March 17th, 2016 by The Morung Express

C M Y K

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thursDAY • MArch 17 • 2016

DIMAPUR • Vol. XI • Issue 74 • 12 PAGes • 5

T H e

ESTD. 2005

P o W e R

Liberty is rendered even more precious by the recollection of servitude

Petrol hiked by Rs.3.07 per litre, diesel by Rs.1.90 reflections

By Sandemo Ngullie

Don’t speak to me in that tone. The Minister is my father’s half brother’s wife’s cousin’s elder brother’s daughter’s uncle who is related to my father.....

The Morung Express Poll QuEsTioN

Vote on www.morungexpress.com sMs your answer to 9862574165 Should theologians and Church leaders get involved in politics in Nagaland? Why? Yes

others

NSF calls for changes in education policy DIMaPur, MarcH 16 (MExN): The Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) today called for specific changes in education policies of the state and called upon the Nagaland State School Education Department to intervene. In a letter to the Director, School Education Department, the NSF observed that while there is are an excess number of teachers in some schools, there are also many schools without adequate teachers. It asked for a stop to all transfers and posting of teachers in the middle of the academic session. It also demanded appointment/ deployment of teachers in the schools where there are no adequate teachers. The NSF then called for a review of the powers and functions of the Village Education Committee (VEC).

Nagaland CM to present 2016 State budget today our Correspondent Kohima | March 16

Nagaland State Chief Minister, TR Zeliang, who also holds finance portfolio will present Nagaland budget on March 17 here during the proceeding of the assembly session of Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA). The session will also witness general discussion on the Governor’s address.

Apao camp stands by Baba Kholi: Brig Shahwa Konyak clarifies

C M Y K

DIMaPur, MarcH 16 (MExN): Commander of the Apao Designated Camp, Brigadier Shahwa Konyak on Wednesday reaffirmed his March 14 declaration that “Apao camp belongs to Baba Kholi Konyak” and vowed that it will “stand with Baba Kholi till a solution to the Naga political issue is reached.” The Brigadier also denied the statement purportedly issued by him through MIP, GPRN/NSCN appearing on March 16 in this daily that the Apao Designated Camp is “still intact with GPRN/NSCN…” “I did not issue such clarification. It was done without my knowledge,” Brigadier Shahwa informed. He also reiterated that General Kholi had the support of senior leaders from both Phom and Konyak Region.

o F

T R u T H

— Cicero

Afridi powers Pakistan to big opening win at World T20

Nagaland launches National Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation Awareness Week PAGE 02

PAGE 12

Aadhaar biometric database sedition law under review, rijiju informs rajya sabha raises ‘privacy fears’ in india

Village women stand in a queue to get themselves enrolled for the Unique Identification (uiD) database system at Merta district, Rajasthan, February 22, 2013. (REUTERS/Files)

NEW DELHI, MarcH 16 (rEutErs): Parliament is set to pass legislation that gives central agencies access to world’s biggest biometric database in the interests of national security, raising fears the privacy of a billion people could be compromised. The Aadhaar database scheme, started seven years ago, was set up to streamline payment of benefits and cut down on massive wastage and fraud, and already nearly a billion people have registered their finger prints

and iris signatures. Now the BJP, which inherited the scheme, wants to pass new provisions including those on national security, using a loophole to bypass the opposition in parliament. “It has been showcased as a tool exclusively meant for disbursement of subsidies and we do not realise that it can also be used for mass surveillance,” said Tathagata Satpathy, a lawmaker from Odisha. “Can the government ... assure us that this Aadhaar

card and the data that will be collected under it – biometric, biological, iris scan, finger print, everything put together – will not be misused as has been done by the NSA in the U.S.?” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has defended the legislation in parliament, saying Aadhaar saved the government an estimated 150 billion rupees ($2.2 billion) in the 2014-15 financial year alone. A finance ministry spokesman added that the government had taken steps to ensure

citizens’ privacy would be respected and the authority to access data was exercised only in rare cases. Those assurances have not satisfied opponents. Raman Jit Singh Chima, global policy director at Access, an international digital rights organisation, said the proposed Indian law lacked the transparency and oversight safeguards. New Delhi-based PRS Legislative Research said law enforcement agencies could use someone’s Aadhaar number and allow them to recognise patterns of behaviour and detect potential illegal activities but it could also lead to harassment of individuals. Sunil Abraham, executive director of the Bengaluru-based Centre for Internet and Society, said “Maintaining a central database is akin to getting the keys of every house in Delhi and storing them at a central police station…imagine a situation where the police is secretly capturing the iris data of protesters and then identifying them through their biometric records.” Lok Sabha passes Aadhaar bill on page 8

NEW DELHI, MarcH 16 (IaNs): The law on sedition is under review of the Law Commission and the home ministry has asked for a report on the issue as soon as possible, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. Rijiju admitted in the upper house that the cases of sedition were often found to be violative of the right to freedom of speech. “The provisions (of the sedition law) are very wide. Anyone who speaks against the government established by the law can be booked under the sedition law,” Rijiju said in response to a question. “Often the sedition charge is found to

be violative of Article 19(1)b (a), freedom of speech and expression,” he said. The minister informed that a 1997 Law Commission report had admitted that the sedition law was defective, but did not ask for its deletion. “... reports and suggestions have come that there should be a comprehensive review of the criminal justice system in the country... sedition law has also been brought under this scrutiny, that there must be some amendment to it because the meaning is very wide,” he said. Rijiju said the government wants the Law Commission to take steps as soon as possible to address this law.

on earth Hour, switch off your lights for one HoUr

DIMaPur, MarcH 16 (MExN): The Nagaland State Department of New & Renewable Energy (NRE) has urged all people in the state to observe Earth Hour on March 19 by switching off lights as solidarity towards climate action. This Earth Hour, on Saturday, March 19 from 8:30pm to 9:30pm local time, people around the globe and world governments will switch off their lights for one hour.

A press note from the department stated that Climate Change is primarily caused by emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) through burning of fossil fuels such as petroleum products, etc. “Today, electricity in most of our homes is generated out of burning of fossil fuels such as coals/diesels in thermal power plants. Accumulation of these emitted gases ultimately causes Global Warming which culmi-

nates into climate change and is becoming one the greatest challenges the world is facing today.” It asked people to support to pledge and mitigate emissions of Green House Gases by switching off non-essential lights in each household, office and other spaces. “Your commitment to the planet helps to create far-reaching environmental and social impact to mitigate Climate Change,” it added.

PHED provides full water ‘We have to inspire ourselves with our memories’ imminent scientists and coverage to 566 habitations KSC Students Union acclaimed scholars so that our Correspondent Kohima | March 16

Minister for PHED Tokheho Yepthomi today said the state Public Health Engineering department has so far provided full water supply coverage to 566 habitations, partial coverage to 898 habitations, besides providing water supply to 2046 numbers of government schools in rural areas of Nagaland state. The Minister said the department has also implemented rejuvenation of traditional wells, roof top rain water harvesting schemes, surface water or monsoon run off harvesting and solar powered water supply schemes, where normal gravity based water schemes are not viable. Addressing the state level launching ceremony of National Rural Drinking Water & Sanitation Awareness Week here today organized by Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanita-

tion, Yepthomi said under sustainability component of NRDWP, a total of 213 numbers of various sustainability structures are being targeted for completion during 2015-16, while another 162 numbers would be earmarked for construction during 2016-17. The department is also making good strides in making Nagaland 100% Open Defecation Free (ODDF) as per the National target of 2nd October 2019. Under the Swachh Bharat Mission, the department has provided 1, 85, 975 numbers of Individual House Hold Latrines (IHHL), 354 numbers of community sanitary complex and 7 units of Solid Liquid Waste Management. The department has so far identified 161 villagers as Open Defecation Free with many villages on the verge of achieving open defecation free status, the minister said.

celebrates 50 years

Morung Express News Jotsoma | March 16

The Kohima Science College Students’ Union (KSCSU) celebrated 50 years on March 16 at the College Auditorium with Chief Minister, TR Zeliang as the Chief Guest. Recalling the words spoken by Late APJ Abdul Kalam during his visit to Nagaland who said, “Every child must have a big dream”, Zeliang stressed on the need for students to dream and be inspired. “We have to inspire ourselves with our memories,” said the Chief Minister who also encouraged the college authorities and the students’ community not to lose sight of the mission statement of the college towards multi dimensional growth of students, equipping them with reflective and analytical thinking, preparing for responsible citizenship, and becoming agents of social change.

Nagaland state Chief Minister, TR Zeliang along with various state legislators and members of the KsCsu.

The CM lauded the KSCSU for its discipline and enabling the college to achieve greater heights in its fifty years of existence while adding that 50 years is nothing for those who want to achieve more. At present, 10 among the 60 MLAs in Nagaland are alumni of the Kohima Science College, Jotsoma. Delivering the welcome address, Dr. I Anungla Aier, Principal stated that the Golden Jubilee of KSC Students’ Union is a celebration of all those who have passed through the gates of

KSC and has given their energy and intellect towards building the institution. While KSC has produced imminent leaders in the State, Dr Aier also reminded that the College does not believe in basking in old glories in the course of neglecting responsibilities but it believes in providing quality education consistently. “It is time to relive your past and visualize the future,” she stated. Dr. Aier noted that Kohima Science College is one among only two institutes in the NE region

to be awarded ‘A’ Grade by the NAAC. Dr. Aier also informed that the college is preparing to introduce NAC programs in six disciplines, which include Botany, Zoology, Mathematics, Physics, Geology and Anthropology. Morality is the essence of any good society and the college must instill morality, stated Dr. N R Newmai while reminiscing on his days as a student of KSC in its early stage of establishment. Dr. Newmai encouraged the College to set a goal in 25 years to produce

the dreams and aspirations of the young students are made in the college. Avelü Rüho, ADC Pughoboto who also spoke as an alumni member reminded the students that KSC has produced students and leaders who are not just contributing immensely in the local level but also in the national and international level. A milestone of such magnitude is definitely a celebration in as much as a time of introspection and to remember teachers, students and leaders who gave the college 50 years of commitment and sacrifices, iterated Avelü. A jubilee trust fund of 3 lakh, initiated by the Alumni, was also launched during the event. The fund will be reserved for fellowships for deserving students in the college. The Chief Minister also contributed another two lakh for the fund. The Jubilee souvenir ‘Odyssey’ was also released by Deo Nukhu, Parliamentary Secretary for Higher Education.

Xchange NE Youth Summit urged to engage the powers Morung Express News Dimapur | March 16

To change the existent power structures in society, new imaginations are necessary. Voluntarism assists this process by providing the space to explore, fail, rise and chart new paths, new imaginations. The work of Non Government Organisations (NGO) is often such an exploration. Examining a range of such issues that would help young people in their work with the people through NGOs, the Xchange Northeast Youth NGO Summit, organised by CAN Youth, entered its plenary session today. Youth leaders of 16 NGOs from Nagaland, Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya, as well as students and others, gathered at Hotel Acacia today to hear from people who have inspired youth of the region to affect change.

Voluntarism & Imagination

The basic change in humans, our development, is pushed by volunteering. “The essence of voluntarism is to test myself and then use what I have to help someone without being asked,”

explained Dr. Fr. Jerry Thomas, Director of Bosco Institute, Jorhat. It entails exploration, which creates a space for failures, from which we learn lessons and find newer paths. Spaces for volunteering are plenty, with the spirit driven by an experience that touches the person—through personal experience or that of others. This exploration is not encouraged in academics. “The system does not allow us to explore,” noted Fr. Thomas. He asked the youth leaders what makes them angry enough to do something about it? This was extrapolated in an exercise conducted by Dr. Aküm Longchari, Editor of The Morung Express, defining the power structure presently at work in human society. The “silent majority” remains at the bottom, with the more empowered middle keeping them there while the privileged top leans on the structure in glee. For the top, “peace is for the bottom to suffer in silence” while for the bottom, a change in the structure become essential—our perspectives are defined by where we are in the structure. “Can there be transformation with-

of ideas in finding alternative models,” he said. While indigenous understanding of power, politics or knowledge needs to be brought to fore, it is essential, first of all, to “decolonise the mind,” a necessity for imagination.

Visions & Solutions

An exercise on how power works underway at the Xchange Northeast Youth NGo summit, Hotel Acacia, Dimapur, on Wednesday, March 16 (Morung Photo)

out changing the power system we live in?” questioned Dr. Longchari. NGOs, as well as the media, that often fall into the middle rung can facilitate that change, particularly by working more with the grassroots, the “silent majority.” But this needs imagination. “Revolutions have continually become victims of the system when they come to power. This is due to the bankruptcy

With that, NGOs are required to have a vision too. A vision ensures that NGOs address the aspirations of the people and are not corrupted, postulated Amba Jamir, Executive Director of Sustainable Development Forum of Nagaland. While the vision should not be taken too far from the ground reality, its imagination should be stretched, networks and information shared. Before engaging on the ground, NGOs should also make sure that their presence creates an “enabling environment” for development and that more conflict is not created on the ground, he advised. “Transparency and accountability” are the central tenets on which NGOs are built, which revolve around the circle of equality, not hierarchy, within an organisation. Bringing these ideas to life, Hasina Kharbhih, Founding Managing

Director of Impulse Social Enterprises, Shillong, opened the audience’s eyes to the concept of “social entrepreneurship.” “Social solutions do not come through the use of only one tool,” she said, explaining how platforms apart from NGOs can be used to bring change. A private limited company invested in social solutions, Impulse works with 30,000 artisans all over the Northeast producing artefacts marketed all over the world. In this, workers are made into entrepreneurs minus middle persons, she said while explaining how she slowly took her work forward. From supporting livelihoods, she later created the Impulse model, “a comprehensive tracking system that brings together the state government, security agencies, legal groups, media, and citizen organizations to combat the crossborder trafficking of women and children.” The model is used internationally today to combat human trafficking. Today’s plenary session was moderated by Dr. Neel Konwar, Psyhoclogist Advisor-Consultant and Xchange Summit Mentor. Related news on page 5

thursDAY 17•03•2016

NAGALAND

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Nagaland launches National Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation Awareness Week our Correspondent Kohima | March 16

Joining the rest of the country, the Public Health Engineering department today launched National Rural Drinking Water & Sanitation Awareness week here. Launching this awareness week which will culminate on March 22, PHED minister Tokheho Yepthomi said the main purpose of the National Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation Awareness Week is to create spread awareness and responsibilities among the community on water and sanitation which affect the lives of millions of people in the country and across the world as population increases and water resources dwindle. “It has to keep in mind that creation of water and sanitation facilities alone are not enough unless people are well informed and educated on proper usage and maintenance of such assets, and conservation of water in our day to day lives,” he said. The minister said that water week is of great importance because it creates the opportunity to engage in a series of two-way interaction with the villagers in terms of surreys and helps the administration better understand the challenges that face in the process of their exercise for providing universal access to drinking water. He expressed happi-

pHeD minister Tokheho yepthomi and others during the launching programme of national rural Drinking water & Sanitation awareness week in Kohima on march 16. (morung photo)

ness that the state government implements drinking water supply and sanitation schemes under NRDWP and Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) respectively. Yepthomi said providing water and sanitation facilities to all villages and habitations in the state and making the suitable is not an easy task, considering our lack of sufficient financial resources, in spite of grants from Government of India, and also the state population having a comparatively high level of literacy and awareness. “However, what we need to do is to optimize all our available financial and human resources, and incorporate an environment friendly and cost effective techniques and designs while aiming to achieve the

National Goal an Timelines on water and sanitation,” he said. He said that as we join the country in this awareness campaign, carrying out various activities for education and community, the minister hoped that the officers of the department and all stakeholders taking part in the campaign will do their best to make this campaign a grand success and thereby meet its objectives. Yepthomi was also hopeful that the activities during the awareness would immensely benefit the people of the state “so as to make them better prepared for achieving the goal.” He also assured that the state government under the chief ministership of Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang will do its best to provide safe and adequate drink-

ing water to its citizens, and also try our best to achieve total sanitation, the goal of “Swachh Bharat’ by 2019. Parliamentary secretary for information & public relations Khekaho Assumi lauded the PHED for doing well as of late. He asked the department to stress more on traditional water system like traditional well. He also urged the department to tie-up with forest department for afforestation in the catchment areas to increase water supply. Anenla S. Longchari, secretary PHED, Government of Nagaland said the awareness week will create awareness on Swachh Bharat Mission to keep villages clean, build and use toilets, importance of hand washing with soap, safe

handling and storage of drinking water, water conservation etc. Appealing each and every individual to involve in the campaign, she said “Be ambassador for a Swachh Nagaland, a clean Nagaland. Be part of the movement to create awareness in Nagaland- because your dream city starts with a clean city and healthy Nagaland starts with safe, clean water.” PHED chief engineer Er Kevisekho Kruse said to make safe drinking water and sanitation available on a sustainable basis, we need to involve the water user community and create awareness, educating and organizing them to have discipline apart from constructing infrastructure. He said the weeklong campaign will witness WATSAN role in cleaning all water sources and to test for quality of water, PRA exercise to be carried out in 18 villages in all districts, painting and school essay competition, to make a short documentary on all activities of the campaign and to report to directorate office. Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) deputy speaker Imtikumzuk and parliamentary secretary for art & culture E. Eshak Konyak also present on the occasion. The function concluded with vote of thanks by Er. K. Ghushito Sumi, director WSSO, PHED.

babyoye now in Dimapur: Customers are seen browsing at the newly launched ‘babyoye’ store located at naga Shopping arcade, Dimapur on march 16. The babyoye by mahindra offers exciting range of maternity wear, kids wear, baby gear, toys, and wellness range for expecting and new mothers, as well as toddlers. (Morung Photo)

Health workers trained on tOPV to bOPV Switch

DIMaPur, March 16 (MExn): A one day workshop on tOPV to bOPV Switch was conducted on March 15 for Medical Officers, Vaccinators, Cold Chain Handlers, DPMs and BPMs under Dimapur and Peren Districts at CMO’s Conference Hall, Dimapur. The workshop was conducted to prepare the health workers to switch

from Trivalent Oral Polio Vaccine (tOPV) to Bivalent Oral Polio vaccine (bOPV). tOPV is being used now in Routine Immunizations and Polio Campaigns. It contains all 3 types of Polioviruses- type 1, 2 & 3. Since the polio type 2 has been eradicated from the world, bivalent oral polio vaccine (bOPV) will totally replace tOPV throughout the world. This is called the

Switch. It will be globally co-ordinated and in a two week window from April 2016. In India, the National Switch Day will be April 25, when bOPV will replace tOPV. Resource person Dr. Nagen Sharma, WHO Consultant presented the Global Polio Scenario and Endgame Strategy. He highlighted the National Switch Plan during the workshop.

Need to spread awareness NCC annual training camp underway at Mkg to use water judiciously morung express news Mokokchung | March 16

DC mokokchung, Sushil Kumar patel speaks at the launching programme of national rural Drinking water and Sanitation awareness Campaign at Longkumer Kilem, mokokchung on march 16. (DIPR Photo)

Mokokchung, March 16 (DIPr): The launching programme of National Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation Awareness Campaign at Mokokchung was held at Longkumer Kilem on March 16. The campaign was formally launched by Deputy Commissioner Mokokchung, Sushil Kumar Pa-

tel as the guest of honor. Speaking on the occasion, the DC urged all the people present in the programme to act as brand ambassadors in spreading awareness to use water judiciously. He also said that it is the duty of every right thinking citizen specially the people in the PHED department to spread and ignite the

minds of the people especially in the village to conserve water through preserving forest, harvesting of rain water etc. The DC also suggested the staff in the department to take innovative steps such as community water harvesting saying that taking such steps will at least help improve the water table. Executive Engineer, N. Yanger Pongen in his introductory speech said that the objective of the campaign is to realize and create awareness to construct and use household toilet, keeping the village clean, create awareness of safe drinking water and awareness for water conservation. Ha also said that during the week long awareness campaign from March 16 to 22 essay competition for school children under Kobulong Sub-Division will be organized on the topic “Water Sanitation, Role of the Rural Authorities”, which will be followed by certain workshops.

eXpoSure ViSiT Cum TraininG proGramme HeLD aT iCar-nrC on miTHun JHarnapani

Traditionally mithun is reared under a free range system where occasional offering of salt is the only contact between mithun and its owner. However, ICAR-NRC on Mithun, Jharnapani is maintaining mithun at its Medziphema farm in a different way. The research centre has demonstrated that mithun can perform under semi-intensive and intensive system without compromising its productivity. Under tribal Sub Plan of the institute, 25 mithun farmers from Phek district, who have adopted mithun farming as an alternative means of livelihood with the Entrepreneur Associates, a non profit NGO, visited ICAR-NRC on mithun, Jharnapani from 14th – 15th March 2016. The farmers have learnt the different technologies developed by NRCM for the improvement of mithun husbandry including feed blocks, area specific mineral mixture and RFID based animal identification.Dr. B.S. Prakash, ADG (ANP), ICAR; New Delhi who was attending the IMC meeting, also had an interaction with the mithun farmers. The Director of the centre,Dr. Abhijit Mitra emphasised the need of scientific mithun rearing and also stressed the importance of mithun for rejuvenation of the forest cover.

