March 1st, 2016

C M Y K

www.morungexpress.com

tuesDAY • MArch 01 • 2016

DIMAPUR • Vol. XI • Issue 58 • 12 PAGes • 5

T H e

ESTD. 2005

P o W e R

o F

T R u T H

In democracy it’s your vote that counts; In feudalism it’s your count that votes — Mogens Jallberg

Petrol price cut by Rs.3.02 a litre, diesel hiked by Rs.1.47

Nagaland State Government’s failure may lead to more violence: YTC

Manchester City win League Cup

PAGE 02

PAGE 12

Budget 2016: rs 33,097cr Human-Animal conflict: Tigress killed by villagers allocated for north east

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 29 (AGENCIES): Rs 33,097 crore has been allocated for development of North Eastern Region in the Union budget which included a special fund of Rs 412 crore for promotion of organic farming. Presenting the Union Budget 201617, Finance Minister Arun Jaitely said Rs 33,097 has been earmarked for North Eastern Region across all ministries.

The budget allocated Rs 2,430.01 crore to the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, of which Rs 2,400 crore is under plan and Rs 30.01 crore under non-plan heads.

Rs 223 crore has been allocated for livelihood, skill and capacity building of the rural population. The project is proposed to be funded through the World Bank.

Rs 300 crore has been given for North East Road Sector Development Scheme for meeting the expenditure of the project management unit to facilitate implementation of ADB-assisted North East Road Project.

The Finance Minister said the government has launched a value chainbased organic farming scheme, called ‘Organic Value Chain Development in North Eastern Region’.

“The emphasis is on value addition so that organic produce grown in these parts find domestic and export markets. A total provision of Rs 412 crore has been made for these schemes,” he said. Rs 900 crore has been allocated under the Central Pool of Resources for North Eastern Region, including

reflections

By Sandemo Ngullie

costlier

Following is a list of items that will turn costlier: • Cars • Cigarettes • Cigar • Tobacco • All services like bill payments, eating out, air travel • Readymade garments and branded apparel of more than Rs 1,000 • Gold and Silver; jewelry articles excluding silver • Water including mineral water, aerated water containing added sugar or sweetening matter • Goods and services above Rs 2 lakh in cash • Aluminum foil • Air Travel • Plastic bags and sacks • Ropeway, cable car rides • Imported imitation jewelry • Industrial solar water heater • Legal services • Lottery tickets.

• Traveling by hiring stage carriage.

• Hiring of packers & movers • E-reading devices • Instruments for VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) • Imported Golf Cars • Gold bars Sikkim, while Rs 795 has been given for implementation of various development schemes of the North Eastern Council.

Besides, clean energy cess or clean environment cess on coal, lignite or peat, produced or extracted as per traditional and customary rights enjoyed by tribals without any licence or lease in Nagaland has been com-

pletely exempted.

Applicable excise duty for such work is chargeable at Rs 200 per tonne.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s third budget marked a strategic shift by addressing rural distress. At the same time it hiked public investment in India’s woeful infrastructure by 22.5 percent, while taking further steps to revive corporate investment.

Our Correspondent

Under pressure from all quarters, the Manipur Home Department today revoked the suspension order of five commandos of the Manipur state police, accused of assaulting leaders of the Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) on February 14. Official sources informed that the suspension order of five cops including a subinspector had been cancelled this morning. An order to this effect has been issued by the Home Government achievements Department, they said. so far? Well, 1.Hornbill festiThe personnel suspended on val and..2..Er..er..mmmnn..n..

February 26 after NSF, demanding ah..emmm..m..he he .. action against the cops, imposed a vehicle ban in all Naga-dominated areas. The NSF stir had been called

Our Correspondent Kohima | February 29

C M Y K

Two persons, including a woman were killed and five others injured when a Tata Sumo taxi in which they were travelling plunged into a deep gorge after crossing Botsa in Kohima district today.

The deceased included a 17 year old and a 59 year old. Police informed that the accident occurred between 2:00 and 3:00pm, and the Tata Sumo, carrying ten people including the driver, was heading towards Suruhuto from Dimapur. Four of the injured persons were taken to Primary Health Centre Botsa, while one woman who suffered serious injury was rushed to Kohima.

2016-2017 cheaper

Following is a list items that will turn cheaper: • Footwear • Solar lamp • Router, broadband modems and set top boxes, Digital video recorder and CCTV cameras • Hybrid electric vehicles • Sterilised dialyser • Low cost houses with less than 60 sq mt carpet area • Hiring of folk artists for performance • Refrigerated containers • Pension plans • Microwave ovens • Sanitary pads • Braille paper

“We have a shared responsibility to spend prudently and wisely for the people, especially for the poor and downtrodden,” the 63-year-old finance minister told lawmakers in his 100-minute address.

The government will also allocate $32 billion for infrastructure development in 2016/17, an increase of 22.5 percent from last year,

building 10,000 km of new national highways and upgrading another 50,000 km.

Financial investors gave Jaitley’s budget a cautious thumbs up, with the rupee, bonds and stocks buoyant.

Ratings agencies also gave their cautious backing to a spending package that produced no nasty surprises on the borrowing side.

Related stories on page 4

The tigress which was killed in Medziphema Village on February 29. (Morung Photo)

Morung Express News Dimapur | February 29

The killing of a tigress resulted in a custody tussle over the felled animal’s corpse between government officials and distraught villagers on February 29. The incident, which occurred at Medziphema village, Dimapur district on Monday caught the administration and the Forest department by surprise, with officials virtually pleading the villagers to hand over custody of the animal’s corpse to the department for completing necessary formalities as it involves a highly endangered species.

The tigress was shot and killed by the villagers today at around noon. According to the villagers, she was troubling the village for over a week raiding livestock belonging to the villagers. As the tigress’s raids grew troublesome en-

dangering livestock as well as people, the village early on February 29 made a decision to scare and chase the animal away from the village periphery, said one elderly villager.

All able-bodied men of the village was mobilised for the task, which began

cornered and killed the tigress at round 1:30 pm.

It was a matter of prestige for the village but to the Forest department it meant trouble with its officials getting to know of the matter only well after the hunting party had been mobilised.

After the kill, district administration officials led by the Medziphema ADC arrived at the village, who reasoned with the villagers on the legal implications of hunting endangered wildlife. The village elders maintained it was done solely with the intention of protecting human life and livestock.

The ADC further appealed the villagers to hand over custody of the corpse to the Forest department to which the villagers were reluctant citing customary belief of bravery and honour. The villagers finally relented handing over the corpse to Forest officials late in the evening.

Sparks custody battle between Forest dept and villagers in the morning. The elderly man said that the villagers were able to track down the tigress just outside the edge of the village and were making attempts to chase her deep into the forest beyond the village when an unfortunate event occurred. “One young man was mauled by the cornered animal, who sustained deep gashes on the head and body.” It occurred around 10:30 am. It enraged the villagers, who eventually

Manipur govt revokes suspension of 5 cops chenwetnyu – a trendsetter Imphal | February 29

two killed in vehicle accident

Union BUdget

off after the cops were suspended.

Manipur DGP LM Khaute had also announced a departmental inquiry into the incident.

Manipur CM Okram Ibobi Singh chaired a meeting of Congress Legislature Party (CLP) yesterday following strong protest from 20 party legislators against the decision suspending the five cops. The Congress MLAs even urged CM Ibobi to remove Home Minister Gaikhangam over the order. Ibobi assured the CLP meeting that the suspension order would be revoked.

Gaikhangam, who also holds the Deputy CM’s post, had been targeted by the MLAs and student bodies like All Manipur Students’ Union (AMSU) and major political parties for his recent

statement in the state assembly that the NSF delegates were not harassed by the police personnel who were on duty. The five cops were suspended hours after Gaikhangam’S statement.

NSF calls for Emergency Meeting

The NSF has meanwhile called for an “Emergency Presidential Council Meeting” on March 3 at Japfü Hotel, at 12 noon. The meeting will discuss the revocation order to the suspended Manipur police commando personnel by the Government of Manipur. The NSF in a press statement has requested all the Federating Units, Subordinate Bodies and the seniors of NSF to attend the meeting.

Sainik School cadets leave campus in protest Morung Express News Dimapur | February 29

Class 11 cadets of Sainik School, Punglwa left campus on February 29 in protest over alleged apathy of the school’s administration towards them. The cadets, 45 in total, marched from Punglwa till Jharnapani where they were picked by their parents in the afternoon today.

The cadets told media persons that they left fearing retaliation from their senior class 12 cadets over a series of incidents which occurred on February 17 and 18 at the school campus.

According to the cadets, they were allegedly assaulted by their seniors on the night of February 17 at their hostel block. This was followed by another round of assault on February 18 morning, said one of the cadets, while adding that some 16-20 junior cadets were injured and had to be admitted to hospital.

The assaults were allegedly the result of the juniors not organising a farewell function for their outgoing class 12 cadets.

Following the incidents, the cadets said that the school administration suspended the class 12 cadets and asked them to leave campus till the final board examinations, which begins March first week. The junior cadets also left campus, while their parents lodged a police complaint at Jalukie Police Station on February 18.

As per the school administration’s decision, the cadets said that the seniors were to report to campus only for appearing their exams and not as boarding cadets.

With this arrangement in place, the class 11 cadets reported to campus only to receive threatening calls from the seniors, said the cadets, while they received news that the class 12 cadets will be re-joining campus on March 1. This was despite the school administration’s standing

in community development

decision to suspend the senior cadets from the school campus as boarding cadets, it was added.

Apprehending a repeat of the February 17 and 18 incidents, the cadets said that they decided to leave before the seniors set foot in campus on March 1. “We’re going home and at the same time hoping that they (seniors) are not allowed to stay in the campus.”

A parent of one of the cadets expressed displeasure at the school administration’s response citing negligence and apathy.

Regarding the complaint at Jalukie PS, police are reportedly at a loss over jurisdictional authority. The school being a Defence-run establishment has apparently prevented the police from investigating the case.

Meanwhile, the school administration could not be reached for comment. Several attempts to reach the principal’s office since February 18 were unsuccessful.

tradition amidst development: The Angh’s house in Chetwetnyu village in Mon district still retains the traditional ‘tukopatta’ roofing despite the village having achieved cent percent rural housing. On the right of the Angh’s house is the upcoming multi-purpose building and on the left is seen a solar street lamp

Morung Express News Chenwetnyu | February 29

One of the remotest villages in Mon district bordering Myanmar is a trend setter in community development and the first village in the district to achieve cent percent rural housing. Chenwetnyu village, located some 71kms from Mon district headquarters via Aboi, is also one of the cleanest villages in Nagaland and the first in Mon district to install solar street lamps in the village streets in 2013.

The success story of Chenwetnyu is one of active community participation and a conscious effort of villagers to overcome the imposed ‘backward’ tag. In 2009, after a meeting of all villagers, Chenwetnyu Village Council passed a resolution to approach the Nagaland state government for 100 percent CGI roofing of the village under Indira Awaz Yojna (IAY) scheme.

“The golden jubilee celebration of Chenwetnyu Vil-

lage Baptist Church was to be held in December 2010 and we desired to achieve 100 percent rural housing to cap the jubilee celebration. The government graciously conceded to our application and we were able to achieve our goal just before the jubilee celebration,” informed Chairman of Chenwetnyu Village council, PM Nockpai Konyak, to visiting media persons. However, the CGI sheets provided under IAY scheme was not enough to cover the roofs of 400 plus tax-paying households and so villagers pooled resources from various VDB funds and contributions to achieve their total rural housing target.

Today, only a couple of houses including the Angh’s (village chief) house still retain the traditional ‘Tuko patta’ roofs to preserve the ancient Konyak way of building houses. The judicious use of VDB schemes and fund is manifested in the village roads and drainages, retaining walls, footpaths, morungs, the village council guest house, commu-

nity water tank and, an upcoming three-storied multi-purpose building adjacent to the Angh’s house.

Chenwetnyu VDB, one of 21 VDBs under Chen RD Block, received the ‘Best VDB Award’ under Mon district in 2011.

The Chenwetnyu Village Students’ Union (CVSU) has been at the forefront in instilling civic sense here. The union banned open rearing of pigs within the village jurisdiction since 1983 and has been carrying out regular cleanliness and beautification drives. Intoxicants like liquor and tobacco products are banned within the village and CVSU keeps vigil on shops to ensure strict compliance.

“Last year our theme was ‘Year of cleanliness.’ This year’s CVSU theme is ‘Year of Education’ and as part of the theme, we have opened a pre-school facility attached to the Government Primary School and teachers are paid by charity group of the village,” said a CVSU leader. Chenwetnyu is also set to declare itself a “Green Village” by April this year. “Not only will all house roofs of the village be painted green, but restrictions on hunting and fishing will also be imposed thereafter,” a village elder said.

The progress and development within the village is in sharp contrast to the deplorable roads in the Chen RD Block and Mon district as a whole.

According to elders of the village, Chenwetnyu derives its name from (Chen –people and Wotzu –gathering place of animals). Of the total 14 Chen dialect speaking villages, 10 villages fall under Myanmar and 4 villages in Nagaland (Chenwetnyu, Chenloisho, Chenmoho and Wangti.

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tuesDAY 01•03•2016

NAGALAND

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Handicrafts Craft Bazar in Dimapur underway

CIHSR to open Precious Gems’ School

For Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Dimapur, February 29 (mexN): The Christian About intellectual and developmental disabilities Institute of Health Scienc-

Secretary, Industries & Commerce, Government of Nagaland, N. Hushili Sema (IAS) inaugurating Craft Bazar at Urban Haat, Dimapur on Monday. Sponsored by the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, around 100 artisans from the state and Assam are participating in the Craft Bazar. (Morung Photo)

es and Research (CIHSR) is inaugurating the Precious Gems’ School, For Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities at its campus on March 1 with L.K. Varte, Assistant Director, Rehabilitation Vocational Rehabilitation Centre for Handicapped Guwahati, Assam as the chief guest.

This school will be functioning as part of the Developmental Paediatrics Department of the above Hospital inside the premises. In addition to special education, children will have access for speech therapy, Physiotherapy, occupational therapy and medical facilities under the same roof. It is the first of its kind in Nagaland.

A complete medical, family, social, and educational history is compiled from existing medical and school records (if applicable) and from interviews with parents. Children are given intelligence tests to measure their learning abilities, and intellectual functioning. After assessing their abilities in adoptive behaviour skills, Spe-

I

ntellectual disability (intellectual developmental disorder) is a disorder with onset during the developmental period that includes both intellectual and adaptive functioning deficits in conceptual, social, and practical domains.

In India, there is no reliable statistics available about the prevalence of intellectual and developmental disabilities. From the samples of few random sample surveys, in different cities, the population with intellectual disability could be somewhere around 2-3 percent. For a long time, the stigma of intellectual disability led families in India to conceal the existence of such children. Many misconcep-

tions such as intellectual disability is a form of mental illness, and children with this disability is born because of the sin of their parents.

A diagnosis of Intellectual Disability is made if an individual has an intellectual functioning level well below average and significant limitations in two or more adaptive skill areas. Intellectual functioning level is defined by standardized tests that measure the ability to reason in terms of mental age (intelligence quotient or IQ). Intellectual Disability is defined as IQ score below 70. In general, children with intellectual disability reach developmental milestones such as walking and talking much later than the

general population.

Symptoms may appear at birth or later in childhood. These children typically have difficulties with day to day life skills, communication and functional academics.

It is unidentified in many of these children at an early age and it becomes vivid only when they become school failures. The regular school teachers try their own ways of handling such children since they are unaware of different types of developmental disabilities.

Moreover, children who are identified by various sources also are not having adequate special education facilities and other forms of therapies in the state.

Dimapur, February 29 (Dipr): The ten day Handicrafts Craft Bazar was inaugurated today at Urban Haat, Dimapur

by Secretary, Industries and Commerce, Hushili Sema IAS. Total of 100 artisans from across the States of Nagaland and Assam are participating in this craft bazaar with their innovative handmade crafts. The display crafts vary from day to day utility, decorative to specially designed ladies and gents wear.

Speaking on the occasion, Secretary Industry and Commerce, Hushili Sema IAS, expressed satisfaction for organizing such an event by the Nagaland Handloom and Handicrafts Development Corporation Ltd. (NHHDC) which is being sponsored by the Office of the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) and Ministry of Textiles, Government of India.

Hushili said that this event will go a long way in positive perspectives to

IGNOU Induction Prog on March 12

Mokokchung Adolescent Club District Health Society Kiphire organises street play conduct IEC/BEC activities

Kohima, February 29 (mexN): IGNOU Induction Programme for freshly enrolled and reregistered learners of all courses pertaining to study centre -2001, Modern College kohima will be conducted on March 12 (Saturday) at 11:30 am in Modern college Auditorium, opposite SBI Lerie Branch. All learners registered at the above mentioned IGNOU Study Centre have been informed to personally attend the Induction Programme.

Lower Chandmari WEC meeting Kohima, February 29 (mexN): The Ward Education Committee Lower Chandmari has informed that there will be a joint meeting on March 3 at 9:00 am in the auditorium hall of GMS Lower Chandmari. All the ward education committee members, panchayat officials, parents and teachers are requested to attend the meeting positively.

moKoKchuNg, February 29 (mexN): Adolescent Club of Mokokchung district held its second phase of District level IEC/ BEC activities on Adolescent Health at Tsusapang sector of Mokokchung District on February 28.

Adolescent Club Members performed street play on dangers of early pregnancy and right age of marriage. Zulu, President of the Adolescent Club spoke on dangers of early pregnancy and addiction to social networking. He said the future prospects for teenagers decline significantly if they have a baby. Teen mother are less likely to complete school and more likely to be single parent. Young adolescent experience a maternal death rate 2.5 times greater than that of mothers 20- 24 years.

He also stress on addiction in social networking like, social networking are massively addictive. Most people interact on social sites constantly through-

encourage artisans and to provide them a marketing platform for their products and services and looked forward to more events frequently to boost the crafts market and to create linkage among domestic and international buyers.

Chairperson, NHHDCL, Banuo Sanchu, Managing Director NHHDCL & Addl. Director, Department of Industries and Commerce, Er. S. Temsulong Jamir, and other senior officials were present during the inaugural function

Members of Mokokchung Adolescent Club during the second phase of District level IEC/BEC activities on Adolescent Health held at Tsusapang sector on February 28.

out the day and they have no idea how much actual time they spend on social media. Social media addiction is real and it can damage careers, degrade life and even harm relation-

ship, but if we know how to use it than it is great in many ways.

Adolescent Club member along with DMEIO, IEC officials and Media Officer attended the programme.

cial Education programme will be provided to children along with their parents.

Parents will be trained in handling their children to teach self-care activities, communication skills, social skills, functional academics, motor skills, and behaviour modification techniques for skill building as well as to control behaviour problems.

Thus facility of this kind which has been opened for the first time in Nagaland can be availed by the people to ensure proper care

Kiphire, February 29 (mexN): Under the second phase of district level IEC/BCC activities on Adolescent Health, District Health Society Kiphire organised street play on ARSH and an awareness health talk at BYE, Sangtam Baptist Church and Loyala Higher Secondary School on February 28 and 29. The purpose of the programme was to create awareness among adolescents on various issues regarding adolescent health.

Health talk was given by Dr. Holiba (MO) who spoke on early marriage, biological changes in adolescents, drug abuse, HIV-AIDS & STI, teenage pregnancy, unsafe abortions and its complications. “Adolescents carry more risks than adults because they are yet to mature physically, emotionally and mentally. Due to this adolescent girls are not ready for motherhood,” he added.

He also brought forward some of the consequences of early marriage and teenage pregnancy

and management of chilAwareness creation dren with Intellectual dis- programmes can thus go ability and developmental a long way in changing the needs. attitudes and mind sets of the people. Awareness reScenario of Intellectual garding the cause, types Disability in Nagaland and the management opIn Nagaland, there are tions available for children lots of myths and mis- with Intellectual Disability conceptions with regard can help sensitize the parto Intellectual Disability ents and the society to the and other childhood de- needs of children with Invelopmental disorders. tellectual Disability.

The cause for it is usually Moreover, children attributed to black magic, with these kinds of chalsins or curse of ancestors lenges are usually taken to or parents, and even evil prayer centers and given spirits. traditional medicines from

local traditional healers to chase away the “evil spirit” or “black magic” so that their children can be cured of it. Therefore creating awareness can help the in changing the attitudes and practices of the people with regard to Intellectual Disability and other developmental challenges.

Realizing the current situation in the state, Christian Institute of Health Sciences and Research took the initiative of starting the holistic approach for such children.

Members of District Adolescent Club performs play based on drug abuse and early marriage.

such as pregnancy induced hypertension, anaemia, low birth weight and inadequate childcare. He said that most of the time, the results stem out from an individual being misinformed.

Therefore, being equipped with correct information must be given utmost importance. Dr. Holiba also stated the services available at ARSH friendly clinics and requested that they avail it.

Imnasenla Pongener, District Media Officer

(NHM) gave a brief note on adolescent health and highlighted the risk factors during the phase. She said, “It is a transition phase from childhood to adulthood where individuals become curious, seek answers and are faced with a lot of peer group pressure. During this stage, adolescents are likely to experiment and indulge in smoking, drinking and substance abuse which lead to an unhealthy lifestyle causing health problems

such as reproductive health problem, teenage, abortion, violence and sexual abuse, mental illness, etc.”

