June 7th, 2016

C M Y K

C M Y K

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tuesDAY • june 07 • 2016

DIMAPUR • Vol. XI • Issue 155 • 12 PAGes • 5

T H e

ESTD. 2005

Everyone should be respected as an individual, but no one idolized Modi-Obama bond an ‘unlikely friendship’: New York Times

P o W e R

T R u T H

— Albert Einstein

Public appeals to set up SBI branch at Tobu

PAGe 08

o F

Two late goals give Mexico win over Uruguay

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nagaland Vision 2030 calls forth public opinion Social media platforms launched for people to share views Chizokho Vero Kohima | June 6

Two men are seen sawing a log of timber at Viphruoma village. Viphruoma (Viphoma) village belonging to the Northern Angami area is about 70 km away from Kohima. According to the 2011 census, it has a total 107 households. (Morung Photo)

reflections

By Sandemo Ngullie

We don’t own a car. Maybe so, but vegetables price will go up na!

NSCN (K) clarifies DIMAPUR, JUNE 6 (MExN): In connection with the arrest of one Kughato Chishi by the Assam Rifles at Dimapur on June 1, the NSCN (K) today clarified that the said person is “not the Defence Secretary of NSCN/GPRN and also Brig. Akaho not the Finance Secretary as alleged.” A press release issued by the MIP of the NSCN (K) said that Kughato Chishi is “not assigned with any official responsibilities and therefore the testimonies rendered by him are null and void and NSCN/GPRN fully disowns the purported confessional statements of Kughato Chishi.” It further clarified that Khenili Jimo, wife of Brig. Akaho Jimo, Finance In-charge Dimapur “is not involved in any transaction and NSCN/GPRN condemns the attempted implication basing on alleged confessions of Kughato Chishi under duress.”

PWD (R&B) informs on road closure DIMAPUR, JUNE 6 (MExN): In view of the ongoing construction works at the Dhobinullah to Thahekhu road, the PWD (R&B) has informed that the road stretch from Signal Bazaar Junction to Thahekhu Gate will remain closed from June 7 to June 12, from 6:00pm till 5:00am. A press note from the Executive Engineer, PWD (R&B), Dimapur Division, informed that in addition, heavy vehicles will not be allowed to ply the road stretch at any point of time till further instructions.

The public have also been informed that the road construction cannot be done by working on one lane and opening the other and vice versa “as this will result in compromise of quality at the construction joints between the two lanes.

NPCC terms 2 year NDA celebration as ‘empty’ DIMAPUR, JUNE 6 (MExN): The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) has termed the recent celebration of the NDA government’s 2 year anniversary as “empty.”

A press note from the NPCC media cell stated that this celebration has come “when everything is about to collapse, when almost every department is getting ultimatum from concerned citizens, when backdoor appointments without sanctioned posts are the reason of bankruptcy, when the state’s expectation of funds from NDA are under frustration, when funds that come are misused and mismanaged, when people are facing a drought-like situation due to lack of money circulation.”

The NPCC said that it was under such circumstances, that the BJP’s National Vice President Vinay Saharasbude had expressed satisfaction in two years’ rule of the BJP led NDA and NPF led BJP-DAN government.

“When the state is facing the biggest scam under MGNREGA and is under demand for Impartial Inquiry Commission, he lauded Nagaland Government for proper utilization of MGNREGA and assured more funds,” the NPCC said.

It alleged that Prime Minister Narendra

Modi has “fooled people in the last election, he continued successfully for two years without any ground achievement. Some people still believe him although pockets are empty and there are no evidences of development the eyes can see.”

The NPCC further stated that the Nagaland PWD Minister “has copied Modi in fooling people about road maintenance fund.” “Budget paper shows maintenance fund for State Highways Rs 30.85 Crs during 2015-16 and the same amount in 201617. For District and other roads, Rs 44.24 Crs. during 2015-16 and Rs 40 Crs. during 2016-17. Total available during 2016-17 for maintenance is Rs 70.85 Crs. We have not seen any repair work worth appreciating.

Where has the money gone? After workcharged salaries, the remaining should be available for pothole repairs,” it said.

The NPCC said that “maintenance fund has never been Rs. 200-300 Crs” and termed the Minister’s statement as “misleading the public.” “Blaming fund reflects his weakness in bargaining requirement in the budget. He however has miserably failed to even meaningfully use the available funds for the public. His helpless explanation only exposed his inability,” the NPCC stated.

The process for formulation of the Nagaland Vision 2030 document started today with the launching of a website, Facebook account, Whatsapp, and email address for the public to share opinions on issues to be included in the document.

The online platforms were launched by Parliamentary Secretary for Planning & Coordination, Evaluation & Monitoring Cell & Taxes, Neiba Kronu.

The Nagaland Vision 2030 document, to be brought out by the Nagaland State Government aims to guide the planning and development process of the state. All submissions to the various online platforms are to be made by June 30, with the entire exercise scheduled to be completed by July 31 this year.

Kronu, speaking during the occasion lamented that in the absence of a vision document there is no clarity or clear concept, which has made funding agencies reluctant to invest in Nagaland.

He claimed that once the Nagaland Vision 2030 is formulated, many funding agencies including World Bank, Asian Development Bank etc would be invited to invest in the state.

An expert group of secretaries headed by former Chief Secretary, Alemtemshi Jamir has been set up to carry forward this vision document.

Alemtemshi said the Nagaland Vision 2030 is not a dream but a statement of action and to translate the same into a reality.

He called for the active participation of individuals and civil societies in a preparation of a comprehensive vision document. The document will focus on existing realities and the possibilities for the future, based on the strengths, opportunities, weakness and threats as perceived. It also envisages an action plan to achieve the possibilities of the future.

This vision document aims to be an inclusive document involving the people and not based on only

PLATFORMS FOR SHARING OPINIONS • Website: nagalandvision 2030.in • Facebook : Nagaland Vision 2030 • Whatsapp : 8415856752 • Email : nagalandvision2030@ gmail.com • By post: Convenor, Nagaland Vision 2030, Capital Convention Centre, New Secretariat Area, Kohima – 797003 (Nagaland) the views of the government departments. In this, it solicited the views from all sections of the society. While correspondences are being initiated to the civil societies, tribal organizations, academic institutions, development NGOs and the churches, it has also been decided to establish appropriate platforms for public to participate in the process by providing their ideas and contributing to the process of evolving a vision for the state.

Further, a template has been put in place to prepare a document that envisions a sustainable, progressive and viable Nagaland.

The submissions, it was informed should lay down the perspectives of what Nagaland can be within the time frame of 2030, outline the short term (3 years) mid-term (next 7 years) and long term (15 years) perspectives and action plans to achieve such perceived goal, address issues and work out a plan of action to tackle them.

The document will also surround evolution of an economy in the state or formation of major driving economic activity covering issues such as production and productivity, services, trade and commerce, designing an economic development model of Nagaland including designing the infrastructure that will create enabling environment for achieving and sustaining the perceived economy of the state, addressing regional disparities especially pertaining to areas like the eastern Nagaland areas and bringing about equitable devel-

opment in the state.

Other areas include: human development issues with emphasis on youth employment and gender-both urban and rural, spread of urbanization and addressing related concerns of urban development especially pertaining to livelihood, living environment and sustainability of the urban inhabitations, the ecology and environment and sustainable development of Nagaland, funds, Finance and resources for internal generation.

The document aims to also focus on the best approaches for the judicious harnessing of human and natural resources to achieve the vision.

Natural resources would include aspects like oil, coal, limestone, water, forest etc.

Any vision for Nagaland also needs to be in consonance with the policies of the Government of India and take into account the quantum of financial support that can be extended by the GoI including the process of devolution of funds to the states. It should also cover the various aspects of the CSS and Central Government policies. It also needs to keep in mind the implementation of the ‘Look/Act East Policy’ NE vision 2020, the BBIM (Bangladesh Bhutan India & Myanmar) and IMT (India Myanmar Thailand) Agreements.

Side by side the projections are also prescribed to take into account the global economic scenario including investments in the state through multilateral and bilateral agencies, EAP and also FDI and private investment.

Suggestions for the vision could include views on the governance issues of the state with a focus on democratization, decentralization and participatory approaches to development that will enhance transparency and accountability. In this, views on VDBs, communitisation and urban bodies will be vital.

Impressing upon the necessity of peace for any development, the vision document is envisaged to be formulated on the premise that a negotiated settlement could soon be in place.

no strike carried out in Myanmar Frenchman detained over ‘Euro 2016 attack plot’ against ne insurgents: Army says KOLKATA, JUNE 6 (IANS): Putting to rest reports of a surgical strike in Myanmar against rebels from the North East after an ambush killing six Assam Rifles personnel in Manipur last month, the Army today said sometimes factional fights among insurgent groups were attributed to security forces.

“I must ask you where does this rumour come from? We respect the sovereignty of all our neighbours. There is no question of going across....... Nothing has happened. We did no strikes,” Eastern Army Commander Lieutenant General Praveen Bakshi told reporters here when asked to comment on reports of a surgical strike by security forces in neighbouring Myanmar.

He said there were several insurgent groups in Nagaland, Manipur and other places which witnessed inter-group factionalism and rivalry.

“At times (the fights) get attributed to security forces when we have no hand,” Bakshi said, adding they suspected that those responsible for the ambush on May 22, perhaps, were clandestinely finding safe sanctuaries in places other than our own country.

“And to that extent we can only request that such safe sanctuaries not be provided in a spirit of good neighbourhood,” the army commander said. In June last year, army commandos had carried out a surgical strike at militant camps in Myanmar killing at least 38 Naga insurgents after NSCN(K) killed 18 army personnel in Manipur.

No case of misuse of AFSPA in North East: Army claims KOLKATA, JUNE 6 (PTI): Defending the imposition of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in the North East, the Army today said there was no recent cases of misuse of the law in the region. “In Eastern Command, during the time I have spent here, there has not been a single incident which has been reported where AFSPA has not been used for the right reason,” Eastern Army Commander Lieutenant General Praveen Bakshi said.

He said if there was any breach of AFSPA it was dealt with firmly by the Army. “If the Army is required to handle insurgency, we require AFSPA. If we don’t have AFSPA, our hands are tied and we cannot do our job. It is an enabling provision and not a draconian provision,” he said.

Various human rights organisations have long been demanding repeal of the AFSPA which they call a “draconian” law. In Manipur, rights activist Irom Chanu Sharmila has been on a fast-unto-death for 15 years demanding withdrawal of AFSPA. She is forcibly nose-fed at a government hospital in Imphal.

After joining the Eastern Command on August 1 last year, Bakshi’s first visitor was a top army officer from Myanmar.

“We are jointly addressing it but you know insurgency knows no boundaries,” he said.

On whether there was any lacunae in following the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) by the Assam Rifles convoy which was fatally attacked, he said prima facie there was no lapse.

“In insurgency this can happen anywhere. No matter what precaution you take. Our SOPs are in place. It was only the first vehicle they attacked and before the next vehicle came in, they ran away.

So procedures were followed,” he said, adding that every such inci-

dent was a wake-up call for them.

When asked whether there are any reports of insurgent groups fuelling unrest in Manipur over the Inner Line Permit System, he said he would not get into the political part, but the Army had full situational awareness in the state.

“And as far as my orders to the commanders on the ground go, it is very clear that anyone going with a weapondoingsuspiciousactivityisto be treated as a militant,” Bakshi said.

A junior commissioned officer and five soldiers were gunned down by militants on May 22 afternoon in Chandel district.

CorCom, an umbrella body of Imphal valley’s proscribed outfits, had claimed the responsibility for the ambush.

KIEv, JUNE 6 (REUTERS): Ukraine’s state security service said on Monday a French citizen detained in late May on the border with Poland had been planning attacks in France to coincide with the Euro 2016 soccer championship it is hosting.

The Ukrainian border guard service reported on Saturday that the unnamed 25-year-old had been arrested with an arsenal of weapons and explosives including rocket launchers and Kalashnikov assault rifles in his vehicle.

SBU chief Vasyl Hrytsak said the man had made contact with armed groups in Ukraine with the aim of buying weapons and explosives.

His intended targets included Jewish and Muslim places of worship and buildings involved with the soccer tournament, Gritsak said. French government administration buildings, including those dealing with tax

collection, were also a target.

“The Frenchman spoke negatively about his government’s actions, mass immigration, the spread of Islam and globalisation, and also talked about plans to carry out several terrorist attacks,” Gritsak told journalists.

“The SBU was able to prevent a series of 15 acts of terror (planned) for the eve and during the Euro soccer championship,” he said.

Security officials in Europe are on high alert after Islamist militants killed 130 people in Paris last November and suicide bombers killed 32 people at Belgium’s main international airport and on the Brussels metro in March.

The United States has warned its citizens of possible further attacks in Europe, saying targets could include Euro 2016 which opens in France on Friday.

‘Act against child labour’

GENEvA, JUNE 6 (IANS): Governments should better regulate businesses to prevent child labour in global supply chains, Human Rights Watch said in a video released on Monday.

The report comes in advance of the World Day Against Child Labour on June 12. Child labour in global supply chains is the theme for the World Day in 2016.

Millions of children risk pain, sickness, injury and even deathtoproducegoodsandservices for the global economy.

Human Rights Watch has documented hazardous child labour in agriculture, mining, the leather and apparel industry as well as other sectors.

“Consumers usually have

no way of knowing whether the food they eat, the clothing and jewellery they wear, or other products they buy were made with child labour,” said Jo Becker at Human Rights Watch. “Companies shouldn’t profit from the exploitation of children.”

The video features children working in gold mines in the Philippines and Tanzania, weaving carpets in Afghanistan, and toiling in tobacco fields in the US and agricultural settlements in the West Bank.

In today’s global economy, businesses often rely on complicated supply chains.

Raw materials may be produced in multiple countries, processed or assembled into finished goods in another,

and consumed in markets across the globe.

Children may be exploited at any stage of the supply chain, but child labour is most common in the early stages of production. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that 168 million children are involved in child labour globally, including 85 million who are engaged in hazardous work that jeopardizes their health or safety.

Tanneries in Bangladesh, which export more than $1 billion worth of leather each year, often employ children, some as young as 11. Some have fallen ill from exposure to hazardous chemicals and have been injured in horrific workplace accidents.

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tuesDAY 07•06•2016

NAGALAND

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Public appeals to set up SBI branch at Tobu

Mon, June 6 (Mexn): Making a joint appeal to set up SBI bank branch at Tobu ADC hq under Mon district, the Konyak Union (B) Mopong; Konyak Union (B) Tobu; and Tobu Area Students Union have written an open letter the AGM SBI, RBO, Mokokchung.

The request letter appended by the president of all the three unions stated that the demand to open SBI Branch at Tobu is a joint demand which includes three administrative circles – EAC Mopung, SDO Civil Monyakshu and ADC Tobu. They said that the demand was initiated since 2008; however, no concerned authorities have taken up the matter.

The letter addressed that as far as the Government of India and bank-

ing policies are concerned, priority is given to bank the unbanked areas, reaching out to the rural population for economic upliftment and development. It is known and as instructed, there must be a bank in a place where there is a population of more than 5000.

Whereas, in contrast, the sub-division of Tobu ADC Headquarter with a population of 57,703 (2011 census), 26 recognized villages (latest extract), 22 state government departments with DDO powers, 3 Central Government Departments, 45 Government Schools and a Higher Secondary school, 9 private schools, 8 Government Dispensaries, 5 Government Hospitals and numerous business establishments and as many Self-Help Groups are

functioning without a bank till date.

The nearest bank available is located at a distance of 95 Kms which is SBI Aboi Branch and maximum banking transactions are done at SBI Mon Branch which is at a distance of 135 Kms and more than 170 kms from the extreme villages of Tobu sub-division causing numerous hardships and difficulties to the Government employees, students, business establishment and the general public of Tobu Sub-Division to carry on their day-to-day banking transactions.

The letter also stated that viewing the difficulties of the people of Tobu Sub-Division, and having known the fact that 99% of this region have an account in the State Bank of

India, a meeting minute was passed in the SLBC meeting dated 22.06.2015 under the chairmanship of Sh. Pankaj Kumar, Chief Secretary to the Government of Nagaland allotting an SBI Branch to be set up at Tobu HQ. However, till date, nothing has come to reality as expected from the concerned bank. It is to be noted that the survey to establish a bank branch has already been conducted twice, wherein; it is hoped and believed that positive and viable report was submitted to the concerned authority.

Therefore, taking all of the facts into consideration, the setting up of an SBI Bank Branch at Tobu is a public demand, the letter stated while adding, “It is

the people’s demand and should not be politicized in any form and must not be considered a personal issue with a keen individual interest, remaining reluctant to the hue and cry of the public needs.”

Therefore, the concerned authority is requested to take up the matter on priority by setting up the bank at the earliest where the full cooperation of the public is assured and will be ensured for the smooth functioning of a bank.

“Your positive response to our request is awaited for giving us an equal opportunity to avail the benefits of banking facilities like rest of the citizens and to let us be a part of total financial inclusion programme of the country in general,” joint A little girl at Viphruoma village heads home after school. Viphruoma (Viphoma) village appeal letter added. belonging to the Northern Angami area is about 70 km away from Kohima. (Morung Photo)

Training on human resource management underway LSHSS honours AISSE and AISSCE toppers

Director, TE Er Arjun Singh with Principal GPK, Er Vipulhou Lhoungu along with the participants during the inaugural programme of the two weeks in-house training on human resource management.

kohIMa, June 6 (Mexn): A two weeks in-house training on human resource management sponsored and conducted by National Institute of Technical Teacher’s Training and Research, Kolkata got underway at Government Polytechnic Kohima.

The inaugural function was graced

by Er Arjun Singh, Director, Technical Education as special guest. The Director lauded the initiatives of National Institute of Technical Teacher’s Training and Research, Kolkata and Principal Government Polytechnic Kohima for organising the program for the

benefit of teaching faculty members.

He stressed on the need for getting AICTE on-line registration by all the polytechnics of the state.

Touching the topic of human resource management, the Director urged the participants to think for the student’s career and respect the government job. He also mentioned about the benefit of In-House Training as many faculty members can be given required trainings without the hassle of sending them outside the state. Earlier, Prof. Sukanta Naskar, Associate Professor, CDC NITTTR, Kolkata highlighted

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Gen. A. Maken BORN : 31-03-1934 DIED : 30-05-2016 The Late Gen. A. Maken’s family wish to express our profound gratitude to all his co-workers, friends, well wishers, churches, neighbours and extended family members from far and near who stood by us in solidarity during his brief illness and sad demise on 30th of May 2016.

May God bless you all.

Loving wife, children, grand children & in law.

FELICITATION

The residents of Aitepyong Station extend our heartfelt congratulations to Miss Orenvungi Ngullie D/O Albert Ngullie for securing 16th Position in HSLC, 2016 with 94% of marks, topping in Science (100%) and Social Science (99%). You have made us all so proud by your achievement.

We wish you success in your future endeavors and invoke the blessing of the almighty to bless you abundantly.

Mhonchumo Yanthan GB Aitepyong Station

Khiodamo Ngullie VDB Secretary Aitepyong Station

the objectives of the training.

The programme was chaired by Modovina Mocha, faculty in Fashion Technology with a short speech from Er Vipulhou Lhoungu, Principal, Government Polytechnic Kohima, who thanked the Director, NITTTR, Kolkata for allowing the program to be conducted at the Institute.

Khrurhulu Rhi, contestant, Gospel Voice Hunt Season III presented a special song. Vote of thanks was pronounced by Zhapulhoulie Rupreo, Lecturer, Civil Engineering, Government Polytechnic Kohima.

Tribute to the Late Gen. A. Maken

To live is to give To take is to make For in our eyes You’ve lived all Purpose being “truth” simply The cause you stood for May your soul find peace Thank you for the beautiful song You’ve left behind for us I pray and pray that it shall Be sung someday, to justify The blood and lives of those Who lived and believed in Making a better home.

God bless Sentizulu Essener Longkumer

DIMaPuR, June 6 (Mexn): A special felicitation programme was held at Livingstone Foundation Hr Sec School to felicitate the AISSE (Grade-X) National Toppers and AISSCE (Grade-XII) School Toppers on June 4.

The programme which was held at the School Auditorium was attended by parents of the Toppers along with the parents of the present batch of students from Grades-IX to XII who had been invited to attend a meeting and workshop which was organized alongside the felicitation programme.

All together six AISSE (Grade-X) National Toppers and two AISSCE (GradeXII) School Toppers were felicitated during the programme with Merit Certificates and Gift Hampers apart from Cash Prizes and Scholarships in the form of Fee Concessions for the six AISSE (Grade-X) National Toppers. They were felicitated by the Administrator of the school, Arthur

‘Students self-formation and positive parenting’ workshop held

T

he next session of the programme was a special workshop on ‘Students self-formation and Positive Parenting’ by Darlin from Builders Self Development Programme which is taking care of Life Skills Education in LFHSS since this year. Most of the workshop session was focused on handling and managing adolescents.

The resource person talked in length about the attributes of a balanced child, viz. Physical, Social, Emotional and Cognitive. According to her, children these

Edwards who in his short speech encouraged the toppers and asked them not to become overconfident as it would lead to their premature downfall.

The programme started with the invocation prayer

by Ani Yepthomi, Director of Junior High, which was followed by a word of welcome by Prabhat Mandal, Principal (Academics). The felicitation of toppers began a short while later with a few words of encouragement

days are not properly given the right parenting resulting in wrong values being imparted and thus leading to negative impacts in their lives. She emphasized on the immediate and most urgent need for parents to help their children develop the right attitude and also to help their children to learn how to deal with emotions.

The programme concluded with the Chairman cum Principal, Andrew Ahoto’s interaction with the parents and toppers followed by his vote of thanks.

and greetings from the Chairman cum Principal of the School,Andrew Ahoto.

Speaking on behalf of the parents of the toppers, Chubainla profusely thanked the Livingstone School management and faculty for their immense role in motivating and shaping the success of her son and the other students who had come out successful in the AISSE and AISSCE 2016 of CBSE. Onito T. Assumi, Odi-

jungla Imchen and J. Meyawati spoke on behalf of the toppers. In their short deliverances they expressed their deepest gratitude to the School Management and Teachers for guiding and moulding them so that they could become Toppers and become shining examples for their friends and family. They also expressed hope that their teachers would always be there to guide them in the future too.

Mangkolemba SDPDB discusses educational concerns

MangkoleMba, June 6 (DIPR): The monthly Sub Division Planning Development Board meeting Mangkolemba was held on June 6 at ADC Office under the chairmanship of Vice Chairman, SDPDB, ADC, Imtiwapang Aier.

Welcoming the members, the chairman thanked all the officers for their active participation on the recently conducted mass social work and tree plantation. He highlighted the last meeting min-

utes to the house.

