comfort to us in our time of sorrow.

-Loving wife, children, parents, siblings and in-laws

(Second from left) Moon Moon Sen with others during her visit to Nagaland Bamboo Resource Centre on January 22. (Photo by: Menuolhoulie Kire)

Dimapur, January 22 (mExn): Renowned Indian film star Moon Moon Sen paid an elaborate visit to the Nagaland Bamboo Resource Centre today. NBDA Team Member, Dr. Tolto Metha in a press release said that Sen visited all the different units of the Cen-

tre and interacted with Khrienuo C. Metha, Secretary & Team Leader of the Nagaland Bamboo Development Agency and other officials of the Agency.

During her visit, she highlighted her admiration for the various activities undertaken by the Agency and her love for

Naga artistry and handicrafts.

She made a special mention of the Bamboo Amphitheatre 'Green Circle' and exclaimed that it was one of the most beautiful amphitheatres she has ever seen. Moon Moon Sen is presently a Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha.

Mkg district ex-servicemen informed moKoKchung, January 22 (Dipr): Zila Sainik Welfare Officer, Mokokchung Nagaland, Lt. Col Joy Choudhary (Retd) has informed all Defence Ex-servicemen from Aliba, Kinunger, Chungtia, Khensa, Longkhum, Mangmetong, Ungma, Chuchuyimpang Village and Town to be present to participate at the Republic Day Parade 2015 on January 26. It also informed that Commandant 31st Assam Rifles will provide Barakhana after the parade.

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REgional

The Morung Express

Vistara to start flights to Guwahati New Delhi, JaNuary 22 (aGeNCieS): Tata Sons’ start-up airline Vistara will start flights to Guwahati and South India over the next few weeks as part of the airline’s second phase of expansion.

Vistara, launched in partnership with Singapore Airlines Ltd, started commercial operations on 9 January, with its inaugural flight between Delhi and Mumbai, and has got clearance from the aviation regulatory authority Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to expand further. Vistara, which operates three aircraft, will expand to six by April. It has been cleared to launch flights to Goa, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune and Guwahati, a source with knowledge on the matter informed.

Most of these flights will be launched from its hub in Delhi.

Bomb Explosion in Churachandpur iMPhal, JaNuary 22 (PTi): A powerful bomb exploded at Tuibong area in Churachandpur district of anipur at about 6 am, officials said. The bomb was planted by militants to attack the security forces as the place of the explosion is very close to Assam Rifles check post. No one was injured and there was no damage in the explosion, officials said.

Mizoram: MNF demands Congress govt's resignation aizawl, JaNuary 22 (PTi): The Opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) today took out rallies across Mizoram demanding resignation of the Congress government led by Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla.

The MNF was protesting hike in the prices of rice sold through PDS by 58 per cent, steep increase in tariffs of water, power and land taxes and the government's decision to lift prohibition. A rally was held in Aizawl and in all other seven district headquarters and towns like Tlabung, Hnahthial, Lungsen, Saitual, Khawzawl and Chawngte. In a memorandum submitted to the Governor Dr Aziz Qureshi after the rally in Aizawl, the MNF urged for gubernatorial intervention in the present state of affairs, which, they described was causing immense hardship and burden to the common people. Addressing the rally in Aizawl, senior vice-president of the MNF Tawnluia warned of more agitations unless the government rolled back its decisions. "We would go to any extent to safeguard the interests of the common people," the former 'Army Chief' of the erstwhile underground MNF said.

Indo-B'desh border meet aizawl, JaNuary 22 (PTi): An Indo-Bangladesh Border meeting was held today at the border town of Mamit, Mizoram's Additional Secretary for Home Lalbiakzama, who led the Indian delegation, said. Lalbiakzama told PTI over phone from Mamit that issues like abduction by insurgent groups hiding in Bangladesh and illegal infiltration into India were discussed in the meeting. He said other issues like drug trafficking, arms smuggling and movement of insurgents were also deliberated on. The two sides agreed to continue the talks and also remain in contact over e-mail and telephone to ensure better cooperation between the two countries. The IndoBangladesh border meeting was held following a meeting of Union Home Secretary and his Bangladeshi counterpart in New Delhi in October, 2012 in which the two neighbouring countries agreed to have better cooperation and increase the volume of border trade.

New Assam cabinet to be sworn-in Friday GuwahaTi, JaNuary 22 (iaNS): Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi will Friday reconstitute his council of ministers, a Congress leader said Thursday.

Gogoi Thursday sent a list of 14 Congress legislators to the governor and the swearing-in ceremony will be held at 10.30 a.m. Friday, state Congress president Anjan Dutta told the media outside the chief minister's official residence.

Assam Governor (incharge) P.B. Acharya, who is also the governor of Nagaland, arrived in the city Thursday for the swearingin ceremony.

Girindra Mallick, Chandan Sarkar, Sumitra Patir, Sukur Ali and Bismita Gogoi will be the new faces, Dutta said. The rest of the names are Bhumidhar Barman, Sarat Borkotoky,

Nazrul Islam, Rockybul Hussain, Basanta Das, Ajit Singh, Etuwa Munda, Ajanta Neog and Kharsing Ingty, he added.

Gogoi had last year dropped ministers Ardhendy Kumar Dey and Siddeque Ahmed for dissidence, while then health and education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had resigned and Bodoland Peoples' Front legislator Chandan Brahma also quit after his party ended the over 10-year-old alliance with the Congress.

The state Congress chief, however, made it clear that there was no dissidence or discontent among the party legislators over the reshuffle, and everyone has decided to work together for the assembly polls scheduled for 2016.

23 January 2015

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Sharmila released from custody, resumes ‘fast’ GuwahaTi, JaNuary 22 (iaNS): Human rights activist Irom Sharmila Chanua "who has been fasting since 2000 demanding repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), 1958," was released from a hospital turned into a jail Thursday.

The development came after a court in Manipur's Imphal East district rejected the charges against her. Soon after the verdict, the activist was released from the hospital ward in Imphal, which was turned into a jail for her all these years. But just after release, Sharmila resumed her fast, her colleagues said.

This is the second time that the court in Mani-

pur has struck down the charges against her. Last August, Sharmila was released following an order of the sessions court, which dismissed the prosecution charge against her.

However, police arrested her soon after to "save" her life as she continued with her hunger strike against the AFSPA. The re-arrest was made under IPC Sections 309 (attempt to commit suicide) and 353 for obstructing police from discharging duty.

"The court in its ruling today observed that there was no material evidence on the charges against her and, accordingly, ordered her release," Sharmila's counsel Khai-

Irom Sharmila Chanua

dem Mani said.

Asked if she could be arrested again, the advocate said that it was up to the Manipur government.

"I hope the issues Sharmila has been fighting for all these years will be dealt with politically

rather than criminalising her struggle," said Manipur-based Human Rights Activist Babloo Loingtongbam while expressing his happiness over her release.

Sharmila has been fasting since November 2000 to demand repeal of the AFSPA. She decided to sit for indefinite fast after the Assam Rifles killed 10 civilians at Malom in Imphal.

The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which covers large parts of northeastern India and Kashmir, allows security forces to search, enter property and shoot-onsight.

The repeal of the infamous act has also been recommended by a num-

ber of national bodies, including the Second Administrative Reforms Commission, the Jeevan Reddy Commission and the Prime Minister's Working Group on Confidence-Building Measures in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Justice Verma Committee on Amendments to Criminal Law said in January 2013 that the AFSPA legitimised impunity for sexual violence, and recommended an urgent review of the law.

In March 2013, the Amnesty International also appealed to the Indian authorities to immediately release Irom Sharmila Chanu and drop all charges against her.

Manipur students protest misappropriation of Scholarships New Delhi, JaNuary 22 (MexN): Students from Manipur under the banner of North-East Forum for International Solidarity (NEFIS) took out a rally at the Manipur Bhawan in New Delhi protesting against the alleged misappropriation of the PostMetric Scholarship intended for students belonging to ST/OBC/Minorities communities. This was informed in a press release from the NEFIS Convener Chinglen Khumukcham.

The said scholarship comes under the centrally sponsored scholarship

scheme; the fund of which for the past and current year is being duly released

by Ministry for Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India. “[It] is appalling that despite the sanction and release of fund from Central Government, the State Government has failed to provide the scholarships to students of above mentioned categories for several years,” the release stated.

Extending solidarity to the struggle of students from the marginalized section of society, United Kakching students also

Commission accepted their memorandum, the release informed.

The memorandum addressed to the Chief Minister of Manipur appealed for urgent intervention in the matter “so that earliest disbursement of scholarship starts.”

It also requested the Chief Minister to take appropriate

participated in the protest.

Despite the rain, students stood in front of Manipur Bhawan protesting until the Office of the Resident

Mizoram tipplers on a high aizawl, JaNuary 22 (TNN): More than 20,000 people across Mizoram, which had banned liquor in 1996, have collected application forms to get a card which will allow them to purchase alcohol. With the new liquor law coming into effect from January 2015, wine shops will make an entry in Mizoram from March 2.

The new liquor law -Mizoram Liquor Prohibition and Control Act, 2014 - was passed by the state assembly in July last year. The new law replaced the Mizoram Liquor Total Prohibition Act, 1995.

Though the newly-enacted law is still a 'Prohibition act', consumption of liquor is no longer an offence. Anyone, who is above the age of 21 and wishes to drink, will have to apply for a card which will enable him or her to purchase a maximum of 6 bottles of liquor every month.

Long queues were seen outside the

Aizawl excise and narcotics department office, near Congress Bhavan. Each application form costs Rs 20.

Three PSUs, the Mizoram Food and Allied Industries Corporation (MIFCO), the Mizoram Agriculture Marketing Corporation (MAMCO) and the Zoram Industrial Development Corporation (ZIDCO), have already submitted applications to the state government to man the wine shops.

The shops are expected to help the PSUs tide over financial problems, state excise and narcotics minister R Lalzirliana said.

Meanwhile, a number of people have been arrested since January 15 for violating the MLPC Act, 2014. Most of them have been convicted and sentenced to do public service by cleaning places. Others have been sentenced to undergo month-long prison terms or pay a fine of Rs 1,000.

CORRIGENDUM The NPF Press and Media Cell has issued a corrigendum that apropos to the advertisement published in local daily dated 22/01/2015 as PRESS RESOLUTION by the NPF Tuensang Division, the name of Shri. K. Ramchi Yimchunger was inadvertently entered as Shri.

W. Ramchi Yimchunger, in the third point of the resolution due to clerical error.

The Peren District Dobashi Association (PDDA) in its general conference at Nsong Town from 10-11 November 2014, elected new office bearers for the tenure 2015-2017.

1. President : Mr. Kurangbe 2. Vice President : Mr. Dingaulung 3. General Secretary : Mr. Lungrai 4. Joint Secretary : Mr. Akeng 5. Treasurer : Mr. Ichilia 6. Auditor : Mr. Mhaisaing Mr. Bosco Mr. Masang 7. Advisor : Mr. Hiareurangbe Mr. Namtsi Mr. Kochuiding Sd/(KURANGBE) President, Peren District Dobashi Association H.Q Peren ; Nagaland

The last date for submission of tender is 28 January 2016.

(H.K. Chishi) Programme Executive for Head of office

 9774921199 ContaCt-

LENGRIJAN : DIMAPUR, P.B. No.253.

POST VACANCY

Name of Post Asst. Prof. in Botany Asst. Prof. in Zoology

Minimum Qualification M.Sc. M.Sc.

Intending candidates are requested to submit the application and resume supported by documents on or before 28th Jan.2015. Date of Interview: 29th Jan. 2015 (Botany -10:00 a.m. and Zoology-12:00 p.m.)

Original documents should be shown for verification

ADMISSION: Last date for admission in 2nd, 4th & 6th Semesters B.A. & B.Sc. is extended up to 25th Jan. 2015 beyond which no admission will be accepted.

Principal Immanuel College Contact: 03862-248275. +91- 9436004791(M)

SECuRITIES AND ExCHANgE BOARD Of INDIA

SEBI BHAVAN, PLOT NO.C4-A, “G” BLOCK Bandra-Kurla Complex, Bandra (E), Mumbai-400051

Empanelment of Resource Persons Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) invites applications from eligible persons to be empanelled as Resource Person to conduct financial education workshops.

Details regarding names of district, selection criteria, application form, etc. are available on the website http:// investor.sebi.gov.in and NISM website http://nism.ac.in Deputy General Manager Investor Awareness Division, OIAE SEBI-HAR INVESTOR KI TAAQAT

BHARAT SANCHAR LIMITED (A GOVT.OF INDIA ENTERPRISE) OFFICE OF GENERAL MANAGER TELECOM DISTRICT NAGALAND: DIMAPUR

NOTICE FOR INVITING SEALED TENDERS FOR HIRING OF MARUTI VAN/TATA SUMO/BOLERO/SCORPIO ETC.

For details and obtaining tender the person/firms can contact the transport section on working days beginning at 10:00am to 5:00pm.

Bolero Pickup Model – 2007

PEREN DISTRICT DOBASHI ASSOCIATION

Dated: 19/1/2015

Sealed tender are invited from registered vehicle owners by Director Doordarshan Kendra for hiring vehicles Maruti Van, Tata Sumo, Bolero, Scorpio etc, as and when required by the Kendra during the period of 1st February 2015 to 31st January 2016.

fOR uRgENT SALE

IMMANUEL COLLEGE

PRASAR BHARATI BROADCASTING CORPORATION OF INDIA DOORDARSHAN KENDRS: KOHIMA No.DDK/KOH-3(5) 2014-15

action that is deemed just, fit and proper so that such delay in disbursement of scholarship is not repeated.

NOTICE INVITING TENDER Tender No. GMTD/NLD SSA/TENDER/OP/SMPS-MOD/2014-15/03 Dated 05.01.2015

On behalf of BSNL, the Sr. General Manager Telecom District Dimapur, Nagaland invites sealed tender from 23.01.2015 to 16.02.2015 for repairing of various Power Modules & Control Panels in Nagaland SSA. For further details kindly visit our website at www.ne2.bsnl.co.in/tender Estd.Cost Rs.6.5 lakhs

Cost of Bid Documents Earnest Money Bid Security in Rs. Rs.563/-

Rs.13000/-

Last Date for Submission 16-02-2015 Upto 1500 hrs

AGM (OP) O/o the GMTD Nagaland Dimapur 797112

SAINIK SCHOOL PUNGLWA (NAGALAND) DIST – PEREN TENDER - NOTICE: SL NO. SSPN/QM/311/TDR-01/2015-16 DATED 23 JAN 2015 1. Tenders in Sealed Envelopes are invited from competent Individual/agencies following Supplies/services to the School at its campus for the period 01 May 2015-30 April 2016.

I. Running of Shop at the Shopping Centre:(a) A Grocery Shop including fruits /Veg stall and Juice bar (b) Wet Canteen II. Supply of School Uniforms including running of Tailor Shop in Shopping complex III. Supply of Stationery items including running of Stationery Shop in Shopping complex IV. Supply of Horse Feed V. AMC for computer & accessories VI. Supply of Laboratory items & consumables VII. Catering Services 2. Tender forms may be obtained from the School Office from 9AM - 2PM on any working day between 23 Jan 15 and 09 Feb 15 on cash payment of Rs 1000/-.

3. Sealed Tenders forms duly filled in all respect and signed by the authorised signatory with the stamp must be sent by post or dropped in the Tender Box in the School. Last date of receipt of Tenders is 11AM on 09 Feb 15. All Tenders will be opened in Public at 12 Noon on 09 Feb 15.

Principal [Phone : 03839-262004,262002]

Davp 15204/11/0080/1415

Northeast Briefs

Friday

4

Dimapur

public discoursE

Friday 23 January 2015

The Morung Express

Will We be Called “White Washed Tombs”?

G

oogle’s report shows that Nagaland has the second highest percentage of Christians among the North Eastern States with more than 90% Christians.

But sad to see that the same report marked Nagaland as the most corrupted state among the North Eastern States. By the grace of God, Nagaland is blessed with no natural calamities such as floods, storms, and earthquakes etc, which force the State’s Treasury to be emptied. But one deadlier calamity, one like a tsunami that affects our society is the ‘Greed and Corruption’ or Lack of Probity in Public Life, which is drilling every fiber and marrow of our society. It looks to me that our people are rushing for ‘Black Money’ or ‘Blood Money’ in every field and department.

I strongly feel that the sense of sin is becoming narrower and on the verge of getting extinct from our society, though we all follow God’s Commandments in our speeches and in newspaper writings. Seeing this rat-race for wealth, allow me to share the few questions and reflections that perturb my mind.

The Elected Representatives and High Officers go on buying lands, properties and build mansions in several places. If things continue at this speed and in this direction, is not our society heading towards the

Class System, division of the rich and the poor and the subsequent revolution and revolt, as we read in our history classes? Is not our society heading downhill towards a ‘Black-hole’? Let us remember what Proverbs says, “Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it” (Prov. 13:11). The great divide between the rich and poor is against the traditional ethos of the tribal society. Traditionally most land and wealth were owned collectively and not individually. Today they are being clandestinely grabbed by few individuals depriving the vast majority of the community members their daily sustenance in the near future.

Another open secret is the government appointments made by the VIPs from one’s relations or party workers only, even if the candidate is unqualified for the post. But if this is true, are not these big crimes done to our society by our honourable representatives and leaders? The worst greed seen is that of making the appointment against some posts even before the one in the post gets retired!

No wonder our honorable Governor was disturbed and expressed his shock over the proxy appointments in Nagaland.

The so called VIPs are invited as Chief Guests by various Organizations and Associa-

L

ike the bad old days of the American Wild West, the NPF’s internal political game of ‘Cowboys and Red Indians’ has been going on beyond a reasonable stretch of time as the elected members, [not to the “Nagaland Legislative Assembly” (NLA) but to the “Ali Baba Assembly” (ABA)...an unsavoury word in Sumi dialect], recklessly search for “Mackenna’s Gold” at the expense of the people. It has not escaped the public eye that only ‘a bureaucrat and a half’ has been attending office these days with the majority from this Tribe happily absconding from duty on a paid vacation. It appears that the bureaucracy has conveniently taken the threat of Mr. Imkong Imchen, (the darling Crime Poster Boy (CPB) spokesperson of one of the Ali Baba’s camp) very seriously, not to act on the orders of the present Government under Mr. T.R. Zeliang, (their very first cousin of Ali Babas in another camp) or subsequently be subjected to scrutiny and accountability should a new Government be formed.

