January 31th, 2015

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The Morung Express

Dimapur VOL. X ISSUE 28

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Saturday, January 31, 2015 12 pages Rs. 4

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Learning how to be still, to really be still and let life happen - that stillness becomes a radiance

reflections

By Sandemo Ngullie

What are you looking so glum about? You asked for 5 kgs. I gave you 5 kgs.

Governor urged to display ‘neutrality’ DIMAPUR, JANUARY 30 (MExN): The Naga Hoho has expressed concern over Nagaland Governor, PB Acharya’s move on Republic Day to address a gathering at Raj Bhavan in Hindi. A press note from the Naga Hoho, while welcoming the promotion and propagation of Hindi through schools and other institutions, however found it “unreasonable that the Governor should address a distinguished nonHindi speaking gathering in Hindi, fully knowing that the majority of them could not comprehend a single word of what was spoken.”

It further expressed astonishment at the depiction of a Hindu Goddess on the official handout of the same function. “It is very much out of place that the image was used in a non-religious official function in a Christian dominated state.

The Nagas are not against Hindus or Hinduism, but objects to this very particular action of the Governor which conveys a wrong controversial message,” it stated. The Naga Hoho urged the Governor to show “neutrality and sensitivity to the sentiments of the Naga public in future.”

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– Morgan Freeman

Jayanthi Natarajan quits Congress, attacks Rahul Gandhi

Mardaani Rani Mukerji impresses Polish Fans

Groundwater prospect maps of Nagaland released [ PAGE 2]

Djokovic beats Wawrinka to reach Australian Open final

[ PAGE 8]

[ PAGE 11]

[ PAGE 9]

[ PAGE 10]

Heavy drinking increase stroke risk more than BP & diabetes

‘leave no one behind’ PlA behind Jan 5 blast

DIMAPUR, JANUARY 30 (MExN): Under-Secretary-General and ESCAP Ex- proach to HIV and sexual and reproducSome 30 countries from the Asia Pacific ecutive Secretary, Dr Shamshad Akhtar tive health and rights is urgently required. region pledged this week to accelerate the said: “We must promote laws, policies In the 21st century countries must adopt pace of change in their commitment to and practices that are evidence-based legislation that recognizes sexual orientaending the AIDS epidemic in the region by and firmly grounded in human rights. We tion and gender identity.”

The AIDS response in Asia and the Pa2030. This commitment was made during must continue to identify and remove lethe Asia-Pacific Intergovernmental Meet- gal and policy barriers to universal access cific has witnessed some of the world’s to HIV services. ” “I believe that Asia and greatest successes. Nevertheless, the ing on HIV and AIDS. A press communiqué from the UN the Pacific can, if effectively mobilized, course of the HIV epidemic in the ESCAP Economic and Social Commission for be a path breaker in meeting the commit- region shows that current efforts need to Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) revealed ment to achieve universal access to HIV be refocused to ensure that all countries that an estimated 6 million people are liv- prevention, treatment, care and support.” are able to meet the commitments made at regional and global levels. ing with HIV in Asia and the Pacific Responding to these commitand only 33 percent of them are • Asia-Pacific countries commit to endments, the regional framework for receiving treatment, often due to ing AIDS by 2030 on HIV and AIDS beyond legal and policy barriers in access• Human rights approach to sexual and action 2015 builds upon the ESCAP roading HIV services. reproductive health and rights required map endorsed in 2012 and seeks Organized by the United Nanational reviews and consultations tions Economic and Social Comon barriers to accessing HIV prevenmission for Asia and the Pacific (EStion, treatment, care and support.

CAP), in cooperation with the Joint The framework includes a move United Nations Programme on towards sustainable financing of HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the United AIDS response and ensuring afNations Development Programme fordable access to life-saving medi(UNDP), and other United Nacine and diagnostics. By Septemtions entities, the three-day meetber, governments will decide on a ing in Bangkok reviewed progress new set of sustainable development towards implementing transforThe new regional framework of coop- goals (SDGS) for the period after 2015, as mative reforms on HIV prevention, treatment, care and support agreed to by na- eration for ending the AIDS epidemic by the Millennium Development Goals come 2030 seeks to fast-track the HIV response to an end. The regional framework will protional governments in 2012. vide important input to the global review of Government delegates and civil soci- with specific actions.

Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of progress and help shape the future of the ety organizations reviewed measures to enhance financial sustainability and effec- UNAIDS said: “Asia and the Pacific is mov- HIV response worldwide post 2015.

“Let us remember that the true test of tiveness of the region’s HIV response and ing the world forward into new frontiers of to strengthen regional cooperation. They development. You have all the right tools a humane and inclusive society is marked focused in particular on addressing legal in your hands, beginning with political by its commitment to protecting the most and policy barriers to accessing services commitment. I challenge you to be the vulnerable,” said Nicholas Rosellini, Director of the UNDP Bangkok Regional for key populations at higher risk of HIV first region to end the AIDS epidemic.”

The President of Fiji and chair of the Hub. “As we move towards the Post-2015 and persons living with HIV, which include discrimination in employment, health intergovernmental meeting, Ratu Epeli Development era, let us reaffirm our Nailatikau highlighted: “In the Pacific, common commitment to Leaving No care, education, travel and insurance.

Opening the meeting United Nations a more robust human rights-based ap- One Behind.”

• Blast was carried out at the direction of a PLA captain; and not by PREPAK • Two PLA cadres arrested in Manipur on January 23 and brought over to Dimapur

DIMAPUR, JANUARY 30 (MExN): Imphal valley-based PLA was behind the January 5 IED blast in Dimapur. Contrary to initial reports, it has been revealed that the blast was masterminded by the PLA. It was initially reported that another Imphal valley-based insurgent organisation – PREPAK was behind the explosion. Dimapur police established the PLA link based on the admission of Longjam Ojit Meitei – the man found injured at the blast site (Eros LaneGolaghat road junction).

The Additional Superintendent of Police, Dimapur, in a media release, disclosed that Longjam’s admission resulted in the arrest of two other PLA cadres, who along with Longjam, had carried out the blast.

They were identified as Maiban Biren Singh and Katuncha alias M. Jiban Singh, both hailing from Imphal East district. The duo was arrested in Manipur on January 23 and brought to Dimapur.

According to police, Biren Singh was at the site of the explosion, while Katuncha had assisted in arranging transport to cross the inter-state border till Dimapur. The release further stated that the blast was carried out at the direction of one ‘captain’ Nungthomba Ingo alias Krishna of the PLA with the intention to disrupt the Republic Day celebration in Dimapur.

Chronicling the events leading

up to the blast in Dimapur, the police said that Biren Singh had received three IEDs from two unidentified people (one man and a woman) at Saijang village in Thoubal district.

On the morning of January 5, Biren Singh and Longjam along with the explosives proceeded towards Dimapur in a truck. The truck however broke down near Lairouching in Senapati district where they sought Katuncha’s help to arrange a backup vehicle. Katuncha along with a fourth person, identified as Elangbam Basanta, gave them a Maruti 800 (MN1A-4462) to make the trip to Dimapur, the police informed.

They reached the targeted site of explosion (Eros Lane-Golaghat Road junction) at around 8:30 pm.

One of the IEDs accidentally exploded when Longjam was planting it, prompting Biren Singh to flee the scene. “The same night, he caught a night bus and returned to Manipur,” police said.

As admitted by the arrested persons, the police added that the IEDs were set to be detonated on January 6, January 25 and January 26 at three different locations - the garbage collection area at Burma camp below fly-over, the garbage collection area opposite Hotel Senti and the DMC dustbin at the Eros Lane junction.

The other two IEDs found in the car were later neutralised by the Army’s Bomb Disposal Squad.

‘Don’t worry, i am with you’

CMO claims PM ‘not interested’ in changing DAN III leadership

DIMAPUR, JANUARY 30 (MExN): The Media Cell of the Nagaland Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) today claimed that both the Prime Minister and the BJP President had “assured the Nagaland Chief Minister that...they are not interested in destabilizing the DAN Government, or changing the leadership of the present NPF-led DAN III Gov-

ernment headed by him.”

The CMO further quoted the PM as having said to the Nagaland CM, “Don’t worry, I am with you.”

This was stated in a response to recent allegations made by the NPF led

by Noke Wangnao regarding the Chief Minister’s meeting with the Prime Minister. A press note from the media officer to the CM informed that “it is not customary for the PMO or President of BJP office to issue official statements about such meetings held at the request of the visitors. It is always the

group/ person who seeks the appointment to tell the waiting press fraternity the result or outcome of such meetings.”

It further clarified that the “Prime Minister and the President of BJP had not stated that they are siding with this or that group in the NPF party internal dispute.”

“The Chief Minister had met them, not to seek their support in the internal NPF party dispute; but to seek their re-assurance that they are interested in continuing the DAN, where the BJP has been an important partner right from the beginning.”

Over 116 Crore sanctioned for NH 61 during 2013-14

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DIMAPUR, JANUARY 30 (MExN): A total of Rs 116.685 Crores (11668.5 Lakhs) was sanctioned for various road works carried out along the National Highway 61, during the year 2013-14. This was disclosed by the Chief Engineer for Nagaland PWD (NH), in response to an RTI filed by one ST Yapang Lkr, from Kohima.

The amount, as per the Chief Engineer’s response made available to the media, was sanctioned for various road works over 88 kilometers of the NH 61.

The works included improvement of riding quality, periodical repairs and road strengthening.

The response to the RTI, dated December 15, 2014, further revealed that the amount was sanctioned for 9 separate roadwork projects, of which three have been completed and the rest are ongoing. It further stated that “no separate amount for repairing is sanctioned for the road works enclosed, but the stretches will be maintained till the defect liability is over by the concerned contractor. For the financial year 2014-15, the

Amount sanctioned for road works on NH 61 during 2013-14

Type of work

Road section

Iwwmprovement of Riding Quality Improvement of Riding Quality Improvement of Riding Quality Improvement of Riding Quality Periodical Repair under NH Division Mokokchung Periodical Repair under NH Division Mokokchung Strengthening of existing 2- Lane pavement from Km 6/00 to Km 40/00

from Km 110 to 115 from km 160 to 166 from km 135 to 147 from km 200 to 210

Amount Length in Status/stipulated sanctioned Kilometers time of completion (in lakhs) 5.00

296.88

Completed

6.00

365.38

Completed

12.00

758.86

Ongoing/3.07.2015

10.00

316.1

Ongoing/03.09.2015

from km 180 to 190

10.00

312.30

Completed

from km 190 to 200

10.00

292.67

Ongoing/29.08.2015

from km 6 to 40

34.00

8040.12

Ongoing/16.06.2017

Strengthening

From km 147 to 156 km

9.00

886.19

Ongoing/04.01.2016 Ongoing /17.07.2015

Strengthening

From km 78 to 80 km

2.00

400.06

Ongoing/17.07.2015

Provided by the Chief Engineer PWD (NH) Chief Engineer informed that the Ministry is yet to sanction works projected as on date. It further clarified that the National Highway connection from Dimapur to Kohima is under the Border Roads Or-

ganization.

In a statement to the media, the RTI applicant, ST Yapang Lkr questioned whether the road works done are in accordance to the money sanctioned and satisfactory to the

people. He further stated that it would be “beneficial for one and all if the Village Council and the Student Bodies check the quality of the works done so far in their respective areas.”

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Dimapur

Saturday

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31 January 2015

The Morung Express C

Groundwater prospect maps of Nagaland released

The project is hopeful of addressing user’s need and meeting a sustainable water management in the state Our Correspondent Kohima | January 30

Chief Secretary C.J. Ponraj, IAS, today formally released the groundwater prospect maps of Nagaland and the same was handed over to Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), Nagaland for necessary action thereof.

This was released during a workshop on “Groundwater prospect maps of Nagaland” under Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission (RGNDWM) Project here today at PHED Conference Hall in the presence

of Shanmugan Sundaram, advisor Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation, Government of India, New Delhi and several other dignitaries from different departments and agencies.

The Chief Secretary complimented Dr. Zavei Hiese and Nagaland Science & Technology Council (NASTEC) for completing the task. He was optimistic that the project would go a long way in addressing the user’s need and meeting a sustainable water management in the state.

The workshop was organized by PHED and NASTEC, Department of

Chief Secretary C.J. Ponraj releases groundwater prospect maps of Nagaland during a workshop on “Groundwater prospect maps of Nagaland” in Kohima on January 30. (Morung Photo)

Science & Technology, Nagaland.

Dr. Hiese said the project for Nagaland groundwater prospect maps under RGNDWM –Phase- IV, was carried out by NASTEC under the supervision of National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), ISRO during 2011-13, sponsored by Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation, GoI.

The objective of the project is to provide the drinking water by means of identifying the ground water sources through scientific means especially for the Non Covered (NC) and Partially Covered (PC) habitations and make them sustainable by way of augmenting the recharge conditions of the source of ground water.

In order to fulfill the objective, he said, the ground water prospects map are prepared for the whole state corresponding to Survey of India toposheet on 1:50,000 scale covering all the habitations. The maps show prospective zones for ground water occurrence and tentative locations for constructing recharge structure.

The objective of the district wise atlas preparation is to bring out all the concerned district ground water information coverage of the maps for the selection of sites for drilling and construction of recharge structures as and when required, Dr. Hiese said. He added that in the lean period, this would be advantages for planning

and development of the ground water judiciously considering all terrain features.

Another objective of the atlas is to make familiarize about the ground water information to all the officials involved in ground water development.

“This Atlas will also be useful guide to understand the success or failure of the source,” he added.

Dr. Hiese was hopeful that this Atlas would find an interesting audience and reference among planners, policy makers, field level functionaries and NGOs concerned with ground water resources development and management.

Earlier, Shanmugan Sundaram gave keynote address. Er. Kevisekho Kruse, chief engineer PHED Nagaland also addressed the workshop. The inaugural function was chaired by

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Anenla S. Longchari, secretary PHED, Nagaland while welcome address was delivered by C.M. Tsanglao, secretary science & technology, Nagaland. Vote of thanks was proposed by Er KG Sumi, Director WSSO, PHED Nagaland.

During technical session 1, topics on “Concept of groundwater prospects and quality mapping” and “Groundwater prospect and quality mapping for Nagaland” was highlighted by Somorjit, scientist ‘SE’ NESAC Department of Space, GoI and Dr. Nesatalu Hiese, PI & scientist ‘D’, NASTEC, department of Science & Technology respectively while Er. Pelengulie Chiisa, scientist ‘C,’ NASTEC, department of science and technology talked on the topic “Rain water harvesting testing technology” during technical session II.

NStCB catering to farmers, SHGs Strict enforcement of ‘No Work No Pay’ CS CJ Ponraj calls for change of attitude and mindset towards work

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45th Annual General Meeting of the NStCB Ltd in progress in Dimapur on Friday. (Morung Photo)

DIMAPUR, JANUARY 30 (MExN): With 21 branches spread across all districts of the state and a total staff strength of 230, the Nagaland State Cooperative Bank (NStCB) has reported an operating profit of Rs. 205.59 lakh as on 31 March 2014 thus registering a growth of 96.6% over the previous year.

The size of Balance Sheet has also improved from Rs. 54456.26 lakh as on 31 March 2013 to Rs.

57550.96 lakh as on 31 March 2014 registering a growth of 5.7%. These statistics were revealed by NStCB Chairman, Temjen Toy, IAS who is also the Principal Secretary & Finance Commissioner, Nagaland during the 45th Annual General Meeting of the Bank at its office in Dimapur on Friday.

He was resenting the Annual Report of Directors of the Bank for 2013-14 which was later approved by the members present in the meeting.

Toy said that the Working Capital of the Bank was Rs 50254.66 lakh which recorded a growth of 7.2% leading to improved banking business by 8.3% as on 31 March 2014. The Bank has to its credit formation of 6380 Self Help Groups (SHG) and linking of 2054 SHGs with bank credit till the year ending 2013-14. It was further revealed by the Chairman that the Bank had sponsored 152 Farmers’ Clubs with credit of Rs.

52.71 lakh as on 31 March 2014.

In his presentation, Toy also lauded the services rendered by Managing Director, NStCB Ltd, Atovi Sema who would be retiring in the month of February 2014. The programme was attended by share holders and staffs of various branches of the Bank during which short speeches were also delivered by outgoing and elected Board of Directors.

KohIMA, JANUARY 30 (DIPR): The bi-monthly AHoDs and HoDs meeting was held on January 29 at the Secretariat Conference Hall Kohima. The meeting was convened under the co-chairmanship of the Chief Secretary, CJ Ponraj and the Principal Secretary and Home Commissioner, Pankaj Kumar.

Reviewing the last meeting minutes, the gathering reiterated and deliberated on poor attendance and absenteeism of employees from office. Opinions and views were expressed regarding the issue that circular, notification and orders that have been issued on several occasions but were not effective and that biometric attendance system introduced in some directorates was not successful completely. Therefore, the discussion was for concrete measures and to strengthening of the current system including strict

enforcement of the principle of ‘No Work No Pay’.

Concerning the issue, the Chief Secretary CJ Ponraj said that it was not only a day-to-day problem but was a structural problem, which needs a holistic approach and the attitude and mindset have to be changed towards work.

The Chief Secretary expressed a serious note of concern also said ‘We are to continue to struggle, habit is not easy to change and correcting image is a serious issue’. He further said that a regulating system has to be introduced and implemented in toto in which quantum services have to be delivered. The Chief Secretary urged the Heads of Departments to give extra effort to bring things into proper shape and encouraged them by saying ‘We can make a start’.

The Principal Secretary and Home Commissioner Pankaj Kumar on the issue

of absenteeism said that the government is to formulate and work out how best to deal with the issue in order to bring back the moral ethics and added that effort should be given to do away with the deterrent present form while also opting for futuristic strategy. He informed the meeting about the power pending bills which will be reviewed by March 2015.

On traffic management, the Chief Secretary said that the regularity and responsibility rest with the police. He also reiterated about MOU and MOA that every Department has to go through the Finance, Planning and Law Departments before singing of MOU and MOA. The Departments has to have consultation with the concerned departments in accordance with the laid down rules and that no Department should have done it in its departmental level alone.

For MOU & MOA Home Commissioner said that consultations should be done as clearance is needed for protection. He also reiterated that the departments which have not done the requisition of filling up vacancies to NPSC should review the position of its Department and do so.

Setting up of fixed pay employee’s welfare fund was discussed as one of the agenda on which suggestions for voluntary financial contribution of nominal amounts etc that would be taken care of by the Secretariat Management Board.

On traffic management at the State Capital Kohima, suggestions were made as ordinances are to follow for proper functioning and dedicated, proactive and senior and professional is needed to activate the Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority Kohima (UMTAK) has to revive.

Rate of smokeless tobacco use highest in Nagaland Getting back to normal life Anti Leprosy Day observed

DIMAPUR, JANUARY 30 (MExN): Advocacy workshop for ANMs on National Tobacco Control Programme was conducted on January 30 at Chief Medical Officer’s Conference Hall, Dimapur.

According to a press note received here, resource Person Dr. Tetseo, Nodal Officer (NTCP) gave a detailed presentation on the harmful effects of the use of tobacco and the role of ANMs for creating aware-

ness during their daily OPD at the health centers and especially within the communities. He informed that Nagaland was the second highest State in the country in tobacco products use and in smokeless form, the prevalence rate of 45% in Nagaland is the highest in the country.