Discussing on the various agendas on the shortage of teachers and opening of schools submitted by different villages, the Board has approved to put forward to the higher authority for necessary action, regarding the applications submitted for requirement of Hindi teachers in GMS/GPS under SubEducation Officer Mangkolemba, opening of GPS at newly recognised Vikuto village and assistance for ren-

• Shortage of teachers • Opening of schools • Requirement of hindi teachers • Construction of school infrastructure ovation of primary section of GMS Chungtiayimsen school building and construction of boundary walls around the school building.

The Board also approved to forward to the Government for open-

ing a new police out post at Merangmen, which is under EAC HQ. During the meeting ADC had informed all the Head of Offices to submit a brief writeup on their concern department in the next SDPDB meeting for documentation of "Mangkolemba Vision 2041" which will be released in the month of December 2016 during the 25 years celebration of Mangkolemba ADC Headquarter establishment. He

This summer, ‘The Woods’ beckon kids to rediscover

Mokokchung, June 6 (Mexn): A first of its kind in Mokokchung, The Woods in collaboration with The Treehouse Prep School is holding a summer camp at The Woods, Yimchalu for young children from June 23- 25.

The summer camp has been envisioned with to keep the young children engrossed with their mental and physical development during the summer break on the theme ‘Pay it Forward.’

The Woods, located some fifteen kilometers away from Mokokchung town, is owned by Adang Jamir, a choreographer and entrepreneur in Mokokchung. The Treehouse prep school administered by Arenla Lemtur aspires to prepare the young children for the future.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28 She faced her too early death bravely. She lived her life well, acting upon her spiritual beliefs conscientiously. Her strength and faith during her illness inspired both friends and strangers and gave us new appreciation for life. I am grateful to all the persons who shared their memories and Late. Lamtsala H. Odyuo experiences. I acknowledge the consistent support of both the family members. Sincere appreciation and gratitude to all the Friends, Elders, Neighbours, Department of Education and Leaders of various Churches for the prayers and encouragement, emotional and financial support throughout the time of ailment. To all the Fans and well wishers, thank you for loving her. May her Legacy of beautiful music and songs continue to make melody in our hearts and be heard and sung for generations to come.

May the Almighty God richly bless all of you.

Loving Husband Mhathung Odyuo, Family me mbers, In-laws and Relatives.

“I want this summer camp to motivate the young children, learn from each other and be an asset to the society,” said Adang Jamir, the proprietor of The Woods. “I want this to be just pure memories and fun,” he added Among the many activities, Adang Jamir disclosed that there would be competitions in different activities like dancing, singing, art, writing etc. There would be special lessons on swimming at The Woods swimming pool and also intensive training on life-skills. Besides, there would be church leaders to provide counseling and also lead daily devotion, since the organizers believe that moral science is a very important part in a child’s life.

“Trekking to create awareness about biodiversity, angling about the

beauty of fishing and traditional games to revisit the past, everything is arranged,” said Adang. “I want the campers to be role models, because our society needs young people, and it is up to us to train them up,” said Adang Jamir, the organizer. He disclosed that everything has been arranged: the chefs, the resource persons, medics (doctors and nurses) the life guards etc.

The main resource persons for the camp will be Sashirenla Lemtur (administrator of The Treehouse), Sashinungla Nathan (of Blossoms Pre School) and Livitoli Sukhalu (EAC of Mokokchung town). The registration is a nominal Rs 2000 that includes the food and lodging. One can contact the organizer, 8413884583, for registration and further details.

further informed the Board members on the schemes taken up under 29A/C Janpetkong and 30A/C Alongtaki.

Later, Border Magistrate, Tsurangkong presented the report on the tour programme conducted by SDPDB members at Mangkolemba sadar & Merangmen Circle with the theme "Government at your doorsteps". The next Monthly meeting will be held on 5th of July 2016.

DC Peren and team visit state boundary

TenIng, June 6 (DIPR): The District Administration led by Deputy Commissioner Peren ZarenthungEzung along with ADC Tening, Land Record and Survey Department, PWD (R&B) and NGO’s visited the inter-state boundary of Nagaland and Assam on June 5 at Bamsiakilwa Village. The team visited the spot where the boundary demarcation pillar stood and acquainted with the boundary. Later, the DC and his team had interacted with the villagers of Bamsiakilwa, Ngam, Nsong and Nchen. He requested the villagers to co-operate with the administration in networking, public interactions and dis- order to help them solved of the problems in the cussions on governance and public is- any near future. sues needing utmost attention and those which have been accomplished or in the process of accomplishment by the NDA government.

The press release added that the public meeting with Union Minister for DONER, DIMaPuR, June 6 (Mexn): Dimapur Press Dr. Jitendra Singh and his entourage on Club (DPC) has informed June 9, would be an important event as the all members to collect issues that would be addressed are nearer membership form from home and immediate to the developmen- the DPC executives and tal needs and aspirations of the people. submit the form by June The BJP Nagaland has invited all the 16. The membership people, women, youths, leaders of vari- charges will be Rs. 150 as ous social, business and political organi- renewal fee for old memzations, to come, attend and be a part of bers while Rs. 250 will be the celebration meeting and discussions. charged for new memberAll the BJP Nagaland party officials and ship. DPC also informs that the general meeting will be members of various levels and frontals held on June 20, 11:00 am particularly Dimapur and Kohima District at Press Point Supermarare informed to attend the meeting with- ket Dimapur. All members out fail. Party members may also ensure to are requested to attend the bring along family and friends. meeting without fail.

Union Minister to address second ‘Vikas Parv’

DIMaPuR, June 6 (Mexn): The second ‘Vikas Parv’ programme on the second anniversary of the completion of two years BJP-led NDA government is scheduled to be celebrated on June 9, at Agri Expo premises, Dimapur, at 3:00 pm. Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of Development of NER (DONER) (IC), PMO Personnel, Public Grievances & Pension, Dept of Atomic Energy, Dept of Space, Maj Gen Khanduri (Former Chief Minister), Dr. Anil Jain, National BJP General Secretary, Shahnawaz Hussain, BJP Spokesperson are scheduled to address the public meeting.

BJP Nagaland General Secretary (Media), Jaangsillung Gonmei has informed in a press release that hectic preparations are underway by the joint DAN organizing committee of BJP Nagaland and NPF. The NDA’s second anniversary celebration through nationwide month-long programme of ‘Vikas Parv’ or public outreach programme would be interspersed with public meetings, seminars, social

DPC inform members on registration

TuesDAY 07•06•2016 18

NORTH-EAST

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

tribal agitation from June 9 midnight Newmai News Network Senapati | June 6

Tribals in Manipur under the banner of Manipur Tribals' Forum (MTF) will begin agitation from the midnight of June 9 against the three "anti-tribal bills" passed by the Manipur assembly, according to sources. In a serious deliberation today the tribal leaders have taken this decision. However, the nature of agitation is not disclosed.

The tribal leaders are likely to announce their line of action officially on June 7.

The sources informed Newmai News Network this evening that the tribal leaders participated in today's meeting have resolved that "do-or-die" movement against the three bills will be initiated. "We will like to caution the NDA Government not to play vote bank politics," stated the sources. They further said that today's meeting of the tribal leaders have also decided to submit a "strong worded" memorandum to the Prime Minister of India.

This decision of the Manipur Tribals' Forum came even as various modes of agitation initiated by the val-

Manipur govt denies rajnath singh's remark on meeting iMPhal, JunE 6 (ianS): The Manipur government on Monday denied Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh's reported statement to a state BJP delegation that the state government had not sought any appointment with him on the three bills awaiting presidential assent.

Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam told reporters here that the Okram Ibobi Singh government had written letters through proper channels for proposed meetings with President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh. ley based organisations under the aegis of Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System (JCILPS) are going on demanding the implementation of the three bills-the Protection of Manipur Peoples Bill, 2015, the Manipur Land Revenue & land Reforms (Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2015 and the Manipur Shop & Establishment (Second Amendment) Bill, 2015—which were passed by the Manipur Legislative Assembly last year.

Nine protesters lost their lives when security forces tried to control

North east Briefs Congress MLA quits Tripura assembly, to rejoin CPI-M aGartala, JunE 6 (ianS): In a dramatic turn of events, Congress legislator Jitendra Sarkar on Monday resigned from the Tripura assembly and decided to rejoin the ruling CPI-M. Assembly Speaker Ramendra Chandra Debnath told IANS that Sarkar submitted his resignation to him and he had accepted it.Sarkar then told the CPI-M leadership that he would rejoin the Communist Party of India-Marxist. Amid the developments, security personnel were deployed on Sunday night outside the residence of Sarkar, who refused to talk to the media about his sudden resignation. The development came amid reported efforts by the Trinamool Congress to split the Congress legislators' group. A former leader of the CPI-M and a former two-term speaker of the Tripura assembly, Sarkar joined the Congress with his supporters in March 2010. Meanwhile, Tripura Congress president Birajit Sinha on Monday urged the Speaker to act under the anti-defection law against six Congress legislators: Sudip Roy Barman, Ashish Saha, Diba Chandra Hrangkhawl, Pranjit Singha Roy, Jitendra Sarkar and Biswabandhu Sen. The Speaker said he would inform the Election Commission on Tuesday about Sarkar's resignation and take necessary steps to fill up the vacant seat.

Foundation for NE hostel laid BEnGaluru, JunE 6 (ianS): Development of North Eastern Region Minister Jitendra Singh on Monday laid foundation stone of a hostel, exclusively for woman students from the northeast, in Bangalore University, an offiical statement said. The hostel, which is the first of its kind in the varsity, will have a capacity to accommodate 269 students and will be constructed at a cost of around Rs 14 crore. "There is great importance of hostels for northeastern people where they undergo studies, particularly in high numbers," he said, adding the the next hostel project will shortly be started in the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, where land has already been acquired by the North Eastern Council (NEC). "Since JNU has a larger number of students from the eight northeastern states compared to several other states, it was found appropriate to raise the facility there," he said.

Arunachal CM seeks CBI probe into death itanaGar, JunE 6 (Pti): Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Kalikho Pul met his Maharashtra counterpart Devendra Fadnavis and demanded a CBI probe into the death of Marnya Doye under mysterious circumstances on April 26 in Raigad. Pul had called on Mr Fadnavis in Mumbai on Saturday and requested him that the case be investigated by the CBI, to which the latter readily agreed, an official release said here on Sunday. “There is a fear and suspicion of foul play in her death (expressed) by her family and some facts have come to light that suggest Ms Doye may have been murdered,” Pul told Fadnavis. “At the same time, the incident has created a sense of insecurity among people from Arunachal as well as from other Northeast States. There are also apprehensions about the outcome of the investigations into the case and its neutrality,” Pul stressed.

Cong, BJP win 5 seats each so far iMPhal, JunE 6 (nnn): The INC and BJP have won five seats five seats each so far in Imphal Municipal Corporation (IMC) polls with a total of 13 councillor candidates officially declaring elected. Three Independent candidates defeated Congress rivals in Imphal East for which declaration of results for concillor candidates was completed while results for six candidates were declared so far in Imphal West. IMC has a total of 27 wards spread across Imphal East and Imphal West. INC won three seats in Imphal East and two in Imphal West while the BJP got four in Immphal West and only one in Imphal East. Counting for the remaining seats of councilor and Ward Development Committee (WDC) was still underway. Officials said the all the final results were expected to come out by 11 pm. A total of 86 councillor candidates and 126 WDC member candidates were in the fray. A total of 1,75,864 voters—male 84,045 and female 91,819— were eligible to cast their franchise to decide the fate of the candidates in the civic polls for which elaborate security arrangements were taken up.

"The chief minister even wrote personal letters to seek appointments," the minister said. Ibobi has since maintained that there has been no response from the Centre so far to the requests for meetings on the three anti-migrants bills pending presidential assent since September last year but which have already been passed by the Manipur assembly. Gaikhangam also took exception to the BJP leaders going alone for a meeting with the central leadership on the issue.

He said that an all-party delegation from Manipur was already in

strong protests that erupted in south Manipur district of Churachandpur following the passing of the three government ILP Bills last year. The tribal people said the Bills impinge upon their rights and hence they should be withdrawn.

The agitation of the tribal people against the passing of the three bills on August 31 last year in a special sitting of the Manipur Legislative Assembly was on the perception that these bills are anti tribal and violate the provision of Article 371C and the

Delhi even as no assent for the meetings was forthcoming. "The state BJP is a part of the delegation. It is both surprising and unwarranted that a BJP team met the Union Home Minister and Minister of State for Home Kiran Rijiju on the three bills. "Let the BJP take full credit. But it would have been decent on the Manipur BJP's part to have invited other members of the delegation too. The BJP action shows the disunity among the political parties in Manipur," the deputy chief minister said. Gaikhangam said he will join the delegation members camping in Delhi since Friday.

Manipur State Hill People Regulation, 1947. The state government claimed that the amendment does not infringe upon Article 371C of the Indian Constitution.

The state government also said that MLR&LR Act 1960 is applicable only in the four valley districts (Imphal West, Imphal East, Thoubal and Bishnupur) and a “small portion” of Churachandpur district. The state government further clarified that these three bills do not infringe on the existing rights of the tribal community settled in the

state of Manipur and also do not impinges on the provision of Article 371C and the subsequent Presidential order of 1972 which provides for Scheduled areas and matters as also the Manipur State Hill People Regulation, 1947. It further clarified that the present amendment of MLR&LR Act which was passed in the Assembly does not extend to the hill areas and in no way it will affect or alter the present status of the tribal land. But these clarifications have failed to allay the apprehension of the

tribal people.

To the tribal people of Manipur, the three anti-tribal Bills which "infringe" on tribal identity, land rights and economy are only a new chapter in Manipur Government’s intrinsic policy of cultural alienation, political marginalization & developmental exclusion of the tribals, as well-thought out State policy of modern-day political conquest and annexation having absolutely nothing to do with the Inner Line Permit System.

The tribal JAC against the three bills had expressed earlier that "having totally lost faith" in Manipur Government’s commitment and ability to bring about any acceptable solution, and with the anticipation of many similar anti-tribal bills from the State Government in future, "the growing sentiments among the tribal people now is that of mistrust and total disregard for the State Government which further nourishes the tribal aspiration for separation of tribal territories from the control of the ethnic Manipur Government, which is also increasingly seen as the only viable solution".

3

Mizoram government keen to hand over dacoity case to CBI aizawl, JunE 6 (Pti): The Mizoram government has completed all the formalities to hand over the sensational dacoity case, allegedly involving suspended Commandant of the 39th Assam Rifles Colonel Jasjit Singh, to the CBI, state Home minister R Lalzirliana said.

Citing the reasons for its willingness to hand over the case to the CBI, the minister told a press conference that the case has national as well as international implications as gold smuggling racket was at the root-cause of the dacoity.

Lack of modern scientific technology and equipment were also impediments to the investigation as the state police does not have a polygraph or lie-detector machine, he said.

"Rumours of involvement of highly-placed people in the case and also Col. Singh's refusal to confess, may force us to hand over the case to the CBI," Lalzirliana said.

The state government, he said, would convey its decision about the case to the CBI during this week.

"Even if the CBI agrees to take up the investigation, the state police would give full cooperation to the premier investigating agency and also continue with the investigation till the case is officially handed over to the CBI," he said.

13 people, including Colonel Singh, eight Assam Rifles personnel and four civilians have been arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in connection with the case, the minister said.

A vehicle carrying 52 smuggled gold bars worth Rs 14.5 crore was waylaid on the outskirts of Aizawl on December 14 last by suspected Assam Rifles personnel.

The owner and driver of the vehicle C. Lalnunfela lodged an FIR on April 21 against which a criminal case was registered at Kulikawn Police Station in Aizawl.

Arunachal pays Rs 35 lakh to Mizoram govt shows no mercy against corrupt officials Of the total 1,606 cases Meghalaya Govt for state guest taken up by departmental itanaGar, JunE 6 (Pti): Arunachal Pradesh government has released an amount of Rs 35 lakh to Meghalaya government against an one time premium of land revenue cost for allotment of land for setting up a new state guest house near North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) at Shillong.

The decision was taken after considering the importance for construction of a Arunachal Guest House at Shillong to cater to the needs of patients and students from the state, an official

release said here today.

Chief Minister Kalikho Pul felt that patients from the state prefer NEIGRIHMS at Shillong for their treatment due to presence of quality medical facilities at the institute and comparative cheaper cost of treatment.

As a result, there is a rise in the number of patients at Shillong, besides students from the state for study.

During his visit to Shillong on May 27 last, Pul along with deputy chief minister Kameng Dolo, had inspected the land for setting up the Arunachal Guest House, the release added

proceedings, 1,441 cases were disposed of with 1,223 government officials being punished

aizawl, JunE 6 (Pti): Mizoram government has taken several punitive actions against corrupt officials as the government was committed to uproot corruption in the state, Home Minister R Lalzirliana said on Monday.

Of the total 1,606 corruption officials being punished since cases taken up by departmental 2008 till date, Lalzirliana told reproceedings, 1,441 cases were dis- porters here.

He also said that of the 211 casposed of with 1,223 government

es disposed by the state Anti Corruption Bureau, 154 officials were awarded punishment during the period.

ATSUM flays Manipur govt's lackadaisical attitude iMPhal, JunE 6 (nnn): The All The All Tribal Students’ Union Manipur (ATSUM) has said today "it is really disappointed over the lackadaisical attitude” of the Government of Manipur for allegedly procrastinating in the some of the charter of demands that need immediate rectification in the Education Department.

In a statement issued by its education secretary Lovejoy Shimrah, ATSUM informed that the Directorate of Education (S) in its notification dated May 11, 2016 has prescribed benchmark criteria for recruitment of Primary Teachers and Upper Primary Teachers under SSA and RMSA with Diploma, B.Ed and TET. Thereupon, the 15 executive members of ATSUM and the 12 Cabinet Ministers meticulously deliberated the pros and cons and arrived at an understanding that setting TET, Bed and other diploma courses shall be relaxed as one time measure the meet the pressing need of the hour, the statement said.

The Education Minister has been assigned by the Chief Minis-

ter to give stringent directive to the Directorate of Education for issuance of corrigendum at the earliest, it added.

However, the union regretted that the department has turned a deaf ear to the “cries of the tribals” leaving educated untrained youngsters between "devil and the deep blue sea".

“ATSUM therefore reiterates our demand for exemption of the benchmark criteria of qualifications as assured during the discourse with the Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleagues on May 16, 2016. It’s a matter of urgency that corrigendum should be issued in all local dailies to dispel from confusion arising out of the official notification issued on May 11, 2016,” it said.

The union said that with the assurance of fulfilling all the pending charter of demands within a month’s time, June 11 has been fixed for the second round of talks (2016) to discuss the unfinished agenda.

It, however, said the union is skeptical of the tall promises to come out positively on time as

the response from various departments do not toe the line as demanded.

“Separate State Commission for Scheduled Tribes, issuance of offer forms to 217 Higher Secondary recommended Lecturers, declaration of the results of 280 Assistant Professors, Bed centres in the hills, regularization of adhoc teachers, bifurcation of power to Additional Director (Hills), tribal quota in Manipur Legislative Assembly Secretariat, transfer of Land Records, special recruitment drive for ST in JNIMS hospital to fill up ST backlog posts, absorption of direct recruited staff of DRDA into line department, discrepancies of EGS are the long-pending demands,” the union mentioned.

With two main charter of demands—implementation of reservation policy in admission in Central Universities, and implementation of compendium on reservation for Scheduled Castes, ST and Other backward Classes in services—the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India signed by the Joint

Guwahati becomes first city to have City Animal Guwahati, JunE 6 (Pti): The Assam state capital today become the first city in the country to have its own City Animal with the Kamrup Metropolitan district administration declaring the Gangetic River Dolphin as the mascot.

In a press conference, Kamrup Metropolitan Deputy Commissioner M Angamuthu said that the animal, locally known as 'Sihu', would be the 'City Animal' of Guwahati.

The district administration had organised online and off-line voting among three protected creatures, which are on the verge of extinction, to decide the mascot.

Along with Gangetic River Dolphin, the other two animals were Black Softshell Turtle (Bor Kaso) and Greater Adjutant Stork (Hargila).

Secretary KP Singh has sent a missive by speed posted on June 3, 2016 to all Registrars of Central Universities (40) including Manipur University to follow the reservation policy in admission in all courses as per the provisions contained in the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2016, it added.

The union said that as per the policy, it stands at 31 percent for ST and adherence to DOPT order dated June 25, 2010 wherein stated that reservation policy in appointment of non-teaching staff, University may follow the quantum of reservation in Group ‘C’ and erstwhile Group ‘D’ posts in all Central Universities is indicated as 34 percent for Manipur State.

It demanded that the confusion in Central Universities with regard to admission and employment in Group ‘C’ and Group ‘D’ posts in RIMS, MU, CAU and NIEIT should be dispelled henceforth, adding that corrigendum in this regard should be issued by all Central Universities in case of any post advertised earlier.

TPLA chief caught by Army iMPhal, JunE 6 (Pti): The 'commander in chief' of insurgent outfit Thadaou People Liberation Army (TPLA) active in Manipur has been caught by the Army, defence sources said today.

Based on specific inputs on the presence of a senior TPLA cadre at Bethel Veng village in Senapati district, an operation was launched by troops of Army's Jwalamukhi Battalion and the outfit leader was apprehended on June 3. He identified himself as 45-year-old Nekholen Lhouvum alias Helen and said he was the 'commander-in-chief ' of the group, the sources said. A 9mm pistol, one 9mm magazine and 5 live rounds of 9mm have been seized from him. The sources said he was later handed over to Imphal West police station.

GOVERNMENT OF NAGALAND

DIRECTORATE OF HEALTH & FAMILY WELFARE NAGALAND: KOHIMA

NO.DHFW-1/122/PHY /2010/3720-23

Dt. Kohima, June, 2016

ADVERTISEMENT

A Ganges River Dolphins. (François Xavier PELLETIER/WWF)

While less than 2,000 Gangetic River Dolphins remain in the Brahmaputra along Guwahati, a recent survey said only a small population of Black Softshell Turtle were found in the river and its tributaries.

The number of Greater Adjutant Stork is less than 1,200 in and around the state capital.

The three-month long voting process attracted 60,003 participants to decide the City Animal and Gangetic River Dolphin re-

ceived 24,247 votes.

While Greater Adjutant Stork got 18,454 votes, Black Softshell Turtle was the choice of 17,302 people.

In the off-line voting, 76 schools and colleges across Guwahati participated.

Along with the Kamrup Metropolitan district administration, other organisations such as Assam Forest Department, Assam State Biodiversity Board and an NGO Help Earth worked closely to decide the City Animal, he said.

Applications are invited for those willing to undergo of M.Sc Radiological Physics at Dr. B. Borooah Cancer Institute Guwahati, Assam to fill up vacancy under Health & Family Welfare Department on or before 20th June 2016.

Eligibility Criteria: 1.The prescribed qualification for the course of M.Sc Radiological Physics shall be B.Sc (Hons) Physics/M.Sc (Physics) with 60% marks. Duration of M.Sc Radiological Physics course for candidates with B.Sc (Hons) Physics is 3 years and M.Sc (Physics) is 2 years, to be followed by a certification examination on Radiological Safety Officers (RSO) by BARC/AERB. 2.The selected candidates will be paid a stipend of Rs.10, 00015,000/- per month during the course.