One may safely conclude that a short statured man who barely measures up to the beltline of others can only hit below the belt. Be that as it may, it is absolutely unbecoming and distasteful on the part of any political party or a spokesperson to threaten the bureaucracy in this manner. Until proven oth-

tions, including the Churches for functions in our society today, though this is not really necessary in all cases. But the more disturbing fact is that the people invite prominent persons more for their donations and less for their wisdom and expertise. Though these VIPs could be drawing a salary of Rs. 60000 – 100000, they have their families to look after. And if we expect them to donate generously at every occasion, where do they get such money to give?

Are we not indirectly encouraging them to steal or divert?

Are we not blocking the developments? Expecting the VIP’s to be another Reserve Bank or having the machine for minting money and give generously on all occasions, is unrealistic.

In very many cases, daily feasting goes on in the houses of our Representatives (MLAs) because he is my close relative or (my grandfather’s uncle’s brother’s great-grandson or my wife’s grandfather’s brother’s grandson’s first cousin) with the attitude, if not he who will help!

It is more interesting that at the end of the stay of a month or two, request is made for bus fare to go home. Where will they get money unless they divert our shares or steal money to feed the crowd that goes to his house and pay the bus fares?

The officers in the high positions enjoy the full privileges

of being an officer during their service, yet when they retire from service, they are accommodated as another “Solomon of the Old Testament”, to give advice or to head different Commissions and thus creating new or special posts. Are these not sucking the Government’s money? Are these not blocking our educated and vibrant youth from getting employment?

How can the government have enough money to pay the salary of those who toil genuinely within their service period? Reclaiming the allotted Government quarters or vehicles even after one has ceased to be part of that department is another drama often heard in our society. Is it not another form of corruption and greed? Where will the incoming government servants stay to do their office works when the existing quarters are never vacated?

The generous percentagecuts when projects come from the Central or the State Government by people in the offices is an unpublished complaint often heard. Are these people in the offices not drawing their salaries for processing and signing of the paper works on their office tables? Can this be one of the reasons why the work of our contractors do not last long or are below standard, as the contractors get much less than the fund sanctioned for the

project(s)? Is not greed and corruption eating away our developments? The bigger crime is that the file on particular work is closed stating that the works are perfectly done (of course on paper) without lifting a stick or a stone in reality.

Another sad fact is that when a certain amount of money is sanctioned to the contractor(s) to complete a project within a time frame, the works are purposely delayed with a view to enhance the cost in the bill. If every bill is doubled or tripled in this manner, can we complain to the government for not clearing the pending bills? Are we not in line with Lucifer’s greed?

Illegally collecting money from every moving creature for constructing one’s own mansions, buying the best cars or other personal properties do not speak well of the ‘National Workers’ as people working for the nation. Becoming rich out of the struggles and tears of others was neither our forefather’s culture nor their customs. Let us strive to earn the good name once again so that the people in our villages will respect us and will be ever willing to extend their fullest support in our endeavor.

Carrying the Holy Bible and Hymn Books to attend the Sunday’s services alone may not save us. Neither paying the tithes faithfully to make our Pastors happy alone nor know-

ing the scripture from cover to cover by heart and quoting it left and right to justify our misdeeds may not save us from Hell fire. Even the devil knows and quotes scriptural passages. For instance, the devil tempted Jesus by quoting from the scripture saying, “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “Throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you,… “. (Mt. 4:6).

Let us be Christians not only in our tithes and Sunday Churchgoings but also in our work places and on all other days of the week. Just giving a handsome amount to the church as tithe or contribution for the building of the church and gospel related activities alone are not enough.

In fact, the Lord detests such generous offerings if our works are not proper. “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him”.

(Prov. 15:8) And we, the preachers, are we walking our talks? Are our hands clean? Our people are so good; they do not want their shepherds’ name to be published as corrupt and greedy pastors. Let us not take advantage of their goodness. We seem to sincerely practice Christian charity and tolerance but are so dump-founded on all the evil practices going on in our society, except voicing vehemently

Call In The Cavalry erwise on the floor of an irresponsible collapsing House, Mr.T.R. Zeliang remains the Constitutional head of the State as the Chief Minister of Nagaland and therefore, the bureaucracy has no option but to carry out the order of his unfortunate Government provided such orders are within the legal boundaries of governance. The comical part however, is that... having worked under the ‘Cock’ symbol for so long, the bureaucracy seem to have turned ‘chicken’ by not attending office in acknowledgement. The Government which does not function well enough even in better normal days has happily come to a grinding halt to the inconvenience of the general public. The collapse of the system is clear and total even as the political animals continue slinging their dung at each other from their respective well secured hideouts, creating foul environment, confusion and uncertainty in their wake.

Politics in Nagaland is now operating at the lowest ebb in the neighbourhood of a cesspool. It has become insufferable and disgusting even from a common citizen’s point of view, having to watch the flaunting of all the laws and norms of the land.

On 21-1-2015, the local print medias have all carried a shocking case of the Speaker of Nagaland Legislative Assembly addressing the DAN Legislature Party meeting in an absolutely partisan manner. On being elected as the Speaker of the House, he is constitutionally duty bound to maintain neutrality as an impartial referee no matter which party he originated from. The moment he takes a one-sided stand to address party meeting of one faction, he becomes a partisan... especially in a time of conflict when it is all the more necessary that the dignity and impartiality of his office should have been sustained. This is an unforgivable dereliction of his Constitutional responsibility and an insult to his Chair. Mr. Speaker has unwittingly provided the much needed ammunition at this critical time to the contesting counterpart. Under a Constitutional technicality, he no longer can be perceived as a neutral entity that he is supposed to represent and therefore should have the moral decency to consider putting in his papers as the Speaker of this defiled House before the emission of an explosion.... otherwise the Governor of Nagaland should exercise hid Constitutional discretion

_

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 # 3117

to make it happen. It is a disgracefully unacceptable performance all round!

On the other side of the dull moon, the silence and inaction of Raj Bhavan gives rise to a curious speculation that the Hon’ble Governor of Nagaland is deliberately allowing this power mongering drama to continue with a cauldron of motives. That he has had enough time to absorb all the legal advice from the legal eagles available to him and yet remain complacently dormant tells its own story. Has he been given instruction by his BJP High Command to go slow, allow as much confusion to reign while carefully studying the unlikely scenario of BJP entering the political centre-stage from the backdoor, riding on defection wave?...or to let NPF self-destruct and then replace TR with PR. There is a limit to the constitutional notion that this is an internal affair of the Party to excuse his inaction. As legitimate as his deduction may seem, Mr. Governor must surely understand that it is the public who are at the receiving end of the dastardly impact of a non-functional Government in the aftermath. Every game has a reasonable timeframe of play.

As the Constitutional referee it is high time for him to blow the final whistle

and conclude the match one way or the other. From the hardening of stance by each Faction... the NPF (S) and the NPF (N) [ S = Shurhozelie...N = Noke ] it looks like the NPCC is slowly beginning to emerge as a potential king maker even with a paltry representative in the House not too worth a chicken feed.

But would Mr. Modi be willing to soil his pants by hypocritically accepting a helping hand from the Congress to set foot in the soil of Nagaland with the ‘defectors’ ... should one of the factions actually decide to defect and join BJP in frustration?... Probably not. There is another un-quantified factor involved: consider the case of Mr. Noke Wangnao who enjoys a reasonable following within the ranks at Rio’s Villa. For whatever his inabilities and shortcomings, the one laudable characteristic he has staunchly maintained throughout his political career is his unwavering regional identity. Unlike most of his peers and juniors he has yet to cross the dirty Legislative floor of the House to defect to another party. Would he be prepared to do so now and destroy this image at the sunset days of his career riding on a defection horse?...Probably?... Probably not? Hard to say... since one can’t undermine the lure of power and

DAILY CROSS WORD

CROSSWORD # 3126

Answer Number # 3116

against ‘lifting of prohibition’.Are we, the preachers, by our omissions, unwittingly teaching and encouraging wrongly the principle, ‘Do anything, provided you become rich; Being rich is a sign of God’s blessing’? Let us strive to make our flocks ‘True Christians’ not only in their tithes but in all spheres, practicing justice in their work places.

‘Grabbing and gathering from the government, even if it is of someone else’s share’ seem to be the main guiding principle for many in our society today.

There is hardly any prick of conscience in doing something that we know is inherently and morally wrong. We seem to have forgotten the beautiful Christian principle, ‘The end does not justify the means’. We are Christians and let us live by the Christian values and principles. Or else God may see and rebuke us saying, “You are White Washed Tombs, not my disciples”.

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”

(Gal. 6:7-8) God bless our Nagaland and May God bless us all!

Rev. Fr. George Rino Cathedral Church, Kohima

money which can destabilize a mind beyond honour that he has otherwise upheld thus far. Defecting to BJP or NPCC may not be his cup of tea...then what happens?

The Government has been trumpeting the slogan of “Nagaland - land of Festivals”. A more realistic input would read “Nagaland - land of Factional Festivals”. We now can boast of 11 Factions afloat: (1) NSCN (IM); (2) NSCN (U); (3) NSCN (K); (4) NNC (Accordist); (5) NNC (Non-Accordist); (6) FGN (Accordist); (7) FGN (NonAccordist); (8) The baby NNC (Parent Body); (9) NPF (S); (10) NPF (N); (11) Bureaucracy; Given time and the usual studied silence of the people, more factional festivals are on their way...wait and see! Across the board, the underlining common objective of each Festival is to extort/extract illegal tax/commission by hoisting a well camouflaged flags like “Nagaland for Christ” and “Stable Government for all round development for the people”. What more blessing do the Nagas need? Before more of such blessings befall the Nagas and before more Deo Nukhus happen, to vitiate the already confused environment further...

Mr. Governor of Nagaland SIR... call in the cavalry.

DIMAPUR Civil Hospital:

Khekiye K. Sema IAS (Rtd) Forest Colony, Kohima STD CODE: 03862 232224; Emergency229529, 229474

Metro Hospital:

227930, 231081

Faith Hospital:

228846

Shamrock Hospital

228254

Zion Hospital:

231864, 224117, 227337

Police Control Room

228400

Police Traffic Control

232106

East Police Station West Police Station

227607 232181

CIHSR (Referral Hospital)

242555/ 242533

Dimapur hospital

224041, 248011

Apollo Hospital Info Centre:

230695/ 9402435652

Railway:

131/228404

Indian Airlines

229366

Nagaland Multispe- 248302, cialty Health & 09856006026 Research Centre

W

O

Irregular Plural WOLVES KNIVES FEET MEN CHILDREN WOMEN SHEEP HEROES SCARVES MICE GEESE ELVES HALVES LOAVES TOMATOES POTATOES TORNADOES DEER OXEN TEETH PHENOMENA MATRICES

R

D

P G Z O W C O H E R O E S Y N

S L I G U M O A P C K H D G L

S

U P K V R I G L N H S R P Y S

E

R S T G V C M V P I E G Q D E

Y E E L V E S E V L O W D N O

C C P J W S F S P D D O V E T

A

V I H L N E F F G R A M U V A

I R E E D O V C E E N E J X T

R

C T N A Z T P T E N R N X K O

V A O L O A V E S E O X E N P

C

E M M D I M T E E F T V F V P

S H E E P O Z T N H F X Z P O

H

D Y N E M T G H L G A T L R O

S C A R V E S E V I N K U N F

I R K A H R D K J R R B O W F

ACROSS 1. An essay 6. Arab chieftain 10. Gown 14. Poplar tree 15. A ceremonial staff 16. Always 17. Tether 18. Not amateurs 19. Anagram of “Meat” 20. Contour 22. Angers 23. Godsend 24. Urticate 26. South American country 30. Alkaline liquid 31. Explosive 32. Atop 33. Small slender gull 35. A piece of information 39. Get worse 41. Capture 43. One of the Canterbury pilgrims 44. Epic 46. Algonquian Indian 47. A high alpine meadow 49. A parcel of land 50. French for “State” 51. Large North American

deer 54. Salt Lake state 56. Iridescent gem 57. Likeness 63. Wise men 64. Forearm bone 65. Tendon 66. Fiber source 67. A promiscuous woman 68. Grin 69. Warbled 70. Being 71. Abominable snowmen

DOWN 1. Friends 2. Assist in crime 3. Sweet gritty-textured fruit 4. If not 5. Rehabilitation 6. Workers 7. Sailor 8. Computer symbol 9. Feel bitter about 10. A payment of money 11. Blatant 12. Tropical nut 13. Delete 21. Sheds 25. Terminates 26. Happy cat sound

27. Type of sword 28. Part in a play 29. Ineffectual 34. Talk terms 36. Sourish 37. Component of urine 38. Encounter 40. Fur 42. Area of South Africa 45. Graduate 48. Improper use 51. Uteri 52. 3-banded armadillo 53. Heathen 55. _____ fit 58. Ailments 59. An indefinite period 60. Module 61. Sandwich shop 62. Female sheep (plural) Ans to CrossWord 3125

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

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

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

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

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

Toll free No. 1098 childline

Police Station 1:

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

TUENSANG: 8414853766 (O) 8414853519

CHILD WELFARE COMMITTEE

MOKOKCHUNG:

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

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

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

KOHIMA

FIRE STATIONS

STD CODE: 0369

2226241

Police Station 2 :

2226214

Civil Hospital: Woodland Nursing Home:

2226216 2226263

Hotel Metsüpen (Tourist Lodge):

2226373/2229343

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

CURRENCY EXCHANGE CURRENCY NOTES

222246 222491

BUY(Rs)

SELL(Rs)

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

61.47 92.95 7.91 50.16 45.82 51.26 51.82

61.90 94.00 8.00 50.90 46.37 51.89 52.46

Euro

71.13

71.93

Danish Krone

9.57

9.67

Norwegian Krone

8.05

8.14

47.25

47.97

7.54

7.63

New Zealand Dollar Swedish Krona

LOCAL

The Morung Express

ZPO (N) flays Nagaland state govt’s ‘dictatorial policy’ Says it will initiate unceremonious measures Peren, January 22 (Mexn): The ZPO (N) today cautioned that it might be compelled to discontinue appeals through “peaceful and legitimate means” and initiate measures to unceremoniously “heave out” all departments from Peren town to compulsorily function from the New DC. This was in reaction to what it described as the state government’s continued “dictatorial policy” against the wish of general public over the shifting of the DC office to New Peren DC Complex.

A press note from the Media Cell of the Zeliang People’s Organisation,

Nagaland, ZPO(N) stated that the measures might include deployment of volunteers to monitor “strict attendance” and immediately enforcing principle of “no work no pay” on all government employees “to scrutinize the sincerity and efficiency of this conceited government of the day.”

The press note according to ZPO (N) is being issued “in the Interest of Public service” after being “persistently constrained” by the “hideous stance” of the Government of Nagaland on shifting of the office of Deputy Commissioner, Peren headquarters to the new site.

Arguing that the Government have been constantly exploiting the wishes of the general public on the issue, including the shifting of the new district headquarter on December 11, 2014 despite the matter being under “judicial consideration”, the ZPO (N) added that the latest instance was the “harsh” decision of DPDB Peren to observe the Nation’s Republic Day at New Peren DC Complex, where no “public habitation” has materialised so far.

“Can observance of the Nation’s Red Letter Day be down played to a neg-

ligible tea-party … [and] converted to a pompous outing programme only for the members of the DPDB Peren sans the general public of the district…in the absence of decent public transport and communication system as well as other amenities? ZPO (N) wondered. In this context, the organisation asked why the government is ignoring the very principle, “government of the people, by the people and for the people”.

“Why the government is only favouring the interest of politicians in power and their affluent followers, never paying heed to

Excise personnel receives training from CRPF Morung Express News Dimapur | January 22

Twenty-three State Excise personnel completed a 10-day training course on weapons handling provided by the CRPF. The training was provided free of cost by the CRPF 173rd Battalion stationed in Dimapur.

According to the Commissioner of Excise, Maongwati Aier, it was the third batch of trainees to undergo training with the same battalion. Including the third batch, around a 100 personnel have benefited from the course, Aier said on January 22.

The training had started on January 12.

While appreciating An-

23 January 2015

Peren, January 22 (Mexn): The 6 Tening A/C NPF party and public in general has stated that they have “lost confidence” upon the present C.M. TR Zeliang for his “selfishness towards his own people.”

A press note from NPF party president of 6 Tening A/C, Kanang Pame, informed today that the people of Tening area voted in favour of TR Zeliang since 1982. “However after the achievement of power he has condemned his own party leaders and innocent party men and women of Tening area and shifted to Peren A/C with his own will without consulting the senior leaders in the party and without doing any developmental programme within the area,” stated the note.

Further, it was stated

NASU Biennial General Conference KohiMa, January 22 (Mexn): The Northern Angami Students' Union (NASU) will be organising its 43rd Biennial General Conference under the theme "To seek, to strive and to find" from January 23 to 25. The conference will be held at Teichüma village, to be hosted by Teichüma Students' Union with Zhaleo Rio, Parliamentary Secretary, Urban Development as the Chief Guest and Dr. Neiphrezo Keditsu, MLA as the Guest of Honour.

Dimapur Pangti Ekhüng Meeting

Excise Commissioner, Maongwati Aier (sitting 5th from right) and Commandant of the CRPF 173rd battalion, Anupam Sharma (sitting 4th from right) alongwith other officials and the trainees at CRPF Transit Camp, Dimapur on January 22.

upam Sharma, Commandant of the 173rd battalion for the service, Aier said, “It’ll go a long way in updating the knowledge and calibre of the personnel.”

“They were trained on various subjects - law, operational, handling and main-

tenance of various types of firearms, NLTP Act, map reading, yoga, unarmed combat, explosives, first responder, effects of alcohol on society, defection weapon and fire fighting,” stated the CRPF in a press note.

