March 9th, 2017

C M Y K

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ThursDAY • MArch 09 • 2017

DIMAPUR • Vol. XII • Issue 65 • 12 PAGes • 5

T H e

ESTD. 2005

P o W e R

Unless you really understand others, you can hardly attain your own self-understanding Aadhaar to be a must for women in BPL households to get free LPG connection

Fixing & igniting your kitchen

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o F

T R u T H

— Miyamoto Musashi

Bayern run riot again to crush dispirited Arsenal

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nagaland govt proposes 180 days maternity leave

the uniformed services. tomary laws and traditions regarding • Naga women do not have equal NSCW Chairperson, Dr Temsula the status of women. rights, says NSCW Chairperson “We should invite them to work • Role of women in decision making Ao meanwhile lamented that despite efforts, changes in the status of together to remove these archaic has to be strengthened: CS Chizokho Vero Meriema | March 8

President of india, Pranab Mukherjee presenting the nari shakti Puruskars for the year 2016 to Zuboni Humtsoe (l) and Bano Haralu (R) at a function, on the occasion of the international Women’s Day, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in new Delhi on March 8.

News on Page 8

reflections

By Sandemo Ngullie

NTAC, JCC serve seven day ultimatum to government

DIMAPUR, MARCH 8 (MExN): The Nagaland Tribes Action Committee (NTAC) and the Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) today served a 7 day ultimatum to the Nagaland State Government to fulfil the demands for action against the officials and personnel “who indulged in abuse of office and power resulting in the incident of indiscriminate police firing at Dimapur and Longleng on January 31.”

In a letter to the Chief Secretary, the NTAC and the JCC informed that the ultimatum starts effective March 8. It further stated that the institution of a Judicial Enquiry against the officers is a valid ground for placing the officers under suspension

so as to conduct an impartial enquiry without any influence. ”As you have correctly judged, the demands in reiteration for an impartial judicial inquiry are nothing short but immediate suspension of the following government servants: Former Commissioner of Police, Dimapur; D.C. Longleng; and Police personnel involved in the incident of indiscriminate firing both in Dimapur and Longleng,” the NTAC and JCC said.

Asking the government to take these issues seriously, the two organisations cautioned that failure to fulfil these demands would “leave the people with no alternative but to resort to taking drastic measures.”

To mark the International Women’s Day, the Nagaland State Government today informed that it is actively considering a proposal for increasing maternity leave for female employees to 180 days to bring it at par with the central government. The current maternity leave period in the state is 90 days.

This was announced by Chief Secretary, Pankaj Kumar during the observance of International Women’s Day 2017 at Nagaland University Kohima campus, Meriema.

For women to receive equal opportunities and rights by 2030, the Chief Secretary said there is plenty of work to be done in the state. He stressed on better availability of water in villages and towns in order to augment the productivity of women; the need for more institutional deliveries thereby facilitating better health care for mother and child; the need to bridge the literacy gap of 6.6% among males and females; and to strengthen the role of women in decision making in public affairs. Kumar also lauded women for making their mark in several fields, including

women envisioned by sates and the UN have not materialised, especially in developing and under developed countries.

Regarding the 33% reservation to ULBs, she expressed optimism that women would eventually gain entry into the decision making process. The first step, she maintained, is to acknowledge that Naga women do not have equal rights. She stressed on the need to look back at “our past activities and decide where we have gone wrong to antagonize our men folks so that today we find ourselves almost pushed to the wall of our initial subjugation.” “We cannot expect to see overnight dislocation in the centuries –old system of governance of our villages,” she said, while noting that women’s empowerment should begin from ground level.

Dr Temsula meanwhile stressed that being bold should never be equated with being aggressive and confrontational, and called for both men and women to work together for a peaceful and harmonious Nagaland where everyone is given her/ his due rights. She further said that it is time to approach traditional patriarchs and tell them to introspect about injustice embedded in cus-

laws which have been perpetuated by their egoistic intransigence. Let us make them understand that when we ask for our rights, we are only trying to strengthen the fabric of our society by adding to it the strength of women for the ultimate good of all Nagas,” Dr Temsula said.

Minister for Social Welfare & Parliamentary Affairs, Kiyanilie Peseyie in his address said International Women’s Day is all about unity, reflection, advocacy and action. “We acknowledge all the women in our livesmothers, wives, daughters, our friends and colleagues,” he said, while echoing the call for gender parity.

Professor Buno Liegise from Nagaland University meanwhile spoke on the topic ‘Empowering through quality education’ and stressed on a holistic approach to education, which unravels people’s potential to face challenges.

Mission Director, SRCW & Secretary NSSWB Daisy Mezhur highlighted on the One Stop Centre & Women Helpline (181). She informed that the Women Helpline No 181 can be contacted for any issue related to women and violence against women, and added that the centre has received 22000 calls till date.

STs increasingly indulging in sex selection: ACHR court suspends MMPM resolution

nobody told you? oh, how confusing. Well go home DIMAPUR, MARCH 8 (MExN): land with CSR of 885 and Senapati erly implemented in tribal domi- DIMAPUR, MARCH 8 (MExN): The Ko- main suspended till further order.”

“Learned Government Advocate enters and lift the bandh. We have The Asian Centre for Human Rights district of Manipur with CSR of 893 nated districts. The tribal dominat- hima Bench of the Gauhati High Court in an a new Chief Minister now. while releasing its report, ‘Female which are fully tribal inhabited dis- ed districts such as Longleng district order today suspended a resolution of the appearance and accepts notice on behalf of

The Morung Express Poll QuEsTion

Vote on www.morungexpress.com sMs your answer to 9862574165 Do you support the decision of the hohos who have resolved in principle to forming a Nagas of Nagaland platform? Why? Yes

no

others

foeticide in Tribal India: India’s last vestige falls’ today stated that the Scheduled Tribes (STs), who are assumed not to indulge in sex selection because of their egalitarian practices and absence of dowry, are increasingly indulging in sex selection for son preference.

The report stated that the STs “consistently had much higher Child Sex Ratio (CSR).” “Dibang Valley of Arunachal Pradesh with CSR of 889, Longleng district of Naga-

tricts had the worst CSR among the STs as per 2011 census,” it informed.

The report stated that the Government of India had not implemented any specific schemes for retention of girl child and enforcement of the Pre-conception and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994 (PC&PNDT) in tribal dominated districts.

The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP), it noted, is not being prop-

Neilo Koza appointed AISGA indigenous Joint Secretary NEN celebrates our Correspondent Kohima | March 8

C M Y K

Chief Organiser of Nagaland Pradesh Congress Seva Dal, N Neilo Koza has been appointed as the National Joint Secretary of All India Sonia Gandhi Association (AISGA) with immediate effect. AISGA is a social organisation with the sole purpose of helping the poor and needy people of the society with its head office in New Delhi. The appointment was made

by AISGA National President, Dr. M C Rishi Bishnoi with his working tenure till December 31, 2019. Issuing the appointment letter on January 22 this year, Dr. Bishnoi described Koza as a young and dynamic leader who has been working in Congress party for a long period of time while also socially devoting himself to the party. Dr. Bishnoi therefore expressed the hope that Koza would continue to work wholeheartedly and in a disciplined manner by upholding the democratic traditions of the country and also strengthen the Association towards helping the poor and needy people “keeping in mind the determination of Late Indira Gandhi, honesty of Late Rajiv Gandhi and also the sacrifices of Sonia Gandhi.”

of Nagaland and Senapati district of Manipur had failed to utilise any of the funds released to them under the BBBP during 2015-2016, the ACHR informed.

It therefore called upon the Government of India to launch a separate scheme to address fall of the CSR among the Scheduled Tribes and further to extend the Beti Bachao Beti Padao scheme in the tribal areas under the 5th and 6th Schedules to the Constitution of India.

Merangkong Medemsanger Putu Menden (MMPM), dated March 2, 2016, wherein the resolution had decided that besides the present MLA of 21 Tuli A/C “no other new candidate is allowed to discuss politics or campaign for election amongst the citizens of Merangkong village.”

The case relates to a petition filed by four petitioners against the State of Nagaland and three others, seeking the courts intervention to “quash and set aside or modify the impunged resolution dated 2.03.16.”

The court, in an order dated March 8, 2017, stated that the aforesaid resolution “shall re-

People are the ‘gene banks’ of the world tional knowledge must also go handin-hand to ensure a shared future.

Biodiversity Festival Morung Express news Chizami (Phek) | March 8

75 percent of the world’s biodiversity today is located on indigenous people’s lands—preservation of this knowledge makes indigenous people the ‘gene banks’ of the world. The loss of this could mean the loss of planet Earth as we know it.

This was stated by Phrang Roy, Coordinator, Indigenous Partnership for Agrobiodiversity & Food Sovereignty, Italy, and Chairperson, North East Slow Food & Agrobiodiversity Society (NESFAS), India, during the Biodiversity Festival held at the North East Network (NEN) Resource Centre here today. The Festival drew 11 communities, NGOs, State Government representatives, church and village bodies from the region.

Most of the knowledge contained on indigenous lands is understood to be held in seeds that are at the centre of their biodiversity. Women farmers in Nagaland are going back to their roots, becoming seed investors by storing and exchanging indigenous seeds, restoring sovereignty of the peoples in its true sense.

“Women are the guardians and custodians of this knowledge,” said Roy while speaking as the Guest of Honour at the Festival today that saw women from various parts of Nagaland exchange seeds with each other as well as with women from Kalimpong (Lepcha people) and Jaintia Hills (Khasi people). The Biodiversity Festival saw an exhibition of cultivated, uncultivated crops diversity, an Earth Market and healing plants, as well as indigenous seeds from the region.

Women from indigenous communities have not just preserved bio-

the respondent Nos 1, 2 and 3 and as such, no formal steps are required for the aforesaid respondents. However, requisite copies of the writ petitions be furnished to the learned Government Advocate within the course of the day. Steps on private respondent No 4 by Regd Post with A/D within three days from today,” the order read.

Additionally, the court also allowed the petitioners “to take steps for service of notice upon the respondent No 4 by Dasti Service through the registry of this court. Thereafter, the petitioners shall file an affidavit to that effect.”

A woman farmer from East Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, exchanges seeds with a woman farmer from Mesulumi village, nagaland at Biodiversity Festival on March 8.

diversity but also cultural diversity, tying together the forests and the people, culture and generations through storytelling.

With the onset of global capitalism, much of global biodiversity has been lost. There used to be 30,00050,000 varieties of rice found in the east of the Indian sub-continent at some point of time, for instance, explained Roy, who was the first and only person of indigenous origin to become Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations.

Many have been lost due to uneven development and unequal opportunities throughout the world, particularly for women who are seed and culture guardians of communities.

Women and men are known to share equal responsibilities among indigenous communities. “Unless we recognise that women play an equal role, indigenous people will lose out tremendously,” he said, referring to the social, economic and political as-

pects of life. March 8 is commemorated around the world as International Women’s Day. Climate Change Intensive agriculture and production has degraded lands and forests. Carbon Emission and Climate Change have become irreversible.

3-4 companies around the world control most of the world’s seeds.

Thus, “this exchange of seeds” that was facilitated by NEN between women seed keepers/farmers of the North East region is an act of resistance towards such “dangerous” trends, reminded Phrang Roy. “Let us go back to the cuisine of our grandparents,” he appealed to ensure humanity’s common longevity.

The upkeep of agro ecology has to become a “social movement” where in “believers” must be created through leadership among young people to take the process forward, he suggested. Further, science and tradi-

Building solidarity In 2014, women from Chizami village in Phek district of Nagaland exchanged millets seeds with Khasi women in Meghalaya during NEN’s Biodiversity Festival that year. In 2017, the Khasi women had managed to distribute millets grown out of Nagaland’s seeds to five villages in the East Khasi Hills.

“We are here to get more experience and share ideas so we get the confidence to preserve traditional farming systems,” said Phirianda Diengdoh, a farmer and seed banker from the East Khasi Hills who has tasted the fruits of Chizami’s seeds before. Now the West Khasi Hills also want to become seed bankers and promote exchange, she said in her solidarity message for the day.

For Tushar Pancholi from the Millet Network of Indian (MINI) in Gujarat, visiting Nagaland for the first time, all this biodiversity, and its friendly exchange, was “like a dream” as development has leftnospaceforsuchinGujaratanymore.

He maintained that women farmers shouldbegiventheNobelPrizeformaintaining these “seed labs” and becoming the “backbone” of society. Exchange of seeds,henoted,ensuresthatifdamaging capitalist trends do reach one location, all seeds are not lost.

Solidarity messages were also given by Dorip Lepcha from the Lepcha community from Kalimpong and Dr. Rinku Bharali from ICAR, KVK Phek.

Folk performances were presented by the women of Sangtam, Chakhesang, Lepcha and Pochury communities.

With prayers given by Mary Lasuh, the program was hosted by Wekoweu Tsuhah. The final event saw the screening of films on farmers of Phek district that led to a vibrant discussion between visiting and local farmers.

Relook. Rethink. Restrategise.

Morung Express news Chizami (Phek) | March 8

Women have been preserving biodiversity of our land, preserving seeds and sustaining communities. “Let us acknowledge their work by using this platform to relook, rethink and restrategise to recognise the contributions of women and men farmers practicing ecological agriculture in our communities,” said Seno Tsuhah, Team Leader at the North East Network (NEN), Nagaland. She was speaking about the global movement called International Women’s Day (March 8) on the sidelines of a Biodiversity Festival held here today.

She noted that the recent political turmoil was a “disturbing phase” for women and men who have been defending women’s human rights. “We cannot go against each other at this time when there is the question of greater sovereignty of our people. But meanwhile, we also cannot forget social and gender justice within our society,” Tsuhah said.

She urged decision making bodies to create “equal space” for women in them so that we can be equal partners in “economic, social and political processes.” “It is time to start a constructive dialogue to relook at gaps for achieving a progressive Naga society and making the journey together as partners,” Tsuhah maintained.

Shared history Dr. Monishal Behal, Executive Director of the NEN, began working with Naga women in 1995. At the time, she remembered, women and men shared their agricultural works, and each supported the gender needs of the other.

This shared history should not be lost.

“If women and man can continue to work with each other in all sectors, we can produce the best biodiversity hotspots in Nagaland,” she maintained while speaking at the Biodiversity Festival today. Article 371-A, she said, also preserves the “good side” of customary laws that has helped Naga people maintain control over their lands from corporate takeover and abuse. This must be used to create a society where women and men share work within their communities, she noted.

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ThursDAY 09•03•2017

NAGALAND

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

#BeBoldforChange NOW

‘Women play pivotal role in maintaining cleanliness’ m o Ko Kc h u N g, march 8 (Dipr): Celebrating International Women’s Day and also to commemorate the weeklong celebration of Swachh Shakti Week, a grand programme was held at Longkumer Kilem, Mokokchung on March 8 organized by WSSO, PHED in partnership with Mokokchung Arts and Aesthetic Management (MAAM).

Addressing at the programme as the chief guest, ADC Mokokchung, Bendanglila stated that women play a pivotal role in maintaining cleanliness in every homestead and it is therefore very appropriate that they should take up the challenges to keep the community clean and healthy. She opined that, they can take up these initiatives by adopting certain natural resources like rivulet and water sources in their locality, keeping it free from disposal wastes.

Er N. Yanger EE, PHED shared a brief note on Swachh Shakti Week celebration under the flagship programme of Swachh Bharat Mission. Sanitation pledge was administered by Tsongrosongla Jamir, Consultant, while special songs were presented by students of CTC. On the occasion, the chief guest gave away prizes to the winners of girl student’s art competition on the theme “Vision/Dream of a clean village”. 1st Prize: Arijungla Lemtur of QMHSS. 2nd Prize: Nungshibenla of Children English School.

3rd Prize: Kilangienla of Edith Douglas HSS and 10 consolation prizes.

As a token of appreciation for their efforts to keep the town clean, the department awarded cash and certificate to 25 women sanitation workers.

The programme was attended by government officials, ASHA workers, MAAM members, Watsu members, Church workers and students.

Photo by Imti Longchar

Fixing & igniting your kitchen The heart(h)warming story of Yangerla Jamir

I will be bold and challenge bias and inequality

I will be bold and campaign against violence

I will be bold and champion women’s education

Yangerla Jamir runs a centre in Kohima town where she repairs gas stoves, cylinders and other kitchen utilities and at the same time provides free training to persons interested in repairing. (Morung Photo) Morung Express Feature Kohima | March 8

I will be bold and forge women’s advancement

I will be bold and celebrate women’s achievements

On IWD, Sumi women sensitized on legal rights Dimapur, march 8 (mExN): Dimapur District Legal Services Authority (DDLSA) organised a legal awareness programme at Sumi Baptist Church, Niuland Town, in collaboration with Criminal Justice Program, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

The day coinciding with Women's Day, brought about the Sumi

women of the town in their traditional attires. Keynote address was given

by Ajongba Imchen, Secretary DDLSA, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Dimapur, where he said that Sumi women are fearless and hence they should realise their rights and come together to claim them.

Nikita Engheepi, Program Officer of Criminal Justice Program then

spoke about the need to discuss child sexual abuse.

She encouraged the women to teach their children about “Good Touch, Bad Touch.” Panel Lawyer, Kumchuba explained about the functions of the DDLSA and the process to avail those. The women were further explained about the rights to them

by Panel Lawyer Ale. They were also informed about

the Domestic Violence Act and the legal provisions that can be claimed

by Panel Lawyer Moatila.

This was then followed by interaction where Sumi Totimi Hoho President (Nuiland), Vihuli raised relevant questions about how it was difficult to approach the courts because of the process created by the customary courts.

A press release men-

tioned that the DDLSA has off late been collaborating with the Criminal Justice Fellowship Program, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai for raising awareness among the masses. The programme is headed by Nikita Engheepi and besides the awareness camps it is also working for the ‘Marginalized under trial prisoners of Dimapur Jails.’

‘Recognizing women’s political, Honouring women for making Swachh Bharat a reality economic & social achievements’ Our Correspondent

Dimapur, march 8 (mExN): The Bharatiya Janata Mahila Morcha, Nagaland observed International Women’s Day at the BJP State Office, Aiko Building, Bank Colony, Dimapur.

BJMM, State President, Sanuo Ngullie, in her address, highlighted that International Women’s Day is celebrated every year on March 8, to recognize and appreciate women’s political, economic and social achievements all over the world. The day should be an inspiration and encouragement to Endeavour and build a better world, where men and women live harmoniously. It should be

made aware that the first lessons of inclusive support among men and women start at home and onto the larger arena of the society.

BJMM, Nagaland State Unit General Secretary Kaghali Chishi in a press release said, “We together can start with women empowerment right at home to create an equitable Society. We can encourage our mothers, sisters, daughters and wives to pursue their dreams and excel in their careers. A whole hearted support be it, however trivial will boost their self confidence and have a transforming impact on women’s life in particular and the Society in general.”

Kohima | March 8

The culmination programme of National Swachh Shakit Week cum International Women’s Day was held here today at the office of the executive engineer, Kohima rural division PHED. Delivering a message on International Women’s Day, Mevuhole Felicita said first International Women’s Day was celebrated back in early 20th century when a group of women marched on the streets of New York, demanding their rights.

Since then every year on March 8, the world join hands together to support, raise, inspire and motivate

women across all field of work. “From a political event to major developments in favour of women’s rights and establishments, the history of women’s day is a testament of power, sovereignty and democracy,” she added.

Thepfulie, Sanitation & Hygienic Consultant DWSM, PHED said National Swachh Shakit Week was observed from March 1 to 8.

The activities of weeklong programme includes; March 1 – launched Swachh Shakit Week at district headquarters and along with briefing on the same; March 2- painting competition among the girls students on “Vision/ Dream of a Clean Village”;

March 3- awareness campaign on menstrual cycle to girl child in selected girls school; March 4- cleaning of household articles, toilets by women folk as a mark to boost Swachh Shakit week; March 6 – exposure visit by women organizations to ODF villages. 8thMarch – culmination/closing function at district headquarters and celebrated International Women’s Day and honouring women for their contribution towards making Swachh Bharat a reality The function was chaired by Alinuo Punyii while vote of thanks was proposed by Er. Jakpou Khiamningan EE, Kohima Rural Division PHED.

“There were some occasions when men will watch me repair and then they will take a step back and say they are embarrassed of themselves,” laughs 49 years old Yangerla Jamir, while sharing her experiences of repairing gas stoves and gas cylinders in Nagaland.

Jamir, who has been in this line of work for 20 years now, runs a centre in Kohima town where she repairs gas stoves, cylinders and other kitchen utilities and at the same time provides free training to persons interested in repairing.

“It is a God-given talent,” says Yangerla mentioning that she had a knack for repairing even before undergoing training in Guwahati in 1990s. She also recalls how, in her training in Guwahati, she ended up teaching the trainees on many occasions.