3.On successful completion of the course, the candidates will be appointed as Medical Physicist and will have to serve the State Govt. of Nagaland for a minimum of 15 (Fifteen) years.

Sd/- (Dr. L. WATIKALA), Principal Director Health & Family Welfare, Nagaland: Kohima

4

TuesDAY 07•06•2016

business

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

More power to banks to deal with bad loans mooted, says Jaitley new Delhi, June 6 (ians): Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday hinted that some measures are likely to further empower state-run banks legally in dealing with the rising bad loans.

“Various suggestions have come up for empowering the banks, functioning in an environment, so that they can deal with the situation (bad loans).

The government is fully committed to support the banks in this regard,” Jaitley said at a press conference after the quarterly performance review meeting with the heads of public sector banks here.

His remarks come a day ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s second bi-

monthly monetary policy review on Tuesday and its Governor Raghuram Rajan recently being in a spate of controversies over failure to boost lending and credit growth.

“One of the key subjects obviously is the credit loan and expansion of banking activity. We must support the banks fully so that their ability to support growth remains,” Jaitley said at the conference.

“The focus of banks on NPAs (non-performing assets) must remain, but financial inclusion schemes must continue. We are supporting banks so that they can support lending and credit growth,” he added.

Jaitley said the banks have put forward sug-

L&T receives orders worth Rs 2,161 crore new Delhi, June 6 (ians): Engineering major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Monday said its construction arm has won orders worth Rs 2,161 crore across transportation, power transmission, water treatment and metallurgical businesses. “The construction arm of L&T has won orders worth Rs 2,161 crore across various business segments,” the company said in a filing at the Bombay Stock Exchange. Transportation infrastructure business of the company won a design and build order worth Rs 847 crore from Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd, said L&T. Water and effluent treatment business bagged EPC (engineering, procurement, construction) orders worth Rs 709 crore from Gujarat Water Infrastructure and Rajasthan Urban Drinking Water Sewerage and Infrastructure Corporation. Power transmission and distribution business received EPC orders worth Rs 403 crore from Power Grid Corporation and Karnataka Solar Power Development Corporation. L&T’s metallurgical and material handling business also secured orders worth Rs 202 crore from ongoing jobs in the segment.

‘60% digital businesses to face service failures by 2020’ new Delhi, June 6 (ians): By 2020, 60 per cent of digital businesses will suffer major service failures due to the inability of IT security teams to manage digital risk, said a special report by market research firm Gartner.

“Cybersecurity is a critical part of digital business with its broader external ecosystem and new challenges in an open digital world,” said Paul Proctor, Vice President and Distinguished Analyst at Gartner, in a statement on Monday.

“Organisations will learn to live with acceptable levels of digital risk as business units innovate to discover what security they need and what they can afford. Digital ethics, analytics and a people-centric focus will be as important as technical controls,” he added.

According to Gartner as organisations transition to digital platforms, a lack of directly owned infrastructure and services outside of Information Technology’s (IT) control will need to be addressed by cybersecurity.

Gartner has identified five key areas of focus for successfully addressing cybersecurity in digital business -- leadership and governance, the evolving threat environment, cybersecurity at the speed of digital business, cybersecurity at the new edge, people and process.

gestions to tackle the stress NPAs are creating.

One key consideration is that the banks should be empowered and consequently protected so that they can bring about commercially prudent settlements, he said.

“I wouldn’t want to be specific at this stage. I have indicated that the discussions are with regard to empowerment of banks, protection of the banks and creating solutions,” he said.

Jaitley said that the meeting took up various topics like NPAs, or bad loans, position, inter-operability of financial inclusion schemes, credit flow and banks’ expansion.

Referring to the rising

losses in the quarterly results of public sector banks, he said it is on account of the high provisioning that the PSBs declared a net loss of about Rs 18,000 crore.

“The government also firmly believes that the NPA situation has risen on account of certain sectoral stresses,” he said.

Ten state-run banks suffered losses of over Rs 15,000 crore in the fourth quarter ending in March, due to provisioning to cover for bad debt. Punjab National Bank, for instance, made an operational profit last year of Rs 12,000 crore, but has now declared record loss because of such provisioning.

However, the overall operational profit of public

sector banks is significant, the minister said adding this actually amounted to Rs 1.40 lakh crore in 201516.

He also hoped that the bankruptcy code and debt recovery legislation will significantly help the banks deal with stressed assets.

The government has allocated Rs 25,000 crore in 2016-17 for revamp of public sector banks and Jaitley said they “stand by that commitment”.

Gross NPAs of PSBs rose from Rs 267,065 lakh crore in March 2015 to Rs 361,731 lakh crore in December. As a proportion, they increased from 5.43 per cent of advances in March 2015, to 7.3 per cent as on December-end.

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beiJing, June 6 (PTi): World’s largest food retailer Nestle has struck a partnership with China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba to boost its online sales by tapping the country’s increasingly digital consumption patterns.

Under the new initiative, Nestle will launch campaign with its diverse products, spanning 30 brands from coffee to baby formula in Alibaba platforms such as Tmall.

“Our partnership with Alibaba is all about the consumer. What is so exciting about China as a market is not only its size or population, but that Chinese consumers are a step ahead of consumers in other markets in the digital way they consume,” Wan Ling Martello, executive vice president with Nestle overseeing the

Soon, your currency note may be history!

MuMbai, June 6 (agencies): Hard cash and credit cards will soon be passé in India. And all you will need is a smart phone and a financial identity, like an email id from a bank, to undertake transactions up to Rs 1 lakh.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), supported by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), is all set to launch the Unified Payments Infrastructure (UPI) later this month, which will initially link up 19 banks and later extend to a number of other players.

The plan is to push electronic payments to the next level and counter the growing menace of fake currency.

The last available data from RBI shows that there are over 15.59 crore pieces of counterfeit notes in circulation in financial year 2014-15 in the

banking system. This is set to increase by at least 10% in 2015-16. Currency manufacture management is an expensive task for the central bank, which spends over Rs 4,000 crore annually in printing and distributing notes and coins.

UPI is as easy as handing over cash or a credit card at a retail store.

Instead of paying with cash or a credit card, you simply tell the retailer your virtual identity, which is an email id.

The shopkeeper, who will also have the financial id, will generate an invoice through the UPI, which you need to approve using your mobile phone. It will facilitate instant money transfer by invoking the virtual identity of the beneficiary, and transfer money real time.

It will need a single click and a two-factor authentication. All you need is a bank account and a smart phone. Unlike mobile wallets, it can receive and send money.

AP Hota, managing director and chief executive officer, NPCI, told dna in an interview: “It will also check counterfeit notes, and the printing cost of currency will come down sharply.”

Another cashless initiative by NPCI is the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) as an integrated bill payment system to which all operators like billdesk.com, banks and utilities can be linked. It will be a one-stop shop to pay all utility services such as electricity, water, gas, telephone and direct-tohome (DTH) television companies.

Evoxyz Technologies launches app to track your kids new Delhi, June 6 (ians): Gurgaon-based start-up Evoxyz Technologies has launched ‘EvoSchool’, an app that shows live location of your kids on your smartphone when they are in school premises.

“The idea behind creating EvoSchool is to provide a safe, easy and cost-

effective communication platform among school administration, teachers, kids, and parents. EvoSchool lets you know where your kids are on real-time and makes it very easy to have direct information about school activities,” said Shilpa Mahna Bhatnagar, CEO and co-founder of Evoxyz Technologies,

leisure

in a statement.

The app can be installed on your smartphone or can be directly accessed through web. It is available on iOS and Android platforms.

The app is coupled with a tiny waterproof device Evotag that enables GPS tracking and immediately sends an alert on

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CROSSWORD # 3616

SUDOKU

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your smartphone if it detects any security intrusion.

Based on a set of rules, the school administration and parents get alerts to prevent security incidents from occurring inside the school and till the children reach home. One can also recieve SMS alerts when needed.

Daily Cross WorD

UPSC Recruitment 2016 Union Public Service Commission invited applications for recruitment to the post for Enforcement Officers/Accounts Officer Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation, Ministry of Labour & Employment. The candidates eligible for the post can apply through the prescribed format on or before 23 June 2016 (23.59 PM).

Under UPSC Recruitment 2016, there is Enforcement Officers/Accounts Officer Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation, Ministry of Labour & Employment.

Nestle partners with Alibaba to market products

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Asian, Oceanian and African markets, was quoted as saying by state-run Xinhua news agency.

China is the right place to start Nestle’s next 150year growth story as Chinese consumers have a more developed understanding and are quicker to adopt new consumption technologies than their global peers and have great passion for innovation, she said.

China’s consumption pattern and manner have evolved fast and consumption is becoming increasingly digital with more young consumers choosing to shop online, Zhang Yong, Alibaba CEO said.

The volume of online purchases surged by more than 12 times from January 2011 to April 2016 in

China, while per capita consumption grew by 27% per cent, according to a joint report released by Alibaba’s financial services platform Ant Financial and a private economics research institute.

Nestle strengthened its global capabilities in e-commerce by signing a strategic cooperation partnership with Alibaba in late last year to increase its online sales and build its brands. Half of Nestle’s last year sales in China were online.

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TuesdAY 07•06•2016

NAGALAND

To commemorate WeD, JACWR responds to Municipal Affairs Department trees planted at Raj bhavan Governor calls for adopting eco friendly practices in all spheres of life Kohima, June 6 (mexn): To commemorate the World Environment Day 2016, a tree plantation programme was organised at the Raj Bhavan, Kohima on June 6.

Speaking on the occasion, Governor of Nagaland & Assam, PB Acharya stressed on the need to adopt eco friendly practices in all spheres of life and taking special protection and care of birds and animals. The Governor also asserted that disturbing environment and nature is inviting trouble and natural calamities like floods, change of season, change of river course, erosion, damage to soil, change of climate, etc, a press release from Stephen Ngullie, PRO to the Governor said.

Acharya further pointed out that booming illegal trade in wildlife products is “eroding Earth’s precious biodiversity, robbing us of our natural heritage and driving whole species to the brink of extinction.” The killing and smuggling, he said, is also undermining economies and ecosystems, fuelling organized crime, and feeding cor-

Governor of Nagaland & Assam, PB Acharya plants a tree sapling to commemorate World Environment Day on June 6.

ruption and insecurity across the globe.

He stated that huge efforts to counter the illicit wildlife trade have scored some great successes; however, many species remain at risk and it will take a dedicated and sustained effort by each and every one to turn the tide.

In the context of Nagaland, the Governor said that due to the traditional practices of hunting and jungle burning, the rich and acclaimed floral and faunal diversity of the state is subjected to great risk. “However, the community conservation initiative pioneered by the Naga communities and amply supported by the Govern-

ment establishments is proving to be a lasting solution for the complex problem of this magnitude,” Acharya said.

He informed that a recent study instituted by the Department of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of Nagaland has shown that over 400 communities/villages (Community Conservation Areas) in Nagaland are conserving their forests and natural resources that actually accounts for over one third of the forest cover in the state.

The Governor further acknowledged that because of the perseverance of the community and the Government in conserving the gregariously roosting migratory raptors at multiple locations across the state, Nagaland has been proclaimed as the “Amur Falcon Capital of the World”.

The mass conservation movement, he said, has helped in changing the very perception about the Naga society and has also opened a window of opportunity to the local communities in terms of livelihood (Eco-tourism).

With initiatives like “Animal Adoption Scheme” and upgraded facilities for rescue and rehabilitation of wild animals, the Nagaland Zoological Park, Rangapahar is emerging as a significant ex-situ conservation initiative of the state government, also serving the purpose of recreation and awareness generation, he added.

Kohima, June 6 (mexn): The Joint Action Committee on Women Reservation (JACWR) has responded to the clarification of Municipal Affairs Department regarding 33% reservation for women in urban local bodies, which was published in the local dailies on June 1.

JACWR in a statement termed the Municipal Affairs Department’s clarification “misleading and an attempt to misinterpret the Supreme Court order on the Special Leave Petition granted to the petitioners and a stay on the Division Bench judgement of Gauhati High Court and its implementation, dated 5th April, 2016.”

In the Special Leave Petition, JACWR said, the

petitioners had asked for the long overdue elections to be held and the 33% reservation for women be implemented, which has now been granted.

The SLP was admitted by the Supreme Court in 2012 and hearings and arguments had taken place between the Advocate General of Nagaland Balagopal and Dr Colin Gonsalves in the Court of the Chief Justice himself, after its admission, it recounted. The Court order of April 2016 is the outcome of the final hearing listed in the Supreme Court, it added.

The statement issued

by JACWR Convenor, Abeiu Meru and Co-Convenor, Dr Rosemary Dzüvichu further stated that on the day of the

final hearing, the Judge had asked the Counsel for petitioners if he had any objections to the election being held. “Our Counsel said he had no objections to municipal elections being held. The Government advocates objected to holding elections, saying the Government was trying to negotiate with the petitioners. But our Counsel objected that this was based in the Constitution and not negotiable and informed the Court we would be ready for elections,” JACWR stated.

It asserted that the order of the Supreme Court granting the appeal of the petitioners is for holding the municipal election and implementing the single Judge order as the Division Bench

judgement and implementation has been stayed by the Supreme Court.

Informing that it has submitted representations to the State government and Election Commissioner to hold the elections, the Committee expected they will use their wisdom to follow the directive of the Supreme Court, in the interest of Justice. “The State Election Commissioner is duty bound to hold the elections in view of the directive from the Supreme Court on the matter,’ it added.

As far as the second case challenging the Assembly resolution is concerned, the statement said, the Court had deferred it to July because of time constraint.

Search carried out in conformity with the law: Dimapur Police

Dimapur, June 6 (mexn): In light of the condemnations expressed over the police search at the house of Akashe Z Zhimomi in Eralibill on June 3, Dimapur Police have clarified that the actions of the Police were in conformity with the law and they acted within their powers as per prescribed procedures.

“The Dimapur Police in its effort to secure arrest of persons, against whom non- bailable arrest warKohima, June 6 suddenly on the Framework the Framework Agreement the meeting termed the rants were issued, had en(mexn): Reacting to the Agreement after his suspen- and win their sympathy to show cause notice issued news report on interaction sion from the party?” the NPF take up his suspension issue to Rio as “inconsistent”. The among MP Neiphiu Rio and Youth Wing asked in a rejoin- with the NPF party,” it added. Youth Wing maintained The Youth Wing further that those who had attendNaga people living in Delhi der issued by its Media Cell. on June 3, NPF Central Youth It stated that if Rio was really observed that the people at ed the interaction have no pheK, June 6 (mexn): Wing today questioned why interested in the Framework the meeting went beyond locus standi to question the Chozuba Range Public Orthe MP was interacting on Agreement, he would have their parameter “as the issue decision of the NPF party as ganisation (CRPO) today the ‘Framework Agreement’ organized various interac- of suspension of Rio from “the process of serving show clarified that it did not oronly on June 3 when the same tions in Delhi within the ten the NPF Party is a party mat- cause notice and issuing ganize the public meeting was signed on August 3, 2015. months. “Neiphiu should not ter which can be discussed suspension order to Rio was held at Vamuzo Memorial “Why is the necessity hoodwink the Naga intellec- within the party forum only.” done within the provision of Town Hall in Chozuba on of calling for an interaction tuals in Delhi by talking on It called it unfortunate that the NPF Constitution.”

June 1. A press release from NPCC had said that the meeting was organized by CRPO. “The article appears to Dimapur, June 6 (mexn): Liv- pangnenla Longkumer informed that ing earmarked for building wait- be a ploy of the NPCC to ing For Environment (LiFe), an NGO, the side of the main road leading to the ing shed cum canteen “came to our malign the Chozuba Range today issued a clarification with re- college campus which was being used knowledge only after the cleaning / Public Organisation as the gard to the news report titled ‘From as a garbage dumping site by residents segregation of waste was carried out.” organisation was not inmodest beginnings, DGC turns 50 in the vicinity “was cleaned by some The statement said that this clarifica- volved in organising such this July,’ which was published in The of our members and volunteers using tion was made “so that there are no a public meeting on June 1, our own facilities for three consecutive confusions and would not like to dis- 2016 at Chozuba,” stated a Morung Express on June 6, 2016.

A press note from LiFE Chairper- days with no assistance from anyone.” courage our volunteers, who helped rejoinder issued by CRPO Advisory Board Chairman, It further stated that the area be- us in carrying out the project.” son, Niksungla and Secretary, Yu-

NPF Youth Wing on Rio’s interactive meeting

tered into the premises of the subject on specific information that such persons were taking shelter there,” stated a press release issued

by PRO, Dimapur Police.

The release mentioned that the Code of Criminal Procedure under section- 47 clearly specifies that “when the police officer having authority to arrest has reasons to believe that the person(s) to be arrested has entered into or is within any place, any person residing or being in charge of such place,

CRPO clarifies on public meet

Living For Environment issues clarification

Rudutso.

As the very nomenclature suggests, the rejoinder said, CRPO is an organisation solely committed and dedicated to achieving its primary aims and objectives to address the public welfare of the area. “It is neither affiliated to any Political Party nor has any intention to play any partisan role that goes against the wishes of its members,” it asserted.

The NPCC press release, it added, is not only “misleading and erroneous” but “belittles the standing and stature of NPCC.”

on demand by the police officer allow free ingress and afford all reasonable facilities for a search therein. If ingress to such place cannot be obtained, the police acting upon a warrant or without warrant, but cannot be obtained without affording the person to be arrested an opportunity of escape, can enter such place, to break open any outer or inner door or window of any house or place.” The aforementioned point clearly defines the ambit within which the po-

lice had acted, it said.

Stating that the law is equal for all, the PRO said the actions of the police had no connection whatsoever to any matters connected to the affiliates of the subject from whose quarters the condemnations have emerged. “It is rather unfortunate that certain responsible organizations had without understanding the statutory provisions of the law decided to condemn the actions of the police carried out under legal sanctity,” it added.

CLaRiFiCaTioN

With regard to the news item “March 5 inquiry report…” which appeared in the June 4 publication of The Morung Express, the Judicial Inquiry Commission (JIC) has clarified that the first sentence of the report should be read as “Almost three months after…” and not as rendered. It also stated that the press conference was held at the Police Complex/Police Officers’ Central Mess Conference Hall, Chumukedima and that the final report of the JIC was 52 pages. It may also be informed that the One-man Judicial Inquiry which was originally constituted was later re-instituted as the Judicial Inquiry Commission via government notification dated May 16, 2015 with Justice (retired) BD Agarwal as chairman and retired District & Sessions Judge, Veprasa Nyekha as a member.

Central Nagaland Tribes Council The Central Nagaland Tribes Council will have an Executive Council meeting on June 7, 11:00 am at its central office in Dimapur to discuss some important matters. All executive members and office bearers have been informed to attend the meeting without fail. No personal information will be issued in this regard.

Public SPace

Lotha Hoho Clarifies To Nagaland GB Federation

T

he Lotha Hoho (LH), Wokha had received a letter, dated 31.05.2016, from the Nagaland Gaunbura Federation (NGBF), urging the LH to withdraw the Public Interest Litigation (PIL), filed in the High Court, on NP&NG Regulations & Rules 2012. The GBs have also given a Press Release in local media dated 3.6.2016, about their discussion with the Lotha Hoho & Frontal Organisations, at Wokha, on the 1st June 2016. The Release tells not to go to court of law, but to settle issues amicably under Naga Customary Law. Before we go further, let us know what a Gaunbura is.

The Gaun (Village) Bura (Old man/Elder) is a Hindi name, meaning Village Elder/ Old Man, implying a village elder who can co ordinate in the management of a khel (colony) within a village. Hence as long the management is within the village community, it may not involve the application of other Laws of present day world, since no alien or outsider is involved in the proceedings. But when it comes to the management of matters in the modern world, with national or international parties, the GBs are helpless, as in the matter of Petroleum and Natural Gas (PNG), involving the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, govt of India, the Oil & Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) of India, Metropolitan Oil & Gas Pvt Ltd (MoGPL), Department of Geology & Mining, Govt of Nagaland, etc. Of course the matter of settlement of issues on exploration, extraction and development of Petroleum and Natural Gas, is not GBs’ assigned responsibility. Let us not misguide the Nagas that the PIL of the LH will have negative consequences for the Nagas. In fact it is the LH PIL which has paved the way for the Nagas to express their rights and to safeguard our traditional rights, as enshrined in the Article 371 A, of the Indian Constitution. For the satisfaction and benefit of all, here are some glaring reasons why the LH has filed the P.I.L. NO.4 (K) of 2015: 1. The LH has filed the PIL for sustaining the provisions of Article 371 A because the NP& NG Regulations and Rules 2012, are against the rights of the land owners.

2. The state govt violated its own ex-

isting Act of 1990 by passing the NLA Resolution of 26/7/2010.

3. Why the Nagaland state govt violated Article 371A by imposing CrPC 144, for launching MOGPL at Tssori- Champang Oil fields, on the 21st July 2014? Is this a safeguard under Article 371 (A)?

4. The Ao Senden, on 26.7.2012, rejected the NP & NG draft modalities, presented by Cabinet Sub Committee on petroleum and natural gas (CSC on PNG) for the extraction of oil, natural gas and other natural resources This was followed by the Rejection by the ENPO on the 18.11.2012. When other organisations are not willing to accept the NP & NG modalities, why compel the Lothas to accept what others cannot? Let it be made clear to everyone that the LH is not against exploration, extraction or development of Petroleum & Natural Gas; but is only against some Articles of the Nagaland state NP & NG Regulations & Rules 2012, which are contrary to the provisions of Article 371A. There are 5 (five) such Articles in Regulations and 3 (three) in Rules. Hence many Memorandums have been submitted for Review and Amendment of some of the Articles of Regulations and Rules; but to no response from state govt.

5. The Court has Ruled, on the 9.10.2015, that the GOI is also made a Respondent to the PIL NO.4 (K) of 2015 and thereby preventing the GOI to auction the two Oil blocks, of Nagaland, which is an encroachment into Art 371A. The GOI has earlier called, through the print media, for intending quotations for the auction, of the two oil blocks, of Nagaland.