The instructors were

Deputy Commandant, Pranav Anand; Assistant Commandant, Premjeet Singh; Assistant Commandant, Brajbhushan; Commandant, Suresh Chandra, Inspector Jagdish Singh and head constable Kanti Das.

Kohima police arrests 3 in two seperate incidents KohiMa, January 22 (Mexn): Kohima Police arrested three persons in two separate operations. A press release from the PRO Atu Zumvü, NPS, informed. In the first of the arrests, personnel from Chiephobozou P.S led by the O/c Lichanthung Lotha, at a surprise checking at National Highway-2 on January 21, intercepted one Mahindra Bolero and arrested Nibato Yepthomi (36yrs) of Yekhato Vil-

lage of Kuhuboto under Diphuphar PS, for illegally transporting alcohol.

Police recovered 59 Rum bottles and 120 cans of beer. A regular case has been registered against him and the case was submitted in chargesheet.

In the second arrest, based on an F.I.R lodged at North PS Kohima by the All Nagaland Taxi Association (ANTA) Kohima Unit on January 22, two persons were arrested for illegally trans-

porting suspected illegal immigrants in the state capital. They were identified as Rajesh Sah (40 yrs), of Paruana Village, Chapra District, Bihar and currently residing in B.O.C Kohima and Sabul Uddin Mojunder (32 yrs), of Rongpurpi Village, Silchar District, Assam. A regular case vide North P.S Kohima was registered against them and they were remanded into police custody for further investigation.

Public SPace Rejoinder to the FGN order on banning illegal businesses

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reasonable efforts and logical elucidation.” “Whether being in the helm of governance warrant anybody absolute authority to defeat public voice to nothingness?” ZPO (N) further questioned.

However, the ZPO (N) stays hopeful that “good sense” would prevail when the time is at hand to ensure peaceful coexistence in the interest of general public and the government make necessary rectification. Else, the ZPO (N) warned, the government must be ready “to be held” responsible for all “resultant consequences.”

5 NPF TeNiNg: Says it ‘lost confidence’ in TR Zeliang Friday

he Watchman Team greets the FGN midan peyu with gratitude as the FGN had issued an order to bring sanity and order in the disheveled Naga society by banning all illegal business, prostitution and liquor business. The need of the hour is righteous people in power as the Bible declares that in Pro 29:2 ‘When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn’. The ban on alcohol has been a dodgy issue with the many wicked in power and authority. We mourn as even our elected ministers and MLA’s are caught with stashes and caches of liquor and even are main suppliers and dealers to some districts. It is a shame that even the Police and excise perform their duties under duress or at worse made to work in a mafia like organization.

Isn’t it contemptible when top Police officers orders the lower rank officer to let in the trucks laden with cases and cases and cases of liquor through?

We need an iron hand in dealing with this particular sin as it is eating Naga society as a canker. Nobody benefits in indulging in alcohol. It has taken a toll on Naga society. When is the righteous rule going to come in our land?

The soon coming Kingdom of Christ is going to rule with a rod of iron. Wickedness needs to be dealt with. Revelation 19:15, says ‘And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron:..’

We hope that the FGN is not issuing an empty threat as a barking dog with no bite. We have seen NSCN (IM) issuing threats but have not carried out their intentions which does

not give confidence to the people at large but makes the black-marketers bolder in their dirty deed. Is there not one righteous and courageous ruler and officer in the land who will clean up and drive out wickedness as Jesus cleared the Temple in His day? We have made a mockery of Christianity in Nagaland with a flaky half-hearted believe. Will Christ say on that day, ‘I never knew you’? Matthew 7: 21. Liquor has killed a good many men, cause fights and death, ruined health and families, broken up families and homes, cheated people of their dignity and moral character. Many have gone to their graves far too early and hell with no turning back. Yes FGN we are with you if you mean what you say.

DiMaPur, January 22 (Mexn): The Dimapur Pangti Ekhüng (DPE) annual general meeting for 2015 will be held at Purana Bazaar Council Hall from 10AM on January 24. R Limonthüng Shitiri, the general secretary of the DPE, in a press note requested all the concern “Pangtians” residing within Dimapur District to attend the meeting positively.

DGU Committee Meeting DiMaPur, January 22 (Mexn): The Dimapur Gorkha Union (DGU) will be holding a meeting of all the respective Committees of the forthcoming North East Nepali Literary Symposium-Cum-Felicitation programme, at the Office of the Monitoring Cell, Old Industrial Estate, Near CRPF Camp, Diphu Road, on January 25 from 12:00 AM. Dipak Lama, Programme Director Cum PRO in a press note requested to attend the meeting positively.

that the people of Tening A/C are “fortunate” to elect Namri Nchang as MLA representative from Tening A/C “who has got high ambition and vision to put effort with best of his ability” to develop the most backward and underdeveloped area since Nagaland achieved stathood in 1963.

It regretted to inform that TR Zeliang “due to his jealousy and selfish minded” tried to “seize power” from Namri Nchang by allegedly issuing notification orders to “each and every head of department to take charge by his own relatives and every facilities” without the knowledge and consideration of Namri Nchang. In an enclosed copy of a note

Dimapur

from the Chief Minister’s office on September 15, 2014, certain party leaders (range-wise) were given the responsibility to be ‘consulted’ before “any decision is taken in respect of works pertaining to public importance under Peren district.” The sector/area handed over to them were Peren Hill Sector, Jalukie Valley Sector and Tening Sector. A copy of the note was appended to the ADC, Tening and all District Head Officers, Peren.

Besides, stated Pame, “Inspite of all the sacrifice made by Namri Nchang for the induction of Chief Minister TR Zeliang as DAN Chief,” Nchang was reportedly “denied” any portfolio in the ministry in the government.

7 NPF Division affirms allegiance to Shurhozielie DiMaPur, January 22 (Mexn): Seven Divisional presidents of Naga People’s Front (NPF) today “reaffirmed” their allegiance to the official NPF party headed by Dr. Shurhozielie Liezietsu, whom they described as the “unanimously” elected and approved by the NPF general convention. They also expressed confidence on the leadership of TR Zeliang as the chief minister.

The divisions are Kohima, Mokokchung, Peren, Phek, Pughoboto, Tuensang, and Wokha. “Since we command the majority in the official NPF, as per democratic principles, we continue to be the legitimate party under the constitution of the NPF as registered and recognized by the Election Commission of India,” stated a press note signed by president of

the seven aforementioned divisions.

No parallel structures exist in any political party after the introduction of anti-defection law in 1985, and any diversion from this is “illegal” and “tantamount” to voluntarily giving up the party and liable to be disqualified, the press note maintained.

Further, it argued that as the official NPF party recognised by the ECI, nobody can “hijack the party from us” without any reason. The press note was appended by respective divisional president under: Gonei-U Angami-Kohima; Moasangba Jamir- Mokokchung; Chivotso-Phek; Haigam Kauring-Peren; Kughaku Sheqi-Pughoboto; S Lusang Khiam-Tuensang; and Mhonthung Patton-Wokha.

Police conduct raids liquor outlets in Dimapur DiMaPur, January 22 (Mexn): The Dimapur police have arrested twenty (20) people and seized assorted numbers of IMFL during a surprise checking of “suspected” liquor joints in and around Dimapur on January 21.

According to a press from Addl. Superintendent of Police/PRO, Dimapur, the arrest and seizures were recorded as follows:

Restaurant Half Nagarjan; G.L. Sharma (30), Deluxe Point; Ram Prasad (30) Bata Charali; Rajib Boro, (23 Yrs), Railway Station; Chanjing Marak (26 Yrs), Bata Charali; and Dhanjay Chaudri (19 Yrs),Eros Lane.

Liquor seized: Rum-72 Bottles; Whisky-15 Bottles; Beer-135 Bottles and Beer65 canned.

2. Sub- Urban PS: Persons arrested: Uttam Chakraboty (45 Yrs),West Yard Colony; Vishal Das 1. East PS: Person arrested: Ro- (20), Army Supply Road; shan Singh (20) of Dustan Rajesh (22 Yrs),Signal Bos-

ti; and Babu Singh (30) Signal Bosti.

Liquor seized: Rum -20 Bottles, Whisky - 10 Bottles, and Beer- 31 Bottles 3. West P.S: Persons arrested: Vikas Rajbongshi (24 Yrs); Deepak Lama (24 Yrs); Robin (26 Yrs); Papu Sing (24 Yrs); and Nikato Sema (22 Yrs).

Liquor seized: Rum28 bottles and 78 Quarter Bottles MC; Whisky - 7 bottles, 56 Quarter bottles; Vodka - 31 Quarter bottles; Gin- 16 bottles, Beer - 200 bottles

4. Diphupar P.S: Persons arrested: Kughavi Yeptho, 5th Mile; Isato, 3rd Mile; Md. Hussain, 7th Mile; Hussain, Thelixu village; Mona, Purana Bazar Liquor seized: Rum14 Bottles & 84 Quarter bottles; Whisky - 46 Bottles and 39 Quarter bottles, Breezer - 10 bottles,Vodka-2 bottle, Gin - 5 bottles, and Beer- 12 bottles In this connection the Officers-in-Charge of concerned PS registered under NLTP Act and forwarded the accused to the Court.

Supply colony wins waste management award

Pastor James and Pastor Tepu The Watchman Team

Rejoinder to Survival Nagaland on the issue of IBIs business

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larmed is the word here at the cynosure of the Watchman Team’s comprehension. It sounds like the Development Authority of Dimapur and DMC are working at the behest of IBI’s. We would also like to ask with Survival Nagaland why are the IBIs’ being allotted shops and business premises in Super market and the new ISBT? God forbid that the IBI’s would take over these two Government bodies much like how they are taking over many businesses.

We stand wholeheartedly with Survival Nagaland in not issuing Trade License,

Driving License and business premises to the IBI’s as they are illegal immigrants.

The Bangladeshis are not Indian citizens but have faked their way in. We stand with SN that all officers need to be extra vigilant and think right and make righteous judgment and not be moved by the smell of money. Much of the future of Nagas depends on you and what you do. It has also been our observation that Nagas are a proud people and detest little jobs and these little jobs are filled in by the IBIs’ very quickly. The IBIs’ are also very hard working and look for opportunities. We

urge young Nagas to take small businesses and build it up in time. Many of our young Nagas are also addicted to alcohol and have a laissez-faire attitude which doesn’t contribute to a hardworking lifestyle.

The Bible says that ‘the hand of the diligent maketh rich’. We urge our young Nagas to leave alcohol and come clean and live a righteous life. This will help in building the Naga nation.

If unemployed and young Nagas are genuinely looking forward to doing business and if this anticipation is being usurped by some officials we will stand with

Survival Nagaland in rooting out this problem. IBIs are a real threat and Nagas need to be sober minded and take necessary action.

This is also one issue that will unite the Nagas. We also urge all Naga political groups to not discourage young Naga business and entrepreneurs by the incessant tax. Let them first get their business established.

One more Naga established is a stronger Nagaland. Let Nagas and Nagaland prosper righteously.

If we will not work we will continue to beg.

Pastor James and Pastor Tepu The Watchman Team

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.

DiMaPur, January 17 (Mexn): The Supply Colony was adjudged the best performing colony solid waste management in Dimapur city for the year 2014. Riverbelt Colony, Lower Khel and Island Colony were adjuded second and third respectively.

The award instituted by Pro Rural in collaboration with UN-Habitat India Youth Fund and Narotam Sheksharia Foundation (NSF), Mumbai, is aimed at bridging the gap and acknowledging the “due” contribution of young people -Waste Wise Managers- for better urban solid waste management.

“Being a young man, I know myself that I have tremendous energy, strength

and potential that I can contribute towards the betterment of the society” said Athilu Khrasi, CEO, Pro Rural in his address during the Evaluation and Recognition Day of best performing Waste Wise Managers Teams in Dimapur, held here today.

He further pointed out that there are many areas where young people have the roles to play and one such area is, “Better Urban Solid Waste Management” taken up by the Waste Wise Managers initiated by Pro Rural NGO in Dimapur city.

Young people cannot afford to blame others when they themselves are not doing the things, but at the same time, the con-

cerned authorities and elders should also recognize and acknowledge the role and duties of the young people in building the society. Failure in bridging this gap is often resulting in misunderstanding and confusion in Naga society today, opined Khrasi.

The program coordinator of NSF, Mumbai, Prayash Giria on his part extended profound appreciation to the Waste Wise Managers for taking up the challenge to make Dimapur a cleaner city. He also stated that, it is the responsibility of every citizen, young or old for an integral solid waste management system to minimize and possibly to eliminate public and environmental health

problems and promote well-being of the community urgently.

GB of Supply Colony, Yenito Swu lauded Pro Rural for taking up the initiative and mobilizing young people to be Waste Wise Managers, which have brought about desirable change in the colony. He stated, “A Clean City is a strong reflection of our moral and civic values”.

The GB also encouraged the youth to keep up the dignity of labor as they lead to make a model colony.

The program also features sharing of their experiences by the Waste Wise Managers, Council members and concerned individuals from different selected colonies.

6

IN-FOCUS

The Power of Truth

The Morung Express

C O M M E N T A R Y

FrIDAy 23 JAnuAry 2015 volumE X IssuE 21

To Be A Leader Jarkarta Borden

to be a leader you must follow first choosing not to follow makes your future leadership worse. you must be able to follow and learn as much as you can you may think you're a "born leader" but you're not quite ready to take command. you will see failure re-occurring again and again and again and eventually you 'll lead your followers to a dead end. if you haven't learned how to lead how can you guide others your followers will then turn on you as well as each other. to be a good leader you must follow first to lead then and only then will you succeed!

lEfT WING |

Mazie Nakhro, Ph.D

Day 14: Deliverance from Unlikely Leaders Thought-Provoking Question: What usually happens to a society that is led by leaders who easily resort to pagan ways of life? Can real deliverance of our society come from some most unlikely characters amongst us?

What does God say? Read Judges 6:11-16 Once in Canaan, Israel quickly forgot the God who had established her in the land. Consequently, she lost sight of her unique identity as God's people. She settled down and gradually attached herself to the lifestyle of the pagan peoples, their morals and practices, their religious beliefs and gods. Such rebellion provoked God's anger and brought judgment upon them in the form of foreign oppression. Afterwards, they would come to their senses and cry out to the Lord. Then, He would hear their prayer, deliver them from their enemies and grant them peace in the land. This cycle repeated six times during this period of the Judges.

The statement that so-and-so "judged Israel" refers to more than settling disputes in the legal sense. The Hebrew shofet is closer to the idea of delivering by military action or leading a certain group of people. First, the "judges" delivered the people. Then, they ruled and administered justice in the era of Tribal Confederacy of Israel.

What kind of people did God use as leaders? Anyone!

As the Lord of history, God was free to choose whoever He pleased to act as deliverers. More often than expected, God raised leaders who came from very unexpected backgrounds. Here are some examples: Ehud was a left-handed man who assassinated an enemy's king and proved himself a courageous leader. Jephthah was a rash son of a prostitute and a social outcast before God chose him to lead. Gideon came from a very insignificant background and felt completely inadequate about himself. Worse still, he was too afraid of the enemy. But God chose him in spite of all his shortcomings, because he was willing to let God use him. Deborah became a political leader by taking bold initiatives during a time when women were regarded as second-class citizens. She commanded the respect of the people because she showed that she truly cared for her people. (Like Deborah, Joan of Arc, a peasant girl, became a military leader of France army and fought against the Burgundians in the 15th century A.D.) Okay, so now what?

Very often, God uses cast-off material. He does not care whether you have political background or past leadership experience. For God, the issue is not your background or the lack of it. The point is not who you are, but if He is with you. In fact, even if you feel inadequate or fearful, He could still use you, provided you will let Him. What He does is to use "the weak things of the world to shame the strong" (1 Cor. 1:26-29).

Prayer: Lord, I don't feel like I am a leader, but should You show me things needed to be done, let me not give excuses.

Grant me the courage to step forward to do my part. Amen.

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

S O U N D BITE

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ndia's PM is standing in front of you as a beggar.

I have come here to beg for the life of the girl child…

It is as if we are from the 18th century - at that time, and just after a girl's birth, she was killed. We are worse now, we don't even allow the girl to be born.

Girls are better performers than boys. If you need proof, just look at exam results. People want educated daughters-in-law but think several times before educating their daughters. How can this go on?

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi

THE EDIT PAGE

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Change the people

n a democracy called India, the people changed the Government. The new Government wants to change the people! Dissatisfied with their behavior and conduct, it wants the motorists to follow traffic rules and men to respect women. It wants families to let the girl child live and be educated. Above all, it wants the people to clean up their towns and cities! The democratic government is not taking any draconian measures.

It is using the power of persuasion through “public-interest” advertising. The ads urge the people to refrain from their normal unsocial behavior that creates unsanitary conditions, affects public health and degrades the environment.

Immediately after his election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called upon the people to remove garbage from public places. The Prime Minister himself wielded a broom and made some of his ministers do the same. To ensure that leaders with the brooms are not spotted doing a token exercise, the party workers first spread the rubbish on the road before the TV cameras start running.

Some political leaders associated with the ruling party want to change the people in a more fundamental way. They want the people to change their faith! They are inducting batches of Muslims and Christians into Hinduism. Changing one’s faith is quite a fundamental transformation. Of course, the Government is not involved in this mission nor can it be under the Constitution of the secular India. The Prime Minister himself has refrained from any sectarian appeal. He talks of “inclusive development” and wishes to take every Indian with him on the road to economic nirvana.

The ruling BJP’s poll campaign did lead to the sharpening of religious identities and to the consolidation of the Hindu votes. Some leaders of the BJP’s extended political family hail Modi as “the first Hindu Prime Minister of India” and are trying to further freeze sectarian identities. This process was initiated by the ruling party years ago. Its success has been halting, thanks to India’s civilisational values, cultural diversity and India’s national DNA formed during the Gandhi-Nehru era.

Some leaders of the extended political family of Modi’s party are not bothered about the garbage in the lanes but want to remove the moral filth being spread by the bar-going women. When they find the Government ignoring this menace to the “Hindu culture”, they themselves march to the bars and attack such women.

