May 29th, 2017

C M Y K

www.morungexpress.com

MonDAY • MAY 29 • 2017

DIMAPUR • Vol. XII • Issue 145• 12 PAGes • 5

T H e

ESTD. 2005

P o W e R

o F

T R u T H

You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation — Brigham Young Girls outshine boys in CBSE Class 12 results

BJP is secular, democratic: Vezokho

PAGE 08

Vettel leads Ferrari 1-2 at Monaco

PAGE 02

reflections

By Sandemo Ngullie

‘Working in remote area is a blessing not punishment’ While most govt doctors seek contentment with postings in urban hospitals, Dr Nongosal Kirha finds happiness by serving at a PHC in a remote village Morung Express news Tuensang | May 28

Before you destroy my 15 lakh maal and send me to jail, i have one request. Give me a quarter of Mcrum. i’m very thirsty.

The Morung Express Poll QuEsTion

Vote on www.morungexpress.com sMs your answer to 9862574165 Do you believe that formation of new political parties offer potential for positive social change in Nagaland? Why? Yes no others Do you think Nagaland government is willing to take measures against illegal logging taking place in the state? Why? Yes 61% no

others

24% 15%

Details on page 7

‘Untold greivances’ at Tsg Civil Hospital

C M Y K

DIMAPUR, MAY 28 (MExN): The Eastern Nagaland Women Organization Tuensang Unit and the Chang Students Union Tuensang Town conducted a surprise visit to the Civil Hospital, Tuensang on May 24 and 26, wherein they found “untold grievances.”

A joint statement from the two organizations said that the only Civil Hospital in Tuensang is running without a gynecologist, pediatrician, eye specialist and anesthesiologist.

It further informed that the X-Ray and ultrasound machines need to be replaced; the ambulance needs repairs; that a doctor to especially treat tuberculosis is required; and pointed to the lack of an intensive care unit in the hospital.

“Instead of improving the health care facilities, there have been major anomalies that need immediate attention. People are going through untold hardships and have to face many inconveniences, even triggering to point of death in some particular cases due to poor maintenance in the health sector,” the two organizations stated.

The y meanwhile thanked the doctors and nurses in the hospital for their “selfless sacrifices in discharging their duties to their best.”

“The above mentioned demands are not a new thing to be discussed, as the demands were already proposed to the higher authority and state government by the ENWO Tuensang Unit on September 24, 2016,” the statement reminded.

It however lamented that the concerned authority and the government has shown “no sign of concern,” and stated that the hospital has rather been “abandoned.”

“It is now high time for either the government or the higher authority to take a step. If not, the civilians will be compelled to make a move of their own. Therefore, the union is physically and mentally prepared to take further steps if the demands are not fulfilled,” it cautioned.

PAGE 12

At a time when government doctors posted to remote areas of Nagaland are facing flak for neglecting their duties in order to practice in private clinics in the comfort of urban towns, here is one doctor who has been serving at a remote village Primary Health Centre (PHC) he is posted at selflessly and tirelessly.

Dr Nongosal Kirha who completed six (6) years as the medical officer at the Kuthur village PHC on April 2017 last is one of the few rare doctors who diligently attend to his duties- regularly and yes, without seeking for a transfer.

Kuthur is a large village located in Sotokur of Tuensang district, Nagaland with around 422 families and a population of 2274 of which 1133 are males while 1141 are females, as per the

population census 2011.

While it is the bounden duty of government doctors to sincerely perform duty at the place of their posting, wherever the location may be, the reality is not so, and most of the doctors shirk this responsibility.

The case with Dr Nongosal is exactly the opposite. He finds no reason to complain that he was posted in such a remote area.

Instead he counts it a blessing. “I feel blessed and am very happy to find myself valuable here and able to render my service to those in need. I feel special here,” the humble doctor said. He however added that one need to have a “missionary vision” to be able to work in such areas.

While admitting that it is quite challenging to serve in such remote areas with non-existent infrastructure, inadequate equipments and insuffi-

NPCC slams cow slaughter ban

DIMAPUR, MAY 28 (MExN): The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) today criticized the BJP government at the centre for imposing a nationwide ban on the sale of cow/cattle for slaughter “by taking shelter under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.”

The NPCC, in a press note termed this move as a “blatant display of their communal and divisive agenda which is not acceptable to the Nagas.” “Giving legal cover to their divisive agenda is fraught with dangerous ramifications. The rise of cow vigilantism and violence against beef consuming people has created huge fault lines within the society like never before,” it added.

The NPCC further alleged that the BJP-RSS “indulging in cow politics is just a ploy to cover up their failures after promising acche din to the people.

Three years into power, Prime Minister Modi and his bhakts are still behaving like opposition. Other than

cow politics, BJP is only busy in celebrating and inaugurating Congress led UPA projects nationwide.”

The party meanwhile urged the Nagas to “wake up and collectively voice out before it is too late to stop the tide of BJP led communal forces.” It also asked the NPF government in the state to reject this nationwide ban on sale of cow/cattle for slaughter.

“The BJP Nagaland unit can no longer live in denial mode. Reiterating secular credentials by the state unit cannot absolve the blatant misdeeds perpetrated by their communal masters across the country,” it added.

The NPCC affirmed that it will “stand by Nagas and will not allow BJP and its communal affiliates to start coercing or dictating our people according to their communal agenda.” “NPCC will always be prepared to walk an extra mile when it comes to safeguarding our rights to live as free citizens that are guaranteed by the Indian Constitution.”

Dr nongosal Kirha attending to a girl child patient as her mother looks on at the PHC at Kuthur village.

cient medicines coupled with bad or no roads at all, Dr Nongosal observed that this should be more the reason to reach out to such places and serve as a care provider.

With no government quarter for a medical officer at the Kuthur village, Dr Nongosal stays in Tuen-

sang town and travel every day to the village. At 7:00 am, the doctor is already on the road. Though the distance is only 13 kilometers from Tuensang town to Kuthur, the bad road condition ensure that it takes at least one hour to reach his destination.

Ever since Dr Nongosal

Kuthur, the PHC also caters to patients from Wongtho, Langa and Chingmelen villages, he said.

When the doctor is not attending to patients at the PHC, he is out in the village for house to house visit to see how the villagers are faring, Kechingkham said.

While Dr Nongosal is thankful to the State Government for giving him an opportunity to serve the people in his own capacity, he however wishes the government would replace the current government vehicle that is allotted to him, an old model gypsy, which he said has become almost condemned.

The doctor, who also have no driver requisitioned for him, said he even had to spend overnight all alone in the forest on two occasions while on his way to Tuensang after the old gypsy broke down.

“I have been applying for a replacement but I am yet to get one. The government should understand that good transportation is vital to be able to serve in such remote areas…” Dr Nongosal rued.

Rev Dr Wati Aier retires as Principal of OTS

ENPO issues show cause notice to officials • OTS library now DIMAPUR, MAY 28 (MExN): The Eastern Nagaland Peoples Organisation (ENPO) issued a show cause notice to some of its officials who it stated are “openly or actively involved in partisan politics where some officials are reportedly involved, thereby amounting to violation of its constitution.” A press note from the ENPO President, Khoiwang Konyak and General Secretary, Manlang Phom informed that this decision was taken during an executive meeting held on May 26. The ENPO reminded that as per its constitution, “any ENPO official shall not be an active member of any political party nor will they indulge in partisan politics.” It had further notified those officials in person or in written to explain as to why appropriate action cannot be taken against them for violation of the ENPO constitution. “In the event of no reply within the stipulated time, it will be presumed that they have no reason to defend themselves and for which further action shall be initiated against them,” it cautioned.

implement nagaland lokayukta Bill this July, AcAUt urges cM

DIMAPUR, MAY 28 (MExN): The Against Corruption and Unabated Taxation (ACAUT) Nagaland has submitted a petition to the Nagaland State Chief Minister appealing for implementation of the Nagaland Lokayukta Bill and its introduction during the monsoon session of the NLA 2017.

The ACAUT, in a press note today informed that its consultative member, Niketu Iralu met the CM upon the latter’s invitation on May 26th at his office and submitted the petition for implementation of the Lokayukta Bill.

The ACAUT said that the time period of the standing committee is only 6 months, extendable by 6 months at a time and since its term had expired, the Chief Minister revived it and had asked the standing committee to submit its report within

arrived in Kuthur village, a lot of changes have taken place. He transformed the PHC, which was erstwhile a grazing ground for cows, into one of the best well maintained and cleanest PHC in the district. He planted flowers, erected fencings, installed electricity, put water connection

and made really sure that the toilets were clean.

