June 30th, 2015

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The Morung Express

Dimapur VOL. X ISSUE 177

www.morungexpress.com

Tuesday, June 30, 2015 12 Pages Rs. 4

Trust in dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity

Congress-BJP war rages on -- over Raje

—Khalil Gibran

Nagaland observes National Statistics Day

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Djokovic & Serena win at Wimbledon [ PAGE 12]

Where have all the teachers gone? nsnA protest with Lack of headmasters, math teachers and erratic student-teacher ratio continues to plague Nagaland’s state run education system

Upgraded High schools in Dimapur

Morung Express News Dimapur | June 29

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Irregularity in teacherstudent ratio has been a problem dogging government-run schools in Nagaland for a very long time. While it continues unresolved, many other serious lapses exist in tandem, gnawing at the very core of the state-run school education system.

Dimapur district, by far the most privileged in terms of educational avenues, has been faring no better. Besides the visible lack of infrastructure and inconsistent teacher-student ratio, want of maths/ science teachers and the absence of headmasters are factors adversely affecting the current state of Government High Schools (GHS) in the district.

It was during 2010-12, when the state government went on a schoolupgrading frenzy, upgrading 147 government Middle Schools around the state to High Schools. It was a programme implemented under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) or National Mission for Secondary Education.

During that period, 16 Middle Schools in the district were also upgraded to High Schools. At present, Dimapur has 4 Government Higher Secondary Schools and 23 GHS in total. While it was believed to be a move for the bet-

reflections

By Sandemo Ngullie

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No classroom: Students of a Govt Higher Secondary School in Dimapur attending class in the open. The school which was upgraded in 2007 to higher secondary has no rooms for class 11 & 12.

ter, there was no follow up action on the part of the government to equip the upgraded schools. The upgraded schools lack facilities considered prerequisite for any high school till date.

According to avail-

KohiMa, JuNe 29 (MexN): The Nagaland state Police today advised citizens to be wary of unidentified objects and report them to officials as soon as possible. A police advisory issued by Wabang Jamir, IGP (Range), PHQ Kohima advised, “not to touch or tamper with any unidentified objects, as the same could be an explosive bomb planted or placed by the UGs to create panic in the public.” “In case any citizens find a suspicious unidentified object, the same should be immediately reported to the nearest police station or Assam Rifle Post,” Wabang Jamir said. He further informed that immediate information should be given to the following phone numbers: 0370 224239 or 9436002398.

able records, out of the 16 upgraded schools, only one (GHS Lengrijan) has a working headmaster.

The rest of the upgraded schools have ‘head teachers’ filling in as headmasters. The system of ‘head teachers’ is a reserve of Pri-

GHS Sarbura GHS Piphema GHS Akahuto GHS Sovima GHS Diphupar B GHS Lengrijan GHS Burma Camp GHS Kushiabill

mary and Middle Schools, where a senior teaching staff is given charge of the school. The government is yet to appoint headmasters in the rest of the upgraded schools.

Among the 16, only GHS Lengrijan has mathematics and science teachers. Sources disclosed that the school was fortunate enough to avail the services of two mathematics teachers through the SSA. Further, three of the upgraded schools have neither science nor mathematics teachers.

Some of the upgraded schools have hired mathematics teachers on its own as the government failed to appoint any, the sources said. GHSS Medziphema, which was upgraded from GHS during the same period, is also yet to have a fulltime mathematics teacher.

In terms of infrastructure development, one senior teacher summed it up this way: “The number of students (in government schools) is increasing but they don’t upgrade infrastructure… while they go on upgrading schools without any planning.” “They have to do proper planning

9. GHS Khaghaboto 10. GHS Chumukedima Village 11. GHS Moava 12. GHS Zuheshe 13. GHS Thahekhu 14. GHS Naga United 15. GHS Aghunaqa 16. GHS Nito and upgrade infrastructure before upgrading schools.”

For instance, the erstwhile GHS Niuland was upgraded to GHSS in 2007.

The school is yet to have rooms for the higher secondary classes.

These were among the reasons which resulted in the NBSE issuing notice to downgrade 129 GHS in early 2014, the sources said, adding it was “non-fulfilment of certain criteria” as required for a high school.

The schools listed in the downgrade notice were later allowed to conduct classes 9 and 10 taking into consideration the interest of students and after the government assured to fulfil the required criteria.

With regard to the student-teacher ratio, there is glaring irregularity as records show irrespective of GHS or GHSS in the district.

The ratio ranges from 1:4 to as high as 1:54 (as on 2013).

One in particular had 14 teachers against a requirement of 2. In stark contrast, another (GHS Sarbura) had only 9 teachers against a requirement of 20. According to the sources, the ratio has remained more or less static since.

Morung Express News

Kohima/Mokokchung/Dimapur | June 29

The Nagaland Staff Nurse Association (NSNA) and the Nursing Sisters without Degree and Diploma (RNRM) began its statewide second phase agitation today by embarking on a three day casual leave till July 1.

The nurses are demanding equal promotion opportunity as enshrined in the Nagaland Nursing Service Rules – 1988.

According to the NSNA, only those with diploma/degree in nursing are given preference for promotion, leaving trained nurses without diploma/degree with no scope of promotion.

All together there are 29 gazetted nurses’ posts in Nagaland which are currently occupied by Degree and Diploma nurses.

“The government has not responded so far,” said one of the nurses on agitation.

Altogether 375 nurses in Nagaland will be on mass casual leave, which is bound to affect health care in the state.

Four districts in the state (Mokokchung, Dimapur, Tuensang and Kohima) have nursing schools, where student nurses are on duty. However, the seven remaining districts without nursing schools, will have to be managed by Degree and Diploma nurses for the coming three days.

A press note from the NSNA informed that the agitation will continue till the demands are fulfilled.

In Mokokchung, 48 staff nurses from the two main hospitals in Mokokchung took part in the second phase agitation.

Thirty six staff nurses from the Imkongliba Memorial District Hospital availed mass casual leave and spent the whole day at the waiting shed in front of the hospital. While twelve staff nurses at TB Hospital Mokokchung also availed mass casual leave and abstained from work.

“We feel sorry for the inconveniences caused to the patients and also the public, but we have no option. Unless the government gives some positive response, we are planning to carry our agitation,” said a staff nurse.

A hospital official at IMDH informed that the hospital has roped in nurses from the NHRM, ANM staff, BSc nursing, student nurses and intern students to tend to the patients at the hospital. Conceding that the functioning of the hospital would not be as efficient without the staff nurses on duty, the official disclosed that the Directorate has issued directives to bring in nurses working in the ‘peripheral area’ (the nearby medical centers) if the situation demands so.

“But so far, we could conduct our hospital functions normally today,” he said, while expressing hope that an amicable solution would be arrived at soon.

In Dimapur, the District Hospital (DH) made similar arrangements requisitioning nurses from the NHM alongwith student nurses and tutors from the Nursing school. The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of the district said that the DH has made the necessary arrangement, while adding that it will “make adjustments” depending on the situation.

Asked on the situation of government health centres in the outposts, the CMO said that if need arises at the outposts, necessary arrangement will be made.

Nursing Superintendent of the DH informed that aside from the remaining hospital attendants, it requisitioned 7 nurses from the CMO’s, 70 student nurses and 7 nursing tutors from the nursing school, and also its principal and vice principal.

The Superintendent said that it could manage for the day but expressed concern that if the strike continues not only the hospital’s functioning but also the student nurses will get affected. With the hospital already feeling the pinch of a shortage of full-time nurses, 40 staff nurses going on strike has halved the existing manpower in the 160-bed hospital.

Meanwhile, the Dimapur unit of the NSNA met the civil society today having a joint meeting with the Naga Council Dimapur, Naga women Hoho Dimapur and the ACAUT.

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‘No green signal from the govt, agitation to continue’

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Naga Hoho accuses Gov of alienating NE ‘Nagaland needs a vibrant statistical system’

DIMAPUR, JUNE 29 (MExN): The Naga Hoho today slammed Nagaland state Governor, PB Acharya for propagating “agendas detrimental to the very existence of the North East.”

Citing a speech, which the Nagaland Governor allegedly made at Mayaput Temple in West Bengal on June 26, the Naga quoted the Governor as saying: “There are some states where Krishna name cannot be taken. It’s a forbidden place, in our own country. If you say, ‘Hare Krishna Hare Krishna’ you What do want? US of Nagawill be punished. Such land? places are also there in the

Don’t touch unidentified objects, warns Police

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Northeast. Let us change this mindset and take the Krishna philosophy to all the corners of the Northeast and club the eight states with one name NAMASTE.” Expressing concern that the constitutional head of the state would utter such statements, the Naga Hoho demanded that the Governor “come out openly and expose the state(s) of the Northeast which/who had carried out the persecution against the followers of Krishna…”

“Isn’t it a breach and failure as the head of the state to protect, promote

and uphold secular fabric at the highest platform?” the Naga Hoho questioned. “Will the Northeast grow at par with the rest of the country together without witnessing any attacks based on race, culture, appearances etc., if the Northeast people embrace the philosophy of Krishna?” it asked and stated that “such ideologies” are a “threat” to the existence of secularism.

Terming the Governor’s speech as “derogatory speech,” the Naga Hoho accused him of inciting religious sentiments and further alienating the North East.

Our Correspondent Kohima | June 29

Parliamentary Secretary for Economics & Statistics and Municipal Affairs, R Tohanba today stressed on the need for the state to have a vibrant statistical system. “In absence of accurate statistics, the state would be a back bencher for which we need a vibrant statistical system,” said Tohanba while addressing the National Statistics Day here this morning.

Statistics is not only a science of averages but a weapon in the hands of the planner, he said adding

that statistics mirror the state/nation as it reflects all the systems and functions of the government in different aspects.

Tohanba further urged officials of the Economics and Statistics Department to execute their duties diligently and with dedication. He acknowledged the officers and staff of the department for their hard works and contribution to the state and hoped that they would maintain high standards in the future as well.

Touching on the theme “Environmental impact on socio-economic de-

velopment,” Tohanba said “We must first analyze ourselves the importance of it. It is evident from the proceeding that the socioeconomic impact is a complex, yet important aspect of development which is to be analyzed.”

He said that an essential step towards achieving sustainable development is the proper utilization of natural resources with due perseverance to balance the eco system. “The degradation of environment and its natural resources is caused by weak economic development, for which the remedy is to impart

NSCN (K) commander Manipur denies receiving info arrested by NIA in Chandel on Army strike inside Myanmar

Guwahati/New Delhi, JuNe 29 (iaNS): The NIA on Monday said it has arrested a self-styled regional commander of Naga militant outfit NSCN-K who masterminded the June 4 ambush on an Indian Army convoy in Manipur.

According to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Khumlo Abi Anal of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K) was arrested from Chandel district of Manipur. Eighteen army personnel were killed when a convoy of 6 Dogra Regiment was ambushed on June 4 by militants in Paraolong village in Chandel district bordering Myanmar.

A statement issued by the NIA said this was the first arrest in its investigation into the killing. “The accused Khumlo Abi was initially arrested by Manipur Police on June 11. Today (Monday), the NIA arrested him and produced him in

the court of the Special NIA judge in Imphal. The judge sent him to nine days NIA custody till July 7,” said an NIA official.

The statement said investigation into the attack revealed that Khumlo Abi Anal alias Ambison was a “senior functionary of the outfit and he was extensively involved in the conspiracy to attack the army personnel”. The militant was in touch with the other attackers “before and after the attack” on June 4, it said.

The NSCN-K had ambushed the army convoy in association with Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) and the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP). The NIA’s Guwahati branch has re-registered a case over the incident in compliance with an order issued by the union home ministry, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Arms Act, Explosive Substances Act, and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Our Correspondent Imphal | June 29

Manipur Home Minister, Gaikhangam today refused to officially acknowledge reports on the recent Indian Army surgical strike against insurgents responsible for the Chandel ambush that killed 18 soldiers on June 4.

The national media quoting intelligence reports had said dozens of insurgents belonging to the groups responsible for the deadly attack were killed inside Myanmar territory in the cross-border operation on June 9.

The NSCN (K), Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) and Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) had

claimed responsibility for the June 4 attack. The outfits had also refuted the army claim on the surgical strike against them inside Myanmar territory bordering Nagaland and Manipur.

Gaikhangam was replying to a question raised by Naga People’s Front (NPF) MLA Samuel Risom in the Manipur state assembly.

The Home Minister told the House that one insurgent - each from NSCN (K) and KYKL were killed in army retaliation during the Chandel attack, but refused to elaborate on the army strike against the insurgents inside Myanmar territory and the exact casualties inflicted on the insurgents. “The State Government did not receive

official information about the surgical strike,” he said.

Gaikhangam acknowledged the fact that almost all villagers fled fearing army reprisals following the Chandel ambush. He claimed that Paraolon, Challong, Kotal Khunthak, Libong, Moltuk and Duthang were deserted as the army intensified its hunt for insurgents in the area in the aftermath of the ambush. “But the villagers have now returned homes,” he added.

“The villagers are now safe. The police as well as the Army and Assam Rifles are presently providing security protection to them.

No unwanted incidents have been reported so far,” he stated.

proper education to preserve natural resources by executing the developmental process vice versa for the upliftment of the economy of the region.”

The Parliamentary Secretary further said that development depends upon the environmental systems and lamented the absence of proper and friendly environment. “Therefore, every single step taken in considering the developmental activities should be balanced. Then only it can be certain that the development and the social impact on the environment are stable,” he added.

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UTNA poster campaign on July 2 DiMaPuR, JuNe 29 (MexN): The Unemployed Trained Nurses Association (UTNA) is scheduled to undertake a poster campaign on July 2 at all the district headquarters of Nagaland state. A press note from the UTNA informed that this campaign is aimed at sensitizing the people to “support us in our move against the adamant attitude of the government towards our many plights.”

The UTNA revealed that as per its survey, there is present shortage of about 348 posts Staff Nurse plus 30% on leave reservation in the state as per the norms of the Indian Nursing Council (INC). “This non-creation of requisite number of post as per the INC norms is not only assassination of our careers but also denying the much needed medical services to the people of Nagaland,” the UTNA said.

The UTNA has called upon all sections to support its poster campaign.

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Dimapur

Tuesday

LocaL

30 June 2015

Felicitation for HSLC Naga toppers today Kohima, June 29 (mexn): In honour of Naga toppers 2015 in High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) examination 2015, the Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) is organizing a felicitation programme on June 30 here at Zonal Council Hall at 11:00 AM. This programme is designed for all bonafide Naga students who had come in top 20 position in the HSLC examination 2015.

Minister for school education & SCERT Yitachu will grace the occasion as the chief guest.

The function will be chaired

by NSF assistant general secretary Christopher while welcome address will be delivered by NSF general secretary Boveio Poukai Duo. NSF president Subenthung will share greeting while introduction will be made by NSF secretary information & publicity Menang Longchar.

Dr. Vetso Koza, assistant pastor CBCK will pronounce invocation prayer while felicitation will be led by NSF secretary education Imtiyapang.

Chentisangla Longkumer will deliver speech on behalf of the toppers. Vote of thanks will be proposed by NSF vice president Shikavi Achumi.

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Nagaland observes National Statistics Day

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Our Correspondent Kohima | June 29

A group of children plants a tree during the first social reformation event of the Seyochung Village Students’ Union (SVSU) held at Seyochung village on June 22. The reformation programme included plantation of trees, checking of expiry products, cleanliness drive and visit to the Community Health Centre. SVSU vice-president, K. Chumseli Anar in his address to the gathering encouraged every individual, family, clubs and NGOs to initiate and plant more tress.

He requested the villagers involved in jhum cultivation to preserve the forest for a balanced eco-system. SVSU vicepresident while appreciation the shopkeepers for their services rendered to the villagers, also warned that the union will be the watchdog and monitor the selling of expired goods, appropriate action initiated against the defaulters. He also informed the villagers about the harmful effect of packed food and other products.

Training on prevention of Wildlife Crime underway

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The Morung Express

Dimapur, June 29 (mexn): A two-day training programme for Prevention of Wildlife Crime, Investigation and Intelligence Collection began at Forest Office Complex, Dimapur, on June 29 for Forest Officers namely DFOs, ACFs, RFOs and Dy RFOs. A press note informed that Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Government of India and Nagaland Forest Department jointly organised the programme.

Dr. Neikiesalie Kire, Forest Minister, while inaugurating the event as chief guest spoke about the genesis and status of wildlife crime, difference of wildlife crime with general crime. He appreciated the efforts of WCCB, MoEF for con-

ducting the training. He lauded the conservation successes of Forest Department quoting example of Zero hunting of Amur Falcon since 2013. He also admired the resolve of NBCC not to serve any wild meat.

He appealed all to follow the same to effectively reduce wildlife crime in Nagaland and requested forest officials to check in check-gates for wildlife smuggling. He requested WCCB on behalf of the Forest Department to open a WCCB cell in Nagaland too and reinforce resources since Nagaland seems to be a critical transit location.

M. Lokeswara Rao, PCCF and HoFF, Nagaland while delivering the welcome address briefed about the background of illegal wildlife trade in our country and world and quoted it to be in the magnitude of

7 lakh for the birds alone which is rarely reported. He cited wildlife crime as the third largest illegal trade after arms and narcotics running in USD 19 billion which is taking huge toll on important biodiversity of India and Nagaland, like tiger, elephant, rhino, pangolins monitor lizards, tokay gecko, medicinal plants via identified trade routes from whole country to GuwahatiDimapur-Imphal-Myanmar and then to the whole world.

Kamal Dutta, Joint Director, WCCB, MoEF&CC spoke on the role of Wildlife Crime Control Bureau MoEF&CC in prevention and control of wildlife crime. He deliberated on various wildlife legislations and the wildlife crime scenario in India and the World and role of WCCB in combating wildlife

crime. He also informed that there will be mock drill of smuggling, so that the officers will get firsthand experience.

Obed Zeliang, ACF, and Imkongsunep, RFO, shared their experiences of exposure visit to Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand, about the various aspects of ecotourism and endangered species conservation. A. Roy Choudhary, Assistant Director, S V Shesadri, Assistant Director, SR Majumdar, SP Retd, and Borah were also present as resource persons from WCCB. Satya Prakash Tripathi, Chief Wildlife Warden, Nagaland, requested for training of judicial magistrates for interpretation of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 in true letter and spirit.

Nagaland along with the rest of the country today observed National Statistics Day here under the theme “Environmental impact on socio-economic development” with parliamentary secretary for economics & statistics and municipal affairs R. Tohanba as the chief guest.

Speaking on the occasion, Tohanba said in recognition of the notable contributions made by Late Prof. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis in the fields of economic planning and statistical development, Government of India has designed 29th June every year, considering with his birth anniversary as “Statistics Day,” He said the objective of the day is to create awareness, especially among the younger generation to draw inspirations from late Prof. Mahalanobis about the role of statistics in socio-economic planning and policy formulation.

Tohanba also encouraged all the qualified and competent statisticians and a related professionals to join and manage the statistical l systems for better tomorrow.

He also reminded the officers and staff of the department taking an example of Late Prof. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, to dedicate in their works with sincerity by delivering the best of their abilities and to extend in things they do in order to maintain the perfection in their workmanship, “as there are still many challenges ahead and so should ensure that each one of you must shoulder responsibilities and be committed to professional excellence.”

Amba Jamir, executive director Sustainable Development Forum Nagaland (SDFN) spoke on the occasion as the theme speaker.

He regretted that many processes in mountains states like ours are still poorly understood, and the few data and statistics available are disaggregated.

Most data available with governments have been based upon expenditure planning and with little investigative or analytical data. “Climate change and the increasing incidence of natural hazards call for new types and sources of information,” Jamir said.

He continued that improved understanding of the socio-cultural and institutional framework and policy and decisionmaking processes is necessary to direct

Parliamentary secretary for economics & statistics and municipal affairs R. Tohanba addressing National Statistics Day in Kohima on June 29. (Morung Photo)

development efforts.

He said the impacts of environment or socio-economic development are interlinked and the degradation of eco system services will harm the poorest of the poor the most.

“If development in our state is not planned well, it will have tremendous impacts not just on the environment but definitely on our state’s socio-economic development too. Unfortunately the scale of rampant, unplanned and unmonitored developments are increasing almost everywhere unchecked and that means no reliable data to even project impacts; leave aside planning for the future,” Jamir said.

He said the velocity of environmental change is fast and increasing. The challenges ahead demand vision and boldness, adding that such complex and difficult transitions ahead demand popular support.

“This will only be realized if ideas connect with heart and emotions and statistics relate to ground realities. In terms of decisions, the choices ahead are essentially political, and engagement in debate must centre on central questions of ethics and cultural values,” he said.

Earlier, Kevileno Angami secretary to Government of Nagaland, department of economics & statistics delivered welcome address. The function was chaired

by Y. Sacheo Ovung, director economics & statistics. Limongi Ovung presented a special number while vote of thanks was proposed by R. Kronu, joint director economics & statistics.

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Nukhu lays foundation ARTC & School Inter battalion quiz competition held NPF 59 A/C consultative meeting held stone for New Model College C M Y K

Dimapur, June 29 (mexn): Inter battalion quiz competition was organised at ARTC & School, Shokhuvi on June 29 wherein teams of all the three training battalions and one women recruit training company of ARTC & School participated.

Brigadier K Narayanan, Commandant, ARTC & School was the chief guest on the occasion.