As a realistic politician, the Prime Minister knows that the removal of moral filth is difficult. Thus he is most eloquent talking of his Clean India Campaign.

No previous Prime Minister ever personalised a Clean India Campaign despite V. S. Naipaul drawing the world’s attention to public defecation in India.

Some public interest ads are quite interesting. In one radio ad, film actress Vidya Balan is heard talking to flies. A woman asks her in disbelief: “Vidyaji, you are talking to flies!” The actress replies: “I have to, since you people don’t listen to me and stop public defecation. I am urging the flies not to sit on the human excreta so that you people are saved from diseases. The flies may listen to me!”

In another radio ad, the actress castigates the people who claim that their daughters and daughters-in-law represent the “honour of the family” but have no shame in sending them to defecate in the open!

Another radio ad features exchanges between

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LK Sharma

he idea of creating a more cohesive global human rights movement seems to have galvanized a wide range of activists. As a number of contributors to this openGlobalRights debate have noted, rights groups in the global South tend to represent specific interests, while northern-based groups usually defend universal principles.

Northern NGOs struggle to serve these ambitious mandates, however, and promote the expanding number of causes under the human rights umbrella. As a result, several leading Northern NGOs are attempting to reorganize their sizable operations to reflect a more “international” profile.

Yet the idea of internationalizing northern human rights NGOs is problematic for at least three reasons. First, there is no consensus on what a truly transnational human rights NGO looks like. If groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are not already the most “international” of all, then who is?

Second, many characterize the northern roots of international NGOs as a liability. Uprooting them from their traditional bases in the US and Europe, however, risks robbing them of their key strength—their access to wealthy donors and powerful governments.

Finally, decentralization of northern NGOs is not a value-free process in which key organizational tasks are handed from the US and Europe to Africa, Asia and Latin America. Instead, it is likely to involve the export of specific organizational practices from north to south in a way that may threaten the diversity of human rights approaches.

Internationalization is not unique to the human rights NGO community. Instead, international NGOs across several sectors—including environmental protection, humanitarian relief and global development—are reworking their global structures to better incorporate southern voices, and perhaps also to save money.

But these processes have yielded vastly different organizational forms as these

In a message to the tax evaders, a frightening voice says: “We know it all! Every single transaction of yours! You can hide nothing!” Meanwhile, Indians are getting more materialistic… a boy and a man who has renamed the members of the boy’s family. Each name indicates the kind of nuisance that person commits. The boy angrily asks why his mother is being called “Polyauntie”.

He is told because she uses the polythene bags that are banned. Why his uncle is called “Thu-Thu Kumar”? Because he goes around spitting in public places. The ad gives new names to those committing even worse public nuisances.

The radio ads ask the listeners to shun the unethical investment companies and cheating shopkeepers. The consumers are asked to check the retail prices printed on items of purchase and their weight or measurement. The patients are told to check the expiry date before buying medicines.

Visitors to public hospitals are told to avoid the pimps taking them to the private diagnostic centres! The buyers are told how to frustrate those selling impure gold or adulterated spices.

One radio ad says it all about the careless auto-rickshaw drivers who pack their vehicles with school-children, endangering their lives. A mother tells the driver six things he should do and not do so that her son is deposited safely in the school!

Some ads warn the people against thugs. Other ads assume that the people are too smart. They evade taxes, demand dowry, and subject a pregnant woman to ultrasound tests with a view to killing the girl baby. In a message to the tax evaders, a frightening voice says: “We know it all! Every single transaction of yours! You can hide nothing!”

Some ads seek to help the helpless. In order to check the crimes against woman, the ads about the police campaign against the road Romeos and predators broadcast the Helpline numbers.

A depressed young man tells his friend that he wants to kill himself because his father will not allow him to marry the girl he loves. The friend gives him a Helpline number! A campaign against potential murderers tells the senior citizens living alone how to protect themselves. The visitors to markets and shopping malls are advised not to touch any unclaimed package.

The Election Commission of India also believes in the power of persuasion. Its radio ads urge the people to give up their favourite hobby of fault-finding and go and vote! “Your vote is your future.” A bolder ad alerts the voters against the defectors. A woman tells the voters that a candidate who was unfaithful to

his party could not be faithful to his nation. A woman minister abuses those who do not support her party.

A radio ad may have to request the campaigners not to abuse and not to threaten to kill the opponents.

How is the official Clean India Campaign going?

Since the present Indian Prime Minister has a reputation for micro-management, this writer monitored three specific sites for assessing the impact of his Clean India Campaign. In Jaipur, the State Governor occupying the official mansion belongs to Modi’s party. The lane adjoining his Raj Bhavan continues to be used as a public urinal. In south Delhi, a wall running alongside a footpath is still being used for the same purpose.

And as the train approaches the outskirts of Delhi from Haryana, one still sees giant heaps of garbage dotted with pigs, dogs, cows and children. Only machines, not men, can move these mountains. No official agency seems bothered. The Prime Minister hopes that where the municipalities have failed, a few volunteers will succeed.

The dedicated volunteers cleaned up the blocked drains and footpaths in South Delhi but their work was undone in a couple of days by the people exercising the fundamental right to litter.

During the election campaign, some critics portrayed Modi as another Hitler. Had he been one, the jails would be overflowing with those arrested for littering.

While persuasion fails, the economic policies and technology manage to modify human behavior. When a modern car became available in India, the new owners became aggressive in their behavior. Those driving the top-of-therange cars feel greater contempt towards the pedestrians and drive recklessly. The mobile telephone’s contribution to women’s empowerment has been acknowledged.

Earlier, the economist-Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, wanted to awaken “the animal spirit” among the people. He need not have given this call.

His economic policies had indeed awakened the animal spirit in a large section of Indians. Indians are getting more materialistic.

Margaret Thatcher’s social engineering experiment through economic policies showed encouraging results in Britain. She advertised the council house sales, promoted greed and changed the nature of the British people. Tony Blair unleashed an ad campaign to transform the old England into Cool Britannia locked in New Labour’s embrace.

It is easy to make the people greedier or nastier.

But some old habits die hard. In India, those who throw rubbish on the road, spit on the walls or answer the call of nature standing on the footpath are unlikely to surrender their freedom.

Even stricter laws and stiffer fines fail to modify the behavior of Indians. Empowered with the new money, they prefer to pay a hefty fine than stop at the red light. A city municipality deployed the rubbish-collection vans playing a recorded warning that those throwing paper tea-cups on the road will be fined 10 rupees! No one bothered and the outsourced rubbish collection service was withdrawn.

Where laws fail, can gentle persuasion succeed?

Will a New Indian evolve through the force of the hidden persuaders? In a democracy, it is not so easy to change the people and make them do the right things. And India will never be a China!

Coming together, or falling apart? sarah stroup

International human rights groups are a big help when developing transnational norms; decentralizing these NGOs risks robbing them of their key strength groups try to “build the boat while sailing it.” In the global development sector, internationalization has proceeded in piecemeal fashion, as powerful national chapters of these NGO families have been asked to give up control in new organizational structures that are yet unproven.

Given that NGO reform is so onerous, let’s revisit the question: why is it so necessary? Northern NGOs across multiple sectors have been called to demonstrate their value-added, as southern-based organizations are increasingly capable of raising their own funds and running their own programs and campaigns. Being based in London or New York or Paris, it appears, impedes the credibility of northern NGOs’ claims to defend global causes.

Yet if northern human rights organizations are imperfect instruments for representing the many groups suffering grievance, they are still very useful tools in promoting human rights. The media attention concentrated on these groups can give them a platform for raising new issues. The networks of elite board members and supporters behind these north-

ern NGOs can help them reach policymakers, even if these organizations have failed to build grassroots support for the human rights cause. The deep roots of Oxfam in Britain, or of Human Rights Watch in the US, are in fact huge assets for transnational activists looking to change the trade, aid, and diplomatic policies of these powerful states.

As practitioners and scholars have noted, there may be a tradeoff between inclusiveness and effectiveness, and successful NGO decentralization risks diluting its unique influence. The NGO Friends of the Earth (FoE), for example, has embraced a confederation model that equally balances southern and northern concerns. The confederation has no clear set of global priorities, however, and many of its affiliates do not even use the brand. FoE may be an effective forum for internal debates on sustainability but a weaker advocate for global causes.

Finally, as these northern NGOs seek to change where and how they gather information, write reports and run campaigns, it is important to recognize that their point of reference will be their prior

WRITE-WING

models of organizational practice. There is a real risk that these practices will be forcefully exported into their newly established offices in Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro, and Moscow. From Bolivia to Bangladesh, local NGOs dependent on northern support already risk adopting organizational practices that distance them from their own communities. Having powerful NGOs establish an even larger organizational presence in the global South may well intensify these pressures.

Of course, the North/South dichotomy overlooks a wide range of different practices among northern human rights groups. There is no consensus among western industrialized democracies, much less around the world, about the content of the human rights agenda. Seemingly basic questions—about whether access to medical care is a human right, for example—have no clear answer among northern states, as experiences in the United States and Europe demonstrate. Groups like the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Amnesty and HRW have very different strategies and structures, despite all being based in the north. This new focus on “going south” ignores the fact that these groups are by no means uniform.

Inequality in financial resources or political attention among NGOs may be morally objectionable, but to deny those underlying realities is to fail to employ the best tools. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are northern NGOs that defend a specific set of concerns. The way forward is not to uproot these narrowly effective organizations in vain hopes of building some mythical, globally representative human rights “peak association”.

Rather, Amnesty and Human Rights Watch must facilitate flows of resources and expertise to build the capacity of southern-based groups. In fact, given changing patterns of global wealth and power, this redistribution of money and attention may emerge regardless of whether powerful NGOs support it or not.

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.

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FRiday

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

23 January 2015

PERSPECTIVE NEWS ANALYSIS, FEATURE AND DISCOURSE

Is democracy in crisis? No, there’s just Fighting Extremism with Schools, Not Guns a new type of emerging democracy A I Zofeen Ebrahim

Hendrik Wagenaar t is one of the most robust findings in political research. It holds over nations and times: the existence of a democratic deficit. Support for democracy as an ideal is still pretty much intact among the majority of citizens. (That is not a given as the grim lessons of the 1930s tell us, when it is was common among the masses, and fashionable among the intelligentsia, to disparage the parliamentary system and flirt with autocracy.) However, satisfaction with the performance of their own democratic system does not tally with citizens’ political aspirations. Add to this a slew of other indicators of “democratic impairment”, such as low voter turnout, especially among the young, little trust in politicians and political institutions, the rise of extremist parties on the right and left, and one will be excused in believing that democracy - the traditional liberal democracy as we know it – is in crisis. Or is it?

The question of whether there is a crisis of democracy is one of the most important and vexing issues of our days. So, let’s not rush into facile answers and first ask ourselves some basic questions about democracy.

For example, what does this ideal that most people still believe in entail? The democratic theorist Mark Warren once said that democracy consists of two ideals whose realisation are both necessary for a healthy, flourishing political system: the distribution of powers of decision-making to those potentially affected by collective decisions, and equal participation in collective judgement. The first ideal is the one that figures most prominently in debates about democracy in the media and learned journals. This is, what you might call, the canonical image of democracy. The political contrivances that the media get excited about. This first ideal consists of the procedures, beliefs and practices that most western nations have institutionalised over the course of the last two centuries, for the purpose of protecting against an arbitrary state and to develop structures of accountability. The result is the well-known ‘liberal electoral democracy’ that is characterised by a regime of competitive parties, limited opportunities for political participation through voting and organised interest groups, representative oversight and accountability, constitutional constraints on government activity, due process rights against the state, the right to speak and associate, and an administration of experts governed by an administrative ethos. It is one of the most important achievements of collective human ingenuity. When we talk of crisis, this is the kind if democracy that occupies our collective imagination. Let’s call it Democracy1.

I want to focus on the second democratic ideal; that of collective judgement and individual development. I call it Democracy2. According to this ideal democracy is an arrangement for collective learning and problem solving. It is value-driven, but only in the way that values manifest themselves in concrete issues. It requires processes of communication through which individuals come to know each other and develop their preferences, articulate their values and beliefs, and develop skills of collective judgement; usually by forming civic associations based on voluntary attachments. When we see democracy in this light, two things immediately strike us: while it receives much less attention in the media, and is often actively discouraged by political elites, there is no talk of crisis here. In fact, this developmental and participatory form of democracy is thriving in our post-crash world.

A few examples. In Italy, the Netherlands, the UK and other European countries, citizens come together on an unprecedented scale to produce social goods such as sustainable energy and food, long-term care, or rural transport and broadband. In disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Birmingham, Rotterdam, Dortmund, Milan, Antwerp and other large metropolitan areas, citizens partner up with administrators and third sector organisations to successfully manage complex social issues such as crime, social housing, prostitution, ethnic integration, and local economic development.

Branded means quality Around the world, certain urban neighborhoods have a proclivity for expensive brands—especially haute couture, clothes, accessories, makeup, footwear; even home and office furnishings and myriad other products. From the smallest items, to the largest products they use—like cars, and bungalows or the buildings they live in, or use officially, are given preference because they all may be associated with a brand name.

Not only products, the services offered by businesses or other associations, are also linked to elite labels and established corporate names.

A brand is viewed as being synonymous with quality and is considered a status symbol by individuals and groups.

The stars who publicize these brands in the mass media also impel fans and followers, who probably identify with the star, or are glued to a particular form of media to purchase and use these expensive products and services. In fact, stars and celebrities are brand names in themselves, because they portray quality, and celebrate a healthy and prosperous life they are living, or have lived—and hence, act as a source of inspiration for others.

Also, in terms of services offered, brands engender in people an image of quality, and rightfully so, because most established brands or upcoming brands do take their services and products offered seriously and aim to deliver the best to their customers.

Stated succinctly, a brand, also allusively aims to symbolize abundance and prosperity. Living up to this reputation depends on manufacturers and distributors that do not compromise on quality or workmanship; such companies carve names for themselves, providing the best to their customers both objectively and subjectively. Fortunately, many top brands in today’s market do deserve such outstanding repute—be it for services or products.

Quality, however, is an attribute that one may or may not get with an unbranded product. If one compares non-brands

Inter Press Service

Large crowds of ordinary people go to the streets to protest massive urban development in Stuttgart and education policies in Hamburg.

I could go on, but my point is that these people are not estranged from democracy. They are concerned about the eroding environment, the predatory practices of the energy cartels, unhealthy food, ineffective crime policies, rampant urban development, precarious housing for lowincome groups, an unfair educational system, the erosion of care for the sick and elderly. They feel that “official democracy”, the democracy that the media report on, does not do well in addressing these concerns, let alone solving them. People haven’t abandoned politics, but politics, they feel, has abandoned them. So, they organise themselves, coming together under the banner of Democracy2, democracy as collective problem solving.

This is a different kind of politics. Democracy2 is not about verbal fights, political grandstanding and grandiose promises, but about collaboration and deliberation.

Working together to overcome differences and find creative solutions to ‘things that matter’. Democracy2 is not about shareholder value but bringing back older more sustainable forms of economic organisation in which the notions of profit and debt are refashioned and made to work for a more fair and just economic order. Democracy2 is inclusionary, open, and based on mutual respect and fairness. John Dewey, untiring champion of democracy, called this “public making”. People come together to form a public when they feel they can make a difference and effect real change.

So, if there is reason to be optimistic about democracy, why do the media and the academic classes indulge in talk about impairment, crisis and disaffected citizens?

I think this is because, unbeknown to ourselves, we have come to see democracy in a particular light. Over the years we have come to confuse a particular form of democracy with its substance. That form is Democracy1, electoral liberal democracy. It has congealed into the powerful doctrine of democratic elitism that has suffused our language, our imagination and our aspirations.

Democratic elitism stipulates that decision-making should be confined to elected elites, that democracy is, and should be, procedural (a method for maintaining a relatively open society by rotating elites), that civil society and political society must be kept apart and that civil society can only insert itself in political society through elections, that democratic accountability is restricted to this periodic elite rotation based on a competitive struggle for votes, and that equal participation in collec-

tive judgement through association presents a threat to democratic stability. This is why most politicians react with indifference to examples of citizen participation, and why the media never report on it. It’s off the radar. It is not considered to be part of ‘real’ politics.

What makes democratic elitism so hard to resist is that it is supported by three seemingly powerful arguments. First, that the people are incapable and unwilling to understand complex contemporary society.

Second, that contemporary society is too large to be governed by direct participation. For both of these reasons elite deliberation and expert public administration should substitute for popular sovereignty. Third, is the fear of, and protection against, the irrationality and anti-democratic tendencies of the masses, which ordains that preservation of democratic values is best entrusted to elected elites. But these arguments are almost wholly self-fulfilling. They are as much a product of Democracy1 as its familiar outward appearance of institutions, procedures and political rituals.

When people feel that politicians don't care, or are out of touch, or promote ideological pet solutions against all common sense, they turn away from politics. Why bother? This is the real meaning of the democratic deficit. Most people want to engage with democracy. But not the democracy of political parties, powerful lobbying organisations, and the spectacle of politicians arguing about a political agenda that is not theirs. Citizens care for responsibility, respect and a measure of control. It is astonishing to see how ordinary people are then able to master complexity, resolve conflict and arrive at creative solutions.

Politicians and officials believe that, apart from the periodic vote, they don’t need the public. This is a fatal misunderstanding, as the current state of our public sector and the natural environment suggests. Politicians need the public voice more than ever. This is not just a plea for more civic participation, however; important as that is in itself. I am arguing for a more farreaching transformation of democracy. The importance of the public voice lies in the values and in the modes of communication and problem solving that characterise it. The two kinds of democracy need each other. Political society and the civic sphere require each other to address the overwhelming economic, social and environmental issues of our times. It is for this reason that, in my opinion, the great democratic challenge of our times is to ensure that the virtues of Democracy2 transfer to Democracy1.