Since most of the villagers could not even afford to pay the registration fees leave alone buy medicines, Dr Nongosal stopped taking registration fees. With the medicine supplied by the State Government not sufficient and the yearly fund allotted to maintain the PHC at Kuthur meager, (it was Rs 60,000 in 2016), Dr Nongosal found himself spending money from his own pocket to get medicines for the patients.

“There is so much one can do here. And what is important to me is that at the end of the day, there is a peace of mind which is priceless,” Dr Nongosal explained on why he considers it a blessing to serve in rural areas.

Kuthur Village Council chairman, Kechingkham testifies on the service rendered by Dr Nongosal. “We feel very blessed to have Dr Nongosal in our village. He does his duty diligently and is always there for us during difficult times,” the village council chairman said with appreciation. Besides

6 months. Since the committee report is ready, the ACAUT saw no reason why it cannot be tabled in the month of July this year.

In the petition, the ACAUT said to the CM: “That a statesman of your stature has taken the reins of the state is an assurance to the beleaguered people groaning under the weight of corruption and mis-governance that good leadership will prevail, and therefore the ACAUT Nagaland requests that, as time now permits, you institute the Lokayukta in the State of Nagaland.”

It reminded that ACAUT has been insisting on such an anti-corruption ombudsman since 2014, and during the tenure of the former CM, a Standing Committee on Lokayukta headed by Er. Levi Rengma, Parliamentary Secretary, was formed in 2015, and yet the Government of the Day did

not deem it fit to pass the anticorruption bill in the state assembly despite the numerous available opportunities.

The introduction of this bill will be historic and transformative, in tune with our Christian ethos, it affirmed.

It further appealed to the CM’s “sense of consciousness to help in building institutional mechanisms whereby the Naga nation is eventually structured upon merit, hard work and dedication, as advocated by our ancestors and the Lokayukta is but means to such an end.”

“It is on Behalf of the Naga people that our demand has been placed before you, and the ACAUT Nagaland along with the rest of the Nagas anticipate that this very crucial piece of legislation will be passed during the Monsoon Session of the State Legislative Assembly, 2017,” it hoped.

named Wati Aier Peace Library • Friends of OTS Foundation in North America started Morung Express news Dimapur | May 28

Rev. Dr. Wati Aier is synonymous with the Oriental Theological Seminary (OTS). On his retirement from 26 years of service as Principal of the Seminary on May 27, students, alumni and the faculty of OTS paid rich tributes to Dr. Wati.

“You are a gift of god to the church, the Nagas and the OTS,” said Rev. Dr. Zelhou Keyho, General Secretary of the Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC), while speaking at a ‘Thanksgiving Service’ held at the OTS campus in Dr. Wati’s honour on Saturday, May 27.

OTS was a brainchild of the NBCC that gave Dr. Wati the charge to start and build the institution from scratch. Dr. Wati and his wife, Alongla Aier, started by clearing a forested area donated by Bade Village for the Seminary. They set up thatch roofed classrooms at first, slowly progressing into the pristine gardens and ecologically soothing horizontal structure that forms the OTS classrooms today; a transformative space of learning for students of theology.

OTS could not have been what it is today “without (his) intentional formation and leadership,” asserted the NBCC General Secretary.

Recognizing Dr. Wati’s contribution towards peace and reconciliation, the OTS library has now been renamed the ‘Wati Aier Peace Library’. This was announced by designate Principal, Dr. Joshua Lorin at the program on Saturday. Additionally, Dr. Wati and Alongla Aier’s children have registered an organization called ‘Friends of OTS Foundation in North America’, to ensure the advancement of OTS and its commitment to “Christ’s vision” for love, justice, truth and peace.

A classical guitar trio, drums, piano and a thunderous OTS choir came together in the form of students’ tributes to the outgoing Principal of the Seminary. “He is a role model, friend, guide… he created time for everyone to grow through his unconditional love,” reflected Mesasenuo Sanchu, giving a mes-

Faculty members of oTs, including outgoing Principal Rev. Dr. Wati Aier, sing together during a ‘Thanksgiving service’ organized in Dr. Wati’s honour at the oTs campus on saturday, May 27. (Morung Photo)

sage on behalf of the students. “We are privileged to be mentored by you,” she said, narrating how Dr. Wati cooked for the students, joined them for weekly soccer matches or played the trumpet in leading the choir. Dr. Wati has written and composed several songs that the OTS choir has presented on several occasion, including on May 27.

Alumni of OTS, Susan Waten, recalled how “real education” for many of them began at OTS, and how Dr. Wati set an example for the students through his commitment, energy and discipline. “He was very vocal about issues affecting our society at all times,” she remembered, with students often worried for his safety.

According to Dr. C Cho-o, who spoke on behalf of the faculty, Dr. Wati’s “unique leadership” meant that he is “more interested in promoting others than himself.” A “people’s person,” Dr. Wati always sees “perfection in the most imperfect people,” said Dr. Cho-o.

As Rev. Vilodi Sakhrie, Chairperson of the Board of Governors, observed, NBCC began with a vision for discipleship and gave birth to OTS but “it wouldn’t be a success unless the right person led it” that allowed the Seminary as well as its students to flourish fully.

Saturday’s service was interspersed with storytelling, emotional as well as humorous, exuding warmth for everyone present.

Rev. Dr. Wati Aier and Alongla Aier began their journey to build OTS. These may be easy numbers to recall but every stride entailed struggles. That every move will have a “punctual reaction;” that for every cost there will be a corresponding effect, “never happened,” said Dr. Wati while sharing some ‘words from the heart.’

He explained the ‘paradox of god’ thus: history is made of dreams and imagination that drove people to the future. A movement, he said, comes from roots that see far into the future. The ‘God of the Future’ calls men and women of responsibility—OTS was thus created step at a time keeping the future in focus.

“In a world of restoration ecology, you will be tempted to look back.

But I challenge you to look ahead.

You must move on with freshness of mind, spirit and imagination,” affirmed Dr. Wati while encouraging the faculty that will now take OTS forward. “Living in the past will make you a slave of the present.”

Dr. Wati took time to thank students, faculty members, non faculty members, his family, friends and the NBCC for making the OTS come alive. He expressed his firm belief that the Seminary will become a “leading institution in Asia’s global reality in the next 15 years.”

A Thanksgiving Prayer was offered by Rev. Dr. VK Nuh, the first Chairperson of the Board of Governors, with whom Dr. Wati had first come to meet people from Bade Paradox of God Village who contributed the land In May 1991—26 years ago— on which OTS stands today.

2

Monday 29•05•2017

NAGALAND

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

BJP is secular, democratic: Vezokho Ditso Mero Memorial Excellence Award

Phek, May 28 (MexN): To strengthen the party’s organisational set up at the Mandal and village grassroots level, BJP Chozuba Assembly Constituency Meet was held at Chozuba Town on May 27. Party workers from 19 villages and town attended the meeting.

Speaking at the meet, Vezokho Chotso, Convener, North East ST Morcha “cleared the perceptive fears of Christians against BJP,” informed a press release from BJP Mandal Media Cell. Maintaining that BJP is a secular democratic party under the Constitution of India, he said the party is not at all against Christians, but protects and safeguards the Christians and all other religious

minorities in India.

He further expressed that BJP is hopeful to form government in the next State general election.

“State own resources are insufficient even to last for two months. We are solely dependent on Central Government for salary component and development programmes. Therefore, it is best to form a BJP government in the state (because the party) is in power at the Central; so that financial grant and development programmes go smoothly.”

Eduzü Theluo, General Secretary, BJP Nagaland in his speech pointed out that BJP is a discipline and cadre based political party. “So if a higher cadre directs, the lower one has to follow accordingly. One cannot by-

Meetings & Appointments North NSS youth festival ends today A four-day long North East NSS Youth Festival will conclude on May 29 at Indira Gandhi Stadium, Kohima at 2:00 pm. Anenla S. Longchari, IAS, Secretary Youth Resources & Sports will be the chief guest.

DUCCF emergency general meet Dimapur Urban Council Chairmen Federation (DUCCF) has convened an emergency general meeting on May 30, 4:00 pm at Forest colony council hall. The union has requested all the chairmen/secretaries under Dimapur urban area to be present to discuss important matter.

TFA Peren meeting

pass,” he said. Theluo further stated that everything has to go through proper channel - from grassroots level to Mandal, District, State, and the Central and vice versa. “If one does not follow the proper channel one receive penalty.” Under the BJP government, he maintained, development is already taking place in the State and elsewhere in the country in large scale.