The street play was performed by members of District Adolescent Club, and was based on drug abuse and early marriage. The play was enacted with an aim to inculcate healthypositive attitude and generate awareness among their peers on the dangers of leading an unhealthy lifestyle.

National Population Officials visit proposed convergence project under MGNREGA Camp held at Kiphire Dimapur, February 29 (mexN): A team of officials from District Rural Development Agency, Dimapur along with officials of District Horticulture Office, Dimapur today visited a proposed lemon plantation project site to be taken up under MGNREGA in convergence with the department of Horticulture department, at Pukhato village under RD Block Kuhuboto.

A press note stated that the team of officials comprising of Alemla Chishi, Project Director, DRDA, Jerry Patton, District Horticulture Officer, Temsu Longkumer, Horticulture Officer, Aoimrong Aier, Assistant Horticulture Of-

Officials of Rural Development and Horticulture department accompanied by villagers visiting proposed MGNREGA convergence project site at Pukhato village on Monday.

ficer, Imkong Phom, APC, DRDA and K. Alem Jamir, JE, Kuhuboto block visited the site of RD-Horticulture convergence project and

interacted the with the villagers on how the project would take shape.

Talking with the beneficiaries, Alemla Chishi told

the villagers to be sincere and extend cooperation towards the two departments for successful implementation of the project which

would directly benefit the villagers. Project Director said the success of the project would set good example for other districts to follow.

She said funding of the project would be done under MGNREGA while Horticulture department would train the villagers and support the villagers technically.

Also speaking on the occasion, Jerry Patton stressed on the maintenance and preservation of the project and how the plants could yield more harvest. He told the villagers that plantation of lemon would inter-cropped with banana, through which villager could get maximum benefit.

NU observes International Mother Language Day

merima, February

Dr Tsilise VAS and Charge Officer Census Kiphire block flag off the National Population 29 (mexN): The DepartCamp on February 28. (Morung Photo) Morung Express News Kiphire | February 29

The National Population Camp was held at Kiphire with Dr Tsilise VAS and Charge Officer Census Kiphire block flagging off the programme on February 28 in presence of the citizens who came to get enrolled for the camp.

Speaking at the flagging off programme, Charge Officer Kiphire Dr Tsilise said, “When the tools and other equipments are stationed

in our disposal we should take maximum advantage of it and get enrolled.” He lauded the team for coming over to the doorsteps of the citizens to let the citizens get enrolled without any difficulties.

Addressing the programme, Tamongba Longkumer, Jr. Consultant directorate of census said that since the year 2011 the department is collecting bio metrics in the state and so far two camps were held successfully where perma-

nent enrolment centre are set up in all district and sub district headquarter.

Tamongba also added that the office of the Registrar General India has placed a mobile bus with necessary equipments where it moves to every part of the state to collect biometric of the left our population.

He also added that the bus which will be stationed at Kiphire from February 28 till March 2 was flagged off at Kohima by the commissioner Nagaland on January 14.

ment of Linguistics and Department of Tenyidie, Nagaland University, Kohima Campus at Meriema, observed the “International Mother Language Day” on February 23 with the theme “Quality education, language(s) of instruction and learning outcomes”.

A press release stated that Kethokhrienuo Belho discussed two major scopes of mother tongue studies namely mother tongue interference in second language learn-

ing, and on mother tongue based education. Senior Professors including the Pro Vice-Chancellor Prof.

P. Lal, Dean of Humanities and Education Prof. Buno

Liegise, Prof. D. Kuolie and Prof. Imti also shared their views on the importance of language in all its aspects: social, cultural, psychological, political to name a

few. Dr. Pangersenla Walling spoke on the significance of the day. She stated that International Mother Language Day is observed to promote the preserva-

tion and protection of all languages irrespective of its status (standard or otherwise), and the importance of children learning in a language which they understand. A short documentary based on love for mother language was shown.

The students also participated by presenting special songs and poetry recitation in different languages. The programme concluded with a vote of thanks by Metuo Liezietsu. The programme was chaired by Dr. Mimi Kevichüsa Ezung.

TuesDAY 01•03•2016

NORTH-EAST

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

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Manipur court releases Former arunachal Pradesh chief minister Irom Sharmila from captivity P.K. thungon awarded over three years jail New DelhI, FebruAry 29 (PtI): Former Union minister P.K. Thungon was on Monday awarded a three-and-a half-year jail term in a graft case relating to allotment of government shops in 1993-94.

Apart from the jail term, special Central Bureau of Investigation judge Sanjeev Aggarwal also imposed a fine of Rs.1 lakh on Thungon, who was also a former chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh.

The court has convicted Thungon for the offences under section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code read with section 13d (iii) (if while holding office as a public servant, obtains for any person any valuable thing or pecuniary advantage without any public interest) and 13(2) (criminal misconduct by public servant) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The court acquitted two other accused—Lakhpa Tsering and Krishna—in the case.

Thungon was the minister of

state for urban affairs and employment at the time of the alleged offence when the Congress government was led by prime minister P.V. Narsimha Rao. Apart from them, the then urban affairs and employment minister Sheila Kaul, and Tulsi Balodi were also accused in the case.

Proceedings against Kaul and Balodi were abated as they died during the pendency of trial.

The court, however, has also found Kaul guilty in the case for conspiring and committing the illegal act. “Vide separate judgment... it was found that there was a clear cut conspiracy between accused 1 (deceased Kaul) and accused 2 (Thungon) for committing the illegal act or to commit the offence punishable under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. “Since accused Sheila Kaul has already expired and the proceedings against her has stood abated, therefore only accused P.K. Thungon stands convicted under the

P.K. Thungon (File Photo)

120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC read with the provisions of the PC Act,” the judge has said.

In July 2015, Thungon was awarded a four-and-a-half-year jail term in a 1998 graft case relating to misappropriation of central funds. A case was registered by the CBI in 1996 against Kaul,

Thungon, Tsering, Krishna and Balodi for allegedly hatching a conspiracy in allotting shops and stalls in 1994.

According to the CBI, the five accused had allegedly conspired during September 1993 to June 1994 for dishonestly and fraudulently obtaining undue benefit in the allotment of shops on economical licence fee basis in contravention of rules governing such allotments.

The CBI had claimed Kaul and Thungon allegedly committed offence of criminal breach of trust to cause undue pecuniary advantage to their relations and friends, Tsering, Krishna and Balodi and dishonestly allowed these three to convert to their own the government shops entrusted to the minister.

It had said that in pursuance to conspiracy, Kaul abused her official position as minister and in the capacity of custodian of government shops, dishonestly and without any public interest sanctioned

allotments of three shops without calling for any tenders of applications from general public on mere recommendation of Thungon in a market opposite Red Fort.

The agency had also alleged in the chargesheet that Kaul caused huge pecuniary advantage to Tsering, Krishna and Balodi and corresponding loss to the state exchequer.

The CBI said the case was registered after the Supreme Court in 1996 directed it to probe the allegations of corruption and bribery in the matter of out-of-turn allotment of government shops and lodge cases against the offenders. The three shops were alloted on 9 April 1994 and 12 May 1994, the agency had said.

The court had framed charges against the accused in March 2009 for the offences of criminal conspiracy read with criminal beach of trust by public servant of the IPC and under relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Govt offers postings in NE to non-IAS, IPS officers ULFA delegation meets Union Home secretary

New DelhI, FebruAry 29 (PtI): Seeking to tackle shortage of IAS and IPS officers in the northeast, the Centre has decided to post officers from other services to the region.

"Central Service and Central Secretariat Service officers who are willing to work in the north-east may be posted on non-cadre posts in the secretariat of the states," said a draft policy finalised by Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).

Besides, the officers of all-India services --Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFoS) -- belonging to the north-east cadre may be allowed to shift to one of the cadres in the regions except their home state, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram which are part of the union territories cadre, it said.

The DoPT has decided to relax

the existing guidelines to allow officers from other cadres to work in the north-east on inter-cadre deputation.

"It is proposed that eligibility service for inter-cadre deputation may be fixed as seven years of service. The entire period of inter-cadre deputation should be finished by 25 years of overall service of the officer.

"The maximum term of deputation including home deputation will be nine years instead of five years subject to availability of deficit in the cadre. The inter-cadre deputation may be availed in two or more spells," it said.

At present, one has to complete nine years of service to be eligible for inter-cadre deputation.

A woman all-India services officer belonging to a North East cadre is allowed to go on inter-cadre deputation after completion of six years of actual service in the north-

North east Briefs

Tripura ministers attacked with chair

AgArtAlA, FebruAry 29 (IANS): Tripura ministers Badal Chaudhury and Manik Dey sustained minor injuries when a man attacked them in the CPI-M office here with a chair, police said on Monday. Police arrested Samir Debnath, 30, who on Sunday night went to the office and targeted Health and PWD Minister Chaudhury and Transport and Power Minister Dey. Samir Debnath initially told the ministers that his father was critically ill and he needed money for his medical treatment. The claim was found to be untrue, a police official said. Debnath's family is known to support the Communist Party of India-Marxist. During the incident, Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and CPI-M leaders Bijan Dhar and Gautam Das were at the party office.

Working hrs in Assam Govt changed to Summer timings from March 1 guwAhAtI, FebruAry 29 (PtI): The office working hours in all offices under the Assam Government and state Secretariat from March 1 tomorrow to September 30 next on all working days will be from 10 AM to 5 PM without any break. This was as per a Government of Assam General Administration Department notification dated February 26, said a government release today. During the winter season from October till February, the office working hours in all offices under the Assam Government and state Secretariat were from 10 AM to 4.15 PM without break.

Kropha takes over as M'laya Chief Secretary ShIlloNg, FebruAry 29 (IANS): Senior bureaucrat Kuljit Singh Kropha on Monday took over as the new Chief Secretary of Meghalaya. He succeeded P.B.O. Warjri, who retired on Monday. Kropha, a 1982 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) Assam-Meghalaya cadre officer, served in the central government in various capacities besides in Meghalaya. Before his appointment as chief secretary, he was additional chief secretary in charge of Home (Police), Transport and Political Department and additional chief secretary to the chief minister's secretariat.

east. Such woman officer would also be eligible for deputation for a maximum of nine years instead of five years. "The same may be continued," the new policy proposes.

As per existing guidelines, if officers from outside cadres go on deputation to North East cadres, the conditionalities of cooling off would be waived, provided the person completes a term of deputation of at least five years.

In other words, an officer from any cadre would be allowed to go on deputation to the north-east directly after a full period of central deputation without cooling off.

The DoPT has decided that existing guidelines regarding cooling off period with regard to intercadre deputation to the north-east cadres may be continued.

All ministries have been asked to send their comments on this new policy by March 15.

New DelhI, FebruAry 29 (PtI): A delegation of ULFA leaders, led by its 'chairman' Arabinda Rajkhowa, today met Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and reviewed the progress of their ongoing talks.

The ULFA leaders discussed with Mehrishi their charter of demands, including recognition of six communities in Assam -- Moran, Muttock, Tai Ahom, Koch Rajbongshi, Sootea and Tea Tribes -- as Scheduled Tribes (ST).

It was decided that the formal tripartite meeting of ULFA leaders with the Home Secretary and representatives of government of Assam will be held in the middle of March, a Home Ministry spokesperson said.

The delegation include ULFA 'general secretary' Anup

Chetia, who was deported from Bangladesh last year after 17 years of incarceration.

The Rajkhowa-led ULFA faction had begun unconditional talks with the central government in 2011, despite strong opposition from the hardline wing led by Paresh Baruah, who is believed to be in Myanmar.

The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) was formed in 1979 with the demand for a 'sovereign' Assam.

Since then, the group has been involved in subversive activities that led to the Centre banning it in 1990. The Rajkhowa faction joined peace talks with the government on September 3, 2011 after an agreement for Suspension of Operations was signed among the ULFA, central and state governments.

Manipur High Court nullifies Congress MLA's election ImPhAl, FebruAry 29 (IANS): The Manipur High Court on Monday nullified the election of Congress legislator Mairembam Prithiviraj on charges of falsifying his educational qualification.

The ruling came from Justice N. Koteswor after prolonged litigation that saw the dispute reach the Supreme Court at one stage.

This is the first time a Manipur legislator's election has been declared null and void by a court.

In the 2012 assembly elections, Prithiviraj was elected from Moirang constituency, defeating the Nationalist Congress Party's P. Saratchandra, a retired IAS officer.

Later, Saratchandra moved the high court, contending that Prithiviraj had falsely claimed that he had an MBA degree.

Known to be close to Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh, Prithiviraj was a parliamentary secretary in charge of tourism, sports and infor-

mation.

The case was heard in the Manipur High Court. Since Saratchandra was not happy with the inordinate delay in disposing the case, he appealed to the Supreme Court.

The apex court directed the Manipur High Court to dispose of the case in February this year.

It is too early to say if and when a by-election will be held in the constituency. Manipur goes to the polls in February 2017.

Centre sets up committee for ST status to 6 Assam communities New DelhI, FebruAry 29 (PtI): Paving the way for granting of ST status to six OBC communities in Assam, the Centre today set up a committee to recommend the modalities for completing the process.

The committee, to be headed by Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Home Ministry Mahesh Kumar Singla, will consult with the Assam government and suggest the modalities for the required reservations and shifting the existing reservation for these communities from OBC to ST. It will also protect the

interests of existing tribals and frame a mechanism to ensure fairness of reservations within these six communities and related security considerations, a Home Ministry official said. The committee shall submit its report by May 31.

The move came after a delegation of six communities from Assam met Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Union Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju were present during the meeting.

Rijiju later said granting of Scheduled Tribes status to the six communities --

Moran, Muttock, Tai Ahom, Koch Rajbongshi, Sootea and Tea Tribes -- was a political promise of the BJP and the NDA government will ensure it. "If necessary we will change the modalities necessary for the ST status to the six communities.

The whole process is expected to be completed in three months," he said. Sonowal said Assam is a special case and its issues will be specially taken care off.

The pro-talk faction of the ULFA too had been seeking ST status to the six communities of Assam.

The grant of tribal status to these six communities will

Softshell turtle, red panda rescued in Arunachal Tezpur University adjudged year's best Central university

ItANAgAr, FebruAry 29 (PtI): A small Asiatic softshell turtle and a red panda were rescued in Arunachal Pradesh and handed over for rehabilitation, officials said today.

Two IRBN personnel rescued the softshell turtle (amyda cartilaginea) at Chimpu near here on Sunday and handed it over to Flago for rehabilitation, Itanagar Zoo curator Raya Flago said.

The red panda (ailurus Filgens) was also rescued by a resident of Kebi village in Lower Subansiri district, he said. The red panda was reportedly injured severely by labourers who were engaged in cultivation at a cardamom garden and could possibly have been

An Asiatic softshell turtle and a captive Red Panda (Wikimedia)

killed if the villager did not rescue him in time, Flago said in a release.

It is now under treatment and its health is improving.

This is the first instance that a red panda has been reported from the Lower Subansiri area, he said.

He urged the people to fight for the cause of rich wildlife heritage and appealed to stop hunting and buying wildlife and their parts.

A person who abets, uses, possesses and buys wildlife and their parts have equal punishment as that of actual hunter, Flago said.

"The punishment provisions in Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 has also been increased significantly and now the imprisonment may extend up to seven years and fine of up to Rs 50 lakh in case of wildlife crime may be imposed," he added.

tezPur, FebruAry 29 (PtI): Tezpur University in Assam has been adjudged as the best Central University in the country this year by the Ministry of Human Resources Development.

According to Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, this will provide a big push to the university, as well as to the state's education sector. It had been Gogoi who had persuaded Rajiv Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, to set up two Central universities in the state, at Tezpur, and at Silchar.

This made him even more glad of the university's win of the prestigious award, he said in a February 27 state-

ment, according to PTI. "It is rare to find two Central Varsities in any state. I am grateful to Rajivji for heeding to my plea for two Central Varsities in Assam," said Gogoi.

The Chief MInister congratulated the students of Tezpur University, along with its teaching and nonteaching staff, from both past and present and the current Vice Chancellor, Mihir Kanti Chaudhuri, for bagging the award.

President Pranab Mukherjee will be presenting the award to the university on March 14. Hyderabad Central University had bagged the best Central University award last year.

lead to 50 per cent population of Assam becoming tribal or Assam turning into a tribal-dominated state.

It will also facilitate fresh delimitation of assembly constituencies and significant increase in the number of ST seats in the 126-member Assam assembly. Assam currently has 16 ST seats.

The fear of indigenous communities that illegal immigrants from Bangladesh would soon usurp political power would diminish if 50 per cent Assembly seats are reserved for ST when Assam becomes a tribal-dominated state.

ImPhAl, FebruAry 29 (IANS): A court here on Monday released Irom Sharmila, who has been on a 15-year-long hunger strike to press for the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, from custody.

"Sharmila was charged with attempting to commit suicide under Section 309 of IPC. However the court found no evidence to establish that she is trying to commit suicide and accordingly ordered her release," C. Momon, Sharmila's advocate, told reporters.

G i v e n Sha r m i l a' s condition and her resolve to continue her fast unto death, she may be re-arrested as soon as Tuesday, a police officer told IANS. She has been arrested, tried and released several times on the charge of trying to take her own life.

Sharmila is also undergoing trial in the Patiala House court in Delhi on the same charge.

"I shall continue the fast at the footsteps of the Shahid Minar in Imphal town. I will not eat anything till my goal is achieved," she said while coming out of the court room on Monday.

Sharmila had started her hunger strike on November 4, 2000. Her main demand is the repeal of the AFSPA, 1958.

She expressed regret over the declining support to her cause, particularly from women activists.

"I am sorry that women activists and civil society organisations have distanced themselves from me and my cause. If they had extended support to my campaign, perhaps by now the AFSPA, which gives carte blanche to the security forces, might have been repealed," she said.

She further said, "I am not discouraged by the lack of support since I know that victory will be there at last."

In view of the declining support, however, she has said several times that there should be a public debate on whether she should continue her fast.

She also said that at least one representative each of the numerous civil society organisations should join her in the campaign.

There has been virtually no response to her appeal.

Until her release on Monday, Sharmila was lodged in a security ward of Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences here.

She is guarded roundthe-clock by jail, police and hospital staff. The government is spending about Rs.70,000 a month on her medication and feeding her through the nose.

SOFT-TECH EDUCATION CENTRE

Opp. Holy Cross School, Dimapur *Basic 1 To 3 Month *Latest Window 2010 OS *DCA 3 To 6 Month *Latest Office 2013 *DTP 2 To 4 Month *12 Hours Current Facilities *ADCA 6 To 12 Month *Air condition Lab *Every Wednesday Internet Class *PGDCA 6 To 12 Month Modular *Regular Class Visual BASIC *Govt Recognised Call C++ 03862-225065 Java 9856303120 No Admission Fees only Oracle 9862908992 Nominal Monthly Fees TALLY

sainiK school PunglWa ParenTs associaTion (ssPPa) There will be an emergency meeting irrespective of Class on 2nd March 2016 at 11:00 AM in the School premises. However Class 12 and 11 parents along with cadets are requested to attend the meeting without fail. The opinion of those parents who fail to attend the meeting shall not be entertained in future.

Er. S Jami, President, SSPPA

TransforMaTion crusade Theme: “Arise and Shine…”

(Isaiah 60:1)

Date: 1 March, 2016 Time: 4:30 PM Venue: Khouchiezie (Local Ground), Kohima st

1. Leader

: Pastor Surjay Sapkota Nepali Baptist Church : Mr. Zeu Eneio : Mrs. Meribeni

2. Pianist 3. Conductor 4. Invocation & Offertory Prayer : Pastor Kedo Peseyie City Church 5. Speaker : Rev. Zotuo Kiewhuo Pastor, Koinonia Baptist Church cum Principal, Kohima Bible College Third Session @ 2PM Special Counselling for Alcoholics: Mr. Sungkum Jamir

Service will be in Nagamese This crusade is for all. Come with faith and receive the Blessings of Salvation, Deliverance, Healing and the Confirmation message.

Bosco college of Teacher educaTion P.B.43, Kuda “A” Nagarjan Dimapur -797112

POST VACACY

Applications are invited from candidates for the following post at BCTE, Dimapur.

Sl. No. 1.

2.

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Post Principal

Qualification M.A in School Subject with minimum 55% marks, M.Ed with minimum 55% marks, Ph.D in Education or in any pedagogy subject and minimum 08 (Eight) years of teaching experience in secondary Teacher Education Institution.

Pedagogy Subjects Methodology of M.A (English) with 55% marks and M.Ed. with Teaching English 55% marks Methodology of M.Sc (Science) with 55% marks and M.Ed. Teaching Science with 55% marks.

No. of Post 1

1 1

Candidates with Ph.D, NET, SLET and years of teaching experience will be given preference.