The NCC ‘Combined Annual Training Camp’ is currently underway at the 78 CRPF Bn located at DEF Mokokchung which is being organized by 24 Nagaland Independent Company NCC (24 NL (I) Coy). Altogether 658 cadets from all over Nagaland are participating in the training camp which started on March 11 under the supervision of Lt Col Shamsher Singh, the newly appointed Commanding Officer. The cadets are being trained on different activities like weapon firing, map reading, drills, field craft, cultural event showcasing national integrations, and health and hygiene. The CO of 25 NL (I) Coy NCC, Lt Col V Srinivas, while interacting with

an instructor assisting a young nCC cadet on how to handle a gun at the Combined annual Training Camp at mokokchung on wednesday, march 16, 2016. (Morung Photo)

media persons at his office chambers, disclosed that Group Commander Nagaland state NCC Group, Brig MS Nikam also visited the

CWWS Credit Support for Livelihoods launched

DIMaPur, March 16 (MExn): Chakhesang Women Welfare Society Credit Support for Livelihoods supported by Nagaland State Co-operative Bank Ltd was launched on March 15 at CWWS Conference Hall. The function was graced by Mhathung Khuvung, Branch Manager NSCB Ltd Pfutsero Branch and Imsunaro, Asst Manager, Phek (District Development Manager) NABARD. Khuvung in his speech congratulated the organization for the achievement and appealed to the SHG and JLG members to build mutual trust among the members, be stable in their activities, to maintain proper book of accounts and to have regular meetings. He also challenged the members of SHGs and JLGs to take up activities which are not done by others which will help the group to prosper and at the same time will not hamper the prospect of others business. Khuvung further mentioned the demand of organic products in the world market and to take advantage of the land fertility and promote organic cultivation. Imsunaro, Asst Manager (District Development

Manager) NABARD in her speech urged the SHG and JLG members to have the habit of saving to establish good relationship with banks. She also encouraged the group members to learn how to utilize the Government Schemes. She further stated the approval of NABARD to CWWS for formation of 200 JLGs in the district, as she stressed on the importance of forming more JLGs which will pave a way for them to avail loans based on their activities. The function was chaired by Tekhewetsolu Wezah, Associate Director, while Vechulo-u Kanuo Executive Director, CWWS delivered the welcome note. The Executive Director, in her address, extended deepest gratitude to Nagaland State Cooperative Bank Pfutsero Branch for having the confidence upon the organization leading to the launching of Credit Support for Livelihoods which is the first bulk loan in the entire district and also the NABARD for its support in every venture of the organization. The Rev. Dr. Vezopa Tetseo Executive Secretary, CBCC invoked God’s presence and Yiekhro-u Kenye, Member, Board of Directors, CWWS pronounced the benediction.

training camp to oversee it. He disclosed that Big MS Nikam complimented the NCC staff of 24 NL (I) coy and 1 Naga girls Batlallion

for able to congregate a record attendance of 658 cadets for the camp. “Brig MS Nikam appreciated the pains taken by

the cadets to reach from far flung and interior areas of whole of Nagaland covering all the 11 districts. He also complimented the school/college principals and NCC staff for organizing their transport to Mokokchung,” said Lt Col V Srinivas while adding that this is the biggest NCC training camp being held in the northeast region. Col Srinivas also disclosed that the training camp is giving special emphasis on weapon firing as there will be a selection of cadets for the upcoming National Firing Championship which will be held in Delhi. The cadets have been put through systematic weapon training before they are actually firing on the targets, he said while expressing hope that the NCC cadets would do good in the championship.

Governor of Nagaland inducts NPSC member

Governor pb acharya administers ‘oath of Secrecy’ to S. Chonta Khim as the board member of npSC on march 16 at raj bhavan Kohima. (DIPR Photo)

kohIMa, March 16 (DIPr): Nagaland State Governor, P.B. Acharya administered ‘Oath of Secrecy’ to S. Chonta Khim as the board member of Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC) on March 16 at Raj Bhavan Kohima. The proceeding was initiated by the Chief Secretary Pankaj Kumar IAS. S. Chonta Khim is the son of Lt. Shouchiu from Choklangan village under Tuensang District from Khiamniugan tribe. His educational qualification is BA. LLB and is an advocate and a Social worker by

profession. S. Chonta has rendered social services in different organization such as General Secretary Choklangan Students' Union 1991-96, President ChokIangan Students' Union 1997 -2000, Finance Secy Khiamniungan Community Union Mokokchung 1995 -98, General Secretary Khiamniungan Students' Union 1999-2001,Joint Secretary NPF, 56th Noklak A/C 2003-05, General Secretary Nokhu Range Students' Union 2004-06, General Secretary Khiamniungan Union Kohima 2005-07, Information Secretary

Mokokchung Law College Students' Union 2004-05, President Khiamniungan Students' Union 2009-till date, Vice President International Border Area Peoples' Welfare Organisation (IBAPWO) 2015till date, Junior Divisional Accountant (Treasuries & Accounts ) 2004-06, VEC (GPS ChokIangan village) 2014 Till date, Member Secretary Liaison Committee for Unification of National Workers under Khiamniungan Region 2012 to 2015. He is also a Member of Nagaland Bar Association, Guwahati High Court Kohima Bench.

ThursDAY 17•03•2016

NORTH-EAST

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

'Deprived' Congress leaders to fight independently in Assam Guwahati, March 16 (iaNS): Alleging that the first list of candidates for the assembly polls was an example of the Congress' love for "dynastic politics", many party workers across the state took to the streets on Wednesday, while some 'deprived' legislators vowed to contest as independents. Angry Congress workers in Lakhimpur laid siege to the party office Rajiv Bhavan in Lakhimpur and called for a shutdown of the district on the day opposing the All India Congress Committee's decision to give the ticket for the constituency to Joy Prakash Das instead of party veteran Ghana Buragohain. While Das is the former leader

Assam to use paper trail during voting for first time Guwahati, March 16 (iaNS): Assam will be using Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) for the first time in the forthcoming assembly election, officials said on Wednesday. The VVPAT system will be used in seven districts -Kamrup (Metro), Cachar, Dhubri, Bongaigaon, Tezpur, Jorhat and Goalpara -- covering 10 assembly constituencies of Guwahati East, Guwahati West, Dhubri, Goalpara, Jalukbari, Dispur, Silchar, Bongaigaon, Tezpur and Jorhat. Balloting will be held in two phases -- April 4 and 11. Under the VVPAT system, an apparatus is linked to the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM). When a voter casts his or her vote, a receipt is generated displaying the serial number, name and symbol of the candidate. It confirms the vote and the voter can verify the details.

of the National Students' Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of the party, Burhagohain is the former Lakhimpur legislator who had lost to Asom Gana Parishad's Utpal Dutta in 2011 only by a margin of 1,099 votes. Grassroots workers of the ruling party also set a deadline till Thursday to replace the candidature of Joy Prakash Das by giving the ticket to Buragohain, failing which they have threatened to desert the Congress en masse. Similarly, Congress workers in Mahmora constituency agitated against the candidature of Suruj Dihingia, instead of sitting legislator Sarat Saikia, who has been winning the seat for the last three consecutive terms on Con-

gress tickets. Party workers in Mahmora set ablaze the effigy of Assam Congress chief Anjan Dutta for depriving Sarat Saikia of a ticket. Saikia, meanwhile, hinted that he may contest the polls independently. Amia Gogoi, the Congress legislator from Duliajan, was also not given a ticket. Newcomer Dhruba Jyoti Gogoi is the party candidate. "My supporters are urging me to contest the polls independently. I shall take a decision in this regard soon," Gogoi said. Many agitators also alleged that the first list of 65 candidates was an example of the Congress' love for "dynastic politics". They said that in the name

of giving tickets to new candidates, the party has named only the sons and daughters or relatives of senior Congress leaders. "The party had earlier assured tickets to new candidates. However, most of the new candidates include only sons or daughters or other relatives of veteran Congressmen," said Utpal Das, one of the agitators at Mahmora. "In Aamguri, they have given the ticket to Ankita Dutta, who is the daughter of APCC president Anjan Dutta. Similarly in Sarupathar, they have given the ticket to Rosenila Tirkey, daughter of sitting MLA Aklius Tirkey." The Congress list announced on Tuesday evening in Delhi in-

cludes the names of Gautam Dhanowar, son of Digboi legislator Rameswar Dhanowar, and Pallabi Saikia Gogoi, the daughterin-law of Teok legislator Membar Gogoi. BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma said: "There cannot be a worst list for the Congress candidates than the one announced yesterday (Tuesday). "The Congress is a party run by 'mother-son' and 'father-son'. After the Congress list was out, many leaders have contacted us and we are going to take a decision on them soon," he said. Going by the list, Sarma said the Congress will get even lesser seats in the polls than the BJP had expected it would get.

New initiative to improve Mizoram students' career prospects aizawl, March 16 (iaNS): The Mizoram government has tied up with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to introduce 'Connected Learning Initiative' (CLIx) in 200 high schools to improve professional and academic prospects of students, Governor Lt Gen Nirbhay Sharma (retd.) said on Wednesday.

The CLIx is a collaborative effort of TISS, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US and the Tata Trusts. "The Mizoram government has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with TISS to introduce the CLIx in 200 high schools in the state to advance the professional and academic prospects of high

school students," Gen Sharma said while addressing the state assembly. Tata Trusts, a philanthropic organisation in the area of community and educational development, in January tied up with the US's MIT and TISS and launched the CLIx, an online-learning platform. The new programme aims to create new learning experiences

and educational opportunities for secondary school students in India. An official of Mizoram education department said that over 1,000 schools across four Indian states -- Mizoram, Telangana, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh -- have agreed to participate in CLIx, allowing it to reach an estimated 165,000 students by 2018-19.

Political parties yet to release their poll manifesto in Assam Guwahati, March 16 (pti): With a little over two weeks left for the first phase of Assam Assembly elections on April 4, the ruling Congress and other major contesting parties are yet to release their poll manifesto of issues on which they will seek voters' mandate. Congress, which recently announced its list of contestants for the first phase of polls, has not yet decided when their manifesto will be made public, APCC spokesman Apurba Bhattacharjee told PTI today. Similarly, the BJP which is attempting to topple the ruling Congress to form its government for the first time in the state, is also yet to announce its poll manifesto. Stating that the BJP Vision Document has already been released, party spokesperson Rupam Goswami said no date has been fixed for release of the election manifesto. BJP's poll alliance partner Asom Gana Parshad (AGP) has also not released its manifesto. The AGP leader-

ship, which recently announced its first list of 25 candidates for the April 4 hustings to 65 Assembly constituencies, will shortly release its poll manifesto, a spokesman of the party said. Munwar Rahman, a daily wage earner, said he wanted to know the issues on which the candidates will be seeking votes. First time voter Jonali Hazarika said "With only a few weeks to voting, I am eager to know if the political parties have taken up the issue of ensuring employment to the youth in the state." Thirty-year-old Babul Majhi, an Adivasi tea garden worker, was concerned if Congress' assurance to get his tea tribe included in the Scheduled Tribe list, is in the party manifesto. Another voter Bolen Patir said "If we don't know well in advance about the issues the parties will take up, then how can we decide which button to press on poll day?" Assam will go the polls in two phases on April 4 and April 11.

Mizoram CM slams Centre BJP's Assam CM candidate files nomination from Majuli on governors' appointments aizawl, March 16 (iaNS): Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla on Wednesday criticised the central govcernment for what he said was "high-handed and unilateral" action in removal and postings of state governors. "Our views might not be accepted all the times, but the earlier union governments consulted or informed the state chief minister concerned on the transfer, appointment or removal of governors. This

is a matter of courtesy in a federal democracy," the chief minister said. "When Sayeed was the home minister at the Centre, he consulted me on the appointment or transfer of the Mizoram governor," Thanhawla said while participating in an obituary reference to the then Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in the Mizoram assembly. The chief minister accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Demo-

North east Briefs Trainee police personnel stage protest in Manipur iMphal, March 16 (pti): Manipur police trainees, numbering 376, protested against the state Home department at Manipur Police Training Centre at Pangei in Imphal East district, a senior police official said today. One police personnel was also roughed up by the agitators but a team of Manipur police soon managed to pacify them during yesterday's development, the official said. The protesters, undergoing training in both sub-inspector and assistant sub-inspector ranks also locked up the main gate of the training centre and barricaded the roads leading towards it yesterday, the official said. The agitators were protesting the alleged delay in the passing out parade for these trainees who had completed their training on February 16 this year. The trainees wanted the official passing out parade function be completed before the coming Holi festival, according to a section of agitators.

Assam polls: IT department keeping close surveillance Guwahati, March 16 (pti): The Income Tax Department is keeping close eye over movement of cash/valuables or other items likely to be used for influencing electors during the ensuing Assam Assembly elections. As per the direction of Election Commission of India, the Directorate of Income Tax (Investigation), NER, Guwahati, has opened a 24X7 control room and Complaint Monitoring Cell at the Aaykar Bhawan here, an official release said. The public may communicate any information pertaining to movement of large amount of cash/valuables etc during the election period, which was likely to be misused for elections, the release added.

Tripura youngster sets minor afire for rejecting advances aGartala, March 16 (ht): A youngster allegedly set a 17-year-old girl on fire for rejecting his advances in Gomati district, Tripura, on Monday evening. Pinki Debnath, who suffered 90% burns in the incident, was admitted to Agartala’s GBP Hospital in a critical state. Police, who arrested the accused from his house later that night, will produce him in court on Tuesday. Sources said that the youngster, Rahul Das, had professed his love for Debnath recently. However, when the girl asked him to stop disturbing her, Das became furious and decided to kill her. On the day of the incident, Das came to her house and tried asking her out again. When Debnath reiterated her refusal, he poured kerosene on her and set her afire. Hearing her cries, neighbours rushed Debnath to the Gomati district hospital – from where she was referred to Agartala. Das was arrested on the basis of a complaint lodged by Debnath’s father at the Udaipur women’s police station.

Three Bodo militants killed in Assam Guwahati, March 16 (iaNS): Three militants of Bodo outfit NDFB -- two of whom were trained in Myanmar and were wanted in many cases -- were killed in gunfights with police in Assam, an official said on Wednesday. Based on information that militants of the anti-talk faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) were moving in Majbat area in Udalguri district, police laid an ambush on Tuesday night, said Udalguri Superintendent of Police Rakesh Roushan, who led the operation. "We spotted four people. When we asked them to stop, they ran and started firing at us forcing us to retaliate," he said. During a search, police found two militants with bullet injuries. They were taken to the Majbat primary health centre but were declared dead by doctors. The slain militants were identified as Daharu and Jackput, who were trained in Myanmar and were wanted in many cases. Another cadre -- identified as B. Sumbla -- was killed in Majbat in a separate gun battle with police. Police believe that ULFA and NDFB might try to create disturbances in the run-up to the assembly polls in Assam, scheduled for April 4 and 11. "We cannot rule out the angle that the militants have been trying to carry out subversive activities in the run-up to the polls," the police official added.

Tripura schoolgirl goes into labour en route exam hall aGartala, March 16 (ht): A Class 10 girl went into labour while heading to an examination centre at Sripur village in Dharmanagar sub-division, Tripura, on Monday. Sources said the girl complained of severe abdominal pain to her friends, following which her mother admitted her to the Dharmanagar sub-divisional hospital. She gave birth to a baby on Tuesday morning. Though the girl’s mother tried to keep the matter under wraps, local residents came to know about it. Subsequently, she lodged a complaint against Pratap Debnath, a youngster from the same village, with the Dharmanagar police. Debnath was arrested and interrogated in this regard.

cratic Alliance government of showing high-handed and unilateral approach in transferring, appointing or removing state governors. "Mizoram has had the highest number of governors in a year," he remarked. The Congress-ruled Mizoram earned the dubious distinction of seeing eight governors in 10 months before Lt. General Nirbhay Sharma (retd) took office as the 17th governor of the state on May 26 last year.

Guwahati, March 16 (iaNS): BJP's chief ministerial candidate for Assam assembly elections Sarbananda Sonowal on Wednesday filed his nomination papers from Majuli (reserve -- ST) constituency in Jorhat district. Sonowal, accompanied by party's central observer Mahendra Singh, BJP MPs Rameswar Teli and Kamakhya Tasa and other leaders submitted his papers to the sub-divisional officer of Majuli sub-division. Elections to the 126-member Assam assembly will be held in two phases on April 4 and 11. Sonowal represents

NAGALAND MULTISPECIALITY HEALTH & RESEARCH CENTRE

MIDLAND DIMAPUR PH: 03862-248302/248295/9856006026 VISITING DOCTORS FROM DISPUR HOSPITAL GUWAHATI AVAILABLE FOR CONSULTATION ON 24TH MARCH 2016

DR.P.K.BHATTACHARJEE MS (ORTHOPEDICS), Sr. Consultant Bone & Joint Specialist

DR.T.A CHOUDHURY

MD DM (NEPHROLOGY), Sr. Consultant Kidney Specialist

Lucky Draw Postponed

The declaration of the Lucky Draw organised by the Eastern Nagaland College Students’ Union which was supposed to be declared on 15th of March, 2016 has been postponed to 31st March, 2016 due to some unavoidable circumstances. Inconvenience regretted. In The Court of 1st Class Magistrate Jalukie: Nagaland

Affidavit Regd. No. 674

I, Begum Nessa D/o, Abdul Rup Barbhuiya a resident of Jalukie town PO & PS Jalukie, Peren Dist. Nagaland hereby declared that: 1. I am the deponent of this affidavit. 2. That the name Begum Nessa and Begum Nessa Barbhuiya is of same person. 3. I hereby declared that my correct name is Begum Nessa and shall be used for all official purposes in the future. Deponent 1st Class Magistrate, Jalukie, Nagaland

BORDER ROADS ORGANISATION NOTICE INVITING TENDER (NATIONAL COMPETITIVE BIDDING) 1. The Commander 15 BRTF, PIN-930 015, C/O 99 APO on behalf of President of India invites tender(s) from the eligible contractors for the following work(s) :Particular of work

Cost & Time of work

Details of tender documents

Tender No.19 of 2015-16 (a) Cost : `21.22 (a) Cost of tender Procurement and Supply of lakh : `500/various size of Tyre, Tube, (b) Period of (b) Availability : Flap Rust and Batteries of completion : 90 On or after 16 Mar various size and capacities days 2016 required for Veh / Eqpt and (c) Earnest mon- (c) Submission : Plants from the Original ey: `42,440/Up to 1200 hrs on Manufacturer / Dealers 31 Mar 2016 Authorised by the original and to be, delivered at 520 SS&TC in Sewak Complex located at Dimapur in the State of Nagaland. Note : Full notice of tender, any change in above details, tender document (including eligibility criteria) and other details may be obtained from BRO Website www.bro.nic.in (link: Tender) or Central public procurement portal www.eprocure.govt.in for any queries, please contract on telephone 0370-2260542.

SW For Commander Davp 37102/11/0606/1516

Lakhimpur parliamentary constituency in the Lok Sabha. It was under Sonowal's leadership that the party won seven of the total 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam in

2014. Sonowal is also president of the BJP's Assam unit. The Congress has pitted sitting legislator and former water resources minister Rajiv Lochan Pegu from

the assembly constituency. Majuli is a riverine island in the Bramaputra river, with a 153,362 population that is a mix of multiplicity of tribes, according to 2001 census.

