March 28th, 2016

C M Y K

www.morungexpress.com

MonDAY • MArch 28 • 2016

DIMAPUR • Vol. XI • Issue 84 • 12 PAGes • 5

T H e

ESTD. 2005

P o W e R

To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child Myanmar army reasserts its key political role ahead of transition PAGE 09

reflections

By Sandemo Ngullie

Easter sunday celebrated in Nagaland

The Morung Express Poll QuEsTion

Vote on www.morungexpress.com sMs your answer to 9862574165 Is Public Silence and Public Indifference encouraging the continuation of corruption in Nagaland State government?

Yes

no

others

Minister, legislators and senior officers have decided to voluntarily forego allowances for refreshments, newspapers and magazines. Is Nagaland government serious about austerity measures?

Yes

06%

no

90%

others

04%

Details on page 7

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

Kohli steers India past Aussies, enter semis PAGE 12

Governor orders inquiry into DAwn of A new liGht School Education department

KIPHIRE, MARCH 27 (MExN): On Easter Sunday, Fakim Village under Pungro Subdivision of Kiphire District became the first complete LED Light village in Nagaland.

The village is situated near the Indo-Myanmar border in the remote eastern part of Nagaland State, tucked away in the rugged mountains. While villages in this area are blessed with rich biodiversity, their remoteness has deprived them of basic infrastructure like roads and electricity.

The Nagaland State Department of Environment, Forest and Climate Change took up an initiative with the help of the District Administration and the State Power Department in organising a programme during Easter Sunday service in the three fringe area villages of Fakim Wildlife Sanctuary.

They distributed eco friendly materials and disseminated information on the benefits of using eco-friendly technologies like LED bulbs and Solar lamps.

In Fakim village, Chumremo Odyuo, Deputy Commissioner Kiphire participated in the Easter Sunday church service and spoke about the advantages of adopting energy efficient and eco-friendly technology like Light Emitting Diode (LED) bulbs and Solar lamps. SDO (C) Kiphire Hq, Lankonsen impressed upon the villagers that Fakim village being the first complete LED powered village should spread the message of “good light” to others.

The villagers submitted their traditional 100 watt tungsten bulbs to Deputy Commissioner and received 15 watt LED

Kiphire DC, Chumremo odyuo handing over solar charged and lED lights to the Head GB Fakim Village, Phenunglam.

bulbs, making the village the first complete LED light village in the state.

The Village Council also made a resolution to ban use of tungsten light. Considering that the use of LED bulbs with solar lamp is going to save around 90% of electricity consumption for domestic lighting, the Village Council submitted a representation to Daniel Yimchunger, Junior Engineer, Electricity Department urging an equivalent concession on their community electricity bill.

Meanwhile, Lansothung Lotha, Range Forest Officer and John Yimchunger, Forest guard participated in the special Easter church services in Thanamir and Vongtsuvong villages

respectively. Solar charged lamps were distributed to every household in these two villages.

Kamdi Hemant Bhaskar, Wildlife Warden, Kiphire Wildlife Division acknowledged Yatendra Agraval, Trustee of EcoSolutions, Mumbai for providing all the material and technical help. The NGO has so far distributed 7000 solar lamps in Nagaland State alone and is ready for expansion of the same along with Terafil (low cost water filters) technology for iron contaminated areas in other parts of Nagaland. He appealed to other government departments to replicate similar programmes.

LED bulbs are long lasting (20 years with 8 hrs/day use), energy efficient (80-90%), eco-

friendly (no mercury, 100% recyclable), and can withstand roughest conditions, workable even during low and fluctuating voltage.

Likewise solar lights are a boon in rural areas. They extend working hours and are health friendly unlike kerosene lamp and reduce fire chances particularly in wooden houses of rural area. They save energy, reduce maintenance and help in controlling local pollution and climate change. In the initial stage, switching to LED and solar technology may cost more but within one year, the investment can be recovered since the power consumption will be reduced and the technology is more durable.

KOHIMA, MARCH 27 (MExN): Nagaland State Governor, PB Acharya has taken serious note of the Nagaland State Education Department’s reported “failures and scams” and has ordered a thorough enquiry.

A press note from the OSD to the Governor stated that the Governor has made it clear that his government “will not tolerate any scam and corruption, and will take strict action as per the provisions of the law against the culprits irrespective of their position and rank.”

The Governor made particular mention of the discrepancies in implementation of the Mid Day Meal Scheme as reported by the local media and termed this as “shocking, alarming and requires urgent, proper enquiry and action.”

The Governor further took

notice of various controversies in the Department of Education, including issues such as Hindi teacher’s salary, appointment of teachers in Peren district and their absence, contractors locking up a school building due to non-payment of pending bills, proxy teachers in the remote village schools, and the alleged misuse of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’s (SSA) funds and schemes.

The Governor has called for “proper enquiry and action” while also expressing his “shock and displeasure about the situation.”

It was informed that the Governor has written to the Nagaland State Chief Minister and the State Education Minister to get the matters thoroughly investigated, take corrective steps immediately, without any lapse of time and report the same.

Gaming Bill over lokayukta Bill? asks AcAUt nagaland

DIMAPUR, MARCH 27 (MExN): The Against Corruption and Unabated Taxation (ACAUT) Nagaland today questioned whether the passing of the Prohibition of Gaming and Promotion and Regulation of Online Games of Skill (NPGPROGS) Bill, 2015, took precedence over the Nagaland Lokayukta Bill “at the behest of a single legislator.”

The passing of the NPGPROGS Bill, the ACAUT alleged “only shows the kind of individuals the Naga people are electing to the Nagaland Legislative Assembly.”

“The precedence given and the urgency with which the Gaming Bill was passed, gives rise to the picture that the entire NLA was hijacked by a Parliamentary

Secretary representing the interest of an outside gaming company,” the ACAUT alleged.

It questioned how the NLA “came to the conclusion that passage of the Gaming Bill was deemed more important than the Nagaland Lokayukta Bill, introduced at the same time as the Gaming Bill during the last Monsoon session.” It urged that the legislators “should not be afraid of the Lokayukta; rather, the Act should be viewed as progressive, allowing for transparency and a merit society to thrive.”

It however informed the government that unless the ACAUT is made privy to the contents of the Lokayukta Bill, “passage of it will only lead to unwarranted situations.”

PSU, PYA urges govt employees CNSA asks State Govt to fulfill to discharge duties with sincerity demands of Ao senden and AKM

DIMAPUR, MARCH 27 (MExN): The their posting place. “This trend of some Pochury Students Union, (PSU) and the few irresponsible employees corrupting Pochury Youth Association, (PYA) have the department concerned and the govasked all concerned government employ- ernment as well is creating untold miserees posted under Meluri Sub Division to ies and inconveniences to the mass genreport to their posting place (station) and eral public,” they stated.

They expressed hope that henceforth discharge their duties with sincerity as asconcerned officers and staff would dissigned with immediate effect.

A press note from the two organiza- charge their duties in the best interest of tions said that they would not tolerate any the people of the area. “The department irresponsible employee not reporting and concerned or employees on non compliperforming their duties. The two organiza- ance to this appeal shall be held responsiNEw YORK, MARCH 27 tions expressed shock that some employ- ble for any inconveniences so shall arise,” (IANS): Pregnant women ees/ officers are yet to report even once to the two organisations further cautioned. with higher blood levels of a common plastic chemical used in the coatings of food containers are more likely to deliver their babies early compared with women with DEHRADUN, MARCH after meeting Governor of “breakdown of goverlower levels of that chemical, says a study led by an 27 (IANS): President’s K.K. Paul, the chief minis- nance”.

“I believe there cannot Indian-origin researcher. Rule was imposed in Ut- ter did not spare the central government and Prime be a better example (for tarakhand on Sunday after The researchers investigatimplementing President’s ed the role of Bisphenol A, days of political uncertain- Minister Modi too.

Modi had the “blood Rule),” Finance Minister or BPA, blood levels on risk ty triggered by a rebellion of preterm birth. “Women in the ruling Congress, of the aspirations of the Arun Jaitley said in New are continuously exposed to prompting Chief Minister people of Uttarakhand on Delhi. “For the last nine BPA because it’s used in the Harish Rawat to accuse his hands”, he said, alleg- days, the constitution was construction and coatings the BJP-led central gov- ing that the BJP-led cen- being violated in Uttaraof food containers and its re- ernment of murdering de- tral government slashed khand.” lease into food is increased mocracy. the budget for his state and The crisis in the state by microwave or other heat A Rashtrapati Bha- even cut funds for the res- began when nine Congress sources,” said Ramkumar van source said President toration of the Kedarnath legislators, including forMenon, assistant professor Pranab Mukherjee ap- temple, devastated by the mer chief minister Vijay at The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at proved the union cabinet’s 2013 flash floods, and the Bahuguna, who Rawat replaced, revolted against the Galveston, US. “In fact, BPA decision to dismiss the Kumbh Mela.

He hinted that the chief minister and turned Rawat-led Congress govis so widely used that nearly all women have some level ernment. The cabinet met Congress may move court to the Bharatiya Janata Parof exposure,” Menon point- Saturday night with Prime against the decision to im- ty (BJP), which was happy to support them. ed out. Conducting in col- Minister Narendra Modi pose President’s Rule.

“We will take support to On March 18, things laboration with Winthrop in the chair and recomUniversity Hospital and Kai- mended central rule in the all legal options. This will came to a head when the ser Permanente Southern hill state. be decided by our advo- assembly passed the budCalifornia, the UTMB invesThe president signed cates. I was heading a very get appropriation bill by tigators analysed blood sam- the proclamation, which delicate majority. If Con- voice vote even as more ples from pregnant women also recommended plac- gress comes back to power, than half the members in when they were admitted to ing the state assembly in we will increase the Vidhan the house sought a divithe hospital for labour and suspended animation, the Sabha seats from 70 to 90.” sion, which would have led delivery and from the amniThe central govern- to recorded voting. otic fluid of the fetus collect- source said. This is Uttarament justified the UttaThe rebel Congress lawkhand’s first experience ed during labour. Increased BPA concentration is associ- with President’s Rule since rakhand decision, saying makers supported the BJP’s ated with an increased risk it was carved out of Uttar the state was “a textbook demand for a conscience case for enforcing Presi- vote. Speaker Govind Kunfor preterm birth, the find- Pradesh in 2000.

Speaking to reporters dent’s Rule” on grounds jwal declined the request. ings showed.

Common plastic chemical ups risk of premature delivery

President’s Rule in Uttarakhand

C M Y K

T R u T H

— Cicero

PAGE 02

Fakim Village in Kiphire becomes Nagaland’s first complete LED light village

Gained anything from the decades old cease fire with Goi? Yes, we have independence, sovereignty, integration, reconciliation and peace accord. These are some of the new words we gained.

o F

DIMAPUR, MARCH 27 (MExN): The Central Nagaland Students’ Association (CNSA) today expressed deep concern over the imbroglio between the Ao apex organizations – Ao Senden and AKM – and the Nagaland State School Education Department over the implementation of the Rashtriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhijan (RMSA) in Nagaland with regard to the recruitment of language teachers.

A press note from the

CNSA lamented the “apathetic attitude” of the concerned authority over the RMSA recruitment drive in Nagaland.

It stated that “blunders” were committed by the concerned authority while advertising the posts for language teachers (MIL) under the RMSA in 2014, and that declaration of the recruitment results in 2015 was a “shock to many people, a disappointment to many aspiring candidates, and a total injustice to the

Ao, Sumi and Lotha tribes.”

Questioning the functioning of the concerned authority over the implementation of the RMSA in Nagaland, the CNSA stated “this is nothing but incompetence at its highest point, if not corruption, at its lowest level, putting the education of thousands of students at stake.”

The CNSA expressed support to the decision of the Ao Senden and the Ao Students’ Conference (AKM) over their rejec-

tion of the March 22, 2016 advertisement calling for fresh application to the RMSA Language teacher recruitment. It further appealed for the state government to fulfill the demands of the two Ao apex organizations at the earliest.

The CNSA further demanded that the RMSA language teacher recruitment issue be resolved at the earliest, failing which it would be “compelled to take its own course of action.”

Nagaland State Government’s ‘austerity measures’ declared ‘joke of the year’ Morung Express news Dimapur | March 27

The people of Nagaland State have declared the current “austerity measures” supposed to be taken up by the Government of Nagaland (GoN) as the “joke of the year.”

A poll conducted by The Morung Express asked: Ministers, legislators and senior officers have decided to voluntarily forego allowances for refreshments, newspapers and magazines. Is Nagaland government serious about austerity measures? Why? The decision to the effect was tabled by the Government of Nagaland at the recently concluded 11th session of the 12th Nagaland Legislative Assembly.

6% of the respondents to the poll said ‘yes,’ while 90% said ‘no’ and 4% chose ‘others’ by way of a response.

Studied closely, though, almost all respondents shamed the Government over its decision.

In the section of those who felt that the GoN is serious about the measures, while someone noted that this is a “manifestation of public outcry,” another reflected more of the common

sentiment among the 6%. “Yes, if by refreshments they mean all the Gold Label, Blue Label and the fancy wine they drink.” To extrapolate, “I am quite sure this indulgence must be making quite a dent in the exchequer. So, if our honorable legislators are meaning that they will stop using the State exchequer’s pocket to finance their indulging imported refreshments, then I support their move.”

It is in the ‘No’ section that the “absurdity” hits home. “They are not serious about austerity measures at all.

Just look at the cost of the CM residential place which is crossing more than 400 crores. In a state like Nagaland that lives on a begging bowl from Delhi it is completely absurd and is a crime. Our leaders are overindulging while the majority of the people are languishing in misery,” stated a commentator.

Terming the proposed measures a “mockery” and even citing the Comptroller & Auditor General’s report (2014-15), respondents suggested that they “forego all their assets which they acquired through embezzling funds the GOI had given for running offices and public funds. Then we will talk about whether they are serious

about austerity measures or not.”

No wonder that a respondent found the measures should be “nominated for the joke of the year.”

However, “if they are serious about austerity measures, they should tone down the number of vehicles, the servants they employ, the number of bodyguards etc. for these cost a huge sum to the State exchequer,” suggested a commentator.

Referring to the “austerity measures” as the “best hand wash” legislators and bureaucrats have used so far, people in the ‘others’ section did not spare them either. Flabbergasted by the announcement, and the continuing State deficit running into millions, one commentator found that “hooligans” of Somalia and Mogadishu manage better governance than the “obnoxious” GoN. Another graciously offered to “generate” the funds for newspapers, magazines and refreshments by “doing labour work” if only the legislators and officers “stop stealing money meant for development.” Without the latter, the measures are“the biggest joke of the year.”

Read the poll results on page 7

2

MonDAY 28•03•2016

NAGALAND

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

EastEr sunday cElEbratEd in nagaland

The congregation of Dimapur Ao Baptist Church (DABA) is seen partaking in the Lord’s Supper as part of their Easter celebration on March 27. The Lord’s Supper looks back at the last day of Jesus where He shared his last communion with his disciples. Symbolic bread and wine are used during the Lord’s Supper signifying Christ’s body and blood.

The Bishop of Kohima with children of Christ King Church, Kohima Village and other members of the church on Easter Sunday.

Kohima, march 27 (mExN): Bishop of Kohima Most Rev. Dr. James Thoppil presided over the vigil service at the Cathedral Church here and was the main celebrant at Christ King Church, Kohima Village on Easter Sunday. The vigil service, which has four segments, began with the blessing and lighting of new fire, from which the Paschal Candle was lit, symbolizing the divine life of Jesus which was not destroyed on the cross, said a press release from Bishop’s Secretary.

Bishop explained the meaning of the variety of symbols used in the liturgy. The Paschal Candle represents also the body of Christ and the Greek letters of Alpha and Omega.

The five grains inserted on to the candle symbolizes the five wounds of Christ.

The faithful, then, in procession proceeded to the Church led by Bishop with the lighted Paschal Candle, showing Christ as the new leader to lead all people to God, the release said.

After the homily, the bishop blessed the water, sign of purification and life, reminding of “our” baptism and administered the renewal of baptismal promises which was followed by baptism of the new members and the Eucharistic celebration.

In both churches, Easter egg was distributed after the Holy Mass. The bishop preached the homily taking clue from the Easter egg. The most fundamental and deepest significance of Easter is that it is the beginning of a new era, new life.

The spring season during which Easter is celebrated, the Easter egg (as the saying goes, all life comes from an egg – Omne vivum ex ovo) and the very setting of the nature explains the deepest meaning and significance of Easter, he said.

Easter is the new beginning for humankind, the Bishop stated, adding it is God’s victory over sin and death, the direct consequence of sin. “Sin and evil do not have the ultimate word for man, but God has.”

He further maintained that resurrection is a call to change and start new, as was the case with Mary Magdalene, St. Peter and St. John and all apostles and disciples. “Easter is also the reason our hope today in the midst of all hopeless and evil situations, pain and suffering.

Evil actions done by man on Good Friday will always be defeated, and Easter will be the final word in the battle between good and evil.”

Rev. Dr. James Thoppil also affirmed that for those who are on God’s side, victory will always be theirs. “God will always have the last laugh in the affairs of men.

By the resurrection of Jesus, evil is overcome and death is defeated. Our sins are washed clean by the blood of Jesus and we can begin a new life in the friendship and fellowship of Christ.”

He added, “Let our prayer always be that we come out of our tombs of our sins and evil habits, and that Jesus will let us share in the power of his resurrection.”

Assorted eggs seen in the picture were collected by the Christian Education Ministry, Town Fellowship, Dimapur Ao Baptist Church (DABA) as part of Easter celebration.

The Christian Education Ministry visited some hospitals in Dimapur, spreading the joyous message of Easter and distributed the eggs.

Easter also marks victory of Christians over death: CM

Kohima, march 27 (mExN): Chief Minister of Nagaland TR Zeliang today shared greetings during the Easter Sunrise Service held at Kohima War Cemetery starting 5:00 am. The Chief Minister said that of all the Christian festivals, Easter can be considered as unique, and also worthy of a grand celebration.

He pointed out that no other religion has festival to mark the resurrection or the rising from the death of their founders or leaders except Jesus Christ.

Easter, Zeliang said, marks not only the victory of Jesus Christ over death, but also the victory

Citizens of Kohima celebrate the resurrection of Christ, the victory of life over death at the early morning Sunrise Service at Kohima War Cemetery on March 27. (Picture Courtesy: Thejakielie Zuyie)

of Christians over death.

“This is also the uniqueness of the Christian faith, which distinguishes it from all other faiths.”

He further stated that

Easter can be said to be the foundation of the Christian faith. “Even Apostle Paul had said that, if there is no resurrection, then our faith would be in vain.”

Stating that death is the ultimate conqueror of all lives on earth, the CM said no king or emperor, however wealthy and powerful can resist or overcome

death. But for the Christians, Christ has already overcome death, and through that, we also have victory over death, he said.

“And those who have victory over death have nothing to fear, and have no reason to fear. That is why the Apostles became the most fearless, and the most courageous people, braving physical death in the knowledge and believe that they shall rise again like Jesus Christ.”

He further wished the congregation that the joyous day brings hope and blessings to all and that the love of Christ that surpasses all understanding warm their homes.

Horticulture dept envisages three centers of excellence

Kohima Police arrest one Kohima, march 27 (mExN): Kohima Police took into custody one person for driving a vehicle with fake registration number on March 25 around 9:30 am at Khuzama interstate check gate. The truck that the accused was driving was detained by the Kohima Police personnel at Khuzama inter-state check gate on suspicion of using fake registration number, according to a press release from PRO, Kohima Police.

On closer examination of the registration plate, it was found that a yellow coloured sticker bearing registration number MN04A1326 was pasted over the HSRP, while the original registration number was found inscribed as ML04B7233.

The PRO said that the documents produced by the driver was examined and found that the engine and chassis number did not tally with the one engraved on the vehicle. Meanwhile, the vehicle was thoroughly checked during which, another vehicle document was recovered and the original registration number of the vehicle was ascertained as ML04B7233, Chassis No. – MAT457056D7E16465 and Engine No. – 497TC4EWY826595.

During the interrogation, the accused identified as Henam Naoba @ Naoba Singh from Imphal West, Manipur revealed that he was proceeding to Imphal to deliver the vehicle to one person named Biswajit Singh for which he was paid Rs. 20,000/-. The driver also tried to bribe one of the personnel on duty with Rs. 18,000/- to let him go scot free along with the vehicle, the release said.

A regular case vide Khuzama PS Case No. 0012/2016 U/S 379/468/471/171E IPC has been registered against the accused and he is remanded into police custody for further investigation.

Railway bazaar in Dimapur experienced Easter Sunday on a different note. The Eastern Bible College and Nagaland Real Estate came together to initiate a Sunrise Service to celebrate Easter and reach out to the needy. The students conducted a short service and performed some songs. Meanwhile, food was distributed free to the inhabitants of the area.

Our Correspondent Kohima | March 27

Nagaland Horticulture Department has during 201516 envisaged the establishment of three Centers of Excellence in Phek, Tuensang and Dimapur with the objectives of showcasing the various activities of horticulture.

It aims to create facilities and infrastructure for hi-tech horticultural production/cultivation of crops both under poly houses as well as open field conditions, according to Visitors take a boat ride in Shilloi Lake under Meluri of Phek district. Basic infrastructure has been created in this largest the annual administrative report 2015-16 of the Hortilake in Nagaland, which has been attracting many tourists. (Morung Photo by Chizokho Vero)

Sericulture dept on gender budgeting Our Correspondent Kohima | March 27

The State’s Department of Sericulture is initiating various schemes towards the upliftment of women, especially women living in rural areas, through gender budgeting.

