C M Y K
www.morungexpress.com
tuesDAY • MArch 29 • 2016
DIMAPUR • Vol. XI • Issue 85 • 12 PAGes • 5
T H e
ESTD. 2005
P o W e R
o F
T R u T H
It is simplicity that makes the uneducated more effective than the educated when addressing popular audiences — Aristotle Nobody needs to be forced to chant ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’: Bhagwat PAGE 08
‘Nagaland is a state of possibilities’
Virat Kohli masterclass prompts Sachin Tendulkar comparisons
PAGE 02
PAGE 12
Mtlt writes to Governor for removal of Mokokchung Dc
In this Reuters File Photo, Girls are seen walking to school at the outskirts of Yangon. One in five children aged 10 to 17 in Myanmar go to work instead of school, according to figures from the Occupation and Industry report published on March 28.
ACAUT calls for ‘deletion’ of bogus entries in electoral roll DIMaPur, March 28 (MExn): The Against Corruption and Unabated Taxation (ACAUT) Nagaland has called for the deletion of all bogus and multiple entries of names in the state electoral roll. A press note from the ACAUT Nagaland media cell state that inflated electoral roll is the “root cause of all corruption in the state.” It informed that as per the Nagaland State Chief Electoral Officer, the total number of voters has been reduced by
reflections
By Sandemo Ngullie
almost 2 lakh to 11, 74,633 lakh as of 2015, “making Nagaland probably the only state in India to have negative electoral growth rate.” “According to calculations done by the ACAUT Nagaland, the true total voter list of Nagaland cannot be more than 7 lakh and if the State Election Commission carries out electoral revision to its logical conclusion, not less than 4 lakh names would still be deleted in the state,” it claimed.
The ACAUT Nagaland called upon all sections of society to co-operate with special emphasis on the churches to give their correct membership figures to the State Election Commission, “since the churches are the true repository of correct Naga population.” It further asked the Commission not to “halfheartedly implement any directives from the ECI.” It rather proposed that Nagaland State “should be a pilot project for the ECI to
Municipal Affairs HoD ‘under suspension’ by Govt Morung Express News Dimapur | March 28
One very angry young man threatened to replace me with an App! What’s App?
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Tokheho Sema conferred Padma Shri 2016 award
C M Y K
DIMaPur, March 28 (MExn): Tokheho Sema from Nagaland was today conferred the coveted Padma Award-Padma Shri 2016 in the field of ‘Public Affairs.’ A total of seven personalities from the North East Region were awarded the Padma Shri award 2016 by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee. Other Padma recipients from NE include Professor Veena Tandon from Meghalaya, Heisnam Kanhailal from Manipur, Dhirendra Nath Bezbaruah, Prahlad Chandra Tasa, Kameshwar Brahma and Ajoy Kumar Dutta from Assam.
formulate its clean electoral agenda.” It appealed to the pastors of all the Churches in Nagaland to start a campaign to delete bogus and multiple entries of names in their respective villages in the true Christian spirit. “Corrupted electoral roll will only beget corrupt leaders and therefore, Christian pastors should exercise the enormous moral authority at their disposal and ensure the success of the Clean Election Campaign,” it said.
The Government of Nagaland (GoN) has placed the Additional Director & HoD, Municipal Affairs Department “under suspension with immediate effect.” The order, dated March 26, was passed by the Chief Secretary of Nagaland, Pankaj Kumar IAS through Dr. Maongwati Aier IAS, Secretary to the Government of Nagaland. According to the order, the “disciplinary proceeding” was “contemplated for his alleged involvement in misappropriation of funds under the 13th Finance Commission Award, Rajiv Awas Yojana
and BSUP Projects.” It may be noted that the Association of Kohima Municipal Wards Panchayat (AKMWP) had given a 15-days ‘ultimatum’ on March 13 to the GoN to take action on “corrupt practices” they found in the Department of Municipal Affairs following an RTI application they filed on February 20 this year. “We are satisfied with the suspension,” said President of AKMWP, Neibulie Kiewhuo. He also informed that the Nagaland State Vigilance Commission has initiated an enquiry into the matter. The Department of Municipal Affairs was created by the Nagaland State Government in June 2015.
Woman from Nagaland arrested over cocaine smuggling in Nepal
kaThManDu, March 28 (PTI): Two foreign nationals, including an Indian woman, have been arrested from a tourist hub in the Nepalese capital for allegedly smuggling drugs worth Rs 54 million in their shampoo bottles. The two women who have been identified as Mersi, 41, from Nagaland and Mapathone Masne, 37, of South Africa- were arrested from Thamel by the anti-drug trafficking unit of the Nepal Police, who seized 2.7 kg of cocaine from
their possession. The duo had hidden the drugs in four shampoo bottles, according to Nepal Police. They have been involved in the trafficking network extending from New Delhi, Kathmandu and Europe as well as South Africa for a long time, authorities said. The women were bringing drugs from New Delhi for dispatching to various destinations in Europe including Netherlands via Kathmandu, according to police. They have been taken into custody.
Mokokchung, March 28 (MExn): The Mokokchung Town Lanur Telongjem (MTLT) has urged the Governor of Nagaland State to “initiate necessary action” against the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Mokokchung district. In a letter to PB Acharya, the Governor of Nagaland State, the MTLT stated that the Telongjem as well as other “concerned citizens” have “totally lost trust” in the Mokokchung DC for his “failure to discharge his duties as the administrative head of the district” and requested the “removal” of the DC “at the earliest for the greater interest of the Mokokchung town society.” In a list of allegations, the MTLT found the first fault in the DC’s handling of the Mid Day Meal Scheme’s rice issue that the Telongjem discovered in March 2016. “In March 2016, the Deputy Commissioner, as the chairman of the District Level Steering-cum-Monitoring Committee, failed to seriously tackle the Midday Meal (MDM) rice issue at Mokokchung which put the lives of thousands of students at stake. The MDM rice for the students was found to be spoilt, unhealthy and infested with worms,” stated the MTLT. The MTLT had highlighted the issue to the DC through a petition and through the mass media on March 9, 2016. “However, instead of taking urgent measures, the DC tried to daunt the concerned citizens by citing CrPc 1973,” alleged the organisation in the letter from its President, Imkummeren Jamir and Convenor of its Public Grievances Cell, Aolong Imchen. Though the DC had not named any organisation, the MTLT found it “evident through his order,” which was issued a day after MTLT visited the schools and
TR revision petition case hearing concluded, judgment reserved Morung Express News Dimapur | March 28
The hearing in the case of TR Zeliang (petitioner) Vrs KK Kulimbe (respondent) was concluded today in the Gauhati High Court (Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh). The hearing was being conducted with regards to a revision petition filed by TR Zeliang in the GHC at Kohima seeking the revision of an order passed by a lower court in Peren district regarding his educational qualification. The hearing, which lasted for little more than an hour, took place in the court of Justice LS Jamir. Sources informed that the judge has reserved the judgment, which may be passed next week.
highlighted the issue, “that it was directed against the MTLT.” The MTLT maintained that the DC has not just hurt the sentiments of Mokokchung’s citizens but also that he has “no concern for the lives of the school students.” In its second allegation, the MTLT noted that the DC had advertised a number of LDA, Dobashi and Driver posts lying vacant under the Mokokchung District administration last year. The interviews for the said posts were reportedly scheduled to be held in the middle of 2015. However, the interviews are said to have been postponed and not conducted till date. The MTLT registered concern in the delay of the interviews, which, it stated, has “destroyed the hopes of the deserving applicants and made the concerned citizens lose their confidence” in the DC. The third point the MTLT raised was with regard to the 2015 AugustSeptember power failure in Mokokchung town. “In 2015, when the whole Mokokchung town was reeling under darkness for more than a month (August – September), the Mokokchung DC failed to take the issue seriously. The DC, in this case, asserted the MTLT, “failed to understand the destitution of the citizens and to take into account the commercial losses and other similar implications.” In its fourth argument for the removal of the DC, the MTLT observed that the Rs 750-crore NEC-funded Interstate Bus Terminus (ISBT), Mokokchung, constructed under Central funding, is “still not functional even after a lapse of 5 years since its inauguration on August 1, 2011.” The MTLT stated that it had impressed upon the district adminis-
tration to make the ISBT functional several times. However, it remains a “phantom facility” due to lack of its intended utilisation.
CrPC statement was meant for general public awareness: Mkg DC
Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Sushil Kumar Patel, on being contacted, maintained that the March 10 press statement issued by him on the provisions of CrPC 1973 had nothing to do with the MTLT visitation to different government schools on matters related to the Midday Meal (MDM) rice issue. The provisions states that only police can search a place (Private or government properties) with prior search warrant and that searches made by any individual, groups, NGOs etc. is not authorized as per law and such searches are “deemed illegal and ultra-vires.” “The press statement was meant for general public awareness and has nothing to do with the MTLT and the MDM rice issue,” Patel said. On the issue of non conduct of interview for the job advertisement under Mokokchung District administration on 2015, Patel stated that the Nagaland State Government had put a hold on the job interview after certain NGOs submitted a representation through him. Patel said the matter now remain under the purview of the State government. The DC also informed that he has directed the nodal department to shift the existing NST bus station located at Police Point, Mokokchung to the NEC-funded Interstate Bus Terminus (ISBT). He said the procedure of shifting the terminus was the lookout of the nodal department- NST, adding, he can only supervise.
SETAN demands “immediate” intervention of Nagaland govt
DIMaPur, March 28 (MExn): The Special Education Teachers Association of Nagaland (SETAN) on Monday highlighted a number of grievances faced by the Special Education Teachers (SETs) and has demanded immediate intervention and redress from the Nagaland State government. In a press statement, SETAN president, Sanen informed that during the orientation programme held on September 12, 2013 at Capital Convention Centre, the SET were promised to be sent for requisite training which, was yet to materialize. Besides, as per the directive of IEDSS Committee headed by the then Chief Secretary Banuo Z. Jamir at a meeting held on July 28, 2014, it was proposed that training should be provided to all the appointed SETs. This also has not been implemented; the press statement said and has demanded immediate necessary action. The association also maintained that the teachers have been teaching and attending normal classes since appointment even though they were denied service extension and salary since July 2014 and has demanded release and extension of the same. Pointing out on the irregularities ow-
ing to financial misappropriation on the part of the implementing agency leading to setting up of Special Investigation Team (SIT) from Vigilance Commission, it said SIT has physically verified and identified all the genuine SET and each SET has complied by submitting performance certificate as desired by the department. The association also reminded the department to abstain from making any fresh appointment until all the genuine in-service SET are absorbed and trained. It also expressed hope that their job would be streamlined at par with other teachers in the education department, while stating that many amongst the teachers have already become over-aged. Stating that it has waited long enough “observing the inaction and lukewarm attitude” of the government towards the SET, the association cautioned that it would go for any measures deemed fit to fight for their rights if the government fail to meet their demands. SETs were appointed under the MHRD scheme of Inclusive Education of the Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) to deal with Children with Special Needs (CWSN) with the State Education Department as the implementing agency.
Nagaland State: NES 2015-16 claims progress in education Our Correspondent Kohima | March 28
Nagaland State Department of Economics & Statistics has claimed that the state has witnessed tremendous progress in the field of education during the last decades. Coupled with the centrally sponsored schemes, the communitisation of education in 2002 has led to improvement in the management of schools at the primary level and to a considerable extent in the attendance of teachers and in the enrolment rate in the schools, according to the Nagaland Economic Survey (NES) 2015-16 brought out by department and tabled in the re-
cent NLA session.
Literacy rate
As per the 2011 Census, the state achieved a literacy rate of 79.55 %, which is higher than the national average of 70.04 %. There is an improvement in literacy rate from 66.59 % in 2001 and 61.65 % in 1991. In 2011, male literacy rate showed drastic improvement of 82.75% from 71.16 % in 2001. Female literacy rate also showed improvement to 76.11 % as against 61.46 % in 2001. The state gender gap in literacy rate stood at 6.64 % as against the gap of 16.6 % at the national level. This indicates a lower gender disparity in educational attainment in Nagaland.
Accessibility
The survey stated that to achieve the goal of universalisation of elementary education, primarily schools have been established in almost all the villages. As per Unified- District Information System of Education (U-DISE 2014-15), there were 3,002 number of various types of schools functioning in the state. Out of which, 1,428 were primary schools, 862 upper primary/ middle schools, 543 secondary/ high schools and 169 higher secondary schools.
Enrolment
Meanwhile, intervention of the government to improve
access to primary schools, strengthening of existing infrastructures, communitization and other types of educational facilities have resulted in considerable increase in enrolment at all level. The survey informed that the total enrolment covered under U-DISE 2014-15 was 4, 35, 432 out of which 2, 93, 836 were found to be enrolled in primary; 1, 13, 207 in upper primary; 53, 012 in secondary and 28, 110 in higher secondary.
were working regularly, whereas in upper primary/middle schools there are 8,722 teachers. At secondary/high schools there were 7,934 teachers and in higher secondary schools there were 4,564 teachers. However, only 30.05 % of the teachers in the state were found to be trained. Trained teachers was maximum in higher secondary schools with secondary schools having 51.56 %, and lowest was in higher secondary only with 18.07 %. Teachers with graduate degree and above conTeachers stituted 53.65 % of teachers in Under U-DISE 2014-15, the state. there were 29,499 teachers in all types of schools in the state. In Gross Enrolment Ratio Nagaland achieved a Gross primary schools 8,279 teachers
Enrolment Ratio (GER) of 100.57 at the primary level as against the national GER of 100.08 in 2014-15. However with a high dropout rate of 19.41 at the primary level as against all national dropout rate of 4.34, the Nagaland Net Enrolment Ratio is 85.59 as against all national ratio of 87.41. The survey stated that this trend of GER and NER is the same even in the upper primary level. At the secondary level, Nagaland NER falls to 40.28 against the national NER of 48.46. The higher secondary level however paints a dismal picture as the Nagaland NER falls further to 17.65 against the all India NER of 32.68.
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tuesDAY 29•03•2016
NAGALAND
THE MORUNG EXPRESS
‘Nagaland is a state of possibilities’
Colloquium on Oral and Literary Traditions of Nagaland
Kohima, march 28 (mExN): As part of the 40th Foundation Day of the Indira Gandhi Rastriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS), Bhopal, a colloquium on Oral and Literary Traditions of Nagaland at the Rock Art Centre, IGRMS Bhopal on March 23. In his introduction, Prof. Sarit Kumar Chaudhuri, Director, IGRMS, who chaired the Colloquium, said that it is not only the celebration of the 40th Foundation of IGRMS, but celebration of India’s North East, specifically focused on Nagaland. Having spent almost 25 years as an anthropologist in North East, he always felt that, if you look at the larger discourse, linking India’s North East, has, many times remained an elusive domain to people in the
mainland India. He stated that Nagaland, from his perspective is a state of possibilities- the possibilities which he said, were reflected in the several programmes in the 3-day celebration of the Cultural Festival of Nagaland. He spoke about the Colloquium as involving creative persons from Nagaland including writers, poets, and journalists from different generations. Delivering the keynote address, Prof. Temsula Ao noted that the cultures of the North East are already facing tremendous challenges from education and modernization. She said that the evolution of such cultures and identities that they embody, the loss of distinct identity markers does not bode well for the trends of the region. She felt that “if the trend is allowed to continue in an indiscriminate and mindless manner, globalization will create a market in which Naga, Khasi, or Mizo communities will become mere brand names, commonly cumulative markers stripped off all human significance and which
Prof. Temsula Ao delivering the keynote address during the Colloquium on Oral and Literary Traditions of Nagaland at IGRMS Bhopal on March 23.
will definitely mutate the ethnic and symbolic identity of a proud people”, and added that globalization in this sense will eventually reduce identity to anonymity. Further dwelling on language, which she described as the one essence of our humanity which governs every aspect of our being, she said that, “we exist within the ambit of our languages which defines the significance of being what we are.” She held that in our world today, writ-
ing has become primary and the orality of language discarded as a relic of the past. Pointing out that literature of our people encompasses everything about them- language, history, customs, beliefs, stories, legends, myths, their lores of migration and settlement, arts, crafts, and every small detail of their everyday lives, she stated that this is the literature of the Nagas, and that, it resides in their traditions which constitutes our primary litera-
ture. After the turbulent years of conflict and bloodshed, she observed that a new generation of talented young Nagas, are emerging, excelling in their chosen field, in art and culture too. “We see young emerging stars, enthralling audiences with their talents both at home and abroad”, she said while adding that the youngsters deserve the best opportunities because they are the inheritors of our people who had such music and melody in their souls, who created the most amazing artifacts and textiles with their bare hands. “This new avatar of youngsters is not a one to one transference of their past into present mode. In their own way, they too are creating a new literature of reality, fusing their modernity with new insights from their past”, she underlined. In the meantime, she said that it is heartening to see that a host of young Nagas have taken to writing poetry and fiction in English, in which they explore the contents of their pres-
ent circumstances of disillusioned youth. Though they write about the present mostly, she said, “glimpses of the past are incorporated in subtle ways to create a different kind of fusion and in that sense, we can say that what distinguishes the new literature is that the oral tradition provides the writers with a copulated calculated framework wherein they are able to explore the relevance of the past value on the complexity of their social positioning and contemporary context.” Converting this orality in this sense transforms the oral tradition to recollection, inclusion, inversion, and reinterpretation into a written text, she said, and added that, “this dynamics of transference also becomes part of this emerging new literature of Nagaland.” The Colloquium on “Oral and Literary Traditions of Nagaland” was also marked by paper presentations by Monalisa Changkija, Dr. Anungla Aier, Agnes Krocha Tepa, Vishü Rita Krocha, Phejin Konyak and Peter Bos.
Mkg TB hospital gets equipped with CBNAAT machine moKoKchuNg, march 28 (Dipr): The much needed Cartridge Based Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (CBNAAT) machine was installed at District Tuberculosis Centre Mokokchung on the occasion of World TB Day on March 24. With the installation of CBNAAT at district TB centre, sending sputum samples to other states for Multi Drug Resistant Test has now become a thing of the past. The TB patients who are undergoing treatment can now undergo CBNAAT testing at the TB centre itself whether the TB Bacilli with the patient becomes resistant to the regular medications or not. The CBNAAT machine at the District TB Centre was formally inaugurated by Minister for National Highway, Mechanical and Election Nuklutoshi. The inauguration was followed by the observance of the
World TB Day at IMDH OPD Hall. Addressing the function, Nuklutoshi expressed hoped the CBNAAT machine would immensely help in combating the TB not only in Mokokchung district but those nearby districts. He urged upon Doctors and nurses to be more committed to fight against the dreaded disease saying that inspite of advanced technology, human touch and compassion can never be replace in the healing process. Chief Medical Officer, Mokokchung Dr S. S. Aka in his welcome speech highlighted the achievements made by Mokokchung TB Centre in the fight against TB and hoped that with the installation of CBNAAT machine the achievement rate would be further improved saying that TB is curable disease. The world TB Day was observed with the theme “Unite to end TB.
CIH participates in Krishi Unnati Mela
Dr. SK Malhotra, Agriculture & Horticulture Commissioner, Government of India in CIH stall along with Dy. Commissioner, DAC&FW & Director, CIH.
Dimapur, march 28 (mExN): Central Institute of Horticulture, Nagaland participated in three days ‘Krishi Unnati Mela’ at IARI Campus, Pusa, New Delhi from March 19 to 21. The event was organized by Department of Agriculture, Co-
operation & Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare in association with Confederation of Indian Industry, New Delhi. Earlier, the programme was formally inaugurated by Narendra Modi, Prime Minister, Government of
India on March 19. The 3 days show had participation from all national level agencies and state agri and allied departments in India, private companies. The show was organized with focus on agriculture and horticulture
advancements, Hi-tech technologies, protected cultivation, farm mechanization, fertigation and farming technologies, processed foods and post harvest technologies, cold storage. The Institute participated in the event and highlighted the various activities being carried out as per the mandates of the Institute. The focus horticulture crops available in the NEH region were displayed. Folders and other publications on production technologies, package of practices PHM on fruits, flowers, vegetables and spices were displayed and distributed during the programme. Quality planting material of major fruit crops propagated in the in- A scenic view of paddy field, Thizalu in Phek village. Agro-tourism is potential in this village. Nagaland is principally an agrarian economy making the single largest contribution to the state economy from agriculture & its stitutes were displayed. allied sectors. (Morung Photo by Chizokho Vero) More than 1000 people from different parts of the country visited the stall and interacted with Director & technical staffs.