Meanwhile, Dr. V Thingo, State Executive Member expressed that compared to other states, BJP in Nagaland is still young and in initial stage but growing fast. “Therefore, we have to struggle hard. Party workers are to be dedicated and committed,” he said. The speaker further claimed that people of Nagaland

are enthusiastic with BJP. Dr. Thingo also stated ‘Act East Policy’ has begun in full swing, citing examples of Dimapur-Kohima fourlane road, railway lines in the foothill regions, roads in foothill areas, etc. Besides, inland waterways of Tizu-Zungki is in the pipelines on priority basis for trade and commerce with South and South East Asian countries, he added. Dr. Thingo asserted that BJP’s top priority is development and checking corruption.

Removal of poverty and uplift of poor people’s life is other major agenda, he said.

The meeting also had question and answer hour, where lively interaction among the party members took place, the release said.

(Right to left) Ravelü Nienu, Seso Koza and Pungolu Kezo during the felicitation programme on May 28. (Morung Photo) Our Correspondent Kohima | May 28

Ditso Mero Memorial Excellence Award for Chakhesang students who come in the top 20 ranks in HSLC was given here today at Chakhesang Baptist

Church Kohima (CBCK).

The recipients of the award were Ravelü Nienu, Greenwood School Dimapur (Top 7), Seso Koza, Northfield, Khikha (Top 18), and Pungolu Kezo, Chandmari Higher Secondary School Kohima

(Top 20).

They were awarded with a cash prize of Rs. 10,000 each along with citation.

CBCK senior pastor Rev. Khrotso Mero congratulated the trio for their success and called upon

them to continue to work hard and bring more laurel to the community in the coming days as well.

Chakhesang Baptist Church Council (CBCC) Executive Secretary Rev. Dr. Vezopa Tetseo pronounced a prayer for the trio.

ATC Alongkima Town appeals govt to retain present EAC

MokokchuNg, May 28 (MexN): The Ad-hoc Town Committee, Alongkima Town has appealed to the Nagaland State government to retain S Longnyei Konyak as the Extra Assistant Commissioner (EAC) of Alongkima Town. In a press release, the Committee stated that the EAC through his dedication to the people, his sincerity, developmental activities, intellect and concern for the people has won over the people of Alongkima Town circle.

Imsumeren, Vice Chairman and Imtisunep, Secretary further maintained that Alongkima Town (under Jangpetkong range) located 60 kilometers away from Mokokchung town is one of the oldest towns in Mokokchung district, but also one of the most neglected during the recent years.

“But thanks to the efforts of the citizens and also the concern of the government, the Alongkima town EAC circle is seeing some developmental activities through

EAC S Longnyei Konyak.”

Since he was posted as the EAC of the town in 2015, Longnyei is always in station listening and working for the welfare of the people of Jangpetkong range despite the remoteness of the place, the release stated.

“His active initiative in restoring the electric transformers when it went ‘kaput’ in 2016, and his coordination with the Power Department employees while restoring electricity in the town and

the nearby villages is something which the citizens of this town will always remember,” it added.

Under the EAC’s leadership, the massive landslide at the main road connecting Alongkima Town with the rest of the district was also cleared, it stated, adding his initiative came as a great relief to the citizens under Alongkima town circle. Besides, his activities for the development of the town, the Committee also acknowledged the reactivation of the different depart-

ments- PWD, PHE, Medical.

It further pointed out that the people of Alongkima town EAC circle had been longing for an administrator who is dedicated and have concern for the people of the region. “Being remote, there were many officers who chose not to stay at our Town, but the present EAC Longnyei Konyak has been an administrator that truly understands the wants and needs of the people under Janpetkong range.”

ZSU career guidance cum orientation Legal awareness, quiz competition on child rights

Chairperson of TFA Peren, Ichilia has informed all the members that there will be a general meeting on May 30, 10:00 am at Jalukie Town Women Welfare Organization Hall, Jalukie. Therefore, all the members have been re- kohiMa, May 28 (MexN): The Zhavame quested to attend the meeting positively.

Students’ Union (ZSU) Seminar on Radical Nitriding Process conducted one day career guidance seminar cum The Nagaland Science & Technology Council (NASTEC) orientation programme at is organizing a seminar on the topic “Radical Nitriding CAN building on May 27.

Process for Improving the Life of Cutting Tools for Agri- Dr. Zavise Rume, Associate culture” on May 30 at 10: 00 am at NASTEC, science & Professor, SCERT was the technology complex, below new Civil Secretariat, Kohi- resource speaker. ma. Dr. Alphonsa Joseph, Engr. SG from the Facilitation Addressing the stuCenter for Industrial Plasma Technologies (FCIPT), In- dents, Dr. Zavise stated stitute of Plasma Research (IPR), Gandhinagar, Gujarat that career development is will be the resource person. a lifelong process, while describing it as a ‘living rather PDVCCU meeting than earning’. He attributThe Phek District VCC Union (PDVCCU) has convened ed factors such as ability, a meeting on June 6 at Phek Town. Razouvolie, Project interest, aptitude, types of Director, DRDA Phek will address the meeting. There will knowledge, skills attitude, be election of office bearers on the same day. types of institution, types of friends, location, resource CBCK one day seminar materials, food, hard work, The Chakhesang Baptist Church Kohima (CBCK) Men Min- sincerity, and dedication istry will hold a one day seminar on June 10 at CBCK. The for career development.

Career development, resource persons will be Rev. Khrotso Mero and Dr. Rüpfühü Rose. They will talk on “Relationship with wife” and “Rela- he stated, has different tionship with children” respectively. Devotional service will stages, namely, fantasy be led by Rev. Dr. Kevekhalo Lasuh, who will speak on the stage, exploratory stage, topic “Relationship with God.” The seminar will be moder- and realistic stage, while making one’s career deciated by Chikhungo Puro and Vezopa Rhakho.

sion comprises of an eightstep process – defining goal, staging the decision to be made, analysing resources, analysing needs and wants, identifying choices, gathering information, evaluating choices and making the decision.

Dr. Zavise also extensively dwelt on the structure of differential aptitude test, the multiple intelligence chart and went on to highlight different career options in subjects like English, History, Economics, Sociology, Psychology and other skill based careers. The resource speaker meanwhile urged upon the students that in order to succeed in their career path, they need to have a burning desire, the will power, a positive attitude, mastery of the subject, strong academic foundation, strong language foundation, strong general awareness and goal

orientation.

In the second session, Advisor to ZSU, Tho-o Shupao gave a short sharing wherein he advised students to manage their time well, have a daily routine, set a daily, weekly, monthly or a yearly target while including their goals in their daily activities.

In her exhortation, Entrepreneur Rekha Rose Dukru called upon the students to take initiative while impressing upon that success belongs to those who do not wait for the opportunity to come to them but to those who take the initiative in a world that is constantly changing.

With Bunyi Krocha as the leader, the first session had opening prayer by Modovi Shupao, welcome address by Derhü Pohena.

Khemo Domeh led the second session while Vikhrulu Pohena said the closing prayer.

KDLSA team with Sunday school children on May 28.

kiPhire, May 28 (MexN): With an aim to educate and create legal awareness on child rights, the Kiphire District Legal Services Authority (KDLSA) conducted legal awareness cum quiz competition on Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO) Act, 2012 with Sunday school children at Sangtam Baptist Church here on May 28.

Speaking on POCSO Act, Hotingkiu Sangtam, Panel Lawyer KDLSA ap-

prised on the need to educate children of the various Acts enacted for the protection of children, in order to build a better future for children.

He informed that POCSO Act was passed to safeguard the children below the age of 18 years from sexual offence.

The Panel Lawyer further urged the participants to be aware of their rights so as to protect themselves from any kind of sexual offence, informed a press re-

lease. Hotingkiu also highlighted the importance of District Legal Services Authority and Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.

Thereafter, a quiz competition was held where 100 participants took part.

The first position was bagged by Alina, second position by Atsala, and third position by Tesila. At the programme, leaders of the Sunday school acknowledged KDLSA for imparting such legal knowledge to the children.

Khar villagers avail free oral and dental services District Governor of Lions Club International visits Kohima Lions Club kohiMa, May 28 (NePS): Roman Bordoloi, District Governor of Lions Club International of District 322D on Sunday visited Lions Club of Kohima (LCK).

In honor of his visit, a formal function was organized here at the conference hall of Ura Hotel.

Expressing his happiness on the visit, the DG highlighted many ongoing

and upcoming humanitarian projects of the Lions Club International.