(Applications along with photocopies of relevant documents and recent passport size photo should reach the Principal’s Office on before Monday 07th March 2016) Contact No. 9436008201

4

TuesDAY 01•03•2016

Business

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Jaitley opens coffers for rural India, unveils another tax Budget Higlights Source: IANS • To reduce multiplicity of taxes and cascading, 13 taxes with collections of less than Rs.50 crore a year abolished • Income tax department will expand e-sahyog to assist small taxpayers • Scope of e-assessment to be expanded to seven mega cities to simplify compliance for taxpayers • Taxation proposals to increase government revenue by Rs.19,610 crore • Penalty to be 50 percent of tax in income underreporting cases, 200 percent in misreporting of facts • Tax arrears can be paid in lieu of interest liabilities in retrospective taxation cases • Direct Benefit Transfer in fertilisers on pilot basis in few districts • Limited tax compliance window from June 1 September 30 for declaring undisclosed income at 45 percent including surcharge and penalties • Clean energy cess increased from Rs.200/tonne to Rs.400/tonne on coal, lignite and peat • Moving towards a low tax regime with non-litigious approach • Committed to provide a stable and predictable taxation regime • Relief of Rs.3,000 per year to taxpayers with income below Rs.5 Lakh per year to benefit one crore taxpayers • Surcharge on income tax for incomes exceeding Rs.1 crore per annum raised from 12 percent to 15 percent • Service tax exempted for general insurance schemes under Niramayi Swasthya Bima Yojana • Suitable changes to be made in customs and excise duty rates to improve competitiveness and boost Make In India • Plan, Non-Plan distinction to be removed from 2017-18 • For income below Rs.5 lakh per annum, tax ceiling has been raised from Rs.2,000 to Rs.5,000 • Relief to those in rented houses: Deduction raised from Rs.24,000 to Rs.60,000 under Section 88G • Corporate income tax: Incentives for new manufacturing companies and relatively small enterprise companies • Fiscal deficit for 2016-17 targeted at 3.5 percent • Committed to implementing General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) from April 1, 2017 • New policy for managing assets of public enterprises • Comprehensive approach to be adopted for government investment in central public sector enterprises • Three initiatives for better delivery of public services • Increased allocation of Rs.1,80,000 crore under PM MUDRA Yojana • Market Stabilization Fund for Pulses gets Rs.900 crore • Financial Data Management Centre for integrated data collection and analysis • RBI Act being amended to provide statutory basis for monetary policy framework • 100 percent FDI to be allowed through FIPB route in food products produced and marketed in India • Department of Disinvestment to be renamed Department of Investment and Public Asset Management • Comprehensive plan being drawn up to be implemented in the next 15-20 years for exploiting nuclear energy • Government to provide health insurance of up to Rs.1 lakh per family; 300 generic drug stores to be opened under PM Jan Aushadhi Yojana • Roads and highways allocated Rs.55,000 crore, 50,000 km of state highways to be taken up for upgradaing to national highways • Stand Up India scheme allocated Rs.500 crore for SCs, STs women entrepreneurs • Government to incentivise gas production from deep sea and other unutilised deep sources • Public Utility Resolution of Disputes Bill for resolution of infra sector disputes • Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojan gets Rs.1,700 crore • Digital depository for school leaving certificates • Higher education financing agency to be set up with fund of Rs.1,000 crore • National Skill Development Mission has imparted training to 76 lakh youth; 1,500 multi-skill training institutes to be set up • Model Shops and Establishments Bill to be circulated for voluntary adoption by states • Current account deficit down to $14.4 billion • Rs.2.87 lakh crore for rural and urban local bodies • Animal welfare programme, animal health card, e-marketing platform for connecting breeders • 100 percent village electrification to be achieved

by May 1, 2018 • Appreciation for 75 lakh middle class and lower middle class families for willingly giving up LPG Subsidy • Rs.19,000 crore allotted for PMGSY • Rs.8.5 lakh crore of agricultural credit targetted in 2015-16; and Rs.9 lakh crore in 2016-17 • Rs.35,984 crore allocated for agriculture in 201617 • Five lakh acres to be brought under organic farming over three-year period • MGNREGA to get Rs.38,500 crore • Recapitalisation of banks during next fiscal • Prudent fiscal policy needed, domestic demand should be raised, reforms need to be carried out • Farm, rural sector, infra and social sector to get more funds • Need to prioritise expenditure given recommendations of 7th Pay Commission and OROP implementation • Nine pillars for reforming India, among them agriculture, social sector, education, infra, fiscal discipline, and tax reforms • Presenting budget when global economy in a serious crisis • Amidst global headwinds, the Indian economy has held its own • Converted challenges we inherited into opportunities • CPI inflation down to 5.4 percent from 9 percentplus, bringing big relief to the public • Forex reserves at highest-ever level

New DelhI, FebruarY 29 (IaNS): Focusing on rural economy and infrastructure with minor rebate for small taxpayers but amnesty for defaulters, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday unveiled a Rs.19.78 lakh crore ($300 billion) budget for 2016-17, earmarking more money for health, literacy and roads.

The direct impact on taxpayers from the proposals announced during the 100-minute budget speech will be a Rs.3,000 rebate, benefiting 20 million assessees. Those living in rented homes will get a higher exemption of Rs.60,000 now, against Rs.24,000 earlier. But the tax slabs remain unchanged.

At the same time, withdrawal of provident fund and pension upon retirement are partially taxable.

Jaitley also announced an amnesty for those with disputed tax claims, with a waiver of penalty on amounts up to Rs.10 lakh.

He said 300,000 such cases were pending before appellate authorities, for an amount totalling Rs.5.5 lakh crore.

Similarly he also unveiled a limited tax compliance window from June 1 to September 30 for people to declare their undisclosed incomes, with a tax liability of 45 percent of value, including the surcharge and penalties -- together with immunity from scrutiny, enquiry and prosecution.

His other steps include a pilot project to extend the direct cash benefit transfers, currently in areas like cooking gas to the fertiliser sector, as also Rs.25,000 crore for the recapitalisation of state-run banks that are under financial stress on account of mounting bad loans.

While there were misgivings over money set aside for additional capital for banks, Jaitley told a press conference later that more money will follow as

and when warranted. “The budget is not the last word on this,” he said, adding he was also open to consolidation of commercial banks.

On cutting subsidies, he promised a bill soon to use Aadhaar for direct transfer of cash.

Jaitley also said the government will meet its fiscal targets but said that from next year he proposed to do away with the classification of plan and non-plan expenditure -a move bound to stir up a controversy.

“I have weighed the policy options and decided that prudence lies in adhering to fiscal targets.

Consequently, the fiscal deficit in revised estimated 2015-16 and budget estimates 2016-17 have been retained at 3.9 percent and 3.5 percent of GDP, respectively,” he said.

Jaitley also enhanced the total expenditure for this fiscal to Rs.19.78 lakh crore from Rs.17.85 lakh crore in the revised estimates for this fiscal -- a hike of 10.7 percent -- while the plan expenditure component was revised upward by 15.3 percent.

Jaitley, a lawyer by profession, decided to bring

his fellow practitioners under the service tax net of 14 percent. He also imposed an across-the-board cess of 0.5 percent on services towards farmer welfare, which will add 50 paise for every Rs.100 one spends on food to mobile bills.

Jaitley said the bulk of his tax plan was in nine categories: Relief to small assessees, boosting growth and employment, incentivising “Make in India”, encouraging pension, promoting affordable housing, pushing rural economy, reducing litigation, taxation simplification and accountability.

Among the various sectors, the allocation for the ministry of agriculture and farmers’ welfare was enhanced by 93 percent to Rs.44,485 crore, for rural development by 10.7 percent at Rs.87,765 crore and for health and family welfare by 13 percent to Rs.39,533 crore.

A major boost was also given to infrastructure including energy with a 11.3 percent hike in the outlay to Rs.246,246 crore, as also for human resource development with allocation up by 7 percent at Rs.72,394 crore.

In a bid to boost entrepreneurship, a lower cor-

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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 # 3505

Answer Number # 3504

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INTEREST

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BANk

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7. Instrument indicators 8. Periodical 9. Panorama 10. murres 11. A man’s skirt 12. Being 15. Up to 21. Brass instrument 23. Quaint outburst 25. Cut into cubes 27. Nursemaid 28. Trainee 29. Weep 31. A cherished desire 32. Sand bar 34. historic period 36. Lazily 39. Fury 40. French for “State” 43. Nocturnal arboreal marsupial 44. You (archaic) 46. Prima donna problems 47. Sailing competition 49. Refereed 50. Anagram of “Plains” 53. hurried 55. Encounter 56. Backside 57. Lion sound 58. Pear-shaped instrument 60. modify 61. Sandwich shop 64. dawn goddess

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New York, FebruarY 29 (IaNS): Popular mobile messaging service WhatsApp will drop support for BlackBerry and Nokia devices by 2017 in order to push the Facebook-owned app’s growth, media reports said on Monday. WhatsApp’s announcement includes all BlackBerry phones, including those running on BlackBerry 10, the company’s latest operating system (OS) that was last shipped on a new phone less than a year and a half ago, the Verge reported.

The OS currently powers BlackBerry’s Androidpowered Priv slider phone. Other phones to be hit by the WhatsApp decision include Nokia S40 and the Nokia Symbian S60 as well as the older Android 2.2 and Windows Phone 7.1 operating systems, it added.

“While these mobile devices have been an important part of our story, they don’t offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app’s features in the future,” the company wrote in a blog post.

“This was a tough decision for us to make, but the right one in order to give people better ways to keep in touch with friends, family, and loved ones using WhatsApp,” it added.

The company recommended “upgrading to a newer Android, iPhone, or Windows Phone before the end of 2016 to continue using WhatsApp”.

Nearly one billion people across the world are using the popular app with 42 billion messages being exchanged daily, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on February 2. Founded by Ukrainian immigrants to America Jan Koum and Brian Acton in 2009, WhatsApp was acquired by social media giant Facebook for $19 billion in 2014.

INSTITUTE DIMAPUR

EXCEL COACHING & COMPUTER CENTRE

leisure

SUDOKU

porate tax rate has been proposed for small firms with a turnover of below Rs.5 crore, to 29 plus surcharge and cess, and 100 percent deduction of profits for three out of five years for start-ups set up between April 2016 and March 2019.

Similarly to boost “Make in India”, changes were proposed in customs and excise levies on certain inputs to reduce costs and improve competitiveness in sectors such as IT hardware, capital goods, defence, textiles, minerals fuels, chemicals and petrochemicals, and aircraft and ship repair.

Jaitley opened his speech saying while the global economy was in stress, India was still going strong. “The risks of further global slowdown and turbulence are mounting.

This complicates the task of economic management for India,” he said.

“We see these challenges as opportunities.”

WhatsApp to discontinue on BlackBerry, Nokia devices by 2017: Report

A m P O X T U V F I O U I Q I L T N E R

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A N P C T R O Y A L T I E S N E I A O k

W F O F E A O P L C m T U N g Z m O P R

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U F N T B P L A S g O B U B S P E E Q X

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d g O O R U C N Y I E R C R E d I T P Y

Z m E T O S U P E R A N N U A T I O N g

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I d h E F J E L F T V B J L O A N A N I

h F g S d X d E E g P Z L k d k W I h S

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C C R h P F N T F A R d R E V O V B A X

I N C O m E E P A S E d S E R A h S A C

R k k R Q C A P T S E W I g S O J I Z J

KoHIMA NoRTH: 7085924114 (o)

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kIPhIRE: 8414853767 (o) 9436261577 (oC) PEREN: 7085189932 (o) 9856311205 (oC) LONgLENg: 7085924113 (o) 9862414264 (oC)

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mOkOkChUNg:

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Chumukedima Fire 282777 Brigade Nikos Hospital and 232032, 231031 Research Centre

ANS TO CROSSWORd 3517

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V A U R Y E Y R U L T X m k N A B k Z A

dImAPUR Civil Hospital:

STd COdE: 0369

2226241

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2226214

Civil Hospital: Woodland Nursing Home:

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11.08

TuesdAY 01•03•2016

NAGALAND

Nagaland State Government’s failure may lead to more violence ‘Legalisation of violence’ in Nagaland, alleges Yimchungrü Tribal Council Morung Express News Kohima | February 29

“We thought this won’t be a tribal conflict but an individual act. But when the dead bodies of the couple arrived, mob violence started.

We could not stay any longer and by midnight we all left Kiphire with the help of IRB personnel.

We left everything- our home, our clothes, our certificates, documents and money at Kiphire,” said Rose (all survivor names changed), a survivor of the recent mob violence at Kiphire in the aftermath of the killing of a couple.

Rose, a teacher currently displaced and living at a rented house in Kohima brought her four children to a press conference held at Hotel Granduer here today with Yimchungrü Tribal Council (YTC), and three other victims of February 29. So far, 219 households (including 8 houses burnt down) have been destroyed at Kiphire leaving over 1400 Yimchungrü people displaced.

Joseph, another survivor stated that his house was burnt on February 27. However what has hurt him most is the looting of their possessions by the mob and the failure of the State Government to pacify the situation for almost 20 days. Now displaced, “we have no place to reside in,” noted Joseph. “When our houses were burnt we were told that the Fire Brigade arrived only 30 minutes after the incident.” Following the violence at Kiphire, many people had to run away without carrying any of their possessions, some even ran barefoot.

Chuba, General Secretary of the YTC, while narrating the sequence of events that followed the killing of the couple, stated that on hearing the news the YTC had filed an FIR and condemned the killing. The GS also claimed that announcements were made on the day in Kiphire town through a PA system calling for men to “carry a weapon each and attack...”

“The same day, we even talked with some of the leaders of the community. We assured them that we are willing to cooperate and catch the culprits. But they could not control the mobs and even stopped picking up our calls while some phones were switched off. It was an organised mob,” he alleged.

“And in retaliation two houses were burnt in Shamator. However we were quick to pacify the situation. With timely intervention we were able to stop,” stated Akam, YTC Advisor, who also expressed the State Government’s partial treatment of the situation where it failed to pacify the mob violence at Kiphire.

However, he alleged, IRB personnel arrested “50 innocent protestors including students” at Shamator who were locked in a bus and assaulted. When a few hundreds approached the IRB to release the detained protestors, the IRB shot at the public where one person was seriously

injured and is admitted at the ICU in Naga Hospital Authority Kohima.

The YTC stated that two suspects have been interrogated allegedly for the killing of the couple. However, it may be noted that the Nagaland Police have clarified that the suspects were picked up moving with arms and links to the said killing have not been established.

Further, the YTC informed that on February 21, a Yimchungrü GB’s house in Kiphire was also burned while on February 27, another person’s house was burnt. The mob violence in Kiphire did not subside despite the promulgation of 144 CrPC. The YTC questioned if anyone from the mob who ransacked and destroyed the houses has been arrested and punished under relevant laws.

The Nagaland State Government’s failure to accept a single demand of the eight-point charter of demands, submitted on

February 18, after a peaceful procession in Dimapur, has further hurt the sentiments of the community. The demands included rehabilitation of the displaced people, enquiring the role of the State Government officers in Kiphire to be placed under the scanner of the Enquiry Commission etc.

YTC also expressed concern over the silence of ENPO and ENSF as well as other civil societies which have “not taken the situation seriously” leading to intensifying the violence. Failure of the State Government to address the violence is, according to YTC, “legalisation of violence.”

“We don’t accept violence.

We want to maintain peace with our neighbours. But if violence has been legalised, we will also adopt violence and the Government will be responsible for it.

In a lawless land we have to defend ourselves and we have to adopt tactics which may not be healthy,” asserted YTC.

10th SAC meeting of KVK Phek held ACAUT threatens shutter down protest pheK, February 29 (mexN): The 10th Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) meeting of KVK Phek was held at the KVK office in Porba on February 29.

The meeting was attended

by A. Chakraborty, General Manager, NABARD, Pradip Kumar Hazarika, Lead Bank Manager, Phek and representatives from NGOs and progressive farmers of Phek district.

The action taken report on previous SAC was presented by Dr. RK Singh,

Programme Coordinator, KVK Phek. The Annual Report of 2015-2016 was presented by T. Esther Longkumer, ACTO Soil Science and the Annual Action Plan 2016-2017 was presented

by Liza Barua Bharali, SMS (Plant Protection).

General Manager of NABARD emphasized on crops which have ready market and also suggested for joint liability group to have basket of activities for better income generation.

Lead Bank Manager,

Phek suggested to have financial literacy camp at KVK by identifying real interested farmers.

Dr. Abhijit Mitra, Director, ICAR-NRC Mithun emphasized on imparting multi disciplinary training to practicing farmers and conducting specific employment generating programmes for rural youths. Programmes may also be taken on Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode to ensure ownership by the participating farmers, he said.

Supports business community and frontal organisations of Chumoukedima area

us but at the same time promote justice and equality which we all should know and abide by it.”

He further advocated performing one’s duties and enjoying one’s rights responsibly. Mor also urged the villagers to utilise the Legal Aid Clinic positively and avail free legal advice and services, while requesting the Village Council Members and village leaders and elders present to work together in unity with a sense of responsibility towards the welfare of their villages.

Meanwhile, ADC Chiephobozou, Linda Solo (NCS) pointed out that Legal Aid Clinic is very much needed in the sub-division citing that just to get an affidavit drafted, the villagers have to travel all the way to Kohima Town which causes lots of inconvenience and incurs expenditures. She noted that the burden of the villagers will lessen with the LAC and hoped that free and competent legal services will be provided through the clinic.

Chief Judicial Magistrate & Secretary, KDLSA, Mezivolu T Therieh (NJS) appealed to the villagers to continue to assist in the

promotion of the LAC so that people in the area are not denied their right to get access to justice.

Meanwhile, Zekuseto Natso, Panel Lawyer, briefed the villagers that any eligible person can avail free legal services in the form of legal advice, getting their application drafted, opening bank account etc. at the Legal Aid Clinic. “There are instances where many people are unable to afford a lawyer to represent their case also and so for such cases, legal aid clinic can act as medium to connect the people in need of free legal aids and services to redress their grievances through proper channel,” Natso said. He further stated the clinic will assist in making them understand better the customary laws, filing RTI, getting to know about the welfare schemes meant for them, matters concerning the villages, any sort of legal advices and on various provisions of law.

The programme was attended by lawyers, village elders and leaders, Village Council Chairmen & Member, DBs, GBs, student leaders, social leaders and Para Legal Volunteers (PLVs).

Explosive supplies seized from Railway Station Dimapur, February 29 (me N): A cache of explosive supplies, including 280 Gelatin sticks, 400 detonators, and 20 rolls (35 ft approximately) of fuse wire, was seized from the Dimapur Railway platform on February 29. The supplies were detected by a combined team of the Dimapur Police GRPS personnel and the RPF Dimapur during routine checks, a press release from PRO, Dimapur Police said. In this connection, one person identified as Soloman Hmar of Karbi Anglong, Assam has been arrested and a case registered under the Explosive Act for further investigation, the release added.

pheK, February 29 (mexN): Phek Town Chakhesang Students' Union (PTCSU) today highlighted that the government schools in Phek Town are unable to conduct classes or run normal classes as they are yet to receive the free textbooks distributed

by EBRC for class A-8.

“As such, the careers of the students are at stake, unlike other private institutions which are running classes in full swing,” stated a press release from PTCSU President, Thuputo Venuh and Editor, Se-o Hoshi.

The release said that various authorities under the department concerned expressed helplessness when the PTCSU apprised them of the issue. The schools further informed

that old stocks of textbook were distributed, but were insufficient for every student without the arrival of new stock of textbooks, the union said.

Considering the welfare of the students and to promote quality education as envisaged by the government, PTCSU said it is perplexed by the present delay of textbook distribution in government schools, where schools are left with no other option but to wait for the arrival/ release of new stock.

Hence, the students’ union has requested the Education Department to look into the matter with utmost urgency, so that government schools can start their normal classes at the earliest time possible.

Wildfire in Tseminyu Kohima, February 29 (mexN): A devastating wildfire broke out at Tseminyu area today, destroying fauna and flora. A source informed that one side of the area has been doused off, while the other side remains unable to be controlled. Meanwhile, Parliamentary Secretary for Housing Er. Levi Rengma will be visiting the site on March 1.

UNTABA cautions against collecting fund Dimapur, February 29 (mexN): The United Naga Tribes Association on Border Areas (UNTABA) has informed all public concerned that the Association has never undertaken any step so far to raise fund for its activities, including its trip to Delhi on many occasions.

UNTABA Chairman Hukavi T. Yeputhomi and General Secretary Imsumongba Pongen in a press release have therefore informed all concerned not to entertain anybody collecting fund(s) in the name of the UNTABA. It also warned “anybody using the name of the association and collecting funds and tarnishing the good name of the UNTABA.”

NPBCA organise Chaplain Ministry training Dimapur, February 29 (mexN): Nagaland Police Baptist Churches Association (NPBCA) organized Chaplain Ministry training from February 26-28 at NPBCA Mission Compound. Three resource persons dwelled on the following topics during the training: ‘How to conduct Bible Study’ by Anshely Sumi, Executive Director, Aloino Centre, ‘Learning Counseling Skills’ and ‘Creative Ways to Prepare Sermon’ by Pusuinla Longkumer, Women Secretary, NPBCAWD and ‘Opportunities of Chaplain Ministry’ by Temsu, Pastor, 14th NAP (IR)Bn.