Students' Spiritual Conference at Jalukie
pErEN, march 28 (mExN): The preparation for the much awaited students' Spiritual Conference, scheduled to be held from March 30 to April 1 at Jalukie Town, Local Baptist Church, by different committees set up for the purpose came to a nearing conclusions. The theme, ‘Save our generation,’ got impetus response from students, teachers, parents and public alike. The conference will have break sessions for students, teachers, and parents. Renown speakers includes Rev. Ketou Theunuo, President, Cross Wonder Ministries, Nagaland, Rev. Dr. Tseibu Rut-
Students' Spiritual Conference leaders after the meeting held at Jalukie.
sa, President, Leaders for Christ International USA and Rev. Moa Longchari, Senior Pastor Baptist Mission Church Kohima and
host of renown resource persons will guide the students and parents during the conference. Contribution from stu-
MEx File
CCTV cameras at New Market
Dimapur, march 28 (mExN): The New Market Business Owners' Association (NMBOA) is launching CCTV cameras installed at New Market, Dimapur on March 30 at 2:00 pm below flyover, New Market with Y. Patton, Home Minister, Government of Nagaland as the chief guest. NMBOA requests all frontal organizations of business community, permanent businessmen of Dimapur, civil societies of Dimapur and well wishers to attend the launching programme. The New Market will remain closed on that day from 12 noon till the function is over. Therefore, public are requested to bear with the inconvenience. This was stated in a press release issued by Hokivi Chishi, President, NMBOA and President DCCI.
Government extends authorization date Kohima, march 28 (Dipr): The Government of Nagaland has notified that in continuation of the Finance Department’s notification dated 27th March, 2015, the authorization given to the Nagaland Pensioners Association to issue Iden-
tity card 'D’ Card for drawal of pension to all Nagaland State Government, living pensioners/family pensioners is extended up to 31st March 2017 under the same terms and conditions specified in the earlier notification.
LMRSU emergency presidential meeting Dimapur, march 28 (mExN): Lotha Middle Range Students' Union (LMRSU) has conveyed an emergency presidential meeting on March 30, 11:00 am at Lotha Students' Union (LSU) Office. All affiliate units of LMRSU are requested to attend the meeting. For further information contact @ 8974411185 or 9612316736.
PWOK general assembly cum election Kohima, march 28 (mExN): Poumai Women Organization Kohima (PWOK) has convened its general assembly cum election on April 2,10 am at Poumai Baptist Church Midland Kohima. In the press release issued by PWOK president S.P. Rocinah has requested all the concern members to attend the assembly without fail.
dents, teachers, parents and public from in and around Jalukie Town is the main source for the conference.
SKK appeals to Chief Secretary of Nagaland on mission ‘Doing Right’ Dimapur, march 28 (mExN): The Sumi Kiphimi Kuqhakulu (SKK) today wrote to the Chief Secretary of Nagaland seeking cooperation and support for the mission ‘Doing Right’, which SKK will be launching in all the Sumi inhabited areas. SKK President Ninoto Awomi and General Secretary Vikai Yeptho in a letter addressed to the Chief Secretary said that identification of all round disorder, corrupted practices and irregularities will be the operative of the mission. Contemplated objective of the mission is to remind the government employees/ agents, the importance of discharging respective duties and responsibilities
with sincerity and dedicareasons are strictly dealt tion as desired by the govaccording to the releernment for the welfare of vant rules. the public. In this connec- • District HODs habitution, it may be disclosed ally deploying sub-orthat dedicated effort of the dinate officers to represtudents’ community shall sent the Departments yield no productive outin the District Planning come unless the mission is & Development Board reciprocated by stringent meeting may be brought follow up action. under control. In order to fulfill the ob- • Head of different adjective that the mission seeks ministrative units such to accomplish, the SKK reas EACs/SDO(c)s/ADCs quest the Chief Secretary to may be made directly pursue the following: answerable to govern• District administration ment for the irregulariZunheboto may be inties of various Departtimated to maintain atment In charge within tendance record of the respective jurisdiction. District HODs in the • Any government emDistrict Planning & Deployees within Sumi velopment Board meetinhabited areas irreing. Accordingly, absenspective of rank found tees without legally valid indulging in corrupted
practices, identified by the SKK with sufficient proof may be penalized strictly in accordance with the relevant Rules without leniency. • Genuine grievances of the government employees deserving due cares, identified in course of the mission may be viewed with seriousness. The SKK, while assuring its fullest co-operation within its level to ensure that established Rules of the government are enforced without fair or favor within all the Sumi inhabited areas, it is prayed that the stated points may be perused and prompt necessary action to that effect be taken.
Rotary Rahat Medical Mission in Dimapur underway
Dimapur, march 28 (Dipr): The Rotary Rahat Medical Mission (Free Surgical camp) sponsored by Rotary International district 3080, 3240 and supported by Government of Nagaland, CIHSR (Referral Hospital) and Rotary Club of Dimapur was formally inaugurated by Governor of Nagaland PB Acharya as the chief guest and Principal Director, H& FW, Dr. Sukhato Sema as the guest of honour on March 28 at District Hospital Dimapur. PB Acharya in his address said that it was a big day today that, doctors enriched with knowledge and commitment have come together from different parts of India as part of Rahat Medical Mission to Nagaland. The Governor encouraged the team of visiting doctors to work with an open heart and serve the people without
Governor of Nagaland PB Acharya along with Rotary Club Dimapur members and the Rahat Medical Mission team at District Hospital Dimapur on March 28. (DIPR Photo)
fear. The Governor also expressed his appreciation to Rotary Club for taking the initiative to bring the Medical Mission to Nagaland and wished the Medical Mission a grand success. Principal Director, H&
FW, Nagaland, Dr. Sukhato Sema in his address expressed gratitude to the Rotary Club Dimapur for their continuous support and help extended to the people of Nagaland. He also said that the Department
of H&FW would extend all help and co-operation towards Rahat Medical Mission in order to make it a grand success. Dr. Sukhato also thanked Rotary District for their willingness to donate all ICU equipments
for two beds, which District Hospital Dimapur does not have. The Rotary Rahat Medical Mission which will be conducted at Dimapur District Hospital and CIHSR simultaneously from March 28 to April 5. The initial screening and OPD will be conducted at District Hospital Dimapur. Surgeries will be conducted both at Dimapur District Hospital and Referral Hospital Dimapur. The Medical Team shall consist of doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and volunteers drawn from various parts of the country. Renowned doctors of various specialties like Ophthalmology (Eye), Plastic Surgeons, General Surgeons, Genealogy, Ortho, Anesthesia, Dermatology and Urology will be available for consultation and surgery, free of cost.
TuesDAY 29•03•2016
NORTH-EAST
THE MORUNG EXPRESS
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Insurgent threats push Manipur rail project way behind schedule Imphal, march 28 (IaNS): Work on the 84-km Jiribam-Tupul railway expansion project in Manipur, something that could boost Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious 'Act East' policy in linking up with tiger economies of Southeast and East Asia, is way behind schedule. "How can there be a DelhiHanoi Trans-Asian Railway if India cannot complete its railway expansion through Manipur before it links up with the Myanmar railway system?" says logistic expert Atin Kumar Sen, a former office-bearer with the Asian Council of Logistics Management. But it is not funds that is holding up work on the Mani-
pur railway project. The government has allotted Rs.1,397 crore for the Jiribam-Tupul segment and the implementing agency, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), was comfortable with it. But officials are worried over the law and order situation and threat of abductions and attacks faced by companies working on the project. "Law and order is horrible, all companies working on the project suffer huge extortion," said Sen. Work stopped for weeks after Mohammed Munir Raza, a manager with Coastal Projects, was kidnapped by militants of the Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF) in January this year. The ZUF is one of the more
than dozen armed groups that are forcing companies to pay through their nose or suffer abductions. Workers and managers often flee construction sites for fear of abductions or attacks when their companies say no more payments can be made. The Manipur government has done little to control the situation that threatens to derail one of India's most ambitious infrastructure projects. What worries companies the most is that the ZUF, despite being down to hardly 25 activists, can go scot free because it enjoys backing of a top tribal minister in the Ibobi Singh government. Intelligence officials say a
former home ministry official who was behind the ZUF's formation as a 'counter-weight' to Naga rebel group NSCN is now back as a senior official in his parent Manipur cadre. "If someone with 25 activists can hold a national project like this to ransom, we would expect the Centre to deploy the army and central paramilitary forces to ensure completion of this project," says a top manager of a company working in Tupul. But home ministry officials say that may not be possible because law and order is a state subject and any uncalled-for central intervention will provoke cries of federalism in danger, especially because the Ma-
nipur government is run by the Congress and the one in Delhi by the BJP. The Jiribam-Tupul section has 112 minor bridges, six major bridges, three road overbridges and two road under-bridges. In the first phase, there will be 34 tunnels covering a length of 39,401 metres. The longest tunnel in the Jiribam-Tupul section will be 4.9 km in length, while the longest tunnel in the Tupul-Imphal section will be 10.75 km. The 12.5 km track linking the main line from Jiribam to Dholakhal section and 1.20 km of loop line have been completed. But the rest of the Jiribam-
Tupul project, that was to be fully completed by March 2016, is way behind schedule. The railways had told the Modi government that the Tupul-Imphal section, covering 27 km, cannot now be completed within the target date of March 2018, since the first phase (Jiribam-Tupul) is behind schedule. Modi's plans to take the railway line to Moreh, 109 km from Imphal on the Manipur-Myanmar border, looks like distant. "At the present rate, the railway will not reach Moreh before 2023 unless the government in Delhi and Imphal wake up and push the project," says economist Indraneel Bhowmik who specialises on the northeast.
Tripura also faced the same problem, but it crushed the insurgent groups through some tough action including hitting their bases across the border in Bangladesh. Soon the rebels were controlled, the railway line to Agartala was laid and now it is being linked with Akhaura on the border with the Bangladesh railway system. "That resolve is missing in Manipur, where insurgency is big business and top ministers seem to be directly working in tandem with rebels of their ethnic group," says Major General Gaganjit Singh (retd), former deputy chief of the Defence Intelligence Agency.
Mizoram govt to make preparations for repatriation of Brus Meghalaya awaits Assam's verdict
aIzawl, march 27 (pTI): Mizoram government is planning to repatriate Brus from six Tripura relief camps soon, Home Minister R Lalzirliana informed the state assembly today. The meeting convened by Ministry of Home Affairs, which was attended by both Mizoram and Tripura government officials on January 8, decided to again make preparations for repatriation of Brus from Tripura relief camps, Lalzirliana said in reply to a question from Lalruatkima of the Mizo National Front (MNF). "The movement plan for the repatriation process has been scheduled to be completed by May 31, 2016," he said, adding that not a single
Bru had returned to Mizoram in the last repatriation attempt. The state government, he said, had submitted a requirement for Rs 68.50 crore for implementation of the Road Map-IV for Bru Repatriation undertaken during June to September last year. "The MHA released Rs 4.7 crore as the first installment and Rs 5 crore in the second instalment," the minister said. Of the Rs 4.7 crore, expenses of Rs 46.57 lakh were incurred during the repatriation process, he said. Lalzirliana said though the government did not conduct a census in the six relief camps, it assumed that there were 20,710 people, including 11,446 minors, in the six relief camps.
AAPSU urges Arunachal to file curative petition ITaNagar, march 28 (pTI): The All Arunachal Pradesh Students' Union (AAPSU) has urged the state government to immediately file a curative petition in the wake of the Supreme Court order to confer citizenship to Chakma and Hajong refugees in the state. The Apex court in its order on September 17 last year has asked the Centre and Arunachal Pradesh to immediately confer citizenship on the Chakma and Hajong refugees who have been living in the frontier state for nearly half a century. The students' body of the state in a meeting held here on Saturday resolved to visit Khatan area under Lohit district in order to see the ground realities, a statement from AAPSU President Kamta Lapung informed here today. The union in the meeting while opposing granting of Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the Mishing community residing in the state, further decided to hold a meeting with the office bearers of ABK in this regard. In order to strengthen the communal harmony among the home-grown people of Arunachal Pradesh, the meeting resolved to organise the fourth Inter-Tribe Youth Festival in the month of July next and accordingly selected Biru Nasi, Suraj Tayem, Tanya Agu and Ashing Sonam as Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary and Coordinator for the event. "AAPSU believes that such festival will be a bridge for bringing the tribes of the state under one umbrella," the statement said.
Lalzirliana said that the Brus, lodged in the Tripura relief camps, made ten-point demands to the Centre on the basis of which the MHA had agreed to extend the period of giving free ration from one year to two years. He said that the demand for allotment of permanent land could not be done due to non-availability of land while the demand for settlement of not less than 500 families could not be accepted as it was against the government policy to settle people on communal lines. The demand for deployment of Central Para Military Forces (CPMF) for security of the Bru inhabited areas was rejected as the state government has full faith in the state
ShIlloNg, march 28 (TNN): Even as the campaign pitch reaches a peak with Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing election rallies in Assam, Meghalaya, also ruled by a Congress-led government, is keenly watching the emerging political scenario in the neighbouring state. Though the assembly election in Meghalaya is still a couple of years away, politicians and the public alike are awaiting the "verdict of the neighbour". "Assembly election in Meghalaya is due in 2018 but we are already preparing ourselves, given the fact that the political situation in the entire country has changed after the victory of the BJP at the Centre," said a Congress functionary. Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma is projected as one of
the 'charismatic' public leaders from the northeast, who will campaign for Congress candidates for the upcoming polls in Assam. On the other hand, Meghalaya's indigenous Garo community, which has a significant presence in Assam, is gearing up for the upcoming polls. Becknure K Marak and Tharman Momin of the Garo National Council (GNC) has made 'conservation of forests' their poll plank for the upcoming Assam assembly polls. They are fighting from Chaygaon and Dudhnoi constituencies respectively. A public meeting organized at Shantipur village in Boko recently dwelt at length on the issue of deforestation and how large-scale "plundering" of forests is going on under the very nose of the authorities. The meeting noted with con-
TDDC calls for 24 hour bandh
DImapUr, march 28 (mExN): The Tongjeimarin District Demand Committee (TDDC) has called for a 24 hour bandh from the midnight of March 28 till the midnight of March 29 against the Manipur government’s failure to meet the committee’s demand regarding a separate full-fledged district carving out lands from Tamenglong, Senapati, Imphal East (Jiribam) and Chrachandpur Districts. The TDDC in a press note today informed that “all vehicular traffics will be banned completely except for medical duty, examinations, water supply, marriage and religious ceremonies.” The bandh will be in effect in three major roads: Na-
tional Highway No. 37 from Kethelmandbi to Ijei Bridge Noney (Aga River) and section of Highway from Khongsang to Gularthol Police station bordering Jiribam Sub-division. The bandh will also be imposed on the Tongjeimarin Road (Old Cachar Road) from Chinikon to Reangpang converging National High Way No. 37. It informed that all construction works along the declared bandh areas should halt totally. The will also be enforced on the road leading to Leimatak Power House from Loktak Project. The TDDC also asked all government department offices in the area to close down in protest.
cern how massive deforestation was spelling the doom of the tribals living in the area and whose livelihood depends on 'jhum' (shifting) cultivation. While the poll politics continues, people are facing a new problem. With Assam assembly polls just round the corner, tourist vehicles between Shillong and Guwahati are dwindling. Authorities have been requisitioning most of them for election duty. "It is becoming difficult to get vehicles to Guwahati from Shillong and vice versa," said a passenger, who managed to reach the city of pines crammed inside an overcrowded jeep. Almost all tourist vehicles entering Shillong from Guwahati have posters, saying the vehicle is being used for election duty in Assam, pasted on their wind shields."
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. Date : Saturday, April 2, 2016 Time : 1:30-3:30 pm Venue : DABA Elim Conference Hall, Duncan Bosti Limited Seats. Those interested to participate, kindly send us your name and phone number to:
After Uttarkhand, Congress leadership on alert in Manipur NEw DElhI, march 28 (ET): After the fall of the Congress governments in Arunachal Pradesh and now in Uttarakhand, the Congress high command is on alert in Manipur, where it is sensing BJP's "hidden hands" behind growing dissident activities against chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh. AICC had called Singh to Delhi recently "for consultations" after rebel MLAs challenged his move to remove a couple of ministers. The high command is trying to ink a truce through an "accommodative" cabinet rejig.
In "operation Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh", Congress leaders see a pattern "in skirting the anti-defection rule and the SC verdict on holding trial of strength only on the assembly floor". In both states, the number of MLAs who initially revolted risked action under antidefection law. But in Arunachal, BJP provided the rebels a "cover fire" by bringing a trust motion against the assembly speaker. While Congress rebels in Uttarakhand also lacked numbers to pass the anti-defection rule, the Centre moved in to impose President's on the eve of a governor-
Bedlam in Tripura assembly over ex-minister's killing agarTala, march 28 (IaNS): The Tripura state assembly on Monday witnessed bedlam over assassination of former Tripura health minister Bimal Sinha and his brother in 1998, with the opposition Congress demanding a fresh probe in it. The pandemonium started after Speaker Ramendra Chandra Debnath rejected an adjournment motion moved by opposition leader Sudip Roy Barman. The house had to be adjourned twice due to the uproar in the house. The adjournment motion sought to discuss the judicial inquiry commission's report on the assassination of the former minister and his brother 18 years ago. The report of the inquiry commission, headed by Justice (retd) M.A. Yusuf of the Calcutta High Court, submitted before the government in June 2000, was presented in the state assembly on March 23 following the Tripura High Court order. "To hush up the real truth, the Left Front government has not cooperated with the inquiry commission. The state government, headed by Chief Minister Manik Sarkar that time, had rejected the Congress' demand to probe the assassination by the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation)," Barman told reporters after the adjournment of the house. "The Yusuf Commission identified 27 accused relating to the killing, but none was punished so far," he said. "Surprisingly, the state government filed repeated petitions before the sessions court, the high court and the Supreme Court to let off three heinous criminals who were among the 27 accused. However, all the courts rejected the state government's appeal," he added.
police and deployment of CPMF would entail additional expenses which the state government could not afford, he said. He also said that the documents provided by the Tripura government to the inmates of the relief camps could not be accepted for determination of bona fide residents of Mizoram as many Brus who were in the relief camps were from Tripura and Assam. The state government did not have any intention to establish Reang/Bru Area Development Council, Lalzirliana said while replying to supplementaries said. However, one-time development project could be justified once all of them returned to Mizoram, he said.
Demanding a fresh inquiry into the former minister's killing, Barman accompanied by former opposition leader Ratan Lal Nath, state party president Birajit Sinha and other leaders alleged that Sinha was killed as he wanted to be the chief minister. Referring to various comments of the commission, the Congress leader said if the CBI had probed the murder, many things would have been exposed against the ruling Communist Party of IndiaMarxist (CPI-M ) and its leadership. According to the report of the Yusuf Commission, neither the state government nor Tripura Police was responsible for Sinha's killing. He was solely responsible for his and his brother's killing. Sinha and his brother were shot dead by proscribed National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) on March 31, 1998, at Kamalpur in northern Tripura. The Commission in its findings said: "Minister (Sinha) used to instruct his security personnel to remain far away from him whenever he went to meet the collaborators of the militants. He never allowed his security and escort personnel to come nearer to him or to accompany him... this he did for the release of his brother Bikram Sinha from the clutches of the militants." The slain minister's younger brother had been kidnapped by the NLFT weeks before the sensational killings. The Yusuf Commission was appointed by the Left Front government in 1998 and submitted its report on January 31, 2000. Following a writ petition filed by advocate Kalyani Roy, who heads the state Congress' women's wing, the Tripura High Court recently asked the state government to publish the report.
directed floor test. Congress leaders Kapil Sibal and Randeep Surjewala called the development "murder of democracy", "violation of Constitutional rules" and part of Modi's war cry for a "Congress-mukt Bharat" and vowed to fight politically and legally. "But Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh episodes have also advertised a traditional Congress' ground rule, that once out of power in Delhi and a majority of states, the high command's writ does not run in checking rebellion in states," said a party leader.