He urged the members of LCK to come up with more humanitarian projects other than their ongoing pet projects in Kohima or elsewhere in the State. He also informed the Members about the “Diabetes Awareness” project initiated by the Lions Club In-

ternational. The Diabetes Awareness of the Lions Club International was necessitated as the World Health Organization estimates that over 422 million people worldwide have diabetes, a growing world epidemic that is expected to affect over 642 million by 2040. He said the members should join in the massive awareness

campaign with local community partners.

Bordoloi also urged the LCK to enroll more new members into the Club as they have to serve more people. More members in the Club means more service to the people, he added.

LCK President Tali Jamir, while welcoming the DG, gave him a brief

record of the Club activities and also new projects that are to be taken up in the next Lionistic Year – 2017-18. Talitemsu Jamir, Treasurer of the Club, presented the financial record of the Club to the visiting DG, while Aroba, first Vice President of the Club, delivered vote of thanks. A large number of Club members attended the event.

Creating awareness on adolescent health through street plays

P e r e N,

M ay

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Members of Indian Dental Association, Nagaland State Branch at the free oral and dental (MexN): Adolescent health camp in Khar village on May 27.

Clubs performed street

MokokchuNg, May 28 (MexN): The Indian Dental Association, Nagaland State Branch organised one day free oral and dental health camp in Khar village under Mokokchung district on May 27.

The camp was conducted as a campaign and in celebration of the 10th North East Regional Dental Conference to be held in Kohima, informed a press release.

The team was led by Dr. N Moa Jamir, Senior Dental Surgeon, IMDH, Mokok-

chung and a host of dental doctors from the district and medical staffs of Khar subcenter.

A total of 160 patients registered and availed the free services – 51 patients did tooth extractions, 15 oral prophylaxis, 16 did restorations, 25 were given advice and the rest were treated as general patients since Dr. Jetilo Magh, Medical Officer, CHC Mangkolemba also joined the camp, it added.

plays in Peren district and Kohima to create awareness on adolescent health and Non Communicable Diseases on May 27. The programmes were organized by respective District Health Society.

In Peren district, the Adolescent Club, whose members are from Peren Town Baptist Church Sunday School Department, performed the street plays at Christian High School Jalukie Town, main town Jalukie, and Baptist High School Samzuiram Village.

They focused on teenage pregnancy and early marriage – Adolescent Reproductive & Sexual Health (ARSH) and Non Communicable Diseases (NCD) – prevention and control of cancer, hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

The plays aimed to educate and create awareness on the above issues, their causes and risk factors and consequences. “The objective is to provide accurate

Adolescent Club members of Kohima performed street plays at Chandmari on May 27.

information and educate in the simplest form, thus the channel street play has been initiated,” informed a press release from Pezanguno Celine Secü, District Media Officer, CMO office, Peren.

The plays were performed in the morning and afternoon hours with different age groups gathering to watch.

Health talks were also given by the district IEC personnel to create more intensive awareness and to reach out more. IEC materials, i.e., pamphlets and leaflets on cancer, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease were distributed to the au-

dience. Also, a questionnaire on teenage pregnancy was distributed in order to assess the impact of the plays and whether or not awareness is effective.

State team from the Directorate of Health & Family Welfare, IEC Bureau led

by Health Education and Training Officer, Supongla and Program Co-ordiantor NCD Abeni attended the plays for monitoring and supervision.

Meanwhile, in Kohima, the street plays were performed at Chandmari colony ward no-12 and ward no-13 focusing on Adolescent Reproductive & Sexual Health (ARSH).

Kungcham Dailiam, Media Officer offered words of encouragement to the adolescent members before the play. Deputy MEIO took the technical session by imparting talk on ARSH. She sensitized the participants on the physical and emotional changes which happen during the adolescent period, informed a separate press release. She also stressed on the services available at the Adolescent Friendly Health Clinics.

Speaking on the importance of Weekly Iron Folic Acid Supplement (WIFS), she touched on anaemia problems, dangers of early

pregnancy, hygienic issues, and encouraged students to inculcate healthy lifestyle.

She further spoke on Abstinence. “Abstinence is a good way to protect oneself from many reasons like risk pregnancy, HIV/AIDS and other Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs),” the official stated. She further emphasized that abstinence gives time to each and every one to learn about relationships in a safe way.

Street play on ‘Danger of Early Pregnancy’ was performed at Chandmari ward no-13 in collaboration with IEC Bureau activities on NCD, while the Adolescent Club members performed on ‘Menstrual Hygiene’ at Ward No-12 as there was a medical camp at Urban Primary Health Centre. For maximum impact on the adolescent age group, the club members shared their experiences of adolescent period and also about being part of the club. ARSH leaflets were distributed to the adolescents who came to consult doctors.

Monday 29•05•2017

NORTH-EAST 3

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

AIDS kills over 1,400 people in Mizoram state since 1990 Newmai News Network Aizawl | May 28

Over 1,400 people have died of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in Mizoram till February this year since HIV was first detected in the State in October 1990, according to Mizoram State AIDS Control Society (MSACS) officials.

The MSACS officials said that from October 1990 to February 2017, about 5,98,812 blood samples were tested out of which 14,446 people were found to be infected with HIV registering 1.31 per cent of the State’s total population of over 10 lakh.

At least 1,418 people died due to complication associated with the disease since October 1990, which means 9.81% have died so far of the disease against the total number of infected people, they stated.

The officials then said the situation in Mizoram is alarming as majority of the HIV patients (more than 68 per cent) contracted the disease through unprotected sex, followed by sharing needles.

Mizoram is the state with second highest HIV prevalence in the country.

As reported last year, during October 1990 to June 2016, about 5,54,644 blood samples were tested out of which 13,040 people were found to be HIV positive and at least 1,313 people including 451 females and 29 children died due to AIDS during the same period. This means that in just eight months from July, 2016 to February, 2017, 44,168 blood samples were tested out of which 1,406 people were found to be infected with HIV. 105 people have also died of AIDS during eight months.

MSACS project director

Dr. Lalmalsawmi told reporters that the society has been carrying out awareness campaign in different parts of the state to combat HIV & AIDS. He said that the society in collaboration with FHI360 carried out awareness campaign among church members, especially Presbyterian church, Baptist church and United Pentecostal church focusing mainly on prevention of unprotected sex.

He then said that all government hospitals are being asked to take efforts within their jurisdiction to induce people to come for blood test.

“It appears that many people are reluctant to have their blood tested. If the number of blood test is increased, the number of infected persons is expected to decline drastically within a short period of time,” he added.

Black box of crashed Su-30 found Guwahati, May 28 (iaNS): A search and rescue team on Sunday reached the site along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh boundary where the IAF's Sukhoi 30 aircraft crashed and recovered its black box, a defence official said. However, there is no information about its two pilots.

"One of the search teams has reached the crash site located in a forest along the

Assam- Arunachal Pradesh border and recovered the black box," said defence spokesman based in Tezpur.

"Furthersearchisonbutnothingisknown so far regarding the two pilots," he added.

The Indian Air Force fighter aircraft went missing from near the India-China border in Assam on Tuesday morning after it took off from the Tezpur air base.

Crude bombs hurled in Shillong, 2 arrested so far ShilloNG, May 28 (Pti): Crude bombs were hurled in several areas of the Meghalaya capital on Saturday night while two arrests were made in connection with attack on a railway construction site in Ri-Bhoi district, officials said.

The crude bombs were hurled at Laban, Nongmynsong, Rynjah and Lumdiengjri areas till the early hours on Sunday, in which a government vehicle was damaged. At around 9 pm last night, miscreants tried to lob a petrol bomb at a social welfare office at Laban and hurled another bomb at Rynjah police station, an hour later but no damages were reported, a senior district police officer said.

In Ri-Bhoi district, petrol pumps have been directed not to sell loose petrol and all heads of government departments advised to take steps to protect government property, district deputy commissioner CP Gotmare told PTI. "Of

HESTIA PG FOR GIRLS Duncan, Opposite Ramakrishna Society, Dimapur (Secure, Hygienic, Spacious rooms with inverter facility for fan & light) Contact:9774742833

LOST NOTICE

I, Miss Mupezou Horam, am applying for a duplicate copy of HSLC Admit Card and Mark Sheet as I have lost it.

Name: Mupezou Horam F/Name: Welaso Horam Roll No: 11613 Reg. No: 1405394077 Date of birth: 05-03-2000 Year of passing: 2016 School: Scholars Pakshimi High School, Ukhrul Board: Board of Secondary Education, Manipur

the hundreds of activists who made a surprise attack at a Railway construction site at Ronghana village in Ri-Bhoi district yesterday, two persons were arrested for their involvement in leading the mob in the attack," Gotmare said.