Brands: synonymous with quality Trisha Bhattacharya product will last longer and will be delivering quality. The same goes for services, a brand name will in most cases, offer something of unique value to an individual. This development, therefore, propels many, to discuss the latest label one is wearing, at parties, or social events and gatherings; perhaps even share information about the latest car, or the most recent perfume one has bought; and in terms of services offered, customers will generally want to choose a service provided by a brand, known to many, with a great track record behind them—whether it is short term or long term.

Even in social media, brands are everywhere—listed in publications, televised media, and advertised further. For individuals or families with the requisite cash, purchasing brands has been something they would naturally do, as an indirect way of representing success and also for wearing and living, quality and class. They also opt for services proffered by brands, for they do not wish to compromise on quality, and want something that will fulfill their requirements in the best way possible. And if one has the means, why not? Brands are fantastic material creations of the world.

quiring more.

However, if these products will be thrown away, or if a similar service can be had from a not so well-known brand or an unbranded company—then such options should be uncovered. There are clothes, footwear, accessories, and other products, which might not be very wellknown, or may have been manufactured by a good company, who don’t advertise much. Such companies also, do not compromise on quality which may affect the use and eventual sales of their products.

Therefore, some unbranded products without a well-known label attached to them, can be equally good. In this way, one will have saved quite an amount of money, in addition, to wearing and using quality. This exercise, however, would require some effort on one’s part—also, the ability to recognize quality when one sees it—without looking for confirmation of quality from a label.

When it comes to branded services, one can rely on quality being offered over an extended period of time. Good services being offered, without labels, can also be an option. Nevertheless, even the most prestigious of brands offering services or products can have unintentional or erroneous lapses. So, customFlipping the coin ers should have other options at hand.

In spite of all this, it is nevertheless Money is also a factor—not everyone can necessary, to flip the coin and gauge the afford an expensive branded product or other side of the story, because there service—what will they do? are exceptions in the branded segment as well, and one must not blindly rely Over-dependence on brands on labels. Most branded products, may Overall, problems arise when there last long, but do not go on forever, ex- is an over-dependence on brands, or the cept for precious jewelry, however ex- value they bring to one’s life; also when pensive they may be, because they too buyers depend more on the status that have a limited lifespan. Beyond their their chosen products symbolize than ephemeral lifetime, these high-priced on the underlying utility and quality that labels are swept out because the brands they deliver. In such a circumstance, an have served their purpose. Once the old observer might wonder whether these brands go, customers buy some more goods are filling a void in people’s lives.

of a slightly different sort. Should a woman feel like a misfit if all her friends wear the latest products and she does not or cannot? Why should a woman feel that only branded makeup makes her look good?

Are brands a measure of her beauty? Yes, quality is of essence here, but what if a woman cannot afford expensive brands?

Apparently, men also face some similar situations. What if they cannot purchase well-known branded products and access reputed services for various reasons?

An even deeper examination might cause one to pose the following queries.

How about those who have found some other non-material ways to express success and quality of life, which cannot be measured in labels? How will they flaunt it? What if someone is going through a personal crisis—will a brand come and remove it? These are questions one needs to think about.

Conclusion Brands have their own value in this world and cannot be denied their rightful place and in any case are not to be blamed for sociocultural problems or difficulties. Quality conscious brands continue to offer excellent products and services to customers who can afford them, and without quality-driven brands, the world would definitely lack many of its beautiful features. The key idea is to not place them above inner qualities. When faced with life’s varied problems, the brands of courage, resilience and wisdom will help one when nothing else will.

A good life is to have freedom from excess—it is also in having peace of mind.

From this place of contentment, life goals can be met, and more material tags can enter one’s life. When the use of material brands is at an end, one can sweep them aside and gather other brands to use and enjoy. Brands are quality-driven, and if one has the means, one should definitely buy them. All the same, quality of one’s life should not always necessarily be dependent on brands, but on the enhancement of inner strengths, as well. As long as the brand of one’s spirit is working

s a wave of outrage, crossing Pakistan’s national borders, continues a month after the Dec. 16 attack on a school in the northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, some citizens are turning away from collective expressions of anger, and beginning the hard work of building grassroots alternatives to terrorism and militancy.

While many millions of people are lashing out at the Taliban for going on a bloody rampage in a school in the province’s capital, Peshawar, killing 141 people including 132 uniformed children in what is being billed as the group’s single deadliest attack to date, The Citizens Foundation (TFC), a local non-profit, has reacted quite differently.

Rather than join the chorus calling for stiff penalties for the attackers, it busied itself with a pledge to build 141 Schools for Peace, one in the name of each person who lost their life on that terrible day.

“We dedicate this effort to the children of Pakistan, their right to education and their dreams of a peaceful future,” Syed Asaad Ayub Ahmad, CEO of TCF, said in an email launching the campaign.

“With the formidable challenges facing the nation, we passionately believe that only education has the power to enlighten minds, instil citizenship and unleash the potential of every Pakistani,” he added.

In their war against western, secular education, which the group has denounced as “un-Islamic”, the Pakistan Taliban have destroyed over 838 schools between 2009 and 2012, claimed responsibility for the near-fatal shooting of teenaged education advocate Malala Yousafzai and issued numerous edicts against the right of women and girls to receive proper schooling.

In their latest assault on education, nine militants went on an eight-hour-long killing spree, throwing hand grenades into the teeming school premises and firing indiscriminately at any moving target. They claim the attack was a response to the military operation aimed at rooting out the Taliban currently underway in North Waziristan, a tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

While armed groups and government forces answer violence with more of the same, the active citizens who comprise TCF want to shift focus away from bloodshed and onto longer-term solutions for the future of this deeply troubled country.

The charity, which began in 1995, has completed 1,000 school ‘units’, typically a primary or secondary institution capable of accommodating up to 180 pupils, all built from scratch in the most impoverished areas of some 100 towns and cities across Pakistan.

The 7,700 teachers employed by the NGO go through a rigorous training programme before placement, and the organisation maintains a strict 50:50 male-female ratio for the 145,000 students who are now benefitting from a free education, according to TCF Vice President Zia Akhter Abbas.

In a country where 25.02 million school-aged children – of which 13.7 million (55 percent) are girls – do not receive any form of education, experts say TCF’s initiative may well act as a game changer in the years to come, especially given that the government spends just 2.1 percent of its GDP on education.

“Our job is to ensure that wherever we have our schools, there are no out-of-school children, especially girls,” Abbas told IPS. “We believe the change in society will come automatically once these educated and enlightened children grow up into responsible adults.”

He added that the schools are designed to “serve as a beacon of light restricting the advance of extremism in our society.”

The project has received widespread support from a broad spectrum of Pakistani society. Twentyfour-year-old Usman Riaz, a student at the Berklee College of Music in Boston who recently donated the proceeds of his jam-packed concerts in Karachi to TCF’s efforts, says the Schools for Peace are a “wonderful way to honor the innocent victims”.

But it will take more than one-off charitable donations to make the scheme a reality. It costs about 15 million rupees (148,000 dollars) to build and equip each new school, so the total bill for all 141 institutions stands at some 21 million dollars.

With a track record of building 40-50 schools a year, however, the NGO is confident that it will honor its pledge within three years.

Combating extremism Besides immortalizing the victims of the Taliban’s attack, experts here say that shifting the focus away from terrorism and onto education will help combat a growing pulse of religious extremism.

The prominent Pakistani educationist and rights activist A.H. Nayyar told IPS that it is crucial for the country to begin educating children who would otherwise be turned into “fodder for extremists”.

In fact, part of the government’s 20-point National Action Plan – agreed upon by all political parties dedicated to completely eradicating terrorism – includes plans to register and regulate all seminaries, known here as madrassas, in a bid to combat extremism at its root.

With thousands of such religious institutions springing up across the country to fill a void in the school systems, policy-makers are concerned about the indoctrination of children at a young age, with distorted interpretations of religious texts and the teaching of intolerance playing a major role in these schools.

Some sources say that between two and three million students are enrolled at the nearly 20,000 madrassas spread across Pakistan; others say this is a conservative estimate.

While there is some talk about bringing these institutions under the umbrella of the public school system, experts like Nayyar believe this will do little to combat the “forcible teaching of […] false and distorted history, excessive emphasis on Islamic teachings to the extent of including them in textbooks of all the subjects, explicit teaching of jihad and militancy, hate material against other nations, peoples of other faiths, etc, [and] excessive glorification of the military and wars.”

Nayyar and other independent scholars have been at the forefront of calling for an overhaul of the public school curriculum, which they believe is at odds with the goals of a modern, progressive nation.

But until policy-makers and politicians jump on the bandwagon, independent efforts like the work of TCF will lead the way.

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Dimapur

NATIONAL

Friday 23 January 2015

The Morung Express

PM launches ‘Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao’

PaniPat (haryana), January 22 (ians): Asking people to shun the 18th century mindset of killing daughters and to stay away from “double standards” of differentiating between boys and girls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday warned that if the mindset about girls was not changed it could lead to dangerous times for future generations.

Launching the nationwide ‘Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao’ (save girl child, educate her) campaign from Panipat in Haryana, the Prime Minister said that a determined effort was needed to counter the adverse sex ratio in the country.

“If we do not become aware and compassionate about this problem, we will be setting a dangerous precedent for future generations. The message has to go to every family, village and state in India.

“For every 1,000 boys born, 1,000 girls should also be born. In Haryana’s Mahendergarh district, for 1,000 boys born, only 775 girls are born. I want to ask you, if girls are not born, where will you get your

Schoolgirls make their way to their school through a vegetable field early morning in New Delhi. (Reuters File Photo)

daughter-in-law,” he said.

Saying that he was “pained” about the whole issue, Modi said: “People want an educated daughter-in-law but think many times before educating their own daughters. How long will we have double

standards.”

“Our mental illness is responsible for this. We give a lot of importance to boys. Many women also do this. For how long will we look at girls as ‘paraya dhan’,” he said.

“From our mindset, we

belong to the 18th century.

We are not fit to be called people from the 21st century. In the 18th century, the girl child was allowed to see the mother’s face and then put in a milk utensil to kill her. We are worse as we kill our girls in the womb and

don’t let them be born.”

Pointing to the incident of a boy, Prince, who fell into a borewell in Haryana a few years back, Modi said that everyone was concerned about the boy’s welfare.

“There was so much

concern. But when girls are killed all around us, no one is bothered,” he said.

He said that Haryana took pride in its daughter, astronaut Kalpana Chawla.

“So many Kalpana Chawlas are killed in the womb and no one bothers,” he said, adding that most achievers in recent years were girls and women.

Saying that if the belief that sons helped parents in their old age was true, “so many old age homes would not have opened in the past 50 years.”

“We need commitment, compassion and responsibility to stop this sin (against girls). This is not going to change overnight.

This sin is being committed for the past 50 years. We will have to create awareness for the next 100 years,” Modi said.

“Like a beggar (bhikshu), this PM is begging you for the life of girls,” Modi said before administering a pledge to the gathering, dominated by women, to save and educate the girl child.

Questioning the role of doctors, Modi said: “Why earn money from killing girls in the womb...Hope your hands, with which you

eat food, are not coloured in someone’s blood.”

Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit Nene, who has been made brand ambassador of the campaign, said that the mindset of people has to change.

“It is not only about giving birth to a girl child. She has to get good nutrition, given education, proper healthcare and rights. If there are only males in your homes, schools, trains, offices and other places, will it be right? We will have to have a balance,” she said.

Union minister for women and child development Maneka Gandhi said that no country could progress with gender imbalance.

“About 2,000 girls are killed every day. This is shameful. Less women leads to increase in crime and reduction in love and happiness,” Gandhi said.

The prime minister flagged off raths (campaign vehicles) on the occasion that will make people aware about the need to save the girl child in areas with an adverse sex ratio.

The campaign has been launched from Haryana as the state has the worst sex ratio (number of females

per 1,000 males) and child sex ratio in the country. Out of the 100 worst districts in India for sex ratio, Haryana accounts for 12 districts.

Haryana’s sex ratio stands at just 879 females per 1,000 males.

The campaign will sensitize people about the need for the safety and education of the girl child, skewed sex ratio, prevention of female foeticide and women empowerment.

Union ministers J.P. Nadda, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Birender Singh, Smriti Irani, Krishan Pal Gurjar, Rao Inderjit Singh and Jayant Sinha, besides Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki and Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and other leaders attended the event.

Five northern states, Haryana (12 districts), Punjab (11 districts), Jammu and Kashmir (five), Uttarakhand (two) and Himachal Pradesh (one) and the union territory of Chandigarh (one district) account for the 32 worst districts in the country in relation to sex ratio. Haryana and Punjab are notorious for sex determination tests to know the gender of the unborn child.

BJP is exactly opposite to what Bedi stands for: Kejriwal Pakistan, India must hold talks at all costs: Kasuri Modi’s appeal affected AAP’s

neW Delhi, January 22 (ians): AAP leader and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has said he sees an inherent contradiction between what Kiran Bedi, BJP’s presumptive chief ministerial candidate, was known to have stood for and the values and principles of the party she now represents.

“There are many issues... I am surprised how she will cope up with this and how she will explain (this) to the people and to herself,” Kejriwal told IANS in an interview conducted in his car while heading for a party rally. “I am surprised at her entry into the BJP because the BJP stands for exactly the opposite of what Kiran Bedi had always been saying she stands for,” Kejriwal said.

Fighting a now-or-never election against the BJP and the Congress, Kejriwal also asserts that the middle class, disenchanted with him after he resigned last year after ruling Delhi for 49 days, was returning to the AAP in large numbers. “Kiran Bedi talks of women’s safety. But how can you have a person charged with rape in the (BJPled) cabinet?”

Kejriwal, 46, and Bedi, 65,

support among the diaspora

neW Delhi, January 22 (ians): Support for the AAP among Indians living abroad has suffered a setback because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal, its leader Arvind Kejriwal has said. “Yes, it’s true that diaspora support has been affected due to Modi’s appeal,” Kejriwal told IANS in an interview.

An offshoot of an anti-corruption agitation, the AAP had attracted a number of expatriates who volunteered for the party in the run-up to the 2013 assembly polls in which it ousted the three-term Congress government in Delhi. The outfit had also received huge donations from them. In his official trips aboard, including to the US and Australia, Modi has had well-attended exclusive interactions with Indians abroad. He has also announced a slew of measures, including lifelong visas for Persons of Indian Origin. were close colleagues during the 2011 anti-corruption movement of Gandhian activist Anna Hazare that shook India. The two later had a fallout. Bedi joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) last week. On Tuesday, she was named its chief ministerial candidate for the Feb 7 electoral battle in Delhi.

“She (Bedi) stands for transparency. But the BJP does not want to make its funding transparent,” Kejriwal went on. Speaking while

on his way to a campaign rally in Palam area in south Delhi where large crowds greeted him, Kejriwal was confident of an AAP victory this time again.

“The last two opinion polls have placed us at number one (position),” Kejriwal told IANS. “The middle class is coming back in large numbers (to our fold),” he asserted. “I am being honest. I myself used to say in interviews in August and September that the middle

class was very angry with us.

“It is no more so. Now more and more people say they want to give them (AAP) one more chance.” According to him, the AAP’s support base extended among all classes including lawyers, traders, industrialists and professionals. “Aren’t they all middle class?”

Kejriwal, like Bedi a Ramon Magsaysay award winner, remains the AAP’s best known face although the party’s four MPs, all from Punjab, are also campaigning in Delhi.

Unlike in December 2013 when the AAP was largely unknown but stunned everyone by winning 28 of the 70 seats, Kejriwal says “99.9% of the people know us now... We are very confident of winning”.

So what is the AAP’s strength and its weakness? “Our 49 days of governance is the biggest factor in our favour,” he said. “We did what we promised, be it power and water tariff, fighting corruption and controlling (food) prices.”

The one area where Kejriwal admits the AAP has suffered a setback is diaspora support. Was his resignation after 49 days in office a mistake? “Yes, it was a mistake,” he says, a point he also makes at all his rallies.

JaiPur, January 22 (ians): India and Pakistan must hold talks at all costs, said Pakistan’s former foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri whose forthcoming book reveals how tantalisingly close the two countries came to a solution to the Kashmir issue in 2007. “If America and (North) Vietnam could hold talks in a Paris hotel every Tuesday despite bombing equivalent to five atomic bombs going on Vietnam, then India and Pakistan can do likewise,” Kasuri told IANS in an interview at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2015 Thursday.

He said there was no alternative to talks as absence of dialogue only strengthens hardliners on both sides, and also stressed there should be no preconditions or allowing the process to get sidetracked.

“There are only 4 countries in the world - North and South Korea and India and Pakistan - which are in this situation (of not having dialogue),” he said. Kasuri, who maintained India-Pakistan relations cannot be on an even keel and will go up or down, said it was high time for both countries to get out of the present impasse.

The title of his book “Neither A Hawk Nor A Dove” comes from his answer to the first question then Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf asked him about his stance on relations with India when naming him

foreign minister in 2002.

He said the book deals particularly with the negotiations in 2007 which could have laid foundations of a lasting peace between the two neighbours but never came to fruition as the Indian side got more absorbed in the talks with the US on the nuclear deal while Musharraf began facing domestic challenges to his rule.

Kasuri said it was for him to set the record straight on how the two countries could strive to solve their issues, since none of the other primary actors had done so. In an earlier session on Pakistan where he had been a panelist, he said Musharraf only devoted a paragraph or so to the topic in his autobiography while then prime minister Manmohan Singh had never written anything.

To a query about the mention in Manmohan Singh’s former media advisor Sanjaya Baru’s book “The Accidental Prime Minister”, Kasuri said the mention in this book bolsters the contentions he makes in his forthcoming book. Asked if the state of affairs that existed then could return, Kasuri told IANS that his book was intended exactly towards this end.

“I am confident that we can return to such a state of affairs and therefore I am writing about it so people on both sides can know.

Kasuri said his book hopefully will be out by February or latest by March.

Sunanda case: Police to talk to journalists Sourav Ganguly refuses comment on joining BJP speculation neW Delhi, January 22 (ians): Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi said Thursday the police team probing the murder of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s wife Sunanda Pushkar will talk to the journalists who had spoken to her before her death.