Under Intensive Bivoltine silkworm development project, a total of 400 women have benefited through integration of women in silkworm host plant cultivation, mobilizing Self Help Groups, organizing awareness programmes and capacity building about their rights and respon-

sibilities in the society, according to the annual administrative report 2015-16 of Sericulture Department tabled in the state assembly session recently.

The report stated that sensitization, workshop on women education in mother and child health care are one of the major emphasis in this gender budgeting, thus directly sustains the economic living condition of family livelihoods among the members of the women.

An amount of Rs. 30 lakhs has been incurred during 2015-16 towards this programme, the report added.

culture Department tabled in the state assembly session here recently.

The purpose of such facilities being created is to impart technical knowhow to the farmers from such centres besides generating revenue for the state. High value crops of fruits, vegetables and flowers would be grown in the centres.

Further, the center aims to produce quality materials, facilitate timely supply of quality planting materials of horticulture crops to farmers, reduce the adversities of natural calamities on production of quality planting materi-

‘Defying Gravity’ - Golden Crown Theological College hosts charity concert

42,836 beneficiaries under Pre-matric Scholarship Scheme Our Correspondent Kohima | March 27

Department of School Education, Nagaland released scholarships to 42,836 students for the year 2014-15 under Pre-matric Scholarship Scheme, a 100 % centrally sponsored scheme of Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India.

According to the annual administrative report 201516 of the School Education Department tabled in the recently concluded assembly session of NLA here, the money was released to the respective District Education Officers who then transferred the money to the respective bank ac-

District wise number of Pre-matric Scholarship beneficiaries

District Dimapur Kiphire Kohima Longleng Mokokchung Mon Peren Phek Tuensang Wokha Zunheboto

Class-1-5 1764 556 2703 604 2910 2015 1806 2277 2597 536 1753

counts of the students or parents or guardians.

The Government of India has introduced Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to the beneficiaries’ accounts for 2015-16. The report stat-

Class 6-10 2329 633 3862 1016 2249 2006 1813 2306 1882 464 4755

ed that with the introduction of DBT, release of fund for 2015-16 is still in progress due to technical difficulties for uploading the beneficiaries’ list in the National Portal for Scholarship.

als and produce of horticulture crops, ensure modification on the planning time of horticulture crops, reduce field mortality of quality planting materials of horticulture crops, permit accurate crop scheduling, promote multiple crops per season per unit area, minimize wastage of expensive seeds, increase per unit production of horticulture produces, impart training to farmers/ entrepreneurs/ staffs and act as a demonstrative farm for farmers with an earmarked amount of Rs. 650.00 lakhs, the report added.

Avoni Odyuo singing the theme song along with the band consisting Khristin, Frankie, Kito and Norman during the charity concert at Golden Crown Theological College.

Dimapur, march 27 (mExN): Golden Crown Theological College hosted a charity concert, a fundraising event for its girls' dormitory, under the theme ‘Defying Gravity’ on March 26 evening.

According to a press release from Music Director of the college, Avoni Odyuo, the college charges heavily subsided fees considering the students who

come from lower-income families. “The students, who will be future ministers of God, pastors, missionaries, music pastors etc., hail from towns and villages in Nagaland, Assam, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, and Myanmar.

In light of this situation, providing decent facilities for the students has to come from means outside the minimal fee structure,”

the release said. To raise a considerable sum in order to aid the building project for the students who have dedicated their lives for God was the basic vision and purpose of the fundraising concert, it added.

The Music Director said that the rustic, organic and ethereal decor matched the energy and vibe of both the performers and audience.

The crowd were mesmer-

ized with pieces from musicals and soundtracks of famous movies ranging from "Les Misérablés", "Frozen" "Tangled" to "Twilight", "Fast and Furious 7" and even "James Bond Spectre". The pieces catered to both the young vibrant audience as well as the more matured ones.

The performers for the event were Kivika, Ebeni, Kiren, Chumchilo, Atong, Meribeni Patton, Thunglamo Ngullie, Norman Villas, Thungyani, Chandeno, Frankie Kaurinta, Thungbeni, Liro, Khristin, Kito Sumi, and Avoni Odyuo.

The Music Director in her vote of thanks during the event emphasized on the value of money, and the fact that the audience sparing Rs 500 for a ticket means so much to the college. It reveals their support for the cause and the ministry carried out by the college with the students and the community, she said.

The progress of the girls' dormitory along with the amount raised will be posted on the college's Facebook Page. The college has invited to visit the page to be updated on the project and other college activities.

MonDAY 28•03•2016

NORTH-EAST

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Strong wind of change will blow away Cong in Assam: PM RangapaRa (assam), maRch 27 (Ians): A strong wind blowing across Assam is all set to uproot the ruling Congress in the forthcoming assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday and appealed to people for a decisive mandate in favour of the BJP. He was addressing a public rally at Rangapara, located on the north bank of the Branhmaputra river, in Assam's Sonitpur district.

The two-phase assembly polls in Assam's 126 constituencies are scheduled to take place on April 4 and April 11.

"Today my programme was at 10 a.m. and I was wondering how the people will come so early? There are no roads also here. But I am happy to see such a large gathering... I assure you that I'll return this love of yours with interest by doing development works," Modi told people at the rally. "...this time, I can see that there is a strong wind of change blowing here, which will uproot the Con-

Modi a good actor, people like to see his acting: Gogoi

TITabaR, maRch 27 (Ians): Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday accused Tarun Gogoi of betraying the people of Assam for the last 15 years, the chief minister termed the BJP leader a "very good actor" and that people only love to see his acting but do not trust him.

"He (Modi) is definitely a very good actor. People love to see his acting and that's why they listen to him. But that does not mean people trust him," Gogoi said at a public rally in his home constituency of Titabar.

"Modi does not have the guts to fight against injustice done by the rich. He can only harass poor guys like Rohith Vemula and Kanhaiya Kumar. Who wears a suit worth Rs.15 lakh? I have never seen such a suit," he said.

Stating that his childhood has been spent in the tea gardens and villages of the area, Gogoi said: "I have seen the people of the remote areas very closely. I can feel their pain, gress. The bad governance of 15 years will end and there will be a new sunrise of development," he said.

Targetting the Congress party for the problems of people in Assam, Modi ap-

pleasure, their expectations..."

"We have not seen such a prime minister who does nothing but spreads misinformation.

"He mocked me as an old man.

But let me say that I might be aging, but I still hold the strength to work for the people of my state. Even if I attain hundred years, I will still hold the power to work as a 50-year-old leader. This is the same reason for which people of Assam, irrespective of men and women, caste and religion, are with me. The victory of the Congress in Assam is obvious and unstoppable," Gogoi said.

Modi, during his public rallies in Assam on Saturday and Sunday, said he respects Gogoi who will be turning 90 in the next couple of years.

"The BJP, which terms me an inefficient CM, awards me for development. A few months back, (Home Minister) Rajnath Singh, awarded me in a programme organised by India Today for remarkable achievement in the road and

pealed for a decisive mandate.

"When you press the button on April 4 and April 11, keep in your mind the Congress' misrule of 60 years. The reason behind

transport sector in the state.

"In a survey of India Today, it was also revealed that Assam, which was in the 19th position in terms of development among the states of India, has now proceeded to the seventh position.

"Likewise, the same BJP has awarded me for achievement in power sector in the state," he said.

Gogoi said he does not have "any personal enmity" with Modi.

"But I am against his false promises and injustice towards the state.

My people have elected me to power to fight for the state. I have to raise my voice for my state and I have to protest if there is injustice," he said.

"Assam reels under floods every year. Last year, the state suffered twice. Hundreds died in the floods but the BJP-led government did not take up any initiative to solve the problem. They cut flood relief fund.

Modi could not even take out time to visit the state and see the plight of the people," Gogoi said.

your problems is only these people (Congress). Press the button in such a way that BJP and its allies get absolute majority. Never give an indecisive mandate, otherwise your future

will be left insecure."

Modi said people of India gave a decisive mandate to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2014 Lok sabha polls. And now India is getting applauded

worldwide.

"If you want to listen to the same applause for Assam, vote for absolute majority to BJP and its allies in the forthcoming polls."

Highlighting lack of development in Assam's northern region, Modi said: "This area is left out from development. In Assam, they spend money from state exchequer only in those assembly seats which they can win to form a government. They are not bothered about others. This is the reason why this area has remained left out from development."

Stating that there are over one crore people in Assam living below the poverty line, the prime minister said this poverty is a gift from those who have been in power for 60 years.

"We want to change Assam. Education for children, income for youth and medicine for elderly is our motto and this is alone enough to change the living standards of people of Assam," he said.

The prime minister said his dream is to provide a house to every poor man in

Easter celebrated in Meghalaya shIllong, maRch 27 (Ians): Candlelight processions, baptism of newborns, and coloured Easter eggs and buns were the hallmark of the day as Christians in Meghalaya on Sunday joined their brethren the world over in celebrating Easter. Cathedrals and churches in the Christian-majority state were thronged by people for special mass and other celebratory events.

Archbishop of Shillong the Rev. Dominic Jala presided over the Easter mass at the Grotto Chapel in the Mary Help of Christians Cathedral. Pascal commemoration in many parishes was marked with candlelight processions and baptism of newborn.

Leaders of various political parties greeted people on the occasion. Governor V. Shanmuganathan said Easter was a festival of hope and a special day to remember the god's sacrifice for the freedom of mankind.

"Easter brings happiness, Easter brings god's endless blessings, Easter brings fresh love and prosperity. I hope that the blessings of god fill our hearts with peace and joy The BJP ST Morcha led by its National Vice President Johny G Rengma undertook an election campaign at Howraghat in Karbi Anglong Autonomous District from March 24 to 26. and make us a better human being," Shanmuganathan said, wishing the people of Meghalaya. Greeting the people, Chief Minister Mukul Sangma said: "May this Easter bring bountiful of blessing to one and all."

Modi 'bulldozed' rights of tea garden workers: Brinda

Remove visa system between India and Bangladesh: Tripura governor agaRTala, maRch 27 (Ians): Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy has said he is in favour of doing away with the visa system between India and Bangladesh so that there is easier cross-border movement of people.

"Why this visa system between India and Bangladesh? This visa system must be removed. I would soon propose to MEA (ministry of external affairs) to remove this visa system," he said, speaking at Bangladesh's Independence Day celebrations organised by the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission here on Saturday.

"The leadership of the two countries can sit together and decide about the elimination of visa system, ensuring easy movement of people of two countries," said Roy, a former member of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national executive.

The friendship between Bangladesh and India has strengthened to a point where visa has become unnecessary, he said.

Without naming West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Roy, who was also the BJP's Bengal

unit president before being appointed the Tripura governor, said: "Indian Prime Minister was keen to resolve the Teesta water dispute, but the dispute was sought to be kept active by certain quarters. This is a matter of extreme regret."

"We should not suppress the history. Depending on the reality and truth, India and Bangladesh must continue their relationship for the interest of the two countries and their people. The leadership of two countries must evolve innovative ideas for the progress of the two neighbours."

Citing the examples of German reunification and visa-free movement between India, Nepal and Bhutan, the governor said that cultural exchanges between India and Bangladesh must be increased to reinforce the upward relationship.

Singers and dancers from India and Bangladesh performed in the Independence Day and National Day celebrations held at the Rabindra Satabarshiki Bhavan here.

A get-together of India and Bangladeshi personalities was also held on Sunday.

Arunachal designer creates waves in Denmark ITanagaR, maRch 27 (Tnn): Nixon Bui, a fashion designer who was born in Arunachal Pradesh, recently presented his first full collection 'Urban Tribal' at a show in Copenhagen, Denmark. The week-long show at Copenhagen Business School focussed on sustainable fashion and NIXONBUI, a Copenhagen-based ready-to-wear menswear line, was the only such brand to be presented.

The brand, founded in 2014, draws heavily on tribal motifs. The tribal inspirations are not only reflected in the designs, but also in the values of the company which recognizes and respects the forces of nature and advocates quality and originality. A native of the Tagin tribe of Arunachal, Bui blends ancient tribal and minimalistic Scandinavian elements in his work. Bui's pilot collection displayed Tshirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, pants, and caps. Twenty-one unique pieces inspired by the tribal lifestyle of the northeast were showcased. "The show was a great opportunity for us to present our brand and also show Copenhagen what we are about. And the response has been great! What I am most happy about is that I could represent the northeast in the western world," Bui said in a statement.

guwahaTI, maRch 27 (pTI): Ridiculing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "chaiwala" tag, CPI(M) politburo member Brinda Karat today said he had "bulldozed" the rights of tea garden labourers in Assam.

"Modiji, you said in a rally in Assam that you sold Assam tea and are so indebted to the state. But answer the people what you have done for tea garden workers. You and your policies have bulldozed them," Karat said at an election rally here.

The central government has stopped the ration for tea garden workers after the BJP-led NDA came to power, she said.

"You have not given the ST status to six tribes, among which one is tea tribe. And you talk about being a chaiwala! You are far away from the problems of tea garden workers," Karat said.

The senior CPI(M) leader charged

Modi with violating the Model Code of Conduct by announcing to offer various packages to different areas.

"If Modi comes as a PM, then he cannot do politics. If he comes as a BJP or RSS man, then he can do politics. I want to ask the Election Commission that if he comes as PM and then announces packages, will it not violate the Model Code of Conduct," she asked.

Karat, however, exuded confidence that people of Assam would reject such politics of package as was done by people during Delhi and Bihar polls.

She alleged that BJP was trying to divide people on communal lines and doing politics of "nationalism" by curbing freedom of expression in universities.

Karat also criticised the "corrupt" Congress government for failing to work for all-round development of

BJP trying to destabilize non-BJP governments: Tuki new DelhI, maRch 27 (Ians): Describing the imposition of President's Rule in Uttarakhand as a "murder of democracy", ousted Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Nabam Tuki on Sunday said the Narendra Modi government is trying to destabilize democratically elected non-BJP governments in the country.

"They have successfully experimented with my democratically elected government in Arunachal.

They have succeeded with their dirty political game plan in Uttarakhand. They will surely target other nonBJP governments in other states," Tuki told IANS. "They are adopting these dirty political game (President's Rule) realizing that people are no longer supporting them after they failed to implement their tall electoral promises," he said.

"The people have outrightly rejected them (BJP) in Bihar. I don't see much that people in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry would give the BJP a chance to rule after Modi totally failed

to deliver 'ache din' (Good days) and for their divisive politics," Tuki said. Tuki, whose Congress government was dismissed by imposition of President's rule on January 26 after 21 party legislators revolted against him, accused the BJP of disrespecting the constitution.

the state.

She said both BJP and Congress were responsible for rising prices of essential commodities.

Talking about MGNREGA scheme, Karat said "The Act says you should get 100 days work in a rural area. But in Assam, last year on an average 31 days of work were give, while it was 40 days in Gujarat. But in Tripura, where there is a Left Front government, 93 days of work were given.

"Only two per cent families in Assam got 100 days of work and it is just three per cent in Gujarat. However, the figure for Tripura is 52 per cent.

Karat alleged that the 15-year rule of Congress had witnessed numerous clashes among different communities in Assam.

The Senior CPI(M) leader was in the city to campaign for Sangita Das, the party's candidate in Dispur constituency.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We the family members of Late C. Mayang Longkumer, Salangtem Ward, Mokokchung would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to every individual who helped us during the unfortunate fire incident at our residence on 25th February. In this time of despair and sadness the compassion and the aid that you’ve shown us has touched our lives. Your support and prayers continue to help us find the strength to move on through this dark and difficult time. We can never repay or thank you enough but it is our earnest prayer and hope that our loving God bless you all abundantly.

A LecTuRe On

‘Human Rights in Naga Society: Today & Tomorrow’ Secretary General of the Naga Peoples’ Movement for Human Rights, Neingulo Krome, and Principal of Japfü Christian College, Dr. Visakhonü Hibo, come together to discuss the notion of human rights today and tomorrow, to envision its future in Naga society.

the country by 2022.

"I know it's a big work but my country is also a big one. We sent money to Gogoiji for making houses for the poor. He assured me to work but you'll be shocked to know that only one-third of the amount given by Centre is utilised so far and the rest has been rotting in banks."

"If there is a will, change can be brought about. After our government came to power in Delhi, the Centre has spent so much money in eastern region of India for spreading the rail network which no government had spent after Independence," he said.

"I am happy that 510 km of broad gauge rail connectivity have been completed on north bank of Brahmaputra," Modi said, accusing Gogoi for betraying the people of Assam for 15 years.

On Saturday, Modi launched the BJP's campaign in the poll-bound Assam by addressing four public rallies and a citizens' meeting in four districts of the state.

Easter Sunday celebrated in Mizoram aIzawl, maRch 27 (pTI): Band parties of different corps of the Salvation Army today woke the Aizawl populace by playing the hymn 'He's arisen' to mark the resurrection of Jesus Christ after being crucified on Easter Sunday.

People across the state celebrated Easter Sunday, signifying Christ's victory over death after his crucifixion to redeem the world.

Sunrise services were organised by the youth wings of both the Presbyterian and the Baptist Churches in their respective local churches.

Special prayers and worship were also held the whole day with Catholic church members breaking their fast since the day of crucifixion on Good Friday.

Preachers of different churches preached sermons on the resurrection of Christ.

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS SELECTED FOR GANDHI SHLIP BAZAR AT URBAN HAAT DIMAPUR, NAGALAND W.E.F:- 29TH MARCH TO 7TH APRIL 2016

SL NO. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80

Name of the Participants

Address

M/s Chanam Kamala Chanu M/s Sairem Sunita Devi M/s Ayat Ali M/s Imtiaz Ali M/s Bulbul Hussain M/s Asma Khaton M/s Alok Das M/s Gita Das M/s Ruki Begam M/s Raja Ali M/s Laila Begam M/s Apele Elah M/s Lucy M/s Livi M/s Khekatoli Aye M/s Vili Ayemi M/s Sheholi Aye M/s Pricilla Yimchunger M/s Akhum Quinker M/s Avi M/s Huno Society M/s Nartho Awomi M/s Tokani Awomi M/s Mughalika M/s Nitoli Zhimo M/s Lily M/s Tainla Phom M/s Meyesenla M/s Among M/s Ayele Lohe M/s Honili V.Yeptho M/s Alewe-u M/s Asane M/s Bendilar M/s Yahoi M/s Yumei Rupreo M/s Ngampo M/s Phongshen SHG M/s Chibeni Lotha M/s Pamay Weaving M/s Liangmai W.Unit M/s Yanon Konyak M/s Khensai M/s Nilimi SHG M/s Arindam Datta M/s Ikatoli Chishi M/s Mughatoli M/s Avi M/s Neochom M/s Bothuki SHG M/s Medo M/s Tonikali Chishi M/s Shotila M/s Tokali M/s Toshini M/s Robecca M/s Toli M/s Neichulou M/s Achiam M/s Ajungla M/s Nisalimi SHG M/s M. Tannyu M/s Toshi Handicrafts M/s Shungle Phom M/s Ngopkai Konyak M/s Hotoli M/s Inaholi M/s Aimei Phom

Imphal, Manipur Imphal, Manipur Barpetta, Assam Barpetta, Assam Barpetta, Assam Barpetta, Assam Golaghat, Assam Golaghat, Assam Golaghat, Assam Golaghat, Assam Golaghat, Assam Dimapur Nagaland Dimapur Nagaland Dimapur Nagaland Walford, Nagaland Dimapur Nagaland Niuland, Nagaland Diphupar B Nagaland Model vill. Nagaland Litsami vill. Nagaland Thilixu vill. Nagaland United colony, Nagaland Half Nagarjan, Nagaland Thilixu vill. Nagaland Thilixu vill. Nagaland Purana Bazar, Nagaland Kevijau colony, Nagaland Kevijau colony, Nagaland Kevijau colony, Nagaland Enhulumi vill. Nagaland Thilixu vill. Nagaland Pfutsero town, Nagaland Dimapur Nagaland Dimapur Nagaland Mon, Nagaland Dimapur Nagaland Dimapur Nagaland Dimapur Nagaland Kevijau colony, Nagaland Dimapur Nagaland Peren ,Nagaland Dimapur Nagaland Dimapur Nagaland Burma Camp, Nagaland Kolkata,West Bengal Pishikhu, Nagaland Maromi, Nagaland Purana Bazar, Nagaland Dipurbar Thilixu vill. Nagaland Ura vill. Nagaland Peace Camp, Nagaland Dimapur Nagaland Dimapur Nagaland Dimapur Nagaland Dimapur Nagaland Dimapur Nagaland Dimapur Nagaland Dimapur Nagaland Dimapur Nagaland Supply colony, Dimapur Kuda village, Nagaland Kevijau colony, Nagaland Imkomglenden Colony Mon Town Thilixu vill. Nagaland Satakha, Nagaland Master colony, Nagaland Circuit House colony, Dmp. M/s Asangla Tzudir Nagaland M/s A. Bendang Jamir Lengrijan, Dimapur, Nagaland M/s Amenla & Arenla SHG Lengrijan, Dimapur, Nagaland Circuit House colony, Dmp. M/s Lipongchum Sangtam Nagaland M/s Yimjung Dimapur Nagaland M/s Pangernungla Phom Dimapur Nagaland M/s Chomongpila Chare vill, Nagaland M/s Lipokla Mokokchung,Nagaland M/s Soyim Unit Dimapur Nagaland M/s Apong Mokokchung,Nagaland M/s Imtila Mokokchung, Nagaland M/s Tainla Imsong Mokokchung,Nagaland

SL NO. 81 to 100 participants from outside the States Notes

1

Date : Saturday, April 2, 2016 Time : 1:30-3:30 pm Venue : DABA Elim Conference Hall, Duncan Bosti

2

Limited Seats. Those interested to participate, kindly send us your name and phone number to:

3

 +91 (03862) 248854 @ morung@gmail.com

4

The Morung Lectures is an initiative of The Morung for Indigenous Affairs & Just Peace, and The Morung Express

3

The selected participants are hereby directed to report to the Exhibition Ground Urban Haat, Dimapur on 29th March 2016 at 6:00 A.M The participants are also hereby directed to keep their exhibits in their respective Stall under lock & key.The office shall not be held responsible in case of any losses/theft.