He urged the participants to sensitize them on the ill effects of tobacco uses in terms of health hazards, which is the major

cause of preventable death in our country, which is about 10 lakh tobacco users in our country per year, and on the financial impact, it has on the users. About 37 Crores of Rupees is spent on tobacco products, both smoking and smokeless form in Dimapur District alone. He further stated that tobacco use is the major risk factor in increasing Non-Communicable Disease such as Diabetes, Heart Disease, Cancer and

High BP. Imkumla, Psychologist, NTCP also spoke on the social problems attributed to tobacco use and as per theories formulated it is learnt that people get influence and start using tobacco by observing other tobacco users, children are easily influenced by their parents or other family members, peers, actors or pop stars, who uses tobacco.

With the setting up of a Detox Centre for Tobacco

User at District Hospital Dimapur, she also emphasized on the need to identify and rehabilitate tobacco users in the district. She further informed them to identify tobacco users in their community to urge the users to avail the service of the detox centre.

The programme was chaired by Naro Jamir, DEO, NTCP Dimapur and earlier in the programme, Esther Thirah, DPM (NHM) delivered the welcome address.

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Postal Life Insurance Monthly IMPCC conducted at AIR Kohima Mela in Mon conducted

Director of Postal Services, Nagaland handing Som Kamei over infrastructural equipment to Branch Post Offices under Mon District on January 28.

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MoN, JANUARY 30 (MExN): A one day Postal Life Insurance Mela cum distribution of infrastructural equipments like table, chair, clock, weighing scale, iron chest etc to Branch Post Offices under Mon District got underway on January 28 at Main Post Office Mon MDG. Altogether, 80 employ-

ees and public attended the Mela. Speaking at the function, the Director Postal Services, Nagaland Som Kamei said that the basic amenities for the Branch Post Offices are supplied as part of Modernization Programme and for preparing towards a change in the Postal Department, which is coming very soon.

Som Kamei informed the gathering that India Post is standing at a crossroad where we not only have to grab the opportunities that come our way but create opportunities for our continued growth.

He said that portable PC would soon be provided to all the identified Rural Branch Post Offices as an extension of e-Post Office facility to rural areas and customers in an attempt to bridge the digital divide and to generate revenue.

Skill upgradation and knowledge input will be imparted to the employees in a phased manner.

The Branch Postmasters and Gramin Dak Sevaks Staff were informed to create awareness to the members of Public in their respective village about the various schemes of the department.

KI Singh, Supdt of Post Offices (HQ) Kohima in a press release said that the SDI (P) Dimapur Sub-Division, E.Yanthan and his staffs, organized the mela.

The mela procured more than 40 lakhs worth of PLI/ RPLI policies at Mon itself.

KohIMA, JANUARY 30 (DIPR): The monthly Inter-Media Publicity Coordination Committee (IMPCC) meeting was held at the All India Radio Station, Kohima on January 29 chaired by Chairman, IMPCC and Director (E) AIR, Kohima K.K. Rengma, to discuss the publicity activities carried out during the month. During the month, publicity was given by all the Media units on issues relating social and development programmes and on all centrally sponsored Flagship programmes. Both AIR and DDK intensively covered schemes launched by the central government and successfully transmitted the Prime Minister’s Maan Ki Baat broadcast for the last four editions. On account of the upcoming World Cancer Day observation on February 4, the house decided to focus its coverage on cancer awareness campaign. Going by the research reports, it says the key factors that can increase a person's risk of developing cancer are due to behavioral and dietary risks, and not having an active lifestyle.

In the light of this the IMPCC, Kohima decided to cover relevant programmes for telecast and broadcast on the theme “Make healthy food choices, avoid cancer.” Officials from Doordarshan Kendar Kohima, Department of Field Publicity and from All India Radio Kohima attended the meeting. The next monthly IMPCC meeting will be held at DDK Kohima on 26th February 2015.

LBA to observe 2016 as Year of Mission NsoNg, JANUARY 30 (DIPR): The Liangmai Baptist Church Association Nagaland (LBA) held its 31st annual general meeting at Nsong town recently. LBA president N. Silubo Zeliang during the meeting shared that the quality of preparation determines the quality of performances. As a leader of the saints, he encouraged, “we must be aware that we are the leader who will challenge others to do.” He further stated that a leader is not someone who pushes others from behind, but someone who leads. “If we are leader we must involve ourselves first,” he added. The Executive Secretary of LBA, Kitanwi Chawang broached the topic of involving all the people under LBA churches. In this regard, the house discussed and unanimously resolved to observe 2016 as a ‘Year of Mission’ under Liangmai Baptist Association. 150 church leaders and delegates attended the general meeting.

Participants, resource persons and others during the Anti-Leprosy Day observed by the NLEP Nagaland at Leprosy Colony, Kohima on January 30. (Morung Photo) Our Correspondent Kohima | January 30

“Getting back to your normal life is the success story,” said Dr. Ahu Sekhose, State Leprosy Officer Kohima on the Anti-Leprosy Day that was observed by the NLEP Nagaland at Leprosy Colony, Kohima on January 30.

Dr. Sekhose in his speech informed the inmates about facts of leprosy and the current scenario in the global world today.

Considered as one of the oldest disease in the world, it was the first documented disease during the biblical times, majority labeled it as a cursed disease. However, Dr. Ahu apprised the inmates that scientists have proved that leprosy is one of the least infectious diseases and that the world today is trying to eliminate the stigma attached to the disease.

The programme was chaired by Dr. Aseno, Zonal Leprosy Officer, Kohima with invocation by Pastor Gayan Bahadur, Leprosy Colony Baptist Church Ko-

hima. A speech by one of the inmates was given on behalf of the patients.

“More than 90 % of the world’s population has natural immunity against leprosy,” states Dr. Ahu who viewed that the leprosy patients are the living examples and the best crusaders to share on leprosy and its misconceptions to avoid stigma. “Those who have first-hand experience have the best information,” added Dr. Sekhose who advised the inmates to be updated with the Government’s policies, which are changing.

Upholding the view that one cannot be termed successful unless they regain their normal life and earn their livelihood again, Dr. Ahu set the challenge to the inmates to contribute back to the society.

“You may belong to different religions with different beliefs but remember that nothing happens by chance. Unless you contribute, you have not fulfill your purpose in life,” concluded Dr. Sekhose who

hoped that everyone will work together to spread the awareness on leprosy.

Mokokchung: A public awareness campaign on leprosy was organized at Imlong Place in Mokokchung Town on January 30 as a mark of observation of National Anti Leprosy Day. The programme was organised by Dr. Ayangla Zonal Leprosy Officer and DPHNO along with the staffs of the programme.

The Public of Mokokchung Town were made aware of the dreaded disease by giving short talks to small groups and by distribution of the leaflets on Leprosy.

The main highlight of the campaign was the detection of a suspected case of leprosy whose particulars were recorded and was taken to the office for further investigation. The campaign was a successful one with good response from public specially Non Nagas, stated a press release issued by NRHM Mokokchung Media Officer.

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REgional

The Morung Express

Mizoram: HIV funds withheld for 5 months Frontline workers warn of surge in new infections

aizawl, January 30 (the indian exPreSS): Healthcare providers working to stem the spread of HIV in a state with the second-highest prevalence rate in India have warned of a potential surge in new infections as the state government has withheld funds for five months, leading to massive cutbacks in operations such as distribution of syringes to drug addicts, handing out condoms and facilitating blood tests.

“There is definitely going to be a surge in HIV positive cases in a few months from now as more and more people get tested for the virus,” warned John Thansanga, who heads an

umbrella group of healthcare providers that directly deal with Mizoram’s HIV patients and high-risk populations, including intravenous drug-users, homosexuals, sex-workers and informal migrant workers.

The umbrella grouping consists of 37 organisations which are at the frontline of the state’s AIDS control society’s fight against HIV. A vast majority have already scaled down their operations while many have reported they are being asked to vacate their centres because they are unable to pay their rent while workers and staff are owed up to five months’ salaries, John Thansanga said, adding most are unable to get

anymore credit since they have been unable to repay earlier ones.

This means free fresh syringes are beyond the reach of a huge percentage of the more than 12,500 intravenous drug users being treated by these centres, while more than an equal number of sex-workers, informal migrant workers and homosexuals are not being sufficiently provided condoms.

This shortage of protective paraphernalia means it is not just HIV but different kinds of hepatitis, sexually-transmitted diseases and other ailments spread through exchange of blood that are at risk of being contracted by many others.

“It’s a public health issue that is not limited just to HIV,” John Thansanga said.

His colleague, Lalrinawma Chhakchhuak, explained the squeeze in operations has been set off because the cash-strapped Mizoram government is yet to release Rs 820.32 lakhs that has already been transferred to the state by NACO. The state treasury has a daily withdrawal ceiling and funds for combating HIV are apparently not on the priority list as the government continues to struggle with a lack of finances that has hung over the state for several years now.

Officials from the Mizoram State Aids Con-

trol Society, who declined to be named, admitted the nodal agency has not received the funds from the state government for the past five months and therefore could not disburse them to the frontline organisations.

“Right now even we are in the same boat. We’re all broke,” said one senior official.

Among Indian states, Mizoram is officially believed to be second only to Nagaland when it comes to HIV prevalence rates, which is juxtaposed by accounting for the percentage of women attending antenatal clinics who are found to be infected with the virus.

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Arunachal government delaying in submitting UCs: BJP itanagar, January 30 (Pti): The Opposition BJP in Arunachal Pradesh today castigated the state government for making inordinate delays in submitting utilisation certificates (UCs) against various central schemes, which resulted delay in fund flow from the Centre.

Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Tamiyo Taga raising a Special Mention in the house claimed the state government received funds under various schemes during 2013-14, but could not utilise it and diverted them.

He said the government during the period received Rs 320 crore under the Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), but only Rs 80 crore was paid to the contractors.

"Non-submission of UCs has created an impression of Arunachal as a non-performing state, which resulted in delay of funds from the Centre against important projects," he said.

Responding to Taga, Chief Minister Nabam Tuki said submission of UCs was a continuous process and normally became due after 12-18 months from the date of

release of funds.

"The question of delays in submission of UCs against funds released under 201415 does not arise and for the funds released during 2013-14, most are released by the Centre in the third and fourth quarters of the financial year and due to imposition of Model Code of Conduct during the general elections, actual utilisation of funds got delayed," Tuki said.

However, he said, the state government had been regularly submitting the UCs and making efforts to submit the balance UCs. Earlier during Question Hour, responding to a similar question raised by BJP member Tage Taki, the Chief Minister said the problem in the state was known to all with hardly a few months of working season due to prolonged monsoon in the state.

"The tendering process takes time, while delay can also be attributed to litigation in some projects," he said.

When Taki pointed out that there was no annual operating plan in the state for the last two years, Tuki said.

Northeast Briefs Ghising to be cremated on Sunday Rhino protection force to be raised in Assam

Gogi to contest 2016 polls from Titabar

Jorhat, January 30 (Pti): Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday said he will contest in the 2016Assembly elections from the Titabar constituency in Jorhat district. "I will of course contest in the 2016 elections. From today I will lead the electoral battle with renewed vigour," Gogoi reporters on the sidelines of a booth meeting at ward no. 10 in Jorhat town.

There were media reports about the possibility of Gogoi not contesting in the next Assembly elections. On reports about his detractors, those above 70-years of age and non-performers being denied a Congress party ticket, Gogoi said, most of the contestants will be from among the existing 79 MLAs with some new faces. Gogoi has served as the Chief Minister consecutively since 2001 leading his party to a record three electoral wins in Assam.

Mizoram launches cleanliness drive aizawl, January 30 (ianS): The Congress-ruled Mizoram government Friday launched a massive statewide cleanliness programme in order to make it the cleanest state in India.

Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla launched the programme - "Mizoram Faina Beihpui Hnatlang" (mass voluntary movement for cleanliness) - in Aizawl. Thanhawla, accompanied by local leaders wielding brooms, cleaned the city and asked the people to do the same in their localities. "We would make our state the cleanest in the country," the chief minister said.

While people cleaned their own residences, members of the state's leading NGO (Young Mizo Association), local volunteers, students and teachers took to cleaning streets, public places and drains.

Government employees also swept their respective office complexes and adjoining streets. "The programme would not be a one-day affair, this is a continual effort, especially in the health and educational institutions," director of state school education department H. Lalengmawia told reporters. He said that the cleanliness programme commenced concurrently in all district, sub-divisional, block headquarters and villages across the state.

Three UALA militants nabbed guwahati, January 30 (Pti): Three United A'chik Liberation Army (UALA) militants were apprehended during a joint operation by the army and police in Assam's Goalpara district. Based on specific intelligence, a joint operation was conducted by troops of Red Horns Division and police along the Assam-Meghalaya border in the district and nabbed the trio near Mechelkhowa village last night, an army spokesman said today. Two 12 bore country-made rifles, ammunition, two mobile phones and some cash were recovered from the apprehended militants. Two of the apprehended terrorists belong to North Garo Hills district of Meghalaya and one to Goalpara district. The UALA cadres have been carrying out extortions from the local population residing along Assam-Meghalaya border.

darJeeling(wB), January 30 (Pti): The mortal remains of Subhash Ghisingh, the founder of Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) who died in a hospital in New Delhi yesterday, reached his house in Darjeeling today amid tight security.

Ghishing's body was brought to his Zakir Hussein Road house in Darjeeling after it reached Bagdogra Airport this afternoon by a large number of GNLF supporters and leaders and a strong police contingent.

"Ghisingh's body will remain at his Darjeeling house tomorrow for people to pay their last respect and on Sunday, the body will be taken to his ancestral village of Manju near Mirik and cremated there," said M G Subba, Darjeeling town committee president of GNLF. Subhash Ghisingh, once the uncrowned king of Darjeeling who championed the

cause of Gorkhaland, died in a hospital in New Delhi yesterday after suffering from liver ailments and cancer for the last few years.

With a demand for the separate state for the people of Darjeeling, Ghisingh coined the term "Gorkhaland" and launched a violent movement in Darjeeling in 1980 under the banner of GNLF, thus turning the queen of the hills into a battlefield where bloodshed and killings became an order of the day, leading to deaths of more than one thousand people till 1988.

After the intervention of the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu, a historic tripartite agreement was signed between the Centre, state and Ghisingh, thus leading to the formation of an semi autonomous body, Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) in 1988.

No Hidden Agenda against Tribal Customs, Traditions: Meghalaya HC guwahati, January 30 (tnie): The Meghalaya High Court said the judiciary had no “hidden agenda” against the decades-old customary laws and practices of tribals in the state.

Tribals in most parts of the North-East are governed by customary laws and practices and, as such, the decisions of the village councils are final and binding.

Last year, when the Meghalaya High Court pronounced an order stripping the local village chiefs of powers to issue no-objection certificates (NOC), it was alleged that the judi-

ciary was meddling in village affairs “unnecessarily”.

The court justified the ruling and said it had no hidden agenda against any custom or traditional practice unless it was unreasonable.

It was in the late 1980s that village chiefs in the state began the practice of issuing NOCs. The certificates were issued to locals for opening bank accounts for securing job cards under the Centre’s rural scheme. Irked by the HC ruling that strips village headmen of powers to issue NOCs, Chief Executive Member of Khasi Hills Au-

tonomous District Council Adelbert Nongrum alleged that there was a hidden agenda behind the ruling.

Subsequently, the court initiated contempt proceedings against him. Hearing the case, Justice S R Sen said Nongrum’s charge was baseless. “This court is not against any custom or practice unless it is unreasonable. Customs cannot be rigid, they must be flexible and change with the times as per the requirements of the people. It is also a fact that prior to the ‘80s headmen weren’t vested with the power to issue NOCs,” he said.

KNF leader in an encounter in Manipur imPhal, January 30 (exPreSS newS Service): Assam Rifles jawans gunned down two persons, including a leader of the Kuki National Front (KNF), and injured three cadres of the outfit in a gunfight in the Kadangband area near Imphal on Wednesday night.

“KNF’s Central Civil Administrative Officer Robert Kuki and Kanchup area vice-president of the Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) Khupneilal Neisel (40) were killed in the shootout at around 8pm. Two 9mm pistols with bullets and a detonator were found on the their body,” police said. No-

tably, KNF is one of the signatories of the Suspension of Operation (Soo).

The outfit while alleging that it was a fake encounter perpetrated by the AR has demanded a CBI probe into the matter.

Police retrieved the bodies of the two and deposited them at the mortuary of Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) here for autopsy. The three injured are undergoing treatment at the same hospital, police said. A case has been registered to ascertain the veracity of the incident.

Kangchup locals alleged that the two were killed by the Assam Rifles personnel.

NGT refuses to revoke ban on Meghalaya rat-hole mining Shillong, January 30 (ianS): The National Green Tribunal (NGT) Thursday did not revoke its interim ban on rat-hole coal mining in Meghalaya, but extended the validity of royalty payment and transportation of extracted coal kept in the open.

The tribunal's special circuit bench, eastern zone, comprising of Justice U.D. Salvi and expert member Ranjan Chatterjee also directed the Meghalaya government to fasten up the process of formulating its scientific mining plan.

The green court also constituted five local commissioners to inspect the mining sites and weighbridges to ascertain if there is any violation of the tribunal's order in transportation and illegal mining of coal in the state.

"The tribunal has refused to lift its April 17 interim order banning coal mining in the state but extended the validity of roy-

Coal mining in Changlang district suspended in 2012 itanagar, January 30 (Pti): Coal mining at the Namchik-Namphuk coal block in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh has been suspended since May 2012 after the directions of the Centre following involvement of insurgent groups in the extraction process, the state Assembly was informed today.

Responding to a question by senior BJP MLA Japu Deru, state geology and mining minister Kamlung Mosang state coal extraction was started in March 2007 by the National Mining Company Ltd of Tinsukia in Assam on the basis of a memorandum of agreement (MoA) through an open tender for extraction of two lakh metric tonnes coal annually.

"Though 133.62 hectares of area was permitted, but extraction was done only alty payment and transportation of extracted coal kept in the open till Feb 11," Ranjan Mukherjee, counsel of the Meghalaya government, told journalists.

He added that the tribunal also directed the coal mine owners and

in 39.04 hectares inside the reserve forest areas and a quantity of 10,73,00 MT in 62 months before being suspended," Mosang said.

The company was awarded the contract for a period of five years, which was later extended to another two years according to provisions of the MoA, he said.

During the period, the earned a revenue of 18 crore, the minister told the Assembly.

"I along with Chief Minister Nabam Tuki had approached the union Coal Ministry pleading for permitting the state government to extract the balance 20 lakh MT coal as per the MoA," he added.

The Centre had suspended mining operations in the coal field after reports of involvement of both factions of the NSCN in illegal coal extraction.

dealers to pay the royalty on the extracted coal at any nationalised bank through the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system within 14 days' period.

Mukherjee said that the tribunal also directed the Meghalaya government to

submit its replies along with the report of experiment conducted by Directorate of Mineral Resources November 2014 on the treatment of effluents discharged from the mining areas within two weeks time.