The Lotha Community has not jumped only at the last moment to file the PIL; but starting from 2008, the Lotha Community had submitted many Memorandums and Appeals to the state government; but were not attended to or responded by the state govt. The following 6 (six) memorandums and Appeals had been submitted by the Lothas to the state govt, awaiting response from the state govt: i). In 2008, on the 15th July 2008, the then sitting Lotha Legislators, submit-

ted their Decision, on the terms and conditions, for exploration and extraction of Oil & Natural Gas, within Wokha district. However the Lotha Legislators were not consulted while framing the NP & NG Regulations & Rules 2012. ii). The Champang Land Owners Union, on the 22/01/2009, had submitted to the Nagaland state government, through the Parliamentary Secretary, incharge of Geology and Mining, Nagaland, “Demands of the Land Owners”. iii). The Lotha Hoho (then Kyong Hoho in 2012), on the 16th August 2012, submitted to the Nagaland state govt, through the Secretary of the Cabinet Sub Committee, on NP & NG, its Draft Modality on NP & NG. iv). The Lotha Hoho (then Kyong Hoho in 2012), again on the 15th September 2012, submitted to the Governor of Nagaland, its Draft Modality on NP & NG. But the state govt never bothered to either discuss or respond to the memorandum. v). The Lotha Students’ Union (then Kyong Students’ Union), on the 25th June 2014, submitted a Memorandum to the Nagaland state government, raising its objections to allotment of permit to MOGPL and mentioning various demands for amendment of the NP & NG Regulations and Rules 2012. vi). The Apex Lotha Hoho, Wokha, has, on the 20th July 2015, submitted to the state govt, through the Chief Secretary, a Memorandum, requesting for Cancellation of the Permit awarded to the MOGPL, and has even consented to withdraw the PIL, filed by the Kohima Lotha Hoho, so as to pave the way for a negotiated settlement. The Lotha Hoho Memorandum has clearly cautioned that “in the event of the state govt’s failure to respond favourably, the matter will be taken to the court of law”. But the state govt never bothered to either discuss or respond to the memorandum.

Hence this PIL (No. 4 (K) 2015).

Mhao Humtsoe Chairman, Lotha Hoho, Wokha, Nagaland Er.Mhondamo Ovung General Secretary Lotha Hoho, Wokha, Nagaland

Who is jeopardizing the customary rights of Nagas?

R

ules and Regulations are basically enacted or made for common good but if any mischief is detected it must be rectified forthwith. Nagaland Petroleum & Natural Gas (NP&NG) rules and regulation 2012 unless amended has serious consequences. It has little or no respect for Nagas’ customary rights.

Despicably, though the authors of the Rules and Regulation claim that it has been made in line with the Article 371(A) is, in effect, devoid of vital fundamentals to protect the innocent Naga people’s rights to ownership of land and its resources guaranteed in the Article. The mischief in the NPG Rules springs from a wrong and faulty premise prompted by personal gains at the cost of the innocent villagers.

In 2010, DAN government convened a State Level consultative meet of all the Hohos of the State, stake holders, legal luminaries and Ministers at Kisama on “Transfer of Land and its Resources”. Strangely, there was no consultation at all except one way speeches by the empanelled speakers of the day and at the end of the session the Chief Secretary who chaired the meet read out a four point resolution in which the fourth stated that “Nagas are owners of land but their ownership is only the top soil….. Underneath resources belong to the Government”. Is this not an evident distortion of the Article 371(A) which says that Land and its Resources belong to the people? Nagaland Government’s Rules and Regulation on Petroleum is against the constitutional provision because it is based on this wrong premise that includes usurpation of ownership of the resources by Government derived from a faulty contentious Assembly resolution. To substantiate what is being said here anyone who reads through NP&NG Rules and Regulations will find that State Government is numbered as landowner No. 3 in the list of Landown-

ers and, accordingly in the sharing of profit, Government takes fifty percent of the total share of landowners, it being listed itself as one of the owners.

To be precise, the State Government, after usurping ownership of land fixes a random Rs. 16/- as the share of landowners and out of it takes Rs.8/- and in addition sets aside Rs. 2/- in the name of concern District to be executed through District plan fund which is as good as Government revenue and now what is left for the actual bonafide owners is only Rs. 6/- . This sharing mode can best be described as someone after intruding into someone’s residence and on seeing some valuable things in that house, finds a buyer, sells it without consulting the owner and then takes fifty percent of the proceed and then divides the other portion among the innocent victim’s family members.

Another pertinent question is where is the Rs. 84/- going? Has the government sold our resource to a Company at this price to be given only Rs. 6/- as landowner’s share?

These questions make amply clear that transactions made in it are extremely dishonest (criminal in nature) which sufficiently proves that NPG rules and regulation beginning with its modalities is a crime against the customary rights of the Nagas? It is this folly that Lotha Hoho had been voicing its concern against it all along but was given a deaf ear that forced the Lotha Hoho to file a PIL in the Court as a last resort. And for heaven sake the PIL is not for Lothas alone but the whole State. It is upsetting to note that other tribes instead of trying to understand the gravity of the matter, all their Hohos, NGOs and, just a few days back, Nagaland GB Federation; all in the capacity of custodians of our customary rights, listening to stupid and concocted notions that Lotha Hoho PIL is endangering the Article 371(A) when, in fact, it has been raped by the Government and that, the PIL

will bring “negative ramifications”, when the so called PNG Rules and Regulations is already a poison for the slow and steady death of our legitimate ownership rights, has been childishly and unwisely appealing the Lotha Hoho to withdraw the PIL. (Sorry for my harsh words but this is the only way to clear the air) Having thus said three things must be clear in our minds and understanding.

One, the paramount battle of Lotha Hoho PIL is to rectify the wrong PNG Modality, Rules & Regulation that is all out to destroy our established customary right to our land. And as regard to the apprehension that the PIL endangers the Article 371(A) is not only a lie but utterly flimsy because the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has made it clear in the Parliament that nobody will dare touch, to distort or concoct the constitution of the country because it is the sacred book of the Nation.

Two, Any PIL once admitted in a court of law cannot be withdrawn. This has been reiterated recently by the Supreme Court of India so, stop barking for withdrawal instead use one’s wisdom and honesty for rectification of the crime committed for early take off of the exploration works. In point of fact, this PIL should have been filed by DBs & GBs and village Chairmen Associations and, if not, jointly by all the Hohos & ENPO. Three, Having made clear the Lotha Hoho PIL’s intent, purpose and the seriousness of the case, all Hohos and NGOs, especially the DBs & GBs claiming to be custodians of our customary practices and rights prevent yourselves from being bullied and used by politicians and individuals with vested interests but rather be the last man standing in defense of our customary practices and rights because in it lies our dignity and honor.

Jonas Yanthan, Author: ‘A Walk to Emmaus- A journey of attitudinal change.’

The Morung Express “Public Space” is to provide space for diverse opinions to be expressed and heard. The opinions in the “Public Space” do not reflect the views and position of the newspaper nor the editor.

6

Tuesday 07•06•2016

IN FOCUS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

The Power of Truth

The Morung Express volume Xi issue 155

State Territorial Integrity is not the absolute in itself

T

he issues surrounding the question of territory, since the emergence of the modern state, has been a matter of State sovereignty, and, in accordance of such a parochial perception, ensured that the manner in which space and territory is organized, becomes monopolized by the sovereign State. Hence, it is not surprising that the question of territory has always been central to the idea of sovereignty.

It is nonetheless important to remember that the rationale of State territorial integrity is not the end, nor is it absolute in itself. The ultimate purpose of State territorial integrity, according to international law, is to ensure that the interests of the people from a given territory are safeguarded.

Consequently, the rationale of State territorial integrity is applicable and meaningful only so long as it continues to fulfill that purpose. No State can claim to safeguard the interest of the people when the people themselves have not expressed their consent and will to be part of it.

The rationale of territorial integrity is legitimized only when the people have collectively expressed their consent and will to be part of it, which is in relation to the State’s responsibility to ensure that the interest of such a people are safeguarded. This dual condition needs to be fulfilled when the question of territorial integrity is invoked. The limitation of territorial integrity is best illustrated by Judge Hardy Dillard in the International Court of Justice case on Western Sahara, when he said, “it is for the people to determine the destiny of the territory and not the territory the destiny of the people.”

It will be worthwhile to examine why India has viewed borders and boundaries in the North East region of the subcontinent as rigid and inflexible lines which cannot be altered, even if it contravenes the basic rationale of territorial integrity. Clearly, it has no compunction in redrawing and creating new State boundaries in the Indian subcontinent.

This double standard overtly displays the inherent lack of political will when it comes to addressing complex issues of self-definition, and certainly shows that its core policies are still driven by self-interests and fear.

The matter concerning unifying Naga areas has been a critical issue ever since the relationship between India and the Nagas turned conflictual. In 1947, T. Sakhrie of the Naga National Council requested of Sir Akbar Hydari that the territories inhabited by the Naga be united at once, and he demanded that ‘old boundary be restored.’ Almost seventy years later, the same question of territory – and hence sovereignty – is once more at the epicenter of what proves to be the decisive factor in determining future Indo-Naga relations.

What perhaps needs more understanding is how Nagas relate to their land. The innate relationship between Nagas and their land has, and continues to define the dialectical parameters of what constitutes their understanding of a dignified existence. The land represents the aspiration of a national identity to determine its own political, social and economic future; all of which is central to their humanity.

Territory in this sense is not perceived as having rigidly defined lines, but as overlapping spheres of boundary.

In the interest of peace and democracy the affected people that are living along the border and whose territories are being contested by different political powers can best resolve these disputes through having a democratic referendum which would collectively decide their political status. After all in the end, the universal principles that in democracy, sovereignty lies with the people should be exercised, wherein, the people living in these affected borders need to determine the destiny of the territory!

lEfT wiNg |

Rupesh Dutta IANS

Legalise commercial donation to prevent organ rackets, says experts

T

he busting of another huge organ racket involving two employees of the city's Apollo hospital has again brought to light the massive scarcity of organs required for transplant, which experts say can be overcome only by legalising living organ donation in exchange for money, or "commercial donors".

Medical experts say the government was "not willing to even discuss the subject" of organ donation in exchange for money because it was apprehensive that poor people could take advantage of it lured by the monetary factor.

"Solution to such illegal organ racket is that the process should be legalised, but at the same time the government needs to ensure that the money to be received by the donor is directly transferred into his or her account, without any broker or middle man coming in between," M.C. Misra, Director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), told IANS. Misra felt it was difficult to prevent illegal organ rackets as usually the top authorities of hospitals are involved. He said legalizing the process was the only solution or more such rackets could mushroom in the future.

"Legalising will at least prevent innocent poor people from getting exploited by the middlemen who do not pay them the promised money after they donate their kidneys or any other organ. A legal backing will help in doing away with the middleman factor," said Mishra, who is also chairman of the Renal Transplant Authorization Committee of AIIMS. In India, in every 15 minutes, a person is added to the long wait list for organ transplant. Every 10 minutes, a person dies waiting for an organ. Delhi, with a population of 9.8 million, saw only 14 organ donors in 2015, which is probably why families are increasingly turning to purchasing organs from "commercial donors".

Former Director of NOTTO (National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation) Saudan Singh, told IANS: "Yes, legalising organ donation in exchange for money is required, but the issue needs to be discussed by Parliament first. Currently doctors can't really do much about it. Today the situation is such that 90 per cent of the organ donation is happening by living donors, even if illegally, while cadaver donation which is legal happens only in around 5-10 per cent cases."

The 1994 Transplantation of Human Organ Act makes cadaver organ donation legal, but in the case of living organ donation it says that only the immediate family members of the recipient -- mother, father, brothers, sisters, son, daughter, and spouse -- can donate their organs.

As per the rules, the immediate relative is required to provide proof of relation by genetic testing or by legal documents.

In case there is no first relative, the recipient and donor are required to seek special permission from the government appointed authorization committee and appear for an interview before the panel to prove that the motive of donation is purely out of altruism or affection for the recipient.

While in Western countries around 70-80 per cent of people pledge their organs, in India only about 0.01 percent do so.

According to Voluntary Health Association of India, about 2,000 Indians sell a kidney every year.

D.S. Rana, Chairman Board of Management at Gangaram Hospital, told IANS that he was not in favour of legalising commercial organ donation. He felt that it would increase the exploitation of the poor.

C O M M E N T A R Y

Siobhán O'Grady Foreign Policy

Talking Trump and War Crimes

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ince he returned to Juba late last month, South Sudanese rebel leader Riek Machar has been living in a makeshift camp made up of little more than a smattering of tents and a few air-conditioned pop-up offices.

The day I visited, rebel soldiers dressed in wornout army fatigues roamed the property in flip-flops, dark circles under their eyes and AK-47 assault rifles slung across their shoulders. One stood next to a piece of string intended to act as a security checkpoint, holding a notebook where visitors were supposed to sign in. He didn’t have a pen.

Other armed men, many with the traditional Nuer ethnic group scarring on their foreheads, lay in the dirt under mango trees, strings of bullet casings hanging from the branches above them. A group of men and women wearing suits and dresses sat on chairs under one of those trees, looking blankly into the distance as though they were waiting for a speech to begin.

It took more than three hours to get face to face with Machar, one of the men at the center of a fragile U.S.-backed effort to end his country’s bloody civil war. While I was waiting, one young advisor wearing a navy blue suit sat with me and spoke at length about Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican Party nomination in the United States’ presidential election. At one point, he suggested that a leader like Trump could solve South Sudan’s ongoing debate over an attempt by Machar’s rival, President Salva Kiir, to change the country from 10 states to 28. The opposition claims it is a clear violation of the shaky August peace deal designed to end a conflict that has killed more than 50,000 people since December 2013. “We need Donald Trump to solve that problem,” the staffer said with a laugh.

When I finally reached Machar, he sat at the head of a large conference table, surrounded by piles of papers, folders, and three-ring binders. “I’m trying to get organized,” he said, pointing to the mess and apologizing for the delay.

Dressed in a traditional white robe and matching hat, Machar, who is now serving as the country’s first vice president, struck a surprisingly relaxed and optimistic tone for most of the hour-long conversation.

When questioned about his current stance on the 28-state issue — a contentious dispute with the potential to plunge the country back into war — Machar said he and Kiir still had not directly talked about the proposal. Machar opposes the move in large part because it is seen as undermining the two leaders’ power-sharing agreement to put more territory in Kiir’s control.

“Our position is still the same. The act is a violation of the peace agreement,” he said. “It’s in the agenda. We hope to discuss it.”

Machar pulled no punches in the interview about what he derided as Washington’s hands-off approach to the conflict in South Sudan, which broke out after rumors swirled in 2013 that Machar planned to overthrow Kiir in a coup. Repeating a charge made to me in October, he angrily claimed that the United States is now delaying his country’s already fragile peace process by refusing to provide tents and food to his forces to encourage them to come home from the bush.

Instead, he said American officials want him to fund it himself, claiming that if he could pay to supply weapons throughout the war, he can pay to clean it up. He repeated their suggestion and scoffed at it, telling me it would be impossible because he doesn’t even have money to rebuild his own house which was destroyed by a government attack early in the war. When I asked who was funding the comfortable, air conditioned office we were sitting in, he smiled.

“Friends. Let’s say friends, that’s all,” he said.

“One of them could be you. If you have money, you will contribute a little here.”

Machar told me he is disappointed that since finally returning to the capital on April 26, he has not

In an exclusive interview at his armed camp, South Sudan’s Rebel Leader Riek Machar accuses his rival of war crimes and blames the U.S. for prolonging the carnage

South Sudanese former President Riek Machar and Riek Machar forces at the military camp in the Ismaila village of Jonguei state, Bor,South Sudan on March 30, 2014 following the failed coup attempt on December 16, 2013. (Getty Images)

heard from any of the American officials who spent months calling for him to go home. “No John Kerry, no Susan Rice, no Donald Booth,” he said, naming the American envoy to South Sudan and adding that he has not spoken to Rice, who was at the forefront of South Sudan’s push for independence, since before she canceled a meeting with him when he was in Washington last October.

During our October conversation in Washington the day the meeting was scrapped, Machar said that Booth delivered the news, then suggested the rebel leader return to Juba. At the time, Machar referred to the capital as a “killing ground.”

“You know we were friends? We know one another well,” Machar said about Rice during our May meeting, recalling how “furious” he was the last time he was in Washington. “So I was disappointed. You see how friends can get disappointed.”

A State Department official speaking on condition of anonymity told Foreign Policy that since returning to Juba, Machar has met with Molly Phee, the American ambassador to South Sudan, and that moving forward, she will be his primary point of contact within the United States government. He also said that organizing for troops to return from the bush is primarily the responsibility of the warring South Sudanese parties.

Machar is now closely following the upcoming presidential election in the United States and wondering what it will mean for his own country’s future.

Many of his followers believe Machar to be the descendant of an ancient Nuer prophet, so maybe it

shouldn’t come as a surprise that he claims to have predicted months ago that Trump would take an easy lead in the Republican primary.

“Somebody that free discusses anything. People like it. The American people like it!” he said between laughs, telling me he is angry he can’t get CNN in his new camp in Juba and that his advisers didn’t initially believe him when he said Trump would likely be the Republican nominee. “Now I’m telling them ‘Prepare yourselves! Trump might win!’”

But whether Trump is prepared to help South Sudan? Well, that’s another question.

“We are a small country in Africa,” Machar said.

“I don’t know whether somebody who came out of business has taken interest in South Sudan, although we would want him to take interest in us.”

Besides his repeated complaints about the United States, Machar stayed surprisingly even-keeled during the conversation, even when discussing his shaky relationship with Kiir. When I asked about the government’s purchase of amphibious tanks, which were reportedly used by Kiir’s forces to hunt down civilians and armed rebels in the country’s massive and treacherous swamplands, Machar said he believes buying and using them amounts to war crimes as well as crimes against humanity.

“You use proportional power,” he said. “When you fight your enemy you’re restraining because you don’t want to eliminate, you want to disable. But when you use amphibious tanks against the civilian population, that’s a serious matter.”

The African Union, the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International have accused both sides of committing atrocities, ranging from ethnically targeted murders to mass rape.

Machar said that the last time he was aware of any human rights violations carried out by troops loyal to him was in early 2014, before they had an organized central command, but that if he was called to appear before the International Criminal Court, he would show up. “I’m not intimidated by the ICC,” he said. A spokesman for Kiir’s government did not respond to any of my phone calls or emails.

The rebel leader, who spent decades leading the push for South Sudan’s independence from Sudan, was born in Unity State, where some of the conflict’s worst violence took place. The night the most recent conflict broke out more than two years ago, Machar said government forces killed 34 people in his house alone, and claimed in our conversation that the conflict took him by such surprise that he ran away in his pajamas. “If it was a planned war I would have been in military fatigues,” he said.

Much of Machar’s refusal to return to Juba for so many months after the signing of the peace deal last August had to do with his fear he would risk his own life if he went back to where the conflict began. But when I asked whether he felt safe in Juba, he hesitated. “I’m here,” he said, adding that while the capital is still “not fully demilitarized,” he himself feels safe.

And as for what’s next? Machar already has his eyes set on South Sudan’s 2018 presidential election, when citizens are slated to go to the polls in a national vote for their leaders for the first time since independence. He said he will run for president only if his party “says so,” and that the priority for now is making sure conflict doesn’t break out again. He is convinced that in addition to improving security, getting displaced people back home, and beginning the process of reconciliation, the world’s youngest country needs to build roads and improve the economy, which has been in free-fall throughout the conflict, in order to ensure peace.

One of the only other ingredients is making things work with Kiir — at least until 2018 when they won’t have to sit side-by-side anymore.

“We must forget about personal animosity if we’re going to implement the agreement,” he said.

“Or else you would condemn the country to perpetual war.”

The Specter of the Cultural Revolution

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specter is haunting China – the specter of the Cultural Revolution. As China marks the 50th anniversary of this seminal event, its supporters have begun to resurface, raising fears among some of a resurrection of this brutal episode that took or disrupted millions of lives.

Chinese leader Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution in May 1966 as a series of violent political campaigns, aiming to purge his enemies and to establish a Millennium Dynasty centered on his personal cult with absolute power and absolute truth. In the tears-and-blood-shedding decade that followed, the country was turned into a meat grinder, as sanguinary as the Dark Age. The major social experiments during the time were not utopian fantasies but unforgiven crimes. Mao’s demise in September 1976 and the subsequent arrest of his wife and adherents, the “Gang of Four,” finally brought the chaos to an end.

Over the last 40 years, free discussion of the Cultural Revolution has been blocked, although the ruling Communist Party denounced it as “social turbulence” and a “great calamity” in the early 1980s. But as China marked the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of this catastrophe, the sudden spike in rhetoric among Cultural Revolution supporters, known as extreme leftists, has been surprisingly conspicuous.

These extremists paint China under Mao as a paradise, whitewashing the Cultural Revolution’s sins and

Without political reform, the ghosts of a tragic episode will continue to haunt China Yun Tang The Diplomat openly vilifying Deng Xiaoping for his economic reforms and opening up to the outside world. They insist that the rampant corruption China experiences today is a result of capitalist restoration in China, and call for a return to fundamentalist Communism. They challenge the legal basis for the 1980 trial of the Gang of Four, even seeking to canonize Madame Mao, who committed suicide in 1991. This audacity has not been seen since the end of the Cultural Revolution itself. Even though the brutalities of that devastating decade are still a fresh memory for many, their deceitful messages went viral on the Chinese cyberspace. This phenomenon attests to the fact that the ghosts of the Cultural Revolution still linger.

Indeed, attempts to rehabilitate the Cultural Revolution is symbiotic with the revival of Mao worship. In recent years, rapidly spreading Mao worship is a backlash against corruption among ordinary people, who reminisce for a

superficially egalitarian Mao time.

For Chinese leaders, the dilemma is that a total rejection of Mao will reject the legitimacy of the Communist rule.

But without holding Mao accountable, the Cultural Revolution can never be completely laid to rest. The leftist demagogues pinpointed this Achilles’ heel of the ruling elite, taking advantage of public discontent at social injustice to push for the derailment of reforms and the Open Door policy.

That is why any hint of a comeback of the Cultural Revolution must be blocked. In the past 40 years since Mao’s death, China has been transforming from “revolution distributing poverty” to “legislation redistributing wealth,” in Will Durant’s words. The nightmare outcome is that before this process finishes, widening wealth disparity triggers a new revolution, with or without the word “cultural” in its name, which restarts the entire process again. China’s income inequality is now among the worst in the world,

wRiTE-wiNg

and social tensions are mounting. Given the large number of Mao votaries, especially in rural areas, the so-called Chinese dynastic cycle is not a remote curse but a clear and present threat.

The best way to exorcize the Cultural Revolution is political reform. The tragedies of that period and today’s corruption were caused by the same disease: absolute power. During the Cultural Revolution, absolute power enabled political persecution; today, it allows corrupting officials to steal public treasure.

Today’s China is a society with the social ills of both a developing and a developed country. But it has come too far in terms of social progress in recent decades to turn back now. Keeping nearly 700 million netizens entirely in the dark with the porous Great Firewall is an impossible task. The ruling party ultimately must proceed forward toward the rule of law.

The Chinese leadership can begin political reform by first promoting democracy within the party. While continuing its corruption-busting campaign, it ought to push for increased public oversight of the government, judicial independence, and asset disclosure by officials. These measures, for now, are just rosy dreams, given the obstinacy in party ranks when it comes to reform. But that is the only way to assuage the widespread public indignation, ensuring a peaceful social transformation. Ultimately, only when absolute power is curbed can the heinous ghost of the Cultural Revolution be dispelled once and for all.

Yun Tang is a member of the World Affairs Council of Washington, DC.

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tuesday 07•06•2016

PERSPECTIVE

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Choosing the next UN Secretary -General: Real Changes Ahead?

