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www.morungexpress.com
The Morung Express
Dimapur Vol. X issuE 82
www.morungexpress.com
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[ PAGE 8]
reflections
By Sandemo Ngullie
Thursday, March 26, 2015 12 pages Rs. 4
I ask you to ensure that humanity is served by wealth and not ruled by it
India, Qatar ink six pacts, discuss energy during emir’s visit
Taylor calls out Princeton Review for misquoting her lyric
World Tuberculosis Day 2015 observed [ PAGE 2]
Investigators search mountains after ‘inexplicable’ Airbus crash
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–Pope Francis
Superpowers collide in Sydney semi-final blockbuster
[ PAGE 9]
[ PAGE 11]
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submerging history, culture and identity
Mapithel Dam: 7.5 megawatt of electricity versus the loss of homes and livelihood
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Vibi Yhokha | Kohima, March 25
visit to the Naga village of Chadong under Ukhrul district in Manipur will give you a rare view of uncertainty and apprehension living under the shadow of a dam construction. The village carries a deserted look. There are no children playing around, no, not this one. The hospi- no old people sitting outtal is located in the middle side and most houses in a of those landfills. dilapidated condition. The Church too appears empty Sunday. The Morung Express on aChadong village is one Poll QuEsTion among the 11 villages that Vote on www.morungexpress.com will soon be submerged sMs your answer to 9862574165 under the Mapithel Dam construction of the ThouIs social media bal Multi Purpose Project. contributing towards positive social On January 10 this year, the change in Nagaland? Thoubal River was blocked, leading the water levels to rise and submerging 10 Yes no others hectares of land including Details on page 7 paddy fields. By monsoon, most of the paddy fields will submerge. Standing 66 metres high and 1074 metres long, Dear Readers, the dam was approved by We would like to rethe Planning Commission mind you that Rejoinin 1980. Ansal Properties ders to those statements/ and Industries Limited, news pieces that have not New Delhi and Progressive been originally published Construction Limited Hyby the newspaper will not derabad are taking on the be carried either. This is construction works. The in order to maintain improject is set to produce partiality on an issue. We 7.5 megawatt of electricity seek your understanding while providing 10 million and cooperation! gallons of water to Imphal, The Morung Express daily. However the project will displace over 12,000
Public Reminder
Low intensity blast in Dimapur
Morung Express news Dimapur | March 25
A low intensity blast occurred in Dimapur today at around 7.30pm. Suspected to be the result of a small IED, the blast occurred at Rajbari here, behind Quality Restaurant. No one was hurt by the explosion, which left a crater in the aluminium door of a toilet nearby. The Dimapur police are yet to ascertain if the device was planted beforehand. However, the police maintained that the device was too small and not capable of causing much damage in the first place. More details are being examined by the police currently.
people, submerge around 11 villages and 777.34 hectares of paddy fields, 110.75 hectares of homestead, 293. 53 hectares of jhum land and 595.1 hectares of forest land. Faced with this scenario, some men gathered in the community hall to talk. Each face carried a gaunt look. That look is of fatiguefatigue over protesting for almost twenty five years against the dam construction. They seem to have lost count of the protests and rallies held. In 2015 itself, four protests were held. Government Apathy Despite the area being a Seismic zone 5 (the highest risk zones), no Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was conducted, nor Social Impact Assessment (SIA) carried out, an assessment that is most crucial in any developmental projects that will determine the resettlement, rehabilitation and relocation of the inhabitants. The villagers were never given any Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC). After much protest and talks, the Manipur government agreed to provide compensation, however only a few were compensated, that too in seven installments from 1996 to 2003.
Construction activities at the Mapithel Dam in Manipur which is set to affect the livelihood and homes of eleven villages.
Further, demands were made to the authority to review the whole project holistically. The government never listened, says Thamni Kashung, a resident of Chadong and Advisor for the Mapithel Dam Affected Villages Organisation (MDAVO). “For us, we will continue to protest until our genuine demands are met,” asserts Thanmi. One of their demands being, resettlement and relocation of the whole community together, so that the relationships are kept intact and their culture preserved. However no assurances were given. Villagers say that “there is no historical record” of
India faces shortage of five lakh teachers NEW DELHI, MARCH 25 (IANS): India is facing a shortage of over five lakh teachers while the deadline for regularisation of teachers under Right to Education Act is only days away. RTE Forum, a network of 10,000 grassroot organisations working in 18 states, on Wednesday highlighted that an additional 6.6 lakh teachers need teacher-training. “It’s a crucial juncture as the nation stands at the threshold of the RTE Act’s deadline 31st March, 2015. Unfortunately, only 10 percent schools in India presently comply with all the norms and standards of the RTE Act,” Ambarish Rai, national convenor of the RTE
Forum, said. “We are facing a shortage of approximately 5 lakh teachers and an additional 6.6 lakh teachers need teacher-training. These statistics are particularly disappointing considering that March 31, 2015, marks the final deadline for teacher regularization and training,” Rai said. At a national convention held here, the activists said new challenges have emerged as over one lakh government schools have been shut in multiple states, including Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Uttarakhand. “What is concerning is that the state continues
to violate provisions of the RTE Act, recruiting contractual and untrained teachers with less pay. The status of teacher-training and teacher- training institutes is equally poor; and there is no clear road-map to improve the situation and quality of education,” Rai said. The activist added that numerous low-cost private schools have emerged across the country, segregating the society furthermore on the basis of people’s ability to pay. “In such a scenario, it is the extremely marginalized children of the society who continue to remain deprived of their fundamental right to free and compulsory education,” Rai said.
the village’s establishment, “because we have been settling here since time immemorial.” As is the case for many areas in the region, records of the village only appear with the arrival of Christianity in 1935. Our voice and struggle has become so powerless, says Honreikhui Kashung as he cites how the government continues to use different tactics to suppress their movements, to the extent of threatening activists. 5 military deployments can be seen in the Dam site. Inside Chadong village, the Manipur Rifles and the Manipur Police are posted, with one attached right op-
posite the village church. “They promised us a better future, but with the coming of the project we are feeling more insecure and apprehensive,” says Dominic, an advocate. He laments that community life is being severely affected with the dam construction. In recent years, divisions had already started among the villagers. Some groups formed a separate committee negotiating with the government without the people’s mandate. Fictitious households and names were included in a list demanding compensation. Soon the committee members received the money and fled the village.
HPC summons Naga political groups DIMAPUR, MARCH 25 (MExN): In a significant development, the High Powered Committee (HPC) constituted by the Nagaland state government to inquire into illegal and multiple taxation, has summoned all the seven Naga political groups to appear before them at the Police Complex, Chumukedima. The notice of summon issued by Justice KH Sema, SupremeCourtJudge(Rtd), Chairman of HPC stated that there is evidence that the following NPGs namely NSCN (IM), GPRN/NSCN, NSCN (K), NNC (Non-Accordist), NNC (Accordist), FGN (Non-Accordist) and FGN (Accordist) “are indulging in illegal and mul-
tiple taxation.” The HPC stated that the “hearing” is necessary so as to provide the Naga political groups “an opportunity to rebut the evidence appearing against them.” The hearing will begin from April 10 onwards and will move consecutively till April 17. It may be recalled that the government had constituted the committee owing to numerous complaints from the public and civil societies against illegal and multiple taxations and recognising the need to tackle the issue. The notification on constitution of the Committee was issued by Chief Secretary Banuo Z Jamir on August 5, 2014.
Nagaland zero on the number of toilets built
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NEW DELHI, MARCH 25 HiGH-perforMinG stAtes (THE INDIAN EXPRESS): 651,374 648,526 Does every household in Goa and Nagaland already have a toi477,222 470,547 let? Or is it that our government statistics are starkly misleading? 397,725 According to data put out by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation on Wednesday, Goa and Nagaland have built zero toilets out of more than 4.3 million toilets constructed in this financial year. Goa and West Uttar Rajasthan Madhya Nagaland’s embarrassing sta- Karnataka Bengal Pradesh Pradesh tistics are in stark contrast to The data, which collates figures reeven smaller states like Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura which have ported under SBM along with the Nirmal performed much better by building more Bharat Abhiyan and MNREGA, shows that than 20,000 toilets each. A 2011 census had union territory Puducherry has also build pointed out that residents in 53,000 house- zero toilets in this financial year. The state leading the list with maximum holds in Goa defecate in the open.
staunch critics of the BJP. The figures in Goa, ruled by the BJP, and Nagaland governed by BJP-ally NPF must cause heartburn for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has spearheaded an ambitious campaign to reduce open defecation in 3,351 the country. The Swacch Bharat Mission (SBM), a nationwide initiative to encourage cleanli461 ness, was inaugurated by Modi 0 0 on October 2, the birthday of Goa Nagaland Mizoram Sikkim Arunachal Mahatma Gandhi. Modi has Pradesh invested extensive energy in Source: Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation popularizing the campaign by number of toilets is Congress-ruled Karinvoking people from all walks of nataka (6, 51,374) followed by Trinamool life including sports and cinema to join the Congress-ruled West Bengal (6, 48,526) movement. Statistics show that close to 600 and Samajwadi Party-ruled Uttar Pradesh million people in India do not have access (477222). All three political parties are to toilets and thus defecate in the open.
Low-perforMinG stAtes
8,483
“People here are all farmers. To look out for an alternative arrangement is very difficult. But we will still struggle. The thought of our future is very dark,” adds Dominic. The loss of a home The Thoubal River (also known as Yangwui Kong in the Tangkhul Naga dialect) means the river of strength, because of its strong currents. Community fishing is held every year at the Chadong village, where the community fish and feast together. Chadong village is also known for its soil fertility and its bountiful granaries, where a year’s harvest can last for the next
two years. The organic food products of Chadong such as bamboo shoots, mushrooms and wild vegetables are supplied in the markets of Imphal and Yaingangpokpi. Chadong has a population of 1200 people. The project will displace over 12,000 people. Once the dam is inaugurated and implemented in full swing which is most likely to happen by April, Chadong village will submerge by monsoon. The villagers will need to relocate to another place. It is not just a piece of land that will be submerged, but a community’s home, history, culture, identity, and livelihood.
NSCN (K) ‘vacates’ Suruhuto camp K Filip sumi Dimapur | March 25
Three days ahead of the Ceasefire Supervisory Board (CFSB) meeting, NSCN (K) cadres on Tuesday night ‘vacated’ their designated camp, Suruhuto under Zunheboto district. Confirming this to The Morung Express, CFSB Chairman, Lt. Gen. (retd) NK Singh said, “NSCN (K) group has vacated its designated camp Suruhuto last night (Tuesday) and since there was nobody in the camp, the Assam Rifles have temporarily occupied it so that the camp would not be misused.” Singh said that since it is a designated camp, the same would be handed over to the NSCN (K) for reoccupation after properly taking into consideration all ceasefire mechanisms. However, when contacted, NSCN (K) Ceasefire Board Secretary, Khekaho Rochill said the group did not vacate but only distanced from the camp since Assam Rifles personnel were creating fear psychosis in the minds of its cadres by penetrating within 1 km parameter of the camp based on ‘flimsy’ excuses, thus violating the Ceasefire Ground Rules during the last 3 to 4 days. He further alleged that the AR personnel had cordoned off the camp and were displaying a threatening posture. He said the junior officers who were occupying the camp were apprehensive of any sudden action
by the AR as there were unconfirmed reports doing the rounds that the Government of India was likely to reject a ceasefire extension with NSCN (K). The Union Ministry of Home Affairs, however, confirmed later that it is willing to extend the ceasefire agreement with NSCN (K). Khekaho also said the Suruhuto camp was without proper command as the camp commander was under medical treatment and senior officers were also out of station. “So as a precautionary measure, we have only distanced from our camp but did not vacate,” he said, and asserted that the group would reoccupy the camp. Khekaho said that the NSCN (K) cadres have not gone far from the camp but were stationed within its vicinity. Khekaho said that the issue of AR personnel violating ceasefire ground rules would be raised during the CFSB meeting scheduled for March 27 at Chumukedima. He said the AR should admit to violating the ceasefire ground rules of coming within 1 km parameter of the camp. Lt. Gen. (retd) Singh said that the NSCN (K) should have reported to CFSB if there was any violation of ceasefire ground rules on the part of AR personnel. Meanwhile, CFMG/ CFSB meeting with NSCN (IM) and GPRN/NSCN is scheduled to be held on March 26 at Chumukedima Police complex at different timings.
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Dimapur
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26 March 2015
World Tuberculosis Day 2015 observed
Mobilising political and social commitment towards eliminating TB
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The Morung Express
SECHü, MARCH 25 (MExN): Based on the theme of ‘Reach, Treat, Cure Everyone’, the Kohima District TB Control Society under the establishment of the Chief Medical Officer, Kohima district, observed ‘World TB Day’ with the community of Sechü village at the Village Council hall on March 24. World TB Day is celebrated on March 24 every year to generate public awareness and to mobilise political and social commitment for further progress towards eliminating TB as a public health burden. A press release said that Dr. Kechongol Sophie, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Kohima, while welcoming the participants to the programme, stated that in India, there were 9 million TB cases detected in 2013 and 1.5 million die due to TB every year, while 1.80 lakh people develop MDR TB. Stating that TB is curable with the right treatment, he appealed the community to spread awareness about TB. Speaking on the occasion, two TB patients from Sechü village described about their treatment journey under the DOTS programme and shared about the role and support given by the ASHA of the village during the period of their treatment. Delivering the keynote address on the theme, Dr. Asünü Sakhrie, DTO, Kohima stated that tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease and is spread through the air by a person suffering from TB and elaborated on the symptoms of TB. She informed the participants
about the benefits of DOTS and MDR TB as it prevents the spread of tuberculosis by prioritizing sputum positive patients for diagnosis and treatment, thus reducing the incidence and prevalence of TB. She further urged the villagers to avail the free treatment facilities available in the District Tuberculosis Centre (DTC) at Kohima and at the Designated Microscopic Centres (DMCs) in the district. During the voluntary speech session, Chairman of Sechü village, thanked the Department for organizing the programme in the village and said that many TB patients of the village had benefited from the TB treatment programme. Dr Kethoselie, MO i/c PHC Sechü, who also chaired the programme, delivered the vote of thanks. Earlier, the ASHA of Sechü village, the ASHA Block Co-ordinator, four cured TB patients from Sechü village and the Village Council chairman were felicitated and given gift hampers to acknowledge their efforts in the fight against TB. During the programme, interaction was held with the participants where questions regarding transmission, symptoms, myths and misconceptions about the TB disease were asked and clarified. This year, the theme of ‘Reach, Treat, Cure Everyone’ has been selected in alliance with the goal of ‘Universal Access’ to quality TB diagnosis and treatment with quality assured drugs, made available free of cost to all TB patients including those of drug Resistant, HIV and other comorbidity associated TB.
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purpose, commitment and responsibility etc of leadership in our land. Chief Minister TR Zeliang will grace the programme and address the gathering. The participants will include all organisations such as governmental, churches, clubs, tribal, communities, business, youth, women, civil so-
TUENSANg, MARCH 25 (MExN): The World TB Day 2015 was observed at Chare Town, Tuensang district with the theme- “Reach, Treat and Cure for All” by Development Association of Nagaland supported by Catholic Health Association of India (CHAI) Project Axshya. Major. Yogesh Kumar, ‘F’ Coy of 5th Assam Rifles was the chief guest of the event. Speaking as chief guest, the Major acknowledged the organizing Committee and CHAI Project Axshya for organising the event, which is the first of its kind in the area and creating a big platform to spread TB awareness. He extended support towards the cause of the TB in the district and urged the public to give their best in responding to the killer disease programme. He said such kind of events organised including the tribal leaders, protocols, NGOs, Churches, institutions and the public must be acknowledged.
Students participate in the rally held in Tuensang on March 24 to mark World TB day.
The chief guest declared the Chare Town as Axshya Model Village and Axshya Model Village Board was installed. The chief guest also gave away the prize of Essay Competition with the theme on “Reach Treat and Cure Everyone” to the winners 1st - Thelila Sangtam, 2nd - Bisaliba Sangtam and 3rd- Thingrili Sangtam all from the Government High School, Chare. Tsarangse Sangtam, Program Manager DAN TI
Longkhim Chare chaired the programme. Aliba, Pastor, Alisophor Baptist Church said the invocation followed by talk on the significance of the day by theme speaker Kyupise Sangtam, District Coordinator, Tuensang Project Axshya. Kyupise Sangtam said that the event is to spread the TB message to the masses, dignitaries, stakeholders, public leaders, TB patients, students and public by means of rally, advocacy,
seminars, quiz and essay competition at schools level. Dr. Yanbo Kithan, District TB Officer, Tuensang said that the World TB Day provides the opportunity to show commitment for the eradication of the disease. He further said that every year RNTCP and Project Axshya holds number of activities to commemorate World TB Day on March 24. Dr. Yanbo also shared the basics on Tuberculosis, signs and symptoms of TB,
misconception on TB, Service available in the centers, which is free of cost and advocacy communication and social mobilization strategy to the audience. The DTO Tuensang launched new Microscopic Center (TB Diagnosis Center), which was a long cherish dream of the Chare Area. Initiated by Ebenezer Mission Society, Chare Town Baptist Church, the Centre was facilitated by Project Axshya.
Imliba, a handicapped and a TB patient gave ‘Positive Speaking Bureau’ by declaring his status and said that being a TB person one must take up the challenges and responsibilities of spreading the TB messages to our community. A short skit on AXSHYA SAMWAD (Intensified Outreach Activity) and Sputum collection and Transportation of the TB symptomatic referred to Designated Microscopic Center for TB diagnosis method was performed by the Rural Health Care Providers (RHCPs) trained by the Project Axshya and actively working for the TB cause in the area. Yangdipi Sangtam, President Tuensang District TB Forum cum Executive Secretary, USSC and Tsali, Pastor Chare Town Baptist Church and Principal, JNV Chare also delivered short speeches. Later, students from different schools attended the rally by displaying placards on TB related messages.
Essay competition marks ‘Spiritual leaders’ urged to speak about TB IMPUR, MAR CH 25 by medicines at sub inhibitory TB can be cured and the spread World TB Day in Peren (MExN): The World TB Day concentration Bacilli gradual- of disease can be stopped by
PEREN, MARCH 25 (MExN): World TB Day was observed in Peren on March 24 with the theme “reach, treat and cure everyone” organized by the District Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) Peren in collaboration with the Legacy Explorers, Jalukie at Government Higher Secondary School, Jalukie Town. Pezanguno Celine Secii, District Media Officer, CMO, Peren in a press release stated that commemorating the day, essay competition was conducted where altogether, 80 participants took part. Amen Jamir, STLS, gave welcome address and instruction for the essay competition. Addressing the gathering, Dr.
ciety etc from Nagaland. More information will be released through the media as the day gets closer. Contact : Rev.Luoliehu Yimsung -Founder Leaders Arise Nagaland (LAN), lyim@outlook.com Phone: 61-432164322 (Australia). Phone: 91-879 405 4840 (Nagaland- available 1st September).
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Yartenla, District TB officer, Peren gave a brief talk on the RNTCP scenario and highlighted on the causes of TB, how to detect and its preventive measures and that a TB patient on medication should take complete course of treatment. She also stressed on the emergence of Multi- Drug Resistant (MDR) TB. She encouraged the students the challenged to reach the unreach areas in the District. 30 students participated for the essay competition. Prize money were given to the three best essay, 1st prize was bagged by Pauchamluliu Class 10, 2nd by Jasper Class 10 and 3rd by Nasir Uddin Class 9. Vote of thanks was given by Miss Christy, STS, RNTCP Peren.
DIMAPUR, MARCH 25 (MExN): With funds drawn from parts of toll tax collection, the Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC) has constructed a 1944 sq. m road at Netaji Colony and it was inaugurated by DC Dimpur, Kesonyu Yhome on Wednesday. Yhome appreciated the DMC led by its Administrator, H. Atokhe Aye for undertaking various developmental and sanitation works in the town and said that public should take care and maintain whatever facilities the authorities were providing for them. Pointing out the general tendency of people to easily blame and criticize the government on any issues, the DC appealed the citizens to also recognize and appreciate the good works done by the government for their welfare. Atokhe said Wednesday’s road inauguration was the fourth one constructed by DMC after the government allowed it to collect toll tax. He said two more roads at Westyard and Chatteswari
CONGRATULATIONS!
Amity Welfare Society congratulates the Governing Body, Principal, Faculty, Non-Teaching Staffs and Students of Unity College, Residency Colony, Dimapur for being accredited ‘B’ Grade by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), Bangalore.
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Chare Town declared as Axshya Model Village
celebration was observed at Impur Bible School (ABAM) on March 24. The Dr. Chubatemsu District TB Officer (DTO), Mokokchung requested the community spiritual leaders to spread the news about TB wherever they go for preaching. Basing on the theme, “Reach, Treat, Cure Everyone”, the DTO said that today with so much scientific advancement and good quality anti TB drugs still TB is the highest killer in India. This is mostly due to MDR (Multi Drug Resistance) TB. MDRTB is caused
ly adjusts themselves to drugs. MDRTB is mostly a man made phenomenon. He said that the biggest problem is that a patient often stops TB treatment when the symptom subsides within 1 or 2 months. Irregular in taking Anti TB Drugs, occurrence of side effects and alcoholism leads to defaulting. To prevent MDRTB patient should stick to DOTS (directly observed Treatment short course chemotherapy) under Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP). TB is a global emergency but
‘Leaders walk the talk 2015’ DMC opens fourth road in Dimapur
KoHIMA, MARCH 25 (MExN): A one day programme billed as ‘Leaders walk the talk 2015’ with the motto-"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people"(Prov14:34) will take place on October 17 at Kohima. The purpose of the programme is to awake, alert, motivate, challenge, reflect etc upon the role,
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Left to Right: Mr. N.M. Ovung - Chairman, Governing Body, Unity College, Prof. Shrawan K. Sharma - Peer Team Member, Dept. of English, Gurukul Kangri University, Hardwar, Uttarakhand, Dr. Sr. Alphonso Vattoly - Peer Team Member Co-ordinator, Principal, St. Francis College for Women, Begumpet, Hyderabad, Dr. Smritikumar Sarkar - Peer Team Chairperson, Vice Chancellor, The University of Burdwan, West Bengal, Dr. S.K. Chhabra - Principal, Unity College, Mrs. Renthunglo Shitiri - Vice Principal and Co-ordinator, NAAC Assessment, Unity College.
participation of each individual as a good Christian in fighting against TB. A press note on the event stated that the programme was chaired by Imtilemla AHM Impur Bible School. Amenla, Asso Pastor Women pronounced the invocation prayer, Yangerjungba and friends presented a song. Yimkong and Wapang Konyak shared testimony. ABAM Secretary in his exhortation highlighted some bible verses to do away from stigma. The programme concluded with a mass prayer.