“We will take the help of those journalists who had talked to Sunanda before her death to understand the sequence of events,” Bassi told media. “Our SIT (Special Investigation Team) will complete the talks with the journalists within one or two days. We are investigating this case with an open mind. Whatever appears relevant is not going to be left out,” Bassi said.

On being asked if Tharoor will be questioned again, Bassi said: “We are analysing Tharoor’s reply in his first round of questioning. If we need, he will be called for questioning within a few

days. We will take all necessary steps.”

A five-member SIT team -- including a deputy commissioner of police, an additional deputy commissioner, an assistant commissioner and two inspectors -- questioned Tharoor Jan 19 for over four hours at Vasant Vihar police station. Replying to a question if police have reached any conclusion, Bassi said: “Our investigation is going on. Whenever we reach any conclusion, we immediately share the information briefly with media.”

Bassi said the SIT team is in the process of sending Sunanda’s viscera report to a foreign lab and the electronic gadgets recovered from the spot are being analysed. Pushkar was found dead in a luxury hotel room here Jan 17, 2014. Police have said she was poisoned to death.

A murder case against unknown people was registered by police Jan 1 this year.

Goa Republic Day hoax caller threatened to kill defence minister PanaJi, January 22 (ians): A 19-year-old student who was arrested in Goa for making a hoax call to Delhi Police threatening to disrupt the Republic Day parade, also said he would “kill” the defence minister and even reproduced audio from his mobile phone, which resembled the sound of firing, police said Thursday.

A statement issued by Goa Police said BCom student Nasti Steve Coutinho made a similar call, warning of a terror attack at Rajpath Jan 26, to the Cuncolim police station in south Goa. The statement said the youth threatened “to kill the DM” and invite one “Khalid Faisel” for further terror activities in India. Police spokesperson John Aguair confirmed that the “DM” mentioned in the statement referred to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, the former chief minister of Goa. “Further, the accused produced his mobile phone having recording of a ter-

rorist-like conversation and firing-like sound effect created by him with the help of his laptop,” said the statement issued by Goa Police.

The statement also said the youth was arrested after a police officer noticed three suspected people standing opposite a petrol pump on the national highway 17, along with a van and two motorcycles and heard them talking to launch terrorist activities on Rajpath Jan 26.

Coutinho, a resident of Cuncolim village, 50 km from Panaji, was arrested late Wednesday under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 and the Arms Act. Earlier Thursday, more charges were slapped against Coutinho for creating or promoting “enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious communities on ground of religion”.Security has been beefed up across India, especially in New Delhi, in view of US President Barack Obama’s presence at the Republic Day parade.

KolKata, January 22 (ians): Former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly Thursday refused to comment over speculation that he would be joining the BJP. The cricket great, who has been nominated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Swachh Bharat Mission, however, asserted that he was serious about making the campaign a success.

“I have got nothing to

say,” the former left-handed batsman repeatedly told media persons here about the speculation that began after industrialist Harsh Goenka Wednesday tweeted that Ganguly was all set to join the BJP. “I am surprised with Harsh’s tweet. I did not even know (about the tweet) until somebody told me. I haven’t met Harsh for ages, so what to say. “There are lots of respectable people but I have nothing to

say. I have nothing to say, because whatever I say may be termed differently so I leave at that,” Ganguly said.

On reports that the central BJP leadership had contacted him, Ganguly said: “The only time I spoke to them was for the Swachh Bharat. Yes, I am taking it seriously because it’s a fabulous work and hopefully we can do it.” On his views about Modi, Ganguly said: “Everyone thinks highly

about him.”

While BJP national secretary and party in-charge for West Bengal Siddharth Nath Singh Thursday dismissed the speculation, saying there was no truth in Goenka’s claim, party MP and union minister Babul Supriyo said if the former captain does join, it will be a big boost.

“I don’t know about his joining the BJP. But, he is a very big icon and if he joins, the path that we are

trying to walk under the leadership of our captain Narendra Modi, I think it will give a big boost,” Supriyo, union minister of state for urban development, told media persons here.

Ganguly had earlier rejected ideas of taking the political plunge. “I am better off in the ground,” Ganguly had said last year following reports that he was offered to contest the Lok Sabha polls on a BJP ticket.

White House says Obama’s India trip sends important message to the world Washington, January 22 (ians): Ahead of President Barack Obama’s trip to India, US officials have described it as an “important message” to the world about the two nations’ commitment to realise the full potential of their relationship.

Since the time he took office, Obama had “made increasing US engagement with India a top foreign policy priority” Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes said Tuesday.

The first state visit he hosted at the White House was for the then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he noted.

Obama himself travelled to India in the first part of his first term inoffice, he said in a media preview of the three day visit beginning Sunday to become the first American leader to be he the guest of honour at India’s Republic Day. “That’s rooted in the belief we have that US cooperation with In-

dia can significantly advance our interests in terms of promoting economic ties and increased exports to a growing market,” Rhodes said.

“That’s based on our belief that our Asia Pacific policy benefits from closer ties with India, and it’s also based on our cooperation on broad ranges of global issues,” he said.

Since his victory in the last Indian election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made clear his interest in expanding US-India relations, Rhodes said.

After his very successful visit, Modi took the “unprecedented step of inviting President Obama to be the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations,” he said describing it as “an enormously important event for the Indian people.”

For “President Obama to be invited as the first US President to attend as the chief guest sends a very important message to the world as well as to the American and Indian

people about our commitment to embrace the potential of this relationship,” Rhodes said.

“There’s extraordinary potential in this relationship,” he said. “What we want to do is turn that potential into concrete benefits for both of our peoples.”

The trip, Rhodes said, “comes at a time when we have a growing agenda with India.

“And a lot of what the President wants to get done over the course of the next two years will benefit greatly from closer cooperation with India.”

Phil Reiner, Senior Director at the National Security Council for South Asia, called it “a seminal moment in the bilateral relationship, and that the extension of this invitation by the Prime Minister really continues to set a different tone for our reinvigorated partnership.”

Noting that “terrorism is an issue that can unite people who have

faced traditional divides,” Rhodes said the US had “encouraged India and Pakistan to pursue a dialogue to resolve their bilateral issues, and have been very supportive of that process.” e acknowledged that some Pakistan based militant groups “have a nexus to many different organizations that have threatened India, the United States and, again, importantly, the Pakistani people as well.”

Asked if the US had wrestled with the diplomatic implications of going to India without going to Pakistan, Rhodes described the US-Pakistan relationship as “incredibly important to our shared security.”

But as the President had made clear the last time he went to India “we don’t view these relationships as taking place at the expense of the other; that we can have a good relationship with India and we can have a good relationship with Pakistan,” he said.

InternatIonal

the Morung express

Friday 23 January 2015

Dimapur

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Disenchanted militants eye IS with envy

PESHAWAR, PAkiStAn/LASHkAR GAH, AfGHAniStAn, JAnuARy 22 (REutERS): Splits within the Taliban, and doubts over whether its elusive leader is even alive, are driving a growing number of militant commanders in Afghanistan and Pakistan towards Islamic State (IS) for inspiration.

Security and intelligence sources believe there are no operational links yet between IS and South Asia, and that the region is not a priority for a group that occupies areas of Syria and Iraq and is focused on the Arab world.

But regional leaders worry that a new ultra-violent movement bent on toppling governments and establishing strict Islamic rule could be born from the stubborn Taliban insurgency that carries out frequent attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

In Afghanistan, one militant commander said many have turned to IS, or Daish as it is also known, because they are frustrated at the lack of leadership by Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Afghan Taliban chief who has not been seen in public for years.

“Look, we have been fighting for years but we don’t have an inch of land in our possession in Afghanistan,” said the senior commander, who spoke

from the Afghan province of Kunar. “On the other hand, Daish, within limited time, captured vast areas in Iraq and Syria and established Sharia. This is what is being discussed all the time in our circles.” “We have serious doubts about whether he (Omar) is alive at all ... Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is visible and is leading his people,” the commander said, referring to the IS leader.

He is one of several dis-

gruntled militant leaders who belong to the so-called Khorasan chapter, an umbrella IS group covering Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and other South Asian countries.

Is Ideology Gaining Ground Pakistani intelligence sources said the Khorasan chapter appeared to have no specific base in the region, and there was no evidence of direct financing of

its activities by IS in Syria and Iraq.

Security experts agree that it owes its existence mainly to the fragmentation of the Taliban and faces opposition from rival groups, notably the Taliban itself and al Qaeda. Yet there is no doubt extreme IS ideology is gaining traction.

In Afghanistan’s Helmand province, long a Taliban stronghold, former Taliban commander

Mullah Rauf Khadem has recruited about 100 men and declared the Helmand branch of Islamic State, a security source and local elders said. “There is a rift between senior Taliban and Mullah Rauf Khadem,” said Abdul Ahad Masoomi, a tribal elder in Kajaki district where the group has become particularly active.

“He has told other commanders and fighters that Mullah Omar has died, due to sickness, in Pakistan.”

rise of a rival force, deny the Helmand group’s existence. “There is no such group there, it is state propaganda,” said Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman for southern regions.

“State troops have suffered heavy losses and they are trying to create rifts among the Taliban to conceal their failures.”

For Afghanistan, splits within the Taliban could be welcome as government forces try to prevent insurgents from taking advantage of the recent departure of most foreign combat troops. But the rise of IS is a worry in a region where radical new ideas can catch on among a vast unemployed population of young and well-armed men. “The existence of IS supporters is a big concern for us and we will do whatever we can to stop it in Helmand before it spreads to other provinces,” said a senior Afghan security ofThe group has been rid- ficial. ing around on motorcycles brandishing black flags Copycat Killing similar to those used by IS, IS ideology goes bebut otherwise they have yond Afghanistan and Paknot been involved in ma- istan. In Bangladesh, police jor fighting, according to have arrested eight men for locals. “Khadem has given alleged links to IS in the them shelter in Kajaki and past year, including a man they go around trying to they identified as a regionrecruit villagers, but the vil- al coordinator and a British lagers are afraid of Taliban citizen accused of recruitreprisals,” said Haji Nas- ing people in Bangladesh eem, another tribal elder. to fight in the Middle East.

The Taliban, who like India, with the world’s al Qaeda are wary of the third-largest Muslim

population, last month banned IS, days after detaining an engineer for running a popular Twitter account extolling the militant group. Copying IS methods, a group of local loyalists posted a video this month of the beheading of a Pakistani soldier, a propaganda tactic hitherto rare in the region.

In Kabul, a group of students formed an underground IS support group.

In Pakistan, graffiti praising IS have been spotted in some areas. Security forces also arrested the man they believed was the IS commander in the country and two accomplices involved in recruiting and sending fighters to Syria. But the examples are isolated.

Islamic State competes with al Qaeda, which is affiliated with the Taliban, to lead the global jihad, and has expanded its network beyond Iraq and Syria in recent months. Yet neither Afghanistan nor Pakistan has featured in its leaders’ speeches.

“The threat of (IS) in Pakistan is definitely something to watch out for and everyone should be vigilant, but it seems hugely exaggerated as of now,” said one Western diplomat in the Pakistani capital Islamabad. “Wall chalkings in support of a particular group do not, in and of themselves, suggest real presence of that group.”

Lanka to investigate high-profile killings 10 new antibodies found against cancer CoLoMBo, JAnuARy 22 (AP): Sri Lanka’s new government will re-investigate high-profile assassinations including those of a newspaper editor and politicians that were alleged to have had state backing during the previous administration, a minister said Wednesday.

The killings of Lasantha Wickrematunge, editor of the Sunday Leader newspaper, Tamil lawmakers Joseph Pararajasingham and Nadaraja Raviraj, and then-Highways Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle will be re-examined, Cabinet Minister Rajitha Senaratne told reporters.

“We have got all the information and arrests will be made. We know how it was done and who are responsible,” Senaratne said. The lawmakers were critics of thenPresident Mahinda Rajapaksa’s conduct in the military campaign against separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.

Pararajasingham was shot dead at a Christmas

midnight service in 2005 while Raviraj was shot dead the following year in his car. The government then blamed the killings on the Tamil Tiger rebels, but human rights groups suspected the involvement of government paramilitaries. A suicide bomber blew up Fernandopulle as he arrived to open a marathon race in 2008. Though suicide bombings were a hallmark of the Tamil rebels, there were suspicions of a government hand.

Wickrematunge was a harsh critic of Rajapaksa’s and was killed inside a high security area while driving to the office in January 2009. He wrote an editorial, which was published posthumously, saying the government would kill him one day. The original investigative cases were heard for years without conclusion.

Sri Lankan soldiers crushed the Tamil Tigers in May 2009, ending the rebels’ 25-year campaign for an independent state for ethnic minority Tamils.

Philip Blackwood, left, New Zealand general manager of V Gastro Bar, is escorted by Myanmar police officers during his trial at a township court Thursday, on January 22, in Yangon. Blackwood and two Myanmar men are facing charges for allegedly insulting Buddhism after posting an online advertisement showing a psychedelic image of Buddha wearing headphones. Following their arrest on Dec. 10, 2104 authorities shut the newly opened tapas bar and lounge in an upscale Yangon neighborhood. The charges carry a penalty of up to two years in prison. (AP Photo)

London, JAnuARy 22 (iAnS): Researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark are reporte to have developed 10 new antibodies that can be used in the battle against cancer.

These antibodies work by inhibiting the body’s blood vessel formation close to the tumour which is, thereby, cut off from oxygen and nutrient supply. In lab tests

over mice, the team have succeeded in using these antibodies to stop the development of malignant tumours.

“The antibodies we have found prevent a cancer tumour from growing. They appear to work perfectly in the laboratory,” said associate professor Peter Kristensen. The new antibodies are easier to extract and they also appear to be more

effective because they hit other - and possibly stronger - signal molecules from the cancer cells.

“We have got a large library of antibodies that can supplement the body’s own fight against disease. The major engineering challenge is identifying the ones that are relevant regarding the specific purpose,” Kristensen explained.

The antibodies neutralise the effects of signal substances released by carcinoma cells to get blood vessels to replicate, thus cutting off the blood supply to the tumour. A cancer tumour deprived of oxygen and nutrients becomes dormant and is, thereby, made harmless. The researchers will now work on gaining a more indepth understanding of the 10 antibodies.

Gates foundation sees huge gains against disease & poverty by 2030 nEW yoRk, JAnuARy 22 (REutERS): Worldwide child deaths will be halved over the next 15 years, polio, guinea worm and river blindness will be eradicated, and there will be a single-dose cure for malaria.

The predictions appear in the annual letter from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, chaired by the Microsoft Corp co-founder and former chief executive and his wife.

Released on Thursday, the letter predicts a long list of breakthroughs in global health and development by 2030, including long-elusive milestones such as Africa being able to feed itself rather than depend on food imports.

However, none of this will be achieved easily. “You need some breakthroughs,” Melinda Gates said

in an interview. The world’s wealthiest foundation had helped produce big advances before, including vaccines against the childhood killers rotavirus and pneumonia, making vaccines “our greatest success,” Bill Gates said in the interview.

Established in 2000, the foundation distributed $3.6 bn in grants in 2013, in particular for global health and development, and had $42.3 bn in assets as of late 2014. “We are doubling down on the bet we made 15 years ago, and picking ambitious goals for what’s possible 15 years from now,” they wrote.

In 1990, 10% of the world’s children died before age 5. That number is now 5%. By 2030, only 1 in 40 will die that early thanks to healthier childcare practices such as breastfeeding, better

sanitation and vaccines.

In the next 15 years, they believe farmers in Africa will have access to better fertilizer and to drought- and disease-resistant crops, allowing yields to double. And donated drugs, such as those distributed free to 800 mn people last year, can stop polio, elephantiasis and other scourges.

The foundation is also one of the largest donors to the World Health Organization, which has been slammed for a chaotic and belated response to West Africa’s Ebola epidemic last year.

“We could have made this epidemic smaller,” Bill Gates said. Aid group Doctors Without Borders “is the only one to come out of this with an A.” He said, however, that the WHO is doing a good job of being self-critical about its Ebola response.

Two Japanese hostages: How their lives got intertwined Mari Yamaguchi Associated Press

O

ne is a freelance journalist respected for his reporting on refugees and children in war zones. The other is a man who seems obsessed with guns and went to Syria to train with fighters.

Despite their differing backgrounds and passions, their paths had crossed before. Now, in a chilling video released this week, the two Japanese men were seen kneeling on the ground in orange jumpsuits with a masked, knifewielding figure threatening to kill them if their government failed to pay a $200 million ransom by Friday.

Kenji Goto, the journalist, and Haruna Yukawa are in some ways outliers in Japan, a relatively risk-averse society. Their capture by the Islamic State group, the militants who have seized part of Syria and Iraq, has created a sudden crisis for Japanese Prime Minister

Shinzo Abe, whose government is working feverishly to try to free them.

Yukawa, 42, set up a company a year ago offering security services in conflict areas after running an online business selling military-related items.

But then he went to Syria to train with militants, according to a post on his blog. Photos posted in July on his Facebook page showed him holding a Kalashnikov rifle, and his personal blog included entries about his visits to Iraq and Syria, along with videos of him and bloody scenes from the region.

The images seemed at odds with the description of him as “gentle, likable person” by Nobuo Kimoto, a retired former local assembly who also served as an adviser to Yukawa’s business, Private Military Company. The outfit’s website says it provides security services for Japanese nationals overseas, but the company isn’t functioning.

“His idea sounded in-

teresting at the beginning, but he had no money or experience,” Kimoto said.

On his blog, Yukawa wrote that his life felt trouble-plagued. He was bullied as a child. He became homeless briefly after one of his businesses failed.

He wrote that he felt overwhelmed by failure and tried to kill himself once by cutting his genitals and planned to live as a woman if he survived, though his profile still identifies himself as male. Later, he lost his wife to illness.

Yukawa and Goto met last April, after Yukawa had been caught and detained by an anti-government militant group in Syria called Free Syrian Army, or FSA, in northern Syria.

Goto, who was coincidentally in the area, was brought as an interpreter for the group to interrogate Yukawa, who only spoke limited English, about why he was there. Goto, who apparently had won the group’s trust from his previous reporting visits, virtu-

ally negotiated his release.