A press note informed that a total of 60 contestants comprising 15 contestants from each training battalion and women training company “Lushai” took part in the event. The major objective to conduct the Parliamentary Secretary Deo Nukhu and YM Yollow with others during the laying of the founquiz competition was to indation stone of New Model College, Wakching held on June 27. (DIPR Photo) culcate awareness and upmon, June 29 (Dipr): Parliamentary Honje Konyak expressed gratitude to Par- lift the intellectual level of Secretary for Higher Education & Techni- liamentary Secretary, Yollow stating that troops of ARTC & School. cal Education, Deo Nukhu laid the foun- the New Model College is a noble project. dation stone of New Model College, Wak- Further, DC said Wakching should become ching under Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha the capital of education.

Additional Director of Higher EducaAbhiyan (RUSA) - National Higher Education Mission under the Ministry of Human tion cum State Project Director of RUSA, Morung Express News Resource Development (MHRD), Govern- Dr Noraho Nobert gave a brief introducment of India, 28 kms away from Mon on tion where he said that the new institution Mokokchung | June 29 in Wakching in a new beginning He said Saturday June 27.

Deo Nukhu addressing the occasion that local MLA & Parliamentary Secretary, Mokokchung Skills Deasked the people to unite for development. Yollow has put in efforts for College site se- velopment Institute, a The Parliamentary Secretary hoped that lection at Wakching. branch of the Dimapur L.N. Konyak, Director of Treasuries & based Pinnacle Skills, was B.Sc degree course would be launched in few years time. Deo Nukhu informed that Accounts, who hails from Wakching vil- formally inaugurated by he has already suggested to the Minister lage hoped that the establishment of New Mokokchung ADC Rajesh for School Education, Yitachu to launch Model College would serve education, (IAS) here today at SangHigher Secondary in Science stream and economy and employment for the people. temla Ward.

Other speakers included Humpong, to produce more teachers in Maths and The institute will be imretired Ranger, President of Konyak Union, Science. parting vocational training Parliamentary Secretary YM Yollow in Manlep, Henpong, Chairman of Wakchto interested candidates in his speech said that Human Resource De- ing Village Council and Kemangh, Angh the field of hospitality and of Wakching.

Earlier in the programme, invelopment is very important and hoped that the College would develop its stan- vocation was pronounced by Thremnyei, aviations with a maximum dard and attract students from other parts Pastor of Wakching Town Baptist Church. intake of twenty-five candiof the country. He cautioned against any Government officials from various depart- dates per batch.

The chief guest, ADC taxation demand called for peaceful atmo- ment, NGOs and public leaders attended the programme. SDO (Civil) Wakching, Y. Rajesh (IAS), while speaksphere development. ing at the inaugural proDeputy Commissioner (DC), Mon, W. Chingak presided over the programme. gramme, said that an institute like the Mokokchung Skills Development Institute is very important for Kohima, June 29 importance at the grass Pension Scheme (NPS) the Mokokchung and also (Dipr): For the smooth root level. He assured that which was implemented the Naga society.

He said that the Indian function of the district of- the suggestions & prob- in the year 2010 and said fice and to keep good rap- lems raised by various sec- that this new scheme pol- society today have a maxiport between the director- tions in-charge would be icy is more beneficial. The mum population of those ate officials and district looked after and their re- Kohima district staff is like between 16-40 years. By staff, Additional Director quirements would be taken an extension services as- 2020-22, then population IPR, Limawati Longchar into consideration for the sisting the Directorate and will be the main force in visited the DPRO Office, betterment of the Depart- who are also getting more the country; and therefore, privileges than other dis- these population needs to Kohima and held a meet- ment.

Emphasising on work tricts, and called upon the be trained with the right ing with the districts staff at DPRO Kohima on June 26. ethics in the Office, Li- district staff to be more sin- skills so that they will beThe Additional Direc- mawati said that prompt cere and dedicated to de- come skilled worked force.

Likewise, the Naga society, tor, in his brief meeting action would be strictly tak- velop the Department.

DPRO Kohima, Ruofu- which was a huge numsaid that the Department en if any staff is found takhas been visiting the dis- ing bribe while dealing in lenuo H. Mepfhuo who also ber of youths, needs to be trict offices to see the work- any office matters. He also delivered the vote of thanks, trained with the appropriate skills so that they can ing condition and give due highlighted on the New chaired the meeting.

The event was conducted in a systematic and comprehensive manner. A total of five rounds comprising option round, transfer round, rapid round, audio-visual round and lucky round were conducted in the event. All the contestants showed high level of enthusiasm and intellectual in the competition. In order to involve the audience, some questions were asked from audience also. Audio-visual round was most interesting humourous round of the competition.

Speaking on this occasion, chief guest Brigadier K Narayanan, Commandant, ARTC & School appreciated the intellectual level of contestants and the organising staff for conducting the event in sys-

tematic and professional manner. Expressing the satisfaction over the cognition level of troops, chief guest said that it is matter of pride for ARTC & School to have such level of intelligence of troops.

On the basis of aggregate marks gained in the event, No 3 Training Battalion was adjudged the best team with highest points and was awarded Inter Training Battalion Quiz Competition Championship Trophy for the year 2015.

No 1 Training Battalion, Lushai Company and No 2 Training Battalion of ARTC & School secured 2nd, 3rd and 4th position respectively in the competition.

The Chief Guest gave away the prizes to winner teams of each round.

Kohima, June 29 (mexn): The annual consultative meeting of the Naga People’s Front (NPF) 59 A/C (Seyochung-Sitimi) was held today at Capital Convention centre Kohima with C. Kipili Sangtam Minister for Power Nagaland as the speaker.

Addressing the gathering, Kipili who hails from the 59 Assembly Constituency under Kiphire district asked the party leaders to use wisdom in solving misunderstanding in the area.

He said that with the support of the Party leaders he can stand in the state level and thus sought continuous support from them.

The minister also highlighted the Sate programme and functions

of NPF party in the state.

He apprised and emphasised Agri and allied sector which will benefit directly to the villager.

While appealing them to reaffirm the unity amongst the party workers, he also appealed for a common vision for the betterment of the constituency. Kipili further appealed the gathering to be truthful and straight forward as leaders and focus on future generations.

In the second session, there was a deliberation for systemic distribution of LADP 2013-14 Fund and DUDA to the genuine person in the constituency.

All rank and file of NPF 59 A/C attended the programme.

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Mokokchung Skills Development Institute inaugurated

IPR Director calls for sincerity, dedication

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ADC Mokokchung, Rajesh IAS along with others after the inauguration of the Mokokchung Skills Development Institute on Monday, June 29. (Morung Photo)

become professionals and earn their own livelihood.

He therefore appreciated the initiative to establish the institution and expressed that the administration and the government will also render their help towards the institute.

The CEO of Pinnacle Skills Training Institute, Dr Yan Murry, while giving a highlight of the institute, said that the Mokokchung Skills Development Institute was the fourteenth institute of Pinnacle Skills being established in four states – Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya and Nagaland. He disclosed that

the institute has already trained more than 3000 students and have found placement for more than 2000 students. He also disclosed that the Pinnacle Skills is one among the 207 institutes registered with the NSDC (National Skill Development Corporation).

He maintained that Mokokchung is a very important place and through this district, ‘Pinnacle Skills want to penetrate to other districts like Tuensang and Longleng’.

Representatives from the Ao Kaketshir Mungdang (AKM), Mokokchung

Town Lanur Telongjem and other entrepreneurs also attended the inaugural programme.

AKM Asst Gen Secy, S Shilukaba Longchar, while speaking at the programme, said that the AKM since its inception has always been concerned for the unemployment problem in the society and has conducting different activities like workshops, seminars and other works to tackle the unemployment problem. In this regard, he said that by opening the MSDI, it has opened ‘a window’ for the AKM initiatives to make the stu-

dents skilled and reach their goals.

MTLT president, Imkummeren Jamir also appreciated the work of Pinnacle Skills and said that it was a blessing for the youths and the Mokokchung district.

Entrepreneur Sangkong Jamir also asserted that the opening of the institute indicates that we are moving forward. Saying that Pinnacle Skills is bridging the needy ones in the society, Sangkong expressed hope that the institute will impact the people and hoped that it will grow bigger for the benefit of all.

On the sidelines, entrepreneur and proprietor of Mokokchung Skills Development Institute, Lijenkala Kichu, said that she chose Pinnacle Skills because it is a Naga set-up and it cares for the Nagas. She also said that she decided to open the institute not as a business initiative but as a venture for the people. She urged the people to avail the trainings at the institute which will be imparted by trained and experienced people.

The Institute was dedicated by Mokokchung Town Baptist Church (MTBA) pastor, Rev Ponen Longchar.

C M Y K

REgional

The Morung Express

Tuesday

30 June 2015

Dimapur

3

82% of roads along China border unfinished NEW DELHI, JuNE 29 (IANS/INDDIASpEND): In 2006-07, India approved the construction of 73 strategic roads along the Sino-Indian border, but 82 percent of these - scheduled to be ready by 2012 - are unfinished. The new deadline: 2018.

Despite ambitious plans, India cannot seem to catch up with China in building infrastructure and militarising the 3,488 km border between the two countries.

The roads are part of a quiet but extensive Indian borderstrengthening plan, which includes a new army corps of 35,000 (down from 90,000) soldiers, specifically to counter China’s burgeoning conventional forces across the Himalayas, and 14 strategic rail links to deploy troops and supplies.

Northeast Briefs

Myanmarese held for carrying heroin

There is little doubt that India is wary of Chinese abilities and intentions, despite recent declarations of peace. “It is not a volatile border. Not a single bullet has been fired for over a quarter of a century now,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in an interview with TIME magazine ahead of a visit to China.

Modi and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also agreed to “resolve outstanding differences” and maintain “peace and tranquillity” but on the border, “transgressions” - as Chinese posturing and troop forays along the unmarked Line of Actual Control (LAC) are called are common.

As many as 1,612 transgressions by Chinese troops inside Indian territory took place between 2010 and August 2014,

according to data released by bridge, 9.15-km long, will be the home ministry. thrown open later this year.

It'll cost Rs.876 crore (nearly New roads are being built, $140 million) and is meant to but progress is slow “While our neighbouring bear the 41.5 tonne T-72 tanks countries can reach the borders and cut travel time to the Lohit within two or three hours, our district of Arunachal Pradesh, army takes more than a day to which lies along the LAC. reach there. This is a matter of Rail plans are still only plans, great concern with regard to our while China nears the border defence preparedness.”

India envisages urgently This is the observation of a building four rail lines in the parliamentary committee on states of Arunachal Pradesh, defence, alluding to the situ- Assam, Himachal Pradesh, and ation in Tawang in Arunachal Jammu & Kashmir, stretching Pradesh.

1,352 km, to be built collectiveNo more than 19 of 73 ap- ly by the ministries of railways proved roads have been built, and defence. according to the report.

While final surveys continue, Delays on 40 roads have China is already extending existpushed deadlines by as far as ing rail lines to the border: ToYasix years, while construction of tung, a trade centre close to Siktwo roads has not started. kim, and Nyingchi, a small town In Assam, India’s longest bordering Arunachal Pradesh.

Both projects are expected to be completed by 2020.

China recently completed a railway line connecting the Tibetan capital of Lhasa to Shigatze, a town close to Nathu La, a strategic border post connecting Sikkim with the Tibetan Autonomous region.

Besides the contentious border, the Sino-Indian border dispute is also fuelled by the Chinese claim to nearly 90,000 sq. km of Arunachal Pradesh, which it refers to as South Tibet, and the Indian claim that China illegally occupied nearly 30,000 sq km of the deserted Aksai Chin region of northern Jammu and Kashmir after the 1962 war.

Chinese airfields grow stronger Six key civilian Chinese airfields in Tibet are being expanded to handle military

operations,according to Air Marshal M. Matheswaran (retd), former Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff for Policy, Plans and Force Development.

Alongside, he said, China is deploying advanced military aircraft and support systems such as air-to-air refuelling capabilities, airborne advance warning systems, sensors, air-defence systems and missile stocks.

By contrast, India recently opened three advanced landing grounds (ALGs) in J&K’s Ladakh region at Daulat Beg Oldi, Fuk Che and Nyoma, all close to the LAC. Daulat Beg Oldi is the world’s highest airfield at 16,614 feet. It is about 10 km from the Sino-Indian border and has seen regular landing of heavy transport aircraft.

But such landing grounds

Landlosers move HC seeking Mizo officials reach Hampsapara relief camp proper rehab package AIzAWL, JuNE 29 (pTI): Mizoram government officials reached Hampsapara relief camp in North Tripura district to conduct verification of bonafide residents of states among the Brus lodged in the camp from today, a state home department official said.

Any Bru coming forward and identified as the resident of Mizoram would be repatriated from Monday next, Addi-

tional Secretary, Home, Lalbiakzama said.

Earlier, not a single Bru appeared before the Mizoram officials at the Kaskau and Khakchangpara relief camps in North Tripura district for identification during the days scheduled for identification at the camps.

Identification was conducted at Kaskau camp from June 2-7 and at Khakchangpara camp from June 15-18 while the

identification process at the Hamsapara camp would continue till July 2.

Following instructions from the Supreme Court to repatriate all the Brus from the six relief camps in North Tripura district within six months, the Centre and the state government initiated resumption of the repatriation.

Mizoram government prepared Road Map-IV for Bru repatriation com-

AIzAWL, JuNE 29 (pTI): A Myanmarese national was among three persons arrested for allegedly carrying 54 grams of heroin here.

The three persons, including two women and one of them a Myanmarese national, were arrested from different areas of the state capital yesterday, Mizoram Excise and Narcotics department spokesperson Peter Zohmingthanga said today. Meanwhile, the Young Mizo Association (YMA) handed over a suspected drug trafficker with five grams of heroin to the excise and narcotics department authorities today, he said.

GuWAHATI, JuNE 29 (TNN): Scared of losing their homes and paddy fields falling on the way of construction of NH-54 under the East West Corridor II project in NC Hills, at least 17 families have recently moved the Gauhati high court praying for proper rehabilitation. The Indigenous Biodiversity and Human Right Organisation (IBHRO), a human rights body, representing the families, has filed a PIL before the high court seeking its intervention.

The rights group in its petition said the ongoing construction of the highway has led to eviction of several families and damaged forest and fertile lands since 2007.

It alleged poor villagers have lost their homes and paddy fields, their lone source of income, without a proper compensation and relocation package.

IBHRO president Neikhol Haolai, who is also the petitioner in the case, said, "The HC asked the

APCSD demands resignations of Swaraj, Raje

Indian attack on rebels in Myanmar drew blank

ITANAGAR, JuNE 29 (pTI): A Congress outfit today staged a protest here against the Centre over the ongoing row surrounding former IPL chief Lalit Modi and sought resignations of its Union minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. Activists of the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Seva Dal (APCSD) raised slogans against the NDA government, held placards and demanded resignations of Swaraj and Raje for their alleged involvement in the Lalit Modi controversy.

The activists also demanded that Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani should step down over allegations that she provided false information about her educational qualification.

100 taken ill after taking 'prasad' at a place of worship RANGIyA, JuNE 29 (pTI): At least one hundred people were taken ill after eating 'prasad' at a public Namghar (place of worship for Vaishnavites) at Maukuchi, an official said today. The people ate 'prasad' offered on Saturday and started complaining since yesterday, Rangiya Sub Divisional Officer Mukut Phukan said.

"The people complained of uneasiness since yesterday but the situation turned serious this morning when they started vomiting," he said.

While most of the people were being treated at local hospital in Rangiya, some were shifted to the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital and the Guwahati Neurological Research Centre, Phukan said. "At present, the condition of all the affected people is under control. We have also set up a health camp in the village for check-ups," he said. The SDO said an inquiry had been ordered into the incident.

are not full-fledged air bases.

They are landing strips that can be used to drop-off troops and supplies.

This is why the Indian Air Force wants to upgrade the Nyoma landing ground by 2016-17 to station fighter jets and provide logistical support to the paramilitary Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Ladakh Scouts, an Indian Army unit.

In Arunachal Pradesh, advanced landing grounds are being developed at Tawang, Mechuka, Vijaynagar, Tuting, Passighat, Walong, Ziro and Along, at a cost of Rs.720 crore.

Meanwhile, the Indian Air Force has to deploy its frontline Sukhoi SU-30MKI aircraft at Chabua and Tezpur air bases in Assam, up to 405 km from the border. The combat jet can cover this distance in less than 15 minutes.

administration and the villagers to maintain a status-quo regarding the eviction notice served to the villagers on June 21. It also said that the pendency of the petition will not bar the respondents from settling the matter with the petitioners," Haolai said. The HC will take up the matter again in August.

Haolai added the 17 families, mostly farmers and daily labourers live across 37 bighas of land in four villages of Songhbung, Jaron, Kelelo and Jatinga. They would lose everything without any proper rehabilitation package. "Poor people's lands were acquired without environment restoration and social impact assessment (SIA). We are not against the construction of the national highway but only demanding proper rehabilitation of the villagers," the petitioner added.

The villagers decided to move the HC after the autonomous council overlooked their demands.

NEW DELHI, JuNE 29 (VOA): Days after the Indian army announced it had inflicted “significant casualties” on insurgents in an operation inside Myanmar, an Indian intelligence official said the “hot pursuit” actually failed to kill any of the Naga rebels it had targeted.

Recent wireless intercepts and information collated from interviews by Indian intelligence operatives revealed that the rebels from National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K), who carried out a deadly ambush on Indian soldiers in the northeastern border state of Manipur on June 4, escaped the army operation unscathed, the official said.

It took time to collect information from the remote areas and analyze them, the official told the Hindustan Times. “But it's clear (now) that the NSCN (K) insurgents remain unscathed,” the intelligence official said about the operation.

mencing from June 1 which is slated to continue till September 4. As per the road map, 3,455 Bru families were proposed to be repatriated and resettled in Mamit, Kolasib and Lunglei districts.

Lalbiakzama said that efforts to repatriate would continue as per schedule even if noone came forward for identification in the relief camps.

"We have to implement the instructions of

the apex court in letter and spirit," Lalbiakzama said, adding that the Supreme Court approved the road map prepared by the state government.

Plans to repatriate the Brus who migrated from Mizoram to Tripura during the later part of 1997 was stalled repeatedly as the Bru leaders made a series of demands including increase of rehabilitation package from Rs 85,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh.

‘Illegal construction by Assam violates border agreements’ ITANAGAR, JuNE 29 (TNN): Arunachal Pradesh legislative assembly speaker Nabam Rebia on Sunday took serious exception to the 'illegal' construction of a beat house by Assam government at Ragaso village under the Taraso circle of Papum Pare district.

ambushed an Indian army convoy and killed at least 20 soldiers in Manipur. It was the deadliest single insurgent attack on the Indian army in three decades, media reported.

After the ambush, the rebels belonging to United National Liberation Front of West South East Asia (UNLFWSEA), an NSCN-K led umbrella body that claimed responsibility for the attack, reportedly fled into neighboring Myanmar. Five days after the ambush, Indian special forces commandos entered Myanmar’s Sagaing province and launched strikes there.

An Indian army spokesman initially said the attacks on the camps “along the Indo-Myanmar border” inflicted “significant casualties” on the rebels.

"There were two camps. Both camps were struck and were completely annihilated," said junior Information and Broadcasting Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, a former army colonel. Although Indian authorities did not say how Attack, counterattack On June 4, a group of around many rebels were killed in the 30 rebels, armed with rocket-pro- operation, Indian media quoted pelled grenades and sniper rifles, anonymous army sources as put-

"It is in violation of the agreements signed between both the state governments to maintain status quo in the disputed areas," Rebia said in a statement here.

"This also disrespects the Supreme Court which has been hearing the report of a single-

ting the figure at 18 to 38.

Casualties denied But immediately after the Indian operation, the NSCN-K said that none of its members or any of its associates had been killed.

Last week, rights activist Debabrata Roy Laifungbam visited the area where the camps are located and said he and other members of an Indian Red Cross Society team found no evidence of death or injury. “All villagers we met on the Myanmar side said that the operation by the Indian soldiers did not result in any casualty among the rebels,” he said. “There was not even an injury among the rebels. In fact, they were far away from the place where the Indian operation took place that day, several sources from the villages said,” he told VOA. Ajai Sahni, executive director of New Delhi-based Institute for Conflict Management said, it was abundantly clear that the operation was nowhere near the kind of success that the Indian government sought to paint it as. "The

man commission on AssamArunachal inter-state boundary dispute," Rebia added.

It took quite some time to bring the situation under control after the recent Behali incident and it was shocking that Assam had resorted to such illegal actions which would provoke the

most likely reason is that the operation was mounted, not for reasons of military efficacy or imperatives, but because of inordinate political pressures to produce ‘results’ within an irrational and politically imposed time frame."

Sahni said to VOA. Operation ‘sent a message’ But North Eastern Hill University professor Prasenjit Biswas, a Myanmar expert, said that although the rebels did not suffer any casualties, the operation sent a stern warning to them. “The June 9 operation has at least sent a message to the rebels that the Indian army is all out to take them on," he said.

He added that, “Respecting Myanmar's sovereignty also remains a constraint on this whole attempt at flushing out non-state actors who operate from foreign soil.”

A senior Myanmar government official said the military operation did not cross over to his country’s territory. He added that on its soil, Myanmar would not allow any activity that was detrimental to the interest of a neighboring country.

people of Arunachal Pradesh again.

Rebia, who represents the Doimukh assembly constituency which includes Taraso, has urged the Assam government to immediately stop such provocative act for maintaining peace along the border areas.