OFFICE OF THE STATE CHILD PROTECTION SOCIETY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WELFARE SCPS/ADVT-01/2015

NAGALAND: KOHIMA Dated Kohima, the 30th of Jan 2016

JUVENILE JUSTICE BOARDS (JJB)

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 and its amendment Act 2006 makes it mandatory to establish one Juvenile Justice Boards in every district as the final authority to dispose of cases for the children in conflict with law. The Board shall consist of a Judicial Magistrate First Class, and two social workers of whom at least one shall be a woman, forming a bench. Interested candidates may apply for the position of two social workers by addressing to the District Child Protection Officer, of their respective District Child Protection Unit on or before 31st of March 2016. Qualification and experience in documentation shall be preferred. Tenure of the Board The tenure of the social workers shall be of three years and shall be eligible for appointment for a maximum of two consecutive terms. . Qualifications for Members of the Board (i) The social worker to be appointed as a member of the Board shall be a person not less than 35 years of age, who has a post-graduate degree in social work, health, education, psychology, child development or any other social science discipline and has been actively involved and engaged in planning, implementing and administering measures relating to child welfare for at least seven years. (ii) No person shall be considered for selection as a Member of the Board, if he/she (a) has been convicted under any law; (b) have ever indulged in child abuse or employment of child labour or any other hu man rights violations or immoral act; (c) is holding such other occupation that does not allow him/her to give necessary time and attention to the work of the Board; (d) does not fulfill the qualification and experience prescribed in the Act and the rules made there under and in such a case the Selection Committee shall after due in quiry and on establishment of such fact, reject his application and recommend the name of the next person from the list of names prepared for filling the vacancies. (iii) Candidates should be a permanent resident of concern district. Sitting and conveyance allowances The Juvenile Justice Board shall be paid sitting and conveyance allowance as per the Act. (Z. NYUSIETHO NYUTHE) Society Director State Child Protection Society Nagaland: Kohima

OFFICE OF THE STATE CHILD PROTECTION SOCIETY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WELFARE SCPS/ADVT-01/2015

NAGALAND: KOHIMA Dated Kohima, the 30th of Jan 2016

CHILD WELFARE COMMITTEES (CWC)

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 and its amendment Act 2006 makes it mandatory to establish one Child Welfare Committee (CWC) in each district as the final authority to dispose of cases for children in need of care & protection. The Committee shall consist of a Chairperson and four other members, of whom at least one shall be a woman. Interested candidates are requested to apply the same by addressing to the District Child Protection Officer (DCPO), of their respective District Child Protection Unit on or before 31st of March 2016. Qualification and experience/s in documentation shall be preferred. Tenure of the Committee The Chairperson and Members shall have the tenure of three (3) years and shall be eligible for appointment for a maximum tenure of two consecutive terms. Qualifications for Chairperson and Members of the Committee (i) A person to be selected as a Chairperson or Member of the Committee shall have either of the following qualifications, in addition to a minimum of seven years experience in their respective field: a. a person with post graduate degree in social work, psychology, child development, education, sociology, law, criminology and, where such a person is not available, a person with at least a graduate degree in any of the social science disciplines; b. a teacher, doctor or a social worker who has been involved in work concerning children. (ii)The Chairperson or Member of the Committee shall be a person not less than 35 years of age. (iii) No person shall be considered for Selection as a Chairperson or Member of the Committee, if he/she,A. has a previous conviction record; B. has been involved in any immoral act or in an act of child abuse or employment of child labor; C. is holding such full-time occupation that may not allow him/her to give necessary time and attention to the work of the Committee as per the Act and these rules; (iv) Candidates should be a permanent resident of concern district. Sitting and conveyance allowances The Chairperson and Members of the Committee shall be paid sitting and conveyance allowance as per the Act. (Z. NYUSIETHO NYUTHE) Society Director State Child Protection Society Nagaland: Kohima

ThursDAY 17•03•2016

Business

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Jewellers’ strike enters Day 15; Jaitley refuses to budge MuMbai/cheNNai, March 16 (PTi): The nationwide strike by jewellers has entered into the 15th day on Wednesday after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley refused to rollback 1% excise duty on non-silver jewellery. Jewellers on Tuesday vowed to continue their pan-India strike, which entered the 15th day, till the proposed 1% excise duty on non-silver jewellery is withdrawn, undeterred by the Centre’s assertion that the levy will not be rolled back. The government has called a meeting on Wednesday with the jeweller associations to arrive at a solution. “Even as we are incurring losses, we will continue the strike till the government completely rolls back the 1% excise duty. As an alternative, we have

suggested the government to either marginally hike the Customs duty or to impose a one-time bullet tax,” All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation (GJF) Chairman Sreedhar G V told PTI. The excise duty will encourage ‘inspector raj’ as the department officials will harass the jewellers unless there is an amendment to the law itself, he said. “One piece of jewellery consists of many parts made by different people and artisans. To keep records of each and every part of the single jewellery will be cumbersome and require additional manpower and infrastructure, which is difficult for many jewellers to manage,” Sreedhar said. “We are meeting with the Finance Ministry officials on Wednesday on

how to resolve this issue. After the meeting we will be able to take a decision on the strike,” he added. Members of over 358 associations, consisting of over 3 lakh manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers and artisans related to jewellery trade and related businesses, are on strike since March 2, demanding the withdrawal of the excise duty announced in the Union Budget 2016-17. Finance Minister Jaitley in the Budget 2016 had proposed 1% excise duty on jewellery without input credit, or 12.5% with input tax credit, on jewellery, excluding silver other than studded with diamonds and some other precious stones. The Finance Ministry later clarified only jewellers with turnover of more than Rs 12 crore will be liable to pay 1% excise duty

on non-silver jewellery items. On Monday, replying to a debate in Lok Sabha on the General Budget, Jaitley rejected demands for rolling back the levy, saying the move was in preparation for unveiling of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Last week, GJF, spearheading the anti-excise duty stir, said due to the strike, the gems and jewellery sector is witnessing per day loss of over Rs 7,000 crore. FILING 1% EXCISE DUTY INVOLVES SIMPLE PROCEDURE: GOVT Making it clear that the Centre would not roll back 1% excise duty imposed on jewellers even as strike by traders entered 14thday on Tuesday, the government on Tuesday said filing the levy is a simple

process and there is no additional procedure. “It is a simple procedure. Jewellers can file the 1% excise online and even can get registered in two days,” Chief Commissioner of Central Excise J M Kennedy said. Allaying fears of jewellers that it would be an “additional burden”, he said, “It (the levy) will be applicable to those jewellery manufacturers with a turnover of over Rs 12 crore in the previous year”. “Only if the turnover of a jeweller during the preceding financial year was more than Rs 12 crore will he be liable to pay the excise duty”, Kennedy told reporters in Chennai. Jewellers with turnover below Rs 12 crore will be eligible for the exemption up to Rs 6 crore during next financial year. Such small jewellers will be eli-

gible for exemptions up to Rs 50 lakh for March 2016, he said. Kennedy clarified that artisans or goldsmiths who only manufacture jewellery on job-work basis are not required to register with Central Excise. “This procedure is entirely based on self-assessment and voluntary compliance (from jewellers)”, he said. Finance Minister Jaitley on Monday ruled out rollback of 1% excise on non-silver jewellery, saying the move was aimed at aligning gold with GST, notwithstanding demands by jewellery traders. Jewellers across the country are on indefinite strike against the proposed excise duty as well as mandatory quoting of PAN by customers for the transaction of Rs 2 lakh and above.

Centre changes tack on LPG subsidy campaign Royal Enfield Himalayan launched New Delhi, March 16 (The hiNDu): The government seems to have given up on the Give It Up Campaign for LPG cylinders and has begun debarring LPG users who earn more than Rs. 10 lakh a year from the subsidy starting from their next refill. “Since your income is above 10 lacs, LPG subsidy is not admissible as per govt directive. Pl submit a declaration to distributor if your income is below 10 lacs,” LPG distributors have started informing taxpayers through SMS. Over the past week, thousands of taxpayers have received such SMSs from their distributors, pointing out their income status and the ineligibility for further subsidies. “We gave a message for voluntary declaration of income of more than Rs. 10 lakh a year,” Ashutosh Jindal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, told The Hindu. “In the meantime, we were able to identify around 3 lakh people with an income of

more than Rs. 10 lakh. The Income Tax Department did this for us. So, we sent them SMSs that we have identified them and their subsidy will be removed.” ‘We can’t wait for people to come forward and declare’ The government has decided to charge the full unsubsidised price of cooking gas to all customers who earn more than Rs.10 lakh a year as the voluntary scheme has not yielded the desired results. “We can’t keep waiting for people to come forward and declare,” Ashutosh Jindal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas told The Hindu. “So, we are trying to use a different matching technology to find out. And if we can verify that their income is more than Rs. 10 lakh, the same action will be taken.” The Centre had notified Rs. 10 lakh as the cut-off annual income for LPG subsidy in late December, but urged people earning more to give it up voluntarily.

P&G to challenge Indian ban on Vicks Action 500 Extra

MuMbai, March 16 (reuTers): U.S. consumer health group Procter & Gamble’s Indian business plans to challenge a government ban on its coughand-cold medicine Vicks Action 500 Extra, citing potential health risks. Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care said that while it had stopped selling the product, it was evaluating all options to challenge the ban. Vicks Action 500 Extra is a fixed-dose combination of paracetamol, phenylephrine and caffeine, which was banned by India’s health ministry in a notice issued over the weekend. The product was one of 344 drug combinations, including several antibiotics and analgesics, that India ordered to be prohibited, saying that a government-appointed panel of experts had found the combinations lacked “therapeutic justification”. P&G said that all its products, including Vicks Action 500 Extra, were backed by research to support their quality, safety and efficacy. It wasn’t immediately clear how much the product contributed to P&G’s sales.

Birthday Greeting Dearest Elomi ... ! Good times or bad, happy or sad… just one look into your eyes is all it takes to make me smile. A birthday is incomplete without a toast, and here’s mine for you – As a mother, you’re the sweetest. As a woman, you’re the prettiest. As a wife, you’re the best. Happy birthday Elomi ! From your loving Husband

Data from the Ministry show 85.24 lakh people have given up their LPG subsidy voluntarily. The back of the envelop calculations peg the total savings from this at Rs. 965 crore. “Essentially, under the Income Tax Act, there is a provision of confidentiality but that applies to only non-governmental agencies,” Dinesh Kanabar, CEO, Dhruva Advisors, told The Hindu. “As for companies, there is a constant sharing of information between customs and income tax. That kind of sharing happens all over the world.” The Income Tax Department is well within its right to provide the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas information on people earning more than Rs. 10 lakh a year, Mr. Kanabar said. “They can say that, as per tax returns, these people earn more than Rs. 10 lakh. They cannot, however, divulge the exact income these people are earning since that is not relevant.”

MuMbai, March 16 (ageNcies): Royal Enfield has launched the much-awaited Himalayan at Rs 1,55,545 (ex-showroom, New Maharashtra). The Himalayan is the Royal Enfield’s first motorcycle built completely ground up since the brand was taken over by Eicher Motors. The new Himalayan will get a new LS 410 camshaft engine, and for the first time, a Royal Enfield will get monoshock suspension. The new bike is built on a rugged duplex split cradle frame designed and developed by Harris Performance. The new bike gets 300mm front discs and 240mm for rear disc break and 21-inch alloys. Royal Enfield CEO Siddhartha Lal, while launching the new adventure bike, said, “the Himalayan is set to create an entirely new segment in the Indian market”. While unveiling the bike in February, Lal had said that, with the Himalayan, “the agenda was the build a motorcycle that could do on-road as well as offroad -- that does all kinds of different road conditions but it isn’t extreme, so you can actually use it in a variety of conditions”. “With its purpose-built ground-

leisure

Daily Cross WorD

Simple Rules - There is just one simple rule: “Fill in the grid so that every row, every column, and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.”

Game Number # 3521

Answer Number # 3520

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PAYdAY ROLO SkOR SkYBAR SmORES SNICkERS TAkEFIVE TURTLES TWIX WhATChAmACALLIT WONkABAR WUNdERBAR YORkPATTIE ZEROBAR ChOCOLATE SWEET PEPPERmINT CARAmEL hAZELNUT TOFFEE PEANUTS

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ACROSS 1. Country house 6. Cap 10. Unwakable state 14. French farewell 15. deception 16. By mouth 17. Intended 18. Send forth 19. Anagram of “Tine” 20. Excusable 22. Shower with love 23. detachable container 24. Restricts 26. Bigotry 30. Supporting column 32. Pain 33. most skittish 37. mongol hut 38. To scour 39. Leer at 40. Inactive 42. Scallion 43. Condition 44. A reddish brown 45. Slats 47. Not in 48. Abominable Snowman 49. miscellany 56. Acquire deservedly 57. False god 58. Ellipses 59. Largest continent 60. Not a single one 61. 4-door car 62. make well 63. Alumnus 64. Exchange DOWN 1. Seductress 2. Notion 3. Teller of untruths 4. Extend credit 5. Postmortem 6. Coming up 7. grooming tool

CROSSWORD # 3535

SUDOKU

up design, the Himalayan is a simple and capable go-anywhere motorcycle that will redefine adventure touring in India,” Lal said, at the launch. The company said that the bike has been designed keeping Indian riders in mind, which means the seat is comfortably accessible which is usually a problem with most Royal Enfields. With a ground clearance of 220mm, the seat height has been achieved at 800mm. Along with the new bike, the company has also launched riding gear for long-distance biking. The gear range includes four-season Royal Enfield Darcha riding suit made with REV’IT; touring jackets and trousers with Cordura, protective armour, removable thermal liners and breathable waterproof lining. It also comes with riding gloves, riding trousers and riding boots. The company said it now has over 500 dealerships in the country.

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ANSWER TO CROSSWORd 3534

O A E g S T T g E O A V g h N S R W Y S

New Delhi, March 16 (NDVT gaDgeTs): Nearly two years after Canon launched the EOS 1200D in India; the company has announced its successor with the EOS 1300D. The new entrylevel DSLR is priced at Rs. 29,995 for the body and a EF-S 18-55 IS II kit lens. You also have a choice of another package which will include a EF-S 55250 IS II zoom lens for Rs. 38,995. Both variants will be available starting April. The Canon 1300D is an incremental update to the 1200D. First on the list of upgrades is the faster DIGIC 4 powering the camera, which should allow for faster image processing and focusing speeds. The sensor is the same 18-megpaixel APSC CMOS sensor while the ISO range stays at 1006,400. The resolution of the 3-inch LCD screen has improved to nearly double at 920k dots, which should give you a sharper and clearer image. The biggest change however is the addition of Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity, which now allows you to instantly transfer images to your smartphone or remotely frame a shot with Canon’s Camera Connect

app. Other Canon 1300D features include 1080p video recording, 9-point autofocus system and burst shooting up to 3fps. The camera weighs nearly the same as the older model too, at around 485g. Andrew Koh, Vice President of Consumer Imaging and Information Centre, Canon India said, “Photography as a hobby and sporting a DSLR camera is quite the rage in India presently. So is social media, and everybody wants to share their images online with their friends immediately. With this a precursor, we are thrilled to launch the EOS 1300D - a DSLR camera with inbuilt Wi-Fi & NFC. The EOS 1300D creates great looking images and allows instantaneously sharing them as well - thus meeting the requirements of first time users, social media junkies and hobbyists alike.”

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CURRENCY NOTES

222246 222491

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Euro

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1.81

2.01

0.0534

0.0596

17.24

19.20

9.76

10.87

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ThursdAY 17•03•2016

NAGALAND

4-lane JAC Dimapur By-Pass GHS Tzurangkong students protest shortage of teachers rescind MoU with NHIDCL DIMAPUR, MARCH 16 (MExN): 4-Lane Joint Action Committee Dimapur By-Pass has rescinded the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) on March 2015 in connection with 4-lane Dimapur bypass for nonfulfillment on the part of the concerned authorities to satisfy the landowners. “Should the concerned authority desire to acquire the same portion of land, a fresh MoU with enhanced rate of land and chattels thereon may be contemplated and finalized within 2 months of the release

of the representation,” the joint action committee informed. In the event of failure to materialize the enhancement of rate through a fresh MoU within the given time frame, the land owners also decided not to part with their land at any cost in future. The reason for this course of action, according to a representation addressed to the Deputy Commissioner, Dimapur, was because of non release of the money for compensation of the 4-lane Dimapur by-pass from Patkai Bridge to Khushiabil which was sanctioned long time back.

NIIT students informed DIMAPUR, MARCH 16 (MExN): All the NIIT students of NIIT Dimapur Center and Unity College have been informed to attend a special session with the Director & Team Royal Tigers on 19, 11:00 am at NIIT’s conference hall. A press release from Ajay Sethi, Head of Centre, NIIT Dimapur Centre further informed all the NIITians who have appeared their exams till last month to collect respective certificates within this month. Interested NIITians who are looking for better job opportunities may submit their resume to niitdimapur@yahoo.co.in, it added.

It also criticized the NHIDCL as well as the State government for being insincere in performing their part of the job even when the affected land owners have approached the concerned authorities for timely payment. “Except for the vague and ambiguous assurances nothing has been forthcoming till date,” it stated. NHIDCL withhold release of land compensation Meanwhile, NHIDCL in a notification addressed to the joint action committee informed that it has decided to withhold the release of land and other compensation with regard

to the 4-laning of Dimapur bypass. “The top management of NHIDCL at New Delhi have decided to withhold the release of land and other compensation for the 4-laning of Dimapur bypass until the land acquisition process in the Assam side of Dimapur bypass reaches advanced stage since the finalized alignment of the proposed Dimapur bypass passes through both Nagaland and Assam state,” the notification read. It also went on to add that “any adverse change in the Assam side alignment will not serve the purpose of bypass connecting NH36 and NH-39.”

MoKoKCHUNg, MARCH 16 (MExN): In protest against the shortage of teachers, including Headmaster and Assistant Headmaster, in the school, the students of Government High School, Tzurangkong on March 15 boycotted classes and organised silent procession. A press release received here noted that the school is one of the most reputed government schools in Nagaland. “Though Government High School, Tzurangkong has a well built infrastructure, but what is the use of it when the students do not acquire quality education as promised by the government due to acute shortage of teaching staff,” the press release asked. It lamented that there is “untold problems and physical exhaustions” faced by the teachers every day. Stating that the teachers have to teach 6-7 classes per day, the release said “It is indeed a sorry sight to see where even Hindi, Art teachers etc are made to teach subject out of their comfort

zone due to shortage of teachers.” With the assurance given by the Government officials, the students agreed to suspend the boycott until March 31, 2016. However, accord-

ing to the release, the students will resume the boycott and go for indefinite strike if there is no positive response from the Directorate of Education within the given period.

1st day of indefinite ban on CHC Jalukie peaceful: JSUN ACAUT asks to implement court general secretary Pehiato said the ruling on regularization of doctors Health & Family Welfare Depart-

Police at Zubza seize 100 kg ganja KoHIMA, MARCH 16 (MExN): Personnel of Sechü (Zubza) Police Station seized 100 kg of contraband ganja from a local taxi during routine checking along NH-29 on March 16 around 9:30 am. A press release from PRO, Kohima Police informed that the driver of the vehicle identified as Zubenthung Odyuo (25) was taken into police custody on the charge of illegal possession and transportation of contraband ganja. Meanwhile, a regular case vide Sechü (Zübza) P.S Case No. 0006/2016 U/S 20 (b) (c) NDPS Act was registered against the arrested person and he is remanded into police custody for conducting further investigation, the PRO said.

Students of GHS Tzurangkong during the silent procession against shortage of teachers in the school on March 15.

JSUN members outside the CHC Jalukie which has been indefinitely closed down in a protest.

JALUKIE, MARCH 16 (MExN): The ‘indefinite ban’ imposed by the Jalukie Students’ Union, Nagaland (JSUN) on the Community Health Centre (CHC) went off peacefully. The ban was called for not honour-

ing the MoU signed between the Nagaland Government and Old Jalukie Village Council during the establishment of Jalukie Town. A press statement issued by JSUN president Haizin Mpom and

ment had ignored the consensus candidate of the Old Jalukie Village (land owner) for the post of medical attendant. Following this, the JSUN had served 15 days ultimatum to revoke the appointment order which was appointed against their recommendation. According to the press statement, on the first day of agitation, officials from district administration represented by SDO (civil) and the CMO Peren intervened for negotiation on the issue. However, the JSUN has decided to continue the ban since the matter could not be sorted out due to failure of assurance and commitment. While stating that the CHC will remain closed indefinitely, the students union however informed that emergency ward and ARTC will be exempted from the purview of the ban.

DIMAPUR, MARCH 16 (MExN): The ACAUT Nagaland has requested all the HoDs and AHoDs to implement the Kohima Bench of the Gauhati High Court’s ruling regarding the case of Atouzo Pienyu (Dr) & Ors Vrs The State of Nagaland & Ors. The court, in a judgment dated November 14, 2015, had set aside the regularization of 13 out of 15 doctors as Veterinary Assistant Surgeons (VAS) and also dismissed their appointment. The court however also ruled that the dismissed doctors could reapply for the post through appropriate NPSC examination process considering that most had crossed the age-limit, informed a press note from the ACAUT today. It further noted that the notification of the Health and Family Welfare Department, dated February 26, is an indication that the government has “given up on its attempt to regularize the 19 backdoor appointee doctors as medical officers.” Stating that the Principal Director, H&FW department has “rightfully requisitioned the NPSC for 40 posts of MOs,” the ACAUT said that “all the present 40 backdoor appointee MOs in the department, including the 19 presently seeking regularization, have already been relinquished of their posts, thus allowing merit to prevail through open competitive examination to be conducted by the NPSC.” As such, it asked the HoDs and AHoDs to implement the ruling “in letter and in spirit with regard to all such cases of regularization process being moved by the government.”

‘Nat'l Rural Drinking Water & Sanitation Communities should be ‘priority partners’ in development the DC of Dimapur at the trolled by 2-3 people in vil- bridging the gender dispar- congratulating CAN Youth Awareness’ campaign kicks off in Mkg Plenary Session held here lage councils, informed the ity by helping women come Society for empowering Morung Express News Dimapur | March 16

Morung Express News Mokokchung | March 16

Deputy Commissioner Mokokchung, Sushil Kumar Patel (IAS) today launched the ‘National Rural Drinking Water & Sanitation Awareness’ campaign organized by the PHED at Longkumer Kilem, Mokokchung. The campaign has been launched all over India on March 16 and will culminate on World Water Day which will falls on March 22. The guest of honor, Sushil Kumar Patel, challenged everyone to be brand ambassadors of the environment and work towards saving it. He also said that people can be prevented from various diseases if cleanliness can be maintained and encouraged people to store safe drinking water during rainy

DC Mokokchung, Sushil Kumar Patel speaking at the launch of the ‘National Rural Drinking Water & Sanitation Awareness’ campaign on March 16 in Mokokchung.

seasons so that the people won’t face water scarcity during the dry season. He also added that the PHED department should implement various programmes to save water. Er. N. Yanger Pongen, Executive Engineer, PHED, talked on the importance of the campaign and said that the PHED department will visit schools in Kubolong

area and hold essay competitions for school children and visit eighteen villages and spread the National Rural Drinking Water & Sanitation Awareness campaign. The programme was led by Tsongrosongla Jamir, Consultant, and the vote of thanks was given by Er. Imnaningsang, Junior Engineer, PHED.

