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FriDAY • MArch 11 • 2016
DIMAPUR • Vol. XI • Issue 68 • 12 PAGes • 5
T H e
ESTD. 2005
P o W e R
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it ISRO successfully launches navigation satellite IRNSS-1F
Dept of Forest lights up villages with solar lamp
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What’s with that glum and sour look? You asked for ‘chai paani I brought you chai paani...
Smartphone app to help prevent heart attack
C M Y K
NEw DElHI, MARCH 10 (IANS): A cardiologist at Max Super Speciality Hospital in Saket here has developed a smartphone app that can help people know the warning signs of a heart attack in advance and take corrective action. The “Heart App” developed by senior interventional cardiologist Rajeev Rathi has a set of questions. The questions that a cardiologist would ask in a case of suspected heart disease. A patient in any kind of chest discomfort, uneasiness or breathlessness can go through these questions selecting the options applicable to him/her. The app reaches a conclusion whether symptoms entered by the patient fall into high risk for heart disease. In addition to the questionnaire, the app has reading material about heart attacks, their warning signs, and treatment in a simple and concise manner which the users can quickly go through and if required, refer to in their time of need. Many a time there are warning symptoms even few days before the onset of heart attack, which if treated could even prevent a full blown attack. Unfortunately, the general population remains largely unaware of these symptoms and unable to recognise the warning signs. Rathi said this is what drove him to find a way to prevent people from ignoring the warning signs.
NWA 25th Anniversary TournamentVechita is Naga Wrestling Champion PAGE 12
Major power breakdowns loom over nagaland state
By Sandemo Ngullie
DIMAPUR, MARCH 10 (MExN): Six apex organisations of Eastern Nagaland, including the ENPO have strongly urged the Nagaland State Government to book the culprits of the February 6 killing of a couple between Shamartor and Kiphire. In a joint statement, the Eastern Nagaland Peoples’ Organisation, Chang Khulei Setshang, Khiamniungan Tribal Council, Konyak Union, Phom Peoples’ Council, United Sangtam Likhum Pumji, Yimchunger Tribal Council, Eastern Nagaland Women Organisation and the Eastern Naga Students’ Federation have reiterated their condemnation of the February 16 killing. The organisations asked the people of the area to maintain peace and calm until such a time when an amicable solution is arrived at between the communities. They further strongly urged the SIT constituted by the State Government to book the culprits at the earliest “so as to avoid any further ugly situations that are anticipated.
T R u T H
— Aristotle
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reflections
Nagaland State Govt urged to book culprits of February 6 killing
o F
A Naga kid holds her puppy as she sit in front of her house at Khongnem Thana Village which falls under Senapati district. Photo by Caisii Mao
GPrn/nscn denies Gen. Khole joining nscn (iM) Morung Express News Dimapur | March 10
A news report suggesting that GPRN/NSCN president Gen (Retd) Khole Konyak may have joined the NSCN (IM), which appeared in a Nagaland based newspaper, machinated a flurry of reactions from organizations on Thursday. The newspaper report, while citing NSCN (IM) sources, claimed that Gen Khole has been meeting NSCN (IM) leaders in New Delhi for the last three days and has joined the group. It however said there is no official confirmation to authenticate the claim. The GPRN/NSCN, meanwhile has denied the report. “We completely deny that our
president has joined NSCN (IM). He is currently in Delhi solely for his medical treatment and not for any other purpose. There are many rumours doing the rounds so we do not wish to believe in such reports,” highly placed sources within the GPRN/NSCN set up said. “However, since some local dailies carried reports that he (Khole) must have switched sides, it is expected that he clear his situation and position,” the official added. A senior functionary of the NSCN (IM) who is camping in New Delhi, when contacted said there was “nothing official about the report” and also termed it to be a rumour or mere speculation. “Yes, we have heard that he (Gen Khole) is here for treatment. Other-
wise there is nothing official about him joining our group,” the NSCN (IM) member maintained while adding that they were also trying to identify the origin of the report since it reportedly came from a member of their group. Sources said an ailing Gen Khole was airlifted by a chopper from Tobu village in Mon district to Guwahati and there on a flight to Delhi. He was reported to have been admitted to a hospital. The Konyak Union (KU) is also learnt to have had a meeting at Hotel Saramati on Thursday. A member of KU said they were not aware of such a development. “We were only told that he (Gen Khole) was sick and going to Delhi for treatment,” the KU member stated.