Selected participants are informed to strictly follow the scheduled time. In case of failure appropriate action will be taken Free passage may be allowed to the above participants to reach the venue on time Sd/- Er. S. Temsulong Jamir Additional Director, Industries & Commerce & Managing Director

4

MonDAY 28•03•2016

Business

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

No bank defaulter will be spared, warns PM ra N g a Pa ra ( a s saM), March 27 (PTi): Warning that no bank defaulter will be spared, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today accused Congress of helping the rich usurp people’s money and claimed his government has “tightened the screws” on the “looters” who were now fleeing due to fear of going to jail.

Hitting back after his government faced criticism over handling of Vijay Mallya case, Modi alleged that Congress was opening banks for the rich during its rule and “its governments who have through these banks filled the coffers of the rich too will have to pay”.

“You know how the rich have usurped public money. My government has tightened the screws on the bank defaulters.

They are sweating due to fear of going to jail and are fleeing. But no one will be spared I am telling you.

“The money looted from the banks does not belong to the banks but to the poor people of the

Use technology, water conservation: PM to farmers New delhi, March 27 (iaNs): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called for use of technology and water conservation to increase agricultural productivity as he listed out various pro-farmer initiatives of his government.

“The government is planning to make five lakh new ponds through MGNREGA. These will be our assets to conserve rain water which will help the farmers to irrigate their land in view of deficit monsoon,” Modi said in the 18th edition of his monthly radio address ‘Man Ki Baat’.

Asking people to find news ways to conserve water, the prime minister said the ponds should be kept clean so that “more and more water can be conserved”.

He also requested farmers to download and use Kisan Suvidha App, which will provide all the incountry and I will ensure that those who looted this money return each and every paise... they have looted the country,” he said addressing an election rally in Assam for the second successive day.

Flipkart and Snapdeal squabble on social media New delhi, March 27 (PTi): E-commerce rivals Flipkart and Snapdeal slug it out on social media over the Chinese online retailer Alibaba’s plans to enter the Indian market. Alibaba, which has invested in Indian e-tailers like Paytm and Snapdeal, recently said that it plans a full-fledged entry into the Indian market.

Taking a pot shot at competitors, Flipkart cofounder Sachin Bansal in a tweet said, “Alibaba deciding to start operations directly shows how badly their Indian investments have done so far.” Hitting back, Snapdeal founder Kunal Bahl tweeted, “Didn’t Morgan Stanley just flush 5bn worth market cap in Flipkart down the (toilet seat icon) Focus on ur business not commentary”.

Alibaba China has about 40 per cent stake in One97 Communications which runs Paytm. In February, a mutual fund firm under Morgan Stanley marked down the value of Flipkart’s shares by 27 per cent. In a regulatory filing the firm said it valued Flipkart stake at USD 58.93 million in December 2015, as compared to USD 80.62 million in June 2015.

Flipkart in February, before the filing by Morgan Stanley fund, had said it is valued at USD 15.2 billion then. In the recent times, online retailers such as Flipkart and Snapdeal have sparred on social media over various issues and have also run publicity campaigns to target rivals.

‘Plans afoot to make India 100% e-vehicle nation by 2030’ New delhi, March 27 (PTi): The government is working on a scheme to provide electric cars on zero down payment for which people can pay out of their savings on expensive fossil fuels, for becoming 100% electric vehicle nation by 2030.

“India can become the first country of its size which will run 100%of electric vehicles. We are trying to make this programme self financing. We don’t need one rupee support from the government. We don’t need one rupee investment from the people of India,” power minister Piyush Goyal said at an event organised by CII Young India here.

Elaborating further, he said, “We are working (on the scheme). Can we actually give electric car for free (zero down payment) and people can pay for that out of the savings on the petroleum products. Innovation is possible, it just needs an open mind. You need to think of scale and be honest.”

The minister informed that a small working group under the leadership of road minister Nitin Gadkari has been created with oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan and environment minister Prakash Javadekar on its board.

He said, “We are meeting in first week of April and see (if) India can be 100%on electric vehicles by 2030.

We are trying to see if we can monetise the savings then you will have to use cheaper electricity for charging your cars.”

“We are thinking of scale. We are thinking of leading the world rather than following the world. India will be first largest country in the world to think of that scale.”

Goyal cited the example of LED lights where through the bulk tendering, the government has been able to reduce the procurement price of these bulbs to Rs 64.41 in January this year from the market rate of Rs 310 in February 2014.

The government had started Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme last year under which it has already provided over 8.32 crore LED bulbs to families through power distribution companies at an installment of Rs 10 per month for each bulb.

After the LED bulb distribution scheme, power ministry is working on a similar programme under which it will sell energy-efficient fans and air conditioners at prices much lower than market rates on EMI. About any power tariff he said, “We don’t need to increase any tariff in the country. We just need to work smart and bring technology and India can be powerhouse of affordable energy across the country. Cross subsidy across the state can handle the issue.”

On the negative subsidy or payment of premium in recently concluded third round of gas auction for stranded power projects (Saps) on Sunday, Goyal said, “There is no need of PSDF now. We have been successful in our mission. Now, they need zero support (subsidy).”

formation regarding agriculture and new technologies to improve the farm productivity.

“You will be amazed to know that we are presenting a Kisan Facility App for our farmers as part of Digital India campaign. If you download it in your mobile, information related to weather forecast, latest aggro-medicines and other developments in the fields will be on your finger tips. You will have better knowledge of crop prices and position of farm-markets,” Modi said, insisting the mobile application will connect the farmers directly with the agricultural scientists. “It is a myth that such a facility can only be used by urban people and youth,” he said, asking farmers to file a complaint to him if they find any difficulty in the mobile application.

He also urged farmers to use lesser fertilisers as “their overdose is ru-

Modi said various fiscal policies initiated by his government had done away with middlemen, ensured development and enhanced the country’s image internationally.

“The country was be-

ining the soil of its fertility and bringing hazards to the countrymen”.

Referring to the World Health Day (April 7), Modi called for eradicating diabetes from the country and asked people to do Yoga and physical exercise to fight the disease. Mentioning the government’s steps to deal with rising cases of tuberculosis, he said people should not delay going for checkups if they find out any symptom of the disease. “There are more than 13,000 microscopy centers and four lakh DOTS providers in the country who grant medicines free of cost,” Modi said.

Admitting that India is lagging behind in tourism sector compared to the world, Modi asked countryman to give thrust to tourism. He insisted on the need to attract more tourists to India by making the country’s tourists destinations more attractive.

ing run by middlemen.

Since Modi assumed office, the middlemen have been forced to close shop.

It is they who shout, accuse and abuse Modi but I don’t care.

“There will be no

‘acche din’ (good days) for the middlemen and so their problem with me is natural,” Modi said ina reference to his election slogan.

“You have enjoyed for 60 years by robbing the

poor. Now, it won’t happen any more. So it is natural that you will have a problem with Modi. I am committed to ensure development and well being of the nation,” the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister said that more “than 40 per cent of the population had not seen the doors of the bank during the last 60 years” but his Jan Dhan Yojana has ensured that the poorest of the poor have their own bank accounts.

Besides, earlier the money lenders were active, charging high rates of interest and “sucking the blood of the poor but our Mudra Yojana has ensured that loans are given to the deserving at nominal rate of interest”.

“These policies and our agenda for development have enhanced the nation’s position in the international arena and now when I shake hands with global leaders, it is not with Modi that they shake hands but with the people of the country,” Modi said.

Amul plans to set up processing unit in the NE MuMbai, March 27 (PTi): Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which sells dairy products under the Amul brand, is mulling setting up a processing unit in the Northeast, a senior company executive said.

“We are setting up two processing units in UP -one in Kanpur and one in Lucknow -- which will be operational in 5-6 months.

“We are also planning to set to set up a processing unit near Kolkata. We are investing Rs 200 crore for each of these units,” GCMMF’s Managing Director R S Sodhi told PTI here.

He said the company is also looking at Northeast for setting up a milk processing unit.

GCMMF has 60 milk processing units spread across the country.

The company is expecting Rs 23,000 crore revenue this fiscal.

“We are expecting Rs 23,000 crore in sales by the end of the financial year. The rise in revenue is only due to increase in vol-

leisure

ume,” he added.

When asked if the company is planning to increase prices of its products, Sodhi said there is no such plan for the next six months.

However, he said production cost is increasing due to rise in cost of procurement and production,

Daily Cross WorD

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

Game Number # 3531

Answer Number # 3530

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CROSSWORD # 3545

SUDOKU

including cattle feed and labour costs.

GCMMF exports its value-added products to over 50 countries.

“Our main focus is on the domestic market for expansion. Of the total revenues, we export only about Rs 250 crore,” he said.

GCMMF, formed in 1946 with just two village dairy co-operative societies and 247 litres of milk, has helped the country become the largest milk producer in the world.

Today, it procures about 14.85 million litres of milk every day from 18,536 village milk cooperative societies and 17 member unions covering 31 districts and 3.37 million milk producer members.

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ANSWER TO CROSSWORd 3544

E m k O m T B R A R A T R E O L E N k O

New delhi, March 27 (PTi): Come April and cancelling a confirmed train ticket would only be a phone call away. Indian Railways is set to launch a facility next month for the hassled passengers who find it hard to reach its counters within the stipulated time to cancel their confirmed tickets and claim refund.

“One has to dial 139 giving details of the confirmed ticket for cancelling it and the sender will get a one-time password (OTP).

Passenger has to reach the counter the same day and reveal the OTP to claim refund,” said a senior Railway Ministry official.

After the change in refund rules, a lot of passengers are now finding it difficult to reach counters to cancel the reserved tickets within the stipulated time and as a result they are losing money. According to the new refund rules, railways has doubled the ticket cancellation charge with the aim of helping genuine passengers get confirmed tickets.

“The refund rules were revised to discourage touts

and ticketing agents who engage in black marketing of tickets,” said the official, adding “however, it has also resulted in inconvenience in some genuine cases. So we are now providing the 139 facility for cancellation.”

Coming to the aid of harried passengers, railways will launch the cancellation facility through 139 service so that one does not have to rush to the counter to cancel confirmed tickets. The tickets which are booked online can be cancelled on the ticketing websites. The 139 facility is for those who bought tickets from counters.

The software is ready and the facility is likely to be formally launched in the second week of April.

MITHUN MEAT Available on 29th March 2016 (Today) From 7am onwards Near Duncan Community Hall Duncan Bosti, Dimapur Contact: 9402731625

MOUNTAIN VIEW CHRISTIAN COLLEGE Affiliated to Nagaland University Near BSF Camp, below ATI Office

HOSTEL ATTACHED Admission is going on for Class 12 hostel facilities for both Boys & girls Bus Service provided for day Scholars Principal, 9856294648/ 9436608678

STAR COACHING CENTRE kIP-YAN COmPLEX, ABOVE SBI ATm, ImLI khAS dUNCAN BASTI, dImAPUR, NAgALANd-797112 CONTACT NO- 8257848998 / 8729871911

COURSES OFFEREd 1. Class 9 and 10 regular tuitions for Maths and Science (AdmISSIONS gOINg ON) 2. NERIST/AIPMT/NSSE/SSC (AdmISSIONS gOINg ON) 3. Class 11 & 12 Science Regular Tuitions Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics (AdmISSIONS gOINg ON) 4. Spoken English (AdmISSIONS gOINg ON) 5. Hindi Regular Tuitions for Class 1 to 10 students (AdmISSIONS gOINg ON) 6. Class 10 Repeaters 7. Class12 (Arts and Science) Repeaters FEATURES 1. Well qualified and experienced teachers 2. Well furnished classrooms 3. Affordable tuition/course fees in easy instalments 4. Regular tests and assignments 5. Convenient class timings for regular students 6. Topic wise detailed explanation by the teachers 7. Friendly atmosphere.

dImAPUR Civil Hospital:

STd COdE: 03862 232224; Emergency- 229529, 229474

Metro Hospital: Faith Hospital:

227930, 231081 228846

Shamrock Hospital

228254

Zion Hospital:

231864, 224117, 227337

Police Control Room Police Traffic Control East Police Station West Police Station

228400

CIHSR (Referral Hospital) Dimapur hospital

242555/ 242533

Apollo Hospital Info Centre:

230695/ 9402435652

Railway:

131/228404

Indian Airlines

229366

232106 227607 232181

224041, 248011

Chumukedima Fire 282777 Brigade Nikos Hospital and 232032, 231031 Research Centre Nagaland Multispe- 248302, cialty Health & 09856006026 Research Centre

kOhImA

Police Control Room: North Police Station: South Police Station: Fire Brigade: Naga Hospital: oking Hospital: Bethel Nursing Home: Northeast Shuttles

STd COdE: 0370 100/2244279 2222222 2222111 2222952 2222916 2243339 2224202 08974997923

08822911011

C I A Y E E T U E V O m R k J C E U L h

A N T E L T g h T O I C A Y Y U O R I C

R

N T R P T I R A T T Y N P C R A V C m S

d S O N E h U N d R E d g R A N d B A R

C

Y W F N d W k R U X B R O W N L E Y L A

F E h T U R Y B A B B d C Q X O L h A m

F E C R A B d O O g R m F U d g E I h P

H

V T k P L A k N O W W h O P P E R S T O

S R E k C I N S g T S d N U O m X N P F

KoHIMA NoRTH: 7085924114 (o)

CHUMUKEDIMA: 7085982102 (o) 8732810051 (oC) WOkhA: 03860242215/101 (o) 8974322879 (oC) MoKoKCHUNG: 0369-2226225/ 101 (o) 8415830232 (oC) PHEK: 8414853765 (o) 8413822476(oC) zUNHEBoTo: 03867-280304/ 101 (o) 9436422730 (oC) TUENSANG: 8414853766 (o) 9856163601 (oC)

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

WE4WOmEN hELPLINE

A

KoHIMA SoUTH: 0370-2222952/ 101 (o) 9402003086 (oC)

MoN: 03869-251222/ 101 (o) 9862130954 (oC)

Toll free No. 1098 childline

mOkOkChUNg:

FIRE STATIONS

DIMAPUR: 03862-232201/ 101 (o) 9856156876 (oC)

ChILd WELFARE COmmITTEE

E

g k T J N T A R U h S A S A m A N C d C

Cancelling train tickets to be just a phone call away

STd COdE: 0369

Police Station 1:

2226241

Police Station 2 :

2226214

Civil Hospital: Woodland Nursing Home:

2226216 2226263

Hotel Metsüpen (Tourist Lodge):

2226373/2229343

TAHAMzAM (formerly Senapati) STD CoDE: 03871 Police Station: Fire Brigade

CURRENCY NOTES

222246 222491

BUY(Rs)

SELL(Rs)

US Dollars Sterling Pound Hong Kong Dollar Australian Dollar Singapore Dollar Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen

64.93 91.79 8.1 49.04 47.36 49.5 57.16

68.33 97.43 9.09 52.33 50.30 52.59 61.22

Euro

72.37

76.93

Thai Baht Korean Won UAE Dirham (AED) Chinese Yuan

1.77

2.03

0.0543

0.0609

17.1

19.20

9.68

10.85

MondAY 28•03•2016

NAGALAND

neera Sarpali wins north east dancing best Moms Season 2 Dimapur, march 27 (mExN): Neera Sarpali has won the title of North East Dancing Best Moms Season 2 (2016), while Sangeeta Choudhury and Gwalina Rengma have been declared first and second runners-up respectively. The grand finale of the event, organized by Murti Films Pvt. Ltd and sponsored by Everyday Salt, was held on March 20 in Dimapur.

The event was graced by Minister for Art & Culture, Eshak Konyak as chief guest and Basu Damani, General Secretary (Finance), NPF as special guest. Neeta Agarwal, social activist, Roj Longchar, actress, Gihutoli Khulu (Miss Dimapur First Runners-up 2013), Sopu, (Miss North East Diva First runners-up 2013), and Venyi Medo (Miss Nagaland finalist 2013) were also

bJP district in-charges informed Dimapur, march 27 (mExN): The Nagaland BJP President Visasolie Lhoungu has directed the districts to constitute the district committees and office bearers before March 31 and submit the reports to that effect immediately. Thereafter, the districts should conduct the district executive

meeting before April 7, 2016 and submit the reports accordingly, stated a press release from Jaangsillung Gonmei, General Secretary, BJP Nagaland Media. Mandal Committees should also be constituted before April 15, 2016, it added. The State President has requested the party workers to keep

with the schedule as mentioned and not delay.

District In-charges have been asked to ensure the completion of the districts assignments and programmes in this matter. The State President Visasolie has appointed BJP district in-charges for the eleven districts as follows: Tuensang - Vihoshe

AR construct borewells

Holy Week culminates at St Francis Xavier's Church Kidima

Winners of the North East Dancing Best Moms Season 2.

present.

The judges for the event were Sanjeev Sonar from Guwahati and Maushami Sheel from Dibrugarh, while the programme

was anchored by Pooja J. Hanse, Mrs India North East, Guwahati.

According to a press release from Munna Yadav, Murti Films Pvt Ltd, the

organizers are planning to invite Bollywood star Govinda for the Season 3 of North East Dancing Best Moms which will be held next year.

Dimapur, march 27 (mExN): Holy Week at St Francis Xavier's Church Kidima culminated with Rev. Fr. Amalanathan Pappusamy, Principal of St. Xavier’s College, Jalukie as the main celebrant on Easter Sunday at the church premises.

Addressing the gathering, Rev. Pappusamy said the rising of Jesus Christ from the death was “the hope for every faithful would rise from death on the last day.”

Abstinence and repentance is the true observance of Holy Week, he maintained, adding that faithful people receive the sac-

Sumi, Mokokchung Tsasepi Sangtam, Longleng - Er. Cheong Konyak, Kiphire - Er. Sankathung Jami, Mon - Imsu Yaden, Zunheboto - Yanghose Sangtam, Wokha - James Vizo, Kohima - Eduzu Theluo, Phek - Lima Onen Chang, Peren - Mghato Achumi, Dimapur - Imtiwati Ao.

raments for the attainment of the peace, joy and keep hope for enrichment of the eternal life.

According to a press note received here, the highlights of the weeklong programme included Way of the Cross; confession; veneration; reading of the liturgy; making of new fire; Easter light procession; blessing of holy water; sprinkle of holy water to the faithful; renewal of the baptism; baptism; and culminating with the solemn Eucharist celebration.

Dimapur, march 27 (mExN): 18 Assam Rifles under the aegis of Headquarters 6 Sect Assam Rifles constructed a borewell at Jalukie village under Op Sadbhavana. Meanwhile, 9 Assam Rifles under the aegis of Headquarter 5 Sector Assam Rifles constructed Borewell at Tsiesema and Tsiesema Basa village.

Bishop on significance of human suffering and death Kohima, march 27 (mExN): Bishop of Kohima, Most Rev. Dr. James Thoppil was the main celebrant during the Good Friday service at St. Joseph’s Church, Chumukedima. In his homily, the Bishop explained the meaning and significance of human suffering and death.

Christianity did not invent suffering, he said; suffering was already in the world since time began.

“Christianity has given a meaning to suffering. This meaning is not that suffering is good in itself but that, in God’s providence, it is an opportunity to love – the supreme test in many instances. Suffering by itself is nothing; it is useless.

But suffering shared with

Christ in his passion is a wonderful gift to human life,” the Bishop said.

A press release from the Bishop’s Secretary informed that the Bishop said human death too finds its meaning when it is seen in relation to the death of Jesus. “The death of Jesus takes on a personal meaning for us only when we recognize our desperate need of salvation. Calvary signifies that in our desperate need God came to our rescue.” More than any other religious symbol, Rev. Dr. James Thoppil said, the crucifix demands a personal response from us.

“Though Good Friday was a sad and dark day for the disciple of Jesus, it is for us a

good day: for we have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ,” he added.

The Bishop further continued that the death of Jesus on the cross is not an accident, it is not a misfortune. “It is the very purpose for which Jesus came into this world.

All the people are born in this world to live, but Jesus came into this world to die upon the cross. The whole life of Jesus was one deliberate, conscious and steady march towards His cross. Jesus was very conscious about this.

Cross was central to the life of Christ. It was not an accident; it was not a tragedy.

It was the means by which God saved us.”

Bishop ended his homily with a reference to Pope

Francis who said that the Cross is also Christians' answer to evil that continues to work in us and around us.

“Christians must respond to evil with good, taking the Cross upon themselves as Jesus did. We now continue this Via Crucis in our daily lives. Let us walk together along the Way of the Cross and let us do so carrying in our hearts this word of love and forgiveness. Let us go forward waiting for the Resurrection of Jesus, who loves us so much.”

The Good Friday service was preceded by the Way of the Cross (14 stations) around the campus.

In Kohima, the Catholic community of St. Luke Church, Kohima observed

Good Friday on March 25. The Way of the Cross was carried out from Billy Graham road Junction to St. Luke Church. Rev. Fr. Peter Salew SDB, the Parish Priest of Christ King Church, Kohima, led the faithful in celebrating the true fundamental parts of the Lord’s Passion; The Liturgy of the Word, The veneration of the Cross and The CHAI Project Axshya in collaboration with RNTCP and VIHAAN CSC Tuensang Holy Communion. Accord- organised World TB Day 2016 with the theme ‘Unite to End TB’ on March 24 at Tower ing to a press release from Clock Junction Tuensang.

Mengukhrietuo Marcus, President, Catholic Union, St. Luke Church, Kohima, the Liturgy of Good Friday profoundly touched the hearts and minds of the faithful gathered together to reflect on the passion and death of Jesus.