Bureaucrats in Nagaland State have ceded a lot of space to political executives, thereby perpetuating the system that exists. This was hinted today by Kesonyü Yhome, the Deputy Commissioner of Dimapur at the Xchange Northeast Youth NGO Summit being held at Hotel Acacia from March 1518. He is also a mentor to the Summit. This space has been ceded by “failing to stand our ground,” confessed

today. In Nagaland State, he said, there is a need to rectify the disparity between rural and urban growth. For this, the government should make communities their “priority partners” in development, he noted, giving the example of the people’s movement in Korea that led to large scale industrialisation of South Korea. But in Nagaland, most people are not even aware of their entitlements from the State, which are con-

bureaucrat who has been posted in various remote areas of Nagaland before. It is these voices that the NGOs must represent, and help in boosting good governance. “We cannot fulfil our commitments without revisiting our villages,” he asserted. The other areas where NGOs can help towards development, Yhome stated, would be in the development of good primary and middle school education, practicing free, fair and peaceful elections, and

into policy making. However, he also noted that development has been slow to come to Nagaland State as many new and western systems have been “imposed on us,” giving little space for traditional systems to flourish, and the resultant “mismatch.” He said that peace is necessary but not a “pre-condition” to development. Meanwhile, in a message to the CAN Youth organisers of the Summit, Governor of Nagaland State, PB Acharya, while

the youth of Nagaland, stated that the Northeast being a gateway to ASEAN countries is “best suited to be a commercial corridor of India which can only be achieved if we facilitate development in true sense.” Imparting skill development to the youth will facilitate employment and entrepreneurship can be encouraged through financial loans from the Central Government. He wished all the participants of the Summit a “cooperative and rational dialogue.”

DC Mon reiterates on officers’ attendance at DPDB meetings

MoN, MARCH 16 (DIPR): the meeting discussions and share based on record books and ascer- PowerPoint presentation on Pretain the position as per the format conception & Pre-natal Diagnostic Deputy Commissioner of Mon, W their problems. The Deputy Commissioner for necessary action. Technique Act (PNDT) 1994. He Honje Konyak has emphasized on EE, PWD (R&B), Er. Talitemsu apprised the board that the Act proregular attendance of officers in also stressed on the coordination their places of posting and reiter- meeting of the LADP verification Jamir highlighted on the progress hibits sex selection before or after ated that quarterly attendance of committee members for proper of the Mon - Namtola road after conception, misuse of pre-natal dithe DPDB meeting will be report- implementation of the LADP proj- renovation of the road by the de- agnostic techniques for determinaed to respective departments in ect in the district and urged the partment. He informed that 14 Km tion of the sex of the fetus and penalKohima. Speaking at the monthly concerned members and technical plain area road from Namtola to ties imposed for violation of the Act. The Board forwarded to the District Planning & Development wings of various departments to at- Tekang Bridge has been taken up Board meeting held on March 15 tend the meeting positively when- by the National Highway Author- concerned authority regarding upKoHIMA, MARCH 16 (DIPR): The Na- tance of administration in the school and at the DC’s conference hall here, ever notified. He further urged all ity of India. gradation of Green Valley School, galand Board of School Education (NBSE), on the role and leadership aspects of the Honje also appealed to the DPDB the heads of offices to identify their Gynecologist of District Hospi- Mon and recognition of Police Unit Kohima conducted an interaction with the head. She urged the heads of schools to members to actively participate in respective department’s quarters tal Mon, Dr. Supong Meren gave a School, Mon. newly appointed heads of Secondary and partner together to bring about positive Higher Secondary Schools on March 15 at change in the system. Controller of Exams, Rangumbuing Ura Academy Hall, Kohima. A total of 146 spoke on examination matters and reheads of schools attended the meeting. The interaction is an annual pro- forms initiated by the Board, Coordinator gramme of the Board, where the newly (IT) Kekhrielhoutuo gave a PowerPoint appointed heads are apprised of the dif- presentation on the use of technology and KoHIMA, MARCH 16 formation System Cell, AG to the department due to Gazetted officers, HoDs government have been requested once again to enferent expectations as heads of institutions connectivity, and Sr. Academic Officer, Il- (MExN): Office of the Ac- Nagaland office further in- observation/objections; informed Meanwhile, the release sure timely submission of and also briefed about their duties and re- uheing spoke on the academic aspects, the countant General, Naga- formed that the Accountant and when the pension case also informed all gazetted all retirement related docessence of an institution. The meeting con- land has informed all re- General (A&E) has request- is completed. sponsibilities. Aggrieved pensioners officers whose payslips are uments (that is, six months In the programme, Chairman, NBSE, cluded with an interactive session where tired State Government ed all retired Government officers/ officials that pen- employees once again to or Government officials issued from the Accountant before the date of retireAsano Sekhose dwelled on the impor- many doubts and queries were clarified. sion and GPF Final pay- record their personal mo- with genuine problems General Office that Incum- ment) to avoid harassment cases settled up to bile numbers in the pen- have been requested to bency list and post con- ment to retired officials at the month of February sion documents to enable write directly to the Deputy tinuation orders for more various processing stages. 2016 have been uploaded the Office to intimate them Accountant General (A&E) than fifty departments are Cases of many officials on its website. Pensioners on the progress of their Kahoto J Yepthomi via e- yet to be received by the received before the date DIMAPUR, MARCH 16 er after getting the award. house resolved to take up may log on to the website pension cases through mail at kahoto_j@yahoo. Office. The matter is al- of retirement have been (DIPR): The District Level Yhome also highlighted the the matter with the depart- at www.agnagaland.gov. SMSs. The SMSs will be co.in or agaenagaland@ ready taken up with the de- settled by the AG Office on in, click at Felicitation and triggered through Pension cag.gov.in or through partment of P&AR in a let- their retirement date/day Coordination Committee importance of all heads of ment concerned. Tobacco Free School Pension or GPF Felicita- Database SMS gateway a handwritten letter to ter dated.11-03-2016 with as a demonstration of seriReview Meeting for the 4th institutions in the district Quarterly 2015-2016 was to take part in anti tobacco certificates were awarded tion or directly click on the No.9402739265; since the the address given below copies duly endorsed to ousness the office accords to Holy Cross Higher Sec- Sticky Note written “Click number is integrated with for immediate clarifica- the concerned Secretaries to sensitivities of retired held at DC conference hall campaign. DC further appealed ondary School, Dimapur, here to view list of settled the system, pensioners tion and redressal of their and Directors, it said. The officials and their retireon March 16. Deputy Commissioner, Dimapur and to the Dimapur Naga Stu- C-Edge College, Dimapur, Pension/GPF final pay- have been requested not to grievances: Kahoto J Yep- Departments in receipt of ment benefits, the release Chairman DLCC Dimapur dents’ Union to become a St Savio Higher Secondary ment cases.” The list has call the number but to note thomi, IAAS, Deputy Ac- the letter have been asked said. “Departments may District, Kesonyu Yhome major stakeholder in fight- School, Dimapur, Agape also been put up for display it down as all SMSs will be countant General (A&E), to adhere to the guidelines seriously take up the matwhile exhorting the gathering against tobacco. The School, Chumukedima, at the Public Relation Cell initiated through the same Office of the Accountant and expedite the submis- ter of timely submission ing congratulated the recip- house discussed at length Daeshin Academy, Di- and can be viewed on any number. SMSs will be sent General (A&E), Kohima, sion of Incumbency list and of retirement documents, ients of Tobacco Free School on ‘Smoke Free Dimapur’. mapur, St Francis School, working days during office during the following stages: Pin No.797001, Nagaland. post-continuation order for so as to enable the pencertificates and encouraged In regard to putting up Medziphema and St Mary hours. When confirmation on the They can also submit sug- further action. sioners to receive their rethem to implement it in true anti tobacco signboards in Montessori Higher SecFurther, all Heads of tirement benefits in time,” A press release from Se- pension case is received; gestions to strengthen the sense as many do not both- government schools, the ondary School, Dimapur. Department in the State it added. nior Accounts Officer, In- when the case is sent back delivery system.

NBSE interact with new heads of schools

Pension, GPF cases settled up to Feb uploaded on AG website

Tobacco Free Schools awarded in Dimapur

ThursDAY 17•03•2016

IN FOCUS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

The Power of Truth

The Morung Express volume Xi issue 74 By Aheli moitra

Beyond cash crops

C O M M E N T A R Y

Ananya Vajpeyi NYT

The Enduring Curse of Caste

n a well-to-do village situated towards the eastern part of Nagaland, a study was once conducted by a team of women. The study attempted to understand what kind of changes had taken place in the food systems of the people over the past couple of generations. The findings worried everyone. Over the years, many indigenous seeds are being replaced by newer ones. Millet and beer now has rice and dal as replacement. Along with this, the songs, dances and weaves— the language of the people—that accompanied the cultivation of indigenous crops, like millets, sesame or red corn, is also slowly diminishing. Non indigenous seeds and methods of farming are being promoted to a large section of the rural populace. With men holding the reins of decision making entirely, more lands are being converted to use for cash crops, reducing the generational longevity of the soil. It has led to a change in the food plate, more dependency on the market and lesser degree of control over the land. The story of the eastern village, however, can be found repeated in every district in Nagaland. A number of indigenous fruits, rice variants and chillies have disappeared from Mokokchung, for instance. Most of these disappearances are going undocumented and unnoticed. As climate changes, the Naga lands and fields will face new situations of weather, water, flora, fauna and soil conditions. While globalised variants may provide for larger and easier produce alongside a thriving chemical economy, they are also likely to bring diseases and other threats in crops unknown to the area till date. Indigenous seed varieties stand sturdier in the landscape when faced with climate change. Their knowledge has been held by communities here for centuries—how to change their planting patterns with other corresponding changes is wisdom already held by communities, which, in turn, empowers them. Some women from Chizami village in Phek district have been working on strengthening these indigenous systems of land use through preservation and investment in indigenous seeds. Working under the banner of the North East Network, they have helped enhance traditional seed banks that Naga women used to maintain. The concept of the seed banks have been enlarged to help women share and broaden the horoscope of indigenous knowledge—women store seeds in each of their banks in an organised manner and share it with women of neighbouring areas, experimenting and passing on the knowledge thereby growing their investment in a sustainable future. In turn, it has also helped renew songs surrounding millets and the diversity in cultural practices it allows for. Traditional fruits and delicious methods of food preparations have also returned with them. Alongside millets, you can grow almost 40-60 varieties of vegetables and crops that provide for a nutritious and empowered food security. Through empowering themselves, women are opting more for cooperation and peace as opposed to the egotist politics of war that has defined the region through the lens of cash crop politics. On the ground, women are not just preserving sovereignty through the preservation and practice of indigenous knowledge, they are also building interregional people’s solidarities with other farmers of the subcontinent as was on display at the Biodiversity Festival held in Chizami on March 9. The government should take part in such activities to learn from the keepers of the soil and seeds. Diverse comments may be sent to moitramail@yahoo.com

lEfT WING |

Nidal al-Mughrabi Reuters

No end to power crisis, Gazans turn to the sun

aced with power blackouts lasting anything from eight to 12 hours a day, residents and businesses in Gaza are increasingly turning to the sun to supply their energy needs. Not only are solar panels more reliable and cheaper in the long run, but in some cases, including that of Tamer al-Burai, they have become essential to staying alive. "To me, power is not just about lights or entertainment, it's a matter of life and death," said Burai, 40, who suffers from a severe sleep disorder that affects his breathing and has to be hooked up to an oxygen ventilator at night. Burai used to spend around 18,000 shekels ($4,600) a year on fuel to run a generator that helped make sure he could weather the daily blackouts. Now he has invested in solar panels, making the long-run costs much cheaper. "I paid $5,000 to get solar energy for the entire house and that will provide relief for years to come," the father of four told Reuters proudly. Whereas three or four years ago only a handful of Gaza's 1.95 million people could afford to think about solar panels, in the past couple of years, as prices have come down, it has become a much more accessible option. Schools, hospitals, shops, banks and even mosques have started to install panels on their roofs across the Gaza Strip, a self-governing Palestinian enclave which suffered considerable damage in 2014 during a seven-week war between Israel and Palestinian armed groups based in the territory. Nabeel Marouf, the general manager of the Gaza-based Renewable Power Engineering and Contracting Company, said he had been overwhelmed with orders. Two years ago, he might have had a dozen clients, he said, but now it's in the thousands. "People have lost hope for a solution to the power crisis, and on top of that there's the fuel crisis," he said, explaining that the regular power supply, interrupted for years, was a mess and fuel for generators was costly and problematic. SUNSHINE GALORE Looking across the rooftops of downtown Gaza City, it is clear solar is catching on, with glinting panels on almost every building. New technology even allows people to hang panels over the edge of their balconies. Most of the equipment, including batteries and controllers, is imported from China, where they are made by U.S., Canadian or German companies, said Marouf. They are imported via Israel, which allows them into Gaza via one of its crossings. Costs for a system range from $1,500 to $30,000, depending on the amount of energy people need. Gaza has three usual sources of power: around 60 MegaWatts generated by the enclave's only power plant, 30MW imported from Egypt and 120MW that is supplied from Israel. Solar power - abundant the year-round in Gaza, perched as it is on the edge of the southeastern Mediterranean between Israel and Egypt - may provide the territory with a degree of energy independence. In Khan Younis, a town in the southern Gaza Strip, Mohammad Abu Jayyab watched workers as they installed panels on his home. "It has become clear that there are no solutions (to the energy crisis) in the near future," said Abu Jayyab, a local economist. "The situation became tragic, so we resorted to an alternative - solar power."

Dalits, or untouchables, traditionally sweep trash and clean overflowing sewage from roadsides in India

f the many protests to convulse public universities across India in recent weeks, the one held on Feb. 23, in which thousands of students, faculty and activists marched through central Delhi demanding “Justice for Rohith,” was the largest and perhaps the most palpably indignant. A month before, Rohith Vemula, a 26-yearold Ph.D. student at the University of Hyderabad, in southern India, hanged himself from the ceiling fan in a friend’s hostel room. Mr. Vemula was raised by his single working mother, who is from a “scheduled caste,” the lowest rung of the hierarchical system that structures traditional Hindu society, and which used to be deemed “untouchable” until India’s independence in 1947. Mr. Vemula identified as Dalit, a word meaning “crushed” or “ground down” and refers to the oppression, often violent, suffered by scheduled castes over centuries of Indian history. Mr. Vemula had secured admission to a prestigious graduate science program, as well as a highly competitive national research fellowship. He was a brilliant scholar and a popular and vociferous campus activist for the rights of disenfranchised communities. He killed himself because of relentless caste discrimination.

he recent set of highlighted events have completely blownaway one myth that Delhi-based media wants to propagate - the myth that there it is something called the “national media” and represents concerns and realities beyond the NCR. Delhi media spent most of its time and resources informing us about student unrest in Delhi and more recently, water shortage in Delhi due to protests on roads surrounding Delhi. That's just about everything the billion plus souls of the Indian Union needed to know for the last couple of weeks. Even an empire that is divorced from people's realities and imposes its narrative on its far-flung subjects ought to have some sense of proportion and shame. While guns, boots and steel represent hard-dominance, the control of what is purportedly the “national narrative” or ”national priority” or “national concern” is a well-oiled tool of soft-dominance. Which is why the chemical-attack on activist Soni Sori of Chhattisgarh, who has earlier been raped and sexually tortured in Khaki custody, makes a feeble blip, that too largely because of the oddity value of her chemical-charred face. The crucial difference between hard and soft dominance is that the latter is sophisticated enough to create poles within their narrative, so as to suck in all kinds of energies along pre-determined lines. It is a different system of crowd-management that gives more options to the victim than a Khaki bullet or a Khaki phallus does. This narrative of softdominance pays tribute to the idea

He left behind a searing suicide note: “The value of a man was reduced to his immediate identity and nearest possibility. To a vote. To a number. To a thing. Never was a man treated as a mind.” Mr. Vemula’s suicide — hardly a rarity among Dalits at India’s best universities — is emblematic of the problems of the country’s affirmative action program. Within a few years after independence, India had set aside for Dalits and other disadvantaged castes about 23 percent of government jobs and seats in public universities. Today, the reservations apply to many more groups and cover about 50 percent of such posts and seats. But numerical improvement does not an equal society make. Dalit students still come from severe poverty. They lead de facto segregated lives on nominally diverse and inclusive campuses. They still face daunting disadvantages in the job market even after they graduate with degrees. The ability of “reserved” candidates is always suspect, regardless of their performance. The gap between the high and the low castes, between so-called backward and forward communities, not only persists, it also manifests itself through ever-more subtle and complex forms of discrimination and violence. Being the beneficiary of reservations can itself be a stigma. B.R. Ambedkar, a Dalit and an architect of India’s 1950 Constitution, warned the Constituent Assembly in 1949 that the political revolution inspired by Mohandas K. Gandhi, which had led to India’s freedom from British rule, must be accompanied by a social revolution upholding the ideals of fraternity and dignity for all. Together with other progressive founders of the Indian Republic, Ambedkar helped make social, economic and political justice the first item

of business in the statute books. The Constitution they drafted made it a punishable offense to treat anyone as “untouchable,” outlawed discrimination based on caste, and encouraged the state to pass measures correcting its effects. With that, the bare bones of affirmative action — the “reservations,” or quota, system — were in place. Ambedkar believed that within a decade or two quotas would bring about “the annihilation of caste” and become unnecessary. But this was not to be. In the late 1970s the government set up the Mandal Commission to study which other groups, even if not among the lowest castes, might also be suffering from social, economic or educational deprivation. By the early 1990s, India had begun to expand reservations to include the so-called Other Backward Classes. But today it is clear that even the Mandal reforms have failed to bring about Ambedkar’s dream of a genuinely equal society. Caste, instead of withering away as Indian democracy matures, has asserted itself in new ways. Mr. Vemula viscerally understood this unhappy truth. Since August 2015, he had faced the hostility of university authorities for being politically engaged and unusually articulate. In just one semester, he had lost his hostel accommodation, his monthly stipend and access to the classroom. For several nights leading up to his suicide, during the coldest stretch of the winter, he had camped on mattresses and blankets set outside the hostel’s gates. A few other students were with him, and they wryly referred to their makeshift arrangement as a “Dalit ghetto.” Mr. Vemula’s fault was not simply being a Dalit. He was also a leader in the Ambedkar Students Association, which actively campaigned to “educate, agitate and organize” students, following a rousing slogan from Ambedkar. The group’s members discussed not only Dalit issues, but also other controversial matters: the death penalty; Kashmir’s problematic relationship with the Indian union; communal violence against minorities, especially Muslims, in what is an officially secular nation. Worse perhaps, Mr. Vemula had gained admission to the University of Hyderabad in the general, nonreserved category — meaning that his trajectory had not followed the standard script of marginality and exclusion. Politically aware and assertive youth like him face the brunt of double discrimination: Not only are they Dalit, but they refuse the victimhood expected of them. Contrast that with groups that traditionally have been better off but increasingly are calling themselves victims in order to claim special protection. Castes like Jats in Haryana, Patidars in Gujarat, Marathas in Maharashtra and Kapus in Andhra Pradesh have been agitating recently, asking to benefit from reservations, even though they often are wealthy or own land. India started opening up its economy at the same time that the Mandal recommendations were being debated. By the mid-2000s, overall prosperity increased, lifting many poor people into the middle class. But liberalization, along with urbanization, also created unforeseen types of inequality. The so-called dominant castes agitating for reservations fall between two stools: the old model of social justice, meant principally for the weakest of the weak, and the gains brought on by the free market. The sociologist Satish Deshpande refers to them as the “backward forwards.” “My birth is my fatal accident,” Mr. Vemula wrote in his suicide note. But his birth as a citizen of democratic India should have been a guarantee of dignity, opportunity and respect. He also wrote that he blamed no one. Yet there are culprits: his fellow Indians who have embraced democracy without understanding that its first principle is equality for all. Ananya Vajpeyi, an associate fellow with the Center for the Study of Developing Societies, in New Delhi, is the author of “Righteous Republic: The Political Foundations of Modern India.”