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LOWeR PWD PANcHAYAT KOHIMA Congratulates to Mr. Anuzo Vadeo S/o Chonyi Chakhesang, President L.P.W.D.Y.O and Mr. Akumtong S/o I.Teka Longchar for their success in NPSC as Secretariat Assistant. Hayio Ngullie Vice Chairman
Dohohü Tunyi Chairman
+91 (03862) 248854 @ morung@gmail.com The Morung Lectures is an initiative of The Morung for Indigenous Affairs & Just Peace, and The Morung Express
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The Department of Tourism invites all the stakeholders, entrepreneurs, policy makers, hoteliers, architects and those interested in the field of Eco-Tourism and Hospitality sector to join us for a lecture on "The relevance of boutique/village hotel design for Nagaland" to be delivered by a world renowned landscape designer, Ar.Made Wijaya, often called the "Galliano of gardens", on the 7th of April, 2016 at Regional Centre of Excellence for Music and Performing Arts (RCEMPA), Jotsoma. Registration starts from 10:00 A.M onwards. For more details you may also login to www.ptwijaya.com or www.strangerinparadise.com. Sd/- (K.T. Thomas), Addl. Director (T)
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THE MORUNG EXPRESS
Jewellers’ associations threaten indefinite strike
New Delhi, March 28 (PTi): As the jewellers’ strike entered Day 26, the finance minister sought to allay concerns by saying that small traders will not be harassed for excise duty. Traders body CAIT and All India Bullion Jewellers and Swarnkar Federation (AIBJSF) have said they will not withdraw their strike till the time government rolls back the proposal to impose 1% excise duty on non-silver jewellery. The strike by a section of jewellers to protest against the proposal entered Day 27 on Monday. The announcement of holding an indefinite strike came even as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley sought to allay con-
cerns of the community by saying that jewellers will not be harassed over the 1% excise duty. Jaitley assured he will “walk the extra mile” to make sure small traders are not harassed. However, even while he did so, Jaitley remained firm on taxing luxury items. “A luxury item must pay its share of taxes. So on procedural harassment, if they have any suggestions, I am willing to accept for simplification so that there is no harassment... I am willing to take an extra step. But indefinitely India can not have a situation where luxury items go untaxed,” Jaitley said. Releasing a white paper on the issue, representatives of Confedera-
tion of All India Traders (CAIT) and IBJSF urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Arun Jaitley to intervene in the matter to resolve the issue. “We have been on strike for last 26 days and will continue to do so for (an) indefinite period till the time government rolls back its decision,” All India Bullion Jeweller & Swarnkar Federation President Praveen Goel said. He said that the worst affected with this proposal are daily wage artisans. Meanwhile, Jaitley has offered to walk the extra mile to ensure that small traders are not harassed but made it plain that luxury items cannot go untaxed. “A luxury item must
pay its share of taxes. So on procedural harassment, if they have any suggestions, I am willing to accept for simplification so that there is no harassment... I am willing to take an extra step. But indefinitely India cannot have a situation where luxury items go untaxed,” Jaitley said. CAIT secretary general Praveen Khandelwal said that the government should, at least, put its decision on abeyance till the issue get resolved. Khandelwal also said that the committee which was formed by the government on the issue should have equal participation from the traders. “Government should take traders into confidence and open the door
Freedom 251 Smartphone maker in trouble, FIR registered New Delhi, March 28 (PTi): Noida Police has registered a case of cheating against the owner of Ringing Bells who had offered to sell the world’s cheapest smartphone following a complaint filed by BJP leader Kirit Somaiya. The police registered the case under Section 420 (cheating) of IPC and the IT Act on Tuesday. The owner of Ringing Bells Mohit Goel and company president Ashok Chaddha have been named in the FIR, police said. Ringing Bells had recently offered with much fanfare a smartphone, named Freedom 251, at just Rs. 251 and claimed it to be the cheapest smartphone. But Somaiya, in his complaint, said it was not possible to manufacture a smartphone at Rs. 251 and
for discussion on the matter. Traders are not running from paying taxes. The profit of traders are very low and 1% levy is very high,” he said. Refuting the allegation of black money generation in the jewellery trade, he said the trader is not the source of black money. Although AIBJSF is continuing with the strike, three major associations - GJF, ABJA and GJEPC - called off the stir on March 19 after government’s assurance that there would be no ‘inspector raj’. The government has constituted a panel under former Chief Economic Advisor Ashok Lahri to look into the demands of jewellers.
Pay dues honourably or face Samsung launches three new coercive action: FM to Mallya variants of Gear S2 smartwatch New Delhi, March 28 (PTi): In a stern warning to wilful defaulters like Vijay Mallya, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said they should settle their dues honourably with the banks or else be ready to face “coercive action” by lenders and investigative agencies. “I don’t want to make any comments on individual cases but I think it’s a responsibility of large groups like his (Vijay Mallya’s) to honourably settle their dues with the banks,” he told PTI in an interview here. He further said that banks have certain collaterals of group companies of Vijay Mallya and will take legal action to recover dues that are in excess of Rs 9,000 crore. “Banks have some securities. Banks plus other agencies have also coercive methods available with them through legal enforcement...these are all being investigated by relevant agencies,” he said. Mallya, promoter of long-grounded Kingfisher Airlines, had left India on March 2, presumably for London, days before the Supreme Court heard a plea of clutch of state-owned banks seeking recovery from his group firms. Mallya and Kingfisher Airlines
owed Rs 7,800 crore to a consortium of 17 lenders led by State Bank, which had an exposure of over Rs 1,600 crore to the now defunct airline. Other banks that have exposure to the airline include Punjab National Bank and IDBI Bank (Rs 800 crore each), Bank of India (Rs 650 crore), Bank of Baroda (Rs 550 crore), Central Bank of India (Rs 410 crore). UCO Bank has to recover Rs 320 crore, Corporation Bank (Rs 310 crore), State Bank of Mysore, (Rs 150 crore), Indian Overseas Bank (Rs 140 crore), Federal Bank (Rs 90 crore), Punjab & Sind Bank (Rs 60 crore) and Axis Bank (Rs 50 crore). The Finance Minister said the government has been trying to address the problem of NPAs in sectors such as steel, textile, highways and infrastructure, which are on account of economic slowdown. “I think the NPA resolution process will now begin. The sectors which have caused distress... I have always said that there are two kinds of NPAs. One is because of economic environment, the losses in certain categories of industry. Now those areas we are trying to address,” he said.
Harley-Davidson Stealth 750 unveiled
New Delhi, March 28 (NDTV auTo): Adventure bikes seem to be the flavour of the times these days, and now, there seems to be a Harley-Davidson Adventure bike in the making too, or so we thought. But this one, based on the Harley-Davidson Street 750 and called the Stealth 750, is not made by the guys at Milwaukee. Displayed at the Bangkok Motor Show, the H-D Stealth 750 was designed by the owner of a Harley-Davidson dealership in Chiang Mai, Thailand, as part of a Street 750 build-off challenge. The Stealth, as is evident from the pictures, is far from what the Street 750 looks like. The fairing and the tank have been hand-crafted from aluminium. The fairing ends in an ADV-style front beak which sits below the twin headlights, which are housed inside a protective grill and LED lights. Backing its ‘adventure’ cred, the Stealth 750 runs on a 21-inch wire-spoke wheel at the front for off-road capability and an 18-inch wheel at the rear. Suspension consists of a long-travel motocross front fork and a single rear shock from Ohlins, and a custom aluminum swingarm. Naturally, the Stealth 750 remains a one-off custom creation and is unlikely to see full-fledged production.
Instagram rolls out a Discover People page New York, March 28 (iaNS): Looking for friends but unable to find them on Instagram? To solve this problem, Facebook-owned photo-sharing app Instagram has launched a new feature Discover People that enables the user to “discover” other users easily. The addition has been to the homepage in its web version. A little compass icon is added to the top-right corner of the window when a user is viewing Instagram. com in the browser, venturebeat.com reported on Sunday. Discover People is also available on Instagram’s mobile web app and now it is live across all of the Web, an Instagram spokesperson wrote. When users click the new icon, they will see a bunch of people they can follow, along with three of each user’s most recent photos.
New Delhi, March 28 (iaNS): Samsung on Monday launched three new variants of the Gear S2 smartwatch and a whole new set of applications and dial faces for Indian customers. AP Samsung on Monday launched three new variants of the Gear S2 smartwatch and a whole new set of applications and dial faces for Indian customers. The stainless steel chassis makes the devices very light and they sit slim and sleek on the wrist. South Korean electronic giant Samsung on Monday launched three new variants of the Gear S2 smartwatch and a whole new set of applications and dial faces for Indian customers. The wearables will be available across all Samsung retail channels at a price of Rs.24,300 for the Gear S2 white and Rs.34,900 for the Gear S2 Classic gold and platinum variants.
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“The introduction of these new Gear S2 variants with additional apps and watch faces will further add to the style and convenience quotient,” Manu Sharma, director, mobile business, Samsung India Electronics, said in a statement. The new apps such as cab services from Uber, G’Night sleep tracking app, My Notes in Gear and an all-new YouTube browsing app Xenozu are now available with already available innovative and comprehensive solu-
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CROSSWORD # 3546
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Simple Rules - There is just one simple rule: “Fill in the grid so that every row, every column, and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.”
Game Number # 3532
tions around health, fitness, connectivity and style. Gear S2 will also feature a host of new games, enabling the intuitive rotating bezel as a natural game controller for games such as Hextris and classic car racing Vroom Rider. The stainless steel chassis makes the devices very light and they sit slim and sleek on the wrist. The devices consist of a 1.2inch 302 pixel-per-inch density Super AMOLED display with a ceramic-coated gorilla glass.
Answer Number # 3531
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Goel said. In a statement, Ringing Bells Managing Director Mohit Goel said, “In Freedom 251, as presented to several authorities and agencies, and explained at our various forums, we are able to price our product at lower than production cost due to innovative e-commerce cross promotions and we will complete delivery of the quantities as committed by June 30, 2016.”
MITHUN MEAT Available on 29th March 2016 (Today) From 7am onwards Near Duncan Community Hall Duncan Bosti, Dimapur Contact: 9402731625
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Problems or any other urinary related diseases may contact for appointment. Available every 1st, 3rd and 5th Saturday
Next visit 02.04.2016 *Lithotripsy (ESWL) for stone treatment is also available, which is painless, affordable cost and does not require operation/hospitalization. dimAPUR hOSPiTAL & RESEARCh CENTRE Landmark Colony, Near West Police Station Contact: 03862-224041/248011/9856851178 dimAPUR Civil Hospital:
STd COdE: 03862 232224; Emergency- 229529, 229474
Metro Hospital: Faith Hospital:
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Railway:
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Chumukedima Fire 282777 Brigade Nikos Hospital and 232032, 231031 Research Centre Nagaland Multispe- 248302, cialty Health & 09856006026 Research Centre
kOhimA
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O N k T W O v R P m k E k O O R B T R E P U R R E
N v S W R J i S A A C R O S E N B E R g g L E B z
R d A v i d J O N E S q d m k h W k C B P P g T T F
C d E A T h O F A h E R O z k L B T k R E N Y m L
C k L v N N E d N U L B d N U m d E W m E N Y T W F
L m F k C R d d Y k k W m T q R R L S k k x x m J
q m h Y x k T L B W R h N L C x g N P B T F q W x
H h T h E h A P P Y W A R R i O R A Y R m x T k k P
g k B W z B x N N z Y h R m T L h R J m d k T W m
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WE4WOmEN hELPLiNE
Police Station 1:
KoHIMA SoUTH: 0370-2222952/ 101 (o) 9402003086 (oC)
MoN: 03869-251222/ 101 (o) 9862130954 (oC)
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A S R O v E L B h N O T g N i d L A d R A h C i R A
the owner of the company was fooling the people. “Primary investigation found the matter fit for FIR. A case has been lodged and a team has been constituted to investigate the case,” SSP, S Kiran said. “We have asked the company to submit documents required for the investigation,” said DSP Anup Singh. The firm said it is ready to cooperate with the police. “We remain committed to cooperating with any government agency that may require inquiring our organisation for any reason or suspicion. “I do maintain that we will deliver the mostaffordable quality products to our customers through our various range of smartphones, including the Freedom 251,” Mohit
STd COdE: 0369
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
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Euro
72.86
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1.79
1.99
Korean Won
0.054
0.0602
UAE Dirham (AED) Chinese Yuan
17.22
19.19
9.69
10.8
TuesdAY 29•03•2016
NAGALAND/North-EAst
Dr. Kakheto Zhimomi resigns from bJP Youth Pasch held at Don Bosco Dimapur
Dimapur, march 28 (mExN): Former Chairman of BJP Political Affairs Committee, Dr. Kakheto Zhimomi has resigned from the BJP citing NDA government’s failure to fulfill its promises, increase of intolerance in the country after it came to power, RSS influence and imposition of its ideology on the party as some reasons. In a press release, Dr. Kakheto stated that after closely observing the last General Election scenario of the country, the tide was moving towards the NDA, so he joined the party with the hope that Modi would deliver goods to the common people. “Months and
year went by but all those tall promises turned out to be only rhetoric and the economic condition of the people at the grass root level remained the same if not worse. Adding salt to the wound, under NDA Government, the minorities were targeted more, churches vandalized and intolerance increased. Efforts are on now even to scrap the reservation.” All these, he said, are happening because of implementing the agenda of the RSS to “hinduise” the country, while adding “Our conscience does not allow us to be part of it.” Dr. Kakheto stated that in Nagaland, an RSS person has been deputed as the General
Secretary (organization) to see that the party functions in line with the ideology of RSS - BJP being the political wing of it. Now, Hindu rituals are performed before the meeting starts, for which a senior member walked out and subsequently resigned earlier, he recalled, adding similarly, in 11 Ashoka Road (BJP national office), one has to go through Hindu rituals before entering the office premises. Learning that without the backing of the RSS, any BJP member has no say and cannot do anything, Dr. Kakheto approached the RSS in-charge for North East. However, as expected unless one is a Hindu, one cannot become RSS member nor
get the support, he stated. The former BJP PAC Chairman asserted that he joined BJP for the sake of development and not to change his faith so he could not compromise on that. Further, he noted that this time in Nagaland BJP State Unit election, a person who is just one year old in BJP was selected to head the party because “he has the backing of the RSSHeraka.” According to the release, BJP constitution clearly states that unless a person is an active member for more than 10 years, he or she cannot become the President or is eligible for the post. Terming the BJP constitution and manifes-
to as “farce”, Dr. Kakheto alleged that if one has money and backing of RSS no constitution is binding on him. “Nagaland BJP state unit does not have the guts or the will to fight the election but only wants to play second fiddle to regional party and get its due pound of flesh,” he stated. “The voice of Nagaland BJP is like a voice in the wilderness but the voice of ruling regional party and Heraka is loud and clear in the ear of Amit Shah and Namo.” He concluded that “it is really frustrating, useless and disgusting to be in such party” and hence tendered his resignation from the BJP party.
Assam Rifles visit Children Home in Wokha
Participants during the Youth Pasch held from March 24-28 at Don Bosco Dimapur.
Dimapur, march 28 (mExN): First ever Youth Pasch was held from March 24-28 at Don Bosco Dimapur, which was attended by over 140 students from the states of Nagaland, Assam, Manipur and Meghalaya. Youth from 21 tribes of the four states gathered at the event to relive the passion,
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, a press release received here stated. Mhathung Kithan, retired IAS officer, was the chief guest at the inaugural function on March 24. He highlighted the underlying factor of all success in life, which is closeness to God. Throughout the event,
different resource persons dwelt on topics like God’s Mercy, Repentance, Re-enactment of Jesus’ last days etc. Just like the apostles who became witnesses to the resurrection of the Lord, the delegates went back determined to be witnesses of Christ’s resurrection through their lives, the release stated.
NTC supports probe into education dept
Officials of Assam Rifles and Lotha Eloe Hoho with the children of “Children Home” in Wokha Town.
Wokha, march 28 (mExN): On the eve of Easter Sunday on March 26, 28 Assam Rifles led by Commandant Col Litton Dhar visited the “Children Home” being run by Evung Ezung in Wokha Town. A press release from Assam Rifles informed that the 28 The youth members of Dimapur Ao Baptist Church, Town Assam Rifles team interFellowship on March 25 conducted a social work at Naga acted with the children, for whom lunch was also orCemetery, Dimapur.
ganised. The programme was also attended by Mhonchumi Humtsoe and Mhabeni Shitiri, President and General Secretary respectively of Lotha Eloe Hoho along with Zuben, PRO, Wokha District. On behalf of 28 Assam Rifles, the General Secretary and President of Lotha Eloe Hoho distributed gifts to all the
children of the home. Meanwhile, the Commandant of 28 Assam Rifles applauded Evung Ezung for his “exceptional and unparalleled contribution” to the society, the release said. He also promised that 28 Assam Rifles under 5 Sect AR and IGAR(N) would be a part of such a noble cause in the true spirit of “Friends of the North East People”.
MEx FILE
Dimapur, march 28 (mExN): The Nagaland Tribes Council (NTC) has come out in support of the Nagaland State Governor’s order for an inquiry into corruption in the School Education Department. A press note from the NTC said that the Education Department is “infested with series of mismanagements,” including non-
release of teachers’ salary, not providing requisite teaching staff to Government schools, misappropriation of Midday Meals, etc. “It does not mean that corruption in other departments is tolerable, and yet such degree of mismanagements in human resource department such as education has serious impact on the wellbeing of our
children. The Education Department may not be realizing how such scams can ruin the career of lakhs of our children which is a matter of serious concern for all,” the NTC said. The NTC reiterated the Governor’s call urging the concerned authority to immediately begin “cleansing the systems which have been in shambles for years.”
‘Black Day’ observed by NSCN (R) in Mon Dimapur, march 28 (mExN): The NSCN– Reformation observed ‘Black Day’ on March 28 at its Cease Fire Supervisory Board Office, Mon to mark what it termed as “betrayal act of SS. Khaplang, who abrogated 14 years old cease fire with Government of India (GoI).” According to a MIP press statement, SS. Khaplang betrayed his “two faithful sons Y. Wang-
tin Naga and P. Tikhak”, erstwhile supervisor and member CFSB respectively who assumed the office of President and Ato Kilonser of NSCN-Reformation. The two leaders was expelled not for any wrong done either to SS. Khaplang or to the Naga Nation but for giving attendance to the proposed cease fire meeting on March 27, 2015 at Chumukedima, it claimed. Following the unilateral
abrogation of cease fire by SS. Khaplang, the Indian Army turned hostile and locked up the cease fire office in Mon, burned down Ponghong designated camp and displaced workers of both civil authorities and Naga Armies who remained in the wilderness for more than a month, the statement read. It therefore vowed that March 28 will remain a ‘Black Day’ as long as NSCN-Reformation exists.
Unregistered bike recovered Dimapur, march 28 (mExN): GPRN/NSCN has informed that an unregistered Hayate Bike bearing Chassis number - MB8NF4JAMF8155299, Engine number - F4E6-283495 in Mira red/sparkle black colour has been found by the Naga Army, GPRN/NSCN. Therefore, concerned owner(s) has been informed to contact Col. Hevito Sumi, Camp Commander, General Headquarters, Naga Army at 9862696804.
Cleanliness drive at Dmp Namghar Dimapur, march 28 (mExN): Dimapur Namghar Manikut Committee organized a cleanliness drive in the Namghar premises here on Sunday. Devotees, both men and women, cleared the debris along the Namghar complex and also cleaned up the sanctum sanctorum of the Namghar. The social work concluded with namkirtan (prayer service) and a feast, informed a press release A dog is tied up and put in a sack for sale at a daily market in Dimapur on from the Committee. March 16, 2016. Photo by Caisii Mao
1) Firstly, a metaphor: A pregnant woman will deliver when the time comes. But the baby is not visible before birth. Until then, there’s a time of uncertainty and suspense; an atmosphere of speculations and guesses, anxieties and fears, hopes and anticipations. Whatever will be, will be. What transpires here? Respite or restive? It all depends on us. “If faith fails, the unseen fades, and the glare and glitter of the world takes over.” – Bernard C. Martin If we fail to apply our ‘inner man’, our ‘outer man’ takes over. Reflecting over Good Friday and Easter events this spring season, I observed that man’s macho or machismo doesn’t always work. If we recollect, it was the women group only (when all men abandoned Jesus) who steadfastly stood through the storms up to the Crucifixion. It was also first to a woman that our risen Lord appeared after the Resurrection. Will our Naga women group
Public SPace It’s always darkest before the dawn (Implementation of Framework Agreement or Peace Accord)
rise once again at this crucial moment for a smooth transition? Only the women know what actually birth pangs or labour pains are. 2) Secondly, we are the people for whom our National Workers have stood and continue to stand. We are the people for whom the Movement was first launched and for whom so much sacrifices were made. We are also the people who hunger and thirst so much for peace and harmony now. We are the people for whom Nationhood and Peoplehood matter. Read the times. Discern and study the writings on the walls. We hail the advent of democracy and peacebuilding in Burma/Myanmar. May our people there rise to the task! Can we, on this side of the border, also rise to a comparable occasion? We are fed up of incessant conflicts and divisions, producing more confusions and ill-wills and bitterness amongst ourselves.