Yukawa was thrilled by the meeting, he said on his blog, because he had regarded Goto as a hero for his journalistic work.

He posted some photos of the two of them together in their subsequent meetings on Facebook.

They both then returned to Japan — and were separately in and out of Syria.

Goto, 47, started a video news company called Independent Press in 1996, covering mainly conflicts, poverty, refugees and children in war zones. He also worked with U.N. organizations including UNICEF and the U.N. refugee agency.

He was not a war reporter interested in bloody conflict, said a friend, Toshi Maeda, also a freelance journalist.

“Children, the poor and the needy, those are where he is coming from. He just wants to meet children in conflicted areas and tell the rest of the world their

suffering,” Maeda said. “As he follows their stories, he ends up in war zones.”

Goto is motivated in his work by his Christian faith, said Hiroshi Tamura, the former pastor of Denenchofu Church, where Goto is a member. He described Goto as a journalist who always stood on the side of little people in dangerous areas.

Yukawa, meanwhile, was captured again sometime after July 21, when his blog entries stopped. In August, the Islamic State released a YouTube video showing him bleeding on the face and lying on the ground, identifying himself as Japanese and not a spy.

Goto re-entered Syria via Turkey in early October, uploading footage he filmed in northern Syria on Twitter. After making a quick trip back to Japan to edit his videos for NHK World, the English language channel for Japan’s public broadcaster, he abruptly returned to the Mideast on Oct. 22, saying

A video image of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto filmed in October 2014 by a Syrian guide is shown on the guide’s mobile phone screen during an interview with Kyodo News in Gaziantep, southeastern Turkey Wednesday, January 21. The Islamic State group threatened to kill two Japanese hostages, Goto, 47, and Haruna Yukawa, 42, within 72 hours, demanding a $200 million ransom in a video posted online Tuesday, Jan. 20 that showed a knife-brandishing masked militant standing over the two kneeling captives. (AP Photo)

he would return in a week but never did, his friend Maeda said.

Goto was very persistent about the visit, saying he wanted to go to Raqqa, an Islamic State hub in Syria, possibly to film U.S. airstrikes in the area, Maeda said. He said nothing about looking for the captured Yukawa, Maeda said, but now wonders if his friend did try to find Yukawa while he was in the area as reported by some Japanese media — and was captured in the process.

Goto was scheduled to give a talk last month about his reporting trips to Syria at the UNICEF’s office in Sendai, his birthplace in northern Japan, said Eiko Igarashi, the office director.

She worried about his safety when he didn’t respond to an email she sent about the event.

Igarashi said they have postponed his talk for now.

“He will be released safely and come back,” she said hopefully, “and we’ll reschedule the event.”

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Dimapur

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Friday 23 January 2015

The Morung Express

Barcelona beats Atletico in Copa del Rey

BARCELONA, JANuARy 22 (AP): Lionel Messi finished off his own missed penalty with five minutes left to give Barcelona a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarterfinal on Wednesday.

Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak blocked Messi initial spot kick, but he couldn't recover in time to stop Messi from rushing forward to slam home the rebound and ignite the Camp Nou. Messi was set up to get the winner after Juanfran Torres fouled Sergio Busquets in the area.

"I still see the tie as 50-50, and we will go into the second leg aiming for a win," Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said.

Just two weeks ago he was under intense pressure following a loss and the firing of Barcelona's sports director, but the coach has since been bolstered by a second victory over Atletico in 10 days following its 3-1 win here in the league. Atletico went undefeated in six meetings with Barcelona last season en route to winning the league and reaching the Champions League final.

The return leg at the Vicente Calderon will be next Wednesday, with the winner of this series advancing to meet either Villarreal or Getafe. Villarreal beat Getafe 1-0

after midfielder Bruno Soriano also scored with five minutes to play when he curled home a free kick. Elsewhere, Athletic Bilbao drew 0-0 at Malaga. The winner of that contest will move on to face Sevilla or Espanyol, which play on Thursday.

Barcelona provided a flash of what it does best just four minutes after kickoff, when Messi and Dani Alves worked a mesmerizing one-two before Luis Suarez laid the off for Neymar to draw a one-handed save from Oblak.

Diego Simeone's side then imposed a slower pace and got what it wanted: A number of set pieces that it usually excels at executing.

But Barcelona's improvement in defense— it has conceded a league-low nine goals— was evident when Atletico failed to convert its five corner kicks into shots on goal, leaving it with Antoine Griezmann's header over the top in the 35th minute for its only clear chance of the night.

"Barcelona has been working hard at defending," Simeone said. "It was tough for us to get out and launch our attack, even though we had the game under control. "We were closer than we were the other day at least as far as the result goes. But it won't change how

we play in the return leg."

Suarez had a golden opportunity a minute after Griezmann's miss. But as so often in his first season at Barcelona, the Uruguay forward ended up falling to his knees and hiding his face in his hands after he sent Ivan Rakitic's superb lobbed pass over the bar from inside the six-yard box.

The counterattacking connection between Griezmann and Fernando Torres had proven key in eliminating Real Madrid in the round of 16, and the two almost linked up again on the break in the 41st — only for Gerard Pique to intercept Torres' pass. In the second half, Barcelona was able to increase the tempo. Its only reward, though, was Andres Iniesta's shot into Oblak's arms in the 74th, and its frustrations with the referee earned Suarez and Javier Mascherano bookings for protesting.

But it was soon the turn of Atletico's players to argue when the whistle blew after Busquets went down, having been fouled from behind by Torres in a scrum for the ball after Messi's free kick had hit the defensive wall. Oblak guessed that Messi intended to strike the resulting spot-kick to the goalie's left side. But Messi was the quickest to the ball to take Barcelona's Lionel Messi, from Argentina, centre, scores from a penalty his side's first goal during a the victory with his 29th goal in Copa del Rey Quarterfinal soccer match between FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, at the Camp Nou all competitions this season. stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, January 21. (AP Photo)

Real is top soccer moneymaker for 10th year; Man United 2nd

LONDON, JANuARy 22 (AP): Real Madrid is football's biggest moneymaker for the 10th straight year, while Manchester United has risen to second in the rankings by maintaining its commercial growth during its worst-ever Premier League campaign.

In the Football Money League compiled by accountancy firm Deloitte, German champion Bayern Munich remained third but Barcelona dropped from second to fourth during its trophyless 2014. In the 2013-2014 financial year, Real generated 549.5 million euros ($752 million on June 30). United brought in 433.2 million pounds ($740 million on June 30), which equated to 518 million euros during the financial year. The current exchange rate would put United top on 566 million euros. Bayern generated 487.5 million euros, Barcelona 484.6 million euros and Paris Saint-Germain 474.2 million euros.

Overall, the revenue of the world's top 20 clubs, which are all European and dominated by eight from the English Premier League, grew 14 percent year-on-year to

6.2 billion euros ($8.5 billion). The only team to feature from outside the major leagues — England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France — is Turkish champion Galatasaray at 18th with a turnover of 161.9 million euros. Although Real missed out on the Spanish title in 2013-14, the team ended its 12-year wait to be crowned European champions for the 10th time in May. But Real's supremacy is being threatened by Manchester United, despite the 20-time English champions lacking any UEFA cash in its 2014-15 accounts after the failure to qualify for Europe during David Moyes' ill-fated season in charge. There is a recovery under Louis van Gaal, with United fourth in the Premier League. "Despite a poor on-pitch season in 2013-14, United's commercial strategy of securing global and regional partners is delivering substantial growth," Deloitte senior manager Austin Houlihan said. The growth in the value of Premier League television rights led to every team in the topflight reporting record revenue in 2013-14, Deloitte said.

F1: Williams, Force India launch new cars for 2015

Rep. of Congo leaps to top of Group A with surprise win

Ivory Coast’s Gervinho banned for two matches

MALABO, JANuARy 22 (REuTERS): The Ivory Coast forward Gervinho will play no further part in the group stage of the Africa Cup of Nations after he was banned for two matches for striking an opponent, the Confederation of African Football said on Wednesday. The forward received a straight red card after landing a blow on the Guinea defender Naby Keïta in the second half of their Group D match in Malabo on Tuesday. He will miss pool matches with Mali on Saturday and Cameroon next Wednesday. “I would like to apologise to the Ivory Coast nation, my team-mates, the fans and the Africa Nations Cup organisers for this gesture of anger. It is not like me and does not have its place on a football Congo’s Fode Dore, right, wins a header against Gabon’s Levy Madinda, pitch,” he said via his official account left, during their African Cup of Nations Group A soccer match in Bata, on Wednesday.

Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, January 21. (AP Photo) BATA, JANuARy 22 (AP): Unfancied Republic of Congo went top of Group A at the African Cup of Nations with a surprise 1-0 win over Gabon on Wednesday after host Equatorial Guinea and Burkina Faso played out a 0-0 draw.

The Congolese ground out a victory — their first at the tournament in over 20 years. The result was unfair, Gabon coach Jorge Costa said, as the Gabonese did most of the attacking and couldn't find a finishing touch to follow up their impressive win over Burkina Faso in the first round of games. "Football is like

this ... When you make mistakes, you lose games," Costa said.

The loss dropped Gabon to second in the group, with Equatorial Guinea third and Burkina Faso, the 2013 finalist, last. But just three points separate the top team from the bottom team ahead of the final round of games.

Having missed out on seven successive African Cups before this year, Republic of Congo only needs a draw against Burkina Faso in their last group game to make the last eight. Goalscorers had problems in the day's first match at Bata Stadium, too, as Equatorial Guinea

and Burkina Faso wasted chance after chance in their stalemate.

That left the home fans frustrated after Equatorial Guinea survived waves of pressure from the Burkinabes in the first half — when Alain Traore hit the post twice — and emerged the better team in the second. Javier Balboa set up two clear chances for his teammates, but both were wasted.

It was a bad day all round for the local fans, with some of them clashing with riot police outside the stadium around the time Equatorial Guinea's game was kicking off.

SC bars Srinivasan from contesting BCCI election NEw DELhi, JANuARy 22 (iANS): The Supreme Court Thursday said sidelined BCCI president N. Srinivasan cannot contest elections for the Indian cricket board's governing body presidency as long as he is involved in a "conflict of interest" situation as an owner of IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

Giving six weeks' time to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to hold its annual elections, the apex court bench of Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla in their judgment said: "No one who has any commercial interest in the BCCI events (including Mr. N. Srinivasan) shall be eligible for contesting the elections for any post whatsoever."

"We make it clear that the disqualification for contesting elections applicable to those who are holding any commercial interest in BCCI events shall hold good and continue till such time the person concerned holds such commercial interest or till the Committee considers and awards suitable punishment to those liable for the same; whichever is later" said Justice Thakur pronouncing the judgment running into more than 230 pages.

In a small consolation to Srinivasan - the vice president and managing director of India Cements that owns CSK - the apex court cleared him of the allegation of cover-up after reports on the betting and match fixing that surfaced in the media.

The court said this while answering seven question covering the different dimensions of the matter of conduct of Srinivasan, his son-in-law and CSK "official" Gurunath Meiyappan, Rajasthan Royals (RR) co-owner Raj Kundra and IPL CEO Sunder Raman, "conflict of interest" and the status of the BCCI. Besides making Srinivasan ineligible for contesting presidential election of the BCCI on account of being in a "conflict of interest" situation, the court appointed a threemember committee of former apex court judges headed by former chief justice R.M. Lodha to decide the quantum of punishment that has to be awarded to Meiyappan and Kundra for their involvement in betting during the 2013 IPL. Other members of the committee are Justice Ashok Bhan and Justice R.V. Raveendran.

The court gave the committee six months' time to complete the task entrusted to it.

The court said both Meiyappan and Kundra were "team officials" of their respective IPL franchises.

The court declared amendment to Rule 6.2.4 that permitted BCCI office bearers to have commercial interests in events like IPL and Championship League Twenty 20 as "void and ineffective".

"Amendment to Rule 6.2.4 whereby the words 'excluding events like IPL or Champions League Twenty 20', were added to the said rule is hereby declared "void and ineffective", the court said. Holding both Meiyappan and Kundra guilty of betting, the court said that punishment would not remain confined to them alone but would extend to their franchises.

Warriors down Rockets to notch 17th straight home win

Drivers Sergio Perez, right, and Nico Hulkenberg pose for photos with the newly unveiled Sahara Force India team car, at a press event to announce the 2015 Formula One racing team, at the Soumaya Museum in Mexico City on Jan. 21. (AP Photo) The Associated Press January 22

Williams and Force India became the first Formula One teams to take the covers off their cars for 2015, revealing Wednesday the most significant design change from last season: a new front.

Technical regulations in F1 have been remained stable except for the requirement to change the nose of the cars, which will make them more pleasing on the eye this season.

"It is a redesign that involved a lot of work over the winter," Force India technical director Andrew Green said at the team's launch in Mexico — the home country of one of its drivers, Sergio Perez. "The new regulations caused a loss in terms

of downforce and we've been working to claw back all that performance."

Williams' chief technical officer Pat Symonds said the change in regulations "offered us a slight headache," adding: "The new front bulkhead and nose geometry had much more of an impact than we had initially anticipated, and the effect on the aero was profound."

Williams had the worst campaign in its history in 2013 — scoring just five points — but fought back last year under drivers Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa to place third behind champion Mercedes and Red Bull in the constructors' championship. That was Williams' highest finish since 2003.

"I hope as a team we are

more capable of maintaining the forward momentum to catch Mercedes, than the teams behind us are of catching us," Symonds said.

Force India's new car, which will be driven by Perez and Nico Hulkenberg, has different livery — black and silver, with streaks of orange. "We've added silver," team principal Vijay Mallya said, "because I think it makes it look more mean, more hungry."

Force India scored a team-record 155 points last season and was sixth in constructors' standings.

"We've a really solid foundation," said Hulkenberg, who outscored Perez 96 points to 59. "I'm now looking forward to us improving, taking the next step."

OAKLAND, JANuARy 22 (AP): Golden State's Stephen Curry got involved in a rare altercation with an opponent as he helped the NBA-leading Warriors beat Houston 126-113 on Wednesday and stretch their home winning streak to 17 games.

The Warriors extended their lead in the Western Conference to 4-1/2 games over Portland, which gave up a big early lead in losing at Phoenix.

Curry, who finished with 22 points and 10 assists, normally never loses his cool but after being bumped by Trevor Ariza on the way down the court in the third quarter, he confronted the Rockets forward and had to be restrained by teammates.

Ariza receive a technical foul after a video review.

James Harden had 33 points and six assists for Houston, which lost all four games of the season series against the Warriors; the first such sweep for 41 years. Phoenix built a big early lead, gave it up, then got back in front to edge Portland 118-113. Eric Bledsoe had a season-high 33 points and Isiah Thomas added a season-high 27 points for the Suns, who have won seven consecutive home games.

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) dribbles as Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverley reaches for the ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Oakland, Calif., Wednesday, January 21. (AP Photo)

Memphis' Marc Gasol scored 26 points to lead the Grizzlies to a 92-86 win against Toronto. Zach Randolph had 19 points — going 8 for 14 from the field — and 13 rebounds for the Grizzlies.

There were 14 ties and six lead changes for the night.

Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook drove for the winning layup with 0.8 seconds left in overtime to give the Thunder a 105-103 win at Washington. Kevin Durant scored 34 points, and

combined with Westbrook to score all 13 of the Thunder's points in the extra period. Nene scored 24 points for the Wizards, including nine of Washington's 11 points in overtime, but they could not hold on after having led by 12 points at halftime.

Atlanta tied a franchise record with its 14th straight win, defeating Indiana 11091. DeMarre Carroll and Jeff Teague each scored 17 points for the Hawks, who improved to a stunning

35-8 and Mike Budenholzer clinched a spot as the Eastern Conference coach in next month's All-Star game. The Hawks romped to their 28th victory in the past 30 games, showing the kind of teamwork that has become their trademark in a season that no one saw coming. C.J. Miles' 18 points led the Pacers, who shot just 39.7 percent.

A rejuvenated Cleveland won for the fourth-straight game, beating Utah 106-92.

LeBron James scored 26 points and Kevin Love added 19 for the Cavaliers, who are 4-1 since James returned after missing eight games with a strained back and knee. Enes Kanter had 24 points and 17 rebounds for Utah, which has dropped five of six.

Dallas hit 11 3-pointers and put in a strong defensive performance to win 98-75 at Minnesota, with Chandler Parsons scoring 22 points.

Charlotte held on for a 78-76 win against Miami and notched an eighth win in nine games, holding on as the Heat missed two 3-point attempts in the final seconds. Brooklyn gave up most of a 23-point firsthalf lead and clung on to win 103-100 at Sacramento.

New Orleans' Anthony Davis scored 29 points and blocked four shots in his return from a sprained toe, leading the Pelicans to a 9680 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. Detroit's Brandon Jennings had 24 points and a career-high 21 assists to lead the Pistons over Orlando 128-118. New York's Carmelo Anthony had 27 points and 11 rebounds, powering the Knicks to a 9891 win at Philadelphia; their second straight win after 16 consecutive losses.