Dissent in Delhi - Missing the sea for the foam Garga Chatterjee of dissent. Segments of the soft-dominance factions of the deep-state also determines the nature and content of dissent and hence its limits. Whenever there is dissent whose content is beyond their “allowable” limits, there is debate on everything except the actual content of dissent – in this case, alleged human rights violations and the case for or against the self-determination of Kashmir. Everything except the content becomes the message. Mini-cottage industries of dissent aesthetics spring up over-night, with social media playing the role of bill-boards. All this is just fine except for the fact that the message was lost. And this has become a pattern – not only in the subcontinent but all over the world. The most recent example was the Wikileaks expose, where the actual shocking contents of the leaks and the cables was drowned in a sea of representations and mis-representations of Wikileaks as an organization and Julian Assange as a person. The control of the narrative thus is not by suppression but by crowding. It is

quite tragic that that defenders of free speech are also useful pawns in such crowding, creating the sea of foam and 'debate' in which the message, the content drowns. Let there be no doubt about certain things. A system or a state that fears human words is very aware of its own lies. Its own false god is its excuse to claim legitimacy. This is where its militant adherents come handy for the size of that crowd is thought to be proportional to the numbers of those who are in silent agreement. The Indian Union fears words. That is pathetic. It has created a system where dissent is only meaningful when it has the Midas touch of Delhi and has gained the attention of Delhi-based gate-keepers of dissent and radicalism. That is equally pathetic. The browns are an unfortunate people. Within all this fiasco of the last 2 weeks was the 25th anniversary of the gang-rapes of Kunan-Poshpora. The gang-rapists of Kunan Poshpora are doing just fine, some living “normal” lives, some striving hard to bring greater

WRITE-WING

laurels for Bharatmata, some contemplating a career in public service, some taking early retirement to join a private security agency, some of their protectors venturing into “art and culture” promotion, some will go on to write books on Kashmiriyat. Kunan Poshpora is still alive. Not because Delhi cares but inspite of Delhi's silence and may be because Kunan Poshpora did not outsource its conscience and struggle to Delhi. It is increasingly clear in this subcontinent that when “solidarity” gains the upper-hand over the actual struggle, when DSLRs nudge out sweat, likes replace mikes and most slogans and debates about a brown people's issue happen in English, the death of the issue is near or has already happened. The recent agitations in Delhi are as always agitations by Delhi. I do rarely naively hope that an expansion in the rights of people beyond the pale of Hindi-Hindi-Hindustan and its capital Delhi would come through struggles by Delhi. But it won’t happen. It has never happened. We know it. Delhi knows it. We know who will benefit from this – socially, politically, romantically, psychologically. Delhi may not admit but also ultimately knows it. I still wish Delhi well. But we have to look elsewhere and nearby and around us for inspiration and perspiration. Delhi, for all its self-righteousness over us “regionals” and with its moody earnestness, won’t fight our battles. The fact that solidarity in and from Delhi matters in the “national narrative” is part of the problem and not part of the solution. Delhi and its ideologies represent, what we in Bangla call, the ghost in the mustard.

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thursDAY 17•03•2016

PERSPECTIVE

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Students assert their ‘right to dissent’ in India An Economic Test: To

A WEEKLY COLUMN ON

Micro-Economics & Management By Mazie Nakhro

Buy a Brand New Car or a Slightly Used One

Bhavana Mahajan Waging Nonviolence

new era in public debate and polarization has dawned in India over the last few weeks following the government’s crackdown on students and universities across the country under the guise of protecting “nationalist sentiment.” In May 2014, the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, came to power in India with an absolute majority. Corruption scams and ineffective leadership by the previous government had left people feeling frustrated, and the world’s largest democracy voted for what seemed to be a development-oriented growth agenda. While the central government and its leadership started working on implementing this agenda, the BJP’s parent organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, or RSS — and a student’s wing called the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, or ABVP — decided it was time to “fix” the social and moral fabric of the nation. They launched a campaign against all that did not fit in with the mainstream “Hindutva” right-wing ideology, leading to many face-offs between the liberals and leftists on one side and “sanghis,” or right-wing fundamentalists, on the other. One area of the public sphere that felt a subversion of its autonomy was higher education. University campuses came under regular scrutiny, and one of these interventions took a nasty turn when a lower caste doctoral student, Rohith, committed suicide. He was expelled from his campus housing, and his university fellowship was ended after complaints of an alleged attack against an ABVP leader. National dailies have since reported that ABVP activists had originally objected to Rohith’s alleged protest against the death penalty for Yakub Memon, who was convicted for his role in the 1993 Bombay bombings case, among other incidents. The situation escalated into a face-off between ABVP activists and Rohith’s political association for Dalit students. In his suicide note, Rohith wrote, “My birth is my fatal accident.” His suicide on January 17 sparked protests against caste-based discrimination all over the country, including in the Jawaharlal Nehru University, or JNU, in New Delhi. JNU, one of the most respected Indian universities, is known as one of the few bastions of free speech and radical debating culture. This culture of critical thinking has translated into academic rigor that has produced some of the leading thinkers as well as bureaucrats that dominate the political landscape in India and internationally. This culture of critical thinking also means that the institution is strongly anti-establishment. No government has managed to escape its sharp critique, and students routinely discuss and debate issues of critical importance, including excesses by the state in the name of policy or national security. While India has been a victim of terrorism, it has also indulged in excesses in the name of combating terrorism. One of these was the hanging of Afzal Guru, who was convicted of the 2001 terrorist attack on the Indian parliament. He was hanged and his body burned — against his religious rights as a Muslim — in secrecy. Many political commentators argued that the hanging did not follow due process, an allegation that a minister from the previous government acknowledged. This incident, as well as the hanging of Yabuk Memon, has come to be widely regarded in civil society and academic circles as India’s version of the Guantanamo detentions. Given the air of critical debate and discussion that characterizes JNU, on the anniversary of Afzal Guru’s death some students decided to organize a remembrance meeting. Even for someone accused of crimes against humanity, remembrance meetings are a way of reclaiming our common humanity. Since Afzal’s case had been shrouded in so much mystery, he is not accepted as a “terrorist” by sections of Indian society and instead seen as an embodiment of state-sanctioned injustices meted out in the name of fighting terror. This gathering was supposed to be no different. But it unleashed demons that have polarized India like never before and festered conspiracy theories that have shaken the very roots of India’s democracy. At the meeting on February 9, a few students deemed Guru a martyr and the Indian state a tyrant. This led to a campus-wide crackdown by the central government, which said that JNU is home to anti-national elements. In a related twist to these events, Kanhaiya Kumar, the university’s student union president was arrested on Febru-

ary 12 following media reports that he too sloganeered for “freedom.” In the Indian context, any call for “freedom” is read as secessionist, especially in the context of Kashmir or the Northeast. Since Guru hailed from Kashmir, Kumar’s speech — even though he specifically called for freedom “from RSS,” which was cut from the video aired by the media — was interpreted as direct support for the secessionist forces in Kashmir. This became a national story, and Kumar was arrested was on the grounds of sedition. The bizarre incident went one step further with the home minister quoting tweets from a fake Twitter account to claim that the event and campus politics at JNU in general were supported by Lashkar-e-Taiba, a banned terror group. With the so-called evidence being presented, the battle lines between the “right to dissent” and “nationalism” were drawn. Following the arrest, lawyers physically assaulted students at Kumar’s hearing; BJP leaders beat up left-wing ideologues in public, claiming “Mother India” had been insulted; student groups all over the country came to the streets to protest the mishandling of events and the demonization of JNU; and international, as well as civil society activists, cried themselves hoarse as the whole incident smacked of authoritarianism. Of course, shouting slogans may have been naive on the students’ part, or there could have been a conspiracy by the ABVP/RSS ideologues to target JNU for its anti-establishment views. But did this incident warrant the whole might of the government to come crashing down on them, and denounce the university as a threat to “national security?” Universities contribute to nation-building. Targeting them has not only antagonized liberals, but has acted as a unifying force for all who oppose right-wing fundamentalism. The media — and over-simplified accounts of what has happened — have polarized the Indian citizenry. Hate, however, may yet be defeated. In defense of JNU, students and professors of the university have come together to express their dissent in novel ways. Professors at the university have been hosting “open classes on nationalism,” which are live streamed and later uploaded to YouTube. In addition to performing songs of solidarity, students had, early on, also taken charge of shaping public discourse by leveraging social media. One of the first things they did was create a community page on Facebook to share news and updates about “assaults on democratic ethos of the JNU commu-

nity.” Since being launched on February 15, the page is now followed by over 35,000 people. To reclaim the university as a safe space, students and teachers formed a human chain on campus and launched a peaceful protest movement at Jantar Mantar, in the heart of the capital. Over 15,000 people reportedly marched in the streets of the capital on February 18 to protest against Kumar’s arrest and to “protect the soul of democracy.” On-campus, students gave those working with the media red roses and asked them not to spread rumors about the university. The outpouring of support from universities, student groups as well as influencers — from all over India and abroad — have helped the movement maintain its momentum. There have been no cases of student-led violence on campus, and the university community continues to emphasize nonviolence as the only legitimate means to seek justice. The so-called nationalists are beating victory drums, and the witch-hunt against JNU students is a reality. Kumar faces many threats to his life. Kashmiri students have vacated campus housing out of fear that they could be targeted next. Kumar’s arrest was followed by the arrest of two other JNU students, who were responsible for organizing the initial remembrance meeting for Afzal Guru, on charges of sedition. Kumar has distanced himself from the other two students, and the situation polarizes. However, not all seems to be lost. Kumar was granted interim bail by the Delhi High Court on March 2, in what is shaping up to be a long battle. As support for JNU continues to pour in, the government has been aggressively putting forth the nationalist argument to defend police action, even amid sharp criticism by opposition parties. Nevertheless, the judicial basis for the arrests seems to be faltering too with the high court criticizing the police on Kumar’s arrest. The students, on the other hand, want to continue to build on the national support and challenge the sedition law itself. Led by the student union, students marched to the parliament, and called for an international day of protest, on March 2 to demand the dropping of charges against JNU students and their release, the scrapping of the sedition law, and the passing of a “Rohith Act” to end castebased discrimination in educational institutions. These are times of flux, but there are many who are willing to stand up for their rights now, and that is a start.

Enriching Education in Bangladesh

Naimul Haq Inter Press Service

bout a year ago, seven year-old Afroza Khatun dropped out of school as her mother could not continue supervising her homework. The interruption in her grade II lessons was soon noticed by a teacher of an information education centre known as ENRICH, a state-funded programme which aims at supporting children who drop out to continue their education from the primary level (up to grade II). “I could not accept that Afroza, so brilliant in her lessons, had to drop out of school just because her mother could not help prepare her lessons at home,” Mosammet Shirin Akter, a teacher at ENRICH learning centre, told IPS News. Afroza’s father died when she was still in her mother’s womb. Too poor to support the family, Afroza’s mother, Joshna, had to work as a day labourer. Recently, she found a new job of stitching fabrics at home and earns barely enough to feed her family two meals a day living in a tiny thatched home in Ghorapakhiya village of Ranihati union in Chapainawabganj district, located 320 km northwest of Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka. A shy and highly obedient girl, Afroza, was recently enrolled for informal lessons in ENRICH in the village along with 29 other fellow students who also dropped out of regular schools. Together, they now attend ENRICH lessons to prepare for next days’ school. “We help such children in groups in their respective neighbourhoods with their school home work. During the daily 2-hour informal lessons we also teach them singing, dancing, reciting poems, disciplines in manners and practicing general knowledge,” explained Shireen who is one of 40-odd female

teachers responsible for organising such late afternoon lessons in Ranihati. ENRICH lessons, held in home backyard six days a week, is a project of Palli Karma Sahayak Foundation or PKSF, a government agency that addresses poverty through multiple approaches, one of which is the ENRICH education programme. Khairul Bashar of Proyas Manabik Unnayan Society, the NGO coordinating ENRICH programme in Ranihati told IPS News, “It is not so easy to get these children to return to schools and also attend information lessons. Because of poverty, parents work and they cannot take the extra burden of doing homework for their children.” Bashar continued, “ENRICH is designed to overcome such challenges of social problems where children are often found working as day labourers to supplement their family income. When we started the programme in 2010 in 14 villages in Ranihati the dropout rate was well over 30 per cent. In 2015, no one dropped out, which means 100 per cent success.” Bangladesh has made very commendable progress in narrowing the gender gap in dropout rates and primary education. Today, more girls than boys enrol, retain and graduate from primary schools. According to the government’s Annual Primary School Census report 2014, the dropout rate is 20 per cent now when compared to 51 per cent in 2005. Studies show that 98 per cent of girls enrolled in primary schools as against 97 per cent of boys in 2014. The survival rate to grade five was 81 per cent while efficiency remained at an 80 per cent level — a big improvement from 54 per cent and 60 per cent respectively in 2005. This achievement was far from easy. Policymakers had to shift their focus from

just offering free primary education to concentrating more on specific need-based quality interventions addressing poverty and its association with education. Dr Mohammad Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal, Additional Director General, Directorate of Primary Education said, “As we progressed on net enrollment of primary school students we had noticed that the dropout rate was not declining. We soon introduced a number of attractive interventions to persuade poor parents and guardians to send their children to schools mainly in areas where poverty is a huge problem.” For instance, the Food for Education Programme was introduced in 1993 to compensate the opportunity cost of poor parents for sending their children to school. Community and satellite schools were introduced almost the same time where there is no schools to allow children to attend lessons next to their homes. “About 80 per cent of the state-owned primary schools now have preprimary schools. In our more recent strategies, we introduced Reaching Out of School Children (ROSC). Studies that show this has helped increase enrolment of students in primary schools.” explained Dr Kamal. The World Bank-funded ROSC programme was designed in 2004 as an intervention complementary to the Second Primary Education Development Programme to include never-enrolled children from remote rural areas, large numbers of dropouts from formal primary schools, working and street children as well as the children from displaced and internal migrant families. Introduction of learning centres called Ananda Schools (schools of joy), which provide education stipends to underprivileged children to lessen the burden on their families, and distribution of free books, sta-

tioneries and school uniforms, have made huge impact in the successes of primary education. The Ananda Schools are established in regions with high poverty and low enrolment and completion rates. These schools blend formal education with a nonformal mode of provision, and they run differently from normal primary schools. Rajashree Paralkar, Acting Head, World Bank Bangladesh told IPS News, “Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in bringing children to school over the past two decades. Still, many school-going children miss or drop out of school due to poverty.” There are around 19 million children in primary education attending through 108,000 institutions and out of these 64,000 are run by the government. The teacher to student ratio has also decreased to now 40:1. UNICEF, Bangladesh’s biggest partner in promoting children’s education, while appreciating the achievements, had more critical observations. UNICEF Bangladesh Representative, Edouard Beigbeder told IPS News, “Strengthening learning outcomes represents the greatest challenge of primary education and an area that requires further attention. Teacher supervision, monitoring and accountability require strengthening. Most schools also run double shifts, which reduces contact hours of teachers and pupils in Bangladesh to only about half the international norm.” Despite the achievements, however, experts express concerns about the decreasing trend in budget allocation for education from 14 per cent in 2000 to 10.2 per cent now. There are also concerns about the disabled, inaccessible children, like in the forests and hilly regions. Many schools today still lack proper sanitation and water supply.

n addition to expenses on building a house, perhaps the next most expensive item for most of us is on our family automobile. For Nagas, the temptation to project status through the car we drive goes back to the mid-1960s, when our first-time State politicians and bureaucrats had new vehicles given to them with special name plates. Today, every Naga who has earned enough money seems to be after buying a car, even if it is not an absolute necessity. Upon marriage, he would purchase a small new car. When the children come along, the family would move up to a bigger brandnew car or an SUV. This could be a Hyundai (price: Rs 4 lakh), a Ford Figo (price: Rs 4 lakh), a Maruti Swift (prices: Rs 4 – 7 lakh), a Volkswagen Polo (prices: Rs 6 – 9 lakh), a Ford EcoSport (prices: 6 – 10 lakh), a Renault Duster (Prices: 8 –13 lakhs), or a Mahindra Scorpio (prices: 8 – 13 lakh). If the family head was promoted to a gazettedlevel position, then he would demand the government to add another one with all maintenance charges paid, too. Now, let’s talk economics into our vehicle obsession. First of all, a new car is the largest purchase most of us make that actually goes down in value---and it goes down in value like a rock. Let’s put the numbers in perspective. If you buy a brand-new Hyundai car at Rs 4 lakh, it’s going to depreciate rather quickly, about 50% in the first two-and-a-half years of ownership. That means you are losing Rs 6,666 every month in depreciation. If spending money isn’t a big problem for you, then try this: once a week on your drive to work, roll down the window and throw Rs 1,666 out. Can you afford that? I don’t think so. But that’s exactly what you are doing every time you buy a brand new car. So, when managing your own finances, don’t put it all into a “basket” of depreciating assets. By the way, there is no such thing as a good deal on a new car. The moment you drive it off from the dealership shop, you are immediately losing money, and you can’t drive that car fast enough to catch up. Then, is it ever okay to buy a brand new car? Sure, when you are super rich and can actually afford to throw away money just for the fun of it. But until then, do what most high-net-worth people do: buy a slightly used car and pay it with cash. Just about everything that we buy goes up in price with time. So, assuming an inflation rate of 3% per year, and purchasing a new Rs 4 lakh-car in current value every five years in the next 25-year period, your total expenses would be as follows: your first car which you buy this year would cost you Rs 400,000; your second car, Rs 463,000 in 2021; your third car, Rs 537,000 in 2026; your fourth car, Rs 623,186 in 2031; and your fifth car, Rs 722,444 in 2036. These expenses would come to a total of Rs 2,745,630, and that number does not include your costs on repairs and maintenance of the vehicles. Let’s imagine, this time, that you finally decided to buy only slightly used cars for the next 25 years of your life so that you could invest one-fourth of your money in mutual funds each time you buy a car. For example, let's say you invested Rs 100,000 today in mutual funds, which would yield an average rate of 10% each year for the next 25 years. Just on this investment alone, your money would grow up to Rs 1,083,471 by the end of 25 years, which would be 2041. Similarly, if you were to buy another slightly used car in 2021 and invest one-fourth of your money, you would have Rs 115,750 to invest for 20 years, which would give you another Rs 778,708. Likewise, on the third car, you would have Rs 134,391 to invest for 15 years so as to earn Rs 561,385; on the fourth car, you would have Rs 155,796 to invest for 10 years to earn Rs 404,095; and on the fifth car, you would invest Rs 180,611 for 5 years to earn Rs 290,876. Thus, your total investment earning at the end of 25 years would be Rs 3,118,535. That’s a great deal for driving a slightly used car and investing one-fourth of your money in mutual funds. Talking about purchasing cars, I have helped six young IT graduates from India in just the last three years to buy both used and/or brand new cars in Dallas, Texas. As for my wife and I, we have never bought a brand-new car so far. We have a 1999 model Toyota Corolla, which already has 245,000 miles on it, but it still works perfectly fine, only requiring oil-changes and other maintenance works now and then. And when I am back in Nagaland, I drive a secondhand Chevrolet car. Despite people telling us to buy a new car, we have chosen to live a more economical life, which has enabled us to invest a little bit of our money in stock markets and mutual funds. So, here’s my take: Life is not about showing off or making ourselves feeling significant through outward displays of wealth such as the cars we drive. Rather, we must be bottom-line focused. And one of the ways to do that is, to be content to drive slightly used cars and invest a portion of our funds for a more financially secured life tomorrow.

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

ThursdAY 17•03•2016

INDIA

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Aadhaar bill has measures to guard privacy, aims at subsidy reach: FM new delhI, MArch 16 (IAns): The Aadhaar bill has strict provisions to safeguard privacy of the citizens, and it is aimed at ensuring that subsidies reach the right beneficiaries, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday. Moving the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016, in the Rajya Sabha, he also responded to the objections raised by the opposition members at it being designated a money bill, saying that the Lok Sabha speaker's decision to do so cannot be questioned. "The core of this bill is government money is being spent by central and state governments. When you spend that money in order to ensure that money reaches the right man, you insist on the identity of the person. "If subsidies are given as unquantified amounts to unidentified sections, then non-merit people will get subsidies and merit people will not get it... So, for people to get the benefit of subsidies, the production of UID or other alternative document has to be the pre-condition," he said. Jaitley said that the present bill borrows certain

'Aadhaar not mandatory'

A villager goes through the process of a fingerprint scanner for the Unique Identification (UID) database system at an enrolment centre at Merta district in Rajasthan. (ReuteRS FIle Photo)

ideas from the UPA bill that every citizen needs to have a unique identification number but beyond that the new bill was "completely different in pith and substance". "The previous UPA government had also brought a legislation on Aadhaar. In that bill, the purpose of the personal data and biometrics information collected through the exercise was not defined," he said. "Compared to the UPA bill, the proposed law lays down a very strict procedure, the privacy law is much more

tightened," he said. Jaitley emphasised that under the bill, personal information of a person would be shared only on the basis of his consent, and the "core biometric data" will not be shared even if there is consent. "The only ground on which data can be shared is national security. One authority will be created in Delhi," he said, adding that the decision of that authority will be reviewed by an authority headed by the cabinet secretary.