For the first time in the UN’s history, the global public is having the chance to hear about the individual agendas and the visions of all the nominees for next UN Secretary-General Ourania S. Yancopoulos

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openDemocracy

raditionally, the United Nations Secretary-General (UNSG) selection process has taken place almost completely behind closed doors – with only the members of the United Nations Security Council making the selection. In the past, a “campaign” for UNSG relied entirely on appealing to the Security Council’s Permanent Five (P5) members rather than to the Member States the Secretary-General is charged to represent and serve. It was less about competing on merit, having strong values and beliefs, or even a personality, and instead about “clearing” the P5 – and specifically the perpetually deadlocked “P2”. In short, the main qualification for the winning candidate was an ability to clear the discerning gaze of both the United States and Russia.

But this time around, things are different. For the first time the full list of UNSG candidates is known across the UN system and by the global public as well, renewing both interest in the United Nations and hope for its future work.

Last month, the world was introduced to the first round of UNSG candidates. At that time, nine hopefuls were looking to take over from the current UNSG, Ban Ki-moon, when his second of two terms ends this December. From April 12 - 14 these candidates participated in informal public discussions and dialogues at the United Nations’ New York Headquarters, answering questions in front of the organization’s 193 Member States, and with the general public asking questions through civil society members and social media. A second round of informal dialogues with other new candidates will take place June 7th.

Consequences of the added transparency In the past, candidates were told to keep a low profile and stay out of the public eye – and above all, to avoid both public criticism of the United Nations, and articulation of a new direction for its work. This year’s nominees however, are publicly setting agendas in ways never seen before.

Looking back, The Guardian notes that the current Secretary-General would have never survived today’s process: “He was barely seen in public before his appointment and was not even allowed to enter the UN headquarters.”

The new openness contributes not only to a potentially surprising range of candidates, but also to the expression of individual agendas. Candidates have seized the opportunity of this global platform to communicate strong, sometimes controversial messages – refreshing in light of the longstanding tradition of UN officials not taking sides or expressing views.

Could it be that this Secretary-General selection process will serve as an opportunity to get a leader who actually stands for something? Current media hype and coverage has largely focused on the process’s unprecedented transparency, as well as the race’s so called “frontrunners.” It has largely neglected - and even ignored - the specific visions of each candidate for the future of the United Nations.

The media is perhaps not entirely to blame. Lacking brevity, it perhaps seemed that all nine candidates were afraid to voice opinions, answer difficult questions, and commit to one, new way forward. However, having attended the three full days of interviews myself I can say that there are candidates – and largely not the “frontrunners” – who provide unique plans and concrete directions.

Many analyses claim the race has two “frontrunners”: Portugal’s Antonio Guterres, who served most recently as chief of the UN agency for refugees, UNHCR, and New Zealand’s Helen Clark, current head of the United Nations Development Program, UNDP. Both are insiders to the UN system and familiar with UN work. But in terms of creating a more representative, more accountable, and more effective United Nations, it will not be enough to pick a candidate who might run the UN in a “business as usual” style.

Signs of the UN’s failures abound, including sexual abuse by peacekeepers in Central Africa and the cholera outbreak in Haiti. On top of this, the credibility of UN work is being jeopardized by the organization’s inability to make good on resolutions regarding its own internal work, in particular equitable gender and geographic representation in its senior leadership.

In the face of all this, the Secretary-General selection process is increasingly seen as an opportunity to pick a “fixer”: a strong leader who will set a new agenda and chart a new way forward.

The UN needs a leader who will commit to change.

The following four candidates not only stood for something new in their recent public dialogues with Member States, but also provided the most original visions for the future of the United Nations.

Secretary-General candidates at the informal dialogues at the UN, New York.

General of UNESCO, is simple: “I believe in a common humanity through culture and heritage.” She identified the “catalyzing role” of cultural diversity in promoting social inclusion and community building across nations. As Secretary-General, Bokova said she would use culture as a means to promote global community building, diversify the donor landscape, and elevate the role of soft power within UN work.

She said culture’s role “cannot be overlooked” in development: “New cultural industries are rising around the world. They create jobs…[They] are also a way for achieving more economic growth and inclusion.” She added that cultural industries are “one segment of the global economy we need to invest in.”

Bokova said she would also promote culture to implement the 2030 agenda: “I can’t imagine social development without respecting culture.” Bokova noted the role of culture in combatting terrorism and extremism specifically: “Growing forces want to convince us that we cannot live together. This is unacceptable to me…All we need today is new competence to live together and respect one another. The year 2015 is a turning point.”

Vesna Pusić – the UN is flawed Having less direct UN experience than Bokova, Vesna Pusić – who most recently served as Croatia’s Foreign Minister – rocked the boat with frank observations about the UN’s shortcomings. In her written vision statement, Pusić called the UN “a flawed institution but also an essential one.” Pointed opinions like these distinguished her from her competitors.

Quoting Pusić’s vision statement that the UN is “flawed,” Saudi Arabia asked if this “adversarial attitude” would impede her ability to run the organization. Pusić responded, “I am 63 years old. I have never seen an organization or individual that is not flawed.” She added that her awareness and candid acknowledgement of the UN’s shortcomings make her a realist and uniquely qualified for the job.

Unlike her competitors, Pusić clearly supported LGBT rights. And when Saudi Arabia suggested that this was her “attempt to impose social values that are not internationally accepted,” Pusić said “bravely” that no culture is set in stone: “When certain values, let’s say regarding women…are treated as human rights, human rights become part of different cultures…Nobody can force their adoption, but bringing certain things to the forefront is no threat to anybody.”

better understanding. She urged the UN to communicate honestly, not only about its progress and achievements, but on all negative elements as well. She called on the UN to reach out to the world’s citizens and explain its relevance and commitments: “If they understand, we gain – we have partnerships, and ownership, and the youth of the world – without that it will be very difficult to succeed.”

Vuk Jeramic – sport + youth = a new world order At 40 years old, Serbia’s Vuk Jeremic, is the youngest SG nominee. In his interview, Jeremic emphasized the role of youth involvement and sport in the creation of a new world order.

In an institution dominated by older men, Jeremic set out an argument that the world’s older population had not done a good job, despite numerous chances. Instead, he called on the “youth” - who make up 1.8 of the world’s 7 billion - to be more involved, to make international decisionmaking powerful, meaningful, and interesting.

To the United Nations he said, “If you believe in ‘business as usual,’ then I am not your guy…I am the candidate for change.” He insisted that the Secretary-General be a “person with spine” and said he intended to be a “hands on SG,” working with Member States and regional organizations.

Jeremic also said that sport has a key role in education and health. As the 67th President of the General Assembly, he pushed for close collaboration and special engagement with the International Olympic Committee: “I personally believe that sports reflect the pillars and values of the Organization…Sports have the power to change the world.”

The ‘woman card’ There is a strong push for a woman to be elected as the next Secretary-General, and the added transparency of the selection process further raises pressure to pick a woman. As many campaigns both inside and outside the organization have pointed out, of the UN’s eight Secretary-Generals, not one has been a woman. The UN, which has failed time and time again to make good on its promises for equitable gender representation among its senior staff, remains most woefully behind in this promise, in its most prominent leadership position. But the hope for a new direction does not come simply from picking a woman. It is perhaps more important to view the race as not divided between women and men, but between people who want to change the United Nations, and those who Natalia Gherman – specificity requires partnerships Moldova’s Natalia Gherman committed to being “the want to continue with “business as usual.”

General of the Secretariat and the Secretary of the Member States.” She elaborated, saying the Secretary-General must A new way forward?

For the first time in the UN’s history, we have had a be a facilitator of unity: “She should be the point person and promote an organization of the UN that values innovation chance to hear – and in detail – about the visions of all the nominees for next Secretary-General. We have an idea of and remains open to reform.”

For Gherman, this reform requires synergy and interac- their vision for the future of the organization, and we know tion at all levels through partnerships: “The role of the UN is what they stand for. And while the pressure to identify a feto avoid fragmentation, duplication, and work in a comple- male candidate is more than welcome, the selection of the mentary fashion.” She emphasized the need for the UN to next SG cannot be about putting a woman in office simply delegate tasks to more nimble and more specialized global because she is a woman. It should be about putting at the partners from the private sector and civil society, as well as helm of the world’s one, truly international organization, a woman who promises something new, who will stand for NGOs, Member States, and regional organizations.

She said the success of the Sustainable Development something – who will be different, signalling a dramatic and Goals (SDGs) requires these partnerships: “Regional ar- much needed shift for the United Nations.

In the current race, there are women who are providrangements have the best local expertise.” For Gherman, these arrangements also have the best emergency and rapid ing new visions and new ways forward – not only because response capabilities: “There is no time or space when civil- of their gender, but because of their different backgrounds, ians’ lives are under threat. It requires rapid response and views, and opinions in addition to their gender.

Despite having forward thinking candidates and the indeployment of highly qualified personnel.” Partnerships such as these, she said, will ensure “complete ownership of formal dialogues, it is still up to the Members of the Security Council to decide whether to honour the progress these the agenda” and ensure that “nobody is left behind.”

Gherman added that “better communication” with part- candidates wish to bring to the United Nations. We can only Irina Bokova – a common humanity through culture The vision of Bulgaria’s Irina Bokova, current Director- ners would guarantee a supply of fresh ideas, impetus, and hope they make the right decision.

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n the past, the only excuse for cancelling the Olympic Games has been a world war (Berlin 1916, Tokyo 1940, London 1944).

But if this year’s Games had been scheduled for somewhere in West Africa two years ago, when the Ebola outbreak was nearing its peak, they would certainly have been called off. So should the Olympic Games scheduled to begin in Rio de Janeiro on 5 August be cancelled, moved or postponed?

The health risk in Brazil’s case is the Zika virus, transmitted by mosquito bites, which appeared in the country two years ago. It causes only a mild fever, if any at all, but it has been linked to a huge increase in the number of cases of microcephaly, in which babies are born with small, underdeveloped brains. Some die; most survive, but with moderate to severe learning difficulties.

The 4,700 cases of microcephaly in Brazil since last October (vs. 150 in all of 2014) suggest that the country has a big public health problem, but the Zika virus hardly compares with the Ebola virus, which kills half the people who become infected. Yet 152 health professionals from around the world have now signed an open letter demanding that the Brazil Olympics do not go ahead as scheduled.

The letter, addressed to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and published on Friday, was initiated by Prof. Amir Atta-

Zika and the Olympics Gwynne Dyer CommonDreams ran of the University of Ottawa. “Sports fans who are wealthy enough to visit Rio’s Games choose Zika’s risks for themselves,” he said, “but when some of them return home infected, their fellow citizens bear the risk too.”

The WHO and the IOC immediately rejected his proposal, the former pointing out that the Olympic visitors, expected to number between 350,000 and 500,000, are only a small fraction of the 6 million visitors to Brazil each year – and that 9 million Brazilians, potentially already carrying the Zika virus, travel abroad each year. Why focus specifically on the Olympics?

Because, says Dr. Attaran, the Olympic athletes and tourists will include many people from countries whose citizens would not normally visit Rio. Some of those countries have poor public health services and warm climates, but are still Zikafree: “It cannot possibly help to send a halfmillion travelers into Rio from places that would not normally have strong travel connections with Rio and therefore set up new dissemination channels.”

Ah, says WHO, but there should be relatively few mosquitoes in Rio in August, which is midwinter in Brazil. Yes, but dengue fever, which is transmitted by the same mosquitoes, is up this year, says Attaran.

Federal troops are spraying for mosquitoes, and neighborhood health inspectors have been tasked with eliminating standing bodies of water where they are known to breed, says the government. Do you really believe that the Brazilian government is capable of eradicating mosquitoes in Rio even temporarily?, asks anyone who has ever had contact with Brazilian bureaucracy. So the argument goes, back and forth, and it’s getting ugly.

Prof. Attaran has even publicly accused the WHO of defending the IOC because the two organisations have officially been in partnership since 2010: “It is ignorant and arrogant for the WHO to march handinhand with the IOC.” And there is a lot of money on the table.

The Brazilian government is spending $10 billion on the Olympics and there’s an-

other $3 billion at risk in various media and service contracts, very little of which will be covered by insurance if the Games are cancelled. So much of the insistence that all will be well is certainly driven by concern about the money that would be lost.

The risk of spreading the Zika virus to some countries that would probably not otherwise get it until much later is real and relevant, because work is underway on a vaccine and a year or two could make a big difference. But let’s be realistic: the Rio Olympics cannot be moved in the time that remains and will not be cancelled or postponed. So what should be done?

Dr. Lawrence Gostin, director of the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University, has the answer: “What is urgently needed is for the international community, led by the WHO, to declare an allout war on the mosquito population in Rio.” A concerted, wellfunded effort under close international supervision could reduce that population to near zero, at least for the time that the Olympics last.

That has not yet happened, mainly because it would be humiliating for Brazil to admit that it cannot do it on its own.

Given the internal political crisis raging in the country, it will be hard to find a senior politician in Brasilia with the guts to ask for that kind of help. But it’s time to go looking for one.

7

Boxer Muhammad Ali speaks to the Activist Soul Richard Eskow

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CommonDreams

n the end, Muhammad Ali wasn’t just the most important athlete of his time.

And he wasn’t just a world-changing activist. He was even more than those things: he was a unified human being. His occupation was inseparable from his aspirations, his spiritual ideals inseparable from his worldly activities.

That’s an important lesson for any historical moment, and for this moment more than most.

Today we are experiencing a global activist wave, the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the 1960s. Here in this country, the Black Lives Everything I did Matter movement has be- was according to come a pow- my conscience. I erful force wasn’t trying to for change.

Sen. Bernie be a leader. I just Sanders has wanted to be free energized millions of – Muhammad A m e r i c a n s Ali (1942-2016) across demographic lines, especially millennials of all races and backgrounds. Labor efforts like the drive for a $15 minimum wage, and movements for the rights of LGBT people and other oppressed communities, are gaining force and winning victories.

But, as in the 1960s, there is fragmentation and sometimes friction among these freedom movements. This can and must be overcome. That’s why Bernie Sanders has reached out to social justice groups with considerable success. It’s why efforts like the labor-based Fight for $15 and the successful drive for paid leave in Minneapolis are turning to people of color for leadership.

Muhammad Ali bridged a major divide when he refused induction into the armed forces. The civil rights and anti-war movements of the 1960s were often divided by race, kept apart by those who were afraid of losing hard-won gains and by cynics who knew that to divide is to conquer. That division was always artificial, especially since African Americans were disproportionately fighting and dying in Vietnam.

After he was suspended from boxing, Ali spent three years speaking to college students and other groups of all races about both civil rights and Vietnam. When Dr. King came out against the war despite fierce opposition, he cited him, saying: “Like Muhammad Ali puts it, we are all – black and brown and poor – victims of the same system of oppression.”

Ali sometimes said intemperate things, especially in those early days. As a fighter, he could be as brutal as he was beautiful. (Ask Ernie Terrell.) But there is a reason he was so beloved, and it can be summed up in one word: “Integrity.”

That word means honest, just, fair, and incorruptible. It also means “unified.” It comes from the same Latin root as “integer,” meaning “intact” and indivisible like the units that make up numbers. There are no changeable or hidden parts. What you see is what you get.

Muhammad Ali never claimed to be political. His activism wasn’t a career choice. When he spoke out on civil rights, when he refused the draft, he was being true to his deepest ethical core.

“I don’t have to be what you want me to be,” he said. “I’m free to be what I want.”

That was an affirmation of every person’s right to pursue their own happiness and fulfill their own potential. This independence of spirit freed an entire generation of athletes, artists and professionals to express their own beliefs in the public arena. Some of them showed the same courage Ali showed, and some paid the same high price for their convictions.

Ali was not afraid to be, as Dave Zirin describes him, “dangerous.” He could not have accomplished what he did without a willingness to shock and provoke some of the same people who are lionizing him today – in New York, Washington, and Louisville.

When Ali crossed the political gulf that divided the left of the 1960s, he also crossed the false line separating “political people” from the rest of us. He showed us that we are all political. Some of us declare our politics by taking brave stands. Some of us declare our politics with our inaction, our silence, and our fear.

This is a time for coming together and healing divisions. It sounds melodramatic, but it’s true: there’s no time to lose. The planet is in danger. The trend toward economic and political oligarchy could soon become irreversible. Children of color are dying every day – at gunpoint, from hunger, and for lack of proper health care. Women are being brutalized and denied autonomy in boardrooms, bedrooms, and medical clinics.

Some people will try to keep us divided. Wall Street-funded groups and politicians will keep trying to tell us that there are people called “Bernie Bros” who don’t understand social issues, and that people who fight for social justice don’t understand or care about class divisions. They’ll say that our interests aren’t aligned, that a victory for one is not a victory for all.

It’s a lie. We are all – black and brown and poor and young and gay and female – victims of the same system of oppression.

The needs of each are part of a common struggle, one that’s inseparable from our daily lives and occupations. We need to make the fight for a better world part of our everyday existence, just as Ali did.

You can call it ‘activism’ or you can call it ‘integrity.’ Whatever you call it, Muhammad Ali still speaks to activists everywhere through his words and his example. It is a gift that cannot die, and we love him for it.

8

TuesDAY 07•06•2016

INDIA

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Modi-Obama bond an 'unlikely friendship': NYT WaShinGtOn, June 6 (ianS): As President Obama gets ready to host Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the White House for the second time in as many years, a New York Times report describes the bond between the two as an "unlikely friendship".

"There are few relationships between Obama and another world leader more unlikely than the one he has with Modi," The New York Times said ahead of what will be the seventh meeting between the Indian prime minister and the US president.

The report said the two largest democracies in the world have "compelling reasons" to find common cause.

For example, the US is encouraging India's rise as a regional giant for Obama's so-called "pivot to Asia" policy and counter China's global economic and military superpower ambitions.

For India, the US bond, according to the Times, is

needed to "accelerate its economy with an injection of investment from American companies".

But the relationship between Modi and Obama is still "unlikely".

The Times said Obama has made the protection of minorities a central pillar of his life because he believes that "criticism and dissent are core tenets of democracy".

"But Modi, by contrast, spent much of his life rising through the ranks of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a right-wing paramilitary organization that campaigns forcefully for India's Hindu majority," it said, recalling the Gujarat religious riots that saw some 1,000 people, most of them Muslims, killed in 2002 when Modi was the chief minister of the western Indian state.

The 2002 Gujarat carnage is again in the spotlight because a court only last week convicted 24 people for massacring 69 Muslims in mayhem at Ahmedabad's Gulberg Housing

NATION Briefs All train coaches will have bio-toilets by 2019 neW Delhi, June 6 (Pti): Stepping up efforts to make environment better, the railways has set a target to install bio-toilets in all coaches to ensure the entire rail network as zero discharge zone by 2019. "Our target was to install bio-toilets in all our coaches by 2021.

But now we have advanced it to 2019," Railway Board Chairman AK Mital said at the World Environment Day function here. According to the action plan, railways will install 1.40 lakh bio-toilets in about 55,000 coaches in the next three years. Railways has installed about 37,000 bio-toilets in coaches till now.

Use of siren in cars of VIPs banned in Puducherry PuDucheRRy, June 6 ((Pti): Use of siren in cars of VIPs, including the escort and pilot vehicles of the Lieutenant Governor, has been banned in Puducherry.

However, emergency services like ambulances and fire service vehicles, will be exempted from the restriction on the use of siren. The ban order has been issued by Puducherry Lt Governor Kiren Bedi, a retired IPS officer. Bedi, who had overseen traffic arrangements for the 1982 Asian Games in Delhi and the 1983 CHOGM meet in Goa, has also directed that no special privilege will be accorded for cars of VIPs such as stopping of traffic, so that people's right to freedom of movement is not hindered in any manner. Traffic police will also ensure that sufficient number of personnel are present for regulating traffic without halting it or inconveniencing commuters, according to a press release issued by the Secretary to the Lt Governor yesterday.

Court grants exemption to Kejriwal in defamation case neW Delhi, June 6 (ianS): A court here on Monday granted exemption from personal appearance to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a defamation case filed by BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri. Kejriwal's counsel Rishikesh Kumar and Neha Rastogi told Metropolitan Magistrate Harvinder Singh that Kejriwal has to attend a cabinet meeting and he would not be able to attend the court. Allowing Kejriwal's plea for exemption, the court fixed July 8 as next date of hearing. The court was hearing a defamation complaint filed by Bidhuri alleging that Kejriwal had made defamatory statements against him, terming him a criminal, in an interview to a private channel on July 17 last year. Bidhuri told the court that Kejriwal's defamatory statements had maligned his image.

No more Talaq Talaq Talaq: Women's group neW Delhi, June 6 (ianS): The Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) on Monday said it will use the holy month of Ramadan to step up its campaign to ban triple talaq and "nikah halala" "We (appeal) to the Muslim community to do a good deed by supporting the campaign for abolition as a contribution to the lives of their sisters," a statement by the group said. "As part of this campaign, we will release a story daily about a Muslim woman who has suffered triple talaq. She will herself narrate her story which will be uploaded daily on our Facebook page. We will seek the help and support of the community to end this ill practice," it said.

Seven hurt in Kashmir explosion SRinaGaR, June 6 (ianS): Four paramilitary troopers and three policemen were injured on Monday in an explosion in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said. The explosion occurred in Pulwama town inside a vehicle in which four troopers of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and three local policemen were travelling, the police said. While initial reports said the explosion had been caused by a grenade hurled at the vehicle by separatist guerrillas, top police officials now say that a tear smoke shell exploded accidentally inside the vehicle. The injured have been taken to hospital for treatment. Meanwhile, a gunfight started on Monday between a group of heavily armed guerrillas and the security forces in the Rajwar forests of Kupwara district of the state.

society neighbourhood.

The Times, citing a Human Rights Watch report, said the BJP government in India has "increasingly used the country's broad and vague laws restricting free speech to stifle dissent".

The newspaper also raised the issue of shutting down non-governmental organisations, such as Greenpeace -- a global aid group that has offices in over 40 countries.

On a personal front, the Times said, both leaders "avoid the socializing common in their capitals".

"Obama is a doting father and dutiful husband who maintains close bonds with his childhood friends...Modi abandoned his arranged marriage decades ago and has no children or any public friendships."

The newspaper, however, drew some "similarities that extend beyond political beliefs" between the two.

Both men rose from modest circumstances, had difficult relationships

with their fathers and were widely considered transformational figures when elected.

"Modi's humble origins, largely corruptionfree government and intense focus on winning foreign investment are sharp breaks from his predecessor," it said.

"And parts of Modi's political operation, in particular its effective use of social media, were based on Obama's model."

Ashley J. Tellis, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the Times that both men "are remarkably warm and have a personal graciousness about them that is very evident in personal encounters".

Raymond E. Vickery, a former United States assistant secretary of commerce, said both had grown up as outsiders and valued frankness.

"Modi is a really downto-earth guy who tries to answer your questions and doesn't just go to talking points," Vickery said.