In its affidavit submit-

ted to the tribunal, the state government said it has collected over Rs.77.25 crore as royalty from 11,02,950 metric tonnes of extracted coal which has exported outside the state.

Earlier, the NGT committee indicated that there are around 6.3 million tonnes of extracted coal whose total value is Rs.3,078 crore, and added that the royalty payable to the state government is Rs.400 crore.

Meanwhile, the tribunal has issued a bailable arrest warrant against four witnesses who are residents of Assam's Dhubri district in connection with the alleged death of 15 coal miners inside the coal pit July 6, 2012, in South Garo Hills district.

It directed the district police chief of Dhubri to bring the four witnesses before court at the next hearing in connection with the death of 15 people in the coal mine.

guwahati, January 30 (Pti): A Rhino Protection Force with more than twelve hundred personnel would be raised for protection of rhinos in the state, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has said.

The state government has already sent a proposal to the Union Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and the force will be formed very soon, Gogoi said during a review meeting on antipoaching measures and other related issues held at Kaziranga National Park on Thursday evening.

Lauding the untiring efforts of the field staff in protection of Kaziranga, Gogoi

LOST NOTICE I, Lovikali Jakhalu am applying for a duplicate copy of Class-XII Pass Certificate and Class-X Marksheet (CBSE, Delhi) as I have lost it.

Name: Lovikali Jakhalu F/Name: Hoshito Jakhalu M/Name: Phutoli Jakhalu DOB: 25/12/1985 Class-XII, Roll No: 3212022 (2004) Class-X, Roll No: 3116785 (2002) School: Delhi Public School, Numalighar Assam

LOST NOTICE I, Nikato Jakhalu am applying for a duplicate copy of Class-XII Pass Certificate (CBSE, Delhi) as I have lost it.

Name: Nikato Jakhalu F/Name: Hoshito Jakhalu M/Name: Phutoli Jakhalu DOB: 08/06/1985 Roll No: 3213138 Year: 2003 School: Assam Rifles Public School, Shillong, Meghalaya

said modern technology will be used extensively to curb the menace of poaching.

He also suggested several measures to be taken up by the Forest department, park authorities and the district administration concerned for protection of the world heritage site.

Fund would not be a constraint for upscaling anti-poaching infrastructure. High-end equipment such as night vision devices, thermal scanners, surveillance cameras, GPS to be deployed at the earliest, he said.

He also directed the district authorities to sanitise the bordering areas adjoining the Kaziranga National Park by deploying young and energetic commando force.

Gogoi further said that a Chief Minister's Gallantry Award would be instituted for security guards for their exemplary services on antipoaching.

He also asked the park authorities to take the National Investigating Agency's help to deal with rhino poachers and bust its trade routes across inter-state and international borders.

4

Dimapur

public discoursE

Saturday 31 January 2015

Do u know Mahatma Gandhi? Is Gandhism relevant today?

M

ahatma--a truly great spirit.

Mahatma Gandhi’s life and teachings has been a great source of inspiration and ideal for some of the greatest personalities of the world. Some of the greatest quotes about this greatest man by some of the most influential personals in history include : Albert Einstein : “Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever infleasgh blood awalked upon this earth The 14th dalai lama: “He is a great man and I am his follower Martin luther king Jr: “ Chirst gave us the goals and Mahatma Gandhi, the tactics” Barack obama: “ I am mindful that I might not be standing before you today as President of United states , had it not been for Gandhi and the message he shared with America land the world” The list in itself is endless and shows how Mahatma Gandhi has played an unprecedented rule in shaving lives of some of the greatest

birThday grEETing

Dear akon, On this very special day of yours, may God continue to protect and bless you and grant all your wishes.. many many happy returns of the day.

Happy birthday...

Always, Wangsa manchen

man of the world A lean old man with a stick in his hand and a cloth drapped around him, won India its freedom -- freedom from bondage, slavery, imperialism. Britain ruled India for a long time unless Gandhi emerged on the scene to bring the country under its own rule. It is not that India did not have freedom fighters. In fact, the contribution of those numerable and innumerable freedom fighters who laid their lives for winning India freedom cannot be ignored. Yet, the brightest jewel of all will remain MAHATMA GANDHI. Gandhi is such an icon for the youth that showed the spirit of glory and way to freedom to the Indians.

Gandhi was a light for the people in dark. he came back to India in his full attire after winning the rights for different races in South Africa. But the sight of poverty and depravity made his heart to bleed and he relinquished his attire and wore a dhoti that was to be his only attire therefater.

He saw his countrymen strug-

gling against the brutal British regime. He took it to himself to fight for their rights and make them struggle for attaining independence from the savage regime. It was not a cakewalk. But, a determined person as GANDHI never let the spirit of gaining independece for his country die.

His speeches encouraged people, both literates and illiterates. He won the freedom for his country with his intellect and never die spirit, which lit the fire to struggle in the Indians.

And his weapons were so unique -satyagrah in his own terms. He did not possess nukes or atom bombs or AK-47 or 56 rifles, he didnt even have a schoolboy’s gun, what all he had as his exemplary weapon was his patience and non-violence. He taught us patience, love for all, politeness, sacrifice, non-violence, committment, and today’s world teaches hatred, illwill, violence, impatience, and hunger for power.

Today, I wanna know how many of us follow GANDHI in real sense.

How many of us are ardent followers of the MAHATMA?

The Baptist World Alliance Day

T

he Baptist World Alliance Day (or BWA Day) was originally the first Sunday of February. However, some years back the BWA Day was moved to another day in the month of May. This year, BWA is bringing the BWA Day back and resettling it to its historic and original day in February. BWA is thus re-launching the BWA Day this February.

Considering the fact that there are regions where, for contextual reasons and realities, weekly worship is on Saturday (e.g., in neighbouring Nepal, Christians worship on Saturday because Sunday is an official working day), BWA has now set the first Sunday of February, or the first Saturday immediately preceding it, as the BWA Day. This year the dates are February 7 & 8. For most, including Baptists of Nagaland, the BWA Day 2015 is February 8.

According to the BWA, “The celebration [of the BWA Day] is aimed at affirming Baptist identity within the worldwide

ily, and we Nagaland Baptists are one of the most cherished and celebrated members of the family.

Some even quip that Nagaland is the Baptist capital of the world!

Apart from Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter, for Baptist Christians the BWA Day is the most important day. It is a wonderful opportunity to affirm our identity and pray for our unity as Baptists Christians. It is also a time to commit ourselves to love, serve, cooperate, and work with one another as Baptist Christians, whatever else our differences.

It is probably the case that many are already informed about the BWA Day re-launch through their respective church instruments and official channels. It is, however, also possible that some may not be quite aware of this BWA Day. And it is for the latter that this fellowBaptist offers this humble – unofficial, unsolicited, and unauthorised! – service of publicity and information.

Christian family. Baptists are encouraged to pray for each other and to renew their commitment to cooperate with Baptists globally through the BWA.” For this special day, BWA is earnestly encouraging and appealing to Baptists churches and Christians worldwide to both commemorate and celebrate it, and also to mark the day – the first SaturdaySunday of February – in their future annual church and personal calendars.

The BWA website also contains resources and suggestions for how the special service on BWA Day may be conducted <http://www. bwanet.org/resources/ worship-resources/bwaday>.

The worldwide BWA family includes: 231 conventions, councils, and unions; 121 countries and territories; 4.2 crore members; and 1,77,000 local churches. Baptist luminaries include the likes of Billy Graham, Charles Spurgeon, Martin Luther King Jr., Jimmy Carter, and Rick Warren.

The Baptist family is a big and beautiful fam-

Had GANDHI been alive today, he would have cried witnessing the sight of depravity, apathy, brutality, selfishness, hunger for power ruling this world. We need MAHATMA today. We need his principles, not only on paper but also in practice.

ARE WE READY TO TREAD THE PATH MAHATMA GANDHI SHOWED US? I am certain that if we follow GANDHISM, it will certainly lead us to peace that we very dearly cherish.

Let us wish that the spirit of this icon of nonviolence rests in peace always. It is his martyrdom day today [30 January].. the day a man, NATHURAM GODSE, pumped bullets into the chest of the FATHER of the Nation [INDIA].

Dr Arenla Mollier (The writer presented this paper at a national seminar at Scottish church college, University of Calcutta. This is an abstract of the paper, Relevance of Gandhian Philosophy in the context of Northeast)

The Morung Express

No More Assassination of Gandhiji

A

s I continue to labour sincerely on communal harmony in India following the noble example of Gandhiji, the Martyrdom Day of Gandhiji on the 30th January, 2015 broke my heart deeply. It may be recalled that he was rudely assassinated by Mathuram Godse of the RSS on the most unfortunate day of 30th January, 1948 while going to temple for morning prayer. Following the assassination of Gandhiji, RSS was banned by Sardar Patel as the Home Minister of India. Thus Gandhiji became the sacrificial lamb of India like Jesus Christ in the cruel hands of his beloved people whom he loved immensely following the noble example of Jesus Christ. He laid down his life for the unity of India irrespective of caste, creed and religions.Hewasdeadagainstcommunal politics joined by Nerhu and S. Patel.

Unfortunately, the Bharatiya Janata Party Government in the centre totally forgot the sacrificial work of Gandhiji despite her constant propagation of the political philosophy of Gandhiji based on truth and non-violence. She has become totally hypo-

critical by joining hands with the RSS who assassinated Gandhiji by becoming anti social and destructive cultural organizations. She is continuing to take the advice of the RSS in all policy decisions of the Government both in the centre and states publicly. I wish and hope that the party will walk the talk on communal harmony which was dearest to the heart of the Gandhiji, the father of the nation.

It is considered necessary to say that even Barack, the President of America paid homage to Gandhiji at Rajghat, New Delhi on the 25th January, 2015 just before the Republic Day on January 26, 2015.

If the most powerful President in the world could do so how about Bharatiya Janata Party headed by Narendra, as the Prime Minister?

I sincerely appeal to Government of India not to assassinate another Gandhiji who are sincerely working to bring communal harmony in India and make India a developed nation through the power of unity.

Dr E Renphamo Lotha A Gandhian

Will History Be Repeated

K

nowing full well that his electoral fortune in 1998 was an all time low and concluding that his miserable position will lead him to face a crushing defeat at the hands of his opponent and comprehending that his election to the assembly was virtually impossible, Shurhozelie ex-President misled the then NPC Party to boycott the 1998 election under the rhetoric “solution not election”.

Despite of the fact that the vast majority of the then NPC leaders piloted by Vamuzo, former Chief Minister were daring to fight the election.

Shurhozelie ex-President played the pied piper when he hatched the fatal move and boycotted the 1998 election and allowed his opponent to enjoy a clean sweep. Ultimately, this infamous personalised agenda of political genocide attracted the radar of the ECI and the commission derecognised NPC in 1999.

Intentionally undermining the wishes and aspirations of the then NPC party rank and file and totally quashing the pleas Kethoser (Aniu) Kevichusa and requests of the then

NPC leaders, Shurhozelie ex-president resigned from the NPC in 1999 and contested the Lok Sabha election as an Independent candidate and created history by polling one of the lowest margin in the country.

Despite of the fact that the election of the leader of the legislature party squarely lies within the ambit of the elected members, Shurhozelie ex-president constituted a ‘core committee’ which was overcrowded by his cronies and selected T.R. Zeliang, as the CM. Despite of the fact that the NPF president shall be elected only during a General Convention, Shurhozelie ex-president constituted a ‘core committee’ to elect him as the president endlessly.

Despite of the fact that after failing to respond and clarify to the 10 points charges made by 13-14 years, the 70-80 years old Shurhozelie ex president tries to run away in order to escape the legitimate scrutiny in the public domain and directed his press bureau to vociferously protect his dictatorial style of functioning and to defend his

un-defendable misdeeds.

Despite of the fact that the Governor of Nagaland, P.B. Acharya was especially appointed by the Modi sarkar to change and convert Nagaland into a modern state, however, in contrary to the fact, Shurhozelie and K.G. Kenye, ex-Secretary General, in one of the NPF CEC meeting, claimed that since the Governor is a pure RSS man, Raj Bhavan will be unfair and that Raj Bhavan will do injustice and the people of the state will suffer.

Despite of the fact that Naga people enjoys the goodwill of the global Community for its tradition, custom, honesty and hospitality, during the 2013 election campaign at Jakhama, Shurhozelie directed the party men and women to speak lies justifying that when a lie is repeated many a times, the people will be compelled to construe the lies as the truth.

Despite of the fact that PM Modi enjoys the confidences and mandate of 282 BJP MPs in the parliament, Shurhozelie, expresident and K.G.Kenye,

ex-Secretary General parroted that the days of BJP are numbered and that the political landscape in the country will witness a dramatic turn around and that a mid-term poll in the country was hovering and that a new coalition government is in the offing.

Despite of the fact that the Chang community are represented in 5 ACs i.e, Tuensang sadar-I AC, Tuensang sadar-II AC, Noksen AC, Noklak AC, Angetyongpang AC, during the last party convention no leader from Chang community were inducted, whereas 3 members from a single village were inducted to the Central Office.

As a loyalist to the oldest regional party, I am compelled to present the facts for all to know and judge so that history is not repeated.

I would also like to make an appeal to all section of the people to wake up from the spell of people like Shurhozelie who in fact has been a stumbling block in every step of the way for the NPF Party and the Nagas as a whole.

T. Pongjilemba Chang UDF loyalist 1977

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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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 # 3124

DAILY CROSS WORD

CROSSWORD # 3133

Answer Number # 3123

DIMAPUR Civil Hospital:

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

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Spanish Greetings & Goodbyes COMOTELLAMAS COMOSELLAMAUSTED MELLAMO ADIOS BUENASNOCHES BUENASTARDES BUENOSDIAS COMOESTAS HASTALUEGO HASTAMANANA HASTAPRONTO HOLACOMOESTAS NOSVEMOS QUETAL TENGOQUEIRME ENCANTADO DEDONDEERES DEDONDEESUSTED SOYDE MUCHOGUSTO

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ACROSS 1. Rich soils 6. Resorts 10. Early 20th-century art movement 14. 27 in Roman numerals 15. Story 16. Female sheep (plural) 17. Blood vessels 18. At the peak of 19. Lean 20. Injudicious 22. Being 23. Scream 24. Forgo 26. Double-reed woodwind 30. Be unwell 31. Explosive 32. Fishing poles 33. Break 35. Rowed 39. Contraband 41. Elastic 43. Stripes 44. Untidy one 46. An escape of water 47. Central 49. Conceit 50. If not 51. Fleet

54. A Freudian stage 56. Huh? 57. Tediously repetitious 63. French for Finished or Done 64. Slaloms 65. Vice ___ 66. Pearly-shelled mussel 67. Sea eagle 68. Surpass 69. Give temporarily 70. Falls behind 71. Ancient Greek unit of length

DOWN 1. 66 in Roman numerals 2. Beasts of burden 3. Keen 4. Short skirt 5. Pantywaist 6. Mynahs 7. Kneecap 8. Found in some lotions 9. 7 member group 10. Luscious 11. Flooded 12. Compacted 13. Out of kilter 21. Stop 25. Prig

26. Spheres 27. Car trunk (British) 28. Smell 29. Appraisal 34. Forecasts 36. Bobbin 37. Historical periods 38. Dam 40. Placed 42. Submarine 45. Tilting 48. Young unmarried woman 51. Dreadful 52. Rhinoceros 53. Craze 55. Adores 58. Gumbo 59. Following 60. Killer whale 61. Utilized 62. A period of discounted prices Ans to CrossWord 3132

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

DIMAPUR: 03862 232201/ 101 (O) 9436017479 (OC) 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) TUENSANG: 8414853766 (O) 8414853519 MON: 03869 251222/ 101 (O) 9436208480 (OC) KipHire: 8414853767 (O) 8974304572 (OC)

CHILD WELFARE COMMITTEE Toll free No. 1098 childline

MOKOKCHUNG:

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

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

KOHIMA

FIRE STATIONS

STD CODE: 0369

Police Station 1:

2226241

Police Station 2 :

2226214

Civil Hospital: Woodland Nursing Home:

2226216 2226263

Hotel Metsüpen (Tourist Lodge):

2226373/2229343

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

CURRENCY 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

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Euro

71.13

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Danish Krone

9.57

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The Morung Express

24 arrested for illicit sale/ purchase of SIM cards Kohima, January 30 (mExn): Kohima police on January 30 arrested 24 persons and seized 827 SIM cards in connection with illicit sale and purchase of unverified pre-paid/ post paid/ preactivated SIM cards here. 17 of the arrested persons were held from North P.S jurisdiction, while 7 persons were arrested from South PS for “violation/non-observance of norms/regulations and guidelines as well as rampant flouting of norms relating to the subject matter,” a press release from Atu Zumvü, Sub–Divisional Police Officer & PRO, Kohima stated.

According to the release, “in the interest of national security and public interest,” a joint team of Kohima Police comprising North PS, South PS and Women Cell had conducted a surprise raid in all the public outlets to “check illicit sale and purchase of unverified prepaid/ post paid/ pre-activated SIM Cards as it is causing serious security threat to the citizens and posing immense difficulties for the Law Enforcement Agency in tracing subscribers identity and address etc. whenever complaints are received at Police Stations from the aggrieved person(s).”

The arrested persons have been identified as Bapan Malakar (34), Nandan Kumar (19), John Rai (24), Njonye Seb (30), Prem Kishore (23), Ramesh Jha (38), Anil Kumar (23), Kewekhro (37), Ram Mahato (18), Sari Khan (40), Sham (22), Joginder (49), Akui Rio (30), Neithono (25), Keniengunuo (22 yrs), Abdul Latif (47), Subash Kumar, Shiv Prasad Mahato (38), Bhikhar Sah (26 yrs), Letuonuo (23), Anensi (30), Kholou Thasou, Mukwu (29), Achule (32).

Meanwhile, the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards seized of various service providers were: BSNL – 51, Airtel – 154, Aircel – 194, Vodafone – 207, Reliance - 100, Idea Cellular – 121.

A regular case vide North PS Kohima Case No. 0008/2015 U/S 188 IPC and South PS Kohima Case No. 0010/2015 U/S 188 IPC has been registered in this connection and the arrested accused persons remanded into judicial custody, the release added.

House gutted in Noklak noKlaK, January 30 (Dipr): A fire broke out in Noklak town on January 27, which completely consumed one house belonging to Pongom and partially burnt two nearby houses.

The cause of the fire was not known and the value of property not assessed.

The fire was brought under control mainly with the help of the 23 Assam Rifle of Noklak Town.

LOCAL Shurhozelie claims Governor has been directed to summon NLA Dimapur, January 30 (mExn): The President of the Shurhozelie led NPF today claimed that the BJP High Command “is still with the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland and that it will not do anything to de-stabilise, the only NDA-aligned State Government in the Northeast.” He further stated that the Home Ministry has directed the Nagaland Governor to summon the Assembly for a floor test.

According to a press note from the party, Dr Shurhozelie Leizietsu stated this while addressing a gathering of party workers this afternoon on his return to Kohima from New Delhi.

He further said that

the Prime Minister “had phoned up BJP President Amit Shah, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and the BJP General Secretary in charge of the Northeast Ram Madhav and apprised them of the situation prevailing in Nagaland and the stand the Party should take.”