They were identified as Ferdynald Kharkamni, president of the Khasi Students Union (KSU) North Khasi Hills unit and Aibor Pliar, organizing secretary of KSU's Central body. The district administration is in the process of identifying all the members of the mob and appropriate action will be taken as per law of the land, he said.

Meanwhile, the KSU has denied having given any order for the attack.

"They categorically denied of claiming responsibility for the attack although they said the unit leaders were asked to go and inspect the

railway construction sites," Gotmare said.

Heavy machinery of the Railways were destroyed when a mob sprang a sudden attack at the site yesterday.

Gotmare, who held a meeting with the KSU central body leaders last night in the presence of the SP, said that the KSU was "irked" by the construction which took place without getting a no objection certificate (NOC) from the tribal autonomous district council. "I informed them that the land acquisition was undertaken when the old act was in place, according to which there was no need for getting such an NOC," Gotmare said. The KSU has openly aired its opposition to the construction of Railways in the Khasi Jaintia Hills region on the grounds that it would lead to influx of outsiders in the tribal state.

ADMISSION NOTICE

Mountain View Christian College, Kohima AFFILIATED TO NAGALAND UNIVERSITY Near BSF Camp. Below ATI Office: Kohima ARTS AND COMMERCE Contact No: 0370-2280071/8256923734 Classes Admission Install (quarterly) 11&12 5500 3000 B.A (Gen) 6500 3100 B.A (Hons) 6800 3200 Hostel Monthly fee - 3500

GOVERNMENT OF NAGALAND OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, PHEK PUBLIC NOTICE

Dated Phek, the 2nd May 2017 NO.DCP/JDL-12/14 Mrs. Tsowe-u of Jericho-II Colony Phek Town has applied for issue of Succession Certificate under the Indian Succession Act, 1925 in order to draw/claim of Family Pension/GPF/LE/LIC/Gratuity/Bank Accounts and other benefits that is in respect of her husband late Ravohu Kezho who was working as constable under Commandant 12th NAP BN (India Reserve), Nagaland and expired on 09/02/2017 It is hereby notified that, if anybody has any complaint against the Succession, he/she may lodge complaint to this office within a period of 1 (one) month from the date of this notification. No further complaint shall be entertained after the stipulated period and shall be considered that there is no objection.

Sd/- MUROHU CHOTSO Deputy Commissioner, Phek: Nagaland

GOVERNMENT OF NAGALAND DIRECTORATE OF FIRE & EMERGENCY SERVICES NAGALAND :: KOHIMA

NO.FHQ/RO-1/2017-18/

RECRUITMENT NOTICE

Dated Kohima, the 25th May 2017

Reference to Advertisement NO.FHQ/RO-1/2017-18 Dt.25/05/2017, candidates applying for the post of SI/ASO, ASI/LFM, Fireman, Driver CONSTABLE AND WATCH ROOM OPERATOR(WRO), this is to inform to all the concerns that the following information is circulated for necessary action.

1. Date of commencement of recruitment 2. Venue 3. Time 4. Issue of admit card

: 05/06/2017 : NAPTC Ground Chumukedima. : Gate opens at 7:00 am, closed by 9:30 am : 26/05/2017 to 02/06/2017 (admit card can also be obtain on the day and venue of recruitment on the day of recruitment by producing receipt slip).

5. No Separate Calling Letter will be issued.

6. The rejected candidates can crosscheck their application, from 26/05/2017 to 02/06/2017 7. The following candidates are rejected for the reason cited as below.

1. REJECTED LIST OF ASO/SI SL. NO. RECEIPT NO. 1.

012 2.

036 3.

103 4.

112 5.

153 6.

181 7.

196 8.

197 9.

204 10.

240 11.

246 12.

248 13.

280 14.

291 15.

1010 16.

1013 17.

1017 18.

1024 19.

1025 20.

1043 21.

1049

Cont.... 3. REJECTED LIST OF FIREMAN(F/M)

REASON FOR REJECTION 46.

1454 Employment Reg. Card expired No ST/Indigenous Certificates 47.

1459 Employment Reg. Card expired Employment Reg. Card Expired 48.

1493 No Employment Reg. Card No Permanent Residential Certificate 49.

1508 No Permanent Residential Certificate Employment Reg. Card Expired 50.

1517 No Permanent Residential Certificate & Employment Reg. Card No Permanent Residential Certificate 51.

1520 Employment Reg. Card expired Under Graduate 52.

1529 Employment Reg. Card tampered Employment Reg. Card Expired 53.

1531 Non attestation of Documents No Employment Reg. Card 54.

1536 Non attestation of Documents//no signature on format Employment Reg. Card tampered 55.

1547 No Educational MARK STATEMENT Employment Reg. Card tampered 56.

1548 Employment Reg. Card expired Under Graduate 57.

1549 No Employment Reg. Card No Permanent Residential Certificate 58.

1550 No Educational MARK STATEMENT Non attestation of documents 59.

1554 Employment Reg. Card expired Employment Reg. Card Expired 60.

1561 Employment Reg. Card expired Under Graduate 61.

1563 No Employment Reg. Card Employment Reg. Card Expired 62.

1568 Non attestation of Documents No Permanent Residential Certificate 63.

1571 No Educational MARK STATEMENT Employment Reg. Card Expired 64.

1574 Employment Reg. Card expired NO Employment Reg. Card 65.

1575 No Educational MARK STATEMENT Under Graduate 66.

1576 No Educational MARK STATEMENT No Permanent Residential Certificate 67.

1581 No Permanent Residential Certificate No Permanent Residential Certificate/ NO Employment 68.

1583 No Educational MARK STATEMENT 22.

1051 69.

1589 Employment Reg. Card expired Reg. Card 70.

1593 Employment Reg. Card expired 23.

1052 No Permanent Residential Certificate 71.

2118 Employment Reg. Card expired 24.

1063 No Permanent Residential Certificate 72.

2120 No Permanent Residential Certificate 25.

1069 Employment Reg. Card Expired 73.

2121 Employment Reg. Card expired 26.

1075 Employment Reg. Card Expired 74.

2139 No Employment Reg. Card 27.

1076 NO Employment Reg. Card 75.

2146 Employment Reg. Card tampered 28.

1089 Employment Reg. Card Expired 76.

1602 No Employment Reg. Card 29.

1091 Employment Reg. Card Expired 77.

1603 No Employment Reg. Card 30.

1207 Non attestation of documents 78.

1605 Employment Reg. Card tampered 31.

1213 Employment Reg. Card Expired 79.

1608 No Employment Reg. Card 32.

1224 Employment Reg. Card Expired 80.

1609 Under Age 33.

1228 NO Employment Reg. Card 81.

1617 No Employment Reg. Card 34.

1231 No Permanent Residential Certificate 82.

1621 Employment Reg. Card expired 35.

1236 No Permanent Residential Certificate 83.

1632 No Employment Reg. Card 36.

1244 Non attestation of documents 84.

1649 No ST/ Indigenous certificate 37.

1248 No 6th Semester Mark Statement 85.

1660 No Educational MARK STATEMENT 38.

1269 Under Graduate 86.

1667 Employment Reg. Card expired 39.

1273 NO Employment Reg. Card 87.

1695 No Employment Reg. Card & Non attestation of Documents 40.

1277 Under Graduate 88.

1905 No Educational MARK STATEMENT 41.

1284 Over age/ Employment Reg. Card Expired 89.

1910 No ESLC Documents 42.

1304 Employment Reg. Card Expired 90.

1913 Employment Reg. Card expired 43.

1313 Employment Reg. Card Expired 91.

1914 No ESLC Documents 44.

1328 Employment Reg. Card Expired 92.

1915 No Educational MARK STATEMENT/ variation in D.O.B No Permanent Residential Certificate/ NO Employment 45.

1343 93.

1920 Under Age Reg. Card No Educational MARK STATEMENT 94.

1927 46.

1807 Employment Reg. Card Expired 95.

1931 Employment Reg. Card expired / Non attestation of Documents 47.

1810 No ST Certificate 96.

1954 Employment Reg. Card expired 48.

1821 Employment Reg. Card Expired 97.

1962 Employment Reg. Card expired 49.

1823 Under Graduate 98.

1975 No Employment Reg. Card & Permanent Residential Certificate 50.

1827 Under Age 99.

1976 Non attestation of Documents 51.

1839 No Permanent Residential Certificate 100.

1989 Non attestation of Documents 52.

1863 Under Graduate 101.

1990 Non attestation of Documents 53.

1866 No ST Certificate 102.

1996 No Employment Reg. Card 54.

1867 No Permanent Residential Certificate 103.

2000 No Educational MARK STATEMENT/ NO Birth Certificate 55.

1869 Under Graduate 104.

2002 No Employment Reg. Card 56.

1880 NO Employment Reg. Card 105.

2017 Employment Reg. Card tampered No Permanent Residential Certificate/ NO Employment 57.

1896 106.

