March 24th, 2016

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DIMAPUR • Vol. XI • Issue 81 • 12 PAGes • 5

www.morungexpress.com

ThursDAY • MArch 24 • 2016

T H e

ESTD. 2005

P o W e R

o F

T R u T H

To be content with what one has is the greatest and truest of riches — Cicero World’s richest Hindu temple wants gold rather than cash under scheme PAGE 08

Nagaland Tourism Association mission‘Explore Sendenyu’ PAGE 02

By Sandemo Ngullie

Last night an open drain got in my way!

INFORMATION

Bomb scare in 10 Indigo planes New Delhi, March 23 (iaNS): Security agencies went into a tizzy after an unidentified caller on Wednesday informed them about bombs in 10 flights of Indigo Airlines. Police said a Srinagar-Delhi flight was evacuated at the Indira Gandhi International Airport’s domestic terminal 1D following the bomb threat. “A call regarding bombs in 10 Indigo flights was received at the airlines’ call centre in Chennai around 10 a.m. A Srinagar-Delhi Indigo flight, 6E853, landed at the IGI Airport around 3 p.m. “All passengers were evacuated and a thorough check is going on,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Dinesh Kumar Gupta told IANS.

UNTBA terms prohibitory order in Doldoli forest area as ‘immature’

C M Y K

DiMaPUr, March 23 (MexN): United Naga Tribes Association of Border Areas (UNTBA) on Wednesday termed the prohibitory order issued by the Deputy Commissioner, Dimapur around Doldoli Reserved Forest areas on the Nagaland side as “immature” while asserting that “people in these areas are living in a peaceful atmosphere.” A press statement from UNTBA chairman Hukavi T Yeputhomi and general secretary Imsumongba Pongen, stated that it would have been better if the deputy commissioner had instead “clearly defined the inter-state boundary” between the two states. The Association noted that it was unwise on the part of the deputy commissioner to randomly issue such an order “without having any iota on the crux of the border issue.” Meanwhile, appealing all the communities living in and around the border areas to maintain peaceful co-existence as before, the UNTBA also appealed to all the different Sectoral Border Peace Committees around the border areas to maintain peaceful atmosphere keeping in view of the approaching election in the state of Assam.

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Asia most exposed to natural disaster risk

reflections

The Morung Express now has an outlet at Nagarjan Junction Police Point, Development Authority of Nagaland (DAN) building, adjacent to the Dimapur Town Hall. It will make the newspaper more accessible to people living beyond the Railway flyover— press releases, advertisements, letters to the editor, articles and bill payments can also be submitted directly to the outlet from now on.

Dzieselatuo wins 1st DDWA Meet

A Naga wrestler tries to throw his opponent to the ground in a thrilling match at the 1st Naga Wrestling Meet organized by the Dimapur District Wrestling Association at DDSC Stadium on March 23. More than 50 wrestlers participated in the wrestling meet. (Photo: Imti Longchar)

ENWO Tuensang Unit unhappy over substandard road repair of NH-155

DiMaPUr, March 23 (MexN): Eastern Naga Women’s Organization (ENWO), Tuensang Unit has expressed dismay over the ‘substandard’ road repair and construction carried out by one Vertex construction on the National Highway-155. The ENWO team detected the below standard condition of road repair after an onsite inspection was carried out on March 17 and 21, 2016 respectively. According to a press statement issued by Y Alepla Chang, president, Bahla Yim, vice president and Ayemla Sangtam, executive chairperson on Wednesday, the team, during inspection found out that portion of the metalling work carried out in the first and second week of March has washed away while other portions of the road repair has turn slack as a result of a slight rain fall. “If the repair work doesn’t last for even a week, the future of this portion of the NH appears to be very bleak and one is made to wonder what will happen with the rainy season just around the corner,” the ENWO stated. It informed that as per work

order; a total of Rs 8.18 crore has been sanctioned for repair of the portion starting from 93/00km to 107/00km on the NH. The ENWO Tuensang Unit has therefore appealed to the concerned construction company to ensure that the repair work is carried out as per the contractual guidelines and specifications laid down on the work order of National Highway Projects. It has also appealed to the district administration, tribal bodies, civil societies and national workers etc to cooperate and extend full support to the contractor to ensure that this road is completed without any delay. Further, ENWO Tuensang Unit also informed that the portion on NH-155 starting from 88 km to 93 km has been awarded to L. Pukhato & Sons. It stated that apart from digging of roadside drains, no work has yet been done till date, and, therefore has appealed to the concerned company to start work at the earliest. It has also asked the concerned authority to undertake necessary inspection on those projects before signing the work completion certificates.