CORRECTION With regard to the news item “Mid Day Meal Scheme starved by ‘pilferage’?” published on March 27 issue, the corrected short receipt of food grains and the short receipt of cook cum helper’s honorarium under the Mid Day Meal Scheme in Nagaland is given below.

Through the help of the GOC of 3 Corps, 117 Engineer Regiment has levelled the Patkai Christian College playground. According to a release from PCC, the ground is now spacious enough to accommodate one standard ground (90M x 120M) and 2 basketball courts etc., which will provide opportunities in sports to more than 2000 students of the college.

Financial Literacy Camp held at Ungma moKoKchuNg, march 27 (mExN): A Financial Literacy Camp (FLC) was conducted at Ungma Village on March 26, organized by Care and Support Society, Mokokchung in collaboration with Nagaland State Cooperative Bank Ltd. and sponsored by NABARD. S. Amarjit Mangang, DDM, NABARD informed the villagers about the objectives The National Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation Awareness Week concluded on and significance of financial inclusion. He March 22 with the observance of World Water Day at Executive Engineer PHED Office highlighted the role played by NABARD in in Mon. In the concluding function, speech on the importance on quality water was financial inclusion programme and also delivered by Watinaro. (DIPR Photo) spoke on the Farmers Club, SHG & JLG

Programme and role of NABARD in creating infrastructure in the district.

Temsulepden Imchen, Assistant Branch Manager, FLC in-charge, NStCB, Mokokchung shared the importance of banking, savings, financial planning. He also highlighted various financial services offered by the banks for the general public.

75 participants attended the programme, which was chaired by Imchawati Kichu, Managing Director, Care and Support Society. Chairman, Ungma Village Council delivered the welcome address.

Public SPace

T

he Dimapur Deputy Commissioner’s recent ban on riverbed mining, apropos to the Regulation of Extraction of Riverbed Resources dated March 22,2016, on banning of using heavy machineries for extraction of river resources on the Chathe and the Dhansiri river truly deserves a thousand claps. With advent of time, the usage of modern machineries of course has become an inevitable part of our lives but the rampant, uncontrolled and unabated extraction of the sand, gravels and boulders without any compunction and a second thought for the environment and for the inhabitants of the local surroundings in days to come sure needed some immediate remedial measures and put some limit on this activity. It was just at the nick of time, better late than never.

The specific use of riverbed mining has increased manifold in Nagaland over the last few decades. Mining of sands, gravels, stones and boulders from riverbeds and riverbanks across the state has seen an unprecedented rise. Each day truckloads of sands and gravels are extracted for a variety of reasons from filling lowlands to building houses,roads,nullahs, etc. One of the most important factors for hike in demand in recent years has been the growth of the real estate and construction industries. Riverbed mining causes erosion and often leaves the river-plains much more vulnerable to flooding because it allows loose

banning RiveRbed Mining landmass to be washed downstream, especially during the monsoons. The erosion and washing away of huge parts of soil during the monsoon season in Dhansiri and the Chathe river banks are some glaring examples. The last year’s temporary ban on vehicular movement on the bridge of the Chathe river near the CIHSR also speaks volumes of side-effect of this act as the bridge nearly gave away due to an unlimited extraction from the river below. So whom do we blame? Seems our people never know where to draw the line or have a limit with regard to everything we do.

Following a drastic rise in the construction industry the activity of riverbed mining has reached alarming proportions in several areas of not only our state but in many parts of our country and even the world. From forcing the river to change its course, to affecting the groundwater tables and adversely impacting the habitat of micro-organisms, the ramifications of excess riverbed mining are many. The impact that it has on environment and ecology is far greater and far graver, cautions environmentalists and water conservation experts. Sand holds a lot of water, and when it is mindlessly mined and laden on to trucks, large quantities of water is lost in transit.

Sand is important for ground water recharge, on a riverbed it acts as a link

between the flowing river and the water table and is part of the aquifer. The negative impact of unlimited mining far outweighs the economic benefits.

There is a perception that sand and boulders are useless and rivers have a lot of sand. This is incorrect, because they are crucial for the sustained existence of the river and perform many functions.

The Uttarakhand floods witnessed the impact of tampering with the rivers and their resources when sand and boulders are removed in an unimpeded way using heavy machines, the erosion capacity of the river increases.

Sand and boulders prevent the river from changing the course and act as a buffer for the riverbed. In the aftermath of the report,a documentary of the flood report said, ‘In Vishnuprayag the boulders that came down with the river water damaged a side of the dam and the waters spread out across causing heavy damage’. Unplanned and rampant removal of sand from riverbeds also amounts to destroying the habitat of biodiversity, as there are a lot of micro-organisms that are not visible and widely known, but are critical to soil structure and fertility. When we dredge sand, we literally take away their habitat. Excessive riverbed mining disturbs the equilibrium of a river channel. The impact that sand mining, which is simply but theft on environ-

ment and ecology, cannot even be calculated. Excessive in-stream sand mining also causes degradation of rivers, therefore, there has to be periodic assessment of how much sand can be sustainably mined.

Despite a Supreme Court order that prohibits sand mining without the requisite clearance from the required authorities and places limits on the quantities that can be mined, thousands of tonnes of sand is being illegally mined to meet the rising demand of construction industry and for extraction of mineral. The government, village councils and local authorities should exercise prudence when it comes to leasing out the riverbed for mining activities and also demarcate areas clearly and monitor mining through a suitable institutional mechanism. A high level sort of watchdog committee which includes environmentalists and civil societies must be formed and Laws has to be enforced in an efficient and unbiased way and decisive steps are to be taken for environmental solution here in our state. Large scale mining of sand and gravel take away several folds higher than the natural replenishments, has led to irreparable damages to the land, water, biotic and social and human environments related to many of the world’s river systems.

Excessive and uncontrolled riverbed mining may cause lowering of riv-

erbed level as well as river water level resulting in lowering of groundwater table due to excessive extraction and draining out of groundwater from the adjacent areas. The water table level of Dimapur also is said to be decreasing drastically and water too has become heavily polluted over the recent years. Even the little rivers we have around are also disappearing and the few water bodies we had are all being filled up to accommodate the growing urban population. In the never-ending quest for growth and development all of this is being shored up by the rapidly dwindling banks and decreasing sizes of our little precious rivers of our tiny Nagaland. Nagas too need to put a hold on our random activities and adopt real sustainable measures with a pragmatic approach while dealing with our limited resources gifted by Mother Nature to our land. We hanker so much on petroleum and other natural resources. So isn’t this riverbed an important natural resource too?

Just a few years back ,I very often warned an old high school friend of mine, who was a member of a development board of a prominent area about the over extraction of stones and gravel from the river below it but all my reminders and warnings went on unheeded. I am no sooth-sayer but what I warned him came true, the bridge that served as a lifeline for around some hundred of villages nearly felled off.

Let us not all wait for those final moments.

Jonah Achumi

Towards a better trend

A

propos the recent examination (Civil Service mains 2015) conducted by the NPSC, it is pertinent to point out that the pattern of question paper has taken a sharp turn relative to the preceding years. While there still remain a lot of room for improvement, it is laudable and quite remarkable to witness that the quality of questions have significantly shifted from the earlier trend of concrete questions and definitions to a more conceptualised ones, where the later is more likely to register better contention to assess a candidate's aptitude rather than the ability to memorize, retain and parrot them back as is evidently reflected by the former. This will not only usher in a better and stiff competition but also render fairness among the candidates while producing quality officers and bureaucrats in the state. This is a quantum leap taken by the commission which should be favorable to all the aspirants and is undoubtedly another brick to its wall of evolution and improvement which ought to be followed consistently in the future as well.

Inavi Y Achumi Purana Bazaar Dimapur

The Morung Express “Public Space” is to provide space for the opinions of the people to be expressed and heard through this newspaper. Nonetheless, The Morung Express points out that the opinions expressed in the contents published in the “Public Space” do not reflect the views and position of the newspaper or the editor.

6

MonDAY 28•03•2016

IN FOCUS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

The Power of Truth

The Morung Express volume Xi issue 84 By moa Jamir

A Deafening Silence

N

early two weeks have elapsed since the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) Report 2016 was tabled in the Nagaland Legislative Assembly on March 19 highlighting discrepancies in various Social, Economic, Revenue and General Sectors in the State.

While the government’s conspicuous shoveling of the report with a 13 minutes assembly session is a tacit strategy, the deafening silence of leading social and religious organisations on the report is ominous and reflects the wretched state of affairs we are living in.

Such findings are the norm in these annual reports. Routinely, the reports are tabled and shelved, without discussion or corrective action and given a gentle burial. Remember the last year’s CAG Report? Probably not.

Consequently, our roads are barely motorable; health services need a life-line; schools are unteachable; social and economic sectors, and other public amenities and services remain in total shambles. A ‘state’ of complete despondency.

What could explain such nonchalance – of the organisations as well as the general public? Is it lack of awareness and information deficiency? A case of an acute enduring ability?

No, it is a symptomatic malady of Corruption that has become endemic and ingrained in every layer of society.

Corruption is described by the World Bank as 'the abuse of public office for private gain' (World Bank), but the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) has defined it more comprehensively as 'when institutions, organisations, companies or individuals profit inappropriately from their position in the operations and thereby cause damage or loss. This includes giving and receiving bribes, extortion, favouritism and nepotism, embezzlement, fraud, conflict of interest, and illegal monetary contributions to political parties.'

Sound familiar?

Corruption is so deeply ingrained that not a single institution –governmental, social or religious– is free from its encumbering shackles. As a result none is willing to shake the status quo fearing repercussion from others. The system, therefore, continues to keep the State in a “vicious cycle of corruption.”

Lulled by years of corrupt practices and systematically shaped under it, the public has also become immune to such findings.

At the end of the day, it is the general public that forms the core of social organisations and church bodies. The silence, thus, is an admission that we are all part of the tentacles of corruption and a fight against the same would result in collective implosion.

In such a situation, how do we break out of the vicious cycle? Transparency International, an anti-corruption watchdog, has among other things suggested ending impunity, reform public administration and finance management, promoting transparency and access to information; and empowering citizens as measures to fight corruption.

But if the general populace as well as leading institutions of the State are, in a way, ‘co-opted’ by the government thereby enabling impunity and obscurity, the fight against corruption in the State becomes an insurmountable task.

It is high time that conscientious and likeminded citizens of the State take on corruption head-on by highlighting and voicing out against corruption ad nauseam till those at the helms of affairs are perforated to act. A relentless and sustained campaign is needed to fight this menace.

For any comment drop a line to moajamir@live.com

lEfT wiNg |

Russ Wellen Foreign Policy in Focus

Gorbachev was just too far out front of the United States Mikhail Gorbachev exploded the Reagan administration’s little minds

C

onventional thinking holds that nuclear deterrence helped the United States win the Cold War. Unfortunately, that may be doubly delusional. In their 1994 book We All Lost the Cold War (Princeton University Press), Richard Ned Lebow and Janice Gross Stein write: The conventional wisdom has two components. American military capability and resolve allegedly convinced Soviet leaders that aggression anywhere would meet unyielding opposition. Forty years of arms competition also brought the Soviet economy to the edge of collapse. The Reagan buildup and Star Wars, the argument goes, were the straws that broke the Soviet camel’s back. Moscow could not match the increased level of American defense spending and accordingly chose to end the Cold War. But …

Soviet officials insist that Gorbachev’s withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan, proposals for arms control, and domestic reforms took place despite the Reagan buildup.

Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev came to power in March 1985 committed to liberalizing the domestic political process at home and improving relations with the West so that the Soviet Union could modernize its rigid economy.

Within a month of assuming office, he announced his first unilateral initiative — a temporary freeze on the deployment of Soviet intermediate-range missiles in Europe — and in a series of subsequent proposals tried to signal his interest in arms control.

Gorbachev’s motives?

Gorbachev came to office imbued with a sense of the urgency of domestic reform and with a fundamentally different attitude toward the West. He was confident that the United States would not deliberately attack the Soviet Union and that the serious risk was an accidental or miscalculated exchange. In conversations with his military advisors, he rejected any plans that were premised on a war with the United States. “During the period of stagnation,” he observed, “ we had assumed that such a war was possible, but when I became general secretary, I refused to consider any such plans.” Since he saw no threat of attack from the United States, Gorbachev was not “afraid” of any military programs put forward by the Reagan administration and did not feel forced to match them. Rather, he saw arms spending as an unnecessary and wasteful expenditure of scarce resources. Deep arms reductions were not only important to the reform and development of the Soviet economy, but also an imperative of the nuclear age.

Nevertheless …

President Reagan continued to speak of the Soviet Union as an “evil empire” and remained committed to his quest for a near-perfect ballistic-missile defense.

The Reagan administration couldn’t — or more accurately — didn’t want to pivot that quickly. Thus setting the table for the disappointment that was the Reyjkavic summit in 1986.

C O M M E N T A R Y

John Feffer Foreign Policy In Focus

Cuba: Hope and Change?

Club Med playground for the rich or isolated Communist backwater: can Cuba find a third path?

T

here are a number of no-go zones in the world for Barack Obama these days.

Damascus is enemy territory. Most of Iraq and Afghanistan are too dangerous.

Pyongyang has never hosted a sitting U.S. president, and Kim Jong-Eun frankly prefers Americans with better jump shots. We now have a nuclear deal with Iran, but there are no trips of reconciliation to Tehran on the White House calendar. Relations with Moscow are frosty, and don’t expect a trip any time soon to Ankara either. Oh, and it would probably be a bad idea for the president to show up at a Trump rally as well.

But this week, President Obama is in Havana, and the greeting crowds have been enraptured.

Such a trip was inconceivable back in 2008, when Obama was running for president. But as he enters his last year in office, the president is determined to make his détente with Cuba irreversible.

He does after all face quite a few people who oppose his effort to end the half-century of enmity between the two countries.

For instance, even though the United States and Cuba formally reestablished diplomatic relations last July, Congress is dead-set against lifting the economic embargo against the island that has been in place since 1960 and that, according to an International Trade Commission study in 2001, costs the U.S. economy $1.2 billion a year (not to mention what it costs Cuba). Politicians like Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), who was born in Cuba, have dug in their heels. Not surprisingly, she was not enthusiastic about Obama’s trip to Havana. “A visit by President Obama more than one year after his unilateral concessions to the regime will only legitimize the Castros’ repressive behavior,” she wrote in a letter in February.

Outside of Congress, a vocal group of anti-engagement Cubans continue to press for regime change on the island and partner with right-wing dissidents inside Cuba itself. These are the “Platistas,” named after “an amendment to the Cuban constitution authored

by US senator Orville Platt giving the United States the legal right to intervene in the country’s internal affairs,” as Sam Farber describes it in a valuable piece at Jacobin. The Platistas have lots of gringo allies, and it’s not just crusty old Republicans. Plenty of Cold War liberals, like The Washington Post’s Richard Cohen, have similarly Jurassic viewpoints.

Obama’s mention of human rights in his speeches in Cuba will not likely assuage these critics. After all, his remarks could be interpreted as a dig against just such Platistas. “As we do wherever we go around the world, I made it clear that the United States will continue to speak up on behalf of democracy, including the right of the Cuban people to decide their own future,” Obama said in Havana. “We’ll speak out on behalf of universal human rights, including freedom of speech and assembly and religion.”

The key issue here is “the right of the Cuban people to decide their own future.” Ideally, that means that the United States will respect Cuban sovereignty and stop trying to change its system. But there’s regime change via military intervention like the failed Bay of Pigs operation of 1961. And then there’s regime change through the pocket book. “U.S. business leaders are not interested in seeing Cuba fail,” Obama told Cubans at a forum. “We are interested in seeing Cuba succeed.” But success on whose terms?

As I explained in an earlier piece, there’s big money behind engagement with Cuba. The agricultural lobby has been pushing for years to remove the remaining restrictions on U.S. companies securing a larger share of an estimate $2 billion market in food imports. In 2008, U.S. agricultural exports to Cuba peaked at $710 million, falling to a mere $180 million last year. U.S. farmers have lost ground to the European Union, Argentina, and Brazil.

Manufacturers and the tourism industry are also eager to break into the Cuban market. They are strong forces behind the organization Engage Cuba, an effort to persuade Congress to change its mind about trade with the island. As with so many other issues, Congress is way behind the times. On the eve of Obama’s visit, for instance, Starwood Hotels and Resorts made a deal to convert three hotels in Cuba into luxury accommodations. Carnival announced that it would begin cruises between Miami and Havana on May 1. Over the last year, 13,000 American tourists stayed with 4,000 Cuban hosts through Airbnb. And Google, having set up a model high-tech communications center on the island, is planning to vastly improve Internet access for Cubans.

While the right continues to believe that isolation will force out the Castros, the left is worried that capitalism will transform the system by other means. Cuba is like a vast undervalued neighborhood outside of Miami that’s ripe for gentrification, and capitalism abhors such a vacuum. Some in the Cuban government fear that the proffered carrot has been poisoned; others are hoping to get a nibble for themselves.

Cuba stands at a historic crossroads. Down one path lies strict adherence to the revolutionary legacy of the Castros. Down another path lies a revival of Cuba as a playground of rich moguls and shadowy criminal types, as it was just before the revolution.

Are there any other paths that Cuba can take?

President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro gesture after a news conference as part of Obama's threeday visit to Cuba, in Havana March 21, 2016. (REUTERS Photo)

Foreign capital has also established a foothold, usually in the form of joint ventures.

But the Cuban state, like the Soviet state in the 1980s, has been careful about how to interact with foreign capital. “The goal is not to sell the country, it’s not about doing just any project that interests some foreign investor,” says Deborah Rivas, the head of foreign investment at the ministry of external trade and foreign investment. “It’s a matter of attracting investors whose projects coincide with our public policy.

We are not in a process of accelerated privatization of the Cuban economy.”

Like perestroika under Gorbachev, the Cuban reforms are slow and methodical. This is no shock therapy a la Poland 1990. It’s even slower than what took place in China or Vietnam. “The Cuban government has opted for a sequence in which an experiment is done first, the results are checked and adjusted, and the tested project is then generalized by the creation and adoption of the legal framework,” writes Pavel Vidal Alejandro in the Journal of Economic Policy Reform. “The test sequence and generalization makes the Cuban reform process rational, but slow.”

The results, compared to Vietnam, have also been modest. Alejandro points out that growth rates for the Cuban economy after seven years of reforms were around 2.8 percent. Vietnam experienced growth at twice that rate during the initial years of its doi moi reforms.

Cuba is going slow because it doesn’t want economic and political reforms to precipitate a Soviet-style regime collapse. And, like China, Cuba is worried about the fate of its many state enterprises. Exposed to market competition, they could very well fail, and the state certainly doesn’t want hundreds of thousands of angry workers on its hands. For this reason, Cuba has done some reforms in the financial sector (microcredit, banking) and the consumer sector (house sales), but it hasn’t introduced any privatization.

Another key element that stabilizes Cuban economic reform is the role of the military. “Facing tough competition and following years of decline, Cuba shut down the Ministry of Sugar in 2011 and replaced it with Azcuba, a state-owned company run by the military,” writes Stratfor. “Azcuba partnered with Brazilian company Odebrecht in 2012 to manage the 5th of September sugar mill in Cienfuegos.”

The military is even involved in tourism through its Gaviota enterprise, which will be working with the Starwood chain. Some might take the military’s involvement to be a sinister sign. However, it ensures the support of the generals by giving them a stake in reform.

The other lesson of the Soviet reforms that Raul Castro has learned is the same one absorbed by the Chinese leadership: whatever the speed of the economic changes, political reform will proceed at a glacial pace. The Cuban Communist Party has done very little to shake up the system aside from the usual anti-corruption campaigns. A few dissidents have been released from prison (and some have even been rearrested). There’s a bit more openness in the cultural sphere. But this is no Havana Spring.

Perhaps the most important change has been in the freedom to travel. Since 2013, Cubans can leave the country with relative ease, as long as they have a passport, an identity card, and the funds to buy a ticket out of town. As with the Mariel boatlift in 1980, which emptied the prisons and sent waves of “undesirables” to the United States, the new travel rules serve as a safety valve. For those who remain unhappy with the situation inside Cuba, they have a clear alternative to protesting on the street: they can protest with their feet. The New York Times recently reported, “More than twice as many Cubans went to live in the United States last Reform, Raul-Style The economic reforms that Raul Castro has ush- year than in 1959, when Mr. Castro’s brother Fidel ered in since he took over in 2008 resemble the early came to power and unleashed a wave of migration days of change under Mikhail Gorbachev in the So- that altered South Florida forever.” viet Union in the late 1980s. Private restaurants and room rentals have cropped up all over the island, A Third Road?

For the more than 11 million Cubans who remain just as they had throughout the Soviet Union when I visited in 1990. An estimated 500,000 entrepreneurs on the island – and all those who are lured back to currently represent 10 percent of Cuba’s workforce. live in the country of their birth – a set of critical deci-

sions await. Most Cubans want change, but they also want to retain some aspects of the current system.

The free health care system is quite cost-effective.

Free public education is taken for granted, though private instruction is spreading.

One obvious change in Cuba is the emergence of a new class system. Those who work in the new private sector or have access to remittances from abroad can afford the new restaurants and services. The rest have to get by on about $28 a month (an improvement over the last couple years but not by a lot). The class divide is also a racial divide: Cubans with darker skin are less likely to benefit from the new order. According to Cuban economists, whites are more than twice as likely as blacks to receive remittances.

The Cuban government at this point could conceivably make an abrupt, North Korean-style U-turn in its economic policy. But it’s not likely. Nor is the leadership going to invite in a group of free-market economists from the University of Chicago to orchestrate an overnight transition to go-go capitalism.

So, what are the options for a mixed economy in Cuba to preserve some features of the old as it gradually innovates?