It is now time we publicly identify with our Christian faith and love. We must never underestimate the capacity of human relationship (personal, social or political) to improve or recover even when the prospects seem most wretched. We must live and let live. Powers and chairs are temporary; peoplehood and nationhood are not. The Naga family must learn to keep on moving forward to be a vibrant and thriving society and nation. No one (individual, tribe, faction or party) alone can take the monopoly or be the sole arbiter of our fate. We all must contribute our best in our time and in our capacity. We have had several agreements and settlements in the past, and we may come across many more in future. We can no longer allow petty distortions of any past, ongoing or future political developments to weaken us or to keep us divided and in
acrimony. It has been cripplingly detrimental to our common Naga movement in the past and present and has cost us too much already. Let us no longer hesitate to take it upon our individual selves to be fair and transparent to one another, so that we may diminish or snuff out the mistrust and misgivings that have abruptly crept into our once normal societal lives and peaceful coexistence. We must all come together again and make the best use of all our difficulties as well as our potentials once more. Nevertheless, we have not quite arrived yet. We are BECOMERS with faith in the eventual institution of a positive settlement! The Peace process should not be confined or reduced to the negotiation table only. It must be taken to every home and soul. This is the Naga way of getting things done, following the footprints of our pioneers. For the ongoing Dia-
With an aim to promote Swachh Bharat Mission as well as awaken sense of cleanliness among the people of the area, a ‘Safai’ expedition was organized by 111 Bn BSF in co-ordination with Satakha Range Students’ Union (SRSU) in the early part of March in Satakha Town, Zunheboto. ADC Satakha, who also participated in the event, encouraged the citizens to give their best in the coming days to promote such activities in creating a clean and beautiful environment.
Gogoi blames Modi for closure of Cachar paper mill out accepting it” – Aristotle ii) “We should make it a rule never to try merely to prove that we are right” – Dallas Willard iii) “At the individual level, there is a simple choice, (a) Will we be tribes – people and responding according to our group allegiances? (b) Will we be idiots (in the old Greek sense), people who are just after their own individual interests? (c) Or thirdly, will we be citizens, people who can fight for their own interests but always with a respect of the common good, recognising the rights of their enemies and the smallest minorities they happen to oppose?” – Os Guinness iv) “Too many Christians today are tribes-people. Would that they were citizens in the best sense of the word” - Os Guinness
logue, too many cooks may spoil the broth. Let those who already possess the right experience and skills do it, but let the rest take the message of the Peace Accord to every village or area, in trust and in understanding. Life must go on (while the earth remains). The best way to be ready for any eventuality is PREPAREDNESS! Let’s prepare our hearts and minds for the post-settlement period, or at worst – a failed political settlement period. Whatever the outcome of the present negotiations may be, the commencement of a new period is at the threshold and it is drawing ever nearer day by day. More responsibilities and perhaps greater tasks, including those unforeseen so far, will definitely be ahead awaiting critical and decisive responses from a united and collective society! “It’s always darkest be3) Finally, fore the dawn” – John Wili) “It is the mark of an lard Peterson educated mind to be able Dr. Dietho-o ‘South Corner’ to entertain a thought withAG Road, Kohima
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.
GuWahati, march 28 (iaNS): A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi blamed the Congress for the closure of 32,000 industries in Assam, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday retorted that the Centre was to blame for the closure of the Cachar paper mill that has affected the livelihood of one lakh people. Gogoi slammed Modi's "escapist attitude" and said the prime minister had turned a blind eye to the cause of the paper mill, in which production has remained suspended due to shortage of coal. Modi at a public rally on Sunday near the now-defunct paper mill at Panchgram in Cachar blamed the 60 years of Congress rule at Delhi and Dispur for closure of 32,000 small, big and medium size industries in Assam. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi's escapist attitude has become apparently evident when he put the blame on the Congress for the closure of the Cachar mill, a unit of Hindustan Paper Corporation Limited, which is a central public sector undertaking... the central government is fully responsible for its premature and sudden closure," Gogoi said.
"The NDA government at the Centre has not done anything substantial for the revival of the Cachar paper mill, thereby putting at stake the future of one lakh people directly and indirectly involved in the mill," he said. The Cachar paper mill, which has a capacity of producing one lakh tonnes of paper annually, uses about 550-600 tonnes of coal from Meghalaya every day. The problem started after the National Green Tribunal ordered a ban on unscientific mining of coal in Meghalaya in May last year. On Modi's comment that the Congress government in Assam owes an explanation to the people because of the closure of the paper mill, Gogoi asked why the NDA government which was at the helm of affairs does not take steps for the mill's revival. "The Centre should have taken the matter in right earnest with the NGT or facilitate supply of coal to the mill from other sources instead of depending solely on Meghalaya. "Without taking any substantive step, the BJP indulged in mud-slinging and is playing with the sentiments of the people of Assam," Gogoi said.
6
TuesDAY 29•03•2016
IN FOCUS The Power of Truth
The Morung Express volume Xi issue 85
You can’t kill an Idea!
D
r. Martin Luther King Jr. was silenced by forces that were threatened by the ideals for which he lived and fought vigilantly. As he stood on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, preparing for a march supporting a garbage-worker strike, King was assassinated. He was only 39 years of age, but his life was a testament of the values for which his life was taken. His death demonstrated that it was possible to die for an idea that will endure for generations. Indeed, since his death, his ideals have continued to inspire many others to pursue nonviolent approaches to resolving conflicts. King, who was born on January 15, 1929, evolved an ever unfolding praxis which demonstrated that a struggle for justice can be waged without violence. King believed that the “unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.” Among the many awards which Dr. King received was the Nobel Peace prize in 1964 which was awarded to him for leading nonviolent resistance to racial prejudice in the U.S. When Dr. King received it, he was described as the “first to make the message of brotherly love a reality in the course of his struggle, and he has brought this message to all men, to all nations and races." In 1965, King was awarded the American Liberties Medallion by the American Jewish Committee for his "exceptional advancement of the principles of human liberty."In his acceptance remarks, King said, "Freedom is one thing. You have it all or you are not free." The historical and political context of his time makes King’s courage and commitment for nonviolence even more exemplary. The son of a pastor, King’s faith-based beliefs was a driving force throughout his life. After graduating from a segregated high school at the age of fifteen, he studied sociology at Morehouse College, where he found additional inspiration. It was as a college student that King had his first encounter with theories of nonviolent resistance when he read Henry David Thoreau’s Essay on Civil Disobedience. “Fascinated by the idea of refusing to cooperate with an evil system, I was so deeply moved that I reread the work several times,” wrote King in “My Pilgrimage to Nonviolence.” Jesse Jackson has described King as a unique dreamer who planted a universal vision in all of our minds; an orator who turned words and sounds into works of art and liberation anthems. King dreamed, but more critically he marched; he organized; he acted. King’s actions stemmed from a deep conviction that only nonviolence could transform the systems that perpetuated evil by institutionalizing violence and marginalizing people. He was persuaded against all odds that nonviolence was the only response which could triumph against violence. In Mahatma Gandhi’s nonviolent resistance philosophy, King said he found “the only morally and practically sound method open to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom.” King, who was criticized for breaking the law in the course of his struggle for equality, made a distinction between just and unjust laws. He defined the latter as laws that a majority imposes on a minority, but not on itself. “In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law,” King wrote from jail. “That would lead to anarchy. One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty.” Indeed, King has become a beacon of light across the world, a symbol that represents the struggle for justice with nonviolence. Given the context of the current Naga reality, what does Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. message tell the Naga people? Is he not challenging the Nagas to ask: Is it right to remain silent while all that is around us is constantly destroyed? Is it moral to accept conditions that deny us the right to live with dignity? Is he not encouraging and persuading the Nagas to dream the dream that he dreamt? Can Nagas be courageous and bold enough to think critically, embrace inclusive values and, more importantly to act upon our dreams not based on fear, but out of hope? I have a dream that one day…….
lEfT WING |
Alex Whiting Thomson Reuters Foundation
Four myths about rape in war
C
ongo's Jean-Pierre Bemba became the highest-ranking politician to be convicted by the international war crimes court on March 21, 2016, when it judged him responsible for a 2002-2003 campaign of rape and murder in Central African Republic. It is the International Criminal Court's first case to focus primarily on crimes of sexual violence committed in war, as well as the first in which the court has found a high official directly responsible for the crimes of his subordinates. Rape can be a weapon of choice for armed groups, and it has the power to destroy entire communities - as well as individual victims' lives - and instill fear across regions. There has been a growing international focus on sexual violence in conflict and what can be done to end this crime, but how much do we actually know about it? Here are four myths around the issue: Rape is used as a weapon of war in all conflicts. Sexual violence is not the weapon of choice for many armed groups and only occurs in some conflicts. The widespread use of rape by armed groups and the brutal forms it can take has been evident in Syria, Iraq, Rwanda, Bosnia and eastern Congo. However, many conflicts involve very low levels or no sexual violence, according to a study by researchers from Harvard and the Peace Research Institute Oslo. Only women are victims of sexual violence in war. Men are victims too. It is an invisible side of war because men are usually even more reluctant to say what has happened to them than women, and surveys rarely broach the issue. Only men carry out sexual violence. There has been even less research on this than on male victims of rape, but there have been reports of female soldiers or rebels inflicting sexual violence on both men and women, and it may be more common than previously thought. In a survey carried out in 2010 in eastern Congo, 41 percent of female victims of sexual violence, and 10 percent of male victims, said they had been attacked by women. In a war, armed men are the main perpetrators of rape. Not necessarily. A public gang rape by armed men is more likely to hit the headlines than a woman raped by her husband in her own home. Many studies of wartime sexual violence also focus on rape carried out by armed groups. However, some surveys carried out in Colombia and Congo have found that people were more likely to be raped by someone than knew - a partner, relative, teacher - than by a member of an armed group. Sources: United States Institute of Peace, Peace Research Institute Oslo, Harvard Kennedy School, Yale University
THE MORUNG EXPRESS
C O M M E N T A R Y
Ian Sinclair opendemocracy
Climate change, the elephant in the Gulf Soaring temperatures threaten to make Gulf States uninhabitable. Yet their leaders know that abandoning oil means relinquishing power
S
peaking to me after the December 2015 United Nations Paris Agreement on climate change, Professor Kevin Anderson, the Deputy Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, noted the world is still on course for 3-4°C warming on pre-industrial levels (“and probably the upper end of that”). In 2012 the World Bank summarised what this will look like in its suitably titled report Turn Down The Heat: Why A 4°C Warmer World Must Be Avoided. “The 4°C scenarios are devastating”, the foreword explained. “The inundation of coastal cities, increasing risks for food production potentially leading to higher malnutrition rates, many dry regions becoming dryer, wet regions wetter, unprecedented heat waves in many regions, especially in the tropics, substantially exacerbated water scarcity in many regions, increased frequency of high-intensity tropical cyclones, and irreversible loss of biodiversity, including coral reef systems.” Professor Anderson believes a 4°C world will likely be “incompatible with an organized global community”, while Naomi Klein, the author of the seminal book This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate, states that “climate change is an existential crisis for the human species”. All this is frightening enough but here is the real kicker: according to the scientific consensus 75 percent of known fossil fuel reserves must be kept in the ground if we are to have any chance of stopping dangerous levels of climate change. Which brings us to the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), who control around 30 percent of the world’s crude oil reserves and over 20 percent of the world’s gas reserves, and in particular Saudi Arabia, which holds around 16 percent of the planet’s oil reserves. According to numerous NGOs and newspaper reports, Saudi Arabia, along with the Arab Group of countries it unofficially leads, worked to sabotage a robust deal in Paris, attempting to water down temperature limits and remove mention of human rights from parts of the agreement. Naming Saudi Arabia “Fossil of the Day”, the Climate Action Network noted “ “the Saudi’s are trying to torpedo three years of hard science, commissioned by governments, that clearly shows 2 degrees warming is too much for vulnerable communities around the world.” Sven Harmeling, CARE International’s climate change advocacy coordinator, was equally critical: “Saudi Arabia is blocking these very substantive discussions going forward and [from] allowing ministers to understand what’s going forward.” The Guardian reported that Washington lobbyists representing Saudi Arabia and Kuwait worked to slow down and muddy the negotiation process, attempting to link climate aid for small island nations that could disappear completely under rising seas to compensation packages for oil producers facing declining revenues. A similar dynamic was in evidence at the UN climate talks in Bonn in September 2015. “There is no doubt that Saudi Arabia’s position is harmful”, noted Jens Mattias from Greenpeace. “We need strong long-term goals and an agreement to phase out fossil fuels – Saudi Arabia is fighting against this toothand-nail. And they have a lot of influence, especially on other oil-producing countries." From a narrow short-term perspective there are, of course, many self-interested reasons why Saudi Arabia and other GCC nations would want to block
A
s income inequality grows among Americans, so does the tension it fuels. As one of millions in this country struggling to make ends meet, I am weary of inequality and poverty— not only from my own personal hardship and the financial hurdles that exhaust me each day, but also because of the differences in treatment I experience compared to the more affluent. Case in point: Denver, my hometown—one of the fastest growing cities in the United States. In Denver, the poor and the well-off are practically on each other’s doorsteps. On the 16th Street Mall in Downtown Denver, young professionals walk past homeless individuals daily. Recent college graduates hit the bar scenes in posh Cherry Creek or the exploding RiNo District as minimum wage workers prepare customers’ food and clean their homes—just one of the two or three jobs they likely juggle. At the King Soopers in Stapleton, one customer pays for groceries with a Platinum MasterCard and the next with an EBT card. And in areas like Park Hill, while the majority-black side of the neighborhood struggles with poverty and gang violence, middle and upper class families—mostly non-minorities—live in architecturally ornate homes valued at over a half-million dollars. These inequalities are more than visual—they add to the huge burden that already weighs on those of us who face economic hardship. Research has demonstrated that inequalities in the housing market drive up rents, and
meaningful action on climate change. The vast majority of their revenues comes from oil and gas, and while ‘economic diversification’ is endlessly debated throughout the GCC, there is little prospect of weaning their economies off the black gold anytime soon. “Oil revenues allow the rulers of countries like Saudi Arabia to pay out generously on welfare and subsidies, which underscores their mandate to rule, particularly in the wake of the Arab Spring”, notes German newspaper Deutsche Welle. Dr Jim Krane, a researcher on energy and the GCC at Rice University's Baker Institute, makes plain just how high the stakes are for GCC rulers: "Telling Saudi Arabia it has to leave its oil in ground is tantamount to saying we support a revolution in your country”. So, to summarize, the GCC’s rulers need to keep extracting fossil fuels to ensure their own survival, just as the planet and humanity requires the GCC and other governments to stop extracting fossil fuels for their own survival. It is this irreconcilable clash of interests that led journalist Pari Trivedi to report from the Paris climate talks that Saudi Arabia “has been negotiating in a manner that refutes any consideration for the wellbeing of humankind”. The Gulf itself will be hit particularly hard by a rise in global temperatures, leading to significantly hotter and dryer conditions in the region, with increasing freshwater shortages contributing to security threats and enlarged refugee flows. Yemen’s water problems are well understood. Less well known is the link between climate change-related drought and the conflict in Syria. Reviewing a study in the journal Nature Climate Change, The Guardian explains the GCC “will suffer heatwaves beyond the limit of human survival if climate change is unchecked”. Kicking in after 2070, the research shows 45°C would become the normal summer maximum in Gulf cities, with 60°C seen in places like Kuwait during some years. As the author Robert Tressell wrote in his classic book The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, “Every man who is not helping to bring about a better state
of affairs for the future is helping to perpetuate the present misery and is therefore the enemy of his own children. There is no such thing as being neutral: we must either help or hinder.” We in the West should not duck our own culpability. Ever since the late 1980s when the world began to understand the dangers of climate change, the West has been intimately involved in this dangerous ecological poker game. First, it is the affluent, industrialised societies that require significant amounts of the world’s fossil fuels to maintain our unsustainable consumer-based lifestyles. And second, the West – through military intervention, arms deals, diplomatic support and trade – plays a crucial role in protecting and maintaining the Gulf monarchies in power. Deutsche Welle notes that many believe oil’s “greatest value” to Saudi Arabia “is as a strategic weapon”, allowing it to play an oversized role in the international arena. And this is where the politics of climate change should be of great interest to anyone concerned about the West’s support for the most fundamentalist government on earth. For example, a significant shift to renewables in the UK would dramatically reduce the nation’s reliance on oil coming from the Middle East and the Gulf, which would, in turn, dramatically reduce the power of Saudi Arabia to influence the UK’s foreign and domestic politics. Just imagine: no more flags flying at half-mast; no more Serious Fraud Office investigations prematurely closed down; no more dodgy arms sales; no more enabling of the on-going humanitarian crisis in Yemen. Climate change, the strength of the environmental movement in the West, the arms trade, the UK’s energy make-up, political change in Saudi Arabia, Western foreign policy – everything is connected. And it is no exaggeration to say the very future of humanity depends on how quickly the populations and leaders in the West and the GCC come to understand these links and the threat to their own and the planet’s well-being – and how quickly they act.
Living in Poverty Amid Affluence Andrea Fuller CommonDreams Denver is no exception. While I am grateful that my children and I have been able to live in a two-bedroom apartment for eight years, my rent went up by 11 percent this year and it has been a struggle to meet that increase every month. At this point, I cannot afford a three-bedroom rental (which would be helpful to accommodate my growing children), let alone secure the money to put down a deposit. Where there is stark hardship in close proximity to wealth, there will be unrest and desperation. And there are also psychological impacts that arise from these inequalities. A 2010 study highlighted this phenomenon when it revealed that countries with high levels of income inequality face high rates of mental illness. In no country was this more evident than in the United States, where income inequality is associated with heightened risk of depressive symptoms and anxiety disorders. This also applies to Denver—I’ve seen firsthand that where there is stark hardship in close proximity to wealth, there will be unrest and desperation. There are times when I struggle with
envy, wishing that I could simply afford a bigger place to live that was closer to the kids’ schools, my evening and weekend jobs, and our friends. My children and I are frugal and enjoy everything we can on a minimal budget—which means not going to full-price movies more than two to three times a year, rarely visiting museums or attending events that cost money, and avoiding vacations. In fact, last summer my kids and I took our first vacation in years—and it was 48 hours long. While we appreciate all that we are able to do and what we do have, it only exacerbates our hardship when we struggle to make rent month after month, and then look across the street to see a manicured lawn, two nice cars, and a double- or triple-sized garage attached to the five bedroom house that holds a family of four. To make matters worse, my daughter’s friends started excluding her from their plans, saying, “There wouldn’t be a problem if you just had an iPhone.” My child was distraught, telling me, “They don’t understand because their parents haven’t lost their jobs, they’re not on food stamps, and they live in nice homes and drive nice cars.”
WRITE-WING
The inequalities don’t stop there. We can’t afford to live close to school so my kids spend a significant chunk of their after-school time in the car and with me at work. When other kids are benefiting from enrichment activities outside of the classroom (and have nannies to facilitate the process), my kids go without because I am not always able to be there at drop-off or pick-up time due to my unusual work schedule, and I cannot always afford the fees. It’s these kind of incomebased differences in afterschool participation that fuel the widening achievement gap between rich and poor. And then there are health issues. I haven’t been to a dentist in years because it has been a major challenge to find one who still accepts Medicaid— it’s generally more cost-effective for doctors’ offices to accept private insurance, which more and more Denver residents are able to afford. Unfortunately, the same principle applies to mental health care. And when those in poverty or on the brink of it cannot afford care, mental health needs often go untreated. Meanwhile, those who can afford a therapist or psychologist get the help that they need and it positively impacts their health. The fact is that how much money you have relative to others matters: from the level of health care you can afford, to the quality of your kids’ education, to where you can live. And as the gap widens between those who have enough and those who are barely making it, it threatens to divide us as a country and as a society.
Letters to the Editor should be sent to: The morung express, House No. 4, Duncan Bosti, Dimapur - 797112, Or –email: morung@gmail.com All letters (including those via email) should have the full name and Postal address of the sender. Readers may please note that the contents of the articles, letters and opinions published do not reflect the outlook of this paper nor of the Editor in any form.