Govt to build 2.95 crore houses for rural poor New Delhi, March 23 (iaNS): The government on Wednesday announced that it will help build 2.95 crore houses in India’s rural areas and for this a financial assistance of up to Rs.1.30 lakh will be provided to each homeless family. Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad called it “a very important decision” taken by the cabinet at its meeting here on Wednesday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the chair. He said a total of 2.95 crore houses are needed to be constructed as per the last Census and the target will be achieved by 2022 -- the 75th year of India’s Independence. Every poor family living in plains will get Rs.1.20 lakh and those living in “hilly and difficult” areas will receive an assistance of Rs.1.30 lakh under the “Housing for All” scheme, the minister said. “This programme will run for 6-7 years,” Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters, adding the proposal is to run the scheme in two phases. The government proposed “to construct one crore houses in the first three years”, he said. For this, he said, the government would need to spend nearly Rs.82,000 crore. “Out of which, Rs.65,000 crore will be provided by budgetary provisions” and the rest will come from India’s apex development bank NABARD, Ravi Shankar Prasad said. The minister stressed that “transparency in the selection of beneficiaries” will be maintained in the implementation of the schemes.

lONDON, March 23 (ThOMSON reUTerS FOUNDaTiON): Asia has the largest number of people exposed to natural disasters, but African countries are the most vulnerable to them, largely because of political instability, corruption, poverty and inequality, a new global assessment shows. India has a billion people at risk, with China, Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan and Pakistan also ranked among the 10 countries with the most people exposed to natural hazards, according to data compiled by Verisk Maplecroft, a UK-based risk management company. In all, 1.4 billion people in South Asia are exposed to at least one major natural hazard, from severe storms to flooding and earthquakes, researchers said. But the list of countries most vulnerable to disasters – in terms of their ability to prepare for, respond to and recover from them – is topped by African nations, particularly conflictplagued South Sudan, Burundi and Eritrea. “Recent or prolonged conflict can erode societal resilience,” warned Richard Hewston, an analyst with Verisk Maplecroft who led the development of the natural hazards data. Much vulnerability in Africa and elsewhere is the result of poor governance – including corruption – and an inability to implement policies to reduce disaster risk, Hewston said. “For example, in India and Pakistan, to some extent, there are building codes in place but they are very weakly implemented. You see construction going on, on the sides of landslide-prone mountains or in flood plains,” he said. “In theory, there’s urban planning,” he added. “So clearly corruption is an issue.” In Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong, more than 85 percent of people are exposed to at least one kind of natural hazard, researchers

2015 worst disaster affected year in Nagaland Our Correspondent Kohima | March 23

The year 2015 was one of the worst disaster affected year in Nagaland, according to the Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority (NSDMA) annual administrative report 2015-16. The report stated that since the beginning of the year- in the month of February- a major wild fire caused havoc in the state, which was the first among numerous natural calamities to follow. Subsequently many incidents of natural calamities such as flash floods at Sanuoru, Sangsanyu, Thewati and Tuensang took place. Besides, major landslides also affected the state, the report informed. Accordingly, the NSDMA submitted a memorandum to the Ministry of Home Affairs. The MHA GoI thereby constituted an Inter Ministerial Central Team headed by Joint Secretary MHA along with the members from the Ministry of Agriculture, Highways, Rural Development and Finance. The report said the team visited the state in November 2015. As per the recommendation of the central team, the state government plan to take up some restorative works of public utilities affected by flash floods and landslides, the report added. noted. But all three countries are classed as having low vulnerability, and together recorded less than 32,000 deaths from natural disasters since 1990. Haiti, on the other hand, is not as exposed to potential disasters but is considered highly vulnerable, having suffered over 230,000 deaths since 1990, many in a major 2010 earthquake.

CITY RANKING

Data on cities shows that Manila is the most exposed city, with almost all of its 23 million people in the path of cyclones and many also facing tsunamis or earthquakes, researchers said. Seven other major cities in Japan, Indonesia, China, Bangladesh and India – particularly Tokyo, Jakarta and Dongguan in China also have large populations at risk, they found. The fast pace of development in Asian countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and the Philippines have done little to cut that region’s disaster risk, researchers noted.

Some of the most vulnerable countries have shown strong economic growth, but infrastructure and welfare systems that could protect people remain weak, as does governance, they said. In Nepal, for instance, a massive 2015 earthquake not only caused widespread damage and deaths, but cut off communications and transport from many outlying communities to the capital. “People who survived and were injured were left to cope on their own, with no emergency services and no food,” Hewston said. Most crucially, reducing vulnerability to disasters, particularly in places with large exposure to natural hazards, will depend on tackling poverty and inequality, he said. Providing education and healthcare and giving more people access to services can improve their incomes and knowledge, and help them move from precarious places to safer ones, which are typically more expensive to live, he added.

nagaland joins effort CAG report detects anomalies in NBDA to ‘conserve’ wildlife Our Correspondent Kohima | March 23

