March 30th, 2017

C M Y K

www.morungexpress.com

ThursDAY • MArch 30 • 2017

DIMAPUR • Vol. XII • Issue 86 • 12 PAGes • 5

T H e

ESTD. 2005

P o W e R

Never do an evil act just because it is trivial; never leave a good act undone just because it’s small Lok Sabha passes GST supplementary bills

Protecting plant varieties and farmer’s rights

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Banks to remain closed on April 1: RBI MUMbAI, MARCH 29 (IANS): The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday said banks need not remain open on April 1, as against its earlier order, because it may affect the annual closing, especially in view of the State Bank of India (SBI) merger. “In consultation with the government, it has been decided that while the agency banks are to keep all their branches dealing with government business open on all days in the current financial year (including Saturday, Sunday and all holidays) as already advised, these branches need not be kept open on April 1,” the RBI said in a statement here. “It has been represented that the opening of bank branches on April 1, may disrupt the annual closing, especially in view of merger of some banks taking effect from that date,” the statement said.

Advocates to abstain from attending court on March 31 DIMAPUR, MARCH 29 (MExN): The Nagaland State High Court Bar Association has informed bar members that as instructed by the Bar Council of India, all Advocates shall compulsorily abstain from attending court on March 31. The token protest is against the proposed amendments to the Advocates Act, 1961 recommended by the Law Commission of India.

The association in a press note informed that Bar members are requested to strictly comply with the instructions.

School Edu dept notifies on cancellation of promotions DIMAPUR, MARCH 29 (MExN): The Nagaland State School Education Department today informed that the promotion of graduate teachers and Sub-Inspector of Schools (SIS) and re-designation of Area Education Officers (AEO) notified vide this Department’s Notification No. DSE/PROM/178/2015, dated 11.03.2017 is hereby cancelled with immediate effect. This is being done in compliance with the High Court’s interim order dated 26.11.2015 and 01.02.2016 in W.P.(C) No. 214(K)/2015, informed a notification from the department. It further informed that subsequently, the transfer and posting of those graduate teachers made on promotion stands cancelled.

EDDSU to strike from April

C M Y K

DIMAPUR, MARCH 29 (MExN): The East Dimapur Sumi Students Union (EDSSU) has informed that it will hold an indefinite strike starting April, in protest against the LR&S Department’s failure to meet its demands. A press note from the EDSSU informed that it had submitted a memorandum to the department seeking cancellation of 4 LRSO and 8 survey grade 1 appointments.

It had also pointed out that one of the LRSO appointees was overage.

o F

T R u T H

— Liu Bei

Brazil book FIFA World Cup berth, Argentina tumble

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Include all groups in peace process: Nagaland CM Morung Express News Kohima | March 29

Nagaland State Chief Minister and NPF President, Dr Shürhozelie Liezietsu today stated that while the NPF supports the Framework Agreement arrived between the Government of India and the NSCN (IM), this does not mean that the party supports one Naga political group.

Speaking at the Kohima Division NPF Leaders’ Convention here today, the CM said that the NPF stands for inclusiveness of all groups and sections of the Naga society while arriving at a final solution.

“We have made it clear to the Government of India and the NSCN (IM) that to bring about a final and acceptable solution to the Naga political problem, all Naga political groups and sections of the people must be included in the process. Their views and aspirations must be considered if we are to have permanent peace in the land,” he asserted.

Lamenting that “Nagas are fragmented into several groups,” he questioned: “Can we expect all of them to bring different sovereignty to the Naga people? Whether they like it or not, it is time that we speak out the truth. We must tell the different Naga political groups to come together and that all of them must be included to bring about a permanent settlement.”

Dr. Liezietsu stated that the core focus for his government will be on solving the Naga political issue. “We must work for development but our main focus now is towards the integration of all Nagas, our most important challenge is

Nagaland State Chief Minister, Dr Shürhozelie Liezietsu speaking at the Kohima Division NPF Leaders’ Convention on March 29. (Morung Photo)

to solve the Naga Political issue during our time. We cannot pass this issue to our children. To bring peace and conciliation must be our greatest emphasis,” he said.

On the political development where former Member of Parliament Chingwang Konyak is expected to announce formation of a political party in the next few days, Dr Shürhozelie said in a democratic set up there can be several political parties and asked the people not to be alarmed or swayed away.

“As I see it, at present, there is no alternative to the NPF in Nagaland,” he said. “We should be matured enough to consider for ourselves which politi-

cal ideologies and principles are best for the people and which are detrimental,” he added.

He further stated that to run a government is a collective responsibility, while expressing disappointment over the recent attacks against the government. “Many have tried to go against the government. In some areas, we might be wrong but in some unnecessarily, we have been criticized,” he claimed.

He meanwhile viewed that elections are a new concept in Naga society, where voting is done on affiliations to the village or community. A person is never elected because of his party, the

CM stated, and urged people to understand a party and to vote according to its visions, policies and ideologies.

What do people want? asks Zeliang Former CM and DAN Chairman, TR Zeliang meanwhile asked questions on how the state would go forward with regard to the ULB issue.

“If Naga people are not happy, how do we make them happy? We need to discuss. They did not want election, so we cancelled it. They wanted me to resign so I resigned. What do they want?

We need to discuss within a month or two. If they do not give suggestions, we need to ask them to give. Or did they

only protest to let me resign? If they wanted development or wanted to change the Municipal Act, they should have told by now. Waiting for me to resign and remaining silent now, it is not complete,” Zeliang stated.

Zeliang also raved about the developments of the government such as the Smart City project, four lane road constructions etc. He informed that Rs 28 crores (first installment) was sanctioned last week for the Medical College in Kohima, and that work will begin since the land compensation has all been paid.

He also informed that Rs 250 Crore has been sanctioned for the Dimapur Road project from Golaghat, Purana to Chumukedima, and Kohima Police check Gate to Lerie road project, the tender for which will be opened on April 5.

Minister for Social Welfare Kiyaneilie Peseyie, while stating that upholding the party policy and ideology is important, however viewed that working for the party with integrity is more important. “We do not know how much we have done for the people, only God will know. But we have worked for the people. Whatever people may say or criticize does not matter as long as we work with integrity,” he said.

Goneiu Sirie, in his presidential address recalled the history of the NPF party and stressed on the need to focus towards enlarging the party. “Uphold, respect and strengthen it further,” urged Sirie, who added: “Our leaders are manning the government with great wisdom and we trust in their leadership, we trust that the decisions they make are for the good of the people.”

RSZ cautions govt on NH-2 roadwork PHED on personnel management and streamlining of recruitment

DIMAPUR, MARCH 29 (MExN): The Rengma Selo Zi (RSZ) today cautioned that it can no longer tolerate the excuse of “technical problems,” which it stated the Department of National Highway Nagaland has claimed for more than a decade, regarding the condition of the National Highway 2 (erstwhile NH-61) from Kilometer 40 to 72 between Tseminyu Sub-division and Wokha District.

A press note from the RSZ stated that it would have no hesitation to impose any agitations in any manner within its jurisdiction, “as the matter has gone beyond tolerance, which it considers as an Insult to the community.”

The RSZ informed that on October 31, 2016, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highway Government of India dated NO.NH-12014/74/2015/NG/P-8 sent an administrative approval of financial sanction for strengthening and widening of two lane with paved shoulder of NH-61 from KM-40 to 72.40 KM with an approved sanctioned of

Rs.340.2687 Crore, and as per the directive of MORTH Govt of India, the work was supposed to start by December 2016 and to be completed November 2019. It was also directed that the work be awarded within six months from the issue of the date from the Ministry.

It questioned why the work has not been awarded till today to any contractor, and why open tender which was floated in the month of December 2016 was nullified or rejected and why the new tender was floated again on March 7 2017, when the approved sanctioned was about to be lapsed by April 2017.

The RSZ expressed skepticism about the functioning and system of the department “as it has been shifting blame game from one corner to another for many years and denying the right of the citizens.”

Expressing hope for a positive response from the government, the RSZ warned that it would impose any sort of agitation within its jurisdiction.

Our Correspondent Kohima | March 29

The Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) is manned by 1866 regular officers/staff and 1970 work charged employees as of January 2017.

The personnel bio-data such as name, father’s name, native village, designation/rank, date of appointment, date of birth, place of posting, date of posting to the present office, basic pay scale and total monthly emolument are stored in computer record which enable the department to update their status at any point of time and also help to assess fund requirement for establishment cost from time to time.

This was stated in the annual administrative report 2016-17 of PHED tabled in the floor of the House on Tuesday by PHED minister Chotisuh Sazo.

“This also help to identify the numbers of staff in each village, town and under each office with their tenure in that office, and also tribe wise census in the department,” the report stated.

Allregularemployeespossesgovernment photo indentify cards, while work charged employees in the department are issued Photo identity cards containing complete bio data with a Unique Code Number.

This data-base help prepare category wise seniority, date of retirement etc. All these person-

nel information are now managed through the state Personnel Management Information System (PMIS) of P&AR department.

The report stated that all new appointments, promotions and service regularization etc pertaining to Grade III and IV staff (Except those with pay scale of Rs. 4125.00 and above) are done through a Screening Committee with formal approval of the Government. Regular vacancies/apparent vacancies are filled up in accordance with the standing government order. “New appointment of work charged/ad-hoc/contract employees have been stopped completely by the department since 1995 as per government ban order,” the report added.

Nagaland Budget 2016-17 estimates NSCN (Reformation) alleges Rs 13, 646 Crore total expenditure ‘surgical targeting’ by AR Salary and wages account largest amount within revenue expenditure Our Correspondent Kohima | March 29

The Nagaland Economic Survey 2016-17 has informed that the budget 2016-17 estimated the total expenditure on consolidated fund at Rs. 13, 646 crore, which was 7.70% higher than 2015-16 (R.E) estimate of Rs. 12, 670 crore.

Increase total expenditure during 2016-17 (B.E) was mainly on account of the expected growth in both capital expenditure by 2.40% and revenue expenditure by 10.05% over 201516 (R.E), the report stated.

Revenue expenditure, which accounts for 67.01% of the total budget expenditure in 2014-15 (Actual), has steadily increased to 69.33 % in 2015-16 (R.E) and is estimated to further increase to 70.84 % in 2016-17 (B.E). As a percentage of GSDP at current prices, revenue expenditure which accounted for 45.72 % in 2015-16 (Q.E) marginally increased to 45.77 % in 2016-17 (A.E).

Capital expenditure which is expenditure on capital works and investment in public assets is estimated to grow by 2.40 % in 2016-17 (B.E) accounts for 29.16

% of the budget expenditure and Salary and wages Salary and wages which ac18.84 % of GSDP 2016-17. counts for the largest amount within revenue expenditure inDevelopmental expenditure creased from Rs. 3697.19 crore in on revenue account Out of the total revenue ex- 2015-16 (R.E) to Rs. 3972.49 crore penditure of Rs. 8784.21 crore in 2016-17 (BE). On percentage in 2015-16 (R.E) and Rs. 9667.05 terms, salary and wages which crore in 2016-17 (B.E), develop- alone accounted for 42.09% of revmental expenditure which com- enue expenditure in 2015-16 (R.E) prises of expenditure on social is expected to fall to 41.09 % during services and economics servic- 2016-17 (B.E). The percentage dees accounted for 56.91 % in the cline in salary and wages, despite revenue expenditure of 2015- increase in absolute mount spent 16 (R.E) and 56.12% of revenue on salary and wages is due to the expenditure in 2016-17 (BE). In increase revenue expenditure. absolute terms, developmental As a percentage of total expendiexpenditure for 2015-16 (R.E) ture on consolidated fund, salary was Rs. 4998.87 crore and during and wages accounts for 29.18% in 2016-17 (BE) it is anticipated to 2015-16 (R.E) and 29.11 % in 201617 (B.E). increase to Rs. 5425.37 crore.

Non-developmental expenditure on revenue account The non-developmental expenditure on revenue account which comprises of expenditure on general services of the government organization, fiscal services, interest payment and servicing of debt, administrative services, pensions and miscellaneous general services accounts for 43.09 % of revenue expenditure during 2015-16 (R.E) and 43.88 % during 2016-17 (B.E).

Pension and other retirement benefits Pension and other retirement benefits which is the second largest component of revenue expenditure is estimated to increase from Rs. 1113.14 crore in 2015-16 (RE) to Rs. 1402.29 crore in 2016-17 (B.E). Pension and other retirement benefits as a percentage of revenue expenditure is estimated to increase from 12.17% during 2015-16 (RE) to 14.51 % during 2016-17 (B.E).

Interest payment Interest payment which accounts for 7.49 % of revenue expenditure in 2015-16 (R.E) increased to 8.66 % in 2016-17 (B.E). In absolute terms, interest payment increased from Rs. 658.26 crore during 2015-16 (R.E) to Rs. 836.69 crore during 2016-17 (B.E) registering a growth of 27.10%.

Others Others which comprises of travel expenses, office expenses, motor vehicles, rent rate & taxes, machinery & equipment, maintenance, material & supplies, rural development programme, special area programme, arms & ammunitions, ration & clothing (police, jails), advertisement & publicity, publication, legal fees, library, hospitality expenses, grant/assistance, discretionary grant of governor & ministers, etc. accounting for 37.75% of revenue expenditure in 2015-16 (RE) is estimated to decline to 35.75 % in 2016-17 (B.E). Others which amount to Rs. 3455.58 during 2016-17 (B.E) registered a growth 4.22% over that of 2015-16 (R.E) totaling to Rs. 3315.62 crore.

DIMAPUR, MARCH 29 (MExN): The NSCN (R) today alleged that the Assam Rifles “choose to operate surgically, targeting only the NSCN(R) among many other groups operating in the Naga areas of Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur killing many unsuspecting Naga Army for awards and accolades.”

This, it said is being done despite the NSCN (R) being officially at ceasefire with the GoI in the state of Nagaland.

This, a press note from the NSCN (R) stated has “raised a serious question mark on the sincerity of the Government of India to resolve the long pending Indo-Naga issue.”

“GoI must know that, we accepted ceasefire to promote peace and bring an early solution to the Indo-Naga imbroglio. NSCN (R) is a responsible organisation and we will explore all possible option to defend the rights of the Nagas if anti-Naga and anti-peace activities of the Assam Rifles continues unabated,” it added.

It further urged that the GoI must restraint and halt the Assam rifles immediately from provoking further and com-

plicating the Indo-Naga issue.

“Their action will not serve any purpose except, if not for leaving a negative trail on the images of the GOI,” it stated.

It reminded that the NSCN (R) was “formed based on the principle of love and peace.” “…We chose to go ahead with the ceasefire mechanism because, violence can only give us more sadness and sorrow. Any issue can be resolved through talks and negotiation.

Unless if we talk, how would we even know what all the GOI is prepared to accede and what all not?” the NSCN (R) questioned.

However, it lamented that “we have seen not much difference in the attitudes of the security forces.” “Their words and action remains miles apart.

The Home Minister and his deputy has on numerous occasions appealed to all armed groups to abjure violence and accept a negotiated settlement.

Unfortunately, it is the forces under them, who would not leave a single opportunity to kill, apprehend and frame false charges to make their wrong doings appear right in the eyes of the law,” it alleged.

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ThursDAY 30•03•2017

NAGALAND

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Protecting plant varieties and farmer’s rights

SASRD conduct awareness on PPV & FRA, which ensures protection of intellectual property rights of plant varieties, recognize, and reward farmers for their contributions in preserving and conserving the plant genetic resources and traditional varietal wealth.

Morung Express News Medziphema | March 29

Most farmers in Nagaland are not aware of their rights established by The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority (PPV&FRA) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare Department, Government of India through the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001.

In this context, the School of Agricultural Sciences and Rural Development (SASRD), Nagaland University, Medziphema conducted an awareness programme on “Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmer’s Rights” on Wednesday.

Prof RR Hanchinal, chairperson of PPV & FRA, who was one of the key

speakers, gave an overview of Protection of Plant Variety and Farmers Right Act, 2001 (PPV & FR) and the activities carried out by the authority.

The PPV & FR is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted to provide for the establishment of an effective system for protection of plant varieties, the rights of farmers and plant breeders, and to encourage the development and cultivation of new varieties of plants.

He informed that the PPV & FR act has made provisions to establish a National Gene Fund through which the conservation of varieties developed can be done, recognized and rewarded. This fund supports and reward farming /tribal/rural communities who are engaged in conser-

An aged woman returns from her farm laden with green vegetables a few kilometers away from Wokha town. (Photo by Imti Longchar)

vation, improvement and preservation of genetic resources of economic plants and their wild relatives.

Prof Hanchinal also urged the deserving Nagaland farmers to apply for the various awards constituted under the PPV & FR act like the Plant Genome Savior

Community Award etc. He expressed disappointment that Nagaland state lacked enthusiasm to promote its deserving farmers.

The 'Plant Genome Saviour Community Award' is awarded to community of farmers which is engaged in conservation, improve-

ment and preservation of genetic resources of economic plants and their wild relatives, particularly in areas identified as agrobiodiversity hotspots.

He also gave a summary of the Indian seed industry, seed market composition, and the challenges faced by

the seed industry.

With very little known to most of the farmers about the registration procedure of their own variety and the financial benefit out of it, Dr Ravi Prakash, Registrar gave a concise explanation on registration of farmer’s varieties.

Farmers’ varieties are defined as varieties that have traditionally been cultivated and developed by the farmers in their fields, or varieties that are a wild relative or land race of any variety about which farmers possess common knowledge.

Dr Prakash explained that plant variety protection provides legal protection of a plant variety to a breeder in the form of Plant Breeder's Rights. Plant Breeder's Rights (PBRs) are intellectual property rights that provide exclusive rights to a breeder of the registered variety.

PPV&FRA have so far received 115 applications of farmer’s varieties from Nagaland, which is still being tested for confirmation.

The Registrar however observed that the figure was very less considering the fact that Nagaland is one of the richest biodiversity hot spot in the country.

“We expected at least 5000 or 10,000 of such applications,” he stated adding that many farmers will be benefitted out of this registration.

He also urged Nagaland

farmers to come forward to apply for the different awards under the Act. Prof Sapu Changkija, Department of Genetics & Plant Breeding, Medziphema campus, NU gave a power point presentation “Glimpses of floristic diversity of Nagaland.”

He said Nagaland lies in the 10th district bio-geographic zone under one of the identified 10 mega-spot in the world with reference to threats to biodiversity.

Prof Sapu informed that the floral vegetation and fauna elements represent the transitional zone of Indian, Indo-Malayan and IndoChinese bio-geographic region. Citing an instance, he said the Patkai range of Nagaland is a bio-geographic gateway.

Earlier, Prof RC Gupta, Dean, SASRD, NU in his brief remark as the chief guest also exhorted the farmers and students in attendance on the benefits of farmer’s rights, particularly in Nagaland context.

Prof M Aleminla Ao, Department of Entomology, SASRD NU delivered the welcome address.

NUN and ARK foundation SHG leader’S Summit conducted counters State TB Officer Mon qualifies to avail additional Interest Subvention of 3% set by RBI

Kohima, march 29 (mExN): The Nagaland Users’ Network (NUN) and ARK foundation, in rejoinder to the press statement issued by the State TB Officer, stated that “Bedaquiline was approved in India in 2015.”

Based on a letter sent to the Prime Minister of India

by Civil Society Organizations and Community Networks on 13 January 2017, to immediately scale up Bedaquiline program and registration of Delamanid in India, the Director General of Health services (CTD) has on March 21, 2017, replied about the efforts to make the drug available under the program more so as a result of the Delhi High Court’s Judgment.

In this regard, NUN and ARK Foundation in a press release stated that these agendas are beyond the capacity of the state RNTCP and therefore suggested them “not to make unnecessary rejoinders but to follow up on the suggestions put forth, which was called upon them to propose the need for these drugs to the central TB division in Delhi, in their Annual Action Plan.”

On the issue of the year of RNTCP being launched, NUN and ARK foundation stated that “the year is not a primary concern. However, the source of 2001 was based on the earlier website of the RNTCP Nagaland which webpage has been changed and now shows as 2012, as the year of launching. In this regard, the two NGOs suggested the RNTCP not to create more confusion but to work on updating their source.”

Regarding the CBNAAT

clarification, NUN and ARK foundation mentioned that they are very well aware of the limitations with the department at Tuensang and Zunheboto district, however suggested that the RNTCP cannot be “laid-back” but further work with the Government and its machinery to getting the machines installed. “The lives of the patients in these districts cannot be sacrificed to suffice the high case load of Kohima and Dimapur,” it added. Further, the NGOs questioned, “Why the STO chose to clarify only on this and not make any mentions on the absence of the District TB officer at Tuensang.”

It also stated that though the IPT and 99 DOTS were launched in December 2016, the clarification failed to highlight on the IPT service uptake of the total HIV reported case of 2663 in Kohima and 7607 in Dimapur as of April 2006 to March 2016 which stands to be of concern.

Therefore, the two NGOs has urged the state RNTCP to aggressively work on reaching out, counsel and linked PLHIVs to the services (IPT & 99 DOTS), not only in these two districts but even in the other districts as well.