Lok Sabha rejects Rajya Sabha amendments, passes Aadhaar bill The Lok Sabha on Wednesday rejected all the 5 amendments to the Aadhaar bill recommended by the Rajya Sabha and passed the bill by voice vote. The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016 was passed after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley sought to allay apprehensions of the Opposition concerning the bill. The Congress and other

new delhI, MArch 16 (IAns): Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday told the Rajya Sabha that Aadhaar card is not mandatory as it was an "entitlement" in a 2010 law and remains the same even in the new law passed by the Lok Sabha. But despite his clarification, the upper house sent back the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016 back to the lower house with four amendments. "Where people don't have it, alternative documents will be prescribed so there are alternative documents and the user would be predominantly through the state government," Jaitley said. "Tomorrow, if Tamil Nadu government decides that people below a certain income would get some benefits, then it is mandatory if you want benefits," he said by giving an example. The Bill, which will give central agencies access to the world's biggest biometric database, was debated in the Rajya Sabha before being sent back to the Lok Sabha on the last day before an an inter-session break. opposition parties had made a strong pitch against the overall nature of the bill in the Rajya Sabha. The bill was returned to the Lok Sabha with five amendments. The ruling NDA is in minority in the upper house. Speaking in the Lok Sabha after CPI-M member Mohammad Salim referred to the amendments approved by the upper house, Jaitley said some of the amendments related to provisions of the bill were brought by the UPA government. He said one of the

MIM lawmaker suspended for not saying 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' MUMBAI, MArch 16 (IAns): MIM legislator Waris Pathan was suspended from the Maharashtra hyderABAd, MArch 16 (PTI): A city court on assembly on Wednesday Wednesday ordered the police to book a case against when he refused to say MIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi for "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" in the his remarks on Bharat Mata. Responding to a private petition filed by an advohouse. There was uproar in the cate Sai Goud at Malkajgiri munsif magistrate court, assembly after BJP legisla- the judge issued the orders to Neredmet police to book tor Ram Kadam asked him Owaisi under Section 153-A of IPC for making a stateto say 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', ment that could potentially disturb the integrity of the country and fuel enmities among people. but Pathan refused. A few days ago, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi This outraged other members from all parties had said that he would not say 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' even who demanded the sus- if a knife is put to his throat. pension of the All India Minister of State for Par- entire duration of the ongoMajlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen legislator for what liamentary Affairs Ranit ing budget session, which they termed an 'insult' to Patil moved a proposal for was approved. suspending Pathan for the Refusing to comply with the motherland.

Court Orders police to book Owaisi

Kadam's request, Pathan referred to Bollywood writer Javed Akhtar's speech in parliament and said: "If Javed Sahab wants to say 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', let him, we won't. We will say 'Hindustan Zindabad' and 'Jai Hind'." By commenting on the cap worn by (party chief) Asaduddin Owaisi, Javed Akhtar has insulted Muslims of not only India but the whole world, he added. Several members from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena and opposition Congress and Nationalist Congress Party strongly criticised Pathan's action and demanded his suspension. Later, Pathan told media persons that 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' was a diktat from the RSS and he would not subscribe to it.

CBSE maths paper: 240 students petition online new delhI, MArch 16 (PTI): Social media is abuzz with complaints against the "tough" maths paper for Class 12 and as many as 240 petitions have been posted on Change.org platform, getting support from 25,000 people. Within 24 hours of the Mathematics exam, which reportedly left many students in tears, students and parents from across the country have started the online campaign for leniency in evaluation. "Hundreds of anxious Class 12 students and their parents have started petitions on Change.org appealing the Central Board of Secondary Education

(CBSE) to show leniency in evaluating the Mathematics paper that concluded yesterday," said the petition platform. The biggest petition, with 12,500 signatures, was started by a student from Guwahati. Other petitions were started by students from Kolkata, Chennai and other cities including Thrissur. "CBSE has broken the dreams of several students by setting a paper which was meant for IIT aspirants. This year CBSE Maths Paper was tough as well as long and has made several students cry. CBSE should come out with a statement immediately to take care of their mental agony which will help them to concen-

Four students arrested for allegedly cooking beef in hostel JAIPUr, MArch 16 (PTI): Four Kashmiri students were arrested on charges of disturbing public peace following rumours that they had cooked beef in their hostel room in a private university in Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh district. Police said the students were allegedly manhandled by some others students and locals after the rumours spread but prima facie the meat was not found to be beef. The incident occurred on Monday night when the rumour spread that the Kashmiri students were cooking beef in the hostel room. Soon after some students as well as locals assembled in front of the Mewar University and demanded action against them. Police rushed to the site and arrested four students under section 151 of IPC (disturbance of public peace) on Tuesday. “They were questioned about their role in bringing the meat to the hostel and cooking it,” SHO Gangrar Police Station Labhu Ram said. Those arrested are Shakib Ashraf, Hilal Farukh, Mohammad Makbool and Shaukat Ali, aged between 21 to 27 years.“We also collected the sample of the meat which prima facie does not appear to be beef. However, the samples have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory for testing and the report is awaited,” he said. Public Relations Officer of the university said meat is not allowed in the campus. “Cooking meat is against our policy.Police is investigating the case and during the initial probe, it was clear that the substance was not beef,” Harish Gurnani, PRO of the autonomous university said. He said the hostellers involved in the matter were undergraduates.

trate on their next exam," said the Guwahati petition starter in this Change. org petition. Meanwhile, government today favoured a probe into the reported leakage of a CBSE Class XII examination paper and suggestions that the questions were rather difficult for the students, after members from several parties raised the issue in the Lok Sabha. N K Premchandran (RSP) and K C Venugopal (Congress) said most questions of the mathematics paper were "very difficult" and out of syllabus, while referring to media reports which claimed that the questions were leaked in the Patna region.

amendments sought to replace the words "national security" with "public safety and public emergency" and added that these phrases had not been defined in the Constitution. "These are undefined phrases (in the Constitution)," Jaitley said. "Though I consider the wisdom of the upper house but I reject their amendments," he added. Since it was introduced as a money bill by the government, the Aadhaar bill has now been passed by parliament.

LS ethics panel to probe bribery charges against TMC MPs new delhI, MArch 16 (PTI): The bribery charges against Trinamool Congress members would be probed by the Lok Sabha's Committee on Ethics, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan announced today, asserting that the "very serious" allegations impacted the "very credibility of Parliament". Speaker Sumitra Mahajan made the announcement soon after the Question Hour, a day after BJP, Congress and CPI(M) came together in Parliament to attack the TMC members allegedly shown accepting bribe in a sting and demanded an inquiry. "Certain acts of alleged unethical conduct on the part of some members of the House have been reported in the press and the matter was also raised by some members in the House yesterday. "These allegations are very serious in nature and seek to impact upon the very credibility of parliamentarians and Parliament as an institution and therefore need to be examined," Mahajan observed as she asked the L K Advani-headed 15-member committee for "examination, investigation and report". In the purported sting telecast a few days back, five TMC members from Lok Sabha -- Saugata Roy, Sultan Ahmad, Suvendu Adhikari, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Prasoon Banerjee, and Mukul Roy from the Rajya Sabha, were allegedly shown accepting money from fictitious officials of a firm. Mamata slams Opposition, 'section of media' Facing the heat of a controversial sting operation, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said the Opposition parties have formed a "nexus" to malign the Trinamool Congress ahead of the state Assembly election. Speaking at an election rally here, Banerjee also said a "section of media" is with the Opposition parties and she will "expose" them later. "We have done a lot of developmental work in the last four years. No other political party in the country has been able to usher in so much of development. But the Opposition parties can't see that development. They are only campaigning to malign us," Banerjee told an election rally here."They have formed a nexus to malign the TMC. A section of media is also with them. I won't name them now, but in future I'll expose them," she said. Banerjee said she will seek justice from the people of Bengal. "We have full faith in them. The Opposition parties want to divide West Bengal. But as long as I am alive, I won't let them do that," she said.

Mumbai dance bars to reopen amid worries trafficking of women may rise MUMBAI, MArch 16 (ThoMson reUTers FoUndATIon): After a 10-year hiatus, dance bars are set to reopen in Mumbai and Maharashtra state with activists warning women and girls could be trafficked and abused in these venues but bar owners arguing this is legimitate, needed work. Maharashtra in 2005 suspended the licences of hundreds of bars and hotels that featured skimpily dressed women dancing to Bollywood tunes on a small stage for male customers. But after several appeals over the years against the ban, the Supreme Court ordered the state to issue licences from March 15 on condition that certain rules are adhered to. When the bars were shut in 2005, about 75,000 women were estimated to be working there and bar owners said the women were earning a legitimate living. But activists and charities feared the women were victims of trafficking and the bars were fronts for brothels. "It's not as if shutting them down stopped trafficking, but reopening them would legitimise it and give traffickers another reason to dupe and abuse women and girls," said Suparna Gupta, founder of Aangan Trust which works with victims of trafficking. State Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis last week said the government was not in favour of reopening dance bars and will draft legislation to find a way around the

A customer showers money on a dancer at a dance bar in Mumbai. (ReuteRS File Photo)

Supreme Court ruling. About 150 bars and hotels in Mumbai and about 1,200 in the state are applying for licences, according to an industry lobby. South Asia, with India at its centre, is the world's fastest-growing and second-biggest region for human trafficking after Southeast Asia, according to the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime. Mumbai is one of the biggest destinations for trafficked women and children. Most of them are brought from other states and neighbouring countries, including Nepal and Bangladesh, under the guise of securing a well-paid job in a home or shop but are sold into sex work or forced into manual labour. The Maharashtra government

had proposed more than two dozen conditions for new licences but the Supreme Court rejected some of them. Women won't be permitted to dance in an obscene manner and customers cannot fling money at the dancers, the rules state. "What has the state done in the last 10 years for the rehabilitation of the thousands of women who lost their livelihood overnight?" said Adarsh Shetty, head of the Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association in Mumbai. Many women who found themselves without a job then were forced into prostitution or trafficked to Gulf nations, said Bharat Thakur, president of the Dance Bars' Association in Mumbai, which has criticised the state's "moral policing".

Indian govt's health, education spend declines over 2 yrs Saumya Tewari

IANS and IndiaSpend

he money allocated for key centrally sponsored social schemes — Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA or universal education programme) and National Health Mission — has declined 10 percent, 7.5 percent and 3.6 percent over two years. Over the same period, he money set aside for the Swachh Bharat Mission (Clean India Mission) increased almost three times. The ICDS, SSA and the National Health Mission were carried over from the previous government. The Clean India Mission was started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The cut in social-welfare funding is part of on-going devolution reforms aimed at giving states more money without spending conditions imposed from Delhi. The states, however, could not match central funding, IndiaS-

pend reported in February, using the latest data available, from two years ago. The Bharatiya Janata Partyled National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government cut funding for centrally sponsored schemes 19 percent last year, and the trend continued this year in budget announcements. While funding for NHM and SSA increased two percent over last year, it is lower than what it was before that. There was a 55 percent increase in tax money transferred to the states unconditionally, as IndiaSpend reported, based on a study by Accountability Initiative, a New Delhi-based think tank. But some states got less money than before devolution transfers. Funding cuts aggravated by slow release of money The 12th Five Year Plan allocated Rs.123,580 crore to ICDS. However, up to financial year 2016-17, the last year of the plan, the central government allocated only 63 percent of the planned ICDS budget. The National Rural Health

Mission (NRHM) allocation in financial year 2015-16 was only 79 percent of the larger National Health Mission, of which NRHM is a part. The central government provided 57 percent of the allocated SSA budget till September 2015. Of the states’ share, no more than 27 percent, on average, had been released by September 2015. Slow release of money and funding cuts has led to implementation problems, according to Accountability Initiative budget briefs. Money has been cut for ICDS, the world’s largest programme for maternal and child care, at a time when 42 perccent of children are underweight and 40 percent are below average height in India, IndiaSpend reported. The budget of the National Nutrition Mission to combat child malnourishment was Rs.850 crore, doubling from 2015-16. This Mission supplements the ICDS. Data from the first round of National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS 4) of 13 states and union

territories reveals improvement in maternal and child health, IndiaSpend reported. Data from the most backward states of India such as Odisha, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh has not yet been released. Only 1 percent of Swachh Bharat Mission money spent on changing attitudes As much as 97 percent of money spent on the Swachh Bharat Mission between April 2015 and February 2016 was on construction of individual household latrines, according to the Accountability Initiative study. Information, education and communication for sanitation and hygiene accounted for 1 percent of expenditure, a three percentage point drop from 2014-15. Changing attitudes is a critical need, as IndiaSpend reported, in an investigation of the prime minister’s claim that toilets had been built for girls in every school. Over the last two years, less than half of eligible households that applied for a toilet-construction grant actually received it, ac-

cording to Accountability Initiative’s district survey. Only 23 percent of money for education actually spent No more than 23 percent of the money approved for the universal education programme was spent till September 2015. As many as 31 percent of schools surveyed by Accountability Initiative across 10 districts in five states had not received their annual grants till December 2015. The quality of elementary education has been declining in India, as IndiaSpend reported. Only a fourth of all children in standard III could read a standard II text fluently, a drop of more than 5 percent over five years, according to the 2014 Annual Status Report on Education. (In arrangement with IndiaSpend.org, a data-driven, nonprofit, public interest journalism platform, where Saumya Tewari is a policy analyst. The views expressed are those of India Spend. The author can be contacted at respond@indiaspend.org)

ThursdaY 17•03 •2016

WORLD

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Macedonia returns migrants to Greece IDOMENI /NICOSIA, MArCh 16 (rEutErS): Macedonia trucked about 1,500 migrants and refugees back to Greece after they forced their way across the border on Monday, as European nations continued to pass the buck in a migration crisis that risks tearing the European Union apart. The police action was part of a drive by Western Balkans states to shut down a migration route from Greece to Germany. Nearly a million people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and beyond used that route over the last year, forming biggest influx of refugees since World War Two. But EU efforts to conclude a deal with Turkey to halt the human tide in return for political and economic rewards hit a setback on Tuesday. Cyprus, an EU member, vowed to block efforts to speed up Ankara’s EU accession talks unless Turkey meets its obligations to recognise its nationhood. European Council President Donald Tusk, who will chair a summit of EU leaders on Thursday and one with Turkey on Friday, flew on to Ankara to discuss the pact after talks with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades. “Today we established a catalogue of issues that we need to address together if we are to reach an agreement by Friday,” Tusk said after the talks in Ankara, adding that convincing all 28 EU states to sign on to the agreement was “not an easy task”. Tusk has acknowledged that the tentative deal put together last week by Ger-

It felt like a death machine, says migrant forced back to Greece

Refugees and migrants attempt to cross a river near the Greek-Macedonian border to enter Macedonia after an unsuccessful attempt yesterday, west of the village of Idomeni, Greece on March 15. (REUTERS Photo)

man Chancellor Angela Merkel and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu raised legal problems and needed to be “rebalanced”. Davutoglu said the aim was to reduce illegal migration and make passage to Europe safe. The European Commission meanwhile postponed proposals to reform the bloc’s asylum system, which puts the onus on the state where migrants first arrive, in an attempt to avoid further controversy before the Turkey deal is done. Some 43,000 migrants are bottled up in Greece, overstraining the economically shattered country’s capacity to cope, and

Peshawar bus bomb kills sixteen government officials PEShAwAr, MArCh 16 (IANS): A powerful bomb, detonated by a timing mechanism, ripped through a bus carrying government employees in Pakistan’s Peshawar on Wednesday, killing at least 16 people and causing injuries to another two dozen commuters. The attack took place on Peshawar’s Sunehri Masjid road after the bus picked up government employees from Shergarh in Mardan and was transporting them to work in the city. “The blast was caused by a timed-improvised explosive device (IED) planted in a tool box inside the bus,” Superintendent of Police (SP) Cantonment Kashif Zulfiqar said. “There were 40-50 people on the bus.” The bus was carrying employees of the Civil Secretariat and government officials coming from Mardan. “The bus carrying government employees was targeted at 7.55 a.m,” DC Riaz Mehsud stated. “The top part of the bus has blown off and is being cut to pull out the injured,” an eyewitness told local Urdu tv. According to sources, 15 of the total number of injured people at Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) were air force employees. Residents of the area shifted the injured in their cars to LRH, Bomb disposal squad officials said 10 kg of explosives were planted on the bus and further investigations were underway. “Emergency has been declared and all doctors have been called in to handle trauma,” hospital spokesperson Jamil Shah said. Many of the wounded were in critical condition and the death toll could rise, he said.

Trump warns of riots if denied Republican presidential nomination PALM BEACh, MArCh 16 (rEutErS): U.S. Republican front-runner Donald Trump warned on Wednesday of riots if he is denied the party’s presidential nomination after a string of primary election victories. The New York billionaire scored big wins in Florida, Illinois and North Carolina on Tuesday which brought him closer to the 1,237 delegates he needs to win the nomination. But one loss - in the crucial state of Ohio - left the door open for those in the party trying to stop Trump from becoming the Republican nominee for the Nov. 8 election. Trump might fall short of the majority required, enabling the party establishment to put forward another name at the July convention in Cleveland to formally pick its candidate. In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Trump said if he got a large number of delegates yet was denied the nomination: “I don’t think you can say that we don’t get it automatically. I think you’d have riots. I think you’d have riots. I’m representing many, many millions of people.” Party leaders are appalled at the real estate developer and reality TV personality’s incendiary rhetoric and believe his policy positions are out of step with core Republican sentiment, such as his vow to deport 11 million illegal immigrants, temporarily ban Muslims from the United States and build a wall along the border with Mexico. But the Republican establishment’s bid to stop him may have come too late as a field of candidates that once included Trump and 16 high-profile party figures has dwindled to only three with Trump, 69, in command ahead of U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, 45, and Ohio Governor John Kasich, 63, who won the Ohio Republican primary on Tuesday.

more continue to cross the Aegean daily from Turkey despite new NATO sea patrols. On Monday, an estimated 1,500 people marched out of a squalid transit camp near the northern Greek town of Idomeni, hiked for hours along muddy paths and forded a rain-swollen river to get around the border fence. Most were picked up by Macedonian security forces, put into trucks and driven back over the border into Greece late Monday or overnight, a Macedonian police official said. “It’s a long way from the camp to the mountains. It took me six hours of walking,” said 60-year-old Mohammad Kattan, who slept

rough in the mountains and trekked back on foot. “At my age it was very difficult. I would walk and rest often. “My hope was to get to Macedonia, and get my papers stamped so that I could continue on to another country, to Serbia.” Another man forced back to Greece said the security forces with harsh with the group they had rounded up. Greek authorities said there had been no official contact from Macedonia, so they could not confirm the return. Ties between the two neighbours are fraught because of Greece’s longstanding refusal to recognise Macedonia’s name, which is the same as that of a northern Greek province.

CONDITIONS DETERIORATING A second group of about 600 migrants was prevented from crossing into Macedonia and many of them spent the night camping in the Greek mountains, according to a Reuters photographer. At least 12,000 people, including thousands of children, have been stranded in the Idomeni camp, where sanitary conditions have deteriorated after days of heavy rain. Scuffles have broken out in recent days as destitute people scrambled for food and firewood. Many have been sleeping in the open. Concern about the spread of infection grew after one person was diagnosed with Hepatitis A.

IDOMENI, MArCh 16 (rEutErS): It took Hassan Omar four long hours to cross into Macedonia, his wheelchair pushed by strangers across the muddy paths of Greece’s border - but a day later he found himself back at the squalid migrant camp he had left. Like scores of people, many from war zones in Syria and Iraq, who streamed out of the camp near the Greek town of Idomeni on Monday and crossed into Macedonia, he was rounded up and sent back. “We were surprised to see the army there,” said Omar, who fled fighting in Iraq, recounting how one man carried him for hours during their 8 km (5-mile) trek, up mountains and through valleys. “They were very harsh with us. It felt like a death machine, not humans dealing with us,” he said. Greek authorities said they could not confirm the return as there had been no official contact from the Macedonian side, but those who arrived back at the camp recounted their experiences on Tuesday. One man from the northern Syrian province of Raqqa, who gave his name as Abdo, said Macedonian authorities divided the detainees into groups of 25 to 50 people, put them in cars and dropped them off at the border. “They told us to run, so we started to run,” he said. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Tuesday there was “no chance” that border shutdowns throughout the Balkans would be lifted and urged refugees to move to reception centres set up by the state. Jan van’t Land, an official with medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres at Idomeni, said around 400 migrants had returned to the camp. “There are still many hundreds of people on both the Greek and the Macedonian side of the border,” he told Reuters. Greek officials say leaflets that circulated at the Idomeni camp before Monday’s march showed it was a planned breakout. “We are in possession

of leaflets that show this was an organised incident, a very dangerous one, endangering people’s lives,” government spokesman George Kyritsis told reporters. Babar Baloch, regional spokesman for U.N. refugee agency UNHCR who is at Idomeni, said the migrants’ breakout and return “hasn’t solved anything”. “It just increased sufferings of refugees. It started raining again. The sense of support for refugees in the region is missing,” he said. Turkey wants its citizens to have visa-free access to Europe by June and to open new “chapters” of its stalled negotiations to join the EU. In return, it will take back all migrants

and refugees who cross to Greece or are fished out of its territorial waters. PUSHING TURKEY DEAL U.N. and EU officials doubt the legality of any blanket returns, and the U.N. human rights chief on Tuesday warned the EU risked compromising its human rights credentials with the Turkey deal. Several EU countries, including France, also have misgivings about the more relaxed visa rules for Turkey, saying Ankara must first meet 72 criteria. But as the EU pushes to seal the deal, an EU official told Reuters on Tuesday Ankara would only be asked to meet a “critical mass” of them. The European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee on Tuesday called to keep the migration deal and Ankara’s EU membership talks separate, citing concern with human rights in Turkey. And Cyprus is demanding that Turkey open its ports and airports to Cypriot traffic and recognise the island. “I conveyed to President Tusk our position that the Republic of Cyprus does not intend to consent to the opening of any chapters if Turkey does not fulfil its obligations as described in the negotiating framework,” Anastasiades told reporters after meeting with Tusk in Nicosia. Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders, whose country holds the EU’s sixmonth rotating presidency, said the aim was to find an “intelligent synchronisation” between the diplomatic process to re-unify Cyprus and the EU-Turkey agreement.