CHILD MISSING Name : Itova V. Aye Studying in (Class-VII), Eden Garden School Gender

: Male

Age

: 12 Years

Height

: 4ft 5 inch

Complexion : Fair Missing since : 22nd June 2015 from Thilixu area, Dimapur.

Finder may please contact 8729880860/ 9089778978.

AFFIDAVIT Regd. No. : 6752/2015 – Date: 23/06/15

I, Smti. Akumsungla alias Akumsungla Aier, D/o Lepzungchiba of Longjang Village, Dist.

Mokokchung and presently residing at New Colony, Chumukedima, Nagaland hereby solemnly declare that my name AKUMSUNGLA & AKUMSUNGLA AIER are same and refer to one person only.

From today I shall be known by both names AKUMSUNGLA or AKUMSUNGLA AIER in all my official records & correspondence.

GOVERNMENT OF NAGALAND OFFICE OF THE GENERAL MANAGER

NAGALAND STATE TRANSPORT NAGALAND, DIMAPUR

NO. NST/EV/43/VOL-11/2015-16/571

Dated: 25/06/15

NOTICE Pursuant to Government Order NO. TPT/NST/CONDM-1/12 Dt. 01/06/2015, the under mentioned allottes of the condemned buses given against each of the allottes are hereby inform to take delivery of the buses by depositing the prescribed amount at Scrape Value under Treasury Challan favouring the General Manager, NST Nagaland: Dimapur.

Vehicle No Name 1.

NL-11/0598 Shri. Wasuo Khing 2.

NL-11/-610 Shri. Lanpang Kohima 3.

NL-11/0826 Shri. K. Neihu Suokhrie 4.

NL-11/0927 Shri. Aochuba Yaden 5.

NL-11/0975 Shri. P. Konyak 6.

NL-11/0936 Shri. Z. Lhoungu 7.

NL-11/0969 Shri. Nuvezo Vero 8.

NL-11/0981 Shri. Abenthung Lotha 9.

NL-11/0980 Smti. Arenla Ao 10.

NL-11/0973 Shri. P. Jonathan Konyak 11.

NL-11/0950 Shri. Purtoshi Mon The allottees are to claim the vehicles at “Scrap Value” within a period of one month from the date of issue of this Notice by observing the necessary procedures and obtain Release Order of the Vehicles on “As is and where is” basis.

In the event the allottees failed to claim the buses within the stipulated period, the right to claim shall stand forfeited and the Vehicles shall be disposed off to other interested individual/party.

Sd/General Manager, Nagaland State Transport, Nagaland: Dimapur.

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Tuesday

Dimapur

30 June 2015

The Morung Express

Greece imposes capital controls, banks to remain shut

ATHENS, juNE 29 (AP): Greece’s five-year financial crisis took its most dramatic turn yet, with the cabinet deciding after an 8-hour session that Greek banks would remain shut for six business days and restrictions would be imposed on cash withdrawals. The Athens Stock Exchange would also not open Monday, financial sector officials confirmed.

The moves were meant to staunch the flow of money out of Greek banks and spur the country’s creditors to offer concessions before a bailout program expires Tuesday. The accelerating crisis has thrown into question Greece’s financial future and continued membership in the 19-nation shared euro currency — and even the European Union. Asian stock markets sank with indexes in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney down more than 2 percent. Oil prices and the euro also fell.

For the past two days, Greeks have been rushing to ATMs to withdraw money across the country following Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ sudden weekend decision to call a referendum on creditor proposals for Greek reforms in return for vital bailout funds. A decree published early Monday in the official Govern-

Greek crisis may trigger outflows from India NEW DELHI, juNE 29 (PTI): The economic crisis in Greece may trigger capital outflows from India and the government is consulting the RBI to deal with the situation, Finance Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said today. Stating that the Greece situation has no direct impact on India, he said there may be some indirect effect via Europe on capital inflows and outflows here. “Greece crisis does not have any effect directly on India.

(But) interest rate may firm up in Europe.

In case of firming up of interest rate in Europe, there can be outflow of capital from India,” Mehrishi told reporters here. Terming the situation as dynamic and evolving, he said, the crisis may have an indirect impact on India by way of its outcome on the European currency euro. ment Gazette stipulates banks will not open Monday morning and would remain closed through Monday, July 6. The finance minister could decide to shorten or extend that period.

Withdrawals from ATMs will be capped at 60 euros ($66) daily. The decree said ATMs would be working at the latest 12 hours from its publication, meaning cash machines should open by early afternoon. Web banking transactions would be mostly free, allowing Greeks to pay bills online. However, they can-

“To the extent it affects the euro, there might be some indirect impact on India. If yields on euro bonds go up, then it might impact inflows and outflows from India,” he said.

He said nobody can predict how the situation evolves. “Obviously we are in touch with the RBI but they will do what they have to do,” he said. Asked if any Indian company has an exposure in Greece, he said, “I don’t know.” “If yields on G-Sec go on in the US, then it might impact inflows and outflows in India. We really don’t know how they (foreign investors) will relocate their portfolio,” he added. Greece early today imposed capital controls and closed banks until at least July 6 after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras decided to call a July 5 referendum on a proposed bailout package.

not move money to accounts abroad. Credit and bank cards issued abroad can be used at ATMs with no restrictions, benefiting foreign visitors to Greece and its tourist industry. Anxious tourists had joined locals at ATM lines Sunday, thinking the restrictions would also apply to them. For emergency needs, such as importing medicines or sending remittances abroad, the Greek Treasury was creating a Banking Transactions Approval Committee to examine requests on a case-by-case basis. The de-

cision to impose capital controls came after a Bank of Greece recommendation, Tsipras said during a televised address.

Tsipras blamed the Eurogroup, the gathering of the eurozone’s finance ministers, and its decision to reject a request for the bailout program, which expires June 30. He again asked for it to be extended by a few days to allow for a referendum. The referendum decision, ratified by Parliament after a marathon 13hour session that ended in the early hours of Sunday, shocked

and angered Greece’s European partners. The country’s negotiations with its European creditors have been suspended, with both sides accusing each other of being responsible for talks breaking off. Tsipras also blamed the European Central Bank’s Sunday decision not to increase the amount of emergency liquidity the lenders could access from the central bank — meaning Greece has no way to replenish fast diminishing deposits.

“It is now more than clear that this decision has no other aim than to blackmail the will of the Greek people and prevent the smooth democratic process of the referendum,” Tsipras said. “They will not succeed.

These moves will have the exact opposite effect. They will make the Greek people more determined in their choice to reject the unacceptable ... proposals and ultimatums of the creditors,” he said. In the referendum set for next Sunday, the government is urging Greeks to vote against its creditors’ proposals, arguing that they are humiliating and that they would prolong the country’s financial woes.

Spooked by rumors concerning impending fuel shortages, drivers flooded gas stations across Greece, prompting the

country’s largest refiner, Hellenic Petroleum, to issue a statement reassuring there are sufficient reserves of gasoline to last several months. The rush to gas stations may have been prompted less by worries about shortages than the impending withdrawal limits and rumors, later proven untrue, that the use of credit or debit cards would not be permitted.

Greece’s current bailout expires Tuesday, and the 7.2 billion euros ($8 billion) remaining in it will no longer be available to Greece after that date. Without those funds, Greece is unlikely to be able to pay a 1.6 billion-euro ($1.79 billion) International Monetary Fund debt repayment due the same day. “We don’t know — none of us — the consequences of an exit from the eurozone, either on the political or economic front. We must do everything so that Greece stays in the eurozone,” French Prime Minister Manuel Valls told France’s i-Tele TV earlier Sunday. “But doing everything, that means respecting Greece and democracy, but it’s also about respecting European rules. So Greece needs to come back to the negotiating table,” he said.

Two opinion polls published Sunday indicated that more Greeks want to stay in the euro-

zone and make a deal with creditors than want a rupture with the country’s European partners. Both polls were conducted before Tsipras’ referendum call, but they provide an indication of public sentiment.

In the poll by Alco for the Proto Thema paper, 57 percent said they believed Greece should make a deal while 29 percent wanted a rupture of ties. A Kapa Research poll for To Vima newspaper found that 47.2 percent would vote in favor of a new, painful agreement with Greece’s creditors, compared to 33 percent who would vote no and 18.4 percent undecided.

Both polls were conducted from June 24-26 and had a margin of error of about 3.1 percent. On the banking front, the ECB has said it could reconsider its decision on credit levels. “We continue to work closely with the Bank of Greece and we strongly endorse the commitment of member states in pledging to take action to address the fragilities of euro-area economies,” ECB chief Mario Draghi said. Yannis Stournaras, governor of the Bank of Greece, said the bank would “take all measures necessary to ensure financial stability for Greek citizens in these difficult circumstances.”

‘RBI governor didn’t mention risk of Great Depression’ Amazon to offer loans to sellers in China, 7 other countries MuMbAI, juNE 29 (IANS) Clarifying on Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan’s recent remarks, the RBI has said a section of the media “mis-characterised” the governor as saying that the world is at risk of a Great Depression.

“What Governor Rajan did say, in his remarks made off the attached written text, was that the policies followed by major central banks around the world were in danger of slipping into the kind of beggar-thy-neighbour strategies that were followed in the 1930s,” the RBI said in a statement late on Sunday.

“The Great Depression was a period of great turmoil, caused by many factors and not just beggar-thy-neighbour policies. Governor Rajan did not imply or suggest that there was any risk of the world economy, which is in steady recovery notwithstanding uncertainties like those in the Euro area, slipping into a new Great Depres-

sion,” the statement added.

Speaking at the London Business School last week, Rajan said the policies adopted by major central banks worldwide were in danger of slipping into the kind of beggar-thy-neighbour strategies that were followed in the 1930s, and asked them to define “new rules of the game”.

“I do worry that we are slowly slipping into the kind of problems that we had in the thirties in attempts to activate growth,” Rajan said.

“We need rules of the game in order to effect a better solution. I think it is time to start debating what should the global rules of the game be on what is allowed in terms of central bank action,” he added.

Rajan, who had predicted the 2008 US financial collapse, has been warning that global markets are now at the risk of a crash due to the competitive loose monetary policies being adopted by developed economies.

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 # 3271

O

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Cars and Bikes

nissan

isuzu

toyota

porsche

holden

rangerover

ford

van

mitsubishi

commodore

mazda

pathfinder

rover

swift

suzuki

truck

subaru

ute

honda

mini

harleydavidson

towtruck

volvo

bus

bmw

policecar

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armytruck

hummer

stationwagon

ktm

monstertruck

kawasaki

firetruck

mercedes

mack

jaguar

falcon

volkswagon

ambulance

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W R P V B X O E P H B P O B S W I F T Q

N O P B M W Y V O O F I L I A I J G Z K

D E A D N O H X N D R K C U R T Q T N G

MuMbAI, juNE 29 (REuTERS): Amazon.com Inc will launch its business loan program for small sellers later this year in eight more countries including China, where credit is becoming a key factor in competing for new vendors and grabbing market share. Until now, the e-retailer has offered the service only in the United States and Japan. Amazon Lending, founded in 2012, now plans to offer short-term working capital loans in other countries where it operates a third-party, seller-run marketplace business, the head of Amazon Marketplace, Peter Faricy, told Reuters.

The countries are Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.

The service is on an invite-only basis and is not open to all sellers on Amazon’s platform. Other large retailers including eBay Inc’s PayPal and Alibaba Group Holdings, which run third-party marketplaces, are also turning to credit to boost their vendor base.

Some lending industry officials who help lenders assess credit risk say these retailers are taking on risky loans because they don’t

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I E L H P K D V G N T U U V U Y Q P Z B

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DAILY CROSS WORD

CROSSWORD # 3282

G P R N E U N K A W A S A K I N B L A H

D N G T S U B A R U A G D I D I K E O A

DIMAPUR civil hospital:

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police control room

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indian airlines

229366

1. Vipers 5. A lot 10. Geographic illustrations 14. Nib 15. Moses’ brother 16. Wings 17. 66 in Roman numerals 18. Contour 20. Found on an eyelid 22. The presiding officer 23. 61 in Roman numerals 24. Amount of hair 25. Perculator 32. Not silently 33. Muse of love poetry 34. Historic period 37. Head covering 38. A fencing sword 39. Black, in poetry 40. A very long period 41. Animal toxin 42. Small fatty European fish 43. Removals 45. Floral leaf 49. Possessed 50. Wash 53. Kit for a baby 57. A type of judge

59. Drudgery 60. Burrowing marine mollusk 61. Dash 62. Angers 63. Being 64. Adolescents 65. Cypher

DOWN

1. Competent 2. Alluring 3. Cover with asphalt 4. Adept 5. Famous dog 6. Pledge 7. Arrive (abbrev.)

8. Accomplishes 9. Break 10. Of the cheekbone 11. Similar 12. Windows 13. Clairvoyants 19. Parisian subway 21. Cut down 25. Grotto 26. Margarine 27. Thrust with a knife 28. Intended 29. Leafy shelter 30. Fate

31. French for “Summer” 34. River of Spain 35. A soft sheepskin leather 36. Picnic insects 38. Gender 39. Outbreak 41. Open grassland 42. Remain 44. Maps 45. Location 46. Noblemen 47. Bass horns 48. Japanese cartoon art 51. At one time (archaic) 52. Dash 53. Diving bird 54. Lawn mower brand 55. Fastened 56. If not 58. Foot digit Ans to CrossWord 3281

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Z E R O D O M M O C J M A C K I F K I P

issued 400 billion yuan ($64.42 billion) worth of loans, and the non-performing loan ratio is 1.5 percent, the spokeswoman added.

Amazon offers three- to six-month loans of $1,000 to $600,000 to help merchants buy inventory. It makes money on interest and takes a cut of all sales on its marketplace, which now account for about 40 percent of total Amazon site sales.

Amazon said it has offered hundreds of millions of dollars in loans since 2012, with more than half of its sellers opting for a repeat loan.

The company declined to provide specific figures and also did not say how much it plans to lend this year.

Amazon’s Faricy said the company has become better at understanding the inflection points in a small or medium business where capital can make a difference.

“We know a lot about our sellers’ business and invite only those who we think are in the best position to take capital and grow,” he said. Faricy said Amazon uses internal algorithms to choose sellers based on the frequency with which they run out of stock, the popularity of their products and their inventory cycles.

know the shape of the credit market in which the sellers are operating. Small businesses have high failure rates, especially in China and India, added William Black, a former U.S. banking regulator and professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri.

Amazon said it can safely offer loans based on internal data and because it takes loan payments out of the sales proceeds it pays sellers.

PayPal spokesman Josh Criscoe said eBay merchants who use PayPal are eligible for the working capital loans and credit is offered to only those customers that have a strong PayPal sales history. PayPal has provided more than $500 million in capital since September 2013, with an average loan disbursement of $2 million per day. A spokeswoman for Alibaba’s financial services arm Ant Financial, which offers these loans, said credit is offered to Taobao, Tmall merchants and other small business owners who meet certain conditions. The company also offers such loans to customers in some countries like the United States and Britain.

Since 2011, Ant Financial’s Ant Micro Loan programme has

Answer Number # 3270

S

O V L O V V G P O L I C E C A R Z K P N

economies, Rajan has been warning that emerging markets are especially vulnerable to big shifts in capital flows triggered by the unprecedented monetary accommodation in rich countries.

Elaborating on the RBI’s policy stance at the time it left interest rates unchanged during its bi-monthly monetary policy review in February, Deputy Governor Urjit Patel described the “important backdrop” to the central bank’s move.

“We are in the midst of the age of competitive depreciation and of a beggarmy-neighbour philosophy. It brings to mind an old African saying that when elephants fight the grass suffers,” Patel had said.

“While the ECB (European Central Bank) and the Bank of Japan are printing money and devaluing their currencies on one hand, the US economy is reviving on the other. Anyone in the middle is getting crushed,” he added.

_

LEISURE

W

When he took charge at the RBI in 2013, at a time the US Federal Reserve declared its intent to wind down its stimulus programme, the rupee plunged in value in respect of the US dollar on fears about a spiralling current account deficit.

In a series of measures, Rajan managed to stabilize the currency that also brought back investors.

“Rajan’s disciplined and focussed approach in leading the Reserve Bank during his first year as governor was remarkably impressive,” British magazine Central Banking said earlier this year, giving Rajan its Central Banker of the Year Award for 2015.

In 2011, he published the acclaimed “Fault Lines” on how hidden financial fractures threaten the world economy.

Pointing to the very low interest rate policies of the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan and the Bank of England in a bid to stimulate their

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LOCAL Organisations urge Mao Council, SAPO for settlement

Tuesday

The Morung Express

Naga apex bodies asked to intervene Dimapur, June 29 (mexn): The Naga United Youth (NUY) today termed unfortunate the recent blockade and vacation notice against Mao community following a standoff between the Mao Council (MC) and Southern Angami Public Organization (SAPO) over Dzükoü.

A press statement issued by NUY president, Razoukhrielie Angami and general secretary Vekuto Chakhesang further stated that the assault on Athikho, president of Mao Union Kohima and vandalism of shops on June 24 are “some few cases in point where these kinds of acts cannot be condoned nor supported by any right thinking person/organization.”

Acknowledging that “neighbourly disputes over land are sometimes unavoidable,” the union expressed, “we believe an amicable settlement is desired by all and therefore activities that can further aggravate the present fluid situation must be avoided at all cost.” No settlement, it stated can be brought about if necessary space and environment are not created for dialogue and negotiations to take place. In this, it stated it is high time for Naga organizations like the Naga Hoho and Tenyimi People's Organisation (TPO) to intervene and take control of

the present impasse and prevent the situation from going from bad to worst and lead both the aggrieved parties to the negotiating table without further delay so as to solve the case amicably once and for all in the interest of all the Nagas.

On the same issue, the Tenyimi Union Jalukie said it was “deeply hurt and saddened” by the turn of events like memorandum submitted to Manipur government, serving eviction notice on community, vandalism of shop in Kohima, paper war etc.

“We also express our deep dismay and concern over prevailing situation of disturbance and inconvenience caused to student community and innocent public both mentally and physically due to land dispute between Mao community and SAPO,” stated a press note issued by Tenyimi Union Jalukie president Saloni Semy.

The president further urged upon both conflicting parties to ponder and remember the mechanism of “how our forefather lived peacefully and harmoniously since time immemorial as neighbour and Tenyimi brother.” He requested the parties to show utmost restraint in dealing with such a situation with brotherly love and pave way for resolving the dispute in Christian spirit. “So let the organisation like our Tenyimi People's Organisation, APO, CPO, Rengma Hoho, Zeliangrong Baudi and Poumai Hoho etc, be given

Diocesan vocation camp for students held Tuensang, June 29 (mexn): A three-day diocesan vocation camp was held at St. John’s Parish, Tuensang from June 26 to 28. 60 selected students of Class 7 to 12 from Mokokchung, Shamator, Tobu, Noklak and Tuensang attended the camp.

Rev. Fr. Solomon Vizo, Diocese of Kohima concluded the camp with Holy Eucharistic Celebration on Sunday. A team of six priests concelebrated with him. Rev. Fr. Tomy Kullurembel, Centre-incharge, Shamator addressed the celebration of the Holy Mass on June 27.

Rev. Fr. Johnson VU, Parish priest of St. John’s Parish, Tuensang welcomed the campers. Rev. Fr. Thomas, vocation promoter, Diocese of Kohima gave the introduction of the camp. Rev. Fr. Isaac Shikaho, Asst Priest, Longleng, highlighted on ‘Mission in the Church.’

Rev. Fr. Paul Thungbemo, Asst. Priest, Mokokchung, spoke on vocation in the Local Church. Rev. Fr. Gabriel Gaikhangdim, Asst.

Priest, Kiphire, shared personal testimony. Rev. Fr. Dominic Selosie, Asst Priest, Tuensang spoke on ‘Prayer.’ Rev. Sr. Rose Chumbeni, SABS Tuensang highlighted on discerning a vocation. The camp concluded with the groups presenting varieties of items.

Mokokchung, a press release from MTLT informed.

However, the MTLT stressed that any kind of “unfair means or pressures” should be sternly checked. The MTLT urged the district administration that there should be strict adherence to the District Level Recruitment Board (DLRB) selection criteria, there should be no entertainment of VIP recommendation or VIP quota in any case, and no entertainment of any “unscrupulous political interference.”

The MTLT expressed hope that the candidates

Dimapur

5

Will continue to enforce evacuation: SAYO Jakhama, June 29 (mexn): The Southern Angami Youth Organisation (SAYO) today asserted that it will continue to enforce the evacuation notice against Mao people until “our ancestral land” is vacated by the Manipur police forces.

Recounting the sequence of the incident, SAYO Media Cell in a press release said that the issue of Kezoltsa erupted between the Southern Angami and Mao people when the Mao Council wrote a memorandum on April 23, 2015 to the Government of Manipur with “false allegation that SAPO is encroaching Manipur land by way of constructing road at Kezoltsa and served ultimatum to the Government of Manipur to immediately intervene and stop SAPO or would impose bandh in Manipur.”

According to SAYO, the Southern Angami Public Organisation (SAPO) had been undertaking developmena mutual consent to settle the avoidable land dispute at the earliest, because we believe flexing muscle and use of force to one’s own brother at this crucial phase of Naga peace talk is self defeating and inflicting injury to one self,” the release said.

The Tenyimi people of Jalukie also prayed that Lord grant the parties in conflict wisdom and knowledge to understand the advice and appeal made by various Tenyimi Unions, Naga organisations, government agencies, NGO, etc to resolve the dispute at the earliest as per the existing customary laws.