Switzerland backs India's NSG bid; to help tackle blackmoney

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Swiss President Schneider-Ammann. (PIB Photo)

Geneva, June 6 (Pti): India today got the backing of Switzerland in its bid to become a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group ahead of the elite group's crucial meeting even as the two countries resolved to strengthen cooperation in combating tax evasion and blackmoney.

Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann announced his country's support to India's membership

in the 48-member grouping after holding comprehensive talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi here.

Agreeing to expand cooperation in tackling the problem of Indians stashing blackmoney in Swiss banks was one of the key focus areas of the talks between the two leaders besides stepping up ties in areas of trade, investment and vocational training.

"We have promised India support

in its efforts to become a member of NSG," Schneider-Ammann said at a joint media interaction.

India has been pushing for membership of the bloc for last few years and had formally moved its application on May 12. The grouping will take up India's application in its plenary meetings on June 9 in Vienna and June 24 in Seoul.

"I am thankful to the President for Switzerland's understanding and support for India's membership of the NSG," Modi said. The NSG looks after critical issues relating to the nuclear sector and its membership will help India expand its atomic energy sector.

Modi also said combating the menace of black money and tax evasion was "shared priority" for both the countries.

"We discussed the need for an early and expeditious exchange of information to bring to justice the tax offenders.

An early start to negotiations on the agreement on the automatic exchange of information would be important in this respect," Modi said.

On his part, the Swiss President said both the countries are making considerable progress in fighting tax fraud and evasion.

Cancer drug prices highest in US, least Withdraw amendments affordable in India and China, says study to UGC regulations: Left chicaGO, June 6 (ReuteRS): Americans pay the highest prices in the world for cancer drugs, but the treatments are least affordable in lower income countries, according to the results of a new study released on Monday.

The study of cancer drug prices in seven countries, which did not take into account discounts or rebates to list prices, was presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago.

The lowest drug prices were found in India and South Africa.

But after calculating price as a percentage of wealth adjusted for the cost of living, cancer drugs appeared to be least affordable in India and China.

Researchers at Rabin Medical Center in Petah-Tikvah, Israel, calculated monthly drug doses for 15 generic and eight brand-name cancer drugs used to treat a wide range of cancer types and stages. List prices in Australia, China, India, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Israel, and the United States were obtained from

government websites.

The high prices commanded by modern cancer drugs are generating increased resistance and demands for price discounts from politicians, health care providers, insurers, patients and some doctors.

Drug companies argue that they need to make a profit to pay for the billions of dollars needed for drug research.

Many companies also have extensive low-cost or free access schemes for patients who cannot afford their medicines.

The study researchers used gross domestic product and cost of living statistics from the International Monetary Fund to estimate drug price affordability.

Median monthly prices for branded drugs ranged from $1,515 in India to $8,694 in the United States. For generics, median prices were highest in the United States, at $654, and lowest in South Africa, $120, and India, $159.

In terms of ability to pay, the study found cancer drugs to be most affordable in Australia, where generic drugs were priced

at 3% of "domestic product per capita at purchasing power parity" and patented drugs were 71% of the same measure.

In China, the study found generic drug prices were 48% and patented drugs were 288% of wealth adjusted for the cost of living.

In India, the cost of generics was 33% of that measure, while patented drugs were 313%.

In the United States, generics were found to be priced at 14% of wealth adjusted for the cost of living, and patented cancer drugs were 192% of the same measure.

The study did not take into account that drug costs are paid by either the government, health insurers, or patients themselves, depending on each country's health insurance system.

Worldwide spending on cancer medicines will exceed $150 billion by 2020, driven by the emergence of expensive new therapies that help the immune system to attack tumors, according to a forecast earlier this year from IMS Health Holdings.

‘The API system of quantifying teachers' work in points has shown that it has worked against quality by encouraging spurious research to collect points’ neW Delhi, June 6 (ianS): Four Left parties on Monday urged the Human Resource Development Ministry to withdraw the third amendment to the UGC regulations, saying it will adversely affect quality education.

"We perceive the withdrawal necessary in the interests of Quality of Teaching and Research as well as equity between various social groups and classes," the parties said in a joint statement.

The statement was issued by the Communist Party of India-Marxist, Communist Party of India, Forward Bloc and Revolutionary Socialist Party. It said the provisions of the notification would have negative repercussions.

The statement said that tutorials had been excluded from the definition of "Direct Teaching" and the importance of practical in Science

subjects had been devalued.

"This will effectively increase the per-teacher workload in institutions and adversely impact on quality. "It will also render thousands of teaching posts surplus and directly affect the livelihood and job-prospects of young academics and researchers."

The Left said the Lecture-centric approach to workload was at variance with academic practice in renowned universities globally. "It hampers active teaching-learning and does not allow teachers to address the individual learning needs of the pupils.

"Experience of the API system of quantifying teachers' work in points has shown that it has worked against quality by encouraging spurious research to collect points. "It has simultaneously become a means to deny promotion to lakhs of teachers and degrade their service conditions.

"This will result in the flight of academic talent from Indian universities and colleges. The API system as a basis for promotion, therefore, ought to be given up." The statement said that linking studentfeedback to promotions of teachers may become another way of reinforcing prejudices rather than eradicating them.

‘To curb India’s population growth, more babies should live’ Prachi Salve IANS/IndiaSpend

From 1.2 billion people in 2011, India is on course to become the world's most populous country with 1.6 billion by 2050. If India has to curb its population growth, a higher survival rate for its children is an important factor, our analysis of government data indicates.

In other words, if more children survive, women tend to have fewer children, which increases their chances of living longer. In some states, however, if that correlation is not apparent, female education is correlated with fewer children and higher survival rates for those children.

Over 42 years, there was a 55

per cent reduction in India's total fertility rate (TFR) -the average number of children born to a woman of child-bearing age - from 5.2 in 1971 to 2.3 in 2013, according to family and health statistics released in 2015 by the ministry of health.

The reduction was influenced by declining infant mortality rate (IMR) - the number of babies who die before their first birthday for every 1,000 live births - which declined from 129 to 40 between 1971 and 2013.

The national population policy of 2000 aimed to reduce the TFR to 2.1 by 2010. While that target has not been achieved, falling infant mortality has been a leading factor behind the decline in fertility in India.

Lower fertility tends to cause further declines in mortality, as families can devote more resources to each child, according to a study by Harvard University in 2011.

Bihar has India's highest fertility rate of 3.4 babies per woman, against the national average of 2.3.

The state, India's poorest in terms of per capita income, has India's second-highest IMR, 42, worse than the national average of 40.

States with low female literacy rates have high fertility rates, such as Rajasthan and Bihar, which has India's highest TFR, 3.4, and India's lowest female literacy rate, 50.7 per cent.

Tamil Nadu has a low IMR of 21 and a TFR of 1.7, which is below the replacement rate of 2.1,

the level required to keep the population stable. The fertility rate in 10 Indian states has now fallen below the replacement level of 2.1.

However, in states with low fertility rates, the correlation with IMR is not readily apparent. States with low fertility rates - such as West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab - are not among the top five states with low infant mortality.

This shows that infant mortality may impact fertility to some extent. Other factors that affect fertility rates are education, availability of health services and access to and awareness of birth control.

We further compared fertility and infant mortality rates with fe-

male education levels and found a correlation. The correlation between states with low TFR and literacy is quite high: almost all states with low fertility rates have high female literacy rates. For instance, Tamil Nadu has India's second-highest female literacy 89.8 per cent of women are educated - and the country's second lowest TFR, 1.7.

Literacy in women is correlated with late marriage and better access to contraception, thus stabilising the population. Educated women have better social standing and ensure better nutrition and immunisation, improved child health and survival, according to a 2000 study from the London School of Economics by Jean Dreze.

Beating all odds, Jharkhand girl clears matric exam, inspires others Ranchi, June 6 (ianS): This Jharkhand girl cycled 24 kilometres every day to and from her school.

And today, Neelu Kumari has made her village in Latehar district proud by clearing the matriculation examination - inspiring 17 other girls to also do so.

But there's much more than that. Neelu is from the Dalit community and her Karmatand village is hit by Maoist insurgency. There's no high school there and no electricity either. Not an ideal situation for a youngster to pursue her studies.

But Neelu was adamant and spared no efforts. She was duly supported in this endeavour by her mother Bhagia Devi and brother Fhalgun Ganjhu.

Neelu Kumari cycling to school. (File Photo)

The family ensured that Neelu was enrolled in the high school 12 kilometres away at Fulsu village.

It is then that the bicycle given to students like her by the state government came handy.

Travelling to the school and back home was not easy. Besides the distance, the road was uneasy -Neelu had to negotiate the forests and the hilly terrain, braving heat, rain and cold as the seasons changed.

But she never gave up.

Every day Neelu left home two hours before the classes began so as to reach the school on time.

After attending classes she would complete her homework before sunset and then head back home

-- cycling once again.

In the matriculation examination Neelu has scored 241 out of a total 500 marks. Her success has now inspired 17 other girls in the village who are also aiming to clear the matriculation examination. Their parents are hopeful that life will be better as their daughters get educated.

It's no mean feat in a region where most of the girls drop out of schools due to long distances, lack of transport and basic facilities like a toilet.

But all of that is changing. The cloud of despair is disappearing slowly here, thanks to Neelu. The government has now upgraded the Project Primary School where Neelu

studied till Class Five into a High School.

Neelu's achievement comes at a time when the Jharkhand government announced that it will upgrade infrastructure in the schools across the state. Several new degree colleges will also be established. With the state all set to boost the education sector, Neelu's story will be a dazzling example of grit and courage.

In the vast map of India, Karmatand village is not even a tiny dot. But today, everyone in Jharkhand knows about this place, because of Neelu and her determination. And hopefully she will not be the only one.

There will be many more like her who will overcome all the odds to shine bright.

TuesDAY 07•06•2016

WORLD

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

9

China’s Silk Road ambitions face obstacles KUNMING/VIENTIANE, JUNE 6 (REUTERs): For the southwestern city of Kunming, China’s plan to extend a high-speed rail link 3,000 km (1,875 miles) south to Singapore is already a boon: pristine expressways, a gleaming station and something of a real estate boom, as young buyers crowd property showrooms.

In Laos, work has yet to start on what should be the first overseas leg of a rail line stretching throughout Southeast Asia. The country, one of the region’s poorest, could struggle to finance even part of the $7 billion cost and has yet to agree financial terms with China.

From Laos, the railway would enter Thailand. But Beijing’s negotiations have soured there as well, in part over financing, adding to a growing headache for China and highlighting the sort of problems Beijing may face as it develops its economic highways beyond Southeast Asia and across Asia under its “One Belt, One Road” project.

The ambitious plan to build land, sea and air routes reaching across the continent and beyond was announced by President Xi Jinping in 2013 with the aim of boosting trade by $2.5 trillion in the next decade. As China’s economic growth slows, Beijing is en-

A map illustrating China’s silk road economic belt and the 21st century maritime silk road, or the so-called “One Belt, One Road” megaproject, is displayed at the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong, China January 18, 2016. REUTERS

couraging its companies to win new markets overseas.

But across the Southeast Asia border, China is facing the most complex and possibly most significant obstacles to its ambitions, as its neighbours protest what they say are excessive Chinese demands and unfavourable financing conditions.

They have resisted Chinese demands for the rights to develop the land either side of the railway. Beijing says turning a profit on land development would make the rest of the project more commercially viable and allow it to make a greater

upfront financial commitment. Myanmar, in addition, had environmental concerns and cancelled its part of the project in 2014.

For China, Southeast Asia’s concerns are “going to be the first significant hurdle as they implement One Belt, One Road,” said Peter Cai, a research fellow at Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney.

China’s foreign ministry and the Export-Import Bank of China did not respond to requests for comment.

ed to fast completion of the Laos leg. Leaders from both countries agreed to speed up construction - China offered to loan most of the project funds. In November, construction on the line’s terminus in Kunming began.

The 2.1 billion yuan ($325 million) high-speed rail station in Kunming is now months from opening. Yet, there is no action in Vientiane despite an elaborate groundbreaking ceremony in December.

Without significant help from China, Laos lacks LAND-LINKED the financial muscle for the In 2013, all signs point- project, diplomats said.

It is unclear why China, which has been vying with Vietnam for influence in Laos, could not offer terms acceptable to Vientiane.

Both countries are invested politically in the scheme. China aims to increase its reach and influence in Southeast Asia and Laos says it wants to turn its country into one that is land-linked, rather than landlocked.

“There were very highranking dignitaries from both sides at the signing,” said a Western diplomat in Vientiane. “Most people believe it will cost more than $7 billion, and Laos is struggling to even finance $2 billion of that.”

The Laos government did not respond to a request for comment for this story. Diplomats though say the inaction reflected an internal Communist Party rift over how the negotiations with China were handled.

They said a shock decision in January by the politburo to exclude Deputy Prime Minister Somsavat Lengsavad from the top decision-making body in part indicated concern at senior levels that the deal’s terms were too favourable for China.

Somsavat had led negotiations on China-related projects and had faced internal criticism for being too pro-Chinese.

“The terms were good for Laos,” Somsavat told Reuters. Construction was delayed because Laos was still “researching some details” and because of local opposition of land issues.

Holding the groundbreaking ceremony on Dec 2 also raised eyebrows in the leadership because the date clashed with celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Laos People’s Democratic Republic, diplomats said.

With Somsavat out of the government “moves internally by the Laos government have been to renegotiate the terms of this rail agreement,” a diplomat said.

UNREALISTIC China has offered at least $30 billion in loans and credit lines for projects. Zhao Jian, transportation professor at the Beijing Jiaotong University, said China offers concessionary loans of between 2 percent and 7 percent, so any country pushing for cheaper loans was being “unrealistic”.

Still, infrastructure projects like these need to be subsidised, said Kamalkant Agarwal, the head of commercial banking at Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank.

“You can build these projects if you have a government or Santa Claus

to pay for it,” he said. “But otherwise, making these projects profitable is a huge challenge.”

After failing to bridge gaps on financing, investment and costs, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chanocha told Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at a meeting in Hainan in March that Thailand would go it alone on financing and for now build only part of the project. The Thai line would stop well short of the Laos border.

“They will have to invest more because this is a strategic route that will benefit China,” Thai Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith told Reuters earlier this year. Thailand refused Chinese requests to develop land along the railway route.

“I have said since day one with China, that there will be no offer on land rights,” Arkhom said.

Thai finance ministry sources said the country could secure funds from Japan at much lower rates.

Japan is Thailand’s biggest investor but also a country jostling with a more assertive China for influence across Asia, so Beijing would be wary of this idea.

“The ministry does not want to be condemned for borrowing an expensive loan compared with other options to support this project,” said a Thai finance ministry official who at-

tended some negotiations with China.

Some Chinese local officials, for their part, see the delays as Southeast Asian dithering.

“We are the face to Southeast Asia,” said Sun Xiaoqiang, vice-director of the Kunming Investment Promotion Board. “Of course, we all hope they will build faster.”

BIG GAP The gap between China and Southeast Asia is clearest on the streets of Vientiane and Kunming.

Hundreds of Chinese firms operate in Laos, including Wan Feng Shanghai Real Estate Company, which is building a $1.6 billion project to supply Chinese expatriates with condominiums and shopping centres.

But the Laotian government has invested little in new rail and roads.

Billions of dollars have poured into Kunming, including the district surrounding the new rail station - described by the World Bank six years ago as a “ghost town”.

“One Belt, One Road is good for Kunming,” said Jin, a teacher, who only wanted to give his surname. “(Those countries) have a lot of issues over politics and governance.

China is ready, but Southeast Asia isn’t.”

Women, young adults at ‘Zika virus infects brain’s progenitor cells’ Money from Afghanistan’s According to the Centres for Disease Control and “conflict jewels” fuels war NEw YoRK, JUNE 6 (IANs): The mosquitohigh risk of anxiety: Study borne Zika virus that causes many neurological Prevention (CDC), the Zika virus can cause serious LoNdoN, JUNE 6 (IANs): Women as well as young adults are twice as likely to experience anxiety as men, a new study says.

Anxiety disorder -- the most common mental health problems -- is often manifest as excessive worry, fear and a tendency to avoid potentially stressful situations including social gatherings.

“Anxiety disorders can make life extremely difficult for some people and it is important for our health services to understand how common they are and which groups of people are at greatest risk,” said led author Olivia Remes at the University of Cambridge.

The findings showed that nearly one in ten adults (10.9 per cent) with heart disease were affected by generalised anxiety disorder but women were almost twice as likely to be affected as men.

Also, women affected with heart diseases, cancer and even pregnancy showed a higher level of anxiety than men.

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) -- an anxiety disorder characterised by obsessions and compulsions -- was in general, found only one in a hundred, but the proportion with the disorder

was double in pregnant women and slightly higher in the period immediately after birth.

“Anxiety disorders can also lead to impairment, disability, and risk of suicide,” added Louise Lafortune, research associate at the University of Cambridge.

Further, the level of anxiety among young individuals -both male and female -- under 35 years of age were found to be disproportionate.

In addition, people from Western Europe and North America were found more likely to suffer from anxiety than people from other cultures.

“By collecting all these data together, we see that these disorders are common across all groups, but women and young people are disproportionately affected. Also, people who have a chronic health condition are at a particular risk, adding a double burden on their lives,” Remes noted.

For the study, published in the journal Brain and Behaviour, the team studied 48 scientific reviews that showed data between 1990 and 2010.

The overall proportion of people affected remained largely unchanged, with around four out of every 100 experiencing anxiety.

problems in newborn babies, directly infects the brain progenitor cells that are destined to become neurons, a new study has found.

The findings showed that the neural progenitors can be infected by a strain of Zika virus.

The virus was found to infect about 20 per cent of cells on average, evade immune system detection as well as continue to replicate for weeks.

“We found that the virus kills some neural progenitor cells, but not all. Other cells survive the infection, and surprisingly, continue to replicate the virus for many weeks. In addition, it appears that Zika virus does not stimulate much of an immune response,” said John Schoggins, assistant professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre in the US.

birth defects such as microcephaly and other severe neurological effects such as eye problems, hearing loss and impaired growth in infants born to women who contracted the virus when pregnant.

The detrimental effects of the virus might be linked to its ability to infect brain cells, specifically the progenitor cells that give rise to neurons, the researchers added in the paper published online in Cell Reports.

“The cellular system we studied mirrors what pathologists are finding in the brain tissue of affected infants and will be valuable for further understanding how Zika causes severe brain-related problems. The system may also serve as a platform for testing new therapies targeting the virus,” Schoggins noted.

H7N9 scare: Hong Kong bans live poultry sale HoNG KoNG, JUNE 6 (IANs): Hong Kong health authorities on Monday suspended sale of live poultry after traces of the H7N9 virus were detected in faeces samples collected from one of the markets.

The city’s Food and Environmental Hygiene Department said in a statement the presence of the virus was confirmed after an analysis of some samples taken from the Yan Oi live poultry market, one among the 29 in the city, EFE news reported.

Thereafter, in accordance with protocols for prevention of

the spread of the virus, all distribution and sale operations of live poultry in Hong Kong have been suspended, even as authorities examine the possibility of preventive culling of the birds.

A spokesman from the phytosanitary department said the market where the viral strain was detected, in Tuen Mun district, had two such stalls, only one out of which tested positive for H7N9.

“No sample from the other stall tested positive,” he said, adding the affected stall sold poultry, including chickens and pigeons.

Following the results, authori-

ties ordered closure of the market for disinfection, while still trying to locate the source of the infected birds and have initiated a mass inspection in all poultry farms across Hong Kong.

Health Minister Ko Wing-man said authorities will conclude risk assessment later on Monday to decide if all the birds in the markets need to be culled and to decide the duration of the suspension. Ko added import of live poultry has also been suspended, as it remains unknown if the infected birds originated from Hong Kong or Chinese markets.

Taiwan won’t recognise Chinese air defence zone over South China Sea

An aerial photo taken though a glass window of a Taiwanese military plane shows the view of Itu Aba, which the Taiwanese call Taiping, at the South China Sea. (REUTERS File Photo)

TAIPEI, JUNE 6 (REUTERs): Taiwan’s new defence minister said on Monday the island would not recognise any air defence zone declared by China over the South China Sea, as the island’s top security agency warned such a move could usher in a wave of regional tension.

U.S. officials have expressed concern that an international court ruling expected in coming weeks on a case brought by the Philippines against China over its South China Sea claims could prompt Beijing to declare an air defence identification zone, or ADIZ, as it did over the East China Sea

in 2013.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in shipborne trade passes every year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims, as well as close military ties with Washington.

“We will not recognise

any ADIZ by China,” Taiwan defence minister Feng Shih-kuan told lawmakers in a parliamentary session.

The comments come after Taiwan’s new government of President Tsai Ing-wen, of the independence-leaning ruling party, was sworn into power last month. Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party overturned eight-years of China-friendly Nationalist rule on the island.

China drew condemnation from Japan and the United States when it imposed its ADIZ, in which aircraft are supposed to identify themselves to Chinese authorities, above the East China Sea. China has neither confirmed nor denied it plans such a zone for the South China Sea, saying that a decision would be based on the threat level and that it had every right to set one up.

“In the future, we don’t rule out China designating an ADIZ. If China is on track to announce this, it could usher in a new wave

of tension in the region,” Taiwan’s National Security Bureau said in a report presented to parliament.

‘INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS’ U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday the United States would consider any Chinese establishment of an air defence zone over the South China Sea “provocative and destabilising”.

Speaking at the beginning of a high-level strategic dialogue in Beijing on Monday, Kerry said he would make it clear the United States is looking for a peaceful resolution to disputes in the South China Sea. “The only position we’ve taken is, let’s not resolve this by unilateral action, let’s resolve this through rule of law, through diplomac y, through negotiation, and we urge all nations to find a diplomatic solution rooted in international standards and rule of law,” he said.

China’s top diplomat, State Councillor Yang Jie-

chi, said China “resolutely makes it own contribution to peace, stability and development”.

China has been angered by what it views as provocative U.S. military patrols close to islands China controls in the South China Sea. The United States says the patrols are to protect freedom of navigation.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said in its own report it would strengthen its defences on Pratas Island, in the north of the South China Sea, and on Itu Aba in the Spratly Islands.

The ministry said China is building up of its military presence in the South China Sea with deployments of anti-missile systems, drones and fast missile ships in the area.

Last month, Beijing demanded an end to U.S. surveillance near China after two Chinese fighter jets carried out what the Pentagon said was an “unsafe” intercept of a U.S. military reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea.

A man washes lapis lazuli at his shop in Kabul on June 5. (REUTERS Photo)

KABUL, JUNE 6 (REUTERs): The illegal mining of some of Afghanistan’s most important minerals is funneling millions of dollars into the hands of insurgents and corrupt warlords, according to activists and officials who say the money is fuelling the conflict.

The mountains of Afghanistan hold as much as $1 trillion to $3 trillion in mineral resources, according to estimates by the U.S. and Afghan governments, including world-famous lapis lazuli, a deep blue, semi-precious stone that has been mined in northern Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province for thousands of years.