‘Denmark world’s happiest country, Burundi least’ Cough and cold medications “When countries single-mindedrOME, MArCh 16 (rEutErS): gotten no happier,” said Professor Jefharmful to kids, says study Denmark overtook Switzerland as the frey Sachs, head of the SDSN and spe- ly pursue individual objectives, such world’s happiest place, according to a report on Wednesday that urged nations regardless of wealth to tackle inequality and protect the environment. The report, prepared by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Earth Institute at Columbia University, showed Syria, Afghanistan and eight sub-Saharan countries as the 10 least happy places on earth to live. The top 10 this year were Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia, and Sweden. Denmark was in third place last year, behind Switzerland and Iceland. The bottom 10 were Madagascar, Tanzania, Liberia, Guinea, Rwanda, Benin, Afghanistan, Togo, Syria and Burundi. The United States came in at 13, the United Kingdom at 23, France at 32, and Italy at 50. “There is a very strong message for my country, the United States, which is very rich, has gotten a lot richer over the last 50 years, but has

cial advisor to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. While the differences between countries where people are happy and those where they are not could be scientifically measured, “we can understand why and do something about it,” Sachs, one of the report’s authors, told Reuters in an interview in Rome. “The message for the United States is clear. For a society that just chases money, we are chasing the wrong things. Our social fabric is deteriorating, social trust is deteriorating, faith in government is deteriorating,” he said. Aiming to “survey the scientific underpinnings of measuring and understanding subjective well-being,” the report, now in its fourth edition, ranks 157 countries by happiness levels using factors such as per capita gross domestic product (GDP) and healthy years of life expectancy. It also rates “having someone to count on in times of trouble” and freedom from corruption in government and business.

as economic development to the neglect of social and environmental objectives, the results can be highly adverse for human wellbeing, even dangerous for survival,” it said. “Many countries in recent years have achieved economic growth at the cost of sharply rising inequality, entrenched social exclusion, and grave damage to the natural environment.”

YARDSTICK FOR HAPPINESS The first report was issued in 2012 to support a U.N. meeting on happiness and well-being. Five countries - Bhutan, Ecuador, Scotland, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela - now have appointed Ministers of Happiness charged with promoting it as a goal of public policy. The 2016 survey showed that three countries in particular, Ireland, Iceland and Japan, were able to maintain their happiness levels despite external shocks such as the post-2007 economic crisis and the 2011 earthquake because of social support and solidarity.

tOrONtO, MArCh 16 (IANS): Readily available over-the-counter cough and cold medications can do your kid more harm than good, warn Canadian researchers who have suggested stronger measures to curtail the use of these medications among children. For the current study, the researchers asked parents of 3,500 children under the age of 6 about their use of cough and cold medications from 2008 to 2011. The researchers found that about 18% of children still received cough and cold medications despite label warnings advising against their use in children under the age 6 in 2009. The study was published in the Canadian Journal of Public Health. “We found that a large number of young children continue to receive over-the-counter cough and cold medications even with evidence of harm, public health advisories from government agencies and mandated labelling requirements for manufacturers,” said lead researcher Jonathon Maguire from St. Michael’s Hospital in Ontario. “In addition, evidence suggests these medications are not effective in young children. With no real benefit and documented risks, stronger measures may be needed to curtail their use,” Maguire noted. “Better public awareness as well as making these readily available medications harder to purchase may help to reduce their use,” Maguire pointed out.

NKorea court sentences US student to 15 yrs hard labour SEOuL, MArCh 16 (rEutErS): North Korea’s supreme court sentenced American student Otto Warmbier, who was arrested while visiting the country, to 15 years of hard labour on Wednesday for crimes against the state. Warmbier, a 21-yearold University of Virginia student, was detained in January for trying to steal an item bearing a propaganda slogan from his hotel in Pyongyang, North Korean media said previously. “The accused confessed to the serious offense against the DPRK he had committed, pursuant to the U.S. government’s hostile policy toward it, in a bid to impair the unity of its people after entering it as a tourist,” the state-controlled KCNA news agency reported, using the acronym for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Human Rights Watch condemned the sentence handed down to the student from Wyoming, Ohio. Japan’s Kyodo news agency published a picture of

Warmbier being led from the courtroom by 2 uniformed guards, with his head bowed, but visibly distressed. “North Korea’s sentencing of Otto Warmbier to 15 years hard labor for a college-style prank is outrageous and shocking, and should not be permitted to stand,” Phil Robertson, deputy director of HRW’s Asia division, said in an emailed statement. Warmbier’s defence attorney said the gravity of his crime was such that he would not be able to pay even with his death but proposed to the court a sentence that is reduced from the prosecution’s request of a life sentence, KCNA said. Last month, Warmbier told a media conference in Pyongyang that his crime was “very severe and preplanned.” He was at the end of a five-day New Year’s group tour of North Korea when he was delayed at airport immigration before being taken away by officials, according to the tour operator that had arranged the trip.

Warmbier’s sentencing comes as North Korea is increasingly isolated, with the U.N. Security Council imposing tough new resolutions earlier this month following the North’s January nuclear test and last month’s long-range rocket launch. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this week said the North would soon test a nuclear warhead and ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, in what would be a direct violation of U.N. resolutions backed by its chief ally, China. North Korea has a long history of detaining foreigners and has used jailed Americans in the past to extract high-profile visits from the United States, with which it has no formal diplomatic relations. North Korea is also holding a Korean-Canadian Christian pastor it sentenced to hard labour for life in December for subversion. The North is also holding a Korean American and three South Korean nationals.

Otto Frederick Warmbier (R), a University of Virginia student who has been detained in North Korea since early January, bows during a new conference in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this photo released by Kyodo on February 29. (REUTERS File Photo)

It has previously handed down lengthy sentences to foreigners before freeing them. In 2014, North Korea released three detained Americans. Former Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, who had previously travelled to North Korea, met the North’s ambassa-

dor to the United Nations on Tuesday to press for the release of Warmbier, the New York Times reported. “I urged the humanitarian release of Otto, and they agreed to convey our request,” Richardson was quoted as saying. While most tourists to

North Korea are from China, roughly 6,000 Westerners visit annually, though the United States and Canada advise against it. Most visitors are curious about life in the reclusive state and ignore critics who say their dollars prop up a repressive regime.

thursDAY 17•03•2016

SPORTS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

spurs speed away from clippers to remain unbeaten at home

Los AngeLes, MArch 16 (AFP): Kawhi Leonard scored 20 points and led five San Antonio players in double figures as the Spurs turned a tight NBA game into a 108-87 rout of the Los Angeles Clippers. San Antonio on Tuesday led by just one point going into the fourth quarter, but pulled away relentlessly to notch their 33rd home win of the season and their 42nd straight regular-season victory on their home court in a streak dating back to last March. The Spurs, second to the streaking Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference, improved to 57-10. The Spurs' home streak is the third-longest in NBA history, behind Chicago's 44-game regular-season run in 1995-96 and the continuing streak by Golden State that now stands at 49 games. The Clippers looked far from intimidated, however, as they built an early 10-6 lead and led 21-19 at the end of the first. San Antonio's bench put together a 13-1 scoring run that pushed the Spurs ahead in the second and San Antonio took a 48-44 lead into halftime. The third quarter was a back and forth battle, the Clippers re-taking the lead for the first time since the first quarter before the Spurs regained the advantage with a jump shot from the baseline by Kyle Anderson as the period ended. The Spurs took a 71-70 lead into the fourth and pulled away from there. Overall the Spurs reserves out-scored the Clippers bench 51-20. Backup David West had all eight of his points in the

Kawhi Leonard #2 of the San Antonio Spurs handles the ball against Jeff Green #8 of the Los Angeles Clippers on March 15, 2016 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. (Getty Images)

fourth-quarter, and Australian Patty Mills came off the bench to score seven of his 15 in the final frame. Raptors bounce back Kyle Lowry scored 25 points and passed out 11 assists for the Toronto Raptors, who bounced back from a tough loss to the Chicago Bulls with a 10789 victory over the Bucks in Milwaukee. Lowry poured in 20 points in the first half to help the Raptors take a 5249 lead at the interval. Toronto opened the third quarter with an 8-0 scoring run and connected on 60 percent of their shots

from the field to take an 8166 advantage into the final frame. The victory, on the heels of a two-point defeat at Chicago that snapped Toronto's three-game winning streak, saw the Raptors edge closer to Eastern Conference leaders Cleveland on a night when the Cavaliers were idle. In Indianapolis, Paul George scored 25 points and the Indiana Pacers pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 103-98 victory over the Boston Celtics. Two free throws from George Hill with 7:43 remaining launched a 6-0

Pacers scoring run and Indiana wouldn't look back. Bogdanovic breaks out Croatian forward Bojan Bogdanovic scored a career-high 44 points to lead the Brooklyn Nets to a 131114 victory over the lowly Philadelphia 76ers. Bogdanovic surpassed his prior career high of 28 points set against Orlando last April. His total was the most for a Nets player since Deron Williams scored 57 on March 4, 2012, and the most by any Nets player since the team moved from New Jersey to Brooklyn for the 2012-13 campaign.

public discourse

Great is your reward in heaven

onest bureaucrats and technocrats are called by names such as "budhu" "smart nai" "useless" and we say stuffs like "side income khabole najane". By saying such stuffs we are abetting corruption. Our society's mindset has to change otherwise Corruption, nepotism and so on will continue. It is sad but there are only a few handful of honest officers. Well what the Bible says about the honest officers you know?

Matthew 5: 11-12. "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you." To all honest and hard working officers, great is your reward in Heaven. Kevitho Kera

WHAT is A MArATHoN rAce

he Sunday March 13 local dailies carried about two separate Marathon races conducted by the Dimapur Don Bosco Higher Secondary School and Christ King Higher Secondary School Kohima simultaneously on 12 March 2016 where it is reported of one Thejavilie of CKHSS Kohima having won the race clocking 19 minutes time. At the first glance I was looking for the missing hours and the seconds as the marathon records comes in hours, minutes and seconds. But when I did not find them except the minutes my initial ponder of typographical error melted away and understood that something was basically wrong with the Marathon itself as it was simply a school events where the school must have made a token Marathon race. The standardized modern marathon is 26 miles 385 yards (42.195 kms) The Olympic Men’s Marathon record is 2 hrs 06 minutes and 32 seconds set at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics by Samuel Kamau Wonjiru of Kenya at an average speed of 20.01 kilo meter per hour or 12.43 miles per hour. Women record of 2hrs. 23min.07 seconds is set by Tuli Gelana of Ethiopia at the 2012 London Summer Olympics. The fastest Marathon world record is set at 2hrs. 02min. 57 seconds at the Berlin Marathon 2014 by Denis Kimetto of Kenya while his compatriot Emmanuel Mutai was the runner up with the record of 2hrs. 3min. 12 seconds in the same race. In the Olympics, Marathon is a road race of 26 miles followed by a partial lap of 385 yards of the track finish inside the stadium entering through a designated entry to the main stadium. It has become tradition for Men’s Olympic Marathon to be last event of the athletics calendar, with a finish inside the Olympic Stadium, often within

the hour, or even incorporating into the closing ceremony. The origin of Marathon race comes from the legend of Pheidippides (Phidippides), a Greek messenger who was sent from the battle field of Marathon to Athens, 26 miles to announce the defeat of Persian by the Greek at the battle of Marathon. The first two decades of the fifth century B.C marked one of the great turning points of world history. The powerful Persian Empire in their ambitious expansion of their territory to Europe landed a large force outside of Athens on the plains of Marathon. The vastly outnumbered Athens desperately needed support of Spartan’s military bases to help fend off the Persian attack. Time was short so the Athenian generals send Phidippides a professional runner to Sparta to ask help. The 140 mile course was very mountainous and rugged. Phidippides ran the course in about 36 hours. Sparta agreed to help but said they would not take the field until the moon was full due to religious laws. Phidippides ran back to Athens, another 140 miles with the disappointing news. Leaving no choice, the small Athenian army, including Phidippides immediately marched to the plains of Marathon to prepare for battle. The Athenian Army outnumbered 4 to 1 but launched a surprise attack early in the morning which appeared suicidal. But by the day’s end 6400 bodies of Persian soldier lay dead on the field while only 192 Athenians had been killed. The surviving Persian fled to sea and headed south to Athens where they hoped to attack the city before the Greek Army could re-assemble there. Phidippides was again called upon to run to Athens (26 miles away) to carry the news of the victory and warning about the approaching Persian ships. Despite his fatigue after

his recent run to Sparta and back and having fought all morning in heavy armor, Phidipiddes rose to the challenge pushing him past normal limits of human endurance. He reached Athens in 3 hours, delivered his message and then died shortly thereafter from sheer exhaustion. Meanwhile, Sparta and other Greek polies eventually came to the aid of Athens and they were able to turn back the Persian attempt to conquer Greece. The Marathon event was therefore instituted as one of the original modern Olympics event in the 1896 Athens Olympic in commemoration of this fabled Greek soldier Phidippides who ran from the battle field of Marathon to Athens. Nowadays the Athens Marathon race is run in the same mountainous rugged tract taken by Phidippides way back in 490 B.C. Besides the Marathon, half Marathon is also a recognized event. The reporting of Dimapur and Kohima Marathon is therefore put at rest a misnomer and could be a cross country race as no human being can run 42 kms (26 miles) in 19 minutes at an average of 2.21 kms per minute. Let us be careful in conduct of the event and also inadvertent reporting in the paper to avoid great embarrassment as the Limca and Genius book of record people may come hunting for the winner to establish a new world record after reading the report in the paper. Small beginning leads to big ends therefore holding of school annual sports week is quite encouraging. We only need right application of game rules for which the Sports Department or the concerned Sports Associations may be contacted for guidance in future for health development of the games. T. Meren Paul General Secretary, Nagaland Olympic Association.

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.

3rd 10th Northern Angami T20 Bash Our Correspondent Kohima | March 16

Under the aegis of Brotherhood Group, the 3rd 10th Northern Angami-1 T20 Bash 2016 will take place from March 21 to April 4 at Kohima Village Ground Ziekezou, With the theme “Bat for unity”, this tournament is an initiative of Khriehu Liezietsu, Parliamentary Secretary for Youth Resources, Music Task Force and State Lotteries, who is the elected representative of 10th Northern Angami-1 A/C.

The winner of the tournament will carry home cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh along with trophy while the runners-up will receive Rs.50,000 along with trophy. There will also be other exciting individual prizes for Man of the matches, Man of the series, etc. All participating teams will be given uniforms and playing kits and it is compulsory for teams to attend both the opening and closing ceremonies in full team uniform. There will be penalty in the form of point deduction for violation of bylaws.

Altogether 16 teams representing their respective sectors will take part. It may be noted here that the participating players must strictly belong to the Constituency. However, a maximum of three players can be availed from outside of the constituency but should be from within Kohima town. The teams drawn by lot are as follows: GROUP A Rokabozou/Sepfüzou Challengers Upper L. Khel Riders Kenuozou Wolves

Chede Strikers

GROUP B Mission Dukes Lower L. Khel Vikings North Block Warriors Lower Bayavü Giants GROUP C Tsütuo Knights P. Khel Eagles Middle Bayavü Lions D. Khel United GROUP D Peraciezie Royals Zienuobadze High Flyers High School Daredevils Upper Bayavü Sixers

SJHSS organizes sports meet DiMAPur, MArch 16 (Mexn): St. Joseph Higher Secondary School, Chumukedima organized its 18th Annual Games and Sports Meet on March 15. Deputy Director of Agriculture, Kohima N Jacob Yanthan was the chief guest at the inaugural function. The chief guest in his speech encouraged the students to take part in various events not just for winning but with the desire to make sports and games an integral part of their life. “Many studies focus in five C’s - Competence, Confidence, Connection, Character and Caring - which are very critical components of positive youth development,” Yanthan said. He encouraged the students to uphold their commitment, dedication, discipline, hardworking, devotion and positive attitude. Earlier in the program, welcome address was delivered by Rev. Fr Sajan, Principal SJHSS while the lighting of sports lamp was performed by Rev. Fr Mathew Director of Shalom Rehabilitation Centre Chumukedima. Cultural dance and March Past by four houses of the school was the highlight of the inaugural. The function was concluded with vote thanks by Sr. David Headmistress SJHSS.

Winners of the 2nd Ningting Cham Peren District Badminton Championship 2016 with organizers and others. The championship, organised by Ningting Society, Tening Town, was held at Indoor Stadium, Tening Town from March 8 to 10. A total cash prize of Rs. 40,000 along with certificates and medals were given away to the winners and runners-up.

Jalukie Golden Jubilee Football tourney underway

JALukie, MArch 16 (Mexn): The Inaugural programme of the Jalukie Town Golden Jubilee Football Tournament was held on March 15 with Retd Asst Commandant (IR), G.R. Zeliang, who was the first chairman of the full-fledged

township, as chief guest. In his speech, he acknowledged the visionary leader of Jalukie Pumling and impressed upon the gathering that every achievement begins with a small step. He emphasised that we should imbibe the values of

discipline, cleanliness and hospitality with more vigour in our daily lives. Special number was presented by Kezaiwi (Naga Orpheus finalist 2015) and the tournament torch was lighted by Keheinam.

Sports Academy Kohima excel at NWA 25th meet

The coaches with wrestlers of Sports Academy Kohima.

kohiMA, MArch 16 (Mexn): For the first time, the Sports Academy Kohima participated in the recently concluded 25th anniversary tournament of the Nagaland Wrestling Association (NWA) in Kohima. The Sports Academy participated in Sub-Junior Under-17 Category in freestyle wrestling and brought laurels in both boys and girls event.

Sub-Junior boys 42 kg: 1st- Bauloi Phom, 2nd-Mutsizo 40 kg: 1st- Pongtang Phom, 2nd- Ami Sub-Junior girls 38 kg: 1st- Keheiriangle, 2nd- Vizoseno 40 kg: 1st- Vesebalu, 2nd – Shenekholu 38 kg: 1st- Izielungle 46 kg: 2nd- Khriebunuo.

FiFA makes huge damages claim against 'sordid' football officials

Zurich, MArch 16 (AFP): FIFA on Wednesday demanded tens of millions of dollars in damages from the "sordid" officials facing charges in the United States over mass bribery scandals that have rocked world football. In a wide-ranging admission on the scope of soccer corruption, just two weeks after Gianni Infantino replaced Sepp Blatter as its president, football's governing body called on US authorities to investigate the assets of former FIFA vice-president Jeffrey Webb. It said the Cayman Islands official was leading an "extravagant lifestyle" in a US home that may have been bought with bribes. FIFA also made its most explicit accusation yet that South Africa paid a $10 million bribe to get votes to back its bid for the 2010 World Cup. World football is at the centre of multiple inquiries into bribery and misconduct and the award of World Cup tournaments. Thirty-nine individuals face charges in the United States over more than $200 million in bribes. FIFA's former leader Blatter and his heir apparent Michel Platini have both been banned. FIFA acknowledged the widespread graft of recent decades as it accused the tainted officials of "brazen corruption". "By corrupting these tournaments, matches, sponsorships, and other football affairs through their backroom deals and secret payoffs, the defendants dragged FIFA into their sordid misconduct," said the FIFA demand for 'victim restitution' made to the US Attorney's office in New York. FIFA said in a statement that it "estimates that at a minimum tens of millions of dollars were diverted" through bribes and other corrupt schemes.