Meanwhile, Poumai

tal activities at Kezoltsa, “which is an ancestral land of the Southern Angamis and it was/is never the Manipur land as claimed by Mao Council.”

Thereafter, the Mao Council went ahead with 24 hours total bandh in Manipur state on May 23 to “pressurize Manipur Government to stop our developmental activities.” Again on June 1, it said, the Mao Council called indefinite economic blockade in Manipur. While the indefinite economic blockade was still in force, the Mao Council on June 4 led the Manipur Police Forces and evacuated the Southern Angamis who were executing the works of road construction at Kezoltsa, SAYO alleged.

The release said that due to the said memorandum, the Manipur police forces are still stationed at Kezoltsa and restraining Southern Angamis to enter Kezoltsa. “The Mao Council had gone to the extent of evacuating the

Public Union Kohima (PPUK) appealed to both Southern Angami Public Organization and Mao council to settle the matter in an amicable way in the spirit of brotherhood and in Christian approach.

Reminding that since time immemorial Naga society has unique way of solving any dispute or problem amicably, the union encouraged such wisdom.

The union further urged both the parties to restrain from any form of violence when various organizations are striving hard to settle the issue with great concern. Expressing concern over the present situation, a press release issued

Southern Angamis in our own ancestral land at Kezoltsa with the support and force of Manipur Police forces which is beyond tolerances,” it stated.

In response to the activities of Mao Council against Southern Angamis at Kezoltsa, the youth organization said it was compelled to take the step of evacuating Mao people from Southern Angami territorial jurisdiction on June 5 and further directed Southern Angamis not to shelter/rent any house/room to the Mao people anywhere. “The action of SAYO is less than that of Mao Council and not equivalent to that, precisely, SAYO has not gone to the extent of evacuating Mao people in their own territory,” the release justified. SAYO further requested the general public to understand the position of Southern Angamis in connection with the evacuation notice served upon the Mao people on June 5.

by PPUK general secretary PH Shesou and PPUK press secretary Ng. Solomon Sha also urged the apex Tenyimi body Tenyimi People’s Organization (TPO) to intervene and settle the matter amicably at the earliest.

The Rengma Hoho also expressed concern regarding the land dispute between SAPO and Mao community and appealed for an amicable solution at the earliest without resorting to violence in the interest of the Tenyimi communities as well as Nagas in general.

The Rengma Hoho through its president Sawathang Kez Seb stated that the Tenyimi Union souvenir was published in

1996 with the motto “Unity is Strength” which unites seven fraternal communities into one big family.

“This family consists of Angami, Chakhesang, Memai or Mao, Pochury, Poumai, Rengma and Zeliangrong which shows that we are a big family,” it reminded.

The Rengma Hoho also appealed to Mao Council and SAPO to withdraw the memorandum submitted to Manipur government and to withdraw the eviction notice served on June 5 for public conveniences stating “your good works will bring understanding, unity, peace and harmony to settle the dispute in Kezol/ Kozurü, Dzükou valley.”

MTLT urges for fair interview mokokchung, June 29 (mexn): The Mokokchung Town Lanur Telongjem (MTLT) today applauded the Mokokchung Deputy Commissioner for advertising the vacant posts under the district administrative set up. Through a notification, the Deputy Commissioner has invited application for the posts of 11+1 LDA cum Bench Assistants; 1 Stenographer; 3 Dobashis (DB); Grade IV (four vacancies at Kubolong/Tuli/Ongpangkong/Mokokchung HQ); one Driver and one House Keeper at Circuit House,

30 June 2015

for the various vacancies will be selected in complete fairness and transparency at all levels.

The press statement issued by MTLT president Imkummeren Jamir and Taliakum Pongen further stated it will strictly monitor the whole interview process - written, oral, or practical. “In the event of any unfair means being observed by, or reported to the Telongjem, the MTLT as a conscientious youth organization will take up the matter in all earnestness so The Super Market in Dimapur after a downpour during the last few days. Due to the that justice and fairness is absence of proper drainage system in the town, water-clogging remains a constant maintained,” it added. headache during the monsoon season.

Meeting held with governor

A man walks unsteadily with a bottle of rice beer in Dimapur even as Nagaland claims itself to be a dry state. Despite regular flashes of news in the local print media about IMFL carriers and sellers being arrested, there are hundreds of shops/houses in Dimapur town alone where local or Indian Made Foreign Liquor is sold. Some sell it at their homes while big businesspersons sell liquors at air conditioned restaurants/lounges that seem to go unnoticed even by the excise/police departments. (Photo by Imojen Jamir)

MEx FILE

Landmark colony residents asked to chain dogs Dimapur, June 29 (mexn): The Landmark colony council, Dimapur has informed all the residents of the colony to keep all dogs chained or kept inside the kennels in their respective compounds latest by July 3.

Stating that stray dogs have become dangerous, particularly for children, the council in a press release said it will initiate to “eliminate” stray dogs in the colony with effect from July 4. Also, it informed that rearing of pigs will be banned from December 1, 2015 as “rearing of pigs makes the surrounding untidy and produces faulty smell which is not desirable for healthy living.” The release appended by the council chairman and secretary further requested the residents to “dispose off” their pigs on or before November 30. It warned to take punitive action against non-compliance of this notice.

UT-I NSCN (IM) informs Dimapur, June 29 (mexn): All the business establishments under Union Territory-I of NSCN (IM) have been informed not to entertain any person seeking donation/ contribution in any form in the name of the UT without the proper knowledge of CAO and secretary. A press release from secretary, UT-I, Akato Swu further informed that all forms of immoral and illegal activities under the jurisdiction will be checked and controlled. It also directed all bootleggers/ booze joints under UT-I, especially Rail Gate, Rail Bazaar, Eros Line and Super Market areas to shut down their outlets at or before 10:00 pm. Meanwhile, informing that drinking in public is strictly prohibited, it warned that defaulters will be strictly dealt with. “This is in view of avoiding unwanted consequences/ activities and to maintain peaceful atmosphere,” the release said. It further sought the co-operation of all concerned.

Kohima Sümi Hoho informs kohima, June 29 (mexn): The Kohima Sümi Hoho (KSH) has informed all its executive members, Tuluni Organizing Committee, Sümi Community Chairmen and Secretaries in all the colonies to attend the meeting positively on June 30, 5:00 pm at Japfu Ashok Hotel. The meeting has been called to discuss ongoing preparation and arrangement for the Tuluni celebration scheduled for July 8 at Khuochiezie (local ground), Kohima.

ENSA meeting Dimapur, June 29 (mexn): Eastern Naga Students' Association (ENSA) has informed that an executive meeting will be held on July 4 at 9:30 am at treasurer’s residence, Dimapur. Therefore, all the executive members have been requested to attend the meeting positively.

Hr. Education director’s farewell function

kohima, June 29 (Dipr): Farewell function for outgoing Director, Higher Education, C. Khalong Ao will be held on June 30 at Conference Hall, Directorate of Higher Education at 12:00 noon. Parliamentary very active and serving Secretary for Higher Education & Technical Education, the people with honesty Deo Nukhu will grace the occasion. The programme and sincerity. I know him will be chaired by Commissioner & Secretary, FP Solo. personally and I respect him and cherished his Gov appoints advocate on record memories,” stated a note from N Theyo. “He hon- kohima, June 29 (Dipr): The Governor of Nagaestly served the people of land has appointed Advocate Merusagar Samantaray Nagaland as MLA to re- as Advocate on Record for the State of Nagaland in Civil move poverty and back- Suit No. 2/1998 (State of Assam Vrs UOI & Ors) before wardness of the State.” the Supreme Court of India until further order.

Theyo and his family further prayed to God to Meeting on Mission Indradhanush grant solace and comfort to the wife and family of kohima, June 29 (Dipr): The District Task Force meeting in connection with Mission Indradhanush will the deceased. be held on July 3 at 1:00 pm in the office chamber of DC Kohima. ADC Kohima Lithrongla Tongpi has directed all the concerned officials and community representatives to attend the meeting.

K Yeshito’s death mourned

kohima, June 29 (mexn): The Speaker of Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) Chotisuh Sazo today expressed shock at the demise of K Yeshito, former MLA on June 27 in Dimapur. In a condolence message, Sazo informed that Late K Yeshito was born in 1932 and educated at Zunheboto Governor with Neelam Dutta, Tsilie Sakhrie, and others Government HE School. at Raj Bhavan on June 25.

He was elected Member kohima, June 29 galand also earlier visited of Legislative Assembly in (Dipr): Neelam Dutta Laxmi Agricultural Multi- 1964 from Satakha Assemfrom Laxmi Agricultur- purpose Project for pracal Multipurpose Project, tical training on organic Sonitpur, Assam along with farming, vermi-composTsilie Sakhrie, social work- ing, bio-pesticide, fisher and advisor of Khonoma paddy culture as well as kohima, June 29 Nature Conservation and flori-culture.

Neelam Dutta has been (mexn): Minister for RuTragopan Sanctuary called on the Governor of Naga- invited by the World Food ral Development and REPA land & Assam, PB Acharya System Centre of the Swiss CL John graced the general at Raj Bhavan, Kohima on Federal Institute of Tech- session cum 25th silver junology in Zurich, Switzer- bilee planning committee June 25.

The team had con- land to attend the World meeting of Konyak Union, ducted training on organ- Food System Summer Chen unit as special guest ic farming for the farmers, School on “Organic Pro- on June 27 at Chen Town in students, NGOs, govern- duction Systems” mainly Mon district.

Minister CL John exment organisations and on how to tackle “World the people of Nagaland, Food Hunger”. The pro- horted the gathering to particularly in Khonoma gramme will take place maintain cordial relationvillage. People from Na- from August 1 to 16.

bly Constituency; re-elected Member from the same constituency in the General Election in 1969. The Speaker further expressed heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family members and prayed to the Almighty God to grant them solace and courage to withstand the loss.

Meanwhile, former minister N Theyo and his family members have also mourned the demise Yeshito Zhimomi. “He was

Minister CL John exhorts KU, Chen unit ship and cohesiveness within the village. He also assured KU Chen unit of all possible support for the jubilee celebration, a press release informed.

After the general session, the minister also took stock of the prevailing situation with the administration, police and village leaders. He requested army officials from Bihar Regi-

ment deployed at Chen not to harass the villagers despite the present situation.

He also urged the army to extend all possible medical support to the villagers.

The minister also inspected the progress of the ongoing construction of official quarter SDO(C) Chen and building of Government High School Chen Town.

kohima, June 29 (mexn): Periezie Youth Organisation, Kohima has informed all denizens of Periezie colony that there will be a mass social work in and around the colony on July 11 from 6:00 am onwards. The social work has been called for the forthcoming inauguration of the colony welcome gate, the organisation informed in a press release. All concerned have been requested to participate without fail. The youth organisation also informed all the public that selling of liquors/ contraband items, practising of immoral activities is strictly prohibited in and around the colony. Disturbing the colony with any form of “indiscipline noises/ sounds” after 7:00 pm will be totally restricted, it stated, adding releasing septic tank is totally prohibited. The organisation also directed all sanitation vehicles plying through Periezie colony for dumping of garbage to enof tribes living together in sure that the waste materials are properly covered and the village, he urged them no garbage falls off along the way. to continue living in unity.

Short speeches were Rotary Club Kohima to organize delivered on the occasion

by L. Temjen Ao, VCC Pura- voluntary blood donation camp na Bazar ‘B’ (Bokajan) Vil- kohima, June 29 (mexn): As part of the Rotary Inlage; Shikuto Zalipu, Presi- ternational District, RID 3240 Rotary New Year’s celedent, Dimapur District GBs bration, Rotary Club Kohima will be organizing a volunAssociation; Babul Mech, tary blood donation camp at Naga Hospital Authority President, Kachari Com- (NHAK) blood bank on July 1 at 2:30 pm. Any voluntary munity, Purana Bazar ‘B’ donors have been invited to donate their blood and be Village; and Meren Ao, VCC part of the Rotary 3240. Further, all the Rotarians have Ekrani Pathar. been requested to participate in the project and attend Earlier, the introducto- the donation camp without fail. For any details, contact: ry note was given by Toivi 8256975775/ 8974002274.

Sumi, Convenor.

Prayer House dedicated at Purana Bazar ‘B’

Huge quantity of illegal IMFL and drugs were destroyed on June 27 at Wokha in the presence of district administration, police, prosecuting staff and DBs. The destroyed items included 512 cases of MC Rum, 8 cases of OC Blue Whisky, 26 cases of Foster Beer, 6 cases of Kingfisher beer, 3 cases of Turborg beer, 28728 capsules of Spasmo Proxyvon (SP), 4 strips of Diazepam and 24 strips of Nitrosen. (DIPR Photo)

Dimapur, June 29 (mexn): A thanksgiving and dedicatory service of a Prayer House in Purana Bazar ‘B’ Bokajan Village was held on June 27.

State Power Minister C. Kipili Sangtam who was present on the occasion unveiled the monolith of the prayer house. The Minister was accompanied by Parliamentary Secretary Toyang Chang.

Dr. H. Apise Sangtam, Pastor, Sangtam Baptist Church Purana Bazar, per-

formed the act of dedicatory prayer. In his exhortation, Kipili expressed hope that the prayer house would help bring people closer to God. It may be mentioned that the land for the Prayer House was donated by the minister to the villagers.

Informing that he had become a member of Purana Bazar ‘B’ village, the minister stated he would do his bit to look after the hardships the village faced.

Further, expressing happiness to see a number

Periezie Youth Organisation informs

6

IN-FOCUS

The Power of Truth

The Morung Express TuEsDAy 30 JunE 2015 volumE X IssuE 177

Responsible Social Media

I

n recent times social media in Nagaland has become popular, addictive, is widely used and its impact has gained momentum. It is a powerful and effective means of raising awareness and generating public opinion when used responsibly with accountability. Yet at the same time, it can also contribute in creating a reactionary discourse that is filled with negativity and cynicism which is extremely damaging. Social media does not occur in a vacuum. It interfaces with the contextual circumstances. And in situations that are fragile and conflict ridden, social media too perpetuates cycles of violence when not used with responsibly.

Social media, as a medium can have both positive, as well as negative consequences. It invariably depends on the user.

Hence, the need to explore and understand its context!

Everyone can positively contribute to collectively envisioning and transitioning to a more just society as it is an ongoing process and within it our imagination creatively expresses a shared vision. This includes political and social movements that grow out of the people’s hopes and dreams.

It is the people’s prophetic imagination that confronts unjust systems which perpetuate domination and marginalization.

In many societies men and women pass through life without questioning or critically thinking about the conditions that surround their own lives or of others, thereby, unconsciously strengthening the status quo. As a result, they perceive their conditions to be ‘normal’ and may accept what each day brings without looking beyond meeting their immediate needs. Sometimes they remain satisfied with fulfilling the needs of the moment, without quite realizing that with some conscious effort, they could in effect change the conditions of their life and the world around them. These also represent some of the ideas projected through the responses shared in the social media.

Often persons living in situations of oppression and injustice have developed a complacent attitude and cynicism.

This is a condition similar to ‘battle fatigue’, where the civilians are exhausted from living under conditions of militarisation and constant subjugation. It is further complicated by ignorance and indifference resulting from excessive tiredness and monotonous fatigue; fear and anger. Most tragically people become ethically compromised as their self-respect and self-worth are eroded. In such conditions the people become vulnerable and are often easily manipulated which often means that they conform to the status quo.

Any effort to create awareness and consciousness in situations such as this requires the consistent need to be fully aware of the peoples’ feelings which are the true indicators of how they are experiencing the situation. It is evident that when any oppressed individual or group is in transition they are often (mis)judged and categorized and given dehumanizing labels that are intended to discredit their personhood.

This labeling also conveniently projects them as contributing to de-stabilizing the so-called peaceful status quo.

One of the most crucial unfulfilled needs of our time is expressed by the cries for freedom from oppression and subjugation. It is fundamental that the Naga youth resist the current trend of the herd or ‘group-we’ mentality and directly confront the practice of political patronage. Naga youth need to be dynamic and stridently take value based stands so that they can respond to the cries for freedom and engage with the truth.

In a society riddled with suspicion and division such as ours, the Naga youth, as the future generation of leaders, are required to meet the challenge by critically and independent engaging with issues and communicating effectively as they relate with the diverse nature of Naga society and culture. In this way, the youth can be the critical yeast for change.

lEfT WING |

Josh Hoxie

Ecuador govt puts Piketty into practice

F

ew Americans could likely find Ecuador on a map or pick its president, Rafael Correa, out of a lineup. However, Correa recently announced an economic plan that should make us pay closer attention to this small South American nation.

Citing the corrosive impact of excess inherited wealth on democracy, Correa proposed a steeply progressive tax on large inheritances. It’s like an estate tax, but with a twist: Revenue from the plan would be issued as dividends directly to workers, rather than going to the government.

The number of families paying the tax would be quite low, since just 3 in every 100,000 Ecuadorians receive an inheritance worth more than $50,000. On that $50,000 they’d pay just $350 in taxes, or 0.7 percent. The beneficiaries, on the other hand, include the entire population. The plan speaks to a central problem of modern economies. As Thomas Piketty illustrated in his blockbuster Capital in the Twenty-First Century, wealth concentrates at the top when left to its own devices.

When that happens, the only effective counterweight is a tax.

Sounds like an un-American idea, right? Wrong.

The American people are deeply concerned about rising wealth inequality, a sentiment that crosses partisan lines as well as age, race, and class. A recent poll by The New York Times and CBS shows that two-thirds of Americans see the gap between the rich and poor getting larger and think wealth should be more evenly distributed. A majority — 57 percent — also believe the government should be doing more to address inequality. Nearly 70 percent think taxes should be raised on millionaires.

These sentiments are not unfounded.

The richest one tenth of 1 percent of Americans — that’s about 160,000 families, each with assets over $20 million — now owns about as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent, about 110 million families, combined. That top tenth of a percent has seen its wealth grow 5 percent per year since 1986.

In the same time frame, the bottom 90 percent has seen its wealth rise precisely 0 percent.

Since 1916, in an effort to put a check on inherited economic power, the United States has imposed an estate tax on the transfer of immense fortunes. Affecting just the top two tenths of 1 percent of households, only 5,000 households annually, the tax doesn’t impact middle and working class families. With inequality on the rise and such overwhelming support for government intervention, one might think Congress would follow Correa’s example of increasing taxes on the wealthy. Unfortunately, our lawmakers are taking the opposite course.

The 2001 Bush tax cuts drastically reduced the impact of the estate tax, slashing the rate and increasing exemptions. Republicans in the House of Representatives recently doubled down on this effort by voting to fully repeal the tax altogether in April.

If the Senate follows suit, that would give a massive tax cut exclusively to the ultra wealthy, leading to a spike in federal deficits, the slashing of vital public programs, or both. That speaks volumes about whom supporters of repeal are really working for.

Congress should take a cue from Ecuador, and from the American people, and work to reduce inequality. Expanding, not repealing, the estate tax is a good step in this direction.

Josh Hoxie directs the Project on Opportunity and Taxation at the Institute for Policy Studies.

THE EDIT PAGE

C O M M E N T A R Y

David Morris CommonDreams

Corporate "Trade" Rules & the End of Sovereignty

O

lows tobacco companies to mount legal n May 8th at Nike’s headquarters, challenges.

President Obama denounced So far the tobacco lawsuits have not opponents of the hotly contested targeted the United State, but that could Trans-Pacific Partnership as ill change. Thomas Bollyky, a former US informed. “(C)ritics warn that parts of this trade negotiator, observes, “U.S. federal, deal would undermine American regulastate, and local laws include many of the tion….They’re making this stuff up. This is same regulations that the tobacco indusjust not true. No trade agreement is going try has challenged in Uruguay, Norway, to force us to change our laws.” and elsewhere.”

On May 18th the World Trade OrganizaOne of the most pernicious effects of tion (WTO) issued a final ruling in favor of the new trade rules is that they allow giCanada and Mexico in a case involving a US ant corporations to cow countries with law requiring country-of-origin labels on a limited capacity to defend themselves. packages of beef, pork, chicken and other As John Oliver informs us, in 2014 Philip kinds of meat. The WTO three judge panel Morris International sent a letter to Togo estimated economic damages of more than threatening that tiny country with “an in$3 billion. These will be meted out by Canacalculable amount of international trade da and Mexico as retaliatory tariffs on a politigation” if it implemented a tobacco tentially wide array of U.S. industries, from product packaging law. Togo abandoned “California wines to Minnesota mattresses,” the initiative. Uruguay has been able to as Gerry Ritz, Canada's Minister of Agriculdefend itself for the last 5 years in part ture predicted. because of financial assistance from the “The only way for the United States to World Health Organization and former avoid billions in immediate retaliation is to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. repeal COOL,” Ritz announced.

Would a US city or small state be fiCongress hastened to comply. The day nancially able to defend itself if a global the WTO issued its ruling Rep. Michael Democracy will be forced to submit if the corporations have their way. corporation were to sue to overturn laws Conway (R-TX) introduced legislation to overturn the COOL law. On June 10th the House grant the Department of Health and Human Ser- that require government contracts to favor local vices the responsibility to decide whether to pursue businesses and local workers? overwhelmingly passed the bill, 300-131.

The contents of new trade agreements like the TPP The COOL decision and its almost immediate trade initiatives involving products with substantial largely comprise a laundry list of corporate aspirations. legislative impact demonstrated in real time the in- adverse health consequences.”