Dr Shurhozelie also quoted BJP President, Amit Shah as stating: “We have no intention of de-stabilising any State Government.

And when we have no intention of disturbing even Congress-ruled States, why should we disturb the only NDA-aligned State in the Northeast?”

He further informed that the BJP President, the

Union Home Minister and Ram Madhav held a separate meeting and “it was conveyed to us late in the evening that the BJP Party is still with the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland and that the Home Ministry has directed the Governor of Nagaland to summon the Assembly for a floor test.” “We were also told that necessary directives have been issued to Nagaland BJP President.”

“As and when the Assembly is summoned,” Dr Shurhozelie expressed confidence that “not all dissidents would go against the Party Whip and get themselves disqualified. Some of them are sure to vote in tune with the Whip. So there

is no threat at all to our Party’s Government under the leadership of TR Zeliang.”

On the petition filed by the Noke led NPF with the Election Commission of India, Dr Shurhozelie termed the move as “unfortunate, childish and shameful…” “Their tactic is to confuse the public but the petition has nothing to do with the present crisis.

We will file our reply countering them para-wise.

We will give a befitting reply in due course of time.

The Election Commission of India knows fully well which of us has been following the laid-down rules contained in the Party’s Constitution,” he said.

“If the Sovima rebel campers claim that they command the majority why are they so scare(d) to face the “minority” TR Zeliang on the floor of the House?” the release questioned. “Why are they always asking the Chief Minister to step down through press and media without following constitutional procedure, while they have no courage to face the strength test on the floor of the House?”

Further, warning the “rebel campers” at Sovima not to “defame the reputed NPF party by illegally claiming to be the NPF party and creating all mischief,” the youth wing stated that “unless the

31 January 2015

Kohima | January 30

Good news for drinking water scarce pockets of Nagaland. With map on groundwater prospects of Nagaland now in place, the State is heading towards a sustainable drinking water system as and when it takes off in a big way.

Courtesy Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission, the map was prepared by Nagaland Science & Technology Council (NASTEC), Department of Science & Technology Nagaland, and handed over to the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) Nagaland.

Nagaland PHED chief engineer Er. Kevisekho Kruse maintained that the Hydro-Geo Morphological (HGM) map or Nagaland groundwater prospects map will be of much utility for identifying the prospective sites to install bore wells in the State.

“We have a responsibility to ensure all persons in the state to have access to a sustainable drinking water that is adequate in quantity and safe to drink,” he said.

On current situation and challenges pertaining to drinking water supply in the State, he said, out of a total of 1530 villages/habitations, 38 are of quality affected category (2.4%), 989 (64%) of “Partially Covered”

5

MEx FILE DGU offers condolences Dimapur, January 30 (mExn): The Dimapur Gorkha Union (DGU) has expressed its deep condolences on the demise of Subhas Ghising, Chairman, Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), “who spearheaded and motivated the entire Gorkhas for the statehood demand, Gorkhaland.” In a condolence message, DGU stated, “Due to his noble thoughts he ignited, united and inspired the Gorkhas to have our own state Gorkhaland.” Acknowledging that the demise of Subhas Ghising has created a vacuum, DGU asserted “his untiring efforts shall be an inspiration to the entire Gorkhas to achieve our Goal for Gorkhaland.” The DGU further expressed deep condolences to the bereaved family members and prayed that Lord Almighty will give them strength at this hour of pain and sorrow.

Garbage truck stolen in Kohima

Govt and orgs on release of abducted Maytas-Gayatri staff Kohima, January 30 (mExn): The Chief Engineer of PWD (NH), Nagaland, Er. V Kehie, on behalf of the Minister of National Highways & Mechanical, Soil & Water Conservation and the Department, has acknowledged the Sumi Hoho, Chakhesang Public Organisation, Chozuba Range Public Organisation, Sekruzu Area Public Forum, Chokri Area Public Organisation, Convener of Village Council Chairmen Union, Chozuba and other NGOs for the safe release of the two staff of MaytasGayatri, who had been abducted on January 11 by NSCN (K).

Stating that SARDP project is one of the largest

projects in Nagaland so far, the chief engineer in a press statement assured that the department as well as the state government are doing their best to successfully complete the project.

“Therefore, the department solicits all individuals, publics, NGOs, organisation to extend your continuous support and co-operation in future,” he added.

Further, the department “condemned such act which is detrimental to public interest and hindered the development in the state.”

Meanwhile, the Chozuba Range Public Organisation (CRPO), Sekruzu Area Public Forum (SAPF), Chokri Area Public Organ-

isation (CAPO) and the VCC Union of Chozuba area, on behalf of the public of Chozuba Sub-Division, have expressed their sincere gratitude to the Sumi Hoho, Chakhesang Public Organisation (CPO), State government authorities, Police department and all agencies/ individuals concerned for showing solidarity, concern and putting in concerted efforts towards securing the safe and unconditional release of the two abducted employees of Maytas - Gayatri (JV) Company, Devender Kumar from Jharkhand and Kalinga Sethi from Odisha on January 29.

A press statement from CRPO president, Thupule

MGNREGA Day on Feb 2

Pensioners informed to renew ID Card ‘D’

rebel campers were recognized and allotted with different nomenclature and party symbol by the Election Commission of India they have no moral or legal rights to claim as NPF party as of now.”

“The rebel campers are desperately deployment all cheap methods to salvage themselves from their misadventure, the latest being the poster campaign against the Chief Minister at Dimapur which is a total mockery.”

The NPF central youth wing further expressed confidence that despite all the “cheap propaganda and lies adopted by the Sovima rebel campers, the truth will prevail.”

ters (HMs) and assistant headmasters (AHMs) of forty-one Government Higher Secondary Schools (GHSS) in Nagaland have resolved that all matters concerning secondary and elementary sections in the schools shall be dealt by HM and AHM “as they are the heads of the concerned sections i.e Class 5/6 upto Class 10.” The decision was made during an emergency meeting of the HMs and AHMs of the 41 schools held on January 29 at the conference hall of Directorate of School Education.

The meeting, according to a press note, also resolved that funds such as admission fees, CSS etc pertaining to secondary

and AHM of the respective school. The house resolved that all HMs and AHMs of the 41 GHSSs should strictly follow the adopted resolutions to maintain uniformity in the system of functioning of the schools.

“The aforesaid resolution had been unanimously adopted with a view to promote a healthy working environment for both the cadres of the same school and for smooth functioning of the schools toward attainment of quality education,” Kepelhoutuo Chüsi, Sessional Secretary Headmaster, RGHSS, Kohima and Mezhu Hozoyeh, Sessional Chairman Headmaster, GHSS Jotsoma stated in the press note.

kam Village Peren” which appeared on January 30 issue of this daily (page 5), it is corrected that “heath” should be read as “health” The inadvertent error is regretted.

for each subsequent year. Further, the NPA informed all the new pensioners/ family pensioners to obtain their ID Card ‘D’ from their respective Presidents, District/Sub-Unit Pensioners’ Association. As per the prescribed procedure, it said, the possession of ID Card ‘D’ for withdrawal of pension is compulsory. All the Treasury Officers/Banks have also been requested to ensure that the pensioners/ family pensioners duly possess renewed ID Card- ‘D’ for the purpose of release of pension to genuine pensioners/ family pensioners only.

With an aim to educate the adolescents in the district, the Tuensang District Health Society on January 27 organised Street Plays, which were performed by the members of Adolescent Club at Tuensang Town. Dr. Mongko, MO, RBSK, spoke on health and Hosea, SHP Co-ordinator, Tuensang, spoke on personal hygiene, early pregnancy and also highlighted the services available in the district. The Adolescent Club members also carried out a poster campaign.

Nagaland heading for sustainable drinking water system Admission for RIMC 2016 batch Our Correspondent

Dimapur

Kohima, January 30 (mExn): The KMC garbage truck (Bolero pick-up) of Lower Chandmari Colony Panchayat bearing registration number NL-01A-0375 was stolen by unknown person(s) at around 12:30 noon on January 29 from its parking site in the colony and taken towards Manipur side. Condemning the persons involved in the theft, the Panchayat stated that search mission is going on. A press release issued by the Panchayat chairman Nohokhul Sophie and secretary Bentilo Rengma has sought cooperation of all well wishers Lohe further lauded the to trace out the vehicle. gesture of the higher authorities of NSCN (K) in “releasing the abductees Dimapur, January 30 (mExn): The District Ruunconditionally follow- ral Development Agency (DRDA), Dimapur will obing the appeal made by the serve MGNREGA Day on February 2 at Lotha Hoho Ki, public organisations and DC Court junction from 12 noon onwards. Therefore, all keeping in view the larger the village development board (VDB) secretaries under public interest while un- Dimapur district have been informed to attend the proderstanding the grievances gramme without fail. of the public.”

The CRPO, SAPF, CAPO and the VCC Union of Chozuba area also appealed to all organisations/ individu- Kohima, January 30 (mExn): The Nagaland als, including Naga Politi- Pensioners’ Association (NPA) has requested all the cal Groups to continue to pensioners and family pensioners to renew their ID “extend support and co- Card ‘D’ for the year 2015 at an early date to avoid operation in maintaining hardship, while stating that the ID Card ‘D’ was introa favourable and undis- duced by the state government vide notification No. turbed atmosphere so that FIN/ESTT-67/99 (Pt), Dt. 01.03.2006, for withdrawal developmental works of of pension. A press release issued by the NPA General SARDP- road construction Secretary, Lecho Krocha, said that the validity of the can progress smoothly.” card is for a period of one year and it is to be renewed

Claiming TR Zeliang’s government as HMs and AHMs resolve Corrigendum January 30 and elementary sections Apropos to the news item ‘minority’ is baseless: NPF youth wing Kohima, (mExn): The headmas- shall be handled by HM “Heath Mela at Beisumpui-

Dimapur, January 30 (mExn): The central youth wing of NPF party led by Dr. Shurhozelie today reiterated that the continuous claim of the “rebel Sovima campers” that Chief Minister TR Zeliang’s Government has reduced to minority is “baseless unless it is proven on the floor of the House.” In a press statement, the young wing president, N Vihoshe Swu and working president, Bendangtoshi Longchar stated that the Sovima campers asking the Chief Minister to step down “on claim of minority before the strength test on the floor of the House is like a pugilist asking his opponent to surrender before entering into an arena for the fight.”

Saturday

Kohima, January 30 (Dipr): The entrance examination for admission to class VIII in the Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC), Dehradun, for January 2016 term will be conducted on June 1 and 2, 2015.

A press release from Director, School Education, Zaveyi Nyekha informed that only boys are eligible to apply for admission to RIMC, Dehradun. Candidates appearing for the above test should not be less than 11 ½ years of age, but should not have attained the age A girl collects drinking water from a pipeline in remote village of Nagaland. (Morung Photo) of 13 years as on January 1, category, i.e., with water ity sources involve a huge natural water resources and 2016. Candidates should supply level less than 40 li- mainline distance and the spring water as the state has either be studying in class tres per capita per day and per capita cost is too high. been facing water scarcity 503 falling under the “Fully In this, he said, alternatives during dry season.

Shanmugan SundaCovered” category, i.e., with such as rainwater harvestwater supply level at 40 litres ing, creation of impound- ram, advisor, Ministry of or more per capita per day. ing reservoirs, ground wa- Drinking Water & Sanitation, GoI said the idea of Dimapur, January The department had ter, etc are required.

Meanwhile, Chief Sec- preparation of groundwa- 30 (mExn): Oil Industry once covered almost all villages with water sup- retary C.J. Ponraj wishes to ter prospect maps came in Nagaland alongwith ply but many of these have see a successful utilization of out at a time when many of the rest of the country has “slipped back” to Partially the groundwater resource in the partially covered habi- been observing OGCF’15 Covered status owing to the State. Stating that major- tations and fully covered (Oil & Gas Conservation many factors such as O&M ity of the populace depend habitations slipped back to Fortnight) starting January 16. Various activities failure, water source deple- upon natural spring water not covered category.

The main objective have been carried out in tion, etc, he said. to sustain, he stressed on the He said at least 85% of need to identify natural wa- of HGM Map is to iden- the state to spread the water supply systems are of ter storage. We have to iden- tify/ select suitable places message for need of congravity system drawing wa- tify natural water resources, where water sources like servation of scarce petroter from rivers and springs he said, adding the state can dug wells, bore wells can be leum products through but many of the sources go for legislation in this con- put up and also for identi- implementation of effiare having the discharge nection. He also urged upon fying suitable sites for con- cient methods of use in diminishing over the years the engineers to take the structing water harvesting various sectors – Transpreservation of water to have structures like check dams, port, Industry , Domestic due to deforestation, etc.

Also, in many villages, sustainable drinking water nullah bunds, percolation & Agriculture, informed bringing water from grav- through the identification of ponds recharge pits etc.

State Level Co-ordinator

VII at any recognized school at the time of admission to the RIMC. The written part of the examination will consist of three papers, namely English, Mathematics and General Knowledge. The oral interview will be held for only those candidates who qualify in the written exam and the date for interview will be intimated to them by early September 2015.

Application form and prospectus and old question papers can be obtained through registered post/speed post by sending a written request with an account payee Bank Demand Draft of Rs 430/(for registered post) or Rs.

480/- (for speed post) for General Candidates and Rs. 385/- (for registered post) or Rs. 405 (for speed post) for ST/SC candidates along with caste certificates. The Demand Draft should be made in favour of The Commandant, RIMC Dehradun, Drawee Branch, State Bank of India, Tel Bhavan, Dehradun, (Bank Code – 01576) Uttarakhand. Application forms along with three passport size photographs should reach the Directorate of School Education on or before March 31, 2015.

Certificate of age (in duplicate) from the school record or Municipal Board should be submitted.

OGCF’15 closing event today of Oil Industry, Nagaland, Sanjib Chakravarty in a press release .

The closing function of the OGCF’15 will be held at the conference hall of Hotel Saramati, Dimapur at 3pm on January 31, organized by office of State Level Coordinator, Oil Industry, Nagaland. Dignitaries from various fields have been invited to chair the closing function, the release said, while requesting the public to attend the function.

A quiz competition on ‘Oil Conservation” with giveaways for the winners

will be held during the function at the same venue.

Further, the release informed that an essay writing competition amongst school/college going students was organised on the subject of Oil Conservation during the fortnight. The following winners have been requested to attend the closing function to collect their prizes: First- Jeboli Sema, DPS, Dimapur; SecondReetu Devi, Pranabananda Women’s College, Dimapur; Third- Reeju Upadhay, Pranabananda Women’s College, Dimapur. c

Lions Club Kohima visits Mental Hospital Kohima, January 30 (nEpS): Members of Lions Club of Kohima led by its president, Lion Tali Jamir, visited inmates of the State Mental Hospital Institute, Kohima on January 26. The Club provided blankets, food packets and sweets to the inmates.

The visitation was part of the 66th Indian Republic Day celebration.

After a short service, LCK president along with other members - Lion Oken Jeet Sandham, Lion Rajeev Verma, Lion Francis and Lion Kaikho distributed the blankets to the inmates.

Appreciating the service rendered by the doctors, nurses and other staffs to the inmates, the president said the public might not know their services, but God would surely reward them for their love, care and concern shown to the inmates. He also assured that the Lions would continue to render their humanitarian services for the wellbeing of the inmates and also the doctors, nurses and staffs of the hospital. He further prayed for the speedy recovery of the inmates.

Dr Wapang, MS, State Mental Health Institute, also gave brief history of the hospital and patients treated there.

6

People, life, etc...

Saturday | 31 january, 2015

New Media iN 2015: In Conflict Areas It Plays An Active And Dynamic Role Kashoo Tawseef

P

Countercurrents.org

ower of the people is paramount to the development and peace of any nation but in a conflict situation, this people’s power is always in jeopardy. Social media has a given new hope to the people to retain this power as Mark McKinnon, states “technology and social media have brought power back to the people.”

Social media has allowed people to create, share and exchange information, ideas, and more importantly the pictures and videos wherever you are in the world over various networks platforms available in 2015. This new form of media has made world like global village in real sense and borders irrelevant. Moreover, “you don’t need VISA to tweet or comment for someone with different nationality,” Jahangir Khan, a media consultant, said.

In conflict areas, this new form of media has also played a major role in various ways and makeup.

Almost all main stream political parties have Facebook and Twitter accounts. The other actors other than main stream also have Facebook and Twitter accounts. “They also make their voices heard through this media as most of the time they are subjected to censorship and this medium

has provided them a media without any gateway,” Khan added.

I myself am not that proactive on social media, Ishtiyaq Sibtian Joo, a journalist working with Hindustan Times, said however I have noticed that the younger political brigade seems very proactive on it, and regularly keep on expressing their opinion there.

The various famous personalities like writers and political scientists of the state are very active on social media and engage in various debated that originate as result of their comments over this media.

Although most of the times, “they share the news items that they have done, but there are also times, when they express their one line satire on some political issue, either related to governance or to conflict issue,” Joo said.

Further Joo, said I have noticed from the conversation that I had with my cousin that a lot of politics gets discussed on it, said Joo. For example, she herself is part of some group on Facebook which was opened to help in providing justice to rape victims.

According to Peter Dean, Associate Dean, Creative Arts, Technologies and Science, University of Bedfordshire,

United Kingdom, social media opens up the possibility of immediate access to world-wide communications to conflict participants. This can provide a stream of instant, eyewitness, graphic accounts of what is happening in real-time from both sides of a conflict. Further, Dean added, this can bring the reality of the brutality and horror of violence to a world-wide audience in a way that did not happen through conventional war correspondents and old media forms such as TV, radio and newspapers.

The students and researchers are also using

social media actively and even do their research and write various research papers that involves analyzing the different aspects of the conflict, as analysis according to Waseem Yaseen, Business Analyst at Santandar, United Kingdom, is one of the key elements even in your life, it's a reflection of things on and around you. It is essential to analyse things to the smallest level, because solution of biggest problem sometimes lies in small solution.

Yaseen, said that word analysis means breaking up complex issues or problem into smaller part

for better understanding, if one has to understand the conflicts, it is essential to understand each issue on its merit in order to tackle such conflicts more efficiently.

“The conflict areas in the world have various tragedies to share from various massacres to killing at the borders to the humiliation at the hands of security agencies; social media is actively being used to communicate such tragedies with the outside world,” Khan added.

Even political parties in their elections use social media to reach out the

people and ask their opinion for different policy issues. Gulshan Rasool, a mass communications graduate of Pakistani origin, said the various publications around the world actively use social media both as a marketing tool as well as the medium to generate the debate about various news items they publish and at the same time receive the feedback from the people.

Amit, a student of Indian origin, living overseas, said the conflict place always has various stories to share and even diasporas use this medium to put their voices across

and get connected to their brethren at home. Asad Shah, living in Europe, said I have many friends from different regions who share their thoughts with me and they have diverse opinion about various subjects. “And now I know more about the ground reality than before,” Shah said.

Freedom of expression is the right of every individual that is enshrined in the constitutions of various nations in some shape or form, but it comes with risks, as Bob Dylan, puts it “a hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom”. Many Bloggers and many of those who use Facebook and Twitter have ended up in jails in many countries including India and Pakistan. Many such cases have been reported around the world.