Chiephobozou gets Legal Aid Clinic Kohima, February 29 (mexN): Kohima District Legal Services Authority (KDLSA) today opened a Legal Aid Clinic at Chiephobozou in Kohima district at the Additional Deputy Commissioner’s office premises.

Deputy Commissioner of Kohima, Rovilatuo Mor (IAS), who is also the Ex-Officio Member of KDLSA, inaugurated the Legal Aid Clinic.

He opined that the LAC will help the villagers to a large extent and that people living around the localities and neighbouring villages can get access to justice with the opening of the clinic.

A press release from KDLSA informed that the DC further assured that the Clinic, literally interpreted in Angami as “Thezho Houba”, will help the villagers in redressing their grievances. He also highlighted that there are many provisions of laws, rules, and orders to protect, regulate and control our lives.

Likewise, there are penalties for breach of these laws, he added. “We need to be aware and know the various rights and regulations for our own protection and benefits as these laws are enacted not only to protect

Non-arrival of books hampering classes in govt schools: PTCSU

NLA Speaker convenes meeting of BAC members

To protest the shooting and wounding of two labourers in Chumoukedima on February 27, civil organizations in Chumoukedima called for 12-hour business shutdown in the area on February 29.

Dimapur, February 29 (mexN): The ACAUT Nagaland today affirmed its support to the business community and frontal organisations of Chumoukedima area, while stating that their call for downing of shutters on February 29 on account of the shooting of two labourers for nonpayment of tax is “fully justified.”

In a press release issued by its Media Cell, ACAUT Nagaland asserted that unless the demand of the

Chumoukedima organisations is met, it will have no other option but resort to calling for shutter down protest on a wider scale.

Meanwhile, the release stressed that on February 13, 2014, Chumoukedima area represented by CCCTA, CTMA, CTYO, CSU, CTU, GBs, NGOs and churches had adopted ‘One Government One Tax’ and had also resolved that any trader violating the resolution not to pay tax to any of the factions shall be

expelled from their jurisdiction. Accordingly, two traders were expelled from Choumoukedima for violating the public resolution of February 13, 2014, the release said.

Against this background, ACAUT stated, the shooting of the two labourers for non-payment of tax is not only a law and order situation but akin to insulting the February 13 public resolution. ACAUT in the statement condemned the incident.

Forest fire and its impact on environment

Kohima, February 29 (mexN): The Fountain Club Kohima has organized a programme on “Forest fire and its impact on environment” as part of NYK Kohima awareness campaign.

Addressing 50 youth participants, including Southern Angami Students’ Union, Phesama Youth Society, Phesama

Students’ Union at Merama Community Hall, Phesama, Sidramapa MC (IFS), Divisional Forest Officer of Kohima said one of the major causes of environmental degradation causing scarcity of water in and around Kohima is forest fire and deforestation.

He also stated that water shortage is also due to lack of water storage facili-

ties as “we” have sufficient rainfall of over 2000mm.

“If there is a necessity of forest fire let us come out together with proper plan and strategies,” he told the gathering.

The programme was sponsored by NYK Kohima and organized under the leadership of Seyievilie Peter Zashumo, President, Fountain Club, Kohima.

Kohima, February 29 (mexN): Chotisuh Sazo, Speaker, Nagaland Legislative Assembly, who is also the Chairperson of Business Advisory Committee (BAC), has convened a meeting on March 3, 11:00 am in the Assembly Committee Room to finalise the Provisional Programme for the ensuing Eleventh Session of the Twelfth Assembly to commence from March 15 ,2016.

Therefore, all the BAC members have been requested to attend the meeting without fail, informed a press release from Additional Secretary, NLA, K. Sekhose.

Meeting of Committee on Subordinate Legislation Kohima, February 29 (mexN): Dr. TM Lotha, MLA and Chairperson, Committee on Subordinate Legislation (2015-2016) has fixed a meeting for consideration and adoption of the 42nd, 43rd, and 45th Report on March 5, 11:00 am in the Committee room of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly Secretariat. Therefore, all the members of the Committee on Subordinate Legislation (2015-16) have been requested to attend the meeting positively.

Former parliamentarians offer condolences Kohima, February 29 (mexN): The Ex-Parliamentarians Association of Nagaland has expressed shock at the “sudden and untimely” demise of Er. T. Saku Aier, former MLA. The Association remembered Aier as not only a politician, but also an avid social worker and an educationalist who led a simple life. A condolence note issued by the Association President, T Khongo and General Secretary, Medokul Sophie further noted that in his passing away, “the state has lost a leader, creating a vacuum which cannot be filled.” All the members of Ex-Parliamentarians Association conveyed heartfelt condolences to the family members and prayed that his soul rest in peace.

Food & Civil Supplies Secretary retires

The accused in police custody.

Kohima, February 29 (Dipr): “Today an important chapter is closing in my life,” stated the retiring Secretary of Food & Civil Supplies (F&CS) and Legal Metrology & Consumer Portection (LM&CP) T Kiheto Sema (IAS) at his farewell today at the office of the Food and Civil Supplies at Civil Secretariat in Kohima.

Kiheto said that in his 35 years of service, he tried his

best to serve the Government with all sincerity and dedication. He reminded the officials that as long as one is in the Government service, one must be sincere and efficient in one’s work. He also stressed that as a government servant, discipline is the most important thing. “When you are not disciplined you are not civilized either.”

He further mentioned that till date he did not get

any bad remarks or suspensions citing an example about a Chief Secretary commenting in his ACR that he is one of the best officers in the civil service. “Such comment from the highest level is humbling and an achievement being a civil service,” he said. “If we want respect from others we should also respect others as it is reciprocal thing,” he added.

Meanwhile, stating that

he is retiring from office and not from life, he said he will continue to render his service if and when required by the department.

The retiring Secretary further thanked God for his blessing and guidance throughout his career and also thanked the officers and staffs for their support and co-operation.

The program was chaired by C Danted Phom,

SO, F&CS, and invocation prayer was offered by Sendi Chongshen. Short speeches were delivered by Director, F&CS, JT Controller & HOD, LM&CP, Deputy Secretary F&CS & LM&CP and PA to Secretary.

The Director and officers lauded the outgoing Secretary for his sincerity and dedication towards his work and wished him a happy retired life.

6

TuesDAY 01•03•2016

IN FOCUS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

The Power of Truth

The Morung Express volume Xi issue 58

Democracy. Liberty.

And Peaceful Dissent.

A democracy without peaceful dissent and a vibrant liberty will only lead to the ‘tyranny of the majority’

C O M M E N T A R Y

Niran Anketell

Action on justice facilitates political solutions to conflict

D

emocracy by itself is not complete. It is inter-dependent on other virtues and principles that govern human affairs and human life. The problem today is that democracy as a political system has acquired a status whose legitimacy goes unquestioned.

From its Greek root, ‘democracy’ means ‘the rule of the people.’ Hence more democracy should necessarily imply more power to the people and more freedom, liberty and yes, more dissent as well. But does it?

A nonviolent and peaceful public dissent is an important characteristic that represents the nature of a democratic system that is continuously evolving and transforming to meet the needs of people. Contrary to popular assumption, the presence of public dissent does not imply failure, rather it demonstrates the ability of a confident and functioning democracy to embrace and accommodate constructive and critical opposition. In an ironic yet significant way, public dissent is an indicator that measures the effectiveness and activeness of a democratic system.

Hence, the absence of public dissent only demonstrates the presence of conditions that does not allow people to democratically express their grievances. In such conditions, there are tendencies to structurally suffocate, stagnate and strangulate the creativity of the collective imagination. Hence, when there is no public dissent, the system ceases to be dynamic, and reaches a point where it stops responding to people’s aspirations.

While democracy over the last 100 years has gone from being a form of government to a way of life, it is equally true to say that democracy, more and more has come to represent nothing more than a procedure by which a government is formed.

Democracy has been reduced to most part a process of free and fair elections. This limited interpretation of democracy has given birth to the tension between democracy and freedom.

In today’s global system if a country holds competitive, multiparty elections, it is called “democratic.” But it needs to go beyond this minimal requirement to be labeled as democratic. A government produced by free and fair elections may turn out to be inefficient, corrupt, irresponsible, shortsighted, and incapable of adopting democratic policies. Democracy, therefore, cannot be considered as the one and only public virtue. Democracy as a process must be related to other public virtues that makes a shared humanity possible.

If today’s scholars widely accepts democracy as a process of selecting a government, it must simultaneously ensure that such a process is inherently related to other public virtues such a justice, freedom and liberty. Hence democracy as a process of free and fair elections cannot be left unrestricted. Fareed Zakaria argues that it is “by restricting our democracy, we enhance our freedom and calls for restoration of the balance between liberty and democracy.” It is imperative therefore for a truly democratic government to guarantee social, political, economic, cultural and religious rights which are contextually relevant and consistent within the broader ambits of universal rights.

Democracy cannot just be about the procedures for selecting a government; it must reflect the goals of the government; and the approaches it takes in realizing them. Today it is important to turn our question to why ‘democracy is flourishing; but liberty and freedom are not.’

In the present unfolding situation of the sub-continent where public dissent has been labeled as anti-national and liberty is being undermined, one needs to ask whether the tyranny of the majority has raised its ugly head!

lEfT WING |

Somrita Ghosh IANS

“Framed as a Terrorist”

L

ike any other youngster, 20-year-old Mohammad Aamir Khan too had a conventional dream of the future. He was however picked up by the Delhi Police one night and was falsely accused of being a terrorist. It took 14 long years for Aamir to get acquitted of the charge - and has now co-written a book on his harrowing ordeal.

"It was a way of recording the growing communal divide in Delhi where Hindus and Muslims live in such proximity but never visit each other's homes. In part his story exemplified the situation all Muslim youths are facing; communalism and Islamophobia," says noted social activist, lawyer and writer Nandita Haksar, the co-author of "Framed as a Terrorist" (Speaking Tiger, pp 234, Rs.250). "I was introduced to Aamir by his lawyer, N.D. Pancholi, who has been associated with the human rights movement for many decades. I had around a month of intense interaction with Aamir when he came to my house to tell his story," Haksar told IANS in an interview.

The book unravels how Aamir was wrongly framed, how he was brutally beaten up by the police inside different jails, how he was victimised and ill-treated for being a Muslim and denied basic rights during his incarceration. "Aamir has been a witness, even while he was behind bars, to the rise of Hindu fascism and Muslim fundamentalism; he has seen the invisible wall rise up between the Hindu and Muslim communities.

Despite this, Aamir continues to build bridges between communities. At least a part of the reason for Aamir's belief in the values of secularism and democracy is found in the history of Old Delhi, where he was born and where he grew up and lives even now," Haksar writes in the opening chapter, titled "The Context". "At first his words sound like empty cliches - but when I look at his expression I can see that the words democracy and secularism have a profound meaning for him. They are the hope with which he lives and survives on a daily basis," she writes in the concluding paragraph of the afterword.

Being a lawyer herself, Haksar has an understanding of the way the Indian legal system works - and this reflects in her writing. "This understanding is crucial if we are to use the law as a tool for enforcement of human rights and the courts as sites of struggles for people's rights," Haksar maintained.

There are several other cases like Aamir's. So, what goes wrong - the Indian Muslims who become victims, or is it the judiciary process that delays the delivery of justice or both?

"All poor people and many times rich people are also victims of the judicial process which fails to deliver. But Muslims are subjected to prejudices and biases which others are not. I believe the failure of the Indian legal system to deliver justice is caused by many factors, which includes the Bar, which has never intervened to improve the system. It is also the lack of political awareness among the civil society," Haksar contended.

She also felt that the increasing biases towards the Muslim community can be removed through massive public campaigns against communal prejudice, somewhat like the Swacch Bharat mission.

"Educational institutions have a big role to play but most of all, political parties need to address the problem," Haksar added.

Thus, for Haksar, Aamir's story had a far greater political significance than the story of just one victim of the system.

"It (the book) raises the issues relating to police reform, jail reform, rehabilitation of people wrongly accused and the role of police, doctors, magistrates, political parties and media in framing Aamir and many like him whose stories we have still not heard yet," Haksar maintained.

Sri Lankan Tamil women hold up photographs of their missing family members as they wait to hand over a petition to the U.N. head office in Colombo on March 13, 2013. (Reuters Photo/File)

Taking decisive steps towards accountability will be critical to reconciliation in Sri Lanka before frustrations rise again

R

ecently, Ram Manikkalingam argued that Sri Lanka must not prioritize accountability for mass atrocity crimes until a new constitution addressing Tamil autonomy is formulated. He also argued that international human rights advocates must stop giving precedence to war crimes trials over other forms of reconciliation. Yet with these very arguments, Manikkalingam is at risk of mimicking the patronizing error of those he critiques. He fails to recognize that the intellectual and moral leadership in respect to the demand for accountability has long shifted from those outside to those who live and work in Sri Lanka.

Manikkalingam’s article touches two recurring debates within Transitional Justice, first, the peace versus justice debate, and second, the question of sequencing reconciliation related measures. He suggests that because a political solution is more important than war crimes trials, the sequence in which they are unveiled should privilege a political solution. Yet not only is this dichotomy false, it is also strategically better to establish the legal architecture to try atrocity crimes earlier rather than later.

Of course, the argument that a political solution to Sri Lanka’s national question overshadows the importance of prosecuting a few perpetrators has a certain intuitive appeal. Yet this analysis does not account for the role of unpunished atrocities in fuelling the ethnic conflict. The Tamil political mobilization for equality in Sri Lanka predated independence and has since been consistently visited with unpunished violence in escalating degrees. Each unpunished episode of violence—what we would now call mass atrocity crimes—added fresh fuel to ethnic tensions and eventually to unhinged violence from both sides. The 1983 ethnic pogrom—indubitably the largest such attack against civilians of any ethnicity in post-independence Sri Lanka—quickly transformed a bothersome youth revolt into a full-fledged war of devastating proportions. Impunity and resulting violence, and the fear borne out of impunity, is

N

ews that 5.5 million people are killed each year by air pollution comes after last year’s car manufacturer emission scandals. It is now clear that the air we breathe is badly tainted. Tainted with particulate matter that gets into our blood causing heart attacks, strokes and other diseases, leading to the early death of 29,000 people each year in the UK. Tainted by nitrous oxides that add a further 23,500 people to the death toll, bringing the known total to 52,500 people killed through air pollution: the equivalent of a 9/11 attack in the UK every three weeks. But our air is also tainted with corruption, ambivalence and a lack of political will.

The fixing of emissions tests by VW that has meant the 1.2m of their cars in the UK are pumping out more pollution than expected. Other car makers are being added to the list, with the Guardian so far identifying 11 of our main brands emitting far more emissions in real life than in testing. The prosecution of these companies must start early and it should be at least a charge of corporate manslaughter.

So will the government have the appetite to take the polluters to task? The results of last year's consultation on air quality were released with perfect timing to ensure the media missed that the death toll from air pollution had risen by 23,500. The press caught wind of this just before the announcement of the new Labour leader on the 12th

at the heart of demands for autonomy. This is why Tamil politicians have insisted on the right to powers over police above fiscal and economic powers—control over physical security is, rightly or wrongly, perceived to be a more urgent and important concern.

Manikkalingam also ignores a central dynamic at play in Sri Lanka’s ethnic problem. A narrative of broken promises by national leaders lies at the heart of Tamil political consciousness. Sri Lanka’s commitments on accountability, now encapsulated in the latest United Nations Human Rights Council resolution of October 2015, form the basis of a political consensus between state and Tamil political leaders on how to deal with a past in which unspeakable atrocities were committed by both sides. Despite the vocal opposition of fringe elements within the Tamil polity, the leadership of the Tamil National Alliance negotiated with stakeholders on the fine print of the text and endorsed the resolution adopted by consensus in Geneva. Indeed, it has since claimed that the resolution is not merely a pact between the international community and Sri Lanka, but equally importantly as one between the state and the Tamil people. If this pact is to be abrogated now, the abandoning of the Geneva resolution may one day come to be remembered with the same bitterness as the nullification of other past agreements.

Even if one disagrees with Manikkalingam and asserts, as I do, that a political solution and accountability are inextricably linked, his prescription that accountability must be sequenced to follow constitutional reform nevertheless deserves attention. Sequencing Transitional Justice processes are a legitimate and widely used stratagem towards a variety of Transitional Justice goals. In the Latin American context of Transitional Justice in the 1980s and 90s, where right-wing dictators either left a legacy of amnesty laws or enforced such laws on new governments through the threat of force, truth commissions helped uncover evidence of crimes and discredit former regimes. More recently, however, many countries have opted for trials and truth commissions in tandem.

The strategic question for Sri Lanka is what ordering of processes and mechanisms would optimize outcomes, rather than a question of which process has greater importance. In Sri Lanka, there are no amnesty laws to overcome as in Chile and no imminent coup d’état as in the case of Argentina. Instead, a government with a two-thirds majority (albeit tenuous) holds the reigns, having promised in the mani-

festo by which it came into power that justice for war crimes will be handled by national independent judicial mechanisms. Strategic considerations favour the establishment of a legal framework sooner—in mid-2016, as proposed by the Prime Minister—rather than later, after a new constitution is passed.

First, a new constitution dealing with devolution is by no means a foregone conclusion, and parking accountability until the constitution is established makes it highly likely that it will never be addressed at all.

Thirteen months down the line after a historic regime change, the window for Transitional Justice is beginning to close, and the political difficulty of establishing justice mechanisms will continue to rise. A year from now, if Sri Lanka has made no progress on accountability or on constitutional reform, the tone and timbre of Tamil politics will have shifted dramatically towards sharper rhetoric and increased frustration. If Tamil moderates are pushed out of the way, Tamil ultra-nationalists will provide their Sinhala counterparts ample fuel to end Sinhala moderates’ grip on power as well.

But critics may ask, would not the effort to pass contentious laws reduce the available political capital for a political solution? Arguably, the government’s lack of clarity and messaging on the justice mechanisms it envisages is extracting a political cost, as right-wing demagogues are controlling the messaging about a future court and whipping up unjustified fears of a witch-hunt against the military. This will continue, and may well intensify, even if the government parks the question of accountability for later. In this case, the government must be absolutely clear about what it intends to do and establish the necessary mechanisms without delay.

Second, even if set up now, judicial processes including a special counsel for prosecutions will only lead to trials long after the deadline for constitution making has passed. Prosecutions of complex crimes take years to prepare, and if legislation is passed in 2016, the chances of controversial indictments and trials within the year or even early next year are vanishingly small.

The government must move quickly to create the necessary legal framework for the trials of international crimes. This requires decisive action, but the President and Prime Minister have looked their political best when acting decisively. Instead, if they project weakness and timorous apprehension, the appeal of yesterday’s strong men will continue to grow.

An urgent struggle: our tainted air stuart Jeffery

The deadliness of air pollution is all too often overlooked; a national action campaign is long overdue September. Either the government is tainted by corruption or ambivalent about the deaths.

The majority of the pollution stems from traffic; and with the strong links between government and industry it is not difficult to see the problem. After decades of propaganda and subsidies to persuade people to travel by car, persuasion that goods must be imported from abroad and that more and more roads are good for the economy – or the rich – it is no wonder we have a car-based society and that we suffer the problems associated with it.

Government, in league with the industry, has managed to convince society that our atmosphere can be used as a magical dumping ground. Exhaust

fumes disappear into thin air, clouds of black diesel smoke hang around for a few minutes and then vanish, and pollution from power stations only happens close to the chimney stack. In reality, the killer fumes are normally invisible and silent, and their impact is often felt years later – so there is no constant or immediate reminder to stop producing them. Not only is that magical dump only a thin layer around the earth – rapidly filling with pollution, in turn causing the deaths of millions worldwide and destabilising the entire climatic system – but that magical dump is also the very air that every living land creature and plant breathes.

So where is the huge outcry? Where are the mass demonstrations against

WRITE-WING

air pollution and the pollution of life itself? Who is "Occupying VW"? While legal challenges from the excellent Client Earth group and their Healthy Air Campaign are superb, there seems to be no national direct action campaign focused on air pollution. And with no national direct action campaign to keep this in the minds of people and on the front pages of the media, the motor industry and government will find it easier to sweep the invisible killer under the carpet so that profits can continue to be made at the expense of lives.

Of course the solutions are difficult.

Drastic changes to the way we live our lives are needed; it is not just a case of replacing diesel with electric vehicles.

We have a society that is based on car use, shops that are out of town and jobs that need driving to. As most people without a car will tell you, it can be hard to keep pace with modern life if you don't have access one.

It's not just about cars either. Our homes and factories are not designed to conserve energy, and need heating and powering. To retrofit buildings with proper insulation is a step that not only reduces emissions, it reduces fuel costs too.

But our first step is to start shouting.

Shouting loud against the tainted motor and energy industries, and against the government. We cannot let them kill 1,000 people each week. It is time to start a national campaign of action against air pollution.

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

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

tuesDAY 01•03•2016

PERSPECTIVE

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

7

Nationalism fever strikes India The debate in India about 'nationalism' or 'antinationalism' is essentially between the pro & antiModi forces. But the issues come and go...