2028 NO Indigenous certificate Reg. Card 58.

2202 No Permanent Residential Certificate 4. REJECTED LIST OF DRIVER CONSTABLE(D/C) 59.

2204 Employment Reg. Card Expired 60.

2207 NO NOC from the department SL. NO. RECEIPT NO. REASON FOR REJECTION 61.

2210 No Permanent Residential Certificate NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License/ Variation in 1.

902 Date of Birth 2. REJECTED LIST OF LFM/ASI 2.

903 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 3.

904 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License SL. NO. RECEIPT NO. REASON FOR REJECTION 4.

905 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 1.

516 Employment Reg. Card Expired 5.

906 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 2.

518 Under graduate 6.

907 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 3.

528 Under graduate 7.

909 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 4.

529 Under graduate 8.

911 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 5.

539 Under graduate 9.

913 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 6.

544 Under graduate 10.

915 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 7.

556 No ST certificate 11.

916 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License/ OVER AGE 8.

560 Employment Reg. Card Expired 12.

917 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 9.

579 Under graduate 13.

918 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 10.

584 Under graduate 14.

920 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 11.

591 Under graduate 15.

923 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 12.

593 Tampered Employment Reg. Card 16.

925 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 13.

594 Under graduate NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License/ Employment 14.

595 Under graduate 17.

926 Reg. Card 15.

596 No Permanent Residential Certificate 18.

927 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 16.

598 Under graduate 19.

928 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 17.

600 Under graduate 20.

929 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 18.

1105 Under graduate 21.

930 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 19.

1115 No Permanent Residential Certificate 22.

931 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 20.

1141 Under graduate 23.

932 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 21.

1144 Employment Reg. Card Expired 24.

934 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 22.

1153 Under graduate 25.

935 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 23.

1167 No Employment Reg. Card 26.

937 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 24.

1182 Employment Reg. Card Expired 27.

938 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 25.

1192 Under graduate 28.

939 ESLC FAILED 26.

1193 No Permanent Residential Certificate 29.

940 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 27.

1197 No Permanent Residential Certificate 30.

943 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 28.

1198 Employment Reg. Card Expired 31.

944 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 32.

945 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 3. REJECTED LIST OF FIREMAN(F/M) 33.

946 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License SL.NO. RECEIPT NO. REASON FOR REJECTION 34.

947 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 1.

703 No ESLC MARK STATEMENT 35.

949 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License No Employment Reg. Card & Permanent Residential 36.

950 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 2.

709 Certificate 37.

952 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 3.

724 NO. Employment Reg. Card NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License/Employment 38.

954 4.

735 No Indigenous Certificate Reg. Card/ ST certificate 5.

742 Under Age NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License/ Employment 6.

751 No ESLC MARK STATEMENT 39.

955 Reg. Card 7.

755 Tampered Employment Reg. Card 40.

956 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 8.

766 NO. Employment Reg. Card 41.

957 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 9.

767 NO. Employment Reg. Card 42.

958 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 10.

783 Employment Reg. Card expired 43.

959 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 11.

787 NO. Employment Reg. Card 44.

961 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 12.

788 NO. Employment Reg. Card 45.

963 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 13.

799 Employment Reg. Card expired 46.

965 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 14.

810 Under Age 47.

966 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 15.

859 No Permanent Residential Certificate 48.

967 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 16.

864 No Educational MARK STATEMENT 49.

968 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 17.

874 Under Age 50.

969 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 18.

875 No ESLC MARK STATEMENT & Pass Certificate 51.

970 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 19.

881 Employment Reg. Card expired 52.

971 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 20.

890 No ESLC MARK STATEMENT & Pass Certificate 53.

972 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 21.

632 No Permanent Residential Certificate 54.

973 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 22.

650 Under Age NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License/ 23.

658 NO. Employment Reg. Card & mark Statement 55.

976 Employment Reg. Card 24.

662 Employment Reg. Card expired 56.

978 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 25.

663 No ST Certificate 57.

979 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 26.

672 NO. Employment Reg. Card 58.

980 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 27.

676 Non attestation of Documents 59.

981 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 28.

686 Employment Reg. Card expired 60.

982 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 29.

687 Employment Reg. Card expired 61.

984 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 30.

695 NO. Employment Reg. Card 62.

985 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 31.

401 Employment Reg. Card tampered NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License/ Employment 32.

402 NO. Employment Reg. Card 63.

987 Reg. Card 33.

406 NO. Employment Reg. Card 64.

989 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 34.

431 Under Age/no signature on format 65.

991 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 35.

448 Under Age 66.

993 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 36.

457 Employment Reg. Card expired 67.

994 NO Heavy Motor Vehicle Driving License 37.

460 Employment Reg. Card expired 38.

463 Employment Reg. Card tampered 5. REJECTED LIST OF WATCH ROOM OPERATOR(WRO) 39.

468 Over age Non attestation of Documents & educational mark SL. NO. RECEIPT NO. REASON FOR REJECTION 40.

473 Statement 1.

306 Employment registration card Expired 41.

481 Employment Reg. Card expired 2.

307 Employment registration card Expired 42.

482 NO. Employment Reg. Card & mark Statement 3.

310 Physically disabilities 43.

493 No Educational MARK STATEMENT 4.

326 Over age 44.

1426 Non attestation of Documents 45.

1437 Under Age D.I G. (F & ES), Nagaland, Kohima

4

MondAY 29•05•2017

business

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Aryans students develop Ramadhan app Guwahati, MaY 27 (MExN): Students of Aryans Group of Colleges, Chandigarh have come up with a new Innovative Idea in the interest of Muslim community of J&K. Developed by a group of four J&K girls of Computer science branch of Aryans College of Engineering, an android based app of 3.0 version christened as “Ramadhan App developed by Aryans Group of Colleges, Chandigarh” would now help to solve the problem of Muslim community during Ramadhan for their fasting.

The app features an automatic alarm which buzzes in the morning at Sehar time to awake them and in evening at the Iftar time to remind them for their meals. The app is available on Google Play Store.

B. Tech students namely Mehwish Rashid & Bisma Parveen who hail from Srinagar while Pooja Safaya and Mansi Salaria who hail from Jammu have set a true example of Religious Beliefs, universal brotherhood and respect for the religion of each other by developing this

the four students from the Aryans group of Colleges, Chandigarh, who developed the app.

app which would help the entire community for time Management.

Dr. Anshu Kataria, Chairman, Aryans Group told press that Aryans has always motivated its students for the innovations and work on live projects which could bring a revolution in them and the society. He said that Kashmiri students possess the instinct to work in this direction and hence they have always been supported for their ideas.

Mehwish Rashid & Bisma Parveen while inter-

acting with the media said, “As the computer science students we have tried to implement our knowledge to solve the problem of those Muslim people who find tough to match the variations in sehar time in the auspicious month of Ramadan due to various physical or biological factors” Pooja Safaya and Mansi Salaria while speaking said that it was tough to work on such a big project for a large community in a short time period but we were fully guided, motivated

and supported financially by the College Management without the help of which this project could be a dream for us. “We have developed this app in 72 hours. Though it’s a small initiative from our side but we aim to add Azaan prayer along with the alarm. In the beginning the app would work according to location of JK but in next few days it will work according to the location of entire Globe” students added.

It is to be mentioned that earlier to this, four major innovations done

by Aryans students namely “Aryans Android App” in lieu to make campuses paper free, “Aryans Save Kashmir App” which was developed for the rescue operation at the time of floods in Kashmir, “ Aryans Life Saving Glove” developed to provide timely assistance to the people prone to the risk of cardiac disease, “Aryans Safety Helmet” to provide timely first aid facility in case disaster happens at construction/ mining/ industrial sites were launched and applauded at various Government Levels and gained interest of many people.

Aryans has emerged as a popular destination for the JK students. Aryans is the only campus near Chandigarh outside Kashmir having majority of JK students. Over 1500 JK students from various parts of Kashmir are studying in Aryans in various courses including B.Tech, Leet, LL.B, BA-LLB, MBA, BBA, BCA, B.Com, B.Sc(Agri), GNM, ANM, B.Ed, MA(Edu), Polytechnic Diploma etc.