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District Admin Mon appeal MoN, MARCH 25 (DIPR): In connection with power cut to Mon district for the last 4 days and reiteration to the press release given by E.E. Mokokchung, in a local daily, the district administration, Mon in a press release has appealed to the people of Mon district to kindly bear with the inconvenience. The Department of Power is on the job for restoration of the 66KV transmission line. It was reported that wildfire has caused the damage of the cross-arm of the 66KV tower.
March 28 is ‘transaction day’ KoHIMA, MARCH 25 (DIPR): The Government of Nagaland has declared Saturday, March 28 as ‘transaction day’ for the Treasuries located in Kohima in order to facilitate clearance of pending Government transactions. This was notified by the Finance Department (Treasuries & Accounts Branch).
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Dr. Temsula receives national literature award DC Dimapur, Kesonyu Yhome and DMC Administrator, H. Atokhe Aye along with Colony leaders at the inauguration of road at Netaji Colony on Wednesday. (Morung Photo)
Colonies were under construction and on verge of completion. Besides roads, the DMC is also undertaking drainage cleaning and construction at MP Road and Veterinary Colony, he added. Further, Atokhe said construction of dustbins is ongoing at Medical Colony and Nepali Basti. He maintained that if the government continues to
render support to the DMC it would be able to take up more of such developmental works in Dimapur. Netaji Colony Council Chairman, Z. Chakhesang and Advisor, K.K. Paul also spoke and lauded the DMC for constructing road in their colony. They also thanked MLA Tovihoto Ayemi who took initiative in brining development to the colony.
KoHIMA, MARCH 25 (MExN): The Chairperson of Nagaland State Commission for Women Dr. Temsula Ao was awarded the prestigious Kusumagraja National Literature Award, which she received on March 20 at Nashik. NSCW while congratulating Dr. Temsula Ao added that she is also a recipient of prestigious awards like the Padma Shri Award-2007, Governor’s Award-2009, Sahitya Akademi Award-2013 etc. Dr. Temsula Ao, has widely travelled in India and abroad as part of Writers’ delegation to China, Switzerland, UK and Argentina.
Peren govt primary teachers’ meeting PEREN, MARCH 25 (MExN): The first consultation meeting of all government primary teachers in Peren district will be held on March 28, 10:00 am at GBS Hall, Peren Town. This was informed in a release issued by the president, Akiele Ndang and general secretary, Igongneule Rangkau.
Meetings called to discuss regularization & ROP of WC & CE
KoHIMA, MARCH 25 (MExN): The All Nagaland PWD Field Worker’s Association, PWD (R&B) (ANPWDFWA) has called for a meeting on March 26, 10:00 am at Nagaland Science centre, behind Saramati Hotel, Dimapur to discuss on regularization and ROP of work-charged and casual employees and revision of pay and wages. All the divisional office bearers and division representatives of the divisions are directed to be present. ANPWDFWA President, Inakhu Aye and general secretary K. Atovi Awomi in a press release informed that the meeting has been called concerning the office memorandum on regularization and ROP of workcharged and casual employees and revision of pay and wages. The Association has requested all the executive engineers, PWD (R&B) and housing to send the incumbency database in the office of Engineerin-chief on or before March 31
for early work-out purposes on incumbent’s date of birth and date of appointment. Meanwhile, the All Nagaland Inter-Departmental Field Staff Joint Forum (ANIDFSJF) has convened an emergency meeting of all departmental unit office bearers and members on March 27 at Nagaland Science centre, behind Saramati Hotel, Dimapur. The meeting will discuss the ‘scheme for regularization and absorption of work-charged and casual employees and revision of pay and wages and ROP” as per the office memorandum received by the Joint Forum. All the departmental unit office bearers and members are requested to attend the meeting positively along with departmental verification list. The Joint Forum further appeal the district level verification committee of all district to submit the verification report to Cabinet Secretary at the earliest for purpose of working out.
Aids and appliances distributed at Zbto
ZUNHEboTo, MARCH 25 (MExN): A free distribution of aids and appliances to the differently abled persons was conducted at Zunheboto on March 24. The distribution was carried out under the ADIP scheme sponsored by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and implemented by Cherry Blossoms Society Kohima Nagaland. A disable camp was also organised at Government rest house Zunheboto, jointly organised by Cherry Blossoms Society Kohima Nagaland and IRCS Zunheboto. DC and Chairman IRCS Zunheboto Temsu Longkumer NCS, distributed the aids and appliances. Altogether there were 10 beneficiaries who availed the services. Earlier, invocation was said by Khekavi, Pastor NCRC Zunheboto, short speeches was given by Purnima, Director, Cherry Blossoms Society Kohima Nagaland and also by DC Zunheboto, Temsu Longkumer NCS. The programme was chaired by Hokugha Sukhalu, Vice Chairman IRCS Zunheboto .
Satakhami Kuposhukulu Dimapur meeting
DIMAPUR, MARCH 25 (MExN): All the units under Satakhami Kuposhukulu Dimapur have been informed that there will be a general meeting on March 28, 3:00 pm at Bookmarc conference hall, Super Marker here. All the unit presidents and general secretaries have been requested to attend the meeting positively.
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The Morung Express
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Meghalaya Speaker survives no- Assam Speaker Telcos seek extension of prepaid confidence motion in Assembly to form panel to probe tender services in J&K, Assam & NE circles irregularities KOlKAtA, MARCH 25 (Et): India's mobile operators have dialled telecom secretary Rakesh Garg for extending delivery of prepaid mobile services in Jammu & Kashmir, Assam and Northeast circles till April 2017, failing which millions could be left without connections from April 1. At present, telcos cutting across GSM and CDMA technology platforms have permission to deliver prepaid mobile services in these security-sensitive border states only till March 31. Accordingly, in absence of an immediate extension by the telecom depart-
ment, GSM and CDMA operators will have to stop prepaid mobile services in the three circles from April 1. Out of roughly 36 million mobile customers in these regions, over 34 million are prepaid users. In a joint letter to Garg, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India (Auspi) have called for a two-year extension, warning that "deprivation of prepaid mobile services in J&K, Assam and Northeast would adversely impact day-to-day life" and communications in these regions. The stakes are bigger
Northeast Briefs
Total Lunar Eclipse to be visible in NE on April 4
INDORE, MARCH 25 (ptI): Star gazers will be treated to a total lunar eclipse, which will be visible in the North East of India on April 4. The total lunar eclipse will take place from 3:45:04 PM to 7:15:2 PM (IST), Superintendent of Ujjain Jiwaji Observatory Dr Rajendraprakash Gupt told PTI today. The celestial event will last for about three and a half hours, he said, adding, it will be at its peak at 5:30:30 PM when the earth's shadow will block the moon completely. A magnificent viewing of the event is expected in the North East where dusk falls early in India, the superintendent of the two-century-old observatory said. A total lunar eclipse takes place when the Earth comes between the Sun and Moon and form a straight line. The Earth blocks any direct sunlight from reaching the Moon, he added.
Mizoram incurred Rs 5,114.21 crore debt, say CAG estimates AIzAwl, MARCH 25 (ptI): Mizoram incurred Rs 5,114.21 crore as debt as per the estimates in the Finance Accounts 2012-13 report published by the Comptroller and Auditor General, state Finance Minister Lalsawta informed the legislature on Wednesday. Replying to a query of the opposition party Mizo National Front (MNF), Lalsawta said the latest figure on debt from market borrowings could not be made available as the CAG is yet to update the facts to the state government. He said the state government availed 'ways and means advance' and 'special ways and means advance' from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for 25 and 37 times, respectively, during 2013-2014. Again during the current fiscal, the state government availed 'ways and means advance' 38 times and 'special ways and means advance' for 31 times from the RBI, he said. The interests on the 'ways and means advance' and 'special ways and means advance' since 2012 till date by the state government was Rs 181.73 lakh. The Finance Minister said that till March 5, Rs 371.39 crore was kept in the civil deposit by different departments.
Manik demands Rs 17,700 Cr special grant for Tripura AgARtAlA, MARCH 25 (ptI): Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has demanded Rs 17,700 crore from Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a one time special grant to tide over the state's financial crisis, a minister said here today. "The Chief Minister during his recent visit to Delhi has given a letter to the Prime Minister following review of the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission," state Finance Minister Bhanu Lal Saha told reporters. Sarkar, in his letter, mentioned that the state demanded 50 per cent share of the central taxes, but the 14th Finance Commission has fixed it at 42 per cent and added, due to abolition of the Planning Commission the state would face huge paucity of funds in different sectors, Saha said. The minister said the status of special category state for Tripura was withdrawn as a result of which the state would be deprived of many facilities.
MULTA operative arrested in Army-Police joint operation guwAHAtI, MARCH 25 (ptI): A Muslim United Liberation Tigers of Assam militant was apprehended during a joint operation by the Army and the police today from Modati village in lower Assam's Kokrajhar district, a defence spokesman said. Based on intelligence inputs on the presence of the MULTA extremist at Modati, the team launched an operation and nabbed him with a pistol and live ammunition, the spokesman said. Activity of MULTA and similar groups have increased in view of the upcoming Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) elections to create law and order problems then, he said. The apprehended insurgent was involved in many extortion and kidnapping activities in the area, the spokesman added.
TERI holds meeting with Arunachal officials for updates ItANAgAR, MARCH 25 (ptI): Tata Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) has held a consultancy meeting with top ranking state officials here to have first hand information about the 'main barriers' in implementation of various projects in the state, as input for policies. This is the fourth such meeting held by TERI after Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, institute's New Delhi-based Centre for Research on sustainable Building Science (Sustainable Habitat Division) Associate Director Pradeep Kumar informed during the meeting, an official communiqué said here today. Negi called for support in capacity building, problem assessment like the cause of reduction of fish output in state rivers and technical solutions to various teething problems of the state like non-availability of electricity, means of livelihood in border areas, methods to harness forest and water resources, biomassanddevelopmentofefficientandcleanenergyavailable to the masses. "Arunachal is evolving as a horticulture economy where TERI could extend support," Negi pointed out. Enlisting the pollution of water sources and need for drinking water, PHED commissioner Tajom Taloh sought sustainable projects to tackle these problems. Kumar highlighted TERI's multifaceted activities including 'Green India 2047', taking up urban reforms, public transport waste management, green buildings, green rating system besides providing solution to energy conflict, infrastructure need, food security and formulating India's National Action Plan for Climate Change, the communiqué added.
for COAI since nearly 30 million customers across J&K, Assam and Northeast are GSM users. Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea CellularBSE 2.06 % and Aircel are the GSM operators in these states while Reliance CommunicationsBSE -1.92 % and Bharat Sanchar Nigam operate CDMA mobile services in these regions. "Permission for continuance of prepaid mobile operations in J&K, Assam and Northeast circles may be extended for a further two years" since current DoT approval for such services expires on March 31, said the two telecom industry lobbies in their joint communiqué to Garg.
COAI is the trade lobby body representing GSM operators such as market leader Bharti Airtel, No 2 carrier Vodafone India and Idea Cellular among others. Auspi is the lobby body representing CDMA and dual tech operators such as Reliance Communications, Tata Teleservices and Sistema Shyam Teleservices. COAI and Auspi have also urged DoT to drop a clause relating to "periodic review of prepaid services extension in J&K, Assam and Northeast," asserting that all telcos operating in these regions are strictly adhering to all customer verification rules mandat-
Sitharaman inaugurates Land Customs Stn at Indo-Myanmar border AIzAwl, MARCH 25 (ptI): Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today inaugurated a land customs station at the IndoMyanmar border trade centre at Zokhawthar in Champhai district of Mizoram. Inaugurating the facility, the Minister said the Centre has been taking up development in the North East on a mission mode and arrangements were made for expeditious completion of pending projects in the region. She said setting up of 'border haats' along the international border areas in the region would be sped up and the trade volume in the border trade centres in four states of the North East would be increased to over USD 3 billion during 2015-2016. Accepting the demands of the village leaders of Zokhawthar, she promised that a branch of State Bank of India and a post office would soon be established in the border trade centre village. She promised that the Centre would take up the speeding up of construction of better roads between Tiddim and Falam in Myanmar with that country. Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla thanked Sitharaman for inaugurating the land customs station and expressed hope that the Mizo people on both the sides of the border would be benefited through increased trade volumes.
ed by the government on national security grounds. The previous Congress-led UPA government had last extended the delivery of prepaid mobile services in J&K, Northeast and Assam for two years in March 2013. Back in 2009, DoT had barred delivery of prepaid mobile services in these regions on national security grounds. The ban was lifted the following year, but the department tightened the verification norms for new customers and also mandated reverification of all existing prepaid users in these regions, citing national security concerns.
SHIllONg, MARCH 25 (ptI): Meghalaya Speaker Abu Taher Mondal today survived a voice vote in the Assembly as Opposition legislators moved a noconfidence motion against him for allotting less time for the budget session. Ronnie V Lyngdoh, who chaired the session in absence of the Speaker, decided to put the motion to test by a voice vote after the movers of the resolution and National Peoples Party legislator James K Sangma took time to initiate discussion on the alleged manipulation by the Speaker. Sangma alleged "unfair" practices and "manipulation" when the Speaker nominated a new chairman in place of former speaker Martin Danggo yesterday. During the budget session, Deputy Speak-
er Sanbor Shullai quit and Assembly chairman Martin Danggo informed the Speaker that he might not attend the session. Demanding the chair to clarify as to how a Speaker, who faced a no-confidence motion against him nominated a panel of chairmen, James said "How could an accused chose to be a judge?" Dismissing the argument, the chairman sought the co-movers of the motion Witting Mawsor, John Leslee K Sangma and Jemino Mawthoh, to initiate the discussion. Later Ronnie put the motion to voice vote. Earlier in the day, Leader of Opposition Donkupar Roy demanded the no-confidence motion be taken up immediately after Question Hour, which was rejected by Speaker A T Mondal.
2 Guwahati bound IndiGo flyers caught clicking snaps of cabin crew, female NEw DElHI, MARCH 25 (ptI): Two flyers on board an IndiGo flight to Guwahati were caught by fellow passengers after they were allegedly found to be clicking photos of the cabin crew members and female passengers. Confirming the incident, which took place yesterday, the airline said that the matter was being reported to police while it would hold a probe as well on its part. "Two IndiGo passengers on board flight 6E-221 on March 24 from Delhi to Imphal via Guwahati were observed to be taking pictures/video of our crew and other passengers on board without permission," the airline said in a statement. This is the second time in recent months when IndiGo passengers have entered into a mid-air brawl. In early February, a 32-year-old woman con-
fronted a 60- year-old businessman who allegedly molested her on board an Indigo flight from Bhubaneswar to Delhi. The airline said that the crew had objected to the filming by the two passengers to delete the recording. "The matter was escalated to the authorities concerned and is being reported to the local police station in Guwahati," the airline said. IndiGo also said that it remains at the disposal of the other passengers and investigation authorities to extend its assistance for bringing the culprits to justice. "Our crew are adequately trained to counter any potential disruptive behaviour, keeping in mind the safety of other passengers and crew, that is paramount to us," the airline said in the statement. IndiGo has a standard,
defined procedure approved by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security and based on the recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, it added. Global airlines body International Air Transport Association (IATA) has often expressed concern over the rising number of cases of unruly passengers reported by airlines globally. While there is no official data for India, IATA says that 170 of its 252 memberairlines have reported 'unruly incidents' since 2007. Air India and Jet Airways are IATA members. IATA had received 8,000 reports of unruly passenger incidents in 2013. Airlines from around the world had announced that they would work jointly to devise steps for checking the menace at the 70th IATA Annual General Meeting in Doha last year.
guwAHAtI, MARCH 25 (ptI): Assam Assembly Speaker Pranab Kumar Gogoi on Wednesday said he will constitute a House Committee to examine alleged irregularities in inviting tenders from contractors by the Public Works Department. "I will set up an Assembly Committee to see the irregularities," Gogoi said during the Question Hour. He was responding to a debate and allegation by the opposition AGP, BJP and AIUDF over alleged irregularities in the state PWD. "There are different types of irregularities. Contractors inflate the tender and they do work. In many cases, they bid with lower rates than the base price. If someone is bidding with a lower rate than the fixed price, then obviously he will do an inferior work," Gogoi said. He said even in his constituency such problems have cropped up and he blacklisted a few contractors for such acts. "After blacklisting a contractor, another problem persists that none else turns up to do that work," the Speaker said. He also informed that many contractors take up lots of work simultaneously but failed to deliver a single one on time. Raising a question earlier, BJP MLA Manoranjan Das brought to the House's notice that contractors bid the tenders at lower prices of the fixed rate and eventually they get the work. His party colleague Prasanta Phukan, AGP MLA Keshab Mahanta and AIUDF MLA Gopi Nath Das also cited examples of irregularities in their respective constituencies.
Northeast India to get ready-made garment units Tripura HC disposes of URGENT AgARtAlA, MARCH Minister of State for Textiles later," the official added. 2565 cases in 2 years At the instance of Prime 25 (IANS): The Indian Santosh Kumar Gangwar government plans to set up ready-made garment manufacturing units in each of the eight northeastern states which, among other things, would boost local employment, particularly for women. This is being done to boost the textile industry in and export of ready-made garments from the region, officials here said. "The textile ministry has decided to provide Rs.18 crore for each ready-made garment manufacturing unit called 'Apparel and Garment Unit' (AGU) in the northeast," a senior official of Tripura's handloom and handicrafts department told IANS. He said the government-run National Building Constructions Corp would set up the units in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura. The foundation stones in Nagaland and Manipur were laid recently. Union
will do that in Tripura on April 6 at Bodhjungnagar, 25 km from here. The official said around 300 women would be engaged in manufacturing garments in each unit. "The garments would be exported to neighbouring countries. All the units would be run by small entrepreneurs," the official added. India's northeastern states border China, Myanmar, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal. Some of the states have trade ties with some of these countries, especially Bangladesh and Myanmar. The textile ministry and state governments would observe the functioning of these units but would not play any role in their dayto-day work. A textile ministry representative would be associated with the selection of the entrepreneur and the unit's management. "If these units are successful, similar units will come up in select districts
Minister Narendra Modi, the textile ministry earlier asked the northeastern states to provide 1.5 acres of land each, preferably near their capital, to set up the garment units. "It will be a new beginning for the organised textiles sector in northeast India," central Textiles Secretary S.K. Panda had earlier said. "Once the scheme is implemented, several thousands, mostly women, are likely to get employed," said Panda, who was chief secretary of Tripura until July last year. The units are expected to meet the demand for garments from police and paramilitary forces in every state besides government officials as well as school uniforms. India's share in the global apparel and garment market is now just 3.7 percent as against Bangladesh's 6.1 percent and Vietnam's 4.3 percent, indicating that New Delhi has the potential to step up output.
AgARtAlA, MARCH 25 (tNN): The Tripura high court has disposed of over 2,565 cases in the last two years. With this, the number of cases that have been pending for five years has come down to 10%, chief justice Deepak Gupta, said on Tuesday. He was addressing a gathering on the occasion of the high court's second anniversary. People of the state are still unaware of their fundamental and legal rights, Gupta said. He said the high court began functioning with 6,700 pending cases. After two years of hard work on the part of the judges and lawyers, the number has come down to 4,135. The high court disposed of 135 cases in March this year, he said. In 2013, when the high court was set up, over 30% five-year-old cases were pending. In October last year, the figure came down to 6%, but has risen to 10% in the last five months, he said. The court is handling
Manipuri filmmaker’s ‘Phum-Shang’ bags National Film Award Morung Express News Imphal | March 25
A 52-minute film “PhumShang” (floating hut) directed by eminent Haobam Paban Kumar of Manipur has bagged the 62nd National Film Award for Best Investigative Film. Produced by Films Division Mumbai, PhumShang highlights the life of fishermen community on the floating islands of Loktak Lake which is the largest fresh water lake in the North East, also known as the only floating lake in the world. The award winning film also shows that Phumdis (floating masses of vegetation) are used by the local people for constructing their huts for fishing and other livelihood purposes. The floating islands are inhabited by about 4000 people.
Keibul Lamjao National Park located at the south western part of Loktak Lake is home to the endangered Manipur brow antlered deer ‘Sangai.’ The filmmaker will also be awarded with Rajat Kamal cash prize of Rs 50,000. Paban Kumar’s documentary film, AFSPA 1958 won several awards including the FIPRESCI prize at Mumbai International Film Festival, 2006. He is an alumnus of Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, Kolkata. Paban Kumar was among the six emerging talents to represent India at Cannes Film Festival in 2011, a National Film Development Corporation, India initiative. Some of his films like Ngaihak Lambida (fiction), The First Leap, Mr India and AFSPA 1958 were screened in Indian
Panorama Section, IFFI, Goa. His film A cry in the Dark was world premiered at the Toronto Film Festival 2006, shown at MOMA New York, telecast at YLE Finland. Hindi film “Mary Kom,” based on the life of the legendary pugilist MC Mary Kom from Manipur, directed by Umang Kumar has also been selected for the 62nd National Film Awards 2014 for the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment Award films. Meanwhile, noted theatre personality from Manipur Heisnam Kanhailal has won the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META) Lifetime Achievement Award, 2015. The award, which carries Rs 5 lakh, will be handed to Kanhailal during Meta Awards
Night to be held at Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi on March 27. Celebrating excellence in theatre and stage craft, the Mahindra Group is presenting the tenth edition of the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META) 2015. Recognizing and rewarding all aspects of theatre production and stage craft, META is one of the Indian theatre industry's premier awards. Heisnam Kanhailal was awarded Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in Direction in 1985, given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India’s National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademy Ratna Award 2-11, the highest ranked and most valued academy award. He is the founder-director of Kalashetra Manipur.
certain cases that should have been redressed at the administrative level, he added and urged advocates and civil society organizations to bring in more PILs to uplift society.