Moreover, freedom is not absolute and there are always lines when it comes to limit and where to draw such lines remains an unanswered question. At the same time the stream of news that generates through social media needs check and balance.

“This stream of reports is unmediated by an editorial and fact checking process. So the social media picture of a conflict may not cover the whole story and individual items may not be factually accurate.

The mainstream media are adapting their cover-

age to combine both traditional wars reporting with a selection of social media to combine the best of both but this process is, of course, still subject to editorial bias, as ever,” Dean adds.

Further, Khan concludes this new medium can be used to communicate with the world and understand the sufferings of people in various conflict areas of the world and help in bridging the gaps.

He emphasises that let’s use this medium to give food for thought to political, economic and social scientists and policy makers of the world. Let’s not misuse this medium or our words as Margaret Heffernan, said Words are how people think. When you misuse words, you diminish your ability to think clearly and truthfully. “Let’s help to develop rational thinking that can lead to deliver justice to the victims of conflict around the world,” Khan said.

Kashoo Tawseef: Born in conflict area, Kashoo Tawseef is a student of Media Studies and political science. His articles and essays have appeared in the Greater Kashmir, Kashmir Times, Rising Kashmir, Etalaat and in other media journals. His paper about the resolution of a Conflicts and a way forward won a journalism and research award in the United Kingdom.

Opera star Deborah Voigt Snails slither into spa scene in Thailand writes of her turbulent life T Denis D. Gray

associated Press

Mike Silverman

S

associated Press

o p ra n o D eb o ra h Voigt keeps a picture of herself performing alongside tenor Placido Domingo at the Metropolitan Opera — both as a treasured memory of a great triumph and as a stark reminder of her emotional troubles. They were playing twins, Sieglinde and Siegmund, in Richard Wagner's "Die Walkuere," but Voigt seems nearly twice Domingo's size.

"I look back at the picture, and I'm enormous, I'm absolutely huge," she said, "and while I know and remember the joy of being in that moment, I see the illness there, too. And I was walking around with it. I wasn't at a point in my life where I was anywhere near ready to deal with it."

That point wouldn't come for more than a decade. But now, at age 54, Voigt has gained enough perspective to write about her battles with obesity and binge-eating, as well as other destructive behavior that included alcoholism and a series of troubled relationships with men.

Her autobiography, "Call Me Debbie: True Confessions of a Down-to-Earth Diva," published Tuesday

by HarperCollins, is a startlingly frank look at the life of one of her generation's most prominent operatic stars.

From the moment she burst on the scene at the beginning of the 1990s, Voigt thrilled audiences with a wall of golden sound that soared effortlessly over the orchestra in operas of Wagner and Richard Strauss.

She was in demand all over the world and performed more than 250 times with the Met, appearing every year from 1991 to 2014.

But many critics felt that from the time she underwent weight-reduction

surgery in 2004, her voice seemed to lose some of its luster, though Voigt cites other factors like the natural aging process. In recent years she has struggled with roles that once came easily and has increasingly turned to pursuits beyond the opera stage.

Voigt talked about her book in an interview with The Associated Press at the Met last week.

AP: You write about the Royal Opera House in London buying you out of your contract for Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos" because the production called for you to wear a "little black dress," and then how you used the money to pay for gastric bypass surgery. How much did you weigh at your heaviest and how much have you lost?

Voigt: I started gaining weight at the end of high school, when I was attached to the man who would become my husband, and I just got bigger and bigger and bigger. At my worst, I was up to 333 pounds. Right now I weigh more than most people would guess, 195. But I'm very dense (laughs), and of course I've

got a lot of metal in me now (from one hip and two knee replacements).

AP: After you lost weight, you describe losing yourself in a series of unhealthy sexual relationships. What prompted that?

Voigt: It was just another thing, another avoidance.

Yes, I'll go in, and I'll work my ass off onstage, and then when I'm gone I can't sit with myself. I still have to work at it. I don't know why. ... I had never experienced what it was like to be a woman who was attractive to men. And for the first time in my life I was getting looks, and thought, 'Wow, what's THAT like?'

AP: You make it clear that a lot of your insecurity and poor self-image stemmed from your parents' troubled relationship.

Have they read the book?

Voigt: They're reading it right now. Writing honestly about my childhood was a very difficult decision.

But how do you talk about where you came from if you don't talk about where you came from? I have a phenomenal relationship with my parents now. ... Now, that being said, I know that

some of it is going to hurt them. Some of it is going to shock them. I don't think they know about some of my behavior. So, I hope they're going to be OK, but there's nothing I can do.

Before I mailed it to them, I called each of them ... I told them, 'It's my story, everything's fantastic in the end, it's been a bumpy road, and I love you with all my heart.'

AP: In addition to your book, you're working on a one-woman show, radio show and hosting Met HD broadcasts. Does that leave time for performing opera?

Voigt: The thing I have to figure out is what I want to sing, and who will let me sing what I want to sing where I want to sing it. The only role I haven't done that I'm dying to do, and I don't think it's going to happen, is Elektra (in the Strauss opera). It's come up a couple of times and fallen through for reasons beyond my control.

AP: You had a disappointing experience in Washington in 2013 when you withdrew during rehearsals for Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde." What went wrong?

Voigt: I had a crummy orchestra rehearsal. It happens. (Washington National Opera artistic director) Francesca (Zambello) was there and asked me, 'Well, what's going on? I'm the head of this theater now and it has to be a success.' I was just out of rehab and raw, very vulnerable. Looking back I wish that when I had the conversation I had said, 'Wait a minute, we have 10 days, and I have never been an artist who performs well in rehearsal.' Will I sing Isolde again? She's not on the books at the moment, so I would be surprised. What I would love to happen is for someone to get sick somewhere and I could just go in and save the day and have some fun with it — you know, without pressure.

he last time I encountered escargots they were served up by a French waiter, sizzling in garlic and herb butter.

Now, one is slithering up the bridge of my nose while five others are being stuck onto other parts of my face by a Thai beautician, all secreting snail slime to hopefully smooth out some wrinkles and otherwise give me a youngerthan-my-age look.

That this latest addition to the global beauty and wellness craze — snail facials — should surface in the hills of northern Thailand is only natural. This Southeast Asian country ranks among the world's top spa destinations, with massage treatments of every description offered around just about every corner. Other members of the animal kingdom are also enlisted, including fish at some 4,000 pedicure spas.

Merely another marketing ploy or an effective way to plump up skin in need of repair or rejuvenation? Expert opinions differ.

The two young Thai women reclining next to me at Chiang Mai's Snail Spa sang the praises of helix aspera muller glycoconjugates, snail mucus for short.

And when I returned home, my wife described my face as "different," but declined to go into detail.

Appropriately, given the French passion for these gastropods, the spa was started last year by two Frenchmen who had imported 100 of them from home.

The colony now boasts more than 30,000, munching on chemically free carrots, cabbage and aloe on a certified organic farm.

"We take care of the snails as if they were our family, our babies.

You can see they look very good," says Luc Champeyroux, one of the partners, gently applying one to his forearm. He does confess to eating escargots ("but not mine"), plans to breed some for the table and is currently experimenting to produce "the perfect snail caviar."

A chosen few get plucked from the farm for duty at the spa, where I opted for the 45-minute Snail Spa Celebrity Course.

For $30, it's a bargain compared to the $200 customers must shell out at Tokyo's Ci:z.Labo, a beauty salon where snail massage made

its debut in 2013. Spas have also opened in China and London, and the French duo are expanding to Bangkok next month.

Given its novelty, Chiang Mai public health inspectors last month descended on the spa to determine whether the treatment was safe and if imported snails — officially classified as "alien creatures" — might prove harmful to local species. Results of the investigation have not yet been released.

While the facials are new, concoctions made from snail mucus are said to date back to ancient Greece, when the great physician Hippocrates reportedly crushed snails and sour milk as a cure for skin inflammations. In recent times, the French have turned this essence of escargot into assorted creams and lotions.

The fluid, exuded by snails when under stress, is known to contain beneficial nutrients and antioxidants, but Bangkok-based Dr. Dissapong Panithaporn and other dermatologists say that there has been no significant scientific research on how these actually work when applied to the skin.

Champeyroux, a manager in France's nuclear power sector before falling in love with Chiang Mai some years ago, says his all-natural line of snail products, Coquille, acts against burns, acne, stretch marks, scars and aging. The two women next to me concurred.

Taksaphan na Pohn, a 22-yearold recent university graduate, said she had earlier tried laser and other techno-treatments but after some research decided that "natural therapy" was better. She said

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.

snails helped clear her acne when she was stressed during her studies.

"My face is firmer and softer," she said. "But you don't get immediate results. It shows gradually."

Like for many, the prospect of having my face crawling with slimy hermaphrodites (snails are unisex) did not immediately appeal.

Although from my own research I decided it might be preferable to another natural therapy — "uguisu no fun," or nightingale feces facial, which has been around in Japan for centuries.

So after being slathered with one of Champeyroux's creams, the beautician plopped down the first of half a dozen mollusks on my face. A balmy coolness I sensed as they proceeded to slide over my cheeks, furrow through my eyebrows and tickle my lips, taking particular liking to my nose since snails are fond of climbing.

Opening my eyes, I got a macro lens view of one critter perched on my nose tip. Its twin, antennae-like feelers were weaving about, possibly seeking an escape route with its tiny eyes. The snail's 14,000 microscopic teeth produced a slight, not unpleasant, scratching when it slid toward my nostrils.

So if truth be told, I sort of missed my harmless, sensuous sextet when they were dislodged, clinging to my skin with a gentle suction.

Maybe I won't eat another escargot again.

Denis Gray, who has reported on Southeast Asia for the AP for more than 40 years, recently experienced a snail massage to report on the beauty trend.

Morung Youth Express

Saturday

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

31 January, 2015

7

Forget Talent, Teach Kids Grit For Success Devishobha Ramanan The Huffington Post

I

was recently talking to a long-lost friend who had moved to a new home a couple of years ago. I remembered that before she moved, she was particularly worried about her son, who was transitioning into his teenage years and had some difficulty coping with his educational commitments. Now, to my pleasant surprise, she was exuberant about his new course and beamed that he was indeed doing exceptionally well, even bagging a few awards now and then. She also added regretfully that all her "worry" seemed silly and unnecessary in retrospect.

This got me thinking. How successful are we in identifying a child's natural talents? Even when we have successfully done so, we need to do a certain amount of handholding. When is the right time to let go of those hands and let them find their own strengths?

How do we ensure we are not pushing the wrong buttons while thinking we are motivating them? Where do we draw the line to know the difference between external motivation and internal inspiration?

What causes kids to falter midway and what can help them face their challenges?

Angela Lee Duckworth, a psychologist from The University of Pennsylvania, argues in her TED Talk that the most successful predictor of success in kids is not talent or IQ, but a psychological trait called grit. The same trait is the predictor of success for adults as well.

So, how do we build this trait called grit in kids? Can it even be developed?

Or are some people simply born with it?

Dr. Carol Dweck from Stanford University, in her path-breaking research on learning Mindset and personalities, has classified learning mindsets into

two broad streams. One is the "fixed mindset" and the other the "growth mindset".

Suppose your child sings to you.

You hear her and say, "Wow! You have a natural ability for singing! You have great talent!"

You have used the fixed-mindset approach here.

Now, suppose your child sings to you. You say, "Wow! You sang so well!

How long did you practice to get this far?"

You have used the growth-mindset approach here.

Both were positive responses.

However, the difference is HUGE. When you say, "You are a natural," you imply certain things are out-ofbounds for her only because she is not good at it the first few times. Or that she has chances of doing well in something only because she showed some natural ability. Many adults

still believe that they simply can't do certain things because they weren't good enough at it a long, long time ago. Nothing can be further from the truth.

The fixed mindset focuses on natural abilities. You can either do a thing naturally or you cannot do it at all.

That's it. You are born with it. Or not.

The growth mindset, on the other hand, is based on the belief that anybody can learn anything, provided they work on it long enough. The growth mindset focuses on the effort spent doing something along with the outcome.

In the growth mindset, you reinforce that failure is the fuel to learn-

ing. You emphasise to children that their effort was more important than the result. The process of learning is more valued, hence the child will not hesitate to keep pushing boundaries to step into unfamiliar territory. For the same reason, she will not hesitate to show her not-so-perfect side to you.

This is because she is secure in the fact that her mistakes today will not determine her results tomorrow. She can stop worrying about suddenly not being good enough. It takes the focus off "perfect results" in a learning process and puts the spotlight on "getting better every time".

Are we saying children are not naturally talented in some ways? Are there no natural inclinations one is born with? Of course not. Almost all children show affinity to some specific art or science form(s).

The prodigies that emerge from time to time are no myth. However, what we fail to understand is that even these prodigies undergo a tremendous learning process before they can be called masters in their fields.

Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers, explains the 10,000-hour rule. All great masters, leaders, entrepreneurs and even mavericks have gone through a minimum of 10,000 hours of practice to excel in what they do. The important thing is their practice hours are filled with new feedback every time. They look for feedback from fellow artists, writers, history, ancient art forms, nature, their students, the people around them. When they receive feedback, they integrate it seamlessly into their learning curve. And then give a spectacular performance.

And the cycle repeats. Every time.

But, here's the thing: many notso-naturals have ultimately become brilliance personified in their fields, often surpassing the naturals. When they reach such levels, their efforts are

shadowed and they are perceived to be naturals. Derek Sivers, Sir Ken Robinson, Alan Watts, Manu Prakash and many more are all examples of brilliance through sheer effort.

Here's a very simple, but important list of things to help your child grow up believing in themselves: 1. Identify the good. Every child has some favourite interests. Help your child pick up those areas and work on an improved version every time.

2. Identify the not-so-good. Every child also has those tough spots. Your child might show a tendency to avoid these naturally. However, gently insist on working on the difficult tasks or concepts. He/she will make mistakes and have a hard time grasping some concepts. When she makes repeated mistakes, don't express exasperation.

Instead, casually mark those as areas that you need to revisit. Encourage your child to mark such areas herself and set a time for grappling again with those concepts. When she gets better, make sure you mention her efforts are paying off.

3. Stop saying "great job". When your child shows you her art work, don't say "great job" blindly and stop at that. Children are far more perceptive than we think and they will easily see through a hollow compliment. Look up from your phone, pause the movie, set the stove to simmer and take a genuine look at her work. Enquire about the thought behind it. If he/she says she made a boat and all you can see is a rectangular lump, tell her what she needs to do to make it more of a boat. If she really has done a great job, take the effort to tell her what exactly you like.

She will appreciate the feedback.

In the long run, "grit" is simply a combination of two primary traits positive self-worth and optimism/ hopefulness. These two are important to maintain the mental strength needed to overcome difficult circumstances and to work toward the future. Paying attention to a few things can help raise a generation of "gritty" individuals.

The Surprising Secret of India’s Success Could Be its Brain Drain Eric Bellman | India Real Time

F

or decades, developing country governments have struggled with what is called the “brain drain.” They spend precious funds backing their best and brightest, only to see them take their talents to a rich country the minute they have a job offer.

A new study published this week suggests the dreaded brain drain can actually be a good thing as it helps upgrade a country’s talent-pool and global connections.

“Policy makers in emerging economies often believe that allowing citizens to study and work in developed markets results in brain drain and is thus to be discouraged,” said the paper which was co-authored by professors from Cambridge University’s Judge Business School, Warwick Business School and the London Business School.

“Our findings, however, suggest that there can be benefits to allowing, and even encouraging,

citizens from emerging economies to study and work in developed markets.”

The paper titled “Indirect Learning: How Emerging Market Firms Grow in Developed Markets,” uses India to illustrate how local companies benefit from the global free flow of students and employees.

In less than two decades, an elite group of Indian companies have evolved from being almost unknown outside of the subcontinent to worldbeating brands with billions of dollars in sales and thousands of employees in the United States, the United Kingdom and other developed markets.

Almost all of India’s international success stories can attribute part of their success to the skills and connections their leaders gained through working and studying abroad.

“The term brain drain is misleading because really we are in an era of brain circulation,” Jaideep Prabhu, a professor at Cam-

bridge Judge Business School told The Wall Street Journal.

The study looked at 116 Indian companies, whether their executives had international experience and how they performed during the 10 years through 2008. The authors measured how the companies performed in developed markets and by crunching the numbers they were able to show that companies with leaders who had studied and worked abroad had a competitive advantage. This international edge helped them expand rapidly in developed markets, despite a lack of experience peddling their products and services in the West.

The data suggests that pharmaceutical company Ranbaxy Laboratories, software and outsourcing company Infosys, refining company Reliance Industries, the Mahindra Group and India’s largest conglomerate the Tata group, all benefited from having ex-

ecutives who had spent time studying or working overseas.

These companies were able to survive increased competition in their home market and then thrive even in the most-competitive developed markets because their chiefs had taken a crash course in global capitalism by honing their skills in the United States and elsewhere, the study said.

While the recent paper did not try to measure the impact of the global non-resident Indian network, Dr. Prabhu thinks Indian companies have also been helped by the Indians that never came home.

The army of brilliant computer programmers, engineers, doctors, managers and professors that populate the most-dynamic organizations in the U.S. are testament to the capabilities within India. Indian Americans are the highestpaid, best educated migrant group in the United States.

“The intellectual diaspora

has played a very big role,” in India’s success, said Dr. Prabhu.

“It would not have happened without these ambassadors.”

He even goes as far as to suggest that the brain drain is one of the main reasons the U.S. is now trying to get closer to India. President Barack Obama this week became the first U.S. president to have visited India twice during his time in office.

“The visit of Obama is sort of a culmination of this process,” said Dr. Prabhu. “If we didn’t have all these high-caliber Indians going there [the U.S.] for all these years it [the visit] wouldn’t have happened.”

The two other authors of the paper, which was published in the January issue of “Journal of Marketing,” were Sourindra Banerjee, assistant professor of marketing at the Warwick Business School, University of Warwick and Rajesh K. Chandy, professor of marketing at London Business School.

Can Students Have Too Much Tech?

Susan Pinker | New York Times

P

resident Obama’s domestic agenda, which he announced in his State of the Union address this month, has a lot to like: health care, maternity leave, affordable college. But there was one thing he got wrong. As part of his promise to educate American children for an increasingly competitive world, he vowed to “protect a free and open Internet” and “extend its reach to every classroom and every community.”

More technology in the classroom has long been a policy-making panacea. But mounting evidence shows that showering students, especially those from struggling families, with networked devices will not shrink the class divide in education. If anything, it will widen it.

In the early 2000s, the Duke University economists Jacob Vigdor and Helen Ladd tracked the academic progress of nearly one million disadvantaged middle-school students against the dates they were given networked computers. The researchers assessed the students’ math and reading skills annually for five years, and recorded how they spent their time. The news was not good.

“Students who gain access to a home computer between the 5th and 8th grades tend to witness a persistent decline in reading and math scores,” the

economists wrote, adding that license to surf the Internet was also linked to lower grades in younger children.

In fact, the students’ academic scores dropped and remained depressed for as long as the researchers kept tabs on them. What’s worse, the weaker students (boys, African-Americans) were more adversely affected than the rest. When their computers arrived, their reading scores fell off a cliff.