In conclusion, NUN and ARK foundation has made it clear that the purpose of the press statement was to serve as a means of strengthening the partnership resulting to a collaborated effort between RNTCP and NGOs, and advises the RNTCP to be open for constructive criticism and added, “The two organisations would be open to a discussion, if required.”

ALL NAGALAND

GOVERNMENT PRIMARY TEACHER ASSOCIATION SHAMATOR-CHESSORE

moN, march 29 (mExN): An SHG leader’s summit was held under Financial Inclusion Initiatives programme of Nagaland State Rural Livelihood Mission (NSRLM) at DRDA resource centre, Mon town on March 28. A press note received here stated that the summit aims to bring the SHGs and the financial institutions build coordination and understanding for the growth of the rural poor.

Tsalito Sangtam, Project Director DRDA Mon, speaking as resource person shared on initiatives of Government of India towards socio-economic empowerment of women through various flag-ship programmes.

Unlike the earlier schemes with subsidy component, he clarified that the NRLM SHGs have the privilege to avail credit through Interest Subvention (IS), where a prompt loan recovery interest is sub vented from 12% to 7%. Apart from the general IS, Mon district which falls under the 150 most backward districts in the country qualifies to avail additional IS of 3% set by RBI. He reiterated that the SHGs under Mon block should set exemplary role and guide the other intensive blocks

Chief Manager SBI Mon branch addressing the SHG leader’s summit held at DRDA resource centre, Mon town on March 28.

in the days to come.

KK Sharma, Chief Manager SBI Mon main branch, who participated as resource person deliberated on stages of credit linkage and importance of documentation of book of records by the SHGs. While touching on how loans are made available by the Banks, he informed the women that loans are provided through deposits of customers. He shared his concern on the urgent need for up-liftment of the rural population of the district and assured to render support to the SHGs in credit linkage by April onwards.

W. Chemkai Konyak, Branch Manager NSCB Mon branch, shared on importance of loan recovery and livelihood. He clarified about the current system of account opening process and the system of Interest Subvention (IS) from loans offered by government of India. The IS of 5 % which is funded by NABARD/MoRD will be reimbursed to the SHG account on prompt recovery. He said NSCB is giving full support to NRLM SHGs whereby 28 SHGs have already been provided credit in 2014-15 while 34 cases are under consideration for sanction during 2016-17.

L. Temjen Longchar, District Program Manager (DPM) spoke on challenges for community cadres towards changing the lives of the down-trodden.

He expressed optimism that the NSRLM shall very soon achieve success in Nagaland like Andhra Pradesh while the standard of women will be uplifted very soon.

Rajuselie Lhousa, district coordinator for financial inclusion (DC-FI) touched on the level of financial inclusion initiatives achieved in the district. Sharing a piece of advice to the SHGs, he appealed the womenfolk to main-

Multi-specialty health mela at Kuhuboto Rs. 237.83 crore set for

Kuhuboto, march 29 (mExN): A multi-specialty health mela was successfully concluded at Kuhuboto under Dimapur District on March 28. The health mela was conducted by Department of Health & Family Welfare Dimapur under the aegis of National Health Mission at Kuhuboto PHC. During the health mela, specialist doctors from various health programmes such as Universal Immunization Programme, National Vector Borne Diseases Control Program, National Leprosy Eradication Program, National Programme for Control of Blindness, Revised National TB Control Program, National Programme for Prevention & Control of Deafness, National Mental Health Program, National Tobacco Control Programme, AYUSH, DAPCU, General Medical

Adolescents of Kuhuboto perform street play on the importance of ANC during the health mela.

Officers and Lab Technicians were also available to examine the patients and for testing. Tubectomy as Family Planning service was also performed. Blood testing for Malaria and HIV/AIDS and sputum samples were collected. Street Play on the importance of ANC by adolescents of Kuhuboto was also performed during the health mela.

A total of 515 patients availed the services provided during the health mela.

Five patients underwent Tubectomy. Interpersonal Communication on Safe motherhood, Immunization, ANC, Leprosy, Malaria, Hypertension and Iodine Deficiency were also carried out. Screening of PSA and documentaries on health topics were also aired

and IEC materials were also distributed. Free medicines were also distributed and compensations were also given to those beneficiaries opting for permanent method of Family Planning.

Earlier the day, the health mela was inaugurated by Dr. Vikato Kinimi, CMO. He urged the public o avail the medical facilities which were brought to their door steps. During the brief inaugural function, Dr. Antoly, DCMO thanked the public of Kuhuboto and the neighbouring villages for their support and co-operation. The function was chaired by Aboto Chishi, HCMC Chairman, invocation prayer by Hevitoli, Youth Pastor, and vote of thanks was delivered by Ghoshito, KGPO President and Benediction by Inashi, ASHA Kuhuboto.

KVK Phek organises Soil Health Camp

ANGPTA Sub unit Shamator-Chessore Co-organizer would like to convey our happiness to the organiser of the programme Educational Empowerment & Training Programme for Chessore Shamator Teachers under the aegis of International Research & Exchange Board (IREx, Washington USA) from 23, 24 and 25 March 2017 in St. Christopher School Chessore, we appreciate to our Chief guest Advocate Mr. H. Mukam and our resource person Rev.Fr. Francis of St Christopher School Chessore, Miss Neikhrienuno Christina from Little Star School Dimapur and Madam Tonika Yepthomi from G.H.S. Diphupar B, our innumerable appreciation to organizer Rev. Fr. Francis who took a strong task for the benefits of teaching community in our area, I also give thanks to Mr. H. Mukam Head master GHS Chessore, Sir James Tokiu Rtd SI (SE) Chessore, teachers from government and private School who shared hand for the grand success of the programme, I strongly belief and pray that Almighty will bless to the Catholic community of Saint Augustine Church Chessore and the Students of Saint Christopher School Chessore who willingly contributed tea and meal and a room for the training.

R. THRONGJI, General Secretary

tain tolerance within the groups while resist unfavorable situations and protect the already built institutions of the poor. He expressed gratitude to the leadership in SMMU NSRLM for providing support to organize the workshop under ‘FI Initiatives’ in Mon district.

S.K Das, field officer of SBI Mon main branch, also participated in the meeting appealed the public to work hand in hand so as to bring positive changes in the public welfare system.

Earlier, L. Hangsa Konyak, block program manager (BPM) Mon block shared on the history of NRLM, its vision and activities undertaken during the last 4 years in Mon block. The Bankers and SHG leaders also had a very healthy deliberation towards relation building.

Altogether 83 participants comprised of grass-root level women leaders representing Village Level Organization (VLO), Bank Sakhi (BS), Village Facilitator (VF), Master Book Keeper (MBK) and Internal Community Resource Person (ICRP) respectively from the 18 villages of Mon block including bankers, DMMU and BMMU staff of NSRLM attended the program.

PhEK, march 29 (mExN): One day programme on Soil Health Camp was organised by KVK Phek, ICAR-NRC on Mithun under Soil Science division on March 27 where 20 students from Porba Government High School participated in the programme.

During the programme, Dr. T Esther Longkumer, ACTO-Soil Science spoke on the importance of soil, fertility management based on bio fertilizers, green manuring crops and vermicompost production- importance and benefits of vermicomposting, different

Students of Porba Government High School with others during the programme on Soil Health Camp held on March 27.

methods involved in making of vermicompost, application doses to crops and also as a source of income generation. Procedures for

soil sample collection were demonstrated and different types of chemical fertilizers and organic fertilizers were also shown to the students.

This was stated in a press release issued by Dr. T Esther Longkumer, ACTO-Soil Science, KVK Phek, ICAR-NRC on Mithun.

fostering climate smart highland agriculture project Our Correspondent Kohima | March 29

The state government is taking up a project for “Fostering Climate Smart Highland Agriculture in rural areas of Nagaland” under the Externally Aided Project scheme, with funding from the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD).

The tentative amount of the IFAD loan is US $ 35 million, which work out to Rs. 237.83 crores approximately, spread over a six year period, said Chief Minister Dr. Shürhozelie Liezietsu in his budget speech.

The project will cover eight out of the 11 districts of the state.

Dimapur district is not being included since it is located mostly in plain areas.

Tuensang and Peren districts have been excluded as they are already covered under the World Bank supported “North East Rural Livelihoods Programme (NERLP.” The project will cover 1.3 lakh rural households, and will focus broadly on improving jhum areas and value chain development.

Dr. Liezietsu stated that the main objective of this project is to restore the ecological balance by addressing the growing human needs through a harmonious blend of modern technological advances with traditional knowledge and experience.

Rs. 533 crores for improving forest eco-system Chief Minister Dr. Shürhozelie Liezietsu today announced that an important project is being implemented with external aid from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in the forestry sector. He said the project will aim at improving the forest eco-system and promote rural income generation through rehabilitation of jhum areas, while providing livelihood support in the project areas covering 79,000 hectares.

The project has an overall cost of Rs. 533 crores, and will be implemented over the period of 10 years, he said. He said that this externally aided project including a project for “Fostering Climate Smart Highland Agriculture in rural areas of Nagaland” in agricultural sector in the rural areas of the state will transform “our rural landscape, and bring about improvements in the lives of our people.”

The Chief Minister called upon all the officers involved in these two projects to leave no stone unturned to ensure that the projects are successfully implemented, in order that our credibility is enhanced in the eyes of external funding agencies, paving the way for more inflow of such funds to our state.

thursday 30•03•2017

NORTH-EAST 3

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

SC upholds Tripura High Court's sacking of over 10,000 teachers

aGartala/New DelhI, march 29 (IaNS): In a major setback to the Tripura government, the Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the Tripura High Court order terminating the jobs of over 10,000 teachers but allowed them to continue in their jobs till December 31, the state's Law Secretary said.

The apex court asked the Tripura government to initiate the fresh recruitment process and allowed the terminated teachers to participate in the selection process.

"A Supreme Court di-

vision bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit upheld the Tripura High Court's May 7, 2014, order terminating the jobs of 10,323 government teachers. However, the Supreme Court allowed them to continue in service till December 31," Tripura Law Secretary D.M. Jamatia told IANS over phone from New Delhi.

"The Supreme Court also asked the Tripura government to initiate a fresh recruitment process

by May 31 and complete it

by December 31 in com-

3 dead in oil tanker fire

GuwahatI, march 29 (ptI): Three persons were charred to death when an oil tanker burst into flames after it rammed into a tree along National Highway 37 in Nagaon district of Assam today, police officials said. The incident occured at Baghjan near Jakhalabandha. The three were in the tanker whose flames also engulfed the tree, gutted three nearby houses and a minibus parked nearby. The residents however, escaped unhurt, the officials said.

Competition for news photographs GuwahatI, march 29 (aGeNcIeS): A competi-

tion for news photographs is being organized by Kapil Das Memorial Committee, Assam, in memory of photo-journalist Kapil Das, who was associated with The Assam Tribune group of newspapers.

News photographs published between February 1, 2016 and February 28, 2017 can be submitted to kdmemorialaward2017@ gmail.com. Prizes will be distributed on April 20 next at a function in which a senior journalist will be felicitated and finanE-Tender Notice No. N-2016-17-TSK-NIT-14 Dated: 24-03-2017

W orks tenders through ETendering System are invited by the undersigned for the following work: Sl. No. 1, E-Tender No.: N-201617-TSK-T-27. Brief Description of item: Replacement of LC gates (DD/ 66, DD/71 & DD/79) and interlocking of Traffic LC gates FM/59 & FM/61 at JTTN station. Tender Value: `1,12,67,389.20; Earnest Money: `2,06,340/-; Cost of tender: `5,000/ -; Completion period: 270 days.

Sl. No. 2, E-Tender No.: N-201617-TSK-T-28. Brief Description of item: Restoration S&T UG cable affected due to Engg. W ork of subway at LC gate no. MD/3 and SM/17. Tender Value: `18,11,946.99; Earnest Money: `36,240/-; Cost of tender: `2,000/; Completion period: 180 days.

Date and time of Closing of all above E-tender: on 28-04-2017 at 12.00 hrs.

Date and time of Opening of all above E-tender: on 28-04-2017 at 15.30 hrs.

The complete information with the tender document of above e-tender will be available upto 15.00 hrs of 27-04-2017 in website http:// www.ireps.gov.in. The tenderer requires to submit their e-tender on this website only. Tenders other than in the form of e-tendering shall not be accepted against above etenders, for this purpose, contractors are required to get themselves registered with IREPS website along with class III Digital signature certificates. Rates Entered into Rate page and duly signed digitally shall only be considered. Rates in any other financialentity on any other form/letter in attached by tenderers shall not be considered. Documents being attached should be signed digitally by the tenderer. The manual/offline mode of payment through Demand Draft, Bankers Cheque, Cash Deposit Receipt shall not be available against works tenders. The bidders will have to make all payment either through Net Banking, debit/credit etc. available on IREPS Portal.

Fixed deposit Receipt (FDR) will not be accepted as EMD for tenders invited on IREPS (etender portal). Tender would close at the specified time and date. In case the specified date is declared a holiday, the Tender would close at the same time on the next working day. In case of any difficulty, help desk available on the website of IREPS may be approached.

Divisional Signal & Telecom Engineer, Tinsukia

cial grant will be handed over to a photo-journalist. The initiative is sponsored by prominent businessmen Ayush Surya Tarun Hazarika, Sanjib Bhattacharyya, Dip Hazarika and Pramiod Harlalka. For details, contact 9854056525/9577411874.

pliance with the obligatory qualifications as mandated by the NCERT (National Council for Educational Research and Training)."

"The state government may consult with the union MHRD (Ministry of Human Resource Development) about the procedure of the recruitment process and procedure," he said.

The Supreme Court order came on three special leave petitions filed before it separately by the Tripura government, beneficiary teachers and terminated teachers.

Tripura Law and Education Minister Tapan Chakraborty said in Agartala that the state government would take its next course of action after receiving the certified copy of the Supreme Court judgment. " The government would stand behind the government teachers," he told reporters.

A division bench of the Tripura High Court, comprising then Chief Justice Deepak Kumar Gupta (now elevated to the apex court) and then Justice Swapan Chandra Das

(since retired) had passed the order and asked the state government to frame a new employment policy within two months.

Tripura's Left Front government recruited 1,100 post-graduate and Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh visited the injured victims of Monday accidents at 4,617 graduate teachers Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Shija Hospitals, Raj Medicity and Jawaharlal in 2010 and 4,606 under- Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) in Imphal on Wednesday. graduate teachers in December 2013.

The main opposiLOST NOTICE tion parties, including I, Smti. LHOUTUN the Congress, Bharatiya RHAKHO, applying for a Owner Name: Rahul Das Duplicate Copy of Class-9 Janata Party and the TrinType of vehicle: Bike (Nine) Passed Certificate amool Congress, had welEngine Nbr:U3S5C0FA651692 as I have lost it., Father’s comed the high court's Name: Povotso Rhakho, Chassis Nbr:ME303S5C1FA150026 verdict and sought fresh Mother’s Name: Vechilü Colour: M/Blue Rhakho, Year of Passing: recruitments.

STOLEN BIKE

Temples in Manipur border attacked Imphal, march 29 (IaNS): A Hindu temple on the Indian side of the India-Myanmar International Border was attacked on Wednesday, causing concern among local officials and people.

The second largest temple in the Northeast -- and popularly known as Shiva temple -- was attacked with a powerful remotecontrolled bomb around 8.45 a.m, police said. No casualty was reported.

The temple was inaugurated over 18 years ago by the Tamil Sangam Moreh in association with the trading community

AFFIDAVIT

Regd. No: 316 Date: 23/3/2017 I, Shri. HOTOKHU K. SEMA S/o Khanizu permanent resident of Satakha Town Dist. Zunheboto Nagaland do hereby solemnly affirm and declare an oath as under:1. That I am a bonafide citizen of India, resident of the above mentioned address.

2. That my name is erroneously entered/recorded as HOTOKHU K. SEMA in my service book, HOTOKHU K. SUMI in Govt. Id and in PAN Card No. GVCPS3685E. 3. That the above mentioned name & title belongs to one and same person henceforth declare to apply and consider legally right and genuine for all official purpose.

4. Henceforth I shall use my name as HOTOKHU K. SEMA in all official purposes and future correspondence.

Deponent Solemnly sworn before me by the deponent Notary Public, Nagaland

settled at Moreh, Manipur's border town. The town has a mixed population of Hindus, Muslims and Christians.

Troopers of 11 Assam Rifles and local police rushed there soon after the blast.

Electric bulbs, water tankers, window panes and some of the temple walls were damaged in the blast, a Brahmin attendant of the temple told IANS. Temple authorities said there was no monetary demand from any

militant group.

Police said security measures have been beefed up in the border town.

On Sunday, another bomb exploded near the Nepali temple on the Myanmar side, intelligence sources told IANS. The temple is located 500 metres away from the Namphalong international market, frequented by Indian traders and tourists.

"We do not know why we are being targeted," said the temple authorities.

AFFIDAVIT

Date: 29/03/2017

I, Shri. KHETOVI SEMA age about 49 Years permanent resident of Keltomi Village P.O. Aghunato, under Zunheboto. District, State Nagaland and presently residing at Keltomi Village P.O. Aghunato, District Zunheboto, State Nagaland, do hereby solemnly affirm and declare as follows.

1. That I am bonafide citizen of India belonging to Sumi (Naga) Community.

2. That in all my documents it was written KHETOVI SEMA 3. That due to clear error mistake in my SBI bearing A/C No. 30678250106. It was KHETOVI SUMI. Beside in my service ID CARD it was written as KHETOVI ACHUMI 4. That the above mention name KHETOVI SEMA/KHETOVI SUMI & KHETOVI ACHUMI refers to one and the same person.

Deponent Solemnly sworn before me by the deponent Notary Public, Nagaland

NOTICE

Whereas application under Succession Act 1925 for grant of succession certificate for the estate of Late Bonkeswas Wari Momim has filed by Smti. Atula Momin (children) R/o Ekrani Pathar to draw his:Land covered by Patta No. 167, Dag No. 298 Dimapur Mouza No. 3 measuring an area of 07B-01K-00LS situated at Ekranipathar, Dimapur who expired on 08.10.1994. Notice is hereby given that any person having interest in the administration of the estate of the said deceased may if she/he so desire appear in this court on or before the said day of 1st May, 2017.

Given under the hand and seal of the Court on this 29th day of March, 2017.

Principal District & Sessions Judge Dimapur: Nagaland

"Serving Customers with a smile"

Size = (W) 4cm × (L) 20cm = 80SqCm

BHARAT SANCHAR NIGAM LIMITED (A GovERNMENT oF INDIA ENTERPRISE) oFFICE oF THE GENERAL MANAGER TELECoM DISTRICT NAGALAND SSA: DIMAPUR

PRESS NOTIFICATION

Dated: 30-03-17 Due to Administrative reasons, BSNL Nagaland SSA, Dimapur hereby extends the last date of the Tender submission upto 11-April-2017 13:00 PM for “Disposal of various scrapped items/stores in various locations in NAGALAND SSA” which was earlier published in Newspaper on 11-March-2017.

The total reserve value of the scrapped items/stores will be upto Rs 15,000/- for each case. The Notice inviting Quotation (forms) can be collected from the Office of the GMTD BSNL NAGALAND SSA between 11:00 Hrs to 13:00 Hrs on any working day upto 11th April 2017.

AGM (Admn) O/o GMTD, BSNL, Dimapur 797112 03862-228470

2016, School: Government High School Ketsapo.

Contact No.: 9862866375

Model: Thunder Bird 350

Stolen on 28/3/17 at Netaji Railway colony H/Nbr-37, Dimapur.

Finder may contact 9774528537and will be rewarded 10,000

GOVERNMENT OF NAGALAND OFFICE OF THE CHIEF ENGINEER (D&R) DEPARTMENT OF POWER E- TENDER NOTICE

For information of interested/eligible bidders - log in at www.nagalandtenders.gov.in to participate in the bidding process for the following packages of DDUGJY works.

A/Feeder & DTR meters: on the website 30/03/17 B/ 33/11 KV Substation works: on the website 20/04/17 C/ 33 KV Line: on the website 25/04/17 D/11 KV line, DTR & LT: on the website 25/04/17

Chief Engineer (D& R) Department of Power, Nagaland: Kohima

4

ThursDAY 30•03•2017

business

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Toshiba’s Westinghouse files for US bankruptcy protection TOKYO, March 29 (reuTers): Toshiba Corp’s troubled U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors on Wednesday, as its Japanese parent seeks to limit losses that have plunged it into crisis.

A bankruptcy filing will allow Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse, whose nuclear plant projects have been dogged by delays and cost overruns, to renegotiate or break its construction contracts, although the utilities that own the projects would likely seek damages.