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Applications are invited for the post of Librarian for St. John College, Dimapur. Qualification:- M. Lib. Apply with full bio-data from matriculation onwards, address and contact number. The application must reach the undersigned at the earliest. Principal Diphu Road, P.O. Box-120 Dimapur : Nagaland Ph No. 9436010303 (M), 8974028244 (M)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The undersigned, on behalf of the Tangkhul people, would like to express deep gratitude to Nagaland - Nagaland Baptist Churches Council (NBCC), Chakhesang Baptist Churches Council (CBCC), Chakhesang People’s Organization (CPO), government machineries, and public organizations, Churches, village councils, forums, societies, fellowships and individuals of various communities for the timely sacrificial intervention to the needs of the victims of the tragic accident of the NST bus, which was carrying our brothers and sisters of Jessami village, near Old Phek on its way back from a wedding ceremony at Phek town on the 13th of March 2015; wherein 12 persons who lost their lives and another 18 injured were our Jessami villagers. We really thank you for the way you all let your resources - heart, time, wealth and labour – reach out to them at such a time. Dated: Ukhrul The 19th March 2015
V. Weapon Zimik President
4
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Thursday 26 March 2015
‘India hopes to pass GST in second part of budget session’ New Delhi, March 25 (reuterS): India hopes to pass a national Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the second half of parliament’s budget session, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday. Parliament’s budget session is currently under recess and will resume on April 20. Investors and manufacturers have long advocated the GST as a way to simplify taxes while broadening the tax base, adding as much as 2 percentage points to economic growth in Asia’s third-largest economy.
RBI signs $400 million currency swap pact with SL MuMBai, March 25 (Pti): RBI on Wednesday signed a $400 million currency swap agreement with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka for three years that will allow the island nation to draw the amount in dollars or euros in multiple tranches. “The Central Bank of Sri Lanka can make drawals of US Dollar or Euro in multiple tranches up to a maximum of USD 400 million or its equivalent,” RBI said in a statement. The agreement, which will be valid for three years, is expected to further economic co-operation between the two countries, it added. The arrangement will also further financial stability in the region, RBI said. The swap arrangement is intended to provide a backstop line of funding for the SAARC member countries to meet any balance of payments and liquidity crises till long-term arrangements are made. In May 2012, Reserve Bank of India had announced in the SAARCFINANCE Governor’s meeting, held in Nepal, that it would offer swap facilities aggregating $2 billion, both in foreign currency and rupee to SAARC member countries. The facility is available to all South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) member countries. Besides India, other members of SAARC are: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The Morung Express
Mercedes-Benz launches two new luxury cars New Delhi, March 25 (iaNS): Luxury automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz launched on Wednesday two of its specialty cars -- the new CLSClass Coupé and the E-Class Cabriolet. The luxury automobile manufacturer launched the new E 400 Cabriolet at Rs.78.50 lakh and the new CLS 250 CDI Coupé at Rs.76.50 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). The company said the launch of the two new cars was in line with its ‘15 in 15’ strategy. The company has till now introduced five new products in the market so far, of which three new models were launched in March. “This year we have already introduced a diverse range of cars for the Indian market,” said Eberhard Kern, managing director and chief executive, MercedesBenz India. According to Kern, the CLS-Class Coupé and the E-Class Cabriolet are two of the most attractively designed prod-
ucts which are fine examples of ‘top of the pyramid’ product strategy. “We are also introducing for the first time in India, Mercedes-Benz Apps,” Kern added. The company said the cloudbased Apps provide convenient access to the most popular apps and services on the internet. In terms of the vehicles, the fourseater Mercedes-Benz E-Class Cabriolet is powered by a V6 turbocharged petrol engine. The car can race from 0 to 100 in a mere 5.3 seconds and reaches a top speed of 250 km per hour. The V6 turbocharged petrol engine is coupled with a 7-speed automatic transmission which contributes to reducing fuel consumption and emissions. The new vehicle sports a redesigned bumper, radiator grille and headlamps which lend more dynamism and prominence to the entire front section. The car also comes with a 23.5 mm thick
three-component fabric soft top which ensures low noise level. The fabric top can be opened and closed fully automatically in just around 20 seconds when the vehicle is moving at up to 40 km per hour. The interiors include an ergonomic cockpit with numerous controls and stowage facilities on the centre console and dashboard console. The newly-developed front seats are equipped with electric adjustment of cushion height and backrest angles.
On the other hand, the new CLS-Class Coupé is powered by a 4-cylinder diesel engine which is mated with a 7-speed automatic transmission. The Coupé’s exterior comes with a long bonnet, diamond radiator grille in black, a single louvre painted in a matt finish, chrome-look trim element on the front
Delhi govt asks IT ministry to block Uber, Ola mobile apps
spoiler and distinctive multibeam LED with integral daytime running lamps. The car’s interior sports a free-standing display of the head unit with eight-inch screen diagonal and a new steering wheel generation with 3-spoke design, and seats in leather.
Telecom spectrum auction ends, garners over 1 lakh crores
New Delhi, March 25 (re- ly been ineffective and both Ola, clined to comment, while Ola did uterS): The Delhi government backed by Japan’s SoftBank Corp, not respond to a request for com- New Delhi, March 25 (iaNS): After 19 days of rigorous on Wednesday asked union In- and Uber have continued to operate ment. Officials at the union Infor- bidding,theauctionofairwavesfortelecomoperatorsconcluded formation Technology ministry to in Delhi while their licence applica- mation Technology ministry were Wednesday,withofficialsinitiallyplacingthefigureofcumulative also not immediately available for bids at over Rs.100,000 crore. The auction was conducted for 800 block the taxi-hailing apps of U.S.- tions are pending. The Delhi authorities told Uber comment. based Uber and its local rival Ola in MHz,900Mhz,1800MHzand2100MHzcoveringbothmobileteOnline taxi companies see a lot lephony and broadband, including 4G. Till Tuesday, the governthe city in a bid to enforce a ban on and Ola to stop operating if they want their licence applications to of potential in India, a market Ola ment had received cumulative commitments of Rs.109,000 crore the companies’ services. India in December ordered all be processed. Now, the city believes estimates to be worth between $8 from the eight telecom operators in the fray -- Reliance Commuunregistered web-based taxi com- blocking the apps is the only way billion and $10 billion. The India nications, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Tata Teleserpanies to halt operations until they to enforce the ban, a Delhi govern- ban is the latest in a slew of global vices, Uninor, Idea Cellular and Aircel. A reserve price of Rs.3,423 obtain an operating licence after a ment official said, declining to be problems facing Uber, which has crore per MHz was fixed for 800 MHz frequency, Rs.3,399 crore driver contracted with Uber was ac- named as he was not authorised to come under scrutiny for alleged for 900 MHz band and Rs.1,425 crore for the 1,800 MHz band. The speak to the media. violations, including using unli- government also fixed a reserve price of Rs.3,511 crore per megacused of rape. A spokesman for Uber de- censed drivers. The ban, however, has largehertz for the frequency for 3G spectrum. guwahati, March 25 (Pti): The country’s largest luxury carmaker Audi entered the North Eastern market by opening its first dealership in Guwahati, which is expected to sell 150-200 units in the first year. “We enter a new place only when we see there is a market for us. We expect to sell a minimum of 150-200 units in the first year,” The bank manager has lodged be transferred to crime branch. allahaBaD, March 25 Audi India Head Joe King told PTI. In 2012, SBI’s main branch an FIR against 27 people in Kot(ageNcieS): Everything that The new dealership in the capital city of Assam will distributed loan of over Rs 1 wali, including the field officer glitters is not gold. The adage a priority to bring Hepcvir to New Delhi, March 25 offer the entire range of Audi vehicles and has already registered sale of 50 units so far, he added. “We are the first (Pti): Drug major Cipla today patients in India as well as the could be aptly applied to the and firm which tested the gold in crore to around 25 people under Agri-gold loan scheme. The borluxury carmaker to enter this market and we will definite- announced the launch of ge- other developing nations,” Ci- guards and officials of the main this connection. The ‘scam’ came to light af- rowers, all hailing from Bhadohi, ly get the first mover’s advantage,” he said. The company, neric drug Sofosbuvir for treat- pla MD & Global CEO Subhanu branch of SBI Bhadohi who were guarding ‘gold’ worth over Rs 1 ter borrowers failed to deposit pledged around 4kg gold in form in association with the dealer, may consider organising ing chronic Hepatitis C under Saxena said. The availability of product crore kept in their vault for the monthly installments and the out- of jewellery, coins, etc., to the some rally or drive in North East like other parts of India the brand name ‘Hepcvir’, in in other markets is subject to past several years oblivion of the standing shot up to Rs 88.32 lakh, bank along with Varanasi goldIndia. to promote the brand in future, he added. said bank manager Shiv Shankar smith’s certificate regarding the “Following the non-ex- approvals from the regulatory fact that it was artificial. Talking about the Eastern region, King said the comUpadhyaya. “We have lodged an purity of the gold. The gold, kept in form of jewpany is targeting to sell 2,500-3,000 units this year in West clusive licensing agreement authorities in respective counIn due course of time, many ellery, coins and gold bars, was FIR. An internal probe too is unBengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odhisa and North East. Ear- signed with Gilead Sciences in tries, Cipla said. of these borrowers stopped dederway, ” he added. pledged to the bank against vari“Sofusbuvir marks a new lier this month, the company had stated that it was fo- September last year to manupositing monthly installment. By Bhadohi Kotwali in-charge ous loans amounting to over Rs 1 era of medicines in oral treatcusing on long-term sustainability of its business in In- facture and market chronic dia while maintaining the top slot. “The important part is Hepatitis C medicines, Cipla ment of Hepatitis C which re- crore. The loans were given in 2012 Ramesh Chaubey said, “Persons 2013, the then bank manager was the foundation that we are building to ensure long-term is now all set to make the drug duce the need for injectables,” under the agri-gold loan scheme. against whom a complaint has transferred. The bank started isleadership of Audi in India and not just rather looking at Sofosbuvir available to Indian Cipla Chief Medical Officer After the borrowers failed to de- been lodged include bank’s field suing notices to defaulters after posit the monthly installments, officer Arvind Kumar, owner of Sri a new manager took over. Lack of monthly volumes and competition, Member of the Board patients in a week’s time,” the Jaideep Gogtay said. In India alone, around 12- the bank issued notices. But when Krishna Gold Bar Testing Lab, Vara- response to notices or reminders company said in a statement. of Management of Audi AG Luca de Meo had said. “Cipla has always brought 18 million patients are estimat- an amount of Rs 88.32 lakh con- nasi, and 25 others who took loans aroused new manager’s suspicion Audi India had sold 10,851 units in 2014 and remained the largest luxury carmaker for the second consecutive accessible and affordable ed to be infected with Hepatitis stantly remained outstanding, under sections 419, 420, 406, 409, and he decided to ascertain the year. The maker of various popular brands like Q5 sports medicines to fight against dis- C which is several fold greater authorities grew suspicious and 467, 468 and 471 of the IPC (Indian quality of gold pledged for loan in utility vehicle and A3 sedan also wants to maintain a big- eases like AIDS and Hepati- than those with HIV/AIDS, Ci- tested the gold which was found to Penal Code).” He added a probe 2012. He was shocked to find that was underway and the case would the gold was fake. be artificial. tis B; hence, Cipla has made it pla said. ger presence in the premium luxury segment.
Audi enters North East India eyes 200 units in first year
Cipla to launch generic Bank gives away Rs 1 cr loan against fake gold Hepatitis C drug ‘Hepcvir’
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LEISURE
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SUDOKU Game Number # 3176
DAILY CROSS WORD
CROSSWORD # 3186
Answer Number # 3175
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Scary Movies SAW THERING POLTERGEIST ZOMBIELAND FINALDESTINATION DAWNOFTHEDEAD THEMIST WAROFTHEWORLDS HELLRAISER JAWS THEEXORCIST THESHINING HALLOWEEN SCREAM DRACULA THEHAUNTING PSYCHO SILENCEOFTHELAMBS THETHING THEFLY BRIDEOFFRANKENSTEIN ALIEN NIGHTOFTHELIVINGDEAD THELOSTBOYS THEUNINVITED THEOTHERS CHILDSPLAY THEGRUDGE INSIDIOUS FRIGHTNIGHT THEBLAIRWITCHPROJECT CARRIE
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ACROSS
1. Minim 6. Hard punch 10. Probabilities 14. Malicious burning 15. Prospector’s find 16. Head covering 17. Crown 18. Double-reed woodwind 19. Beige 20. Fancy designs in wood 22. Be worthy of 23. Cheer 24. Humble 26. Stylish 30. Steeple 32. Serf 33. Passerines 37. Many millennia 38. Windows 39. Jail (British) 40. Maternity 42. Rhinoceros 43. Meanders 44. Short sleep 45. Binge 47. Slice 48. Decorative case 49. Gremlin
56. Encircle 57. Small island 58. Home 59. Church alcove 60. Break 61. Heron 62. Stag or doe 63. Canvas dwelling 64. Russian emperors
DOWN
1. Handguns 2. Relating to urine 3. Russian emperor 4. Lawn mower brand 5. Expert 6. Gusty 7. Gray wolf 8. Smell 9. Periodicals 10. Obese 11. Sticker 12. Grimy 13. Swing around 21. Nonclerical 25. Sphere 26. Fellow 27. Lascivious look 28. Found in some lotions 29. Composer
30. Synchronizes 31. Quarry 33. Territory 34. Shower 35. Spanish lady 36. Swill 38. A member of a panel 41. Born as 42. Anagram of “Chatter” 44. Prompt 45. Anagram of “Spite” 46. Handbag 47. Crawled 48. Quaint outburst 50. Feudal worker 51. Scheme 52. Pigs 53. Emanation 54. End ___ 55. Catches Ans to CrossWord 3185
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LOCAL
The Morung Express
Thursday 26 March 2015
Dimapur
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NTC urges govt to implement NLRR Act NPCC responds to Noke-led NPF Kohima, march 25 (mExN): The Nagaland Tribes Council has urged the Nagaland government to implement the Nagaland Land and Revenue Regulation (Amendment) Act 1978 in "letter and spirit." This decision was taken during its Executive Council meeting held at Bookmarc Dimapur on February 25, 2015 where it resolved to urge the State Government to implement Government notification No. LAW-213/78 dated Kohima, September 30, 1978 in letter and in spirit in order to protect the inherent right of indigenous people, its land and properties and safe guard the indigenous people of the State from external exploitations. In a press release issued through its media cell, NTC stated that the Act which received the assent of the Governor on September 29,
1978 amended the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886 and extended to the whole of Nagaland State to protect and preserve the land that belongs to the indigenous and vulnerable people of the state. NTC quoted Sub-section (2) and (3) of the act and urged the respective Deputy Commissioners of the Districts and the respective Village Councils to adhere to the law of the land and be accountable for any illegal transfer, exchange, lease, agreement of settlement of any land as per Nagaland Land and Revenue Regulation (Amendment) Act, 1978 and registration of landed properties under the Indian Registration Act, 1908. Under the Acts, no person (other than the indigenous inhabitants of Nagaland) shall become land owner in the State of Nagaland.
Kanjang VC fury over persistent arson
Kohima Police seize liquor, ganja
mELuri, march 25 (mExN): The Kanjang Village Council has expressed fury at the persistent campaign of arson over the properties of Kanjang Village. A press release from the Kanjang VC stating that the arson from across the border on March 18 – which resulted in the destruction of around 45 paddy field huts – remains fresh in the minds, informed that the arsonists struck again on the dawn of March 25 torching down some cattle sheds. The Kanjang Village Council while condemning the act appealed to all rightful thinking citizens and the Government of Nagaland in particular to rise to the occasion and initiate appropriate steps and measure to contain the arsonist forces. It reiterated that the Government of Nagaland immediately institute a Border Magistrate to monitor the area.
Sub-Section (2) of the Act states, “Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any law, usage, contract or agreement no person (other than the indigenous inhabitants of Nagaland) shall acquire or posses by transfer, exchange, lease, agreement of settlement of any land in any area or areas constituted into belts or blocks in contravention of the provisions of Sub-Section (1).” Sub-Section (3) of the Act states, “From and after the commencement of Nagaland Land and Revenue Regulation (Amendment) Act, 1978, no document evidencing any transaction for acquisition or possession of any land by way of transfer, exchange, lease, agreement or settlement shall be registered under the Indian Registration Act, 1908 if it appears to the registering authority that the transac-
tion has been effected in contravention of the provisions of Sub-Section (2).” NTC further stated that the Nagaland Village and Tribal Councils Act, 1978 had categorically empowered the Village Council to be the custodian of landed properties vide Section 15, Sub-Section (1)(g) which read “no transfer of immovable properties shall be effected without the consent of the Village Council. Written record of this shall be maintained by the Village Council”. Asserting that “it is paramount to be aware and protect what duly belongs to us provided in the aforementioned provisions,” NTC called upon all concerned citizen to rise and consciously take responsibilities “to defend our basic rights while respecting the rights of the others in the same manner.”
DimaPur, march 25 (mExN): The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee has reacted to the Noke-NPF warning to state chief minister TR Zeliang against inducting Congress MLAs into the cabinet. A press release issued by the Media Cell, NPCC, ridiculing the Noke-led NPF statement remarked, “It is plainly hilarious to read the statement of NokeKaito group when they are fully responsible for destabilizing and weakening their own NPF party to its lowest point despite huge mandate of 38 seats in 2013 assembly elections.” Stating that the Congress has nothing to do with the internal turmoil of the NPF, NPCC maintained, “It has only stepped in to stabilize the government and rescue the people from the clutches of political uncertainty created by power and money mongers holed up in some luxury resort for nearly three months.” “Their frustration is un-
derstandable since their prolonged fight for the ‘Cock’ symbol shows no signs of early settlement,” NPCC remarked. It stated that the assembly elections of 2013 gave an overwhelming mandate to the NPF with 38 seats giving a third straight term for the NPF led DAN government. “However, for the past two years it had been plagued by one crisis after another with financial crisis being the most prominent,” NPCC noted adding, “Law and order situation deteriorated to the present state of lawlessness and the state government was unable to bring out the works programme for the past two years bringing all forms of developmental works to standstill.” “With the man responsible for all this mess conveniently leaving his chief ministerial chair to escape as Lok Sabha MP away to Delhi, it was expected that the change of guard will bring different approach to clear up the mess. How-
ever, some of the NPF leaders who had all the liberty to loot the state treasury for the past 12 years could not have reconciled with the new dispensation and therefore seems to have resorted to create the present crisis,” NPCC further remarked. Mentioning that the Congress joining the government is the prerogative of the Chief Minister and the Congress party, NPCC maintained, “Therefore they have no business to poke their nose when they had already charted a different course.” “They should rather appreciate the Congress for saving the government and providing stability at this crucial juncture when communal forces are knocking at our doors to impose their hegemony,” NPCC stated. “It is pertinent to mention that till February 4, Noke-Kaito group had approached Congress leaders to support them in overthrowing the government
headed by Chief Minister TR Zeliang but since the Congress denied them that opportunity, they are now crying wolf,” NPCC stated. “By seeking the support of Congress, didn’t they (NokeKaito) consider the factor of weakening NPF and had the Congress agreed to support them, would they be lamenting the same concern?” it questioned. Further stating that “the journey of Noke-Kaito group seems to have reached a dead end with their propaganda churned out from a luxury resort in Dimapur now scoffed by majority of the people who hold them solely responsible for looting the state treasury empty for the past 12 years,” NPCC noted, “Instead of indulging in cheap and malicious propaganda, they should outrightly admit that they are the ones who created the turmoil within the NPF, rather than childishly blame the Congress or any other party for their face saving measures.”
Parents sensitised on non-traditional science careers
Kohima, march 25 (mExN): Personnel of Tseminyu Police Station led by Dy. SP (Probationer) Rükulü Tünyi and OC Tseminyu PS while conducting frisking and checking of vehicles, intercepted a Hyundai Santro and seized 486 bottles of rum and one case of beer on March 25 at around 9:45 AM. Police have taken custody of the vehicle B/R No NL-06-3048, Chassis No MALAA51HR3M406929, Engine No G4HD3C75453
Health Dept provides Swine Flu update Kohima, march 25 (DiPr): State Nodal Officer (IDSP), Dr. Tiasunup Pongener has informed that the Nagaland Department of Health and Family Welfare is maintaining strict vigil at all levels with regard to the spread of H1N1 (Swine Flu). A press release from the Nodal Officer revealed that all districts hospitals have been provided with necessary drugs and other logistics. The department has also procured 150 doses of H1N1 vaccines for those identified and dedicated health care workers (designated to Isolation Wards). He added that the “country scenario of H1N1 Epidemic is still alarming.” In Nagaland state, he informed that a total of 23 samples have so far been sent to Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Dibrugarh, of which 3 have tested positive. All cases have recovered and there was no report of death, he added. Dr Pongener further informed that all cases in Nagaland state were imported from other states. H1N1 Vaccines have also been made available at selected pharmaceutical outlets all over Nagaland. However, the outlets have been directed to vaccinate a person only under the supervision and prescription of a Registered Medical Practitioner.
KMC informs
along with two occupants. A press release from Kohima Police PRO Atu Zumvü identified the two as Mughato Yeptho (20 yrs), driver of the vehicle, and Hoto Yeptho (19 yrs), both from Viyixe Village under Aghunato PS and both residents of Dimapur. In this connection, a criminal case has been registered against them. Meanwhile, Kohima police personnel manning Phesama check gate on the morning of March 25 at
WSKH condoles DimaPur, march 25 (mExN): The Western Sumi Kukami Hoho (WSKH) has mourned the demise of late V. Pitoli Zhimomi, wife of Er. Vikiye Zhimomi (Retired Chief Engineer PWD) who passed away on March 21 at Dimapur. The WSKH in a condolence message stated that late Pitoli was a woman of great character who led a simple and humble life. As a good teacher and an active social worker she had inspired many of the younger generations, WSKH stated. Conveying condolences to the bereaved family, WSKH prayed for the departed soul to rest in peace.