We don’t know why this is, but we can speculate. With no adults to supervise them, many kids used their networked devices not for schoolwork, but to play games, troll social media and download entertainment. (And why not? Given their druthers, most adults would do the same.)

The problem is the differential impact on children from poor families.

Babies born to low-income parents spend at least 40 percent of their waking hours in front of a screen — more than twice the time spent by middleclass babies. They also get far less cuddling and bantering over family meals than do more privileged children. The give-and-take of these interactions is what predicts robust vocabularies and school success. Apps and videos don’t.

If children who spend more time with electronic devices are also more likely to be out of sync with their peers’ behavior and learning by the fourth grade, why would adding more view-

ing and clicking to their school days be considered a good idea?

An unquestioned belief in the power of gadgetry has already led to educational snafus. Beginning in 2006, the nonprofit One Laptop Per Child project envisioned a digital utopia in which all students over 6 years old, worldwide, would own their own laptops. Impoverished children would thus have the power to go online and educate themselves — no school or teacher required.

With laptops for poor children initially priced at $400, donations poured in.

But the program didn’t live up to the ballyhoo. For one thing, the machines were buggy and often broke down. And when they did work, the impoverished students who received free laptops spent more time on games and chat rooms and less time on their homework than before, according to the education researchers Mark Warschauer and Morgan Ames. It’s drive-by education — adults distribute the laptops and then walk away.

It’s true that there is often an initial uptick in students’ engagement with their studies — interactive apps can be fun. But the novelty wears off after a few months, said Larry Cuban, an emeritus education professor at Stanford.

Technology does have a role in education. But as Randy Yerrick, a professor of education at the University at Buffalo, told me, it is worth the invest-

ment only when it’s perfectly suited to the task, in science simulations, for example, or to teach students with learning disabilities.

And, of course, technology can work only when it is deployed as a tool by a terrific, highly trained teacher.

As extensive research shows, just one year with a gifted teacher in middle school makes it far less likely that a student will get pregnant in high school, and much more likely that she will go to college, earn a decent salary, live in a good neighborhood and save for retirement. To the extent that such a teacher can benefit from classroom technology, he or she should get it. But only when such teachers are effectively trained to apply a specific application to teaching a particular topic to a particular set of students — only then does classroom technology really work.

Even then, we still have no proof that the newly acquired, tech-centric skills that students learn in the classroom transfer to novel problems that they need to solve in other areas. While we’re waiting to find out, the public money spent on wiring up classrooms should be matched by training and mentorship programs for teachers, so that a free and open Internet, reached through constantly evolving, beautifully packaged and compelling electronic tools, helps — not hampers — the progress of children who need help the most.

The Naga Blog is a forum on facebook where Nagas from Nagaland and around the world network, share ideas and discuss a wide range of topics from politics and philosophy to music and current events in Nagaland and beyond. The blog is not owned by any individual, nor is it affiliated to or associated with any political party or religion. The only movement it hopes to stir is the one raised by the voices of the Nagas every step of the way, amassing perhaps to mass consciousness one day. www.facebook.com/groups/thenagablog

What is wrong with our Governor?

Atsung Imchen: Either he has forgotten that he is in a place where what he thinks and believes and the environment he was accustomed with is not the same in Nagaland.

I thought his Gimmick was just limited to his speech in “Hindi” during the Indian Republic Day Celebration in a State where the official language is English. Thought he was just being over ignorant and over Patriotic to his country forgetting he was addressing the people whose past and present is engulfed with Political conflict with India.

He is not an uneducated person who cannot speak in English, he is well versed and well acquainted with it, but to choose to speak in a language that is remotely not even near to what we are acquainted with (unless its NAP hindi) is just ignorance and blissful stupidity. Maybe next time he should be given a History lesson before addressing any event.

That was not the end of his republic day dare, the Governors Pamphlet (attached) is even more arrogant and to define the level of arrogance we have to submit a letter to the compilers of Oxford dictionary requesting them to come up with a new word to define the new level of arrogance because he just crossed the normal level of arrogance. A State considered as a Christian majority State, he was so bold that he had to share a pamphlet depicting one of their many God’s. I salute you Governor, you’re the First and hopefully will be the Last.

For him to understand the Stupid dare he bestowed upon us, we should send a prayer group to the Governors house and try to convert him maybe then he will realize. There are things one needs to consider before jumping into something and seem like that is not one of his qualities. I guess he bite more than what he can chew.

Maybe the Next Governor can take his dare as an example to leave his/her emotional and religious sentiment out of Nagaland the moment they step foot into Nagaland.

Peter Rutsa: If he does anything similar again.. Our apex NGO's like NH, NMA, NSF, NTC, ENPO, ENSF etc and NPG's should unite and give a social boycott call against the Governor of nagaland.

Kiyexu Axu Da Rochill: Why not gift our Gov a nicely wrapped BIBLE , a CRUCIFIX and some kind of HOLY-WATER , with prayer during upcoming GOOD FRIDAY or EASTER SUNDAY ...

Se-o Maito Hoshi: Big fanatics out there. Can't they think beyond than just clutching to religious lines. There are many things about the govt and their right wing extremist which make me doubt of their integrity, ability etc. Still I am waiting to see after US prez visit if secularism will become respected.

Longri Kichu: That calendar with a Hindu god is not just wrong in Nagaland but anywhere in India. This is what the sanghs use in their hindutva agenda. Present him a calendar from our side too- with a cross from Kashmir down south.

Lemwang W. Chuhwanglim: Are young people who come across this news are half dead who only would write and share too many things in Facebook? Boycott. You need not wait for any NGOs. Why not this things happen when I am in Nagaland! Stop blaming him or Hindus in Facebook, start the move.

Atsung Imchen: Lemwang, if I am not wrong its printed in all our local papers, if our NBCC and other NGO's are not blind I am hoping something will become of it. If not as expected from them, individual Boycott it is.

Lemwang W. Chuhwanglim: I would expect an individual starts burning it in against the print and publish it in news paper. That will intrigue the entire Nagas who have common sense to support the move. If you can start without waiting for NBCC and NGOs. Else, i only see NBCC and NGOs doing a white wash initiative writing in news paper and nothing more than that.

Peter Rutsa: Its like the Angami community at Kohima inviting all the Naga and other communities living in the capital to a Sekrenyi feast and welcoming them in Tenyidia.

We Nagas consider conversing even in our own dialects in the presence of other tribes as being rude, let along addressing them with it!

We the Nagas are unpolished and savages, but the educated Governor from the great hindu civilization is behaving like a insolent rascal!

I should have tried to talk to him in Nagamese or Tenyidia when I last encoutered him at Kohima night carnival.

"Kepethau, no ker tsula npezie ho.

Balie chie. Bishi khushi pai shete Excellency ji, Zutho khabo?"

Wonder how welcoming he would have felt then!

Krocha Nk: For bloggers expecting physical protest or action, every issue raised be it on social media, protest rally, burning of effigies, candle vigil etc. are equal means of protest. For those inside VIP enclosure who doesn't care what is going on in the outside world, online protest will reached their bedroom doors. That's the power of social media. We as a community can show our dissent by raising our voice on social media platforms.

Not sure if our governor has his Facebook or twitter account. If he has, we can bombard his account with all our grievances.

Al Ngullie: Those of you – who threw their hats in the air when Modi took the polls, and when Mr. Rio went to Delhi– may now continue with your celebrations. As with numerous other things that have been happening the past 7 months, you still do not see the slow, but gradual underpinnings. Now then, none of us in Nagaland should complain.

There is a reason why secular organizations are formed separate and distinct in identity and focus just the way fundamentalist organizations are formed on distinct fundamentalist goals.

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

8

Dimapur

NATIONAL

Saturday 31 January 2015

The Morung Express

Jayanthi Natarajan quits Cong, attacks Rahul

Chennai/new Delhi, January 30 (ianS): Senior Congress leader Jayanthi Natarajan, a onetime party spokesperson who was considered quite close to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, Friday quit the party, sending shock waves through its political establishment. She accused the party leadership, particularly party vice president Rahul Gandhi, of letting her down, especially during her term as environment minister in the previous UPA government.

“I announce my resignation (from the party),” Natarajan said at a packed media conference in Chennai. Congress leaders were quick to defend Rahul Gandhi and party chief Sonia Gandhi and said they did not interfere in the working of ministers.

Natarajan has joined people like G.K.Vasan and B.S. Gnanadesikan of the Tamil Nadu Congress to quit the party after saying they felt slighted by the party’s national leadership.

She said: “I feel that the time has come now for me to rethink my association because what happened in the recent past. The Congress is no longer the Congress that I joined.” She has been in the party for the last three decades and has been a four-time member of the Rajya Sabha.

Natarajan quit after writing a letter to Congress party president Sonia Gandhi. Her letter took the party including the Tamil Nadu unit by surprise but

Jayanthi’s allegations ‘inspired’ by BJP: Congress new Delhi, January 30 (ianS): The Congress Friday refuted former union minister Jayanthi Natarajan’s charge against its vicepresident Rahul Gandhi that he “interfered” in her work and said her allegations seemed “inspired”.

Addressing a press conference here, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said Natarajan’s “special remarks” against Rahul Gandhi appear to be “inspired” by the BJP. Singhvi said there was no logic in Natarajan’s charges. He said if she says that she acted according to directives either from the Congress or Gandhi, then why and what is she complaining about?

it sought to put a brave face. “The party will not be weakened by her absence,” said Tamil Nadu Congress’s chief E.V.K.S. Elangovan.

Natarajan, who was asked to put in her papers Dec 20, 2013, by then prime minister Manmohan Singh, said: “(I) received several requests and representations from Rahul Gandhi’s office to ensure that the environment is protected.”

“And according to

these instructions...I did my duty. I had these projects investigated and some of them I stopped,” she said and added that she got “specific inputs” from Rahul Gandhi’s office. Natarajan said she has sufficient proof of Rahul Gandhi’s specific requests on environmental clearance related to projects. “Let Rahul Gandhi refute it.”

It was however not clear why she waited so long to air her frustration

and grievances, since she had stepped down from the government in December 2013 and it has been a good eight months since the general elections led to the fall of the Congress-led UPA government.

Congress leader and former union minister Veerappa Moily, however, said Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi never interfered. “...I have not come across any instance where

the Congress president or vice-president interfered with administration,” Moily told reporters in Bangalore.

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh too said in Delhi: “...it is totally wrong that either Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi ever interfered in the functioning of UPA government. Ministers were free to take decisions.”

Grand-daughter of former Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Bhaktavatsalam, Natarajan hails from a family of Congress veterans who were associated with the Indian National Congress since its inception in 1885.

Her great-grandfather was a member of India’s Constituent Assembly.

A Chennai-based lawyer, Natarajan entered politics as a Youth Congress worker in the 1980s. She was later noticed by the then Congress president

“You as a Congress minister have to fulfil the party manifesto and to work towards achieving what has been mentioned in it. Where is the contradiction,” he said. There was always a “party line”, so what is she complaining for, Singhvi said.

Singhvi also accused Natarajan of running an “image bachao andolan” (image saving movement) and that her actions were inspired by the BJP, who according to him were on “slippery ground” in the run-up to the assembly election in Delhi.

“It is unfortunate that a person, who spent four terms in parliament and held key positions without con-

Rajiv Gandhi. She went to the Rajya Sabha for the first time in 1986.

In a career that spans over 30 years, she has thrice been re-elected to the upper house of the parliament in 1992, 1997 and 2008.

Natarajan, who was frequently seen on television, was dropped as a Congress spokesperson in January 2014.

Natarajan said on becoming the environment minister, party president Sonia Gandhi had told her to maintain the Congress tradition of protecting the environment as was done by former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. She was considered close to Rajiv Gandhi and was one of those who was present at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu when Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated May 21, 1991.

testing elections made allegations that are opportunistic in nature apart from being untrue,” he said.

On being asked why Natarajan was sacked as union environment minister three months before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Singhvi said there were “political reasons” and “her departure was considered and discussed by the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the then prime minister Manmohan Singh”.

Earlier in the day, Natarajan resigned from the Congress, saying she “was being sidelined in the party” and it was no longer the organisation that she had joined long ago.

Despite withstanding the “anger and wrath of all the colleagues who protested that economic progress was being blocked”, Natarajan said she was told to resign from the cabinet.

A visibly miffed Natarajan said: “After the Congress, I intend to think about my life and future.”

“I have absolutely no plan to join any party,” she said and added that no BJP leader has met her in this connection.

She welcomed a government probe into environmental clearances given by her and demanded that the probe should be transparent.

“I have to set the record straight to uphold the legacy of my family and my reputation. It has been a bitter experience for me for the past one-and-half years.

My own party treated me

badly,” she said.

“Why for a year everyone ruined my reputation and tarnished the legacy of my family,” she asked. “I only followed the rules. Did not break the rules.”

Charging the Congress of letting her down by allowing her name and her family’s name to be tarnished, Natarajan refuted that she had let down the party by not contesting in the recent Lok Sabha polls.

“I was not in a condition to contest the Lok Sabha polls when my name, reputation and my family’s legacy was being tarred,” Natarajan said.

Many senior Congress leaders from Tamil Nadu, including former finance minister P. Chidambaram, did not contest in the Lok Sabha polls. The Congress party drew a blank in all the 39 seats in the state.

Delhi Uber rape victim files lawsuit in US court waShingTon, January 30 (ianS): A Delhi woman allegedly raped by an Uber driver last December has filed a lawsuit in a US court accusing the web-based US taxi firm of focusing on profits over the safety of its passengers.

In a 36-page complaint filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California Thursday, the woman seeks to “slam the brakes on Uber’s reckless worldwide expansion at the unfortunate expense of basic customer safety.”

The lawsuit which identifies the victim only as Jane Doe, also seeks compensation “for the horrific and brutal rape that she suffered due to Uber’s inadequate and disingenuous ‘commitment to safety’.”

Demanding a trial by jury, the lawsuit seeks a “a permanent injunction directing that Uber take all affirmative steps necessary to remedy the effects of the unlawful conduct” alleged in the complaint, “and to prevent repeated occurrences in the future.”

It also seeks an award of unspecified amount of punitive damages to

be determined at trial, plus prejudgment interest, to compensate the victim “for all physical, monetary and/or economic harm.”

Her New York based Douglas H. Wigdor, in a statement said: “Uber’s focus on its bottom line over the safety of its passengers has resulted in what can only be described as modern day electronic hitchhiking.”

“We intend to hold Uber responsible for the significant physical and emotional harm it has caused to our client, while simultaneously seeking a court order mandating that Uber initiate certain safety precautions that they appear unwilling to do voluntarily,” he said.

“We hope that this lawsuit will bring about positive change that will ultimately protect people worldwide who are unaware of the serious risks of entering into an Uber car,” Wigdor added.

Jeanne M. Christensen, another Wigdor LLP lawyer said: “San Francisco Uber executives’ decisions to cut costs at the expense of customer safety forced our client to pay the ulti-

mate cost in New Delhi.”

“Her brutal rape by an Uber driver who was a known repeat sexual predator was a result of a global Uber policy that has far-reaching consequences,” she said.

“We intend to hold Uber accountable for violence that could easily have been avoided had even a minimal background check been conducted.”

An Uber spokesperson said: “Our deepest sympathies remain with the victim of this horrific crime. We are cooperating fully with the authorities to ensure the perpetrator is brought to justice.”

The accused driver Shiv Kumar Yadav is currently on trial on rape and kidnapping charges in Delhi.

Delhi banned Uber and several other web-based taxi firms for failing to carry out adequate driver checks in early December.

But last week Uber announced resumption of its services in Delhi sayinmg it had applied for a radio taxi license and would improve safety by Congress party President Sonia Gandhi offers floral tributes at Rajghat, a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi, on his death introducing features such as an “in- anniversary in New Delhi on Friday, January 30. The day when Gandhi was shot and killed in 1948 by Nathuram Godse, app emergency button”. a Hindu extremist, is marked as Martyr’s Day in the country. (AP Photo)

27 BJP, 21 AAP, 12 Congress candidates ‘Socialism, secularism hold country together’ in Delhi elections have criminal cases new Delhi, January 30 (PTi): 114 candidates contesting in Delhi Assembly polls have criminal cases against them, election watchdog ADR said on Friday and noted that 19 out of 70 were ‘red alert’ constituencies which had at least three tainted candidates each.

The Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) in its report, which is an analysis of affidavits of 673 candidates contesting the February 7 polls, pointed out that the BJP has

fielded the highest number of 27 candidates with criminal cases followed by AAP and Congress with 21 and 12 such candidates respectively.

It also observed that Tughlakabad constituency has five candidates who have criminal cases against them. “114 out of 673 candidates (17%) have declared criminal cases against themselves. During the 2013 and 2008 Delhi Assembly elections, the percentage of candidates with criminal cases was 16 and 14 re-

spectively,” Jagdeep Chhokar, founder member of ADR, said.

Out of the 114 candidates, 74 of them have declared serious criminal cases against them including murder, attempt to murder, assault, loss to exchequer and crimes against women. “Out of the 673 candidates, one candidate has a murder case against him and five candidates have declared cases of attempt to murder. 8 candidates have cases related to crimes against women. Howev-

‘11 Christians convert to Hinduism in TN’ Chennai, January 30 (ianS): Eleven Christians - five men and six women converted to Hinduism during a programme organised by the Hindu Makkal Katchi (HMK) here Friday, said its leader.

“Despite the attempts by the city police to thwart the voluntary conversion to Hinduism, 11 Christians came back to their mother religion,” HMK president Arjun Sampath told IANS. He claimed as many as 162 people had come here to participate in the conversion programme though they had announced conversion of 108 people.

“However police stopped their vehicles and turned them away. Despite the police attempts to stop them, some people had reached the venue and embraced Hinduism,” claimed Sampath.

He accused the Tamil Nadu government of preventing voluntary conversions to Hinduism and added that he would seek legal recourse.

“I have been kept under house arrest in Anna Nagar here since morning. Large numbers of police have been deployed outside the house where I am staying,” Sampath said.

He said they first wanted to have the programme in

the famed Triplicane Sri Parthasarathy temple but were denied permission. “The temple authorities refused permission in writing. The temple is administered by the government. When churches and mosques permit conversion, why not governmentmanaged temples,” Sampath said.

“Does the government think of Hindu temples as revenue generating organisations and nothing more,” he asked.

With the permission denied by the Triplicane temple, HMK decided to have the conversion programme at a private temple in West Mambalam here.

er, no candidate has a rape case against him,” he said.

Higher on the ‘red alert’ constituency list are Rajouri Garden and Tilak Nagar with 4 candidates in poll fray having criminal cases against them.

The ‘red alert’ constituencies includes Najafgarh, Babarpur, Ghonda, Nangloi, Dwarka, Adarsh Nagar, Matia Mahal, Shahdara, Chhatarpur, Shalimar bagh, New Delhi, Mundka, Matiala, Okhla, Hari Nagar and RK Puram.

ChanDigarh, January 30 (ianS): Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal Friday said that the twin principles of socialism and secularism formed the underlying spirit of the Indian Constitution and any deviation from these two basic tenets would be against the interest of the country.

