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ThursDAY • julY 21 • 2016
DIMAPUR • Vol. XI • Issue 199 • 12 PAGes • 5
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Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and diligence — Abigail Adams Myanmar’s military investigates a “war crime” in an era of reform PAGE 09
Campaign on HumanAnimal Conflict Mitigation in Mkg, Zbto
India, Windies face contrasting challenges in cricket test series
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naga sepoy’s family calls for fresh probe into death
reflections
By Sandemo Ngullie
our Correspondent Kohima | July 20
They sure picked the right man to head our newly created Happiness Dept.
The Morung Express Poll QuEsTion
Vote on www.morungexpress.com sMs your answer to 9862574165 Do you think that Nagaland is a failed state? Yes
no
others
DC Kohima orders control on issue of petrol
Khonoma men weaving Mekhu, an indigenous Naga basket made with fine cane thread and bamboo at a peer group hangout called Kikra -Ki at Khonoma village, some 14 kilometre away from Kohima. (Photo by Imti Longchar)
enact lokayukta Bill in nagaland
Vekhwütso Vasa today alleged that there was “conspiracy” and “foul play” in the “tragic death” of his son Sepoy Vezota Vasa of Jat Regiment at Bareilly (Uttar Pradesh). Sepoy Vasa died on June 23 last, and his family has demanded a fresh probe into the incident. “Deliver justice to us and give appropriate punishment to the culprit,” Vasa said, while addressing a press conference here at Kohima Press Club. Unsatisfied with the present investigation conducted by Jat Regiment and Bareilly Police, Vasa said the family has decided to lodge a fresh FIR. The Jat Regiment at Bareilly has alleged that his death was a case of suicide. Giving the facts of the case, which have already been published earlier by The Morung Express, Vasa stated that the death was reported 40 minutes after Lt. Vasa’s body was found, his post mortem was conducted without the permission of his family, with his family not even allowed to clean or clothe the body later. According to the pictures taken by the police, and which was shown to us, said Vasa, Lt. Vezota’s zipper was unzipped and his half pant was unbuttoned. He added that a fresh drop of sweat could also be seen in the picture which clearly shows that he could have survived if taken to hospital for emergency medical treatment. “If someone wants to commit suicide, he will struggle while giving his/her strength to tighten the death of self but there was no sign of such struggle as his slipper was well put-on and his legs were not stiff according to the pictures shown to us by the police,” Vasa stated. “Questions asked by us to the Investigation Officer (IO), the Jat Regimental Centre and his army mates were never answered. Instead of answering, all they said was pata nahi hai, kya hua (we don’t know what happened). Most of the post mortem report was written in Hindi, and there was no clear report written/given otherwise. All his barrack mates said that they slept off and they don’t know anything, when their barrack toilet was
just next to their door. When we asked the IO who the JCO on duty that night was, all the IO replied was he did not know, when it is clearly known that the name of the officer-in-charge will be written in the Duty list or Check list,” Vasa stated. Vasa also stated that whenever his son used to call up, he used to complain that other army mates used to abuse him out of jealousy as Lt. Vezota Vasa had good relations with his senior officers. “If post mortem is done on a dead body after some hours, there will never be bruise or swelling on the body, but due to the cutting during post mortem his face and skin were swollen which clearly shows that the dead body was very much fresh,” Vasa stated. Vasa added that “The last time when he (Lt. Vezota Vasa) came for vacation, he was irritable about the abuses and just before he left for Bareilly he was complaining that he didn’t want to go back and wanted to resign from his post. In view of the above stated points, it is very clear there was conspiracy and foul play in his tragic death.” Earlier, The Naga Hoho had demanded a fair and impartial investigation into the mysterious death of Sepoy Vezota Vasa. In a representation to Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, submitted through Nagaland’s Governor P B Acharya, the Naga Hoho stated that there have often been reports of Naga boys being harassed and meted out undue humiliation after joining various professions in the mainland and one such case was the result which led to the demise of one Sepoy Vezota Vasa of Jat Regiment at Bareilly (UP) on June 23 last. The Western Chakhesang Hoho (WCH) had also submitted a representation to Nagaland’s Governor to look into the death of Sepoy Vezota Vasa; the circumstances of his death have been found by his family and community to be “suspicious.” In its representation, WCH requested Governor to “personally intervene” on the matter of Vasa’s death to see to it that the “truth is unfolded at the earliest by conducting a fair and impartial investigation.”
Kohima, JuLy 20 (DiPR): In view of the limited stock of petrol in Kohima Town outlets, the Deputy Commissioner of Kohima, Rovilatuo Mor, IAS has ordered that petrol will now be issued on a controlled basis and rationed with effect from July 21, Friday, early hours till additional stock arrives. 10 litres will be issued per vehicle while 20 litres for emergency vehicles will be issued. The order has been enforced under essential commodity statutory provisions.