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2015 Oscar nominations rife with predictability, harsh snubs and controversy

2015 Nominations List of nominees for the 87th Academy Awards The nominees are: Best Picture • American Sniper • Birdman • Boyhood • The Grand Budapest Hotel • The Imitation Game • Selma • The Theory of Everything • Whiplash Best Actor • Steve Carell, Foxcatcher • Bradley Cooper, American Sniper • Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game • Michael Keaton, Birdman • Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything Best Actress • Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night • Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything • Julianne Moore, Still Alice • Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl • Reese Witherspoon, Wild Best Supporting Actor • Robert Duvall, The Judge • Ethan Hawke, Boyhood • Edward Norton, Birdman • Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher • J. K. Simmons, Whiplash Best Supporting Actress • Patricia Arquette, Boyhood • Laura Dern, Wild • Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game • Emma Stone, Birdman • Meryl Streep, Into the Woods

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Best Cinematography • Birdman • The Grand Budapest Hotel • Ida • Mr. Turner • Unbroken

• Nightcrawler

• “I’m Not Gonna Miss You,” Glen Campbell: I’ll Best Adapted ScreenBe Me play • “Everything is Awe• American Sniper some,” The Lego Movie • The Imitation Game • “Glory,” Selma • Inherent Vice • The Theory of Everything Best Production Design • Whiplash • The Grand Budapest Hotel Best Foreign Language • The Imitation Game Film • Interstellar • Ida, Poland • Into the Woods • Leviathan, Russia • Mr. Turner • Tangerines, Estonia • Timbuktu, Mauritania Best Animated Short • Wild Tales, Argentina Film • The Bigger Picture Best Makeup and Hair- • The Dam Keeper styling • Feast • Foxcatcher • Me and My Moulton • The Grand Budapest Ho- • A Single Life tel • Guardians of the Galaxy Best Live-Action Short Film Best Original Score • Aya • The Grand Budapest Ho- • Boogaloo and Graham tel • Butter Lamp • The Imitation Game • Paraveneh • Interstellar • The Phone Call • Mr. Turner • The Theory of Everything Best Sound Editing • American Sniper Best Costume Design • Birdman • The Grand Budapest Ho- • The Hobbit: The Battle of tel the Five Armies • Inherent Vice • Interstellar • Unbroken • Into the Woods • Maleficent Best Sound Mixing • Mr. Turner • American Sniper Best Documentary Fea- • Birdman • Interstellar ture • Unbroken • Citizenfour • Whiplash • Finding Vivian Maier • Last Days in Vietnam Best Visual Effects • Salt of the Earth • Captain America: The • Virunga Winter Soldier Best Documentary Short • Dawn of the Planet of the • Crisis Hotline: Veterans Apes • Guardians of the GalPress 1 axy • Joanna • Interstellar • Our Curse • X-Men: Days of • The Reaper Future Past • White Earth

Best Film Editing • American Sniper Best Director • Boyhood • Alejandro G. Iñárritu, • The Grand Budapest HoBirdman tel • Richard Linklater, Boy- • The Imitation Game hood • Whiplash • Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher Best Animated Feature • Wes Anderson, The • Big Hero 6 Grand Budapest Hotel • The Boxtrolls • Morten Tyldum, The Imi- • How to Train Your Dragtation Game on 2 • Song of the Sea Best Original Screen- • The Tale of Princess Kaplay guya • Boyhood • Birdman Best Original Song • Foxcatcher • “Lost Stars,” Begin Again • The Grand Budapest Ho- • “Grateful,” Beyond the tel Lights

Film tally Birdman: 9 nominations The Grand Budapest Hotel: 9 The Imitation Game: 8 American Sniper: 6 Boyhood: 6 Foxcatcher: 5 Interstellar: 5 The Theory of Everything: 5 Whiplash: 5 Mr Turner: 4 Into the Woods: 3 Unbroken: 3 Guardians of the Galaxy: 2 Ida: 2 Inherent Vice: 2 Selma: 2 Wild: 2

JeNNifer Lopez HATES being called a cougar: “It’s not fair”

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11 JohNNy Depp won't embark on music career

Entertainment

The Morung Express

Jennifer Lopez hates that she has been called a cougar because she think it’s sexist. The Boy Next Door actress, who dated dancer Casper Smart who was nearly 20 years younger for over two years, thinks the label is “unfair”.

Talking on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, JLo got real as she said: "I hate that they have a label for a woman who would date a younger guy. If a younger guy is interested in you, what's the big deal? What's the word for the man who's after younger girls?"

The 'Booty' hitmaker, who was also recently linked to 35-year-old 'Dancing with the Stars' performer Maksim Chmerkovskiy, also insists she's "not after younger guys."

Jen also added: "If younger guys like me, then that's one thing. But there's like guys who just go after younger woman. They have no name.

No label. And you can date one person.

Label. There's just a little bit of an imbalance there. Not fair."

The 'Boy Next Door' star also laughed off rumours she is currently romancing her 27-year-old co-star Ryan Guzman. Asked if he has a girlfriend, she said: "I think he might. I'm not sure. I know he did. "I'm not in his business like that."

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23 January 2015

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his year’s Academy Awards nominations saw several of 2014’s critically acclaimed films rewarded for their effort, while the Academy snubbed other prominent films. In a controversial move, the Academy nominated exclusively white actors and actresses in the leading and supporting actor categories. Meanwhile, no women received nominations for Best Director or Best Screenwriter.

The lack of diversity among the nominees marks a stark distinction from last year’s ceremony, in which “12 Years a Slave” was named Best Picture, and its star, Lupita Nyong’o, won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. The nomination announcements prompted a backlash across multiple social media platforms and led to the trending hashtag #OscarsSoWhite on Twitter.

It is hard to pinpoint why the decision was made, but a deeper look into the demographics of the Acade m y of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences reveals a pervasive lack of diversity. A 2012 study done by the Los Angeles Times showed that 93 percent of Academy voters are white, and 73 percent are male. Efforts are underway to create a more inclusive ballot, according to Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the Academy. Isaacs, who is the Academy’s first African-American president, said for the past couple years, the Academy has added more than 400 new voting members with the goal of increasing diversity. However, the Times study revealed that a staggering 87 percent of the members inducted in 2012 were white.

In 2013, the percentage of white voters fell to 82 percent.

Public reactions to the nomination have ranged from accusatory to satirical, although Ava DuVernay, director of “Selma,” chose to focus on the film’s nominations for Best Original Song and Best Picture, rather than the fact that she was not nominated for Best Director. On her Twitter profile, DuVernay tweeted “Happy Birthday, Dr. King. An Oscar gift for you. To SELMA cast + crew led by our miracle David Oyelowo! To Common + Legend! Kudos!

March on!” If DuVernay had received a nomination for directing “Selma,” she would have been the first black female nominee in the category. Common, whose song “Glory” was nominated, starred in the film as the civil rights activist James Bevel and expressed disappointment in the film’s overall snub.

Amid the controversy, it was an overwhelmingly good day for Texas filmmakers. The academy rewarded philosophy alumnus Wes Anderson with several nominations for “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” Anderson received his first nomination for Best Director, and the film also snagged nods for Best Picture, Original Screenplay and other categories. Meanwhile, prominent Austinite Richard Linklater has his eyes set on Best Picture and Director for “Boyhood.”

The ceremony will probably hold its regular audience of loyal viewers, along with its usual number of critics. Neil Patrick Harris is this year’s host, which may be a much-needed boost for the otherwise bland show.

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ctor Johnny Depp says he “hates” the idea of actors becoming musicians.

Depp has shown off his musical ability over the years, both on and away from the big screen, but the 51-year-old has no plans of ever swapping his acting talent for the music stage, reports femalefirst. co.uk.

“The whole idea for me is a sickening thing. It's always just made me sick. I hate the idea, 'Come see me play the guitar because you've seen me in 12 mov-

ies'," The Sun newspaper quoted Depp as saying.

Depp has previously joined the likes of Oasis, Marilyn Manson, Keith Richards and Ryan Adams on stage to play guitar, but says he has no plans to forge a serious music career of his own.

“Music is still part of my life... but you won't be hearing 'The Johnny Depp Band'. That won't ever exist,” he added.

The actor returned to the big screen earlier this month when he reunited with director Rob Mar-

shall for musical “Into The Woods”, which is based on the Broadway show by Stephen Sondheim.

Depp last worked with Marshall in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’ and this is the second Sondheim musical he has starred in. He showed off his singing ability in ‘Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’.

‘Into The Woods’ saw Depp take on the role of the Wolf alongside Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Anna Kendrick, and Chris Pine.

'I am a sensitive person!'

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is willingness to cry publicly has led to a whole series of memes. And Pharrell Williams was happy to talk about embracing his sensitive side, in a new interview with GQ. 'I am a sensitive person, so I want to be with sensitive people,' Pharrell explained when asked about his female assistants and colleagues. 'Women have a way of expressing themselves that I can relate to more honestly.'

'They're pretty magical, the women that are here,' he added. 'They sense things be-

fore it happens.' The 41-yearold has been one of the popmusic industry's strongest forces over the past few years, with hits such as the megasuccessful Happy. He fronts GQ Magazine's February issue, which is devoted to The Legacy Project - music makers who have been important in the past year.

And he became rather philosophical in his interview. 'You want to be camouflage?' asked Pharrell when the issue of fitting in came up. 'Go ahead. Blend in. But we want to be that twinkle in the sky. And you

might not be able to see that star now. But it's daytime. Wait till it gets dark.'

On the cover, Pharrell's looked casual and cool in a black-and-white-striped sweater partially hidden under a sleek black leather jacket.

Other artists profiled in the February issue of GQ include St. Vincent, Sam Smith, Future, Mark Ronson, Stevie Wonder, Diplo, Kim Gordon, Rick Ross, FKA Twigs, James Blake, Drake, Lil Wayne, Young Thug, Karen O. Spoon, Nas, and Iggy Azalea.

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ustin Bieber will get his own Comedy Central roast special, where the pop star will be subjected to funny insults and praises. A roast is an event in which a person is subjected to a public presentation of comedic insults, praise, outlandish true and untrue stories, and heartwarming tributes as a mock counter to a toast.

The roastee is able to take the jokes in good humour and not as serious criticism or insult, and it is seen by some as a great honour to be roasted. The channel in the past has roasted celebrities like Drew Carey, Jerry Stiller, Rob Reiner, Hugh Hefner, Chevy Chase, Denis Leary, Jeff Foxworthy, Pamela Anderson, reported Us magazine.

TV host Ryan Seacrest revealed the news yesterday. Shortly after that Bieber took to Twitter, writing, “For years I have wanted Comedy Central to roast me. They said only if I provided them with more material so for a year now I have worked hard.” “Finally after all that hard work for my 21st bday it’s happening. Thanks Ryan Seacrest & Comedy Central for the announcement. Let’s do it,” he said.

It will be aired in March.

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Comeback queen Azarenka dumps Wozniacki MELBOURNE, JaNUaRy 22 (aFP): Comeback queen Victoria Azarenka won her battle of the former number ones with Caroline Wozniacki on Thursday to dance her way into the Australian Open third round.

The Belarussian, a twotime Australian champion who is returning from injury, again showed why she is the most dangerous unseeded player at this year's tournament when she upset the eighth seeded Wozniacki from Denmark 6-4, 6-2. After completing the hard-fought victory in one hour 38 minutes, Azarenka showed off her dance moves to the Melbourne Park crowd.

"I really tried to stay focused and tried to take my opportunities," said the 25-year-old, who battled injuries and depression in 2014, entering this year's tournament ranked 44 in the world. "It's really satisfying to be able to play again. I just love to dance...

I just might as well enjoy myself on the court."

There was little to celebrate for Wozniacki, who slumped to her worst ever performance at Melbourne Park after reaching the semifinals in 2011. She had never exited before the third round in seven previous campaigns. On paper, the Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, left, talks with Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark at the net after winning their second round showdown between two former world number ones was match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia on January 22. (AP Photo)

worthy of a place at the business end of a Grand Slam.

In reality, the intensity on display lived up to the billing but it was an errorstrewn display from both players in humid conditions, with Azarenka eventually prevailing in a war of attrition. She will now meet Czech 25th seed Barbora Zahlavova Strycova in the third round is on course to face top seed Serena Williams in the quarterfinals.

Wozniacki said before the match that Azarenka was one of her best friends on tour, but the Belarussian showed no sentiment as she went after the Dane's serve, dominating with two early breaks. Azarenka also displayed no sign of the foot injuries that wrecked her 2014 season, repeatedly darting into the net and throwing herself at returns with abandon. Reeling from the early onslaught, Wozniacki fought back with two breaks of her own as the first set turned into an arm wrestle.

The turning point came in the ninth game, which went to deuce four times before Azarenka claimed yet another break with a forehand down the line, going on the serve out the set after 58 minutes. Azarenka took an early break in the second and held onto the advantage to seal the victory.

Djokovic, Serena rush through at Melbourne Park

MELBOURNE, JaNUaRy 22 (REUtERs): Top seeds Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams barely moved out of second gear while Victoria Azarenka underlined her Australian Open pedigree as players experienced the hottest conditions of the championship so far on Thursday.

Four-times champion Djokovic only needed to up his game after an hour of his 6-0 6-1 6-4 victory over Andrey Kuznetsov, while Williams had to be on her mettle a little sooner following some early resistance from former world number two Vera Zvonareva. Once the 18-times grand slam singles champion got up to speed, however, she cruised away from the Russian with a 7-5 6-0 victory during the day session."Things really clicked. I had no other option but for things to click," the American told report-

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Serena Williams of the U.S. yells in frustration during her second round match against Vera Zvonareva of Russia at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, January 22. (AP Photo)

Novak Djokovic of Serbia waves to the crowd following his scone round win over Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, January 22. (AP Photo)

ers as she moved into the third round and within sight of a potential quarterfinal with Azarenka.

TMen's champion Stan Wawrinka, who beat Romanian qualifier Marius Copil, the lowest ranked men's player in the second round at 194, and

ing the day session, with France's Adrian Mannarino a notable casualty.

The 26-year-old held two match points in the third set against 12th-seed Feliciano Lopez before he was forced to retire while trailing in the fourth.

Lopez was awarded the

eighth seed Milos Raonic, who dispatched American Donald Young, also both advanced after clinical victories.

Air temperatures had dropped considerably for the later matches at Melbourne Park, but had exceeded 35 Celsius dur-

match 4-6 4-6 7-6(3) 4-0 and will now face Poland's Jerzy Janowicz, who beat 17th-seed Gael Monfils in an entertaining five setter.

Controversy also raged on Thursday after a male television interviewer had asked seventh seed Eugenie Bouchard to showcase

her dress with a 'twirl' after her second round victory on Wednesday.

The Canadian later said it was strange to be asked to do such a thing, while social and mainstream media went into overdrive with accusations of sexism, though Williams said there were more important things to discuss.

"I wouldn't ask Rafa (Nadal) or Roger (Federer) to twirl. Whether it's sexist or not, I don't know," she said. "Life is far too short to focus on that. We have so many other problems we want to deal with that we should focus on."

Williams's victory came about 90 minutes after older sister Venus hammered American compatriot Lauren Davis 6-2 6-3, while sixth seed Radwanska also made short work of Sweden's Johanna Larsson in a 6-0 6-1 victory that took just 44 minutes.

Fitter and faster, Kvitova feeling benefit of new set-up

Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic celebrates after defeating Mona Barthel of Germany during their second round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, January 22. (AP Photo)

MELBOURNE, JaNUaRy 22 (REUtERs): Czech powerhouse Petra Kvitova says her new fitness regime is helping her cope with the Australian Open heat after some previous blow-outs in Melbourne.

Her last two appearances at the year's opening grand slam ended in early defeats, but the Wimbledon champion looked in ominously good form when beating Germany's Mona Barthel 6-2 6-4 to reach the third round on Thursday.

Despite winning a second Wimbledon title last year on the grasscourts that bring the best out of her game, her results elsewhere were patchy. But with fitness coach Alex Stober, who used to work with the likes of 2014 Australian Open champion Li Na and Pete Sampras, in her corner working alongside coach David Kotyza she looks leaner and a yard quicker.

"I think it was quite warm today and I think I handled it quite well. The last two or three years I'm not sure if I can handle it like that," the fourth seed

told reporters.

"It's always tough to breathe a little bit when it's really warm. But because I had this time during the off-season I knew I could still play. "When I knew today would be warmer than yesterday, I knew that (coach) David (Kotyza) was little bit worried. Me, too, of course. I did not say it.

"But I knew that I'm prepared better than the years before, I can handle it better." Kvitova began working with Stober in November and admits the off-season was a little more intense than usual. "It's my first time actually to have this combo," she said. "When we started, the first three, four days was very, very tough. I felt everything. I couldn't really walk. Was funny to see me probably.

"But I think that every day when he did the treatments, I could handle it more and could do tougher workouts. That's helping me now." Kvitova, a semi-finalist in Melbourne in 2012, is up against hardhitting young American Madison Keys next.

Australia beats China 2-0, progresses to semi-final of Asian football cup BRisBaNE, JaNUaRy 22 (agENciEs): Tim Cahill scored a brilliant bicycle-kick and a trademark header as Australia downed China PR 2-0 to reach the AFC Asian Cup semi-finals. Cahill took his record tally of goals for Australia to 39, and few have been as important as his second-half strikes to put the hosts into the last four.

Shortly after half-time, Cahill pulled out a bicyclekick from a sharp angle, which beat goalkeeper Wang Dalei, and he then made it two with a familiar leap and header.

The Socceroos deserved the win against a willing but outgunned China, who scrambled well in the first half but folded under the weight of possession enjoyed by their opponents. Coach Ange Postecoglou recalled skipper Mile Jedinak to the starting line-up after injury and gave veteran midfielder Mark Bresciano his first start of the tournament. He also restored Australia's forward line of Cahill and Robbie Kruse following a string of missed chances against Korea Republic in

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Australia's Tim Cahill performs a overhead kick to score Australia's first goal during the AFC Asia Cup quarterfinal soccer match between China and Australia in Brisbane, Australia, Thursday, January 22. (AP Photo)

their final pool game.

China initially sat back in defence and looked to counter-attack. They looked the more dangerous early on, Wu Lei's pace causing the Australian defence plenty of problems.

The Chinese had the best chance of the opening 25 minutes when Ji Xiang's backheel went just wide,

but it was all Australia from that point on.

Cahill and Jedinak were both on target with headers, while Mathew Leckie and Trent Sainsbury should have done better with good chances.

The Socceroos started the second half just as dominantly and they were finally rewarded in the

49th minute when Cahill worked his magic. China cleared the ball from a corner but only as far as Ivan Franjic, who put a looping header back into the box.

An acrobatic Cahill met the cross with an overheadkick angled past Wang. Cahill then scored his second in the 65th minute when his pinpoint header from

Jason Davidson's cross gave Wang no chance.

The Chinese refused to concede and forced two diving saves from Australian keeper Mathew Ryan, but they paid for a lack of strike power up front and were lucky not to concede more.

Australia will now play either Japan or United Arab Emirates in the semi-finals.

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