Sports meet for orphanages & care homes DimaPur, march 25 (mExN): The Dimapur district administration will be organizing a one-day sports meet for all orphanages and care homes on April 11 at DDSC from 9 AM to 4 PM. A press release from the DC Dimapur informed all orphanages and care homes interested in participating in the said meet is informed to collect the circular and details from the office chamber of the SDO (C) Sadar, Dimapur on all working days on or before March 31.
Special health camps in Tuensang
TuENsaNg, march 25 (mExN): The District Health Society (DHS) Tuensang under the Chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner Alemjonshi will be organising a special health camp on March 27 at Chessore PHC and on March 28 at Shamator PHC. A GPRN/NSCN press release from the Chief Medical discharges one Officer Tuensang informing this has DimaPur, march 25 (mExN): requested the public to avail of the serThe GPRN/NSCN has discharged vices and facilities offered during the Corporal Ikato, Naga Army No.17351, health camp. S/O Shikato of Thahekhu Village, on account of “Family (Domestic) prob- NPF Kohima lem.” A press release from the MIP division meet held informed that the discharge order was signed by Colonel Hevito Achu- Kohima, march 25 (mExN): mi, Camp Commander, Naga Army The NPF Kohima Division held its GHQ, dated March 23, 2015. The executive meeting at NPF Central Commander while stating that the office here today. A release received 'Order' comes into immediate effect here said the meeting deliberated on acknowledged the 'selfless service(s)' the present political scenario in the rendered by him and also wished state. Goneiu Sirie, president NPF him success in his future endeavours. Kohima Division briefed the gatherKohima, march 25 (mExN):The Kohima Municipal Committee has informed that w.e.f. March 28, shops in Kohima town will remain open till 7 PM on all Saturdays of the week.
around 6 AM intercepted a truck and seized 160 kilos of contraband Marijuana (Ganja). The truck bearing registration number NL-01G-0737, Engine No. 90H62779151 and Chassis No. MAT38834391H18753 was approaching Kohima from Mao. Accordingly, the consignment along with the vehicle were seized and a criminal case has been registered in this connection, a press release from the PRO informed.
Kohima, march 25 (mExN): Highlighting the opportunities possible in the field of science, a oneday seminar was conducted for the parents of Northfield School Kohima by Career CliniQ and the Directorate of Employment and Craftsmen Training, Government of Nagaland. This campaign has been initiated in various schools in order to educate parents on the numerous non-traditional science careers that are available both in private and government sectors. According to a press release, scores of parents attended the meet on a busy working day and closely interacted with the officials to discuss on various career related issues. Welcoming the audi-
ence and igniting the Spirit of Science, Khriesi L., Principal of Northfield School, expressed her happiness to be the first school to initiate the educative and informative campaign. She re-assured the parents on the school’s commitment towards quality teaching. R. Angami, Retired Joint Director, Director of School Education, spoke on the need of developing a scientific temperament in the state and encouraging the children to deal with Science and Math without fear. He lamented that the state has been struggling with the issue of lack of quality Science and Math teachers and expressed hope that the digital courseware recently launched by Parliamentary Secretary, Yitachu
would address this problem in a big way. Addressing the occasion as a keynote speaker, Dr. Anirban Choudhury, Director of Career CliniQ, highlighted the various modern employment avenues that are available in the science stream. He elucidated that science and math come naturally to all of us in various forms of our day to day life and hence should be subjects that we should embrace and not be fearful of. He further explained Newton’s three laws as examples to prove his point. The audience comprising of school administrators, students and parents all agreed in unison. A career handbook highlighting various career avenues in Science,
namely Career track, was also made available to the parents along with the digital courseware of different classes. Exuberant parents expressed happiness on the initiative and promised to encourage scientific temperament amongst their wards using modern day technologies such as computers, tablets and smartphones. One of the parents, Dr. Ratan Kaurinka congratulated the officials on the initiative and pledged fullest participation in the endeavour to promote science and math. Concluding the event with vote of thanks, Khriesi L, thanked the parents for their active participation and assured that the activity would be extended to the middle and junior classes as well in the near future.
ing and said the division must be alert to attend any upcoming issues. He stated that T.R. Zeliang’s leadership makes the party stable. According to Sirie, the ECI may declare the verdict on the cock symbol by March 27or 28.
Workshop for Tuensang health officials TuENsaNg, march 25 (mExN): A one-day workshop for District Level officers, SMO’s, MO’s, DPMU & BPMU staff and Refegerator Mechanic of all the district Health Units was held on March 24 at Chang Baptist Lashong Thangyen (CBLT) Conference Hall. A press release from the Chief Medical Officer Tuensang informed that the objective of the workshop is to fully immunize all pregnant women and children in the district. The training programme was facilitated by Dr. Shilla, SMO WHO Consultant and Dr. Pangjung, CMO and Dr Temsu DPO (RCH/UIP).
Kohima DC informs arms license holders Kohima, march 25 (mExN): Holders of all types of arm licenses issued by the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Kohima, has been notified to report to the Arms Branch on or before May 31, 2015 for preparation of National Database of Arms License (NDLA). The Arms License if not produced for required entry within the specified time shall be treated as invalid and cancelled, a press note issued by Rovilato Mor, IAS, Deputy Commissioner, Kohima, stated.
VREC Peren operational PErEN, march 25 (mExN): The Additional Deputy Commissioner, Peren has informed the public of Peren district that the Voter’s Registration and Education Centre (VREC) is operational at the office of the ADC Peren and ADC Tening. A press release from Kadambari Bhagat, IAS, ADC and Electoral Registration Officer, Peren, further informed that the Drop-Box for collection of Aadhaar card and EPIC under NERPAP has been laid at the Election Office Peren. Public may drop a copy of proof of their documents at the Drop-Box for further seeding of Aadhaar and EPIC details, the ADC stated.
Children of Kohima Orphanage Home perform at the mega gospel concert in Kohima on March 25. Held under the aegis of River of Soul Saving Ministry in collaboration with the orphanage homes, the concert aims to help raise funds for an Orphanage Bible Camp to be held in the month of September. (Morung Photo)
Red Ribbon Club, Sazolie College organized a Voluntary Blood Donation Camp on March 21 on the theme “Donate Blood and Make a difference”. 16 donors donated blood and the students volunteered for Mobile Van Counseling and HIV test.
The Sunday School Department of the Konyak Baptist Bumeinok Bungjüm (KBBB) conducted its Sunday School Teachers Training for the Town Area (i.e., Kohima, Dimapur, Chumoukedima and Mokokchung) from March 23 to 25 at Konyak Baptist Church Dimapur. The training focused on Visual Aids Presentation, Object Lesson and Paper Craft. Pongjei, Secretary, Sunday School Department KBBB, and Anoi Superintendent of Sunday Department, Konyak Church Dimapur, were the Master Trainers. A total of 18 Sunday school teachers participated in the training.
Medical camp at NHAK underway Kohima, march 25 (DiPr): A two-day free medical camp initiated by the Governor of Nagaland P.B. Acharya got underway on March 24 at Naga Hospital Authority Kohima (NHAK). Hundreds of patients were treated by a sixmember team of doctors led by Dr. Suparna Nirgudkar, MD (Medicine) from Mumbai. The team of doctors reached Kohima on March 24. Speaking to DIPR on the sidelines of the Medical camp, Dr. Suparna said that the idea of conducting a free medical camp emanated about 6 months ago when her husband, Dr. Nirgudkar, who happens
to be the Chief of Zee 24 hours Marathi Channel, interviewed the Governor of Nagaland. Stating that the interview was very inspiring, Dr. Suparna mentioned, “After the interview the Governor enquired about my profession and on learning that I was a doctor on to critical care, he spontaneously called me and mentioned about Nagaland which he said needs professional doctors to see the health problems of the people.” She added that it was basically the inspiring words of the Governor which made them realise they were living in a “cocoon” in Mumbai and decided to have a bridge
between the two states of Maharashtra and Nagaland. “A bridge by way of health care and this is our first year and we would like to strengthen this bridge every single year,” she stated. She lauded the Indian National Fellowship Foundation Mumbai – an NGO working for health care under its Chief, Dilip, also a very good friend of the Governor of Nagaland – for initiating and showing keen interest for conducting a free medical camp in Nagaland. “It was through the coordination and initiative of the Governor of Nagaland and the INFF, that we are able to come here”, she remarked.
Informing that this time, due to shortage of time, the present two-day medical camp would be like a kind of survey camp, the team leader disclosed that next year’s camp would be for a longer duration and the team would visit interior places. “Next year we will come for a week with a team of more doctors and definitely we plan to go in the interior districts and we have in mind to make it as an annual medical camp”, Dr. Suparna said, when asked about her response on the desire of the Governor of Nagaland for conducting the medical camp as an annual feature extending to the interior places of Nagaland.
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IN-FOCUS
The Power of Truth
The Morung Express THursDAy 26 MArcH 2015 voluME X IssuE 82 By Aheli Moitra
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Beef grief
n March, the Government of Maharashtra banned the slaughter and sale of bullocks and bulls under the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act. In basic terms, this means selling or consuming beef in Maharashtra is now punishable by law. The ban on beef is based on the Hindu tenet of holding the cow sacred, disregarding the fact that the (female) cow has not been killed for consumption by way of a previous law for many years now in India. This ban can be seen as an attempt to establish clear lines on who will henceforth be considered “us” in the Indian Union and who will be “them.” Maharashtra has 112 million people, of which 20 percent are non Hindu. The ban on beef will affect a lot more than this population who depend on this cheap and nutritious source of protein. This includes Dalits, apart from people following Christianity and Islam. The economic classes that cannot afford the more than Rs. 400 mutton in the market, as compared to the Rs. 150-200 beef, will stop consuming meat. Water buffalos can still be sold and consumed, but hardly compares to the nutrition provided by beef. Worst of all, the ban affects the animals who will now have to die a slow death as farmers cannot afford to care for old and infirm bullocks and bulls (How can they? Half of Maharashtra’s farmers are committing suicide themselves!). Now beef is a popular meat in the North East of the subcontinent. Can a feast in Kohima be complete without beef? Imagine if the breeding, selling and consumption of mithuns were banned in India. With the way the Hindu brigand is going, it is possible beef is banned all over the country, and mithuns also classify as beef. The population of the North East of the subcontinent does not even make for 20 percent of the population of India—their need to consume beef, or anything that differs from majoritarian culture, as a core part of the diet will not be considered. The majority will push ahead with laws that want to make the whole population of the Indian subcontinent eat, sleep and drink like Hindu upper castes. Who will stand up for the minorities of the region then? Who will defend the cultures of the east? The Government of Nagaland has remained silent not just on the issue of the ban on beef but also on such issues as the attack on churches all over India. This is surely being done to be in the good books of the government at the centre—for the financial support to keep the State going, and for the political support that the present government needs. To be representatives of the people of Nagaland, much more will have to be done, and a lot more issues stood up. Article 371-A cannot be taken for granted. Minorities, however strong, will not survive onslaughts such as the ban on beef if lines are not drawn, or rights not stood up for. Comments may be sent to moitramail@yahoo.com
lEfT wiNg |
Mazie Nakhro, Ph.D
What Makes a Political Group Biblically Legitimate? Thought-Provoking Question: How can we know if our Naga national groups meet the biblical standard of legitimacy? What does God say? Read Mark 15:7 and Luke 6:15 Since the Jewish people of the first century were still under the Roman government, neither Jesus nor the apostles said anything about whether or not Christians should support the Jewish nationalistic groups of that time. For example, Barabbas was possibly a member of the Jewish nationalist group called Zealot, a radical political party working for the overthrow of Roman rule in Israel (Mark 15:7). Simon of Cananaean, one of Jesus’ disciples, was a member of that group too (Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13). But neither did Jesus condemn the Jewish nationalist movement of the day nor endorse any such faction, let alone pay taxes to it. Any government that claims legitimacy should meet these two requisites: It must exist to restrain evil in the society (maintenance of law and order) and serve for the common good of its citizens (Rom. 13:1-7; 1 Pet. 2:13-14). If it does not provide or perform these two basic services, it has no moral right to expect the unquestioned support of the civil society nor can it demand payment of taxes from the people. The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government, and the protection of its citizens should always be the government’s first priority. This being the foundation and the purpose of government, when any political group commits crimes against its citizens, it has lost the moral right to lead the people. When it uses manipulation or coercion to get people into accepting its political ideology, it cannot claim to have the mandate of the people. Such a political group is not really a government at all, but simply a criminal gang masquerading as a government and is therefore not entitled to the obedience that governments (properly so called) can claim. Okay, so now what? Having been raised up in a family of staunched NNC/ FGN loyalists, my personal sentiment is still very much with those who were part of the early group of Naga patriots. But we have, in my opinion, terribly gone wrong because of our Angami’s chauvinistic nationalism and the bigotry of some of my own relatives. On raising new leadership and envisioning the younger generation, our accomplishment is zero. Without realizing all these faults and failures on our part, we are still adopting a Pharisaical stance by making a big issue of our correctness on procedural matters of our national Yehzabo (Constitution). Also, not realizing that the public has already moved ahead of us or away from us, we are still standing in the same old spot for many decades and assuming that people are still following us. When are we all, the Naga national groups, going to wake up to do the right thing? Prayer: Lord, You said in Psalm 127:1 that unless You build the house, we build in vain. So help us to depend on You. Amen. Taken from the book “Breakfast with the King: The 100-Day Devotional” by Mazie Nakhro
S O U N D BITE “W
e have played the right kind of cricket and the difference now is how our bowling attack has come into play in this World Cup taking 70 wickets in seven games. That's probably been the difference, and if we continue to do that we have a great chance come game day.” Virat Kohli
THE EDIT PAGE
C O M M E N T A R Y
Rod McGuirk Associated Press
Australia a puzzling hotbed of ‘Islamic State’ recruiting
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nightclub bouncer who reportedly became a terror group leader. A man who tweeted a photo of his young son clutching a severed head. A teenager who is believed to have turned suicide bomber, and others suspected of attempting to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State movement. All of them, Australian. The London-based International Center for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence reports that between 100 and 250 Australians have joined Sunni militants in Iraq and Syria. Given Australia's vast distance from the region and its population of just 24 million, it is a remarkable number. The center estimates that about 100 fighters came from the United States, which has more than 13 times as many people as Australia. Experts disagree about why Islamic State has been so effective recruiting in Australia, which is widely regarded as a multicultural success story, with an economy in an enviable 24th year of continuous growth. Possible explanations include that some Australian Muslims are poorly integrated with the rest of the country, and that Islamic State recruiters have given Australia particular attention. In addition, the Australian government failed to keep tabs on some citizens who had been radicalized, and moderate Muslims have been put off by some of Prime Minister Tony Abbott's comments about their community. Greg Barton, a global terrorism expert at Monash University in Melbourne, said Australia and some other countries underestimated Islamic State's "pull factor." "We're all coming to terms with the fact that this is a formidable targeter and predatory recruiter that goes after individuals one by one with a very masterful use of technology, and our sense of confidence that because we've got society working well makes us secure misses the point," Barton said. Muslims make up about 2.2 percent of the population in Australia, compared to just 1 percent in the United States. And while many U.S. Muslims are from families who migrated in pursuit of the American economic dream, a larger proportion of Australian Muslims are from families who fled Lebanon's civil war in the 1970s and '80s. Australian Muslims of Lebanese origin are largely based in Sydney, the country's biggest city. They have been less successful in integrating into Australian society than many other groups, and the first Australian-born generation of these migrant families has been overrepresented in terrorism offenses and general street crime. Mohammad Ali Baryalei, an ethnic Lebanese who reportedly became a high-ranking member of Islamic State's operational command, was formerly a Sydney nightclub bouncer and bit-part television actor. Australian security agencies suspect he single-handedly recruited dozens of Australians and helped them enter Syria. Once a Sydney street preacher with the Muslim group Street Dawah, Baryalei was reportedly killed in battle in Syria last fall at age 33. The Australian government has yet to confirm his death. Baryalei is accused in court documents of inciting from afar Islamic State sympathizers in Sydney to brutally slay a randomly selected victim. Security services recorded a telephone conversation between him and Omarjan Azari, who is awaiting trial on charges that include preparing to commit a terrorist act. "What you guys need to do is pick any random unbeliever," Baryalei allegedly told Azari, according to court testimony. "Backpacker, tourist, American, French or British, even better." Sydney-born Khaled Sharrouf, also ethnic Lebanese, horrified millions last year by posting on his Twit-
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ong-simmering conflict over Japan’s actions during World War II flared up again this week as a group of Japanese scholars filed a complaint about a history textbook published by U.S. company McGrawHill. The scholars say the text contains several “factual errors” and question the narrative of the so-called “comfort women” forced into sexual slavery by Japan’s military during the war. Many countries massage their histories, but fairly or not, Japan gets an especially bad rap for it. South Korea and China rail against the country’s historical revisionism on issues like wartime casualties and the infamous human experimentation operation at Unit 731; Japan says China and Korea exaggerate or unduly dwell on these topics. The questions of history have strained relations among these countries, and this week’s controversy isn’t the first time it’s touched the United States, where Korean communities have battled Japanese diplomats over curricula and memorials to wartime atrocities. Most countries and groups once on different sides of conflict face these sorts of struggles. Textbook tussles between India and Pakistan, Israel and Palestine, various Balkan countries, Turkey and Armenia, Greece, and Cyprus, and others, center around issues such as who was at fault and when. Critics say countries including Russia, Iran, China, the United States, and several others use schoolbooks as propaganda. But textbook troubles have also erupted over some more surprising questions. Here are a few: Is California’s curriculum mocking Hindu vegetarians? In 2005, two Hindu foundations spearheaded an effort to revise California history and social studies textbooks they said portrayed their religion unfairly. They complained that the books blamed Hinduism for the repression of lower castes and women, and that the authors’ dismissive attitude was clear in passages like one on vegetarianism titled “Where’s the Beef?”. Scholars and
In this December 15, 2014 file photo, a hostage runs to armed tactical response police officers for safety after she escaped from a cafe under siege at Martin Place in the central business district of Sydney, Australia. For a country of just 24 million that is thousands of miles from Syria and Iraq, Australia has been unusually fertile ground for Islamic State recruiters. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith, File)
ter account a photo of his 7-year-old son clutching the severed head of a Syrian soldier. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry described the image as "one of the most disturbing, stomach-turning, grotesque photographs ever displayed." Sharrouf's appearance on the Syrian battlefield highlighted a flaw in Australia's defenses against Islamic State: lax border security. Sharrouf had served a prison sentence in Australia for planning a foiled terrorist attack and had been banned from leaving the country, but used his brother's passport to leave in 2013. The Australian government acknowledged there was a problem with a system of airport security that was more focused on who was coming in than on who was leaving. The government announced in August that biometric screening will be rolled out at all Australian international airports as part of 630 million Australian dollars ($500 million) in new spending on intelligence, law enforcement and border protection. Counterterrorism police units have been attached to major airports to screen passengers. The unit at Sydney Airport was instrumental in recently intercepting two Sydneyborn brothers, aged 16 and 17, who were about to fly to Turkey without their parents' knowledge. Authorities suspect the brothers were headed to Syria. Australia's net still has holes. Jake Bilardi, an 18-year-old who converted to Islam a few years ago, had avoided Australia's counterterror radar when he left his Melbourne home for Syria in August. After Bilardi's family reported him missing, police found chemicals that could be used to make a bomb at his home. Images of Bilardi armed with a rifle in front of Islamic flags appeared on social media sites later that year. A picture of a young man resembling Bilardi behind the wheel of a van was posted this month with claims from Islamic State that foreign fighters from Australia and other countries took part in a near-
simultaneous attack in Iraq that involved at least 13 suicide car bombs and killed two police officers. The Australian government has yet to confirm Bilardi's death. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has been granted enhanced powers to prevent Australians joining IS and, in some cases, from returning to Australia. She has canceled about 100 passports, including Bilardi's, though he left before his passport was revoked. Keeping would-be militants from leaving Australia, however, increases the risk that they will wreak havoc at home. Numan Haider, an 18-year-old Muslim Australian of Afghan origin, stabbed two Melbourne police officers and was shot dead in September, a week after his passport had been canceled. He had caught authorities' attention months earlier over what police considered to be troubling behavior, including waving what appeared to be an Islamic State flag at a shopping mall. Australian authorities were clearly taken by surprise by the growing domestic menace posed by Islamic State followers. Less than a year ago, officials reduced security at Parliament House to cut costs. Since then, security at the seat of national government has been increased to unprecedented levels. In September, the government raised Australia's terrorist threat level to the second-highest level on a four-tier scale. Police attempting to disrupt terrorist plots have raided scores of homes. Several suspects have been charged and others have been detained without charge under new counterterrorism laws. The nation's main domestic spy agency is juggling more than 400 high-priority counterterrorism investigations — more than double the number a year ago. But the intensified vigilance was no hindrance to Man Monis, a 50-year-old Iranianborn, self-styled cleric with a long criminal history. In December, Monis took 18 people hostage at a downtown Sydney cafe, forced them to hold up a flag bearing the Islamic declaration of faith against a cafe window and demanded he be delivered a flag of the Islamic State group. Monis and two hostages were killed at the end of a 16-hour siege. A government review found that Monis had fallen off a terrorist watch list despite repeated warnings to security services from members of the public concerned by his online rants. As a Shiite Muslim, he was thought an unlikely recruit to Islamic State, a Sunni Muslim movement. As traumatic as the hostage crisis was, it could not be compared to the enormity of the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the United States. Hass Dellal, executive director of the Australian Multicultural Foundation, which promotes awareness of cultural diversity within Australia, said that history might make Americans more resistant to Islamic State recruiting. Dellal also said public discussion of issues around radicalization and extremism is more balanced in the United States than in Australia, which effectively banned Middle Eastern Muslims from immigrating until the 1970s. Some Muslims have been critical of comments by Prime Minister Abbott, accusing him of driving a wedge between them and the rest of Australia. "I've often heard Western leaders describe Islam as a religion of peace. I wish more Muslim leaders would say that more often, and mean it," Abbott in a speech in February that angered many Muslims with its suggestion of duplicity. Barton, the Monash University expert, said Australia may prove to be not so different from the United States, if Islamic State expands its influence in America. "It may be a lag effect," Barton said. "It may be in six months' time, the figures are much more comparable."