TuesDAY 29•03•2016
PERSPECTIVE
THE MORUNG EXPRESS
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The Rise of State Capitalism in Thailand “Arena of Mind” portrays a space for idea germination, a field where ideas from multi-disciplinary viewpoints fertilize the world of intelligence. The writers aspire to envision a new future by exploring the mind, discovering new seeds of insights and unleashing them to enlightenment.
The Role Of Carbohydrate And Protein In Our Daily Life
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How the Thaksin era ushered in the reign of state capitalism in Thailand Joshua Kurlantzick
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The Diplomat
hough former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose family originally came from the northern suburbs of Chiang Mai, has lived in exile for years, in the Chiang Mai area, until the spring of 2014, it was almost as if he never left. Cab drivers displayed his photo on their dashboard right next to Buddha images and pictures of ancient Thai royals. Community radio stations broadcast his speeches from exile, and vendors in nearby villages sold posters of the politician grinning and T-shirts bearing his image. Billboards featuring Thaksin and other local politicians from his party dominated the landscape on the sides of roads. “Thaksin was the first politician who listened to poor people,” said one store owner in the Chiang Mai suburbs. “He came here and he heard our problems and he didn’t just tell us what to do, like the Democrats [the other main political party in Thailand, which has less support among the poor] … No one from Bangkok was like that before.” But it was not only Thaksin’s willingness to appear to be listening to poorer, rural Thais that won him office in 2001 and that made his organization the most powerful political party in the country — until a 2014 military coup essentially banned Thai political parties in another attempt to defang Thaksin’s political machine. Thaksin’s state capitalist policies were enormously popular with the majority of poor and working class Thais. Even in Thaksin’s 2000-1 campaign, he was the first Thai politician to really promise a platform of policies to voters, including many types of state intervention in the economy such as new state credits for microenterprises, a new statefunded universal health care scheme, and many others. The platform was credited by many Thai voters and political scientists as the most important reason for his smashing 2001 win. Thaksin’s State Capitalism After the 1997 Asian financial crisis, which began in Thailand that summer with the devaluation of the Thai baht and quickly spread across developing Asia, the Democrat Party, ruling Thailand at that time, followed orthodox, neoliberal economic prescriptions to right the economy. The Democrats relied on the help of an International Monetary Fund rescue package and advice from a range of Western consultancies and lenders. The Democrat government tried to force failing Thai banks and companies into bankruptcy, clean up non-performing loans, cut excessive state spending, and reduce state involvement in banks and major companies. It seized the assets of 56 indebted finance companies. It launched a fast-track plan to privatize some 60 state companies and allow foreign investors to take stakes in them, although the unpopularity of the plan led the Democrats to backtrack somewhat. Many of the Democrats’ reforms made sense in a country where poorly-regulated finance companies had run wild, taking huge credit risks with minimal capital reserves, creating an enormous real estate bubble in Bangkok, and bidding up a frothy Thai stock market. And prodded by these reforms, external aid, and the broader recovery in Asia, the Thai economy began to slowly recover in the late 1990s. But unemployment remained stubbornly high. The Democrats’ reform and privatization strategies resulted in the downsizing of many banks and other bloated companies that, though inefficient and sometimes outright criminal, nonetheless had employed large numbers of Thais directly or had indirectly created jobs for construction laborers, food vendors, maids, and other working class Thais. The Democrat Party was portrayed in the 2000-1 election campaign by Thaksin and his allies as uncaring elites, pursuing policies dictated by the West and harmful to ordinary Thais. It was a brutal, and successful, portrayal. Almost immediately after he became prime minister in 2001, Thaksin followed through on his plat-
form promises of far-reaching intervention in the economy. His government launched a series of interventionist economic policies that became known colloquially as “Thaksinonomics.” He overrode the formerly independent Bank of Thailand, the equivalent of the U.S. Federal Reserve, until it went along with his plans to plow large amounts of state money into the economy and to buy up some formerly private companies. Bank governors who did not go along with Thaksin’s ideas were forced out of their jobs, even though the Bank of Thailand, like the Federal Reserve, was supposed to be immune from pressure from elected politicians. Thaksin simultaneously increased state decision-making over what he considered Thailand’s strategic industries, assuming control over many important industries like rubber, aviation, and rice, among others. Under Thaksin, the Thai government created new mechanisms for state loans to microenterprises and cut interest rates to their lowest in the country’s modern history. The low rates and state loans to microenterprises, primarily in poorer parts of Thailand’s north and northeast, unleashed a flood of cheap credit that stimulated consumer demand for new cars, houses, mobile phones, trucks, and other purchases. This use of expansive money supply in itself was hardly unusual; in a way, it could seem like a typical Keynesian response to an economic crisis, little different from the stimulus plan enacted by the Obama administration in its first term or from other Keynesian stimulus plans utilized in Western countries in the wake of the global economic slowdown of 2008-9. Yet Thaksin took the Thai economy in directions far beyond typical Keynesian strategies. In addition to cheap credit, he used the power of his office to push—indeed, force—many Thai banks to offer extremely cheap loans not only to village microenterprises but also to firms in bigger industries he considered strategic. These “strategic” industries included many companies that Thaksin’s government would then take de facto control of by dominating board appointments. He pushed the national electricity provider to lower electricity rates for strategic industries—aviation, oil and gas production, cement making—while taking de facto control of many of these companies as well. Besides taking de facto control of many leading companies, under Thaksin the state took direct control of several of Thailand’s largest and most prominent companies. Openly admiring authoritarian, statist former prime ministers Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore and Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia, Thaksin also launched a range of what he called new “megaprojects” designed to improve Thailand’s physical infrastructure. Thailand needed better physical infrastructure, but the projects were primarily planned to plow money into leading Thai construction and transportation firms, helping them to consolidate under state direction. Thaksin also pressured Thai producers in certain sectors, like rubber production, to form cartels designed to raise the price of exports on the global market and, simultaneously, increase the power of Southeast Asian governments over commodities markets. Although a 2006 coup removed Thaksin from office and, through post-coup changes in the Thai constitution, attempted to reduce the power of Thaksin’s party, the coup failed to stem Thaksin’s appeal to the rural poor. Thaksin remained influential in exile, and his party quickly morphed into successors with different names but similar policies. A transitional coup-appointed government held elections in 2007, expecting to have diluted the popularity of Thaksin’s statist strategies and helped the Democrats gain office. But Thaksin’s party, with a puppet leader standing in for the exiled Thaksin, dominated the vote again, in part with promises to continue state intervention in the economy. Eventually, Thaksin maneuvered to have his sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, installed as party leader, and she won an overwhelming mandate in the 2011 national elections. Yingluck continued Thaksin’s statist policies of amassing control of companies, offering cheap credit, and expanding social welfare programs. Overall, under Yingluck, Thailand’s public debt continued to balloon, while the idea that the government should take a more active role in directing bank lending, managing companies in key industries, and controlling many other aspects of the economy, became more and more entrenched among top policy-makers.
Despite spiraling public debt, many Thai and foreign economists credit Thaksinomics with helping restore Thailand’s economic growth by stimulating consumer demand, focusing on key strategic industries, and effectively using the power of the state to rebuild these industries after the Asian financial crisis. But the verdict on Thaksin’s economic and social policies is hardly unanimous: Many economists and Thai policy analysts argue that, while achieving some goals, Thaksinonomics has left Thailand with a crushing debt burden to be borne by future generations. Some economists further argue that Thaksinomics failed to encourage the kind of innovation that often comes from truly private companies, who are forced to compete with – and usually lose to – Thai national champions in many industries. The Rise of Elected Autocrats Thaksin was emblematic of a new type of leader who has emerged in the developing world over the past decade—an elected autocrat. The rise of elected autocrats is one of several reasons why modern state capitalism has emerged and grown over the past two decades. State capitalism, in many of these regressing countries, has been both a cause and an effect of this political backsliding. In some of the cases of political regression, like Egypt or Russia, the countries already had histories of state control of many companies, though the degree of that control varied. Many of these nations went through political and economic reforms at the same time in the post-Cold War period, and, like Thailand, no longer would have qualified as state capitalists by the early 2000s. But an initial generation of elected leaders, like Thaksin, had little commitment to democracy, rolling back democratic institutions and damaging democratic culture. Nearly all of this first generation of elected leaders also deepened state control of the economy as they were chewing up democratic institutions. Sometimes, when the first generations of elected leaders in developing nations failed to embrace democratic institutions, people in these nations embraced undemocratic political answers to the challenge of elected autocrats. In particular, elites and middle classes, who had lost political power at the hands of populist elected autocrats, have turned against democracy. At times, as in Ukraine, Thailand, or Egypt, these elites and urban middle classes have held large, violent protests against elected—if indeed highly flawed—leaders. In some cases, as in Thailand, middle classes and elites have openly called for the armed forces to intervene and end elected democracy and have held demonstrations designed to create pretexts for army interventions. In 2006, the Thai armed forces responded to protest paralyzing Bangkok and calling for military intervention with a coup, and in 2009 army leaders—and, allegedly, the royal palace—helped broker defections in parliament to topple an elected government. In 2014, Thailand’s military, again responding to political unrest precipitated by middle classes protesting in Bangkok, ousted the elected government in a coup, and promised to return the country to a more managed and less democratic type of rule. After the May 2014 coup, the army leader-turned-prime minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, left open the possibility that Thailand would not hold elections again for some time. The junta suggested that, even when Thailand did return to electoral democracy, it would not resemble electoral democracy as defined by any standard definition. Yet even when middle classes and elites in these countries helped engineer the overthrow of elected autocrats like Thaksin, the authoritarian successor governments rarely jettisoned state control of large segments of the economy. In Thailand, junta head Prayut Chan-o-cha in 2014 continued most of Thaksin and Yingluck’s state capitalist policies, in part because he needed to prevent the poor and lower middle classes, who had been the biggest backers of the deposed prime minister Yingluck, from rising up against army rule. In fact, Prayuth proposed several policies, such as new legislation that would erect higher barriers to foreign investment in the kingdom, that were even more interventionist than those of the Yingluck government. Joshua Kurlantzick is a Senior Fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations. This piece is excerpted from his upcoming book, State Capitalism: How the Return of Statism is Transforming the World (Oxford University Press).
Juliana Sanchu Asst. Prof. (St. Joseph’s College, Jakhama)
arbohydrate and protein constitute the majority of nutrition in indian diet, scientifically carbohydrate are mono, di and poly saccharides they provide "ready" energy for the body, once consumed it assimilates in a very short time and is released in blood stream as glucose, each gram of carb 4.1 calories ( calorie is defined as amount of energy required to rise the temperature of 1 litre of water by 1 degree centigrade ), whereas protein on the hand is the building block and is mainly made up of amino acids ( essential and non-essential ), protein also produces energy when they break down, 1g of protein produces 4 calories of energy. We need carbohydrates because carbohydrates are the macronutrient that we need in the largest amount. According to the Dietary Reference Intakes published by the USDA, 45%65% of calories should come from carbohydrates. We need this amount of carbohydrate because: Carbohydrates are body main source of fuel. Carbohydrates are easily used by the body for energy. All of the tissues and cells in our body can use glucose for energy. Carbohydrates are needed for the central nervous system, the kidneys, the brain, and the muscles to function properly. Carbohydrates can be stored in the muscles and liver and later used for energy. Carbohydrates are important in intestinal health and waste elimination. Proteins are large macromolecules which consist of hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen. Proteins are polymeric chains that are built from monomers known as amino acids. Proteins have a major function in a living organism, for example, the replication of DNA catalyzing metabolic reactions; stimulus response and also transporting molecules from one place to another. There are 20 different types of amino acids which synthesize protein, however the function and different properties of each type of protein is due to the precise sequence and structure of the amino acids present. We need protein because according to the Dietary Reference Intakes published by the USDA 10%-35% of calories should come from protein. Most Americans get plenty of protein, and easily meet this need by consuming a balanced diet. We need protein for: growth especially important for children, teens, and pregnant women, tissue repair, immune function, making essential hormones and enzymes, energy when carbohydrate is not available, preserving lean muscle mass. The food which has carbs, protein and fat along with vitamins and minerals is a balanced diet, milk is a well-known balanced diet . The requirement of carbs and protein vary from person to person, it depends on o Type of work o Life style of a person o Built of a person o Body type o Miscellaneous factors 1)It goes with out saying heavy manual labours require more carbs than a normal man ( 2300-2500) calories per day and protein intake for heavy manual labors will be 1g/ kg body weight 2)Lifestyle plays a major role, a fit athletic person who is a “ gym rat “ requires more carbs and protein not just to sustain the work but to maintain his muscles ( 1 pound of muscle burns 50 calories AT REST ) his carb requirement will be ( 2300-2800 cals depending upon how much muscles and how long he is been in athletics ), his protein requirement is 1.5 g per pound of body weight 3) Built of a person, requirements are directly proportional to the body size, for a man more than 6 ft height based on his daily activity his carb requirement will be 1900-2200, compared to a short man of 5’6’’ who needs 1700-2000 calories based on physical activity 4)There are three body types ectomorph, mesomorph and endomorph. Ectomorphs are naturally skinny guys, no matter how much they eat they always stay skinny, their food is metabolised very fast and they need high carb food. Endomorphs are the other end of spectrum, they gain weight very easily even with a low carb diet, their carb requirement is low relatively 5) When a person has disease like graves disease ( hyperthyroidism ) his thyroxine levels are going to be very high thus increasing the metabolic rate this makes the person very thin, he obviously need more carbs in diet, protein requirement remains unchanged, there are other disease like diabetes, high carb diet is contraindicated, similarly in pregnancy high protein diet is advised and in chronic renal failure high protein diet is contraindicated When carbohydrate level falls in diet, a series of response occurs, for a normal person when carb level in food reduces constantly, he go into a state of KETOSIS, insulin level reduces, glucagon levels increase, glycolysis occurs to maintain blood glucose level, fat resources are burnt down leaving ketone bodies that are excreted in urine characterised by "fruity smell" in urine. When protein level falls in body, "wasting of muscles " occur, there is generalised body weakness, loss of strength, size of muscle reduces, tremors occur when lifting heavy weights, due to osmotic variation in blood water retention occur in peripheries causing edema, in children protein deficiency lead to marasmus ( when all nutrients are deficient) and kwashiokar ( when only protein is deficient ) usually seen in children below 5 years of age from lower socio economic status. When too much carbohydrate is consumed, glucagon level reduces and insulin level elevates, “gluconeogenesis” occur and carbs are converted into fat and stored ( sex also determines the storage of fat ), when too much protein is consumed, protein breaks to energy and when energy in the form of ATP is not used its ALSO STORED AS FAT. Carbohydrates are mainly found in starchy foods like grain and potatoes, fruits, milk, and yogurt. Other foods like vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds, and cottage cheese contain carbohydrates, but in lesser amounts. Fiber refers to certain types of carbohydrates that our body cannot digest. These carbohydrates pass through the intestinal tract intact and help to move waste out of the body. Diets that are low in fiber have been shown to cause problems such as constipation and hemorrhoids and to increase the risk for certain types of cancers such as colon cancer. Diets high in fibers; however, have been shown to decrease risks for hearts disease, obesity, and they help lower cholesterol. Foods high in fiber include fruits, vegetables, and whole grain products. Protein is found in meats, eggs, poultry, fish, and meat substitutes, cheese, milk, nuts, legumes, and in smaller quantities in starchy foods and vegetables. When we eat these types of foods, our body breaks down the protein that they contain into amino acids. Some amino acids are essential which means that we need to get them from our diet, and others are nonessential which means that our body can make them. Protein that comes from animal sources contains all of the essential amino acids that we need. Plant sources of protein, on the other hand, do not contain all of the essential amino acids. “Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.” -Jim Rohn
Readers may please note that, the contents of the articles published on this page do not reflect the outlook of this paper nor of the Editor in any form.
8
TuesdAY 29•03•2016
INDIA
THE MORUNG EXPRESS
Restricted Pathankot airbase access to Pakistani investigators: Government new Delhi/Panaji, March 28 (ianS): An outraged opposition on Monday questioned the government's move to allow Pakistanis, including an ISI officer, into India to probe the Pathankot terror attack even as Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said the visiting investigators would only go to an isolated "crime" spot and not the entire sensitive airbase. As the Congress and AAP launched a tirade against the government, Parrikar said the defence ministry had "refused permission" to the visiting Pakistani probe panel to access the entire Indian Air Force (IAF) base, where six Pakistani militants in a gun and bomb attack on January 2 killed seven Indian security personnel. He said that the shootout area was "completely barricaded" and "visually blocked" to prevent any view of sensitive areas. "The area is isolated, taken out of the airbase," Parrikar told reporters in Panaji on the sidelines of the DefExpo 2016. The site however is part of the sprawling 2,000-acre complex that houses high-
Members of the Pakistan's Joint Investigation Team in a meeting with the NIA officials in New Delhi, on Monday. (PTI Photo)
value Indian defence assets, including fighter jets. The minister insisted the shootout site has no contact with the base and has a separate entry also. "The crime scene has been handed over to the NIA. Who they want to bring there is their call. If we don't give (NIA) the freedom for investigation, the burden of failure will
come to the defence ministry." The Pakistani team arrived in India on Sunday to conduct its own probe into the Pathankot attack. Senior ISI official Lt. Colonel Tanvir Ahmed and Military Intelligence officer Lt. Colonel Irfan Mirza are part of the team, sources said. The team will on Tuesday fly to Pathankot in
a special BSF plane that will land away from the Pathankot airbase, official sources said. From there, they will be taken to the barricaded shootout spot where alleged Jaish-e-Mohammed militants were holed up during the gunfight that went on for some 80 hours. India says that six terrorists from Pakistan-based
UttaRakhand: Congress moves court,Jaitley defends central rule DehraDun/new Delhi, March 28 (ianS): The political crisis in Uttarakhand showed no signs of ending with the Congress party moving the state high court on Monday against imposition of President's Rule as BJP leader and union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley justified central rule, saying the Congress government was "murdering democracy". Meanwhile, a delegation led by ousted chief minister Harish Rawat met Governor K.K. Paul to protest against imposition of central rule in the hill state. Justice U.C. Dhyani of the Uttarakhand High Court has begun hearing a petition filed by the Congress against imposition of President's Rule. The petition has been moved by senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi. "We have come to show our strength and protest against the decision taken against our government," Congress' Bajpur legislator Yashpal Arya said after party MLAs led by Rawat met the governor. He said the Rawat government should have been given time to prove its majority. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators from Uttarakhand thanked President Pranab Mukherjee for imposing central rule. President's Rule was clamped on the state on Sunday, a day before Rawat was to seek a floor test in the assembly to prove he had the numbers. The Uttarakhand assembly has been kept in suspended animation with the proclamation of
President's Rule under Article 356 of the Constitution. The Congress party has termed the move a "murder of democracy". Meanwhile, over two dozen BJP legislators arrived in Dehradun to a grand welcome at the Jolly Grant airport on Monday. Hundreds of BJP activists gathered at the airport exit to welcome the legislators, showering flowers and raising slogans. The BJP MLAs had been camping in Jaipur, Gurgaon and New Delhi for the last one week, to avoid contact with the beleaguered Rawat camp and chances of horse trading since the political crisis erupted in the hill state. State BJP president Teerath Singh Rawat said after his arrival that the state unit was thankful to President Mukherjee for signing the proclamation of central rule. "We are very thankful to Rashtrapatiji that he acted as the true custodian of the constitution," he said. Other BJP legislators targeted Rawat for drawing Prime Minister Narendra Modi into the issue and said he was doing so only to deflect attention from his failures, poor governance and corruption. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley justified imposition of President's rule, saying Rawat should have quit as chief minister after failure of the Appropriation Bill. In a Facebook post titled 'A State without a Budget', Jaitley wrote: "This leaves the State without any approved financial expenditure with effect from 1 April,
new Delhi, March 28 (PTi): The Supreme Court today gave time to the government to suggest ways to ban child pornography in all its forms and took on record the Centre's earlier direction to internet service providers to block porn sites. "In pursuance to our earlier order, some suggestions have been filed. The Centre has sought two weeks time to file its suggestions. Put up the matter for further hearing in the week commencing from April 18," a bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said. Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand, appearing for the Centre, said due to holidays, the meeting of concerned departments could not be held and sought two weeks to file suggestions on the issue of banning child pornography. The bench, also comprising Justice Shiva Kirti Singh, took on record the suggestions given by the advocate Vijay Panjwani appearing on behalf of petitioner Kamlesh Vaswani to block the pornographic sites, especially those containing child pornographic contents. Panjwani also placed on record, the government's last year's order in which Internet Service Providers were directed to
block websites containing pornographic content, submitting that similar steps are required to be taken to ban such websites containing child pornographic materials. The apex court had on February 26, asked the government to suggest ways to ban child pornography saying the nation cannot "afford to carry on any experiment" in the name of "liberty or freedom of speech and expression". It had said that innocent children cannot be made prey to this kind of painful situation and a nation cannot afford to carry on any experiment on children in the name of liberty or for that matter freedom of speech and expression. It had asked the government to seek advice from experts and suggestions from the National Commission for Women (NCW) on banning of websites dealing with adult and child pornography. A women lawyers' body had earlier moved the apex court seeking blocking of all porn websites, saying that pornography "corrupts" the mind of the young generation and leads them to commit crime against women and children. The intervention application filed by the SCWLA, had come after the Centre's decision to lift ban on 857 porn sites.
the Aam Aadmi Party leader told reporters in Delhi. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has surrendered to Pakistan." The Pakistani probe team was on Monday briefed by National Investigation Agency (NIA) on the findings of its probe into the attack that was allegedly masterminded by JeM chief Masood Azhar. NIA sources told IANS that the Pakistani investigators were given a detailed presentation on the evidence that "proves" that the attack was planned in Pakistan and had a link to Azhar's JeM. The Pakistani team will also be allowed to speak to witnesses but not to the personnel from the National Security Guard (NSG) or the BSF. Minister Parrikar confirmed this and said the Pakistani team will interact with no defence person or use any defence vehicle during its Pathankot visit. This is the first time that India has allowed Pakistani investigators to probe a terror attack in India blamed on that country. Also, Lt. Colonel Ahmed has become the first ISI officer to be officially allowed to visit India.
hyDerabaD, March 28 (ianS): A court here on Monday granted bail to 25 students and two faculty members of University of Hyderabad, arrested last week for ransacking the office of Vice Chancellor P. Appa Rao and attacking police while protesting his return after two-month leave. The 25th Metropolitan Magistrate's court at Miyapur pronounced the orders on the bail pleas as the Telangana government choose not to oppose the petitions. The court asked the accused to arrange surety of Rs.5,000 each and appear before Gachibowli police station every week till the final disposal of the case. Earlier, the public prosecutor did not file a counter to the bail plea, paving the way for grant of the leave. The students and faculty members, currently lodged in Cherlapally Jail, may be released late Monday evening or Tuesday. A section of varsity students want the sacking and arrest of Appa Rao, holding him responsible for the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula.