One major option involves cooperatives, which have long existed in the country’s agricultural sector (where 70 percent of the workforce is private).

The Cuban government has been experimenting with turning state enterprises into cooperatives that are run by the workers themselves. “One such company is the Bella ll Health and Beauty Institute, a beauty salon in Havana,” reports Jonathan Wolfe. “It used to belong to the Cuban government, but was recently converted into a cooperative. Tania Lourdez Ortiz Fernández gives facials there. She made about $14 a month when Bella was run by the government. Now she makes about $42. Plus she has a say in running the business.”

Other cooperatives include the Taxi Rutero bus service, the Karabali nightclub in Havana, and various produce markets. There’s even a television program on Sunday nights called “Culture of Cooperatives.”

“An emphasis on cooperatives would help to maintain ownership and diffused control and profit-sharing among local citizens, thereby promoting greater equity in income distribution,” writes economist Archibald Ritter. “Generally speaking, cooperatives have passed the ‘survival test’ but have not made huge inroads against private enterprise in other countries over the years. Perhaps this is because the ‘transactions costs’ of participatory management may be significant. Personal animosities, ideological or political differences, participatory failures and/ or managerial mistakes may occur. And for larger coops, complex governance structures may impair flexibility.” Still, it’s the early days of these cooperatives, and they offer a promising alternative to both state and foreign ownership.

Not all outsiders are eyeing Cuba for the huge profits that can be made. In the tourism sector, for instance, the Center for Responsible Travel is running eco-tours to Cuba that combine education, conversations with Cubans, and environmentally sustainable journeys outside the capital (my predecessor at Foreign Policy In Focus, Martha Honey, is running these tours, and there are still some spots available on their May trip).

Cuba has a unique opportunity to translate its revolutionary ideals into a 21st-century idiom.

Small-scale private enterprise, an expanded cooperative sector, mutually beneficial joint ventures with sympathetic foreign investors, a strong social welfare state, greater respect for human rights and dissent: this would be a viable path between Cuba as the next Club Med and some reversion back to an isolated, autarkic state. Such a post-Castro Cuba could attract back many Cuban émigrés and reestablish the country as a model for countries around the world that are disenchanted with neoliberalism.

After eight years, the Obama administration’s mantra generates little more than mockery in the United States. But perhaps, by using the power of his office and Congress be damned, Obama has managed to help bring some “hope and change” to Cuba.

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.

MonDAY 28•03•2016

PERSPECTIVE

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

let the Kids disagree W

hen people disagree well, I take notice. Perhaps it’s because when I have failed to do so, it felt devastating. Once I notice that my words aren’t landing charitably, or that the other person doesn’t feel understood, I know I’ve lost something very important in conversation.

The opportunity to demonstrate healthy disagreement—regardless of if minds are changed or consensus is reached—reflects some of the beautiful paradoxes of Christianity. Ineffective dialogue can ruin this opportunity, and too often it takes people far from the Christian mission of speaking the truth in love.

I am slowly becoming aware of the spiritual, social, and psychological dynamics of conversations, and it has taken sensitive training and correction. Now, I find myself in the precarious role of teaching others what it means to navigate tense conversations… at age 12.

As a 7th-grade science teacher at a Christian school, I didn’t necessarily expect this would be part of my job. Then, as we began exploring life science, genetics, and ethics—hard-hitting topics that even adults disagree on—the students began piping up with questions of their own.

Miss Rollins, if God is all-knowing and all-powerful and is watching over us even when we were just a cell or two, then how come some people are born with disorders?

Welp. Faced with this opportunity I felt several emotions at once; my head went off like a panel of Inside Out characters. I had just told them about how God watches over us since our conception. And as soon as the student finished asking his question, hands shot up across the room—hands from kids who didn’t always participate in our discussion.

These conversations continued as we went on to study biological evolution and biblical creationism. I wasn’t only getting a grasp of how well the kids understood each lesson, but also how they approached dialogue with one another.

I realized one of the most important things I can teach my students is how to apply their academic knowledge into real-life conversations. Even “book smart” students may not be able to articulate their positions in a winsome way, or hear out those on the other side. Robust discussion in a classroom setting can teach students how to disagree well.

I find myself playing the role of a coach, or even a chaperone, in their debates. I force students to ask themselves questions before they speak up and take the time to seriously consider one another’s points of view, and help them practice with role-playing. I repeat lines like: • What are your initial feelings and judgments?

• Why do you think this is a topic worthy of discussion?

One of the most critical lessons students learn is how to engage with differing perspectives Alicia Rollins Christianity Today

• What would you say to someone who disagrees with you?

When things get heated, I try to suggest they pause and reassess: • Hey, let’s not duke it out…

• Did you hear my perspective? Would you be able to articulate it?

• I admire your zeal, but your tone would cause me to get more defensive.

• Have you thought about this opposing aspect?

Debriefing afterwards is also important: • How do you think our conversation went?

• What does God want us to accomplish while dialoguing about this subject?

• What is the point of talking about this in real life?

• Can you think of anyone you need to have this conversation with?

Every time I coach my students through our discussions, I realize how many of us adults could benefit from a better understanding of disagreeing well. It’s an art we have to practice, by being bold enough to engage difficult topics at the right time and humble enough to hear out those on the other side.

I find myself asking close friends to help me in my own conversations. I have experienced certain tones and body language that made me feel small, defensive, or misunderstood, so I am sure that I am capable of doing the same to my conversation partner. Close friends can help us identify and assess how we come across in conversation.

Christians are facilitating efforts to develop this essential skill, including at Biola University’s Center for Christian Thought (CCT), which spent a year focused on healthy Christian disagreement. They created a conference on “transforming discord to dialogue.” Gabe Lyons, the founder of the learning community Q Ideas said in an interview with Biola’s CCT, “Let’s bring our best thinking

The Morung Express

to the table and be okay that we might come out of this conversation disagreeing. But it doesn’t mean we have to be disagreeable types of people.”

One of the leading evangelical voices on racial reconciliation to come out of the American civil rights movement, John M. Perkins, offered this insight on the importance of listening: Ask, “Where does our pain come from? Why are you hurting?” And I give you your pain. And I say that you’re hurting. And you give me my pain. And we say that we’re hurting… We’ve got to be close enough to the situation that we can listen to the pain. So Christians have to be present. Be there. I’m hoping and praying that this will create a deeper conversation.

We see the importance of this kind of clear, gracious communication every day—especially online, where misunderstandings can escalate so easy. On The Gospel Coalition, pastor Thabiti Anyabwile recently responded after such a dispute. He recounted an important aspect of disagreeing well, looking for occasions to defend the “other side”: Last year this time I sat in California with a former [police] officer for a couple hours discussing these very things. We came into the meeting prepared for the worst, I think. We left the meeting as brothers, in charity, and feeling we could see all the same issues on both sides, but because of our experiences we leaned in slightly different directions. I think we both thought we should wave the other person’s banner a bit more than we do, and that might give the other’s arms a little rest.

I suspect that would happen a lot if folks sat and talked.

The quest for us to disagree in love has been a perennial issue dating back to the church’s founding. I suspect we will never run out of topics to disagree about. And yet, to partner with another—to engage with fellow Christians who hold different views as well as those who don’t share our faith—this is a crucial starting point. Practicing healthy dialogue prepares us for when we feel fired at or worse—we find ourselves behind the verbal trigger. Such preparation also has missional benefits, as we find ourselves dissenting from the cultural norms or defending our faith. We must practice.

For teachers, parents, and youth leaders, we should not be afraid to invite young people into these conversations as well, even with difficult topics for which we may not have a clear-cut answer. I think we’ll find them to be more interested and insightful in these areas than we assume, and these discussions can prepare them for the harder conversations to come.

Alicia Joy writes from sunny Southern California, where she enjoys working as a Jr. High science teacher, girls basketball coach, and stays an adoring fan of God’s creation. She delights in the diversity of the world and can’t stop thinking about stories.

POLL RESULTS

Minister, legislators and senior officers have decided to voluntarily forego allowances for refreshMents, newspapers and Magazines. is nagaland governMent serious about austerity Measures? why?

Some of those who voted YES had this to say: • Yes, they are serious about austerity measures. The poor financial position of the state government must have prompted them to take such a decision, because their allowance for refreshments (read drinks included) I assure you come to an astronomical amount. So our dear legislators willing to forgo their refreshment is a big sacrifice.

• If they r serious enough then its Yes • I know for a fact that our politicians spent quite a large sum of money in refreshments in the form of imported scotch, wine, chocolates, and can you believe it, designer assorted refreshments. I am quite sure this indulgence must be making quite a dent in the exchequer. So, if our honorable legislators are meaning that they will stop using the state exchequer’s pocket to finance their indulging imported refreshments, than I support their move. I will say Yes, if this is the case.

• A small beginning towards the right steps for the generations to come. At present, they are full. No opposition too.

All their pockets are full of public money.

So, they can forgo the small changes, the crumps that fall off the table.

• Yes, A manifestation of public outcry. still there are many more steps to taken up by ministers, legislators and senior officers if they are really serious about this austerity measures means.

• Yes, if by refreshments they mean all the Gold Label, Blue Label and the fancy wine they drink. I am sure they cost a lot more.

Some of those who voted NO had this to say: • No. This decision to forego refreshments and reading materials shows how our leaders think about us. No, They are not serious about austerity measures at all. Just look at the cost of the CM residential place which is crossing more than 400 crores. In a state like Nagaland that lives on a begging bowl from Delhi it is completely absurd and is a crime. Our leaders are overindulging while the majority of the people are languishing in misery.

• No. Giving up on multi luxury SUV's and opting for Pool car would have

offices and public funds. Then we will been more convincing.

• No way. They are taking the people talk about whether they are serious for a ride. They can fool the people about austerity measures or not. sometime but they cant fool the peo- • NO. How much is their refreshments paper /magazine allowances ple every time.

• No. These are peanuts. If they are ????? Is the bills in terms of lakhs / serious about austerity measure crores per month ????? If yes than they should tone down the Numbers Vigilance should initiate an enquiry of vehicles, the servant they employ, . If No than what are they trying to the number of bodyguards etc. for prove by giving up 1000-5000/- bills these cost a huge sum to the state ????? If they really wants to give up than STOP siphoning off public funds exchequer.

• No. CAG 2014-15 report explains to their pvt accounts. STOP buying/ developing/increasing their pvt asit all.

• No, the government has no respect sets instead develop Nagaland. Profor the public at all. This is a mock- vide students their due share of eduery. They are insulting the intellect of cation it's March end but till now Govt the public. How long will these kind schools students are without books of people take the public for a ride. !!!!! Pay salaries to the GON/CSS employees. STOP backdoor/politiEnough is enough. cal appoint• No. Wow!!! ments when L e a v they know ing their the fact that free comGON has fort zone? excess emOpps…I ployees !!!! mean, their Travel to pocket monremote viley. Come lages which on, that’s for is not motheir, being torable and the peoples see how represenyour voters tatives and /people are they are enliving withtitled to it. out even They should basic needs accept that also !!!!! Givalong with ing up their their meaYES NO OTHER paper /magger salaries azines/reas “the one” with the responsibilities they carry. freshment allowances is just another But that they should not pocket the INSULT to the nagas !!!!!! funds meant for the people and put • If they expect appreciation by givup a freak show with those gibber- ing up the above frivolous benefits. ish… just a laugh off.. What about all It is a no no! If public had a sense of the so many funds they divert to their humour despite all the rotteness we accounts? Can they forego those? are going through.. It can be nomiDon’t think so. It would be like taking nated for the 'joke of the year'.

• No. Tell them to open their Facetheir life away.

• No, Refreshment and magazine book account or page instead of the money is peanuts for them. Not a big above unnecessary miscellaneous needs. deal.

• No. its just a mockery of what aus- • Penny wise and pound foolish. No terity means. btw do they say that the buyers for this. Forgo newspapers?? bill for the aforesaid forgo runs into Perhaps they don't want to read about their incompetencies every millions?

• No. Forego all their assets which morning. they acquired through embezzling • No. That’s nothing to them… Not funds the GOI had given for running diverting funds to their accounts is

90%

6%

4%

… that is, they are taking “Austerity Measures” Something is very wrong with the hotshot here in Nagaland?

Why don’t they stop Liquidating the development fund meant for development to their wealth rather than say something stupid and make a laughing stock of themselves …. The Masses know very well their trade …

Some of those who voted OTHERS had this to say: • I say, if not Magazines & Newspapers, who on earth is gonna inform them about- daily happenings or mishappenings, public grievances, editorials, sports, classifieds, about huge fund release by Delhi, about press release & felicitations, about.... etc, etc? Anyway, Ministers & Officers dont need to read or subscribe newspapers for they've got 4G multi network internet installed in their luxury and expensive handsets, laptops, tablets, etc. I say, I'm glad they're not losing their minds but becoming very "penny foolish pound wise," by jolly good golly!

• Ayaya...what a sacrifice lol So far the best hand wash they've used • Obviously very serious! after all they can go immediately to their luxury home on their luxury SUV's and have chilled glass of Jack Daniels and on the same day take a premium business class flight to Delhi to have some fun! All at exchequer expense(read as corruption money) and now as if our sarcasm hasn't swooped down too low, announcing they would forgo 'magazine, newspaper and refreshments ' which basically are the only corners they can cut to curb millions of state deficit. I would have to say hooligans in Somalia and Mogadishu runs better government than our idiot and obnoxious govt of Nagaland.

• It is like rubbing salts at someone's wounds... they'd forego their "magazines, newspapers and refreshment" money. Hey i will go generate money by doing labour work for ur refreshments please just stop stealing money meant for development that is all we'd ask..

• We will appreciate their effort if they promise to stop stealing public money along with this austerity measure.

Otherwise this is the biggest joke of the year.

7

How Korea Is Conquering Myanmar Jenna Gibson

A

The Diplomat

Cinderella story of two antagonistic stepsisters and a love story about a woman with amnesia – these soap opera tropes may be South Korea’s ticket for greater influence in the slowly opening BurThe Korean Wave mese market.

According - One Soap Opera to the Yonhap at a Time News Agency, the South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is teaming up with the Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange (KOFICE) to provide Myanmar with free Korean television content.

As a start, two shows will be broadcast on Myanmar’s state-run channel, MRTV. Both shows are part of the usual Korean melodrama genre – “A Thousand Days’ Promise” follows a young woman who is slowly losing her memory and the man who falls in love with her, and “Cinderella’s Sister” is a dramatic Cinderella tale of two stepsisters whose lives and loves intertwine.

But these typical soap opera love stories are not just meant to entertain Burmese viewers – they are meant to foster a positive view of South Korea–and maybe even spark demand for Korean products.

The concept is not so far-fetched – in China, where Korean entertainment content is incredibly popular, a brief reference in a 2014 show famously led to a fried chicken and beer craze that swept the nation, leaving Korean chicken joints in Beijing with three hour waits.

In another stunning example, after one of the members of the popular Korean boy band Super Junior showed off Ryeo Shampoo on a Chinese reality program, the brand’s sales increased 630 percent over the same period the previous year.

The shampoo’s domestic sales also increased by 300 percent at the time – its manufacturer, AmorePacific, attributed this increase to Chinese tourists buying the product while visiting Korea.

Love of Korean culture is actually boosting exports of cosmetics and beauty products – even as most of Korea’s exports are down. In fact, a recent survey of foreigners in Myeongdong and Apgujeong shopping areas found more than two thirds of them said they became interested in Korean cosmetics products after “getting to know Korean dramas or K-pop stars.” According to the study’s author, a professor at Hanyang University, “Interest and affection for Korean culture, or hallyu, has a direct correlation to growth in the cosmetics industry.”

In a broader sense, Hallyu, or the Korean Wave, is the “crossover of culture and economy,” according to a 2013 essay by noted political scientist Joseph Nye. “The Korean Wave idols are often chosen as commodity representatives of Korean brands, helping Korean trademarks to become more fashionable, cool image products…in the widest possible sense, the Korean culture industry is seen to commodify the nation, exporting its popular culture as a cool national brand.”

Bringing Hallyu to Myanmar In Myanmar, Korea could be trying to replicate this phenomenon – by creating fans of Korean celebrities, you create demand for the products they use. This is not a new tactic for Korea.

Many Hallyu watchers and scholars attribute the start of the phenomenon to a civil servant who in 1992 managed to convince his superiors to fund Cantonese subtitling for a Korean drama called “What is Love.” The local stations in Hong Kong, the story goes, did not want to invest the money it would take to translate the shows. But one station was happy to accept the already-subtitled tapes and broadcast them – a move that sparked a k-drama revolution.

Euny Hong interviewed the man behind this plan, Chung Injoon, for her book The Birth of Korean Cool. Describing the explosive popularity of “What is Love,” she wrote, “It became so popular in the region that during the time slots that it aired on Thursday and Saturday evening, ‘there were no people or cars on the street,’ according to Chung; everyone was at home watching the show.”

Myanmar may be well on its way to a similar Hallyu bonanza. An official from the culture ministry told Yonhap that Myanmar currently shows more than 10 Korean programs per day, accounting for more than 90 percent of TV shows broadcast there. Demand for more content is high, however, prompting KOFICE to choose Myanmar as its “pilot” for this new program.

If it is successful, the Ministry of Culture and KOFICE will continue their partnership and keep bringing free Korean content to new markets – they are already in talks to send dramas to Fiji, Jamaica, Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Kyrgyzstan and Bangladesh. According to the head of KOFICE, “By supporting the ‘excellent Korean Footage Distribution’ program, countries where access to Hallyu content is difficult or where cultural exchange with Korea was scarce can have the chance to see positive images of Korea through the diffusion of Hallyu.” Further, according to Yonhap’s ministry source, “We thought it is necessary to hold a mutually beneficial program like this in order to keep Hallyu afloat amid heated competition from China, India and Japan.”

In Myanmar, a country that that has only recently rejoined the international community, getting in on the ground floor can pay huge dividends in the future. Myanmar’s GDP has grown by more than 8 percent each year since 2013, and it is projected to post an 8.4 percent increase in real GDP in 2016, according to the IMF. And Korea wants to get in on some of that increased wealth. With Hallyu continuing to spread the word about Korean products around the world, this new program could get the Burmese, and their wallets, on board.

Jenna Gibson is the Director of Communications at The Korea Economic Institute of America. She runs KEI’s media relations and outreach along with managing KEI’s online presence. Follow Jenna on Twitter at @jennargibson.

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

8

MondAY 28•03•2016

INDIA

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Political storm over Prez Rule in Uttarakhand

New delHI, MarcH 27 (PTI): Imposition of President's Rule in Uttarakhand today kicked up a political storm, with Congress dubbing it as "murder of democracy" and "unconstitutional" step even as the Centre justified the action, arguing that Harish Rawat government was "unconstitutional" and "immoral".

Rawat, who lost his government, condemned the imposition of President's rule and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's hands were dipped in the "blood" of the "trampled" aspirations of the people.

Alleging that central rule was a result of a "pre-meditated conspiracy" hatched by the Centre to dislodge a democraticallyelected Congress government in the state, Rawat said in Dehradun that the BJP was "thirsty for his blood" right from the day he assumed office on February one, 2014.

A host of Congress leaders slammed the Modi government over the development.

Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi termed the action as "murder of democracy" and "subversion" of the Constitution. He said the people as well has courts are likely to take a "very dim view" of the development.

The Party's chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala said Congress will fight it "politically, constitutionally and avail all legal rights that the party has got with it".

"It is not surprising...The real desire of the government of In-

dia is to bring down duly-elected governments of small states in an undemocratic and unconstitutional manner," Congress general secretary Ambika Soni said.

"It's a blatant and brazen display of authoritarian, antidemocratic and anti-Constitutional mindset of the Modi government," said Ghulam Nabi Azad, Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha.

Today's action, he said, is a grim reminder of the threat the democratic institutions of the country are facing and accused the Modi government of having breached all records in trampling the democratic norms and Constitutional traditions.

The Centre, on its part, justified the decision, contending that there was "no better example" for invoking Article 356 as the Rawat government was "unconstitutional" and "immoral" since March 18 when it "lost" majority in the Assembly.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said there were "cogent, relevent and extremely important grounds" on which the Union Cabinet came to the decision.

"There is no better example than this for invoking Article 356 of the Constitution. For the last nine days, every day provisions of Constitution are being murdered.

"It was not only appropriate but the demand of the time that such an immoral government did not continue in Uttarakhand which has lost its majority. There was complete breakdown of the Constitution in Uttarakhand," he said.

Jat body threatens to resume quota stir JINd, MarcH 27 (PTI): Akhil Bhartiya Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (ABJASS), the body that spearheaded the Jat quota stir in February, today threatened to resume the agitation if its demands are not met by the end of this month. "If Jats are not accorded reservation, the next agitation would be bigger then the previous one. The Jat community is not in the mood to wait more," ABJASS president Yashpal Malik said.

He said a meeting of representatives of the Jat community from 13 states will be held in Delhi on April 3 where an announcement will be made regarding the mode of agitation. In February, 30 people had lost their lives during the nine-day violent agitation by Jats demanding 10 per cent quota in government jobs and educational institutions.

Several districts including Rohtak, the epicentre of Jat agitation, Jhajjar, Kaithal, Jind, Sonipat and Bhiwani had witnessed violence. Jats are also demanding withdrawal of FIRs registered against the protesters, compensation to those killed during the stir and action against BJP MP from Kurukshetra Raj Kumar Saini for his anti-Jat reservation stand.

'India-US ties goes beyond Modi-Obama bonhomie' PaNaJI, MarcH 27 (IaNS): The relationship between the US and India runs a lot deeper and goes beyond the friendship between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a US consular official said on Sunday. "I think that there is no doubt that the personal relationship that exists between the president and the prime minister of these nations has helped the partnership, but it goes beyond that," US Consul General in Mumbai Thomas Vajda said at a press conference here ahead of the DefExpo 2016, which will be inaugurated in South Goa on Monday.