Returning to Nagaland, she opened her first store in the ground floor of Hotel Pine, Kohima in 1997. “The starting was hard,” Yangerla recalls. During the initial years of opening up the center, she had to pay security deposit besides the monthly rent.

On her present store/ centre (Kohima LPG Agro Utilities Center), a cubicle sized room where she does all the repairing works as well as sells baking utilities, Yangerla says, “It started with a dream.”

Narrating her dream which she had during her stay in a ‘prayer house,’ Yangerla mentioned that in her dream she saw her store with many shoes and

chappals displayed in the front door. “I kept thinking about the dream and felt that shoes and chappals are a necessity for any person. No one walks out of their house without shoes or chappals and I realized, my profession must be a necessity, something that people needs. It is dirty work but it is an essential in all our homes everyday” she states.

Every day, she opens her store at 8 am and works till 5 or 6 pm. “When I was younger, I used to open at 7 am,” she informs.

Yangerla’s husband is also in the same profession besides being an electrician. Her son is in Standard 8 in Sainik School, Punglwa.

She earns not less than Rs 3000 on a daily basis. Apart from running the store, she repairs cookers, stoves, gas cylinders and high pressure stoves in schools, colleges, hotels and the army camp in Kohima.

“I don’t feel ashamed of this job. Nagas feel embarrassed to work like this. If people are interested, they can come and learn anytime,” she states. Both locals and non-locals get trained from her store for free. “Even girls come to learn. If they put their heart in the job, they learn in a week. Some of them have also gone back to their villages and are doing most of the repairing there,” she informs.

“I am getting old and my eyesight is also not that good now. I keep wishing if I could find more people in this profession. I want to pass on this skill to others too,” expresses Yangerla, who feels that her work is also a service to God and to people.

Women informed on risk factors of cancers ‘God did not give inequality’

Kohima, march 8 (mExN): In observance of 106th International Women’s Day on March 8, FPA India Nagaland Branch conducted free gynae consultancy at its Reproductive Health and Family Planning Clinic (RHFPC), Daklane, main town Kohima.

Keeping the theme of 2017 #Be Bold For Change, the Branch celebrate the Women Action Committee, Old Showuba celebrated Inter- day with the clients marknational women's day on March 8 along with the rest of the world, under the theme ‘Be Bold For Change’ at Old Showuba village, taking a leap of faith in embracing change for better prospects of the future generations.

Underscoring women’s role in Clean India Mission

Dimapur, march 8 (mExN): The culmination of the nationwide Swachh Shakti Week (March 1-8, 2017) cum International Women’s Day celebration was held at the premises of the PHED (Rural) division Dimapur.

Chief guest, James Swu, SDO (Civil)Dimapur said that amongst many other laudable missions launched by the Government of India, the Swachh Bharat Mission is one of the best, as cleanliness benefits both physical and mental health. He also underscored the importance of active participation of women, in achieving the desired target.

Executive Engineer, PHED (Rural) division, Dimapur, L.Tongpang Longkumer in his introductory speech said that the significance of this event is to highlight women’s role in the Clean India Mission.

Marc Longkumer, District Coordinator of Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) chaired the programme while Er. Imtisowa, SDO, Kuhuboto, PHED pronounced the vote of thanks. Women representatives from each of the ODF villages under Dimapur District took part and shared their experiences on the Swach Shakti special, on their journey towards becoming an Open Defecation Free village and pledged to continue with their efforts. Vikashe, PHED(R) division staff invoked God’s blessings. Women from ODF villages were honored in the closing function.

ing a call to action for accelerating gender parity and empowered them to envisage a world where girls and women enjoy equal rights.

Before OPD session starts, significance of the day was highlighted to the gathering clients and they were also informed of the health information on Cervical Cancer and Breast Cancer which are the most common cancer in women

#BeBoldForChange Kohima, march 8 (mExN): Modern Institute of Teacher Education (MITE) celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8. The programme was chaired

by David Phom Student-Teacher, followed by an ode to Women by Kevin Student-Teacher of 2nd semester.

Devanand Sinha, Principal MITE delivered a speech on the theme for International Women’s Day, focuses on ‘Women in the Changing World of work: Planet 50-50 by 2030’ with the theme campaign #BeBoldForChange.

He encouraged the male studentteachers to move forward in favour of the female counterpart to make every workplace with 1:1 ratio of man to woman.

The programme was organized by Literary Club and extempore speech related to women empowerment was held. The men of MITE conducted the programme for the women folk enlightening the women about their importance and value in society.

both in the developed and developing countries.

In the session, women were informed on the risk factors of cancers, signs and symptoms, criteria for age and frequency of cancer screening, prevention and control, and types of screening test. Altogether 43 clients received free medical health services including counselling and laboratory services.

KiDima, march 8 (mExN): St Francis Xavier’s Catholic Church Kidima under Diocese of Kohima observed International Day 2017 with rest of the world with Reverend Father Thomas Muttathil, Parish Priest as main celebrant at Church premises on March 8.

Father Muttathil reflected the role of women in the church. The Parish Priest asked the faithful to pray and worship to God in order to

free from evil that lead to insecure life. Father clarified that God did not give inequality and division in the society and asked to pray for the society and church which is equality before God. A press note also said that Sister Menuolhounuo Lucy, Vocation Promoter, Sisters of Providence of North East India also speaking in the large gathering people to have a family prayer which is very im-

portant role to keep good Christian life.

Eucharist, enchanting and praises of Almighty God, faithful prayer, and confession and felicitation were the highlights of the programme. Franciscan Sisters of Saint Mary of the Angels (FSMA), Sister Alka Xalxo, Vocation Promoter of North East India Province and menfolk joined in the International Women Day celebration.

‘Every woman should strive to be a peacemaker’ Morung Express News Dimapur | March 8

Eastern Nagaland Women Organization Dimapur (ENWOD) celebrated ‘International Women’s Day’ here at Khiamniungan Baptist Church, Burma Camp, with former president of Dimapur Baptist Women Union, Chubala Tushi, as the resource person.

The resource person narrated events in history and struggles of women that finally led to the birth of International Women’s Day, which was officially recognized by the United Nations in 1975. Chubala said the fight of women for voting rights, economic, social and political empowerment all over the world epitomises Women’s Day. She said countries like China and Russia have declared International Women’s Day as a national holiday to acknowledge the crucial role of women in society and progress of civilization.

She also narrated the message of Nagaland Governor who said Naga women are second to none

and the speeches of former US president Barack Obama and Indian president, Pranab Mukerjee, who sought more justice and equality for women.

Calling women as unique creations of God, she said the one of most important roles of women is as ‘peace makers’ and that every woman should strive to be a peacemaker whether at home or outside.

Chubala urged every Naga women, especially Eastern Nagaland women, to continuously pray and work for peace and unity among all Nagas.

Chubala also suggested that Eastern Naga women should initiate prayer and fasting on Women’s Day. Other highlights of the celebration included welcome address by ENWOD president, Rose Mary Nyamnyei, Bible reading and prayer by Asangla Dochi Chang, special number by Mongshai and mass prayer.

Nyingoi Phom chaired the programme and Lisela, convenor action committee ENWOD, proposed Mongshai presents a special number on the occasion. (Morung Photo) vote of thanks.

THURSDAY 09•03•2017

NORTH-EAST 3

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Government to Manipur Polls: Highest turnout in history Assam probe Silapathar violence Newmai News Network Imphal | March 8

An estimated 82 per cent voters’ turnout were witnessed on Wednesday in the second and final phase of Manipur polls which passed off relatively peaceful in 22 constituencies, barring some stray incidents of violence.

The voter turnout is expected to increase after the final official computation, official sources informed.

Polling in the 22 constituencies—11 each in the valley and hills—officially ended at 3 pm and 82 per cent (tentative) of the electorate exercised their franchise. The two-phase elections witnessed a highstake contest between the Congress and BJP. Chief Electoral Officer Vivek Kumar Dewangan said, “This is the highest voter turnout in the history of Manipur so far.”

Addressing media here after the polling, Dewangan also said the Manipur assembly election was the most peaceful election and the voter turnout record was the unique feature of this election.

Poll rigging in some polling stations of Chandel district was reported. EVMs were reportedly damaged

A group of women showing their Voters ID as they wait in queue to vote at Chingai Assembly constituency of Ukhrul district, on March 8. (NNN Photo)

in three polling booths of Chingai constituency and two in Chandel constituency. Another report from Chandel said unidentified armed persons reportedly damaged a polling station.

At Mantripantha polling station of Chandel constituency, two suspected militants disrupted voting for some time. Reports said a large number of voters who were outside the polling station overpowered the duo and later handed them over to police.

In Khangabok constituency of Thoubal district, a BJP polling agent was injured and hospitalised in a clash which took place between Congress and BJP workers. Incumbent

Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh’s’s son, Okram Surajkumar, 29, a first timer in political battle was fielded from Khangbok constituency which his mother and sitting Congress MLA Okram Landhoni Devi won in the 2012 state assembly polls.

Meanwhile, armed persons reportedly kidnapped six Congress workers in Phungyar constituency of UKhrul. Some 30 armed men belonging to an outfit were also allegedly involved in a booth capturing attempt that took place in Ukhrul.

In Ukhrul, there were also reports of election slips being snatched by a woman, which were later recovered. The incident delayed the voters in the exercise of

their franchise. Altogether five EVMs were reportedly destroyed in clashes between workers of two parties in the district, according to separate reports.

Re-poll is likely to be held at the polling stations where EVMs were damaged.

In another incident, security personnel resorted to blank firing outside a polling station in Wangjing Tentha constituency where a clash took place between workers of Congress and CPI. The incident disrupted voting at the polling station.

In Tamenglong, the polling ended peacefully, barring some technical snags at some polling stations which delayed voting.

Meanwhile, Chief Min-

ister Okram Ibobi Singh cast his vote at a polling booth in Athokpam Makha Leikai of Thoubal constituency where the People’s Resurgence and Justice Alliance (PRJA) party fielded rights activist Irom Sharmila against the threetime Chief Minister.

“The electorate will give a clear mandate in the election,” CM Ibobi Singh told newsmen while coming to the polling booth.

The second phase polls will decide the fate of 98 candidates, including 29 crorepati candidates. The constituencies which went to polls were Lilong, Thoubal, Wangkhem, Heirok, Wangjing Tentha, Khangabok, Wabagai, Kakching, Hiyanglam, Sugunu, Jiribam, Chandel (ST), Tengnoupal (ST),

in all courts in Tripura including the High Court and barred them from practicing in courts.

"If the debarred lawyers wish to restart the practice in court, their case would be examined as per the Certificate and Place of Practice (Verification) Rules, 2015 and after that the Bar Council would take a final decision," said Biswas, a senior lawyer of Tripura.

Bar association membership of these 260 lawyers would also be invalidated.

He said that following the Supreme Court directions in 2010, BCI had asked all the state bar councils to identify and de-

barred the non-practicing and non-serious lawyers.

The important personalities whose names were revoked as advocates for not practicing in courts in the last five years include, Tripura assembly Speaker Ramendra Chandra Debnath, Trinamool Congress leader and legislator Sudip Roy Barman, his father and former Chief Minister Samir Ranjan Barman, Bharatiya Janata Party state Vice President Subal Bhowmik.

The BCI on the direction of the apex court initiated the process to weed out fake and non-practicing lawyers by implementing the Certificate and Place of Practice (Ver-

ification) Rules.

Biswas said that the state Bar Councils had issued guidelines by the BCI to segregate practicing lawyers from non-practicing lawyers.

"Those lawyers took the law degree from any institutions while working in government jobs or doing other service and processions, they would also be disallowed from prac-

IMPHAL, MARCH 8 (IANS): Two women were wounded when suspected insurgents lobbed a Chinese-made hand grenade inside a pharmacy at Thangal market here on Wednesday, police said. The unidentified assailants escaped before police could rush to the spot. Hospital sources

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it added.

CHRI further maintained that despite the growing international consensus on women empowerment, significant gaps remains in many Commonwealth nations in “ensuring unhindered access to justice for women, which is essential for the practical realization of their rights.”

Among others, CHRI listed a dominant patriarchy; lack of awareness of legal rights and remedies; insensitive and unaccountable policing; and judicial processes which are gender insensitive as some factors impeding women’s access to justice “Police services remain bastions of masculinity, with poor representation of women,” it added. “These are the spaces and places where visible, enduring and critical changes must take place if the rights of women are to be upheld and celebrated.”

CHRI was started in 1987 as an independent, interna-

Max- Care Diagnostic Contact no: 8131905253

DECLARATION

DEPONENT

Solemnly sworn in and declared before me by the above named deponent on this the 8th day of March 2017 at Mokokchung, Nagaland.

MAGISTRATE/ NOTARY PUBLIC MOKOKCHUNG : NAGALAND

“Arise & Shine.....” Isaiah 60:1 15th - 26th March 2017 Khuochiezie, Local Ground, Kohima 4:30Pm (Every Evening)

-

Organizing Committee

GOVERNMENT OF NAGALAND OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER AND DISTRICT ELECTION OFFICER ZUNHEBOTO::NAGALAND NO. ELE-ZBTO/ESTT-1/2012-16/805

ADVERTISEMENT

Dated Zbto. the 8th March 2017

In pursuance of the letter NO.ELE/ESTT-49/2012-2013 Dated 12th April 2016 from the Chief Electoral Officer, Nagaland, Kohima, applications are invited from Indigenous Inhabitant candidate under Zunheboto district as shown below.

Name of the post No. of post Edn. Qualification Office Peon 1 (One) Class VIII & above

BIG BOOK SALE BIBLES BOOKS MUSIC GIFTS 6-18 March 2017, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (Sunday Closed) VENUE

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Kindly submit Bio-Data latest by 13.03.2017

The Assam government had already instituted a probe to be headed by Additional Chief Secretary VB Pyarelal and submit the report within 30 days time. The police had arrested 9 persons for their alleged role in attacking and vandalizing the AASU office and also to attack the security forces during the violence.

"Why is it taking so long to arrest Biswas?... The BJPled Assam government often talks about protecting the land culture and identity of the people of Assam.

It is high time the government should prove its sincerity by arresting Biswas," said AASU general secretary, Lurinjyoti Gogoi.

Meanwhile, Assam Governor Banwarilal Purohit also expressed grave concern over the vandalism incident and termed it an act of cowardice. He also said the perpetrators will be dealt with sternly as per the established law. At the same time, he also urged upon all to maintain peace and harmony to strengthen Assam's pride of being a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multireligious society.

There will be healing and Deliverance every service.

All are welcome.

tional organisation committed to protecting and promoting human rights in Commonwealth nations.

ATTACHMENT OF ADDITIONAL COACH

Laboratory Technician

GUWAHATI, MARCH 8 (IANS): The Assam government on Wednesday set up a one-man inquiry commission to probe the violence in Silapathar two days ago where protesters led by a Bengali group demanding citizenship for Hindu Bangladeshis vandalised an All Assam Students Union office.

Meanwhile, Assam's prominent students' body, All Assam Students' Union (AASU) has dared Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and the BJP-led government in Dispur to prove their sincerity and commitment by arresting Subodh Biswas, the president of Nikhil Bharat Bengali Udbastu Samanvay Samiti (NBBUSS) within 12 hours time, over the violence.

The NBBUSS is spearheading a movement for granting citizenship to Hindu Bangladeshis by amending the Citizenship Act. Assam police had on Tuesday evening issued a wanted notice against Biswas for his alleged role in instigating the mob to ransack and vandalize the an office of the AASU at Silapathar town in Assam's Dhemaji district on Monday.

I, Smti. Imsurenla, age about 39 years, D/o Late M Odinungdang Imsong, R/o:- H/No. 270, Majakong Ward, Mokokchung, Nagaland, do hereby affirm on oath and declare as follows:1. That, I am an Indian Citizen by birth and resident of the above mentioned address.

2. That, in my HSLC and other official documents, my name has been entered and recorded as Imsurenla whereas in my Bachelor of Arts 3rd Year and Master of Arts (Sociology) certificates, my name has been inadvertently entered and recorded as Imsurenla Imsong.

3. It is further declared that my father’s name has been used as Odinungdang M, Odinungdang Imsong and M Odinungdang Imsong.

4. That, this affidavit is made to declare and to submit before any appropriate authority/authorities that the names Imsurenla and Imsurenla Imsong refers to the same and one person that is Imsurenla and my father’s name as M Odinungdang Imsong for all official and other purposes.

5. That, the statement made in para 1 to 4 are all true and correct to the best of my knowledge and nothing material has been concealed or made therein. And I sign this Declaration on the 8th day of March 2017 at Mokokchung, Nagaland.

Theme Date Venue Time

It has been decided to attach extra coach on following trains to clear extra rush of wait listed passengers as under:

JOB VACANCY

ticing in the courts. However, advocates of these category not yet identified," he added.

said the women, customers at the shop, were stable and out of danger.

Police suspect the grenade attack was carried out as a warning after the pharmacy owner did not cough up money despite an extortion demand. Almost all shops and pharmacies here get extortion threats from some armed groups.

AASU serves 12-hour deadline to CM

Transformation Crusade

CHRI reaffirms commitment towards women DIMAPUR, MARCH 8 (MExN): The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) today reaffirmed its commitment towards ensuring “a future of justice, empowerment, equality and prosperity for women across the world.”

“CHRI joins all groups and governments committed to these efforts in the struggle to promote political, social and economic empowerment of women by eliminating genderbased violence, securing access to justice and providing quality education to women,” stated CHRI Executive Directo Sanjoy Hazarika in a message issued on the occasion of International Women’s Day 2017, The need to bridge gender is increasingly recognized as central to national, and indeed, global progress as they are both enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter which covers 52 nations as well as the Constitution and is at the heart of the UN’s

EC condoles death of polling personnel The Election Commission of India today condoled the death of a government primary school teacher of Ukhrul district in a blast incident yesterday.

Assistant Teacher of Ajay Primary School, H Ramkathing, who was on poll duty, was killed in the incident.

The office of Manipur CEO has assured all assistance to the bereaved family. A Rs 20 lakh cheque was given to his family through the district Deputy Commissioner, officials said.

Two injured in grenade attack

260 Tripura lawyers decognised for not practicing AGARTALA, MARCH 8 (IANS): The Bar Council of Tripura has barred 260 lawyers from practicing in courts for not practicing in the last five years, a top official said here on Wednesday.

"On the direction of the Bar Council of India (BCI), Bar Council of Tripura has initiated the process last year to identify the nonpracticing lawyers. Accordingly, 260 advocates have been identified who did not practice in courts in the last five years," Bar Council of Tripura chairman Pijush Kanti Biswas told IANS. He said that the Bar Council of Tripura on Monday already displayed the names of 260 lawyers

Phungyar(ST), Ukhrul (ST), Chingai(ST), Karong (ST), Mao (ST), Tadubi (ST), Tamei (ST), Tamenglong(ST) and Nungba (ST).

The counting of vote will take place on March 11.

Type of Coach Sleeper Class (one)

15644 Sleeper Class Kamakhya - Puri Express (one) 12501 Guwahati Sleeper Class New Delhi Porvottar (one) Sampark Kranti Express 15662 Kamakhya Sleeper Class Ranchi Express (one) 12518 Guwahati - Kolkata AC-3 tier Garib Rath Express (one)

Date Dibrugah on 09-03-2017, 10-03-2017 & 11-03-2017 Kamakhya on 09-03-2017 Guwahati on 11-03-2017 Kamakhya on 11-03-2017 Guwahati on 11-03-2017

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General Manager (Operations)

"SERVING CUSTOMERS WITH A SMILE"

Size = (W) 8 cm. x (L) 9 cm. = 72 Sq.cm.

Vacancy against DC & DEO, Zunheboto

Age limit 21-35 years

A) Application Form may be obtained from the Office of the Deputy Commissioner & DEO during Office hour. Examination fees of Rs. 200/- only shall be realized from the applicants.

B) Last date of submission of application form is 10th April 2017 C) Tentative date of interview on 20th April 2017.

D) The appointment to the post shall be subject to:i. Medical Examination Board report. ii. Authentication of documents by NBSE and other concerned authorities. iii. Approval of Chief Electoral Officer, Nagaland.

E) The DC & DEO, Zunheboto reserves the right to cancel, postpone and reschedule any of the date and venues of the interview in the event of unforeseen circumstances.

(TRIDIBESH ROY)IAS Deputy Commissioner & District Election Officer Zunheboto: Nagaland

Issued by: DIPR

GOVERNMENT OF NAGALAND DIRECTORATE OF ANIMAL HUSBANDRY & VETERINARY SERVICES NAGALAND, KOHIMA NO.VET./EST-201/2016- 17

Dated Kohima the 8th March 2017

ADDENDUM/ CORRIGENDUM

NO.VET/EST-201/2016-17: Reference to the even advertisement NO.VET/ EST-201/2016 17/Dt. The 6th March 2017, the following CORRIGENDUM/ ADDENDUM has been made.