T

L K Sharma OpenDemocracy

he current great debate in India about being national and anti-national has been called by an eminent film-maker a “great comedy”. The situation does seem bizarre. The “anti-nationals” are being asked to leave the country and go to Pakistan.

They in turn say that those waving the flags of patriotism want to destroy the idea of India.

Concerned citizens, activists, civil libertarians, constitutional experts, and protesting university students see an unfolding tragedy in the violence perpetrated by the “patriotic” mobs. The mobs undermine the democratic order. They flaunt their commitment to the ruling party’s ideology and bank on police inaction.

India is never an easy assignment for foreign correspondents sent to this land of contradictions with the brief that what is true about this country, its opposite is also true!

This correspondent will find the current situation weird.

He may also start wondering what is democracy. After all, he was sent to one of the great democracies of the world!

The foreign correspondent rushes to the place where it all began. To Jawaharlal Nehru University, a premier institution of India recognised globally for its scholarship and the culture of debate and dissent. Its website carries Nehru’s words: “A university stands for humanism. For tolerance, for reason, for the adventure of ideas and for the search of truth.” It is one university in which the union elections set an example for the country’s politicians. These are held on the basis of debating skills and without the use of money or muscle power.

It is one university in which a student union owing allegiance to the party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has remained on the fringe despite vigorous campaigning over the years to wrest control from the left-leaning organisations.

So what happened at this university? Some student organisation held a meeting where capital punishment given to a Pakistan-trained Indian terrorist was questioned. The crowds that perhaps included outsiders raised pro-Pakistan and anti-India slogans.

A ruling party functionary lodged a police complaint.

The police went in and arrested the student union president who had expressed no “anti-national” sentiments at the meeting. He had talked about freedom from poverty and freedom from the sectarian ideology of the ruling establishment.

This student leader was charged with sedition! To justify the police case, doctored videos were telecast. False rumours were spread about him. The groups affiliated to the Prime Minister’s party thrashed this young PhD student while he was being taken to court by the police.

What followed was the mass hysteria against the “anti-national” elements. The “nationalists” created a hostile atmosphere against the JNU students and demonised the university. The students protested peacefully in defence of the freedom expression and the autonomy of the universities.

The foreign correspondent lands in a country that is stricken by a raging fever of pseudo-nationalism and pop-patriotism. What sense can he make of the cries of “kill-kill” against the so-called “anti-national” Indians? He reads about the doctored videos being telecast

to support a false charge of sedition against a student leader. He finds some ruling party leaders demanding the closure of the Jawaharlal Nehru University! The correspondent discovers that JNU has for long been targeted by the BJP and its ideological mentor RSS for being a hotbed of the leftists. And since it cannot be purified with a touch of Hindutva, it must be closed down.

The visiting journalist reads the disturbing statement made by some British academics on the situation in India. He notes that Prof. Noam Chomsky, along with Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk and 86 other academicians including Indian teachers in America, has condemned “the culture of authoritarian menace that the present government in India has generated”.

In short, the foreign correspondent finds the nation in a temper and a disaffected student community. He sees a society seething with hate. He senses confrontation in the air. “Kill-Kill” is the word he hears on the streets and in the TV studios. He reads threats of murder and rape.

He studies the editorials calling for the rule of law and for a professional police force and an objective media.

He gets about finding answers to several questions.

Why is the history of Nazi Germany being recalled in a spate of newspaper articles and speeches? Why are the people protesting against the misuse of the sedition law?

Why is the police force letting the political goons beat up the “anti-national” accused being taken to a court of law or the journalists cover the court case? Why have some commentators coined the phrase “goonda nationalism”?

Having come prepared to cover religious violence, the foreign correspondent finds that this time the confrontation is not about the desecration of a Hindu temple or the Holy Koran or about a Hindu girl marrying a Muslim or someone killing a cow or eating beef. This time it is about nationalism, an issue with which the enlightened west is only too familiar.

Nationalism, patriotism Nationalism has been critically analysed by Indian thinkers who cherished humanism and alerted against the dangers of nationalism. Rabindranath Tagore said “patriotism cannot be our final spiritual shelter; my refuge is humanity”. Tagore wrote that the logic of the Nation will never heed the voice of truth and goodness.

He said the fierce self-idolatory of nation-worship is not the goal of human history. The German history as well as Tagore’s views on nationalism is cited extensively by those criticising the mobs wanting to issue certificates of patriotism. One commentator said Tagore would have been called “anti-national” today. Another pointed out that by these standards, the Apple chief in America would be arrested for sedition for not cooperating with the FBI! A police officer in Jammu and Kashmir said that were they to arrest people for shouting “Freedom for Kashmir” or for raising the Pakistani flag, they

would be filing several cases every week!

The foreign correspondent finds that some Indians are ready to kill human-beings in order to protect the lives of cows. He reads about the mobs asking the citizens to sing the national anthem, salute Mother India and fly the national flag. Those defying the orders are asked to go to Pakistan or face punishment at home.

The correspondent reads the hundreds of death threats sent through the cyber space to students and journalists and to the members of their families. The self-proclaimed nationalists feel empowered with false courage – a gift of the social media!

Apart from these cowards hiding behind the giant internet servers, some brave Indians thrashing “antinational” individuals do not mind their faces being shown on the TV. They get garlanded and honoured publicly for their “courage”. The media-savvy Delhi Police turns a blind eye because Facebook flaunts a photo of this character with the country’s home minister.

When a society is in a state of frenzy, words acquire different meaning. “Intolerance” became a word of abuse directed against the Prime Minister of India.

“Freedom of expression” signifies anti-nationalism.

India’s woman education minister was perhaps inspired by the vigilante groups who created mayhem on the streets waving the national flags tied to sticks five to six feet long. Her ministry ordered the Government universities to fly the national flag!

An eminent public intellectual welcomed the order but raised a critical question: “Why 207-feet high?”

Since India invented the number zero, a 200-feet-high flag would deepen the sense of patriotism, he wrote.

The cyber bullies are sure to be angered by his qualified dissent. The height matters. How dare this ivory-tower man reduce it by full seven feet!

Earlier, a couple of writers were killed physically and one “killed” the writer in himself and abandoned his vocation in response to threats to his life. Protests by writers, artists and scientists had followed and they were demonised for talking about “intolerance”. The pro-Modi political activists took to streets and the TV studios to pour venom against the writers protesting against intolerance.

The debate on intolerance had hardly subsided when the current campaign against the “anti-national” forces was launched. No holds are barred. Death threats are shouted, student and journalists are physically attacked and a father is asked to shoot down his “anti-national” daughter. These threats are printed, aired on the TV and appear on the social media in the posts by the patriotic Indians!

The foreign correspondent observes a hysterical campaign to protect the honour of Mother India and to denounce the “anti-nationals” who are asked to leave India along with the beef-eaters. He gets to see why a

sizeable section is crying for a democratic India.

The recent events in India demonstrate that the State doesn’t have to directly intervene to suspend civil liberties. In any case, the Constitution prevents the authority from making any blatant move. When democracy constrained the US Government from fighting terrorism in a certain way, some illegal services were outsourced to the non-state actors. In the current situation, it is not the Government but the non-state actors who have unleashed a reign of terror.

The foreign correspondent, trained in old-fashioned journalism, is surprised to find India’s visual media fanning the flames of pseudo-nationalism and declaring any one a criminal. Most screaming anchors imitate a popular Irish-American TV talk show host of America.

A rare TV journalist whose channel is not controlled by any one running other businesses ultimately could not bear it any more. He produces a programme on the dangers to democracy posed by the so-called free media that chases popularity ratings by debasing public discourse through cock-fights in the studio. Ravish Kumar did not spare himself while alerting the TV viewers that the vigilante groups seen thrashing the “antinational” student on false charges could come to their homes one day! He used darkness on the small screen to illumine minds. This programme must be seen to understand how the “free” media can help subvert democracy. Journalism students may get to know of the havoc the visual media is playing in India.

Of course, following the ethics of journalism, the foreign correspondent strikes a balance and says that a glass that is half empty is a glass half full. He reports that India continues to be a functioning democracy.

The duly elected national government is in place and so is the Constitution. The highly professional army has never had a rogue colonel. Elections are conducted regularly. Political rallies are held peacefully. The opposition leaders give fiery speeches. Courts function. The press is free. Film censorship is challenged quite often.

And of course, there are no mid-night knocks.

But a balanced report does not always tell the whole story. At times, a writer, not a journalist, is better able to tell the truth. What is happening in India today needs to be explained by V. S. Naipaul in his luminous prose.

He understands mass frenzy and he knows all about the political leaders of the Third World.

The genie of sectarianism To put it simply, it was intolerance yesterday and nationalism today. The issues come and go. These are revived or abandoned, depending on the political calculations. The pot has to be kept boiling if the electorate is to be polarised and vote banks protected or acquired.

The great battle in India is essentially between the pro-Modi and anti-Modi forces. The former consist of Modi’s ideological soldiers plus those who are not the Hindutva votaries. They had flocked to him during the last parliamentary elections because they were deeply disappointed by the previous Government.

This latter group is also concerned about the venom injected into the society. But many of this non-Hindutva group still believe that the Prime Minister will one day speak against the unruly elements in his political family determined to polarise the nation. They believe that like Lord Shiva, Mr. Modi will swallow the poison to save the creation. The body-politic will be detoxified and cleansed.

India will stop generating hate and start making aircrafts.

More and more people are coming to the conclusion that this is unlikely to happen. They say the genie of sectarianism cannot to be pushed back into the bottle easily. In the current atmosphere, these nay-sayers have to take care and protect themselves.

These days TV’s political reportage ends with a thematically appropriate Bollywood song. So this piece concludes with: yeh kahaan aa gaye hum? Oh where, oh where have we come? — a thought that is troubling the concerned Indians.

Military victories are counterproductive Natural resources are shifting their course towards if and when they leave a political vacuum poles, Reason global warming, says scientists Such a vacuum has enabled the Islamic State to become a magnet for unemployed young men throughout the Middle East and North Africa

A

Rachelle Marshall Foreign Policy In Focus

fter World War II the Allies refrained from either punishing Germany and Japan, or letting those shattered countries recover as best they could. Instead the Americans helped restore their former enemies’ economies so they could begin to rebuild. The generous U.S. aid that poured into Western Europe under the Marshall plan turned the region into a lucrative market for American consumer goods and provided reliable allies against the Soviet Union. The Germans in turn acknowledged the damage they had done under the Nazis and paid restitution to the survivors.

Similarly, the American occupation of Japan under Douglas MacArthur was wisely aimed at rebuilding a country whose cities had been turned to ashes by U.S. bombing. Again the result was to turn a wartime enemy into a friendly and potentially powerful ally against Communist China. Meanwhile, Japan was to remain demilitarized for the foreseeable future.

The United States emerged from a war that had killed 30 million people with its own cities intact, an expanding economy, and as the world’s most powerful nation.

The war had exacted such a heavy toll on the Soviet Union that it could hardly compete. Nevertheless, Washington’s postwar foreign policy was devoted to preventing the spread of Soviet influence anywhere beyond Eastern Europe. To accomplish that end the U.S. was almost continuously at war, with American troops or proxy armies, wherever a country in Asia, Africa, or Central America seemed in danger of turning communist and coming into the Soviet orbit.

After each war, whether in Korea, Vietnam, Angola, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Kosovo, or Iraq, Washington showed little concern for the nature of the

resulting government as long as it was anti-communist. Too often the resulting regime was either corrupt, or brutal, or both.

Our current wars, in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria, show evidence of leading to a similar result.

In Iraq, a series of U.S.-backed Shiitedominated governments, especially under former prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, intensified the ethnic conflict between Shiites and Sunnis that had resulted from the American invasion and overthrow of Saddam Hussain. The current prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, has tried to heal the split by incorporating more Sunnis into the government and releasing many of the Sunnis imprisoned under the former government. But so far he has made little progress. “He has the willingness, but he hasn’t made any reforms,” said Sheikh Faisal Asawi, the mayor of Falluja. “He has no power, to be honest.”

Consequently, Iraq remains a dysfunctional state, in danger of splitting into Kurdish, Sunni, and Shiite mini-states. The paralyzed Parliament is unable to provide enough basic services such as electricity and water. Under such conditions, Iraq is a fertile recruiting ground for the Islamic State, or ISIS. “It did not grow from the earth,” Sheikh Asawi said of ISIS. Iraqis joined “but because of corruption, because of injustice, because of the culture of hate.”

Ryan C. Crocker, a former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, blames current U.S. policy, or lack of policy, toward Iraq for ISIS’s rise and continued growth. “There is no political architecture that will convince any Sunni over the age of 3 that he or she has a future with the Iraqi state,” he said recently. “The administration is trying to use a limited military weapon to defeat an adversary that only a political offensive can overcome and we’re not willing or able to make that effort.”

The “military weapon” that Crocker referred to includes the recent effort to reclaim the city of Ramadi and much of Anbar province from ISIS. The Iraqi army was only able to recapture Ramadi with the help of heavy American bombing, but as a result the city became a barren landscape, with hundreds of thousands of its residents made homeless and forced to flee. The U.S. has agreed to contribute $10 million to pay

for generators and limited-service clinics, but the Iraqi government doesn’t have the funds even to begin rebuilding.

A similar scenario is playing out in Libya, where in 2011 under pressure from France and Obama administration hawks, American bombing attacks helped insurgents oust long-time strongman Muammar al Qadaffi. Qadaffi’s overthrow unleashed the religious, tribal and ethnic militias he had kept in check and they are now fighting one another for power. There is no longer a central government, but instead two rival parliaments, one in Tripoli and one in Tobruk. The power vacuum has enabled ISIS to become a magnet for unemployed young men throughout the Middle East and North Africa, so that today ISIS forces in Libya total an estimated 6,500. The group is well armed — just after Qadaffi was overthrown, ISIS members broke into his extensive arsenal and distributed the contents to its fighters throughout the Middle East and Africa.

They have so far succeeded in capturing a 150-mile stretch of the coastline and are mounting increasingly successful attacks on Libya’s oil facilities.

In an attempt to stop the flow of recruits to ISIS, forces from 30 African and Western nations are currently taking part in training exercises in Senegal. But many analysts maintain that the use of military force is not what it will take to defeat ISIS. Martin Kobler, a German diplomat, citing ISIS’s rapid growth between 2015 and 2016, noted, “This is something that can only flourish in a political and security vacuum.”

So far there are few if any signs that the international community is taking steps to fill that vacuum. The U.S. with its overwhelming air power is almost certain to weaken or defeat ISIS in the end. But If the political and economic grievances that spurred its growth are left unresolved, it won’t be long before another, equally dangerous group arises. Meanwhile, policymakers should be asking themselves how many new enemies for the U.S. our extensive bombing campaigns are creating.

Rachelle Marshall is a former editor and writer and a member of Mill Valley Seniors for Peace, a Jewish Voice for Peace, and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.

Robert V. Boyd

N

Microcap Magazine

atural resources are shifting towards poles and global warming has a role to play in this shift, according to a new research paper published in the journal Nature Climate Change. According to the research led by Eli Fenichel from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, many marine species are shifting as a result of rising temperature. It could have a lasting impact on many regions that develop on fish. The increase in concentration of fish in certain regions could change natural balance of those regions.

The study has claimed that as the planet has been warming, earthly objects such as trees, plants, fish and other natural resources have been constantly shifting their base towards the poles, in the direction of higher elevations and deeper into the seas.

A report published in Newsweek said, “The study models potential outcomes in two fictitious fishing communities— “Northport” and “Southport”—where climate change has caused a shift in fish populations. Southport’s fish stocks decline as the climate changes while Northport’s stock increases; it’s a scenario that reflects changes anticipated in areas such as the mid-Atlantic and the waters off New England.”

The shifting of resources, a natural capital that has major economic value, is likely to impact developing nations more as these countries are majorly dependent on natural resources.

The study findings recommend that merely noting biophysical changes, such as the increase of fish in one place and the decrease in another, won’t be enough for policymakers as they would have to take into consideration “inclusive wealth”.

By inclusive wealth, scientists mean an economic framework that accounts for the sum of traditional, human and natural capital. It is a mechanism that can be applied to track the broader impacts of climate change on local and global sustainability and to measure any country’s ability to sustain human well-being.

“If the northern community isn’t a par-

ticularly good steward or manager, they’re going to place a low value on that windfall they just inherited,” Fenichel says. “So the aggregate could go down.”

Fenichel added that people mostly focus on physical reallocation of these assets, but he does not think that policymakers have really started thinking enough about how climate change can reallocate wealth and influence the prices of those assets.

“We don’t know how this will unfold, but we do know there will be price effects. It’s just Economics 101—prices reflect quantity and scarcity and natural capital is hard for people to move,” Fenichel says. “It’s as inevitable as the movement of these fish species.”

“To be clear, the ‘gainers’ here are clearly better off,” he says. “They’re just not more better off than the losers are worse off. The losers are losing much more than the gainers are gaining. And when that happens, it’s not an efficient reallocation of wealth.”

“People are mostly focused on the physical reallocation of these assets, but I don’t think we’ve really started thinking enough about how climate change can reallocate wealth and influence the prices of those assets,” says Fenichel. The study uses fish as an example, but natural capital can include plants, trees, and other assets valuable to humans.

The Nature Climate Change paper is the first of several projects for this research team, which includes Bonnie McCay, professor emerita of human ecology at Rutgers; Kevin St. Martin, associate professor of geography in Rutgers’ School of Arts and Sciences; Princeton biologist Simon Levin; and Joshua Abbott, associate professor of sustainability at Arizona State University. The projects are part of a $1.4 million grant from the National Science Foundation. Pinsky and his co-authors have published their findings in the journal Nature Climate Change.

“We tend to think of climate change as just a problem of physics and biology,” Pinsky says. “But people react to climate change as well, and at the moment we don’t have a good understanding for the impacts of human behavior on natural resources affected by climate change.”

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.

8

TuesdAY 01•03•2016

INDIA

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Privilege notice against Irani in Lok Sabha NEW DELHI, FEbruAry 29 (IANS): The opposition Congress submitted a privilege notice in the Lok Sabha against Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani for what a Left leader said was "lying" to the house.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said the matter was under consideration.

While the opposition leaders said they may not submit a similar notice in the Rajya Sabha so soon, as she did not complete her speech in the upper house of parliament, they will approach the Rajya Sabha secretariat in case Mahajan did not admit the Congress notice.

"The minister lied in her speech in the Lok Sabha; so a privilege motion has been submitted in the lower house. In the Rajya Sabha, the minister could not conclude her speech," Communist Party of IndiaMarxist leader Sitaram Yechury told IANS. "If it is not admitted in the Lok Sabha, in that case, we will submit a notice in the Rajya Sabha as the minister (Smriti Irani) is a member of the upper house," Yechury said.

On a similar note, Communist Party of India leader

No video evidence against Kanhaiya, says Delhi Police to HC

Union HRD Minister Irani in her reply to the discussion on the JNU row and Vemula suicide case in the Rajya Sabha on February 26.

D. Raja said consultations were on over the issue.

"We are discussing how to go about it; a final decision has not yet been taken," he said.

In the Lok Sabha on Monday, the Congress gave a notice for a privilege motion against Irani and created a ruckus for a while, shortly before Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stood up to present the general budget for 2016-17.

Soon after the house met, the speaker asked Jaitley to present the bud-

get but Congress member K.C. Venugopal stood up and sought to know from the speaker the status of his privilege motion against the HRD minister.

"It is painful for me to do that on the day of the (presentation of the) general budget; I had to move a privilege motion against the HRD minister," Venugopal said.

Other Congress members, including the party's leader in the house Mallikarjun Kharge, also stood up and asked the speaker

to clarify on the notice's status.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu objected and said: "Very cheap politics...nothing should go on record."

Amid noisy scenes, Mahajan requested the agitating members not to create a ruckus and let the finance minister present the budget.

"I have received the notices given on February 26 and February 29 against Smriti Irani. The matter is under my consideration,"

NEW DELHI, FEbruAry 29 (PTI): The Delhi High Court on Monday reserved its order on the bail plea of JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested on sedition charges, till March 2.On being asked by the judge if there was any CCTV footage or other evidence to prove that Kanhaiya was raising slogans, the Delhi Police told the court that “in the video Kanhaiya cannot be seen shouting slogans. However, there are witnesses to his shouting slogans.”

Kanhaiya’s lawyer Kapil Sibal, however, told the court that his client was only there to break fight as he opposed anti national slogans and didn’t raise them.

Meanwhile, a Delhi court allowed the custodial interrogation Mahajan said.

Withdraw sedition case against Yechury, others: CPI-M Meanwhile, the CPI-M on Monday condemned the registration of a sedition case against its general secretary Sitaram Yechury and others in Hyderabad.

"The FIR has been lodged by the police ostensibly because these leaders had extended support to the students of JNU who are protesting against the arrest (in a) sedition case

of two JNU students, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, arrested in a sedition case, by one more day.

The court extended the police custody of the duo, who had allegedly organised a controversial event at the JNU on February 9 where antiIndia slogans were said to have been raised, after police contended that they were required for further probe in the case to unearth the larger conspiracy.According to the police sources, the anti-terror unit of Delhi police — Special Cell — to which the case has been transferred, needed some time to interrogate both the accused.