“India being a land of diversities is endowed with people hailing from various religions, castes, creeds and linguistic backgrounds. Our forefathers had laid special

thrust on the concepts of socialism and secularism in our Constitution,” Badal said, talking to reporters after an event in Kapurthala district, around 160 km from here.

Badal was reacting to a recent controversy over these words being omitted from advertisements issued by the central government on the occasion of the Republic Day. Badal said the ideals of socialism and secularism were an integral part of our polity.

“So, there is hardly any

need for even debating on this issue,” Badal said.

Citing the example of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Badal said that even great monarchs like him had made the principle of secularism an essential part of their governance.

“No country can survive without these doctrines as they firmly hold its social fabric together,” he added.

The Shiromani Akali Dal, of which Badal is the patron, is part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre.

‘Police find hundreds of child slaves making bangles’ new Delhi, January 30 (ThomSon reuTerS FounDaTion): Hundreds of children trafficked and enslaved to make bangles have been rescued by police in a series of early morning raids in Hyderabad, NDTV news channel reported on Friday.

Police found 87 children mostly boys and some as young as 6 years old - crammed into a bangle-making workshop in the old city area in the latest raid on Thursday. Five days earlier, police discovered 220 children when they stormed similar workshops in another part of the city, arresting more

than 20 suspects.

Television images showed the children packed into a room where they worked and slept. The children, who sat at tables and continued decorating the lacquered bangles even after police and journalists entered the place, said they worked from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

“We work from morning to night. They don’t let us play.

I want to go home and told the employer, but he said he wouldn’t let me go home,” said Joginder, one of the rescued children. Police said the children were mainly from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, and that

traffickers had given their impoverished parents 5,000 rupees ($80) as payment for the children.

The rescued children will be sent to a shelter until their families can be retraced, said police. But activists say better rehabilitation is required as rescued children are often retrafficked because their families are impoverished.

Thousands of children, mostly from poor rural areas, are taken to the country’s cities every year by trafficking gangs who sell them into bonded labour or hire them out to unscrupulous employers, prom-

ising to send their parents their wages.

Most end up as domestic workers or labourers in brick kilns, roadside restaurants or small textile and embroidery workshops. In many cases, the children are forced to work long hours under hazardous conditions. Often they are not paid and go missing, and their families are unable to track them down.

There are no official figures on the number of child workers in India. The 2014 Global Slavery Index says the country is home to more than 14 million victims of human trafficking.

InternatIonal

the Morung express

Saturday 31 January 2015

Dimapur

9

Islamic State silent as deadline passes with no swap

ToKyo, January 30 (aP): The fates of a Japanese journalist and Jordanian military pilot were unknown Friday, a day after the latest purported deadline for a possible prisoner swap passed with no further word from the Islamic State group holding them captive. “Government institutions are working around the clock on the case of pilot Muath al-Kaseasbeh,” Jordanian military spokesman Mamdouh alAmeri said in a statement.

“We will inform you of any developments in due time.”

He urged Jordanians not to listen to rumors.

Japanese officials had no progress to report after a late night that ended with the Jordanian government saying it would only release an al-Qaida prisoner from death row if it got proof the airman was alive.

“There is nothing I can tell you,” government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters. He reiterated Japan’s “strong trust” in the Jordanians to help save the Japanese hostage, freelance journalist Kenji Goto.

Suga said the government had been in close contact with Goto’s wife, Rinko Jogo, who released a statement overnight pleading for her husband’s life.

“I fear that this is the last

chance for my husband, and we now have only a few hours left,” Jogo said in a statement released through the Rory Peck Trust, a London-based organization for freelance journalists.

An audio message purportedly posted online by jihadis said the pilot, Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, would be killed if Sajida al-Rishawi, the al-Qaida prisoner, was not delivered to the Turkish border by sunset on Thursday, Iraq time. It was not clear from the recording what would happen to Goto if the Iraqi woman was not returned by the deadline.

The authenticity of the recording could not be verified independently by the AP. But the possibility of a swap was raised Wednesday when Jordan said it was willing to trade al-Rishawi for the pilot.

After sundown in the Middle East, with no news on the fate of either the pilot or Goto, their families’ agonizing wait dragged on.

Goto’s wife said she had avoided public comment earlier to try to protect her daughters, an infant and a 2-year-old, from media attention. Late Thursday, Goto’s wife revealed that she had exchanged several emails with her husband’s

Protesters hold images of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, who was taken hostage by the Islamic State group, during a rally in front of the prime minister’s official residence in Tokyo, Friday, January 30. Goto’s fate was still unknown Friday, a day after the latest purported deadline for a possible prisoner swap passed with no further word from the Islamic State group. (AP Photo)

captors, and that in the past 20 hours she had received one appearing to be their final demand.

She urged the Japanese and Jordanian governments to finalize a swap that would free both hostages. “I beg the Jordanian and Japanese governments to understand that the fates of both men are in their

WHO: Ebola response shifts to ending epidemic London, January 30 (aP): Health officials are now focused on ending the biggest-ever Ebola outbreak rather than just slowing the deadly virus’ spread, the World Health Organization said Thursday.

The U.N. health agency said the three most affected countries — Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia — have reported fewer than 100 cases in the past week, for the first time since June.

Still, WHO also reported that only 30 percent of new cases in Guinea are known contacts of Ebola patients, meaning officials have no idea how most patients are getting infected. In Liberia, that figure is 50 percent, while no data are available for Sierra Leone.

The death rate for hospitalized patients is about 60 percent.

The outbreak is believed to have killed more than 8,000 people since it started in March. Dr. Bruce Aylward, who is leading WHO’s Ebola response, warned that despite the progress made, the virus still isn’t under control.

“This is like being in bed with two cobras, and one of them is dead,” Aylward said. “You still have an incredibly dangerous situation.” He added that Ebola outbreaks often come in waves.

“We cannot say the epidemic is under control,” said Jerome Oberreit, secretary general of Doctors Without Borders. At a WHO Ebola meeting on Sunday, Oberreit said there is virtually no sharing of Ebola information about the risks of cases crossing the borders among the three countries in West Africa.

He said surveillance teams lack even basic resources to track down Ebola patients and blamed “international negligence” for the inability to contain the outbreak.

Researchers at the Institut Pasteur in Paris have begun studying whether the virus has undergone any significant mutations since the outbreak began.

Viruses like Ebola evolve constantly and it’s hard to tell if any genetic changes make a difference to how people get infected or how sick they become.

hands,” she said.

In the Jordanian capital, Amman, the pilot’s brother Jawdat al-Kaseasbeh said his family had “no clue” about where the negotiations stood. “We received no assurances from anyone that he is alive,” he told The Associated Press. “We are waiting, just waiting.”

The hostage-takers had

provided no proof the pilot was still alive, Jordan’s government spokesman, Mohammed al-Momani said Thursday. Al-Rishawi, 44, faces death by hanging for her role in a suicide bombing, one of three simultaneous attacks on Amman hotels in November 2005 that killed 60 people. She survived because her belt

of explosives didn’t detonate. She initially confessed, but later recanted, saying she was an unwilling participant. She is from the Iraqi city of Ramadi and has close family ties to the Iraqi branch of al-Qaida, a precursor of the Islamic State group. Three of her brothers were al-Qaida operatives killed in fighting in

Iraq.

Jordan faces tough choices in the hostage drama. Releasing al-Rishawi, implicated in the worst terror attack in Jordan, would be at odds with the government’s tough stance on Islamic extremism.

However, King Abdullah II faces public pressure to bring home the pilot, who was captured in December after his Jordanian F-16 crashed near the Islamic State group’s de facto capital of Raqqa in Syria.

He is the first foreign military pilot to be captured since the U.S. and its allies began airstrikes against the Islamic State more than four months ago.

Jordan’s participation in the U.S.-led airstrikes is unpopular in the kingdom, and the pilot is seen by some as the victim of a war they feel the country shouldn’t be involved in.

Al-Kaseasbeh’s relatives have expressed such views and accused the government of bungling efforts to win his freedom.

“They abandoned Muath, the son of the army!” chanted protesters gathered at a “diwan,” or meeting place, in Amman for tribesmen from Karak, in southern Jordan.

The hostage drama began last week after the Is-

lamic State group released a video showing Goto and another Japanese hostage, Haruna Yukawa kneeling in orange jumpsuits beside a masked man who threatened to kill them in 72 hours unless Japan paid a $200 million ransom. That demand has since apparently shifted to one for the release of al-Rishawi.

The militants have reportedly killed Yukawa, 42, although that has not been confirmed.

The crisis prompted the Japanese Foreign Ministry to issue a warning Friday to journalists to avoid the border town in Turkey that could be a crossing point from Syria if a prisoner swap goes ahead.

It noted that Islamic State militants were likely aware of who was in the area. “We cannot dismiss the possibility of a kidnapping of Japanese journalists or of other risks to them,” it said. “Under such circumstances, reporting on Turkish-Syrian border, even on the Turkey side, and of course in Syria, is likely to lead to unanticipated risks and be very dangerous,” the statement said, reiterating earlier warnings. “We strongly urge you to refrain from visiting or staying in the area for reporting, and to leave immediately.”

Heavy drinking increase stroke risk more than BP & diabetes

London, January 30 (IanS): More than two drinks a day in middle-age may raise your stroke risk more than traditional factors such as high blood pressure and diabetes, warns a study.

Regular heavy drinking of any kind of alcohol can raise blood pressure and cause heart failure or irregular heartbeats over time with repeated drinking, in addition to stroke and other risks. “For midaged adults, avoiding more than two drinks a day could be a way to prevent stroke in later age,” said Pavla Kadlecova, statistician at St Anne’s University Hospital’s International Clinical Research Center in the Czech Republic.

In a study of 11,644 middle-aged Swedish twins who were followed for 43 years, researchers Mary Jose Cristerna, a Mexican known as The Vampire Woman, poses for the public to take porcompared the effects of an traits of her during the annual Venezuela Tattoo International Expo in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, January 29. Tattoo artists from around the world are gathering for the four-day event that also average of more than two drinks daily (heavy drinkincludes under the skin implants and body piercing. (AP Photo)

ing) to less than half a drink daily (light drinking).

They found that heavy drinkers had about a 34 percent higher risk of stroke compared to light drinkers.

Mid-life heavy drinkers (in their 50s and 60s) were likely to have a stroke five years earlier in life irrespective of genetic and early-life factors. Heavy drinkers had increased stroke risk in their mid-life compared to well-known risk factors like high blood pressure and diabetes. At around age 75, blood pressure and diabetes appeared to take over as one of the main influences on having a stroke, the authors noted.

“We now have a clearer picture about these risk factors, how they change with age and how the influence of drinking alcohol shifts as we get older,” Kadlecova said. The research appeared in the American Heart Association journal Stroke.

Teenager with fake gun interrupts Thai vigilantes take up fight against ‘human trafficking’ Dutch Television, is overpowered

The haGue, January 30 (aFP): A teenager armed with a fake gun disrupted Dutch television when he forced his way into the building of public broadcaster NOS and demanded airtime before being overpowered by police.

The 19-year-old, speaking Dutch and carrying a black pistol which police later said was a fake, could be seen pacing next to a desk in an empty studio before being arrested, in footage later shown on NOS. The NOS building in the central city of Hilversum was evacuated. The incident interrupted NOS’s 8:00 pm (1900 GMT) newscast, with a message on screen telling viewers no broadcast was “available at this time”.

A spokesman for the prosecutor’s office said at a press conference that the man, aged 19, came from the town Pijnacker near The Hague and was in police custody. NOS broadcast a short video of the incident after coming back on air. Wearing a dark suit, white shirt and dark tie, the young man could be seen speaking calmly to someone off-camera as he claimed to represent a “hackers collective”.

He can be heard telling the man that he “wanted to talk about things that are of world importance”.

“We were hired by intelligence services. We have heard things that call society into question,” he said.

19-year-old gunman who stormed into the headquarters of Dutch national broadcaster NOS demanding TV airtime Thursday night Jan. 29, 2015, is shown on video recorded at the time as he waits at the TV station broadcast studio in Hilversum, Netherlands. The man claims to be from a “hackers’ collective,” according to a reporter who spoke to the man during his raid on the TV station offices, causing NOS to go off-air for around an hour. Police arrived to storm the studio and ordered the man to drop the weapon before detaining him. (AP Photo )

“Once my message has been sent, we’ll shake hands and you’ll be able to go home.”

He immediately dropped his weapon and raised his arms when five armed officers stormed in to restrain him, yelling at him to drop the gun. “I dropped it, I dropped it,” he replied off-screen. A police voice was then heard saying: “The situation is under control.” Speaking live on NOS, general director Jan de Jong said that “thank God” nobody had been injured. Police combed the building, which was declared safe shortly after 10:00 pm (2100 GMT).

The man had also given

a threatening letter to staff, which NOS posted on its website. The note said he was “heavily armed” and not working alone. “There are five plus 98 hackers ready for a cyber-attack,” it read, also warning of “eight heavy explosives placed in the country that contain radioactive material” and would be set off if he was prevented from making a live televised announcement. Hilversum mayor Pieter Broertjes said extra measures had been taken to protect media workers since two gunmen killed 12 people at the Paris offices of French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo earlier this month.

Ban BanG yaI, January 30 (reuTerS): Bullet-proof vest, shotgun, sunglasses: Kompat Sompaorat could be mistaken for a member of a SWAT team.

He actually belongs to a motley group of Thai civilians who, frustrated by their government’s lacklustre response to human trafficking, have taken up arms to patrol one of Asia’s busiest smuggling routes. For three months now, scores of volunteers have patrolled the estuaries and jungles of Phang Nga province, a popular tourist destination in southern Thailand a short drive from the famous resort island of Phuket.

They are motivated by humanitarian concerns, they say, but also worry that the presence of armed smugglers and impoverished refugees in the vicinity could lead to an increase in crime and scare away tourists. “There are big big guys behind this trade - so big we can’t do anything about it. We can’t touch them,” said Kompat, as the volunteers arrive at an abandoned smuggling camp near the village of Ban Bang Yai strewn with children’s shoes, women’s camisoles and trash.

“We can only try to save their victims,” he said.

Despite pledges by Thailand’s military junta to combat human trafficking, the volunteers say the influx of illegal migrants is growing, many of them Rohingya Muslims from western Myanmar, and little is being done to stop the gangs that transport and abuse them.

Every year, thousands of Rohingya and Bangladeshi boat people arrive in Thailand, brought by the smugglers. They are then taken by road to desolate camps, where traffickers demand a ransom to smuggle them south across the border to Malaysia.

Last year Thailand was down-

Kompat Sompaorat (L) joins other armed volunteers patrolling on their boat in Phang Nga province January 23, 2015.

graded to the lowest tier on the U.S. State Department’s influential Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, which annually ranks countries by their counter-trafficking efforts. The Thai government, installed after a military coup last May, has vowed to improve its record, and is to submit a report to the State Department detailing its progress. Sek Wannamethee, spokesman for Thailand’s foreign affairs ministry, said locals in southern Thailand were being encouraged to be the “eyes and ears” of the local government.

“Fostering partnership, especially with the locals, has proved to help detecting illegal activities and can greatly aid the investigation,” said Sek. “But of course, law enforcement and administration still remains the responsibility of the law enforcement officials and local authorities.”

The Bangkok-based Fortify Rights group said it was “very concerning” that armed volunteers

were taking on the traffickers.

“Clearly it’s an indication that authorities are not fulfilling their duty to combat trafficking,” Matthew Smith, the group’s executive director, said in an interview.

Well-Oiled Networks Reuters reporters joined the volunteers - mainly fishermen and other villagers - on one of their near-daily patrols for boat people who might be hiding along the coast. The group has limited funds and poor equipment compared to the wealthy and well-oiled smuggling networks, said Jessada Thattan, another volunteer.

“Mostly we are slower than them. They use better boats than us,” said Jessada.

The volunteers are partly funded by Takua Pa district, but some costs, particularly gasoline, come from their own pockets.

Volunteers said they had yet to catch any smugglers or traffickers. But they have discovered more

than 220 Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshis over the past three months and handed them over to immigration police.

Additionally, more than 130 suspected trafficking victims, mostly Bangladeshis, were found dumped by traffickers in a remote coastal area of Phang Nga. Many of them had been abducted or tricked onto prison ships in the Bay of Bengal where conditions resembled the horrors of the transAtlantic slave trade, Reuters reported in October. One group was sick, half-starved and dehydrated by the time volunteers found them.

Smugglers, the volunteers said, once hid groups of 300 to 500 Rohingya on the islands that dot the district, but have now grown more cautious.

“The smugglers’ tactics are changing,” said Jessada. “Before we would find groups of 100 together on an island. Now, the smugglers break them up in to groups of 10 or 20 to make it easier to hide and transport them.”

Local people were slowly coming on board to help establish a network of anti-smuggling informants, said Jessada.

“Almost 100 percent of the fishermen in the area are on our side now,” he said. “They let us know if there are suspicious activities on the islands or if someone is making a large delivery of food to a remote area.”

Despite the enormity of the task, the volunteers said they were being spurred on by the disconnect between government policy and practice.

“The government can announce as many anti-trafficking policies it wants,” said Cherdchai Papattamayutanon, a village chief in Takua Pa who helped form the group. “The truth is, we’re at the frontline here and we’re alone.”

10

Dimapur

SPORTS

Saturday 31 January 2015

The Morung Express

India blow hot and cold before another defeat

new DelhI, January 30 (agencIeS): India's inability to deal the coup de grace resurfaced in the three-wicket defeat against England in the last league match of the Carlton Mid One-Day International Tri-Series at Perth on Friday. Twice, India had the upper hand in the match.

First, when Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane added 83 for the opening stand on a difficult WACA pitch, it looked like the Indian batting meant business. However, some poor short selection thereafter brought about the loss of ten wickets for the next 117 runs in 28 overs.

On the second occasion, Stuart Binny took three quick wickets to reduce England to 66 for 5 in 20 overs and the Indian team looked in firm control but it again flattered to deceive and let England off the hook as James Taylor (82) and Jos Buttler (67) hit fifties to take their team to the final where play Australia on Sunday.

Ironically, India were on top only in the first 20 overs

of both innings.

Stuart's father Roger had taken 4 for 41 at this venue to help India successfully defend a modest 162 against New Zealand way back in 1980. When Stuart removed Joe Root, Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara in fairly quick time, the signs of a repeat of his father's match-winning performance were on the cards but India failed to press their foot down and the duo of Taylor and Buttler took advantage of that, adding 125 runs for the sixth wicket. Both batsmen fell in quick succession to bring a late twist to the tale but Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad kept their cool to wipe out the remaining 10 runs and take the team over the line in 46.5 overs.

For a team looking to defend its ICC World Cup title in just over two weeks' time, India's preparations definitely went from bad to worse in this match. Put in to bat by Morgan in the must-win encounter, India's batsmen once again failed to bat out their quota of overs, this time

England's Jos Butler, right, plays a stroke during England's one day international cricket match against India in Perth, Australia, Friday, January 30. (AP Photo)

ending on 200 in 48.1 overs.