For Toshiba, the aim is to mitigate liabilities stemming from guarantees it provided backing the contractor’s work. Toshiba said Westinghouse-related liablities totalled $9.8 billion

the Vogtle Unit 3 and 4 site, being constructed by primary contactor westinghouse, a business unit of toshiba, near waynesboro, Georgia, U.s. is seen in an aerial photo. ( REUTERS File Photo)

as of December. tect its core businesses durWestinghouse said it ing its reorganisation. as secured $800 million in Toshiba, whose shares financing to fund and pro- have crashed as Westing-

house’s problems surfaced, said in a statement it would guarantee up to $200 million of the financ-

ing for Westinghouse, adding that the troubled unit would be removed from its consolidated books at the end of the month.

The Japanese company said it would hold a news conference at 0845 GMT. Westinghouse, which made the filing at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, said that its operations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa would not be impacted by the filing.

“We are focused on developing a plan of reorganization to emerge from Chapter 11 as a stronger company while continuing to be a global nuclear technology leader,” Westinghouse Interim President and CEO Jos Emeterio Gutirrez said in a statement.

Supreme Court bans sale of oldertechnology vehicles from April neW DeLhI, March 29 (reuTers): The Supreme Court on Wednesday banned the sale of vehicles running on older Euro III fuel technology from April 1, a decision that led to a sharp fall in shares of major automakers sitting on unsold inventories.

Shares of 2-wheeler manufacturer Hero MotoCorp fell as much as 4.4%, while those of truck manufacturer Ashok Leyland were down as much as 6.6% and carmaker Tata Motors’ shares dropped nearly 2%.

The court, in its judgment, said health concerns of citizens took precedence over any financial losses for companies. India, in 2015, had said automakers must manufacture only Euro IVcompliant vehicles from April 1, 2017 as they are less polluting, but did not propose banning the sale of older-technology vehicles

Vehicles jam the road in srinagar. (REUTERS File Photo)

from the same day.

Currently Euro IV vehicles, locally known as Bharat Stage (BS) IV, are sold in select states, while Euro III vehicles are sold more widely across the country. There is unsold stock of more than 800,000 BS III-compliant vehicles, mainly 2-wheelers, worth about Rs. 120 billion ($1.85 billion), Mumbai-based Angel Broking said in a note.

It added that the older

technology two-wheeler inventory could be sold in international markets where such vehicles are still permitted. “Days before the deadline, they said you cannot sell,” Vinod Dasari, president of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), and managing director of Ashok Leyland, told television channel BTVi. “I don’t think this much inventory can be sold off in the next couple of days,” Dasari said.

NABARD with other banks launch Tata Tigor Subcompact Sedan launched in India neW DeLhI, March 29 (agencIes): five-inch infotainment system, eight-speaker Farmers Club in Mokokchung Tata Motors on Wednesday officially launched system from Harman, automatic climate conMOKOKchung, March 29 (Mexn): NABARD launched five Farmers Clubs in Mokokchung District at Chakba, Salulamang, Satuskba, Medemyim and Aopenzu village partnering with Care and Support Society (C&SS), Mokokchung, supported

by NStCB, Mokokchung and Tuli Branch and SBI Tsurangkong Branch. During the inauguration cum Base Level Orientation Training Program (BLOTP)

of these clubs, S. Amarjit Mangang, DDM, NABARD shared the importance of having a Farmers Club in the villages. He informed the villagers and Club members that Farmers Clubs are formed to strengthen the relationship between the banks and their rural clients. The idea was to bring development through credit, bring technology transfer and more awareness and capacity building for the farmers as well as for other

Birthday Greeting Dearest Ajung (Chingmo)

I was dreaming of a wonderful niece and your parents were expecting a cute daughter. You know what,GOD was so kind that he fulfilled both our wishes.Happy birthday my mischievous niece.

Lots of love Ati Alem n Aien

villagers who are engaged in various income generation activities.

He informed the villagers that through this forum they can convey their issues and problems to the banks and government departments. Banks can also use this forum for recovery of loans and business expansion. He further advised the clubs to help the bank in deposit mobilization, help in extension of KCC in the villages. He also advised the clubs to conduct social services like cleanliness drive, conducting of Financial Literacy Camps with Banks and Medical Camps for the villagers.

During the programmes, Branch Mangers advised the Farmer Clubs to act as an agent to bridge the gap between banks and farmers of the village. They also advised the Farmers clubs to help the banks in opening of accounts and as well as in recovery of loans.

The banks also assured that they are ready to provide credit support to farmers through KCC.

leisure

CROSSWORD # 3901

SUDOKU

Answer Number # 3896

trol, among others.

Tigor is powered by the same engine seen on the Tiago. So, it gets 1.2-litre petrol engine which churns out 85 Ps of power and 114Nm of torque. The diesel variant gets a 1.05-litre engine with 70Ps of power and 140Nm of torque.

Bookings for the car were thrown open last week for an amount of Rs 4,000. With an uplifted Dzire from Maruti and the all-new Chevrolet Beat Essentia also looming around the corner, the segment is buzzing with automakers vying hard to score over competition and win a place in Indian homes.

An elderly woman inaugurates a handicraft centre at Athibung village in Peren district on tuesday.

Handicraft Centre was provided by the 36 Assam Rifles and will be run by Henpu Kuki, a certified handicraftsman of Government of nagaland.

std code: 03862

DiMaPUR ACROSS 1. Road or bridge fees 6. Stinging insect 10. Questions 14. Utilize 15. Curved molding 16. Breathe hard 17. Embankment 18. Formal dance 19. Comply with 20. Geranium 22. Algonquian Indian 23. Pottery oven 24. Exit 26. Dethrone 30. Female sib 31. Attempt 32. Dwarf buffalo 33. Bristle 35. A drama set to music 39. Urinary organs 41. Fasten 43. Statistics 44. Sounds of reproof 46. Parental sister 47. Autonomic nervous system 49. Zero 50. Jar tops 51. Flower part 54. Bit of gossip 56. Game on horseback 57. A formal charge of wrongdoing 63. Two-toed sloth 64. Trudge 65. Gnatlike insect 66. “Darn!”

67. Unadulterated 68. Ales 69. Notch 70. Cravings 71. Something of value DOWN 1. After-bath powder 2. Not under 3. Magma 4. Mortgage

Simple Rules - Fill in the grid so that every row, every column, and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.

Game Number # 3897

their much-awaited mid-segment sedan+ - Tigor. Pronounced ‘tee-gaur’, the car gets a starting price of Rs 4.70 lakh and will directly lock horns with the likes of Maruti Suzuki Dzire, Honda’s Amaze, Hyundai Xcent, Ford Aspire and Volkswagen Ameo.

Based on the Tiago platform, the Tigor stands taller than the hatchback. It is also wider and longer. It has been loaded with features like dual-tone front bumpers, smoked projector head lights, 15-inch alloys and LED tail lights (varying with variants). On the inside too, the Tigor gets a host of features which include a

5. Streamlined 6. Most unstable 7. Opposed 8. Peddle 9. A small sphere 10. Being of questionable authenticity 11. A fencing sword 12. Leg joints 13. Infections of the eye 21. Pantywaist 25. Hot rum drink 26. Trees of the genus Quercus 27. Module 28. Fizzy drink 29. Equivalent 34. Mental positions 36. Decorative case 37. Cleave 38. Picnic insects 40. Feudal worker 42. Small islands 45. Mythical animal 48. Dapper 51. Potatoes 52. Anagram of “Talon” 53. San Antonio fort 55. Arboreal snake 58. Hint 59. Fastens 60. Midmonth date 61. Monster 62. Where a bird lives

Answer to Crossword 3900

ABsent AreA BeGIn BonUs Center CIVIL CLeAr Cone ConstrUCtIon ForeCAst GerMs GLee GrAB HIstorY InForM InItIAL LABeL LIFts LoCALe

O

R

MAte Meter PerIod PIAno PrInCe retAIL rIPs sCALe sPLInter sPreAd stArK steAdY tAre teArs tHInKInG trAnsPort trIte VIrtUe

D

TaHaMZaM

std code: 03871

(formerly senapati)

Police station Fire Brigade

222246 222491

Civil Hospital

232224

emergency

229529 229474

MH Hospital

227930 231081

Fire Brigade

2222952

Faith Hospital

228846

naga Hospital

2222916

shamrock Hospital

228254

oking Hospital

2243339

Zion Hospital

231864 224117 227337

Bethel nursing Home

2224202

northeast shuttles

08974997923

Police Control room

228400

Police Traffic Control

232106

KoHIMA Ps/oCs Contact numbers

east Police station

227607

west Police station

232181

CIHsr (referral Hospital)

242555 242533

dimapur Hospital

224041 248011

KOHiMa

north Ps

std code: 0370

8575045501

Officer-in-Charge 8575045510 south Ps

8575045502

Officer-in-Charge 8575045520 Zubza Ps

8575045508

Officer-in-Charge 8575045518

Apollo Hospital Info Centre 230695/ 9402435652

Chiephobozou Ps 8575045506 Officer-in-Charge 8575045516

railway

131/228404

tseminyu Ps

Airport Indian Airlines

229366 242441 225212

Khuzama Ps

8575045507

Officer-in-Charge 8575045517 8575045505

Officer-in-Charge 8575045515

Chumukedima Fire Brigade 282777

W

nagaland state Cooperative Bank (nstCB) launched it 8th AtM services for its banking operation at Jalukie on March 28 with the inauguration of AtM booth by rhosietho nguori, sdo (Civil) as chief guest. d. sale, General Manager (Id) delivered the welcome address and vote of thanks was given by thenuvisa Luho. sr. Manager, Jalukie Branch. Monzeung Mpom, Pastor, Jalukie town Baptist Church blessed the function through his invocation prayer while short speech was delivered ramwang

Kezocha Ps

8575045549

nikos Hospital and research Centre

232032, 231031

nagaland Multispecialty Health & research Centre

women Cell 8575045509 248302, 09856006026 Officer-in-Charge 8575045519

eden Medical Centre

248722 /248288

S

E

A

R

C

Officer-in-Charge 8575045538

Control room

H

8575045500 (Emergency No. – 100)

FiRE STaTiONS

KoHIMA soUtH: 0370-2222952/ 101 (O) 9402003086 (OC) KoHIMA nortH: 7085924114 (O) dIMAPUr: 03862-232201/ 101 (O) 9856156876 (OC) CHUMUKedIMA: 7085982102 (O) 8732810051 (OC) woKHA: 03860-242215/101 (O) 8974322879 (OC) MoKoKCHUnG: 0369-2226225/ 101 (O) 8415830232 (OC) PHeK: 8414853765 (O) 8413822476(OC) ZUnHeBoto: 03867-280304/ 101 (O) 9436422730 (OC) tUensAnG: 8414853766 (O) 9856163601 (OC) Mon: 03869-251222/ 101 (O) 9862130954 (OC) Kiphire: 8414853767 (O) 9436261577 (OC) Peren: 7085189932 (O) 9856311205 (OC) LonGLenG: 7085924113 (O) 9862414264 (OC) we4 woMen HeLPLIne 08822911011 WOMEN HeLPLIne 181 CHiLD weLFAre CoMMIttee Toll free No. 1098 childline

MOKOKCHUNG

std code: 0369

Police station 1 Police station 2 Police station Kobulong Police station tuli Police station Changtongya Police station Mangkolemba Civil Hospital

9485232688 9485232689 9485232690 9485232693 9485232694 9485232695 2226216

woodland nursing Home

2226263

Hotel Metsüpen (tourist Lodge) 2226373/ 2229343

CURRENCY NOTES BUY (rs) seLL (rs)

Us dollars sterling Pound Hong Kong dollar Australian dollar singapore dollar Canadian dollar Japanese Yen euro thai Baht Korean won UAe dirham (Aed) Chinese Yuan

63.91 79.68 7.96 48.84 45.58 47.88 57.07 68.87 1.78 0.0552 16.84 9.00

66.81 83.56 8.87 51.24 47.83 50.23 60.30 72.20 1.99 0.0615 18.76 10.02

Thursday 30•03•2017

NAGALAND

Governor requests HRD Minister to continue CSS for Hindi teachers

Kohima, march 29 (mExN): Governor of Nagaland, PB Acharya has written to the Union Minister for Human Resource Development (HRD) Prakash Javadekar requesting him to consider continuing till December 20, 2017 the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Financial Assistance for Appointment of Language Teachers, under which 1379 Hindi Teachers have been appointed in Nagaland.

Expressing concern that the Central Government in a letter has already mentioned that the Scheme will be discontinued upon completion of the terminal year of the 12th Five Year Plan period 2012-2017, he appealed to the Minister to “continue the said Scheme for Non-

Hindi States like strategic border area State of Nagaland where Hindi speaking people are a positive agent to strengthen National integration,” stated a press statement from PRO, Raj Bhavan.

Lauds bill for compulsory teaching of NE culture Acharya, who is also in-charge of Arunachal Pradesh, has lauded MP (Lok Sabha) from Arunachal Pradesh, Ninong Ering for introducing a Bill in Parliament for compulsory teaching of North East culture in educational institutions, a separate press release from PRO, Raj Bhavan said.

The Governor observed that most universities in the country have department for foreign languages, but

none for tribal dialects. He stated that if one has to respect a person, one has to respect them in toto, their dress, language – dialect, food habits, physical features, etc. “Universities have to open up their mind towards tribals in general and the people of North East in particular,” he added.

As a first step, Acharya suggested, the universities can open a Department/ Chair to learn, speak and read the tribal dialects of the eight North East states and call it NAMASTE – NE Department.

The Governor mentioned that under his initiative, NITTE Health & Science University of Mangaluru has already opened a Chair in the name of Rani Ma Gaidinliu for teaching tribal dialects under

NPRAAF observes first ‘Constitution Day’ Dimapur, march 29 (mExN): President of NPRAAF, Wedieu Kronu today leveled allegations against the School Education, Family Welfare, Land Resources, Power and RD departments as “some of the most corrupt departments” in Nagaland State arguing that they have been unable to furnish responses to the RTI sought even after three months.

Kronu was speaking at the first ‘Constitution Day’ of the Nagaland Public Rights Awareness and Action Forum (NPRAAF) observed at Science Centre, Dimapur.

Commenting on why Nagaland is progressing slowly economically, she alleged that “almost all the departments of Nagaland are being run by nonNaga businessmen and Nagas are in reality chained economically by the non-Nagas and the funds that come to Nagaland instead of circulating within the state goes out of the state,” according to a press release from the Forum.

She said some “non-locals are for wrong reasons marrying Nagas and NPRAAF is not going to

remain a mute spectator of the phenomenon.”

Without naming, Kronu further claimed that there is one non-Naga who has been “controlling and monopolizing the RD department for over a decade now and stands as a link between the MORD and RD department and capture the entire department’s work including supply of CGI sheets which has become a huge scam.”

She also cautioned a retired Nagaland police officer from outside the State to “refrain from meddling in police affairs of the state as a middleman thereby taking away crores of state police development fund by deducting percentage.”

NPRAAF in the press release stated that the Forum was launched on February 27, 2016 by likeminded individuals to work towards delivery of justice for all strata of society. Its constitution was launched on March 28, 2016.

Started with just eight members, the forum, according to Kronu, has presently more than 10,000 active members.

NAMASTE – NE Department and has completed two batches of four tribal dialects in Manipuri, Assamese, Mao and Khasi as six months certificate course.

He also added that Alva’s Education Foundation, Moodabidri and Manipal University in Mangaluru will be opening Chair/Department for North East tribal dialects shortly while Mumbai University and SNDT Women University (Mumbai), Symbiosis and KARVE University from Pune have also responded positively to open a Chair/Department for tribal dialects.

The Governor was positive that the move will bring awareness about the culture and history of North East in the schools and colleges in other States of the country.

Lotha Hoho serves ultimatum for direct power from DHEP to Wokha town Dimapur, march 29 (mExN): The Lotha Hoho today informed that from March 15 onwards, it had a final undertaking from the HOP, Doyang Hydro Electric Project (DHEP) that direct power from DHEP will be given to Wokha town, before April 30.

Failing this, the Lotha Hoho in a press note cautioned that it would not allow power outlet from the DHEP. “There will be no more negotiation or excuses and the Nagaland state government and DHEP will be held responsible for any eventuality,” it said.

The Lotha Hoho informed that it has been pursuing the unfulfilled assurance of the Power Department to give direct power supply to Wokha town from Doyang Hydro Electric Project (DHEP).

The state government has left unfinished the 132 kv Overhead Transmission line from DHEP to Wokha town power substation. In this regard the Lotha Hoho had a consultative meeting with the DHEP officials on March 3, 2015 followed by anoth-

er meeting on June 16, 2015, at Englan Hq, with the officials of the state Power Department and the public of Englan range consisting of five villages and Englan Hq. The meeting had resolved to extend full support to the contractor, National Power Systems Ltd, for ef-

Hoho says it had final undertaking that direct power from DHEP will be given to Wokha town before April 30; Cautions there will be no more negotiation or excuses fecting early completion of the laying of Transmission line from DHEP to Wokha town; to check and prevent miscreants, from damage and theft of power transmission components; and to give due benefit to the genuine land owners, by Power Department.

The resolutions were also endorsed by the Power Department present in the meeting.

Accordingly, the laying of power

Youths urged to take up issues of climate change and election Dimapur, march 29 (Dipr): Deputy Commissioner of Dimapur, Kesonyu Yhome (IAS) today maintained that youths should seriously take up the issues of climate change and also system and practices of election and electioneering in the state.

“What is your contribution to cleanse the system?” he further asked a gathering of youth while speaking at the Dimapur District Youth Convention 2016-17 organized by Nehru Yuva Kendra, Dimapur at Tourist Lodge, Dimapur.

The DC also urged the youth to go back to villages to educate and revive as 80% of the Nagas live in rural areas and “if they do not revive the society will not move forward.”

Meanwhile, Yhome noted, “If we look at the history of human civilisation and the situation of where we started, it is time to deeply introspect where we came from and where we want to head.”

Lamenting that Nagas are fighting among themselves for

Deputy Commissioner of Dimapur, Kesonyu Yhome speaking at the Dimapur District Youth Convention 2016-17 on March 29. (DIPR Photo)

small things whereas in some part of the world people are in space sacrificing their lives, with a vision for the sake of humanity, he called upon the youth leaders gathered to broaden their vision as potential within is unimaginable and can do series of things for the society.

UNV-DYC, NYK, Dimapur, K. Phyobemo Lotha in his keynote

Our Correspondent Kohima | March 29

Chief guest Prof. RC Gupta along with Dr. Lallan Ram and staffs of CIH, Nagaland.

mEDziphEma, march 29 (mExN): Central Institute of Horticulture (CIH), Nagaland celebrated its 12th Foundation Day on March 27 at its campus in Medziphema.

Speaking on the occasion as chief guest, Prof. RC Gupta, Dean, SASRD, Nagaland University congratulated the Institute for its role in development of horticulture in the eight states of North East, according to a press release from CIH Director.

Dr. Lallan Ram, CIH Director, in his welcome address, presented a brief outline on the activities and programmes of the Institute.

The programme was compered by Prabin, MS & vote of thanks was delivered

by Shisarenla, AHS. Various indoor and outdoor games were organized as a part of the celebration and prizes were distributed to the winners.

Dimapur, march 29 (mExN): The Dimapur District Citizens’ Forum (DDCF) has condemned the alleged killing of Lanunukshi Pongen in Dimapur. Pointing out that such action creates fear psychosis among the citizens if actions of the law enforcing agencies are not visible, the DDCF in a statement urged the law enforcing agencies to act swiftly to take actions against the accused. The DDCF also extended deep condolences to the bereaved family of Lanunukshi Pongen and prayed that the Almighty grant his soul to rest in peace.

LBA (N) issues license to Development Secy

Dimapur, march 29 (mExN): The Naga People’s Front (NPF) today accused the Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) leaders of “trying to echo the voice” of ACAUT members “who have been doing everything to tarnish the image of the government and the NPF party.” This was in reference to NPCC’s statement on backdoor appointments.

The ideologies of the Congress party, a press statement from NPF (Central) Media & Press Bureau said, are “outdated” and the public have rejected the party in the last three general elections in the State. “Moreover, the Congress legislators themselves have left the party for good because they have also been frustrated and disenchanted with the ideology of the Congress,” it added.

The NPF further stated, “NPCC should do series of exercise to look into how their own

NBCC Keepers’ Rally

WSBAK Kükami Seminar

The WSBAK is organising half day Kükami Seminar on March 30 at Aküvüto Mission Centre from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. The resource persons for the seminar will be Rev. Aheto Sema, Secretary, Dept. of Youth Ministry, WSBAK, Rev. Dr. Hevukhu Achumi, ES, WSBAK and Akheto Sema IPS, IPS ADGP Nagaland. A press release weakness and their past misrule informing this requested all the Kükamis under Westwhere corruption was at its height ern Sümi to participate and be blessed. have in fact sown the seed of discontentment and disenchantCPO Executive Council Meeting ment in the minds of the people.