BeNgalUrU, March people living in this region. demarcate for them,” said 23 (MexN): Historically, Our focus is to help animals Dr. Divya Vasudev, connecanimals like tigers and el- move while safeguarding tivity expert from WCS India, ephants would freely move the lives and livelihoods “but use routes they view as between India and Myan- of people. Community- least threatening. Where do mar. Today, this connectiv- based conservation is the animals disperse? What preity is likely broken. Wildlife foundation of our project,” vents them from dispersing? Conservation Society India said Dr. Varun Goswami, These are the questions that Program (WCS India), Na- senior scientist at WCS In- are most important for congaland Wildlife and Biodi- dia, who is leading these ef- nectivity conservation.” The project, supported versity Conservation Trust forts. “There is little knowlby the Integratand WCS Myanmar have collab- Reconnecting tiger and other ed Tiger HabiConservaoratively initiated wildlife populations in the tat tion Program a long-term vi(sponsored by sion: reconnectIndo–Myanmar region the International ing tiger and other wildlife populations in edge on where the animals Union for Conservation of the Indo–Myanmar region. are, and where they move,” Nature and KfW), is a sciIn Myanmar, wildlife added Dr. Goswami. To ob- ence-based conservation densities are low due to tain this information, WCS effort spearheaded by WCS different threats such as India will undertake large- India and WCS Myanmar to poaching and habitat loss, scale surveys to assess increase wildlife connectivity between the forests of informed a press release wildlife distribution. WCS India, based in northeast India and northfrom WCS India today. WCS is working with the Bengaluru, has combined west Myanmar. The conserMyanmar government to research on tigers and oth- vation of umbrella species increase the numbers of er wildlife, with national like the tiger will safeguard threatened species such as capacity building and, ef- the health of entire ecosystigers. For this, connectiv- fective site-based conser- tems and the people who ity with source populations vation through collabora- live within them. In the long in the north east of India is tions with governmental run, such connectivity is and non-governmental critical for tiger and other crucial, it noted. wildlife populations in pro“Such large-scale wild- partners. “Animals don’t always tected areas in both India life movement is impossible without the support of move through corridors we and Myanmar.

The Nagaland Bamboo Development Agency (NBDA) has not prepared Bamboo Development Mission Document. Annual Action plan was prepared without conducting feasibility studies. This was stated in the Report of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India (C&AG) on Socio, Economic, Revenue and Gen-

eral Sectors for the year ended March 31, 2015 (Report No.1 of 2016) tabled in the state assembly session recently. The report stated that faulty classification of “Forest area” and “Nonforest area” led to excess and inadmissible financial assistance of Rs. 47.10 crore. An expenditure of Rs. 59.30 lakh was incurred on items without approval of National Bamboo Mission

(NBM). The audit findings noticed in the working of NBDA also stated that funds of Rs. 1.86 crore sanctioned by NBM for plantation activities was diverted to other activities, adding that the agency procured saplings in excess of norm resulting in avoidable expenditure of Rs. 7.09 crore. The report also stated that Rs. 0.32 crore released by NBM for disease and

pest control was not utilized by the Board for the purpose resulting in high mortality ranging from 33 per cent to 39 per cent. NBDA failed to set up 11 bamboo bazaars and 3 whole sale markets resulting in retention of unutilized funds amounting to Rs. 0.93 crore, the report stated adding that against the target to impart training to 130 field functionaries the agency trained only 63.

nagaland excise department revenue on the rise after 2 decades of downhill Our Correspondent Kohima | March 23

Since the introduction of Nagaland Liquor Total Prohibition Act (NLTP), 1989, revenue earning of the excise department has seen a drastic trim down, at least till the year 2012.However, from 2013 onwards, the revenue is seeing a gradual increase. Comparatively, between 1987-88 and 1988-89 which is before the enforcement of the NLTP Act, the excise department earned revenues of Rs 584.37 lakhs and Rs 550.90 lakhs respectively. After the introduction of the NLTP Act in 1989, the revenue of the excise department witnessed a radical downhill with earnings as low as Rs

82.32 lakh reported during 1990-01. In subsequent years, the revenue hovered between Rs 100-200 lakhs at most, and at times crossing the Rs 300 lakhs mark. However, during the financial year 2012-2013, the excise department reported revenue of Rs 400 lakh. In 2013-14, the revenue was Rs 451.16 lakh, Rs 408.52 lakhs during 2014-15 and Rs 416.92 lakhs from 2015 till January 2016, indicating the increase of the revenue. Since the introduction of the NLTP Act, the only source of the excise revenue is from sale of liquor to defence personnel through Canteen Stores Depot and to Para Military Bonded Warehouse and fine amount realized from the excise violators, the report stated.

The Government has introduced Total Prohibition Act 1989 and the main function of the department underwent from regulatory role to enforcement, according to the annual administrative report 2015-16 of excise & prohibition department tabled in the recently concluded assembly session of Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) here. It pointed out that although there are only 335 enforcement personnel in the department; drastic improvement in the detection duties has been reported during the reporting period. The government has authorized the state excise department to use arms/ ammunitions for effective enforcement of NDPS Acts 1985 and NLTP Act 1989, the report further stated.


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March 24th, 2016 by The Morung Express - Issuu