It all started from Dhawan's poke to wicketkeeper Buttler off the first ball of the 21st over - the fourth time in

four innings this series that he was out edging - and ended when Mohammed Shami gave Buttler his fourth catch of the day off the first ball of

the 49th over. The inability of the middle and lower order to consolidate on the opening stand was most disconcerting for the defending

World Cup champions, with a collapse of six wickets for 58 runs between overs 29 and 45 crippling India's spine.

When England last

played India 10 days ago in Brisbane, they had bowled them out for 153. So it was going to be interesting to see how India would fare against the same team on a pace-friendly wicket. As it panned out, there was little fight. Sandwiched between the openers' scores of 73 and 38 and Shami's 18-ball 25 from No 11 was a total contribution of 58 runs from eight players.

Dhawan's form was a big matter of concern going into the match but the lefthander, for the first time in the series, showed some serious intent of getting himself back among the runs. In the first few overs, there was no attempt on his part to play flashy cuts and drives. Instead, he focussed on getting singles. The way he ran indicated Dhawan had come in with a plan.

Rahane too was intent on doing that but lifted the ball over the infield now and then. The pair soon brought up the team's first 50-run stand of the series - the previous best being 24 - and at 83 for 0 in 20 overs it appeared

the Indians had at last learned their lessons. Then a stunning collapse put things back to square one.

Between overs 20 and 30, India lost Dhawan (38), Virat Kohli (8) and Suresh Raina (1) for just 28 runs. All three fell to innocuous deliveries.

Dhawan tried to cut a widish Woakes delivery; Kohli danced out to Ali and picked out long-off; Raina charged the same offspinner and sliced straight to backward point. Next to go was Ambati Rayudu for 12, nicking Stuart Broad to Buttler.

Rahane (73) held one end up for a while with smart play - he dabbed the ball well and twirled easy singles to the leg side - until he edged Steven Finn to Buttler. From here, India lost their last seven wickets for just 64 runs as Stuart, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel all departed in the space of 30 balls. Save for a 10th-wicket stand of 35 between Shami and Mohit Sharma, things could have been even worse. However, in the larger context of the match, India's total wasn't good enough anyway.

Djokovic beats Wawrinka to reach Australian Open final Paes enters Australian

Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates after defeating Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland in their semifinal at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, January 30. (AP Photo)

Melbourne, January 30 (reuterS: Top seed Novak Djokovic ended Stan Wawrinka's title defence on Friday with another five-set clash to book a third final showdown with Andy Murray at the Australian Open.

Though not quite the level of their thrilling marathons at the last two tournaments, the grinding 7-6(1), 3-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 win under the lights of Rod Laver Arena was riven by tension until the final one-sided set. Both players had their chances, with Djokovic fluffing his lines when 2-0 up and closing in on victory in the fourth set.

Wawrinka clawed his way back, breaking the Serb and saving three break points with some brilliant play before

roaring on to force a fifth set.

Fourth seed Wawrinka had a chance to break Djokovic in the opening game of the decider, but blasted a backhand long.

From there he promptly crumbled. With Wawrinka double-faulting twice to gift Djokovic the break, the steelyeyed Serb marched on, setting up match point with a searing backhand down the line and closing it out when his opponent struck his 69th unforced error.

Though having played far from his best tennis, Djokovic will bid to become the first man in the professional era to win five titles at Melbourne Park on Sunday when he faces Murray, who he defeated in the final in 2011 and 2013.

SASA 53rd meet Clarke back to prove fitness for WC grand finale today Our Correspondent Kohima | January 30

A five day long 53rd meet 2015 of the Southern Angami Sports Association (SASA) will conclude on January 31 with Er. Kropol Vitsu as patron for closing function.

The special invites are Southern Angami Public Organization, Southern Angami Students Union and Southern Angami Women Organization.

Day five event will witness final matches of football, volleyball (men & women) and relay race 4x100m (men & women). It will start from 10:00 AM onwards.

The closing function will be chaired by SASA treasurer Ketoulekho Ngukha. Special number will be presented by Vihosiinii Lcho and SASA publicity secretary Kechangulie Dul as in-charge for awards.

Vote of thanks will be proposed by SASA vice president Medoho Rakho while ‘flag down’ will be led by SASA joint tournament director Meyieto Sachii. Meanwhile, volleyball exhibition match between SASA and Southern Angami Youth Organization will also mark the day.

DAY-IV RESULTS RESULTS OF FOOTBALL (JAN 30) GROUP A: Kigwema beat Khuzama Group B: Kidima beat Sakhabama Group C: Kezoma beat Kezo Town Group D: Jakhama beat Mima FOOTBALL (Quarter Final) GROUP A: Kigwema beat Phesama Group B: Kidima beat Pfüchama Group C: Viswema beat Kezoma Group D: Jakhama beat Kezo Basa SEMI-FINAL 1. Viswema beat Kigwema 2. Jakhama beat Kidima VOLLEYBALL (MEN) Quarter Final Group A: Phesama beat Mima Group B: Kezo Town beat Kidima Group C: Kigwema beat Jakhama Group D: Viswema beat Khuzama SEMI-FINAL Phesama beat Kigwema Kezo Town beat Viswema VOLLEYBALL (WOMEN) Quarter final Group A: Kezo Town beat Kigwema Group B: Jakhama beat Mima Group C: Phesama beat Kezo Basa Group D: Kezoma beat Viswema SEMI-FINAL Kezo Town beat Phesama Jakhama beat Kezoma FINAL MATCHES FOR JANUARY 31 * Football: Viswema vs Jakhama * Volleyball (men): Phesama vs Kezo Town * Volleyball (women): Kezo Town vs Jakhama

SyDney, January 30 (reuterS): Australia captain Michael Clarke will return to club cricket this weekend as he continues his bid to prove his fitness for the upcoming World Cup, Cricket Australia said on Friday. Clarke sustained the latest in a long line of hamstring injuries while fielding in the first test against India in Adelaide in December and underwent surgery soon afterwards.

The 33-year-old batsman has been given until Australia's second World Cup match against Bangladesh on Feb. 21 to prove he is fit to play a part in the tournament, which Australia are co-hosting with New Zealand from Feb. 14 to March 29. Clarke will play only as a batsman for his Western Suburbs against Gordon this weekend and

will get another chance to bat when he features in a Cricket Australia XI in a match against Bangladesh in Brisbane next Thursday.

"I am really happy to be playing for my Grade club this weekend and regard this as a positive step on my road to a return to full fitness," Clarke said in

a Cricket Australia statement. "It is exciting to be at this stage where I can consider walking onto a cricket field again and ... the signs are positive. "But at the same time I know I have to respect the fact that I am on a daily programme and there is no point in us getting too far ahead of ourselves."

Australia's team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said Clarke had been making good progress since undergoing surgery on his right hamstring six weeks ago. "We are determined to maintain a conservative approach to the management of Michael's recovery but should he come through these matches without any adverse reaction, he remains on target to return as per our original schedule," he said.

Open final, Sania ousted

Martina Hingis of Switzerland jokes with her partner Leander Paes of India during their their mixed doubles semifinal match against Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan and Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, January 30. (AP Photo)

Melbourne, January 30 (IanS): Indian tennis ace Leander Paes reached yet another Grand Slam final when he made it in to the summit clash of the Australian Open, partnering Swiss veteran Martina Hingis in mixed doubles at the Rod Laver Arena here Friday.

However, it was the end of the road for top seeds Sania Mirza and Bruno Soares in the other semifinal of the same category when they lost 6-3, 2-6, 8-10 in one hour and 14 minutes to French-Canadian third seeds Kristina Mladenovic and Daniel Nestor.

In the first match of the day, Paes and Hingis had a rather contrasting victory.

Though they finished the

match in two sets, it took them an hour and 14 minutes to seal the deal 7-5, 6-4.

Their unseeded opponents Su-Wei Hsieh (Chinese Taipei) and Pablo Cuevas (Uruguay) broke them once in the first set but the Indo-Swiss combine went one better to take the first set.

In the second set, Cuevas and Hsieh got two chances to break the seventh seeds but Paes-Hingis made sure they saved both the points, and in return, broke the Chinese TaipeiUruguayan duo on their third attempt.

This is Paes' fifth Australian Open mixed doubles final, having won the crown twice in 2003 and 2010, while Hingis won the

crown in 2006 with India's Mahesh Bhupathi. The 34-year-old Swiss has also won the singles title here three times -- 1997, 1998, 1999.

Later on the Margaret Court Arena, Mirza and Soares looked well on course when they won the first set in 28 minutes.

But the match changed its route in the second set when Mladenovic and Nestor turned the tables and clinched the second set with ease, pushing the match into the decider.

The super tie-break was a touch and go affair and the third seeds took their chances to kitty the match and proceed to the final where they will take on Paes and Hingis.

Dr. T. AO FOOTbAll NIghT Cup 2015 Morung Express News Hyderabad | January 30

The University of Hyderabad Students’ Union inaugurated and christened its annual Football Night Cup Tournament, “Dr. T. Ao Football Night Cup” as a mark of respect and honor to the Captain of the First Indian Football Team who led at the London Olympics, 1948. The Opening Ceremony was officiated by the Dean of students’ Welfare, Prof P Prakash Babu and President of the Students’ Union, Vincent Benny.

Vincent Benny termed this initiative as a historic and significant move. He remarked: “the government has failed to promote the marginalized and the subaltern, Dr T Ao surely deserves national recognition across the nation.” He further expressed his delight that the University of Hyderabad Students’ will hence forth promote Dr T Ao Football Night Cup. He

Students at a match during the Dr T Ao football Night Cup at the University of Hyderabad on Friday. (Morung Photo)

further accused the Government of only promoting the identities of the creamy layer and expressed his discontentment at the Government’s policy of promoting “one Way Sport-Cricket”.

He asserted that “Foot-

ball must be given due recognition at par with Cricket and must not undermine the brimming talents of young football players particularly of the North East India Region”. The Opening ceremony also marked

the 97th Birth Anniversary of the legendary son of Nagaland.

While brief Sketch of Profile of Dr.T.Ao was read out at the event. Students and faculty and employees and members of the uni-

versity attended the Opening Ceremony.The Two Day event draws students, faculty and employees from all disciplines. It may be mentioned that Night Cup is the biggest Annual Sports event of the University of

Hyderabad. Naga students studying at the University of Hyderabad have expressed their gratitude to the Students’ Union for recognizing the Contribution of Dr. Talimeren Ao to the nation, in the field of Sports.

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Birdman W

ith an alternate title, The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance, which appears in the movie's opening credits; Birdman is an intense, tantalising and tragic dramedy. It stands out as a unique film that spurs your mental quotient and it has an uncanny resemblance to the premise of the Hindi film, Ankhon Dekhi directed by Rajat Kapoor. Both films are an art house exploration of imperfect people struggling to navigate their lives.

While Ankhon Dekhi is the tale of a quixotic patriarch, Birdman is a tale of a fading superhero Riggan Thomson. Where, Thomson, who attained stardom based on his work in a string of comic book superhero films, Birdman, is fighting his neurosis. The film showcases Riggan's personal demons that include his domestic issues and internal torment.

To revive his sagging image, Riggan Thomson, stages a comeback as a writer, director and actor by mounting a stage production of a Raymond Carver short story, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, on Broadway.

Set on a stage and between the rehearsals for the play, the narration unfurls bringing to fore Thomson's insecurities and his interpersonal relationships with: his now separated wife Sylvia (Amy Ryan), his daughter Sam (Emma Stone), his friend Jake (Zach Galifianakis)

Movie Review

who is also his producer and attorney, his co-star and girlfriend Laura (Andrea Riseborough), Lesley (Naomi Watts) a first time Broadway actress, Mike Shiner (Edward Norton) a method actor and Tabitha Dickson (Lindsay Duncan) a theatre critic.

Michael Keaton fits into Riggan Thomson's boots with passionate grace and

"I wasn't present in my own life." He emotes that realisation and nervous helplessness with panache. And that's what probably works

ease, meditating, drinking, hallucinating and fighting his way forward. He comes out as a tortured jittery personality. You relate to him.

Yet, you don't feel sorry for him when he admits, "I missed the moments." Or,

for him in the film.

While all the ladies do their bit to perfection, it is Edward Norton who steals the show as the perky, confident method actor. He goes to extremes with his obsession to bring neo-re-

alism on stage. He is a livewire and his presence on screen elevates the drama and humour.

Artistically crafted, the film is intellectually challenging and emotionally confronting. The director along with co-writers Nicolas Giacobone Alexander Dinelaris Jr and Armando Bo have designed the plot as a long-drawn anxiety packed nightmare of complex characters. But unfortunately these plot points are superficial and shallow in nature as they don't traverse beyond the developmental stage. These in no way hinder the overall effect of the film or its narration.

The dramatic pace along with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki's manipulative camera work gives the appearance that most of the film is one continuous, seamless long take.

What adds to the viewing experience and enhances the psychological effect of the film, is its frenzied background score. Its adrenaline packed leitmotif of the drum score by Antonio Sanchez is effectively used to create and drive home the point of the insanity prevalent in the narration.

Overall, the film is a must watch for its unconventional presentation, style and performances.

James miDDleton: it 'gets frustrating'

being Kate middleton's little brother

The youngest sibling of the Duchess of Cambridge opens up about trying to stay out of his sister's shadow and overcoming his struggle with dyslexia.

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ate Middleton's younger brother says it can be royally "frustrating" to be in her shadow. James Middleton, 27, opened up to The Young Director (TYD),

a new lifestyle digital magazine, about what it’s like being known as the Duchess of Cambridge’s younger sibling instead of a serious businessman.

“Yes, it does get frustrat-

Saturday

Entertainment

The Morung Express

ing,” the entrepreneur told the mag. “I work incredibly hard, just like every other person.” “And aside from the fact — yes, I am the brother of someone very important — I am, at the end of the day, just James," he said.

James Middleton cofounded his own business called “Boomf,” which takes pictures from Instagram and prints them on marshmallows. He tells TYD that he always knew he wanted to work for himself and boasts, “I have only ever employed myself.”

Although the Middletons grew up with a privileged lifestyle, not every-

thing came easy for the youngest child, who struggled with dyslexia. Though this setback was one of the reasons he dropped out of the University of Edinburgh, he says he's not letting it hold him back any longer.

“I feel like dyslexia is a strong point in me now,” he explains. "For one, it makes you unique, and two, your brain just works differently; you will get to the answer of a solution but just in a different — maybe unconventional way." James Middleton’s full interview will appear in the 2015 Issue of The Young Director, which is available on iTunes.

31 January 2015

Dimapur

11

Johnny Depp to wed next week Johnny Depp and Amber Heard will reportedly tie the knot on his island in the Bahamas next week

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he 'Mortdecai' actor and his 28-year-old fiancee - who got engaged in December 2013 after a year of dating - are planning to tie the knot on his island in the Bahamas over the weekend of February 7-8 in front of just 50 guests.

And accommodation on the 45-acre Little Hall's Pond Cay island is so limited, many of the guests - which will include the bride's family and Johnny's two children from his relationship with Vanessa Paradis, Lily-Rose, 15, and 12-year-old Jack - will be staying on the 51-year-old actor's yacht during the celebrations.

The couple chose the date because of their hectic working schedules. A source explained to the New York Post Newspaper's Page Six column: ''She's filming a movie in London, and he's getting ready to film the next 'Pirates of the Caribbean' in Australia. So this is the only time that everyone could get together.''

Amber will wear a dress designed by Stella McCartney for the wedding ceremony, the insider claimed.

The couple - who met on the set of their 2011 movie 'The Rum Diary' - celebrated their impending marriage with an engagement party last March.

Starstruck EddiE REdmaynE 'literally stalked' Jennifer Aniston

E

ddie Redmayne has revealed that he got starstruck when he crossed paths recently with Jennifer Aniston. The 33-yearold actor said that he and his wife love 'Friends' series and so when they saw Aniston at a party, they were just "incredible inappropriate," the CBS News reported.

'The Theory of Everything' star added that they just literally stalked about four meters behind her for the entire evening and eventually Aniston was like, "Okay." Redmayne, who was glad Aniston was gracious about it, continued that when the couple got to meet her, she was as beautiful and wonderful as one would expect her to be.

He said that Aniston could have turned around and slapped them for stalking her like that and added that she would certainly be within her legal rights to do that.

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Mardaani Rani Mukerji impresses Polish Fans A

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ctress Rani Mukerji, who was lauded for her role as a brave woman police officer in the film Mardaani in India, left Bollywood lovers of Poland not only impressed with her acting skills but with the intricacies of the film which revolves around human trafficking, during the film's premiere in Warsaw.

Rani faced a knowledgeable crowd after the premiere of Mardaani, produced by Yashraj Films,on January 28. The film was screened at the prestigious Muranow theatre.

Only films that have substance, make it to Muranow and Mardaani proved that it was unlike other Bollywood film, which Polish audiences have been watching for the past decade.

The audience was not only impressed with the film but also with its leading lady, who was specially invited to interact with the public.

The actress rose to the occasion and took questions with great confidence

for more than an hour.

Mardaani has raised the work in this direction. A pic- should be used more exten- obligations more seriously "It is a great pity that problem and many NGOs ture conveys the message sively and honestly. Yashraj than many other producbecause of global terror- have come out openly to more potently. This medium Films understands its social tions," said the actress. ism, people are not paying enough attention to the other problem like global human trafficking particularly of young girls. This is also a huge billions of dollars racket just like drug mafia," Rani said at the event.

"The trafficking of girls is not only limited to South Asian countries, it became a big racket after the fall of Berlin Wall in Eastern Europe. If in the 1990s Russian girls were being used in the international market, now Ukrainian, Romanian and Syrian girls are being traded.

The vultures are always on the lookout for human flesh. To meet this huge challenge there should a huge response from the NGOs all over the world," she added.

The actress feels that the success of the film has helped in raising the issue of human trafficking with many NGOs coming forward to abolish the social evil. " The success of

She lamented the paucity of films for senior actresses in Bollywood.

"Heroes like Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan can still romance with 18-year-old girls whereas middle aged actress Rani Mukerji can seldom find a script to romance with 20-year-old boy. If there is any Polish script or any western script, please contact me," said Rani jokingly.

She also applauded Poland for producing great movies. "Poland has a tradition of producing great movies. Your stalwarts like Andrezj Wajda, Roman Polanski, Krzszytof Zanussi and many others have been awarded at the international festivals. I too am ready to work for any Polish or western movie.

"The director of photography of Mardaani, Artur Zurawski, has done a great job. The film would not have been that big, but for Artur's sensitivity to excel," said Rani.

Both Rani and Artur were given special awards

by JJ Singh, president of

the Indo-Polish Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IPCCI) for their contribution to promote understanding and business in the film sector. Both of them promised to work together in the near future.

"Poland was now on our radar screen and we will select Polish locales for shooting in the near future.

The cost of production is almost half. After all it was Yashraj Films' film Fanna which had shot its climax on Polish mountains nine years ago and we were the first in Poland," Avtar Panesar, vice president, international operations of Yashraj Films, told IANS. Earlier, in welcoming Rani and her group, Indian ambassador Ajay Bisaria expressed his satisfaction over such a good movie.

"It is high time that humankind should give more space to women empowerment. I congratulate Yashraj films for producing a woman-oriented movie.

The genre of this kind of films should be encouraged," said Mr Bisaria.

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