“In the current circumstances, where 50 percent of the mining revenue is going to the Taliban, and before that it was going to armed groups, by any reasonable definition lapis is a conflict mineral,” said Stephen Carter, a researcher for Global Witness, a non-profit watchdog that investigates the links between natural resources, corruption and conflict.

“And that means people should think very hard about buying it,” he said.

Since 2014, at least 12,500 tonnes of lapis worth about $200 million have been extracted, much of it illegally or in a way that avoided nearly $30 million in government taxes, according to a report released on Monday by Global Witness.

Global Witness says not only are the Taliban continuing to profit from the illegal mining of lapis and other jewels in Badakhshan, but that senior players in the Afghan government may have direct involvement.

Among the officials Global Witness accuses of profiting from the illegal trade is former defence minister Bismillah Mohammadi, as well as several members of parliament with ties to northern Afghanistan.

A close aide to Mohammadi rejected the claims as “baseless” and an effort to defame the former minister.

Gul Mohammed Bedar, a deputy governor of Badakhshan, also denied allegations that government officials had their fingers in the illicit trade, but confirmed that the lapis mines are controlled by “illegal armed groups” as well as the Taliban, making it difficult for the government to manage.

Lapis mining was outlawed last year, but the mines now lie in a lawless region controlled by the Taliban and warlords of varying allegiances.

Much of the illegal lapis is being smuggled out through neighbouring Panjshir province, according to officials, home to some of Afghanistan’s most powerful players.

The mining sector across the country is plagued by corruption and conflict, with as many as 10,000 deposits estimated to be outside government control, according to a report released on Sunday by the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit.

“Natural resources have long played a role in conflict in Afghanistan,” the report said. “This has been shown most recently in the violent conflict over the natural lapis in Badakhshan among groups of warlords who are backed by political elites in Kabul.”

10

TuesDAY 07•06•2016

public discourse

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

‘Absolute mendacity to say that Congress party and its fore-runner the NNO party are opposed to Naga National issue’

T

he Nagaland Congress and its forerunner the Nagaland Nationalist Organisation (NNO) consistently followed the principles and policies of peace, unity and reconciliation to find a political settlement, acceptable to all concerned: Much has been written for and against the signing of 16- point Agreement with the Government of India by the representatives of the Naga People’s Delegation in 1960 and the Nagaland Nationalist Organisation (NNO) party and the Indian National Congress Party in Nagaland on the Naga Political Issue.

It is a fact that the Nagaland State was born out of the political movement. We must also know the genesis of how Nagaland State came into being and how we are today, because of the political movement, disturbances erupted on a large scale in the year 1956.

The interior parts of the Naga Hills witnessed large scale kidnapping, killings, destruction of granaries, burning and grouping of villages inflicting hunger, sickness, epidemics, miseries, tortures, and untold sufferings of innocent people. Seeing these situations, when the situation improved in the month of April, 1957, some of the Naga leaders, who had deep concern for the Naga people took initiatives and organized a preliminary meeting to salvage the Naga people with easily available tribes representatives and was held at the Western House Kohima on the 27th of July 1957. At the meeting, the following resolutions were passed, “Whereas the present situation in Naga country demands a change in the interest of all concerned, and whereas, it is essential to establish complete mutual understanding and unanimity amongst the Naga people as a whole, for that purpose we, the signatories below, at the request of the Naga public hereby issue this appeal, notice to all Nagas for the general meeting to be held at Kohima on and from 22nd August, 1957”.

In the meeting some concrete suggestions for a political settlement for the long drawn Naga problem through peaceful negotiation with the Government were discussed.

Hence, all the Naga tribes were earnestly requested to choose their own representatives and send them to this conference to represent the views of their tribes with their respective resolutions in the matter of settling the Naga problem.

On the 22nd of August 1957 the Naga People’s Convention was held and the name “Naga People’s Convention” was coined. Dr. Imkongliba Ao was elected the President and J.B. Jasokie was elected as Secretary of the Convention. There the main discussion centred round the first resolution where it was resolved that the only answer to the Naga problem was satisfactory political settlement, but the words ‘within Indian Union’ was not added to it.

Some members were against this, therefore, this was put to vote and an additional resolution was passed clarifying the first resolution to say that in view of the message of the Governor of Assam conveyed to the President of the Convention, the following clarification had been made in order to avoid any possible misinterpretation and as such the delegates were empowered to say that the ‘satisfactory politi-

cal settlement’ mentioned in the first resolution meant a satisfactory political settlement within Indian Union. Another resolution was passed which said “If the Government expresses inability to take up the question of retransfer of forests immediately, the delegates are empowered to agree to the immediate constitution of a separate administrative unit under the Central Government comprising the Naga Hills District of Assam and the Tuensang Frontier Division of NEFA without prejudice to our claim for the forests which will be again agitated at the time of entering into negotiation for a political settlement”. This supplementary resolution was passed in view of the extreme urgency of a change in the Administrative set up.

The first convention was followed by negotiation between the delegates and the Governor of Assam, Sayed Fazi Ali at Shillong and thereafter with Prime Minister, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru in New Delhi. On the 25th of September, 1957, the delegates met the Prime Minister who in turn accepted the proposal on behalf of the Government of India. The delegates also requested the Prime Minister that amnesty should be declared and the practices of grouping all the villages should be stopped. The Prime Minister agreed to accept the request for amnesty in respect of past offence but it would not apply to offences committed thereafter. The delegates met the Prime Minister again on the 26th of September, 1957, and impressed on the Prime Minister that separate administrative unit was only an interim measure.

On the 1st of December, 1957, a separate administrative unit was formed combining the Naga Hills District of Assam and the Tuensang Frontier Division of NEFA. In short, it was called- Naga Hills –Tuensang Area (NHTA).

The third session of the Naga People’s Convention was held at Mokokchung from the 22nd June, 1959 onwards. After full deliberations on various recommendations of the Committee to form the basis of negotiation with Government of India for the settlement of the Naga political problem, the Sixteen Points Resolution was adopted.

On the 26th of July 1960 the delegates met the Prime Minister, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, the Prime Minister after going through the 16-Point Memorandum enquired whether we could replace ‘Nagaland’ with a suitable and purely Naga word. The leaders of the delegation had no suitable word to replace “Nagaland” so it remained “Nagaland”.

Coming to the Legislature, the Prime Minister suggested tribal names for the Assembly. Coming to the twelfth point with regard to the transfer of reserved forests, “The Naga delegation discussed the question of the inclusion of the Reserved Forests and contiguous areas inhabited by the Nagas. They were referred to the provisions in Article 3 and 4 of the Constitution, prescribing the procedure for the transfer of areas from one State to another. The Prime Minister had no objection to the other points.

As agreed upon, a Transitional Period of 3 years was ushered in. An elected interim

Body was constituted to function during the transitional period. On the 1st of December, 1963, the President Dr. S. Radhakrishnan inaugurated Nagaland as the 16th State.

For the first time in history of the Nagas, after having meetings in their respective tribes, their representatives were sent to attend in the first Naga People’s Convention held at Kohima on the 22nd August, 1957. Never before in the history of the Nagas such a meeting represented by all the tribes of Nagaland was held.

Without the Naga People’s Convention, ‘the present Eastern Nagaland are (ENPO) would have remained under the North East Frontier Agency(NEFA) now Arunachal Pradesh and the erstwhile Naga Hills District of Assam would have remained a District under Assam’.

By creation of separate Statehood of Nagaland, as a result of 16-point Agreement, people have been benefitted in large measures.

Today, instead of criticizing for signing of the 16-Point Agreement and those leaders, rather we should be grateful to them for their wisdom and the far-sightedness.

The Nagaland Nationalist Organisation is the offspring of the Naga Peoples’ Convention and is thus fully aware of the 16-Point Agreement. After the 1st General Election in 1964, most immediate and supreme task for the NNO Party and its Government was to put an end to hostilities and uncertainties by creating understanding and goodwill among the people, and to restore normal condition in the State. At once, the NNO party and the State Government took to the plough and started preparing the ground. In the meanwhile, God gave a vision to the Baptist church leaders to form a Peace Mission in the Third Baptist Church Convention at Wokha in 1964.

The proposal to form a Peace Mission was approved by the NNO in Dimapur Session in February, 1964. The NNO Government after careful consideration, agreed to the proposal and introduced a Government Resolution in the Nagaland Assembly which was passed unanimously on 13th of March, 1964. The operative portion of the Resolution is: “That efforts be made to open every possible avenue to negotiate for such a talk, giving full opportunities to all sections of the public of Nagaland in mobilizing public opinion to prepare the spade work to make the proposed talk a success with the sole object of restoration of lasting peace in Nagaland. That the underground people be urged to consider this matter of peace talks seriously and respond readily to the call of the people to put all their efforts to create healthy atmosphere and necessary conditions for the peace talk”.

The Peace Mission as well as the Church leaders worked hard to effect a stoppage of operations. An agreement was signed for cessation of hostilities on 25th May, 1964 and a period of stoppage of operation was effected from 6th September, 1964.

The NNO party and the State Government having pledged to bring peace and political settlement, declared that they will not stand on the way, and allowed the underground leaders to have direct talks with the Prime Minister. This is the reason why the underground leaders could hold six rounds of

peace talks with the Prime Minister.

When the underground leaders wanted to send two of their emissaries to London to meet A.Z. Phizo, the NNO Government gave the clearance and financial assistance to them. Besides the two emissaries, all those who wanted to meet Phizo were allowed to do so. All these generous gestures amply prove that the NNO party and its Government was anxious to help solve the Naga political problem in a peaceful way.

Immediately after the deadlock a sharp division arose among the underground leadership which brought great confusion and uncertainties threatening peace and making the chances of a settlement difficult. The Church leaders called for a Conference of AllNaga Leaders at Kohima village on the 5th of December 1967 with a view to renewing the peace talk; but the underground leaders boycotted this important meeting for the reasons best known to them.

Over ground and Underground Naga Leaders Conference: Three meetings were held in Kohima on the 5th of August 1969, 28th August 1969 and 25th September 1969 with a view to bringing leaders of various shades of opinion in Nagaland to discuss the question of settlement. Fifty nine leaders came and participated in the deliberations but the Federal group of undergrounds and the United Front of over ground did not attend. A Resolution was unanimously passed in the meeting, which reads as follows:“That with a view to bringing about an early peaceful and final political settlement and lasting peace throughout Nagaland, a joint meeting of the underground and over ground Naga leaders be convened on 25th September, 1969 at Kohima and that this meeting urges upon all the underground leaders to participate in that meeting”.

In its Seventh General Session held at Pfutsero from 30th to 31st January, 1970, the Nagaland Nationalist Organization reiterated that the Naga problem is essentially a political one; that the underground Nagas are an inalienable part of Naga society, and that they should have a say in final settlement of the Naga problem. Being conscious of the fact that delay in settling the political problem will bring more hardships and sufferings to the Naga people, the NNO and the State Government continued to strive with renewed efforts to solve the vexed problem.

The Church leaders, through the Nagaland Peace Council and the Liaison Committee took the initiative and brought the underground leadership and the Governor, as the representative of the Government of India, to the conference table where both the parties signed the SHILLONG ACCORD on the 11th of November 1975, ‘The representative of the underground organization conveyed their decision of their own volition, to accept without condition, the Constitution of India’.

It was only after the 11th of November 1975 that the desks were cleared and that the underground leader, on their own volition accepted the Constitution of India unconditionally and deposited their arms in the Chedema camp by 12th February 1976. The NNO lead-

ership also took the next step of merging with the Indian National Congress Party, and the Nagaland Nationalist Organisation (NNO) merged with the Indian National Congress on the 19th June, 1976. The NNO party and later the Nagaland Congress have declared more than once that we welcome “ Shillong Accord” and release of prisoners out of this Accord and credit for this is due only to Governor of Nagaland State, Central Leaders and the leaders of Underground Nagas.

The Nagaland Nationalist Organisation in its 1969 Election Manifesto stated that the NNO has continuously striven for the unity of the Naga tribes, for the return of peace to our strife-torn land for the creation of the right climate for the Naga people’s advancement.

NNO party believes that the Naga problems can be solved by the Nagas themselves. After all, it is nobody else’s but our own concern and it is we who suffer the consequences of our folly or enjoy outcome of our wise actions.

The Nagaland Nationalist Organisation has consistently followed the principles and policies that attempts should be made to establish contacts with all shades of public opinion both in the over ground and underground without any discrimination or being pitted against one another, to arrive at a satisfactory political settlement.

In February 1993, Election Manifesto the Congress recognizes that the underground problem is political needing political approach punctuated by love, sympathy and understanding. It also recognizes that any meaningful dialogue with the Government of India would be fruitful when the issue is presented with one voice. The party therefore shall mobilize all possible and constructive forces to bring unity and mutual understanding among different groups of the underground set up. The party is sanguine that all the Nagas belonging to one family and having brotherly feelings for one another, a compassionate approach would unit them at one forum and resolve their differences with a spirit of give and take. This issue shall be listed in our party agenda having top priority.

The Indian National Congress being a National Party will serve as a bridge between the Central Government and the underground and shall render all possible assistance to bring the two parties to a negotiating table.

On the 19th of May 1991 at the Congress Election Rally at Dimapur public ground, Rajiv Gandhi announced that there will be talk without pre-condition if Congress is voted to power.

On the 5th of February 1993 at the Congress Election Rally at Dimapur Stadium, P.V Narasimha Rao, Prime Minister, announced that the Naga problem is a political problem.

Taking the commitment made by Rajiv Gandhi and by him on the 5th of February 1993, he met NSCN (IM) leaders, resulting in the present day ceasefires and negotiations.

It is an absolute mendacity for anyone to say that the Congress party and its fore-runner the NNO party are opposed to Naga National issue.

Chingwang Konyak, Former President Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee

My Journey with Mental Illness Reminiscence of my experiences with the Naga General (Obu)

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ecently, The Morung Express carried out an article on mental illness. I was so happy to read it, thanks to the intern who brought up a hushed up issue in our Naga Society. I am a mental illness patient myself and I would like to tell you my story.

Why I am telling you my story is because Mental Illness is a hushed up topic in our society, it is very new to our society. There are many suffering silently and many are helpless. I hope this write-up helps you.

I would like to narrate my story from the beginning so other mental illness sufferers can relate to me.

I was born and brought from a strict Baptist family. I considered eating supari a sin. My parents were strict disciplinarians. I was good at study at school and also participated in many extracurricular activities in School. I was a devout Christian, a first bencher and a teacher’s pet. My parents had high hopes in me, not only my parents but my relatives. They all thought I would one day become an IAS Officer; to become an IAS Officer was hammered into my head.

I passed out class-12 with good marks and headed to Delhi but I got into a bad college. NBSE at that time was strict on the marking system and all of my friends who passed with 60%+ got into bad colleges and our CBSE Counterparts got into all the good colleges.

My college was horrible, lecturers hardly came to class, there were no books in the library and on top of that I was a victim of racism. By B.A 3rd year I was disillusioned with life and I rebelled. By that time I was getting bouts of Insomnia.

After my graduation I rebelled and became a proper bad boy, which I am not proud of today. I stayed back in Delhi for two more years to take up coaching but the rebel streak in me made me miss classes and I partied hard.

By that time I noticed something different in me, I used to get excited and stay up the whole night and lost sleep for even a week. My worst encounter with Insomnia was when I didn’t sleep completely for a month. Had I gone for psy-

chiatric help that time, I would not be mentally ill today. It was no one’s fault, like I say mental illness is a new issue in our society. I tried civil service exam and I couldn’t clear prelims in my first two attempts, by that time one of my classmate had cleared his exam and was an EAC. I got really frustrated and depressed. To top it, I broke up with my girlfriend of six years (It was my fault) and I went into a terrible depression for two years.

Anyway I moved on and I could finally clear my prelims exam, I was elated but I noticed something was wrong with me. If only I had got medical help at those stages. I failed to clear the Mains exam and I went into depression again.

I cleared my prelims exam twice after that and one time I missed the cut off by one and half marks. But something was wrong with me. I was obsessed with civil services exam, even while in the Church when the pastor was giving sermons I would think about the next book I should read. While having my meals also I would be thinking of the next paragraphs to read.

My illness got triggered finally one night. I was a huge fan of thriller movies.

One night I watched “The Black Swan” and I really got disturbed but I went ahead and watched another thriller movie “The Secret Window” and I got triggered. That night as I went into my room, thoughts came like I was going to pick up the Machete (Dao) and hack my family to death. Harm OCD set in. For days thoughts of harming my loved ones disturbed me. I couldn’t understand it.

Finally we realized I needed medical help and I visited a psychiatrist and I was diagnosed with Harm OCD. Still I was hell bent on clearing the civil services exam and every time I sat down to study, I would get anxiety attacks. So I gave up on my civil service dream.

Besides my Harm OCD, something else was wrong with me. I would get into episodes where I would get super excited, super intelligent and felt invincible.

Then again times would come where I felt low and depressed and would get anxiety attacks. I was diagnosed with

Bipolar Disorder as well. I tried on medicines for some few months and I got well, so I thought I would do well without medicines. Big Mistake, it made me worse. I was 27 year old then (onset of my illness).

Today, I would not say, I am 100% healed but am on the road to recovery. I still get harm thoughts and go through hypo-mania episodes but it is manageable.

Why I am telling you my story is because there are many Nagas suffering silently and are in denial. Mental Illness is a treatable disease like any other diseases. Please get psychiatric help, if you are in Dimapur go to Civil Hospital where there is a good psychiatrist, psychologist and psychiatric social worker. My friends being an IAS, IPS, EAC or DySp is not everything. Just follow your passion, not everyone is meant to clear civil service exams. I see many people who are happy by following their passion and I know some people who cleared civil service exam but are not happy with it.

God gave you passions, just follow it.

Some of the mental Illnesses I know are Schizophrenia, Borderline Personality Disorder, Schizoid personality disorder, GAD, PTSD, Bulimia, Anorexia, ADHD and many more. If you are suffering from mental illness visit a psychiatrist as soon as possible.

Now looking back, I realized our family made being an EAC or DySp our Idol and we are told by God in the Bible to worship no other things but Him. Our God is a Jealous God, he wants our 100% attention. Now one of my classmates is an SDO (Civil) and four other friends are EACs but I realized that was their calling and destiny. God has made me for a different purpose.

If you need any advice here is my EMail add, GearLair@Gmail.com. Please contact me. I will end this article with a Bible Verse.

Psalm 27 : 13-14 “I am still confident of this. I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord: be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

Kevitho Kera, Dimapur

G

rowing up as a child who unfortunately never had the privilege to see nor address someone as “Obu” (grandfather) from both my paternal as well as maternal side, I naively associated the term with my paternal uncle late Gen. A. Maken who was married to my father’s eldest sister Mrs. Yashilemla. But as I grew older over the years, calling him “Obu” became very significant and it always felt like I was in the presence of my real grandfather. He was a man of principles. A man with immense knowledge, always ready to share it with the people that took an interest in it. As a child I often wondered how people from different walks of life would continually visit him and sit for tedious hours.

Tedious indeed from a child’s perspective. I vividly remember how hours would just fly by like some few minutes when I engaged in a conversation with him.

From what I could tell, he was always looking forward to immerse himself in deep conversations which never ceased to provoke the mind. On one such occasion, while I had just started doing my M.phil dissertation, I consulted him regarding some historical facts and socio-cultural practices of the Ao tribe, Longkhum village in particular. I had my questions answered and we drifted away from the topic. He said, “Do you find anything wrong with the word ‘Educated’?” Like most people often do, I scratched my head. I knew what the word ‘Educated’ meant but I definitely knew that it was not what he was asking for. So I remained silent, still trying to utter a word. So he went on to his next question and said “what is educated unemployed/unemployment?” This seemed fairly easy to answer and I mumbled all those we read in the newspapers about our youth being unemployed even after obtaining degrees and qualifications, the high level of corruption so on and so forth. So far so good. Then his third and final question was, “why are you/they educated to be unemployed?” This left me baffled. There was no other way I could explain so I ultimately sought for his answer. Firstly, education has no end. This I presume we all know it as a fact. However, in the literal sense and from a Linguistic perspective, the semantic content of the very word “educated” stands in contrast to its actual meaning which is ‘there is no endpoint’ in receiving education. Secondly, if we claim to be ‘educated’ per se, doesn’t it imply that we are capable of doing anything since we have already reached that milestone of being educated? It is fair to say that this notion is arguable. But what he meant and what he wanted to point out was that we Nagas are not practical in our approach. We do not engage in self employment. We receive education but we do not bother to use that productively and make our society a better place. He

was a very practical man. And I understood that he wanted to make me think and be intrigued first and set the tone to question myself deeply. Not only did it provoke my mind, it also led me question myself on ‘how practical’ I actually am and ‘how much’ of that education for all these years have been actually put to use.

He was an active social worker but for most of his later years, he led a peaceful life. I came to know of his immense social contributions and his dedication towards Naga Nationalism as he narrated his experiences and events that took place in his lifetime. He was one of the last surviving General amongst the Nagas.

To me, he was the perfect example of a patriot, a visionary, a statesman and a man who knew and strongly believed that ‘truth is sublime’. While he was pursuing his matriculation in Government High School Mokokchung, the then Headmaster alleged 24 of the senior students to be members of the Naga Youth Movement.

To quote, “Nineteen of us refused to surrender to these false charges which ultimately led to the closure of the school on the 13th August, 1954. At this juncture, I was one of the five who pledged allegiance and signed with our own blood for serving Naga Nation”. This marked his entry into a lifelong dedication towards Naga Nationalism based on his firm believe in truth.

Even on his dying Bed, his last words to me were “Obulai alizung tashi asemogoto na?” (Grandpa has finished the race, haven’t I?) to which I replied “Yes Obu. You did”. He was a man of few words yet those few words were capable of penetrating our thoughts and altering the way we perceive things as they are.

His last words to me proved that he stood his ground and never faltered in his belief till the very end. He took a pledge with his blood at a tender age of 19 and ran the race until his dignified demise at the dawn of a new day, the 30th of May 2016. He knew that his job was done. He knew he had given his all and above all, he knew that God was always by his side. Will we ever run our race with such conviction without losing ground? Can we hold on to truth and make it lead the way? These are the questions I ask myself and possibly to the readers as well (if it meant something). The people who knew him, knew who he was, and I am sure they too are holding on to his precious words from their own experiences as I do. There is a lot that I have learnt from him and I consider myself very fortunate.

But perhaps the most important thing that surpasses the others was his repeated message which was “tsungrem dak amangang ma no” (always trust and believe in God). Farewell Obu. Rest in peace.

Arenlong Essener Longkumer

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.

Tuesday 07•06•2016

EntErtainmEnt

First edition of Summer Beat Contest Version 1.0 held

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total of eleven bands on Saturday auditioned for the first edition of Summer Beat Contest, Version 1.0 here at Town Hall.

The first day of the beat contest initiated by Blend Productions, had bands from different districts of the state as well as from

neighboring states and put up a spectacular show.