ITEM NO.2. AGE LIMIT — AS ON 1.4.2017 1. Minimum – 21 years 2. Maximum – 30 years.

NOTE. The upper age is relaxable by: A) 5 (five) years for SC/ST candidates.

B) Age relaxation for serving Government employees shall be allowed equal to the numbers of years in service, subject to maximum of 5 ( five) years.

C) For candidates who are Government employees “NO OBJECTION CERTIFICATE” should be produced duly signed by the Head of the Department with Name and Office Seal, along with date of appointment.

Sd/- DR. I. P. KHALA DIRECTOR OF A.H. & VETERINARY SERVICES NAGALAND:: KOHIMA

4

thursDAY 09•03•2017

nagaland

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

DPDB meetings held in Kiphire, Mkg Farmers trained on Ericulture, integrated fish farming Kiphire/MoKoKchung, March 8 (Dipr): The monthly meetings of the District Planning & Development Boards (DPDBs) of Kiphire and Mokokchung were held on March 6 and 7 respectively.

The Kiphire DPDB held its meeting in the conference hall of the Deputy Commissioner’s office, Kiphire under the Chairmanship of DC & Vice Chairman Kiphire DPDB, Sedevikho Khro.

The Board reviewed the last meeting minutes and Education Department was reminded once again to submit proposal for setting up of Government Primary School at Kiuro and Amikiuro. The village adoption committees were also asked to submit their reports. Meanwhile, the Chairman directed the convenors of each team of the committee to initiate for selection of villages to be adopted and also figure out how to carry out the programme.

The Board also discussed registration of Phelungrian Youth Organisation which was recommended to the Government for necessary action. The Chairman informed the members that a seminar on initiative of change will be conducted in the Deputy Commissioner’s conference hall on March 17 under the theme ‘Good Governance’. All heads of of-

fices were asked to attend the seminar along with their staff.

The Mokokchung DPDB meeting held in the ADC (Planning) conference hall on March 7 highlighted the shifting of JNV Khensa to new campus at Longnak and the proposal to upgrade the Health Sub-Centre Longnak to Primary Health Centre.

Meanwhile, E.E PHED, Yanger Pongen pointed out some of the activities carried out during the observance of Swachh Shakti Week.

The campaign, he said, called for active participation of women folk to achieve the prime objective of Swachh Bharat Mission.

Dr. Sashi, DPO, Land Resource Department highlighted about coffee plantation project being taken up under Agro- Forestry in the district.

The Board also decided to approach the Finance Commissioner, Nagaland to extend the Drawal authority of the DDOs till first week of April.

The house further decided that from the next DPDB meeting, departmental achievement reports would be presented from different departments in the district.

The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner & Vice chairman Mokokchung DPDB, Sushil Kumar Patel.

DPDB meeting deliberates Zunheboto town platinum jubilee Zunheboto, March 8 (Dipr): The monthly Zunheboto District Planning and Development Board (DPDB) meeting was held on March 8 at DCs Conference hall. The meeting was chaired by Parliamentary Secretary, Soil and Water Conservation and Chairman DPDB, Pukhayi Assumi.

During the meeting, the board discussed on the forthcoming Platinum jubilee Celebration of the establishment of Zunheboto town. The members along with prominent NGOs discussed at length the preparation for jubilee whereby it decided to commemorate the celebration in November 2017 coinciding with Ahuna festival. The board also approved the proposal to construct Jubilee Memorial Hall where the Parliamentary Secretary agreed to discuss the matter with Chief Minister and district legislators on priority.

Pukhayi also expressed his concern over delay of construction of new Deputy Commissioner’s office where he mentioned that land ownership problem is hampering the construction as the case is pending in high court. In this regard, the Parliamentary Secretary urged the land owners to come to some conclusion so that construction works can begin. Executive Engineer, PHED, Zunheboto was also asked to report the status of the land in dispute in the next meeting.

Members for the Verification team for the implementation of LADP 2016-17 for all seven Area Constituencies(A/C) under Zunheboto district was also approved. The need for internet connectivity at district hospital was highlighted by Medical Superintendent, District Hospital, Dr. Kheshito Zhimo where the matter was forwarded to the department concerned for approval. Pukhayi also said, no head of office should take leave on DPDB day and strict disciplinary action against absentees will be initiated in future.

Participants of the farmers’ training organised by AtMA Kohima at dAo conference hall on March 7.

KohiMa, March 8 (Mexn): ATMA Kohima district organized a one day farmers’ training on Ericulture and its economics and integrated fish farming on March 7 at DAO conference hall.

During the programme, Rokoshuno Angela, Deputy PD, ATMA Kohima in her keynote address stressed on the importance of income generation for farmers which can be obtained from various farming activities.

In the first technical session, Keneizetuo Khro, Sericulture Extension Officer, gave an in depth explanation on Ericulture. The plantation technology of Castor and Kesseru were explained in detail. The

different types of rearing were also discussed and the economic importance of Ericulture highlighted to the participants.

In the second technical session, the resource person, Wabang Longkumer, Fishery Inspector, Department of fisheries covered advantages of paddy fish culture, site selection, species of fish suited for paddy cum fish culture.

The technical session was followed by an interaction between the resource persons and the participants.

A press release informed that altogether 32 farmers attended the training programme chaired by Visizolie Virie, Deputy PD, ATMA Kohima.

P&AR dept appoints RTI officials Peren Forest Division bids farewell to DFO peren, March 8 (Mexn): The officers and staff of Peren Forest Division bid farewell to its DFO C. Vilalhoulie, who retired on February 28.

A farewell programme was held at the office of the DFO in Jalukie along with the family members of the retiring DFO. Attended by all officers and staff of the division, the programme saw exchange of appeLate authoritY: Angau I. Thou, IAS, Secre- greetings and wishes for one another, stattary, P&AR Department, Government of Nagaland, Ko- ed a press release from Rampaukai, Asst. hima.

Conservator of Forests, Peren division.

The DFO recalled the wonderful years PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICERS 1. Sehkolun, Joint Secretary, Vigilance Branch.

2. Rongsenlemba Jamir, O&M Officer, O&M Branch.

3. Nchumbemo Lotha, Deputy Secretary (PIMS) 4. Neikeduolie, Under Secretary, Personnel ‘A’ Branch. pheK, March 8 (Dipr): The launch5. N. Chuba, Sr. Pension Analyst, Pension Branch. ing of Swachh Shakti Week was conducted 6. Vechovo Tetseo, Sr. Research Officer, AR Branch. at Phek PHED Divisional Office on March 7. Wigiang Chawang, Record Officer, Record Branch. 1. On March 3, painting competition un8. Vekho Puro, Section Officer, Personnel ‘B’ Branch. der the theme ‘Vision/Dream of a clean village’ was held at Baptist Mission High ASSISTANT PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICERS School (BMHS), Old Town Phek.

1. Kezin Newmai, Public Relation Officer, O&M Branch.

The Department also visited several 2. Medoseho Sothu, Sr. Computer Programmer (PIMS) households to witness women carry3. Lanurenla Longchar, Section Officer AR Branch. ing out their daily chores of cleaning 4. Senu, Section Officer, Vigilance Branch. household articles, toilet, surrounding 5. Hosea Tep, Jr. Section Officer, Personnel ‘A’ Branch. and appreciated women folks for mak6. Rajusetuo Robert, Jr. Pension Analyst, Pension ing Swachh Bharat dreams true by keepBranch ing the household clean and village as a 7. Baloi, Secretariat Assistant, Personnel ‘B’ Branch whole.

KohiMa, March 8 (Dipr): The following officers of the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (P&AR), Government of Nagaland has been designated as (i) Appellate Authority (ii) Public Information Officer (ii) Assistant Public Information Officer for performing functions under the said Act in respect of information under the control of the Personnel and Administrative Reforms (P&AR), Government of Nagaland.

of serving in the department under various capacities and fondly cherished the sweet moments of his prime years when he had given his utmost for the welfare of the people, the release added. He also thanked God for keeping him and his family safe and sound throughout his service.

The officers and staff also expressed their best wishes to him and “were greatly motivated by the service testimony rendered by DFO in their short service sojourn,” the release said.

neighborhood Youth Parliament, an initiative of nehru Yuva Kendra (nYK) was organized in Chümoukedima Village with VdB secretary Medo Medoze as the resource person on March 7. speaking on the topic ‘Youth development through sports’, Medo encouraged the youths to pursue mainstream sports with seriousness with an aim for “positive outcome” and the potential of making a career as a sports person. the programme was chaired by nYK volunteer Kelechütou Kin and Pastor, nBC samuel invoked God’s blessing.

Swachh Shakti Week concludes at Phek

leisure

CROSSWORD # 3880

SUDOKU

Answer Number # 3875

AtMA Aghunaqa Block conducted Kisan Ghosthi at nikihe village on March 6 where demalu Hasnusa, BtM, Aghunaqa Block highlighted on ‘soil Fertility Management’ and ‘Piggery farming’. A 12 member group named ‘nIMUKo FsG’ under Mobilization of Food security Group (FsG) programme was formed whose activities are piggery, soyabean and maize farming.

std code: 03862

DiMaPUR ACROSS 1. Small open pies 6. Reflected sound 10. Felines 14. Utilize 15. A female domestic 16. Chocolate cookie 17. Slowly, in music 18. Broth (Scottish) 19. Bog 20. Traverse 22. South American country 23. Owl sound 24. Anagram of “Rascal” 26. “Where the heart is” 30. 52 in Roman numerals 31. What we breathe 32. Not closed 33. Probabilities 35. Related to tides 39. High level of respect 41. Overweight 43. Fruity-smelling compound 44. Part in a play 46. Smell 47. Ribonucleic acid 49. Top part of an apron 50. No 51. Pass by 54. Put away 56. Close 57. Recover 63. Indian dress 64. Chilled 65. Alleviated 66. Flying saucers 67. Skin disease 68. Desiccated 69. Feudal worker 70. Dregs 71. Squalid DOWN 1. After-bath powder 2. Affirm 3. Hindu princess 4. Chickadees

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

Game Number # 3876

The event culminated with the celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8, which was organized at Phek Village under the theme “Be Bold for Change”, attended by more than 150 women. A short speech on awareness campaign was highlighted by Er T. Imtiakum (EE PHED, Phek).

A brief highlight on menstrual cycle and hygiene management was given by Kutulu Vero, IEC Consultant, PHED, Phek.

Khruvelu Chizo, resource person, highlighted on the importance of women’s role in the society and how to overcome their problems faced during the past.

std code: 03871

(formerly senapati)

Police station Fire Brigade

222246 222491

5. Make a splashing sound 6. Decorate with needlework 7. Neck artery 8. Hastens (archaic) 9. Black Sea port 10. Similitude 11. Disney mermaid 12. Latin name for our planet 13. French for “Sister” 21. Hue 25. Give as an example 26. A flexible pipe 27. Chooses 28. Food from animals 29. Kirk’s starship 34. Solitary places 36. Prank 37. At the peak of 38. Stringed instrument 40. Coffee dispensers 42. Jazz style 45. Lewd 48. Antenna 51. Follow as a result 52. Flips (through) 53. Moses’ brother 55. Noxious plants 58. Behold, in old Rome 59. Unusual 60. Largest continent 61. Abound 62. Countercurrent

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

railway

131/228404

Answer to Crossword 3879

Airport Indian Airlines

229366 242441 225212

KOHiMa

W

O

R

MontH MoUse oCCUPY oUtLet PAIL ProoF QUICK reACH reLAtIVe retAIL sCHeMe sPIte storY tHreAt tIes toes trAVeL trUtH VerGe

D

std code: 0370

228400

KoHIMA Ps/oCs Contact numbers

Police Traffic Control

232106

north Ps

east Police station

227607

west Police station

232181

south Ps

CIHsr (referral Hospital)

242555 242533

Zubza Ps

Police Control room

dimapur Hospital

224041 248011

tseminyu Ps

8575045507

Officer-in-Charge 8575045517 8575045505

Kezocha Ps

248302, 09856006026

eden Medical Centre

248288

C

Officer-in-Charge 8575045516

Officer-in-Charge 8575045515

nagaland Multispecialty Health & research Centre

R

Chiephobozou Ps 8575045506

Khuzama Ps

232032, 231031

A

8575045508

Officer-in-Charge 8575045518

nikos Hospital and research Centre

E

8575045502

Officer-in-Charge 8575045520

Apollo Hospital Info Centre 230695/ 9402435652

S

8575045501

Officer-in-Charge 8575045510

Chumukedima Fire Brigade 282777

AdULt ALLowAnCe BLInd CoLLAPse deAF drAFt entIre FeAr FIGHt FIGUre ForGe ForGot GreAt HAPPY InForMAtIon IssUe LIttLe Lost MAtter

TaHaMZaM

8575045549

Officer-in-Charge 8575045538

H

women Cell

8575045509

Officer-in-Charge 8575045519 Control room

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

65.21 80.9 8.13 50.03 46.34 49.68 57.81 68.8 1.81 0.0558 17.18 9.2

68.15 84.81 9.06 52.50 48.63 52.11 61.07 72.14 2.02 0.0622 19.14 10.24

thursday 09•03•2017

NAGALAND

DoSE clarifies on release of fund for CSS

kohima, march 8 (mExN): As the demand for release of pending salaries of teachers under CSS grows, the Department of School Education (DoSE) has presented “factual position” on release of funds for implementation of various Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) like SSA, RMSA and Hindi teachers.

A press release from FP Solo, Principal Secretary, DoSE informed that under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), an amount of Rs. 30780.84 lakhs for 2016-17 was approved by the Programme Approval Board (PAB) for implementation of various components including recurring and nonrecurring grants. Out of the approved budget, the share of the Government of India which is 90% is Rs. 27070.96 lakhs. The Government of India, Solo said, has released a total amount of Rs. 10725.34 lakhs so far in three parts: May 10, 2016 (Adhoc) – Rs. 2600 lakh; November 11, 2016 (first installment) – Rs. 5813.46 lakh; February 16, 2017 (second installment) – Rs. 2311.88 lakh.

The press release clarified that there are strict guidelines and norms for utilization of funds for recurring and non-recur-

NSSATA on funding pattern; tells State govt to pay all pending salaries

Dimapur, march 8 (mExN): In response to the DoSE regarding release of funds for implementation of Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS), Nagaland SSA Teachers’ Association (NSSATA) today highlighted the funding pattern of Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) with regard to Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).

The Central government releases adhoc grants in April every year for the start-up programme followed by two installments; the first installment released in April for expenditure from April to September followed by the second installment in September for expenditure from October to March, the association said in a press release. ring grants. General and recurring grant cannot be used for non-recurring grant and vice-versa; salary comes under general and recurring grant, it added. Therefore, out of the second installment of Rs. 2311.88 lakhs, which the department is yet to receive including State Matching Share, the department will be able to meet only 2 months' salary of SSA teachers from November to December, 2016. “The department is however hopeful of get-

The Project Approval Board GoI rules/guidelines and procedure for release of funds, according to the release, “clearly states that whenever the Govt. of India releases the fund to the State exchequer, the State has to immediately transfer the entire amount to its implementing agency (SMA) not later than 15 days and the State Govt. has to deposit its matching share (i.e. 10%) to the State society within 30 days of the receipt of the Central fund and thus submit the Utilization Certificate on time to ensure smooth implementation of the programme.”

The press release of DoSE, NSSATA said, “clearly points out the fact that the Nagaland State Government has not been adhering to the Central fund-

ting more release from the MHRD, GOI during March, 2017 to meet the salary requirement for the remaining months of 2016-17,” DoSE stated.

Further, it was mentioned that the Department has been informed by the MHRD, GOI that the BE for SSA during the current year 2016-17 is Rs. 22,500 crores against the overall approved PAB outlay of Rs. 74,248 crores for all 36 States and UTs, of which, the central component comes to Rs. 46,700 crores.

ing pattern. Thus, the question of delay in releasing of funds from MHRD and payment of (2010 & 2013 batch) teachers’ salaries does not arise.”

Meanwhile, NSSATA demanded the State Government to fulfill the written assurance issued by the Commissioner & Secretary to the Govt. of Nagaland in November, 2016 by paying all the pending salaries from November 2016 to February 2017 along with the arrears of 2016 immediately. “Failing in complying to the written assurance will constrain the teachers to apply any form of action to fight for our survival and livelihood,” cautioned the release issued by Aliba Sangtam, President and Asungla Lemtor, Assistant General Secretary of NSSATA.

For RMSA, the PAB had approved an amount of Rs. 7747.08 lakhs during the 2016-17, out of which, Rs. 3548.07 lakhs was for non-recurring grant and Rs. 4199.00 lakhs for recurring grant, according to the department. An amount of Rs. 3983.33 lakhs out of the recurring grant is meant for teachers’ salary. Out of the PAB approved outlay of Rs. 7747.08 lakhs, the following releases have been made by the Government of India: May 13, 2016 (Adhoc) – Rs. 105.14 lakhs; July 11,

2016 (first installment) Rs. 1321.27 lakhs; November 24, 2016 (first installment) – Rs. 1083.17.

Informing that the release of the second installment is awaited from the MHRD, GOI, Solo said the Education department will be releasing at least 2 months' salary of RMSA teachers for the months of November and December, 2016 within March as soon as fund is released by the GOI. An amount of Rs. 5326.42 which was received during 2016 is non-

recurring grant for the last five years and cannot be used for payment of salaries, he added.

Regarding the Hindi teachers, DoSE informed that the State Government appointed 1379 Hindi Teachers under CSS called ‘Appointment of Language Teachers' during the 12th Five Year Plan ( 2012-17) which is 100% funded by the GOI. For the current year 2016-17, the department submitted a proposal of Rs. 4889.06 lakhs as salary requirement to the GOI. However, the GOI released an amount of only Rs. 600.00 lakhs in September, 2016, the press release mentioned. “The monthly salary requirement being Rs. 394.00 lakhs, the State Govt. had however, released salary of Hindi Teachers for 3 months.” The delay in release of fund for Hindi Teachers, according to the DoSE, is due to non placement of fund by the Ministry of Finance to the MHRD, GOI. Meanwhile, the department said the matter for early release of fund and continuation of the Scheme beyond the 12th Five Year Plan which is ending on March 31, 2017 has been taken up with the Government of India at the Chief Minister’s level.

Dimapur Govt College informs Dimapur, march 8 (mExN): The Dimapur Government College has informed all repeater and backlog students that the form fill-up for the ensuing Nagaland University Even Semester End Examination 2017 will be issued on March 9 and 10. The exam form filling-up dates for the following classes are: B.A & B.Com 2nd semesterMarch 14; B.A & B.Com 4th semester- March 15; B.A & B.Com 6th semester- March 16. Documents required include: photocopy of admit card of the relevant semester and original mark sheet of the relevant semester.

Youths invited to career guidance Dimapur, march 8 (mExN): SD Jain Samaj, Dimapur has invited interested youths of Class X, XI, XII, BA, B.Com, B.Sc to attend with respective parents a free career guidance session scheduled to be held at SD Jain Hr Sec School on March 10 at 10:00 am. Resource persons from respective fields will share the way to following careers: Chartered Accountancy (CA), Medical (NEET), Engineering (JEE), IAS/ IPS/IFS/IRS (UPSC), MBA (CAT), and Event Management etc, informed a press release from Ajay Sethi, Secretary, SD Jain Hr Sec School. Interested youths have been requested to book respective seats by March 9 through confirming their attendance to Principal, SD Jain Hr Sec School on phone numbers - 9612189919/ 03862-233791. The resource persons will be Md. Iliyas Ali (IPS), Tomtsa Vinito Chishi (MBA), Dr. Ankit Jain, Kvulo Lorin, Anisha Jain (CA).

Chungtor Baptist Church pastor informs TuENsaNg, march 8 (mExN): In view of the Platinum Jubilee celebration of the church, Pastor of Chungtor Baptist Church has informed the Chungtor Suro Nyitsarü to “observe” on March 11 from 5:00 am–7:00 am to invoke God’s help during the jubilee. In a press release, the pastor informed that preparations are underway for the grand celebration of the jubilee, which is set to begin on April 1. While acknowledging the help rendered by village councils and citizens to make the celebration fruitful, the pastor sent out invitation to all. Meanwhile, the Documentation team, Reception & Hospitality team were asked to reach the village before March 20.

