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tuesDAY • MArch 08 • 2016
DIMAPUR • Vol. XI • Issue 65 • 12 PAGes • 5
T H e
ESTD. 2005
P o W e R
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T R u T H
The scholar who cherishes the love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar — Confucius Nancy remembered for her forceful, private style PAGe 09
Mkg DPDB visits State Agri Research Station
India is top-ranked team in ICC World T20
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23.25 crore sanctioned for special unit for NER Morung Express News Dimapur | March 7
Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India (GoI) has sanctioned an amount of Rs 23. 25 crore from Nirbhaya fund for the much awaited Delhi Police Special Unit for North East Region (SPUNER) at Nanakpura, New Delhi. According to Robin Hibu, Joint Commissioner of Police Delhi, the GoI has already allotted 1.21 hectares of prime land at New Delhi in the month of November 2015 for the ambitious project which was proposed by Delhi Police. Hibu said SPUNER will not only be a police station but will also have provisions for auditorium, counseling halls, mediation rooms, legal aid centre, research and library, self-defense training hall, anti eve teasing flying squad by karate trained Delhi police women commandos, information and social media centre, crèche for children, outdoor training lawn, latest self-help IT based cafeteria, underground parking, PCR standee, CCTV/CCTNS centre, office of North East Nodal Officer etc.
Govt notifies on working day KohIMA, MArch 7 (dIPr): In view of the ensuing Legislative Assembly session and financial year ending activities, it is brought to the notice of all Government employees located in Kohima that March 12 and 26 shall be working days. All Administrative heads and Heads of Department are directed to ensure attendance of their respective officers and staff as per the notification issued on February 29, 2016.
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PAGE 12
India: Women among most excluded groups
• March 8 is International Women’s Day • Almost 43 percent of women confined to domestic work MUMBAI, MArch 7 (ThoMson reUTers Protecting women’s dignity a FoUndATIon): Women are among the most excollective responsibility: Prez cluded groups in India, with almost 43 percent of working-age women confined to domestic work, while many who do work outside the home face exploitation and low pay, according to the India Exclusion Report. Despite rising levels of literacy, the proportion of working-age women in India’s formal labour force is only about 27 percent, compared with almost 60 percent in Britain and the United States, World Bank data shows. Domestic work is not considered as productive and is neglected in policy, leaving the women at a severe disadvantage, said the report by the Centre for Equity Studies in New Delhi. Besides cooking, cleaning and caring for children and elderly family members, Indian women also perform unpaid work in family businesses and lowpaid labour in factories and enterprises in the so-called informal sector, where they are discriminated against and paid less than men. “Social status and poverty intersect to make women from historically
A woman carries empty containers to fetch water from a municipal water tap in New Delhi, February 21, 2016. (REUTERS)
marginalised groups especially vulnerable to exploitative labour arrangements, forcing them to provide cheap labour,” wrote the authors led by social worker Harsh Mander. “With women in conditions akin to bondage, factors such as confinement of workers engaged in this work in homes or hostels and the mediation of the
employment relationship through the male head of the household -- for instance, in brick kilns and quarries - further serve to render women invisible.” Women in India do almost 10 times as much unpaid work as men - a much higher ratio than the global average - leaving them out of the formal workforce and unable to contribute to
the economy, consultancy firm McKinsey said in a report last year. If that work were to be valued and compensated in the same way as paid work, it would contribute $300 billion a year to India’s economic output, it said. Indian women are also denied equal access to services including education, health care, housing and
public transport. Single women and socalled Devadasis, girls who are forced into sex work from the time they reach puberty, are among the most vulnerable, the 2015 Exclusion Report said. Sex workers and women in hazardous occupations such as construction and mining are routinely discriminated against.
new delhI, MArch 7 (IAns): Women’s right to equal opportunities and a dignified life must be respected, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Monday on the eve of International Women’s Day. “On the occasion of International Women’s Day, I extend warm greetings and good wishes to the women of India and thank them for their contributions over the years in the building of our nation,” the president said in a statement. “Women have always been given the highest level of respect in our country. Their protection and safety is a sacred duty of society as a whole. We must respect the right of women to equal opportunities and a dignified life,” he added. Mukherjee said it was a collective responsibility of all the Indians to “create an ecosystem that ensures the safety, security and dignity of women in society.” “On International Women’s Day, let us redouble our efforts for achieving gender equity and empowerment of women. Let us strive to enable our women realize their full potential and participate meaningfully in all aspects of our country’s development,” the president said.