Vajda said there was tremendous interest in the US about India spanning a wide range of areas including education, culture and trade. "It really is, I think, a confluence of interests between the US and India and a confluence of values between two democracies, the world's oldest and the world's largest. "So certainly it helps that there is a close relationship between the leaders, but its not exclusively dependent on it. The relationship goes much deeper," Vajda said.

RSS wants the world to salute India: Bhagwat KolKaTa, MarcH 27 (PTI): RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat today said the organisation wants to make the country exploitation-free and full of self-respect and whole world to salute India. "We want the whole world to chant 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'. We want to make Bharat (India) rich, free from exploitation and full of self-respect. For that we will have to live that Bharat in our lives," Bhagwat said at the launch of a book on the life of late Madan Lal Agarwal, co-founder of Friends of Tribals Society.

The Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) chief said after partition, Pakistan did not stake claim over the name 'Bharat' because it does not accept the qualities which are in Bharat. He said the Vedas, 'Dev Bhasha', 'Aadi Bhasha' and even the grammar of Sanskrit was created in the region that now belongs to Pakistan.

"But they (Pakistan) took their own name and left the name 'Bharat' for us because the qualities which they don't accept are in Bharat," Bhagwat said. Referring to the Ramayana, whose veracity is questioned by many, Bhagwat said, "We say that it is very ancient but it is history."

On a lighter vein, Bhagwat said he was lucky to be leading RSS. Earlier this month, the RSS chief's remark that youth should be taught patriotic slogans triggered a debate after AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi refused to chant "Bharat Mata ki Jai" citing he was not obliged by the Constitution to do so.

BJP and RSS want to Uttarakhand CM blames dissidents & Prime Minister for President's Rule impose President's rule across India: Kejriwal deHraduN, MarcH 27 (IaNS): Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat on Sunday accused his two former colleagues Vijay Bahuguna and Harak Singh Rawat - of conniving with the BJP to topple his government.

Harish Rawat told the media that he was yet to get a formal notification of President's Rule in the state.

The Congress leader accused Bahuguna, whom he replaced as chief minister, as frustrated and former agriculture minister Harak Singh Rawat of being blinded by ambitions.

The chief minister did not spare the central government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi too.

Emerging from the Raj Bahwan where he met Governor K.K. Paul, he said Modi had the "blood of the aspirations of the people of Uttarakhand on his hands".

"It had become evident since yesterday (Saturday). They had been threatening the Uttarakhad government and the state governor," Rawat said.

He addressed the media hours after President Pranab Mukherjee okayed the union cabinet's decision to sack the Rawat government and impose President's Rule in the hill state.

Rawat said he will go to the people and expose the conspiracy hatched by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against his

Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat speaks to the media after imposition of Central rule in the State, in Dehradun on Sunday, March 27.

government.

He also charged the BJP with "openly threatening" the governor, and added that the central government had been conspiring against him and his government from day one.

The chief minister said the BJP-led central government slashed the budget for Uttarakhand and even cut funds for the restoration of the Kedarnath temple, which was devastated in the 2013 flash floods, and the Kumbh Mela.

He alleged that various corporates had funded the mission

to overthrow his government, and that Rs.25 crore was paid to strike a deal with the disgruntled Congress legislators to rebel against him.

Rawat questioned the urgency which marked the decision to impose President's Rule since his government had to prove its majority in the state assembly on Monday.

He asked television journalists to visit his official residence and see for themselves that he still lived a simple life, contrary to the allegations of graft levelled against him.

New delHI, MarcH 27 (PTI): After Uttarakhand was brought under central rule, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday accused the Modi government of being "anti-democratic" and alleged that it wanted to impose President's rule across the country.

"Prez rule imposed one day before trust vote? BJP is anti -democracy. BJP/RSS want dictatorship, want to rule India thro Prez Rule," Kejriwal tweeted.

Prez rule imposed one day before trust vote? BJP is anti-democracy. BJP/RSS want dictatorship, want to rule India thro Prez Rule— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) Aam Aadmi Party leader Ashutosh also took to Twitter to criticise the Centre's decision, saying it was "murder of democracy".

"Whatever has happened in Uttarakhand, is murder of democracy. A govt has majority or not should be proved on the floor of the house," he tweeted.

He also said, "Modi govt does not want opposition govts at all. After Arunachal Pradesh, Dismissal of Uttarakhand govt is dangerous trend.

"Has BJP/Jaitley forgotten Sher Singh in Delhi who was caught on camera to buy AAP MLA to form BJP govt before assembly election in Delhi?" Ashutosh asked.

President's rule was imposed in Uttarakhand today by the Centre on grounds of "breakdown of governance" in a controversial decision which came in the wake of a political crisis triggered by a rebellion in the ruling Congress.

Earlier in January, Kejriwal had expressed "shock" at Cabinet's recommendation for imposition of President's rule in Arunachal Pradesh, terming it as "murder" of the country's Constitution.

"Union Cab recommending Prez rule in Arunachal shocking. Murder of Consti on Rep D eve. BJP lost elections. Now acquiring power thro back door," Kejirwal had tweeted.

UP outfit threatens to storm JNU, gun down Kanhaiya and Umar Khalid MeeruT, MarcH 27 (TNN): Uttar Pradesh Navnirman Sena, a Meerut-based political party, has threatened to storm the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus and gun down JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar and 28-year-old research scholar Umar Khalid unless the two leave Delhi by March 31. Angry at Kumar's comment on the Indian Army, the outfit's national president Amit Jani posted the "ultimatum" on his Facebook profile. The post had close to 2,000 "likes" in less than a day. He later told TOI that he would carry out his plan before Durga Ashthami.

In his post, which was written in Hindi with a picture of Kanhaiya attached, Jani wrote, "There are four days left for the ultimatum to leave Delhi by March 31. Tell me, countrymen. Are we ready to finish him (Kanhaiya) off after that?

We have the boys and we have the weapons. We will do this quietly, without giving notice, so that he does not vanish like Owaisi and so that the police don't intervene.

I want to know if people support this cause, for which I am willing to go to jail. I swear on Maa Bhagwati, if I can't organize a shootout at JNU then I will quit politics."

In 2012, Jani had given a similar ultimatum to raze statues of

former CM Mayawati. Since the state government did not oblige him, Jani had gone ahead and vandalized the statue.

Speaking to TOI later, he said, "First anti-national slogans were shouted in JNU and then Kanhaiya Kumar, while he was out on bail, insulted the Indian Army. You can insult me, abuse my family and even condemn my religion. However, the army is the pride of this country.

Umar Khalid, who shouted antinational slogans, should leave the city along with Kanhaiya by March 31. If they do not, we will storm into the JNU campus and kill them. Nobody will be able to

protect them. Since JNU students also insulted Durga, I vow to do this before Durga Ashthami on April 8. I will slay the modernday Mahishasur in honor of the goddess. The party workers of the UPNS are ready. In 2012, I had promised to break down a statue of former CM Mayawati if Akhilesh Yadav did not do so within 72 hours. I am a man who keeps his word."

When asked if it was wise to take the law into his own hands, he said, "Kab tak kanoon ki choodiyaan pehen ke baithe rahenge? Hum paschim UP se hain.

Yahan toh parking ke vivaad pe khoon-kharaba ho jaata hai.

Umar aur Kanhaiya ne toh Bharat Mata ko gaali di hai. Unka vadd karke main Vasant Kunj Police Station pe surrender kar doonga.

(How long will we sit wearing the bangles of the law? We are from western UP. Here, even a parking dispute can lead to bloodshed.

Umar and Kanhaiya have abused Mother India. After slaying them, I will surrender at Vasant Kunj Police Station)."

The police, however, said they would act if they received a complaint. "The matter is not in our knowledge yet. If we receive a complaint, we will investigate the matter and act swiftly," said Meerut's SP (city) Om Prakash.

Farooq Abdullah bats for sustained Indo-Pak dialogue 'Stand-up India loans JaMMu, MarcH 27 (PTI): Seeking sustained dialogue between India and Pakistan, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah on Sunday said the state would be the biggest beneficiary of peace in the neighbourhood even as he batted for free movement across borders in the subcontinent along the lines of the European Union.

Hostility between the two countries has impacted peace and tranquility in the J&K, he said, adding that he hopes the sub- continent's nations would eschew "myopic tendencies" and work to ensure that people led a peaceful and dignified life.

He also said a situation needs to be created like in the European Union wherein people can move around freely across the various countries.

"If EU could do it, why not India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and other neighbouring countries," he said at a conference organised by the Bangla-

desh-Bharat-Pakistan Peace Forum on the importance of initiatives for fostering peace and unity among the three nations.

"How long shall the hostilities of the past cast a dark shadow on the present and future in a fast-changing global scenario," he said.

People in the continent, too, have a right to live in a "free and fearless environment", the National Conference leader said, adding the era of mistrust and suspicion has retarded the growth of the countries in the subcontinent.

"This disgusting situation needs to end," he said while accusing the western powers of "promoting the terror scourge".

India and Pakistan must engage "seriously and purposefully' to take the peace initiative forward as neither country can wish the other away, he said.

Noting that confrontation has

no place in bilateral ties, Abdullah hoped the two countries will take concrete steps to continue their interaction.

The former J&K chief minister also underscored his unflinching commitment to secularism and said that is the cornerstone of his party's policies.

He said "unity in diversity" has been the "biggest strength" of J&K and cautioned against those who wanted to end this time-tested ethos.

National Conference would stand like a rock against those who "even think of polluting the composite culture of J&K", he added.

Abdullah lauded the people for keeping the flame of secularism alive "during the most testing times" and said this was the only ideal that can lead the state to peace, progress and development. He also called for channelising the energies of the youth towards positive pursuits.

for women, SC/STs'

New delHI, MarcH 27 (PTI): Asking party workers to reach out to SCs, STs and women, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said the government would soon launch a ‘Stand-up India’ scheme to provide loans of up to Rs. 1 crore to help members of these communities become big entrepreneurs.

“In the next few days under ‘Stand Up India’ scheme, every bank branch will provide loans of up to Rs 1 crore to one SC/ST and one woman, to enable them to set up big industries and turn into big entrepreneurs,” Jaitley said addressing partymen at the executive committee meeting of the BJP’s Delhi unit. The Minister said though the BJP lost the Assembly polls in Delhi, the party should try and strengthen its base by reaching out more to different sections like SCs/STs and women due to the disillusionment caused by both Congress and AAP. Reach out: Jaitley “There is need to reach out more to SCs/STs and women and take the schemes of the government forward. Mudra Bank is benefiting lakhs and crores of minorities, SCs/ STs and women and there is need for you to reach out to them and strengthen your base among them,” Jaitley said.

'Protect child rights in first decade when they are most vulnerable' Hyderabad, MarcH 27 (IaNS): If India strives to "get it right" for its children in their first decade -- ensure nutrition, health, sleep, education -- when they are most vulnerable to trauma, it could unlock the nation's demographic dividend and power of youth, says an Indian neurobiologist.

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) scientist Vidita Vaidya, her colleagues and collaborators (S. Galande, Centre For Excellence in Epigenetics, IISER-Pune) are trying to unravel the complexities of stress in kids and shed insights on why stress early on in life is often so much worse than adult stress.

"Trauma under the age of 10 can leave lifel o n g c o n s e q u e n c e s.

There seems to be a window, which is called the acritical period window' in which the brain is most vulnerable. After that it becomes less so," Vaidya told IANS here on the sidelines of the 13thASciComm Workshop organised by Wellcome Trust/ DBT India Alliance .

"In a rat brain, changes in the first two weeks of life leave lasting imprints though its two-year life span.

"The equivalent of that in humans would be pre-teen (the first decade of life), which means the brain before puberty is particularly vulnerable," said Vaidya, professor, department of biological sciences at TIFR, Mumbai.

This is the time when children are in school, they

are facing quite a bit of peer pressure, performance anxiety is coming in way earlier which was not the case before and they are dealing with so many other issues, she reasons.

What is also interesting to note for both parents as well as policy makers, is the fact that even severe stress in adults sometimes doesn't produce the kind of long-lasting effects that relatively milder stresses do in early life: expose kids to increased risk of psychiatric disorders including depression, anxiety and drugaddiction.

"People don't realise, perhaps, the consequences of stress in that window are so persistent and not just transienta they last for a long time. So our work has been to understand why

and how something which is so short-lived has long term effects,a the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar awardee explained.

The chink in the chain lies way down at the molecular level.

They are engendered in the way epigenetic enzymes (chemicals that act as catalysts in reactions that go on inside our body) manage the translation of instructions stored in genes to products such as proteins.

Epigenetics revolves around how environmental factors can affect gene expression.

"There are certain epigenetic enzymes in the brain that regulate gene expression which would allow you to make proteins.A How much of the proteins

you make depends on how turned off or turned on the gene is and this is regulated by enzymes," Vaidya said.

What happens is the expression of several of these epigenetic enzymes is permanently altered based on the early life history of stress. "... Aand it is altered till the animal (rat) is two years of age which is very old for a rat," Vaidya elaborated.

"It's like a network hub, you change the controlling centre and the downstream goes haywire. Hitting control hubs has a huge cascading effect. You are not hitting that in a similar way in adult stress," she said.

The findings are published in 2016 in the journal Developmental Psychobiology.

While the quest goes on

for the team to find ways to "rescue the changes" and identify potential novel drug targets to treat childhood depression, Vaidya laid emphasis on getting the first decade right.

"The developing brain is not simply a miniature version of the adult brain.

It's a completely different stage in which neurocircuits are particularly sensitive to changes in the environment. In the first decade of life, fundamental rights of children have to be actively protected by governments. "... because, if you can't get that window right then you can't fix it easily later in life. Given its demographic dividend, if India got the first decade right, then it could unleash its power," Vaidya signed-off.

MondaY 28•03 •2016

WORLD

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

9

Islamic State driven out of Syria’s ancient Palmyra city BeIruT, MArch 27 (reuTers): Syrian government forces backed by heavy Russian air support drove Islamic State out of Palmyra on Sunday, inflicting what the army called a “mortal blow” to militants who seized the city last year and dynamited its ancient temples.

The loss of Palmyra represents one of the biggest setbacks for the ultra-hardline Islamist group since it declared a caliphate in 2014 across large parts of Syria and Iraq.

The army general command said that its forces took over the city with support from Russian and Syrian air strikes, opening up the huge expanse of desert leading east to the Islamic State strongholds of Raqqa and Deir al-Zor. Palmyra would become “a launchpad to expand military operations” against the group in those two provinces, it said, promising to “tighten the noose on the terrorist group and cut supply routes ... ahead of their complete recapture”.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there were still clashes on the eastern edge of Palmyra on Sunday morning, around the prison and inside the airport, but the bulk of the Islamic State force had withdrawn and retreated east, leaving the city under President Bashar al-Assad’s control.

Amaq, a news agency close to Islamic State, said its fighters launched a twin suicide attack against government forces in west Palmyra, without giving details.

A look at Palmyra, the historic Syrian town retaken from ISIS

Forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad flash victory signs and carry a Syrian national flag on the edge of the historic city of Palmyra in Homs Governorate, in this handout picture provided by SANA on March 26. (REUTERS Photo)

Syrian state-run television broadcast from inside the city on Sunday morning, showing largely deserted streets and several badly damaged buildings.

It quoted a military source saying Syrian and Russian jets were targeting Islamic State fighters as they fled, hitting dozens of vehicles on the roads leading east from the city.

Russia’s intervention in September turned the tide of Syria’s five-year conflict in Assad’s favour. Despite its declared withdrawal of most military forces two weeks ago, Russian jets and helicopters carried out dozens of strikes daily over Palmyra as the army pushed into the city.

“This achievement represents a mortal blow to the terrorist organisation

and lays the foundation for a great collapse in the morale of its mercenaries and the beginning of its defeat,” the army command statement said.

In a pointed message to the United States, which has led a separate Western and Arab coalition against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq since 2014, the military command said its gains showed that the army “and its friends” were the only force able to uproot terrorism.

BIGGEST DEFEAT Observatory director Rami Abdulrahman said 400 Islamic State fighters died in the battle for Palmyra, which he described as the biggest single defeat for the group since it announced its cross-border caliphate nearly two years

ago.

The loss of Palmyra comes three months after Islamic State fighters were driven out of the city of Ramadi in neighbouring Iraq, the first major victory for Iraq’s army since it collapsed in the face of an assault by the militants in June 2014.

Islamic State has lost ground elsewhere, including the Iraqi city of Tikrit last year and the Syrian town of al-Shadadi in February. The United States said the fall of Shadadi was part of efforts to cut Islamic State’s links between its two main power centres of Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria.

The Observatory said around 180 government soldiers and allied fighters were killed in the campaign

to retake Palmyra, which is home to some of the most extensive ruins of the Roman empire.

Islamic State militants dynamited several monuments last year, and Syrian television broadcast footage from inside Palmyra museum on Sunday showing toppled and damaged statues, as well as several smashed display cases.

Syria’s antiquities chief said other ancient landmarks were still standing and pledged to restore the damaged monuments.

“Palmyra has been liberated. This is the end of the destruction in Palmyra,” Mamoun Abdelkarim told Reuters on Sunday. “How many times did we cry for Palmyra? How many times did we feel despair? But we did not lose hope.”

BeIruT, MArch 27 (AP): A look at DESTRUCTION Last year, IS destroyed the Temple Palmyra, the archaeological gem that Syrian troops took back from Islamic State of Bel, which dated back to A.D. 32, and the Temple of Baalshamin, a structure of fighters. stone blocks several stories high fronted by six towering columns. The militants LOCATION A desert oasis surrounded by palm also blew up the Arch of Triumph, which trees in central Syria, Palmyra is also a stra- had been built under the Roman empertegic crossroads linking the Syrian capital, or Septimius Severus between A.D. 193 Damascus, with the country’s east and and A.D. 211.

The extremists have destroyed anneighboring Iraq. Home to 65,000 people before the latest fighting, the town is lo- cient sites across their self-styled Islamic cated 155 miles (215 kilometers) east of caliphate in Syria and Iraq, viewing them as monuments to idolatry. In August, IS Damascus. militants beheaded Khaled al-Asaad, an 81-year-old antiquities scholar who had HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE A UNESCO world heritage site, Palmy- devoted his life to studying Palmyra. His ra boasts 2,000-year-old towering Roman- body was later hung from a Roman colera colonnades and priceless artifacts. Syr- umn.

A video circulated online purportedly ians affectionately refer to it as the ``Bride showed IS fighters shooting dead some of the Desert.’’

Palmyra was the capital of an Arab cli- 25 captured Syrian soldiers in a Palmyra ent state of the Roman Empire that briefly amphitheater. The killings are believed to rebelled and carved out its own kingdom have taken place in May, shortly after the in the 3rd Century, led by Queen Zenobia. extremists captured the town. Another Before the war, it was Syria’s top tourist at- video showed militants killing three captraction, drawing tens of thousands of visi- tives by tying them to Roman columns and blowing them up. tors each year.

It’s not yet clear whether the ruins were Palmyra was first mentioned in the archives of Mari in the 2nd millennium B.C., damaged when Syrian forces retook the according to UNICEF’s website. The town town. The Antiquities Ministry said ahead was the hub of a network of caravan trails of the town’s fall that the remaining ruins that carried silks and spices from eastern are in good condition. It has vowed to restore the site.

Asia to the Mediterranean.

Palmyra became a prosperous region during the Hellenistic period and later STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE The loss of Palmyra marks a major setbecame part of the Roman Empire. But its rebellious Queen Zenobia challenged back for IS, which has been losing ground Rome’s authority. The city was plundered for months in both Iraq and Syria. The capin A.D. 272 after she was captured during ture of the town brings Syrian forces closer to Raqqa, the IS group’s de facto capital, a long siege.

In more recent times, Palmyra has and the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, which had darker associations for Syrians. It was is almost entirely held by the extremists.

Despite its battlefield losses, IS retains home to the Tadmur prison, a notorious facility where thousands of opponents the ability to carry out large attacks in the of President Bashar Assad’s government Middle East and further afield, such as the were reportedly tortured. IS demolished bombings in Brussels last week, which killed 31 people. the prison after capturing the town.

Myanmar army reasserts its key Lahore blast kills political role ahead of transition 65, injures hundreds

LAhOre, MArch 27 (AFP): At least 65 people were killed and more than 200 injured when an apparent suicide bomb ripped through the parking lot of a crowded park in the Pakistani city of Lahore where Christians were celebrating Easter Sunday, officials said.

Dozens of ambulances were seen racing to the Gulshan-i-Iqbal park, situated near the centre of the city of around eight million, with many women and children among the dead and wounded.

Lahore top administration official Muhammad Usman said the toll had reached 65 people. “The rescue operation is continuing,” he told AFP, adding that more than 50 children were among the injured.

The army had been called in, he said, and soldiers were at the scene helping with rescue operations and security. Senior police official Haider Ashraf said the blast appeared to be a suicide attack, adding that ball bearings were found at the park.

A medical superintendent at Jinnah Hospital, who gave his name only as Dr. Ashraf, told AFP the number of injured stands at more than 200 people, most of them are in critical. “I fear the death toll will rise,” he added.

Javed Ali, a 35-year-old resident who lives opposite park, said the force of the blast had shattered his home’s windows. “After ten minutes I went outside. There was human flesh on the walls of our house. People were crying, I could hear ambulances.”

He added: “It was overcrowded because of Easter, there were a lot of Christians there. It was so crowded I told my family not to go.”

Sunday’s blast came as the army was also deployed on the streets of the capital Islamabad after thousands of protesters clashed with police in chaotic scenes, throwing stones and setting a container on fire.

The demonstrators were supporters of Islamist assassin Mumtaz Qadri, who was hanged on February 29 for killing a Punjab governor over his call for blasphemy reform.