It should then own responsibility The Chakhesang Public Organization (CPO) has confor the imbalances created in the vened an executive council meeting on April 1, 11:00 society that has its roots back to am at Phek Town Hall. All the executive council memthe Congress regime.” bers, present and former legislators, office bearers of Meanwhile, the statement all frontal organizations, former CPO presidents, area asserted that NPF is pro-poor presidents, village council chairmen, Head GB, VDB party, and therefore, it shall not secretaries, youth presidents, all candidates of last nuldo anything detrimental to pub- lified ULB elections of Phek, Pfutsero and Chozuba lic benefit. “In its endeavor for town, colony chairmen and special invitees have been progressiveness of the people requested to attend the same. under the party government, the party advises its legislators to NSSATA Peren Unit work within the laid down rules and procedures to give best governance to the people through- The NSSATA Peren Unit has convened a general meetout its tenure and, lacuna (if any) ing on April 4, 10:00 am at PEN Hall Jalukie Town. Theredetected in the system, should fore, all members have been requested to attend the be rectified or corrected without meeting along with membership fee for 2017. The unit delay as and when brought to the has also reminded Graduate Teachers to submit necnotice of appropriate authori- essary documents and legal fee for seniority list on the same day. ties,” it claimed.

NPF a ‘rudderless’ party, says NPCC Congress ideologies outdated: NPF local, qualified or non qualified and deserving or non deserving youths does not arise.”

The NPCC further contended that the NPF, after 14 long years in power, has only managed to become “the spring board for Hindutva forces” in Nagaland.

Asserting that the present system of backdoor appointments has benefited only few while leaving thousands of youths to face an uncertain future, the statement assured that the NPCC, given opportunity, will leave no stone unturned in cleaning the system.

“Equal opportunity to Lakhs of educated unemployed youth through open advertisement and recruitment with provisions for backward reservations shall be implemented both in letter and spirit,” it assured.

Dimapur, march 29 (mExN): Five schools and one college in Dimapur were declared tobacco free during the review meeting of District Level Co-ordination Committee on Tobacco Control for the 4th Quarter 2016-2017 at DC’s conference hall on March 29. The institutions are: S.M High School, Hornbill School, Dimapur Mission Hr. Sec. School, Bethel Baptist School, St. Michael’s School and Tetso College. They were given the tobacco free school certificates. ADC Dimapur Elizabeth, who was the chairperson of the programme, challenged the schools and colleges who received the tobacco free school certificates to continue working for a better society and also called upon the other institutions to contribute towards bringing changes in the society.

address said that the purpose of conducting the youth convention was to come together to share the experiences and programmes. He also briefed the objectives of NYK. The inaugural function was chaired by National Youth Volunteer, Mhono Ngullie while vote of thanks was proposed by JaluKiE, march 29 (mExN): The Liangmai Baptist National Youth Volunteer, Dima- Association (LBA) Nagaland has issued a license to Depur, Kelechuto Kin. velopment Secretary, NK Joseph to extend the ministry of LBA (N) and minister in different activities under Liangmai Churches in Nagaland. Under the Liangmai Baptist Association there are four ordained ministers and three license holders including NK Joseph from New Jalukie Baptist Church. During the licensing programme, LBA also felicitated Nkuareo Baptist Fellowship and New Jalukie 'A' Block Fellowship on March 26 at their church premises considerphEK, march 29 (mExN): A poultry vac- ing them as “bona fide members under LBA.” cination cum animal health camp was held at Phuhgi village, Chozuba block under the Mera Gaon Mera Gaurav programme on March 26.

Organized by Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Kohima, march 29 (mExN): The Education and Phek, the camp was led by Dr. Debojyoti Communication Department, Nagaland Baptist Church Borkotoky, Subject Matter Specialist (Animal Council (NBCC) is organizing an event called Keepers’ Science) assisted by Supporting Staff Setsonyi Rally from April 3-6 at Police Baptist Church, Thizama.

Puro and Zakahi.

According to a press release, the Keepers’ Rally is a part of More than 500 poultry birds were immu- the 4/14 Window Movement – a global initiative to Reach, nized against Ranikhet disease, which is an Rescue, Root, Release children between 4 to 14 years old. acute highly contagious disease in fowls and NBCC's Keepers’ Rally also aims to mentor and engage 15 causes great economic loss to the farmers ev- to 17 year olds who have appeared matriculation exam ery year due to its endemic and epidemic na- and are awaiting their result. The objective is to mentor this ture, stated a press release from Sr. Scientist and group as co-nurturers under the theme “I am my brothHead, KVK, ICAR- NRC Mithun, Porba, Phek. ers/sisters keeper.” The Rally will be a residential camp and Veterinary counseling and treatment to the registration is still open. Participants have been asked to ailing animals was provided to livestock farm- bring light beddings, Bible and note pad. Registration fee ers of the village. They were also given free is Rs. 1000 per person. The time for arrival and registration anthelmintic medicines and mineral mixture on April 3 is 1:00 to 4:00 pm. For more details, contact Boto for chicken, pig, thotho, rabbit, dog and cat. Achumi @ 8730015437.

Meanwhile, animal health promoting medication was provided to the farmers to boost the immunity of their animals against various live- Meetings & AppointMents stock diseases.

Backdoor appointments: NPCC, NPF attack each other Kohima, march 29 (mExN): The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) has stated that the people of Nagaland should not expect justice from the NPF-BJP government.

“They have lost total control and are rudderless,” a statement from the Media Cell, NPCC stated insisting that the NPF-BJP Government has been plagued by “contagious bacteria of backdoor appointments”.

The NPCC Media Cell further hit out at the NPF Press & Media Bureau arguing that the latter, by staunchly defending backdoor appointments, “appears to have lost their mental balance”.

Pointing out that all citizens have the right to demand justice and equal opportunity as enshrined in the constitution, the NPCC maintained, “The question of appointing local or non-

6 institutions declared tobacco free

DDCF condemns alleged killing

Nagaland imports CIH Nagaland celebrates 12th Foundation Day Poultry birds vaccinated in Phuhgi village animal husbandry products worth Rs. 212.98 crores Nagaland state imported animal husbandry products worth Rs. 212.98 crores in monetary terms.

As per the Sample Survey Report of 2015-16, the state produces 52% of the total requirement worth of 1116.40 crores leaving a shortfall of 48%.

This was stated in the annual administrative report 2016-17 of the animal husbandry & veterinary services department tabled on the floor of the House on Tuesday by Parliamentary Secretary S. Chuba Longkumer.

The report stated that the figures indicate a very positive sign that there are immense potentials and scope for animal husbandry development in the state in terms of demand and supply.

However, despite the gap that exists today in terms of demand and supply, the import quantum of animal husbandry products is gradually reducing when compared with the base level of 2001-02 which in monetary terms stands at Rs. 375.00 crores; in 2015-16, the import value was calculated at Rs. 212.98 crores.

“This declining import quantum suggested that there is a positive correlation between state domestic products and the existing human population,” the report stated.

Besides, the per capita availability of meat and milk in the state is satisfactory, in spite of being low, the fact remains that the food habit of Nagas are changing in this modern era as urban population relies on balanced foods like rice, meat, milk, vegetables, fruits, wheat and its products and not highly dependent on meat as it was a decade ago, it stated.

The report further said that in order to achieve self sufficiency in meat, milk and eggs in the state, priorities are set and framed to achieve the same as per the vision of the department.

transmission line was completed by the end of May 2016. The Lotha Hoho also had a coordination meeting with the DHEP officials and on May 26, 2016, officially wrote to the Head of Project (HOP) of DHEP for early commissioning of the direct power supply line from DHEP to Wokha town. It also wrote to the Chief Engineer, Power, on June 14 for charging and testing the transmission line from DHEP to Wokha town.

The Lotha Hoho informed that the Power Department officials at Wokha had confirmed that the transmission line from DHEP to Wokha town had been charged and tested by end of October 2016. Following this, it had agreed with the HOP, DHEP that power supply to Wokha town would be be released before Christmas 2016.

However, the Lotha Hoho lamented that the state Power Department “seems unbothered and still no power supply is given to Wokha town, the actual custodian of the Doyang Hydro Electric Project site.”

6

thursday 30•03•2017

IN FOCUS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

The Power of Truth

The Morung Express volume XII Issue 86

By Aheli moitra

Powering public life

I

n a far corner of Dimapur, a family was worried about its bills. Piling debts had kept them from paying their house rent on time. There was also the worry of electricity bills that had piled up. There was no money in the house to pay this. But it could wait. Or better still, tampered with. So the man of the house got busy—he quickly mobilized his expertise and shifted the wiring from the electric meter to get direct supply from the main line. A gala unfurled—lights and air conditioners were kept on irrespective of time of day or seasonal requirements.

While this has serious ramification for the general health of the environment, it also means the usage of electricity from the house will not be registered in the books of the Power Department in Nagaland State. The habit is persistent among many houses that are too poor to pay rents and bills due to lack of avenues for earning and paying. It is also the lack of knowledge as well as sensitivity that pulling out electricity from the main grid without paying for it means contributing to the general lack of electricity throughout the State.

A news report appearing on The Morung Express on Tuesday, March 28, made an entirely new revelation. Nagaland State departments have been defaulting on payment of electric bills. As per the records of the Power Department, Nagaland State government departments owe it ‘electricity arrear’ to the tune of Rs. 9.31 crore!

Major departments like Home, Cooperation, Public Health Engineering, Medical, Public Works, etc. that should have impeccably functioning offices appear to be major defaulters. True to its image, however, the Raj Bhavan has cleared all its power dues, as has, thankfully, the Vigilance office, among others.

The report noted that “domestic consumers account for the major bulk of the arrears due to the department, the amount presently standing at a staggering Rs. 73.94 crore. The amount due from commercial consumers stands at Rs. 19 crore.”

This is certainly not a case unique to Nagaland and is prevalent throughout the Indian Union—we love our public facilities but groan to pay for it.

At such moments, whatever our collective hardships, it may do well to remember that power is generated from various sources, and then distributed from a common pool. The Government of Nagaland has to buy whatever power it is allocated from this central pool—however, given its crumbling infrastructure, the Power Department can utilize/supply only a part of what it buys.

When we do not pay our dues for what we use, or skim off electricity through other means, we lose revenue that could be used to strengthen the power infrastructure in the State which could, in turn, help us have access to much more power supply in our homes and industries.

Small changes to our private lives, like paying for government services, could go a long way in ensuring a successful public life.

Other thoughts can be shared at moitramail@yahoo.com

lEfT WING |

Reuters

War crime probes will hinder Lanka's reconciliation - ex-defence secretary Government has already launched some related investigations into alleged war crimes, but ethnicminority Tamils have complained about the sluggish pace of probes

W

ar crime investigations backed by some Western countries and the United Nations will exacerbate the differences between Sri Lanka's two main ethnic groups instead of uniting them, former defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa said on March 27.

As defence secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the brother of former leader Mahinda Rajapaksa, oversaw the defeat of the separatist, predominantly Hindu Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) by the government military in a 26year war.

Gotabaya Rajaksa, the most influential government officer in the Rajapaksa government, has been accused of committing war crimes in the final weeks of the conflict ended in May 2009. He has denied all the allegations against him.

A U.N. panel has said around 40,000 people, mostly ethnic minority Tamils, were killed in the war's final phase. Families in the former northern war zone still complain of thousands of enforced disappearances during that time.

Gotabaya made his comments four days after the U.N. Human Rights Council said Sri Lanka must make more progress towards meeting commitments to establishing a credible investigation into alleged war crimes during the country's civil war.

The United Nations originally asked Sri Lanka to have foreign judges run the war crime probe focusing particularly on the last few days of the conflict. But President Maithripala Sirisena later said he would not agree to having foreign judges.

"How can you talk about investigations and foreign judges at the same time bringing these communities together?" he told a Foreign Correspondents Association of Sri Lanka late on Monday.

"By trying to do these things, you only try to bring people apart. If you think like that, there won't be reconciliation at all. After a war, what can we do? Going back and harping on these things will never bring communities together. That will widen the gap."

He also said that when Tamils talk about war crime probes, ethnic majority Sinhalese speak of the massacre of Buddhist priests and police and the horrors they experienced during the war, and that that could slow the postwar healing process.

The government has already launched some related investigations into alleged war crimes, but ethnic-minority Tamils have complained about the sluggish pace of probes.

Former leader Mahinda Rajapaksa's government rejected visas that would have allowed U.N. investigators to visit the island nation.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, 67, also denied allegations that he was involved in maintaining death squads, in attacks on journalists, and in some financial misappropriation during the war.

Under the new government, he is facing police and financial crime investigations.

As defence secretary, he was the highest-ranking civil servant in Sri Lanka's Defence Ministry.

C O M M E N T A R Y

Willy Mutunga openDemocracy

From the politics of division to the politics of humanity!

We must not give up on revolutionary optimism. It may get us some important concessions from neoliberalism—and possibly much, much more

O

n August 27 2010 Kenya promulgated a progressive Constitution whose vision is social democracy. It’s a vision of the promotion and protection of the whole gamut of human rights; the equitable distribution of political power and the resources of society; and the creation of a nation out of different ethnic groupings. The Constitution aims to bring an end to the organization of politics through divisions; mitigate the protection of private property in land; cement agreement on national values and principles; promote integrity in public and private leadership; and build depersonalized national institutions.

The struggle to implement the progressive vision of this Constitution continues today. The elite forces of the status quo who found this vision unacceptable are resisting its implementation at every step. As the latest stage in this process, Kenya will hold new elections on August 8, 2017. I was Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court of Kenya from 2011 to 2016, so I’ve observed and participated in this process first-hand. Given the efforts of the political elite to resist the implementation of the Constitution, I became convinced that the Judiciary had to play a pivotal role in defending and advancing it. We consciously developed a jurisprudence that promoted the Constitution’s robust implementation, and in that way the Judiciary became a political actor.

For almost the entire period since Kenya’s independence on December 12, 1963, the country’s politics have been organized around divisions: ethnic, religious, racial, regional, clan and gender-based, generational, pastoralists versus agriculturalists, and most recently, divisions driven by xenophobia. The Kenyan elite have become so adept at the politics of division that elections are never about issues, and voters seem unable or unwilling to shed the blinkers of these differences.

Academics and activists on both side of the class divide shamelessly talk of the ‘tyranny of numbers:’ out of the 43 ethnic communities in Kenya, the ‘Big Five’ command over 70 per cent of the electoral vote—Kikuyu, Kalenjin, Luo, Kamba and Luhya. The politics of division are reflected in concrete terms in ethnic coalitions that are put together by the barons of these five communities.

At the moment three of them are members of the National Super Alliance, or NASA (Luo, Kamba and Luhya), while the other two form the Jubilee coalition (Kikuyu and Kalenjin). The graveyard of acronyms of Kenyan political parties since independence would make for grim but humorous reading.

There is one pillar in the Constitution that gives me optimism: devolution, which entails the equitable distri-

bution of political power and resources.

Kenya has 47 counties with governments led by elected Governors. The Constitution decrees that 15 per cent of all national resources must be shared between these 47 counties. The Kenyan Senate has come up with an equalization formula that favors counties that hitherto have been marginalized.

Notwithstanding the very real issue of decentralized corruption, reports from these marginalized counties are encouraging. I believe that anti-corruption movements are gaining ground from the margins of these counties to safeguard the resources that are devolved to them. Demands for more resources are being made from the Center in the form of the Executive, Parliament, the Treasury and the Central Bank, since these national institutions have not justified their 85 per cent lion’s share.

Devolution, more resources for counties, and weakening the Center in financial matters are issues that will take center stage in the forthcoming elections. This will be a contest in which poverty eradication and the equitable distribution of resources should feature prominently. If so, this would be a great leap forward in the quest to strengthen Kenyan democracy.

In this respect I can already see the beginnings of a politics of humanity that is based on the equitable distribution of resources. Social movements in marginalized counties are gaining strength. Public participation in the use of resources is robust. Debates are taking place around the material needs of the people like education, employment, health, sanitation, housing, environment, foreign investment and corruption. There is a great imagination and consciousness emerging from the margins that sees the prudent use of resources as one of the keys to poverty-eradication.

I have been cautioned about creating too much hope from what I see

in marginalized counties. I have been warned not to create a fetish out of the Constitution, or of devolution. All I can say with certainty is that both ‘trains have left the station,’ and they will not be easily derailed.

This is not the first time we have heard of transformation from the margins. The Chinese revolutionaries talked of surrounding the cities from the rural areas, their margins. They talked of solidarities between workers and peasants on the basis of the material interests of their lives and livelihoods.

And reading Nina Eliasoph’s recent Transformation piece on the United States reminds me that such debates are happening right across the world.

I have no issue with improving access to consumer goods, jobs and services like health and education. I love them.

What I hate is their inequitable distribution. Eliasoph touches on the same issue in her insistence that politics needs to “offer a vision of society in which everyone could enjoy things that look like the privilege of elites…a vision that shows how lessening the gap between the rich and poor” could make these goods and services accessible to all.

In both Kenya and the US, the challenge is to resist systems that put profits before people. This challenge is centrally concerned with the equitable distribution of resources. It’s about mitigating the harshness of systems that create extreme inequalities among people. I believe such visions are reflected in paradigms of human rights, social justice, and social democracy. In practical terms it is about having a society in which everybody can enjoy at the minimum the rights, entitlements and opportunities that are currently enjoyed by elites.

History records numerous experiments in what was called welfare capitalism and social democracy after World War Two. In America Eliasoph mentions the New Deal and the

Great Society of Presidents Roosevelt and Johnson respectively. I believe one could add the meager reinforcement of such state-driven projects in the US through corporate social responsibility and social justice philanthropy, which attempt to mitigate the costs and concentrated power of corporatism.

Eliasoph is right. Such solidarities are possible notwithstanding divisions in society if “white rural people’s suffering” as she puts it is addressed as a political issue alongside the suffering of people of color and low-income communities in cities. Institutionalized racism might slowly be dismantled by a politics of humanity in which resources are equitably distributed, and in which poverty knows no color.

I know the challenges that stand in the way of this potentially-transformative optimism. Neo-liberalism and the engines that put profits before people provide serious barriers to progress.

Even in Kenya, devolution faces serious challenges from neo-liberalism from the elites who benefit from it and its agents.

I want, however, to join my imagination with that of Eliasoph and others in projects of solidarity across national borders. This idea is not new. The slogan of the World Social Forum is “Another World is Possible.” The Indian activist Arundhati Roy goes even further by telling us that “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”

We must not give up such revolutionary optimism. It may get us some important concessions from neo-liberalism—and possibly much, much more.

Willy Mutunga is a Kenyan lawyer, intellectual, reform activist, and currently the Special Envoy to the Maldives for the Commonwealth. He is also an active member of the Justice Leadership Group. He is the retired Chief Justice of Kenya and President of the Supreme Court of Kenya.

For Ugandan children, hunger and HIV make a deadly mix A child gets medicine to slow the development of HIV and hold off its progression into AIDS. But crucial to the proper functioning of these drugs is good nutrition Yasin Kakande Thomson Reuters Foundation

S

even-year-old Esther Agutti weighs 7 kilos - a third of the weight of the average child her age.

She has been in hospital in Katakwi, eastern Uganda, for three days. She was painfully thin when she was admitted and had diarrhoea and vomiting, said Loyce Akelo, a senior doctor.

Esther's family, who are farmers, have been hit hard by the drought that has scorched East Africa. They have had to ration the little food they have to survive - but this is particularly dangerous for Esther, who, like her parents, is HIV-positive.

Esther is receiving anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment - which slows the development of HIV and holds off its progression into AIDS. But crucial to the proper functioning of these drugs is good nutrition, doctors say.

"The hospital has received 232 children, more than half of all the children on HIV medication in the district. They lack food and have been malnourished since the start of this year," Akelo told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in Katakwi.

"It is important that someone with HIV first takes a meal before taking on drugs."

Poor nutrition can affect the absorption of the drugs in the body or leave the body less able to tolerate the medication.

Akelo said the hospital is giving Esther meals to help her take her drugs but the arrangement is just temporary and she will soon be sent home.

Esther's father, Moses Agutti, said the family was hoping to receive government food handouts but they weren't yet being distributed in his village.

"We have been to the county offices and officials there have promised us that there will be food relief coming though they are not sure of when," he said.

"I am struggling to get some food for the family from the garden. It's not enough because of the drought."

In December, Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni announced he was

redirecting funds budgeted for roads to "The situation has been worsprovide relief food to areas affected by ened by the dry spell that has hit drought and hunger. the country hard and if action is not taken many children are likely to die DYING or have permanent effects on their A poor rainy season has led to ex- health," he said. tensive drought across East Africa, destroying crops and killing livestock. ADULTS TOO Uganda's neighbour Kenya has already An estimated 1.5 million people live declared a national disaster, with the with HIV/AIDS in Uganda, of whom Red Cross estimating 2.7 million peo- nearly 100,000 are children under 15, ple are in need of food aid as a result of according to UNAIDS. lack of rains.

The effects of drought are also felt In Uganda, the worst affected dis- by adults living with the virus. tricts are in the In Acholi village on the outskirts north and east, of Moroto town in northern Uganda, where district au- Teddy Adwin, a 30-year-old mother t h o r i t i e s h a v e who was HIV-positive, was still being warned the drought mourned a week after her death. may disrupt ARV treatment as HIVHer sister, Mary Akol, who also positive children and their elder rela- lives with HIV, said Teddy was one of tives are hungry and unable to take the four in their family who had died durdrugs. ing the drought.