Departments asked to submit 33% reservation issue dominates discussion at AII march 8 (mExN): relevant bodies on March 8 includ- female members and kept away India. She said it was necessary to annual administrative reports Dimapur, Discussions on the issue of 33% ing the Prime Minister of India’s of- women from joining these offices. connect the increasing visibility of kohima, march 8 (Dipr): The Nagaland Legislative Assembly Secretariat has informed that the 15th session of the Twelfth Nagaland Legislative Assembly will commence from March 21 onwards.

In this connection, the Assembly Secretariat has asked all the Departments to prepare their respective Annual Administrative Re-

ports and submit to the Assembly Secretariat for further necessary action.

Further, it stated that in the past some Departments submitted their Annual Administrative Reports just after the Business List was finalized and prepared, while some Departments sent the same after Session period was over, making it difficult to present it during the Ses-

sion. This has raised objection in the Assembly terming it as casualness and failure on the part of the Departments.

To avoid this practice, all the Departments have been asked to send the Annual Administrative Reports to the Nagaland Assembly Secretariat on or before March 16 positively for laying in the House during the ensuing Session.

Excise personnel seize Brown Sugar, liquor Dimapur, march 8 (mExN): The Excise duty party of Dimapur district recovered 15 grams of Brown Sugar from Kalibari Road, Dimapur on March 6. In this connection, one person identified as Vinod Lama (30) was arrested and forwarded to judicial custody, according to a press release from S Chanlei Angh, Superintendent of Excise & Prohibition, Dimapur. Meanwhile, a regular case has been registered under section 21(b) of NDPS Act 1985 and further investigation is on, the release said. The contraband was detected

and seized under the command of Head Constable T Lawrence Lotha along with Akahoto and Shekheto, both constables.

On the same day, the district Excise duty party manning the Chumukedima Excise check gate seized 192 bottles of can beer from a Kohima bound car, the Superintendent further informed. One person identified as Mongthungo was arrested and booked under section 44 of NLTP Act ’89 in this regard.

The Excise team was led by Inspector Bauloi Phom along with 8 other personnel.

Reservation for Naga women in Nagaland dominated the International Women’s Day Celebration at the Australia India Institute (AII), a public institute funded by the Australian Government Department of Education at Melbourne.

A press note informed that AII, the only national centre in Australia that focuses on India and carries out extensive research and policy analysis, celebrated the day with a panel titled ‘Women’s Rights in India.’

The panelists consisted of Dr. Dolly Kikon, Dr. Amanda Gilbertson, Inotoli Zhimomi, and Dr. Amy Piedalue. Chaired by the research director of the institute Professor Haripriya Rangan, the panelists shared their research and advocacy work on India.

There was a special discussion on the recent violence in Nagaland regarding the opposition to 33% reservation for Naga women in urban local bodies. Inotoli Zhimomi spoke about the campaign she initiated with her colleague Dr. Dolly Kikon. Emphasizing that the appeal and campaign was sent to the

fice as planned, Zhimomi said that the campaign was to address the structural violence and patriarchy in the system and was not a “Naga male-bashing” process.

She noted that this was an important point to underline because anyone who abuses power and authority – be it male or female – had to be made accountable towards the community. Therefore, it was important to do away with the prevailing notion that gender justice was only a prerogative of women.

She exhorted that it was time to stop putting the onus on women to bring about gender justice, and called upon men and women alike to join hands and work towards a gender just society. Professor Haripriya Rangan cautioned that the situation about blindly legitimizing customs and traditions was not unique to Naga society alone.

Giving the example of South Africa where she has conducted research for more than two decades, Professor Rangan noted that tribal male bodies like the traditional councils in South Africa also excluded

She described how the ongoing campaign and mobilization for gender justice in South Africa increasingly exposed how patriarchy and authority were manipulated in the name of culture and tradition.

Dr. Amanda Gilbertson spoke about her research and advocacy work on gender justice campaigns and politics among the youth in New Delhi in the aftermath of the infamous 2012 rape in Delhi. She described that young men and women in India were engaging in dialogues and political assertions calling an end to caste and class based politics that legitimized gender violence. Dr. Amy Piedalue, a postdoctoral scholar at the Australia India Institute (AII) shared her ongoing research among Muslim women and issues of gender justice and rights in the city of Hyderabad.

Dr. Dolly Kikon meanwhile picked up on Zhimoni’s reflections about issues of gender justice and connected other pressing issues that indigenous communities were facing in contemporary

indigenous migrants from Northeast India in contemporary India with the grim reality back home.

She also underlined the prevailing militarized society, increasing level of unemployment, and the dysfunctional government apparatus that has led to a breakdown of basic services like medicine, education, and welfare services in states like Nagaland, Manipur, and Assam as some of the reasons that migrants underlined.

As part of the celebration of International Women’s Day, Zhimomi and Kikon attended a special event organized by the Consulate General of India at Melbourne.

During the discussion hour, the opposition to the 33% reservation for Naga women in Nagaland received special attention.

After the meeting, the Consul General of India, Manika Jain accepted the appeal and campaign for the implementation of the 33% reservation for Naga women in Nagaland. She assured that the matter would be brought to the attention of the Government of India.

Naga Concerned Oldest person of Elumyo NPCC responds to NPF legislators’ statements Wokha VDB body appeals kohima, march 8 (mExN): Na- the people who are at the receiving end Citizen Forum formed village passes away galand Pradesh Congress Commit- of their instability that has affected every Dimapur, march 8 (mExN): A new organisation called the Naga Concerned Citizen Forum (NCCF) was formed today in Kohima “with the aim to bring changes in society with the motto ‘Be an agent of change.’”

A press note from the NCCF informed that the forum is led by Heikieleung Zeliang as President; Mesewe Chirhah & T Manto Konyak as Vice Presidents; Throngso Yimchunger as General Secretary; Thrilise Sangtam as Joint Secretary; Lungheiding as Treasurer and Wepekha Wetsah and Haichuya Kath as Advisors.

It stated that NCCF is a “mass movement of change of the third millennium. It is a nonviolent, non-profit, non-political and humanitarian organisation. It draws its members from all walks of life as change lovers, change makers and change promoters preparing the next millennium with change. It does not differentiate its members on the basis of sex, tribe, class, region or religion but form one family of change.”

While noting that there are “good workers, employees, entrepreneurs, managers and leaders,” the NCCF however lamented that there is “scarcity of responsible and concerned citizens who can change the current situation in the society.”

“We all sit at home and keep blaming everything used for granted attitude, very few of us dare to do their bit, to change the situation and to work for the betterment of the society,” it stated.

“If you change yourself you will change your world. If you change how you think, then you will change how you feel and what actions you take. And so the world around you will change,” the NCCF said.

Humanity today, it observed, “is the victim of corruption, oppression, deprivation, destruction, discrimination, exploitation, injustice, substance abuse, woman and child abuse, castetism, tribalism, regionalism, hatred, religious riots, violence, terrorism, war, poverty and other evils eating up the society.”

In this scenario, NCCF claimed that it aims at making “a unique contribution of change to the humanity through information, reformation and transformation.”

Wokha, march 8 (mExN): The oldest person from Elumyo village of Wokha district, Tumchobeni Tsanglao, breathed her last today morning at the age of 102 years. Born in August 1914, Tumchobeni is survived by a total of 94 children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and great great grandchildren, according to a press release received here.

Eight of her children and three grandchild and great grandchildren had passed away while she was still alive, it was informed.

The centenarian was laid to rest at Elumyo village today after a Tumchobeni Tsanglao, the oldshort funeral service organized est person from Elumyo village by the Elumyo Baptist Church. who passed away on March 8.

tee (NPCC) today stated that the statements of NPF legislators made in Peren district on March 7 were a "show of no confidence" in the leadership of Dr. Shürhozelie Liezietsu. Several NPF legislators had defended TR Zeliang and expressed that he will return as the Chief Minister during a programme in Peren district on March 7.

“The bankruptcy of leaders in the NPF is slowly unfolding before the people. Dissident leaders who were accused of creating trouble to topple the government were forgiven and rewarded within fortnight,” stated the NPCC in a statement. “After 14 long years in power, NPF has nothing to offer to the people. NPF legislators have rather perfected the art of political sycophancy to thrive and it is

sphere of governance.”

The change of leadership by the NPF is just an “eye wash exercise to hoodwink the people in the face of massive social unrest arising out of their misgovernance,” NPCC added. “Dr. Shürhozelie portraying himself as reluctant Chief Minister is further creating instability with dual power centers.”

“If 60 MLAs still support TR Zeliang as per the statement given by the legislators, why is Dr. Shürhozelie risking his reputation in being openly ridiculed by his own party men?” it asked. “After more than 4 decades in electoral politics, if Dr. Shürhozelie has any iota of self respect, he should ask his cabinet to recommend dissolution of state assembly and seek fresh mandate…”

Wokha, march 8 (mExN): The Wokha District VDB Association has appealed to the Director of Rural Development department to consider construction of new RD block office in Wokha on top priority, while drawing attention to the delay of official works due to the dismantling of the office in June 2014. The association requested the department to construct the new RD block office building stating it is causing distress for both staff and public to carry out all official works. It further urged the department to take immediate necessary action to ease the hardship faced by the public of Wokha district.

LFHSS says goodbye to Grade XII students

On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2017, the office bearers, executives and other members of Watsü Mundang led by its President Moachila visited Tzümashiyong Orphanage Home and had interaction and prayers with its children and supervisors.

Dimapur, march 8 (mExN): The management, teachers and students of Livingstone Foundation Hr. Sec. School (LFHSS) bid an emotional adieu to the Grade-XII students of the school in a farewell function organized by the Grade-XI students and the management on March 6 at the school’s auditorium.

The programme, compered by Promith Dey of Grade-XI (Science) and Rumila Phungshok Grade-XI (Commerce), saw numerous entertaining items including songs and dances presented by the Grade-XI students as well as the outgoing Grade-XII students, informed a press release from the school. It began with an invocation prayer led by Ani Yepthomi, Director of Junior High.

In his exhortation, Administrator of the school, Arthur Edwards encouraged the students to follow the path of honour and discipline to succeed in life. He also highlighted

the exemplary achievements made by some of the alumni of the school which has made the school immensely proud, the release added.

Andrew Ahoto, the Chairman of the School in his speech called upon the students to always remember their roots and to soar and rise high in the sky of achievements like an eagle yet humbling themselves. In his usual manner of encouraging through heart touching anecdotes and exam-

ples, he exhorted the outgoing students to make the best possible use of the gift of talents and skills that God has bestowed upon them.

Speeches on behalf of the outgoing students were presented by Vilivi P. Aye and Zeba Rahman.

Pauly Varghese spoke on behalf of the teaching staff. The programme came to a close with vote of thanks and blessings proposed by Prabhat Mandal, Principal (Academics).

6

THURSDAY 09•03•2017

IN FOCUS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

The Power of Truth

The Morung Express

C O M M E N T A R Y

Garga Chatterjee

The Indian federalism has much to learn #BeBoldForChange from the United States federal structure VOLUME XII ISSUE 65

By Aheli Moitra

I

n her short story, ‘The Last Song’ (2006), Prof. Temsula Ao leaves us with feelings of distant, inexplicable, sadness. Apenyo sings through her brutal rape in an old church; the village grapples with the ‘unnatural’ violence and how tradition should play out thus. A compromise is reached. The dead, Apenyo and her mother, are buried outside the boundary of the village graveyard without a tombstone.

Albeit invisibalised, Apenyo’s act of resistance is recalled and retold through the years by grandmothers, their ears plugged to the soil, their hair tousled by the winds of the invisible struggles of Naga women.

Much of the acts of resistance posed in the face of violence remain in pages of memory that we hardly ever visit, or are unable to access. When we are able to access them, we valorize some memories, while others are swept under the private rug. This false polarity of the public and private is constantly imposed by structures of dominance. In the latter half fall the stories of, and by, women.

In this regard, Prof. Ao’s stories go a long way in retelling how intertwined the struggles of Naga women and men were, though they curiously maintain the unique strands of gendered experience.

Her stories push us to take the invisibility cloak off the feminist character of Naga sovereignty. They push us to think about the womb, the jungles, the hearth, love, a broken leg, old age, death, reconciliation—collected bits that give shape to the Naga body politic. They never belittle or dismiss struggles as polarized stories of woman or man.

Today, Naga people struggle as a whole to find economic, social and political footing in a deeply segregated world. Within this, Naga women’s struggles perceptively aggregate issues of class, commons and the environment.

Naga women are at the helm of preserving indigenous seeds and crops, stories and methods. Without attacking men’s struggles (and grave losses) against militarization and capitalism, women continue to support and further— with or without the state—the Naga aspiration to self determination. Yet we hear little of these daily struggles; we rarely consider the women’s contribution to sovereignty, peace and reconciliation; we hear little of how they toil at the farm and the home.

This International Women’s Day, March 8, was commemorated under the theme of #BeBoldforChange. This is pertinent for women all over the Indian sub-continent who are facing threats of sexual and physical violence for raising their voice in lieu of justice. The hash tag implies that the message for gender justice should be spread as far and wide as possible in a world where gender relations have become severely strained following consistent violent conflict. Today it is time for both women and men to be bold enough in the face of, and for, change—to wage non violent struggles together, and for each other.

Elders, like Prof. Temsula Ao, have opened our eyes to this.

Let us not turn our backs on them.

An empowering year to all; moitramail@yahoo.com

LEFT WING |

Katy Migiro Thomson Reuters Foundation

Kenyan women lead rise of Airbnb female entrepreneurs

H

ome-renting site Airbnb is providing women with a new way to earn money and build businesses with more women than men on the site and women in Kenya gaining the most, the company said on Tuesday.

Airbnb said women have outnumbered men using the site since its 2008 launch and there are currently more than one million women hosts - amounting to 55 percent of users - who have earned over $10 billion in the past nine years.

A report released to coincide with International Women's Day on March 8 showed Kenyan women were gaining the most, earning about one-third of their annual household expenditure from Airbnb and often using this to launch their own businesses.

Women in India came second in the list, earning 31 percent of their annual household expenditure through Airbnb.

This contrasted with Germany and France, where Airbnb income was lowest among 14 countries surveyed, amounting to about three and four percent of average household expenditure, with many using this money to supplement parttime jobs.

"Through platforms like Airbnb, women around the world are finding a new source of supplemental income and a new opportunity for economic security and independence," Airbnb said in a statement.

The positive message from Airbnb comes as the San-Francisco based start-up runs into disputes in cities like Barcelona, Berlin and Paris that claim it deprives locals of accommodation for permanent rent and hikes rental prices.

Studies show that one of the biggest obstacles for women entrepreneurs around the world is lack of access to capital to start businesses.

But the sharing economy business is billed for explosive growth, estimated by PricewaterhouseCoopers to reach $335 billion by 2025, from around $15 billion in 2016.

"The money I've made has helped pay part of my sister's doctorate degree," Airbnb cited one of its Kenyan hosts, Pamellah Gakenia, as saying.

Globally, women's annual earnings, estimated at $10,778, are roughly half those of men, the World Economic Forum says, partly because fewer women have formal jobs.

Women hosts interviewed by Airbnb said they often employ others to help them with the rental business.

"My cleaner Lulu, a recent migrant from the Eastern Cape who doesn't speak much English, now earns enough to pay her kids' school fees," it quoted South African host, Belinda, as saying.

The top five countries for women Airbnb hosts among the 14 surveyed were Kenya where women earned 34 percent of average household expenditure, India at 31 percent, Morocco 20 percent, China 19 percent and Japan 15 percent.

The data was based on an email survey of 112,000 Airbnb hosts with more than 44,000 responses from Argentina, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, South Africa, Spain, Britain and the United States.

N

ot all human beings have heard Donald Trump’s name. This is true about the citizens of the Indian Union too. Many citizens of the Indian Union have not ever heard Narendra Modi’s name either. That is just reality. However, some have heard of Trump and they have heard of him in varying degrees. That degree represents the degree to which America and the whites actually control the mindscape of Indian Union’s brown citizens. So, the most Trump-engaged section of this group of browns is not happy at Trump for various reasons. But they are not alone. Many citizens of the USA also feel similarly. And since the election of Donald Trump as the President of the United States of America, what is at display is some serious vociferous opposition to the new incumbent.

And they are pushing back and trying to protect their rights that they believe that Trump might take away. And they might succeed.

Opposition Democratic Party’s governor after governor (a post akin to a Chief Minister in a state of the Indian Union) has stood up and said that they will make sure that Trump’s wish cannot run wild in their own state. And they can succeed, since the law and constitution enables them to protect themselves from the whims of a centrally elected demagogue, just on the basis of a simple majority of everyone while most people of quite a few states may not want his policies to affect their life. The federal character of the US constitution ensures that democratic bottom-up protection against central demagoguery. Trump may be the most powerful person in the world but inside the US, but individual states have significant autonomy, so that they can be governed by the wishes of the people of the state and not by the wishes of outside people.

Thus, when many across the world are seeing in Trump and his support base the rise of a regime that is semifascist in intent and possibly action, the federal structure of the US constitution gives autonomous powers to the states to govern themselves in most matters, thus lessening the effect of a change in central power. It acknowledges that a US state is a political unit and its government is much closer and representative of the sentiments and wishes of the people in terms of most affairs that govern their life. It’s the government that should matter. Also, the federal structure and significant power to an individual state means a more representative government, since if most people of a state vote against the central winner, say Trump, then they don’t have to be subject to his policies on many crucial matters on which they disagree with him. In short, a deeper democracy.

Today, the Union government at Delhi is ruled by a party by dint of its majority in the Lok Sabha. The BJP has won an outright majority of the seats with under 32% of the vote. Even in the form its alliance, the NDA, it rep-

resents less than 40% of the voting citizens of the Indian Union. Many states simply had nothing much to do with Modi and his BJP, both of which are extremely unpopular in these states.

Thus, the similarity between the extremely divisive reactions that Trump and Modi invoke has some parallels.

The sad bit is, the states of USA that disagree with Trump have more protections against Trump than the states of the Indian Union that disagree with Modi have against him. This difference lies in the much robust federalism of USA and the so-called federal structure of the Indian Union that is federal only in name but undemocratically centralized in all legal senses and practical purposes.

Let us understand that by a few key differences between the Constitution of India and that of USA vis-à-vis the question of federalism.

In the US upper house, the Senate, which is a council of states, has equal representation from each state.

Thus each state is considered an equal partner with an equal vote irrespective of population, just like the United Nations. In the Indian Union’s upper house, the Council of States or the Rajya Sabha, the number of seats allotted to the states is not equal but is ac-

cording to population, and hence, is not fundamentally different from the Lok Sabha. In short, the states are not considered equal. The more populous is stronger.

Unlike USA, which has a concept of state citizenship in addition to US citizenship, Indian Union has no legal concept of a West Bengal citizen or a Tamil Nadu citizen, in addition to the citizenship of the Indian Union. In the US constitution, the mandate and powers of the Union government is much, much smaller than the Union government of the Indian Union. In the US constitution, residuary powers lie with the individual state. Thus, the US constitution says, ‘the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States are reserved to the States.’ This is a huge difference that in time progressively empowers states of the USA and makes the states of the Indian Union into menial vassals of New Delhi.

States of USA have full control over education – Union has nothing to do with it. States make their own family laws, electoral laws and various such laws and even has its own state supreme court which is the apex court for many matters. The US

Supreme Court is not the apex court for all legal matters. For many matters, the apex body is the state supreme court. States levy their own income tax and it has all powers to change such income tax rates and various other tax rates. In short, in terms of making law, levying taxes, making policy and various other issues, an individual state of USA has far, far greater power than an individual state of the Indian Union.

Given the incomparably greater diversity and ethno-linguistic difference between the various states of the Indian Union, the reality should have been the exact opposite. The USA has been the aspirational model for certain key sectors of South Asian elites. As far as the Indian Union is concerned, it shall do well to do away with the absurd centralization of power it has, which assumes the multi-national, multi-lingual Indian Union to be more homogeneous than White Caucasian majority USA. If Indian Union wants to learn from USA, it should learn what a real federal structure looks like. The present rights that individual states of USA have are much, much greater than the present rights of individual states of the Indian Union. This shameful situation must change.

Why the movie 'First They Killed My Father' matters

The film is an important addition to a genre that continues to be of interest to the country Luke Hunt

T

The Diplomat

here has been no shortage of movies made about Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge.

Some, like David Putnam’s The Killing Fields, hit their mark in the 1980s and became a cultural reference point for one of the great tragedies of the 20th century.

James Gerrand, who produced the documentary Cambodia: The Prince and the Prophecy, is in a similar league to Putnam in defining the brutal regime and its impact on the country.

Those events were a long time ago, and Cambodia has moved on. But decades after the Khmer Rouge were driven out of Phnom Penh and since the final shots were fired in that longrunning civil war, public interest in the subject seems stronger than ever.