Analysts called the execution a “key moment” in Pakistan’s long battle against religious extremism.

Earlier Sunday an estimated 25,000 supporters of the former police bodyguard gathered in Islamabad’s twin city Rawalpindi to offer prayers. They then turned toward the heavily-barricaded capital, which was patrolled by hundreds of police and paramilitary soldiers.

NAYPYITAW, MArch 27 (reuTers): Myanmar’s armed forces commander-in-chief stressed on Sunday the need for the military to remain a political force just days before a democratically elected government is set to take power for the first time in 56 years. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, making an Armed Forces Day speech in the capital, Naypyitaw, reasserted the military’s belief that it is the country’s sole unifying force and protector of the constitution.

Though the military had “cooperated with the government and the people”, to hold a historic general election in November, that was won by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, it was not yet time to step away from the political arena, he said.

“The Tatmadaw has to be present as the leading role in national politics with regards to the ways we stand along the history and the critical situations of the country,” Min Aung Hlaing said, referring to the armed forces by their Myanmar name.

The military seized power in a 1962 coup and for decades suppressed all opposition. But it stepped back in 2011, paving the way for a semi-civilian government to prepare for November’s election.

But it retains important powers.

More than 10,000 military personnel marched in a parade marking the day in 1945 when a young nationalist leader, General Aung San, and his followers in a fledgling army turned against Japanese forces occupying their country. Hundreds of veterans, foreign defence attaches and politicians gathered before dawn on a big parade field to watch the ceremony.

But conspicuously absent was Aung San’s daughter, National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Suu Kyi. She attended the ceremony in 2013 but has not since then. Also absent was presidentelect Htin Kyaw, Suu Kyi’s handpicked leader who will take power on Friday.

Min Aung Hlaing defended the charter on Sunday, saying it was drafted by ”coordinated efforts of intellectuals, experts from various fields and national races representatives and was ratified by a nationwide referendum”, and paved the way for the November election.

The 2008 constitution enshrines deep political powers for the military. A quarter of the parliament seats are reserved for unelected military officers, giving them an effective veto over constitutional changes, and the commander-inchief remains in control of three key main ministries.

Sanders claims momentum, eyes party power brokers

WAshINGTON, MArch 27 (reuTers): Fresh from Democratic presidential primary wins over the weekend in three U.S. states, Bernie Sanders on Sunday claimed political momentum he said could help him win the backing of Democratic power brokers in his race against Hillary Clinton.

Sanders easily won nominating contests in Alaska, Washington and Hawaii on Saturday. His latest remarks reflect his plan to chip away at Clinton’s commanding lead in the number of delegates needed to win the party’s nomination.

Interviewed on Sunday

by U.S. broadcasters, Sanders said Democratic “superdelegates,” who can change their allegiance, might rally behind him because some polls suggest he has a better chance than Clinton of beating a Republican candidate.

“Momentum is with us. A lot of these super-delegates may rethink their position

with Hillary Clinton,” said Vermont Senator Sanders on CNN’S State of the Union news program.

About 85 percent of the votes at the July 25-28 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, where a party nominee will be chosen to face the Republicans in the Nov. 8 election, are being determined by state nominating contests.

The other 15 percent is held by party power brokers who are free to vote as they like, meaning they could hold the key in a tight contest.

Super-delegates include party leaders and elected senators, members of the U.S. Congress, and governors.

After Saturday’s contests, the former secretary of state led Sanders by just under 300 pledged delegates in the race for the 2,382 needed to be nominated. Adding in the support of super-delegates, Clinton had 1,712 delegates to 1,004 for Sanders, according to a tally by RealClearPol-

Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders holds a rally at Safeco Field in Seattle, Washington March 25. (REUTERS)

itics.com.

The U.S. senator from Vermont needs to win up to two-thirds of the remaining delegates to catch Clinton, who will keep piling up delegates even when she loses under a Democratic Party system that awards them proportionally in all states.

He urged super-dele-

gates to consider polls in which Americans are presented with potential battles between various presidential hopefuls. RealClearPolitics averages of polls show Sanders with a small edge over Clinton in a hypothetical contest against Republican front-runner Donald Trump.

Sanders said party lead-

ers in states where he has won decisively will come under pressure to back him whether they have pledged to support Clinton or not.

“The super-delegates are going to have to make a very difficult decision,” Sanders said on ABC’s This Week With George Stephanopoulos.

The Democratic party

Use ‘weapons of love’ to fight evil of terrorism, pope says on Easter

Pope Francis arrives to lead the Easter mass in St. Peter’s square at the Vatican on March 27. (REUTERS Photo)

VATIcAN cITY, MArch 27 (reuTers): Pope Francis urged the world in his Easter message on Sunday to use the “weapons of love” to combat the evil of “blind and brutal violence”, following the attacks in Brussels.

After a week of somber religious events commemorating Jesus’ death, Francis said an Easter Sunday Mass under tight security for tens of thousands of people in a sun-drenched St. Peter’s Square.

Afterwards, in his traditional, twice-yearly “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) message, he spoke of violence, injustice and threats to peace in many parts of the world.

“May he (the risen Jesus) draw us closer on this Easter feast to the victims of terrorism, that blind and brutal form of violence which continues to shed blood in different parts of the world,” he said, speaking from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.

He mentioned recent attacks in Belgium, where at least 31 people were killed by Islamist militants, as well as those in Turkey, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, and Iraq.

“With the weapons of love, God has defeated selfishness and death,” the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholic said from the same balcony from where he first appeared to the world on the night of his election on March 13, 2013.

The 79-year-old Argentine pontiff urged people to channel the hope of Easter in order to defeat “the evil that seems to have the upper hand in the life of so many people”.

The pope condemned the Brussels attacks several times during the past week, including at a Good Friday service where he said followers of religions who carried out acts of fundamentalism or terrorism were profaning God’s name..

The former king and queen of Bel-

gium, Albert II and Paola, who is Italian, attended the Mass and the pope greeted them afterwards.

In other parts of his address, Francis expressed the hope that recent talks could resolve the conflict in Syria in order to end the “sad wake of destruction, death, contempt for humanitarian law and the breakdown of civil concord”.

He urged Europe “not to forget those men and women seeking a better future, an ever more numerous throng of migrants and refugees – including many children – fleeing from war, hunger, poverty and social injustice.”

The European Union and Turkey have agreed to stop the flow of migrants to Europe in return for political and financial concessions for Ankara. Turkey and The Aegean islands have been the main route for migrants and refugees pouring into Europe in the past year.

Francis called for dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians, and resolutions to conflicts and political tensions in Yemen, Iraq, Libya, Burundi, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, and Ukraine.

Security was very tight around the square, which was bedecked with more than 35,000 flowers and plants donated by the Netherlands.

Police checked people several times at various points along the approach the square and subjected those with entry tickets to body and bag searches even before they passed through metal detectors. Security sources said police reinforcements had arrived in Rome from other Italian cities.

Islamic State militants have made threats against Catholic targets in Rome. Last year, a website used by militants ran a photo montage showing the movement’s black flag flying from the obelisk at the center of St Peter’s Square.

10

MonDAY 28•03•2016

SPORTS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

'cruyff made barcelona champions' Thunder stop Spurs for seventh straight win

A memorial set up by Barcelona FC for late Dutch football legend Johan Cruyff. (Photo: Barcelona FC's Twitter page)

Barcelona, March 27 (aFP): It was Johan Cruyff who "made us champions", wept long-time Barcelona fan Jose Gilabert Cortina, a retired printer who joined the thousands of fans who came to the Camp Nou to pay tribute to the Barca legend.

Dutchman Cruyff, who first moved to Barcelona from Ajax Amsterdam in 1973, died on Thursday in his adopted city aged 68 after a five-month battle with lung cancer.

"When he arrived as a player 43 years ago I came to all the matches for the sheer entertainment he provided," recalled the bespectacled 69-year-old.

"We were a team of losers, it was 14 years since we'd won the Liga and he changed everything. You would have thought that football had been transformed into another sport," he recalled with tears in his eyes like many of his generation who mixed with the international crowd including Spaniards, Chinese, Japanese and Moroccans who came to the

special condolence area opened by the club at the Camp Nou. Cruyff's debut in 1973 "was like a revelation," recalled 74-year-old retired taxi driver Fidel Diaz Fernandez.

Style and freedom The style and freedom with which the 1.80 metre athlete with blue eyes and a Beatles haircut played was a breath of fresh air during a time when Spanish dictator Franco was still in power.

"Franco was still in power and you couldn't wear long hair at that time without being taken for a transvestite. Cruyff did it," said Fidel.

"He was always inventing something," recalled 70-year-old composer Franck Charles, particularly of Cruyff's time as a coach from 1988 to 1996. "I remember a lovely phrase that he said to the players before they took to the pitch: 'guys have fun'. And they had fun!"

"Today it's Messi who resembles him the most.

Like Cruyff said there's no need to run a lot to control

the game and Messi doesn't run much."

Suddenly, Fidel, the former taxi driver with grey hair, begins to laugh loudly as he recalls Cruyff's legendary goal against Atletico Madrid in 1973 when the striker leapt into the air, twisting his body to score as he faced away from goal.

And it amuses him now to see top officials from Barcelona's eternal rivals Real Madrid - such as president Florentino Perez - come to pay tribute to the player who "changed the face of football", 43 years after Real's humiliating 0-5 home loss.

When Cruyff arrived at Barcelona the team were second bottom in the league. But they won 17 games in a row to win their first La Liga title in 14 years.

The relationship between player, club and fans became even stronger after he took over as head coach in 1988.

In an eight-year spell in charge he won four consecutive league titles, and Barcelona's first European Cup in 1992.

public discourse

If Resurrection was a Myth

2

000 years have flown by. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ still remains a mystery to many. For Christians, the Resurrection is considered an ultimate event for their hope and faith In Christ. It is the Resurrection that gives assurance of their future glorification. But for other religions, as opposed to Christianity, Resurrection of the death doesn't play a major key in defining their beliefs.

There are too many misconstrued ideas re!ating to the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. For Islam, they sustain that Jesus only appeared to have been crucified and killed in the eyes of the followers of Jesus. He was not really crucffied or killed. Therefore, the idea of Resurrection is absent. For Judaism, they are of the view that Jesus' body was to by the disciples (Matthew 28:13). For the Gnostics, they do not be in a literal physical resurrection as they view flesh or substance evil and corrupt. So for them, the resurrection can only happen to the soul.

Now it is interesting to note that the early disciples of Jesus Christ were also not very certain about this glorious triumph until they saw the real Jesus with bruised, pierced hands and legs. The description of the Resurrected Christ is mainly affirmed in the four gospels of the New Testament Bible. Thereby, many doubt the authenticity of the gospel writers that they could've written it with the idea to propagate a forged risen Saviour. But reading through the accounts of the gospel, it is very plain that the gospel scribes have written it scrupulously of how it actually happened.

Now, if the Resurrection was a myth and the followers of Jesus were trying to come up with a cover-up embellished story. The gospel description would have been much dissimilar. Here's why: Roman Crucifixion: Crucifixion by the Romans was the worst kind of punishment for the insurrectionists and criminals. It was the most gruesome form of capital punishment. The Jews considered the Crucifixion an anathema. The detail of excruciating pain and distress felt by the criminals during the process of being crucified was known to all in the first century and so the gospel writers didn't give a full depiction of how it happened. Now, for any gospel writer to invent a story of a Divine Messiah dying on the cross would connote too dramatic and questionable for people to believe. But that is exactly how the Gospel presented, Christ Crucified.

Pilate's reaction: Mark 15:44 says that Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead. Death in a few hours was rare and Eusebius, the Church historian says that martyrs, even when nailed to the cross, sometimes were guarded till they died of hunger. Josephus, Jewish historian writes that among a number of crucified captives he found three of his acquaintances still alive, and got a centurion, Titus to have them taken down. Two died under medical treatment, but one recovered.

Mark's account of Pilate's amazement at

Jesus' speedy death would have caused doubts in the minds of the reader. So Mark could've disregarded the plain response of Pilate in his writing. But he did not because it was a record of bare facts. Jesus died earlier than that of the two thieves. He was, therefore, pierced on the side with a spear to make sure that He died, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water (probably His right side, piercing both the lungs and the heart).

Tomb of Joseph: It is very unlikely that if the Gospel writers were producing a Christian fiction, they would suggest the name of a Jewish Sanhedrin member, Joseph of Arimathea, in being so generous to offer his own tomb for the corpse (Jesus) since the Christians blame the Jewish council for having executed Jesus. According to the late John A.T. Robinson of Cambridge University, the burial of Jesus in the tomb is "one of the earliest and bestattested facts about Jesus."

Empty Tomb: Many Biblical scholars roughly estimate employing of about 20 Roman soldiers or more so in securing the tomb of Jesus Christ. The soldiers admitted the empty tomb after three days to the chief priest and elders to which they quickly devised a plan of a stolen body. This story of stolen body was believed by the Judaizers even to this day. This clearly points out that the tomb was empty. Now, the only reasonable conclusion is that Christ was truly raised, as claimed by the disciples or that the body was stolen by the disciples. The latter claim is doubtful because the disciples went into hiding right after Jesus' Crucifixion and they were locked inside a room for fear of the Jewish leaders.

Women Witnesses: Even Josephus, a Jewish historian wrote that the Jewish women's testimony in a court of law was given null amount. So, it would be a foolish thing for the gospel scribes to mention the names of women like Mary Magdalene (formerly demon-possessed woman), Mary the mother of James, and Salome as being the first witness to the empty tomb.

If it were, the writers would have given some worthy names as that of Apostle Peter or James and the likes.

With all the points above to prove that Jesus' death, burial and resurrection was not an invention of the early gospel writers.

It is also more convincing and undeniable to read the sudden change of the frightened disciples into furious proclaimers of the gospel which explains that something extraordinary event happened in their lives. That supernatural event could not fall short of the Resurrection of Christ. The transformation and the conviction of this glorious gospel that led the 10 disciples to be martyred for Christ speaks with clarity that the story of redemption was not an invention of the fearful followers of Christ.

It was a glorious, supernatural act of God in resurrecting the Son of God from the grave. Amen. God bless.

Vebu Khamo Kohima Bible College

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

Catalan Dutch "He was a Dutchman more Catalan than a lot of Catalans," recalled Franck, noting Cruyff's insistence on naming his son Jordi (the patron saint of Catalonia), a regional name banned at the time by the Spanish administration.

"He supported the Catalans a lot in their battles," Franck continued.

"Under Franco, Cruyff was the first to wear the armband bearing the colours of Catalonia as captain," added Jose. "That he was pro independence or not, I don't know, but he was clearly for a self-determination referendum for the Catalans to decide their future."

On front of the cameras, the president of the region, the separatist Carles Puigdemont, praised Cruyff's ability to "bet on the collective talent". "On behalf of the country, thank you for all Catalans." At the end of the day, Barcelona said that more than 15,000 people had visited to pay their respects. The club added that the Cruyff family will also visit on Tuesday afternoon.

los angeles, March 27 (aFP): Kevin Durant tallied 31 points, Russell Westbrook scored 29 as the Oklahoma City Thunder extended their winning streak to seven with a 111-92 win over the San Antonio Spurs.

The Thunder took advantage of the Spurs decision to sit four of its five regular starters and sixth man Manu Ginobili.

Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker also didn't suit up for San Antonio at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

In their absence, David West and Jonathon Simmons each had 17 points to lead the Spurs.

"It's not their full complement of players, and I think we continued to evolve and get better," Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan said.

"I think we can hopefully learn and get better from this game. I still think, for us, it's about getting more consistent all the way through."

Both teams are likely locked into their playoff positions in the Western Conference. Oklahoma City will be the No. 3 seed and San Antonio figures to be No. 2 behind the Golden State Warriors.

The Thunder, who have won their last half dozen contests by an average margin of 16 points, used their regular lineup but didn't accomplish much until the second half.

Oklahoma City went on a 8-0 burst midway through the third quarter to open a 13-point lead with just over four minutes left in the quarter. The Thunder eventually outscored the Spurs 35-19 in the quarter -- the most points given up by the Spurs in a quarter this season. Oklahoma City led by just 48-44 at halftime.

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) drives around San Antonio Spurs forward Kyle Anderson (1) in the first quarter of an NBA basketball game in Oklahoma City, Saturday, March 26. (AP Photo)

DeRozan powers Raptors past Pelicans Just 24 hours after being thrown out in the fourth quarter for arguing with the referee, DeMar DeRozan scored 11 of his game-high 23 points in the third quarter to lift the Toronto Raptors to a 115-91 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.

Toronto not only ended a modest two-game road losing streak, but they matched their franchise record for most victories in a season, with 10 games to go.

The Raptors have increased their win total in each of the last five seasons.

In addition to DeRozan, the Raptors were led by reserve forward Patrick Patterson with 16 points, Norman Powell with 15 and Luis Scola with 12.

Hayward not doing T'Wolves any favors G o rd o n Hay w a rd scored 16 of his 18 points in the final quarter as the Utah

Jazz toppled the Minnesota Timberwolves 93-84.

Derrick Favors scored 19 points for Utah, which went 3-2 on a season-long five-game road trip.

The Jazz have won seven of nine. Rodney Hood had 15 points, Trey Lyles came off the bench to equal that total and Rudy Gobert grabbed 11 rebounds.

Bulls' playoff hopes fading Dewayne Dedmon scored a career-high 18 points and had a seasonhigh 13 rebounds in leading the Orlando Magic to an easy 111-89 victory over the struggling Chicago Bulls.

The Magic snapped a six-game losing streak.

The Bulls lost their third consecutive game as their once-legitimate playoff hopes continued to fade.

Dedmon, in his third NBA season, made nine of 14 shots and played only 22 minutes. He was starting in place of injured Nikola

Vucevic.

James a triple threat LeBron James produced the 42nd career triple-double, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 107-93 win over the New York Knicks.

James finished with 27 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. On Monday in a 124-91 win over Denver, James had 33 points 11 rebounds and 11 assists.

"I'm locked in. I'm feeling the best I've felt in years," James said of posting two triple-doubles in the same week.

Kevin Love tallied his 31st double-double this season with 28 points and 12 rebounds for Cleveland.

Pistons streak snapped Paul Millsap had 23 points, nine rebounds and five assists and the Atlanta Hawks snapped the Detroit Pistons' five-game winning streak with a 112-95 victory at The Palace.

Sri Lanka press urges 'fresh blood' after T20 exit

coloMBo, March 27 (aFP): Sri Lanka's press on Sunday called for "fresh blood" in the national cricket side after the reigning champions crashed out of the World Twenty20 at the group stages.

Sri Lanka suffered a narrow 10run defeat to England on Saturday, with the 2014 trophy winners being bundled out of the tournament after a disastrous showing at the recent Asia Cup. The local Sunday Times blamed a selection crisis on the eve of the tournament for Sri Lanka's poor performance, which also saw

them badly beaten by the West Indies and scrape home against minnows Afghanistan.

Sri Lanka's national selectors were sacked and the new panel, headed by former skipper Aravinda de Silva, stood down injured captain Lasith Malinga shortly before they left for India.

"Where on earth would you find the selected squad changed just hours before its departure to an all important tournament?" the paper quoted an unnamed former player as saying. "This I believe had a huge impact on our per-

formance." The paper warned Sri Lanka could not make an impact at international level with the current team, which have been unable to fill the void left by retiring greats Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. "...one believes turning the tide with the current crop of players seems almost impossible," it said, adding that selectors should "replace the misfiring cricketers with new blood to inject life back into the game."

The state-run Sunday Observer praised skipper Angelo Mathews'

unbeaten 73-run innings, but said the team were unable to execute whatever plans they had cobbled together.

"The difference between the two sides was that England played sensibly whereas Sri Lanka failed to execute whatever plans they came up with for the contest," it said.

Mathews pleaded for patience from fans and administrators after his side's defeat, while Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena said: "We'll come back stronger next time".

Murray wins but Nadal out in Miami health scare

(LEFT) Rafael Nadal of Spain leaves the court after retiring from his match against Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Miami Open on March 26, 2016 in Key Biscayne, Florida (AFP Photo) (Right) Andy Murray in action against Denis Istomin. (Getty Images)

MiaMi, March 27 (aFP): Britain's Andy Murray moved into the third round of the ATP and WTA Miami Open but Rafael Nadal, dizzy as he struggled to cope with the heat and humidity, retired from his match.

World number two Murray, twice a Grand Slam champion, downed Uzbekistan's 76th-ranked Denis Istomin 6-3, 7-5 to reach the third round in a night match. "That second set was tight but I managed to get through it," said Murray, who next faces Bulgarian 26th seed Grigor Dimitrov in his quest for a third Miami crown.

Spanish fifth seed Nadal, a 14-time Grand Slam champion playing in the heat of the afternoon, feared for his safety and handed 94th-ranked Bos-

nian Damir Dzumhur a 2-6, 6-4, 3-0 triumph, stopping during a match for the first time in six years.

"Everything was fine until the end of the first set and I started to feel not very good," Nadal said. "It was getting worse and worse and worse. "I get a little bit scared to be too dizzy and to lose fluids. I called the doctor a couple of times.

I decided I was not safe. I wanted to finish the match but I decided I would not."

Two-time Slam winners Stan Wawrinka and Petra Kvitova crashed out of the hardcourt event, although Nadal's exit proved most stunning of all.

"Hopefully it's nothing," Nadal said. "Hopefully it's just the extreme conditions out there, the beginning of a virus combined with the conditions."

Nadal, a four-time Miami finalist but never a champion, was also a firstmatch loser at the Australian Open, only the second Grand Slam opener defeat of his career.

Dzumhur, 23, won 22 of the last 29 points as Nadal, 29, repeatedly spoke with a trainer, asking for his blood pressure to be taken after two games of the third set.