"This amount is likely to increase as the investigation continues." It will seek money from the $190 million that the United States says has been forfeited by the 39 individuals and two companies facing charges. FIFA named 20 former executive committee members and leading officials in regional confederations that it said had taken more than $28 million in compensation, travel and other costs alone. "FIFA as the world governing body of football wants that money back and we are determined to get it no matter how long it takes,” said Infantino, who was elected FIFA president on February 26. "The convicted defendants abused the positions of trust they held at FIFA and other international football organisations and caused serious and lasting damage to FIFA, its member associations and the football community," Infantino added. Many of the bribes at the centre of the US investigation were paid for lucrative television and sponsorship deals in Central and South America. Most of the defendants are from this region. World Cup bids also face mounting scrutiny however. South Africa has strongly denied paying a bribe to secure the 2010 World Cup. But FIFA backed suspicions raised by US investigators. The claim says executive committee members -- including Jack Warner of Trinidad and Tobago and Charles Blazer of the United States "sold their votes on multiple occasions". It said that Warner, who is fighting extradition to the United States, Blazer, who has made a plea deal with US authorities, Warner’s son Daryan Warner and other unidentified suspects "engineered a $10 million pay-

off in exchange for executive committee votes regarding where the 2010 FIFA World Cup would be hosted." Warner sent his son to Paris to collect "a briefcase with $10,000 in cash from a high-ranking South African bid committee official," said the document. "Ultimately, given defendant Warner’s strong illicit ties to the South African bid committee, the South Africans offered a more attractive bribe of $10 million in exchange for Warner’s, Blazer’s, and a third executive committee member’s votes," it added. "They disguised and funnelled the bribe money through the financial accounts of FIFA, member associations, and the 2010 FIFA World Cup local organizing committee." It also told how Warner sold votes for the 2011 FIFA presidential election to Qatari official Mohamed bin Hammam, who has since been banned for life. Delegates at a Caribbean Football Union meeting where bin Hamman spoke were each given envelopes containing $40,000 in cash. Webb has been accused of involvement in bribes for television and marketing deals. He made a deal with US prosecutors last year, having agreed to pay more than $6.7 million, and is now on bail living in a mansion in Georgia state. FIFA called on the US Attorney to carry out an immediate accounting of Webb's assets and funds. "FIFA is concerned that Mr. Webb may not have fully disclosed his assets to the court or to the government," the world body said in a letter to the US Attorney. FIFA highlighted a media report indicating "Webb continues his extravagant lifestyle" and that his home may have been bought with "bribes and kickbacks."

thursday 17•03•2016

EntErtainmEnt

Kangana, Hrithik send legal notices to each other

he Kangana Ranaut and Hrithik Roshan saga seems to be getting murkier by the day. Now, these supposed exes have served legal notices to each other. Reports on Tuesday morning said that Kangana and Hrithik had slapped legal notices on each other via their respective lawyers. However, Kangana’s lawyer Rizwan Siddiquee has neither confirmed nor denied the same. On Tuesday morning, Mumbai-based tabloid Mid-Day quoted a source as saying, “Hrithik told Kangana that she should call for a press conference and render an apology to him, spelling out that she had not hinted at Hrithik Roshan as her ‘silly ex’. Else he would make all her correspondence to him public.” Kangana, on her part, had her lawyer Rizwan send out a legal notice

to Hrithik. She charged Hrithik with intimidation and threat under respective sections of the Indian Penal Code, the report in the tabloid stated. Speaking to IndiaToday.in, Kangana’s lawyer

Rizwan Siddique said, “I’m not instructed to comment on this. At this stage, I can say nothing. I can neither confirm nor deny the developments. Let something come from Hrithik, and then I can speak.”

Over the last few months, Hrithik and Kangana have taken several potshots at each other. It all began when Kangana hinted at Hrithik being her ‘silly ex’. “Yes, many lame rumours are doing rounds, even a dumbass can tell where these rumours are coming from. I don’t know why exes do silly things to get your attention. For me, that chapter is over and I don’t dig graves,” Ranaut had responded when a website asked her if Hrithik had replaced her with Sonam Kapoor in Aashiqui 3. It was followed by Hrithik’s by-now famous tweet, “Ther r more chances of me having had an affair with d Pope dan any of d (Im sure wonderful)women d media hs ben naming. Thanks but no thanks (sic).” Kangana and Hrithik have worked together in Kites (2010) and Krrish 3 (2013). Source: India Today

Angelina Jolie, in Lebanon, says world has failed refugees

ngelina Jolie, the Hollywood actress and special envoy for the UN’s refugee agency, said today that the international community must address the root causes of the global refugee crisis. “We cannot manage the world through aid relief in the place of diplomacy and political solutions,” she said under the pouring rain at a press conference in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have sought refuge in the Bekaa. Lebanon hosts well over a million Syrian refugees, who now account for nearly a fifth of its population. Jolie said she had hoped to be in Syria helping victims return to their homes on the fifth anniversary of the uprising against President Bashar Assad. She said it’s “tragic and shameful that we seem to be so far from that point.” There are now more people displaced through conflict around the globe than during World War II, ac-

cording to the UN. The war in Syria between Assad’s government, rebels and foreign jihadis has drawn in world powers and generated what the UN says is the largest humanitarian catastrophe in a generation. Half of Syria’s prewar population of some 23 million has been displaced, with around 5 million having fled their homeland, mainly to neighboring

Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq. The international relief organization OXFAM warned Tuesday that Lebanese municipalities are running out of space to bury deceased refugees. “We should never forget that for all the focus on the refugee situation in Europe at this time, the greatest pressure is still being felt in the Middle East and North Africa, as it has for each of the last five years,” Jolie said. After a tidal wave of refugees poured into Europe last year, some countries began erecting political and physical barriers to migration, which have left tens of thousands of refugees stuck in squalid conditions in the Balkans this spring. Jolie called on such countries to adhere to their international obligations to aid refugees. “The reason we have laws and binding international agreements is precisely because of the temptation to deviate from them in times of pressure,” she said. Source: AP

Nagamese Film ‘Maiki Manu Dukh Laga Kahani –part 2’ released

Governor P.B. Acharya with his wife and others during the release of the Nagamese Film “ Maiki Manu Dukh Laga Kahani –part 2” at Durbar Hall, Raj Bhavan on March 16. (DIPR Photo)

C M Y K

inema is a mirror of the society, how we live, what should be our life, what are the aspiration and what we dreamed of all can be seen through the cinema, said the Governor of Nagaland and Assam P.B. Acharya while releasing the Nagamese Film “ Maiki Manu Dukh Laga Kahani – part 2” at Durbar Hall, Raj Bhavan on March 16. He said that a film is an educational medium which can change our mindset. While congratulating the film producer and the artists for a grand success, the Governor said that the film depicted the life of the producer who suffered in

real life and through that event she portrays social life of our community. Stating that all over the world now, women are equal especially a democratic country like India, every citizens, be it a man or women belonging to different religion, group, tribal, non-tribal, caste, in which language he speaks is immaterial as we are all equal and that gender equality is very prominent now, artificial creation that women are inferior to man is an old idea, the Governor added. The Governor said a Naga women has boldly come out with a movie, requesting for social justice as women in Nagaland are

not getting equal opportunity in the name of tribal law and it is a high time to scrutinize ourselves and that our women are everywhere in every aspect of life. He said that they are hard working and God has created them in a very special quality who are very receptive giving strength to men. We cannot be a stagnant society and we need to have a vibrant society where women have to be given a chance in every sphere of life, the Governor said. Speaking about the film, the Governor said that the suffering and oppression of a women where she is unnecessarily discrimi-

nated and justice being done by fighting back is a bold enough medium of expression, whereby the Governor urged the producer that the movie be screened in school and colleges across Nagaland. The film is produced and directed by Esther Bano and is a story of a young rape victim, Grace who was orphaned with the death of her mother who succumbed to the social sarcasm and embarrassment following the rape incident. Subsequently adopted by a neighbor family friend, the character grows up into adulthood with a strong determination to fight social injustice towards women. Educated with the support of her adopted parents, she becomes successful police officers. But she resolved never to marry but serve the general womenfolk by standing up for their rights. Through her line of duty, she gives her best efforts to protect the rights of the women by addressing their needs through a fair means. She protects the women in distress and delivers justice in fairness. In short, the film is a story of a victimized women standing up to the rights of the women and gives supporting role to the women seeking justice. Source: DIPR News

Clooney to discuss freedom of expression in India

ritish human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, who is married to Hollywood icon George Clooney, says she is looking forward to her trip to India and is eager to initiate a dialogue on human rights and freedom of expression in the country. Amal, who specialises in international law and human rights, is coming to India to be a part of India Today Conclave 2016 here later this week. She will present the closing argument on the right to dissent and free speech in repressive regimes. “I am thrilled to be returning to India, and to be participating in the Conclave with such a distinguished group of professionals. I look forward to a fruitful and timely discussion on human rights and freedom of expression in India today,” Amal said in a statement. The discussion comes at a time when India is seeing a debate on intolerance and freedom of speech and expression. Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt, who walked a free man 23 years after his legal problems began over his possessing an assault rifle, will also open up on the ‘hard road to freedom’ at the twoday conclave, which begins on Thursday here. Amal will be a part of the second day. The conclave will also feature a number of famous sportspersons, including Abhinav Bindra, MC Mary Kom and Gopichand Pullela, while from the cinema world, famed poet-lyricist Javed Akhtar and his wife, renowned actor Shabana Azmi, as well as comedianwriter Varun Grover will delve into various issues. Source: IANS

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SPORTS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

PDVFA convene meeting KohiMa, March 16 (MExN): The Phek District Veteran Football Association (PDVFA) Executive meeting is scheduled to be held on March 19 at 3pm at the residence of the association President Salie Khesoh in Phek Town. According to a press statement, the meeting will dwell on important matters confronting the Association viz., hosting of the forthcoming NVFA 8th edition tourney scheduled to be held at Phek Town during 2017, filling up the vacancies of the Executive Officials, observation of Obituary minutes etc. Hence, all the Executive officials, members, special Invitees are compulsorily asked to attend the meeting. The press note further added that, the meeting’s minutes shall stand final and nothing shall be entertained thereafter in any form.

Children School Mkg sports week underway MoKoKchuNg, March 16 (MExN): The annual sport week of Children School Mokokchung kicked off on March 16 at Assam Rifles ground, Mokokchung with Rajesh Soundararajan (IAS), ADC Mokokchung as the chief guest. Addressing the enthusiastic students, the ADC Mokokchung said that being students, now is the right time to inculcate good habits and to “become messengers of your school”. Stressing on sports, he said that sports should be taken seriously. He said that “Sports makes you a better person and it is not a binary choice between studies and sports but a student can be good both in studies and in sports”. He further added that winning and losing is not important but upholding the sportsmanship is important. The inaugural programme saw a display of varied talents of the students which included a synchronized drill display, a song and choreography. The oath taking ceremony was initiated by Binay and the sports week was declared open with the Chief Guest kicking off the first football match.

Anand suffers shocking loss to Karjakin

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Moscow, March 16 (agENciEs): Viswanathan Anand lost his fourth round game at the Candidates Championships 2016, held in Moscow, against Sergey Karjakin. It was a clash between the leaders as both Anand and Karjakin were on 2.0/3. With this victory, the Russian player took the sole lead in the tournament. Meanwhile, Vishy Anand is on the joint third position with 2.0/4. 25-year-old Sergey Karjakin is currently Russia’s most talented youngster. He became the youngest chess grandmaster in the world at the age of 12 years and 7 months in the year 2002. He also became the World Cup winner in 2015. Today was the first time in last three decades that Anand has lost his India number one rank on the live Elo rating lists. With this loss, Anand is on 2763 while Pentala Harikrishna’s live rating is 2763.3. Anand can, of course, become number one tomorrow with a win but as of today he is in the second place.

Fifa says executive committee members sold World Cup votes on 'multiple occasions' Zurich, March 16 (rEutErs): Soccer's governing body FIFA said on Wednesday that members of its executive committee had in the past sold their votes in World Cup hosting contests, including for the tournament held in South Africa in 2010. "It is now apparent that multiple members of FIFA’s Executive Committee abused their positions and sold their votes on multiple occasions," it said in a legal document filed to a U.S. court. It said that former executive committee members Chuck Blazer, Jack Warner and other individuals engineered a $10 million payoff in exchange for executive committee votes regarding the hosting of the 2010 World Cup, eventually awarded to South Africa.

Kabbadi player shot dead in Rohtak rohtaK, March 16 (Pti): A national-level Kabbadi player was shot dead by two assailants in Rithal village of Rohtak on Tuesday evening, with the murder captured on a CCTV installed at a house near the crime spot. The 24-year-old player, Sukhvinder Singh, was returning home after practice when he was shot dead. “Two persons on a scooter shot dead Sukhvinder with a pistol near his house on Tuesday evening,” a police official said. In the CCTV footage, Sukhvinder Singh is seen talking to someone on his mobile while returning home. The assailants approach him and fire shots in his chest and forehead. Police said a murder case has been registered against unidentified persons and a hunt launched to nab the killers. According to the parents of the deceased, Sukhvinder Singh did not have personal enmity with anyone.

Benzema hits back at French PM Paris, March 16 (iaNs): French striker Karim Benzema has hit back following his country's Prime Minister Manuel Valls' criticism of his ethical respect. "I'm not the French Football Federation's president or Didier Deschamps, but I think there're no grounds for Benzema to come into the France team. He's still under investigation," said Valls while speaking to French broadcaster RMC on Tuesday, reports Xinhua. "A great sportsman must be an example for our youth," said Valls. Benzema was just lifted legal restrictions over his alleged involvement in national team-mate Mathieu Valbuena's sex-tape case, paving the way for the Real Madrid forward to play for the French national team. The PM's voice echoed French sports minister Patrick Kanner, who also said earlier that "the conditions had not been met" for Benzema's return and questioned his level of respect for the ethics of the France team. Frustrated by these comments, Benzema wrote on his official Twitter account on Tuesday: "Twelve seasons as a professional: 541 matches played, 0 red cards, 11 yellow cards!!! And some people talk about my exemplariness???"

Gayle blows England away at the Wankhede

MuMbai, March 16 (agENciEs): West Indies powerhouse and hard-hitting opener Chris Gayle struck a blistering 100, as he steered West Indies to a triumphant six-wicket win over former champions England, in Match 15 of Super 10 round of the ongoing ICC World T20 2016 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday. Earlier, West Indies skipper Darren Sammy won the toss and elected to bowl first, and scored a challenging total of 182 for the loss of six wickets, courtesy of Joe Root’s 48, as he went in with a couple of spinners in the side, thus leaving out Jason Holder, while England skipper Eoin Morgan went ahead with David Willey, instead of Liam Plunkett. West Indies began the chase on a shaky note, as they lost the opening wicket of Johnson Charles for an unfortunate duck in the opening over off David Willey, after being caught by Moeen Ali. However, it followed a healthy 55-run stand for the second wicket between Gayle and Marlon Samuels, before Samuels fell for 37 to Adil Rashid, after being caught by Willey, as the score read 57 for the loss of two in the seventh over The next pair of Gayle and wicketkeeper-batsman Denesh Ramdin added 46-more runs for the third wicket, before Ramdin fell for mere 12 to Ali, after being caught by Adil Rashid in the 12th over. Meanwhile, Gayle also hit the 50th six of the tournament overall, becoming the first man to do so. It was followed by a brief 10-run stand between Dwayne Bravo and Gayle, before Bravo fell for a mere couple to Reece Topley, after being caught by Alex Hales in the 13th over, as the score read 113 for the loss of four. Brief scores: England 182 for 6 in 20 Overs (Joe Root 48, JosButtler 30; Andre Russell 2 for 36, Dwayne Bravo 2 for 41) vs West Indies 183 for 4 in 18.1 overs (Chris Gayle 100, Marlon Smuels 38*; Adil Rashid 1 for 20) by 6 wickets.

TODAY'S MATCH Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan Kolkata

7:30 PM IST

Afridi powers Pakistan to big opening win at World T20

KolKata, March 16 (aFP): Skipper Shahid Afridi starred with bat and ball as he powered Pakistan to a comprehensive 55-run victory against Bangladesh in his team's opening match of the World Twenty20 in Kolkata on Wednesday. Afridi's blistering 19-ball 49 helped Pakistan post a commanding total of 201 for five and his two-wicket haul was instrumental in restricting Bangladesh to 146 for six from their 20 overs. "Boom Boom" Afridi, whose batting form had fallen away in recent months, rose to the occasion after promoting himself to number four in the order. The skipper smacked four boundaries and four sixes to help Pakistan register their second highest score in T20 internationals. Their highest total is 203 against the same opposition in 2009. Opting to bat after winning the toss, Pakistani top-order batsmen Ahmed Shehzad (52) and Mohammad Hafeez (64) hit entertaining fifties to stitch a 95-run second wicket partnership and lay a solid foundation for others to build on. The duo combined the right dose of caution and aggression to blunt the Bangladesh bowling attack, with the Tigers' captain Mashrafe Mortaza unable to stem the tide in the Chris Gayle smacks a six down the ground, England v West Indies, World T20 absence of injured bowler Mustafizur Rahman. 2016, Group 1, Mumbai, March 16. (Getty Images)

Open Penalty Shoot-Out tournament in Kohima

7th Silver Cup T-20 Cricket Tournament underway

Our Correspondent Kohima | March 16

The Prodigies Group is organizing the 2nd Open Penalty Shoot-Out tournament on March 19 at Kohima Local Ground. Parliamentary Secretary for Youth Resources & Sports, Music Task Force and State Lotteries Khriehu Liezietsu will be the chief guest while Pele Khezhie, president Nagaland Contractors & Suppliers Union will be the guest of honour. The champions will take away Rs. 30,000 while the runners-up will pocket Rs. 20,000. The 3rd and 4th prize winners will be awarded Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 5000 respectively. The best goalkeeper will also be awarded Rs.5000. The tournament will be played on knock-out basis. The event will also witness sale of sporting goods and jerseys, monsoon clothing and accessories and also a food stall to cater to the event. “We have made preparations to make it a social and family event for people to support the teams and also bless us through their presence,” Prodigies Group said. Prodigies Group consists of 15 members from Khedi Baptist Church Kohima, with a zeal for serving the Lord through various undertakings and charitable works. From the diversities in their personal professions and trades they came together as a group to exalt God in “all the ways He has blessed us.” And in the process of searching for some new ways of fellowship, Prodigies Groups initiated this open penalty shoot-out tournament under the motto “Innovating a stronger fellowship.”

School Education Minister Yitachu and others with players of the inaugural match at Jakhama Ground on March 16. (Morung Photo)

PUBC & Diphu XI register wins Our Correspondent Jakhama | March 16

The 7th edition of Silver Cup T-20 Cricket Tournament under the aegis of Youth Department Nepali Baptist Church Kohima with the theme “Peace and unity through cricket” was formally declared open by Minister for School Education & SCERT Yitachu at Jakhama Ground. Speaking on the occasion, Yitachu called upon the participants to maintain good discipline and play with the spirit of sportsmanship. He said that to be a good sportsman and professional in a particular field one has to work hard while also stating that suc-

MATCHES FOR MARCH 17

1st match: FHCC vs Kohima Hornbills ‘B’ @ 7am 2nd match: Kohima Knights vs Street Boys Wokha @ 10am 3rd match: Sparks CC (Dmp) vs Merhülietsa CC @ 1pm cess will come only through hard work and dedication. Altogether 24 teams, 16 from Kohima, three from Dimapur and one each from Mokokchung and Diphu (Assam) are competing in the 11-day long tourney. The final will be held on March 26. In the inaugural match, Police Union Baptist Church (PUBC) defeated Friends Cricket Club by 3 wickets. Winning the toss, PUBC decided to field and restricted their opponents to 109 runs in 17.5 overs with bowler Mungkham claiming 2 wickets. FCC batsman Nazim top scored with 23 runs. PUBC achieved the tar-

get in 17.5 overs while losing 7 wickets. Mungkham, who added 30 runs with the bat, was adjudged man of the match. In the second match, Diphu XI (Assam) humiliated organisers NBC Kohima Youth Department by a huge margin of 239 runs. Having won the toss, Diphu XI elected to bat and posted a mammoth 280 runs losing four wickets in 20 over. Jitu Timung scored 102 runs while Rahul contributed 60 runs. Chasing the huge target, NBCK YD players were bundled out for 41 runs in 11.4 over. Jitu was adjudged the man of the match for his match winning century.

Injuries mar Man City's history night

MaNchEstEr,March 16 (aFP): Injuries to centrebacks Vincent Kompany and Nicolas Otamendi overshadowed proceedings as Manchester City reached the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time after drawing 0-0 with Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday. Leading 3-1 from last month's away leg, Manuel Pellegrini's side completed the job in forgettable fashion, with Jesus Navas's shot against the post for City the nearest either side came to breaking the deadlock. But first-half injuries to captain Kompany and Otamendi cast a pall over the evening at a hushed Etihad Stadium, leaving City vulnerable in defence ahead of Sunday's derby with Manchester United in the Premier League. While progress in the Champions League represents a historic achievement for Pellegrini, who will hand over to Pep

Eliaquim Mangala and Pablo Zabaleta of Manchester City challenge Mykola Morozyuk of Dynamo Kiev. (Getty Images)

Guardiola at the season's end, the injuries could have a costly impact on City's attempt to resurrect their domestic title challenge. The League Cup winners have fallen 12 points below leaders Leicester City, although they re-

tain a game in hand, and face challenges from both United and in-form West Ham United for their topfour place. With the atmosphere affected by the double injury blow, City struggled to get going. There were two late

scares in the hosts' box when first Buyalskiy and then substitute Olexandr Yakovenko took aim, but Hart blocked alertly on both occasions, giving City a clean sheet for only the second time in their 18 Champions League home games.

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