DIMAPUR, MARCH 10 (MExN): The Association of Power Engineers Nagaland (APEN) has expressed disappointment at the deficiency in allocation of funds to the State Power Department under Plan and Non Plan. In a letter to the Nagaland State Chief Secretary today, the APEN expressed apprehension of “major breakdowns” during the summer months with “no capacity addition, non purchase of transformers, spares for the last many years which has rendered the department helpless.” It cited recent events of power shutdowns in Mokokchung, Kiphire, Pfutsero etc due to damage of transformers, where power could not be restored for nearly a month and said that the incidents were not surprising. Prompt replacements could not be made due to the lack of funds, it added. The APEN further cautioned that such recurrence of similar incidents “cannot be ruled out if the present trend of funding continues.” It stated that since 2009-10, there has been deficient fund allocation to the department under State plan and non plan. It stated that under this
• Nagaland Power Engineers informs ‘No capacity addition, non purchase of transformers, spares for the last many years’ • Blames deficient fund allocation and criticises State Government for being unfair to the department situation, the generation, transmission, distribution, revenue, housing and communication elements of the department are going through difficulty for upkeep of its assets and related activities. The “biggest gap” it stated, is being felt in the major load centres of Dimapur, Chumukedimam, Kohima, Mokokchung etc, which are running under overloaded conditions, protective devices and materials in dilapidated conditions, conductors requiring upgradation, transformers starving for oil etc. The APEN pointed out the Central Government’s view that under the new dispensation of fund of the 14th Finance Commission, the State Government has been adequately provided fund for development. However, it lamented that instead of redeeming the Power Department’s plight, the State Government has meted out “step motherly treatment by
treating the Power Department as a least priority in terms of fund allocation without acknowledging electricity as an essential service.” Such apathy by the State Government has instilled a sense of insecurity in the minds of the APEN members who will be bearing all the public brunt and ire, it stated. The APEN further termed it “unfair” on the part of the Nagaland State Government to expect the department to deliver power to consumers without maintaining the lines and machines (transformers) and also to expect the department to perform on the revenue front without adequate support from the Government. It therefore asked the State Government to take serious note of the “avoidable impending worsening situation,” and accord “highest priority” regarding the allocation of funds to the department, under both plan and non plan.
indo-naga solution should be outside the Rilan village appeals DC Searches by individuals, MARCH 10 (MExN): The indian constitutional framework: nnc/fGn DIMAPUR, Rilan Village Council (RVC) has appealed groups illegal: Mkg DC to the Deputy Commissioner, Dimapur to
DIMAPUR, MARCH 10 (MExN): NNC/ FGN Kedallo (vice president) Zhopra Vero has stated that solution to the Indo-Naga conflict should come from outside the Indian constitutional framework. “If solution is sought within the framework of the Indian constitution, it nullifies all the values and principles; it would be like building houses on the tombs of those who sacrificed their lives for the Naga cause,” Vero emphasized in his speech at the recently held consultative meeting of NPGs convened by the NLF on March 9. Asserting that any solution would not be deemed honourable if it is done by negating the dignity and rights of the Naga people, the NNC/FGN vice president said if there is going to be any solution to the political conflict then “first of all the Indian state has to change its perception of the Nagas and the Naga struggle.” “There has to be honor and respect involved in the dialogue itself. It ought to be noted that we are not begging for any special favor from the Indian state,” he stated.
The NNC/FGN vice president also contended that honorable solution cannot be equated with what packages Nagas will get. “To be more precise, honorable solution cannot be treated like a bargaining chip – how much Nagas gain or how much the Indian state gains. It is not even about win-win situation,” he pointed out. Even if the negotiation is acceptable to us due to the offer which is so good, will it be honourable if it is done within the Indian constitutional framework? he questioned. Vero also posed a number of questions to the Parliamentary Working Committee (PWC), Nagaland Legislators Forum on Naga Political Issue on their position as “facilitator to the peace process,” as stated by NLF chairman, Chotisuh Sazo and the Nagaland Chief Minister TR Zeliang on February 26. He also wanted to know “how far the Naga people can trust the NSCN (IM) with the Naga National cause if they cannot be transparent to the Naga people.” Full text on page 5
intervene over the alleged trespassing by Assam Police (AP) personnel into the village. According to the RVC, fully armed AP personnel have been repeatedly “visiting” the village without any pre-information or explanation. There have been three such instances this year alone with the latest occurring on March 10. The RVC, in a letter addressed to the Dimapur DC, stated the act of the Assam Police is creating “fear psychosis among women and children” of the village, which is located on the western fringe of Dimapur bordering KarbiAnglong Autonomous district. The Assam Forest department has a running dispute with the village over boundary demarcation, with the former taking a dogged stance over any sign of developmental activity on the site in question. While the unwelcome “visits” from the AP has passed off without incidents, the RVC termed it as “unwarranted” and urged the DC to take preventive steps. Failing to do so, the village will be “constrained to adopt its own measures,” the RVC in the letter said.