The police has claimed that around 22 people present at the flashpoint JNU event, including some outsiders, have been identi-

of leaders of the students union and other student organisations," it said in a statement.

"The manner in which the sedition clause is being used in this case underlines the necessity to scrap the sedition clause 124A in the IndianPenal Code," the Communist Party of IndiaMarxist said.

"The CPI-M demands the withdrawal of the cases against the opposition leaders and all others named in the FIR." The statement urged the

fied after the joint interrogation of Khalid, Anirban and JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar arrested in the same case. Khalid and Anirban are in police remand since their surrender and subsequent arrest on February 24.Earlier, the Delhi High Court had ordered that “confidentiality” be maintained during the remand proceedings of Umar and Anirban, besides Kumar, while directing the police to ensure that no one “suffers even a scratch” and there is no ruckus this time. Besides Kumar, Khalid and Bhattacharya, the other students allegedly involved in the case are Rama Naga, Ashutosh Kumar and Anant Prakash. Ashutosh has joined the investigation with the Delhi Police.

central government to desist from actions whichsuppress democratic rights and freedoms in the country by branding dissentand opposition as "anti-national".

On Sunday, a FIR charging Congress vice president Raul Gandhi, Yechury, Delhi Chief Minister Aravind Kejriwal and others with sedition was registered at a police station in Hyderabad.

On the direction of a city court, the Saroornagar police station registered the FIR against JNU Stu-

dents Union president Kanahiya Kumar and the leaders of the Congress, CPI-M and AAP. Communist Party of India leader D. Raja, Congress leaders Ajay Maken and Anand Sharma and Janata Dal-United leader K.C. Tyagi have also been named in the FIR. The case has been registered under section 124 A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code. Police said they will seek legal opinion before taking further action in the case.

Govt to give statutory status to Aadhaar Kejriwal's narrow escape as car attacked;Probe ordered Ex-CJI Dattu takes NEW DELHI, FEbru- Arun Jaitley said while an- pending in the Rajya Sab- LuDHIANA, FEbruAry 29 over NHRC chief Ary (PTI): Government nouncing the Union Bud- ha. When in opposition BJP (IANS): Delhi Chief Minister Arhas decided to accord statutory status to Aadhaar to ensure that benefits of the government subsidies directly reach the needy.

"Additionally, as I will elaborate later, we will undertake significant reform including enactment of a law to ensure all government benefits are conferred to people who deserve it by giving a statutory backing to the Aadhar platform," finance minister

get 2016-17.

Till date over 98 crore Aadhaar numbers have been generated. Per day average of 26 lakh biometric and over 1.5 lakh e-KYC transactions are made. Aadhaar numbers have been seeded in 11.19 crore DBTL accounts out of total 16.5 crore DBTL beneficiaries.

There is already a National Identification Authority of India Bill, 2010,

opposed this scheme and tried to make it redundant.

Now in power they are in different tune.

The statutory status will provide a legal foundation to Aadhaar for expanding its use for a range of developmental purposes.

It has been suggested that all benefits, subsidies or services funded from the consolidated fund of India should be through Aadhaar platform.

High Court upholds TRAI order to compensate consumers for call drops MADurAI, FEbruAry 29 (PTI): The Delhi High Court today upheld TRAI's decision making it mandatory for cellular operators to compensate subscribers for call drops from January 1, 2016.

A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath dismissed a batch of petitions filed by Cellular Operators Association of India, a body of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India and 21 telecom operators, including Vodafone, Bharti Airtel and Reliance. "We uphold the validity of (TRAI's) regulation," it said.

The court said that it has not stayed the notification of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) since filing of the writ petition, therefore the telecom regulator is at

liberty to implement its decision January 1, 2016 onwards.

"There is no dispute about the power of TRAI to make regulation under section 36 of the Act. The impugned regulation has been made in exercise of the power conferred under the Act, keeping in mind the paramount interest of the consumer," the bench observed."It is also relevant to note that the regulations do not penalise every call drop but is limited only to three call drops a day per consumer," it said.

The telecom operators had moved the high court seeking quashing of TRAI's regulation contending that it was a "knee- jerk reaction" which penalised them without proving any wrong-doing

vind Kejriwal had a narrow escape on Monday when the vehicle he was travelling in was attacked with stones and sticks by some men near Ludhiana in Punjab. Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal ordered a probe into the incident.

Pointing an accusing finger at the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said the attack was a "conspiracy hatched by the Akalis to kill Kejriwal". The AAP held Badal responsible for the attack. Kejriwal, who ended his five-day tour of Punjab on Monday, tweeted that his car was attacked with batons and stones, shattering its windscreen.

Police said the chief minister, who enjoys Z-plus security cover, was safe and escorted from the spot. Kejriwal was seated alongside the driver in an Innova multiutility vehicle when the attack took place. He was immediately shifted to another car and driven away.

"The attack lasted for 3-4 minutes. There were about 30-40 people who carried out the attack," a police official present at the spot told IANS. Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh demanded a high-level probe by a high court judge into the attack.

"It was a well-planned conspiracy hatched by Akalis to eliminate Kejriwal, who has emerged as 'masiha' for the people of

The photo of the attack tweeted by Aam Aadmi Party. (TwiTTER)

Punjab," he said. He alleged that the attack took place at Sukhbir Badal's behest.

"The presence of Harkinder Singh, younger brother of Ludhiana MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali, apart from Youth Akali leaders Amandeep Singh Aulakh and Prabhdeep Singh Mangat, is enough indication for the conspiracy by Akalis to 'kill' Kejriwal," the AAP leader said.

He accused the Punjab Police of being "hand-in-glove in the conspiracy". Condemning the incident, Sukhbir Badal, who is also Punjab's home minister, said due action would be taken against the attackers."I have directed the police to register a case against the stone pelters and take action immediately," he said in a statement.

Badal directed the Punjab DGP to inquire if there was any lapse on the part of the security apparatus provided to the AAP leader."The Punjab government is committed to providing adequate security to Kejriwal during his visits to Punjab," he said. He denied that the Akali Dal was behind the attack.

Kejriwal was on a five-day tour of Punjab, where the AAP has emerged as a major player. The Punjab assembly polls are scheduled for February next year. The AAP leadership pointed out that BJP supporters held a protest at the venue while the Akali Dal workers attacked Kejriwal's motorcade.

Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh said the Congress had nothing to do with the attack.

NEW DELHI, FEbruAry 29 (IANS): Former chief justice of India H.L. Dattu on Monday took over as the National Human Rights Commission's seventh chairperson, an official release said.

Having an illustrious judicial career which included being a judge in the Karnataka High Court, chief justice of the Kerala and Chhattisgarh High Courts till he was elevated to Supreme Court in December 2008 and became CJI on September 28, 2014, he has been associated with several significant judgments of the apex court.

On the bench that expanded the Indian jurisprudence on death sentence cases by commuting the capital punishment to terror convict Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar to life term over mental illness and an inordinate delay in deciding his mercy plea by the government, he had also pronounced a landmark verdict in ruling that "bail is the rule and jail an exception" while granting bail to five big corporate leaders in the 2G spectrum allocation case.

Giving the verdict along with Justice G.S. Singhvi, he had said: "The courts owe more than verbal respect to the principle that punishment begins after conviction, and that every man is deemed to be innocent until duly tried and duly found guilty

tension in Agra 'India, US closer to pact to share military logistics' Communal after VHP leader's killing

An Indian Air Force (IAF) AN-32 aircraft flies over the C-130H aircrafts of the U.S. Air Force during 'Cope-India-09', a joint exercise between the IAF and the U.S. Air Force in Agra. (REUTERS File Photo)

NEW DELHI/WASHINGTON, FEbruAry 29 (rEuTErS): India and the United States are closing in on an agreement to share military logistics after 12 years of talks, officials said, a sign of strengthening defence ties between the countries as China becomes increasingly assertive.

The United States has emerged as India's top arms source after years of dominance by Russia, and holds more joint exercises

with it than any other country.

It is in talks with New Delhi to help build its largest aircraft carrier in the biggest military collaboration to date, a move that will bolster the Indian navy's strength as China expands its reach in the Indian Ocean.

After years of foot-dragging by previous governments over fears that the logistics agreement would draw India into a binding commitment to support

the United States in war, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration has signalled a desire to move ahead with the Logistics Support Agreement (LSA).

That would allow the two militaries to use each other's land, air and naval bases for resupplies, repair and rest, officials said.

Admiral Harry Harris, head of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Command, said the two sides were working on the LSA, another agreement called the CISMOA

for secure communications when the militaries operate together, and a third on exchange of topographical, nautical, and aeronautical data.

"We have not gotten to the point of signing them with India, but I think we're close," Harris, due in India this week, told the U.S. House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday.

The progress comes as the countries consider joint maritime patrols that a U.S. official said could include the South China Sea, where China is locked in a territorial dispute with Vietnam, the Philippines and Taiwan among others.

Both sides, though, said there were no immediate plans for such patrols, which drew strong condemnation from Beijing.

MAIN HURDLE CLEARED An Indian government official said the main impediment to signing the LSA had been cleared, after Washington gave an assurance that New Delhi was not bound by it if the U.S. went to war with a friendly country or undertook any other unilateral action that New Delhi did not support.

"It has been clarified that it will be done on a case-to-case basis; it's not automatic that either side will get access to facilities in the case of war," the official familiar with the negotiations said.

Asked whether China was concerned such cooperation was actually aimed at Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said: "We hope the relevant cooperation is beneficial to regional peace and cooperation and should not be aimed at the interests of third parties."

India's previous centreleft government was worried the agreements would undermine India's strategic autonomy and that it would draw it into an undeclared military alliance with the United States.

Concerns linger over the proposed communications agreement, with some branches of the military including the air force fearing it would allow the United States to access their communications network.

U.S. officials said they hoped that once the logistics agreement was signed, the others would follow.

A U.S. defence industry source engaged in business in India said there were expectations the LSA could be sealed by the time U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter visited New Delhi in April.

The source said Modi's office was directly involved in the matter and actively considering the agreements as a key for enhanced cooperation.

India has been alarmed

by Chinese naval forays into the Indian Ocean and its involvement in maritime infrastructure on island nations that it traditionally considered its back yard.

It has moved to shore up naval forces and build defence ties with Japan and Vietnam, besides the United States.

"There is growing convergence between Obama's Asia pivot and Modi's Act East policy," said Saroj Bishoyi, an expert on the proposed IndiaU.S. collaboration at the government-funded Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses in New Delhi.

"The LSA currently appears to be a doable agreement."

AGrA, FEbruAry 29 (IANS): Four days after a VHP leader was murdered in Agra, the city was on Monday gripped by communal tension. The situation is tense and ahead of the 13th day death ritual of the deceased leader, the build up may snowball into a major confrontation with the state government, sources told IANS."This tragedy has brought all ranks of the Hindutva organisations together and could be taken as a pointer to the 2017 assembly polls," they said.

Heavy presence of security forces in the Nai ki Mandi and Mantola police station areas, the deployment of the Rapid Action Force and 24-hour vigil by senior officials have helped contain the build up so far. But speeches at a condolence meet on Sunday evening by Bharatiya Janata Party leaders including HRD minister of state Ram Shankar Katheria, local legislators and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Sadhvi Prachi who reached the venue in disguise have only heightened tension in the city.Arun Mahaur, a VHP vice president, was shot dead on Thursday in a busy market while returning from a temple.

The incident has led to BJP leaders along with other Hindutva groups converging on the city.BJP state president Laxmi Kant Vajpayee was detained at Kasganj and prevented from reaching Agra. Other senior leaders are also under constant watch, sources said.

"When the authorities did not allow us to hold a meeting at the deceased leader's residence, the venue was shifted to Jaipur House colony Ram Lila ground where thousands gathered," Bajrang Dal leader Premendra Jain told IANS. VHP leader Sadhvi Prachi said conditions in the state were as bad as in Kashmir and the Akhilesh Yadav-led state government was indulging in minority appeasement.

Union minister Ram Shankar Katheria accused authorities in Uttar Pradesh of conspiring with anti-Hindu forces. BJP MP from Fatehpur Sikri Choudhary Babu Lal warned the administration of serious ramifications if the state administration's partisan stance continued.

TuesdaY 01•03 •2016

WORLD

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

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Syria’s war liberates Kurdish women as it oppresses others NEW YORK, FEbRuaRY 29 (ThOmsON REuTERs FOuNdaTiON): Nubohar Mustafa is proud of what her leaders and fellow activists have done for Kurdish women in northern Syria.

Coming from the selfproclaimed autonomous region of Rojava, wedged between the Turkish border and territory held by Islamic State, Mustafa enjoys freedoms that few women living under the militants’ rule could dream of.

Polygamy is no longer tolerated, underage marriage is outlawed and violence against women addressed with strict legislation in Rojava, which has been governed by a Kurdish party since Syrian state forces withdrew from most of the area in 2012 - a year after civil war erupted across Syria.

Rojava’s constitution, or “social contract”, governing its some 4 million people enshrines women’s rights and urges public institutions to work towards ending gender discrimination.

“While we try to empower women, a few kilometres away Daesh (Islamic State) are trying to do the opposite. We are fighting them on behalf of all the women in the world,” said Mustafa, a female politician and union leader in Rojava.

“Women have active participation at all political and military levels,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Rojava’s women fight-

women has been implemented as well as measures to challenge patriarchal attitudes, said Idris Nassan, a leading politician in the city.

Before being sent to jail, violent men are first excluded from any political and social activity in their village. “Not being able to participate in events or discussions is a stigma and for our society it is a big deal.

Prison is the last resort,” Nassan told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“This is because we want to change the culture and not just punish the crime. We want men to understand violence against women is not socially accepted any longer.”

Kurdish female fighters of the Women Protection Unit (YPJ) attend military training near Qamishli city. (REUTERS File Photo)

ers, also known as YPJ, make up 40 percent of the region’s militia force and have won praise for their prowess when battling Islamic State, including the liberation of Yazidi families under siege near Sinjar in northern Iraq in 2014.

The internal police, or Asayish, has a women-only unit that deals also with sexual assault and rape.

Each city in Rojava has a co-presidency that must be filled by a woman, and at least 50 percent of political offices are held by females.

Academies and foun-

dations to further women’s rights and as many as 27 centres to help women facing domestic violence or financial hardship have opened in Kurdish Syria since 2014. “It’s a revolution within a revolution,” said Mustafa.

TALE OF TWO CITIES The plains of Rojava stretch out to the horizon in all directions, with few trees and little agriculture since the war began. Abandoned oil pumps dot the landscape, left to rust since foreign oil workers fled Syria.

In its small towns, food vendors ply their wares from stalls, mechanics work on cars and children walk to class.

The Kurdish-held town of Kobani is just 140 km (85 miles) from Islamic State’s stronghold of Raqqa where women must wear a full face veil in public or face punishment, often at the hands of the all-female Al-Khansaa Brigade whose mission is to pursue and arrest women who break the group’s strict rules on morality.

The United Nations has accused Islamic State of

the abduction and rape of thousands of women and girls. Many have been given to fighters as rewards or sold as sex slaves.

Devastated by a ferocious battle against Islamic State forces last year that captured international headlines, Kobani residents have started to rebuild ruined homes. Booby traps remain a menace, although most of the bombs and mines left by retreating Islamic State fighters have been removed.

Here, strict legislation to combat violence against

IDEOLOGY Rojava’s ideological foundations were laid

by Abdullah Öcalan, the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is closely linked to the Kurdish militias. The PKK has fought for three decades for Kurdish cultural and political rights. Öcalan, imprisoned in Turkey since 1999, has often stated: “A country can’t be free unless the women are free.” Throughout his political career, the Kurdish leader has emphasised that the level of woman’s freedom determines the level of freedom in society at large.

As part of Rojava’s new security apparatus, the women’s branch of the Asayish police leads the enforcement of laws aimed

at protecting women, such laws banning underage marriage. Education also plays a key role in changing attitudes.

For example, the SARA women’s association focuses on tackling gender violence, encouraging women to speak openly about their problems, as well as helping female victims of domestic violence in shelters. Meike Nack, a 40-year-old German activist, moved to Rojava in 2014 to work with the Foundation of Women based in the territory’s de facto capital, Qamishli.

“We realised there was an urgent need for education so we started literacy classes. Then we established economic and politics courses,” she said. Now their most popular lectures are in nursing, psychology and physiotherapy.

“Once a woman understands her place in the society then she will reject being a victim,” said Nack. The past year has seen a real shift away from traditional, patriarchal attitudes in Rojava, including among the Arabs, Christians and Assyrians who also live there, she said.

“It has been very quick.

Not just Kurdish women are attending these courses, but anyone who chooses to live in Rojava.”

WOMEN’S REVOLUTION Before the war broke out in 2011, women in Syria already enjoyed more freedom than their counter-

parts in other Middle Eastern countries, such as Iraq, Turkey and Iran.

“We had more freedom, a kind of legitimacy,” Jendara Alsawish, a 34-yearold Kurdish woman from Aleppo. “But we couldn’t participate in political life.

If we had to go to the police station or any administrative offices we would go with our husbands or brothers because we might get harassed.”

The women’s revolution in Rojava has been a bright spot in a horrific war, said Alsawish, who sought asylum in Sweden in November with her three children, but still has close ties to the Kurdish enclave.

“Now we know what are our rights, we know about laws and so many other things. After the revolution started our Kurdish men tried to bring us below them, but the revolution opened our eyes,” she said from the Swedish city of Vasteras.

“A lot of husbands would not let women go out and would force them to stay in the house to take care of the children. Now everything has changed.”

In Kobani, Nassan said the real test would come when the war is over and refugees return to Syria: “I am more worried about the thousands of men who now live in Europe,” he said.

“I don’t know if they will be able to change their mentality since they have not been part of the cultural revolution.”

Myanmar parliament to change Indonesia demolishes capital’s largest red-light district ‘Radical’ candidate in HK poll JaKaRTa, FEbRuaRY 29 (REuTERs): which the governor wants to turn into a park. presidential elections date exposes underlying tensions Bulldozers started demolishing hundreds of “First, we need to demolish all houses and reNaYPYiTaW, FEbRuaRY 29 (REuTERs): Myanmar’s democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi is likely to speed up elections of the country’s president, in a last-minute change following weeks of talks with the military that has stood by the constitution that bars her from assuming the highest office.

Myanmar’s parliament dominated by the National League for Democracy (NLD), which swept historic elections in November, will change the date of presidential elections, previously set for March 17, according to the agenda for Tuesday’s parliamentary session.

NLD members and analysts say the party was likely to speed up the vote to end weeks of bickering between the army and the NLD over whether junta-drafted constitution, which bars Suu Kyi from becoming president, should be amended.

The original date, set only two weeks before the term of the new government was set to start on April 1, gave Suu Kyi plenty of time to negotiate the terms of the transition. But in the face of the unrelenting military, Suu Kyi decided to speed up the vote to gain time to prepare for government, analysts say.

“It’s become clear that amendment of article 59 (f) (barring Suu Kyi from becoming president) is impossible. So they want the presidential nomination to

happen earlier so that they can take more time in handling cabinet formation,” said political analyst Yan Myo Thein.

The NLD swept the historic Nov. 8 election, securing some 80% of elected seats in parliament, or enough to push through its president. Suu Kyi is barred from the presidency because she has foreign children. Last week, the NLD criticized the military and the armybacked Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) over a controversial copper mine project run as a joint venture between a Chinese weapons manufacturer and the Myanmar military. It also zeroed in on other lucrative public works projects awarded by the outgoing government at the last minute.

In a rare show of outrage, the military MPs stood up, while one of the members of the army caucus rejected the NLD’s allegations in parliament.

The rare heated debate showed the challenges facing Suu Kyi as she tries to overcome years of corrosive distrust between the junta that had ruled the country for nearly half a century and pro-democracy activists.Now both sides are forced to share power. The military controls a large chunk of the country’s administration through three security ministries, has guaranteed a quarter of the seats in the parliament and a constitutional veto.

buildings in the Indonesian capital’s largest redlight district on Monday as part of a nationwide effort to eradicate prostitution in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation.

Jakarta’s Kalijodo, long home to thousands of sex workers, is the latest of nearly 70 red-light districts shut down in Indonesia. The government wants to close the remaining around 100 more by 2019. Prostitution is illegal in Indonesia but rampant in most major cities.

Under high security, bulldozers were seen destroying dozens of homes and sex-oriented businesses in the Jakarta neighbourhood,

vert the land to be used for a green open space, which has been the main function of the area since the very beginning. Once it is all completed, we will rebuild the area immediately,” Anas Effendi, West Jakarta Mayor, told reporters.

An accident by a drunk motorist that killed four in Kalijodo earlier this month prompted Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama to order the closing of the neighbourhood. Authorities gave Kalijodo’s 3,000 residents a week to clear the area with some relocated to government-subsidised apartments. Evicted sex workers were also given vocational training.

‘Sea levels rise behind high climatic damage costs’ LONdON, FEbRuaRY 29 (iaNs): With the rise in sea levels, costs of climatic damages like floods are also increasing constantly at a higher rate, impacting the coastal regions of the world, says a study.