Where’s the Beef? Five of the World’s More Unusual Textbook Kerfuffle Justine Drennan | Foreign Policy low caste advocacy groups pushed back, saying the state shouldn’t allow “politically-minded revisionists to change Indian history.” The dispute escalated into multiple lawsuits, the last settled in 2009, and a state-organized head-to-head debate between two of the opposing scholars. “It was a gladiator combat,” one of them told the Wall Street Journal, “the most acrimonious thing I have ever done in my entire life.” The state ultimately accepted some but not all of the suggested changes. (Indian vegetarians aren’t always on the defensive in these battles. In 2012, academics protested when a major Indian textbook company published a health volume for pre-teens that alleged meat-eaters “easily cheat, lie, forget promises, and commit sex crimes.”In 2012, academics protested when a major Indian textbook company published a health volume for pre-teens that alleged meat-eaters “easily cheat, lie, forget promises, and commit sex crimes.”) Did Saudi textbooks cause 9/11? Probably not. But given that 15 of the 19 hijackers in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 attacks were Saudis, Americans seeking to explain the tragedy set their sights on the Gulf state’s extraordinarily intolerant school primers. A 2006 Freedom House report raised concerns that these books instructed students to shun unbelievers, with one 12th grade text even urging youths to wage violent jihad. The United States called for urgent revisions, and the late King Abdul-
Was Chile really a “dictatorship” under Pinochet? It’s not unusual for democracies to gloss over bloody portions of their histories, as Indonesian educators battling the silence over 1960s purges of the Indonesian Communist Party know well. But perhaps particularly audacious was the Chilean National Education Council’s decision in 2012 that the brutal government of General Augusto Pinochet, who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, shouldn’t be called a “dictatorship.” The term “regime” was more appropriate, the council said. The decision drew angry responses from critics of then-president Sebastián Piñera’s right-leaning government, and from the many who’d suffered under the Pinochet junta, which tortured and killed thousands of dissenters after ousting the country’s elected leader, Salvador Allende. In 2013, the council changed its mind, deciding that the repressive right-wing government had been, in fact, a dictatorship.
lah said they’d get right on it. But a 2013 State Department report on the U.S. ally found that “intolerant content remained, even in revised textbooks, including justification for the social exclusion and killing of Islamic minorities and ‘apostates.’” It added that “the textbooks also stated treachery was a ‘permanent characteristic’ of non-Muslims, especially Jews, propagated conspiracy theories that international organizations such as Masons support Zionism, and pre- And what’s with Texas? sented historical forgeries, such as No list of textbook wars would be the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, as complete without a mention of Texas, a fact.” state where conservatives have been vigorously attempting to censor and revise How big was Canada’s — often successfully — textbooks since role in World War I? at least the 1960s. Last fall, Texas’s Board A much older, more obscure text- of Education approved new history textbook brouhaha broke out in 1920 in books that portray Moses as a demoNew Brunswick, Canada, over a Gen- cratic leader who served as a key source eral History written by one P.V.N. My- of inspiration for America’s founding faers, an American historian. The book thers — a characterization that’s added didn’t mention Canada’s contributions to concerns about the state’s ability — to World War I, angry New Brunswick- or perhaps desire — to separate itself ers complained, and overplayed the from the church. Critics on the right, United States’ role. “We have been at a meanwhile, say the books haven’t done loss here to understand how it is pos- enough to address concerns raised in sible, if there is any kind of supervi- 2010 that the curriculum “resists ugly sion of the textbooks,” one concerned facts about Islam.” Like textbook decicitizen wrote to the local Daily Gleaner, sions in California, the nation’s largest “that the poison in the last chapter of state, those in Texas, its second largest, Myers’ could get into the schools easily often ripple out to other states. Residents to do its deadly work on the minds of of the Lone Star State were among the the growing boy and girl.” Other letters first to call for a ban on AP U.S. History, from parents, patriots, and journal- a motion currently before the Oklahoma ists flooded the province’s education legislature due to the course’s perceived board until it replaced the offending lack of patriotism and failure to celebrate tome with a British-penned one. “American exceptionalism.”
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.
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Thursday
THE MORUNG EXPRESS
26 March 2015
PERSPECTIVE NEWS ANALYSIS, FEATURE AND DISCOURSE
From food sovereignty to transition initiatives
Olivier de schutter
W
Open Democracy
hen the idea of food sovereignty emerged twenty years ago, from the mobilisation of campesinos in Costa Rica and from the protest marches of small farmers in the Indian state of Karnataka, it had one important lesson to teach us: policies in the areas of food and agriculture should not be taken hostage to the exigencies of international trade. This idea was central to the establishment in 1993 of the Via Campesina, which was soon to grow into the largest transnational social movement in existence, now spanning 164 local and national organizations in more than 70 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas, and representing an estimated 200 million farmers. As an antidote to the globalization of food markets, food sovereignty was very much a product of its times. The Uruguay round of trade negotiations launched in 1986 was nearing its conclusion, and at the request of major developing countries, agriculture had been placed at the centre of the table of the big bargain to be struck: food, it was becoming clear, was set to become the next frontier of the great mill of commodification, and farmers from the world over were asked to compete against one another — and let the least competitive disappear. Food sovereignty was, first and foremost, a story of solidarity against adversity, of cooperation against competition. The trade negotiators wanted their farmers to compete: instead, rallying behind the new slogan, they decided to unite. A strange ballet of words occurred: those talking about trade « liberalization » were condemning farmers to new forms of pressure and coercion from the global marketplace and from the large agrifood companies that dominate it, while those speaking of food « sovereignty » meant in fact the opposite of food wars — they meant alliances across national borders. With food sovereignty, a set of new displacements occurred: social movements replaced governments as the main source of legitimacy; the building of resilient communities through small-scale farming and the relocalization of agrifood systems was given priority over the search for efficiency gains and economies of scale; and (in the words of Jan Douwe van der Ploeg) the art of farming replaced the business of agriculture as the way to describe the future role of farmers. Food sovereignty activists and their allies were attacked on a number of grounds. They were accused, first, of pitting the interests of food producers above those of consumers, especially urban consumers, who were supposed to want abundant and cheap foods (and a variety of foods all year round), with the longest shelf-life possible. We now understand much better the limits of such an approach. We have come to realize, over the past twenty years, the considerable damage inflicted upon us by the « low-cost » food economy that left it to the large agribusiness actors to take care of feeding us, through the supermarkets and long food chains. Ill-health from bad diets made up from industrially processed foods, low wages in the food sector (from the tomato-pluckers in Florida to the fast food workers in the McDonald outlets), and ecological damage on a large scale - all can be traced back to the obsession with more production, bigger scale, and the lowering of prices at all costs. Low prices, we now insist, should not serve as a substitute for decent wages, and for social policies that should allow everyone, even the poor, to afford prices that are fair for all. Food sovereignty activists were accused of denying the benefits of trade, and the efficiency gains that can result from each region specializing in what it is comparatively best at producing. To this, their answer has been--our answer has been--that trade over long distances, controlled by the companies who own the logistics and control the networks, and the ability to source their bananas or their soybean from farmers located thousands of kilometers away, is not the only trade there is; that local and regional markets have been neglected and insufficiently supported; and that this neglect has not simply allowed the expansion of long-distance trade, but to a large extent also resulted from long-distance trade being given priority in public policies. Food sovereignty activists are now able to point, moreover, at the considerable
in the past to provoke society-wide transformations. It also brings about considerable benefits in terms of public health. Stronger community links, richer social relationships, it has been shown, are the single most important predictor of increased life expectancy, more even than the avoidance of tobacco or of excessive alcohol consumption, or even of a lifestyle that is active rather than sedentary. Fourth, food sovereignty initiatives favor resilience over efficiency. They are guided by the realization that we have entered an uncertain world — and that the pathway to recovery is largely unchartered. Peak oil, the imbalances in the cycle of nitrogen, genetic erosion as a result of the spread of monocropping schemes, soil degradation, the repeated shocks that result from climate changes, the logistical nightmares associated with the congestion of cities — these well-documented threats will mean in the future more instability, more volatility, and the need to invent more solutions and to do so faster. Just as resilience is at the heart of the movement that began in 2006 with the Transition Towns (now Transition Movement), it is a major concern now to many bottom-up, citizen-led initiatives that claim a right to food sovereignty. The keywords here are relocalization, diversity and (as an outcome of both) reduced dependency. The more that solutions can be designed locally, using local resources (in addition to outside resources rather than simply instead of them, for these outside resources may remain available as a back-up solution should local systems break down or prove insufficient), the less vulnerable any local system will be to outside shocks — such as a sudden increase in energy prices, a breakdown of supplies, or an economic crisis that placed basic items out of reach of the poorest. And the more these solutions are diverse, the better the local system will be equipped to deal with contingencies, unpredictable by definition in the form that they will take, but that nevertheless we can predict with assurance shall happen. - Fifth, finally, the motivations and interests of food sovereignty are closely aligned with those of agroecology. As a contribution to the science of agronomics, agroecology aims to reduce the use of external fossil-based inputs, to recycle waste, and to combine different elements of nature in the process of production in order to maximize synergies between them. But agroecology is more than a range of agronomic techniques that present some of these characteristics. It is both a certain way of thinking of our relationship to Nature, and it is growing as a social movement.
risks that countries take when they depend on imports for their food, as global markets undergo regular shocks and prices regularly spike. Resilience requires diversity, including a diversity of markets; uniformity breeds the exact opposite. These debates have dominated the past twenty years, and they are still very much alive. No clear winner has emerged yet. The battle for food sovereignty still must be fought, in the streets, in the fields, and in pages of The Guardian or of the New York Times — all spaces that must be occupied and recaptured. But a generation has passed, and the problems facing the food systems have grown bigger. Food sovereignty today is much more than it was: it is invoked by food policy councils in North America, from Toronto to Oakland; it is the rallying cry behind the growth of farmers’ markets and community-supported agriculture; it is a slogan heard in food banks that seek to reconnect people to their local farmers and to the food systems they depend on more broadly, such as The Stop in Toronto; it is referred to by The truly green revolution Agroecology is the truly green revolution we need those who want to produce their own food, through vegetable gardens in their urban neighborhoods or for this century. It invites us to embrace the complexity of Nature: it sees such complexity not as a liabilin the schools to which they send their children. ity, but as an asset. The farmer, in this view, is a discoverer: he or she proceeds experimentally, by trial Unambiguous food sovereignty This represents a remarkably diverse set of ini- and error, observing what consequences follow from tiatives, and it may be tempting to conclude that the which combinations, and learning from what works key advantage of food sovereignty is in its ambigu- best —even though the ultimate « scientific » explaity, allowing different experiments to unite behind nation may remain elusive. This is empowering: the it, and gradually contribute to filling out its meaning. farmer is in the driver's seat, where she constructs Though there is much truth in this view, this should the knowledge that works best in the local context in not blind us to the fact that there exists a deep under- which she operates. In contrast, so-called « modern lying convergence behind these various attempts to » agriculture, which is in fact twentieth-century agritransform food sovereignty from slogan into action. culture, did the exact opposite: it sought to simplify Second-generation food sovereignty seems to pres- Nature. What to do on the field was defined by whatever was prescribed by « science » developed in laboent five key characteristics: - First, it seeks to build bridges between urban ratories. The path from research to practice was uniconsumers and local farmers, by inventing differ- directional, and it was seen as unproblematic: since ent ways to rebuild local food systems. This is in solutions were based on science, they were considpart a change in strategy: The frontline was the ered universally applicable. The experiential knowlWorld Trade Organization ministerial summits in edge of the farmer was irrelevant at best; at worst, it Seattle or Hong Kong, but it is now the local school was treated as « prejudice », and as an obstacle to the board, the company’s canteen, or the local farm- top-down implementation of sound scientific preers’ market. Alliances are being built at local lev- scriptions from « experts ». In this view from twentieth century science, the el between citizens, farmers, and municipalities. Food sovereignty was accused of placing the inter- complexity of Nature is a problem: simplify it if you ests of farmers above those of urban consumers: can, and never mind if this means robbing from the by some magic, it is now the urban middle-class, farmer her developing artistry, and transforming often joining forces with low-income communi- that art into the literacy of reading instructions for ties claiming more food justice, who are the most use on the spray bottles and on the seed bags. As a social movement, agroecology encouragdynamic part of the movement. - Second, these various innovations that form es peer-to-peer exchanges of information between food sovereignty today are democratizing: People farmers. It prioritizes local solutions relying on lowere passive consumers, responsible ones at best, cal resources. And it transforms the relationship bethey’ve now become active citizens, seeking to re- tween the farmer and the « expert » from the departclaim control over their food systems and to exercise ment of agriculture or from the international agency, their right to choose. It is not simply that the act of not in order to reverse it and to replace one hierarchy consuming has become political. It is more than that: with another, but in order to move towards the copeople seek to co-design food systems, to participate construction of knowledge, as most clearly illustratin shaping them, to recapture them. We were famil- ed by participatory plant breeding. iar with the slogan of workplace democracy; we must Making the links now open up our eyes to food democracy. The links between food sovereignty, transition - Third, the social innovations that form the food sovereignty movement seek to strengthen so- initiatives and agroecology are not circumstantial, or cial links. As Polanyi has remarked in his “Notes of a question of tactical alliances. They are based on a a Week’s Study of the Early Writings of Karl Marx”, shared diagnosis and on a similar impatience with the ascendancy of the market economy has had the the system we inherit. The mainstream food system, effect of corroding human relations: just like use- they note, is corporate-led, energy-thirsty, and so ful goods have been objectified into commodities obsessed with « low-cost » that it treats as externaliand human needs transformed into demand, «the ties--as costs to be borne by the whole of society--the personal relationship of individuals co-operating ill-health, rural depopulation and ecological damwith one another» has been degraded into « the im- age it is associated with. The time for alternatives to personal exchange-value of the goods produced by develop has come. Alternative food systems should them». The penetration of market relationships in allow people to democratize, to relocalize, and to be all spheres of life thus has impoverished human re- guided in our search less by the imperative of effilations: people are individualized and less and less ciency demanded by the markets, and more by the socialized, they are assigned roles as producers and quest for ownership that citizens demand. There is considerable resistance to be expected. as consumers, as buyers and as sellers, and they Vested interests, neo-Malthusian anxieties, sunk communicate through prices. When people establish a food policy council, costs, growth-obsessed macroeconomics, a certain however, when they create a community garden, or idea of « progress » or or « modernization », shoppers’ when they join forces to convince the school board to routines and gendered division of roles — these are buy local and organic, they move away from the roles all major obstacles to change. But the conventional food system is not made preassigned to them by the division of labor within society: they redefine their social identities, acting as of one piece only, and it can be transformed brick by brick. Alternatives can emerge bottom up, as citizens to reshape their environment. This not only allows them to escape the sense of social innovations conceived as experiments, indisempowerment that we experience in our roles as creasing pressure for reform. That, ultimately--the voters and consumers, as we realize that casting a broadening of political imagination--is what food ballot or buying responsibly has hardly allowed us democracy is about.
Bad capitalism and Good capitalism
E
very country follows some kind of economic system to grow its economy. In a communist country, the state owns and controls the means of production, sets most prices and wages, and often cares little about what goods consumers want. Usually, this is not the case in democratic countries where some attributes of capitalism characterize their economies. An economy is said to be capitalistic when most or at least a substantial proportion of its means of production are in private hands, rather than being owned and operated by the government. Of course, no economy is completely capitalistic. There are always certain socialist features even in a capitalist economy and that’s how it should be. For that matter, a mix of the different types of capitalism (see below) is always found in every capitalist economy. But whatever form of capitalism a country may adopt, it will have a profound implication and effect on its growth performance. For our purpose of understanding the various forms of capitalism, we will classify the economies of the different capitalist countries in four categories: State-Guided Capitalism: Ina state-guided capitalist system, it is the government, not the private sector, which directs economic traffic for growth and regulates the market through tariffs, quotas, and taxes. Moreover, the government decides which particular industries to support and even which individual firms to grow. Such state-intrusive system is attractive to politicians and bureaucrats alike not only because their power is elevated when they seem to be “running” the economy, but also because their permission is required to launch and conduct businesses. The state-guided approach may be a key to jump-starting growth in less developed countries in the initial stages because people in such places lack access to technology or are possibly ignorant about growing the economy, but to conclude that indefinite continuation of the same approach will yield the most benefits all the time is a mistake. India, for example, has been a state-guided capitalist economy for a long time. But since 1991, it has become more open to embrace market-driven, entrepreneurial capitalism, especially in computer software, data-processing, and call-center businesses. Oligarchic Capitalism: This form of capitalism occurs when powerful politicians and their wealthy friends use the agency of government to promote their own selfish interests rather than the interests of the common people, thus leading to unfair distribution of a country’s resources. In other words, the primary goal of an oligarchic capitalistic government is to enhance the power and wealth of the few individuals and their family members. Consequently, extreme income inequality and sluggish economic growth are the results seen in oligarchic capitalistic economies. Unfortunately, oligarchic capitalism is prevalent in many parts of Africa, in most of the Middle East countries, and in a number of states in Latin America. And now, Russia can be added to that list since most of the formerly state-owned firms are now privately owned by a few powerful individuals, including President Vladimir Putin whose net worth is estimated to be $70 billion, according to Forbes’ 2014 billionaires list. Corporatist Capitalism: The economies of most of Europe and Japan are heavily depended upon and directed by large firms or corporations. Here are a some big names: Robert Bosch GmbH in Germany, Ineos Group in Switzerland, E. Leclerc SA in France, Mercedona SA in Spain, Frere-Bourgeouis in Belgium, Eni in Italy, Statiol in Norway, Arcelor Mittal in Luxembourg, Maersk in Denmark, Nokia in Finland, Volvo in Sweden, OMV in Austria, Toyota and Honda in Japan, to name a few. All these big firms were started by entrepreneurs but after a few years of business growth they moved away from their entrepreneurial roots to something very different: corporatist capitalism, one that focuses on not only preserving large firms, but also actively promoting them. As a result, these big firms have been able to dominate the markets to the extent that new entrants and small businesses are often unable to do well. That’s not all, most governments in Europe and Japan have stood behind their big companies by extending subsidies, tax cuts, or loans as well as protecting them from other competitors through tariff barriers. This isn’t to say that all these countries are totally dominated by big firms, because in fact each of them also hosts many small entrepreneurs. However, the entrepreneurs in big firms live at the peripheries and do not significantly influence their economies. Entrepreneurial Capitalism: Most people in the United States dislike big firms that try to keep competition out. That was why they have antitrust legislations such as the Sherman Act 1890, the Clayton Act 1914, and the Federal Commission Act 1914, which are designed to prohibit market monopoly, protect small businesses, and promote consumers’ welfare. The economy of the United States is mostly powered by small businesses and entrepreneurs who are constantly bringing in innovative ideas and new products into the market. This is not a surprise considering the fact that Americans have always had a mindset of innovative entrepreneurship and this culture has been passed down from generation to generation. Often entrepreneurs’ visions are jump-started by venture capitalists, thereby translating radical ideas into new/better products or new/better services that can be sold to large numbers of people. This constant search for “the next-big thing” keeps the economy from stagnation. Other countries have been witnessing these remarkable American experiments and learning from them. For example, countries like England, Israel, and Ireland have already started transitioning from state-guided capitalism to entrepreneurial capitalism and have begun to experience more economic growth as a result. Even China, formerly a state-controlled socialist economy, has developed a new form of semi-state-guided entrepreneurship that has helped make its economy the world’s fastest growing in the last two decades. Now, what’s the Nagas’ choice of method to grow economy? On surface, we Nagas simply copy what Delhi does, which is putting on a practice of state-guided capitalism. But in reality, our economic system is characterized by oligarchic capitalism. We see that the bulk of power and wealth in Nagaland is increasingly being held by the ruling autocrats and those within their family circles. As a result, we have the powerful misusing entrusted power and the rich getting richer at the expense of the wider public. As an underdeveloped society, our Naga people still need the guidance of the state to grow our economy. But our public leaders, just like parents raise their children, must provide proper guidance to everyone under their watch so that we can all be better off economically. And, as we gain more market experiences and become more empowered, we will be able to smoothly transition into entrepreneurial capitalism, which is, I believe, the best path to growth and prosperity.
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.
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Dimapur
NATIONAL
Thursday 26 March 2015
Vajpayee to be conferred Bharat Ratna on Friday New Delhi, March 25 (iaNS): President Pranab Mukherjee will present the Bharat Ratna to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at his residence here on Friday, Rashtrapati Bhavan said on Wednesday. The president will also confer the Bharat Ratna on Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya (posthumously) on March 30 at Rashtrapati Bhavan along with the Civil Investiture Ceremony for the Padma Awards, a statement said. The honour for Gwalior-born Vajpayee, who was prime minister first in 1996 and then again from 1998 to 2004, came after years of demands from all sections of society, including political leaders irrespective of party affiliations. Vajpayee will be the seventh prime minister to receive the award, after Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Morarji Desai, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Gulzarilal Nanda. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his Lok Sabha campaign, had promised Bharat Ratna for late freedom fighter-educationist Malaviya, who was also founder of the Banaras Hindu University.
Manmohan moves SC against summons in coal block case New Delhi, March 25 (iaNS): Former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court challenging the summons issued to him by a special court over the allocation of Talabira II coal block in Odisha to Kumar Mangalam Birla-owned Hindalco in 2005. The matter is likely to be mentioned for an early hearing on Thursday. Special Court Judge Bharat Parashar, who is holding trial of cases rooted in coal block allocation scam, on March 11 summoned Manmohan Singh as an accused for allocating the coal block to Hindalco. Besides the former prime minister, the Special Court also summoned Birla and the former coal secretary P.C. Parakh. The three were summoned for offences of criminal conspiracy, breach of trust, and under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act
Modi to take eight days foreign tour in April New Delhi, March 25 (PTi): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on an eight-day tour of France, Germany and Canada on 9 April with a focus on attracting investment and enhancing overall cooperation with the three countries. Modi will first travel to France on 9 April and from there he will leave for Germany on 12 April. On the third and final leg of the tour, he will visit Canada from 14-16 April. Modi's visit will focus on investments and technology sharing with these three countries, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said.