Kohima, JuLy 20 (mExN): In order to redress the grievances of the citizens, the Administrative Reforms Commission, appointed by the Union Government in 1966, recommended the constitution of the institutions of Lokayukta. In the light of those recommendations, the Lokayukta institutions were established in various States of the Indian Union with jurisdiction to deal with complaints not only against elective public servants, but also against the other categories of public servants defined in the Act.
DHD leader apprehended in Nagaland
MBBS and BDS selection process Rally for demand of Tseminyu District on July 27 needs immediate review: ENCSU
newmai news network Dimapur | July 20
A Central Administrative Officer (CAO) of Dima Halam Daogah (DHD) was apprehended by the Assam Rifles in the wee hours of Wednesday in Nagaland. According to intelligence sources, the DHD leader has been identified as Morod Dingdong. He hails from the Dilip Nunisa faction of the DHD. Sources informed that the 32 Assam Rifles apprehended the DHD leader from his residence at Doyapur near Dimapur. Weapons have also been recovered from his residence, according to the sources. Morod Dingdong has been handed over to the concerned police station, the sources said.
formance. The citizens are becoming more and more agitated when they know scams like adulteration of petrol, Pension Fund Scam, Educational Scholarship Scam, etc.,” stated the Governor. In the wake of “increasing irregularities” in the State being reported in the local media, he reiterated, it has become “absolutely necessary in our State to have Lokayukta.” In the light of this, the Governor appealed to the State Government to immediately complete the formalities for enactment of the Lokayukta Bill in the State.
Governor says, “It is a constitutional countercheck to corruption and non-performance” This was informed today in a press release from the Governor of Nagaland, PB Acharya, appealing the enactment of a Lokayukta Bill in Nagaland State in the wake of “increasingly irregularities.” “It is a constitutional countercheck to corruption and non-per-
DimaPuR, JuLy 20 (mExN): The Eastern Nagaland College Students’ Union (ENCSU) has sought an “immediate review” of the recently declared result for MBBS and BDS candidates by the Government of Nagaland. In a press release from ENCSU Joint Secretary Nokchem Angth and Chairman Longre Chang, the Union stated that it did not find the selection process for MBBS and BDS candidates as “free and fair under State Government over past few years.” The ENCSU that it has detected the “same anomalies” this year, “the result of which was declared by the Department of Technical Education Dated 15th July, 2016 Vides NO.DTE/ESTT-2/12/201617/ where the Department and the Government failed to implement the Government policy on Backward Tribes (BT) Reservation in selecting the students from deprived areas.” Therefore the intervention was sought from the Government of Nagaland and the department concerned for an “immediate review.” The ENCSU informed that according to the Government’s policy 15 percent seats are reserved for the Backward Tribes
of Nagaland State. “If this is to be implemented then out of 45 MBBS seats, the BTs have to get 7 seats. However, the distribution of seats has never been fair citing 40% marks. BTs were allocated only 3 seats in 2016. Therefore, we ask the government and the department to immediately review and implement the quota as per the Government policy by conducting re-examination solely for candidates belonging to Backward Tribes of Nagaland or should award grace mark and allocate the 4 missing seats to BT Candidates at the earliest,” stressed the ENCSU. The Union also asked the Government and the department concerned how it can possibly be that there is a uniform cut off mark for all candidates (40%) when there is 15% reservation for Backward Tribes. The ENCSU thus asked the Government and the department concerned to “withhold” from conducting the counseling of selected candidates until the issue has been settled. It also stated that if the Government, or the department, fail to respond to the issue by July 25, then the Union “shall take its own course of action and the Union will not held responsible for any untoward situation.”