Haryana cabinet clears bill for Jat reservation chanDigarh, March 28 (ianS): The Haryana cabinet on Monday cleared the bill that proposes to provide reservation to five communities, including the politically-dominant Jat community. The bill is likely to be brought in the state assembly later on Monday. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had said earlier that the state government would introduce a new bill in the assembly's budget session for reservation to five communities, namely Jat, Jat Sikh, Tyagi, Bishnoi and Ror. Khattar had made it clear that the existing 27 percent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the state would not be disturbed. The OBC community is opposing inclusion of Jats in their category for reservation. A 5-member committee under the chairmanship of the chief secretary was formed earlier this month to prepare draft of the Bill to grant reservation under the ambit of constitution. The Jat community has extended its deadline for the reservation demand till March 31. The BJP government in the state had promised reservation for the Jat community and others after the recent Jat agitation.
Nobody needs to be forced to chant 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai': Bhagwat
2016. What better evidence do we need of a breakdown of Constitution? The Congress government of Uttarakhand was murdering democracy every day from the 18 March till 27 March. "Having plunged the state into a serious constitutional crisis by continuing a government which should have quit after the failure of the Appropriation Bill, and further complicating the crisis, the chief minister started allurement, horse-trading and disqualification with a view to altering the composition of the house," Jaitley said. He also criticised Uttarakhand assembly Speaker Govind Kunjwal for suspending rebel Congress legislators. Terming this move of the speaker as unprecedented, Jaitley said, "This leaves the state without any approved financial expenditure with effect from April 1. What better evidence do we need of a breakdown of the Constitution?" "It is now incumbent upon the central government to ensure that steps are taken under Article 357 to authorise expenditure of the state with effect from April 1," he said. Jaitley said there are strong facts to suggest that the Appropriation Bill was actually defeated and as a consequence, the government had to resign. The crisis in the hill state erupted on March 18 when nine Congress MLAs rebelled against Rawat's government, resulting in flip-flop in the passage of the Appropriation Bill. The BJP met the governor that day and staked claim to form the government.
Supreme Court gives govt time to suggest ways to ban child porn
JeM attacked the base on January 2. All the terrorists were gunned down in the gun battle that also left a civilian dead. The Congress and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi lambasted the government and questioned how an ISI officer was allowed to visit India and permitted inside the airbase. "It appears to be a case of an accused investigating himself. The BJP government has distinguished and, therefore, recognized that Pakistani establishment does not have a role in perpetuating terror in India, more so in context to Pathankot terror attack," Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said. "Why is an officer of the infamous ISI of Pakistan a part of the JIT?" Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal went a step further and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of surrendering to Pakistan by allowing the Pakistani investigators to probe the attack. "Till now, Pakistan was held responsible for spreading terror. ISI itself sent terrorists to India and the same agency has now been allowed to investigate (the) terror attack,"
Hyderabad varsity students get bail
lucknow, March 28 (PTi): Amid a raging row over chanting 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat today said nobody needs to be forced to raise it and that efforts should be made to build a "great" India that is hailed across the globe voluntarily. "We have to create such a great India where people themselves chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'...it need not be imposed," Bhagwat said. Bhagwat's remark at a Bhartiya Kishan Sangh event came days after BJP patriarch L K Advani termed the controversy over the slogan "meaningless". The RSS chief said, "We (India) have to show the way to the people of the world with our life and deeds. We do not want to win or defeat anyone. We don't want to impose our ideology and thoughts on anyone. We wish to show them the path because we accept them as our own. "We have to show the path to the world through our deeds and create
such an India that there is 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' across the world...We don't want to force anyone...it is not to be imposed," he said. Bhagwat was speaking after inaugurating the renovated building of the BKS. He said the Sangh was striving to raise more and more people who were committed to the cause of creating a great
India. Whether it is farmers or people engaged in other occupations for livelihood, everyone contributes something to society, he said. "Earning maximum wealth with minimum effort can be considered to be a special ability, but it should not be a motto. Our motto should be that we will work more than we take from the society. We should give more to the society," Bhagwat said. Terming 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' (the world is one family) as the philosphy and core of Indian culture, he said, "We have to present an example before the entire world." The RSS boss had stirred a controversy recently with his remark that the younger generation needed to be taught to hail "Mother India". In apparent retaliation, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi had said he would not chant 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' as he was not obliged to do it under the Constitution and that he would not do so even if a "knife is put to my throat".
Government notifies Aadhaar Act new Delhi, March 28 (PTi): The Centre has notified the new Aadhaar Act which gives the numbers assigned by it a statutory backing for transfer of subsidies and benefits to people eligible for them. The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, benefits and services) Act, 2016 will provide for "efficient, transparent, and targeted delivery of subsidies, benefits and services, the expenditure for which is incurred from the Consolidated Fund of In-
dia, to individuals residing in India through assigning of unique identity numbers to such individuals", said the notification dated March 26. It will be used for all benefit that will linked to consolidated fund of India. The Aadhaar Bill for this act was approved by Parliament on March 16. It was tabled in Parliament as money bill. However, those individuals to whom Aadhaar number has not been assigned, the Act said that they "shall be offered alternate and viable means of identification
for delivery of the subsidy, benefit or service". The Aadhaar number will not be a proof of citizenship or domicile. "The Authority (UIDAI) shall take special measures to issue Aadhaar number to women, children, senior citizens, persons with disability, unskilled and unorganised workers, nomadic tribes or to such other persons who do not have any permanent dwelling house and such other categories of individuals as may be specified by regulations," said the Act.
It has provision that both centre and state government can use Aadhaar for disbursal for benefits and subsidies. The Act provides for statutory backing to the UIDAI by providing for establishment of the Unique Identification Authority of India consisting of a Chairperson (part time or full time) and two Members (part time). The bill has penalty provision which includes imprisonment in the range of one to three years or penalty in the ranges of Rs 10,000 to Rs 1 lakh for violation of the rules.
Your allies in the war against cancer Amar Chandel
D
IANS
espite major advancements in methods of treatment, cancer continues to be the most dreaded disease in the world, with its very name evoking the image of impending disaster. Ironically, even the chemo and radiation which are the established cures come with a plethora of sideeffects. Not only does the patient lose hair, but also strength, vitality and immunity. One needs every ounce of energy one can marshal to survive this scourge. Cancer patients have to make sure that they eat what empowers them and totally avoid what weakens them. So every morsel that goes past their lips must be a friend instead of a foe. Some of the best food items for them are: Grapes: Both grapes and grape juice are rich sources of resveratrol, a type of natural phytochemical. In laboratory studies, resveratrol prevents the kind of damage known to trigger the cancer process in cell, tissue and ani-
mal models. Resveratrol also slows the growth of cancer cells and inhibits the formation of tumors in lymph, liver, stomach and breast cells. It triggers the death of leukemic and colon cancer tumours and blocks the development of skin, breast and leukemia cancers. Black grapes are particularly good. Make sure that the grapes are pesticide-free. Sorry but wine doesn't qualify. apples: Apple peels have potent antioxidant and antiproliferative effects on human cancer cells in a petri dish. They work best against estrogen receptor negative breast cancer, which is much harder to treat than estrogen receptor positive breast cancer. GinGer: It forces cancer cells to commit suicide in a process called apoptosis. The beauty is that it leaves the healthy cells around them unharmed. Trials on ovarian cells in lab animals have been very encouraging. Garlic: Its pungent cloves too have a similar impact, particularly in gastrointestinal cancers. Turmeric (haldi): Curcumin in the spice interferes with
the cell-signalling pathways, making it impossible for cancer cells to grow and spread. leafy Greens and cruciferous veGeTables: When chewed, these release antioxidant sulforaphane that not only prevents but also fights colon and prostate cancers. However, guard against overcooking. Berries: DNA mutation and cancer are caused by oxidation. Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries fight it valiantly. Green and black Tea: These have antioxidant kaempferol which has proved promising especially in the battle against breast cancer. Brew your own teas. Bottled ones (iced tea) are not that good. TomaToes: These are teeming with lycopene antioxidant which is most effective on prostate cancer. The patients should procure all the needed vitamins and minerals through whole foods instead of supplements. B-complex vitamins can be had from whole grains, spinach, peanuts, dried beans or peas and fresh oranges. Spend at least 30 minutes thrice a week or more in
gentle sun and consume sufficient quantity of mushrooms, fortified almond milk, cheese, cereals, spinach, potatoes, orange juice and soy yoghurt for Vitamin D. If non-vegetarian, go for eggs and fish. Now the foods that have to be shunned. The first item is man-made sugar. Eating sugar leads to the production of insulin, a hormone that the body utilises to regulate sugar levels, metabolism and cell growth. Unfortunately, cancer cells also grow, multiply and spread using insulin as fuel. The more insulin you have in the body, the more cancer will thrive, says CEO of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Craig Thompson. This finding is confirmed by a University Rey Juan scientist Custodia Garcia-Jimenez who wrote in a recent article: "We are surprised to realise that changes in our metabolism caused by dietary sugar impact our cancer risk. Changing diet is one of the easiest prevention strategies that can potentially save a lot of suffering and money." Also cut down red meats and saturated fats drastically, if not completely.
TuesdaY 29•03 •2016
WORLD
THE MORUNG EXPRESS
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The race against time that Belgium lost BRUSSELS, MaRch 28 (REUtERS): When Brussels police caught Salah Abdeslam, suspected sole survivor of November’s suicide assault on Paris, they knew they were in a race against time to stop a new Islamic State attack. It was the afternoon of Friday, March 18, and one of Prime Minister Charles Michel’s cabinet ministers tweeted “We got him!” after Europe’s most wanted man was seized at a house in the capital’s Molenbeek neighbourhood. But Michel was worried, according to a government official who was present at the time. The premier raced to his crisis command centre from a European summit nearby. Security forces had orders to increase vigilance but lacked intelligence to justify a citywide lockdown such as Michel imposed after the Paris attacks. “Our first thought was that ... this will set off a ferocious response,” the aide told Reuters, speaking on condition that he not be named. Those fears were well founded. The suicide bombings of Brussels airport and a metro train that killed 28 bystanders laid bare the inability of the Belgian authorities to counter Islamic State militants, no matter how high the level of alert. Missed connections, leads not followed and suspects let slip have exposed deficiencies in security services. They have also shown how Europe’s
urgent problem. He locked down transport and public spaces for days as he was near “100 percent certain” of a threat. At the centre of those fears was Salah Abdeslam, whose brother had blown himself up at a Paris cafe. Abdeslam had slipped back across the Belgian border ahead of a French dragnet. The morning after Paris, he went to ground in Brussels.
Girls light candles as people pay tribute to the victims of Tuesday’s bomb attacks, at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels, Belgium on March 26. (REUTERS Photo)
Syrian-trained Islamist cells can react with deadly speed to events such as Abdeslam’s arrest. “It was a race against time,” said Vincent Gilles, head of Belgium’s main police trade union SLFP. But with the intelligence service understaffed - by some estimates by about half the level for other rich European states - it was a race the authorities could not win. YEAR ON ALERT Belgium is, for its size, the biggest European supplier of foreign fighters in Syria. Islamic State has ap-
pealed to an alienated generation descended from mostly Moroccan immigrants of the 1960s. Belgian authorities stepped up their searches for activists after January 2015. That month, days after the bloodshed at Paris magazine Charlie Hebdo, Belgian police foiled a plot in the town of Verviers that revealed an Islamic State campaign to send some of the 300 or more young Belgians who have fought in Syria back to Europe to strike on their native soil. In Verviers, police killed two men who returned from Syria with Abdelha-
mid Abaaoud. Killed in a shootout in Paris days after the attacks there, he emerged as “the spider in the web”, in the words of a Belgian minister, of an extensive network. Yet though Belgian authorities questioned numerous contacts of Abaaoud, notably from his old Molenbeek neighbourhood, the trail went cold. Among those interrogated and released were Salah Abdeslam and his brother Brahim. In the first half of 2015, Belgian courts convicted dozens of radical preachers and their followers for
recruiting for Syria. But new cells were forming elsewhere. Last summer, the Abdeslams, petty drug dealers who ran a Molenbeek bar, put together what Salah has since told interrogators was a logistical plan to prepare for the attacks on Paris. Salah drove across Europe more than once and appears to have transported quantities of guns, explosives and people. It was with shock, after 130 people died on a Friday evening in the French capital and trails led back to Brussels, that Michel’s government realised it had an
NEW RESOURCES, TOO LATE Michel pledged cash and legal reforms to beef up a security system that officials accepted was understaffed. An intelligence service of about 700 staff for a country of 11 million struggled to cope, as did a police force that is about 20 percent below full strength. Police and security services have also struggled with a lack of communication and coordination across a multiplicity of departments that cross Belgium’s Dutch-French language divide. Two of Tuesday’s suicide bombers - Najim Laachraoui and Khalid El Bakraoui - were on counter-terrorism watchlists. The former was a suspected bombmaker for the Paris attacks; the latter rented a safe house for the Paris cell and the flat where police picked up Abdeslam’s trail. Bakraoui’s brother Brahim, was a convicted armed robber in breach of his parole who was expelled last July from Turkey.
Ankara warned Belgium he had been caught trying to reach Syria. In December, police in the town of Mechelen had a tip about a family sheltering Abdeslam. The tip included the address where he was eventually apprehended. But officials acknowledge the tip was never passed on to Brussels colleagues. The revelation has led to criticism - strongly denied - that Mechelen’s town hall might prefer to suppress a tip to avoid irritating local Muslims, a key electoral constituency. In their four-month search for Abdeslam, police pulled in dozens of people, holding 10 by last month. Dozens of homes were raided to no avail. Police reject suggestions it was chance that led them to a house in the Brussels borough of Forest on March 15. Four officers were wounded in a shootout before one gunman was killed. The apartment, rented under a false name by Khalid El Bakraoui, the Brussels metro bomber, yielded a fingerprint belonging to Salah Abdeslam. Police homed in on a cellphone he was using, leading to his capture three days later. THREE DAYS OF FEAR Over the three and half days following that arrest, the government considered locking down Brussels but decided against it because they had no clear clues that an attack was in the offing, the government official said.
When the bombers struck at the morning rush hour on Tuesday, the authorities tried to moved fast. A taxi driver who took the bombers to the airport led police to the apartment where he had picked them up. That produced a evidence including chemicals and another bomb. One report said the bombers left it behind after a confused taxi dispatcher sent a smaller cab than they ordered. It also produced a witness who, investigators say, has since identified a third man seen on airport cameras with the two bombers. Police have been rolling up contacts and acquaintances of those identified, including another suspected plotter in Paris. Michel’s government is also cracking down on fake documents which seem to have allowed the likes of Laachraoui and Abaaoud, to slip across Europe from Syria. The government has sought new legal powers over, and in cooperation with, Internet and telecoms firms to track suspects. But officials caution that it could take years to fill the gaps in the security structures of a country that is host to the European Union and NATO. So it was with a note of resignation that Belgium’s leaders reacted to the worst bloodshed in their country since World War Two: Michel declared simply: “What we feared, has happened.”
Bangladesh dismisses case Dalai Lama is “making a fool” of Buddhism: Chinese official from the difficulty of reMaRch 28 in the body of a child on to drop Islam as state religion BEIJING, incarnation,” wrote Zhu, (REUtERS): Exiled Ti- his death.
Islamist leaders flash victory signs after the Bangladesh High Court rejected a petition challenging Islam as the state religion in Dhaka on Monday. (AFP Photo)
DhaKa, MaRch 28 (REUtERS): Bangladesh’s High Court on Monday dismissed a case filed by a citizen’s group to drop Islam as the state religion, a lawyer said. Bangladesh’s 1971 constitution declared all religions were equal in the eyes of the state. But military ruler Hussain Mohammad Ershad amended it in 1988 to make Islam the state religion. Ershad’s action led a group of 12 citizens to file a writ with the High Court to overturn the amendment. But Shahriar Kabir, who
convened the group, said the members decided not to go ahead with the case. Twenty-eight years later, the same group filed a new writ which the court dismissed. Subrata Chowdhury, the lawyer for the group, said the court did not even allow them a hearing. It did not give a reason for dismissing the case. The government, led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has amended the constitution to reinstate the principle of secularism but also reaffirmed Islam as the state religion.