Of the eleven bands that performed, seven have been selected for the next level by the panel of judges, which include Moanungsang, propitiator of Soloiest and winner of Nagaland Idol, Incipit drummer Atsaba and iconic drummer Rovi Sangma on

the basis of the teamwork, sportsmanship and skills poured by the bands in their performances.

The selected bands are The Gluttons, A Touch of Madness, Yellow Beacon, 5th Street, S 'N' F, Antarix and Ambush.

The finale of the contest will take place on July 2.

Acting my biggest dream right now: Meghan Trainor

T

he "All about that bass" hitmaker shared her views on acting career in an interview to Star magazine, reports femalefirst. co.uk. She said: "My biggest dream right now is to start an acting career. I'm going to get an acting coach soon."

Trainor has already got her foot on the ladder as she was asked to pen new tracks for "The Peanuts Movie". She added: "I was terrified and honoured (when I was asked to write the songs). When I told my grandmother, she was pumped! I still have to pinch myself. It's unbelievable."

The 22-year-old singer was overcome with emotion when she heard her song play in the cinema for the first time but she managed to keep her excitement contained until she left the venue. She said: "I was with my family and when I realised my song was coming up, my heart

Studio apologises for ‘offensive’

X-Men: Apocalypse billboard M

arketing bosses behind the new 'X-Men: Apocalypse' movie have apologised for an "insensitive" billboard which depicts Oscar Isaac's titular villain strangling Jennifer Lawrence's mutant Mystique.

The chokehold image was posted around a number of major US cities to promote the20th Century Fox blockbuster, but the violent snapshot drew heavy criticism for appearing to promote violence against women.

Actress Rose MCGowan was among those who took issue with the advertisement and made her feelings known online, and now studio officials at Fox have accepted they were in the wrong for approving such a picture, reported The Wrap.

"In our enthusiasm to show the villainy of the

character Apocalypse we didn't immediately recognize the upsetting connotation of this image in print form," read the statement.

"Once we realized how insensitive it was, we quickly took steps to remove those materials. We apologize

Dwayne Johnson launching new was pounding out of my chest. When it finally happened, I wanted to stand up and dance, but I kept my cool. My brothers and I

Netflix announces first original series from India

were dancing in our seats. It was very emotional. I cried when I walked out of the theatre."

channel

Source: IANS

I was racist, says Paul McCartney

A

genre-bending shows."

"I'm confident that all the colour and vitality and music of the fictional world I've lived with for so long will come fully alive on the large-scale canvas provided by Netflix. I'm thrilled to be working with Netflix and Phantom Films," he added.

Madhu Mantena of Phantom Films is also upbeat about starting "this journey with Netflix by producing Vikram's outstanding story, set in Mumbai".

Mantena is confident that together, they "will create some exciting and groundbreaking television content".

Erik Barmack, vicepresident of international original series at Netflix, said: "'Sacred Games' reinforces our commitment to bring the authenticity of local stories to Netflix members across 190 countries worldwide."

Source: IANS

S

even Bucks Productions, co-founded by Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia, this summer will launch a new Youtube channel in partnership with Studio71, the digital entertainment company and multichannel network owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Group.

The new channel, Seven Bucks Digital Studios, will feature 44-year-old Johnson's own videos. The Youtube channel promises monthly collaborations with top digital talent as well as an "action-filled" scripted online series, reported Variety.

no one flagged this is offensive and frankly, stupid.

The geniuses behind this, and I use that term lightly, need to take a long hard look at the mirror and see how they are contributing to society.

Source: PTI

"Other than my family, social media is my strongest relationship and it's allowed me to connect on a very direct and personal level with fans globally," Johnson said.

"We're thrilled to partner with the world-class team at Studio71 to deliver cool, compelling and entertaining content for audiences around the world to enjoy."

Johnson's existing Youtube channel, which has served as an outlet for trailers and video from his projects, has about 58,000 subscribers and has been infrequently updated.

Source: PTI

S

elfies have become a worldwide phenomenon but little did our stars know that it could even lead to injuries. A similar situation was faced by popular Indian Skipper Virat Kohli, who let his fans click pictures with him post a recent sports event.

The match termed as 'Celebrity Classico 2016,' took place at the Mumbai Football Arena, Andheri Sports Complex, to generate funds for charitable initiatives in which Virat Kohli and Abhishek Bachchan are involved. While many celebrities were busy rejoicing the result of the match, a draw between Virat-led cricket stars and Abhishek-led Bollywood celebrities, some were posing for pictures with their fans.

Virat being the modest person that he is happily agreed to click few selfies with his fans and ended up being mobbed. The ace cricketer, who was in a delightful mood, got hurt right in the eye.

Reportedly, it all happened when a fan came too close for Virat's convenience to click a Selfie that eventually hurt him through the excited fan's cell phone. Sadly, none of the other celebs were on the spot to help him.

eatles legend Paul McCartney admits he used to use "racist" terms without knowing they were offensive. He said he didn't realise the language he used with his friends was offensive and upset people of different ethnicities, femalefirst.co.uk reports.

"When I was a kid, you were racist without knowing it. It was just the normal thing to use certain words that you would not use now. Along the way, we suddenly realised how it would make the people you were talking about feel," McCartney told Event magazine.

"I don't think until then we had ever even thought about other people. It was like a joke between ourselves," he added. The veteran musician said a lot of people in his generation used words which one "wouldn't use now".

"But then someone points out, 'Well, that's denigrating...' you know, in my case, black people.

And then the penny drops, and I think that's what happened for a lot of people. Certainly a lot of people in my generation used to use words you wouldn't use now," McCartney said.

C M Y K

"There is a major problem when the men and women at 20th Century Fox think casual violence against women is the way to market a film," she wrote.

"There is no context in the ad, just a woman getting strangled. The fact that

Virat Kohli gets injured while posing for a selfie

B

merican on-demand streaming provider Netflix has announced its first original series from India. It is based on the critically-acclaimed best-selling novel "Sacred Games" by Indian author Vikram Chandra. Shot on location in India, this Hindi-English series will be produced in partnership with Phantom Films, one of India's leading production houses. It will be available to Netflix members globally upon completion, a statement said.

Set in Mumbai, "Sacred Games" delves into the city's intricate web of organised crime, corruption, politics and espionage that lie beneath India's economic renaissance. Chandra shared: "Over the last few years, I've watched with great excitement and pleasure as Netflix has transformed narrative television with its ground-breaking,

for our actions and would never condone violence against women."

Rose has yet to respond to the studio chiefs' comments. She initially voiced her disapproval in a message on The Hollywood Reporter's Facebook page.

Source: IANS

Hillstar NOW SHOWING

Source: TNN

Dia Mirza named ambassador for Swachh Saathi programme

B

ollywood actress Dia Mirza has been named the ambassador for Swachh Bharat Missions youth-based Swachh Saathi (student internship) programme. The "Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein" star will take forward the message of the government’s Swachh Saathi programme, which she hails as the most important part to realise the dream of a clean country.

"Swachh Bharat is among the most important initiatives taken up by the government and I believe that the Swachh Saathi programme will be an extremely important part

of our dream to realise a clean, healthy and environmentally conscious youth and country," Dia, 34, said in a statement.

Under the Swachh Saathi programme, more than 2,000 interns would be enrolled, who would coordinate with around 10,000 schools across the country and ensure that all students in these schools take the pledge for Clean India, the statement read.

"Dia is a youth icon and has been an active campaigner for Swachh Bharat.

We felt that she would be the best person to help us reach out to more youngsters. Our aim is to make it a viral youth

led movement," Swachh Bharat mission director Praveen Prakash said.

As the ambassador, the actress would interact with school and college students from across the country through awareness sessions, community cleaning activities and motivational videos.

"Over the years I have tried to engage as many minds as possible to understand that our planet and our country need the immediate involvement of all its citizens, so that we can take responsibility and make our world a better place to live in," Dia said.

Source: PTI

11:00 Am | 02:00 pm 08:00 PM

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tuesDAY 07•06•2016

SPORTS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Two late goals give Mexico win over Uruguay Vijender to meet Aussie Kerry Rex Gowar Reuters

C M Y K

Mexico scored twice in the final five minutes to beat Uruguay 3-1 in a pulsating Copa America Group C match in which each side had a man sent off on Sunday.

The win in front of a passionate and partisan crowd at Glendale, Arizona left Mexico top of the group on goal difference from Venezuela after they beat 10-man Jamaica 1-0 in Chicago.

The early omens were not good for Uruguay who stood stunned before kickoff when the Chilean national anthem was played instead of their own.

Mexico then made a lightning start with the fastest goal of the tournament so far in their first incursion into the Uruguay penalty area in the fourth minute.

Hector Herrera and Uruguay's Alvaro Pereira both leapt to meet Andres Guardado's curling cross from the left with the defender heading into his own net.

Uruguay, who had Matias Vecino dismissed on the stroke of halftime after a second booking for a foul on Jesus Corona, equalised in the 74th minute from the free kick awarded when Guardado was also shown a second yellow card.

NCA to conduct 15th Nagaland State A Chess Premier

DIMAPuR, June 6 (Mexn): The Nagaland Chess Association (NCA) is all set to conduct 15th Nagaland state A chess premier from June 14 to 17 at Red Cross Society conference hall, Kohima. A press note informed that Yitachu, Minister of School Education & SCERT Nagaland will grace the inaugural function as chief guest on June 14. All the selected top 16 players from the recently conducted Nagaland state chess challengers 2016 and previous year top 4 who has represented Nagaland state at All India chess challenger 2014 are requested to confirm their participation on or before June 11 by contacting 9402697344/9436266242.

Failing to receive confirmation within the stipulated time, the next ranking players shall be called for replacement, the NCA informed.

T20 tennis ball cricket tourney DIMAPuR, June 6 (Mexn): The 8th T20 summer tennis ball cricket tournament organised by General Administration Project Youth Organisation(GAPYO) is scheduled to be held from the June 20 to 25 at public Ground Wokha.

Interested teams are requested to collect forms at Uniform House Wokha.

The last date of form submission is June 18 and interested teams can contact 9436622361/8729993287/ 8974517660.

Jun 5, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Mexico forward Javier Hernandez (14) controls the ball against Uruguay during the first half during the group play stage of the 2016 Copa America Centenario at University of Phoenix Stadium. Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Carlos Sanchez, the man Guardado brought down, hit the free kick into the box where captain Diego Godin headed past Alfredo Talavera to put the record 15-times champions back on level terms.

Mexico, however, had the last word when their captain Rafael Marquez scored a fine goal from a corner, finding the top corner of Fernando Muslera's net with an angled shot

from the right.

With the Uruguayans pushing forward in numbers in search of another equaliser, Herrera made the result safe in the second minute of added time with a header from Diego Perez’s neat flick across the face of goal.

most of the first half, missed two good chances either side of halftime. Edinson Cavani, put through by Nicolas Lodeiro, was oneon-one with Talavera but the goalkeeper closed him down and blocked his effort after 30 minutes.

In the 58th minute, Godin broke into attack from VENEZUELAN VICTORY his own half and laid off to his Uruguay, without in- right for Cavani who crossed jured striker Luis Suarez to fellow striker Diego Rolan and on the back foot for on the left but his finish was

poor and ended up on the wrong side of the near post.

Jamaica, who have now lost all four of their Copa America matches by the same 1-0 score, had the first chance at Soldier Field when a header from JeVaughn Watson hit the bar in the 11th minute.

Venezuela, whose highest finish at a Copa America was the 2011 semi-finals in Argentina, went ahead after 15 minutes when Alejandro Guerra set up Josef Martinez and the striker shot under goalkeeper Andre Blake.

Eight minutes later, Jamaica’s Rodolph Austin was sent off after he caught Tomas Rincon’s ankle with his studs as he followed through after winning the ball in the tackle.

Jamaica's coach Winfried Schaefer was sent to the stands for the second half after a heated discussion with referee Victor Carrillo at the break.

The Caribbean islanders fought hard in the second half but Michael Hector hit the post with a shot and, at the other end, Blake needed to make a superb save from Wilker Angel's diving header.

Mexico play Jamaica next in Pasadena on Thursday when Uruguay meet Venezuela in Philadelphia.

Hope in WBO Asia title decider

new DelhI, June 6 (IAnS): Indian professional boxer Vijender Singh will face Australia's Kerry Hope for the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) Asia Super Middleweight championship decider on July 16 here, it was announced on Monday.

The 30-year-old Indian is coming into the championship bout after triumphing in all the six bouts so far by knock-outs in his yearold professional career.

The bout was originally scheduled for June 11.

However, it was postponed due to logistical issues. Thyagaraj Stadium will be the venue for the competition.

Former world No.1 Vijender, the bronze medallist in the 2008 Olympics and the World Championships 2009, faces his biggest hurdle in the form of 34-year-old Australian perclub' era. Inter cannot Hope, who has 12 years of become a small club or a experience in pro boxing.

"I am really looking formedium club, we have to go back to being at the top."

Chinese company pays over $300 to control Inter Milan

MIlAn, June 6 (ReuteRS): Chinese electronics retailer Suning Commerce Group Co Ltd is buying nearly 70 percent of Italian soccer club Inter Milan for 270 million euros ($307 million) in the highest profile takeover of a European team by a Chinese firm.

Suning, part owned by e-commerce firm Alibaba, confirmed the deal on Monday at a joint news conference in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing with Inter Milan executives, including current majority owner and president Erick Thohir.

With Chinese President Xi Jinping an avid soccer fan, Suning's deal to take control of Inter Milan is the latest step in its plan to create a global sports empire stretching from soccer clubs to online broadcasting.

Suning, a household name in China, already owns domestic club Jiangsu Suning, currently third in the Chinese Super League, but this is its first major overseas purchase.

Inter, famous for their blue and black shirts, were European champions for the third time in 2010 but had a lacklustre season in 2015/16, finishing fourth in the Italian league and failing to qualify for the next Champions League.

"The acquisition of Inter Milan is part of Suning's strategy in the development of the sports industry," said Zhang Jindong, chairman of Suning Holdings Group,

Suning's Chairman Zhang Jindong attends a news conference with Chinese retailer Suning and Italy's Inter Milan in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China June 6. (REUTERS)

which plans to subscribe for new Inter Milan shares and buy existing shares.

"This will... help Suning to grow internationally."

A person familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier that Suning would take a 68.55 percent stake in the Italian club.

"SUPERCLUB ERA" The club said Indonesian businessman Thohir would stay on as president and become the sole minority shareholder in Inter Milan. Former president Massimo Moratti will sell off his entire stake of just under 30 percent in the club. Suning said in a separate statement that Thohir would reduce his stake to about 30 percent.

Inter Milan Chief Executive Michael Bolingbroke

told Reuters that Suning would also take on a large portion of the loss-making club's debt. Italian media have reported that Inter's debt with creditor banks stood at 230 million euros at end-June 2015.

"The popularity of the game, particularly in Asia and China, is going through a period of massive growth," Thohir said, adding that Inter has 150 million fans in Asia, of whom over 100 million are in China.

Thohir said Inter's revenues next year would top 200 million euros but there was a fear it would slip down the pecking order in Europe, especially with the latest Premier League TV deal giving English clubs huge extra financial muscle. "The reality of life is that the era today is a 'su-

MILAN'S CHINESE DERBY? Monday's deal tallies with President Xi's goals for Chinese sport, which include ambitious plans to create a domestic sports industry worth $850 billion by 2025. Xi wants China to one day host, and win, the World Cup. Chinese investors already have minority stakes in the parent of England's Manchester City and Spain's Atletico Madrid, while smaller Spanish club Espanyol and England's Aston Villa are Chineseowned. Inter's city rival AC Milan is also in talks to sell a majority stake to a group of Chinese investors. Suning is also amongst the frontrunners to buy UKbased Stellar Group, one of the world's leading soccer agencies.

The company has said it wants to create a global sporting "ecosystem", including club ownership, sports media rights, player agencies, training bases, broadcast platforms, content production and sportsrelated e-commerce.

Suning, which has annual revenues topping $20 billion, already has some blocks in place. Its local club has splashed millions of dollars on players such as Brazil's Alex Teixeira and former Chelsea midfielder Ramires.

ward to the India bout, it is going to be a huge moment for me to step inside the ring in front of my home fans. And that is why I am not going to take any break from training because I want to be at my best," Vijender said at a press conference.

Wales-born Hope, a former middleweight European champion, has won 23 of 30 bouts and has the experience of 183 rounds.

"He (Vijender) has been pro for a year and before that he won medals in the Olympics and World Championships but I have seen it all before. I have been pro for 12 years.

I know the crowd will be behind him but I like being the underdog. The pressure is on him. He has to train harder," Hope said at the press meet.

"I have been world No.3 in the past. I have heard about his achievements

but all that is in amateur. I bring a lot of experience in the pro circuit," he added.

Before the face-off, Vijender said: "I have performed to the best. It has been 12 months since I turned pro, so I am carrying experience.Time will decide what happens on July 16. Just wait and watch."

The home promoters India-based Infinity Optimal Solutions (IOS) and UK-based Queensberry Promotions -- announced that the tickets for the bout will be sold from Tuesday.

"We are expecting a full house. The tickets have been priced from Rs.1000 to Rs 15,000. This is actually a dream realised and perhaps the biggest moment in Indian boxing," said IOS managing director Neerav Tomar.

The first ticket for the bout was presented to former Indian cricket star and Vijender's friend Virender Sehwag.

Bopanna enters top 10 in doubles rankings, secures berth to Rio

lonDon, June 6 (IAnS): India's doubles specialist Rohan Bopanna entered the top 10 in the men's doubles rankings on Monday to secure a direct entry at the forthcoming Rio Olympics.

Bopanna gained a place in the latest top 10 by default after he and Romanian partner Florin Mergea lost in the French Open quarter-finals. The defeat of defending French Open champions Marcelo Melo and Ivan Dodig in the semi-finals ensured Bopanna's return to the top 10.

Veteran doubles specialist Leander Paes moved up five slots to 46.

Bopanna now can choose his partner for the men’s doubles event among Paes, Purav Raja (103) Divij Sharan (114), Saketh Myneni (125), Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (134) and Mahesh Bhupathi (164). In the

women’s doubles rankings, Sania Mirza maintained joint world top position with Swiss partner Martina Hingis.

In the men's singles rankings, new French Open champion Serbian Novak Djokovic held on to his No.1 spot while Spaniard Rafael Nadal climbed a place to fourth.

Swiss Roger Federer, who did not play in Paris due to physical issues, maintained his third spot, while compatriot Stan Wawrinka fell to fifth after losing to second Andy Murray in the tournament's semi-finals.

In the women's singles, America's Serena Williams led the rankings, while Spanish player Garbine Muguruza climbed to second for the first time after winning the French Open title. Muguruza defeated Williams 7-5, 6-4 on Saturday at the French Open final.

Ever Banega confirms departure to Inter Milan

MADRID, June 6 (IAnS): Sevilla midfielder Ever Banega has confirmed that he will be joining Inter Milan in the next football season.

"Yes, I'm going to Inter. We already found a deal and we made everything official with the club, now it's just a matter of waiting. But my mind (at present) is on the national team," the 27-year-old was quoted as saying by football-italia.net on Monday. "I exchanged messages with (Inter legend and club vice-president) Javier) Zanetti. He complimented me for choosing Inter, but we didn't speak about playing, we'll get on to that after the Copa America."

Banega, who has played 41 games for Argentina, joined Sevilla from Valencia in 2014 and in both the seasons, he won the Europa League. However, he said that moving to Inter Milan is a big opportunity.

“In Sevilla I was very happy. I enjoyed two spectacular years that allowed us to win the Europa League twice. We did well in the championship too," the former Boca Juniors footballer said. “I found my former coach from Valencia, Unai Emery, and he was able to bring out the best in me. Fortunately we parted ways in friendship.

“I knew I could do well with him. I chose to leave, it was a tough decision but opportunities have to be seized."

Djokovic eyes Golden Slam, turns rivals green with envy

Novak Djokovic Celebrates His First French Open Title . (Getty Images)

PARIS, June 6 (ReuteRS): He is the tennis version of the Incredible Hulk and on Sunday Novak Djokovic made his closest rivals turn green with envy as he finally achieved something no man had accomplished for nearly half a century.

Playing what he described as "flawless tennis" over the last three sets of his 3-6 6-1 6-2 6-4 win over Andy Murray, Djokovic cracked his Roland Garros jinx at the 12th attempt -- and fourth final there -to win the French Open.

It allowed the Serbian world number one to hold all four grand slam titles at the same time -- a milestone that is so difficult to reach that it had not been done by a man since Australian Rod Laver won the second of his calendar Grand Slams in 1969.

In an era when it is tough to keep track of the countless re-

cords achieved by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal -- who own 31 majors between them -- Djokovic managed to complete a feat that was tantalisingly just out of reach for his rivals-in-chief.

"It's one of the ultimate challenges that you have as a tennis player. I'm very proud, very thrilled," he said on becoming the third man after Don Budge and Laver to hold the Wimbledon, U.S., Australian and French Open titles simultaneously.

Federer had two attempts at completing four in a row -- in 2006 and 2007 -- but each time he was thwarted in the French Open final by Nadal.

The Spaniard similarly arrived at the 2011 Australian Open as the holder of three grand slam titles but fell in the quarter-finals.

Despite all their success, Federer and Nadal, who are among

eight men to have completed a career grand slam, never managed to win the AustralianFrench Opens back-to-back.

GOLDEN SLAM With Djokovic having achieved that benchmark, he is well placed to complete something no man has ever achieved -- the Golden Slam of four majors and Olympic gold in the same year.

So is that something that can be done?

"I don't want to sound arrogant, but I really think everything is achievable in life," said Djokovic, who has now contested six successive grand slam finals, winning five.

It certainly is a possibility because nine-times French Open champion Nadal, having struggled with injuries, is no longer the force he was, while 34-yearold Federer was a no show at the

French Open after failing to recover from a back problem.

That has left world number two Murray as Djokovic's closest challenger. But with the Briton having a 2-5 win-loss record against the Serb in major finals, Djokovic knows he has a mental hold over Murray, who is just seven days older than him.

The world number one conceded, however, that he would not be the player he is had it not been for his rivals.

"Nadal and Federer were so dominant in the sport when Andy and myself came into the mix. At the beginning I was not glad to be part of their era," said the 29-year-old.

"Fortunately for me I realised that I need to get stronger and that I need to accept the fact that I'm competing with these two tremendous champions. Every-

thing was uphill from that moment on." Things have certainly been on the up for Djokovic as he has now contested 20 grand slam finals, winning 12.

He also has a better head-tohead against all three of his Big Four rivals. He leads Federer 2322, Nadal 26-23 and Murray 24-10.

"These two guys, and Andy as well, have helped me to become a better player and helped me achieve all these things," said Djokovic. "The rivalries that we have are important for the sport, and in one way or another you try to compare yourself to them and what they have achieved before."

While Federer (17 majors), Nadal and Pete Sampras (both 14) still top Djokovic in the list of all-time grand slam title holders, it is not inconceivable that within a few years, the Serb will have left everyone in his wake.

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