New HIV infections steady at 2.5 mn a year worldwide
NEw yoRK, JuLy 20 (iaNS): Nearly 2.5 million people worldwide become new victims of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) each year although deaths from the deadly virus have been steadily declining from a peak in 2005, finds a study. The study revealed that despite the annual number of new infections declining from the peak rate of 3.3 million in 1997, the number of new infections is relatively constant in the past 10 years, with a drop of just 0.7 per cent a year between 2005 and 2015 compared to the fall of 2.7 per cent a year between 1997 and 2005. “Our new findings present a worrying picture of slow progress in reducing new HIV infections over the past 10 years,” said lead author Haidong Wang, Associate Professor at University of Washington. Further, the proportion of peo-
ple living with HIV on Antiretroviral therapy (ART) have increased rapidly between 2005 and 2015, from 6.4 per cent to 38.6 per cent for men, and from 3.3 per cent to 42.4 per cent for women. Thus, the annual deaths from HIV/AIDS have been declining at a steady pace from a peak of 1.8 million in 2005, to 1.2 million in 2015, partly due to the scale-up of ART. Yet, most countries are still far from achieving the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)90-90-90 target of 81 per cent by 2020, said the paper published in The Lancet HIV journal. ART coverage is highly variable and massive scale-up of treatment is needed in the Middle East, north Africa, eastern Europe and east Asia where only around a fifth of people living with HIV receive ART, and in
central Asia where treatment reaches less than a third of people with HIV. “Development assistance for HIV/AIDS is stagnating and health resources in many low-income countries are expected to plateau over the next 15 years,” added Christopher Murray, Professor at University of Washington. A massive scale-up of efforts from governments and international agencies will be required to meet the goal of ending AIDS, along with better detection and treatment programmes and improving the affordability of antiretroviral drugs, the researchers said. For the study, the team conducted a comprehensive analysis of HIV incidence, prevalence, deaths and coverage of ART at the global, regional, and national level for 195 countries between 1980 and 2015.
TSEmiNyu, JuLy 20 (mExN): The Rengma Hoho and its ‘frontal organisations’ have decided to go on a ‘peaceful public rally’ in Tseminyu Town to press for their existing demand for the creation of Tseminyu District in Nagaland. The public rally will be held at Tseminyu Town on July 27. This was decided in an executive meeting of the above mentioned organizations on July 20, informed a press release from Rengma Hoho President Kenyuseng Tep.
The Rengma Hoho reminded the State Government of the “contribution of the Rengmas in the field of Naga political and historical movement in the implementation of Nagaland state.” “We were also the signatories and were in the forefront when our Nagaland state was born,” the Rengma Hoho stated. Thus, like “any other tribe,” the Government “should honour our demand and grant Tseminyu District” to the Rengma people. It urged the Government to “respect and honor the political and his-
torical rights by fulfilling the demand for a district.” In this direction all frontal organisations, constituent units of the Rengma Hoho, all political parties and individuals within Rengma areas have been requested to attend the rally and extend support and solidarity to the “just and rightful” demand. It was also informed that along with the peaceful rally, a memorandum will be submitted to the Government of Nagaland through the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Tseminyu.
Unauthorized coffee nurseries draw attention of nagaland’s coffee Board Kohima, JuLy 20 (NEPS): Unauthorized coffee nurseries in various places in Nagaland have drawn the attention of the Coffee Board of Nagaland. The issue of unauthorized coffee nurseries surfaced during a Land Resources Department’s marathon ‘Consultative meeting with the Coffee Board Officials’ held here at the Conference Hall of the Directorate of the Land Resources Department here today. When officials of the Land Resources Department asked the Coffee Board officials whether they had encouraged such unauthorized coffee nurseries in the markets, they said they had never supplied any saplings to any persons. Secretary of the Land Resources Department, Y Kikheto Sema, IAS, who was also present at the Consultative Meeting directed the officials of the Department and also district officials to create awareness among farmers not to buy any coffee nurseries from unauthorized sellers.
land Resources Department’s Consultative meeting with the Coffee Board Officials held at its Directorate Conference Hall on July 20. (Photo by NEPS)
“We will provide coffee nurseries only to the nodal department, that is Land Resources Department,” said AP Anantha Kumar, Joint Director, Coffee Board, Government of India, Ministry of Commerce & Industry. Sema was also critical of the mindset of many officials of the Government of India or any Central agencies saying that many a times they neglected many areas of development under the pretext of law and order problem. “But I tell you Nagaland has been experiencing relative peace over the years,” he informed
the Coffee Board officials attending the Consultative meeting. “Nagaland is the only State formed through a political agreement and there is no reason why the Coffee Board should not take advantage of the relative peace prevailing in the State.” Nagaland started vigorous coffee cultivation during 1980. The survey conducted by the Board has estimated that an area of 4268 hectares is suitable for coffee cultivation. The Nagaland Plantation of Crops Development Corporation (NPCDC) was the pioneer agency to establish Cof-
fee in Nagaland since 1981 and created an area of 2811 hectares. The coffee plantations in Nagaland were not going well after some years as many beneficiaries could not carry out their activities due to poor marketing network and lack of financial support. In the Consultative Meeting, the Secretary expressed his happiness that the Government was coming forward to revive the coffee plantations in the State through the Land Resources Department and requested the officials of the Coffee Board to speed up providing all the necessary training programs to their officials so as to impart proper training to the farmers. The Land Recourses Department also requested the Coffee Board to set up another Coffee Board Office at Kohima as the lone Coffee Board at Mokokchung is not enough to work for the coffee movement in the State. The Coffee Board also agreed to have ‘Quarterly Consultative Meetings’ with the officials of the LRD.