MP governor's son found dead in Lucknow luckNow, March 25 (iaNS): Shailesh Yadav, son of Madhya Pradesh Governor Ram Naresh Yadav, was on Wednesday found dead under mysterious circumstances at his house here in the Uttar Pradesh capital, police said. While family sources said Shailesh Yadav died due to brain haemorrhage, police officials taking up investigation into the death told IANS that an autopsy would be conducted to ascertain the cause. Shailesh Yadav, sources said, was evading notice from the Special Investigation Team (SIT) which is probing the Vyapam scam. He was charged with taking bribe from 10 applicants appearing for the contractual teachers' examination in Madhya Pradesh. The sources also said properties of Shailesh Yadav were on the verge of being attached by investigating agencies.
India asks its citizens to leave Yemen immediately New Delhi, March 25 (PTi): Southern People's Resistance militants loyal to Yemen's President AbdRabbu Mansour Hadi move a tank from the al-Anad air base in the country's southern province of Lahej. India today asked all its nationals to leave Yemen immediately given the "fragile" security situation in the conflict-hit country. "We are urging and advising our nationals to leave the country immediately through available commercial means," Spokesperson in the External Affairs Ministry said. While noting that it was the third such advisory by the government, he hoped that the Indians, most of whom are nurses in Yemen, will understand the "seriousness" of the situation and will return. He added that the government was working with the nurses for their return while putting number of Indians in Yemen at 3,000-3,500 who are living in various provinces including Sana'a. The Indian Embassy in Sana'a had set up helplines to assist the Indians.
Kerala Tourism wins national award for website content New Delhi/ThiruvaNaNThaPuraM, March 25 (iaNS): Kerala Tourism was on Wednesday conferred the national Web Ratna Award for 2014 for exemplary e-governance initiative through the internet. The Kerala Tourism website (www.keralatourism.org) won the Golden Icon award in the 'Outstanding Content' category of the Web Ratna Awards, instituted by the Union government under the ambit of the National Portal of India. Kerala Tourism secretary G.Kamala Vardhana Rao received the award from Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad in Delhi. The Kerala Tourism website, designed and maintained by Invis Multimedia, is among the top tourism portals in the world. The Web Ratna Awards honour exemplary e-governance initiatives using the medium of the world wide web. The winners were chosen by a jury comprising experts from academia, industry and government. Launched in 1998, the Kerala Tourism website today receives around 4.2 million visits and 14 million page views annually. Rich with text and photographs of high quality, the website is currently available in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Arabic and Chinese, besides 10 Indian languages including Hindi and Malayalam.
The Morung Express
India, Qatar ink 6 pacts, discuss energy during emir's visit
New Delhi, March 25 (iaNS): India and Qatar inked six agreements, including on transfer of sentenced prisoners, as visiting Emir of Qatar Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on energy, investment and people-topeople ties on Wednesday. The emir, who is here on a two-day visit, was accorded a ceremonial reception in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan in the morning. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on him, after which he held talks with Modi at Hyderabad House. Besides bilateral ties, the discussion between the two sides also focused on the latest developments in the Middle East region. Qatar, the largest source of India's LNG imports at 86 percent, is keen on boost-
ing energy ties. Bilateral trade stands at $16 billion, heavily weighted in favour of Qatar due to the LNG imports. Qatar has expressed interest in Modi's 'Make in India' initiative. India is also seeking to invest in major infrastructure projects in the Gulf country which is hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2022. The six agreements, besides transfer of sentenced prisoners, were: an MoU for cooperation in information and communication technology, an MoU between the ministry of earth sciences and Qatar Meteorological Department for scientific and technical cooperation, an MoU between the Diplomatic Institute of the ministry of foreign affairs of Qatar and the Foreign Service Institute of India's external affairs ministry, an MoU for cooperation in the field
of radio and television and an agreement for mutual cooperation and exchange of news. External affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin tweeted: "India-Qatar discuss energy, investment & people to people ties. 6 agreements signed." Under the agreement on transfer of sentenced prisoners, Indian prisoners convicted in Qatar can be brought to India to serve the remaining part of their sentence. Similarly, Qatari citizens convicted in India can be sent to their home country to serve their sentence. This agreement would enable the sentenced people to be near their families and would help in their social rehabilitation, said an official statement. The emir is accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising min-
Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, left, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, pose for a photograph in New Delhi on Wednesday, March 25. Qatar’s Emir arrived Tuesday on a two-day state visit to India. (AP Photo)
isters, senior officials and captains of industry. He arrived here on Tuesday night from Colombo. He was earlier in Islamabad. The former emir,
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, had visited India thrice -- in 1999, 2005 and 2012. India's then prime minister Manmohan Singh had visited Qatar in No-
vember 2008. Around 600,000 Indian nationals work in Qatar, comprising the largest expatriate community in the country.
Left parties join hands to fight 28 more succumb to swine flu; "corporate-communal" threat Number of cases at 32,995 PuDucherry, March 25 (PTi): Left parties today decided to resist the "corporate-communal offensive" of the BJPRSS combine by joining hands to unleash united mass movements and campaigns across the country in the coming days. Top leaders of CPI(M), CPIML (Liberation), RSP, Forward Bloc and SUCI(Communist) gave the call for strengthening Left unity at the 22nd CPI Party Congress which began here. "There is no need to explain to the Communists about the menace posed by this neo-liberal-communal agenda. ... Only the Left can provide the core of the resistance to the neoliberal onslaught and develop it into a mass movement. ... It is our historic responsibility to translate this vision into practice," CPI(M) General secretary Prakash Karat said. "Such is the enormity and the magnitude of the rightwing threat that it calls for an inspired
and united response from all those on the Left," he said, adding only a strong independent Left could there be "a realignment of forces favourable for a real alternative." Acknowledging that the Left has become weak which has disappointed the people, CPI General Secretary S Sudhakar Reddy said "the rightist takeover has given a new challenge and opportunity to the Left to expose their game plan and mobilise the people to fight them back. It is a difficult task but only the Left can do it." His CPI-ML counterpart, Dipankar Bhattacharya, said the Left would have to "confront the corporate-communal offensive
spearheaded by the Modi government." "We realise that the rise of BJP reflects a major political churning and a growing vacuum resulting from the people's anger against most established parties of the ruling classes - the Congress as well as the increasingly discredited regional parties. "The most credible answer to the rise of the BJP will therefore have to come from a resurgent Left ready to learn from its own mistakes and restore the primacy of people's movement as the unshakable foundation of Left politics," Bhattacharya said. Karat also stressed the need for forging greater coordination between the Left-led class and mass organizations working among different sections of the people. Among others who spoke at the inaugural session were Forward Bloc's Debabrata Biswas and top leaders of RSP (Abani Roy) and SUCI(Communist) Provash Ghosh.
New Delhi, March 25 (PTi): Swine flu claimed 28 more lives as the toll inched towards the 2,000mark while the number of persons affected by the H1N1 virus across the country touched almost 33,000. Data collated by the Union Health Ministry said that as as on March 24, 1,975 persons have perished to the contagious disease while the number of people affected across various states now stands at 32,995. In Gujarat, which is one of the worst-affected states, the swine flu toll has climbed to 417 while the number of affected persons was 6,442. The desert state of Rajasthan has witnessed 408 deaths while 6,490 persons have been affected by the disease. The casualty figure in Maharashtra stands at 368 and the state has seen 4,273 people having contracted the H1N1 virus while there have been 291 swine flu deaths in Madhya Pradesh with 2,140 persons being affected.
Uttarakhand has registered 12 casualties while in Punjab, the disease has claimed 53 lives. The toll in West Bengal has risen to to 24 while one more death took has taken the toll to 37 in Uttar Pradesh. While the death of another person has taken the death toll in Jammu to five, 13 persons have died in Kashmir taking the overall toll in Jammu and Kashmir to 18. In Delhi, the toll has risen to 12 with the number of affected persons at 4,183. In Kerala, the death toll has reached 12 while 16 people have died in Tamil Nadu where a fresh casualty was reported. Andhra Pradesh has seen 22 swine flu fatalities while 20 people have died in Himachal Pradesh. Haryana has witnessed 49 swine flu deaths with the death toll in Chhattisgarh has increased to 22. Yesterday, the Health Ministry had said that as on March 23, the disease has killed 1,947 people while 32,663 persons have been affected by it.
Naval plane crashes near Goa, two missing PaNaji, March 25 (iaNS): A Dornier surveillance aircraft of the Indian Navy with three personnel on board crashed into the Arabian Sea off the coast of Goa on Tuesday night. While one navy officer has been rescued, two - including a woman officer whose husband is also in the navy - are still missing, officials said on Wednesday. The aircraft was from the 301 Naval Air Squadron based at INS Hansa near Dabolim in Goa. It was on a training sortie and communication was lost at 10.02 p.m. on Tuesday, after which the aircraft "ditched" in the sea, an officer said. "Commander Nikhil Joshi has been rescued by fishermen in the area. Search is on for the pilot and the observer. We have pressed six naval ships and four aircraft to rescue them," the officer said. A board of inquiry has been ordered to probe the crash. Navy chief Admiral Robin Dhowan rushed to Goa from New Delhi on Wednesday morning and met the families of the aircrew, officials said. Nine ships, including INS Satpura, INS Betwa, INS Subhadra, INS Koruva, INS Kondul, INS Makar, INS Matanga and ICGS Amal, are in the area on a search and rescue operation In this Tuesday, February 24, 2015 photo, boilers are seen installed at the under- construction coal-fired power plant, along with a few naval aircraft, sources in Delhi said. partially financed by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, in Kudgi, India. Despite mounting protests, Japan "The last known position was 25 nautical miles south-southcontinues to finance the building of coal-fired power plants with money earmarked for fighting climate change, with west off Goa," an official said. two new projects underway in India and Bangladesh, The Associated Press has found. (AP File Photo)
Mumbai homeopath develops drug from TB germs for MDR patients New Delhi, March 25 (iaNS): In a pathbreaking research, a world-renowned homeopath has, along with the Mumbai-based Haffkine Institute, developed a new drug from TB germs for the patients of the dreaded infectious disease. Dr Rajesh Shah, secretary of Global Homeopathy Foundation, has teamed up with famous virologist Abhay Chowdhury, director of Haffkine Institute, to develop the homeopathic drug that is likely to add value to the treatment of tuberculosis, including Multi-Drug Resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB) patients. Haffkine Institute, one of the oldest biomedical research institutes in the
country, was established in 1899 and named after Dr. Waldemar Mordecai Haffkine, the scientist who invented the plague vaccine. Since then, Haffkine Institute has emerged as a multi-disciplinary institute engaged in training, research and testing of various aspects of infectious diseases. "The new method developed by our team is modern and scientific," said Shah, who is a researcher and a homeopath treating patients from 180 countries. The new medicine is sourced from current strains of tuberculosis, including the MDR-TB. Medicines prepared from deadly germs can help treat many diseases and the method has been
followed for years in developing vaccines. This is the first time that the germbased drug has been made applicable to TB and it is safe for human consumption, Shah said. Homeopathic medicines prepared from many organisms, including the bacteria and virus responsible for diphtheria, smallpox, measles, and the like, are in practice long before the vaccines came into existence. Such homeopathic medicines are called Nosodes. Interestingly, the medicines prepared from such organisms are safe to use and they are often used for conditions other than the original disease they are sourced from. For example, the medicine prepared
from gonorrhea bacteria is often a great remedy for some varieties of asthma. "The new nosode prepared from the current strains of tuberculosis organisms is useful for improving the immune system of the patients who may be prone to frequent respiratory infections," said Shah. "It will support the conventional treatment of tuberculosis and can be used along with the allopathic medicines," he said and quoted a study by the Central Council of Homeopathy Research (CCRH) that demonstrated that homeopathy and allopathic medicines used together produced better results than stand-alone method in tuberculosis cases. Shah will present his re-
search paper at the two-day World Homeopathy Summit organised by the Global Homeopathy Foundation from April 11 in Mumbai. Shah said homeopaths and conventional doctors from across 25 countries would participate in the event. Contrary to the perception that homeopathy slows down treatment of diseases, he said the stream has proved to be extremely beneficial for several health problems. Allaying fears that homeopathy and allopathic medicines could not be taken together, Shah said: "Homeopathy and allopathy are like twin sisters in healthcare." "These are two ways of treating patients. They are actually complemen-
tary to each other and not contrary or competitive to each other. Some diseases are treated more effectively with allopathy while some are treated better using homeopathy," said Shah, who figures in the Limca Book of Records for treating patients from the largest number of countries. Many recurring and chronic diseases such as asthma, migraine, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, neuralgias, osteoarthritis, diabetic neuropathy, anxiety neurosis, and eczema call for combination of both allopathic and homeopathic medicines, he said and added that, in fact, it is a patient’s right to ask for integration of both the medicines, if required.
InternatIonal
the Morung express
Thursday 26 March 2015
Dimapur
9
Investigators search mountains after Airbus crash Tearful German town mourns loss of 16 teens
A student who knew some of the German students involved in a crashed plane, reacts during a minute of silence in front of the council building in Llinars del Valles, near Barcelona, Spain on Wednesday, March 25. Sixteen 10thgrade students from a town in western Germany and two of their teachers had just spent a week on an exchange near Barcelona and were less than an hour from landing when their Germanwings flight crashed in southern France. Officials confirmed Tuesday they were among the 150 people who died in the crash, including what are believed to be 67 Germans, many Spaniards and one person from the Netherlands. (AP Photo)
SEYNE-LES-ALPES, MARCH 25 (REutERS): Lufthansa said on Wednesday it could not explain why its Germanwings Airbus had crashed into an Alpine ravine killing all 150 on board as investigators tried to discover what had caused the first major air disaster in France in 15 years. Investigators said the remoteness of the crash site meant it could be days before a clear picture emerged of Tuesday’s tragedy. However they said the fact that debris was restricted to a small area showed the A320 was not likely to have exploded in mid-air, suggesting a terrorist attack was not to blame.
“It is inexplicable this could happen to a plane free of technical problems and with an experienced, Lufthansa-trained pilot,” Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr told reporters in Frankfurt. Lufthansa said the 24-yearold plane had on Monday had repairs to the hatch through which the nose wheel descends for landing. A spokeswoman said that was not a safety issue but that repairs had been done to reduce noise. Police and forensic teams on foot and in helicopters investigated the site about 100 km (65 miles) north of Nice where the airliner came down en route to Duesseldorf from Barcelona.
“When we go to a crash site we expect to find part of the fuselage. But here we see nothing at all,” said pilot Xavier Roy, coordinating air operations. Roy said teams of investigators had been dropped by helicopter onto the site and were working roped together at altitudes of around 2,000 meters (6,000 feet). It would take at least a week to recover all the remains of the victims, he said. No distress call was received before the crash, but French authorities said one of the two “black box” flight recorders, the cockpit voice recorder, had been recovered, albeit in need of repair.
HALtERN, MARCH 25 (AP): Lara Beer waited at the train station, looking forward to seeing her best friend returning from a 10th-grade exchange trip to Spain. The 14-yr-old said the train came in Tuesday afternoon, but her friend Paula wasn’t on it. “I just went back home,” Beer told The Associated Press on Wednesday, wiping tears from beneath her redframed glasses. “Then my parents told me Paula was dead.” Beer’s friend was one of 16 students and 2 teachers from the main high school in the western German town of Haltern who were killed when Germanwings Flight 9525 from Barcelona to Duesseldorf crashed Tuesday in France. A total of 67 Germans, many Spaniards, and people from Australia, Japan, Israel, Turkey, Denmark and the Netherlands are believed to be among the 150 on board who died. The crash has sent shockwaves through Haltern, a rural town 80 kms northeast of Duesseldorf where it seems everyone knew someone who died. “We are a town of 38,000,” Mayor Bodo Klimpel said on ARD television. “It’s only natural that you know some people personally.”
“The black box has been damaged. We will have to put it back together in the next few hours to be able to get to the bottom of this tragedy,” Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told RTL radio. In all, 72 Germans were killed in the crash, the first major air passenger disaster on French soil since the 2000 Concorde accident just outside Paris. Spanish officials said 49 Spaniards were among the victims. French President Francois Hollande was being joined by Germany’s Angela Merkel and Spain’s Mariano Rajoy to pay their respects to the victims and to meet search teams
at their base in the nearby village of Seyne-les-Alpes later on Wednesday. Other victims included an American, a Moroccan and citizens of Britain, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Israel, Japan, Mexico and the Netherlands, French officials said. However DNA checks to identify them could take weeks. FLIGHTS CANCELED Germanwings said it canceled one flight on Wednesday and was using 11 planes from other carriers for about 40 flights after some of its crew members had refused to fly. Employees laid candles and flowers by Germanwings head-
‘Air strikes kill 30 militants Turkish cartoonists sentenced for allied with Pakistani Taliban’ ‘insulting’ Erdogan DERA ISMAIL KHAN, MARCH 25 (REutERS): Pakistani jet fighters killed 30 militants allied to the Pakistani Taliban in a missile attack in the mountainous northwestern Khyber region on Wednesday, including the group’s spokesman, intelligence officials said. The air force has been pounding positions in the Tirah Valley for days and the military says it has killed scores. At least seven soldiers have also been killed. The 30 killed in Wednesday’s attack in the Sipah district were from the Lashkar-e-Islam, which announced an alliance with the Taliban earlier this month, the intelligence officials said. The casualties included group spokesman Salahuddin Ayubi, the officials said. Members of the group said they could neither confirm nor deny the intelligence officials’ version of events and said they were checking. A US drone strike killed 11 Pakistani Taliban militants in Kunar in northeastern Afghanistan, intelligence officials said on Wednesday, hours after a strike killed at least nine militants in the same area. They said six or seven senior Taliban commanders had been killed, a claim the Taliban denied. “I am sitting here in Kunar along with several other people but our fighters and commanders haven’t been killed in a drone strike,” Ehsanullah Ehsan, spokesman for the Taliban faction, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan Jamaatul Ahrar, told Reuters. The Pakistani and Afghan Taliban share a similar jihadist ideology but operate as separate entities. No one tracks drone strikes in Afghanistan - many of them take place in remote regions and are not reported - but Taliban commanders say that fighters there have been increasingly targeted since late last year. The strikes come amid warming relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, traditionally hostile neighbours who each accuse the other of harbouring insurgents to act as proxy forces. Relations improved after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was elected last year. Pakistan says it is supporting potential peace talks between the Afghan government and Afghan Taliban.
ANKARA, MARCH 25 (AP): A Turkish satirical magazine says a court sentenced two of its cartoonists to 11 months in prison for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and later commuted the sentence to a fine. The Penguen weekly said Wednesday cartoonists Bahadir Baruter and
Ozer Aydogan were each ordered to pay 7,000 Turkish Lira ($2,700). The two are the latest to be prosecuted for alleged insults to Erdogan as Turkey cracks down on freedom of expression and silences critical voices. They were on trial for a cartoon published in Au-
gust depicting newly elected Erdogan arriving at his palace and criticizing aides for not slaughtering journalists at the inauguration. The court deemed that an aide in the cartoon was drawn making an obscene Turkish hand gesture and considered it an insult to Erdogan.
Over 100 Christians arrested for lynching 2 in Pakistan LAHoRE, MARCH 25 (PtI): Over 100 Christians have been arrested for allegedly being part of a mob that lynched two men after Taliban suicide attacks on two churches in Pakistan’s biggest Christian colony that killed 17 people. Confirming the arrests, a senior investigation officer said that more than 100 Christian protesters were arrested. They are currently being investigated by the police to determine their role in the protests. “We first established identity of the suspects through TV footages, still cameras and other relevant sources before laying hand on them,” he said. The usual Sunday mass was underway on March 15 at the Christ Church and Catholic Church of Youhanabad Christian Colony that houses over 100,000 Christians, when two suicide bombers reached there and tried to break in.
Joseph Koenig High School principal Ulrich Wessel said the loss of 16 of his students and two teachers, one who had just married and one who was just about to be, was a “tragedy that renders one speechless.” “I was asked yesterday how many students there are at the high school in Haltern, and I said 1,283 without thinking, then had to say afterward, unfortunately 16 fewer since yesterday,” he said. “That’s just terrible.” Classes were canceled Wednesday but students were encouraged to come to the high school anyway, to be with classmates and talk with psychologists and other counselors. Police erected barriers to keep cameras away from the children as they hugged and wept at a makeshift memorial of candles and flowers at the entrance to the building. “We’re here to help on a difficult day so that the people here in Haltern have the chance to mourn,” police spokeswoman Inge Such said. Still, when Stefanie Gabler tried to take her daughter Milena to the memorial so she could add two candles and a hand-drawn painting by the five-year-old, she said they were mobbed by TV cameras.
When the guards stopped them from entering the churches they blew themselves up at the gates. After the blasts the police had taken 2 suspects into custody from the site and shifted them to a vehicle when a group of charged youngsters got hold of them. The enraged mob started thrashing the 2 suspects and after beating them severely, the mob tied them with a rope and set them on fire. Their charred remains were later found at the site. Later, the suspects’ identity was established as both worked in different shops in Yauhanabad and had no criminal record. Tahreek-i-Taliban Pakistan splinter group Jamat-ul-Ahrar has claimed responsibility for the attack. The same group had claimed responsibility of a suicide attack in Wagah border in September last year in which 60 people were killed.
“They were coming from all sides. I even tried to sneak in through the back entrance but police wouldn’t let me,” she said. The mother of four said she and her family had talked about the accident, and wanted to pay tribute to the students who had died. She planned to return later to add the items to the memorial. At the scene, a hand-painted sign on an outdoor pingpong table read: “Yesterday we were many; today we are alone,” with 16 white crosses painted underneath. Beer was among a group from a neighboring school who came to be with the Joseph Koenig students to offer their support. “We’re all talking with each other; the atmosphere is indescribable,” she said. “You just can’t believe that your own friend is gone.” In Llinars del Valles, the small Spanish town northeast of Barcelona where the German students had just finished their weeklong exchange program, a steady stream of students filed in to a memorial service at the Institut Giola school. “This has been a big blow,” said 18-year-old Geronimo Gonzalez. “It’s tough to talk to the other kids, because there’s no going back.”
quarters at Cologne/Bonn airport, while Lufthansa and Germanwings staff worldwide held a moment of silence at 10:53 a.m. local (0953 GMT) – the moment the plane went missing. Among the victims were 16 teenagers and two teachers from the Joseph-Koenig-Gymnasium high school in the town of Haltern am See in northwest Germany. They were on their way home after a Spanish exchange visit near Barcelona. Barcelona’s Liceu opera house said two singers, Kazakhstan-born Oleg Bryjak and German Maria Radner, died while returning to Duesseldorf after performing in Wagner’s Siegfried.