MokokCHUNg, MARCH 10 (DIPR): Deputy Commissioner, Mokokchung, Sushil Kumar Patel in an order stated that searches made by any individual, Groups, NGOs etc. is not authorized as per law and such searches are “deemed illegal and ultra-vires”. The order which was issued on March 10, 2016 said as per the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) 1973, only police can search a place (Private or government properties) with prior Search Warrant. Sushil Kumar Patel informed that the persons aggrieved (private or government officials) by such searches may seek legal remedy under Sec 441 of Indian Panel Code, 1896 (Criminal Trespass) against the perpetrators of such illegal action.
termed the DC’s order as a “veiled threat” stating that the order was “in apparent reference to the ‘visitation’ by the Mokokchung youths to different schools has been termed as ‘searches’.” The MTLT clarified that there was no “searches” as alleged by the DC. It further questioned the “intention of the Mokokchung DC as to how he could threaten the bonafide youths with the CrPc 1973.” It asked whether the MLTL’s ‘visitation’ can be construed as ‘searches’ and whether the MTLT “cannot highlight such anomalies, especially the distribution of worm-infested rice to schools.” It also asked the DC if he was aware of the issue until the MTLT apprised him through their letter dated March 9. Meanwhile, it asserted that MTLT terms order as ‘veiled threat’ the MTLT would “continue to The Mokokchung Town Lanur work for the welfare of MokokcTelongjem (MTLT) meanwhile hung society.”
Seeds germinate into Biodiversity Festival in Chizami
Morung Express News Chizami | March 10
From seeds to biodiversity to communities—the Biodiversity Festival hosted every year by the North East Network in Chizami village, Phek district, Nagaland, has come a long way. What began at the village level, of women exchanging seeds and the knowledge therein, is now a solidarity of neighbourhood hills and the subcontinent at large. This year, women from various districts of Nagaland, and States of Manipur, Meghalaya and Telangana exchanged seeds—millets, maize, fruits, vegetables—from their respective fields at the Biodiversity Festival held on March 9 at the NEN Resource Centre at Chizami village as a symbolic to sharing life. “Through the seed exchange, we are reaffirming faith in our food systems,
facilitating communities to share knowledge as means to empower each other,” said NEN’s Wekowe-ü Tsuhah. Seeds contain the information to the food that secures life and livelihood. The wisdom to use them in the appropriate way has led humankind to reach where we are today. This year’s edition of the Festival was celebrated on the theme ‘Bonding Communities, Celebrating Diversity’ and saw women put up an exhibition on the biodiversity—crops, plants, wildlife, medicines, fibres, dyes—from their respective regions.
Promoting Agro Biodiversity
The agro biodiversity, of particularly the North East of the sub-continent, provides for a range of security by way of food, clothing, housing, medicines and fodder. Pushing for a “political agenda” on agro
Women farmers from Nagaland and Telangana are seen exchanging seeds from each of their regions at the Biodiversity Festival held on Wednesday, March 9 at the NEN Resource Centre in Chizami. (Morung Photo)
biodiversity, Amba Jamir, Executive Director of Sustainable Development Forum of Nagaland, urged communities to be more assertive about their land and biodiversity before casting a vote.
“Our culture revolves around our agriculture cycles,” he noted, as the keynote speaker at the Biodiversity Festival on Wednesday morning. “World over, it is the small and marginalised farmers
who are meeting our need for food. Small farmers also take care of the needs of nature’s pollinators, the birds, bees and butterflies, which makes for a healthy ecosystem,” he observed. And world over, small
farmers are mostly women. Often, home gardens are their “private labs” where seeds are tried and tested for results before being implanted on the fields. Taking lessons from them, thus, every polity, particularly villages, should keep a focus on food security instead of purely market production/profit while planning. “How should councils and the government look at development in society? It is very tempting to go all out for cash crops but only few can afford them. However, keeping food security as the core will meet the needs of the poorest of the poor,” highlighted Amba. By promoting sustainable and diverse practices, a culture’s language remains alive. “We are rapidly losing our language, and cultural roots, because we are engaging less with the biodiversity around us.” The government, he
said, should be aware that women are at the centre of sustainable agriculture practices. “Women think of the family’s requirements first and then earning out of surplus, as opposed to men who are easily attracted to cash crops. We need sovereignty on our fields before economic or political sovereignty,” observed the speaker, reiterating that women must be made a part of meetings and committees where land use policies are decided and made. As the Government of Nagaland still looks the other way on this critical issue, women farmers are forming solidarities strengthening food systems through seed banks, sharing knowledge and food from the fields with each other, exhibiting on a common platform and even singing their cultures alive—all seen germinating at the Biodiversity Festival at Chizami.