At the end of his term President Bill Clinton isTo understand its bias we might engage in a accuracy of President Obama’s comments. Encompassing 12 Pacific Rim countries with 40 percent of sued an executive order forbidding the US govern- thought exercise. What if a trade agreement were designed to protect and nurture labor rather than the world’s economy the Trans-Pacific Partnership ment to advocate on tobacco’s behalf.

But by that time we had given birth to a new capital? Several U.S. trade agreements have includwould be the largest trade agreement since the WTO was formed in 1995. But to call it a trade agreement is planetary organization, the WTO and new trade ed “side agreements” on labor but these lack the enboth accurate and misleading for it conjures up im- rules that for the first time allowed corporations to forcement mechanisms accorded to capital. There ages of agreements that largely target tariffs. That is sue countries directly for damages caused by regu- is no extraterritorial judicial system to hear suits by no longer the case. Of TPP's 29 draft chapters, only lations. Adding insult to injury their suit would be workers or unions. Instead these agreements estabheard in a new extra territorial judicial system com- lish a multi-national forum where nations can be five deal with traditional trade issues.

Modern trade agreements have less to do with trade prised largely of judges who has been trade lawyers held responsible for not enforcing labor laws they than with sovereignty. The primary focus of modern often representing corporations similar to those who have on the books. As the Heritage Foundation concludes, “they are largely meaningless.” trade agreements is the elimination of existing national would come before them.

In this new judicial system largely designed by corAt present the International Labor Organizaand subnational laws that regulate commerce.

The decision about whether a country can force porations there is no conflict of interest. Indeed, the tion’s (ILO) 186 member nations have signed a Decthe livestock industry to reveal where their animals head of the three judge WTO panel the decided the laration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at were reared and slaughtered is behind us. Currently COOL case had served as Mexico’s deputy General Work that, according to the ILO “commits Member under consideration by the WTO is whether a coun- Counsel for Trade Negotiations for a decade and had States to respect and promote principles and rights try can force businesses that sell a lethal product to acted as Mexico’s lead counsel in several WTO disputes. in four categories, whether or not they have ratiAs countries began to follow the lead of the Unit- fied the relevant Conventions. These categories are: make the packaging of that product unattractive.

The product is tobacco. Before the 1990s the US ed States and enact significant restrictions on tobac- freedom of association and the effective recognigovernment actively assisted American tobacco in co products the tobacco companies repeatedly sued tion of the right to collective bargaining, the elimiopening up markets in Asia by threatening trade under this new judicial system, claiming economic nation of forced or compulsory labour, the abolition fights with countries like Japan, Thailand, Taiwan damages for the violation of their copyrights, the di- of child labour and the elimination of discriminaand South Korea that refused to overturn domestic minishing value of their brand name and the expro- tion in respect of employment and occupation.”

But the ILO’s Declaration, like the labor side laws impeding companies from using sophisticated priation of their intellectual property.

Sometimes tobacco companies sue countries di- agreements of US trade agreements lack an enmarketing techniques.

In the 1970s and 1980s, as evidence of the malig- rectly, as in the case of Uruguay and Australia. Some- forcement mechanism. Member nations can refuse nant effects of tobacco accumulated states and cities times they do so indirectly by paying some or all of to ratify any individual standard. Of the eight core began to enact anti-smoking initiatives. In the 1990’s the legal costs of suits brought by countries like Hon- conventions, the U.S. for example has ratified only two. It should go without saying that neither worklawsuits by states resulted in a $200 billion settle- duras, Indonesia, Dominican Republic and Cuba.

In May 2014 the WTO appointed a panel to re- ers nor unions have the right to sue for economic ment with tobacco companies and the discovery of concrete evidence that they had willfully kept from view the many tobacco product-related lawsuits. damages in a world court comprised of judges who the American public the evidence that smoking can It expects to issue a final ruling during the second had formerly served as labor lawyers. half of 2016.

If the TPP’s enforcement mechanisms were as and in many cases does cripple or kill.

Given the sordid history of tobacco companies toothless as those of labor side agreements or the The increasingly schizophrenic nature of US tobacco policies led the GAO to issue a report aptly abusing their newly gained ability to sue govern- ILO Declaration there would be no need for fast titled: Dichotomy Between U.S. Tobacco Export ments directly President Obama initially was not track. If the labor side agreements or the ILO DecPolicy and Antismoking Initiatives. The GAO asked going to allow that ability to be expanded to 12 ad- laration had enforcement mechanisms as vigorous lawmakers to clarify which values would guide their ditional countries through the TPP. In September as those of the TPP I daresay the vote on fast track decision-making. “If the Congress believes that 2013 the Washington Post editorialized, “Initially the would be lopsidedly against.

The clear and present evidence of the far-reachtrade concerns should predominate, then it should Obama administration favored a TPP provision exdo nothing to alter the current trade policy process. empting individual nations’ tobacco regulations… ing negative impact of the TPP is compelling. Rather The U.S. government can simultaneously continue from legal attack as ‘non-tariff barriers’ to the free than being forced to have an up or down vote on a bill to actively help U.S. cigarette exporters overcome flow of goods. The idea was that, when it comes to consisting of thousands of pages of fine print after foreign trade barriers and promote awareness of controlling a uniquely dangerous product, there’s no only a very limited debate and with no amendments, we should engage in a spirited national conversathe dangers of smoking and further restrict the cir- such thing as ‘protectionism’.”

But Obama later backtracked and the TPP will tion about the values that should guide internationcumstances in which smoking may take place,” it advised. “If Congress believes that health consid- simply require governments to consult before al trade agreements and what type of enforcement erations should have primacy, the Congress could challenging each other’s tobacco rules and still al- mechanisms would best serve the public interest.

C

onservationists hail it as a possible game-changer in the struggle to curb the slaughter of elephants: an unexpected pledge by a senior Chinese official to stop the ivory trade in a country whose vast, increasingly affluent consumer market drives elephant poaching across Africa.

Now they are waiting in suspense for China to outline how and when it would ban an industry that criminal syndicates use as cover for their illicit business in tusks.

The ban could happen in 2017 when a legal stockpile of ivory in China is possibly depleted, predicted Zhou Fei, head of the China office of TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring organization. He said he is encouraged by the political will of China's top leadership to combat poaching that, by some estimates, has killed more than 100,000 African elephants in the past several years and prompted governments to publicly destroy confiscated ivory in major cities, including New York City last week.

The May 29 comment by Zhao Shucong, head of China's State Forestry Administration, came at a Beijing event in which 1,455 pounds (660 kilograms) of ivory were crushed, rendering tusks, carved statues and other ornaments useless for sale.

"Under the legal framework of CITES and domestic laws and regulations, we will strictly control ivory processing and trade until the com-

New China policy could save elephants Christopher Torchia Associated Press mercial processing and sale of ivory and its products are eventually halted," Zhao said in an English-language translation of his speech that was provided by his office.

CITES is the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which seeks to regulate the multi-billion dollar trade in wild animals and plants. China allows trade in ivory acquired before a 1989 CITES ban and from a onetime, CITES-approved purchase

by China and Japan of an ivory stockpile from several African countries in 2008. Conservation groups say China's illegal trade has since flourished.

"The fact that China is now talking about shutting down its own market could be huge," Ginette Hemley, senior vice president of wildlife conservation at the World Wildlife Fund, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

Hemley said, though, that a total ban was not "something that can happen overnight" and that it should be implemented carefully to prevent criminal groups funneling as much ivory as possible through the legal system before it ends.

In his speech, Zhao referred to an ivory trade ban as the seventh of 10 "major measures" on wildlife conservation, including tougher law enforcement and publicity campaigns aimed at Chinese abroad. The State Forestry Administration has relatively limited resources and would require the support of multiple Chinese government agencies to enforce a ban.

China has backed an ivory-carving industry as part of its cultural heritage, and Zhao did not say whether that industry, a valuable source of jobs, would also end.

In an email to the AP, Zhou of TRAFFIC China said he is confident

WRITE-WING

about his 2017 prediction because he heard more encouraging comments from Zhao at a meeting last week on an anti-poaching operation dubbed Cobra III that netted several hundred arrests across Asia, Africa and Europe.

Zhou said other factors influencing China as it considers an ivory trade ban are international pressure and "the benefit of legal trade vs damage of illegal trade to China."

In February, China announced a one-year ban on ivory imports. Pan Peng, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Embassy in South Africa, described the step as an "experimental approach" to gauge its effectiveness in countering the illegal trade. China has also said it cannot singlehandedly act against the ivory trade and wants more robust action from other countries.

Thailand is a major consumer market for ivory, and conservation groups have urged the United States to close legal loopholes that they allege allow illegal ivory to enter the country under the guise of limited, legal trade.

Peter Knights, executive director of San Francisco-based WildAid, said he believes that China is still trying to figure out the best way to implement an ivory ban.

"I think that is the single greatest step that could be done to reduce the poaching in Africa," Knights said in a telephone interview from Tanzania, whose elephant population has plummeted because of poaching.

Letters to the Editor should be sent to: The morung Express, House No. 4, Duncan Bosti, Dimapur - 797112, Or –email: morung@gmail.com All letters (including those via email) should have the full name and Postal address of the sender.

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

7

TuEsday

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

30 June 2015

PERSPECTIVE NEWS ANALYSIS, FEATURE AND DISCOURSE

Human rights are revolutionary - Only in principle not practice?

I

Joel R. Pruce

n her compelling article, Doutje Lettinga prompts us to critically consider the relationship between transnational NGO advocacy and revolutionary grassroots activism, and the contrast is indeed stark. When activists Nadia Tolokonnikova and Masha Alyokhina departed from the band Pussy Riot and later appeared at the 2014 Amnesty International benefit concert, “Bringing Human Rights Home,” it was a far cry from their radical origins with the art collective, Voina. Attending an event hosted at a pro-basketball arena, sponsored by multinational corporations, and accessible only to those who could afford the costly price of admission was not exactly an act of resistance. Indeed, the remaining members of Pussy Riot called out their comrades for joining the mainstream, pointing out that “institutionalized advocacy” clashed strongly with radical movements for emancipation.

But one initial, kneejerk response to Lettinga’s probing question of “How revolutionary are global human rights?” may be “Very revolutionary!” After all, human rights demand a confrontation between citizens and the state. Human rights check the arbitrary exercise of power and correct market excess. To claim that the dignity of individuals should be prioritized in political and social decision-making is a subversive act. Only true radicals would even attempt to require the powerful to be transparent and accountable. And human rights seek to do precisely that by undermining traditional hierarchies and remaking society in line with their lofty aspirations. Human rights marshal resources and legal reform to better respect physical integrity, protect vulnerability and administer justice equitably. Constructing an ideal-type rights-bound political order would entail a fundamental transformation of any state that has ever existed. If human rights express a utopian vision, then they must be profoundly revolutionary.

If these principles capture the essential nature of human rights, then why would radical activists like the remaining members of Pussy Riot distance themselves from such a noble enterprise? What explains this tension and how do we understand its origins and impact?

Stephen Hopgood describes Amnesty International as having “no building blocks”: no prerequisite for membership, no philosophical litmus test, no audition, no faith commitment, no blood oath, no party affiliation and no barrier to entry. From the ideological perspective of the Cold

War, this was seen as an attractive feature. Human rights were a catchall for disaffected liberal classes drawn to moral crusades and the pursuit of justice. Human rights advocacy groups positioned themselves as an alternative, as a palatable, leastcommon-denominator approach to politics. This, in a sense, is the force and meaning of universal human rights. It fits into whatever worldview you have without any anchors or attachments. Human rights can be personalized and can accommodate multiple functions.

Into this ideological vacuum steps an odd cast of characters. As a source of norms and ideas about the world, human rights have come to mean anything to anyone. Conservative advocates champion free speech and expression, while ignoring threats against workers. Trade unions utilize hu-

man rights discourse, but have opposed the extension of rights to immigrant laborers. Catholic opponents of women’s access to health care frame their agenda in terms of human rights and religious freedom. Human rights are appropriated and selectively applied across the political spectrum, from BDS to men’s rights with no checks, no permissions and no propriety. At times “human rights” seems to stand for nothing in particular at all. Human rights are political claims without politics. In the world of human rights advocacy, anything goes—and that’s exactly the problem.

That human rights assume this role in 21st century global affairs is a product of the mainstreaming of human rights values undertaken by the major transnational NGOs over the past fifty years.

The desire to build a broad constituent base com-

pels organizations to conduct outreach and mobilization campaigns with mass appeal. In a strong sense, transnational human rights NGOs run away from anything resembling ideational foundations so as to coax the most diverse audience. Cobbling together opportunistic coalitions may win advocates short-term victories, but it will also hollow out the core of a nascent movement. Many major organizations want elected officials and corporate CEOs to see them as partners to court, not as challengers to fear. Lettinga is absolutely correct to point to impartiality as a tactic that serves this goal as well: to bolster credibility, even as it diminishes the prowess to pressure for structural change.

Resolving the debate over the revolutionary nature of human rights rests on a paradox of form and content. Global human rights advocacy is housed in professional institutions, which are seen as bureaucratic, detached and alien. But the form of human rights is also expressed in the media, marketing and communication strategies that filter out radicalism in order to foster mass appeal. The insurgent qualities of human rights claims become diluted when processed through branding strategies and affixed to bumper stickers. Human rights discourse is weakened when it graces the lips of vapid celebrities who seek only to grow their own status. Outreach efforts that hinge on cheap emotional pleas and simplified narratives do damage to the radical content of human rights by assuming so little of potential supporters—meeting them where they are, rather than getting them where they need to be. Human rights, like art, “should elevate, not pander,” and when commercialism and consumerism become key platforms for human rights struggle, we must not be surprised when our demands are met with derision.

The practice of human rights is utterly inconsistent with the subversive backbone of the movement, and Pussy Riot articulated this contradiction elegantly in their Dear John letter to Masha and Nadia. Unless the human rights community develops a voice—an assertive, genuine, self-realized voice— its language will continue to be misappropriated and revolutionary grassroots activists will continue to look elsewhere for collaborative partnerships. Instead of using Pussy Riot as a prop or publicity stunt to leverage for cultural cachet, human rights NGOs should learn from them about true radical praxis.

The promising moment at which the human rights community now finds itself may either be a turning point for a new positive direction, or the last gasp before slinking into irrelevance.

Can you train your brain to be more compassionate?

A

t high school, I was of the only racial minorities. I was bullied for this, leaving me feeling disconnected and isolated. To cope, I became obsessed with sad music like The Smiths, who were one of my favourite bands.

One Morrissey lyric became a mantra for me: “It's so easy to laugh.

It's so easy to hate. It takes strength to be gentle and kind.”

Through music, I found a framework in which to feel and hold my pain. I listened in a meditative way until the feelings of sadness and pain turned into connection, beauty, and ultimately joy.

I had a choice in how to respond to teasing. I could choose kindness and compassion, for myself and others. I could try to connect to the harassers in a genuine way rather than slinging words back, and I could comfort myself instead of repeating the cycle of shame and dehumanization.

One word I used to label the space I had found was transformation, another word was compassion. Reading books on Buddhist philosophy, I learned compassion could be trained, that we could become more connected to others and that this would lead to greater well-being.

Compassion is an emotional response to someone's suffering that is caring and concerned. It leads to a desire to relieve that person's suffering. This is not always a natural response. People can have a variety of responses to others' suffering – avoidance, fear, discomfort, sometimes even enjoyment.

But can compassion be learned through practice?

As a graduate student I designed and conducted a study testing this exact hypothesis: that we can become more compassionate through practicing meditation, and that this will result in more kind acts towards others. I hypothesized this wouldn't take extreme amounts of practice.

As part of the study, people from

Helen Weng

We found changes in regions associated with empathy, emotion regulation and reward processing the Madison, Wisconsin community practiced just 30 minutes a day for two weeks, like a new exercise regime.

Guided by an online meditation, the participants practiced compassion for different kinds of people: a loved one, themselves, a stranger, and someone they actually had conflict with: the “difficult” person. They practiced imagining a time when each person had suffered, and noticed the emotions that arose and what it felt like in their bodies. They were instructed to “sit” with the feelings, and notice them non-judgmentally.

They then practiced wishing that the other person's suffering was relieved, and repeated compassiongenerating phrases such as, “May you be free from suffering. May you have joy and ease.”

The control group learned a technique called cognitive reappraisal, where they practiced thinking about a stressful situation in a new way to decrease negative emotional responses. They used techniques such as thinking about the situation from a friend or family member's perspective, imagining a year had passed with everything going well, and coming up with a way to reinterpret the situation. This is one of the core skills of cognitive behavioral therapy, which is found to be effective with many types of mental health issues such as depression and anxiety.

We tested our hypothesis – that practicing compassion through meditation would result in more helping behaviour in real life - by having participants consent to a separate study

where they play an economic exchange game with strangers over the Internet. In the Redistribution Game, participants witnessed an unfair economic exchange between two players, and had the opportunity to spend their own money to redistribute money from the unfair player to the player with less money.

After practicing compassion meditation for just two weeks, the participants ended up spending almost twice the amount of money compared to the control group (a statistically significant difference). Practicing compassion in their minds actually resulted in more altruistic behavior towards a stranger.

We wanted to see what emotional changes in the brain contributed to the changes in altruistic behavior. We scanned the participants’ brains using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and had them view images of others suffering (physical injury, emotional pain) before and after the two weeks of training. The compassion group was asked to generate compassion towards the people in the images, and the reappraisal group was asked to reinterpret the meaning of the pictures to decrease negative emotions. We found that in the compassion group, the more they spent in the Redistribution Game, the more their brain activity had changed in response to people's suffering. Changing their minds internally had indeed changed the outside world.

We found changes in regions associated with empathy, emotion regulation and reward processing. One

region that changed was the inferior parietal cortex, which is associated with the “mirror neuron network”, and activated in response to your own experiences as well as others'.

This suggests that through learning compassion, people became more sensitive to other people's suffering. The purpose is to not simply feel another's pain, but to transform your own response in order to help the other person. We also found changes in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens, which are respectively involved in emotion regulation and positive emotions. This suggests that emotional habits can be transformed into something more positive – an emotional connection and caring.

As Morrissey sang, “It takes strength to be gentle and kind.” It takes awareness, commitment, and practice to change habits of mind into something more beneficial for yourself and others. Learning any new skill requires attention, effort, and persistence, and this is often associated with activity in the prefrontal cortex. It takes strength to open yourself up to another's suffering, to hold it and understand it, and to have the desire to relieve it through appropriate means.

Through my work as a clinical psychologist, I have witnessed first-hand the power of compassion. I learned to actively listen and respond to people’s stories in a way that allowed their authentic voices to arise. What emerged from empowering their voices was an experience of transformation that was no longer just a private moment of listening to sad music.

I transformed sadness into joy with other people, and this has changed me in turn.

Helen Weng is a postdoctoral scholar at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. She completed her degree in clinical psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2014, and conducted her dissertation research at the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the Waisman Center.

“Arena of Mind” portrays a space for idea germination, a field where ideas from multi-disciplinary viewpoints fertilize the world of intelligence. The writers aspire to envision a new future by exploring the mind, discovering new seeds of insights and unleashing them to enlightenment.

eVeRY PeRSOn’S ILLneSS: DePReSSIOn “Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad.”

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

F

eeling “blue” or “down” in the dumps” is personally familiar to everyone who does any counselling, indeed to any human being. Famous men like Churchill and Lincoln identified severe depressions during their lives; the British prime minister named his the “black dog”. Writers like Evelyn Waugh and William Styron wrote books about theirs, and Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes has acknowledged his long session of melancholy. We hardly need to be famous to have made an acquaintance of depressed feelings.

We only need to be human.

Depression can mean something in general as well as something quite specific. In general, it refers to a symptom that can be present in many different psychological situations specifically; it can refer to a distinctive problem of which it is a dominant or important feature, as in a diagnosable mood disorder. Persons experiencing depressions are shot through with sadness, feeling of being helpless, discouraged, and helpless. Individuals riding toward the far end of the continuum of depression cannot cope with life, yet they often resist help. They seem to dig a deep hole for themselves. They resist coming out of it, and they may not let you in even when you want to be of assistance to them. Having tasted the flavor of depression ourselves does not mean that we understand all its forms. Indeed, we save ourselves from serious errors by not generalizing from our experience to the experience of those with whom we work.

One of the liveliest discussions today concerns the influence of our evolutionary past on our present-day biology and behavior. An appreciation of the evolutionary perspective on depression can help those who are acutely suffering.

Evolutionary psychology describes how an ancestral environment different from the one we face today shaped the structure and function of our brains. As a result, we have internalized aspects of our ancestral environment that may be ill suited to life today.

What do we make of this mismatch? There is debate about the nature of depression. Is it, as conventional medicine thinks, purely an illness? Or, as evolutionary psychology sees it, is it an evolved mechanism of distress telling us to hibernate, escape or change something?

In all likelihood, it is both. It is a complex condition.

The malignant sadness of depression appears to have a purpose.

It is a signal that our coping system is overwhelmed and that we need time out. Of course, taking time out today is much different from when we lived in small groups of 50 people, but then as now we can use the sadness of depression to elicit comfort from those around us and reaffirm close ties. And we can re-energize ourselves by identifying false and unworkable beliefs we hold about ourselves.

Here are some action strategies that can help.  Learn to distinguish emotions from mood. Emotions are fleeting feelings. Mood is a more persistent background state. People who win the lottery certainly experience immediate joy.