Germanwings said on Tuesday the plane started descending a minute after reaching cruising height and lost altitude for eight minutes. Experts said that while the Airbus had descended rapidly, it did not seem to have simply fallen out of the sky. The A320 is one of the world’s most used passenger jets and has a good safety record. At 24 years old, the plane was older than many other planes at Lufthansa, where the average age of its fleet is 11.5 years. The plane was delivered to Lufthansa in 1991 and had clocked up around 58,000 flight hours over the course of over 46,000 flights, Airbus said.
China rejects calls for release of women’s rights activists BEIJING, MARCH 25 (AP): China on Wednesday rejected growing international calls for the release of five women’s rights activists and accused critics of violating the country’s judicial sovereignty by appealing for the women’s freedom. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying defended China’s legal system but said she had no specific details about the women’s cases. “No one has the right to ask China to release relevant persons, so we hope that relevant people will stop interfering in China’s judicial sovereignty in such a manner,” Hua told reporters at a regularly scheduled news briefing. The five have been held in a Beijing detention center for almost three weeks, accused of creating a disturbance by planning to display posters raising awareness of sexual harassment to mark International Women’s Day on March 8. Beijing police on Wednesday said they had no information about the cases. If convicted, Wei Tingting, Li Tingting, Wang Man, Zheng Churan and Wu Rongrong could be sentenced to up to three years in prison. Five others detained at the same time have since been released. Lawyers for the women say they are being held under harsh conditions, are subject to lengthy interrogations and have been denied access
to legal counsel. The detentions have fed fears that Chinese authorities are clamping down on public speech and dissent. U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power strongly criticized the detentions in a statement Friday. Power said the charge of “creating a disturbance” was a pretext for stifling their attempts to pressing social problems. “If China is committed to advancing the rights of women, then it should be working to address the issues raised by the women’s rights activists, not silencing them,” Power said. The European Union has also called for their release, saying their right to demonstrate peacefully — a right not generally acknowledged in China — had been violated. “We expect the Chinese authorities to release them without delay and to allow them immediate access to legal assistance and to their families,” the EU statement said. Activists on social media have also spearheaded a campaign demanding their release and at least one protest over the issue has been staged outside the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. China’s restrictions on free speech and assembly and allegations of gender discrimination have also been highlighted by rights groups opposed to Beijing’s bid to hold the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.
Yemen’s president flees his house in Aden as rebels advance SANAA, MARCH 25 (AP): Yemen’s embattled president fled his palace in Aden for an undisclosed location Wednesday as Shiite rebels offered cash bounty for his capture and arrested his defense minister. President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi left just hours after the rebels’ own television station said they seized an air base where U.S. troops and Europeans advised the country in its fight against al-Qaida militants. That air base is only 60 kilometers (35 miles) away from Aden, the port city where Hadi had established a temporary capital. The advance of the Shiite rebels, empowered by backing of the ousted Yemeni autocrat Ali Abdullah Saleh’s loyalists, threatens to plunge the Arab world’s poorest country into a civil
war that could draw in its Gulf neighbors. Already, Hadi has asked the United Nations to authorize a foreign military intervention in the country. Witnesses said they saw a convoy of presidential vehicles Wednesday leaving Hadi’s palace, located at the top of a hill in Aden overlooking the Arabian Sea. Presidential officials said Hadi was in an operations room overseeing his forces’ response. They declined to say where that facility was located. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they weren’t authorized to brief journalists. Yemen’s Foreign Minister Riad Yassin told Dubai-based Al-Arabiya TV satellite news network that he officially made a
request to the Arab League on Wednesday to send a military force to intervene against Houthis. Yassin is attending the Arab Summit due to take place in Egypt at the end of the week. Depicting the Houthis as a proxy of Shiite Iran, a rival to Sunni Gulf countries, Yassin warned of Iranian “takeover” of Yemen. The Houthis deny they are backed by Iran. Yemen’s state television broadcaster, controlled by Houthis, made an offer of nearly $100,000 for Hadi’s capture. Officials meanwhile said that the country’s Defense Minister Maj. Gen. Mahmoud al-Subaihi and his top aide were arrested in the southern city of Lahj, where fighting with Houthi forces was ongoing, before they were transferred to Sanaa.
Already, military officials said militias and military units loyal to Hadi had “fragmented,” speeding the rebel advance. They said the rebels were fighting Hadi’s allied forces on five different fronts Wednesday. Mohammed AbdelSalam, a spokesman for the Houthis, said that their forces were not aiming to “occupy” the south. “They will be in Aden in few hours,” Abdel-Salam told the Houthis’ satellite Al-Masirah news channel. Early Wednesday, AlMasirah reported that the Houthis and allied fighters had “secured” the al-Annad air base, the country’s largest. It claimed the base had been looted by both alQaida fighters and troops loyal to Hadi. The reported Houthi takeover of the base took
place after hours-long clashes between rival forces around the base. The U.S. recently evacuated some 100 soldiers, including Special Forces commandos, from the base after al-Qaida briefly seized a nearby city. Britain also evacuated soldiers. The base was crucial in the U.S. drone campaign against al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, which America considers to be the most dangerous branch of the terror group. American and European military advisers there also offered logistical in its fight against the al-Qaida group, which holds territory in eastern Yemen and has claimed directed the recent attack against the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris. U.S. operations against the militants have been scaled back dramatically
amid the chaos in Yemen. U.S. officials have said CIA drone strikes will continue in the country, though there will be fewer of them. The agency’s ability to collect intelligence on the ground in Yemen, while not completely gone, is also much diminished. The takeover of the base is part of the wider offensive led by Houthis and loyalists of Saleh within Yemen’s armed forces. The Houthis, in the aftermath of suicide bombings in Sanaa last week that killed at least 137 people, ordered a general mobilization of its forces. The group’s leader, Abdel-Malik al-Houthi, vowed to send his forces to the south under the context of fighting alQaida and militant groups. The Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, in Septem-
ber and have been advancing south alongside forces loyal to Saleh. On Tuesday, Houthi militias and allied forces fired bullets and tear gas to disperse thousands of protesters in the city of Taiz, known as the gateway to southern Yemen. The Houthis killed six demonstrators and wounded scores more, authorities said. The Houthis also battled militias loyal to Hadi in the city of al-Dhalea adjacent to Taiz, which is Yemen’s third-largest city. The city also is the birthplace of its 2011 Arab Spring-inspired uprising that forced Saleh to hand over power to Hadi in a deal brokered by the U.N. and Gulf countries. Hadi on Tuesday asked the U.N. Security Council to authorize a military intervention “to protect Yemen
and to deter the Houthi aggression expected to occur at any hour from now” against Aden and the rest of the south. In a letter to the council’s president, Hadi said he also has asked members of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab League for immediate help. Saudi Arabia warned that “if the Houthi coup does not end peacefully, we will take the necessary measures for this crisis to protect the region.” Diplomatic missions of Hadi’s Arab Gulf allies, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, have evacuated their diplomatic staff from Aden over the past few days, officials said. They earlier evacuated from Sanaa and relocated to Aden to support Hadi.
The Morung Express 10 SPORTS Warriors clinch division with ‘Education is not only about mastering text books’ 122-108 victory over blazers St. Paul’s Dimapur
Thursday
26 March 2015
Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) shoots against Portland Trail Blazers' Allen Crabbe (23) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore., Tuesday, March 24, 2015. (AP Photo)
PORTLAND, MARch 25 (AP): Stephen Curry had 33 points and 10 assists as the Golden State Warriors pulled away from the short-handed Trail Blazers in the second half for a 122-108 victory Tuesday that clinched the team's first division title in 39 years. Andre Iguodala came off the bench to score 21 points for the Warriors, who won their seventh straight to push their record to and NBA-best 58-13. Golden State hasn't claimed the Pacific Division crown since the 1975-76 season, the year after the team won the NBA championship. With a comfortable lead on secondplace Memphis in the Western Conference, Golden State has dropped just one of its last 12 games. Damian Lillard had 29 points for the Blazers, who have lost five straight following a 1-4 road trip. Oklahoma's NBA scoring leader Russell Westbrook poured in 27 points and added 11 assists, and Enes Kanter contributed 25 points and 16 rebounds for the Thunder's fourth straight victory, 127-117 over the Los Angeles Lakers. Kanter had a double-double in the first quarter with 15 points and 10 rebounds as Oklahoma City raced out to a 37-27 lead. After trailing by 15 at the half, the Lakers closed to 70-61 before Westbrook scored
twice in 15 seconds on his way to 14 third-quarter points. In Dallas, Monta Ellis matched his season high with 38 points as the Mavericks rallied in the second half to defeat the San Antonio Spurs 101-94. Ellis hit 16 of 27 field-goal attempts, bouncing back from his 4-for-22 performance Sunday in a loss at Phoenix. In three games this season against the Spurs, Ellis is averaging 34 points. Kawhi Leonard led the Spurs with 19 points and Danny Green added 17. The Milwaukee Bucks edged the Miami Heat 89-88 to break a six-game losing streak after Khris Middleton hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Bayless missed on a drive down the lane, but Zaza Pachulia tapped the ball back out to Middleton, who buried the winner. He finished with 13. It was a crucial victory for the Bucks, who improved to 3536 to remain in sixth place in the conference, while the Heat fell to 32-38. In other games, Reggie Jackson had 28 points and nine assists, and Andre Drummond added 21 points and 18 rebounds as the Detroit Pistons beat the Toronto Raptors 108104, while DeMarcus Cousins had 33 points and 17 rebounds for Sacramento in the Kings' 107-106 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
annual sports meet underway
DIMAPUR, MARch 25 (MExN): The annual sports meet of St. Paul Higher Secondary School, Dimapur got underway today with much pomp and gaiety at the school campus with Sentiyanger Imchen, IAS, Commissioner, Nagaland as chief guest. Indicating that the present system of education lacks a balanced curriculum where students do not have all round personality development, Imchen said, “Education is not only about mastering the text books to get a good job. Equally important are the values you learn in school, such as honesty, discipline and responsibility which go to make a person a responsible citizen in society.” “We have often neglected this aspect, giving too much importance to academics with the result that we have produced students who have mastered their subjects but are not good citizens, unaware of their social responsibilities. This
Junior section displaying march past.
is one of the primary reasons why we see so much of lawlessness and social evils in present day society,” he added. Imchen also stressed that students must have values such as punctuality, cleanliness, honesty, dignity of labour, courtesy, respect for elders, and discipline. “All these qualities go to make a person into a good citizen who then becomes an asset to society”, he maintained.
Highlighting on the importance of games and sports, Imchen said it should be an integral part of the curriculum because it helps builds many important qualities in students. “We learn team spirit, fair play, to give one’s best and above all the meaning of sportsmanship,” he said. Earlier, Rev. Mother Jessina, Principal of the school, greeting the gathering stressed on the need to be fit both physically and
mentally. Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, she said education means all round development. The four different houses, NCC cadres and junior girls displayed a stunning March Past which was led by Shivani Thapa. Other highlights of the day included drill display by upper primary block, cultural dance presented by students of Ao and Phom community, martial arts demonstration etc.
public discourse
The Guinea pig Struggle for the differently abled amidst mega-corruption
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ho does not know what is guinea pig? Has Nagaland become guinea pig? The AntiDefection Law became effective in Nagaland w.e.f. March, 1985. Nagaland was the first State in India to use this law when one of its MLAs was disqualified in the spring of the same year for crossing the redline. Thus, that MLA became the first victim of Anti-Defection Law in the country and that MLA had gone down to the annals of Legislative history. The similar second came when Indian Parliament has been struggling at snail’s pace with its popularly unpopular proposal of 33% Reservation for esteem Indian women in Parliamentary and Legislative bodies, Nagaland State, in its zeal to please its Naga ladies ahead of the country, brought amendments to Town and Municipal Council Acts in 2006. By this amendment, 33% of seat is reserved for Naga women in Town and Municipal councils. And when the elections for Municipal councils were due, the new Act had to be enforced in letter and spirit. To utter surprise of women in particular, State Govt. decided to postpone those elections indefinitely till today. Possibly, the major reason is that the Govt. got sandwiched between its reservation quota and women. Perhaps, the amended Act is found to be Frankenstein’s movie. The similar third is the invocation of Right To Education (RTE) Act of 2009 by Govt. of Nagaland. After the introduction of RTE, many States invoked it and so Nagaland too. Yet, Nagaland was not ready. See the ground realities. With due respect to those few dedicated teachers, despite of having high paper degrees, particularly our local teachers are found to be subjective teachers. In other words, their sole desire to be teacher is to enjoy salary without teaching children. Most of those teachers who treat their profession as secondary have arranged private substitutes in connivance with Village Education Committees and have been enjoying percentage of the salary. For sure the Govt. is particular about the educational qualification of each teacher inductee, and yet the business of substitution has no stricture. Most of those
substitutes are hardly qualified and cannot be expected to give the requisite inputs apart from filling the gap. Whereas, the Govt. knowing fully allows the haywire to remain at the expense of innocent and pathetic children. That being the ground realities, how Nagaland can do justice to its children under RTE Act? Holistic learning under RTE Act is what is required for quality education. Nevertheless, the policy is perhaps too demanding from the kind of work culture we have been comfortable with. It is a challenge to decision makers that our teachers are yet to be motivated to be serious, to impart true education to whom one teaches and not to be careless and casual with the destiny of our children. Is it not painful to admit that even after 52 years of Statehood, we, excluding the children, are not fit to implement as we failed to cope up with RTE Act in the State? The leaders and the subject matter specialists on education should have been cautious and prudent enough to understand as to whether the RTE Act would suit us. Beside those local discrepancies, RTE Act seems to be bereft of disciplinary tooth. The Non Detention Policy becomes the antithesis of the Act. Without disciplinary mechanisms as motivation, reprimand, detention, suspension and expulsion, what magical options do we have to tame the disoriented lot? Yet, in haste, Nagaland embraced the new system of education for our school children. The invocation is therefore considered unscrupulous for the fact that children of this period have been used as guinea pig. Embracing RTE Act has done more harm than good to gullible children. In this situation, the Govt’s realization of the adverse impact on the children education under RTE Act should have been there without waiting for anyone or an NGO to pinch the tip of its tail. If paper reports are to be believed, the Govt. seems to have the contemplation to review the policy. The earlier the better. In the process, what the Catholic school teachers have opined that the apparatus of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation(CCE) may be incorporated in Made in Nagaland policy appears reasonable. Z. Lohe
Legal Discrepancy over ILP Act 1873
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here are different kinds of laws all over the world. The Delhi Rent Control Act 1958 and the Bombay Rent Control Act 1947 are applied and enforced only at Delhi and Bombay (Mumbai) respectively. The Assam Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1956 has been passed in 1956 to contain armed force in the activities erstwhile Naga Hills by state assembly of Assam and later on inacted as Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1958 (AFSPA) by parliament which is now enforced in Jammu & Kashmir and Manipur and is opposed by Human Right Commission both National and International Commissions. Individually sister lram Sharmila is opposing the Act by fast unto death for nearly two decades on the ground that the application of this Act is "Black Law". Generally uniform and people friendly laws are enforced in all the time in a place save the classical period during Roman Empire, two forms of private International laws were applied i.e. one for citizens of Rome and the other for the citizens under the kingdom, because of which the proverbial term was developed, "While in Rome, be like the Romans." and ruled out the justice according to that logic. The two great heritages left behind by
British rulers to us was the erstwhile district formed in 1834 as Naga Hills (over which the provincial state was re-organised) and the Naga Hills Inner Line Permit Act 1873. Dimapur Town had not come into existence. As such it did not require Dimapur Town to be exclusive of blanket coverage of the ILP Act today. It was only during later amendments that Dimapur become exclusive on the plea that it touches rail line which is improper and a bad law. Sicily a commercial city of Italy which serves International trade owing to perfect land, water and air connectivity strongly followed immigrants law of Italy for their benefit and security and it is a part and parcel of Italy. So also Mumbai a financial capital of India and it is inclusive of India. During 9-15 March 2015 a week-long public opinion poll was carried out by "Tir Yimyim" a local vernacular daily and all the respondents polled that Dimapur should be inclusive of Inner Line Permit Act, 1873 for all practical purposes. We remain as mute spectators even as 'Rights' are 'wronged' unknowingly or ignorantly believing in others. It is my earnest appeal to the NTC, NSF and ACAUT having full trust and confidence to settle this imbroglio before it is too late. Akang Ao
I
am horrified to know about the embezzlement of Rs. 12.79 Crores from School Education IEDSS meant for educating special need children. What is more horrifying is that more than 40 days have passed but the highly acclaimed SIT has not come out in the open. The Government is still silent, no head/s had rolled nor names surfaced. It appears that the whole episode has been forgotten and the money vanished in thin air. Unfortunately even the Commissioner Disability could only condemn it. The Organisation like Nagaland Parents Association for the Disabled (NAPAD) and Enable also comments that it is the worst crime ever committed on the helpless differently abled community and I agree with them for this inhumane criminal act has to be exposed thoroughly because I am sure that it is not just a case of oversight but a criminal conspiracy hacked by intellectuals without conscience. Therefore names should surface and heads should roll and the cash should be recovered and put to good use but most of all these unscrupulous members involved should be panelised and made to tender public apology. It is sad to notice that many intellectuals and NGOs have been making an attempt to sing the song of effected parents and shedding crocodile tears so that they can manipulate funds to increase their ill-gotten wealth. Do you want to know how parents struggle to make ends meet? Allow me to cite examples which I have personally experienced and seen with my own eyes. Before the NAPAD came into existence an NGO called ENABLE contributed money and started to raise funds by selling mugs just to bring experts from abroad and mainland India so that they can throw light to the peculiar disabilities their children and loved ones are suffering from. This act of sacrifice has opened our eyes to the many specialised therapy which was unheard off and is not available in Nagaland. More difficult to digest is the news which we came to know from a rural area that a parent had to tie his special child at home so that he can go to the field to work to ensure that his family does not go hungry. Just a year back during a discussion at Raj Bhawan with Dr. Ashweni Kumar the former honourable Governor of Nagaland for inviting him to be the Chief Guest to inaugurate Multi-purpose Hall and to observe World Autism Day on 4th April 2014 at Jo Foundation, kohima. He wanted to know if Jo Foundation had received funds from centre or the state for construction of the hall I told him that my wife Dr. Asunu Thong and myself did not receive any such thing but took loan from a bank in Kohima at 14% interest. He seems to be surprised and consented to come. What I am trying to communicate here is that Affected Educated Parents should send a strong message that we can make things happen without pleasing or begging from corrupt people posing as officials from State Government Depart-
ments and Indian Army MCA Scheme, etc,. However such funds meant for the differently abled should not be misused in any way.
Discrepancies observed Last week a worried parent came up from Zunheboto seeking the intervention of the Director School Education to retain his physically Disabled son there in the DEO’s Office, as vested interested persons were attempting to transfer him out. Differently abled persons takes time to adjust and get established in the community for support and treatment hence transferring him out will prove to be disastrous not only for him but for his family as well. This is an incident that happened at School level but there is more even in college and university level where we lest expected, for a physically disabled professor was asked by his colleagues to take voluntary retirement on account of his disability. The Disability Act should be honoured. Personally for me I wish to see that he gets promoted and retire only in turn or age. For such dedicated person will boost the morale of the differently abled and act as a role model for many to follow. Many such incidents go unnoticed or unreported. Kindly note that the disability of a person should not be a factor to stop them for promotion or from getting better facilities (may look into the Disability Act) Association with Commissioner Disabilities After creating a hue and cry by different Organisation championing the cause of Disabilities finally Commissioner Disabilities was appointed. A section of educated parents got together and decided that help should be extended to the Commissioner Disabilities and as such I ended up supporting him. Letters were written to the Govt. but till date nothing has come out of it. So unofficially I became his assistant as and when allowed by my Director I accompanied him to various meeting within and outside the state. Allow me to share certain incidents that I have stumbled upon. The first incident was at a meeting with the former honourable Chief Minister, Mr. Niephiu Rio. I was given an opportunity to speak so I thanked him on behalf of the disabled Parents for appointing Commissioner Disabilities and hoped that the need of the disabled community will be properly addressed by his Government. The next few minutes was unbearable for me as the Commissioner Disabilities spoke out informing former honourable Chief Minister, Mr. Niephiu Rio that he has not received his salaries and that his office space and staff is still not accounted for. The former honourable Chief Minister, Mr. Niephiu Rio assured all possible help but till date the Commissioner Disabilities has the same problem. In another incident at the Chief Commissioners meeting at New Delhi with the Chief Commissioner Disabilities I could see huge
Disabilities by extending all posdevelopments and hear about the sible help by NGOs and once facilities that the Differently abled again requesting the Governpersons could avail. The progress ment to empower him as per in other state is amazing but our Disability Act so that he will be in state Nagaland has nothing but a position to summon the guilty the cases of defunct facility centre and also the SITs if any investiga(DDRC at Dimapur)and defaulting tion is proved inefficient. of disabled loan payments, etc,. I had to fight my tears from coming 7. State Government may kindly give priority to the development out, I have never been this angry in the field of Disability. Creand for the real people in need are ate functional centres for giving suffering but few vested interested free treatment and intervention people are still manipulating and for specialised treatment. State making a mess out of our State. I Government should not depend can see the faces of helpless difon International or National aids ferently abled people where they to reach them. are left uncared they don’t get specialised treatment nor do they have 8. May I also suggest that respective honourable MLAs to spent place to stay or get professional at least 5% of their Local Area help at all. Development Fund to develop It disturbs me as I see the differsmall centres attached to health ently abled people struggling to fend centres/hospitals so that Differfor themselves with their parents ently abled people can avail free suffering from stigma. Helpless parmedical treatment. Honourable ents ashamed to raise their voice for MLAs even may set up avenues the right of their children and on the to employ the differently abled. other hand unscrupulous persons trying every means to siphon off the 9. Pertaining to IEDSS School Education Scam: In the event that the last penny meant for the differently SIT slows down or the report is abled persons. The conscience of unsatisfactory NAPAD will give a this people are dead and they do not clarion call to all NGOs claiming deserve to stay in the influential poto work for the differently abled sition to serve the public. and the the differently abled organisation for a hunger Strike Suggestion for strengthening to protest against the mega corCommissioner Disabilities, ruption without conscience by NGOs and appeal to the State unscrupulous people. As these Government people seems to be influential I want to place the following even to the extent of silencing humble suggestions and appeal to the investigators, they may be cathe Government of Nagaland for pable of taking our lives or makstrengthening Commissioner Dising our lives miserable but once abilities for the interest of the differwe back off, the cause of the difently abled Community and to adferently abled will be reduced to dress to immediate needs on day to oblivion. day basis, may the NGOs and authorities consider the following points: 1. State Government may kindly Conclusion The differently abled people appoint one IAS/NCS cadre as Deputy Commissioner Dis- and different organizations workabilities and one advocate to the ing for them should not be looked same rank to assist Commis- down nor the right of the differently abled people be denied in any sioner Disabilities. 2. State Government may kindly fur- way. When so much is done withnish the Office at the ground floor in two weeks for the rape case rein the Secretariat for easy access cently and 54 people arrested. Why for the differently abled persons. can’t greater things be done for the 3. The ramp work initiated at the 29,000 plus Persons With DisabiliSecretariat is highly appreciated ties in our State Both by the Central and hope that it will be complet- and State Government? I apprecied soon with appropriate hand ate various NGOs voicing out their rails, as of now its leading to no- concern and hope they will conwhere. State Government may tinue to do so. Officials can delay kindly see to it is completed and the file movements or even stop it but our Differently abled children that it serves its purpose. 4. State Government may kindly cannot wait. Their needs and isappoint / Depute adequate staff sues cannot be simply brushed for Commissioner Disabilities. aside hence I am making one last At present the Commissioner effort requesting every right thinkDisabilities has only one driver ing citizen to take another look into the need of the differently abled to take him around. 5. File RTI by every organisation persons. My humble request to that represents the differently the Government is to wake up and abled people to different Gov- take issues responsibly as even ernment Departments respon- our neighbouring state Manipur sible for the welfare of the differ- now is proceeding to get Regional ently abled Person, to enquire centre where as we are struggling how funds are spent year wise with one defunct DDRC in Dimaand list of beneficiaries with pur. The treatment and education their address and contact num- of the differently abled persons is bers. Had somebody filed RTI unfortunately left to the parents earlier in case of IEDSS School alone so kindly make effort to lift Education such a huge embez- the cause of the differently abled. Daniel Thong Seb zlement may not have taken Chairman, Jo Foundation place. Government Department Kohima may kindly cooperate by furVice-President Nagaland Parnishing the relevant documents. ents Association for the Disabled 6. Strengthen the Commissioner
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.