Walter Elakas, a district head in "I feel dizzy after taking the drugs Katakwi, said parents of HIV-positive without having a good meal," Akol said. children are struggling to give their "The medicine we take becomes toxic to children a meal before midday. the body whenever we miss a meal."

David Tumwesigye, an official at Mariko Ingodi, an HIV-positive the Ministry of Gender Labour and army veteran in Acholi, said docSocial Development, said in a news tors had warned him that he would conference last month 11.7 million die if he continued taking ARV drugs Ugandan children are on the verge of without food. dying of hunger and pneumonia due "Many of us have stopped taking to lack of food and proper housing: the drugs as we can go three days withthat means about six in 10 children out eating; we have resorted to eating the leaves of wild trees," he said. are starving.

WRITE-WING

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.

thursday 30•03•2017

PERSPECTIVE

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

PEOPLE IN POLITICS: The Dynamics of Polarisation and Power Pradeep Nair and Sandeep Sharma

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Mainstreamweekly

n 1998, while being the head of an alliance of 26 political parties, the then Prime Minister of India, Atal Behari Vajpaee, once frustratingly said that India should look for the possibility of adopting the presidential system which, in his view, would be more permanent and representative. However, amongst all the political compulsions and political opportunism, some of the electoral arrangements at the Centre and in the various States went on for another decade by making coalition politics almost a permanent feature of Indian politics. But the BJP’s sweeping majority in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections brought this trend to a halt. Political pundits were left with no option but to redo their political calculations. Nationwide data of the Assembly elections substantiate this point by making a strong case for a one-party rule. The first half of the second decade of the 21st century has witnessed a political scene in which 23 States, including Delhi, have one party in a position to form a majority government while there are only six such States where governments are being formed by pre- or post-poll alliances.

With these evidences, we are not terming this the end of coalition politics in India; rather we are interested in examining the factors which have led to a situation of more permanent (a majority) government at the Centre and in the States. By looking back at some events in Indian political history while approaching the outcome of Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur Assembly elections, we will be unearthing the dynamics of power and polarisation in Indian politics.

Party Polarisation among Voters Party polarisation in electoral studies is basically known as an effort by a political party to create increased feelings among partisans/believers that that party is right and the party contesting other side is wrong. More etymologically, it is a clustering of elements around two poles, such as the division of an electorate into two partisan clusters. It further describes the widening of distance between two ideological elements. (Dahl, 1966) On some issues, the political parties, which are ideologically distinct, come closer to make the people believe that they really care for public interest issues related to national security, terrorism, corruption, good governance etc.

Party polarisation among voters generates a more energised and engaged electorate. In the history of Indian politics, party polarisation is not a new phenomenon.

(Davey, 1972) In the past general elections, voters polarised on the issues of war, Emergency, national security or corruption especially when these issues went beyond the tolerance level. A very loose pattern of alignments with ideological overtones emerged in late 1969 and early 1970 in Indian politics when the two wings of the Congress and socialist ideologies formed coalitions with distinct ideological identities for electoral adjustments for parliamentary and State Assembly elections. (Brass, 1968) In the 1977 general elections, a new coalition of political parties opposing the ruling party came into power as the Janata Party and legitimised the concept of alternative

government against the Congress.

In 1989, 1999, 2004 again political parties having different ideologies came together to form governments at the Central level although political scientists and analysts believe that at the time of forging alliances or forming coalition governments, the ideological and methodological differences of political parties were set aside for the most part until the coalition began to break down under new pressures. (Groennings, Kelley and Leiserson, 1970) It happened with the Janata Dal Government in 1979-80 at the Centre and the Bahujan Samaj Party-Bharatiya Janata Party (BSP-BJP) Government in Uttar Pradesh in 1995, 1997 and 2002.

The same history could have been repeated if the SP-Congress got the mandate in the the latest Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. Negative feelings from the public towards candidates and elected officials of the ruling party sometimes help political parties to polarise the people in their favour as had happened in the last 2014 Lok Sabha elections when the Narendra Modi-led BJP got the mandate against the Congress on the issues of corruption, scams and poor gover-nance.

Polarisation and Power Many a time polarisation of voters brings a party in power. In the general elections held in 1980, voters were polarised on the line of providing a stable government as the alternative government to the Congress collapsed within two years giving two Prime Ministers—Morarji Deasai and Chaudhary Charan Singh. People again polarised in 1984 with the post-Indira assassination impact sympathising with Rajiv Gandhi and brought the Congress back to power. The same happened in 1989 in the form of a frail mandate to V.P. Singh and the National Front at the Centre and a clear mandate to Kalyan Singh in Uttar Pradesh. A different polarisation was also noticed in the last Assembly elections in Delhi where people gave the mandate for an alternative government to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) against both the Congress and BJP. The mandate given to the Narendra Modi Government in 2014 was also the result of a similar process of coming to power where the credit went to the Congress as the corruption and scams during UPA II polarised the voters towards a more conservative choice in the form of the NDA Government.

In this digital age where people wish to be connected 24x7, this political polar-

isation is linked more with people’s information environment. The news sources, social media habits and inter-personal communication networks of the voters help them to understand the polarisation from various socio-economic viewpoints and these further assist them in their voting decisions; that is why a voter residing in Delhi prefers a BJP Government at the Centre but at the same time chooses an AAP Government at the State level.

The dynamics of polarisation and power in democracy is not a new concept.

(Kothari, 1970) It was primarily the product of long-term historical and structural forces set in motion in the 1970s when non-Congress political leaders urged nationalist and democratic forces to come together to form a Grand Alliance to keep the Congress out of power in the 1971 general elections. Unfortunately these alliances in long run proved to be electoral alliances only and failed to offer real policy alternatives to the ruling party.

In the post-liberal era, the reforms in our electoral system have made our voting process more participative thereby helping the political parties to manage the consequences of polarisation to promote effective governance rather than inconsistent electoral arrangements.

People in Politics Voting is the most basic way people participate in democracies, but not the only way. There are other multiple forms of political participation. The conventional way of participation can be noticed in the form of polling, interacting with the elected officials, attending political rallies, giving donations to political parties and endorsing candidates at the personal level. The unconventional form of participation is also common by taking part in boycotts, demonstrations, strikes, protests and the justification for these is that the other conventional means are closed.

Factors like motivation, national interest, political awareness, civic responsibilities are common to affect the voting turnout in any election. The Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections have higher turnouts as the elections are intense and decide the formation of governments at the Central and State levels. The elections to Municipal Corporations and Village Panchayats witness less voting. It is always a subject of interest for political analysts to find out how and on what basis people make voting decisions. It was observed in the last two Assembly and parliamentary

elections that the people generally vote for a candidate or a political party on the basis of what they think personally about the candidate; how they view the state of the nation and the economy; how they view the candidate’s party (party identification); and how they view policy issues of domestic and national importance.

People vote for a candidate on the basis of the way the candidate is positioned on paper by the party itself and by the media, whereas voting in view of the state of nation and economy is mostly based on the sociopolitical context in which the political campaign is designed and conveyed. Selection of a candidate in the context of the affiliation of the political party helps the voters to determine the campaign strategies and assists them to understand where the mobilisation efforts were put in. Voting according to the proposed reforms in the current policies in the party manifestos depends on the nature of the policies and on their salient features thus helping the voter to position the candidate in and around a public discussion/agenda.

Polarisation and the possibility of a one-party rule are positively correlated.

(Abramowitz and Kyle, 2008) The 1971, 1984 and 2014 parliamentary elections maintained a one-party government at the Centre and reversed the trends toward multiparty coalitions. From 1969 to 2014, the Indian political system has polarised sharply on several occasions and proved that the greater the polarisation, the more the possibility of one party performing well at the hustings. Political events like the Emergency, assassination of celebrated politicians, riots of communal and casteiest nature have always polarised the Indian voters and benefited a particular political formation by leading it to majority and close to political power.

Some political personalities themselves are polarising figures. Their speeches and appeals are capable enough to stimulate high-voltage emotions in the minds of the political audience by making them almost blind and myopic. The history of the Indian electoral studies shows that to be polarised is not an intrinsic nature of the Indian voters. It happens whenever a political event/situation, as mentioned above, leaves a deep impress on the conscious and sub-conscious minds of the Indian voters. Whether polarisation is compatible with democracy or not, could be argued in the light of the speech of Winston Churchill in which he characterised democracy as a ‘lesser evil’ and said: “Many forms of government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” (Churchill, 1947: 150) Even though polarisation leads to consensus among different ideologies to develop a culture of argument among voters and politicians (Dworkin, 2006:6) that is healthy for any democracy on the one side, the electoral arrangements in the form of coalition with the vested interest of gaining power in elections on the other side only bring deep and bitter divisions and thus become a tyranny of numbers, a possibility in each and every election in India.

Wamika Kapur

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The Diplomat

ranting citizenship to Hindu refugees and making India “a natural home for persecuted Hindus” were among the promises made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his election manifesto. Modi, in a 2014 election rally, specifically promised citizenship to Hindu-Bangladeshis, saying that they would be removed from the migrant camps. Since then, the current government has taken many steps which may seem majoritarian and anti-Muslim.

Against this backdrop, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 seems to be aimed toward making India a haven for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from neighboring countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. A closer look at the provisions indicates that the current government is attempting to increase its Hindu voter count. The BJP government’s website about Hindutva ideology clearly draws from Israel’s law of return and aims to do the same for Hindus in India.

This policy in the Indian context would be contrary to the ideals of secularism and pluralism and thus unconstitutional.

The provisions of the bill would affect over 200,000 Hindus from Pakistan and Bangladesh and their migration into the border states of India would change the voter demographics in the region. The BJP

the agenda of ending illegal migration from Bangladesh. According to the Census of India (2011), 34.2 percent of Assam’s population is Muslim and the census shows that there has been a 4 percent rise in Muslim population over the past five years. The BJP government used the data as the basis of their campaign to gain votes in the region. If the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is passed, in its current form, then the border regions would face an influx of Hindu migrants, which would change the voter demographics in the region.

The bill aims to save religious minorities from violence and blasphemy laws in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.

The rationale for selecting just these three countries, which are Muslim-dominated countries, is a cause for concern. The bill at first glance seems like a humanitarian effort to help persecuted minorities but it only seeks to help Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from the neighboring Muslim countries. Muslim minority communities facing oppression in other countries have been completely ignored. If the bill was really an attempt to provide a safe haven for minorities facing violence in their countries then it should also offer the same provisions to the minority Muslim communities in China and Myanmar as well. The Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, Uyghur Muslims in China, and the Ahmaddiya Muslims in Pakistan and Bangladesh have been facing persecution for years. Further, Myanmar’s Hindus have also been ignored in the bill.

India is not a signatory of the United Nation Refugee Convention; therefore it is not required to provide safe haven to people seeking asylum from persecu-

the issue of joining the United Nation Refugee Convention. That would have been the natural step to take if the government was indeed interested in formulating a humanitarian refugee policy. Further, the provisions of refugee protection cater to all minorities fleeing countries due to a humanitarian crisis but, in this bill, India is offering citizenship based on religious predilections. The bill, if passed in its current form, seeks to give preference to Hindu refugees over Muslim refugees migrating to India, which is unconstitutional as, the preamble of the Constitution confirms India as a secular state.

The refugees who will actually benefit from this policy are living in abject poverty with no sanitation and infrastructure facilities. The government, instead of using a blanket refugee policy, has made this a communal issue with a veiled political agenda, which would be counterproductive to the seemingly humanitarian goal of the bill.

A member of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Dr. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, revealed in the National Assembly that around 5,000 Hindus migrate from Pakistan to India every year. In 2015, the BJP government approved citizenship for 4,230 Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistan and Afghanistan who sought refuge in India. The BJP had earlier claimed that they had granted Indian citizenship to 4,300 Pakistani nationals during 201415. However, a response to a query filed under the Right to Information by Seemant Lok Sanghthan showed that only 289 Pakistani Hindus were granted Indian citizenship in this period. This furthers the argument that the BJP’s political agenda supersedes its humanitarian goals.

The five poverties of inequality Despite billions spent in official aid to fight poverty, the number of poor people in the world is not diminishing. And Latin America remains the most unequal region in the world

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Carlos March

around in the last decade. In 2003 when 213 “Bangladeshi citizens” were stranded in the no man’s land between India and Bangladesh, neither country accepted them. Yet the BJP, in 2014, declared itself as a “natural home for persecuted Indians” and extended long-term visas in various states and provided citizenship to Hindus from Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The constant emphasis on granting refuge on the basis of religion is in keeping with the Hindutva ideology popularly advocated by the current government.

The bill, if passed and made into an act, could be challenged and struck down by the judiciary later because of its unconstitutional nature — the provisions go against the secularism enshrined under the preamble. The government’s stance of helping refugees only if they fall under the category of persecuted religious minorities is heavily biased.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 may be presented as a move to protect the religious minorities in other countries from being persecuted but, the underlying issue clear: the bill is meant to address the BJP’s stated objective of making India the “Hindu Homeland.” The provisions blatantly ignore Muslims in the protection clauses and mention only religious minorities in Muslim-dominated countries. Further, the bill will change the demographics of the border states. The Bill adds to an ominous trend of a government which is not afraid of pushing a religious ideology, even when it is in contravention of the Constitution, in order to further its own political agenda.

nequality is the worst kind of poverty, because inequality is precisely what causes it. Measuring poverty and allocating budget lines in the absence of public policies against inequality is like applying a tourniquet below the wound. According to the OECD, $ 134 billion in official aid were spent in 2013 to fight poverty. The number of poor people in the world, however, is not diminishing.

Poverty for an individual is the lack of what he or she needs to live. Inequality in a society is the structural lack that generates poverty, which is due to five causes: • lack of quality public goods • absence of public institutions • lack of social fabric • inability to organize collectively • no access to opportunities When, in a context of inequality - Latin America is the most unequal region in the world -, government programs are restricted to implementing assistance plans and public policies are not structured to address the five causes mentioned above, the end result is poverty being managed in a way that perpetuates it rather than management aimed at putting an end to the inequality that generates it.

The first factor of inequality is when a sector of the population lives in a context lacking quality public goods, because a society that lacks these goods and services - which should be available to all equally, both in quantity and quality - is actually denying large-scale social inclusion. A hospital is a public good not because the state manages it, but because both the person with the largest resources and the person in most need in a community get the same quality of service, regardless of who manages it. If the health system provides poor attention to the vulnerable segments of society and directs people to the private system for quality care, then only the most affluent sectors will be able to afford it and healthcare will no longer be a public good, in so far as it no longer guarantees the same living standard quality to the population as a whole. A government's first policy measure should thus be the setting up of a collaboration agreement with both civil society and the business sector to produce, manage, distribute, and safeguard quality public goods. All three actors contribute distinctive elements to the generation of these goods: the state adds scale, the business sector quality, and social organizations specificity.

The lack of public institutions is another decisive factor of inequality, since those who suffer most from it are the sectors who live in poverty and have no way of preventing the impact of discretion in the allocation of public resources, of concentration of power and institutional abuse, of welfare provision (a blend of assistance and cynicism), cronyism, structural corruption and organized crime from damaging their living conditions. There cannot be zero poverty if there is no zero corruption and zero discretion. If we are to deal with, and solve, institutional weakness, tools of participatory democracy should be introduced and citizens empowered to demand full enforcement of the rule of law, while businessmen should actively assume their role as citizens.

Another characteristic of inequality is the lack of social fabric. The poor sectors’ social links are restricted to a reduced environment, they engage in isolated socioeconomic relationships, and they have limited or even non-existent contacts with those who facilitate access to the social ladder. The lack of quality links undermines the consolidation of upward social mobility and leaves people exposed, lacking buffer spaces and containment areas, facing the abuse of power of both public institutions and the powers that be. The state should create the necessary conditions for public spaces and public goods and services to be the place where cross-cutting social and economic links are made - as used to be the case with the Latin American public education system which shaped, for example, the Argentine middle class.

The inability of vulnerable sectors to organize collectively is another inequality factor that contributes to their being in poverty. Fragmented populations, which are the victims of pork-barrel politics, which are incapable of creating the social conditions for organizing to defend their rights, control the discretion of those in charge and influence the quality of collective life, are doomed to being defined as objects of assistance by the people in charge who break the social fabric. The state should promote civic education aiming at providing the community with the capacity to organize collectively as a subject for change, capable of defining its own quality of life, of influencing the quality of collective life, and of setting limits to the discretionary power of the people in charge. In addition, the state should facilitate the formalization of social organizations through changes in the current legal, fiscal and labour regulations, which are responsible for keeping 90% of these organizations in the informal sector, thus preventing them from acquiring legal status and meeting the requirements for receiving donations.

The fifth aspect of inequality has to do with the denial of access to opportunities. Public policies should provide the means for the members of a community to access equitably the capacities which ensure high standards of human dignity, guaranteed respect for human rights, and quality public services. Restoring the quality of the public education system is essential, because education is the primary source of equitable access to opportunities.

The situation requires that fight against poverty should take the form of disarmament of the system of inequality: offering quality public goods, establishing democratic institutions, promoting the building of social networks, ensuring the capacity to organize collectively, and guaranteeing access to opportunities.

In 1965 the world population was 3.3 billion. Today, it is 7.3 billion, and the population living below the poverty line is nearly 4 billion. That is to say, the number of poor people in the world amounts to the population increase of the last fifty years - the figure shows that despite the millions of dollars invested in fighting poverty, we have actually been unable to increase the number of people enjoying quality living standards. So, it is clear that poverty will only be properly fought when governments stop addressing it as a problem of the poor, and start defining public policies from the perspective of inequality – which, in turn, should be addressed as a state problem.

Wamika Kapur is a Research Assistant to Legislators at Rajiv Gandhi Institute

Carlos March is an Argentinian journalist, former executive director of the Fundación Poder

The Trouble with India's New Citizenship Bill The bill, if passed, would help turn India into a ‘Hindu homeland’

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THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Lok Sabha passes GST supplementary bills

A child devotee offering prayer during the three-day Chadhi Yatra ahead of Navratra festival, at Parmandal, about 25 km from Jammu. (PTI Photo)

India becomes net exporter of power for the first time - government New delhi, March 29 (reuTerS): India has become a net exporter of electricity for the first time, the power ministry said on Wednesday, adding that upcoming cross-border transmission lines with neighbouring countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar will only increase sales.

April-February power exports of around 5,798 million units were 4 percent higher than what India bought from Bhutan, which has been a steady supplier of hydro-electricity to the country since the eighties. New transmission lines with Bangladesh and Myanmar helped India sell more, the government said.

Known for its crippling power cuts, India has been investing heavily on generation infrastructure over the past few years. A massive surge in the local supply of raw materials like coal in the past two years has also helped power companies boost output.

Some experts, however, say local power demand has grown slower than expected.

Supreme Court may re-look its ban on sale of liquor on highways

New delhi, March 29 (iaNS): The Supreme Court will take a call on Thursday on the plea by several state governments and private hotel owners seeking the revisiting of its December 15, 2016 order banning the sale of liquor on the National and State Highways.

The top court, by its December 15 order, had banned the sale of liquor within 500 metres on either side of National and State Highways across the country and also said that the licenses of all those currently selling liquor would not be renewed.

On Wednesday, telling the several petitioners who addressed the court that it

was not shutting them out, a bench of Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, Justice D.Y.Chandrachud and Justice L. Nageswara Rao said: "We will see can we do it.

Should we do it? Is it necessary to do it?" The court's response came as after hearing arguments that lasted for one and half hours, it adjourned the matter for further hearing on Thursday.

Leading the arguments seeking the re-examination of the December 15 ban, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said that the concept of the National and State Highways was different, as the fist was between cities, but the latter passed through crowded locations within the city.

"State Highways crisscross through the state and crowded areas, the National Highway connecting Delhi with Mumbai passes through Jaipur and Ahemadabad and banning the liquor vendors 500 metres on either side of the State Highways may take the liquor shop in the residential areas," he said, adding that it is the balance of rights that had to be struck.

As Rohatgi said that in a small state like Goa, the 500 metres bar will take the liquor vend to the sea, Chief Justice Khehar said: "There is other side also." As one of the counsel mentioned the loss of revenue to the state, the CJI said: "We are not averse to anybody earning revenue."

NEET 2017: CBSE extends last date to choose exam centres to 31 March

New delhi, March 29 (PTi): The Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) has extended the deadline for candidates to revise their centres for national entrance exam for admission to medical colleges till 31 March.

The board has also added another centre in Nanded (Maharashtra), taking the number of centres for National Entrance-cumEligibility Test (NEET) to 104. The candidates who wish to revise their examination centres were granted a window from 24-27

March.

“Date of revising the options for centre cities has been extended till 31 March 2017. Nanded (Maharashtra) has also been added in the existing list of the examination cities,” CBSE said in a statement.

According to the CBSE, a record 11,35,104 candidates have registered for the exam, which is 41.42% more than the previous year’s number. In 2016, 8,02,594 aspirants had registered for the NEET. With the increase, the NEET and the JEE (Main)

exams now have an equivalent number of cities as centres with the HRD Ministry earlier this week directing CBSE to have 23 more centres.