But there is no change in their level of overall happiness.  Focus on doing things that affect mood. Eating ice cream feels good only for a moment. Gambling is a way many people seek emotional distraction, but at best it gives a transient high. And that's if you win.  Most of us seek ephemeral pursuits to change fleeting feelings.

But we also need to attend to deeper mood states. The changes we seek at that level come from traditional standbys-satisfying work and relationships.  Cultivate the resources that eventually impact mood. Deepseated satisfaction comes not just from having friends, for example, but from feeling confident that you can nurture and deepen intimate relationships.  If you are depressed that you are not in a relationship, learn to initiate contact with new people who seem interesting. You won’t meet people if you drag yourself home after work each day and plant yourself in front of the television. Get out and about. Make yourself stay out for an hour walking around, exploring your environment.  Action in and of itself has a mild antidepressant effect. It has cognitive effects in refuting some of your negative beliefs about yourself. And it is energizing.  To initiate contact with someone, you need to go near them.

Work against passivity and your anxiety about proximity.  Say something. Anything. If you're on a bus or subway, push yourself to sit next to someone who looks interesting and say something: "Do you think this bus will ever get to its destination before sunrise?"Of course you run the risk of rejection.

Even here an evolutionary perspective is helpful. When our ancestors lived in small bands, rejection was painful because there were dire repercussions. Rejection by even one person would be communicated to the whole group. Your status was diminished, your position threatened. Today the repercussions are negligible - although we still react emotionally to rejection as if our existence depended on it.  Venting can be helpful. Some people feel better by talking.

Sharing experience and having a witness to your life can change mood. It relates to our desire to manage our status, the impression others have of us. Venting feels good at the level of both emotion and of mood. Venting definitely helps some people to feel better. But the goal is also to get better.  Identify and uproot irrational beliefs that lead you to place unrealistic demands on yourself. Examine self-talk for beliefs that get you depressed: "I must appear intelligent at all times or I won't succeed." "I'm not good enough to date her." Combat the selftalk by which we place unreasonable demands on circumstances: "I need a guarantee of interest before I contact him." "This task should be easier." "Life should be fair."  Learn to look at your life empirically. If an experience of social contact doesn't work, try something else or move on. Recognize that often it is just a lack of fit between people.  Shift your thinking from "What's wrong with me?" to the far more useful "What's wrong with what I did?" Depressed people tend to escalate what they believe is wrong with one interaction into an entire philosophy about what is inherently wrong with them.  Engage in good, constructive work. Long-range creative projects that absorb you have a highly positive impact on mood.

Depression brings a diffuse disruption of ability to function. It decreases ability to focus. Many people, especially men, throw themselves into busy work. But it is palliative and helps only momentarily. It doesn't make you more resilient. Creative projects, on the other hand, fortify you now and in the future.

“Concern should drive us into action and not into a depression. No man is free who cannot control himself ”.

- Pythagoras

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.

Rev. Fr. C. Joseph, Counsellor, St. Joseph’s College, Jakhama.

8

Dimapur

NATIONAL

Tuesday 30 June 2015

Cong-BJP war rages on - over Raje

New Delhi/Jaipur, JuNe 29 (iaNS): Stepping up the demand for Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's resignation, the Congress on Monday alleged that she had "direct financial dealings" with former IPL chief Lalit Modi. The BJP vehemently refuted the charge as "baseless".

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who has been at the forefront of making serious allegations against Raje, claimed that the chief minister had helped convert a state-owned palace in Dholpur, about 260 km from Jaipur, into private property.

He alleged that Niyant Heritage Pvt. Ltd., a company owned by Raje, her son Dushyant Singh, daughter-in-law Niharika Singh and Lalit Modi had taken over a Rajasthan government property, converted it into a private high-end luxury hotel and invested over Rs.100 crore.

"A joint venture company is running Niyant Heritage which is running Dholpur palace," he said.

Ramesh showed Rajasthan government documents to claim that Dholpur palace -- built in the late 19th century and which has eight royal palace rooms

A supporter of India's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), or Common Man's Party, is detained by policemen during a protest against Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Smriti Irani and External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj, in New Delhi on Monday, June 29. Irani, Human Resource Development minister, allegedly misrepresented her educational qualification while Swaraj allegedly assisted Lalit Modi, a cricket administrator who fled the country to evade corruption charges and procured travel documents to visit his ailing wife. (AP Photo)

and 18 luxury villas -- was never a private property of the erstwhile Dholpur royal family.

In Jaipur, the Bharatiya Janata Party's Rajasthan unit rubbished the allegations, saying that the palace's ownership was very much with Dushyant Singh.

"All the allegations are baseless. We have papers to prove that the Dholpur palace belongs to Dushyant Singh. There is no illegal occupation on the palace.

Metro rail services launched in Chennai CheNNai, JuNe 29 (iaNS): The much-awaited Metro train service here was flagged off on Monday by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa. Jayalalithaa used video conference to launch the service on an overhead stretch between Koyambedu and Alandur, covering 10.15 km, which the train would cover in 19 minutes with six stations.

By road it would take at least 45 minutes to cover the stretch if the traffic is smooth -- and a couple of hours if there is congestion. According to the Tamil Nadu government, the metro project is estimated to cost around Rs.14,600 crore.

According to officials, initially nine trains will run on the route. Each train will be able to carry 1,276 passengers. The minimum and maximum fares are Rs.10 and Rs.40. The track will be extended from Alandur to Chennai Airport. The extension will constitute phase I of the 45 km project passing 32 stations.

The first train was steered by A. Preeti, a young woman holding an engineering diploma.

The Tamil Nadu and the central governments would contribute 15% of the project cost as their equity. The central government would provide debt funding of 5% and the state government would contribute 5.78 percent as its share of debt fund.The balance 59.22% of the project cost would be obtained from the Japan International Cooperation Agency as loan.

100 children ill after mid-day meal in Bihar patNa, JuNe 29 (iaNS): Nearly 100 children fell ill on Monday after eating their mid-day meal at a government school in Bihar's Madhubani district, an official said.

Soon after consuming the meal at the Bhavnath Middle School in Jhanjharpur, they complained of uneasiness followed by burning sensation in their mouth and throat, district official Jagdish Kumar said.

All the children were admitted to a hospital in Jhanjharpur, about 180 km from Patna, he said. Some children told officials that a dead lizard was found in the meal served to a student. Police collected the samples for forensic test. But doctors who examined the children did not find any sign of poison in their bodies.

Last week, about 50 children fell ill in Patna district after having mid-day meal in a government school.In Bihar, 16 million students get food under the mid-day meal scheme daily in 72,000 schools

Moreover, everyone knows that Vasundhara Raje ji is known as the Maharani (queen) of Dholpur city," BJP state president Ashok Parnami said.

"Even the records with the municipality show that the palace belongs to Dushyant Singh," he added.

Parnami challenged Jairam Ramesh to a debate on the issue. "Either he should prove the charges or quit politics." Parnami accused the Congress of running a smear campaign to tarnish

Raje's image.

Ramesh earlier asserted that he had conclusive proof that the Dholpur palace belonged to the government.

"We sadly have to state that Vasundhara Raje's husband in 1980 made a statement saying Dholpur palace belongs to the government," Ramesh said.

He accused Raje and Lalit Modi of converting government property into personal assets. "Even Vasundhara Raje herself had

admitted that the Dholpur property was owned by the government of Rajasthan.

"First, she (Raje) and fugitive Lalit Modi are business partners. Second, Lalit Modi got Rs.21 crore from Mauritius and invested (it) in Dushyant Singh's company. Third, Raje signed a seven-page document for UK authorities to help him (Lalit Modi)," Ramesh said.

The Congress leader also took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, describing him as "Swami Maunendra Baba" for his continued silence over the Lalit Modi issue.

The Congress also wants External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to quit for helping Lalit Modi -- who faces charges of financial impropriety -- get travel documents.

Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party activists staged protests in the national capital demanding the sacking of Raje, Sushma Swaraj, Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani and Maharashtra minister Pankaja Munde of the BJP. A court here has taken cognizance of a complaint challenging the educational qualification of Smriti Irani, while Pankaja Munde has been accused of corruption in Maharashtra.

The Morung Express

Jung orders probe into Delhi jailbreak; MHA seeks report New Delhi, JuNe 29 (iaNS): Delhi Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung on Monday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the escape of two prisoners from Tihar jail while the central government sought a report from jail officials on the incident.

Jail authorities too initiated an internal probe into the escape of undertrials Faizan, 19, and Javed alias Rinku, 18, from the high-security jail No.7 on June 27 evening.

There were different accounts of what exactly happened.

The Lt. Governor ordered District Magistrate (south west) Ankur Garg to conduct an inquiry into "wall break, digging of tunnel and escape of prisoners" from the jail while Tihar Jail Deputy Inspector General Mukesh Prasad told IANS that the prisoners did not dig any tunnel or break any wall.

"The two accused somehow escaped by scaling the jail wall after stepping on a pile of debris dumped by PWD workers while constructing a road here," Prasad told IANS. According to Prasad, an initial probe by jail authorities revealed that the two inmates fled from barrack No.5 in Block 1 of Ward no.4 inside jail No.7 on June 27 evening.

"The duo first went to jail No.8. It seems the two climbed the debris piled up near the wall of jail No.8, after which one of them got on to the others' shoulder and reached the top of the wall. He then pulled the other one with the help of a towel," Prasad said.

The Tihar DIG said that after jumping over the wall, the two jumped into a canal near jail No.7. While Javed swam across and scaled another wall to make good his escape, Faizan was caught near the canal.

Prasad told IANS that the duo was present during the morning headcount on June 27, but the two were found missing during the evening roll call.

"An alarm was raised after they were found missing. Every ward and barrack was checked. Meanwhile, our team caught Faizan while he was trying to cross the canal," he said.

Prasad said both the inmates were facing trial for robbery, theft, attempt to dacoity and others.

"They were among 21 Muslim youths kept in a special 'roza' ward in Barrack No.5 so that they could offer prayers during Ramadan," he said.

The DIG said jail authorities initiated an internal inquiry under the supervision of superintendent of jail No.3, M.K. Dwivedi.

Meanwhile, the ministry of home affairs (MHA) has sought a report into the incident.

Jung said the magistrial inquiry, to be completed within a week, would look into the factors and circumstances leading to the escape of two inmates, review comprehensively the security set-up of Delhi prisons, fix responsibility for the lapses that led to the escape and suggest remedial measures for the prison administration to prevent recurrence of such incidents.

Prasad said Faizan of Deoli in south Delhi was lodged in the jail on June 24, while Javed of Madanpur Khadar, also in south Delhi, was brought in earlier on June 2.

"Faizan was lodged here for the first time in November 2014 on a theft charge but was bailed out in December last. However, Javed was lodged here more than two times in the past," the DIG said.

Protest over lynching of school director patNa, JuNe 29 (iaNS): A day after the director of a private residential school in Bihar's Nalanda district was lynched by villagers, hundreds of angry protestors on Monday blocked traffic and demanded action against those involved, police said. Devender Prasad, director of the Devender Prasad Sinha School in Nirpur, about 100 km from Patna, was beaten to death by angry villagers on Sunday after the bodies of 2 missing students, residents of the school hostel, were found in a pond nearby. The villagers blamed the school authorities for their death.

Meanwhile, the post-mortem report revealed that the 2 students died after they drowned in the pool and were not beaten as no injuries were found on their bodies.

In view of the angry protest, the state government suspended the officer incharge of Nalanda police station, Sunil Kumar Nirjhar, on Monday for negligence of duty. At least ten culprits were also iden-

tified through video footage, police said.

Additional Director General of Police headquarters Sunil Kumar told newspersons here that Patna range Deputy Inspector General Shalin will investigate the case.

The family of the lynched director demanded a CBI probe, and private schools in Nalanda remained close on Monday in protest against the incident.

"Angry over the barbaric incident, hundreds of people, with the body of Prasad, blocked roads and railway tracks at Hilsa, in Nalanda district, demanding the arrest of culprits and action against local administration officials, including the police," said Superintendent of Police Sidharth.

Prasad hailed from Hilsa, a small town in Nalanda district. "I have asked Chief Minister to recommend a CBI probe into the death of my father because my father was lynched in presence of police officials, who watched as silent spectators," An Indian man pedals a cycle as a boy pushes it through a flooded street during a monsoon shower in Jammu on Monday, June 29. Heavy rains lashed the city bringing much needed Prasad's daughter Sawarnlata said. relief from the scorching heat wave. (AP Photo)

'Drinking is a fundamental right' VyAPAM SCAM: 25 witnesses dead, MP Home Minister rejects probe demand Bhopal/New Delhi, JuNe 29 (pti): "Death is a natural occurrence.

One who has been born will die," Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Babulal Gaur said today, rejecting demands for a probe into the death of two accused in the MPPEB scam yesterday.

He also dismissed opposition Congress' repeated calls for ordering a CBI investigation into the scandal, commonly known as Vyapam scam, claiming the ongoing probe ordered by the state's BJP government was proceeding "in the right direction".

"Death is natural...Be it in the jail or on rail (train), one who has been born will die," he said when asked whether the government was contemplating ordering an inquiry into the death of a large number of accused and witnesses in the scam in mysterious circumstances.

Yesterday, two of the hundreds of accused in various Vyapam cases had died, adding yet another murky chapter to the scandal, taking the official death toll of the accused and witnesess to 25. The Special Investigating Team (SIT) probing the cases had three days back submitted to the MP High Court that 23 persons allegedly involved in the scam had died unnatural deaths.

The Congress has, meanwhile, accused Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan of a cover-up with its general secretary Digvijay Singh saying the party had lost faith in the HC-appointed SIT. Congress spokesman Tom Vadakkan said deaths and the scam needed to be probed by an independent SIT under the direct supervision of the apex court. "The Chief minister is trying to

cover up and we are fighting the battle in court. We have lost total faith in the SIT appointed by the honourable High Court. They themselves have conveyed their helplessness to guide the STF investigation. So we have no option but to go to Supreme Court," he said.

The chorus for a probe into 'suspicious deaths' grew after two accused-- 40-year-old Dr Rajendra Arya and Narendra Singh Tomar (29), a veterinarian, passed away. Tomar was lodged in Indore jail.

The most high-profile death was that of Shailesh Yadav, son of Madhya Pradesh Governor Ram Naresh Yadav. Shailesh, 50, who was alleged to have fixed the recruitment of 10 candidates as Grade III teachers, was found dead at his father's residence in Mall Avenue area on March 25 this year.

Bhopal, JuNe 29 (pti): Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Babulal Gaur fuelled another controversy with his remarks that drinking liquor is a "fundamental right" and that it is a status symbol too.

The 85-year-old Gaur made the remarks while asserting that crime rate doesn't go up by consuming alcohol.

"Alcohol does not increase crime. People lose their consciousness after consuming alcohol and that's how it causes crime. The person who drinks within control does not cause crime," he said, adding," one should not overdrink. It is one's fundamental right. Drinking is a social status symbol these days".

The controversy-prone minister was asked by reporters here yesterday for his reaction to extending the timing for sale of alcohol in Bhopal from 10 pm to 11.30 pm.

Gaur had previously said that sexual crime in Chennai is low as women wear "full clothes".

He was also at the centre of a controversy when he recalled at an event on how he had once told the wife of a Russian leader that he can teach her how to untie a dhoti.

The Minister had also described rape as a social crime, saying "sometimes it's right, sometimes it's wrong". He also insisted that governments could not ensure that women do not get raped, triggering angry reactions from the Congress.

Tweeples trade charge over #SelfieWithDaughter 'Will push policies to strengthen cyber security' New Delhi, JuNe 29 (iaNS): Hashtag #SelfieWithDaughter was trending on Twitter on Monday after activist Kavita Krishnan triggered a row with her comment on the SelfieWithDaughter campaign.

Comments were flying thick and fast after All India Progressive Women Association (AIPWA) secretary Krishnan tweeted that the prime minister has a record of stalking daughters.

Her tweet read: "Kavita Krishnan @kavita_krishnan Careful before sharing #SelfieWithDaughter with #LameDuckPM. He has a record of stalking daughters."

Krishnan's tweet was in response to Prime minister's radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat' last night, where Modi had urged people to share a selfie with their daughters and tag it as #SelfieWithDaughter. In his speech, the prime minister said the initiative is to celebrate the girl child and to stop female foeticide.

The idea is to promote Modi's flagship project 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao'. The sefie campaign was initiated by a sarpanch in a small vil-

lage in Haryana. Modi also promised to retweet those who were using the hashtag, #SelfieWithDaughter.

However, the Twitter war got uglier with Bollywood too joining the bandwagon. Bollywood actor Alok Nath deleted his abusive comment on Krishnan after he faced ire from the Twitterati. Later, he tweeted: "Alok Nath ?@aloknath @Babu_Bhaiyaa @ narendramodi @kavita_krishnan she needs to be taken to task."

Talking to IANS, Krishnan, who came under vitriolic attack, said it only shows the double standards of the Bharatiya Janata Party towards women. Krishnan said her critics have stooped to unimaginable levels to show her in a bad light.

Some of the other trolls read: Swapna Verma @swapscosmos "Kavita Krishnan is suffering, she's sick. She needs help. I urge NCW to come to her rescue".

The coconut oil smells turns off men @ view_lion@Kavita Krishnanan@rehack20".

Vrajesh Tripathi ?@VrajTripathi "It is my Sanskar n upbringing I won't abuse a woman using cuss words! All

I can say for her is she's not a woman!". gajanand devda ?@gajananddevda @supriyan @kavita_krishnan "one more naxallite here...u guys shud b smashed out of the country" Meanwhile, supporters of Krishnan posted photos of Ehsaan Jafri's daughter with her father.

Baba Manhattani ?@BabaGlocal Dear @narendramodi Ehsaan Jafri's #SelfieWithDaughter will haunt you forever.

Another tweet from Kashif Qaimi ?@kashif_Qaimi read: @kavita_ krishnan media influenced by BJP and Modi Bhakts won't show the reality of "Saheb", @mehrtarar.

Chitvan S. Dhillon ?@Filmbuff100 "A man who could not give respect to someone's daughter, vociferously launches#SelfieWithDaughter campaign. Irony! @kavita_krishnan".

Krishnan also criticised Prime Minister Modi's Rakhi initiative by saying: "Modi Mann Ki Baat speaks of Rakhi. For him this means protection of corrupt sisters: Sushma, Vasundhara, Smriti, Pankaja on whom he's silent."

KolKata, JuNe 29 (iaNS): NITI Aayog member V.K. Saraswat on Monday said the think-tank of the central government will push policies for the indigenous manufacture of electronics and hardware to strengthen India's cyber security.

Saraswat, a former Defence Research and Development Organisation chief, stressed on the creation of indigenous technologies through 'Make in India' in electronics and hardware sector to prevent the country's vulnerability to cyber threats.

"Cyber defence or cyber security is very important.

If cyber space is weak in today's scenario, the country's economy is going to be affected. So it is very important for us to develop tools for cyber defence," the NITI (National Institution for Transforming India)

Aayog member told media persons here.

"We have to create a hardware without vulnerability; we have to produce things in-house because most of our network infrastructure is imported. It comes from either China or other countries and because it is imported, it is vulnerable (to malwares etc.)," he said.

Saraswat was speaking on the sidelines of his address on the scope of statistics in cyber security at the Indian Statistical Institute's 2015 Workers' Day celebration in commemoration of the 122nd birth anniversary of its founder P.C. Mahalanobis. The day is also celebrated as National Statistics Day. Elaborating on NITI Aayog's role in pushing policies, the think tank's permanent member said India's electronic and soft-

ware policy has to cater to indigenous production to protect the nation's economy. "If we are not able to protect it, our whole economy will be in trouble since the banking, defence and railway systems will be affected. We have to lay down our very own policy for the indigenous manufacturing of electronics and development of software," he said.

In addition, India needs "dependable collaborations" to accelerate pace in

these sectors, he said. "Obviously, it requires monetary and human resource investments. That is, it requires a policy push. NITI Aayog will go for a policy push in all these areas. The government of India has already announced major programmes like 'Make in India', which cater for this kind of production and development of systems to make our country's cyber security more potent," Saraswat added.

InternatIonal

the Morung express

Tuesday 30 June 2015

Yemen water shortage may become a bigger problem than the civil war Magdalena Mis Thomson Reuters Foundation

T

he price of water is rising steeply in Yemen, which may run out of water for its 25 million people, experts say, adding to the misery caused by Arab air strikes and the civil war ravaging one of the world’s poorest and driest countries.

An Arab military coalition has since late March been bombing the Iranbacked Houthi militia that has taken over much of the country.

The bombing is aimed at restoring Yemen’s exiled president to power, and the alliance’s virtual blockade of Yemen’s airspace and ports has cut off supplies of food and fuel to the impoverished country.

Most of the gas-powered pumps providing water are now inoperable, and water from those that still work doesn’t come cheap.

“Ordinary Yemenis now pay more than 30 percent of their income just to get water in their houses, the highest rate in the world,” said Abdulkhaleq Alwan, a senior expert at Yemen’s water and environment ministry.

Prices have more than tripled since March, reach-

A boy pulls containers of water after he filled them at a faucet, amid an acute shortage of clean drinking water in Sanaa, Yemen, April 20, 2015.

(REUTERS File Photo)

ing 10,000 Yemen rials ($47) for a four cubic metre tank of water, Alwan told the Thomson Reuters Foundation from Sanaa.

The price of water has risen so steeply because the price of diesel used to pump water from the wells, and that of petrol to run the trucks, has gone through the roof, Alwan said.