“When sea levels rise, damage costs rise even faster,” said lead author Markus Boettle from Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany. The researchers developed a method to measure the monetary losses from coastal floods under sea-level rise.

Supporters of Edward Leung, a candidate from the Hong Kong Indigenous, chant slogans during the announcement of the final poll result of a Legislative Council by“Our study illustrates that hagen in Denmark and found election in Hong Kong on February 29. (REUTERS Photo)

the flood damage can be disentangled by surprisingly simple mathematical functions to provide estimates of the average annual costs of sea-level rise over a longer time period,” Boettle added.The method can translate the occurrence probability of flood events into the probability of inundation damage in coastal cities like Mumbai, New York, Hamburg -- Pacific, Atlantic or North Sea. The researchers applied the method to the city of Copen-

that a moderate mean sea level rise of 11 centimetres until midcentury would in the same period double economic losses in this city, given no action is taken.

Expected regional sea level rise was taken into account by separating two components, namely the increasing number of events and the increasing severity of each one. Climate change pose a greater risk for coastal regions as it leads to rise in sea-level which, in turn, produces more frequent and intense coastal flood events.

Church made ‘enormous mistakes’ over sex abuse

Senior Counsel Assisting Gail Furness stands in front of a screen displaying Australian Cardinal George Pell as he holds a bible while appearing via video link from a hotel in Rome, Italy to testify at the Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse in Sydney on February 29. (REUTERS Photo)

ROmE/sYdNEY, FEbRuaRY 29 (REuTERs): Australian Cardinal George Pell, the highestranking Vatican official to testify on Catholic Church abuse, said on Sunday the Church made “enormous mistakes” and “let people down” in its handling of systemic child sex abuse by priests.

Giving evidence in front of abuse victims in a Rome hotel room, Pell told Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse that children were often not believed and abusive priests shuf-

fled from parish to parish.

“The Church has made enormous mistakes and is working to remedy those, but the Church in many places, certainly in Australia, has mucked things up, has let people down,” Pell said via video link to the commission in Sydney.

“I’m not here to defend the indefensible.” The Australian inquiry into sexual abuse cases that occurred decades ago has taken on wider implications about accountability of Church leaders because of Pell’s high position in the Vatican, where he now serves

as finance minister.

Pell, 74, has become the focal point for victims’ frustration over what they say has been an inadequate response from the Catholic Church. Pell himself is not accused of sexual abuse and has twice apologised for the Church’s slow response.

Pell said several times that he was aware of rumours and complaints against paedophile clergy when he was a young priest in the 1970s, but that Church superiors tended to give priests the benefit of the doubt, something he acknowledged was wrong.

When pressed on specific situations involving particular priests, Pell repeatedly said he couldn’t recollect the incidents being put to him, at one point citing “a senior moment”, angering witnesses in both Rome and Sydney.

“He is an intelligent man, he is in such a high position, we all have our seniors moments but not on something like this,” Trish Charter, who says she was abused between the ages of four and eight at an orphanage run by the Sisters of Mercy, said in Sydney.

David Ridsdale, who was abused by his priest uncle, Father Gerald Ridsdale, who was later convicted of 138 offences

against 53 victims, said Pell’s tone was more conciliatory than previously but “we have a long way to get to the truth”.

Ridsdale was among 15 abuse victims and supporters who travelled to Rome on the back of a crowd-funding campaign to see Pell give evidence after he said he was unable to travel to his native Australia because of heart problems.

In Sydney, victims’ supporters gathered outside the Commission’s hearing rooms, holding hands in prayer and carrying signs saying “Pope Sack Pell Now” and “Pell go to hell”.

TOO MANY CASES DISMISSED Last year, Pell denied accusations made at Commission hearings that he had tried to bribe a victim to remain quiet, that he ignored another complaint and that he was complicit in the transfer of a paedophile priest.

Pell said on Sunday that too many allegations of abuse were “dismissed in absolutely scandalous circumstances,” adding he believed the faults were personal rather than structural failings.

“Unfortunately, original sin is alive and well,” Pell said. “There’s tendency to evil in the Catholic Church too and sometimes it’s

better, sometimes it’s worse but for good or for ill the Church follows the patterns of the societies in which it lives.”

On Sunday, Pell’s office released a photo of the Cardinal tying a yellow ribbon around a fence in the Vatican Gardens, joining a campaign started by the Australian Loud Fence movement. The group first hung coloured ribbons on a fence outside a Catholic school in the rural town of Ballarat, where abuse was rife, with the bright colours designed to give a voice to child victims who were silenced.

Church sexual abuse broke into the open in 2002, when it was discovered that bishops in the Boston area moved abusers from parish to parish instead of defrocking them. Similar scandals have since been discovered around the world and tens of millions of dollars have been paid in compensation.

Ironically, the Rome hearing started just hours before the Oscar ceremony in Hollywood, where “Spotlight”, a film about the systematic cover-up of sexual abuse in the Church in Boston, was nominated for six Academy Awards. Pell is scheduled to give further evidence over the next three days.

hONG KONG, FEbRuaRY 29 (REuTERs): Hong Kong residents voted on Sunday in a legislative council byelection, with a “radical” pro-democracy candidate who was arrested in a recent riot running in what is being seen as a barometer of political tension in the financial hub.

The poll, to fill a single seat vacated by a former prodemocracy politician, is being watched for signs of growing support for a burgeoning “indigenous” movement that backs more extreme protests, including violence, to push for greater democracy.

Candidates from across the political spectrum contested the poll that was narrowly won by Alvin Yeung of the pro-democracy Civic Party, but most attention focused on Edward Leung, a leader of “Hong Kong Indigenous” and one of the first street activists to make a foray into mainstream politics.

Leung placed third, after Yeung and Holden Chow, a candidate from the city’s biggest pro-Beijing party, with about 15 percent of the 432,000 votes cast, a surprisingly strong showing.

“We, the young generation, are determined to sacrifice ourselves for Hong Kong’s future,” Leung told Reuters on the campaign trail, as supporters held banners reading: “Vote for a revolution”.

Hong Kong, a former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula that gives it a high degree of autonomy, was rocked by massive protests in 2014 demanding Beijing’s Communist Party leaders grant the city full democracy.

Beijing’s refusal of concessions has embittered a younger generation of activists, including Leung, who have pledged to fight on.

Some of the tension surfaced this month, when hundreds of protesters clashed with police in a night-long riot. Leung was among the dozens arrested in the worst violence on Hong Kong’s streets for years.

While Leung did not ultimately win, his surprisingly strong showing, with 15 percent of the overall vote, will be a concern for Beijing’s Communist Party leaders, who call such indigenous groups “separatists”.

The results also reflect deep anti-China sentiment ahead of a full legislative council poll this year, pitting a pro-democracy camp that now enjoys a slender onethird veto bloc against pro-Beijing and pro-establishment parties.

“We have been called rioters, but these rioters have now won over 60,000 votes,” Leung told reporters after the results. “In September, the entire indigenous movement will prepare to fight into Hong Kong’s political sphere.”

Hong Kong risks seeing further chaos and political uncertainty is hurting the economy, financial secretary John Tsang warned in his budget speech last week.

As one of Asia’s safest cities, known for its strong rule of law passed down from the British, many in the affluent city of 7.3 million remain opposed to any radicalism.

“We need a stable environment,” said a 67-year-old retired businessman, surnamed Chu, who voted for a proestablishment candidate.

10

tuesDAY 01•03•2016

SPORTS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

How Mizoram became india's football factory AIZAWL, FebruAry 29 (TNN): After winning the nationals in 2014, the state has now become a powerhouse of talent. A look at what keeps the game alive and kicking here This is the off-season in Mizoram.

But if you weren't told that, you'd think otherwise. There's a Mizoram Premier League play-off being fiercely contested at the Assam Rifles' Lammual Stadium and it's being telecast live across the state, in HD no less.

In between the two legs of the series, the ground staff is meticulously remarking the touchlines and penalty areas with fresh white paint -the Santosh Trophy (senior Nationals) qualifying round will be kicking off soon and that is serious business for the locals here. A double-header with arch-rivals Manipur will be the main draw.

Football is everywhere in Mizoram. In 2014 when they won the senior Nationals surprising all observers, TOI was the first to highlight this silent revolution in the state, and how Mizoram could be the flagship example for all of the northeast.

A closer look reveals a well-oiled assembly line.

Every afternoon, you can spot kids trooping in to do all that a kid with a ball would do, under the benign gaze of the academy coaches.

Mizoram is the pilot project under FIFA's Grassroots Project and in startling egalitarianism, Luangmual stadium's artificial turf set up in 2011, belongs to simply everyone who wishes to make use of it.

Elsewhere, Aizawl FC is swiftly

Shooting training and C’ship in Mkg

DIMAPur, FebruAry 29 (MexN): In view of the 4th North East Zone Shooting Championship to be held at Nagaland from September 19 to 24, the Nagaland Rifle Association with collaboration with the Aries Rifle & Pistol Shooting Academy, Dimapur will conduct Training Camp followed by the 2nd Cosmos Rifle Club Shooting Championships from March 15 to 21 as per rules & regulations under the NRAI Match Book 2015, in Small Bore Rifle & Pistol.

The officials and shooters involved have been permitted to carry the under mentioned weapons under Licence Nos. 0234/NL/DMR/NDAL/2015 valid upto 12-09-2018, 1120/NL/ DMR/2012 valid upto 31-12-2018 and 1121/NL/DMR/2012 valid upto 31-12 2018 & ammunitions from Dimapur to Mokokchung and back Via Assam, informed a press note from the President of the NRA, Merang Jamir.

The weapons include .22 Peep Sight Rifle -3118765, .22 Standard Pistol -B16386, Air Pistol -904260, Air Rifle -732597, Air Pistol -815086, and Air rifle -734525 The names of the officials and shooters are Merang Jamir, Sentiyanger, Vipu P. Swu, Chizou Sorhienuo, Kimatsung Jamir and Temjen Jamir.

The over all in-charge of the above mentioned arms and ammunitions will be Merang Jamir, President, Nagaland Rifle Association. This permit is valid from March 10 to March 30.

getting accustomed to life in the big league. They've just sacked their Spaniard manager Manuel Retamero Fraile for the little-known Jahar Das. Then, as the results still don't come, they jettison Japanese striker Atsushi Yonezawa for Nigerian Sunday Ayeni. The club has just hosted Shillong Lajong, and awaits Mumbai FC almost immediately.

All this activity, undertaken with a missionary zeal, takes some getting used to. In another world, clubs are shutting down, fans bases and corporate sponsorships dwindling.

And in all this, seemingly unaffected by it all, is Mizoram, proving the exception to the trend. To think that they have been successfully conducting a highly-popular semiprofessional league since 2012, with an investment of a mere Rs 25 lakh per season, flies in the face of the argument that modern-day football needs huge investments.

But Mizoram didn't realise just how good they were until they saw themselves on television. The Mizos, short and sprightly, always knew that they had the ability but seldom found themselves within a shouting distance of their neighbours, most notably Manipur which was, at the turn of the century , 'exporting' quality footballers to the mainland by the dozens.

Today, Mizoram can claim to have surpassed the pioneers. At the time of writing, Mizoram had edged out a strong Manipur to make the finals of the Nationals in Nagpur. That's

not all. As many as 42 Mizo footballers featured in the line-ups of the nine I League teams this season -a good 20% of the player-share. This is in addition to the slew of National titles -they followed up the 2014 victory with a semifinal finish last year and are favourites for this edition in Nagpur -and top-four finishes in all age groups that Mizoram have notched up since 2010, making them the most sought-after footballers from a single region in the country. Today, they regularly send their youngsters to be groomed in academies in Pune, Chandigarh and Goa. In the 800-odd villages across its eight districts, you can be sure to find a football field, a church and a wellfed sow behind each house. Patches of forest would have been cleared, in some cases, gorges cut and levelled, to create space for a football field and two goalposts. Crucially, these are all clay or mud fields since Mizoram has no natural grass and this is where the state government stepped in and created artificial turfs across the state.

Six in all, two are actively operational in Aizawl alone.

For over two decades, Mizoram's youth had little to do in the afterhours. Aizawl shuts down each day at 6pm (more than half of Mizoram's 1.2 million live in the capital city). The evening ennui coincided with the explosion of cable television -soaps, Korean and Burmese, were translated in the local Mizo language and ran on primetime. Football needed no translating, and so as the sun set on

the Mizo hills, the European leagues came to life, hooking an already-football crazy race further on the game.

This is where a group of local youngsters, fresh out of college in Delhi, hit upon the idea to create an eight-team league, to be commercially owned by the local TV cable company , Zonet, partly owned by the state association, and the matches telecast on prime time. The Manipur Premier League can be a case study in how to run a football league, a micro-economic success story.

"It helps that numbers -population and finances -are small. We were able to carry out our experiment because of Mizoram's manageable size," say Lalnhinglova Hmar, honorary secretary, Manipur Football Association and LV Lalthantluanga, GM, Zonet Cable TV, in unison. The two are the brains behind the success of the MPL. For a prize money of just Rs 5 lakh and an average player's salary of Rs 10,000 per season, both agree this is a win-win situation, adding that even the meagre Rs 500 spot rates for local ads is an incentive.

Football continues to remain a community exercise in Mizoram.

A club is usually locality-based and thus, carries strong local affiliations and identity. A season's budget of around Rs 10-15 lakh is met by contributions from local patrons, or in most cases, a team of fund-raisers who go from door to door. "Sometimes it's Rs 500, sometimes it's Rs 5," says K Lalenghluna, club owner of Ramhlun Sports FC."But even the Rs 5 counts."

Bundesliga: Dortmund, Mainz take big wins Messi and Pique spark Barca comeback victory

berLIN, FebruAry 29 (IANs): Borussia Dortmund came from behind to beat a 10-man Hoffenheim 3-1 while Yunus Malli's brace moved FC Mainz 3-1 past Bayer Leverkusen in their respective Bundesliga matches.

Dortmund extended their winning streak to three Bundesliga games as the "BVB" bounced back with three late goals to reap the 17th win of the season on Sunday evening. Meanwhile, Hoffenheim suffered their 11th loss in 23 matches to remain in the drop zone, reports Xinhua.

Hoffenheim opened the scoring with 25 minutes into the game as Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Buerki parried Kevin Volland's 20-meter hammer into the path of Sebastian Rudy, who tapped in from close range at the far post. The visitors gained momentum and had the chance to double the lead but Dortmund keeper Buerki denied Kevin Volland at the half-hour mark. The hosts got their first shot on target with 43 minutes played after Hoffenheim custodian Oliver Baumann had to defuse Marco Reus free-kick curl with a diving save.

However, a controversial straight red card for Hoffenheim's Rudy, following a foul play on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, initiated Dortmund's comeback after the restart. Nevertheless, the hosts had to wait until the 80th minute before Henrikh Mkhitaryan levelled the scores against 10men Hoffenheim following a corner.

The "BVB" kept it bowling and doubled the lead only five minutes later to grab the 2-1 lead through substitute Adrian Ramos, who headed home Lukasz Piszczek's pinpoint cross into the box. Hoffenheim were unable to put up some resistance while the hosts extended the lead to 3-1 after Aubameyang slotted home his 22nd goal in as many games, in the dying seconds of the game.

With the result, runner-up Dortmund remain in the hunt of frontrunners Bayern Munich, who sit eight points ahead. Hoffenheim remain trapped in the Bundesliga bottom, on the 17th place and with four points to safety. Mainz upset Bayer Leverkusen with a 3-1 victory on home soil to jump into the top six of the Bundesliga standings.

The hosts started offensively minded into the game to create the first chances of the match. With 14 minutes into the game, Mainz rewarded themselves with the opener as Yunus Malli lobbed the ball over onrushing Leverkusen goalie Bernd Leno.

Leverkusen tried hard to respond but it were again the hosts who scored as Jhon Cordoba's right-footed effort beat Leno for the two-goal lead in the 32nd minute. Mainz were not done with the scoring as Yunus Malli sewed up his brace after a converted handball penalty in the 58th minute. With the 3-0 lead Mainz retracted allowing Leverkusen to score their consolation through Javier Hernandez, who made it 1-3 in the 65th minute.

bArCeLONA, FebruAry 29 (reuTers): Defender Gerard Pique grabbed a rare winner and Lionel Messi scored yet another beauty as Barcelona came from behind to beat Sevilla 2-1 at the Nou Camp on Sunday and reclaim an eight-point lead at the top of La Liga.

Second-placed Atletico Madrid had narrowed the gap to five points by winning the capital derby 1-0 at the Bernabeu on Saturday, a result that leaves Real Madrid 12 points adrift of Barca.

Sevilla, who meet Barca in the King's Cup final on May 22, went in front following a break down the left as full back Benoit Tremoulinas crossed to the far post and Vitolo volleyed the ball past keeper Claudio Bravo after 20 minutes.

Messi equalised just past the half hour with a sublime free kick that dipped over the wall and nestled in the top corner.

Barca's winner, which extended their unbeaten run to 34 matches in all competitions, came three minutes into the second half as Messi cut the ball back to Luis Suarez and his cross

Barcelona's Lionel Messi celebrates a goal against Sevilla. (REUTERS)

was converted from close range by centre half Pique.

Luis Enrique's men have now drawn level with Real Madrid's record undefeated sequence set in 198889 under Dutchman Leo Beenhakker.

"Sevilla are a team that defend well and counter-attack well. They had two clear chances and scored a goal," Pique told Spanish television. "To get back from a goal down is always hard. We've got a lot of matches in our legs and everything is hard

work." Barca have 66 points from 26 games, Atletico 58, Real Madrid 54 and Villarreal 52 in fourth place after a 3-0 home win over Levante.

Neymar might have had a penalty for Barca when he was bundled off the ball on the edge of the box midway through the second half but Sevilla would not have been flattered had they secured a point. Play flowed from one end to the other in the last half-hour as the visitors defended as a 10-man block and repeatedly threatened

an equaliser on the break.

Bravo blocked an effort from Kevin Gameiro at point-blank range, then Sevilla keeper Sergio Rico turned Neymar's shot over the bar seconds later.

Koke also headed Messi's inswinging corner on to the post as he tried to clear while Suarez blasted the rebound against the bar. Barca, on course to win a second consecutive La Liga-King's Cup-Champions League treble, are in action again on Thursday at Rayo Vallecano.

public discourse

Kohima College Teachers Association Clarifies Encourage two-wheelers in Towns

T

he Kohima College Rio by the then administraTeachers Association tive set up. seeks to clarify certain re- 2. The present administrative cently published articles set up rectified the error, and questioning the credibility of the consequently issued a corCollege Principal Dr Watijungshi rigendum and the corrected and the sanctity of the College as B.A. Pass certificate to Mr. a whole. KCTA states that; Neiphiu Rio 1. An inadvertent human error 3. The College tendered an was made in the issue of the apology to Mr. Neiphiu Rio B.A. provisional Certificate, publicly without any bias. on request, to Mr. Neiphiu All will agree to the undeni-

able fact that the college in its 49 years of existence has selflessly served the state and its people.

Therefore the insinuation that the college is indulging in commercialization is an affront that is exceedingly unacceptable and uncalled for. This clarification is issued to exonerate the incumbent Principal and Kohima College, Kohima, from all baseless and fabricated allegations and to

affirm that we are above all these petty mongering and refuse to be drawn into any further controversy in this matter henceforth.

We stand by our motto “Search for Excellence” and will continue to render our service for the upliftment of our people.

Mhalezolie Kire President, KCTA Sunjeminla General Secretary, KCTA

Historic peace accord: The blind leads the blind

I

n the backdrop of the Framework Agreement on 3rd August, 2015, vexed conjectures and analyses articulated by diverse individuals, Naga intelligentsia, NGOs, rival Naga Political Groups (NPGs) are seething in the newspapers. As well as the dissent voiced out by the neighboring States especially Congress party ruled Manipur (the most affected as perceived), Assam and the then Arunachal Pradesh. The blatant expression of the essence within the human mind behind Fear (Self-preservation) and Ego, the deep-rooted identification of ‘I am somebody’, ‘I am righter’ or ‘I am superior’. These are profound perceptions motivated by genuine and extreme grievances.

Whether these voices of the microcosm, including the recent call of the Governor of Nagaland and Assam, P.B. Acharya, for bringing together all the factions (NPGs) to the Framework Agreement are taken notice of, in their Consciousness by the collective leadership of NSCN (IM) and the interlocutors of Govt. of India are still in obscurity.

In hindsight, these discourses are the reflections and bases of the vibrations inside

the microcosm, setting off ripple effects either weak or strong. The popular perceptions of the general public will ultimately be generated and shaped by these public discourses.

However, there is a gap between the present perceptions of the causes of the conflict and the analyses articulated, as the critics themselves are not aware of the text of the Framework Agreement. A reminder of the blind leading the blind in the book of Matthew 15:14. In the same way, the collective leadership of NSCN (IM) and the Govt. of India will also be unaware of what will eventually transpire in the final agreement. And if the inked agreement will finally resolve the protracted Naga political imbroglio alongside the conflicting objectives of the neighboring States.

Also, the question still remains on how long the negotiations will endure and whether the Modi government can warrant the support in the Parliament?