UN goal on global temperature unrealistic: Study NEw YORK, MaRch 28 (IaNS): The historic agreement reached at last year’s UN conference in Paris to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-Industrial Revolution levels is almost impossible to achieve, says a study. “It would require rates of change in our energy infrastructure and energy mix that have never happened in world history and that are extremely unlikely to be achieved,” said Glenn Jones from Texas A&M University at Galveston. The overall goal of “Paris Agreement”, signed by officials representing more than 190 countries, is to replace fossil fuels which emit huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere leading to higher temperatures, with renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power and biofuels. “Just considering wind power, we found that it would take an annual installation of 485,000 five-megawatt wind turbines by 2028. The equivalent of about 13,000 were installed in 2015. That’s a 37-fold increase in the annual installation rate in only 13 years to achieve just the wind power goal,” Jones added. Similar expansion rates are needed for other renewable energy sources as well, said Jones along with Kevin Warner, a marine biology researcher at Texas, in a paper published in the journal Energy Policy. “To even come close to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement, 50 percent of our energy will need to come from renewable sources by 2028, and today it is only 9 percent, including hydropower. For a world that wants to fight climate change, the numbers just don’t add up to do it,” Jones noted. “If we don’t worry about global warming and the twodegree Celsius goal, we can continue to burn known fossil fuel reserves, but even here we will have to achieve more than 50 percent renewable energy by 2054, but warming will exceed 2.5 to 3 degrees Celsius,” he warned.
betan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama is “making a fool” of Tibetan Buddhism with suggestions he may not reincarnate, or reincarnate as something inappropriate, and the faithful are not buying it, a Chinese official wrote on Monday. China says the Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in India after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, is a violent separatist. He denies espousing violence and says he only wants genuine autonomy for Tibet. The animosity between the two sides, and their rivalry for control over Tibetan Buddhism, is at the heart of the debate about reincarnation. Tibetan Buddhism holds that the soul of a senior lama is reincarnated
China says the tradition must continue and its officially atheist Communist leaders have the right to approve the Dalai Lama’s successor, as a right inherited from China’s emperors. The Nobel Peace Prizewinning monk has suggested his title could end when he dies. China accuses him of betraying, and being disrespectful towards, the Tibetan religion by saying there might be no more reincarnations. Writing in the state-run Global Times, Zhu Weiqun, chairman of the ethnic and religious affairs committee of the top advisory body to China’s parliament, said the Dalai Lama had to respect tradition. “The Dalai Lama continues to proclaim his
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama waves to devotees outside the United Nations where the Human Rights Council is holding it’s 31st Session in Geneva, Switzerland on March 11. (REUTERS Photo)
reincarnation is a ‘purely religious matter’ and something only he can decide, but he has no way to compel admiration from the faithful,” wrote Zhu, known for his hardline stance on Tibet. “He’s been proclaiming he’ll reincarnate as a for-
eigner, as a bee, as a ‘mischievous blond girl’, or even proposing a living reincarnation or an end to reincarnation,” he added. “All of this, quite apart from making a fool of Tibetan Buddhism, is completely useless when it comes to extricating him
who was involved in the past in Beijing’s failed efforts to talk to the Dalai Lama’s representatives. A senior aide to the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Taklha, said there was “no way” Tibetans would accept a successor appointed by China. “The Chinese are following an absurd agenda and we continue to reject it,” he said. Tibetan exiles worried China will appoint its own successor to the 80-yearold leader can point to a precedent. In 1995, after the Dalai Lama named a boy in Tibet as the reincarnation of the previous Panchen Lama, the second highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism, China put the child under house arrest and installed another.
Pak hunt militants behind blast that killed at least 70
LahORE, MaRch 28 (REUtERS): Pakistani authorities hunted on Monday for breakaway Taliban militants who once declared loyalty to Islamic State after the group claimed responsibility for an Easter suicide bomb targeting Christians, that killed at least 70 people. The attack on Sunday evening in a busy park in the eastern city of Lahore, the powerbase of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, killed mostly women and children enjoying an Easter weekend outing. Pakistan is a majority-Muslim state but has a Christian population of more than 2 million. It was the deadliest attack in Pakistan since the December 2014 massacre of 134 school children at a military run academy in the city of Peshawar that prompted a big government crackdown on Islamist militancy. “We must bring the killers of our innocent brothers, sisters and children to justice and will never allow these savage inhumans to over-run our life and liberty,” military spokesman Asim Bajwa said in a post on Twitter.
Family members mourn the death of a relative, who was killed in a blast that happened outside a public park on Sunday, in Lahore, Pakistan, March 28, 2016. REUTERS
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack late on Sunday night, and issued a direct challenge to the government. “The target was Christians,” said a faction spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan, said. “We want to send this message to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that we have entered Lahore.”
Lahore is the capital of Pakistan’s richest province, Punjab, and is seen as the country’s political and cultural heartland. Sharif ’s office condemned the blast as a cowardly act and said a response had been ordered, without elaborating. Lahore, markets, schools and courts were closed on Monday as the city mourned.
Rescue services spokeswoman Deeba Shahnaz said at least 70 people were killed and about 340 were wounded, with 25 in serious condition. The group has claimed responsibility for several big attacks after it split with the main Pakistani Taliban in 2014. It declared allegiance to the Islamic State but later said it was rejoining the
Pakistani Taliban insur- in Afghanistan and against gency. old rival India. But some, like the PakiTARGETS stani Taliban, have turned Pakistan has been against the state. They are plagued by militant vio- fighting to topple the govlence for the last 15 years, ernment and install a strict since it joined a U.S.-led interpretation of Islamic law. campaign against Islamist Sharif ’s opponents militancy after the Sept. 11, have accused him of tol2001, al Qaeda attacks on erating militancy in return the United States. for peace in his province, a While the army, police, charge he strongly denies. government and Western Earlier on Sunday, huninterests have been the dreds of hard-line Muslim prime targets of the Paki- activists clashed with postani Taliban and their al- lice in the capital, Islamlies, Christians and other abad, in a protest over the religious minorities have execution of a man they also attacked. consider a hero for assassiNearly 80 people were nating a governor over his killed in a suicide bomb criticism of harsh blaspheattack on a church in the my laws. northwestern city of PeshaBodyguard Mumtaz war in 2013. Qadri Mumtaz shot dead The security forces have Punjab governor Salman killed and arrested hun- Taseer in 2011. Taseer, a dreds of suspected mili- prominent liberal polititants under the crackdown cian, had spoken in suplaunched after the 2014 Pe- port of a Christian woman shawar school massacre. sentenced to death under Militant violence had the law that mandates capeased but they retain the ital punishment for insultability to launch devastat- ing Islam or the Prophet ing attacks. Mohammad. Qadri was Pakistan’s security executed last month. agencies have long been There was no indication accused of nurturing mili- of a connection between tants to use for help in pur- the protest in Islamabad suing security objectives and the bomb in Lahore.
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Top-ranked Djokovic powers into Miami last 16 Dominant Day wins Match
MiAMi, MArch 28 (AFP): World number one Novak Djokovic advanced to the fourth round of the ATP and WTA Miami Open on Sunday, defeating Portugal's 38th-ranked Joao Sousa 6-4, 6-1. Two-time defending champion Djokovic, trying to match Andre Agassi's record of six career Miami titles, needed only 78 minutes to win his 12th match in a row at the hardcourt event and 26th in his past 27 Miami starts. "That first set could have gone either way," Djokovic said. "I managed to hit the right balls at the right moment and make it to the finish." The 28-year-old Serbian, who won his 11th Grand Slam crown at the Australian Open two months ago, also has crowns at Doha and Indian Wells this year and hopes to complete the Miami-Indian Wells sweep for the third consecutive year. Djokovic's next foe will be Austrian 14th seed Dominic Thiem, who dispatched 124th-ranked Japanese qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka 6-2, 6-2 in 64 minutes. "He has one of the most powerful baseline games in tennis," Djokovic said of Thiem. "He likes to construct his points so I will try and take away his time. He's had one of the best years of his life. He's beaten Nadal on clay. He's one of the players in the next generation we should all look out for." Thiem captured his fifth career ATP title last month by beating Australia's Bernard Tomic in the Acapulco final and downed 14-time
Mar 27, 2016; Key Biscayne, FL, USA; Novak Djokovic waves to fans after his match against Joao Sousa (not pictured) during day six of the Miami Open at Crandon Park Tennis Center. Djokovic won 6-4, 6-1. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal on the way to a Buenos Aires claycourt crown. "I'm sure he wants to showcase all that he's got in his arsenal but I will be sure to be ready for him," Djokovic said. Sousa fell to 0-3 against Djokovic and 1-21 against top-10 foes with his 19th such loss in a row since beating David Ferrer in Kuala Lumpur in 2013. "He came out with a clear game plan," said Djokovic. "He wanted to
‘Homegrown talents key to Manchester United future’
LOnDOn, MArch 28 (rEutErs): Big-spending Manchester United must always continue their tradition of bringing through players from the youth academy, assistant manager Ryan Giggs has said. The 20-times English champions have endured a stuttering campaign by their high standards and sit sixth in the league, are already out of Europe but retain hope in the FA Cup ahead of a sixth round replay with West Ham United next month. United manager Louis Van Gaal has brought through a number of academy players this term, such as striker Marcus Rashford, but the Dutch coach has been tipped by British media to make way for former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho next season. Giggs said future United managers should respect the club's history for promoting from within. "I think it will always be part of the club's philosophy. It's part of the history, it's what sets us apart from other teams," Giggs told the club's website (www. manutd.com). "Yes, we can bring world-class players in from around the world but we want one of our own to be performing on that Old Trafford pitch... we need players to come through the ranks. That's a massive part of the United history."
take his chances. He did not have much to lose. It can be dangerous. I know the importance of stepping up a few levels and delivering my 'A' game." Reigning Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber and last week's Indian Wells winner Victoria Azarenka, who each upset world number one Serena Williams in the final to win those titles, reached the last 16 on the women's side. German second seed Kerber advanced 1-6, 6-2,
3-0 when 108th-ranked Dutch qualifier Kiki Bertens retired due to illness. "I was not finding a rhythm at the beginning of the match," Kerber said. "I had to stay strong, believe and keep fighting. I hope she gets well soon but I'm glad to be in the next round." Kerber next faces Hungary's 49th-ranked Timea Babos, who ousted 18-yearold Japanese 104th-ranked wildcard Naomi Osaka 7-5, 6-0. Eighth-ranked Azarenka, who won 2009 and 2011
Miami titles, eliminated Polish qualifier Magda Linette 6-3, 6-0. The 26-year-old from Belarus is trying to become only the third woman to take Indian Wells and Miami in the same year after Graf in 1994 and 1996 and Kim Clijsters in 2005. Azarenka hit a backhand winner to break for the first set, then saved two break points in an 11-minute opening game of the second set and breezed to victory from there. "I stayed focused, took my opportunities and kept applying pressure," Azarenka said. Argentina's Horacio Zeballos, a lucky loser who replaced Roger Federer in the draw when the 17-time Grand Slam champion withdrew due to illness, advanced to the fourth round by overcoming Spain's Fernando Verdasco 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4). Zeballos, ranked 112th, had not won a match since last July before beating countryman Juan Martin Del Potro in the second round. After winning two in a row for the first time in more than two years, he faces Belgian 15th seed David Goffin for a quarterfinal berth. Goffin reached the Indian Wells semi-finals where he lost to Milos Raonic. "Life changed for me a lot here," Zeballos said. "Beating 'DelPo' and Verdasco, two better players than me, I greatly improved both the ranking and economically." The South American is assured $67,590, which will help since his wife is due to give birth to their first child on April 10. "I am living happy moments," he said.
PDSA Ist athletics- cum- 33rd meet
KOhiMA, MArch 28 (MExn): The Phek District Sports Association (PDSA) held its first athletics- cum33rd Meet from March 15 to 17 at Pfutsero Sports Complex with Murohu Chotso, Deputy Commissioner Phek as the chief guest and Sangmai C Imlong, ADC Pfutsero as the guest of honour. Seven affiliated areas with 237 athletes participated in the meet. There was also introduction and demonstration of archery by PDAA, Mix Martial Arts by ACAC and Sepaktakraw by NSA. The best athletes in the
senior category men and women were bagged by Venuzo Dawhou (CASA) and Kevelü Medeo (PASA) respectively. In the Junior Category, Wetsho L. Mero (SRGSA) and Vetuvolü Chuzho (PASA) stood best athletes in male and female category respectively. Chozuba Area Sports Association and Chokri Area Sports Association with 13 gold medals each were declared as group champion. Hukhoneyi Soho and Hüvesü Puro were the Field Marshall & Supervisor for the meet.
Earlier, Mulovoto Medeo led the opening ceremony while Rev. L. Ritse, invoked God’s blessing. Krolhou Ritse delivered presidential address. Special songs were presented by Gyate-ü Marhu and Kerimi Lüzo Kro. The closing ceremony was held on March 17 with Solomon Ritse as the leader and there was a special appearance by Atso-ü Koza. Prizes were given away by the guest of honour Sangmai C Imlong, ADC Pfutsero. Shetalü Vadeo proposed vote of thanks while Dr. Poyo Tunyi, invoked the closing prayer.
Play, hits stride for Masters
Mar 27, 2016; Austin, TX, USA; Jason Day of Australia poses with his wife Ellie and children Dash and Lucy after defeating Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa in the championship round of the World Golf Championship-Dell Match Play at the Austin Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports
Austin, MArch 28 (rEutErs): Jason Day continued his sensational streak with an emphatic victory at the WGC-Dell Match Play in Texas on Sunday and the new world number one could not be happier with his game heading into next month's Masters. The Australian beat South African Louis Oosthuizen 5&4 in the afternoon final at Austin Country Club to clinch his sixth win in his last 13 tournaments worldwide. Day, who sank a 12-foot par putt at the final hole to beat defending champion Rory McIlroy one-up in a morning semi-final, was already assured of regaining the world number one ranking from American Jordan Spieth. "It's been an amazing week. I played wonderfully this afternoon," Day, 28, said at the victory presentation, adding that he had only been a "50-50" chance to continue in the event after tweaking his back during the opening day of competition. "I’ve been able to not only utilise the great short game that I’ve had from last week to this week, but to be able to play the way I did from tee to green and then
on top of it hit the clutch shots has been really fantastic." Oosthuizen, the 16th seed, qualified for the final when he beat Spaniard Rafa Cabrera-Bello 4&3 in the other semi. Day lost the first hole of the final, but that was his only setback as he relentlessly kept up the pressure on Oosthuizen and turned the back nine into a victory march. Day's ninth career PGA Tour victory was his second in as many weeks after he triumphed at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last Sunday. It was also Day's second win in three years in the only World Golf Championships event that uses the match play format. He also made it four wins in five weeks for Australian players on the PGA Tour, after Adam Scott won twice in Florida at the Honda Classic and WGC-Cadillac Championship. Day's hot streak stretches back to last July. After missing out on a playoff spot at the British Open by one stroke at St. Andrews, Day won the Canadian Open the following week before picking up his first major victory at the PGA Championship in August. He will now have a
week off to recharge before the first major of the year, the Masters, where he will be the man to beat. "It’s never easy winning," he said. "I can’t get too complacent with how I’m playing. I need to focus on the little things that make me great and go into Augusta and prep the exact same way I have in the past." Runner-up Oosthuizen tipped his hat to the champion. "I couldn’t buy a birdie. Up against a guy like Jason, you need to go out three-to-four-under to have a chance," said the 2012 Masters runner-up. "Game is shaping up really nice for Augusta. That’s everyone’s focus right now." In the match for third place, Cabrera-Bello beat McIlroy 3&2. Cabrera-Bello's strong week elevated him into the top 50 in the world and earned him a spot at the Masters. McIlroy struggled in the consolation match, frustrated after losing his semi-final against Day. "Today I just didn’t hole the putts I needed to and Jason wasn’t giving me anything either," said the Northern Irishman. "I think that just shows how well Jason is playing at the minute."
Greece hoping to avoid FIFA Petrova denies wrongdoing after positive meldonium test sanctions after Cup move sOFiA, Since then, more than have recorded positive pate because we received 150 athletes to have taken MArch 28 (rE- the Vasil Levski stadium on
AthEns, MArch 28 (rEutErs): Deputy Sports Minister Stavros Kontonis is hoping his country will avoid international sanctions after cancelling this season's Greek Cup because of crowd violence. FIFA and UEFA, the respective ruling bodies of world and European soccer, have asked for the Greek Cup to be reinstated by April 1 after the competition was scrapped by the government earlier this month. The decision was made after the first leg of the semifinal between PAOK Salonika and Olympiakos Piraeus on March 2 was abandoned due to a violent pitch invasion, with fans hurling flares and missiles before being dispersed by riot police. Failure to meet the April 1 deadline could result in the suspension of the Greek federation, clubs being stopped from playing in European club competitions and the national side barred from international tournaments. "I took the initiative to speak today because the situation is very unsettled and many people perceive that as a weakness," Kontonis told a news conference on Monday ahead of a planned visit to Athens by FIFA and UEFA on Wednesday. "What cannot be tinkered with further is a law which was already passed in parliament and is already being applied to the letter. For all themes, however, I want to hear suggestions and I believe that we'll have a very smooth meeting." Before the FIFA and UEFA delegations arrive, the Hellenic Football Federation will appeal to Greece's Supreme Court on Tuesday to reverse the decision made by Kontonis. LEGAL MOVE "We are fighting to get our decision validated," said the Deputy Sports Minister. "It was an entirely legal move and, as a measure, solves a serious problem, that of preserving public order." Kontonis also explained why he cancelled last week's meeting between the presidents of the elite clubs including Olympiakos, PAOK, Panathinaikos and AEK Athens. Panathinaikos refused to take part and Olympiakos owner Vangelis Marinakis was advised not to attend by the Athens sports prosecutor due to an ongoing investigation into a match-fixing probe in which the shipping magnate has been accused of involvement. "We learned at the last minute that he [Marinakis] is a citizen currently with restrictive conditions imposed on him by law but from our side we will move on and rearrange a new meeting," said Kontonis. "We want a common agreement in place to stop the downward spiral of Greek football and the phenomenon of violence."
utErs): Bulgarian triple jumper Gabriela Petrova, runner-up at the 2015 European indoor championships in Prague, has denied any wrong-doing after testing positive for the banned substance meldonium. "I have not violated, in any way, the anti-doping rules and I can move on with my head held high," Petrova told a news conference at
Monday. "I stopped taking this medication in September. I haven't touched it in 2016." Meldonium, which helps boost blood flow and increases the amount of oxygen taken in by the body, allowing athletes to recover faster while training, was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of banned substances on Jan. 1.
100 athletes have been found to have used it. Petrova, who also finished fourth at the world outdoor championships in Beijing last year, failed an out-of-competition drug test on Feb. 6. The 23-year-old has joined a long list of athletes, including former world tennis number one Maria Sharapova of Russia, who
tests for meldonium. [L5N16Z0IW] "It has nothing to do with the Sharapova case," Petrova said. "She said she took the medication in 2016 to treat a health problem." The Bulgarian pulled out of the world indoor championships in Portland, Oregon earlier this month. "She was ready to win the world title but I decided it was better not to partici-
the information about the positive test several days before the championship," said coach Atanas Atanasov. Petrova, named Bulgaria's Athlete of the Year in December, is hoping she will avoid a suspension and be able to compete at the Rio Olympics in August. "I believe the truth will be revealed," she said. "It doesn't sound logical for
the banned substance in an Olympic year." The use of meldonium was widespread before the ban. One study showed 490 athletes at last year's European Games in Baku had taken it. Grindeks, the Latvian company that is the main supplier of the drug, says the substance could protect athletes from cell damage but is unlikely to improve their performance.
Lankans beat Proteas in women's World T20 tie Casillas drops hint of
BEngALuru, MArch 28 (iAns): Sri Lanka rode on a half-century from opener Chamari Atapattu and a disciplined bowling performance to defeat South Africa by 10 runs in a women's World Twenty20 Group A clash at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Monday. Choosing to bat first on winning the toss, the Sri Lanka women were restricted to a lowish total of 114/7 in their 20 overs. The South African bowlers put in quite an economical effort overall with Marizanne Kapp (2/17) and Suné Luus (2/20) the most successful among them. Chamari was the only Lankan who was able to tackle the South African bowling. The right-hander anchored the innings with a superb knock of 52 runs off 49 deliveries which contained five boundaries and a six. Prasadani Weerakkody (15) and Eshani
international retirement
Bangalore, INDIA - MARCH 28 : during Women's ICC World Twenty20 India 2016 match between South Africa and Sri Lanka at the Chinnaswamy stadium on March 28, 2016 in Bangalore. (Getty Images)
Lokusuriyage (12 n.o.) were the only other Lankans to reach double figures. The South African chase was off to a steady start with openers Dane van Niekerk (24 off 31) and Trisha Chetty (26 off
25) putting 50 runs on the board in nine overs. But Dane's dismissal in the 10th over triggered a batting collapse and the South Africans could only manage 104/7 in 20 overs. Left-arm pacer Ude-
shika Prabodhani (2/13) and left-arm spinner Sugandika Kumari (2/24) picked up a couple of wickets each while Chamari (1/12) and Eshani Lokusuriyage (1/16) were also quite economical.
MADriD, MArch 28 (iAns): Spain international goalkeeper Iker Casillas has hinted that he will soon draw the curtains down on his record breaking football career. The 34-year-old former Real Madrid goalkeeper, who now plays for Portuguese side Porto, made his 166th appearance for his country as Spain drew 0-0 away to Romania in a friendly on Sunday, reports Xinhua. That appearance saw him beat the record of Latvian player Vitalijs Astafjevs to become the European footballer with the most international appearances. But Casillas has hinted that his time defending his country's goal could soon come to an end. After the game Casillas decided to hold a brief chat with fans on his Twitter account and answered several questions about his career until one question
"Do you see the moment of your retirement close?" Casillas responded, "It is getting closer all the time. It's close," which some will take as the biggest sign yet that he will retire from international football at the end of the 2016 European Championships. Casillas produced several good saves during Sunday's match, but the form shown by Manchester United keeper, David de Gea, who was excellent in Thursday's 1-1 draw against Italy has led to calls for the 25-year-old to be first choice at this summer's European Championships. Up until now, Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has always been loyal to Spain captain Casillas, but with Del Bosque likely to retire after the championship, both may think the time has come to look to the future.