This has been helped by UNbacked efforts to put surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge on trial, maturing post-war baby boomers who are less afraid of asking about this country’s war-time past, and more pragmatic considerations like a substantial drop in the cost of video production.

The result is a renaissance of sorts in the Khmer Rouge genre, if you will, is underway, with no shortage of producers and directors in search of a script about Pol Pot and the deaths of

more than two million people.

But not every production has been a winner. Far from it.

New York filmmaker Robert Lieberman produced Angkor Awakens: A Portrait of Cambodia. Sadly, this documentary is a dreadful rerun of almost every cliché written about Cambodia by navel-gazing Americans, and many of them are wrong.

John Pirozzi did better with Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll, although his public relations machine could do with some cheering up after being criticized for a hamfisted approach with respect to screenings in Cambodia, particularly the countryside.

Not so with German film maker Marc Eberle. Last year he released Cambodia Space Project: Not Easy Rock ‘n Roll — a blend of 1960s Cambodian pop and latter day Western rock and shot through the eyes of Khmer diva, Srey Thy – also known as Kak Channthy – who sings 1960s Khmer evergreens along with her own mixes.

It premiered in Phnom Penh with Hollywood star Angelina Jolie, her then husband the actor Brad Pitt, and James Gerrand in the audience at the Cambodian International Film Festival.

Eberle’s latest effort, a short documentary about an uprising by Muslim

Chams against the Khmer Rouge in late 1975, The Cham Rebellion of Svay Khleang, was terrific.

It delves into the lives of two students attempting to piece together how more than 1,000 families were slaughtered by Pol Pot’s ultra-Maoists after being stripped of their Islamic identity.

A River Changes Course from the Khmer-American camera-woman Kaylanee Mam has been received international acclaim.

Then there was Ian White’s debut as a feature director in Before the Fall about life and love as the Khmer Rouge seized control. And a full-length feature, One Crowded Hour, based on the life of legendary war correspondent Neil Davis is in the advanced stages of pre-production.

Amid this motley group, Jolie has launched her latest effort, First They Killed My Father, a first-hand account of genocide through a child’s eye. So far, the Hollywood actress turned director is winning fans for this Khmer language film, particularly among Cambodia’s youth.

An overwhelming majority of people here who are under 30 like Western culture and are enamored by Jolie and her cult-like status as a pop culture icon.

First They Killed My Father won’t be released on Netflix until September. As

WRITE-WING

such, reviews will be important. So far, Jolie is travelling well, as should be expected in a country where her humanitarian work has not gone unnoticed.

At the world premiere in Siem Reap last Saturday and at a special show opened to thousands at Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh the following Tuesday, the audience was overwhelmed with delight, with some bursting into tears.

“It’s good and critical,” Sam Chanmaliny, a popular TV news anchor, told The Diplomat, echoing a sentiment heard among several other prominent Cambodians familiar with the film scene.

“It reflects Cambodian history and how the war started. How people were forced out of the city to the countryside, and how they lived in pain and fear,” she said.

“People feel powerless in letting the world know how our country suffered in war, but thanks to Angelina Jolie, she does makes our voice louder and more powerful.”

Based on the reception it has received so far in Cambodia, First They Killed My Father should be judged an initial success. But more significantly, seen from a broader historical perspective, it is also a important addition to a genre of movies that are still defining what happened here under the Khmer Rouge all those years ago.

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 09•03•2017

PERSPECTIVE

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

7

In France political corruption is common However, four reasons that could change John Lloyd

P

Reuters

olitical corruption in France is common, and usually – if the politician is at or near the top of the political game – unpunished by law. Yet the 2017 presidential election may mark something of a revolt against a semiaristocratic disdain for the public whose tax euros have long been plundered for private or party use.

Francois Fillon, who trained in the law, has been a politician since his late 20s.

Now 63, he rose steadily through the ranks of the centre right until 2007, when he became prime minister under President Nicolas Sarkozy.

He survived there for five years and was seen as a president-in-waiting: experienced, Catholic, with five children by his Welsh wife Penelope, professing a devotion to jolt the country out of its economic stasis.

Then the pesky press spoiled everything. Le Canard Enchaîné, the muckraking weekly, revealed last month that Fillon had employed Penelope as his parliamentary assistant for many years – and she had apparently done little or nothing. The paper then brought two of his children into the affair, raising the alleged family payroll to nearly 1 million euros ($1.06 million). Fillon has blamed the media and political enemies for his campaign crisis, proclaimed innocence but also apologized for employing his wife as an aide – and fights on.

But he’s wounded, ironically most of all by his wife and by himself. Penelope gave an interview to Britain’s Telegraph in 2007 in which she said her children know her as “just a mother” and, referring to Fillon’s elevation to the premiership, said that “people ask what my new role is but there isn't one”.

Fillon also said, during the contest for the nomination, that “There is no point talking about authority when one personally has not been beyond reproach”, a statement directed at Sarkozy. By Fillon’s own statement, he may be unable to lead France.

Yet the centre right seems to believe that, however damaged, it has no one else. A meeting of party elders on Monday unanimously supported Fillon, and vowed to relaunch his faltering campaign. It’s possible that his wife’s interview this past weekend, in which she affirmed that her job was real, may on closer examination turn out to be true.

It’s also possible that, in the nearly seven weeks that remain before voting in

A worker puts the final touches to a giant figure of Francois Fillon (C), former French prime minister, member of The Republicans political party and 2017 presidential candidate of the French centre-right, next to French National Front leader Marine Le Pen (R) and Emmanuel Macron (L), head of the political movement En Marche !, or Onwards !, during preparations for the carnival parade in Nice, France, February 2, 2017. (Reuters File Photo)

the first round of the election on April 23, the issue will have cooled. But for the moment, it seems another instance of a system where even the apparently nonsleazy politicians are compromised.

Corruption has dogged the modern French presidency since Charles de Gaulle resigned in 1969, and it has appeared to accelerate in the past few decades – or at any rate, has become more public. It is also high profile: because the French presidency is so powerful, all political and foreign claimants for attention and benefits seek a channel to the Elysée Palace. Favors are exchanged – some routine political horsetrading, others more venal.

Valery Giscard d’Estaing, president from 1974 to1981, was revealed, again by the Canard Enchaîné, as having received large gifts of diamonds from Jean-Bedel Bokassa, former head of the Central African Republic.

(He said he had sold the jewels, and given money to charities in the country.)

Jacques Chirac, president from 1995 to 2007, was given a two-year suspended sentence in 2011 for embezzling public funds to finance the party he led as the mayor of Paris. Chirac, who did not attend the trial because of “memory loss”, said in a statement that he contested the conviction “categorically” but that he would not

dency, the budget minister, Jerome Cahuzac, after denying the report by Mediapart, confessed that he had used a Swiss account to hold 600,000 euros ($775,000 on the exchange rate of the time). Imprudent but not illegal and less damagingly, Hollande’s friend and election campaign treasurer, Jean-Jacques Augier, was revealed to have invested in offshore businesses in the Cayman Islands.

Why should it get better? First, the current leader in the polls for the first round of voting, the National Front’s Marine Le Pen, is accused by the European Union’s fraud office of using over 300,000 euros from the EU’s parliamentary budget to pay her party staff: she won’t repay, she says, and hasn't seemed to suffer in the polls because of it. Her supporters, like her, don't like the EU. The man who has now overtaken Fillon as Le Pen’s main challenger, the 39-yearold former Socialist Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron, has created a new centrist party, En Marche! (“Forward!”). Though he held the unpopular job of investment banker at Rothschild & Co, he has been lauded in the news media, and no hint of financial impropriety has appeared.

Le Pen appeals to an electorate, often working class, angered by political corruption. Macron’s main appeal is to a cosmopolitan, highly educated middle class, many of whom, young or younger than he is, are no longer prepared to shrug and say “Ca va comme ça” (So it goes). French journalism – not just Le Canard Enchaîné and Mediapart – is much more energised by corruption scandals.

The centrist, Macron, is presently favoured to win in the second round of the presidential election in May. With apparently no scandalous baggage, with a new untainted party, with the backing of a country no longer prepared to shrug, he may try to change a culture. It will be a long job, though. Corruption, when a way of life, is tenacious.

appeal because he lacked the “required strength” to face a new trial.

Sarkozy, the president Fillon served, was encircled by scandals throughout his presidency – including allegations that aides and close allies had benefitted from kickbacks from the sale of submarines to Pakistan in 1994. (He has denied these claims.) Closer to his office were allegations that he had received illegal funding from the l’Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, France’s richest woman – herself accused of large-scale tax evasion – this last imbroglio revealed by another pesky news organization, the investigative website Mediapart.

And last year, while preparing his new presidential bid, Sarkozy was placed under investigation for "suspected illegal financing of an election campaign for a candidate, who went beyond the legal limit for electoral spending". He has deJohn Lloyd co-founded the Reuters nied he was aware of the overspending.

Institute for the Study of Journalism at Sarkozy’s successor, the still-sitting sothe University of Oxford, where he is cialist president François Hollande, appears senior research fellow. Lloyd has written to have made a break with this catalogue of several books, including “What the alleged corruptions: his scandals have been Media Are Doing to Our Politics” and "Journalism in an Age of Terror,” which sexual and – in a departure from the past will be published this month by I. B. vow of press silence over high political tresTauris. He is also a contributing editor at passes – splashed across front pages. the Financial Times and the founder of But some of his ministers were not so FT Magazine. financially abstemious: early in his presi-

Crisps and Coffee Shops: North Korea's New Consumerism

The influence of South Korean consumer goods reveals surprising changes in North Korean society Alek Sigley

C

in South Korea, they are served with toppings such as strawberry instead of the traditional red bean.

Not far from Pyongyang’s Tower of the Juche Idea, a 170-meter-high monumental stone column named after North Korea’s official ideology and one of the country’s most famous landmarks, a new cafe has started serving coffee that connoisseurs rate as the best in the country. With its rustic, wood-heavy design, its interior is distinctly un-North Korean; more than anything, it is reminiscent of the South Korean chain Caffe Bene.

The Diplomat

risp packets may seem a shallow way to understand a country.

But for North Korea, looking at something as trivial as the packaging of everyday items can shed light on developments in a society still mistakenly regarded as resolutely static. The country’s supermarket shelves are just one of a number of places where North Korea’s growing middle class is absorbing foreign influences and finding new ways to spend its money.

As a founding partner of Australiabased Tongil Tours, which specializes in educational tours to North Korea, I often accompany groups to the country.

While on a recent trip to Pyongyang’s Kwangbok District Shopping Center – a bustling multi-story complex housing a food court, supermarket, children’s playground, and sections selling everything from clothing to white goods – something in the food section caught my eye.

Some of the snacks on sale had packaging nearly identical to that of popular South Korean equivalents, many of which I was familiar with from late-night convenience store raids during my student days in Seoul. According to our Korean guides, the North Korean versions were new on the market.

Also on sale was the popular Korean chili paste condiment gochujang, packaged in the same kind of red, plastic tubs in which it is typically found on South Korean supermarket shelves.

five competing taxi companies. The restaurant trade is booming – I know of some foreign residents of Pyongyang who set about trying every eatery in the city, only to give up when they realized they were being outpaced by the rate of new restaurant openings.

The fast-growing domestic tourism industry is another new venue for consumption. I often visit the Kumgang Mountain Resort area, which opened to South Korean tourists in 1998. After souring relations between Pyongyang and Seoul ended the visits in 2008, the resort’s modern, South Korean-built facilities, fell into disuse. But after a few more years, it reopened to domestic tourists (and us too, fortunately).

While there, I am struck by the groups of local tourists, clad in brightly colored, casual outfits, being driven around in Hyundai buses (Hyundai helped develop the zone) on smooth, well-paved roads.

They stay in noticeably South Korean-designed bungalows and hotels. The restaurants they dine in are the only places in the North that serve white rice the South Korean way – piping hot in lidded steel bowls – and some of the few still offering floor seating, a tradition that has mostly died out in the North. Without the badges bearing the faces of their leaders – citizens are not required to wear them for leisure activities such as hiking – the visitors are indistinguishable from tourists from China, or even South Korea.

Conspicuous Consumption?

These scraps of shiny plastic reveal several broader changes in North Korean society. First, they are a sign of a nascent consumerism, which has grown out of the markets that first formed during the economic difficulties of the 1990s and are now a substantial component of the economy.

The copies are also a response to the creation of a new, entrepreneurial middle class, which is demanding better and more varied consumer products. These new consumers have in recent years also been behind the emergence of advertisements (although still nowhere near as ubiquitous as in capitalist countries) and the spread of more avant-garde package design.

Reports indicate that recent years have seen an explosion in new, domestically produced brands for everything from toilet paper to soft drinks. Just a few years ago, taxis were virtually non-existent in TV and Travel North Korea. Now, they are on every street In 2016, a groundbreaking new series in Pyongyang, and can even be seen in the called “In Search of the Famous Sites of

television. A mix between a variety program and a travel documentary, the show follows the host as she travels around the country, sampling local delicacies and visiting scenic spots.

The first episode contains a segment reminiscent of Japanese or South Korean variety shows, with two husbandand-wife teams plucked from groups of local sightseers and pitted against one another in three successive games: a seaside bicycle race, a treasure hunt among the cliffs, and a mussel porridge cooking contest. The prize for the winning couple? Fresh seafood.

Such programming may be standard fare in most parts of the world, but in North Korea, where most of what you see on television is undisguised government propaganda, it is quite unprecedented. Through promoting spending on tourism, dining out, and romantic outings, it also perfectly embodies the new culture of consumerism.

Outside Influences The next thing to note about these new consumers is that they also look to the outside world for inspiration. Chinese goods are readily available in North Korea and have led to the predominance of Chinese fashion there. But at the very cutting edge is the influence of the South. Those with the money and the means tend to sport fashion that would not look out of place in Seoul.

At one of Pyongyang’s fanciest coffee shops, located at the top of the exclusive Pyongyang Hotel, customers can now purchase “snow flower bingsu,” a South Korean-invented, milkier version of the traditional Korean

Gateway Dandong But how does this Southern influence get into North Korea? There are various routes, but one of the most significant runs through Dandong, the Chinese border city that sits on the other side of the Yalu (Amnok in Korean) river from North Korea. Most of the official trade between China and North Korea passes through Dandong, and it is home to a sizable community of North Korean expatriates, many of whom are businesspeople from the country’s expanding entrepreneurial class.

It is also home to a large South Korean community and many South Korean businesses, including the Caffe Bene chain mentioned above. Despite the ongoing division of the peninsula and interKorean tensions, these two communities mix to a surprising degree. As South Korean anthropologist Kang Juwon, who has conducted ethnographic work among Dandong’s various Korean communities, told NK News, “As always, South Koreans drink North Korean Taedonggang Beer and North Koreans buy milk produced by the South at a market… they freely break bread together at a restaurant where the flags of three countries are hung.”

Dandong also hosts numerous supermarkets selling South Korean goods, including those that ended up inspiring the snacks and gochujang chilli sauce I found in Pyongyang. South Korea’s similar culture and advanced capitalist consumer society make it an unsurprising source of inspiration for the North Korean middle class. The fact that this is happening means that it’s perhaps time for us to abandon the tired stereotypes of North Korean society as static and unchanging.

The border is more porous than we might think, and new people, goods, and ideas are constantly moving through it.

Alek Sigley is founding partner of North Korea tour operator Tongil Tours, and a Korean Studies student at the Australian National University’s

Why Not Limit Terms for Elected Offices?

A

ncient Greeks established the democratic foundations of much of the way our world governs, one of which was placing a limitation on the number of terms that an elected official could serve in office. Similarly, the Romans adopted term limits by not allowing any one person to hold a position of power for an indefinite period of time. This democratic concept of power-sharing amongst its citizens was established for the greater good.

Following the ancient practice of term limits, the United States had introduced into its Constitution a law that states that "no person shall be elected to the office of President more than twice," which means an elected President can occupy the highest office in the country only for a total of eight years. There are two reasons for this: First, limiting power held by one leader for a long time is what makes the citizenry possible to actually rule. As such, there is no royalty, no dictatorship and no military rule in the United States. Second, the job of the highest office is understandably very demanding and thus takes a heavy toll on the mental and physical well-being of any President. As a result, stagnancy of ideas and physical exhaustion often occur, causing the leader to be less effective and less energetic even within a few years in office.

To be sure, not everyone favors limiting terms of office. For example, most politicians in India would seem to believe that they should rule and reign for as long as possible. The Nehru’s family is a classic case in point, because they’ve turned the Indian political system into a dynastic rule. Even now, after the third generation, Mr. Rahul Gandhi is still projecting himself as if he’s entitled to rule over the Indian masses.

Perhaps, we can say that both S.C. Jamir and Neiphiu Rio are no different either, because they too have always wanted the highest office in Nagaland to be theirs and theirs alone for as long as possible.

Public office was to be a public service, not a means for self-enrichment. But nowadays many elected officials use their public office for selfish purposes and turn politics into a career for self-enrichment. Over time, their goal becomes simply to get reelected and to prepare themselves for the next election campaign rather than to do the right thing for the people.

In going after self-interests, they develop themselves into an elitist class and grow to be more isolated from the lives and concerns of the average citizens. Also, as time goes on, these career politicians develop cozy deals with either bureaucracies or special interests that seek to get something from the government at the expense of everyone else.

In some places, the same corrupt politicians may continue to enjoy getting reelected for some decades altogether. This may not be as a result of the some wonderful services they have provided for the public, but because they have the financing, name recognition and influence to continue to get reelected. In such a situation, no new candidate may dare to come forward to run against such an incumbent. And here the real losers are the voters, because they have no choice but to keep the same failed politician to be their representative year after year. As such, allowing a person an unlimited period of time to serve in a position is detrimental to the public good.

Term limits in elected offices are a good thing.

They ensure that elected officials focus more on the public welfare than on their own political careers. When elected officials know that they will again return to the citizenship without the title or power after a limited number of years, they are likely to be more committed in giving their best for the public. There’s something very noble about serving others for the sake of serving as opposed to doing a job in order to keep the job.

This is what term limits help to do.

Term limits means that after a period of time, the playing field will once again be leveled and new seats will be open without incumbents. In advanced democracies, citizens want to ensure a regular supply of fresh blood and new ideas in legislative bodies; they want to open the system to more people from a variety of professions; they want to create opportunities for many talented leaders or younger people to try public service. But without term limits, many of these people will never run for a public office because of the challenges of running against the incumbents.

Democracy works best when new people and new ideas are brought to the table. When someone stays in office for decades at a time, there is no chance for younger people to get involved in politics. The voice of younger people is important, as they have the most to lose from a system of government in the long term.

That’s why some young people would sometimes complain, saying, “We do not feel some in their 60s and 70s should represent those in their 20s and 30s. The old leaders are like old computers running on an obsolete operating system.” Although this statement may be a bit extreme, there’s also an element of truth in it which older people would do well to note, instead of always saying, “The young people are our tomorrow’s leaders!” Otherwise, proper representation and fair opportunity of powersharing will continue to suffer.

In short, term limits are a good thing. They cut out chances for corruption, remove stagnancy, bring diverse perspectives, add new ideas, infuse fresh energy, and create more opportunities for the betterment of all in a society.

8

ThursDAY 09•03•2017

INDIA

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

60.03 pc voting in final Aadhaar to be a must for women in BPL to get free LPG connection phase of UP elections households Those who do not have an Aadhaar number should apply for it by May 31

People queue up to vote at a polling booth during the last phase of Uttar Pradesh state assembly election, in Varanasi, March 8. (REUTERS)

luckNow, March 8 (PTi): Over 60 per cent of the 1.41 crore voters today exercised their franchise in the seventh and last phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls in 40 seats, bringing down the curtain on a gruelling two-monthlong process.

"60.03 per cent votes were polled till 5 PM," Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer T Venkatesh said. The turnout for these seats was 57.92 per cent in the last Assembly polls in 2012.

The average turnout in the seven phases of polling that began on February 11 has been around 60-61 per cent compared to 59.48 per cent in 2012.

The poll percentage in the first phase was 64.22, in the

second 65.16, third phase 61.16, fourth phase 60.37, fifth phase 57.37 and sixth phase 57.03.

Today's exercise passed off by and large peacefully and no untoward incident was reported from the three constituencies in the Naxal-affected districts of Sonbhadra, Mirzapur and Chandauli. Poll percentage in these areas was Chakia 59, Duddhi 62 and Robertsganj 58.

All eyes were on the Assembly segments in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi, where the turnout was 60.95 per cent till 5 PM. Polling started amidst tight security arrangements in seven districts this morning and gained

momentum as the day advanced.

Ghazipur, Jaunpur and Bhadoi are the other districts where polling was held.

Voting concluded at 5 PM in all constituencies, barring the Naxal-hit areas where it ended at 4 PM. In Jaunpur, BJP candidate from Jafarabad seat Harendra Pratap Singh and four others were arrested for allegedly taking voters to polling booths in two vehicles.