The single common entrance exam for admission to MBBS/BDS courses in Medical Council of India-/ Dental Council of Indiaapproved medical/dental colleges, will be held on 7 May. It will be held in 10 languages— Hindi, English, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Odia and Kannada

New delhi, March 29 (PTi) : The historic Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime on Wednesday came a step closer to meet its July 1 target of rollout, with the Lok Sabha approving four supplementary legislations.

The Central GST Bill, 2017; The Integrated GST Bill, 2017; The GST (Compensation to States) Bill, 2017; and The Union Territory GST Bill, 2017 were passed after negation of a host of amendments moved by the opposition parties.

Replying to the sevenhour-long debate, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the GST, which will usher in a uniform indirect tax regime in the country, will make commodities “slightly cheaper”. He said the GST rates would depend upon whether the commodity is used by a rich person or a common man.

Jaitley said once the new regime is implemented, the harassment of businesses by different authorities will end and India will be one rate for one commodity throughout the country. He said the GST Council, comprising Finance Ministers of Union and States, had agreed to take a decision on bringing real estate within the ambit of the new tax regime within a year of its rollout.

On the impact of GST on prices, Jaitley said: “Today you have tax on tax, you have cascading effect.

When all of that is removed, goods will become slightly cheaper”.

On why the Council has decided on multiple GST rates, Jaitley said one rate would be “highly regressive” as “hawai chappal and BMW cannot be taxed at the same rate”.

He said currently food articles are not taxed and those will continue to be zero rated under the GST. All other commodities would be fitted into the nearest tax bracket. The GST Council has recommended a four-tier tax structure — 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent. On top of the highest slab, a cess will be imposed on luxury and demerit goods to compensate the States for revenue loss in the first five years of GST

implementation.

However, the Central GST (CGST) law has pegged the peak rate at 20 per cent and a similar rate has been prescribed in the State GST (SGST) law, which takes the peak rate to 40 per cent which will come into force only in financial exigencies.

Jaitley said the cess would be transient for a period of 5 years so that the proceeds can be utilised to compensate the States.

Touted as the biggest taxation reform since Independence, GST will subsume central excise, service tax, VAT and other local levies to create an uniform market. GST is expected to boost GDP growth by about 2 per cent and check tax evasion.

Jaitley said that GST Council is working on the basis of consensus and slowly all items will come within the ambit of the new indirect tax regime, which will ensure free flow of goods and services throughout the country.

“The hard work put in by GST Council members and officers bore fruits today in terms of 4 classic pieces of legislation passed by the Lok Sabha,” Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia tweeted later.

Adhia termed the passage of the four laws as a “historic milestone in economic history of this country”.

Replying to the discussion on the four bills, Jaitley said once the new tax regime is rolled out, a businessman will have to deal with only one assessing officer instead of multiple authorities at present.

The Bill will also improve tax compliance and ensure that assessees get input credit of the taxes paid.

To opposition questions as to why the government brought the legislations as ‘Money Bills’, Jaitley cited the Constitutional provisions and said that since 1950 all tax- related legislations were brought before Parliament as Money Bill. With regard to centralised registration to banks, the Minister said the GST Council will take a final decision in this regard.

Elaborating on the an-

Rajya Sabha returns Finance Bill with amendments

New delhi, March 29 (iaNS): The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday returned to the Lok Sabha the Finance Bill, 2017, with five amendments, after discussing the Bill for over five hours spread across two days. The Bill, already passed by the Lok Sabha, was moved in the Rajya Sabha on March 27. The government has moved more than 40 amendments to the original Bill, some of which amend a number of corresponding legislations, with opposition accusing the government of sneaking in non-finance matters through the Finance Bill, over which the Upper House has no powers. Congress' Digvijay Singh moved amendments to three Clauses of the Bill, which seek to amend Sections 132, 132(A) and 133 of the Income Tax Act. The amendments by Digvijay Singh were adopted after division of votes gave a clear 'ayes' to the opposition. CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury also moved two amendments to the government Bill which were also adopted after division of votes. The Bill was returned to the Lok Sabha that will consider the amendments moved by the upper House, but it is not a binding on the Lower House to accept all or any of the amendments. ti-profiteering provisions, he said these are meant to ensure that the benefits of reduction in tax rates are passed on to the consumers and there should be no “unjust enrichment”.

Responding to the concerns expressed by members on bringing agriculturists within the ambit of GST, he said the GST bill have provided a definition of agriculturists for the purpose of exemption from registration.

He further said most of the agricultural produce would continue to be zero rated and there should be “no confusion” about it.

As regards Jammu and Kashmir, the Finance Minister said the law passed

by Parliament will not ap-

ply to the state which will have to legislate its own law and integrate with the GST regime. On the powers of CAG to audit GST, the Minister said that the official auditor draws its power from the Constitution and the CAG Act and there was no need to mention it separately in the legislations.

Jaitley also dismissed the contention that GST would erode the power of Parliament and state legislatures to levy taxes. He said the taxation powers would continue to be with the legislatures and would be used on the recommendations of the GST Council. Under the new regime, sovereignity would be shared between the Centre and the states.

Change working style: CM Adityanath tells police officials After Nigerians, Kenyan woman

luckNow, March 29 (PTi): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has asked police officials to change the way they work to instill a sense of safety among the public and fear among criminals. At a review meeting on Tuesday, he also stressed on making the working style of the police transparent and corruption-free.

“The police must establish a direct communication with people and must take cognizance of even the most minor incident,” he said. Adityanath also discussed the incident of attack on some African students in Greater Noida and the crude bomb explosion in Sant Kabir Nagar.

The Chief Minister directed police officials to prepare an elaborate work plan at the earliest and ensure that good policing is put in place. He

also laid emphasis on field visits to know the ground reality.

“If the police officials take out some time from their busy schedule and undertake foot patrolling for a few kilometres along with their subordinates, then it will instill a feeling of safety and reassurance among the public,”he said.

If the department incorporates a change in its style of working then it would create fear in the mind of criminals and anti-social elements, the Chief Minister said.

Adityanath also asked police men to “identify the black sheep in their department who are acting in collusion with criminals and antisocial elements”, and emphasised on strengthening “internal” discipline between the police officials and subordinates.

The CM directed the police officials to ensure that their homes and offices are clean. Adityanath also told the police officials to ensure that the complainants who come to police station get proper seating facility and are treated properly.

They were also directed to exercise extra caution during the opening of banks and when markets close for the day. In view of the Navaratri festivities, he said adequate police personnel should be deployed at temples and proper arrangement of drinking water and cleanliness made.

“Senior police officials must pay regular visits to the Shaktipeeths to ensure their security.

The police must remain vigilant in Ayodhya on the occasion of Ram Navami (April 5), as a large num-

ber of devotees are expected to visit the temple town,” he said.

The Chief Minister directed the police to initiate stringent action against the land-mafia, cow-mafia (cow smugglers) and miningmafia by undertaking sustained campaigns. He said co-ordination should be established through Dial100 service of the Uttar Pradesh Police. Noting that in summer the frequency of fire incidents is high, he asked the Fire Services to be extravigilant. “No incident should be ignored as trivial,” he said. The CM was also of the view that the civil defence be strengthened and that their services should not be availed only for special occasions. Safety of women and protection of human rights is also a challenge and it should be on priority list, the chief minister added.

President gives nod to new maternity leave law

New delhi, March 29 (PTi): Women employees will now be able to get paid maternity leave of 26 weeks, up from 12 weeks, as per a new law.

President Pranab Mukherjee has given assent to the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 that has made changes in some of the provisions of over 55-year-old law entitling certain benefits to women employees.

The new law makes it mandatory for every establishment with fifty or more employees to have the facility of creche within a prescribed distance.

The employer is also bound to allow four visits a day to the creche by a woman.

Every establishment will intimate in writing and electronically to every woman at the time of her initial appointment regarding every benefit available under the new

law, the statute says.

An employer can also permit a woman to work from home after she has availed maternity leave.

“In case where the nature of work assigned to a woman is of such nature that she may work from home, the employer may allow her to do so after availing of the

maternity benefit for such period and on such conditions as the employer and the woman may mutually agree,” it says.

The law also allows maternity leave of 12 weeks for a woman who adopts a child below the age of three months, and for commissioning mother (a biological

mother who uses her egg to create an embryo implanted in any other woman). The entitlement of 26 weeks paid leave under the law is only for first two children. A woman with two or more children will be entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave, says the law which will apply to all establishments employing 10 or more people.

The statute that will help approximate 1.8 million women workforce in organised sector, has amended Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 that regulates grant of maternity benefit to women employees in certain establishments.

The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on March 9 and Rajya Sabha on March 20.

India is at third position globally in terms of the number of weeks of maternity leave after Canada (50 weeks) and Norway (44 weeks).

attacked in Greater Noida Noida, March 29 (iaNS): A day after India condemned an attack on some Nigerian students and said it was committed to safety of foreign nationals, a Kenyan woman was on Wednesday morning dragged out of a cab in Greater Noida by a group of men, and punched and kicked in the abdomen, police said.

The woman, whose name has been withheld, was attacked around 4.30 a.m. near Alstonia Apartments in Knowledge Park area while coming from Delhi Police Society in Greater Noida after meeting a friend.

The Kenyan student, in her 20s, alleged that she was pulled out of her Ola cab, slapped and kicked in her abdomen by 10-12 men. Assistant Superintendent of Police Gautam Budh Nagar, Abhinandan told IANS that the men are yet to be identified.

"They attacked her when she resisted and tried to shout for help. We have registered a case and are investigating to identify and nab the attackers."

Police have registered a case under sections of rioting, unlawful assembly, criminal intimidation and voluntarily causing hurt of the Indian Penal Code.

She was taken to Greater Noida's Kailash Hospital and was discharged after first aid. Investigators said they initially got information that five-six men were

The Kenyan student who was admitted to Kailash Hospital after her assault, was later discharged. (PTI Photo)

involved in the attack but the woman told them that 10-12 people attacked her.

"We are in touch with Ola officials and getting the details of the cab driver who fled from the spot during the attack," he said.

Greater Noida, which houses numerous colleges and universities where thousands of foreign nationals study, witnessed violence against African nationals on Monday night in which four Nigerians were injured.

The Nigerian students were attacked near Pari Chowk in Greater Noida and two more were beaten

up inside a shopping mall.

The attack took place after protests over the death of Manish Khari, a Class 12 student in Greater Noida's NSG Society, due to suspected drug overdose. The mob accused the Nigerians of being involved in drug running.

On Tuesday, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Gopal Baglay termed the incident "deplorable" and said the government is committed to ensuring the safety and security of all foreigners in India. "People from Africa, including students and youth, remain our valued partners."

thursdAY 30•03•2017

WORLD

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

9

British PM Theresa May to fire starting gun on Brexit LONDON, March 29 (reuters): Prime Minister Theresa May will file formal Brexit divorce papers on Wednesday, pitching the United Kingdom into the unknown and triggering years of uncertain negotiations that will test the endurance of the European Union.

Nine months after Britons voted to leave, May will notify EU Council President Donald Tusk in a letter that the UK really is quitting the bloc it joined in 1973.

The prime minister, an initial opponent of Brexit who won the top job in the political turmoil that followed the referendum vote, will then have two years to settle the terms of the divorce before it comes into effect in late March 2019.

“Now that the decision has been made to leave the EU, it is time to come together,” May will tell lawmakers, according to comments supplied by her office.

“When I sit around the negotiating table in the months ahead, I will represent every person in the whole United Kingdom – young and old, rich and poor, city, town, country and all the villages and hamlets in between,” May will say.

On the eve of Brexit, May, 60, has one of the toughest jobs of any recent British prime minister: holding Britain together in the face of renewed Scottish independence demands, while conducting arduous talks with 27 other EU states on finance, trade, security and other complex issues.

The outcome of the negotiations will shape the future of

ter on Tuesday, pictured alone at the cabinet table beneath a clock, a British flag and an oilpainting of Britain’s first prime minister, Robert Walpole. She will update the British parliament at around 1130 GMT.

British Prime Minister Theresa May in the cabinet, sitting below a painting of Britain’s first Prime Minister Robert Walpole, signs the official letter to European Council President Donald Tusk invoking Article 50 and the United Kingdom’s intention to leave the EU on March 28, in London, England.

After holding a referendum in June 2016 the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, the signing of Article 50 now officially triggers that process. (REUTERS Photo)

Britain’s $2.6 trillion economy, the world’s fifth biggest, and determine whether London can keep its place as one of the top two global financial centres.

For the EU, already reeling from successive crises over debt and refugees, the loss of Britain is the biggest blow yet to 60 years of efforts to forge European unity in the wake of two devastating world wars.

Its leaders say they do not want to punish Britain. But with nationalist, anti-EU parties on the rise across Europe, they cannot afford to give London generous terms that might en-

courage other member states to dorial Jaguar, carrying a wellbreak away. worn black leather briefcase which may - or may not - have BREXIT LETTER contained May’s letter. British May’s notice of the UK’s in- officials declined to say. tention to leave the bloc under Barrow has an appointment Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon with Tusk, the EU summit chair Treaty is due to be hand-deliv- and former Polish prime minered to Tusk in Brussels by Tim ister, in the Council President’s Barrow, Britain’s permanent offices on the top 11th floor of representative to the EU. the new Europa Building at Barrow arrived at the Euro- 1120 GMT, where he is due to pean Council building shortly hand over the letter. before 0800 GMT for a routine That moment will formally weekly meeting with the senior set the clock ticking on Britain’s diplomats of other member two-year exit process. Tusk will states. speak to reporters after that.

He arrived in the ambassaMay signed the Brexit let-

BREXIT DEAL? The Sun, Britain’s most popular newspaper, projected giant messages to Europe including “Dover and Out”, “Goodbye” and “See EU Later” onto the white cliffs of Dover facing the continent. In the French media, the response was less celebratory. The Libération newspaper led with the headline: “We miss you already! Or do we...” over a picture of a guardsman wearing a bearskin hat, a traditional symbol of Britain.

The Brexit letter is expected to seek to set a positive tone for the talks and recap 12 key points which May set out as her goals in a speech in January, EU officials said.

Within 48 hours of reading the letter, Tusk will send the 27 other states draft negotiating guidelines. He will outline his views in Malta, where from Wednesday he will be attending a congress of centre-right leaders. Ambassadors of the 27 will then meet in Brussels to discuss Tusk’s draft. The course of the Brexit talks is uncertain.

May has promised to seek the greatest possible access to European markets but said Britain will aim to establish its own free trade deals with countries beyond Europe, and impose limits on immigration from the continent.

She has acknowledged that

those measures would require withdrawing from the EU ‘single market’ of 500 million people, founded on the principles of free movement of goods, services, capital and people.

Her priorities also include leaving the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice and securing “frictionless” trade with the bloc while ending full membership of the customs union that sets external tariffs for goods imported into the bloc.

She wants to negotiate Britain’s divorce and the future trading relationship with the EU within the two-year period, though EU officials say that will be hard. “It was you, the British, who decided to leave, not us who wanted you to go,” said one senior EU diplomat. “The trading relationship is going to be the most difficult bit to solve - I don’t see how that will be done in that time frame.”

A huge number of questions remain, including whether exporters will keep tariff-free access to the single market and whether British-based banks will still be able to serve continental clients, not to mention immigration and the future rights of EU citizens in the UK and Britons living in Europe.

UNITED KINGDOM? Britain’s finance minister, Philip Hammond, said he was confident the country would negotiate a customs arrangement with the EU that would allow for borders to be as frictionless as possible after Brexit.

“It is not in the interests of anybody on the continent of Europe to have lines of trucks,”

Hammond said, adding that he did not recognise some of the large numbers being spoken about in Brussels that some officials say Britain may have to pay to the EU as it exits.

Global banks such as Goldman Sachs are considering moving some staff out of Britain due to Brexit, and some major companies and banks could use the Article 50 trigger date to update investors on their plans.

The Brexit vote triggered the biggest one-day fall in sterling since free-floating exchange rates and the pound is trading at $1.24, around 25 cents below the rate on June 23.

At home, May’s United Kingdom - a nuclear power with a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council - is divided and faces strains that could lead to its break-up.

The results of the Brexit referendum called the country’s future into question because England and Wales voted to leave the EU but Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to stay.

Scottish nationalists have demanded an independence referendum that May has refused, saying the time is not right. In Northern Ireland, rival parties have been unable to end a major political crisis for over two months and Sinn Fein nationalists are demanding a vote on leaving the UK and uniting with the Republic of Ireland.

“May’s job is just so difficult - keeping the UK together while Brexiting - that I am not sure anyone would want it,” said a senior non-EU diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

World’s most obese Human waste found in Coca-Cola cans, probe launched man to undergo surgery LONDON, March 29 (IaNs): Coca-Cola has called in police to investigate after human waste turned up in a consignment of its drink cans at one of the companys factories in Northern Ireland.

Police officials confirmed on Tuesday that they have opened an inquiry into how faeces ended up in the cans at the Hellenic Bottling Company factory in Lisburn, Co Antrim, reported the Guardian.

Coca-Cola suspended

MexIcO cIty, March 29 (IaNs): Doctors in Mexico have set a date for the world’s heaviest man to undergo gastric bypass surgery, the media reported on Wednesday. Patient Juan Pedro Franco, who once weighed more than half a ton at 595 kilos, has been on a three-month diet to prepare for the operation on May 9, Xinhua news agency reported.

The native of Aguascalientes in Mexico has to shed about 175 kilos at a special weight-loss clinic so as to make himself a suitable candidate for the operation. “He has lost nearly 30%of his initial weight, so he is ready to undergo (the) bariatric surgery,” doctor, Jose Antonio Castaneda Cruz, told the media. Franco, 32, first made headlines in November when he was admitted to the clinic after making the trip via a specially-adapted van to the western city of Guadalajara, Jalisco. At the time, Castaneda said Franco’s obesity and related conditions, including diabetes, had made the operation impossible.

Franco contacted the clinic after coming across one of their online ads. Before that, he had spent the past six years lying in bed due to his massive weight. Despite his weight loss, it cannot be guaranteed that complications will not appear. Franco’s doctor is optimistic, saying they were “on the right path”. The initial gastric bypass aims to reduce his current weight by 50%, after which a second operation will be needed, said Castaneda. Franco noted there were other people trapped in their homes like him.

“Some have passed away perhaps from sadness, or because they don’t dare (to) ask for help.” He urged those suffering from obesity “to raise their voice and ask for help since it is possible”.

Cambodia bans sale, export of breast milk PhNOM PeNh, March 29 (IaNs): Cambodia has banned ssale and export of breast milk after reports that impoverished mothers were selling their milk to supplement their incomes. Two female former employees of a breast milk exporting company Koun Meada in the Cambodian capital said that during the two years they worked at the firm, they went in twice daily to give breast milk before the government stopped its activities over a week ago, Efe news reported.

The pair said Koun Meada’s business -- tied to a USbased partner company -- was good for Cambodians and they invited the government to inspect their operations, but instead the government closed it down. The end of Koun Meada’s operations follows the permanent ban imposed by the government on Tuesday on the sale and export of human breast milk, on the grounds that the business is exploitative of poor women and poses nutritional risks for the women’s babies, the Phnom Penh Post reported.

Koun Meada had been selling its milk to the American firm Ambrosia Labs and the female staff used to earn $7-$10 per day for their milk, an amount that helped them support their families in the impoverished Southeast Asian country, said the report. “Even if Cambodia is poor, it is still not alright for people to sell breast milk,” said the government’s Council of Ministers in a letter to the Ministry of Health.

night-time processing last week at the plant when machines became clogged.

The soft drinks giant said it impounded all the affected cans and that the contamination did not affect any products that were on sale.

According to the Belfast Telegraph, factory workers on the night shift at the plant in Lisburn last week were left horrified when they made the discovery inside a number of cans on the production line.

“It was absolutely horri-

ble, and the machines had to be turned off for about 15 hours to be cleaned,” a worker told the paper, adding “it was unusual because normally the cans come from somewhere else in the UK, but this time they apparently came from Germany”.

“The rumour is that some poor immigrants could have made that long journey in the lorry and that in their desperation were forced to use the cans instead of a toilet,” accord-

ENTRY FREE

COME ONE COME ALL

COME ONE COME ALL

DO VISIT US AT THE

NATIONAL HANDLOOM EXPO

AT GURKHA PANCHAYAT PUBLIC GROUND,CHANDMARI COLONY, OPPOSITE, NAGALAND GOVT. PRINTING PRESS, KOHIMA, NAGALAND From 22nd March to 4th April 2017 Time : 10:30 A.M to 6:30 P.M Participants from Various States of India, A Mega Events of Exclusive Range of Handloom products, day to day utilities & Decorative items, Innovative & well designed Ladies & Gents ware, Traditional Shawls, Jacket, Bed Sheet, Cushion cover, Handicrafts items, Basketry etc.