Lower-caste Dalit women who are forced to clean up excrement from dry toilets and open drains, face threats of violence, eviction and withholding of wages if they try to give up the practice. Recent campaigns including #SelfiewithDaughter and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Beti padhao, beti bachao’ (educate your
One held with 23,120 spasmo proxyvon capsules Revoke ‘arbitrary’ appointment of Mission Director- NHM or face agitation: NIDA says Morung Express News Dimapur | March 7
One man from Imphal was arrested and charged with possession of restricted pharmaceutical drugs at the Khuzama inter-state Excise (Narcotic Cell) checkpost. The man, identified as Md. Mujibur (29 years), was found smuggling 23,120 capsules of spasmo proxyvon (SP). The man was travelling in an Imphalbound taxi when the vehicle was stopped for routine checking at Khuzama checkpost. According to the Excise Narcotic Cell, frisking of the taxi revealed a cache of neatly packaged SP capsules, which was being smuggled by the man. A mason by profession, the Narcotic Cell stated that the accused revealed during interrogation that he was en route Imphal from Kolkata via Dimapur. He had procured the drug at Kolkata for Rs. 50,000 to be disposed off in Imphal for Rs. 80,000. As per his statement, it was his second try at drug trafficking following a successful first attempt using the same route. Mujibur, hailing from Khomidok Mamang Leikai, Imphal West was charged and
The accused along with the seized consignment of spasmo proxyvon under the custody of the Excise (Narcotic Cell) in Dimapur on March 7.
booked under the Drugs & Cosmetics Act. Kolkata has become an accessible source-point for prescription pills where drugs like spasmo proxyvon and nitrazepam – the former a pain-reliever and the latter a sleep-inducing drug – are reported to be easily available. Law enforcement agencies in Nagaland have over the years intercepted several relatively small consignments of such drugs en route with Kolkata as the source-point.
KohIMA, MArch 7 (Mexn): Nagaland In Service Doctors Association (NIDA) on Monday demanded that the appointment of Mission Director, National Health Mission (NHM) under the Department of Health & Family Welfare be revoked within ten days with effect from March 3 or face phase-wise agitation. In a press statement, NIDA president Dr Kedozeto Punyu and general secretary Dr Vezokholu reiterated their earlier stand on the appointment criteria of Mission Director which it asserted should be held by the medical fraternity and in the line of senior-most and not otherwise.
Even if he or she declines to hold the post, it should be given to the next senior most in line, it said. Alleging that the recent appointment of the new Mission Director was made ‘arbitrarily’ in spite of the repeated request by the Association, it said the policy of pick and choose can lead to demoralization, insincerity, indiscipline leading to collapse of health care system in the state. The association asserted that it upholds the seniority criteria in appointment to avoid misunderstandings/ mistrust among its members so as to create conducive working atmosphere and fraternity relationships in
Morung Express News Dimapur | March 7
After a prolonged legal hassle interspersed with two viva-voce and a re-evaluations, Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC) has finally declared result of the 2014 NCS, NPS, NSS & Allied Services Exam. The NPSC had issued an advertisement various categories of posts on May 5, 2014. A notification from the NPSC informed that 70 candidates were selected for various post under the Government of Nagaland on the basis of marks obtained in the Main Written Examination, Viva-voce & Medical & Police Fitness Examinations and options exercised by the candidates. It includes 20 Extra Assistant Commissioner, 3 Deputy Superintendent of Police and 40 Secretariat Assistant. While the declaration of the final result may have bought jubilation as well as disappointment for many, it bought about a closure to many of its aspirants who has undergone a whirlwind journey. In an extreme case that has elicited both consternation and shock among the examinees and aspirants of the NPSC, it was found that majority of the questions for the General Studies (Paper I) for NPSC (Mains)
Exam held on September 9, 2014 were ‘copy-pasted’ straight from a particular book. The Morung Express had reported that in the Current Affairs section of the question paper, all 50 questions were lifted from the model questions for current affairs (page 99-103) of the book from Tata Mc Graw Hills’ ‘General Studies Manual for Civil Services Preliminary Paper I’ and nearly 130 questions out of 200 questions were taken from the book. Consequently, following widespread complaints, the Commission in a notification dated September 12, 2014 announced that 119 will not be evaluated but later issued a corrigendum, whereby 119 marks were allotted to all candidates who did not even attempt the questions. Following the same, some aggrieved petitioners citing “unjust and unfair” practice appealed the High Court, Kohima Bench by filing a writ petition challenging the action of the NPSC and the court by an order dated October 13, 2014 directed the NPSC not to declare the result. A single judge bench initially passed an interim order not to declare the result, which was vacated after the NPSC filed an application. The candidates then filed a writ appeal in the principal bench of the high court in Guwahati.