Govt begins hunt for new SBI chief NEw DELhi, MaY 28 (Pti): The finance ministry has initiated the process for finding new chief of the country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) as Arundhati Bhattacharya’s extended term comes to an end on October 6.

“Department of Financial Services has communicated to Banks Board Bureau the emerging vacancies at the top level of PSU banks which will have to be filled during course of the year,” a senior finance ministry official said.

This also includes chairman and one managing director of the SBI, which alone has market share of more than 20 per cent.

Bhattacharya will complete her fouryear term as chairperson of SBI on October 6.

Besides chairman, SBI has four managing directors looking after different departments.

The post assumes significance as the bank has recently merged five associates and the Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) pushing SBI into the league of top 50 banks globally in terms of assets.

State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ), State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH), State Bank of Mysore (SBM), State Bank of Patiala (SBP) and State Bank of Travancore (SBT), besides BMB, merged with SBI with effect from April 1. The process of integration would at least take a year.

The government had in February approved the merger of these five associate banks with SBI. Later in March, the Cabinet approved merger of BMB as well.

SBI first merged State Bank of Saurashtra with itself in 2008. Two years later, State

state bank of india (sbi) chairwoman Arundhati bhattacharya smiles during a product launch in mumbai. (File Photo)

Bank of Indore was merged with it.

For the fourth quarter ended March 2017, the bank reported more than doubling of its net profit on the back of increased lending and reduction in provisioning for bad loans.

Net profit of the bank on standalone basis rose to Rs 2,814.82 crore for the March quarter as against Rs 1,263.81 crore in the same period of previous fiscal 201516.

For the entire fiscal ended March 2017, the net profit of the bank improved by 5.36 per cent to Rs 10,484 crore as against Rs 9,951 crore in the previous fiscal.

With stock prices inching up, SBI has lined up share sale through which it intends to raise Rs 15,000 crore during the current fiscal.

It is in the process of appointing six merchant bankers for managing its proposed share sale. The central government holds 62.22 per cent stake in the bank as of March 2017.

Maruti Suzuki targets selling 3 lakh TVs, ACs to become costlier, smartphones to be cheaper Food grains may also and the same holds true for regimewouldalsocomedown subsumed in the GST and automatic cars annually by 2020 NEw DELhi, MaY 28 (Pti): Aerated drinks and become cheaper as they services like health and edu- to 18 per cent from the existing the effective levy has been

NEw DELhi, MaY 28 (Pti): Country’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) is targeting to sell 3 lakh units of vehicles equipped with different automatic transmission technologies by 2020. The company currently sells around 94,000 units per annum of vehicles with AGS (automated gear shift), AT (automatic) and CVT (continuously variable transmission).

It is counting on the more affordable AGS technology to drive sales growth of cars with automatic transmission. “Our mission is to double AGS contribution from the current levels of 94,000 units to around 1.5 lakh units by end of FY 1718 and achieve 3 lakh mark by 2020,” a company spokesperson told PTI. The company currently offers AGS technology in Alto K10, Wagon R, Celerio, Ignis and Dzire. CVT comes in Baleno, while AT transmission comes in Ciaz and Ertiga. Going ahead, the company is looking to bring in AGS technology in models up to Dzire and AT (automatic) and CVT (continuously variable transmission) in models beyond Baleno.

“Our vision is to democratise the

two pedal technology by making them affordable and relevant for the customers. Depending upon acceptability of the technology in a particular segment, we bring a suitable option like AGS, CVT or AT,” the spokesperson said. The company is also in the process of hiking production capacity of automatic transmissions and has also gone in for localisation of various parts in order to make the variants affordable.

“Awareness is still a challenge... With enhanced awareness we expect more first time buyers and rural penetration,” the spokesperson said. The sale of automatic variants across the company’s product portfolio has risen steadily in the recent years. In 2013-14, the company had just sold 900 automatic units.

In 2014-15, the figure rose to 32,426 units, while it surged to 56,968 units in 2015-16. In the last financial year, the company sold a total of 94,736 units comprising AGS, CVT and AT technologies. Overall, the company with over 47% market share in the domestic passenger vehicle market, plans to sell a total of 20 lakh units annually by 2020.

leisure

CROSSWORD # 3957

SUDOKU

consumer durables like televisions, air conditioners, washing machines and refrigerators will cost more while smartphones, small cars and daily use items will turn cheaper with the implementation of Goods and Services Tax or GST from July. An analysis of the tax rates decided by the allpowerful GST Council for over 1,200 goods and 500 services revealed that daily use items like soap and toothpaste will cost less while fresh fruits, vegetables, pulses, bread and fresh milk will continue to be exempt from any tax.

Economy-class air travel will be slightly cheaper and so will be hiring a taxi as tax on such travel has been brought down to 5 per cent in the Goods and Service Tax (GST) regime from the current service tax of 6 per cent.

Answer Number # 3953

cation.

Although the real estate sector has been kept out of the GST, under-construction property would be subject to 12 per cent GST rate, as against the present incidence of 15 per cent service tax.

Taxi aggregators will also see marginal reduction in tax rates as the effective rate comes down to 5 per cent from 6 per cent. Motorcycles could also see some reduction in prices as the levy will come down by a percentage point to 28 per cent.

While electrically-operated two- and three-wheeler vehicles will also see a decline in taxes from 14 per cent to 12 per cent, solar panels could see a steep hike in tax rates to 18 per cent from the present 0-5 per cent.

Thetaxincidenceonsoaps and toothpaste under the GST std code: 03862

DiMaPUR ACROSS 1. Anagram of “Balsa” 6. An abandoned calf 10. Competent 14. Hard wood 15. Largest continent 16. Average 17. Muslim jurist 18. Enumerate 19. Insulation 20. Number of people present 22. Pang 23. Mongolian desert 24. Bacon serving 26. Bottomless 30. Put clothing on 31. Aye 32. Sea eagle 33. “Comes and ____” 35. Fertile area in a desert 39. Urinary organs 41. A piece of jewelry 43. S S S S 44. God of love 46. A single time 47. Explosive 49. Altitude (abbrev.)

50. 500 sheets 51. Edict 54. Bearing 56. Shade of blue 57. Specter 63. Curtail 64. Jacket 65. Slight color 66. Salute 67. Desire 68. Anagram of “Sneer” 69. Balm ingredient 70. P P P P 71. Adjust again DOWN 1. Chancel 2. Adjoin 3. Not hard 4. Pot

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

Game Number # 3954

have been put in zero-rated commodities list. Currently, some states levy purchase tax of 2-5 per cent on food grains, which will be abolished under GST. The GST Council earlier this month put over 1,200 goods and 500 services in four tax slabs of 5, 12, 18, 28 per cent.

While the tax incidence on certain commodities like processed food, confectionery items and ice cream would be brought down to 18 per cent from 22 per cent, personal care items like shampoo, perfumes and make-up items would cost more as the tax rate will go up to 28 per cent, from the existing 22 per cent.

Among the goods, mass consumption items like fresh fruits, vegetables, pulses, bread and milk have been exempt from any taxes,

5. Prevaricating 6. Jailhouse 7. Laughable 8. Platter 9. Diner 10. A high ranking diplomat 11. Shore 12. Wood shaping machine 13. Go in 21. Of doubtful quality (British) 25. Many millennia 26. Apollo astronaut Slayton 27. Goddess of discord 28. Terminates 29. Capable of being penetrated 34. Pillages 36. Rational 37. Ancient Peruvian 38. Flower stalk 40. Feudal worker 42. A chemical compound 45. Violent disorder 48. A small mug 51. Russian country house 52. Identical 53. Oddity 55. Fertilizer ingredient 58. Minute opening 59. Rubber wheel 60. Hotels 61. Curved molding 62. Where a bird lives

Answer to Crossword 3956

R

AntiCipAte

mAssACre

Avoid

meAdow

blood

never

CheCk

oregAno

Chose

poison

Color

priority

CottAge

rAnge

CrAg

rising

enter

sACk

fAmily

shin

foAm

shoot

foCus

sourCe

fruit

tiny

gumbo

twinge

heArd honeysuCkle injury mArsh

wAne within write

D

std code: 03871

(formerly senapati)

232224

emergency

229529 229474

mh hospital

227930 231081

fire brigade

2222952

faith hospital

228846

naga hospital

2222916

shamrock hospital

228254

oking hospital

2243339

Zion hospital

231864 224117 227337

bethel nursing home

2224202

northeast shuttles

08974997923

police Control room

228400

Police Traffic Control

232106

east police station

227607

west police station

232181

Cihsr (referral hospital)

242555 242533

dimapur hospital

224041 248011

police station fire brigade

Officer-in-Charge 8575045510

Zubza ps

Chiephobozou ps 8575045506 Officer-in-Charge 8575045516 tseminyu ps

8575045507

Officer-in-Charge 8575045517 khuzama ps

8575045505

Officer-in-Charge 8575045515

nikos hospital and research Centre

232032, 231031

kezocha ps

nagaland multispecialty health & research Centre

248302, 09856006026

women Cell

248722 /248288, 9615945510

C

8575045508

Officer-in-Charge 8575045518

229366 242441 225212

R

8575045502

Officer-in-Charge 8575045520

Airport indian Airlines

A

8575045501

south ps

131/228404

E

std code: 0370

kohimA ps/oCs Contact numbers north ps

railway

S

222246 222491

KOHiMa

Apollo hospital info Centre 230695/ 9402435652

eden medical Centre

O

TaHaMZaM

kept at 18 per cent.