“The well owners can barely afford to buy diesel on the black market because of the crazy prices, sometimes around $100 for 20 litres of diesel,” while petrol costs around $40 for 20 litres on the black market, he said.

The only alternative for water truck owners is to queue for three to four days to buy fuel more cheaply from petrol stations, he said.

In a country where more than half the population lives on less than $2 a day, some simply can’t afford to buy water at all.

“Poor families in both urban and rural areas are absolutely unable to purchase clean and safe water at such prices and therefore started to fetch water in cans on their heads,” Alwan said.

In some cities and suburban areas, including the

capital Sanaa with its two million people, wealthy residents pay water well owners and drivers to deliver water for free to poor areas, where women and children, who are usually responsible for fetching water, can fill their containers.

But as prices keep rising, Yemenis may before long have to accept that their water supply is running out - though no one knows exactly when the wells will dry up.

GHOST CITY According to a report by the U.N. Development Pro-

gramme (UNDP), Yemen is withdrawing almost 169 percent of its renewable water resources, meaning that it is using water far faster than it can replenish its supplies.

The gap between the country’s demand for and supply of water has widened to 1.4 billion cubic metres per year as a result of one of the highest population growth rates in the world and people’s extensive use of water, Alwan said.

“Estimates for the water storage in the Sanaa basin are unreliable,” he said.

“Although it is difficult and unpractical to tell people when the basin water is going to vanish, it seems that the deadline will not be that far away if the ongoing high depletion rates continue.”

William Cosgrove, a water expert and former World Bank water resources specialist for the Middle East, says much of the problem in Yemen is caused by the illegal drilling of wells.

“The issue in Yemen is the same as the one that’s creating problems in restoring peace there now: it’s a tribal country, so depending on who’s the leader of the tribe and whether they’re allied with the government or not, the law gets

respected or it doesn’t get respected,” he said.

In the case of Sanaa, the problem is not only that the city’s aquifer could run dry at any time, but also that the city is hundreds of kilometres from the sea and has no alternative water supply, Cosgrove said.

“Eventually they will end up with a ghost city because a city with no source of drinking water, located far from any place where there is water - it would be a major catastrophe,” he said.

“While the war is going on, the water level in the aquifer is going down, so the (water) problem may end up being bigger than the war.”

Alwan said the war had halted government efforts to draw up a long-term plan to deal with Yemen’s water problems, and there was currently no emergency plan in place.

One solution would be to boost development in coastal areas where water can be desalinated, he said, and to transform the rural economy by persuading farmers to stop growing khat, the profitable but extremely thirsty plant Yemenis chew as a stimulant - if they could find higher-value alternative crops.

Dimapur

9

Special protein in brain may increase stroke risk

New YORk, JuNe 29 (iaNs): A special protein found in the brain’s tiniest blood vessels may increase the risk of stroke, find researchers. The protein called FoxF2 is found in the brain’s smallest blood vessels called capillaries and are essential for the development of the blood-brain barrier.

In a study done on mice, the team found how the blood-brain barrier develops and what makes the capillaries in the brain different from small blood vessels in other organs. “Mice that have too little or too much FoxF2 develop various types of defects in the brain’s blood vessels,” said Peter Carlsson, professor at the University of Gothenburg’s department of chemistry and molecular biology.

The nerve cells in the brain get the nutrients they need by molecules actively being transported from the blood, instead of passively leaking out from the blood vessels.

This blood-brain barrier is vital, because it imposes strict control over the substances with which the brain’s nerve cells come into contact. “It has a protective function that, if it fails, increases the risk of stroke and other complications,” the authors noted.

How sun gives you wrinkles, skin cancer LONDON, JuNe 29 (iaNs): Scientists have documented for the first time the DNA damage which can occur to the skin from the full range of ultraviolet radiation from the sun, leading to skin cancer. Testing on human skin cell lines, this study shows the action spectrum of ultraviolet damage in cells derived from both the upper layer (dermis) and lower layer (epidermis) of the skin.

Our skin ages due to the constant exposure to sunlight as UV radiation comprising UVA and UVB rays from the sun penetrate cells and increase the number of damaging free radicals, especially the reactive oxygen species. Too many reactive oxygen species can be harmful because they can damage the DNA within our cells.

Over time, this can lead to the accumulation of DNA damage, particularly in mitochondria which speed up ageing and destroy the skin’s supportive fibres, collagen and elastin, leading to wrinkles.

Studies strongly suggest the damage caused by reactive oxygen species may also initiate and exacerbate the development of skin cancers.

Cameron promises wide, long-term response to terror Eleven soldiers killed in Taliban ambush LONDON, JuNe 29 (aP): Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday pledged a wide response to extremism, describing Britain as being united in grief over the beach massacre in Tunisia.

Officials have warned that Britons killed in the incident could rise as high as 30, making it the worst terror attack on U.K. citizens since the July 7, 2005, London transport attacks that killed 52 commuters. Cameron insisted the nation would not be cowed.

“To our shock and grief we must add another word: resolve. Unshakeable resolve. We will stand up for our way of life,” Cameron wrote. “So ours must be a full-spectrum response - a response at home and abroad; in the immediate aftermath and far into the future.”

Some 600 British counterterrorism police — one of the force’s largest such deployments in recent years — have been deployed as part of the investigation into Friday’s attack at the Imperial Marhaba Hotel in the beach resort of Sousse. Officers have also been deployed at airports to meet and support travelers and to help identify witnesses.

Home Secretary Theresa May is traveling to the north

Tunisia arrests suspects associated with attacker of beach hotel sOusse, JuNe 29 (ReuTeRs): Tunisian authorities have arrested a group of suspects associated with the gunman who killed 39 people, mainly British tourists, in an attack on a beach hotel, the interior minister said on Monday.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for last Friday’s assault on the Imperial Marhaba hotel in the resort town of Sousse. The gunman, Saif Rezgui, was shot dead by police.

Interior Minister Najem Gharsalli did not give further details of the arrests. He said officials also were still verifying whether the attacker had been trained in neighboring Libya

in jihadist camps.

“We will find all those involved, whether it was just logistical support or not,” the minister said, flanked by ministers from Britain, France and Germany.

The number of Britons confirmed killed by the Islamist gunman in Friday’s attack has risen to 18 from 15 and the final death toll of Britons is likely to increase to around 30 people, a British spokeswoman said.

Thousands of tourists have left Tunisia since Friday’s attack, which has shocked a country that relies heavily on tourism for jobs and foreign currency revenues.

African nation for talks on the extremist threat and to offer condolences for the slain tourists. A Royal Air Force transport plane is also being deployed to bring stranded families home.

Cameron told the BBC that the government is working as fast as possible to give families information.

Cameron described the Islamic State group — sometimes

called ISIL — as using ancient barbarism and combining it with propaganda — using social media as its primary weapon.

“We must look at how we can work with countries like Tunisia to counter this online propaganda,” he wrote. “We must also deal with it at its source, in places like Syria, Iraq and Libya, from where ISIL is peddling and plotting its death cult.”

Children in conflict zones need $2.3 billion to go to school: UNESCO LONDON, JuNe 29 (ThOmsON ReuTeRs FOuNDaTiON): The 34 million children who are out of school in conflict-affected countries need $2.3 billion to get them all schooling, ten times the amount education currently receives in aid, the United Nations’ education agency UNESCO said on Monday.

“Returning to school may be the only flicker of hope and normality for many children and youths in countries engulfed in crises,” said UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova. “Education must be seen as part of the first response when crisis hits.”

A suggested target in place since 2011 is that four percent of humanitarian aid be directed to education, but last year education received just two percent of aid, a UNESCO statement said.

“Present targets are hugely insufficient and diverting attention from the true needs of children and youth on the ground,” Aaron Benavot, director of UNESCO’s Education for All Global Monitoring Report (EFA GMR) said.

Children and adolescents in conflict-affected countries, particularly girls, are far more likely to be out of school than their counterparts in other countries, the EFA GMR said in the statement.

Even if the four percent target had been met in 2013, 15.5 million children and youths would still have had no humanitarian help with education, UNESCO said.

Just four percent of education appeals worldwide received half of all humanitarian funding for education, the report said, with Chad and the Congo faring particularly badly. Haiti, Sudan and the countries affected by the 2005 Asian tsunami did well.

“Media attention unfairly prioritizes some countries over others,” UNESCO said, adding that many appeals did not cover all those in need.

heRaT, JuNe 29 (aP): Eleven Afghan soldiers were killed in an ambush by Taliban insurgents in a western province that borders Iran, an official said Monday.

Meanwhile, U.S. and Afghan forces destroyed a munitions cache in a volatile region close to the capital Kabul.

An Afghan army convoy in Herat province was traveling to neighboring Bagdhis province on Sunday when it came under attack by a large group of insurgents, said Hesanullah Hayat, spokesman for the Herat governor.

The western region has seen increased insurgent activity since the Taliban launched their warm-weather offen-

sive in late April.

Attacks across the country since then have forced Afghan security forces to spread ever thinner, leading to an increase in the number of casualties suffered by army and police, who also fight on the front lines.

In Parwan province north of Kabul on Monday, U.S. forces destroyed munitions “that we believe could have been used to conduct attacks against Afghans and coalition forces,” said U.S. Army Col. Brian Tribus, a spokesman for NATO’s mission in Afghanistan said.

Parwan police chief Gen. Mohammad Zaman said Afghan troops were part of

the operation as well.

The operation took place in Charikar, the provincial capital, where insurgents have long been active.

Local residents held a demonstration in Charikar to protest the operation, which included ground and air forces, Zaman said. “They were complaining that if there was a weapons cache that needed destroying it should have been destroyed far away from the residential areas,” he said.

President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah were expected to send a delegation to Charikar to investigate, said Sediq Sediqqi, spokesman for the Interior Ministry.

Palestinian to end 55 days hunger strike RamaLLah, JuNe 29 (aP): A Palestinian held without charges by Israel for the past year is ending a 55-day hunger strike and in exchange will be released in two weeks, his wife and an advocacy group for prisoners said Monday.

Rights groups have warned that Khader Adnan, 36, a senior activist in the militant Islamic Jihad group, is near death. His wife Randa said Monday, after visiting her husband in an Israeli hospital, that he lost a lot of weight and “looked like a small child.”

She said he was unable to hold

their 15-month-old son.

Sivan Weizman of Israel’s Prison Authority confirmed that Adnan agreed to end his hunger strike as part of a deal, but had no details. The Israeli military, which would be involved in any agreement to release him, had no comment.

It marked the second hunger strike for Adnan whose protests have trained a spotlight on socalled administrative detention, a practice under which Israel holds Palestinians without trial or charges.

In a previous stint in administrative detention in

2012, Adnan went on a 66-day fast to press for his freedom, sparking weeks-long hunger strikes by hundreds of Palestinian detainees. Under a deal reached late Sunday, Adnan ends his hunger strike and will be released July 12, said Kadoura Fares of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, an advocacy group.

Islamic Jihad is a group that has been responsible for deadly attacks on Israelis. Last July, Adnan was given six months of administrative detention, followed by a four-month extension. When he received

another four-month extension, he launched his hunger strike. Israel says administrative detentions are an important tool against Palestinian militants. The Israeli rights group B’Tselem says Israel’s large-scale use of the practice violates international law which only permits it only in rare cases.

At the end of April, Israel held about 5,500 Palestinian security prisoners, including 396 in administrative detention, according to B’Tselem, which publishes official figures.

Cigarettes or spark suspected in Taiwan fire that burned 498 Ralph Jennings

I

Associated Press

nvestigators in Taiwan were focusing Monday on the possibility that a cigarette butt or spark caused the blaze that burned 498 people, killing one, at a weekend water park party when colored powder sprayed from the stage caught fire.

More than 400 people remained hospitalized, including 202 in serious condition, city officials said. A 20-year-old woman with burns to 90 percent of her body died after being taken off life support with her family’s consent, said a hospital spokeswoman.

Taiwan’s Central News Agency said her 12-yearold brother also had burns on 90 percent of his body.

Police recommended criminal charges against the organizer of Saturday’s party, as well as two technicians, at the Formosa Fun Coast park in suburban Taipei. “It’s still not clear what happened, but there were a number of people smoking and the weather was warm,” New Taipei City

Emergency rescue workers and concert spectators tend to injured victims from an explosion during a music concert at the Formosa Water Park in New Taipei City on June 27. The New Taipei City fire department says 200 people were injured in an accidental explosion of colored theatrical powder Saturday night near a performance stage where about 1,000 people were gathered for party. (AP Photo)

news department head Lin Chieh-yu said. Temperatures around greater Taipei topped 36 degrees Celsius before the party.

The three tons of colored starch-based powder bought by the organizers from Tai Won, a seller in the island’s southern county of Yunlin, were flammable, said Chou Hui-fang, a rep-

resentative of the seller.

She said the buyer was informed about the risk of fire. “Whether it’s corn starch or flour starch, this kind of stuff, no matter how long it’s been around, if it’s in dense quantities and if it’s hot, it can catch fire,” Chou said. She said her 4-year-old company has been questioned by po-

lice and health officials but was not considered at fault.

“We didn’t know what the buyers were going to do with it or how much they would use,” she said. “It might have been supplies for a whole year.”

Taiwan Premier Mao Chi-kuo banned use of the powder at future private events. The powder at

Saturday’s party was made in Taiwan, Chou said. The water park was ordered to close after the fire.

Taiwan police recommended charges of professional neglect and public endangerment for party organizer Lu Chung-chi, who was arrested but released on bail of 1 million Taiwan dollars (US$32,000) and restricted from leaving the island, a New Taipei City police spokesman said.

Local media photos showed Lu kneeling on the ground to apologize, pledging to take full responsibility. Police also recommended charges for the stage hardware technician and the person responsible for shooting off the powder. Each was given bail of 300,000 Taiwan dollars. Officers questioned two others involved in the event but did not recommend charges, said Yan Bo-jen, news liaison for the local police precinct.

Taiwan university student Liang Sheng-kai said flaming powder hit his legs, apparently catching fire after it was sprayed from a concert stage into the front row where he was stand-

ing. With the park’s water features several hundred meters (yards) away, too far to douse the fire or ease burns, people screamed and panicked to find exits as balls of fire surged from the ground, he said. He said the right and left sides of the stage were blocked.

“It was very messy and a lot of people fell over or got knocked down,” said Liang, 20, who is being treated for his burns in a Taipei hospital. Five victims were from Hong Kong, two from mainland China and one each from Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. Authorities were still checking on the nationalities of three other foreigners. More than 200 were students, Central News Agency said.

Hong Kong is reviewing venues and other factors before it gives licenses to two local events similar to the water park party, Secretary Ko Wing-man said.

A total of 498 people were injured by the fire, according to the latest statement from the city government’s health department. It said 202 were badly injured, 236 lightly or moderately injured, and 60 others were unclassified.

10

Dimapur

SPORTS

Tuesday 30 June 2015

public discourse On RCC Bridge near CIHSR at 4th Mile Dimapur crisis

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hile the closure of the RCC Steel Girder Bridge near CIHSR at 4th Mile Dimapur by the office of the Deputy Commissioner Dimapur is appreciated, the inconvenience caused to the public goes on.

Many people might not be aware that the bridge is not only a lifeline to Sumi people living in Niuland, Ato, and Kuhuboto areas but also to various villages and colonies established other tribes in the area. Further, this bridge-road is also essential for Wokha district and the other adjoining districts for many purposes.

This bridge-road is very vital for not thousands, but lakhs of citizens. How can the government disregard and close its eyes to the welfare of its own citizens? The concerned department was waiting for a disaster to happen, however, the DC’s office intervention for public safety has fortunately averted the catastrophe.

Ironically, I submitted a letter to the office of the Deputy Commissioner Dimapur on February 2013 regarding the same crisis but unfortunately nothing drastic and far-reaching step was taken, thus, the crisis of inconveniencing lakhs of bonafide citizens continues.

Commuters including students, poor farmers, government servants, and others are made to travel more than 15 kilometers daily, that too, on a river like road conditions. They are also robbed off their precious time and money. Not only that, the vehicle owners too have to spend huge amount of money to repair their vehicles after plying that road.

Unless the concerned department and authority take proper and immediate step to address the issue, inconveniencing lakhs of bonafide citizens will continue. Simply unloading sand gravel around the eroded foundation of the bridge or cementing the fallen of section bridge will not work as in the past. At the least, what the concerned department can do to address the crisis is to improve the road from Showba to Seithikema-Patkai Christian College where the detour is directed.

Viniho Shikhu Niuland Area Citizen

Open letter to the vice chancellor of Nagaland University

G

ood morning sir, hope you are fine and doing well, and I hope your chair is very comfortable, Yes I'm sure, but we the 4th semester and final semester students of Nagaland University are not fine and our chairs which was once comfortable is not so uncomfortable because of the delay of our results.

Admissions in various post graduate courses all over the country are about to be closed and by the way some have already been closed.

Our exams were conducted so early, even the lecturers was not able to complete our syllabus, we thought that it was done early so that the University would be able to give the results on time, sadly we were wrong. So my question is will the University compensate the affected students who will be losing a year due to delay of our results?

Always Remember a year for a student is priceless.

Therefore my earnest request to your kind office is to at least let us know when we will be getting our results through local dailies, so that we can at least know what we must do.

Thank you.

Aton Konyak, Dimapur

Languages of the Eyes The eyes says it allEvery stare we receive The looks we give Speaks a million language of The feelings within; If it is seen in holiness It shall not lose its reward: If it is not, the verses on sin Are there to judge: So, should we see to sinOr shut or eyes to sin?

The answer says it all: God’s lovers know what God desires; And if our eyes love what it sees, The feelings in us will condemn us not.

The choice to either see to hurt God is on us; If we truly love God we shall see Not to wound but to love The eyes must be holy.

If anyone ignores this, He himself will be ignored; Our eyes must not sin.

Ambrose.J. Chakre

english women hope World cup semifinal boosts the home game

VANCOUVER, JUNE 29 (AP): Although they're not yet 30 years old, Jodie Taylor and Steph Houghton have already seen a revolution in English women's soccer during their careers.

A sport once overlooked and underfunded in its football-mad nation has seized the spotlight this month, breaking barriers and toppling bastions of inveterate sexism with every World Cup victory. The Lionesses reached a new summit Saturday with a gritty 2-1 quarterfinal win over Canada, knocking out the hosts and advancing to the semifinals against Japan on Wednesday in Edmonton, Alberta.

Amid the hugs and celebration at BC Place, Houghton spared a thought for the brilliant boost they're getting back home in the sport's motherland.

"We always said that we had one aim when we came (to Canada)," the England captain said. "It was to inspire a nation, and if the mums and dads have let their young girls watch the game late (Saturday) in England, I think hopefully we've got a lot of young girls playing football at an early age, and in the next few years we have a stronger English national team."

England already is guaranteed its most successful Women's World Cup. The Lionesses began in Canada with a 1-0 loss to France, but have racked up four consecutive 2-1 victories since, beating Mexico, Colombia, Norway and the hosts. One game after they confidently rallied from behind to beat Norway, they hung on through 75 tense minutes against Canada after taking an early lead in a raucous stadium ardently hoping for a collapse.

Since their only World Cup victory in 1966, the English men have made a tradition of disastrous performances on international stages, capped by their worst-ever World Cup showing in Brazil last year.

These Lionesses haven't bowed to the weight of history.

"We've got such a good team, such a strong squad," said Taylor, who scored England's first goal.

"We're not just 11 or 12 players. I

England's Jodie Taylor, left, and Jill Scott celebrate Taylor's goal against Canada during the first half in a quarterfinal of the Women's World Cup soccer tournament, Saturday, June 27, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

just want us to keep on and continue this journey."

Taylor started out playing against boys in England as a kid.

She debuted for women's club team Tranmere Rovers at 15, something that would be nearly impossible today in the tiered levels of women's soccer.

"There's not many people under the age of 17" playing at the top level in England, she said. "If you're 17 or 18 in the league (now), you're doing really well. It's kind of amazing to see the progress the league has made."

Taylor then played at Oregon State from 2004-07, and she still suits up for the NWSL's powerhouse Portland Thorns alongside

Canada's Christine Sinclair, Germany's Nadine Angerer and U.S. star Alex Morgan.

But that makes Taylor an anomaly for England: Every other player on the World Cup roster is affiliated with an English club team, underlining the game's rapid domestic growth. "(English club) teams trained twice a week if we were lucky," Taylor said. "I think Arsenal back then trained three times, and that was amazing. To see where the game is at now, we're professional people that can train full-time and not have to work. The level has gotten a lot better, and I think we've shown by how well we're doing as a national team. It's a good reflec-

LONDON, JUNE 29 (REUTERS): The Formula E electric car racing series is aiming to expand to Africa and India after a successful debut season in Asia, the Americas and Europe.

"We want to conquer as much of the world as we can," the series chief executive Alejandro Agag told reporters after Sunday's final round at London's Battersea Park on the south bank of the River Thames. "We will be looking for places maybe in Africa also."

Agag said the series, won by Brazilian Nelson Piquet junior for Team China Racing, would probably have two new cities in the second season although the number of races was likely to remain the same or one more.

"We want to give the championship stability for the teams. Probably grow another two races for season three,"

said the Spaniard. One of those could be in India, with Mahindra & Mahindra Auto Group President Pawan Goenka telling Reuters the choice was likely to be between New Delhi and Bangalore.

"It cannot happen in 2015/16, it's too late, but in 2016/17 we would like to. The organisers have a general interest in bringing a race to India," he said.