Singh, however, denied the charge. The counting of votes in UP will be taken up on March 11, along with four other states -- Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur, where Assembly polls were held. .

New Delhi March 8 (PTi): An Aadhaar card is a must for women living in Below Poverty Line (BPL) households to avail of free cooking gas (LPG) connection under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), the government said on Wednesday.

T h e g ov e r n m e n t launched the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana last year to provide free LPG connections to 5 crore poor women in three years.

“Individual beneficiary desirous of availing the benefit under the scheme [PMUY] is hereby required to furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar number or undergo Aadhaar authentication,” said a gazette notification issued by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. The women under BPL who do not have Aadhaar number have been asked to apply for it by May 31.

Once enrolled for Aadhaar, the beneficiary can apply for free LPG connection by providing the enrolment ID slip or a copy of such a request.

Such application will have to be accompanied by one of the government identification documents like bank passbook with photograph, voter ID, ration card, permanent ac-

count number (PAN), driving licence, kisan photo passbook or a certificate of identity having a photo issued by a gazetted officer on an official letterhead, the notification said.

The Ministry has asked state-owned fuel retailing firms to facilitate enrolment of beneficiaries for biometric identification number.

In October last, the government made Aadhaar mandatory for availing of cooking gas (LPG) subsidy. The government now gives 12 cylinders of 14.2 kg each at subsidised rates per household in a year. The subsidy on every cylinder is transferred in advance directly into bank accounts of individuals, who then buy the cooking fuel at market rates.

The Ministry notification issued on March 6 said that the use of Aadhaar as identity document for delivery of services or benefits or subsidies simplified the government delivery processes, brought in transparency and efficiency, and enabled beneficiaries to get their entitlements directly to them in a convenient and seamless manner.

“Aadhaar obviates need for producing multiple documents to prove one’s identity,” it said.

Why Aadhaar card mandatory for rations, asks HC in notice

New Delhi, March 8 (iaNS): The Delhi High Court, taking up a petition, on Wednesday, in a notice asked the Centre and others why was Aadhaar card mandatory for getting subsidised food grain through the Public Distribution System.

A division bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal sought the response from the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and the Delhi government before April 24, the next date of hearing.

The public interest litigation filed by NGO Delhi Rozi Roti Adhikar Abhiyan sought quashing of the

No place for gender biases in modern India: President New Delhi, March 8 (PTi): Gender biases have no place in modern India where inclusive development is a key objective, President Pranab Mukherjee said today.

He also lamented the rise in crimes against women and said it was inexcusable that they do not feel as secure and safe as they should in India.

His remarks came during a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan to present Nari Shakti (Women Power) Puraskar on the occasion of the International Womens Day. The 31 awardees who were honoured included ISRO scientists, first-ever women troupe of Kathakali dancers, Indias first female graphic novelist, survivors of acid attack and trafficking, environment and animal activists, among others. "The government is equally concerned at the rising rate of violent crimes against women. It is in-

AwArdees of NAri shAkti PurAskAr, 2016

1. State of Rajasthan 2. Chhanv Foundation (Sheroes Café), Delhi 3. Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl (M.H.I.P), Mizoram 4. Sadhana Mahila Sangha, Karnataka 5. Shikshit Rojgar Kendra Prabandhak Samiti, Rajasthan 6. Tripunithura Kathakali Kendram Ladies Troupe, Kerala 7. AASU Amruta Patil,Goa 8. Amala Akkineni, Telangana 9. Anatta Sonney, Karnataka (Joint Award) 10. Anoyara khatun, West Bengal 11. B. Codanayaguy, Puducherry 12. Bano Haralu, Nagaland 13. Deepa Mathur Rajasthan 14. Divya Rawat, Uttarakhand 15. Dr. Ilse Köhler Rollefson, Rajasthan 16. Janki Vasant, Gujarat excusable that women in India do not feel as secure and safe as they should.

"Gender biases have no place in modern India where inclusive development is a key objective," said President Mukherjee while addressing the gathering. The three women scientists from ISRO, who were honoured, were Subha Varier, B Codananyaguy

and Anatta Sonney. They have participated in ISROs historic space missions like the Chandrayaan mission, Mangalyaan mission and the most recent launch of 104 satellites in one go.

Subha Varier, who was in-charge of the video system for the launch of 104 satellites, explained her role in the most recent mission, "Video is the best way

17. Dr. Kalpana Shankar, Tamil Nadu 18. Kalyani Pramod Balakrishnan, Tamil Nadu 19. Mumtaz Kazi, Mahrashatra 20. Dr. Nandita Shah, Tamil Nadu 21. Pallavi Fauzdar, Delhi 22. Pamela Malhotra, Karnataka 23. Qamar Dagar, Delhi 24. Reema Sathe, Maharashtra 25. Ringyuichon Vashum, Manipur 26. Sangita Iyer, Kerala 27. Smita Tandi, Chattisgarh 28. Sumitra Hazarika, Assam 29. Sunita Singh Chocken, Haryana 30. Subha Varier, Kerala 31. Tiasa Adhya, West Bengal 32. V. Nanammal, Tamil Nadu 33. Zuboni Humtsoe, Nagaland

to show our achievement.

Seeing is believing. In this mission we had satellites of six different countries and therefore it was even more necessary to have visual evidence." "We had eight cameras for video processing. Images were acquired in real time, compressed, transmitted on ground, de-compressed and converted into a video so all of

us could watch it," she said.

An all-women kathakali troupe was also awarded for claiming a dance form which was traditionally a male preserve. Tripunithura Kathakali Kendram Ladies Troupe from Kerala was formed in 1975 and since then they have delivered over 1,500 performances in India and abroad. Among the other winners were Am-

ruta Patil, a writer and painter. She is also the first female graphic novelist of the country. Her novel Adi Parva, based on the Mahabharata, Puraans and tradition of oral storytellers, was selected as one of the year 2012s best graphic novel.

Asias first woman to drive a diesel train, Mumtaz Kazi, was also bestowed with an award. Anoyara Khatun, a survivor of trafficking, who has worked to rescue child labourers, victims of human trade and domestic violence, also received an award. Anoyara was also nominated for the International Childrens Peace Prize in 2012 and has represented India at the UN. The Nari Shakti Puraskar comprises Rs one lakh and a certificate.

Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi was also present at the event where she recounted the achievements of her ministry in the past three years.

Centre's February 8 notification that made it mandatory for beneficiaries to possess Aadhaar cards for purchasing subsidised food grain under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).

The Centre's notification is applicable in all states and Union Territories, except Assam, Meghalaya and Jammu and Kashmir.

The plea said due to the notification's implementation, people are being deprived of their rightful entitlement under the NFSA and it violates Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.

Buyers of ration under the NFSA, who do not possess the Aadhaar cards, or are

not yet enrolled for it but are desirous of availing subsidies under the NFSA, are required to file applications for Aadhaar enrolment by June 30.

The plea said in October 2015, a Supreme Court interim order had allowed for voluntary use of Aadhaar and ruled that no citizen can be denied a service or subsidy for its want. The petitioner sought directions to enforce what it said was the fundamental right to food to Delhi residents, particularly the poor and vulnerable groups dependent on subsidised food grain distributed by the Delhi government through the Public Distribution System.

Veteran journalist Arvind Padmanabhan passes away

New Delhi, March 8 (iaNS): Veteran journalist Arvind Padmanabhan, an Executive Editor at IANS, died of cardiac arrest here early on Wednesday.

Padmanabhan, who would have turned 50 next month, breathed his last at the Holy Family Hospital.

Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting M. Venkaiah Naidu said he was "saddened by the sudden and untimely demise of veteran and seasoned journalist Arvind Padmanabhan". Naidu tweeted that it was a "huge loss to the media fraternity". Padmanabhan is survived by his mother Shanta, wife Ponna and daughter Tara.

His father was the late G. Padmanabhan, who worked for many years with the Press Institute of India and the Indian & Eastern Newspapers Society (IENS, now INS).

Arvind Padmanabhan was born in 1967 at

Tirunelveli, Tamul Nadu.

He was widely admired in the journalistic community for the thoroughness he displayed in reporting, writing and editing.

Padmanabhan had a long inning at IANS, joining the India Abroad newspaper that was then part of the wire service in 1999 as in-charge of its Business Section.

He steadily took on greater responsibilities in the news agency, first assuming charge of the Business Bureau of the wire service and subsequently rising to become, first, the Business Editor of IANS and then the Bureau Chief.

He was soon elevated as the Executive Editor and headed the business and economy team.

He was earlier with the PTI, The Times of India and TV18.

Padmanabhan till the end remained a simple and unassuming person and always a friend to his juniors.

Gender pay gap to reduce Aseemanand, 6 others acquitted in Ajmer shrine blast by 2020, says report

BeNgaluru, March 8 (iaNS): Women graduates are likely to bridge the gender pay gap in developing markets by 2020, said a research report from global software major Accenture on Wednesday.

"The average pay gap could close if women take advantage of three career equalisers with the support of academia, government and business," said the cross-industry report "Getting to Equal 2017" on findings from 29 countries where 28,000 women and men, including under-graduates, were surveyed.

The research found that women earned $100 as against $140 by men, causing imbalance and hidden pay gap that widened economic inequities between them.

Career accelerators could reduce the pay gap 35 per cent by 2030, with support from business, government and academia. The three accelerators are digital fluency, career strategy and tech immersion. "Socio-cultural issues force women to step back in careers, making the gap harder to close," regretted Accenture India Chairman Rekha Menon in the report. Asserting that the tech industry played a transformative role in fostering gender equality in the workplace, through its products and services, Menon said the average pay gap in developed markets could close by 2044.

"In developing markets, the changes could reduce 100 years off the time to reach pay parity, achieving it by 2066 instead of 2168," said the

report of the US-based IT major.

In India, the research found that the average pay gap between men and women was 67 per cent across 31 industries, with men earning $167 for every $100 by women.

"The gap is due to more men being in high paying functional and leadership roles than women and factors like education, industry segment and hours worked."

The research found that applying the three strategies could add $30 billion to women's incomes by 2030.

The report also identified several factors that affect a woman's ability to achieve equal pay as early as university. Indian female under-graduates are less likely to learn new digital skills than their male counterparts and lag in adopting new technologies.

"Gender equality is an essential element of an inclusive workplace and this extends to pay. Business, government and academia have a key role to play in closing the gap," pointed out Accenture Chief Executive Pierre Nanterme.

Collaboration among these organisations is key to provide the right opportunities, environment and role models to lead the way for change.

Countries surveyed for the study are Argentina, Australia, Austria, Britain, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the US.

JaiPur, March 8 (iaNS): A court here on Wednesday acquitted RSS leader Swami Aseemanand and six others in the Ajmer Sharif Dargah blast case of 2007 while convicting three other accused.

The special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court convicted Bhavesh Patel, Devendra Gupta and Sunil Joshi (now dead) and fixed March 16 for pronouncement of the sentence. "The judge has convicted Bhavesh Bhai Patel, Devendra Gup-

ta and Sunil Joshi in the case. Sunil Joshi has already died," Jagdish Rana, advocate for Swami Aseemanand, told IANS, adding that all others have been acquitted.

The court has found three guilty under sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code, various sections of Explosive Substances Act and Un-

lawful Activities (Prevention) Act. "The judge will pronounce its judgment after hearing my arguments on March 16," said Public Prosecutor Ashwani Kumar Sharma.

Three of the total 13 accused are still missing and on the run.

Three persons were killed and at least 15 others injured when a bomb exploded around 6.15 p.m. on October 11, 2007, inside the premises of the shrine of Sufi saint Khawaja Moinuddin Chisti.

Initially, police had blamed Islamic terror groups for the blast, but later a confession by Aseemanand shifted the focus of the probe towards Hindutva groups.

According to the NIA chargesheet, Aseemanand, Gupta, Chandrashekhar Leve, Mukesh Vasani, Bharat Mohan Rateshwar, Lokesh Sharma, Harshad Solanki, Patel, Sunil Joshi and others were accused of planting and exploding bombs inside the Ajmer shrine and murder.

Minimum balance penalty to offset costs of Jan Dhan accounts: SBI

MuMBai, March 8 (iaNS): Providing a rationale for re-introducing penalty for non-maintenance of minimum balance in its savings accounts from April 1, State Bank of India chief Arundhati Bhattacharya on Wednesday said the public sector lender needs funds to balance the oeprational costs of Jan Dhan accounts.

"Now there is a burden of a lot of things. We have 11 crore financial inclusion accounts - basic savings and Jan Dhan accounts - and have to manage them as well," Bhattacharya said on the sidelines of a women entrepreneurs' national convention here.

"SBI was the only bank that didn't have this as we have removed it in 2012," she said.

This condition of maintaining minimum balance will not be applicable to the Jan Dhan accounts,

she added. According to reports, the government has asked SBI to reconsider its decision to levy the penalty, though Bhattacharya said that the bank has not received any formal request on this.

She also said that SBI's requirement for minimum balance is lowest among all banks.

The SBI has made it mandatory for savings accounts in metropolitan areas to maintain a minimum balance of Rs 5,000, Rs 3,000 in urban areas, Rs 2,000 in semi-urban areas and Rs 1,000 in rural areas, from April 1. These charges will be based on the difference between the minimum balance required and the shortfall. For metropolitan areas, if the shortfall is greater than 75 per cent. the charges would be Rs 100 plus service tax.

If the shortfall is between 50-75 per cent, the bank would charge Rs

75 plus service tax and for below 50 per cent shortfall, a fee of Rs 50 plus service tax would be levied, according to the SBI notification of new charges. Similarly, for rural areas, the penalty for non-maintenance of minimum balance ranges from Rs 20-50 plus service tax.

A number of private sector banks already have the condition for maintenance of minimum balance. ICICI Bank savings accounts need to have a minimum balance of Rs 10,000 in urban and metropolitan areas and Rs 5,000 in semiurban areas. In an HDFC savings account, the user needs to have a minimum balance of Rs 10,000 in urban and metropolitan areas, Rs 5,000 in semi-urban areas and Rs 2,500 in rural areas.

Axis Bank also has the condition of maintaining a minimum balance of Rs 10,000 in its savings accounts

thursdAY 09•03•2017

WORLD

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

9

WikiLeaks releases files on CIA cyber spying tools WASHINGTON, MArcH 8 (reuTerS): Anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks on Tuesday published what it said were thousands of pages of internal CIA discussions about hacking techniques used over several years, renewing concerns about the security of consumer electronics and embarrassing yet another U.S. intelligence agency.

The discussion transcripts showed that CIA hackers could get into Apple Inc iPhones, Google Inc Android devices and other gadgets in order to capture text and voice messages before they were encrypted with sophisticated software.

Cyber security experts disagreed about the extent of the fallout from the data dump, but said a lot would depend on whether WikiLeaks followed through on a threat to publish the actual hacking tools that could do damage.

Reuters could not immediately verify the contents of the published documents, but several contractors and private cyber security experts said the materials, dated between 2013 and 2016, appeared to be legitimate.

A longtime intelligence contractor with expertise in U.S. hacking tools told Reuters the documents included correct “cover” terms describing active cyber programs.

Among the most noteworthy WikiLeaks claims is that the Central Intelligence Agency, in partnership with other U.S. and foreign agencies, has been able to bypass the encryption on popular messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal.

The files did not indicate

the files amount to the first public evidence that the U.S. government secretly buys software to exploit technology, referring to a table published by WikiLeaks that appeared to list various Apple iOS flaws purchased by the CIA and other intelligence agencies.

Apple Inc did not respond to a request for comment.

The documents refer to means for accessing phones directly in order to catch messages before they are protected by end-to-end encryption tools like Signal.

Signal inventor Moxie Marlinspike said he took that as “confirmation that what we’re doing is working.” Signal and the like are “pushing intelligence agencies from a world of undetectable mass surveillance to a world where they have to use expensive, high-risk, extremely targeted attacks.”

The lobby of the CIA Headquarters Building is pictured in Langley, Virginia. (REUTERS File Photo)

the actual encryption of Signal or other secure messaging apps had been compromised.

The information in what WikiLeaks said were 7,818 web pages with 943 attachments appears to represent the latest breach in recent years of classified material from U.S. intelligence agencies.

Security experts differed over how much the disclosures could damage U.S. cyber espionage. Many said that, while harmful, they do not compare to former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden’s revelations in 2013 of mass NSA data collection.

“This is a big dump about extremely sophisticated tools

that can be used to target individual user devices ... I haven’t yet come across the mass exploiting of mobile devices,” said Tarah Wheeler, senior director of engineering and principal security advocate for Symantec.

Stuart McClure, CEO of Cylance, an Irvine, California, cyber security firm, said that one of the most significant disclosures shows how CIA hackers cover their tracks by leaving electronic trails suggesting they are from Russia, China and Iran rather than the United States.

Other revelations show how the CIA took advantage of vulnerabilities that are known, if not widely publicized.

In one case, the documents say, U.S. and British personnel, under a program known as Weeping Angel, developed ways to take over a Samsung smart television, making it appear it was off when in fact it was recording conversations in the room.

The CIA and White House declined comment. “We do not comment on the authenticity or content of purported intelligence documents,” CIA spokesman Jonathan Liu said in a statement.

Google declined to comment on the purported hacking of its Android platform, but said it was investigating the matter.

Snowden on Twitter said

CIA CYBER PROGRAMS The CIA in recent years underwent a restructuring to focus more on cyber warfare to keep pace with the increasing digital sophistication of foreign adversaries. The spy agency is prohibited by law from collecting intelligence that details domestic activities of Americans and is generally restricted in how it may gather any U.S. data for counterintelligence purposes.

The documents published Tuesday appeared to supply specific details to what has been long-known in the abstract: U.S. intelligence agencies, like their allies and adversaries, are constantly working to discover and exploit flaws in any manner of technology products.

Unlike the Snowden leaks,

which revealed the NSA was secretly collecting details of telephone calls by ordinary Americans, the new WikiLeaks material did not appear to contain material that would fundamentally change what is publicly known about cyber espionage.

WikiLeaks, led by Julian Assange, said its publication of the documents on the hacking tools was the first in a series of releases drawing from a data set that includes several hundred million lines of code and includes the CIA’s “entire hacking capacity.”

The documents only include snippets of computer code, not the full programs that would be needed to conduct cyber exploits.

WikiLeaks said it was refraining from disclosing usable code from CIA’s cyber arsenal “until a consensus emerges on the technical and political nature of the C.I.A.’s program and how such ‘weapons’ should be analysed, disarmed and published.”

U.S. intelligence agencies have said that Wikileaks has ties to Russia’s security services. During the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, Wikileaks published internal emails of top Democratic Party officials, which the agencies said were hacked by Moscow as part of a coordinated influence campaign to help Republican Donald Trump win the presidency.

WikiLeaks has denied ties to Russian spy agencies.

Trump praised WikiLeaks during the campaign, often citing hacked emails it published to bolster his attacks on Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton.

WikiLeaks said on Tuesday that the documents showed that the CIA hoarded serious security vulnerabilities rather than share them with the public, as called for under a process established by President Barack Obama.

Rob Knake, a former official who dealt with the issue under Obama, said he had not seen evidence in what was published to support that conclusion.

The process “is not a policy of unilateral disarmament in cyberspace. The mere fact that the CIA may have exploited zero-day [previously undisclosed] vulnerabilities should not surprise anyone,” said Knake, now at the Council on Foreign Relations.

U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they did not know where WikiLeaks might have obtained the material.

In a press release, the group said, “The archive appears to have been circulated among former U.S. government hackers and contractors in an unauthorized manner, one of whom has provided WikiLeaks with portions of the archive.”

U.S. intelligence agencies have suffered a series of security breaches, including Snowden’s.

In 2010, U.S. military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning provided more than 700,000 documents, videos, diplomatic cables and battlefield accounts to Wikileaks.

Last month, former NSA contractor Harold Thomas Martin was indicted on charges of taking highly sensitive government materials over a course of 20 years, storing the secrets in his home.

Thousands flee Myanmar as army clashes with insurgents near China border Over 30 killed as gunmen dressed as YANGON, MArcH 8 (reuTerS): Thousands of people have fled clashes between the Myanmar military and ethnic rebels along the border with China, a Chinese official said, as fighting threatened leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s top goal of reaching peace with minorities. About 30 people were killed on Monday in the attack staged by ethnic Chinese insurgents in the town of Laukkai, 800 km (500 miles) northeast of commercial hub Yangon, prompting thousands to seek refuge across the border in camps in China.