Entertainment
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aylor Swift corrects a Princeton Review test prep mistake on her Tumblr. Two fans on Tumblr brought a mistake to the "Blank Space" singer's attention regarding one prep question. The Princeton Review tried to use popular song lyrics to help prepare students for the
Lee Byung hun Steven Yeun Most know him as 'Glenn' from 'The Walking Dead'! Steven Yeun is certainly making waves as an established Korean actor in North America!.
SAT in its test prep book, which included a segment from Swift's song "Fifteen." "Pop lyrics are a great source of bad grammar," the book reads, offering examples from top pop artists like Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Justin Timberlake. The book says Swift had used incorrect grammar, but her lyric is actually misquoted.
"Somebody tells you they love you, you got to believe 'em," is printed in the practice book, instead of the actual lyric, "Somebody tells you they love you, you're gonna believe them." The singer responded on Tumblr by saying, "Not the right lyrics at all pssshhhh." "You had one job, test people. One job," she added.
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The Princeton Review attempted to call out Taylor Swift to teach students about bad grammar but ended up getting schooled instead.
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rit rock band Black Sabbath has decided to call it quits after their lead singer Ozzy Osbourne's wife announced that Ozzfest in Japan will be the band's farewell. In a brief video, Sharon Osbourne, who is also a co-founder of Ozzfest, asserted that the performance of the metal heavyweights at Ozzfest will be their last, Stuff. co.nz reported. Founding guitarist Tony Iommi's lymphoma diagnosis and treatment was a factor in the decision to cease playing live. Black Sabbath, which was formed in Birmingham in 1969, sold 70 million records, created several iconic albums and cult songs and was once voted the greatest heavy metal band of all-time by MTV.
Ki-hong Lee Ki-Hong Lee's popularity spiked recently with the new movie "Mazerunner".
Ken Jeong Best known for his roles in The Hangover & Community, Ken Jeong is one of the more well-known Korean actors in Hollywood. On top of that, he has a MD degree from University of North Carolina.
Nicole Bilderback Although she hasn't been in much of the silverscreen spotlight, she's been in many TV shows including Dawson's Creek, Dark Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Heroes, The Mentalist...the list goes on.
Bobby Lee
Pretty Woman character was originally a drug addict
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Possibly the most well-known actor on this list, Bobby Lee was the 1st Asian cast member of MadTV, where he's best known for his work. He's also in The Pineapple Express & the Harold & Kumar series.
Margaret Cho Margaret Cho is better known for her stand-up comedy acts, but she's appeared in several movies, TV shows & live acts. She has many books under her name & has won awards for her humanitarian work.
John Cho Born in Seoul, John Cho was raised in America and is most famous for his role as Harold Lee in the Harold & Kumar series, along with playing other recurring characters in movies & TV shows.
Arden Cho Arden Cho has appeared in several TV series playing one-time characters, but is best known for her role in Teen Wolf. She is also highly active on YouTube, playing a role in Agents of Secret Stuff.
Rain It should come as no surprise that Rain is on this list. Aside from his accomplishments & fame in Korea, Rain has made an impact in the west, starring in Speed Racer & Ninja Assassin.
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Black Sabbath to call it quits with farewell concert
Lee Byung Hun is known as the hottest, manliest, Korean actor in Hollywood for his roles in GI Joe, and the new Terminator movie!
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Dimapur
Princeton Review for misquoting her lyric
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eline Dion has opened up about caring for her husband Rene Angelil as he battles throat cancer, revealing she feeds him through a tube every day. The pop diva took an indefinite break from her Las Vegas residency in August to deal with her longtime manager and partner's health struggle, and, in a new interview with U.S. newswoman Deborah Roberts, a tearful Dion spoke candidly about serving as a caretaker for Angelil. She reveals, "He can't use his mouth, he can't eat, so I feed him. He's got a feeding tube. I have to feed him three times a day. I do this myself. And so I feed my husband and I feed my kids." Dion added, "We are taking life one day at a time, but we are choosing to live." The singer, who has three sons with Angelil, recently announced that she will be heading back to the Caesars Palace stage in Las Vegas in this August with a revamped show. The full interview with Dion will air in America on Wednesday's edition of Good Morning America.
26 March 2015
Taylor Swift calls out
10 Hollywood Actors you probably didn’t know were Korean orean actors & actresses are making more and more of a presence on the largest international stage: Hollywood! These actors you’ll surely recognize from movies such as Star Trek, The Hangover, Harold & Kumar, and more! Check out this list of Korean actors & actresses who aren’t just big in Korea. Some have made it big on the largest international stage: Hollywood.
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Thursday
Celine Dion opens up about nursing husband through cancer battle
he actress recently reunited with castmates Richard Gere, Hector Elizondo and Laura San Giacomo and director Garry Marshall to reminisce about the movie on the 25th anniversary of its release, and during the TV chat, which aired on breakfast show Today on Tuesday (24Mar15), she admitted her character, Vivian, wasn't destined for a happy ending when she first signed on for the project, about a wealthy businessman who falls in love with a prostitute. She claims the 1990 film was previously titled 3,000, in reference to the money Gere's character, Edward, paid Vivian, explaining, "At the end of the original script, Richard's character threw my character out of the car, threw the money on top of her and drove away and the credits rolled." The ending was tweaked once Disney studio bosses took control of the film and recruited Marshall as director, but Gere wasn't so sure the role of Edward was for him, because he thought the character lacked depth. He says, "There was just nothing. The joke was it was a suit. You could put a suit on a goat and put it out there, and it would work." He agreed to meet with Roberts to see if they had any chemistry, and he was so taken by the actress, he agreed to sign on after she begged him to take the job. Gere recalls, "We're getting to know each other. We're flirty-flirty, nice-nice... And (Marshall) calls up and is kind of like, 'How's it going?'" It was then that Roberts handed him the plea on a sticky note: "She turns it around and she pushes it to me, and it said, 'Please say yes!'. It was so sweet, and I said (to Marshall), 'I just said yes.'"
Julia Roberts has stunned fans of her hit romantic comedy ‘PRETTY WOMAN’ by revealing her prostitute character was originally set for a sad ending after turning to drugs.
Documentary on rape victims Daughters Of MOther InDIa wins Best Film on Social Issues award!
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aughters Of Mother India wins the 62nd Annual National Film Award for Best Film on Social Issues. The film is directed by Vibha Bakshi and produced by Vibha and Vishal Bakshi. The documentary is a reverberation of the brutal gang rape and murder of a 23 year old physiotherapy intern in Delhi on 16th December 2012 and the five year old rape survivor Gudiya. It features the mass protests followed by the galvanized movement to end the silence on violence against women and the extraordinary cohesion by the ordinary citizens that the country witnessed. The documentary has highlighted the complexity of the Indian society, the government and has showcased the swift and radical changes being made in the police, the judiciary and community groups post the incident. At this point while the world views India as ‘a country of rapists’ the documentary is committed to advancing and developing the minds of the people and thus making the habitat a better place to live in. The documentary is made taking into account the role played by all the stakeholders including the police, the law makers, the activists and most importantly, the society. For the first time, in the history of the Police force, the Police Commissioner of Delhi granted permission for a camera to be allowed inside the Delhi Police Control and Command room. The film is definitely a call to action which leaves the viewer thinking on how to make India a safer place for women, rather than just leaving them with a feeling of disgust and repulsion. The film, further persuades the viewer to believe that change will happen and inspires people to make it happen.
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Tennis champ Serena Williams reveals 'it's lonely at the top'
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erena Williams plays a mean game of tennis, which is why she's ranked No. 1 in women's singles. The 33-year-old champion wasn't afraid to show her softer side or that fabulously fit figure in the April issue of US Vogue. For her eye-catching cover, Serena donned a teal Rag & Bone sleeveless frock that revealed her toned arms and trim waistline. While Serena's Vogue issue is being lauded for its realistic appeal - little or no digital magic used, in other words - her accompanying interview also comes as a surprise. Serena spoke about her close friendship with Caro-
line Wozniacki, 24, a rival on the tennis court but one of her closest BFFs anywhere else. When Serena needs a shoulder to lean on, she trusts Caroline or her tennis pro sister Venus. Serena admitted that times can get tough when you're a No. 1 tennis champion. 'It’s hard and lonely at the top,' Serena confessed to Vogue. 'That’s why it’s so fun to have Caroline and my sister, too. You’re a target when you’re number one. Everyone wants to beat you. Everyone talks behind your back, and you get a lot more criticism. God forbid I lose.' 'I am really shy. I don’t talk to guys,' Serena conceded. And al-
though she had once wished for a family and children of her own some day, she's not in any particular hurry. 'I guess,' she said. 'I’m not even looking for it.' On the court, it's a different story. Serena went on to say: 'On the court, I am fierce! I am mean and I am tough. I am completely opposite off the court. My confidence just isn’t the same. I wish I was more like I am on the court. Nobody would know that I am constantly crying or complaining.'
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Superpowers collide in Sydney semi-final blockbuster
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sYDNeY, March 25 (reuters): Sparks can be expected to fly when confident, well-balanced teams from cricketing superpowers Australia and India clash in a mouthwatering World Cup semifinal at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday. The match pits four-times champions Australia, the topranked team in one-day cricket, against title holders India, the dominant financial power in world cricket. The winners will go on to face the other co-hosts New Zealand next Sunday in another of the great arenas of the game, Melbourne Cricket Ground. While Thursday's clash will have to go some way to match the tense climax of New Zealand's victory over South Africa on Tuesday, Australia's meetings with India are rarely dull. If familiarity between the two sides has not quite bred contempt, the frequent heated exchanges in their clashes indicates at the very least a fierce competitiveness. "The fact we're playing India now is extremely special," Australia captain Michael Clarke said on Wednesday. "I think you'll see two teams at the top of their game wanting to play their best cricket, I'm really confident both teams will put on a great show." In the test arena at least, home advantage has been the decisive factor in their meetings in recent years. It has less of an impact in the one-day game and there is good reason for India to have some confidence it will not mitigate too heavily against them on Thursday. Clarke admitted it was a "no brainer" that Indian fans would outnumber those of Australia, while the SCG has always offered something for the one area of the game where the visitors can be said to have a distinct edge, spin bowling. Australia can look to
their record of having lost just one of 14 one-day internationals at the ground against India and to their utter dominance of their meetings since the tourists arrived Down Under last November. India have been transformed since the start of the World Cup, however, with a newly potent bowling attack firing alongside their always fine batting to take them to the last four unbeaten. That has given the side such confidence that batsman Rohit Sharma said it was irrelevant whether there was spin on offer at the SCG or not. "If you look at the tournament, we've taken 70 wickets in seven games, distributed between the spinners and the fast bowlers," he said. "So it doesn't matter how the wicket behaves. If it suits the fast bowlers or the spinners, we've got everything covered in those two areas. "We just need to keep doing what we've been doing. We've played some really good cricket in the World Cup and it's just a matter of two more hurdles." Australia, by contrast, would clearly welcome a wicket to favour their quick bowlers Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson and Josh Hazlewood. Hazlewood, who took 4-35 in the quarter-final victory over Pakistan, looks likely to get the nod ahead of spinner Xavier Doherty to keep Australia unchanged for the first time in the tournament. India have only altered their line-up during their title defence because of an injury to paceman Mohammed Shami and are also likely to be unchanged. "We've played a lot of cricket against India," Clarke added. "We know their strengths, we know their weaknesses, and we know they're a very good team. "We have to execute our skills as well as we possibly can, and if we do that, I have confidence that we can beat any team we play against."
Village of Raina's fiance takes holiday to watch World Cup semis
Indian boys hold a giant national flag and walk in a procession in support of the Indian cricket team ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup semifinal match against Australia, in Kolkata, India, Wednesday, March 25. (AP Photo)
BaGhpat, March 25 (ptI): The village of batsman Suresh Raina's fiance in Bamnauli is gearing up for the ICC World Cup semifinal on Thursday and announced an undeclared holiday as India faces their toughest test taking on a formidable Australia. Head of the Panchayat Kalu Singh said the village is proud of Raina, who set to tie knot to Priyanka Chowdhury a resident of the village. "It is the matter of pride that we are getting son-in-law like Raina. The decision to remain off from respective duties and watch the match, was taken unanimously yesterday. Also the entire village prayed at Hanuman temple for victory of the Indian team," Singh said. Everyone will watch the semi-final on a big screen which will be installed in the village. The Panchayat has also decided to hold a party for the village if India wins the World Cup.
Kohli hails 'wonderful' Indian bowling ahead of semi-final
sYDNeY, March 25 (reuters): The transformation of India's bowlers at the World Cup has been "wonderful to watch" and the reigning champions will have a great chance of reaching the final if 10 Australian wickets tumble on Thursday, says Virat Kohli. India's bowlers were hammered all over Australia from the start of December to mid-February as the team lost a test series 2-0 and failed to win a single
match in the following Tri-series, which also featured England. Fast bowlers Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Mohit Sharma have upped their game considerably at the World Cup, however, and have combined with the strong spin-bowling department to forge a potent attack. With the help of a sprinkling of run-outs, the Indian bowlers have dismissed the opposition in all seven match-
es on their way to the semi-finals. Kohli, the leading light in the much-vaunted Indian batting line-up, said everyone was aware of the areas where improvement was required and he was gratified by the way the pacemen had responded. "The way the bowlers have reacted and the way they have performed with the composure and the confidence and the aggression all together, it's been wonderful to watch," he told
Cricket Australia's website. "So we expect the bowlers to step up if you want to beat quality sides in the world and the way they have done this in this World Cup has been commendable. "We’ve played the right kind of cricket and the difference now is how our bowling attack has come into play in this World Cup taking 70 wickets in seven games. "That's probably been the difference, and if we continue to do that we have a
great chance come game day." India have not beaten Australia in any format since they arrived Down Under in late November but Kohli thinks Thursday at the Sydney Cricket Ground is the perfect opportunity to break that cycle. "There couldn't be a better time for us," he said. "It's an opportunity for us to do justice to the way we've played so far in Australia, and we haven't had the results."
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2nd 10th NA- 1 T20 Bash makes colourful start Five talking points for the Malaysian GP High School Daredevils, P. Khel Eagles wins
Our Correspondent
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Kohima | March 25
The 2nd edition of 10th Northern Angami- 1 T20 Bash 2015 under the theme “Bat for unity” made a colorful start here today at Kohima Village Ground, Ziekiezou. Kohima Village Council (KVC) chairman Neivor Rutsa formally declared open this tournament in the presence of Minister for forest, wildlife and environment, Dr. Neikiesalie (Nicky) Kire and Parliamentary Secretary for Youth Resources & Sports, New & Renewable Energy and Music Task Force, Khriehu Liezietsu. Rutsa said that Cricket is one of the most disciplined and refined games and encouraged the youth to take up this game with zeal and commitment to shine in the field. In the inaugural match, High School Daredevils defeated Lower L. Khel Vikings by 50 runs. Hokaito 94 not out and taking 3 wickets giving away 20 runs in 3 overs was man of the match.
The players of the first match with Khriehu Liezietsu, Neivor Rutsa, match officials and organizer at the 2nd 10th Northern Angami- 1 T20 Bash 2015 in Kohima Village Ground on March 25. (Morung Photo)
In the 2nd match, P. FIXTURE FOR MARCH 26 Khel Eagles beat Pera(Starts 7:00 AM) ciezie Royals by 8 wickets. 1st Match – Upper Bayavü Sixers vs Upper L. Khel Riders Moni 38 not out, took 2nd Match – North Block Warriors vs Chedema Strikers four wickets for 22 runs in 3rd Match – Rokabozou/Sepfiizou Challengers vs D. Khel United four overs was man of the the tourney while Rosang match. Earlier, the inau- oath to the participants. Rev. Moa Longchari Pongen presented a spegural function was chaired by Elvis Mepfhiio while pastor BMC Kohima in- cial number. Initiated and fully Jamite Jamir administered voked God blessing for
sponsored by legislator Khriehu Liezietsu from 10th Northern Angami Assembly Constituency -1 and organized by Brotherhood Group, Kohima, 16 teams are taking part in this tournament, which will culminate on April 8.
KuaLa LuMpur, March 25 (aFp): Five talking points for the Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang circuit this week: Can Rosberg catch Hamilton? It is early days but the 2015 title race may well boil down to Mercedes rivals Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg after they left the other teams trailing in Melbourne. Although he finished well clear of the chasing pack, second-placed Rosberg cut a reflective figure after being comprehensively outrun in both qualifying and the race by his British stablemate. "He drove like a world champion all weekend," admitted the German. Neutrals will hope Rosberg can find a way of reeling in the reigning world champion and puncturing a confidence which currently looks unassailable. Red Bull need to find their roar Considering their recent dominance of F1, Red Bull's call for measures to help teams catch up with Mercedes raised a few eyebrows after the season-opener in Australia. Hints at quitting the sport upped the ante but regardless of any moves by Formula One's regulators, Red Bull first need to get their own house in order. Problems with their Renault engine prevented Daniil Kvyat from starting the race, while Daniel Ricciardo came in sixth out of 11 finishers. A more credible showing in Malaysia would not hurt their campaign for new regulations to slow Mercedes. Alonso boost for McLaren The early part of the year has not been kind to McLaren but their season can get under way in earnest with the return of Fernan-
do Alonso after his February crash in testing. The two-time world champion impressed in an underwhelming Ferrari car last season and he is well qualified to lead a resurgence by the British team. McLaren started from the back of the grid in Melbourne and Jenson Button trailed in last, but there is quiet optimism around the team that they can make up significant ground this year. Nasr leads the new kids Max Verstappen's outing at the recordbreaking age of 17 years and 166 days in Melbourne put the focus on youth in F1, but it was Felipe Nasr who led the way for Generation Next with a superlative drive on debut. The 22-year-old Brazilian made light of legal challenges surrounding Sauber's line-up to finish fifth, the best debut by a Brazilian driver -- outstripping even the late, great Ayrton Senna. Several million Brazilian eyes will be on the young hopeful to see if he can add more points in race number two. Can Malaysia top the Terminator? Ricciardo slammed the Australian Grand Prix as "boring" but the podium ceremony was anything but. After a processional win for Hamilton and Mercedes, the biggest cheer of the day was reserved for Hollywood's Arnold Schwarzenegger appearing on the victory podium to interview the winners. With stars of stage and screen often to be seen in the F1 paddock, Malaysian organisers may also consider collaring one of them to pep up the post-race proceedings before the champagne lets fly. It makes a welcome change from talk of hybrid technology and double diffusers.
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Skrtel gets three-match ban for stamp on De Gea
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LONDON, March 25 (reuters): Liverpool will be without defender Martin Skrtel for three games after he was suspended on Wednesday for a stamp on Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea during Sunday's Premier League defeat at Anfield. Skrtel escaped punishment at the time because the stoppage-time incident was missed by the match officials but video footage resulted in him being charged with violent conduct by the Football Association. The Slovakian had denied the charge but was found guilty by an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing. Skrtel will miss the clash at Arsenal on April 4, as well as the FA Cup semi-final against Blackburn Rovers and the league game at home to Newcastle United. It is a blow to Liverpool's topfour ambitions, especially as captain Steven Gerrard is also suspended for three matches after being red-carded for a stamp 38 seconds after coming on as a substitute against United.
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