In the course of the hearing, the NPSC declared the main result on December 2014 and conducted Viva-voce for 214 candidates from January 6-27, 2015. But the result was not declared in compliance with court’s stay order issued on December 20, 2014. Finally, after a lengthy legal tussle, the Guwahati High Court in an order passed September 9, 2015 directed the commission to re-evaluate the answers of the 119 questions and give the examinees marks according to their performance. Following the court’s order, NPSC re-evaluated the 2014 general studies (GS) paper-1 and declared the same in January 2016 replacing previous results of December 2014. Consequently, the Viva-voce held in January 2015 on the basis of first declaration was also annulled and another viva-voce commenced from February 16, 2016. The selection of 70 candidates declared today was on the basis of the same. The annual NPSC exam, despite everything, has become the most sought after examination. It has even spawned its own cottage industry in the form of burgeoning coaching centres in Nagaland. It is the annual fixation of every parents, graduates and students. Results on page 3
the department. Informing of the March 2 general body meeting, NIDA warned that if the appointment of the Mission Director was not revoked within the given timeframe, it will resort to phase-wise agitation starting with a mass casual leave on March 15, followed by total cease work of all administrative and managerialworksincludingcentrallysponsored schemes with effect from March 16 onwards-both at state and district level. This will then be followed by total closure of all hospitals and health units, CMO office, MS office till the department revokes the appointment order, the association added.
OTS @ 25: Sowing, Nurturing and Flourishing
NPSC declare 2014 exam result, 70 selected
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daughter, save your daughter) have helped increase awareness of women’s rights. But India must get more girls into secondary and university education, expand skills training and provide greater access to financial services, while also dispelling deep-rooted patriarchal attitudes, the McKinsey report had said.
Bade Youth Folk choir performing at the Musical Concert held on March 6 at OTS as part of its 25th anniversary celebration. (Morung Photo)
Morung Express News Dimapur | March 7
Music makes for the soul of a community; sport gives it the energy to drive forward. In its consistent efforts to empower communities thus, the Oriental Theological Seminary (OTS) is celebrating their 25th anniversary with the neighbourhood of the Urra area here this year. With the theme ‘Sowing, Nurturing and Flourishing,’ the OTS ‘trinity’ lies at the heart of the celebrations— education, sports and music. “We want to encourage and empower young people through the year long celebrations,” explained Rev. Dr. Wati Aier, Principal of OTS and the driving force behind the ‘trinity.’ Dr. Wati, alongside his wife Alongla P Aier, set up OTS in May 1991—it is a Seminary of higher theological learning established (owned and sponsored) by the Nagaland Baptist Church Council. With the theme ‘Life through Sports and Music,’ the OTS kicked off its 25th-year celebrations last week with football and volleyball tourna-
ments, ending with a music concert. The Youth Fiesta, held from March 4-6, was an effort to build better relationships with the neighbourhood, exercise evangelism through sports and music, infuse discipline in the youth and encourage them to pursue music and sports as a means for dignified livelihood. “Celebrations begin at home, and our eight neighbouring villages have been with us throughout our journey of 25 years,” said Avi Vadeo, a lecturer at OTS who, along with other teachers and students, is organising the events. “This is also the celebration of our friendship.” The football and volleyball matches saw the full-hearted timely participation of the youth from the area, after which the grounds were promptly cleared of the garbage. The participating teams of Kiyeto, Bade, OTS, Urra, Murise, Tsitrongse, Diezephe and Selouphe encouraged each other throughout, lines of who won or lost fading away. At the music concert on the evening of March 6, every choir, band
and individual musician was cheered with equal enthusiasm by a gleeful, yet disciplined, audience. Performances were put up by Bito Lohe, Transformers, Zian, Diezephe youth, Bade folk choir, A Kezo, Ave Cho-o, OTS choir, Aoyimti Baptist Church band and Gloria Patri, among others. The environment of the celebrations and prayers was clearly based on ideals practiced on a daily basis. The year, however, remains at large and so does the excitement. The venture will be expanded to an intellectual/academic, as well as secular, level entailing workshops on art/music/literature/media with the young generation. This will entail the second part of the Youth Fiesta, scheduled from September 10-17 this year. “We are a community oriented society, so we want to bring young people from varied walks of life to interact with each other. It is only then that we will be able to understand each other and develop a vision of their future, our future,” highlighted Vadeo. OTS’ goals to knit the community together through sports and music as a means of “distressing, fitness and learning outside the classroom” has been extended to the whole year of 2016 as a result of “imagining” celebrations beyond one-day mega events. Scheduled in October, November and December are the formal culmination functions to the 25 enriching years for students and faculty alike. As we make the journey with the OTS family, it becomes important to remember the focus of the Seminary on the development of a student’s mind, body and soul—education, sports and music inculcating the message of change.