"Delhi will be ideal in terms of interest and visibility and the backdrop that you get and wide roads -- but perhaps most difficult at the same time -- followed by Bangalore. Mumbai is out of the question."

Agag said the debut season, which kicked off in Beijing last September and raced in 10 cities, had been a "great success, especially when you consider how difficult it was to make it happen."

Virgin entrepreneur Richard Branson,

whose British driver Sam Bird won the final race on Sunday, told reporters Formula E would overtake Formula One within five years but Agag played that down. "We love Formula One and think it's great. But we think Formula E is different. We would be making a big mistake if we tried to compete with Formula One and be similar to Formula One," he said.

"We have to be radically different to Formula One to have a chance of survival. I don't mean survival by beating Formula One but co-existing complimentary to Formula One. "I think that will be the only chance for us to have a long term future in the world of motorsport. We stand no chance against Formula One but we do stand a very strong chance on our own as a different product."

Hope Powell after the Lionesses went winless at Euro 2013, has joined Alf Ramsey and Bobby Robson as the only coaches to get an England team to a World Cup semifinal. Both of his predecessors were knighted for their efforts.

Sampson has deliberately compared his team to England's best male squads, underlining the connections that should seize a nation's support with just two games between the Lionesses and history.

"They've shown a desire I've never seen from an England team before, to hang on in there and get this thing through to the next round," Sampson said. "I'm really proud of my team. I'm also really proud of women's football."

India team for Zimbabwe tour

Sri Lanka beats Pakistan by 7 wickets

A

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.

tion of the way women's football in England is going."

Although this World Cup run is doing wonders, the work isn't done among the skeptical elements of the English public. Earlier in the week, the FA made a plaintive plea for more press coverage.

Prince William has repeatedly declared support, saying Sunday that "the Lionesses are doing their country proud." Their male counterparts also are behind them: Wayne Rooney, Phil Jones and Ian Wright were among the luminaries tweeting their support, and David Beckham posted warm congratulations on Instagram.

Mark Sampson, the 32-yearold Welsh coach who replaced

Formula E hopes to expand to Africa, India Rahane to lead second-string

NU delayed declaration of result fervent appeal to the Nagaland University since the integrated courses of BA, BSc, B.Com had been conducted its exams 5th Feb. to 26th Feb. 2015 in various stream respectively. However, the Nagaland University tradition of being snail pace declaration of its result till date and the now, the students major concern is, as to why the concern department so unreliable in sincereirresponsible on timely declaration every year.

In the interest of the general students on a high note, the NU should declare its result in time along with the mark sheet, due to delaying issue of original mark sheet and certificates, students are deprived to sought admission also in other State University or even to do with their job offered opportunities Looking forward with effective action Sekukho Tetseo Mission Compound, Phek

The Morung Express

Sri Lankan batsman Dimuth Karunaratne bats against Pakistan during the fifth day of their second cricket test match in Colombo on June 29. Sri Lanka won the match by 7 wickets. (AP Photo)

COLOMBO, JUNE 29 (AP): Opener Dimuth Karunaratne smashed a halfcentury to help Sri Lanka complete a comprehensive seven-wicket win over Pakistan in the second cricket test Monday to level the threematch series 1-1.

Needing 153 to win with rain looming on the final day, the Sri Lankan batsmen reached the victory target in 26.3 overs before lunch at the P.Sara Oval.

"The boys showed a lot of

character after the defeat in Galle," Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews said after the match. "We wanted to bat positively because we were not sure about the rain. So we gave green signal to play positively." Karunaratne was out for 50, trapped lbw by legspinner Yasir Shah after adding 72 runs for the third wicket with Mathews, who remained unbeaten on 43.

Karunaratne faced 57 deliveries and hit four boundaries. Kithruwan Vithanage

was promoted up the batting order to hasten the chase and made a brisk 34 off 23 before being caught in the deep by Mohammad Hafeez off leftarm spinner Zulfiqar Babar.

Kumar Sangakkara, playing his final innings against Pakistan, was out for a firstball duck, caught at forward short-leg off Shah.

The left-hander will not play the third test against Pakistan and will retire from international cricket after the second match of a three-

match test series against India in August.

Shah returned figures of 2-55 and claimed eight wickets in the match.

Seam bowler Dhammika Prasad on Sunday took four wickets for Sri Lanka to help dismiss Pakistan for 329 in its second innings, despite a fighting 117 from Azhar Ali. Prasad was named player of the match for his eight wickets in the match.

Ali and opener Ahmed Shehzad brought Pakistan back into the match in the second innings after conceding a 177-run first-innings lead. Pakistan was dismissed for a paltry 138 in the first innings and Sri Lanka replied with 315.

Ali and Shehzad (69) added 120 for the second wicket, but the rest of the batting faltered against the Sri Lankan seamers.

Pakistan captain Misbahul-Haq was disappointed with the team's performance after winning by 10 wickets in Galle. "It's really big worry for us that we put up really big scores in the first test but in the second test we were dismissed from 70 for two to 138," he said. "We really need to play the first innings well."

The third and series-deciding match of the series will start Friday in Pallekele near the hill city of Kandy.

Ajinkya Rahane (AP File Photo)

NEW DELHI, JUNE 29 (AP): Batsman Ajinkya Rahane has been chosen to lead a second-string India side for an upcoming limited overs tour of Zimbabwe, national selectors announced on Monday. The 27-year-old Rahane was named as captain for the three one-day internationals and two Twenty20 games in Harare, with regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and vice-captain Virat Kohli among those rested by selectors. "We're very happy with the way his career is shaping up as he has been very consistent," chief selector Sandeep Patil said about Rahane, who has never led India before. "We're giving him this opportunity and will back him."

Rahane, a compact batsman who plays orthodox shots rather than innovative ones, has scored 1175 runs in 15 test matches, 1593 in 55 ODIs and 236 in 11 T20 internationals. Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan and Umesh Yadav were also rested. "Seeing the past and future commitments, players who need rest have been rested," Patil said. "We have picked our side keeping in mind next year's World Twenty20 in India."

Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh returned for limited overs games after making a comeback to the national side in the draw against Bangladesh in Fatullah earlier this month. "At the moment, looking at his performances, we feel he deserves an opportunity on this tour as well," Patil said about the 34-year-old, who has done well in domestic twenty20 games and also bagged three wickets at Fatullah.

There is no specialist wicketkeeper in the side with Ambati Rayudu, Robin Uthappa or Kedhar Jadhav likely to step in, having kept wickets in domestic games. Batsman Manish Pandey and pace bowler Sandeep Sharma are the only two uncapped players in the side, although there are severeal players with limited international experience. The ODIs are scheduled for July 10, 12 and 14 while the T20 games will be played on July 17 and 19.

Entertainment

The Morung Express

Chris Brown, Nicki Minaj, Beyonce win big at BE T Awards The full list of winners are:

Janet Jackson accepts the ultimate icon: music dance visual award at the BET Awards at the Microsoft Theater on Sunday, June 28, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo)

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hris Brown and Nicki Minaj with the fandemonium awards at the BET Awards at the Microsoft Theater on Sunday in Los Angeles.

Though she was absent, Beyonce won three BET Awards, including video of the year for “7/11,” while Chris Brown and Nicki Minaj also won multiple awards at the all-star show on Sunday night. But the show was less about the awards video of the year didn’t even make the live broadcast as performances stole the night.

As Janet Jackson entered the stage at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles,

Brown screamed loudly, Minaj whipped out her phone to record the moment and Laverne Cox was teary—eyed. The pop star was honored with the Ultimate Icon- Music Dance Visual Award as she made one of her first public performances in sometime as she readies a new album and tour this fall. “It’s been a very long moment to this journey ... my heart is so full,” Jackson said to the audience, which included her mother and father. “To my beautiful mother, to my beautiful father, and to my entire family, your love is unbreakable.”

An impressive Ciara,

Jason Derulo and Tinashe paid tribute to the 49-yearold veteran by mimicking her signature dance moves.

“Twenty five years ago we created ‘Rhythm Nation,’ hoping the world would be a better place, but today there’s even more to be done,” Jackson said. Jackson wasn’t the only show stopper Sunday - Diddy dropped it like it’s hot at the awards show figuratively and literally. The entertainer fell during an exciting performance that celebrated Bad Boy Records’ 20th year anniversary, one of the night’s highlights. Lil Kim, Mase, Faith Evans, 112 and The Lox joined Diddy

Best Female R&B/Pop Artist: Beyonce Best Male R&B/Pop Artist: Chris Brown Best Male Hip-Hop Artist: Kendrick Lamar Best Female Hip-Hop Artist: Nicki Minaj Best Group: Rae Sremmurd Best New Artist: Sam Smith Best Gospel Artist: Lecrae Best Collaboration: Common and John Legend, Glory Video of the Year: Beyonce, 7/11 Video Director of the Year: Beyonce, Ed Burke & Todd Tourso Best International Act: Africa: Stonebwoy (Ghana) Best International Act: U.K.: Stormzy Fandemonium Award: Chris Brown Coca-Cola Viewers’ Choice Award: Nicki Minaj featuring Drake, Lil Wayne and Chris Brown, Only Centric Award: The Weeknd, Earned It Best Actor: Terrence Howard Best Actress: Taraji P. Henson Best Movie: Selma Sportsman of the Year: Stephen Curry Sportswoman of the Year: Serena Williams Youngstars Award: Mo’Ne Davis Humanitarian Award: Tom Joyner Ultimate Icon: Music Dance Visual Award: Janet Jackson Lifetime Achievement Award: Smokey Robinson

as they performed a medley of past hits. A video montage of rap king Notorious B.I.G. appeared in the background as his verse from “Mo Money Mo Problems” played.

Brown performed multiple times, and won best male R&B/pop artist and the fandemonium award.

“A lot has changed in my life, a lot of mistakes, a lot of lessons learned. The best thing I’m most thankful for is my daughter,” he said onstage. “I’m so thankful and happy to have the loyal fans ... and everybody here that knows me, to know me is to love me.”

Harry styles 'interested' Talking shop with Peecee riyanka Chopra, who in fasHion career began shooting for

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inger Harry Styles says that he would like to pursue his sartorial passion in the future but doesn't think he is "qualified" enough to start his own collection just yet.

"It's definitely something I'm interested in. I don't

know if I necessarily am qualified to do my own thing, I just wear what I like and what's comfortable, so I don't know how qualified I would be to do something like that," Styles said, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

The 21-year-old member of the British boyband One Direction, whose signature look consists of a patterned shirt, super skinny jeans and ankle boots - says that it is important to have fun with fashion and simply wears whatever he likes. "I definitely find it fun, the fun thing with clothes and everything like that is it's just complete personal opinion and so it's just whatever you want to say and you want to get across," he told Grazia Daily.

P

Prakash Jha's Gangaajal 2 on June 16, is kicking butt, literally. She plays a hard-as-nails cop who takes on not just conniving subordinates but also the influential bizmen in her district.

On Monday, she turned up at the Jama Masjid Chowk bazaar in old Bhopal at an ungodly 6 am. Jha had permission to shoot at the market for six hours, from 6 am to noon but he needed crowds in the frame and instead of junior artistes preferred locals. So around 150 shopkeepers were cajoled into pulling up their shutters and hanging around on camera for the next 10 hours since the shoot had been extended by four hours. Despite this being the Ramzan season, they co-operated with crew.

‘Spider-Man’ reboot to introduce new villains

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arvel Studio President Kevin Feige has hinted that the upcoming “SpiderMan” movie may include all-new villains which fans have never seen before.

Feige explained that the studio was making innovations with the antagonists in order to differentiate the upcoming movie with previous “Spider-Man” movies, reported AceShowbiz.

“Right now we’re interested in seeing villains we haven’t seen before,” Feige

said of the upcoming reboot. Feige indicated that “Spider-Man” didn’t have to be part of the larger Marvel Universe in order to “work.” “Stakes don’t need to be end of the world,” he said and added that “Spider-Man” had several differences, strengths, compared to other Marvel movies. Famous villains of the franchise include Doctor Octopus, Sandman, Venom, The Lizard, Electro, Rhino and multiple versions of the Green Goblin.

Katie Holmes loves company of books

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ctress Katie Holmes says she is most relaxed when absorbed in a novel. "I don't take my work home with me. We're just playing characters so I do my work and then I go home and live my life. I love reading books, which makes me feel very peaceful and happy. A

room full of books is one of the most peaceful places to be," the 36-year-old actress, who has nine-yearold Suri with ex-husband Tom Cruise, was quoted as saying by femalefirst.co.uk.

Holmes has been shooting US crime drama "Ray Donovan" and struggled with the character because of a mouthpiece she had to wear. "I have a role in the new season of 'Ray Donovan', playing the daughter of a very wealthy family who is sort of a femme fatale. She wears braces on her teeth, which I'm always messing up with because they're always falling out," she added.

A Myanmar model presents traditional dresses creation of local designers during a fashion show to mark Myanmar Women Day at the National Theater on Sunday, June 28, in Yangon, Myanmar.

Myanmar Women Day will fall on July 3.

(AP Photo)

Meanwhile, Priyanka's brother Siddharth, aunt Kamini, and sister Mannara landed in Bhopal yesterday to keep the actress, who has been shooting around-the-clock, company. The trio chose to drive down, stopping at Aurangabad to visit the Ajanta and Ellora caves.

Tuesday 30 June 2015

Dimapur

11

Kids for fame - 5 Final audition on July 4

K

ids for Fame final combine audition will be held on July 4 at Pheto Music Office Padumpukhuri, starting from 4 in the evening. Interested people who have missed Dimapur & Kohima auditions can come with free entry audition to win the title of Kids for Fame season 5.

The ultimate winner will walk away with the cash prize of Rs 3 Lakhs and special free music course for one year at School of Music, Purana Bazar and chopper ride for all the Finalists.

For further information contact PMA office or call 9436405817.

Nise Meruno after a performance from his Europe tour. Seen here with conductor Caroline Remy and the Indian Ambassador to Germany at the Indian Embassy, Berlin.

Vijender turns pro, will miss Rio Olympics

TRANSFER TALK

Arsenal unveil Petr Cech as first signing

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LONDON, JUNE 29 (AFP): Petr Cech has agreed to join Arsenal from Chelsea on a long-term contract for an undisclosed fee. The 33-year-old goalkeeper made over 400 appearances during 11 years at Stamford Bridge, winning multiple club and personal honours.

He also won the Premier League Golden Glove award on three occasions.

A seven-time Czech Footballer of the Year, Cech made his international debut in 2002. He currently has 114 caps for his country - four short of countryman Karel Poborsky’s all-time record.

Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger said: “Petr Cech is a player that I have admired for a long time and I am very pleased that he has decided to join us. He has proven over many seasons that he is one of the outstanding keepers in the world and he will add great strength to our squad.”

New signing Cech said: “I’m really excited about joining Arsenal Football Club and can't wait to join up for pre-season. I have the same commitment to football, the same motivation and the same hunger for success as I had at the beginning of my career, and I love the challenges brought by the top quality players you face while playing in the Premier League. When Arsène Wenger spoke to me about his ambitions for this club, and how he saw me as part of this team, the decision was clear.” Cech has completed his medical and will join up with his new team-mates shortly to begin preparations for the 2015/16 season. Cech’s Arsenal squad number will be revealed soon through Arsenal’s official Instagram account.

Liverpool will listen to Lucas offers

Liverpool are willing to listen to offers for midfielder Lucas Leiva. The Reds are happy to offload the midfielder after bringing in five new players already this summer.

Source: Daily Mail

Manchester United to make £15m Coleman bid

Manchester United are considering making a £15m bid for Seamus Coleman although Everton insist the full-back is not for sale.

Source: Daily Star

Van Persie set for crunch Manchester United talks

Robin van Persie is set for crunch talks with Louis van Gaal over his Manchester United future. The Dutch striker will seek an exit if he is not guaranteed regular first-team football.

Source: Daily Express

LONDON, JUNE 29 (PTI): Olympic bronzemedallist Vijender Singh, the country's most celebrated boxer, on Monday bid adieu to his amateur career by turning professional, ruling himself out of next year's Olympics as he no longer remains eligible to represent India.

The biggest name in Indian boxing by a mile after he became the first to bag an Olympic medal -- the 29-year-old on Monday signed a multi-year agreement with Queensberry Promotions through IOS Sports and Entertainment, that will see the middleweight fight a minimum of six times in the first year.

"I'm excited to turn pro and looking forward to the new chapter of my life.

I want to train hard and perform for my country at the global level. IOS will be managing my pro boxing career along with Queensbury Promotions with broadcaster BoxNation.

My immediate goal will be to work hard and make a good boxing record in the

next year or so," Vijender said at a press conference here.

The International Boxing Association (AIBA) rules on boxers joining professional leagues other than the ones promoted by AIBA clearly state that they become ineligible for amateur competitions.

Francis Warren, heads of Queensberry Promotions -- a leading boxing promoter in the UK --, said Vijender has it in him to script history in the pro circuit. "I'm very excited to have brought such a talented and determined individual over to the UK and can't wait to see what Vijender is capable of doing in the professional ranks after achieving so much as an amateur," he said.

"After spending the past week with him in Manchester, there is no doubt in my mind that he has what it takes to be a very successful professional boxer, not only due to his undoubted natural talent, but also due to his drive and focus.

"He has a clear idea of

Djokovic & Serena win at Wimbledon

what he wants to achieve and I am over the moon that he will be doing that with Queensberry Promotions and BoxNation," he added.

Speaking on the deal IOS MD and CEO Neerav Tomar said "It's a historic moment for Indian boxing with Vijender turning Pro. He's a top fighter and is extremely motivated to train hard and perform."

One of India's most successful amateur boxers ever, Vijender was also the country's first to win a medal at the World Championships when he clinched a bronze in 2009.

He won a gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games besides silver medals at the 2006 and 2014 Commonwealth Games; a bronze at the 2006 Asian Games and the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The 29-year-old from Haryana will now base himself in Manchester, England, under renowned trainer Lee Beard, who has previously worked with British boxing legend Ricky Hatton.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia plays a return to Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany during the

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men's singles first round match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Monday June 29. (AP Photo)

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WIMBLEDON, JUNE 29 (REUTERS): Defending champion Novak Djokovic moved confidently into the second round of Wimbledon with a 6-4 6-4 6-4 win over German Philipp Kohlschreiber on Monday.

With no competitive matches in the build-up to the championships after his French Open final loss, Djokovic, on paper at least, had a dangerous opponent in the 33rd-ranked Kohlschreiber.

But the 28-year-old Serbian was clinical on the big points and never looked like becoming the first defending champion to fall in the first round since 2003.

He broke in the 10th game of the opener and squeezed the throttle at the same stage of the second, securing a two-set lead with backhand winner and a roar of delight.

Top seed Djokovic cruised through the third set. "This is the cradle of our sport, it doesn't get any bigger than Wimbledon Centre Court and it's an honour and to be defending champion," he told the BBC. "I had a tough opponent, he can be very tricky especially on the grass but I stayed composed."

Serena Williams dusted off a few cobwebs to power into the second round at

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Wimbledon on Monday, surviving an early wobble against Russian qualifier Margarita Gasparyan to win 6-4 6-1.

The world number one made an inauspicious start to her bid for a sixth Wimbledon title and a second non-calendar year grand slam when the lowly-ranked Russian broke in the opening game and held on bravely as Williams slowly warmed up.

The frustration was clearly telling on the American as she trailed by a break and 3-2 in the opening set, an audible obscenity earning her a warning from the umpire. She received little respite from Gasparyan, whose rasping groundstrokes frequently found their target, but Williams discovered her rhythm, broke to level for 3-3 and did not look back.

The 33-year-old broke again when Gasparyan netted a backhand to clinch the first set after 48 minutes and powered away, breaking twice in the second set and crunching away a smash on match point to clinch victory.

Nick Kyrgios reminded Wimbledon fans of the destructive weapons that shook up the tournament last year by powering into the second round with a

straight-sets demolition of Diego Schwartzman on Monday. A year after the towering Australian stunned then world number one Rafa Nadal to become the first man to reach the last eight on his Wimbledon debut since 2004, he cranked up the firecracker forehand to crush Argentine Schwartzman 6-0 6-2 7-6(6).

Kyrgios tore through the first set in 17 minutes, eased through the second and, after suffering a brief wobble in the third, sealed victory in a close-fought tiebreaker.

Kyrgios, 20, has yet to realise the enormous potential he showed in crunching through the Wimbledon draw last year, injury and loss of form interrupting his progress in 2015.

The world number 29 split with coach Todd Larkham a week before Wimbledon, but it seems to have had little negative impact if his 85-minute win on the opening day of the Championships was anything to go by.

He had too much raw power for the 63rd-ranked Schwartzman who looked thoroughly out of his depth as the sun shone on Court Two and the yellow hordes of Australian fans serenaded their favourite to victory.

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PSG plot €190m Neymar swoop for 2016

Paris Saint-Germain are plotting a huge move to sign Neymar from Barcelona in the summer of 2016. The French champions are willing to pay an incredible €190m for the Brazilian, who they want to replace Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Source: Le Parisien

Swansea agree Eder deal

Swansea City have agreed a £5 million deal with Braga to sign Eder.

Source: Sky Sports

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Madrid launch Biglia offer

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Real Madrid have submitted a €22 million (£15.6m) bid for Lucas Biglia but Lazio want €30m (£21.2m) for the midfielder, who is also being monitored

by Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain.

Source: Gazzetta dello Sport

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Juventus open talks with Kovacic

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Juventus have opened talks with Mateo Kovacic over a £21m move. The 21-year-old had been a target for Liverpool.

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