Suu Kyi’s nearly oneyear-old government is increasingly besieged by ethnic rebels, grappling with an alliance of militias in Myanmar’s north and a new insurgency by Rohingyas rebelling against decades of persecution in the northwest. “Thousands of people have crossed into China,” said the Chinese government official, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Hotel workers in Nan

People carry their belongings and evacuate from an area after fighters of the Chinese Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) launched an attack on March 6 on police, military and government sites in Laukkai, Myanmar on March 7. (REUTER Photo)

San, a town abutting Myanmar’s restive Kokang region where the fighting is taking place, described disoriented people moving rapidly into the town. “There are so many people here and the traffic is chaotic. There are thousands of refugees here and they look frightened. Some of them brought suitcases with them, while some only brought some light clothes,”

said a staff member at the Golden Star hotel in Nan San who identified himself by his surname Li. The 42-year-old owner of the Fuyuan Hotel, who identified himself by his surname Yang, said: “All we can do is to help them and give them food. Chinese people here are very worried about our safety.”

Yang compared the

scenes to those in 2015, when tens of thousands escaped fighting between the army and the predominantly ethnic Chinese Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) - the same group that attacked on Monday. MNDAA is part of the Northern Alliance, a coalition of rebel groups comprising one of Myanmar’s

most powerful militias, the Kachin Independence Army, and two smaller groups that have been in a stand-off with Myanmar’s military since clashes in Kokang two years ago.

On the Myanmar side of the border, some 300 people were waiting to be transferred to a camp for internally displaced people in the town of Chinshwehaw near Laukkai, said Saw Shwe Myint, an official from the Myanmar Red Cross in Laukkai. “We are discussing with our partner organisations how to transfer these people to Chinshwehaw,” he said. About 200 people were transferred on Tuesday.

Those in the camp comprised local residents and migrant workers from other parts of Myanmar, Saw Shwe Myint said. “I do not hear the fighting right now but I heard shooting this morning,” he said.

China called for an immediate ceasefire between the two sides on Tuesday, urging them to resolve their differences through peaceful means.

Najib softens line in bid to get Malaysians out of N Korea

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak attends an event in Kuala Lumpur on March 8. (REUTERS Photo)

KuALA LuMPur, MArcH 8 (reuTerS): Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak struck a softer tone with North Korea on Wednesday, a day after accusing it of treating Malaysians as “hostages” amid a diplomatic meltdown over the murder of the estranged half-brother of the North’s leader.

Malaysian police have identified eight North Koreans wanted for questioning in connection with the killing of Kim Jong Nam in Kuala Lumpur International on Febru-

ary 13, and have said up to three of them are hiding at the North Korean embassy.

Police say assassins used VX nerve agent, a super-toxic chemical listed by the United Nations as a weapon of mass destruction. And, in a bid to stop the investigation targeting its citizens, North Korea retaliated on Tuesday by announcing a ban on Malaysians leaving the country.

Najib initially denounced that move as an “abhorrent act” while

ordering a reciprocal ban on North Koreans leaving Malaysia.

Faced with the priority of securing the release of the 11 Malaysians stuck in North Korea, Najib sounded more conciliatory in parliament on Wednesday, saying there were no plans to cut diplomatic ties.

“We are a country that’s friendly to them,” Najib said, after reassuring MPs that there was no threat to the safety of the three embassy staff, six family members, and two other Malaysians in North Korea.

“We didn’t pick a quarrel with them but when a crime has been committed, especially when chemical weapons have been used in Malaysia, we are duty bound to protect the interest of Malaysians,” Najib said.

The United Nations has called for calm and urged the two countries to settle their differences through “established diplomatic practice”. Najib declined to elaborate on what action he would take to bring back his citizens: “If there’s any negotiations, we can’t do it through the media.”

On Monday, Malaysia expelled North Korea’s ambassador for questioning the impartiality of the murder investigation and ended visa free travel for North Koreans.

North Korea says the dead man is not Kim Jong Nam, and has suggested the victim died from a heart attack. The only people charged for the murder so far are a Vietnamese woman and an Indonesian woman, accused of smearing the victim’s face with VX. But the police are pressing to question up to three men believed to be hiding in the North Korean embassy. Police have said that four other North Koreans fled Malaysia hours after the airport murder. The only one to have been detained was released and deported on Friday due to insufficient evidence.

U.S. officials and South Korean intelligence suspect North Korean agents were behind the assassination of Kim Jong Nam, who had been living in Macau under China’s protection. He had spoken out publicly against his family’s dynastic rule of North Korea.

Last week, Malaysia said it LOSING A FRIEND would investigate North Korea North Korea is in grave dan- front companies after a Reuters reger of losing one of the few friends port showed that Pyongyang’s spy it has outside of China due to the agency was running an arms netdiplomatic fallout from the case. work in the country.

medics attack Afghan military hospital

An Afghan policeman keeps watch at the site of a blast in Kabul, Afghanistan March 8. (REUTERS Photo)

KABuL, MArcH 8 (reuTerS): Gunmen dressed as medics stormed a hospital in the Afghan capital on Wednesday and battled security forces for hours, killing more than 30 people and wounding dozens in an attack claimed by Islamic State.

A suicide bomber blew himself up at the rear of the 400-bed Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan hospital, across the road from the heavily fortified U.S. embassy, and three attackers with automatic weapons and hand grenades entered the complex, security officials said.

Defence Ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said the attack was suppressed by mid-afternoon, with all three gunmen killed.

As security forces swept the hospital buildings, another ministry spokesman said they found at least 30 dead and 50 wounded, including doctors, patients and hospital staff, in addition to the three killed and 66 wounded reported earlier.

The gunmen, dressed as medical personnel, had taken up positions on the upper floors of the hospital and engaged special forces sent to the scene, officials said.

Security forces blocked off the area around the hospital, near a busy traffic intersection, and special forces soldiers descended on to the roof of the main building from helicopters.

Sporadic gunfire could be heard for hours and, as fighting went on, there was a second explosion, which a spokesman said was caused when a car inside the hospital complex blew up.

A statement from Islamic State’s Amaq News Agency said its fighters had attacked the hospital, while an Afghan Taliban spokesman denied responsibility, saying the Islamist insurgency had “no connection” with the attack.

The raid on the hospital followed warnings by government officials that high-profile attacks in Kabul were likely to escalate this year.

With U.S. President Donald Trump yet to announce his policy for Afghanistan, where the top U.S. commander has said thousands more international troops may be needed to maintain stability, the attack also pointed to Islamic State’s growing threat.

The movement, opposed to both the Western-backed government in Kabul

and the Taliban, is based in the Middle East but has established a solid presence on the border with Pakistan.

It has also mounted several high-profile attacks on civilians in Kabul over the past year, including several on prominent Shi’ite targets.

HIDDEN WEAPON The attack on a hospital that treats military casualties from around Afghanistan drew wide condemnation and President Ashraf Ghani said it “trampled on all human values”.

“In all religions, a hospital is regarded as an immune site and attacking it is attacking the whole of Afghanistan,” he said in impromptu remarks during a speech for International Women’s Day in Kabul.

The NATO-led Resolute Support mission said it was ready to assist Afghan security services, while the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said the attack on hospital staff and patients not involved in the conflict amounted to a war crime.

Witnesses inside the hospital said they were caught by surprise as a gunman dressed in a white doctor’s coat took out a concealed AK-47 assault rifle and opened fire, killing at least one patient and one hospital worker.

“Suddenly gunfire broke out and a gunman was shooting at everyone,” said Zahir Khan, who hid under a table and later escaped. “He was shooting at doctors, patients and visitors.”

As the fighting went on, some patients climbed out of the building and could be seen sheltering on window ledges.

The attack came just a week after dozens of people were killed and wounded in coordinated attacks on a police station and an office of the intelligence service in Kabul.

That attack was claimed by the Taliban, who are seeking to expel foreign troops, defeat the U.S.-backed government and reimpose Islamic law after their 2001 ouster.

Away from Kabul, dozens of people have been killed over the past few days in fighting across Afghanistan, from Kunduz and Baghlan in the north to Farah in the southwest and Helmand and Kandahar on the Pakistan border in the south.

ThursDAY 09•03•2017

public discourse

10

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Situating the recent violence in Nagaland Dr. Zuchamo Yanthan

School of Social Sciences, IGNOU, New Delhi

T

he recent outbreak of violence in Nagaland has left many people puzzled and terrified. Modern Naga society is known to find peaceful solution to any of its problems amicably. However, this time the situation took an ugly turn leading to loss of lives, economy and total confusion in the state. It is time to introspect, interrogate and examine the factors which had led to the outbreak of the recent violence in the state and provide some possible directions for future course of action. As is well known the violence initially started with the opposition on the issue of 33% women reservation in UBL election. This was seen to be bypassing the guarantee to the customary laws granted in Article 371A of the Indian constitution. This threat of bypass set up alarm bells in Nagaland. It triggered off a spate of social media campaign, and whisper campaigns in the Naga community. This snowballed into street protests, demonstrations and several rounds of meetings between the state government and civil societies. It is in the course of these protests that three people were killed in police firing, many government buildings were burnt down and mayhem ensued. There were demands of the resignation of the CM Samhita Barooah

M

ajority of Indian women struggle hard to make ends meet. Somehow making sure that their kitchen fire never burns out and their homes are free from violence. Women’s work is underestimated, undervalued and non-monetised to a large extent while it remains subsidiary in the formal sector of employment. Women’s work is unaccounted in every sphere of human activity. Women in rural, tribal, coastal, riverside, relief camp areas have been working to earn a small share of cash which sustains their needs compelled by the capitalist modes of living. The constructs of women being the sole bread-winners of the families have become a striking reality in today’s era. Men would rather enjoy the power to control women’s income and work timings rather than work for their families. Men do work for themselves alone.

A strike from the white collared industrial first world will not be able to include the women from the dingy rat-holes of domestic, informal and hazardous work sites where women struggle within sexist, racist and fascist environments.

Who will feed the daily wage earning women who goes for breaking stones, carrying debris or wood, washing utensils and baby-sitting for long hours if they go on strike?

In the third world women do not even have the pleasure of working for their own well-being. All they do is either work to pay the next EMI or put their children in a better school or take care of the health of their elders and dependents and sometimes buy peace at home. Some women are forced into hazardous professions which do not uphold their essence of being a woman. Most women pre-

and what followed was a state unrest amongst the Nagas at large.

One may interrogate whether the state of affairs was only due to the question of 33% women reservation or were there other issues involved as well. It may be opined that the protest also brought in several issues related to frustration of youth regarding the state government’s inability to fulfill their dreams and aspirations, some elements of political conspiracy, and some level of threat to men because of women empowerment which people are not courageous enough to admit the reality.

The youth today are loosing their confidence in the state leadership and feel threatened of their dreams and aspirations going in vain. Unemployment rate among the Naga youth is very high. Even those who are employed by the state government do not get their salaries on time and are consequently put to hardship and frustration. It is also observed that the state of education is pathetic in both schools and colleges run by the state government. Basically, the quality of teaching is very low and large number of teachers, especially, who are posted in villages do not teach and some are even keeping proxy teachers in their place. To make worse, the infrastructure facilities of the educational institutions are also badly maintained. Even the infrastructure such as roads is making travel-

ing for both work and education very difficult. The economy in Nagaland is also lagging behind and is not contributing to the general sense of well being of the population.

Inspite of all these realities, it is felt that there was an element of factors of politics (or politicking) which exploited these situations and had contributed to the recent violence in the state. Now the question is whether politicking was needed, especially, when the state is challenged with bad economy, high unemployment rate, health issue, education, corruption, terrible infrastructure, Naga political settlement etc? Moreover, the question on whether the approach of the civil societies was appropriate in addressing the issue? Does the engagement of a prolonged dialogue with state government justify the violent action? The civil societies would have taken a better alternative approach and not a violent path which had caused loss of lives, enormous damage in terms of public properties including personal records of thousands of employees in the state.

After weighing all the factors and issues, the following points may be suggested for the issue: 1. The recent outbreak of violence is an outcome of many socio-political factors taking a complex shape. This is also to argue that the issue can hardly be understood as an issue of women empowerment alone. Under-

Can women afford a strike? fer to work outside their domestic sphere to be able to get away from the drudgery of domestic chores.

But these days some workplaces try and create such drudgery within official spaces as well. May be women need to take a break from such drudgery. Working women have to face the brunt of being halfhearted home-makers, nincompoop cooks and neglecting mothers, daughters, sisters, wives and partners. So the success of women’s skills lays within the domestic sphere irrespective of their professional degrees or however much they have excelled in their professional careers. Even at workplaces, male colleagues will judge a woman’s skill more accurately from the different cuisines which she can make rather than the strategic decisions she takes on behalf of the workplace. In many Indian companies, women employees are still needed to provide the feel good factor, treat to the eye or most of the times to maintain adequate public relations on behalf of the company with the high profile vested interest groups. Women’s work within companies is either that of fulfilling already set goals without any leverage for decision-making or tokenistic leadership in organisations with constant attacks from their male counterparts. In most workplaces wherever there are women in leadership positions, it primarily becomes a battle of the sexes. Male colleagues whether senior or junior will challenge women to prove themselves with sexist agendas in mind. It is always a process of trying to prove a woman wrong for not fulfilling her expected roles within the restricted structures of the workplace.

Women in the western world going for a strike on March 8 would definitely make a huge difference but women in the third world do not even have the privilege of being in a workplace to be striking. Third world women are not individual units who collectivise to bring about positive social change. Third world women live through their collective identities of relationships, customary norms and social and economic institutions. They are bound to uphold their collective identities first before asserting their specific gender identities which could be an individual struggle in itself. Women within the third world have multiple gender constructs but not every gender identity stands in opposition to the other. Very recently there was somebody who spoke in a local news channel about her recent identity as a cancer survivor. But what some observers argued that the same person had an alternative sexual preference became more prominent while her struggle for surviving the terminal illness was not significant. Women’s essence and existence is multi-layered and dynamic which is related to her temporariness within the lifecycle shifts she goes through. For a man his privileged identity is fixed from his very childhood, in fact some parents struggle to assign a forced male identity on a born male person. As for women such imposition of gender identity is rather fluid till her puberty and henceforth her marriage. The power attached to female existence lies within the layers of subjugated existence where women are compelled to live under the predominance of patriarchal paradoxes. Cis-women are the new patriarchs whose sole purpose in

standing the Naga identity and culture vis-àvis article 371A will give a clearer perspective.

Many experts argue that the present provision of women reservation may prove to be a threat to the state’s autonomy as granted in the Constitution and may have even more serious consequences later.

2. Universally, Customs and traditions are seldom static. Therefore, customs and cultural traditions which have been practiced historically need not continue in toto should the people feel the need for change. Needless to say, one should also think seriously as customs also represent cultural uniqueness and authority like it is practiced in Naga Society.

3. The present sense of confusion or a communication gap has to be addressed with a sustained dialogue among genders, Hohos, unions, associations and even among individuals to help us understand the issue deeply and shape our future directions. After all, this is so central to our culture.

4. The very idea of framing or maintaining ‘Laws’ in every society (traditional or modern) is directed towards ensuring ‘justice and fairness’ in society and also well-being at large. Therefore, Nagas need to relook and question whether any part of the customary laws have any section which seemingly deprives gender equality and a level playing field in society.

5. It is a fact Naga women today have

life is to enforce hetero-normative practices to keep their positions of power intact. They reject anything that defies conformity and deviates from the forced normal. Cis women fear feminist debates in-order to find a subordinated space within the patriarchal hierarchies which dominate all the personal and political systems of our lives.

Compromise is a familiar term when it comes to a woman.

Compromise, if there is an abuser within the family for the sake of clan honour. Compromise, if you have to follow de-humanising traditions as it is forbidden to question religion. Compromise, if there is unequal treatment in schools and colleges at least you have got a chance to study compared to your ancestors. Compromise; if you are bonded for labour and domestic work at least you are getting some food to eat. Compromise, if you are assaulted, raped, teased, objectified, silenced and ridiculed as you belong to the excluded caste of being a woman. Compromise, in fair share of land and property as a woman cannot be equal to a man in public affairs. Compromise, in a spousal relationship as you have to save the relationship. Compromise, at workplace and settle for unequal pay and undeserved demotion for you have to support your family. Compromise, it is only for your siblings, for elders, for community, for parents, for family, for children, for the nation and for peace in the world. Compromise to live under constant surveillance, forced silence, veil of ignorance, misogyny and violent impunity for the sake of mothering a fascist nationalism. This March 8 and many more to follow can women and all those who compromise to be women call a strike against such compromise?

shown their potential and excellence in all walks of life and have made the state proud through their achievements in so many ways.

Therefore, it may be strongly opined that Naga women do deserve a dignified space in Naga society while taking care of the core values and structures of the Naga society.

6. The announcement of ensuring 33 per cent political participation may not be airdropped and has to emerge as a social outcome. Since the recent announcement itself is coming as a radical change, it is leading to utter confusion in Naga society. Therefore, there is a need to rethink and debate on this issue from the grass root level. The responsibility of scholars and thinkers is to play a role to articulate and help Naga people at large to understand the issues and factors.

7. Also, the state government need to take youth in higher confidence who have begun to show their desperation and hopelessness.

The Youth today find themselves undermined and find no justice to their dreams and aspirations. It is high time that the state government initiate appropriate plans and policies to cater to the present and future needs of our valuable youth dividend.

The overall scenario which has emerged after the violence seems to be promoting pessimism in the Naga society. The task is now to come out of this pessimism and move towards an optimist tackling of the situation.

Dear leaders, give us a reason to elect you again Thungdemo Kyong

E

Team Metamorphosis

very time whenever election approached you came with colourful promises, but when you got elected you could hardly fulfill any of those heartwarming promises you made. As a matter of fact many common people who were once good and loving neighbors had to fight with one another to get you elected.

We know that a good number of the votes that qualified you for the State Legislative Assembly seat were bought, but you should remember that many more than those votes for which you paid were totally clean with the expectation that you’d do at least something for the development and betterment of the society.

But now, to begin with look at our roads, look at every state of affairs in our state at present, there is not even a single thing that is going well. When it comes to foreign trips whether for official purposes or personnel you were the most excited person and never made any excuse to skip and that made you to experience for yourselves how Offices in other countries or states are functioning, the numerous public facilities ranging from Sanitation facilities, public transports, Hospitals, Schools, Sports and other cultural training centers for the youth and not forgetting the roads, but coming back home much of the money that are meant/ sanctioned for similar kind of developmental works are nowhere to be found. Instead, even salary for the teachers and employees in various other sectors, Scholarship meant for the students, countless improper appointments made through unfair means depriving the best intellectuals among the equals, many faithful employees with their hum-

ble families are left starving, children’s school fees unpaid making the holy and innocent children suffer, students studying without electricity, Hospitals with no adequate medical professionals, many talented and abled youth living in frustration due to leaders like you who are filled with corruption, nepotism, tribalism and no vision. Whether it is by yourselves or any of your personal Secretaries/ Assistants/ party workers, lots of funds that are meant for development have vanished.

As a matter of fact, I doubt if many of you have even visited your constituency after getting elected where your people supported you with much hope, many of you have probably not even attended your District Planning Development Board meetings or Sub Divisional Planning Board Meetings. You have cheated us all these years, yes, we have also made a blunder in making you our representatives because all that you have been doing is kicking enough dust in winter and dirty water in summer upon the poor students and the common people with your super expensive SUVs and now hardly anything in your calculation working sensibly, rather everything have come to a standstill and our state lying in shambles. All that you have taught us is to hate and destroy each other instead of growing together.

Now therefore, give us a reason why we should elect you again as our representative for another five years when the public have not gained anything through you.

Therefore, we cannot afford to put another term into your hands and reckon that it is time for the youth, men and women of integrity (morally and financially) with vision and dedication to represent the people in the government as Nagaland needs to catch up with the rest of the world on all fronts.

Practical Agronomic Measures Anthem for the for Soil and Water Conservation unfortunate Millennial F

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he Naga Millennial generations are the unluckiest set of people on the planet earth. Our contemporaries across the world influence their people with their confidence and qualities because they were provided with the necessary platforms by their governments. Had our state governments cared for the future of the Naga generations then today after graduation, we would have left our suburban houses and rented an apartment or flat in the cities and haunt for jobs. We would have even worked our way up by being waiters, office assistant, delivery guy etc. like in the western countries and contributed to our state’s economy.

Millennials refers to the individuals born around the turn of the 21st century. From the world context it generally composes of individuals born between the early 1980’s and through the 1990’s till early 2000’s.

Since Nagaland was affected by the technological wave during the late 1990’s and 2000’s, our Millennials could be categorized as born in the late 80’s till early 2000’s.

The Millennials are a new generation of human species accused to be lazy and unhandy by some older folks. We grew up in an electronics filled and increasingly online and socially networked world.

We perceive in a global world. We know exactly what the missing link in the chain is for the development of our society.