"Can we not check the tension, if it is good or bad please?" he said. Told it was good, he said, "Continue."

After dropping the third game, he sat with his head down as a trainer told him, "If you're feeling bad, there's no point to continue." Nadal battled through three more points and finally said he could not go on. "Definitely I want Rafa to recover," said Dzumhur.

"He's one of the best play-

ers in tennis and I wish all the best for him." World number one Serena Williams ousted Kazak Zarina Diyas 7-5, 6-3, in the match after Nadal and was also tested by the conditions.

"It was definitely humid," Williams said. "Rafa played before me. He was in the most intense part of the sun whereas I was on the tail end of it."

Wawrinka, Kvitova fall Swiss fourth seed Wawrinka, who has won titles this year at Chennai and Dubai, was ousted by Russia's Andrey Kuznetsov 6-4, 6-3 while Czech eighth seed Kvitova, the 2011 and 2014 Wimbledon winner, fell to Russian 30th seed Ekaterina Makarova 6-4, 6-4.

Wawrinka, the 2014 Australian Open and 2015 French Open champion, managed only 16 winners

against 37 unforced errors and went 0-for-8 on break point chances.

Kuznetsov, ranked a career-best 51st, avenged a third-round loss to Wawrinka at Indian Wells and made the Swiss his highestranked beaten foe.

With Nadal and Wawrinka out, the top-ranked player in their quarter of the draw is Canadian 12th seed Milos Raonic, coming off a runner-up showing at Indian Wells.

Raonic beat American Denis Kudla 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 and next faces US 22nd seed Jack Sock, who advanced 6-2, 3-2 when Ukraine's Sergiy Stakhovsky retired with a back injury.

The losses also mean highest-rated obstacles to Murray reaching the final are in his quarter of the bracket, Japanese sixth seed Kei Nishikori and French ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Nishikori, Kyrgios advance Nishikori advanced to the third round by downing 107th-ranked French qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-2, 7-6 (7/4).

The 2014 US Open runner-up, coming off a fourth consecutive title at Memphis last month, next meets Ukraine's 27th-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov.

Australian 24th seed Nick Kyrgios routed Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 6-2, 6-1, to set a third-round date with 132nd-ranked US qualifier Tim Smyczek, who outlasted US 13th seed John Isner 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (7/5).

Monday 28•03•2016

EntErtainmEnt

Indira Gandhi biopic stuck due to legal issues

D

irector Manish Gupta, who is making a biopic on former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, is currently working on sorting out legal issues involved in the project. The 'Rahasya' fame

director is ready with the script for the biopic.

"We are ready with the script of our next- a political drama (on Indira Gandhi). But we are working on the legalities and approvals that are needed to be taken

for this project. We are on a positive track. We are hopeful we will begin shoot this year," sources said.

The film will primarily be shot in Delhi, Mumbai and few other locations.

The Emergency episode is

most likely to be included the film. "It is difficult to make a film like this. We are working on certain things which is causing the delay.

We can't reveal what will be included or not in the biopic," the source added.

Meanwhile, actress Vidya Balan has been approached to play the leading role in the film. "She (Vidya) has liked the idea.

She has shown interest in the project," he added, said without divulging further details on casting in the film.

In the past, films on the late Prime Minister have hit such roadblocks, and a few have even been banned in the country for 'glorifying the Sikh bodyguard'. The film 'Kaum De Heere', or 'Diamonds of the Community' was banned in 2014. A few years ago, 'The Emergency' was also banned soon after its release.

Miley Cyrus, Alicia Keys Join ‘The Voice’ Season 11

S

inger Miley Cyrus and Alicia Keys are set to join season 11 of "The Voice" as coaches. The two will replace Gwen Stefani and Pharrell Williams, said The Hollywood Reporter. The singing divas will join returning stars Adam Levine and Blake Shelton, who have been with the series since its inception.

While Keys, 35, has previously Source: PTI

served as a mentor for Williams' group of singers during his seasonseven debut, Cyrus, 23, will make her Voice debut on season 10, during which she will serve as a key advisor mentoring all four groups of contestants. This will be the first season with two female coaches.

"The musical expertise and energy these two incredibly talented

women will bring to the show is remarkable. We're thrilled that they'll be joining Adam and Blake in what we know will be a magical 11th season," Paul Telegdy, president of alternative and late night programming at NBC Entertainment, said in a statement. The 11th season of "The Voice" will air in September.

Source: PTI

Priyanka Chopra makes it to Victoria’s Secret ‘What is Sexy’ list Zayn Malik’s new album

A

ctress Priyanka Chopra has added one more feather to her Hollywood success cap by becoming a part of lingerie giant Victoria's Secret's 2016 'What is Sexy' list.

The 33-year-old Indian import, who made her debut in West with American TV series 'Quantico', got the sexiest eyes tag. Not only the actress, but her ABC thriller show also received the sexiest TV cast title.

Priyanka retweeted the the link of the list posted by a fan club on her Twitter page. Sexiest eyes and sexiest cast!! Love it! @VictoriasSecret @JohannaEBrad-

features an Urdu song

dy @MrJoshHopkins @ jazmasri @tate_ellington, she wrote. 'Scandal' star Kerry Washington picked up the honour for sexiest actress, while Demi Lovato was named sexiest songstress.

Other winners are Julianne Hough, Maria Menounos, Alicia Vikander, Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Hailey Baldwin, Rashida Jones and Olivia Munn. Chrissy Teigen and John Legend's French Bulldog was named Sexiest Furry Friend. Victoria's Secret angels Sara Sampaio and Josephine Skriver announced the winners.

Source: PTI

B

ritish-Pakistani singer Zayn Malik's much-anticipated new solo album Mind of Mine will feature a song in Urdu, titled "Flower". Urdu is the native tongue of the 23-year-old singer's father. According to a review in The New York Times, the song is 104-seconds long and appears in the middle of the former One Direction member's debut.

It features "gentle folk-influenced guitar" over which Malik sings "with deeply centered but controlled fervor", reported NME magazine. The lyrics to the track are: "Jab tak is mohabbat ke phool na khilay / Tab tak is dill ko sukoon na miley" (Until the flower of this love has blossomed/This heart won't be at peace).

Malik has previously revealed that he speaks Urdu his father's native tongue. After winning the award for outstanding achievement in music at the Asian Awards last year, he thanked his parents "for making me Asian, and for allowing me to have some sort of effect on the Asian community.

Source: PTI

Renee Zellweger oblivious to Gender swapping in ‘Ki & Ka’ wins over Bollywood comments about her appearance

A

C M Y K

ctress Renee Zellweger says she doesn't pay attention to the chatter surrounding her changed appearance.

The 46-year-old 'Bridget Jones's Diary' star hit headlines and became a trending topic on Twitter after she made her first public appearance in months at an awards show in Los Angeles in October, 2014, sparking a debate over her 'new face', reported People magazine.

Zellweger shrugged off the media storm at the time, putting her altered appearance down to a new, relaxed lifestyle, and

now she reveals she didn't even know about any of the comments because she does not participate in any

R

. Balki's idea of role reversal to question age-old stereotypical notions about gender, with marriage as the canvas through 'Ki & Ka', has bowled over stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Karan Johar and Varun Dhawan.

The celebrities have appreciated the film and the filmmaker for taking on an issue like gender differences in a fun and zingy manner.

'Ki & Ka' aims to dispel gender disparity with its story wherein Arjun Kapoor essays a house husband and Kareena Kapoor Khan is seen as an ambitious, career-oriented woman. The film, slated to release on April 1, has a cameo

by Amitabh and his wife Jaya.

Source: IANS

kind of social media.

It's not really part of my life. It's part of the job that I don't really experience except when I step into this arena. In my home I'm not aware of it. I don't do any kind of social media, so I don't see it. I like to have... I guess you would call them real experiences, she said.

Zellweger previously defended her image and insisted she looks different because she is much happier in life. The actress returns to the 'Bridget Jones' franchise for third film 'Bridget Jones's Baby' later this year.

Source: PTI

Sad Affleck video goes viral amid Paul McCartney lands role ‘Batman v Superman’ criticism in ‘Pirates of The Caribbean’

T

he 73-year-old rocker has joined the cast of Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Norwegian directors Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg plus producer Jerry Bruckheimer are adding an extra scene starring the former Beatle to the already wrapped film, Deadline Hollywood reported on Thursday.

The fifth installment in the Disney blockbuster franchise reunites Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbossa and Javier Bardem as the villainous Captain Salazar. Orlando Bloom returns as Will Turner after missing out on 2011's Pirates Of The Carib-

A

video, in which Ben Affleck could not hide his sadness when asked about the criticisms against "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice", has gone viral. In the clip, which was originally sourced from an interview, co-star Henry Cavill, 32, sits next to 43-yearold Affleck, as they are asked about the critical "mixed response" to the film. The video then cuts to a collection of extremely negative headlines pertaining to the movie. "'Batman v Superman' will make you hate Batman, Superman and The Justice League," proclaimed one

of the first reviews. After the barrage of headlines, it cuts to a picture of a movie rating site, which has certified the movie as 'Rotten' with a 30 per cent rating.

Cavill then starts to answer the question, but the camera actually begins zooming in on a dejectedlooking Affleck. The tear-jerking song 'The Sound of Silence,' by Simon and Garfunkel, then starts playing in the background. By the end of the zoom, Affleck still looks quite sad, and his only contribution to the discussion is a muted "I agree."

Viewers of the clip, originally

posted by Youtube user Sabconth, quickly took to Twitter to announce their love for the clip. A meme simply known as 'Sad Affleck' quickly also surfaced online which features a still from the video with a cartoon teardrop streaming down the 'Argo' star's right cheek.

While 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' has fared poorly with critics, it still managed to gross USD 27.7 million from Thursday night showings, according to Variety, and is on course for perhaps a USD 180 million weekend.

Source: PTI

bean: On Stranger Tides. There's no news on what role he will play. But Sir Paul's not the first veteran rock star to join the cast.

Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards played Captain Teague, Jack Sparrow’s father, in 2007's At World's End and 2011's On Stranger Tides. The casting was a nod to Johnny, who always said that his character's mannerisms were inspired by the louche rock 'n' roller. So Sir Paul could be Captain Teague's brother - or a relative of Orlando's Will Smith.

The team has plenty of time to add the extra scene because the film isn’t being released until May 26, 2017.

Source: MailOnline

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MonDAY 28•03•2016

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THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Virat Kohli (AFP Photo)

Kohli steers India past Aussies, enter semis

C M Y K

MohaLI, MaRch 27 (agENcIES): Virat Kohli led the way with a sublime half-century as India defeated Australia by six wickets at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium here on Sunday to enter the World Twenty20 semi-finals.

The in-form Delhi lad remained unbeaten on 82 runs off 51 balls as the Indians survived a few early setbacks to overhaul a difficult target of 161 with five deliveries to spare.

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (18 not out) hit the winning runs -- a four -- to the wild celebration of a vociferous crowd.

Sunday's match, the last in Group 2, was a virtual quarter-final as the winners qualified the semi-finals. India finished their group engagements with three wins in four matches. Australia will go home with two wins and an equal number of defeats.

New Zealand had earlier qualified for the semi-finals from Group 2, while England and West Indies have gone through to the last-four stage from Group 1.

Earlier, Australia won the toss and elected to bat first and got off to a flying start with Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja taking 53 runs from the first four overs, before Khawaja was caught behind off Ashish Nehra for 26. Finch went on to score 43 from 34 balls, top-scoring with Glen Maxwell taking a relatively measured 31, while David Warner registered another failure, stumped off Ravi Ashwin for six, taking his cumulative total over the four games of the tournament to just 38.

Shane Watson – playing what would turn out to be his final international match before his retirement – scored 18 while Peter Nevill faced two balls, the final pair of the innings, hitting the first for four and the second for six, meaning Australia finished on 160-6.

India’s reply wasn’t initially encouraging, openers Rohit Sharma and Shikar Dhawan falling for 12 and 13 respectively, Watson bowling economically and taking the wickets of Sharma and Suresh Raina.

Then Kohli took over, initially helped by Yuvraj Singh and then Dhoni, India’s most explosive pair of batsmen guiding them home with five balls to spare, and to their semi-final place.

BRIEF SCORES:

Australia: 160 for 6 in 20 overs (Aaron Finch 43, Glenn Maxwell 31; Hardik Pandya 2/36) India: 161 for 4 in 19.1 overs (Virat Kohli 82 not out, Yuvraj Singh 21, MS Dhoni 18 not out; Shane Watson 2/23)

Afghanistan beats West Indies at World T20 NagPuR, MaRch 27 (aP): Spirited Afghanistan upset former champions West Indies at the World Twenty20 with a thrilling six-run victory in their last Group 1 match on Sunday.

Afghanistan's four-pronged spin attack - led by 17-year-old legspinner Rashid Khan and experienced offspinner Mohammad Nabi who both returned identical figures of 2-26 restricted the West Indies to 117-8 on a turning wicket after Najibullah Zadran's 48 off 40 balls earlier anchored them to 123-7.

Despite the defeat, West Indies topped Group 1 over England on a superior net run-rate as both teams finished on six points with one defeat

and three victories.

West Indies will take on either India or Australia in the second semifinal at Mumbai on Thursday. India and Australia meet later Sunday, with Australia winning the toss and choosing to bat. “Obviously very disappointed,” West Indies captain Darren Sammy said of Sunday's defeat.

“But there's no doubt we're not going to let this dampen our spirits. We just need to find a way to chase down those small totals. This was the only game we could afford to lose in terms of winning the cup.”

Afghanistan lived up to its promise to at least win one match in the Super 10 stage after earlier putting up

brave performances before losing to England, Sri Lanka and South Africa.

“We knew we could defend the total after watching low scoring games here in Nagpur,” Afghanistan coach Inzamam-ul-Haq said. “Our spinners were fantastic today and the fielding was simply outstanding.”

Needing 25 off the last two overs, Carlos Brathwaite smacked two sixes off Gulbadin Naib's gentle medium pace but West Indies captain Darren Sammy holed out at extra cover in the same over. With 10 required off the last six balls, Brathwaite missed Nabi's first two deliveries before Zadran took a spectacular diving catch at deep mid wicket to stun the 2012 champions.

British boxer in coma after title fight defeat LoNdoN, MaRch 27 (agENcIES): British boxer Nick Blackwell is in an induced coma after suffering a bleed on the brain following a domestic title fight defeat in London on Saturday night. The referee stopped the largely onesided fight against Chris Eubank Jr in the 10th round after Blackwell, who had taken heavy punishment in most rounds, was deemed unable to continue by a doctor, due to swelling over his left eye. Shortly after the bout, for Blackwell’s British middleweight title, which was televised live on Channel 5, the 25-year-old, from Trowbridge, Wiltshire, collapsed and had to be taken out of the ring on a stretcher with oxygen. British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC) general secretary, Robert Smith, said: “He’s in intensive care, he’s in an induced coma and he is resting and being looked after by the experts. “It’s a very normal procedure. They put you in a coma to get the swelling to go down.” After the fight, Eubank said: “I was hitting him with some big shots and the referee saw fit to let the fight go on. Looking back now, maybe he should have stopped it earlier.”

England comes from behind to beat Germany

England's Jamie Vardy flicks in a goal. (Reuters)

BERLIN, MaRch 27 (aP): Jamie Vardy scored his first England goal two minutes after coming on as a substitute and Eric Dier scored in injury time to beat Germany 3-2 and preserve the team's unbeaten record in Berlin on Saturday.

Vardy, who came on in the 72nd minute, produced an audacious flick with his right heel behind his left leg to send Nathaniel Clyne's cross inside the near post to equalize, and Dier headed in the winner in the first minute of injury time.

Toni Kroos opened the scoring just before halftime and Mario Gomez made it 2-0 to Germany just after with his first international goal since Euro 2012, but Harry Kane sparked the comeback four minutes later with a fine turn and shot inside the far post.

“It's annoying for a coach to see your team squander a 2-0 lead. Even when we were leading we weren't fully in control,” Germany coach Joachim Loew said.

“It wasn't undeserved that the English won.”

Sami Khedira, who was captaining Germany in Bastian Schweinsteiger's injury-induced absence, agreed: “We did lots right until 2-0, then England

10-Northern Angami T20 Bash 2016

punished us. We lost our order. We played a good game for 60 minutes, we'll have to do that for 90 minutes at the European Championship.”

England has won six and drawn three of the nine games against Germany played in Berlin.

England coach Roy Hodgson called it his “best night so far” but warned against the rising expectations that come after beating World Cup winners.

“This is a team which is definitely a work in progress,” Hodgson said. “Let's not get carried away.”

With regular captain Wayne Rooney out with a knee injury, Hodgson turned to Premier League top-scorer Kane to lead his attack, leaving Vardy - who Loew called “spectacular” on the bench.

Danny Rose made his debut at left back, and Gary Cahill captained the side for the second time in Rooney's absence. Defender Jonathan Tah came on for the second half to make his Germany debut.

The visitors in no way appeared overawed by the 71,000-crowd at the sold-out Olympiastadion, though they were fortunate Gomez had a goal ruled out for offside when TV replays

showed he was in line with the last defender.

Germany threatened only intermittently and looked like cantering to the break until Kroos broke the deadlock with a thunderbolt. Nobody closed down the midfielder, who took several touches forward before unleashing a powerful curving strike inside the left post.

England goalkeeper Jack Butland injured himself in the lead-up and had to be carried off before the game resumed.

Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer wasn't really tested until the 52nd, when Alli drew a smart save with a fierce strike, before Jordan Henderson had the next effort deflected over.

Gomez then scored with a perfect header inside the right post from Khedira's floated cross.

It was as good as it got for Germany, with Kane then sparking a stirring comeback.

“Of course the result is important, otherwise we could all just stay at home,” Kroos said. “We played very well in the first half, then we defended badly. We left way too much room and didn't hold our ground.”

It was Germany's first

match since the 2-0 defeat to France in Paris on Nov. 13, a game overshadowed by the attacks outside the stadium and across the city that killed 130 people. The game against the Netherlands in Hannover four days later was called off due to the threat of an attack.

Some 1,500 police officers were on duty, around 400 of whom were drafted in from other federal states.

Security was tight with tents erected so supporters and workers at the game could be searched, scanned, and screened beforehand. A police background check was compulsory for workers. Sniffer dogs checked the area around the stadium for explosives two hours before kickoff.

Elsewhere, Poland routed Finland 5-0 in Warsaw, Austria scored two early goals to defeat Albania 2-1 in Vienna, Hungary drew with Croatia 1-1, and Kazakhstan won in Azerbaijan 1-0.

Russia cruised past Lithuania 3-0 in Moscow in its last home game before Euro 2016. Brazilian-born goalkeeper Guilherme came on for the second half to become the first naturalized foreigner to play for Russia.

‘Transformation through sports’

MONDAY MATCHES (MARCH 28) Lower Bayavü Giants vs North Block Warriors (7:00 am) Zienuobadze Highflyers vs High School Daredevils (10:30 am) Lower L. Khel Vikings vs Mission Dukes (2:00 pm)

FIFA chief 'terribly saddened' by stadium attack in Iraq ZuRIch, MaRch 27 (IaNS): FIFA president Gianni Infantino has said that he was "shocked and terribly saddened" by the suicide bombing targeted at a football stadium in the Iraqi city of Iskanderiyah, south of Baghdad, where at least 30 people were killed and 95 wounded. In a statement on FIFA website on Saturday, Infantino extended his "deepest condolences to the victims' families", reports Efe. Infantino pointed out that football "unites people" around the world, and added: "It is a very sad day when people, going to a match together, become the victims of such violence." An official from Iraqi police said that a suicide bomber cut through the crowd and detonated the explosives-laden vest he was wearing inside the stadium, where a local match was being played.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Overall champions Konyak youth team with fellow Eastern Nagaland youths of Mokokchung town after the successful culmination of the First Eastern Nagaland Youth Sports Meet at Imkongmeren Sports Complex, Mokokchung on Saturday, March 26. (Morung Photo)

MokokchuNg, MaRch 27 (MExN): With an aim to foster ‘unity’ among the six tribes of Eastern Nagaland, the Elation Sporting Association successfully organized the first Eastern Nagaland Youth Sports Meet at Mokokchung which was attended by over five hundred youths from the six eastern tribes residing in Mokokchung.

The meet which was organized on the theme – transformation through sports – was kicked off on March 24 by AKM vicepresident Akummeren Longchar, and culminated on Saturday, March 26.

The meet brought together youths from Eastern Nagaland who competed in events like football, volleyball and athletics.

After three days of enthusiastic participation in the different events at the Imkongmeren Sports

Complex, the Konyak youth team was adjudged overall champions of the meet.

The Elation Sporting Association was formed by the Chang Union Mokokchung.

Chang Union, Mokokchung President Aojungshi said that the Elation Sporting Association would foster unity and friendship in the society.

“We (Chang Union, Mokokchung) formed the Elation Sporting Association in 2015 and participated in the MDFA trophy 2015 last year since it was 125th year of Mokokchung town,” said Aojungshi.

“We decided to hold this youth meet to foster unity and friendship.”

The Elation Sporting Association reached the quarter finals in the MDFA 2015 and was adjudged the best disciplined team.

The ESA football team

also played an exhibition match with the Manchester United Fans of Nagaland at Mokokchung in November last year.

The organizers disclosed they hope to make this Eastern Nagaland Youth Sports Meet into an annual event.

Meanwhile, the sports meet was well appreciated by the cross section of society in Mokokchung.

“This is a very encouraging trend. I feel happy to see so many people here, enjoying…and there are talented sportsmen here.

Hope it will continue,” said Bendang, a government teacher on Easter vacation who witnessed the last day of the meet.

Other youths shared the same view.

The concluding day was graced by the Mokokchung District Football Association (MDFA) president as the guest of honor.

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