Tuesday 29•03•2016
EntErtainmEnt
National Awards Kangana, Amitabh Bachchan Win Top Honours
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ctors Kangana Ranaut and Amitabh Bachchan have won their third and fourth National Awards respectively. Kangana won Best Actress for Tanu Weds Manu Returns and Big B won Best Actor for Piku. Kangana, 29, also won the Best Actress National Award last year for Queen and the Best Supporting Award for Fashion in 2009. This is 73-year-old Mr Bachchan's fourth win after Agneepath, Black and Paa. The multi-lingual blockbuster Baahubali has won Best Feature Film and Sanjay Leela Bhansali has been awarded Best Director for Bajirao Mastani, which won several other awards. Salman Khan's Bajrangi Bhaijaan won Best Wholesome Family Entertainer. Baahubali also won the award for Best Special Effects. Kalki Koechlin won a
Special Jury Award for her performance in Margarita, With A Straw. Tanvi Azmi won Best Supporting Actress for Bajirao Mastani. Nanak Shah Fakir won Best Film on National Integration. Masaan won Best Debut for a Director. Visaranai won Best Tamil Film while Dum Laga Ke Haisha won Best Hindi Film. R e m o D'Souza won Best Choreography for Bajirao Mastani. The film also won Best Production Design, Best Cinematography and other honours. Piku's Juhi Chaturvedi and Tanu Weds Manu Returns' Himanshu Sharma shared the award for Best Screenplay and Dialogue.
Spice Girls set to reunite for major tour
Vishal Bhardwaj won Best Adapted Screenplay for Talvar. Gujarat was named most filmfriendly state. The National Awards were announced in New Delhi on Monday. Source: NDTV
A
fter years of hoping, US Weekly have reported the Spice Girls are planning a major reunion tour. According to a source, the tour has been in the works for the past year with the girl posse longing for several years to reunite on stage. Scary Spice Melanie
Brown, Sporty Spice Melanie Chisholm, Baby Spice Emma Bunton, and Ginger Spice Geri Halliwell are all eager to treat fans to their 90s gems. However Posh Spice, singer-turned-fashion designer Victoria Beckham, is reluctant. Victoria "won't sing or dance," the source
explains to US Weekly. "There's a small chance she will film something with them or make an appearance at a show here and there." But never fear there is still hope, with another source revealing to the outlet the girls are working to convince Victoria. "If she
doesn't agree, they are moving ahead without her," the source said. The 90s darlings 2007 London come-back dates of the Return Of The Spice Girls tour sold out in 38 seconds. Sixteen further shows were added in London, which all swiftly sold out too. Source: Yahoo7News
AShton Kutcher: My kid has changed my priorities Madonna's latest muse is a 25-year-old model has been making his presence on social media less personal since the baby’s arrival and has instead tried to post things which “inspire and educate” others. He told Parade magazine: “You know what’s interesting? I don’t really share personal things on my social media channels anymore. I have pulled back. At one point op star MadonI thought, ‘Heck, if I share na, 57, is said to things first and I have conbe smitten with a trol what it is that I’m shar25-year-old moding, maybe it’ll devalue the el, in whose company she tabloid story fodder.’ is finding comfort in the “Ultimately, that came midst of a custody dispute. to be something that was untrue. Now the things that I share on social media are stories that inspire ideas, that connect people, that educate people.”
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he ‘What Happens In Vegas’ star who has 19-monthold daughter Wyatt with his wife Mila Kunis admits having a kid has
“unexplainably” switched all his priorities. He shared: “[Fatherhood] takes whatever table you’re sitting at, flips it upside down and switches all your priorities
around. It’s unexplainable. “I have a new number one priority. Only parents understand the absolute awe of parenthood.” The 38-year-old actor
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Source: Cosmopolitan
point, they'll choose what they want to be," Fox said. The 'Transformers' star said keeping her kids Noah and Bodhi away from tech-based amusements is "only challenging as a parent because so many people use that as a babysitter..." According to Fox, such techniques hinder the mental development of children. "It's actually really bad for their brain development, and I'm trying to breed, like, superheroes. "So I just suck it up, and it's hard, and one of us is always doing something. We don't get a lot of rest time, but I know it's better for them," she said.
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Source: IANS
conferred with the Padma Shri Award
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jay Devgn, who has been busy shooting for his upcoming film Shivaay in Bulgaria, made his way to Delhi as he was conferred with the Padma Shri Award. The actor was presented the award by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee for his contribution to the Indian Cinema. The actor has been working in Bollywood since 25 years and has given us various hits. The actor has already won two National Awards for Zakhm (1992) and The Legend Of Bhagat Singh (2002) and now he was just conferred the Padma Shri award. Meanwhile, Anupam Kher was also conferred with the Padma Bhushan too. On the work front, Ajay is currently working on Shivaay, post which he will start shooting for Baadshaho. Source: Bollywood Life
Source: PTI
‘Batman v Superman’ smashes records with $424m global box office he global total - the fourthhighest ever - included $170.1m in the United States, a record for a March debut and the sixth-highest US opening weekend. Dawn of Justice took £15.5m in the UK - also a record for March. The film bringing the two superheroes together for the first time is a welcome success for Warner Bros. The studio has been hit by a series of expensive failures such as Jupiter Ascending and Pan in recent months. The DC Comics adaptation, which cost more than $250m to make, was Warner Bros' second-highest international opening after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. The BBC's Mark Kermode described it as a "crushing disappointment", while Kate Muir wrote in The Times: "This superhero-smorgasbord melts into an electric soup of CGI." Jeff Goldstein, head of distribution for Warner Bros, said: "There was a disconnect there between what critics wrote and the fan interest and the fan response.'' Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore,
They were at a party together back in November when they got chatting, and hit it off straight away. Over the next few weeks, they got together a couple more times and she invited him over to her place, where they sat up all night talking. The next thing we heard, he had quit his job and had gone out to meet her on tour. It's obviously a very close friendship, said one of Madonna's friend. A spokesman for Madonna declined to comment on claims of her latest relationship.
ajay DeVgn
Megan Fox making her kids 'artistic nature-hippies'
ctress Megan Fox is trying her best to keep her children away from technology and get inclined towards art and nature. The 29-year-old actress, who grew up watching 'Star Wars' and 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' is holding off from introducing her two sons to TV and movies, reported People magazine. "I hesitate just because... I try not to expose them to technology. It's hard to make them super nerds if I don't let them watch television or movies, or get on an iPhone or an iPad. "So right now, I'm making my kids into artistic nature-hippies. We'll see what happens. At some
Madonna is in a custody dispute over her son Rocco with her former husband Guy Ritchie. In between all this, she is said to have been spending a lot of time with Aboubakar Soumahoro,
a model with razor-sharp cheekbones and rock-hard abs, who used to work as a shop assistant in Harrods, reports mirror.co.uk. Madonna's friends have claimed that the two were introduced by a mutual friend at a showbiz party in November last year, and weeks later, Soumahoro visited the 57-year-old singer at her home here. Soumahoro, who is from the Ivory Coast and is known to his friends as Brooklin, was also at her side during the South American leg of her Rebel Heart tour.
said: "It proves that the concept is bigger than negative reviews. There was no way that if you're a comic book fan or just a movie fan that you're going to miss out on a match-up of such iconic characters. Audiences have to see the movie for themselves.'' Dawn of Justice opened on more than 40,000 screens in 66 markets, including 16,000 in China, 4,242 in the US, 1,701 in the UK and 1,696 in South Korea. "It's the fans that speak the loudest," said Jeff Bock, a box office analyst for Exhibitor Relations. "It proves how strong these characters are." The Zack Snyder-directed film, starring Ben Affleck and Henry Cavil, is the first of 10 DC Comics adaptations planned by Warner Bros over the next five years, including Wonder Woman and the Flash. The first, Suicide Squad, will hit the big screen in August. Star Wars: The Force Awakens still holds the record for the biggest box office debut weekend globally, with ticket sales of $529m (£355m) in December, including $248m in the US. Source: BBC News
Shame on people for trolling Anushka Sharma: Virat Kohli
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ndian batting star Virat Kohli on Monday lashed out at social media trolls for targeting Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma, saying that those who blame her for anything negative in his cricket career should be ashamed of themselves. Kohli, who singleha n d e d ly p ow ere d India into the World Twenty20 semifinal with a hurricane 82run knock against Australia last night, took to Twitter and Instagram to hit out at the trolls who take digs at his for-
mer girlfriend after every India match. "Shame on those people who have been having a go at Anushka for the longest time and connecting every negative thing to her. Shame on those people calling themselves educated," Kohli wrote. "Shame on blaming and making fun of her when she has no control over what i do with my sport. If anything she has only motivated and given me more positivity. This was long time coming. Shame on these people
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02:00 pm | 08:00 pm that hide and take a dig. "And i don’t need any respect for this post. Have some compassion and respect her. Think of how your sister or girlfriend or wife would feel if someone trolled them and very conveniently rubbished them
in public," he added. Sharma has been subjected to trolling in the past as well, most notably after Kohli flopped in the ODI World Cup semifinal against Australia last year. Source: PTI
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SPORTS
THE MORUNG EXPRESS
Padma Bhushan is an inspiration to perform better says Saina Nehwal
The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee presenting the Padma Bhushan Award to Ms. Saina Nehwal, at a Civil Investiture Ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on March 28.
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NEW DELHI, MarcH 28 (aNI): Jubilant after receiving the Padma Bhushan from President Pranab Mukherjee, Indian ace shuttler Saina Nehwal has admitted that the prestigious award will encourage her to perform even better so that she can make the country proud in the coming future. "It is a great moment for me. It will encourage me to perform even better in the coming future and continue to make India proud," a
visibly elated Nehwal told reporters in Delhi. The 26-year-old Hyderabadi insisted that she would continue to work hard and that she will strive to achieve good results. Congratulating Indian cricket team for storming into the semifinals of the ongoing World T20, Nehwal said that Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side had been performing well and that she hopes they would win the title. "India is doing extremely well. They
have made it to the semifinals and I wish them all the very best. I hope they continue playing well and win the tournament," said Nehwal. Besides Nehwal, other celebrities who received the Padma Bhushan award are Hafeez Sorabe Contractor, Barjinder Singh Hamdard, Anupam Pushkarnath Kher, Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry, Saina Nehwal, Vinod Rai, Alla Ventaka Rama Rao and Duvvur Nageshwar Reddy.
Suarez cost Barcelona $91.6 million: Reports
BarcELoNa, MarcH 28 (IaNs): Spanish champions FC Barcelona shelled out $91.6 million for the transfer of Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez from English club Liverpool in the summer of 2014, according to the contract papers leaked by online whistleblower Football Leaks on Monday. Football Leaks, which specialises in revealing football secrets, said that the contract dated July 11, 2014, reveals
that the transfer divides the payments into five instalments, of $18.32 million each, with one instalment still to be paid on July 31, reports Efe. In addition to the player himself, the contract was signed by Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu, vice-president Jordi Mestre, and Antoni Rossich, who was then the general director of the club, as well as Liverpool chief executive Ian Ayre. Suarez moved to the Catalan club in the summer of 2014, after having become top scorer in the English Premier League during the previous season with Liverpool. His transfer came shortly after causing a huge controversy for biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup. Due to a four-month suspension, his first appearance with Barcelona was delayed until October 26, 2014. Suarez enjoys the trust of coach Luis Enrique and has already scored 68 goals in 86 appearances in all competitions with Barcelona.
Zaheer Khan to lead Delhi Daredevils in IPL 2016 NEW DELHI, MarcH 28 (IaNs): Former India pacer Zaheer Khan was on Monday named the captain of Delhi Dardevils for the 2016 Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament. It will be Zaheer's second successive season as a player with the Dardevils franchise. The left-armer will take over captaincy from South African allrounder J.P. Duminy. The ninth edition of the IPL will be held from April 9 to May 29. Speaking about the appointment, the team's mentor Rahul Dravid said in a statement: "Zaheer has been a leader for a very long time. Anyone who has followed Indian cricket will know the impact Zak has had. He has always proven himself to be one of the leaders." "Zak has a big personality, but it is the steel, focus and drive behind the outward confidence which I think he will bring to the captaincy. And that, I am sure, will inspire the rest of the team." "He has the
respect of the dressing room and the franchise is proud to have him as our captain. I would like to congratulate him on the appointment and wish him, and the rest of the squad all the very best." Zaheer retired last year from international cricket, after playing 92 Tests and scalping 311 wickets. He also claimed 282 One-Day wickets in 200 matches and appeared in 17 T20 Internationals, taking as many wickets. Zaheer was delighted with his new role. "It is a huge honour to captain Delhi Daredevils. To get this responsibility is a way for me to give back to the game." "I firmly believe that with the players currently involved we have the makings of a very good side, a young side that can surprise people. The potential of this group of players is immense and it is now up to us as players to turn that potential into consistent performances," the 37-year-old added.
Virat Kohli masterclass prompts Sachin Tendulkar comparisons
NEW DELHI, MarcH 28 (rEutErs): Indian great Sachin Tendulkar remains the gold standard of batting in the postBradman era but Virat Kohli's latest masterclass in Sunday's World Twenty20 shootout against Australia has prompted comparisons with his famous compatriot. Not for the first time in the tournament, it took Kohli's masterly knock to get India across the line in a virtual quarter-final against the reigning 50-overs world champions. Kohli remained unbeaten after a sublime 82, burnishing his reputation as arguably the best chaser in limited-overs cricket with a knock that reminded many of Tendulkar's 143 against Australia in a 1998 one-dayer at Sharjah dubbed "desert storm". Shane Warne was at the receiving end of Tendulkar's wrath in that match and 18 years since the contest, the Australian spin great saw Tendulkar's shadow in Kohli's latest knock. "Great knock by @imVkohli Reminded me of one of your many special innings buddy," Warne tweeted to his great rival Tendulkar after Kohli secured India a place in the semi-finals on Sunday. Kohli bejewelled his knock with two sixes and nine boundaries and sprinted tirelessly between wickets in a flawless display of limited overs batting under tremendous pressure.
MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli share a laugh after taking India home, Australia v India, World T20 2016, Group 2, Mohali, March 27. (Getty Images)
He middled every ball, timed his shots with surgical precision and found gaps with eerie regularity to stamp his class. "Of the modern players, I've al-
ways thought that Brian Lara was the best placer of the ball," former Australia captain Ian Chappell told www.espncricinfo.com. "I think I have got Brian in second spot now."
The West Indian batting great was also bowled over by what he saw and requested videos of Kohli's early days, hailing the Indian as the "best timer of a cricket ball" that he has seen. At 27, Kohli stands on the brink of batting greatness with 36 international centuries against his name and averages of 44 in tests, 51 in one-dayers and 55 in Twenty20 matches. It has been a fascinating transformation of a Delhi cricketer perceived initially as yet another brash brat from the streets of a city long accused of inculcating aggression in its youth. Since Kohli's international debut in a one-dayer against Sri Lanka eight years ago, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has closely watched the tattoo-wearing, blunt-speaking, heart-on-his-sleeve youngster transform into a mature matchwinner. Kohli hates the idea of an on-field confrontation that doesn't include him and Dhoni argued it suits the player who succeeded him as India's test captain. "He will always be the same," Dhoni said after the victory in Mohali. "He will be an aggressive character who will be ready to take on challenges and he will be aggressive on the field. "But he will also improve. He is shifting in the right direction but he is a tremendous character. He should not lose his character because that's what his strength is."
NBA-Pacers hang on to beat Rockets
HoustoN, MarcH 28 (rEutErs): The odd adventure that has been the Indiana Pacers' 2015-2016 season was on display in all of its glory -- or inconsistency -- on Sunday night in Bankers Life Fieldhouse against the equally up-anddown Houston Rockets. Indiana (39-34), which lost on the road to 21-win Brooklyn on Saturday night, led Houston (36-38) by 16 points in the third quarter, trailed by five in the fourth quarter and somehow found a method to scratch out a 104-101 victory. Paul George had 25 points and 11 rebounds, Monta Ellis added 23 points and Ian Mahinmi had 19 points and 11 rebounds as the Pacers held on. Houston's Jason Terry had a chance to force overtime, but his 3-point attempt from the right wing was short as time expired. Mahinmi and Ellis each made one of two free throws in the final 11.7 seconds to help the Pacers hold onto the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Indiana is a half-game ahead of the eighth-place Detroit Pistons, who were idle Sunday. James Harden poured in 34 points to lead the Rockets (36-38). Trevor Ariza had 14 points, and Dwight Howard added 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Paul George #13 of the Indiana Pacers drives to the basket against Donatas Motiejunas #20 of the Houston Rockets in the first half of a game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on March 27, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Pacers defeated the Rockets 104-101. (Getty Images)
Houston remains a half-game ahead of Dallas for eighth place in the Western Conference playoff race after the Mavericks also lost Sunday. The Rockets, who lost their fourth consecutive road game, made only 7 of 33 shots from 3-point range (21.2 percent), their second-worst 3-point shooting percentage this season. A George 3-pointer gave the Pacers a 93-92 lead with 5:43 to play, but Harden answered immediately, pushing the Rockets back
in front at 94-93. Indiana clung to an 81-79 lead through three quarters, but baskets from Harden and Ariza gave the Rockets an 83-81 advantage with 10:44 to go. Trailing by 16, Houston used a 16-3 run to close to within 70-67 on a Harden 3-pointer with 4:08 remaining in the third quarter. Another Harden 3-pointer tied it at 70 with 3:32 left in the quarter. A 3-pointer from George Hill and a steal and layup from Ellis extended the Indiana lead to 67-51
with 7:57 remaining in the third quarter, prompting a Houston timeout. At that point, the Rockets were 2-for-20 from 3-point range. Solomon Hill played only 15:30 but had two points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals and played excellent defense against the Rockets' perimeter players. George scored 16 firsthalf points, and C.J. Miles came off the bench to add 10, helping Indiana seize a 57-47 lead through 24 minutes. The Rockets,
who got 10 first-half points from Harden, missed 14 of their first 15 attempts from 3-point range and finished the opening two quarters 2-for-18 from long distance. Indiana led 30-24 after the first quarter and increased its advantage to 55-42 on a Mahinmi layup with 1:41 remaining in the half before the Rockets closed within 10 at intermission. The Pacers outshot the Rockets 47.1 percent to 44.7 percent overall, and Indiana posted a 50-44 rebounding edge.
Ibrahimovic confirms Premier League interest
stocKHoLM, MarcH 28 (rEutErs): Sweden captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic hinted on Sunday at a move to the Premier League and promised big things to come in his career. Speaking to reporters after a training session at the Friends Arena, where Sweden face the Czech Republic in a friendly on Tuesday, the 34-year-old was open about his future after Paris St Germain. "I've had four fantastic years with them," he said, adding that there were no ongoing talks with the French champions about an extension to a contract that expires at the end of the season. "The relationship I have with them is only positive. They have done everything they could for me and my family." Available on a free transfer and linked to Manchester United, Ibrahimovic said there had been interest from Premier League
Swedish national soccer player Zlatan Ibrahimovic smiles during a press conference at Friends Arena in Stockholm, Sweden, on March 27, ahead of Tuesday's friendly soccer match against Czech Republic. (REUTERS)
clubs. "Yes, there is an interest, I can confirm that. We have to see where it leads. When the moment comes, when all the cards are on the table, that's when I have to go through what I want, and then we'll see who wants it more," he said. "It's like a marriage. Two parties have to want it, not one or the other. Each
side needs to want it as much as the other." Having already secured the French title, PSG face Manchester City in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. After the club season finishes. the striker's attention will turn to leading Sweden at the Euro 2016 finals in France. "A lot of big things will
happen this summer. Have a little patience and you will have things to write about. The future looks very good," said Ibrahimovic. The Swede had been linked to a move to Major League Soccer earlier in the season but his scintillating form has opened up other possibilities, including the possibility of playing for Sweden at the Rio Olympics in August as an over-age player. He has scored 35 goals in 40 games for PSG so far this season, and scored three of Sweden's four goals in a 4-2 aggregate win over nordic neighbours Denmark that saw his side secure their spot at Euro 2016. "If I'd had a bad season I wouldn't have had the options I have today," he said. "Now it's the opposite and I have a lot of options. It's looking good; the Euros, after the Euros. Then we have the Olympics too."
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