Enjoy the Handloom Colours of India Organised By:Nagaland Handloom & Handicrafts Development Corporation Ltd (A Govt. of Nagaland Undertaking) Dimapur: Nagaland.

Sponsored By:Office of the Development Commissioner for Handlooms, Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India, New Delhi Sd/- K. HOKISHE ASSUMI, Managing Director

NAGALAND ELECTRICITY REGULATORY COMMISSION (NERC) NAGALAND : KOHIMA

No. NERC/SAC-1/2017/25

Upper Agri Colony, house No. 341, Nagaland:Kohima-797001 Tel: 2241592(R); www.nerc.org.in e-mail:nerc_kohima@yahoo.com / nerckohima@hotmail.com

Dated Kohima, the 27th March, ’17

PRESS RELEASE

The 11th Meeting of the State Advisory Committee of the Nagaland Electricity Regulatory Commission was held on 24th March, 2017 in the Conference Hall of the Engineer-in-Chief, Department of Power, Nagaland, Kohima.

The Members deliberated on Unbundling & Corporatisation of Power Department, ongoing 186 MW Dikhu Hydro Electric Project and setting up of Consumer Grievances Redressal Forum (CGRF) & Ombudsman which are steps towards power sector reform in Nagaland. Considering the present power sector scenario in the State where the consumers are adversely affected, the members resolved for early implementation of the aforesaid reforms for providing quality power supply to the consumer and advised the Commission to further pursue before the State Government.

The members also deliberated on the power Tariff for FY 2017-18 filed by the Power Department, Nagaland and advised the Commission to go ahead for its finalisation.

Sd/- W. Y. YANTHAN Secretary, Nagaland Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Kohima

Issued by: DIPR

ing to the report. In a statement, the company told the newspaper: “Coca-Cola takes the safety and quality of our products extremely seriously.

“We are aware of an incident involving empty cans at our plant in Knockmore Hill, Lisburn. We are treating this matter extremely seriously and are conducting a thorough in-

vestigation in co-operation with the police.

“The problem was identified immediately through our robust quality procedures and all of the product from the affected production was immediately impounded and will not be sold. This is an isolated incident and does not affect any products currently on sale.”

The Food Standards Agency said none of the cans contaminated with faeces had reached the market in Northern Ireland. It added: “The incident is subject to an investigation by the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) and the environmental health unit of Lisburn and Castlereagh city council.”

ThursDAY 30•03•2017

public discourse

10

T. Meren Paul Former Transport Commissioner

A

s an ominous onset of this spring equinox, Monday the 27 March was a horrific day for road travelers in Manipur state when three tragic road mishaps took place of which the one near Maram in Senapati district is not far away from Kohima.

Social media was very prompt in reporting the accident with photographic detail of the mishaps.

Looking at the nature of the accident, the vehicle did not turn turtle nor rolled over even once but had plunged and landed headlong which indicated it was speeding. Had the bus been driven slow it would have simply roll down the cleft. Although the body of the bus is intact, the casualties are more as most of the passengers must have been asleep at this early morning

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Tragic Highway mishaps in Manipur hours and the landing impact would have cause their body as canon ball slamming against the back of the seat without fastened seat belt. Reading through the accident report in our local paper, my attention was caught on the photograph of the accident bus MN01-4A-9503 that lay plunged headlong on its right side giving a clear overview of the left side of the body intake except the front axle assembly along with the wheels being snapped and fallen. At the first glance of the bus body, the rear overhang body looks too long even on apparent observation. Curiosity urged me to measure the wheel base of the bus and the rear overhang from the photograph of the vehicle where estimation of the rear overhang is worked out around 71 % against the permissible 60% of the wheel base under Rule 93 (6) CMV Rules, 1989.

The permissible rear overhang of 60% of the vehicle wheel base is arrived to maintain a safe balanced distribution of laden weight between the front and the rear in conventional truck chassis but in the LPT series the loading has to be less in the rear for stability of the laden weight balance while in motion. The luxury segments of the bus body are constructed with long rear overhang which in the cases of shorter wheel base are intentionally made exceeding the permissible 60% in order to get more seating capacity but endangering stability of the vehicle. In the Super Deluxe/ Luxury buses the rear overhang body below the elevated floor is use as luggage boot therefore if heavy goods are loaded in the overhang body, front part of the vehicle while in motion shall develop tendency to tilting upward

and in speed driving the front wheel shall be raised upwards momentarily not touching the ground. All the Super Deluxe/ Luxury buses are simultaneously use as Courier service transport and carries load of merchandise besides the personal luggage of the passengers.

In my personal assessment, the ill fated bus was fully loaded or overloaded. According to the paper (NP) twelve people died and over three dozen seriously injured means 42 passengers including driver and attendant. Morung Express reports 12 deaths and 17 injured but no mention of non injury if any. Besides the passengers the bus must have been also fully loaded in its overhang body luggage boot. It is reported that the bus skidded off the road which is highly doubtful as the road is seen parched dry, but if skidded, then it must be by

inertia of motion due to very high speed of the vehicle beyond the means of technical limit of braking efficiency. The tyre screeching mark on the asphalt road surface shall speak of braking by the driver whether it skidded of the road or not. It may be also likely that the driver dozed off as it was early morning at 3:30 AM when the accident took place and by the time he realized his reaction time was too late. In such cases the tyre screeching mark will be visible at the road shoulder or not at all as the vehicle would have already veered off the road.

In the case where only the vehicle rear wheel screeching mark is clearly visible but no screeching mark of the front wheel, it will be a befitting case of overloading on the excess rear overhang body combine with over speeding leading to aerodynamic problem causing

displacement of equilibrium of body load balance where the front part of the vehicle would have slightly lifted up in the air displacing the front wheels from contact on the road surface causing failure of steering wheel control to negotiate road curvature. This theory will be confirmed if there is road turning immediately behind the accident spot. The unscrupulous transport operator would try to exceed the body construction limit but the inspecting authority and the registering authority should be prudent enough to control the rear overhang limitation. In the present accident case if the rear overhang of the accident vehicle is found exceeding the 60% permissible limit of the wheel base as apparent from the photograph, the Inspecting authority, Registering Authority, the body fabrication

workshop and the owner shall be jointly and severally liable of criminal offence.

If we go through the research and analysis of the accident report, it is found that 90 % of the motor vehicles accident occurs due to human failure which includes negligence, error of judgment, rash driving, drunken driving, overload, poor maintenance docking. Study shows less than10 % of the road accidents are caused by mechanical failures. Every day 400 people are killed in road accidents in India. There were 5 lakhs reported road accidents in India during 2015 resulting in 1,46,133 deaths. The accidents and the death is going upward every year and becoming uncontrollable. Every road user as stake holder should develop road safety culture to bring down the road accident.

Leader of the People or Leader of the Organization? Naga Common Customary Laws Vis-À-Vis Uniform Civil Code

O

Chekrovei Cho-o

f late, it has become pretty tough to get in touch with most of our leaders—our phone calls are ignored, our text messages are ignored, our mails are not no paid heed to, forget about getting our job done. And they say. “I was too busy!” The fact is that, if a leader is too busy to keep in touch with people, he or she becomes a leader of the organization at the expense of the members of the organization. This is a terrible reality we’re facing in our society today. Of course, there are wonderful leaders in Naga society. They’re people persons. They’re helpful people; their goal in their career is to extend help to anyone who may need their humble service. There are medical doctors who keep the communication open even in Operation Theatre without switching off their mobile phone. There are leaders who would receive your phone call even in the middle of the night and still not be annoyed. We need to be truly grateful to these Good Samaritan leaders. Hats off to them! This article is for people who occupy important places in the offices, be it a tribal body, student community, government establishment, or any organization, but have not yet learned to act as leaders.

After you become a leader, if your contact with people becomes selective instead of expanding, something is wrong with your leadership because you’re not just the leader of leaders but the gener-

al public (no matter how insignificant they are) although you need to coordinate with your subordinates more often. It’s extremely vital to be sensitive to the needs of even the least among the bonafide members of your organization. If your contact is only with people who can benefit you than render your service, you become an egotist, not a leader. Many leaders among the Nagas today are becoming too selfcentered. Mega-events are becoming more important than helping people or equipping people at the grass-root level. These leaders put more attention on the events or organizational reputation than meeting the needs of the people.

This leadership sickness is called “Ego-gratification.” Becoming a leader does not make you great; it only brings you greater responsibility; the higher the organization, the greater the responsibility.

If you’re not aware of this fact, you better revisit your attitude.

In spite of too many leaders leading to leadership crisis in Nagaland, we still experience famine of leadership. Leaders who are truly for the people they lead are still rare. People who head the organizations are not necessarily leaders in the real sense. Leaders are who plan with people, organize people, lead people, and facilitate opportunity, all for the welfare of the people. They are leaders who are accessible, approachable, and responsive to people’s needs. Alexander Strauch believes that the organizational changes that oc-

curred during the early centuries of Christianity were disastrous.

Christianity, the humblest of all faiths, degenerated into most power-hungry and elaborately hierarchical religion on the face of the earth. Nearly everything Christ had taught and lived was distorted; the pristine character of Christianity was lost. The principles of humility and servant-hood are at the very heart of Christ’s teaching.

And his teachings were directed not only to the clergies but to all Christians who occupy important leadership positions. In fact, Jesus himself was not a religious professional. He was a carpenter by trade, not a clergy. For Christians there’s no difference between sacred and secular service. All are expected to serve him by serving people with utmost humility and dedication. A leader who lacks humility will find hard to serve people but only look for opportunity to be served and honored. Max Depree says, “Above all, leadership is a position of servant-hood.” And, Laurrie Beth Jones opines that, the principles of service is what separates true leaders from glory-seekers.

Blessed are you if you’re a leader of the people. May your kind of leader increase! But, if you occupy the chair of an organization and still not a leader yet, it’s time that you start leading people today than remain in your chair at the expense of the people. Hoping to meet more accessible, approachable, and responsive leaders in the years to come!

Nagas deserve better

Liberal Democratic Party of Nagaland (Media Cell)

“Y

es we can” if we think that we could catch up with the rest of the world. In order to do so, first we have to get ‘Real’ with ourselves. We have to accept and admit our failures and weaknesses and set our strength and potential aside and hence set ourselves free from the delusion that “we are great” when we are not.

The truth is that the world has progressed far ahead whilst we were being victimized by the corrupted lords ever since they began. If we really want to accomplish more and be a part of the global community then we have to start from the grass root level and learn how much the world has progressed while we were being ignorant and proud, sufficed in our small Naga world.

Modern Science has achieved remarkable feats in many fields. Genetic cloning of a sheep has been successful and has opened the door for human cloning. Teleportation of a subatomic particle has been made possible (disintegrating the particle from point A and reassembling a new particle in point B) by a team of Chinese scientists. NASA’s attempt to search for intelligent life in the universe has intrigued the possibility of humans entering into a galactic civilization in the coming future. The world has progressed much ahead preparing for the future whereas let us see what Nagaland has accomplished so far. There are many Range Rovers, luxurious SUVs and fancy cars like Mercedes, Honda city, sports car etc. owned by the MLAs and the bureaucrats. We see them driving the new cars in our Two Lane (equivalent to the rural Assam roads) pot holed roads before the cars even get into commercial advertisement in the national TV channels.

The humongous palatial houses and real estates, multi-complex and their private enterprises partnered with the non locals so that their exploitation of the public funds doesn’t get exposed by the Nagas. These are the accomplishments of the few Nagas that could be perhaps credited to as the only achievements of the state thanks to the non usage of the public funds for development.

There are many talented youths in our society today, ready to create waves should the platform be provided to them. But because of corruption the reality is that there is nothing (not a single damn thing aside from the overrated govt. jobs) for the Nagas to earn their livelihood and contribute to the State’s economy. All our talents and potentials are going to waste (while we are young) because they decided to buy more cars and mansions to show ‘off’ to our own Nagas instead of developing Nagaland and showing it ‘off’ to the rest of the world.

The reason why we can catch up with the world is because from a scientific rational approach, the

Nagas are unique and has potential to accomplish more. Our weakness has become our greatest advantage to catch up with the modern world. Here’s why.

We were half naked even in the turn of the 19th and 20th century prior to the arrival of the westerners.

We didn’t have our own script and language which is why we use ‘English’ script and language to communicate and learn about things. Developed Asian countries like Japan and South Korea has astonished the western world by coming out of their traditional society during the turn of the 20th century and over a short period of time, has accomplished more than them in some fields, technologically and economically. But since they still focus on their own scripts and languages in schools, their students find it hard to interpret their knowledge in the global tongue, ‘English’. This is one of their weaknesses for the sake of preserving their culture.

The point why ‘English’ is important is because it is a rich language with many words and vocabularies that has meaning and sense attached to it. And unless we know about the meaning of the word we don’t understand the concept behind it regarding life itself. For example in our Naga dialects there is no word for “Psychology, Quantum Mechanics, Worm holes, Tachyon particles etc.”, each with meaning about life inscribed to it but since it is not in our dialect (dictionary) we don’t know that such concepts exists in life. And in reality many more concepts and facts exists in life which is not in the Naga and Asian vocabulary which is why we don’t know about it but it is there though unbeknownst to us.

Thus since we have instilled ‘English’ in our academics, we have more potential to achieve greater heights than our fellow Asian counterparts.

The other thing that could help us in rapidly developing our State is our natural resources. Maybe in the next 20 years or more, the UN could ban the use of petroleum products (due to excess pollution and generation of ‘green house’ gases) because of ‘global warming’ and the rest of the world is already on the verge of exhausting their resources whilst ours remains untouched. We have the advantage of exploiting our resources to a point where we would have completely developed Nagaland and then depending less on our resources, keeping the world Green.

Should we want to join the global community then it is time to redefine our perspectives about life and be more rational and technical so that we could achieve great momentum and change our future. As long as we are a part of the ignorant system that binds our fate then there is no Hope for the Nagas except endangering our society by taking bold irrational (not well thought up) steps. Time brings change in the global concept of life but it is up to us to notice it and use it or ignore it and miss it.

N. Haisoyi Ndang Author, Naga script & Zeliang Customary Laws

M

any intellectual Nagas aspired of having a common customary law for all the Nagas could be a well thought-out but the challenge ahead seems to be bigger than ever thought-out for the fact of technical implication in various tribal custom and practices that’s akin to my headache pill is useless for your stomach pain.

If that is the fact that we really wanted uniform customary laws then that’s not different from the unsuccessful “Uniform Civil Code” proposal being shelved indefinitely for wants of civil society’s supports. Whereas, the uniform civil code is a term originated from the concept of civil lawcode that envisage administering the same set of secular civil laws to govern different people belonging to different religions and region that ultimately superseding the right of its citizens as to subject themselves to different personal laws based on their religion or ethnicity. A common area intended to cover by this act includes; 1. Personal status 2. Rights related to acquisition and administration 3.Marriage, divorce and adoption was ardently opposed by Muslims, Christians, INC, CPI(M) and in consonance to that “The Time

of India” said on 13 Oct. 2016 “A Uniform Civil Code is not good for the nation” Now, considering the historical-baggage of the Naga tribal culture, custom and tradition where each Naga tribe has its own set of unique custom that may not be relevant to other Naga tribes. No wonder, the ancient Nagas lived in a sovereign status of nation, undiluted from any external influence or force. Similarly, retrospection shows that our forefather embraced the faith of paganism; believer of nature “Animism” started setting their own ethical rules and regulation. The evolvement of most custom and practice were heavily laced and infused with fear psycho factors more of natural phenomenal recurrence such as curse and rewards for the bad and good people. These laws are purely verbatim and the elders who administer know them like the back of their palm and apply what is appropriate for a degree of crime so committed and deals accordingly without any prejudice since time immemorial.

The institution of customary law is basically based on the fundamental of village authorities comprising of G.Bs. and trusted elders who are not necessarily trained in the profession of handling laws unlike those LLB in the Indian conventional laws nor do they charge fees for dispens-

ing the cases but in a nutshell the customary law dispensers are not less than lawyer themselves.

However this doesn’t mean that those customary laws are flawless in nature but it has survived the test of time where, till date most rural folks opting for this simple but effective set of customary can be attributed to just and fair settlement in time with less or no expenditure. More so, when the country India recognized our intrinsic culture and custom through the ordinance sanction article 371A in consonance with our probity of custom and practice it will be prudent on our part to zealously protect them in the best interest of communities and Nagas as a whole. Therefore it is the right time that all those verbatim records of our forefathers be put to book form in hard and soft as I did for my people and some other few tribes as well.

As for the common customary laws being endeavored by some intellectuals who might as well come up with a set of rules that can raise more question than the answer as “Customary lawreview needed? Nagaland Post, Post-mortem on 2803-2017. Remember, I have certain inherent rights in my own custom and practice which cannot be dispensed by the Ao or Lotha or Anga-

mis nor do can I to them but if person/s from those tribes committed a crime in my jurisdiction they would be prompted with my customary laws and vice versa. However, at this juncture it will be a suicidal to jump to a conclusion with common customary laws for that would create more confusion than solving.

Many Nagas tend to jump into bandwagon without understanding the pros and cons but in practical they are more complicate than you ever think and if haphazardly redrawn with a set of common laws and push me to the wall surely there would be counter reaction for the worse.

Therefore, it is my humble suggestion that should there be any remedial needed in their respective customary laws; it should be squarely put through remedial process represented by the D.Bs. G.Bs. Hohos and the author/compilers should there be any.

True, there are certain outdated and obsolete laws dying out a natural dead which are no more in use, many more can be rectified and put to codification within that particular tribe if required but I am death sure that no sensible tribe would ever surrender their rights for others’ pleasure for the asking.

Our ancestors were good in practicing but poor in preaching and vice-versa we the Nagas today

Unemployment and theological colleges in Nagaland G. L. Khing

L

Kohima

ooking at the number of theological colleges in Nagaland, I used to ask myself, “Are Nagas becoming more spiritual or are theological colleges serving as substitute to unemployment in Nagaland.” Both seem to be right. I am sure many of you will strongly say ‘No’ with regard to the later and ‘Yes’ to the former. Yes, many young boys and girls enter theological colleges with lots of expectation. They study and learn spiritual warfare of life.

The necessity of living a good Christian life both as individual and community is taught to them. They forego their youthful life under Christian discipline. Many go back as renewed persons and work in different churches and places with zeal for God and his people. In this way they serve as link to reach the ultimate as well as what is below.

On the other hand, the emergence of numerous theological colleges can also portray the other side of life.

There are people who bitterly fail in life and seek refuge in theological colleges to earn reputation in the society once more. There are many learned theologians, yet there are also people who cannot even pass class 5 or 8 but passed out successfully in theological studies attaining even Master of Divinity or Ph.D. Can you fully trust his/her success? I fully doubt their achievement. There are some who cannot even read or write properly, yet they get excellent position in their religious studies. Yes, I admit that secular studies are dif-

ferent from theological studies (God works in different ways in the life of people).

But one thing they have in common is “Study”. Either you are in secular or religious field, you need to study. One person may be an IAS officer, another a clerk, but both studied according to their field of life. As theologians, you cannot push away your studies and only learn how to pray and sing.

The call of God differs from one person to another.

If you are a married man or woman, the call of God for you is family life. You are to cherish and bring up your family in Christian spirit and not forsake them and seek happiness inside the classroom. You may change from Saul to Paul, but your family members suffer the stigmata of life. You cannot make others to drink bitter gall and enjoy yourself with honey from the rock. Change of life may take place but change should not hinder the wellbeing of others. There are men who quarrel and beat up their wife day and night.

Their presence at home is like a dreadful disease to the children. To change such persons, theological colleges are recommended. The parents would say, “Oh, let him go and study Bible.” Yes, the last resort. Is that not an insult to God? A boy got married to a beautiful girl. After a year of staying together, the girl could no longer stay under such cruel treatment. They were divorced. The girl came back to the parents and lived ever happily serving as a School teacher. Suddenly, one day, the boy’s parents came along with aunties and

uncles. They pestered the girl to come back. The words they used were, “Tai (referring to the man) etia tu Bible bi puri bole jabo koi ase. Etu nimite wapas ahi jabi na.” The words sound great with excellent excuse to be a refugee in theological college. To take shelter in theological colleges may end up with a longer tail because it is never a genuine cause. It is only an escape. To escape is to fall into another bigger trap of life.

Likewise, many young people in the villages and towns of Nagaland and Myanmar escape to theological colleges to gain reputation of life. If such people could not understand their own text books, how do you expect them to understand the Word of God which is harder than any text books?

I do not denounce religious studies, but I propose sincerity and faithfulness in it. God does not show partiality with regard to our learnings and knowledge. But we need understanding people not for heaven but for this very present world. All are called but few may be chosen.

We need not substitute unemployment in Nagaland with theological studies. I say this because those mentioned people will come back as Pastors, Youth Directors, Women Coordinators, etc. In other words, they get employment in the Church at their return. The Church is always kind and loving.

It accepts them with open arms and legs. But the fear is that wrong teachings can be imparted to the flock due to their wrong learning. The teaching was right, but they learnt it wrongly because they could not understand.