Nevertheless, heeding the perceived post-final agreement conflict, the Naga society must institute effective protocol in each village, colony and township as a precautionary measure to prevent civil conflict.

Taking cognizance of the vulnerability of the Naga society in dealing with the recent violence in Kiphire-Shamator and formerly at Dimapur. Further, the alternative to continue the turf contest amongst the Naga Political Groups (NPGs) flanked by the implied post-final agreement conflicts needs to be addressed objectively. The approach of the ACAUT towards transparency and accountability may well be replicated to all the NPGs. The Naga society (general public) always stood behind the NPGs through thick and thin, taking pride in them as freedom fighters struggling for a worthy cause save decried for the fringe anti-social elements.

In all fairness, it is imperative for all the NPGs to be accountable to the Naga public by disclosing their Memberships, Balance Sheet and Annual Reports.

May the prayer of each Naga home in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Myanmar and Nagaland emit positive vibrations to spur divine intervention to end the vexed Naga Political Issue!

V.T. Chakhesang Kohima, Nagaland.

P

lying throughKohima road almost every week days in a friend’s motorcycle makes one feel closer to the reality of our roadways. The hazards of air pollution, unpatched roads and un-sanitized waste garbage become more real to one’s eye. The dust particles plus the smoke emitted through trucks and cars adds to the colour of our day.

The time consumed and the stress of hearing the honking of cars and vehicles pollutes the mind. Commuters travelling through cosy and comfortable cars won’t get to know the real picture of it.

On one particular traffic snarl-up, my friend commented that the traffic woes would definitely reduce immensely if motorcycles and two-wheelers were encouraged in our towns. I thought that was a very good idea. Look at our towns today, four wheelers are all lined up in queue everyday as if we’re all on a solemn religious pilgrimage. The traffic woe undoubtedlyswells up on all important public and sporting events. Therefore, encouraging two wheelers in our towns will help the denizens to become more sensitive to the problems an average common man suffers daily. Not only that, it will ease the traffic jams tremendously. Of course, there are also hazards relating to two-wheelers due to lack of safety protectionsand pollution free emission but if the use of it increased, then safety measures and filteringdevicecan also be implemented on an austere basis. Also, cycling to offices and colleges would be a sight of beauty to behold. It will improve the well-being and fitness of the community as a whole. The initiative to promote motorcycles and cycling in our state is a commendable one.

A detailed study by Belgian consultancy Transport & Mobility Leuven has found that a slight shift in traffic composition from cars to motorcycles significantly reduces traffic con-

gestion and emissions. The study, which was presented at the Association des ContructeursEuropeens de Motorcycles (ACEM) 2012 Conference in Brussels, found that if 10 percent of all private cars were replaced by motorcycles in the traffic flow of the test area, total time losses for all vehicles decreased by 40 percent and total emissions reduced by 6 percent.

A 25 percent modal shift from cars to motorcycles was found to eliminate congestion entirely.One of the Vietnamese city, Ho Chi Minh (formerly Saigon), of 7.5 million people and nearly five million motorcycles, and by far the most motorcycle-dependent traffic environment has a very narrow street. This city could not function without enhanced traffic density and traffic flow of the motorcycle. Though cars are still huge in numbers, the vast majority of traffic is made up of motorcycles.Even in the peak hours on the main thoroughfares, where a commuter cansee a tangle of motorcycles for miles in front of them, the traffic flow remains remarkably high.

Browsing through this new research by Belgian consultancy Transport and Mobility Leuven, it indicates that motorcycle commuting reduces traffic congestion and emission. Not only that, environmental awareness is directly or indirectly imprinted into the minds of the motorcyclist which is quite positive.Itcreates a healthy atmosphere in the making. The use of motorcycle (including bicycles) will create a free-flow of vehicular movements in our towns.

The space for parking will also be condensed greatly. The roads, if expanded, then the need of using two-wheelers can be out of topic. But for now, the only possible solution to the traffic congestion is to encourage the use of more motorcycle and bicycles in our towns.

Vebu Khamo Kohima Bible College.

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

Tuesday 01•03•2016

EntErtainmEnt

Leonardo diCaprio finally wins an Oscar

2016

WINNERS LISt

Winners: Mark Rylance, Brie, Leo, and Alicia Vikander posed backstage after winning in the acting categories.

L

eonardo DiCaprio has finally won his first Oscar for sur vival epic The Revenant, after six nominations. He was named best actor at the 88th Academy Awards, with Brie Larson named best actress Oscar for Room. Spotlight took home the best picture Oscar with Mad Max: Fury Road picking up the most awards of the night, with six accolades.

Mark Rylance won the best supporting actor Oscar, with fellow Briton Sam Smith winning best original song. Among the winners for Mad Max: Fury Road - nominated for 10 Oscars including best director for George Miller - was British designer Jenny Bea-

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van, for best costume design.

The Revenant won three of the 12 awards for which it was nominated. Alejandro Inarritu also won best director and Emmanuel Lubezki won his third Oscar for cinematography in a row, having won in 2015 for Birdman and 2014 for Gravity.

DiCaprio received a standing ovation as he picked up his award, after five acting nominations and one nomination as producer of best picture nominee Wolf of Wall Street. He thanked the director and co-star Tom Hardy for his “fierce talent on screen” and “friendship off screen” before campaigning for action to combat climate change, saying making The Revenant was “about man’s relationship to the natural world”.

“Climate change is real - it is happening right now,” said DiCaprio. “It is the most urgent threat facing our species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating.” He asked the audience to “support leaders around the world who do not speak for the big polluters or the big corporations but who speak for all of humanity, for the indigenous people of the world, for the billions and billions of underprivileged people who’ll be affected by this”.

He added: “Let us not take this planet for granted. I do not take tonight for granted.”

reporters at the Boston Globe uncovered child abuse by Catholic priests in Massachusetts. Producer Michael Sugar said: “This film gave a voice to survivors and this Oscar amplifies that voice. “We hope will become a choir that will resonate all the way to the Vatican. “Pope Francis, it’s time to protect the children and restore the faith.”

Smith, whose song was featured in Bond film Spectre, told the audience at LA’s Dolby Theatre he could not breathe as he picked up his award and described his fellow nominees as “incredible”. He added: “I read an article by Sir Ian McKellen saying no openly gay man had ever won an Oscar. “If this the case, even if this isn’t the case, I’d like to dedicate this to all the LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] community around the world. “I stand here tonight as a proud gay man and I hope we can all stand together one day.”

Alicia Vikander won the best supporting actress Oscar for The Danish Girl.

The Swedish-born actress thanked her co-star, British actor Eddie Redmayne, and her parents, after winning her first Oscar.

Amy film ‘for fans’ Amy Winehouse documentary Amy won the best documentary feature Oscar for British filmmakers Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees. Kapadia said of ‘Restore the faith’ Spotlight tells the true the late singer: “This film story of how investigative is about Amy and showing

the world who she really was, not the tabloid persona. We just wanted to make a film to show the world who she really was.” Gay-Rees added: “This is for the fans who loved her through thick and thin, that’s all she ever needed.”

‘Is Hollywood racist?’

The ceremony was boycotted by some Hollywood figures protesting about the lack of ethnic diversity among this year’s nominees. All 20 nominees in the best acting or supporting acting categories are white.

Host Chris Rock launched the show by addressing the race controversy head on.

He commented he had “counted at least 15 black people” in the montage that opened the ceremony, before welcoming people to the “white People’s Choice awards”. “You realise if they nominated hosts, I wouldn’t even get this job,” he quipped. “Y’all would be watching Neil Patrick Harris right now.” Rock added: “Everyone wants to know is Hollywood racist?

You have to go at it the right way. Is it burning-cross racist? Fetch-me-somelemonade racist? No. “It’s a different kind of racist. Is Hollywood racist? You’re damn right it’s racist but it’s sorority racist.”

the morung Express Prediction: 5/6 BESt PIctuRE morung Vote: The Revenant Possible Spoiler: The Big Short & Spotlight BESt DIREctoR morung Vote: Alejandro González Iñárritu ActoR IN A LEADING RoLE morung Vote: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant ActRESS IN A LEADING RoLE morung Vote: Brie Larson, The Room ActoR IN A SuPPoRtING RoLE morung Vote: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies ActRESS IN A SuPPoRtING RoLE morung Vote: Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

BFFs: Kate Winslet was joined on the red carpet by her Titanic co-star Leonardo DiCaprio.

Source: BBC

Hillstar NOW SHOWING

Ticket Rates PlaTinuM - `320 Gold - `150 SilveR - `80 The Oscars had its most powerful moment on Sunday night when Lady Gaga got onstage and performed her Best Song nominee “Til It Happens To You.” She was joined onstage by rape survivors for the conclusion of her performance.

Tom Hardy’s stunning wife Charlotte Riley steals the show in a VERY revealing black lace gown as she arrives on his arm at Oscars.

05:00 PM

Charlize Theron whose film Mad Max: Fury Road took home six awards, teamed her striking dress with diamond jewellery.

Priyanka Chopra hit the Oscars red carpet wearing $8 MILLION worth of dazzling jewels each.

Bright and bold: Best Supporting Actress winner Alicia Vikander divided opinions with her Beauty And The Beast style dress.

02:00 Pm | 08:00 Pm

12

tuesDAY 01•03•2016

SPORTS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Manchester city win League cup Wilfredo Caballero the Wembley hero

Manchester City celebrate winning the Capital One Cup Final with the trophy. (Reuters)

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LONDON, February 29 (aP): Manchester City added another League Cup to the growing collection of trophies under its Abu Dhabi ownership, beating Liverpool in a penalty shootout with Yaya Toure converting the clinching spot kick on Sunday.

And on a day of double delight for the Manchester clubs, United damaged Arsenal's Premier League title challenge after new star Marcus Rashford scored twice in a 3-2 win. The 18-year-old striker has now scored four goals in his first two starts for United.

Second-place Tottenham rallied to beat Swansea 2-1 to trim the gap to surprise league leader Leicester to two points.

Man City manager Manuel Pellegrini claimed

a third trophy in his threeyear tenure that is ending this summer — and it was one of his contentious selections that paid off after the final finished 1-1 after extra time and went to penalties at Wembley Stadium.

Second-choice goalkeeper Willy Caballero was selected ahead of Joe Hart for the game — as he has done throughout this competition — and saved three penalties in the shootout.

Toure slotted the decisive penalty into the corner to seal a 3-1 shootout win and became the man for the big occasion again, having scored in both of City's FA Cup and League Cup final victories in recent years.

It was City's second League Cup title in three years and fifth trophy since the club was taken over by

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, a member of Abu Dhabi's royal family.

City went ahead in regulation time through Fernandinho and wasted a series of chances before Philippe Coutinho equalized in the 83rd minute.

Coutinho was one of the three Liverpool players to have a penalty saved in the shootout, along with Lucas Leiva and Adam Lallana.

In the Premier League, few could have imagined that it would be Leicester and Tottenham as the top two with 11 games left.

Tottenham kept up its pursuit of the leaders after scoring two goals in eight minutes —through Nacer Chadli and Danny Rose — to overhaul Swansea, which led early through Al-

berto Paloschi.

Arsenal is five points adrift of Leicester after another bad day at Old Trafford, where Rashford scored in the 29th and 32nd minutes to continue his dream start to his United career. On his senior debut on Thursday, Rashford also grabbed a double in the Europa League against FC Midtjylland.

After former United striker Danny Welbeck replied for Arsenal, Rashford set up Ander Herrera for a shot from the edge of the area that deflected in off Laurent Koscielny.

Mesut Ozil made it 3-2 but fifth-place United held on comfortably to move three points off the top four.

Arsenal hasn't won in the league at Old Trafford since 2006.

LONDON, February 29 (reuters): Manuel Pellegrini will head to pastures new with at least one shiny memento of his final season as Manchester City manager after keeper Willy Caballero's penalty shootout heroics sealed a League Cup final win against Liverpool on Sunday.

The Chilean will be replaced by Pep Guardiola at the end of the campaign but, whatever happens between now and May, he will be guaranteed an appreciative send-off after City triumphed 3-1 on penalties after the Wembley Stadium showpiece finished 1-1.

City were stretched to the limit by Liverpool but Juergen Klopp's hopes of winning a trophy 143 days into his Anfield reign died when Caballero expertly saved spot kicks from Lucas Leiva, Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana.

It was a triumph for the 34-year-old Argentine keeper, whose selection ahead of first-choice Joe Hart had been much debated by City fans, and a vindication of Pellegrini's continued trust in the man he had chosen to keep goal throughout the Cup run.

Yaya Toure supplied the final touch, stroking home the deciding kick to give City their second League Cup in three years under Pellegrini. Fernandinho had given City the lead after 49 minutes when his shot

Manchester City's Wilfredo Caballero celebrates with the trophy after the game. (Reuters)

slipped through keeper Simon Mignolet's grasp but Coutinho levelled late on.

"If we carry on and work really hard there is light at the end of the tunnel, but tonight we feel rubbish," a glum Klopp told reporters.

For Pellegrini, his much-criticised decision in fielding a second-string team in last week's FA Cup hammering at Chelsea looks fully justified after a 3-1 win at Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League in midweek and now victory over Liverpool. "That decision I took last week was very important to win these two games," Pellegrini said.

For all the pre-match razzamatazz, the first half was forgettable, barring a superb save from Mignolet to turn Sergio Aguero's shot against

a post. Aguero had led Liverpool centre back Mamadou Sakho a merry dance in the build-up, the French centre back still dizzy from a clash of heads with team mate Emre Can that eventually meant Klopp had to replace him with Kolo Toure.

City went ahead when the otherwise impressive Mignolet let Fernandinho's shot from a tight angle squirm through his grasp.

Raheem Sterling, loudly booed by Liverpool fans throughout, then missed a sitter that could have killed off his old club. Aguero was denied a clear penalty and Mignolet then redeemed himself with a low save to keep out the Argentine's shot.

Klopp sent on Lallana with 20 minutes remaining and the England midfielder

was involved in the equaliser. He prodded Daniel Sturridge's cross against the post but the ball rebounded to Coutinho who fired past Caballero.

Mignolet redeemed himself, denying Yaya Toure and Fernando in the final minutes of normal time and the Belgian also thwarted Aguero in the first period of extra time with a reflex stop. Caballero made an even better stop to keep out Divock Origi's pointblank header.

Liverpool drew first blood in the shootout when Fernandinho's spot kick hit the post but Caballero's three saves, which saw Hart giving his understudy a big hug afterwards, had their fans heading out before Toure's clincher.

indian women's team lose second Indian paddlers sail into third round of Worlds napoli star Lorenzo insigne held up Mouma could not take at gunpoint, robbed in city centre LumPur, Feb- raj, after losing the first game, successive hockey match to germany KuaLa ruary 29 (IaNs): In- brushed aside his rustiness any liberty against the with the car and forced the four oc-

steLLeNbOsch, February 29 (IaNs): The Indian women's hockey team suffered their second successive defeat, but not without a fight, going down 2-3 to World No.8 Germany in their penultimate contest of the tour of South Africa here.

Sunday's first period started with India looking to make up for the loss (0-3) in the previous encounter against the same team on Saturday. India started on an attacking note and were soon rewarded with a penalty corner, which was converted by Sunita Lakra, giving her team the much required 1-0 lead.

Germany looked at levelling things up in the second quarter Lisa Marie Schutze did what was required from the European team as she secured a field goal to make it 1-1. India fought back with a counter-attacking game

and in the final moments of first half Anuradha Devi Thokchom made it 2-1.

Germany came back strongly through Hannah Kruger, who converted a penalty corner in the next minute, once again bringing back the equilibrium.

The third quarter witnessed no goals from either team as both defensive lines were on top.

The final quarter witnessed a stark change as both teams moved into complete attack mode, playing an extremely pressing game. In the drying moments of the encounter, Hannah came out on top for Germany by converting her second penalty corner to give her team an exciting 3-2 win.

India play their final tour match against Scotland, whom they beat 5-0 here on February 25, on March 1.

dian men and women's teams posted their second successive wins in the World Table Tennis Championships to enter the third round here on Monday.

After winning their first Second Division match against Vietnam on Sunday, India ran into Turkey this morning and it was a quiet affair in the second round.

Achanta Sharath Kamal was in his best form when he took on Ibrahim Gunduz, winning the opening rubber 11-5, 11-5, 11-7.

Soumyajit Ghosh, who was playing his first match, then faced Gencay Menge in the second singles. Ghosh took very little time to settle down and beat his Turkish opponent 11-8, 11-6, 11-7.

Later, reigning national champion Anthony Amal-

and overcame Abdullah Yigenler 3-11, 11-4, 11-6, 117. The Indian men's squad will take on Nigeria on Tuesday in the third round.

As for the women's team, except for Mouma Das, who went down in the first singles, both K. Shamini and Madhurika Patkar took control of the match to put India on road to recovery and emerge winners over Puerto Rico.

Mouma, surprisingly, disappointed when she opened it for India against Adriana Diaz. The top Puerto Rican, despite losing the first game, steadied herself before taking a firm grip over the diminutive Mouma. Adriana was not only deceptive but also very quick that she finished off the second game, allowing just two points to Mouma.

Puerto Rican, who was severe with anything that came to her forehand. So much so she won 5-11, 112, 11-7, 11-9 to put her team in the lead.

Shamini, playing her role to perfection, neutralised their rivals' advantage to beat Melaine Dias 12-10, 11-9, 7-11, 11-5 and Madhurika, playing her first match, easily downed Daniely Rios 11-4, 11-9, 11-7 to give India some life.

With Shamini slated to take on Adriana in reverse singles, it was always going to be dicey. But the Indian, hitting great form and tackling her opponent with guile, outwitted their No.1 player. Shamini won 117, 13-11, 8-11, 11-8 to see India through to the third round where they will clash with Portugal on Tuesday.

NaPLes, February 29 (reuters): Napoli striker Lorenzo Insigne was held up at gunpoint and robbed as he was driving through crime-plagued Naples over the weekend, his agent said on Monday. Insigne was driving with his wife and two friends late on Saturday when he stopped at a traffic light. A gunman on the back of a motorbike pulled level

cupants to hand over their valuables.

As he drove away, the thief asked Insigne, who comes from Naples, to dedicate a goal to him at Monday night's Serie A clash with Fiorentina, local media reported. Italian media said the masked robber got away with a Rolex watch, jewels and 800 euros ($872.48) in cash. "Lorenzo suffered a terrible experience and told me that it was a really bad moment," said his agent, Antonio Ottaiano.

Despite being shaken up by the robbery, Insigne joined his teammates at a training session on Sunday and is expected to play on Monday.

He has scored 11 goals in the Serie A so far this season, with his team lying second in the table. The Italian government announced earlier this month it was sending additional troops to Naples to help fight an upsurge of violence in the city, with 12 people reported killed this year in murders linked to a mob turf war.

2nd open penalty shoot-out tournament in Kohima

Members of Prodigies Group during press conference in Kohima on February 29. (Morung Photo) Our Correspondent Kohima | February 29

The Prodigies Group is all set to organize the 2nd Open Penalty Shoot-Out tournament on March 19 at Kohima Local Ground.

The tournament aims to invite the youth department in the various churches to have an exciting and innovative fellowship through sports, to provide a platform for the youth to have a positive and uplifting experience, to promote professional football clubs and players and share the stage with them and to create a new and strong partnership with local business communities to sponsor

opportunities for people to participate in well- established sporting events.

This was announced by Prodigies Group in a press conference at WHERE’S THE FOOD Restaurant here this afternoon.

The champion will fetch a cash prize of Rs. 30,000 sponsored by Yamaha, Kohima while Britannia, United Traders will sponsor 2nd prize amounting to Rs. 20,000. Buolie Whuorie will sponsor the 3rd prize amounting to Rs. 10,000.

WHERE’S THE FOOD (The Naga Dinner) will sponsor the 4th prize of Rs. 5000 while WHERE’S THE FOOD (Naga Kitchen) will sponsor the prize for the

best goal keeper amounting to Rs.5000.

Registration forms have now been made available at the various outlets at Rs. 100 (Forms) and entry fee of Rs. 2000. One can get forms from: Town AreaSports World, Equipment & Sports; High School AreaSolo Enterprise; Sepfiizou area- Northern Sports and BOC area- Kiran Sports & Stationary.

Last date for submission of form has been fixed on March 14 and match fixture will be done on March 17 at Kohima Local Ground at 3:00 PM. The tournament will be played on knock-out basis.

The event will also wit-

ness 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 shootout tournament under the motto “Innovating a stronger fellowship.”

It may be recalled that 45 teams participated in the Ist edition held in 2015 wherein Zavi’s Club, Jotsoma emerged the champion title while New Market ‘B’ stood runner up. The organizer is expecting 50 teams in this 2nd edition.

Parliamentary secretary for youth resources & sports, music task force and state lotteries Khriehu Liezietsu will grace the inaugural function as the chief guest while Pele Khezhie, president Nagaland Contractors & Suppliers Union will be the guest of honour.

RULES & REGULATIONS FOR TOURNAMENT • All team shall comprise of six players including a goal keeper • All team shall have either a manager or a coach • All players are to be in matching numbered jerseys • All players are to be in the proper football attires (Jersey set, football boots and football stockings).

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