We know of the origin of democracy and liberty and by that not just the time and place. We know of the suffering the people had to go through, their faith, hope and pain.

The truth that is intact with our freedom as a human being today. The truth that gave us our freedom to believe in ourselves no matter what ill the people speak of.

We have been talking about the future and waiting for it to somehow save us from our failures but the ‘future is now’. It has always been now. History may define our present but our present determines our future. The Naga Millennials are the beginning of our future.

Observing the situation of the world (which we don’t often), since technology marveled and spread from the western society, they had earlier access to the tide of technological revolution thus in the next decades when the Millennials there takes hold of the system then their society would take a giant leap towards the future and they shall become even greater than they are today.

As for us, we have almost lost the race but it is ‘better late than never’ so they say. Since the pre-

vious generations of Nagas aren’t much equipped with technological knowledge and the perspective of being a global citizen of the world, why not we skip the part of following the tradition of electing supposedly “older thus more capable and worthy leaders” and take a leap of faith with the more intellectual Millennials.

We could redefine history of our people and the world with our rationality, confidence technological thrust and humanity.

We are more rational and humanitarian than our previous generations. We are more logical and scientific in our approaches and perspective about life. With us the Naga society will be safe and shall prevail further from every test and temptation and triumph.

There are times when we best take things for granted for the better outcome and then there are times when we have to really see the truth and act and give ourselves justice.

Today is the call for the other time.

Time for us to be true to our own self and set ourselves free. Free from feeling scared and paranoid while living in the society. Free from mockery of knowledge and search for truth in our pursuit for happiness.

Liberal Democratic Party of Nagaland (Media Cell)

ertile soil and good quality water have become precious natural resources, their efficient and economical use is the first and foremost action to conserve them.

The practical methods for soil and water conservation can be broadly divided into two classes. i) Agronomic practices. ii) Mechanical measures.

By following different agronomic practices we can reduce soil erosion, increase moisture holding capacity of soil and can minimize problems like water logging, soil salinization etc.

Agronomic measures for soil and water conservation 1. CONTOUR- FARMING: As rain falls, a lot of runoff is generated which generally leads to soils erosion on its way downward. This removes the top fertile soil along with soil nutrients and plant seeds thus leading to scanty and uneven growth of crop.

2. MULCHING: Mulching is one of the simplest and beneficial practices for soil and water conservation.

Mulch is simply a protective layer of material that is spread on top of the soil to prevent it from blowing and being washed away. Mulch can either be organic such as grass clippings, straw, bark and similar materials or inorganic such as stones, brick chips and plastic. . The mulching practice yields following benefits: i) Protects the soil from erosion. ii) Conserve moisture in soil thus saving the need for frequent irrigation.

iii) Reduce compaction of soil due to impact of heavy rains. iv) Maintains soil temperature. v) Prevents weed growth and loss of soil nutrients.

3. ENHANCING THE GROWTH OF SPECIFIC CROPS: Enhancing the growth of specific crops which provide maximum cover, reduce runoff and soil loss e.g. legume crops in general provide a better cover and hence better protection to cultivated land against erosion. These may vary from region to region depending upon topographical and climate conditions.

4. STRIP CROPPING: It is a combination of contouring and crop rotation in which alternate strips of row crops and soil conserving crops are grown either at right angles to the direction of the prevailing wind, or following the natural contours of the terrain to prevent soil erosion.

5. MIXED CROPPING: In this practice two or more crops are grown in the same field at a particular time.

Some of the benefits of mixed cropping are better and continuous cover of the land, good protection against the beating action of rain. The different crops grown in mixed cropping have their roots at different depths holding the soil more firmly thus preventing soil erosion.

Mechanical measures for soil and water conservation These measures play an important role in soil and water conservation. These are used in conjugation

with agronomic practices when they alone are not much effective. The main principles of mechanical measures are: (i) To facilitate infiltration by increasing the time of concentration. (ii) To breakup a long slope into several short ones to decrease velocity of runoff.

1. CONTOUR-BUNDING: In this practice small bunds are constructed at regular intervals across the slope of the land.

2. SUBSOILING: It is basically a primary tillage operation, which consists of breaking the soil structure up to a depth of 30 to 60 cm. This practice facilitates greater infiltration rates and moisture holding capacity of the soil.

3. BASIN LISTING: In this method of soil and water conservation, basins are constructed using a special implement called basin-lister. These basins are constructed across the slope. Basin listing provides maximum time to rain water for infiltration into the soil.

4. BENCH TERRACING: In this practice a series of platforms are constructed having suitable vertical drops. The range of vertical drop may vary from 2 to 6 feet depending upon prevailing conditions. The capital cost of benchterracing is more than that of bunding initially but in longer run it proves economical.

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.

Hannah Krujia SMS – Agronomy KVK, Phek Dist.

Thursday 09•03•2017

EntErtainmEnt

New Thai restaurant in town!

Morung express Feature

J

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Girls need Wonder Woman: Gal Gadot

ctress Gal Gadot says that young women need a character like Wonder Woman in their lives. The 31-year-old, who is essaying the superhero in the upcoming movie by the same name, wants girls to have someone to look up to when they're growing up, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

"First of all, she (Wonder Woman) doesn't see that difference between any gender. It's not even an issue. She comes from this world where men and women are equal and it's not a thing to be a man or

to be a woman. She feels that she can do everything and she will go for it," Gadot told website Collider.

"She's a peace seeker; she wouldn't go and look to start a battle or a fight. She would try to solve it in any other different way, but I think that's what's beautiful about Wonder Woman," she added.

Directed by Patty Jenkins, "Wonder Woman" will also feature Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen, Robin Wright, Danny Huston, Elena Anaya, Lucy Davis, Saïd Taghmaoui, Ewen Bremner and David Thewlis.

Source: IANS

oining the wave of new restaurants opening up around Dimapur is 1 Outerthis place has been opened for approximately two weeks and curious foodies have been thronging the place ever since the launch.

From salads to curries and sea food, the menu has a lot to choose from and it specializes in Thai cuisine. And not just Thai, but there are also several Naga favourites like smoked pork on offer.

The tribe of food entrepreneurs seems to be ever-increasing in our small town so we met the owners, of 1 Outer, husband and wife, Patrick Yanthan and Aien Longchar. Patrick and Aien are dabbling in the food business for the first time although both of them have been well-set entrepreneurs for a very long time. Food, they felt was an enterprising venture which is picking up pace in Dimapur and being foodies themselves, they decided to put up an allThai menu for the food lovers in town. They have their own herbal garden at the back of the restaurant that grows Thai and Naga herbs

1 Outer: Adjacent to Food & Civil Supplies Office, Hill View Colony, Dimapur.

to use in cooking. Keeping in mind, the taste buds of Nagas, the menu has a nice mix of authentic Thai and Naga infused Thai dishes.

1 Outer located at West Dimapur is a spacious place

with a seating capacity for 50 people. Foodies who have so far visited this new restaurant gushed about the outside patio which is perfect to sit and enjoy some stir fired octopus, lobster, or

chow down some Tom Yum noodles. Not to be left behind, Instagrammers have already gone ahead and posted numerous images of this new place which is warmly done up. And to

thank the person for this lovely ambience is architect Lijamo Ovung.

Stating that interior décor works are still ongoing, the owners mentioned that they would love

Image Courtesy/Imli Amri (Impact Shutter-Bugs)

to have people come and try out the food at 1 Outer and have a good time. If you are planning on visiting, it opens from 11:00 Am to 10:00 PM and remains closed on Sundays.

Wangyat Wangsu releases new single ‘Change’

A still from the video.

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angyat Wangsu, an Indie pop artiste from Tizit, Nagaland, has released his second single 'Change' on www.indihut.com as well as the official music video online on YouTube channel. Wangsu consider music as his ultimate passion

and he started his musical journey from church before participating in ‘Naga Orpheus Hunt’ 2014 edition where he was a finalist.

He describes “Change” as a simple imaginary song which he wrote two years back when living a teenage dream.

“The song expresses about the miracles that he wishes to perform and those beautiful places which remains unknown to the outside world,” Wangsu added.

The song was produced by ‘Sky Entertainment’ and recorded at Tribes Music Studio. The video production and editing was done

by Charles Crezen.

Wangsu’s debut single "Just You & Me" was also released through the indihut platform on 2016. indihut is an online store for buying/selling legal digital music designed to promote independent artists.

Scarlett Johansson files for divorce from Romain Dauriac

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ctress Scarlett Johansson has filed for divorce from her husband Romain Dauriac. The "Avengers" star's attorney Judith Poller served the divorce filings to Dauriac's lawyer, Harold Mayerson, on Tuesday, reports pagesix.com. This would officially mark the end of Johansson and Dauriac's two-year marriage.

The former couple might fight over the custody of their two-year-old daughter Rose Dorothy Dauriac. Mayerson said that the estranged couple's "gearing up for nasty cus-

tody battle" over their only daughter. "He would like to move to France with his daughter and Ms. Johansson does a lot of travelling.

It will be an interesting process," he said.

Johansson and Dauriac were first linked to

EXO’s Kai impresses with his passion for acting

each other in 2012. They got married in a private wedding ceremony in 2014, shortly after they welcomed their daughter.

Earlier this year, it was confirmed that the two separated in summer 2016.

Source: IANS

Stephen Ngullie performs live music at Orchids Restaurant, Hotel Lake Shilloi on the occasion of International Women’s Day, March 8.

(Morung Photo)

Now ShowiNg revIseD TICKeT rATes (silver) : `.120 (Gold) : `. 200 (recliner) : `. 400

Lee Min-ho wins Actor of the Year award

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he Legend of the Blue Sea star Lee Min-ho added another feather to his hat by winning the Actor of the Year award during that 12th annual Soompi Awards. The 29-year-old actor received the award by beating two popular Korean actors, Song Joong Ki and Park Bo Gum. According to Yonhap News Agency, the big winners of the prestigious K-pop awards include Lee Min-ho, Song Hye Kyo and boy band EXO and these three were proclaimed to be the most popular Hallyu stars of 2016. The awards are mainly based on the popular fans vote from a almost 139 countries worldwide.

Descendants of the Sun actress Song Hye Kyo won the Actress of the Year after beating Girls' Generation member Yoona.

After their recent wins, fans are speculating that the popular actors Lee Min-ho and Song Hye Kyo may possibly work together very soon. According to the sources as cited by the Korea Portal, this might be the right time for Lee Min

Ho and Song Joong Ki's rumored girlfriend to work together in one project.

In other news, Lee Min-ho is rumoured to have cancelled his wedding with Suzy Bae as he will be busy with his upcoming movie, City Hunter 2. The City Hunter actress Park Min-young will not be a part of the upcoming sequel, instead Park Shin-hye will be replacing her as the lead actress, MStarsNews reported.

According to Korea Portal, after the recent results of the 2016 Soompi Awards, the avid followers of Lee Min-ho and Song Hye Kyo expect that Actor and the Actress of the Year could be a part of the upcoming "City Hunter 2" series.

Though these are mere speculations of the fans as neither of "The Legend of the Blue Sea" actor and the "Descendants of the Sun" actress have confirmed anything about it yet.

The other winners of the 12th Annual Soompi Awards include, TWICE, EXO, Taemin of SHINee and Taeyon of Girl's Generation.

11:20 AM, 02:00 PM 04:45 PM & 07:35 PM 03862-237226 Ticket Counter (09:00 AM - 09:00 PM)

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Ward 5 (6) Burma Camp, Landmark - Near J.K Hospital Dimapur.

Power House.

Hillstar

Source: Ibtimes

NOW SHOWING

Steps announce their reunion

Logan

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BS recently released behind-the-scenes photos from the set of its new drama “Andante” that depict EXO’s Kai’s overwhelming dedication for acting.

In the first photo, Kai can be seen listening intently and receiving advice from the director after their rehearsal. He is also holding his script, which is a familiar sight for the cast and crew of the drama. According to those on set, Kai is almost always holding his script and studies his lines constantly between takes, even in the freezing cold.

The singer-actor often exchanges feedback with his fellow cast members and with the director. He is also the first to monitor his own acting after shooting a scene, showing a great deal of passion for acting. One source from the production team said, “Kai approaches each and every scene with maturity, enthusiasm, and sincerity. He works very hard on set and shows consistent growth with every passing day. We are excited to see where his career takes him as he continues to improve.”

KBS’s “Andante” is a pre-produced drama that shares the story of Si Kyung, a boy from the city who transfers to a high school in the countryside. As he takes on various unfamiliar experiences, he realizes the true meaning of life and love.

Source: Scoompi

11:00 AM | 05:00 PM commando 2 (Hindi)

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op group Steps have announced a reunion with a new album and Britain arena tour.

It was back in 1997 that Claire Richards, Faye Tozer, Lisa Scott-Lee, Ian "H" Watkins and Lee LatchfordEvans formed the group.

Steps split in 2001 and had a brief reunion in 2011. But this year they are back with their new music.

Their new single "Scared of the dark" will be released on Friday, reports mirror.co.uk. The single will be followed by their new album "Tears On The Dancefloor", which will be out on April 21. "This is the album we think our fans have been waiting for," Steps said in a joint statement.

"It was very important

for us to have a hint of the past but to try to blend it into modern day music. We think Steps are a little bit of what everyone needs right now.

We can't wait to take the new album plus all our favourite hits out on the road," the statement read further.

Steps will follow up their new album with the Party On The Dancefloor Tour.

Source: IANS

02:00 PM | 08:00 PM

12

ThursDAY 09•03•2017

SPORTS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Bayern run riot again to crush dispirited Arsenal LONDON, March 8 (reuters): For an hour Arsenal were at least salvaging some pride against Bayern Munich, then the ceiling came crashing down as they exited the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday with a matching pair of 5-1 defeats against the merciless Bundesliga giants.

A second-half capitulation after captain Laurent Koscielny was sent off resulted in Arsenal conceding five goals for the first time at their Emirates Stadium as they suffered their worst home defeat for 19 years.

Arsenal were attempting an unlikely comeback after their horror show in Munich last month and were making a decent fist of it when Theo Walcott smashed in after 20 minutes.

But from the moment Koscielny was red-carded and Lewandowski converted the resulting penalty in the 55th minute, Arsenal's belief ebbed and Carlo Ancelotti's side ran amok with Arjen Robben, Douglas Costa and Arturo Vidal piling on the agony.

Bayern Munich's Arturo Vidal scores their fourth goal. (Reuters)

By the end Bayern were threatening to surpass the 12-1 aggregate score they piled up against Sporting Lisbon in 2009 but had to

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senal fans staged a small protest calling for manager Arsene Wenger to end his 21-year reign at the club.

Those calls will grow

Frolic Football Cup

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be content with a 10-2 margin that sent an ominous warning to whoever they face in the quarter-finals.

Before kickoff some Ar-

DIMaPur, March 8 (MexN): The 5th edition of Frolic Football Cup 2017 will commence from April 18 at Medziphema Town. Entry forms are available at Moon Store, Below Allahabad Bank, Medziphema Town. For further details conGovernment High School Khar Mokokchung began its two day sports meet today at the tact 7085122250 / 8974694974 / 9856175975. public ground Khar. Various events including athletics and football were conducted.

8th Martus Sports Meet underway

ZuNheBOtO, March 8 (MexN): The 8thMartus 2017 Edition Sports meet of the Sumi Baptist Church Zunheboto (SBCZ), Department of Youth Ministry got

underway at public ground, Zunheboto on March 7 under the theme 'Witness Christ through Sports'.

Senior Pastor, SBCZ, Rev. Yevito Zhimo graced the in-

augural program where he exhorted the youth to play in the spirit of true sportsmanship and rededicate their faith to God in whatever they do. Altogether 11

Colony Prayer Fellowships are participating in Volleyball (Men and Women), Badminton (Men's Singles, Mixed Doubles) and Penalty Kickout.

Highland Hall School annual sports held

DIMaPur, March 8 (MexN): The Highland Hall School, Naga United village, 10th Annual Sports Week inaugural function began today with R Amongla, District Education Officer, Dimapur as the honored guest.

She exhorted the players to play wholeheartedly as there is no substitute to hard work and to maintain discipline while playing.

Sports and games is also part of education and it strengthens the body and

mind as well, she added.

Kezhaleno Phira, Administrator of the school gave a brief introduction about the school.

Marathon Race for seniors was conducted under the theme ‘Race for knowl-

edge and power.’ The winners were Zajamo of class 10 in the senior boys category and Veine of class 9 in the girls senior category.

Vote of thanks was proposed by Sushil chakladhar, assistant teacher.

louder now after a seventh successive exit at the last16 stage of the Champions League.

Yet Wenger was bellig-

erent afterwards, blaming referee Tasos Sidiropoulos for killing off his side with the sending off of skipper Koscielny, whose injury

shortly after halftime in Munich prompted a similar Gunners collapse.

"I felt that we produced a performance with spirit and pride that we wanted and after that the story finished badly," Wenger told reporters. "The fact the end result will not highlight the quality of our performance is very disappointing."

Ancelotti, bidding to win the Champions League with a third club after triumphs with AC Milan and Real Madrid, had some sympathy for his underfire former Premier League adversary.

"Until the penalty it was a difficult game and Arsenal played very well," he said. "It was a strange game. The result doesn't reflect what happened on the pitch."

With Alexis Sanchez restored to the starting lineup after being dropped by Wenger against Liverpool there was a verve about Arsenal in the first half.

When Walcott thumped a shot past Manuel Neuer from a tight angle and had a penalty appeal turned down after appearing to

be tripped by Xabi Alonso, Bayern were rattled.

Walcott hit the sidenetting with another blast and Olivier Giroud headed against the post before the Frenchman headed an even better chance wastefully over just after halftime.

Then it all went horribly wrong for the hosts.

Lewandowski was shoved by Koscielny as he ran through in the 55th minute and Sidiropoulos, who had initially only shown a yellow to the defender, reached for his red card. Lewandowski sent David Ospina the wrong way from the spot.

Robben then capitalised on a mistake by Sanchez to run through and put Bayern ahead before substitute Douglas Costa curled in a stunning third in the 78th minute.

If it had been a boxing match the towel would have been thrown in but there was no hiding place and Vidal struck two late goals, both from closerange as the home defence went AWOL, to the unbridled glee of Bayern's sizeable support.

BCCI seeks ICC's intervention after CA calls Kohli's comments 'outrageous'

New DeLhI, March 8 (IaNs): India skipper Virat Kohli's allegations on his opposite number Steve Smith apparently seeking advice from the Australian dressing room on asking for the Decision Review Syestem (DRS) during the second Test in Bengaluru, was on Wednesday fuelled after both the cricket boards and former greats siding with their respective captains. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) released a detailed statement urging the International Cricket Council (ICC) to intervene just after Cricket Australia (CA) chief James Sutherland hit back at the allegations on Smith as "outrageous".

After pulling off a 75run win in the second Test against the Kangaroos, the 28-year-old Kohli had on Tuesday stopped just short of accusing the visitors of cheating, claiming that they

had repeatedly looked to the dressing room for DRS advice, which Smith defended by terming it a brain fade.

"There's a line that you don't cross on the cricket field, sledging and playing against the opponents is different. I don't want to mention the word, but it falls into that bracket. I would never do something like that on the cricket field," Kohli said adding that he had approached the match referee to oppose it.

Kohli's comments drew sharp criticism from the Australian side with Sutherland outrightly rejecting the charges on Smith as "outrageous". "I find the allegations questioning the integrity of Steve Smith, the Australian Team and the dressing room, outrageous," Sutherland said. "Steve is an outstanding cricketer and person, and role model to many aspiring cricketers and we have every

faith that there was no ill-intent in his actions."

"We reject any commentary that suggests our integrity was brought into disrepute or that systemic unfair tactics are used, and stand by Steve and the Australian Cricketers who are proudly representing our country," he added.

Australia head coach Darren Lehmann also threw his weight behind the embattled skipper, saying: "Never, ever, ever. Very surprised to hear that, but it's their opinion. He (Kohli) has his opinion and we have ours, but at the end of the day we play the game the right way."

"We've changed the way we want to play, we've obviously changed the side and we're a younger side so I'm pretty pleased with the way we do things now. We've never done any of that, so we'll just get on with the next game," he added.

Former Aussie skipper Steve Waugh also came to Smith's defence, saying: "It was a fantastic Test match.

It's a shame we are focussing on one incident. I would go with what Steve has said. I would take him on face value." "The best part was umpires stepped in and stopped at then and there. Looking back Smith will be embarrassed and must have learnt a lesson," Waugh added. On the other hand, the Indian board also came to Kohli's defence and requested the ICC to take cognizance of the fact that Smith in his press conference admitted to a ‘brain fade' at that moment.

"The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after due deliberation and seeing the video replays of the episode steadfastly stands with the Indian cricket team and its captain Virat Kohli," the board said in a statement.

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