Such things are also taking place under our nose. We all can smell it easily.There can also be some professors and lecturers who may have the tendency of criticism. They narrate false stories of other denominations or religions (a fake class) to the students.

Many theological colleges may be existing at the expense of criticism. Such colleges can survive as an apex body, because they are fully based on criticism.

The aim of erecting theological colleges is to bring about better faith in the novices so as to defend one’s faith. But defending one’s faith is not about criticism of other denominations.

Spreading false news even at the pulpit of God is common for Naga religious leaders. May be they are doing it in the name of God. Let God be praised and glorified even in wrong preaching (ha ha ha). The Church can go wrong when leaders preach wrong notions. Conventions and conferences are made used to voice out criticisms of different sort. I hope the Speakers were not invited with such intention. Such religious leaders though accepted and honoured by the members of the Church may find the curse of God upon his/her head (off course God may forgive you because you are preaching without a head) Experience based on truth must be made known to the members, but falsehood and rumours need not replace the word of God inside and outside the Church.

Let every theologian and Church leader be the mouth piece of God and not the fake audio version of God in the Society.

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.

Thursday 30•03•2017

EntErtainmEnt

Kuda Cafe

For the whole community to enjoy!

Kuda Cafe

Akangchila Longchar Morung Express News

Next to Victor Show Room, Half Nagarjan, Dimapur.

“There’s always someone who’s having a hard day.

I want them to come here feel at home and relax- order some food, play some games.”

Theithei Shaiza (center) with her former students.

“We have unemployed youths brimming with talent and creativity right here. So we send a few young people for chef and baking training and now they are working here.”

S

tepping into Kuda Cafe feels like you’re in somebody’s tastefully done living space.

This is the instant reaction for most people who unassumingly set out for some

‘Chow- Momo’.

Theithei Shaiza, the lovely woman behind this cozy place laughs gleefully at this description and admitted that just a while back someone walked in, looked a bit confused and

C M Y K

There is a TV with a shelf full of DVDs for the movie buffs.

Kuda Cafe is truly a place for the whole community and not just for enjoyment but also concerning its visions and goals. could not make up his mind whether he had entered the right café or not.

This is exactly the concept she had in mind- for people to come and relax like they are in their own homes!

The cafe is a perfect representation of the woman who owns it and her dreams and aspirations.

The décor is warm and inviting with eclectic furniture, cute little trinkets and vintage collectibles. Coffee table books, magazines, books on design, motorcycles, music etc are kept for book lovers. There is a TV with a shelf full of DVDs for

the movie buffs. There are also board games to help you pastime.

“My house is almost bare now because whatever is in the café are things brought over from my home,” Theithei exclaimed.

In fact, she informs that some of the furniture is her mother’s! My children’s toys are even here- which they’ve gave up or rather I’ve made them give it up for the cafe, she laughed.

Before setting up shop, this lovely entrepreneur used to teach English at Patkai Christian College, Chumukedima. Married with two kids, she shared

Coffee table books, magazines, books on design, motorcycles, music etc are kept for book lovers.

“I hope people come and read books here.

I want young people to grab a cup of coffee and do their homework, discuss about their school and college” that it had always been a dream of hers to start a venture but she had never pursued it much. Adding to this, her husband Angam Shaiza also wanted to open a Coffee place. Once both she and husband decided to open shop, encouragement started pouring in from family and friends.

“We had no idea how to run a business and we are so grateful to many people,” she expressed gratitude.

“There’s always someone who’s having a hard day. I want them to come here feel at home and relax- order some food, play

some games. I hope people come and read books here.

I want young people to grab a cup of coffee and do their homework, discuss about their school and college,” she explained the vision behind Kuda Cafe.

For now, the menu offers limited and regular choices like Momos, Noodles, Cookies, Pastries, Lemonade, Coffee, Tea, Korean Green Tea, Cookies, Muffins, and Cupcakes. “Our kitchen is small now so we’ve placed very limited items on the menu. We also want our cooks to feel confident and

learn to prepare the dishes with confidence. But with such positive reviews, we have now decided to expand our kitchen space and add more items. Also, once this is complete, the prices may increase by just a little bit because at the moment we’ve kept it very low as introductory prices,” she said.

Kuda Cafe is truly a place for the whole community and not just for enjoyment but also concerning its visions and goals.

Theithei shared, “We are very clear about some of the things we want to put into practice. Many people asked us if we were going to hire a trained chef or bring a chef from other place. But we thought what’s the point doing that? We have unemployed youths brimming with talent and creativity right here. So we send a few young people for chef and baking training and now they are working here. My heart just swells up when I look at them now because I think- they are employed and happy!”

Kuda Cafe stands true to its claim, “A cozy home environment with a simple limited menu. What we lack in quantity, we make up in quality.”

Niall Horan exchanging messages with Marnie Simpson

O

ne Direction s i ng e r Ni a l l Horan has been exchanging messages with reality TV star Marnie Simpson.

Simpson, who split from Lewis Bloor just weeks ago, says she has been in touch with

Horan and singer James Arthur, reports dailymail.co.uk.

"I've been speaking to them. We've said hello and I've spoken over DMs with both of them," Simpson told The Sun newspaper.

"It's just friendly -

they're both big fans of the show (‘Geordie Shore')," she added.

While Arthur confirmed his relationship with his on-off dancer girlfriend Jessica Grist in February, Horan is currently single.

Source: IANS

Tetseo Sisters perform Naga folk and fusion music at Centenary Celebrations of St Agnes Convent, Haflong on March 19. Other artists who performed at the celebration were Mizoram's Cardinal Choir and Spheres from Diphu besides many local musical talents.

By:

Vikheho Swu

(Cabinet Minister, Government of Nagaland)

Khesheli Chishi

(OSD & Principal Secretary, Department of Justice & Law, Government of Nagaland)

YouthNet Colors Femina Miss India 2017 is underway at fbb/ Big Bazaar at Salt Lake City, Kolkata. With a new and improvised format this year, Miss India in its 54th edition will be touring to all 30 states of the nation and to crown 30 state representatives who will then compete for the coveted Miss India crown. The top 3 of West Bengal and Sikkim and the top girl from Arunachal Pradesh have been given a golden ticket to the East zonal crowning ceremony to be held at Swissotel, Kolkata, on March 28. Kaheli Chophy was also officially crowned Femina Miss India Nagaland.

Clean Election : Framing the issues in Nagaland Please note: Registration is free but seats are reserved on a first-call/email, first-serve basis. This advertisement is an official invite to anyone willing to participate.

Date Time Venue

: Saturday, April 8, 2017 : 12:00 pm – 03:00 pm : DABA Elim Hall Duncan Bosti, Dimapur

LIMITEd SEATS

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

morung@gmail.com or

+91 (03862) 248854 or

+91 7005501624

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

12

Thursday 30•03•2017

SPORTS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

students Brazil book World Cup berth, Argentina tumble Cornerstone swing for the fences

Montevideo, March 29 (aFP): Brazil became the first team to qualify for the World Cup on Tuesday after beating Paraguay to clinch an eighth consecutive victory as Argentina's campaign stumbled after the shock suspension of Lionel Messi.

Five-time champions Brazil had been left waiting in suspense after goals from Neymar, Philippe Coutinho and Marcelo handed them a 3-0 win over the Paraguayans at Sao Paulo's Arena Corinthians.

But Uruguay's upset 2-1 defeat to Peru in the day's final South American qualifier combined with other results meant Brazil are mathematically guaranteed a place at next year's finals in Russia.

The qualification completes an astonishing turnaround for Brazil, who less than a year ago were in crisis after taking only nine points from six games.

That run of results had left the Brazilians outside the qualifying places in sixth place.

The further embarrassment of a first round exit at last year's Copa America C M Y K

Neymar treated the Arena Corinthians crowd to a truly special solo goal midway through the second half.

Centenario only deepened the sense of despondency.

However the sacking of former coach Dunga and the appointment of former Corinthians coach Tite was the catalyst for a Brazilian resurgence.

That revival saw Brazil take maximum points from their next eight qualifying games, leaving them nine points clear on Tuesday with four games left.

"When I look at my family -- the players -- and when

we talk to the fans and see how happy they are, that's when you think 'I'm part of something very special,'" Tite said after Brazil's qualification was confirmed.

Against Paraguay, Brazil were already in party mode, with Coutinho opening the scoring on 34 minutes following a deft one-two with China-based midfielder Paulinho.

Neymar had a chance to make it 2-0 in the 53rd minute from the penalty

spot only to see his kick saved by Anthony Silva.

On 64 minutes Neymar doubled Brazil's tally, collecting the ball deep inside his own half and setting off on a surging run down the left flank.

Neymar's dribble ended with him curling in a shot which took a slight deflection on its way into the Paraguayan goal. Real Madrid defender Marcelo added a late third to seal Brazil's win.

- No Messi, big problem While Brazil celebrated, Argentina and Messi were left digesting another stumble in their progress towards Russia as they slumped to a 2-0 defeat in La Paz. Argentina had been rocked just hours before kick-off after confirmation Messi had been hit with a four-match ban following a ruling from disciplinary chiefs at world governing body FIFA in Zurich.

The Barcelona superstar was stunned after being suspended for four of Argentina's five remaining World Cup qualification matches for swearing at an official in a game against Chile last week.

Messi's suspension left Argentina coach Edgardo Bauza forced to make a hasty reshuffle to his starting line-up, bringing in Atletico Madrid's Angel Correa in attack while leaving Manchester City's Sergio Aguero on the bench.

But Argentina, clearly struggling in the thin air of La Paz, which is 3,600 metres (11,800 feet) above sea level, were well beaten at the Estadio

Hernando Siles.

Bolivia, desperate for three points, tore into Argentina from the opening whistle, spending long periods camped around their opponents' area.

Juan Carlos Arce opened the scoring for Bolivia on 31 minutes, heading in Pablo Escobar's inviting cross before Marcelo Martins doubled the home side's lead early the second half.

The defeat leaves Argentina languishing just outside the automatic qualifying places following results elsewhere Tuesday.

Chile moved up to fourth place with a 3-1 win over Venezuela in Santiago, Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez opening the scoring with a stunning early free-kick. Esteban Paredes scored twice for Chile to give the host a 3-0 lead before Salomon Rondon pulled a goal back for Venezuela.

In Quito, Real Madrid star James Rodriguez scored one goal and set up another for Juan Cuadrado as Colombia beat Ecuador 2-0.

12th JVYO final on April 1 4th Northern Angami T20 Bash underway Jalukie, March 29 (Mexn): The final match of the 12th Jalukie Valley Youth Organisation (JVYO) will be graced by S. Chuba Longkumer, Parliamentary Secretary Veterinary and Animal Husbandary, Government of Nagaland, on April 1, 12:30 pm at Local Ground, Jalukie B Village. The final match will be played between Flemingos Football Club and New Jalukie Red.

Annual sports meet held at Cornerstone School and College

St Paul’s annual sports underway

Dimapur | March 29

Morung Express News

Khriehu Liezietsu, Rajesh Soudararanjan and others with the players of the first match on March 29. (Morung Photo) Our Correspondent Kohima | March 29

diMaPur, March 29 (Mexn): The Annual Games and Sports Meet of St. Paul Higher Secondary School (SPHSS) kicked off at the school campus on Wednesday on the theme “Excellence through sports.”

O.T. Chingmak Chang, Commissioner, Parliamentary Affairs, and Dr. Neiviselie Simon Dzuvichu, President CAN, were the chief guest and guest of honour respectively at the inaugural.

Speaking on the occasion, Chingmak impressed upon the students that sports helps inculcate discipline, team work etc. Also stating that sports helps a person to develop their social skills, he encouraged the students to play with true games spirit.

Guest of honour, Dr. Neiviselie in his speech added that sports play an important role in building character which, he viewed, helps one to succeed in the real world.

The 4th edition of 10-Northern Angami -1 T20 Bash 2017 under the aegis of Brotherhood Group kicked off here today at KVC Ground, Ziekezou under the theme “Bat for Unity.”

The tournament was formally Sports not only generate declared open by Kohima Deputy healthy competitive spirit and interest, but also teaches lead- Commissioner Rajesh Soudararanership qualities, maintaining teamwork and team spirit, he added.

Also speaking on the occaOur Correspondent sion, Rev. Mother Sibia, provincial superior, SABS, stated Kohima | March 29 that schools plays a vital role, not only in imparting educa- Parliamentary Secretary for Higher tion, but also in bringing out & Technical Education Deo Nukhu today underscored the importance talents in individuals.

Earlier, the chief guest un- of games and sports for a healthy furled the School Flag which and sound mind.

Addressing the inaugural funcafter which the guest of honour performed the lighting of tion of the annual sports meet of Baptist High Kohima at D. Khel the torch.

The oath was adminis- Ground, Seikhazou, he said by taktered by Asst. Teacher Suman ing part in games and sports and which was followed by decla- adopting regular exercise, one can ration of annual games and maintain discipline and physical sports meet open by the chief fitness.

Nukhu, an alumnus of Bapguest.

Highlights of the pro- tist High recalled that the presgramme included drill dis- ent chief minister of Nagaland, Dr. play by the junior students of Shurhozelie Liezietsu was his TeSPHSS, Naga cultural dance, nyidie teacher in 1962. Baptist High choreography, martial arts was established in 1959.

He also informed that Alemand butterfly dance.

jan in the presence of Parliamentary Secretary for State Lotteries and Music Task Force Khriehu Liezietsu.

Altogether, 16 teams have been registered for this 4th edition, which will continue till April 12. The prize money for the champions and runners- up of this tournament has been set at Rs. 1 lakh and Rs. 50,000 respectively.

In the inaugural match, Lower Bayavii Giants thumped High

School Daredevils by 99 runs while in the second match, Zienuobadze High Flyers defeated Kenuozou Wolves by 8 wickets.

March 30 matches Lower L. Khel Vikings vs Upper L. Khel Riders @ 7:00 am Chedema Strikers vs North Block Warriors @ 10:00 am Middle Bayavü Lions vs Upper Bayavü Sixers @ 1:00 pm

Baptist High’s sports meet kicks-off

Deo Nukhu addressing the inaugural function of Baptist High Kohima Sports Meet on March 29. (Morung Photo)

temshi Jamir (Retired Chief Secretary of Nagaland) and K. Kire (Retired DGP Nagaland) were his classmates in those years.

Earlier, Baptist High Kohima Principal Keviseto said the sports meet was an annual feature to promote physical well being, to de-

velop the spirit of competition, and also to build human relationship with one another.

P.H. Shesou, convenor Sports Committee administered oath to the participants.

The sports meet will continue till March 31.

The Annual Sports Meet of Cornerstone School and College, Dimapur began on a bright and enthusiastic note at the school campus today. After the principal of the school Sentisangla Imsong welcomed everyone to the opening ceremony, the school flag was unfurled.

Organised under the theme “Swing for the Fences”, the school students displayed their skills and enthusiasm. During the opening ceremony, the students held a colourful parade, drill display, flag display, and energizing P.T. A Taekwondo demonstration was also presented by Salomi and special song by Cornerstone School Hostellers.

Special Guest for the ceremony, Col. V.S Shikarwar from 32nd Batallion, Assam Rifle acknowledged that the greatest natural resources were the minds of the young people. He expressed gratitude for being invited to the sports meet and getting the chance to be with the young students of the school. Stating that today’s world was a time where people look for instant gratification, however he warned that meaningful success does not adhere to the rule. He motivated the students saying that while finding their next step in

life, they should not panic but look forward and retain the conviction that there will be a next time. He also cited that education and learning, hard work and perseverance is the key to a successful future.

Passing on optimism to the students, he remarked, “Hitch your wagon onto something bigger than yourself. I also assure you that ethics and integrity will be rewarded.” He also expressed hope that the students of Cornerstone will make positive contributions and make their state and the country a better place. As his contribution, he presented a memento and sports kit to the school.

Guest of honour Dr. K.P.A Ilyas, IPS, Deputy Commissioner of Police Dimapur-Zone 2 also encouraged the students to start thinking about their lives from now and not leave it till after their gradation time. Giving his personal testimony that since his arrival in Nagaland, he has always found the people to be very articulate. As he tried to find out the reason behind this, he learned that children until they reach the age of ten years are given freedom and choice to express themselves. Therefore, he specifically made a request to the faculty to make a note of his experience and continue to allow the child to express themselves freely.

After the oath administration by Akok, from the Sports Committee, the sports meet was officially declared open.

Veteran Football Championship: Video replay aids Spain as Sweden foil Ronaldo homecoming PDVFA informs participating teams

The ongoing preparations for the forthcoming 8th edition of Nagaland Inter-District Veteran Football Tournament 2017 which is scheduled for April 6 to 11 at Phek Town.

Phek, March 29 (Mexn): In view of the forthcoming 8th edition of the Nagaland Veteran Football championship 2017 which is slated to be held from April 6 to 10 at Phek Town, host Phek District Veteran Football Association (PDVFA) has informed participating teams to submit a photo copy of Aadhaar Card of their respective players at the time of the registration.

According to a press statement jointly issued

by PDVFA Press Secretary Kuzhovesa Soho and Team Coach Nesahu Rhakho, as per the laid down rules of the Nagaland Veteran Football Association (NVFA), players below the age of 45 years will be exempted to partake in the tournament and as such the PDVFA will be strictly enforced on Aadhaar Card of every players, adding players without

possessing Aadhaar Card will be debarred from participating in the tournament. The release further stated that, any fake suspected Aadhaar cards will be cross checked in the office of the Deputy Commissioner (DC) Phek.

While expressing regret over the postponement of the tournament, the PDVFA extended hearty welcome to all the districts for a fruitful participation.

Paris, March 29 (aFP): Spain twice benefited from the use of video assistance to defeat France 2-0 on Tuesday, while Sweden rallied from two goals down to beat Portugal 3-2 and spoil Cristiano Ronaldo's homecoming in Madeira.

Antoine Griezmann headed in what appeared to be the opening goal at the Stade de France shortly after half-time, but it was ruled out for offside after consultation with the video assistant referee.

David Silva then converted from the penalty spot after a foul

by Laurent Koscielny, and the Spaniards again profited from technology as the referee reversed an offside decision that had initially negated Gerard's Deulofeu 78th-minute effort.

"The victory was not a result of the (video) refereeing but due to the excellent work and attitude of my players," said Spain coach Julen Lopetegui. "The (video) refereeing gave justice to this match, it resolved those two incidents fairly."

Monaco's teenage prodigy Kylian Mbappe made his first international start and nearly struck as early as the fifth minute, with Da-

vid de Gea reacting sharply to kick away the Frenchman's attempt.

Gerard Pique hooked a header from Koscielny off the line, while Andres Iniesta twice went close in the first half before video replays were used for the first time in France.

Griezmann's celebrations after the break were cut short when Layvin Kurzawa was shown to be in an offside position as he set up the Atletico Madrid striker.

The linesman's flag was then raised as Deulofeu tapped in Jordi Alba's left-wing cross, but replays indicated the on-loan AC Milan winger was marginally behind Samuel Umtiti as the ball was played into the box.

"Playing Spain in a friendly is not a fun game, it never has been.

But we need this," said France coach Didier Deschamps.

Real Madrid star Ronaldo paraded the European Championship trophy before kick-off at the Maritimo Stadium as Portugal played their first match on his home island of Madeira since 2001.

Ronaldo fired the hosts ahead with 18 minutes gone against Swe-

den before Andreas Granqvist's own goal doubled the lead for the Euro 2016 champions.

But Viktor Claesson pulled one back just before Ronaldo was withdrawn on 58 minutes, and the Krasnodar midfielder then struck an equaliser before Joao Cancelo turned into his own net in injury time as Sweden crashed the party in dramatic fashion.

"We played pretty well in the first half but we weren't completely serene defensively," said Portugal coach Fernando Santos.

"After the break we didn't play as well and we ended up losing a match we should never have lost."

- Grim times for Dutch The Netherlands slumped to another defeat, losing 2-1 at home to Italy in the country's first game since the dismissal of head coach and former Dutch international Danny Blind.

Assistant Fred Grim replaced Blind in the dugout with the Netherlands' World Cup hopes hanging by a thread after Saturday's 2-0 loss in Bulgaria left them fourth in their qualifying group.

The Dutch grabbed a 10th-

minute lead in Amsterdam when Italy defender Alessio Romagnoli diverted the ball past 18-year-old Gianluigi Donnarumma -- the AC Milan goalkeeper making his first international start.

But Italy hit back immediately through Eder and Leonardo Bonucci converted the winner after turning in the rebound from Marco Parolo's header on 32 minutes.

Christian Benteke scored twice for Belgium in Sochi, the stadium used for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics, since converted into a football ground.

However, Russia marked the occasion of the first ever match at the Fisht Arena with a rousing comeback as the 2018 World Cup hosts recovered from 3-1 down with goals from Alexei Miranchuk and Alexander Bukharov in the final quarter hour.

Bristol City defender Hordur Magnusson curled in a first-half free-kick as Iceland downed the Republic of Ireland 1-0 in Dublin, while Marko Arnautovic scored as Austria were held to a 1-1 draw with Finland in Innsbruck.

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