Currently, these services attract an entertainment tax in states in the range of 10-30 per cent over and above the service tax levy of 15 per cent.

Under the GST regime, five-star restaurants will see an increase in tax incidence while the levy on non-AC restaurants may come down marginally.

At present, non-AC restaurants are subject to state value-added tax or VAT in the range of 12.5-20 per cent, while AC restaurants are levied with a 6 per cent service tax on top of state VAT. Under the GST regime, restaurants not having AC and liquor licence will attract 12 per cent levy. On restaurants having AC or liquor licence, the tax would be 18 per cent. Five-star or above restaurants will be taxed at 28 per cent.

Civil hospital

Chumukedima fire brigade 282777

W

25-26 per cent.

Cost of packaged cement is expected to ease as the tax rate will come down to 28 per cent from the existing 31 per cent.

Medicines, including ayurvedic drugs, as also medical devices will face a lower incidence at 12 per cent, compared to the existing 13 per cent.

Smartphones should also get cheaper as the current tax incidence on them is more than 13.5 per cent, while the proposed GST rate is 12 per cent.

Besides, ‘puja’ items, including those for ‘havan’, ‘bindi’ and ‘kumkum’ have been kept in the exempt category.

Taxation on entertainment, cable and DTH services shall also come down as the ‘entertainment tax’ levied by states has been

H

8575045549

Officer-in-Charge 8575045538 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

63.41 82.17 7.88 47.17 45.54 46.78 56.38 70.84 1.78 0.0545 16.71 8.91

66.27 86.13 8.77 49.48 47.76 49.08 59.56 74.26 1.98 0.0607 18.61 9.93

monday 29•05•2017

NAGALAND

in Nagaland, missing health services are a matter of life & death Sarita Santoshini

“

The Wire

T

here’s a rumour that people die there,” said Nokying Chang, about the hospital in Tuensang, in eastern Nagaland. Chang, 45, is a farmer from Momching, a village about 36 km away. He is a first-generation learner and said he didn’t know much about healthcare, but he was sure of one thing – his wife, a mother of seven, would not be treated at the government-run district hospital.

In 2014, when Chang’s wife first had severe vaginal bleeding, they went to the Public Health Centre in Longpong, which functions in a publicprivate partnership between the National Health Mission (NHM) and the NGO Eleutheros Christian Society (ECS).

She was treated during an annual surgical camp conducted there.

In late 2016, her health deteriorated again. This time, Chang consulted a doctor in Tuensang town, who told him there were complications in the uterus which would require a blood transfusion and then an operation costing Rs 30,000. But Tuensang, the largest district in Nagaland, has no blood bank – and Chang was not taking his wife to the hospital.

“We haven’t looked for blood yet. Where will we get it from? We won’t be able to arrange for it,” Chang said, matterof-fact. All seven of his children were delivered at home. “So we decided it’s fine, we’ll give her medicines in the village and she’ll be alright,” he said quietly.

In Momching, as in most of eastern Nagaland, citizens rely almost entirely on the government for healthcare – but usually go without. Data shows large amounts being spent on health, but on the ground, health centres lie ill-equipped or defunct.

NHM employees are unpaid and have no incentive to do their duties and district officials are rendered helpless by corruption at the top.

Already enduring the isolation caused by geography and

terrain and decades of conflict, locals are helpless and suffer silently in the absence of basic state support.

For the 113 households of Momching and two other neighbouring villages, the nearest health facility is a sub-centre where a nurse is only available ten days in a month. The other twenty days it is shut. When open, it seldom has a stock of medicines.

Four shared taxis ply from Momching to Tuensang, the district headquarters each day.

They take two hours and charge Rs 200 each way; unaffordable for most villagers, who have to walk instead. Unable to easily access a health facility and the distrust in the system meant that most villagers did not receive any medical care.

Two of his neighbours in Momching had asked Chang to buy medicines for them on his way back from Tuensang town.

“So many people have made a business of selling medicines because the sub-centre seldom provides them and there is no doctor around to prescribe anything,” Chang said. Paan shops and some village households have begun to stock Fanceta, a painkiller, and Panloc (pantoprazole), which they sell at higher rates – for instance, a pill of Panloc is sold for Rs 5, double the market price. “Children in the village keep falling sick these days, mainly vomiting and stomach upset,” Chang added. “But none of them have received any treatment or gotten better. They just take these painkillers.”

Decades in the waiting room Since the 1950s, forces within Nagaland have rebelled with arms against the Indian state, demanding sovereignty and seeking to preserve their identity. Four major and at least five minor separatist groups remain, each running a parallel government of its own and levying taxes.

During search operations last October and earlier in January, the National Investigative Agency (NIA) found evidence that state funds were being transferred to separatist

groups, including the banned National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCNK). Three government officials were recently arrested over these charges of extortion and illegal tax collection.

Meanwhile, the massive funding offered to the state for development does not find its way into schemes and projects – and is often pocketed by state officials and politicians.

According to the National Health Profile 2016, published

by Central Bureau of Health Intelligence, Nagaland had the seventh-highest per capita health expenditure (Rs 1,707) and fifth-highest health expenditure as a percentage of gross state domestic product (2.23%) among all states in 2013-14. The state spent a total of 395 crore on health. According to staff at the Directorate of Health and Family Welfare, however, more than 90% of this amount was spent on staff salaries. Only a small amount of the state health expenditure was available for service delivery. The state was largely dependent on central schemes, the NHM and its flagship programmes to provide healthcare.

This discrepancy between expenditure on health and access to healthcare was evident in the recent National Health Family Survey, 2015-16 (NFHS-4), which showed Nagaland below national average in almost all indicators of maternal care and child immunisation. The districts in eastern Nagaland scored the lowest – with only 3% of mothers in Mon district receiving at least four ante-natal check-ups, for instance.

In 2015, Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) Nagaland filed 20 public-interest litigations against the health department, including on the misappropriation of 62 crores under the NHM, non-functioning anganwadi pre-schools and the absence of infrastructure at health centres.

Addressing local media in 2016, director of NHM (Finance), Kavita Singh said that the state treasury was not releasing funds sent by the Centre

for the scheme. This meant that health programmes in the state were making no progress and NHM staff was often unpaid for months at a stretch. The state was also failing to match its share of funding-pattern due to a budget deficit. State employees continued to be paid on time, but crucial central schemes suffered.

The report of the comptroller and auditor general of India (CAG) on Nagaland state finances for 2014-15 clearly states that funds from the Centre go unmonitored. Misappropriation and non-payment of salaries occurs specifically with those schemes. “As long as these funds remain outside the state budget,” the CAG report stated, “there is no single agency monitoring its use, and there is no readily available data on how much is actually spent in any particular year on flagship schemes and other important schemes which are being implemented by state implementing agencies but are funded directly by the GoI.” “We have to keep raising the issue with the local media and threaten to go on strikes so our salaries are paid. It’s exhausting,” an NHM doctor in Dimapur said.

“The Centre monitors only well-performing districts so we’re kept on our toes,” another doctor pointed out. “No one knows what’s happening in the remote areas.”

While NHM doctors and other employees were overworked and unpaid in districts like Kohima and Dimapur, in remote districts like Mon and Tuensang they were largely absent. A field study conducted by HRLN in early 2016 found most sub-centres and PHCs in these districts shut. Since medical staff weren’t receiving salaries for months at a stretch, they often placed themselves in towns and visited their rural postings – like Momching – a few times a month or on monthly immunisation days.

“Villagers spend most of their time working in the fields and have no one to go to in emergencies,” said Marina Dangmei, a social activist

with HRLN, who was a part of the field study. “In the absence of any effective intervention, there was a complete lack of awareness about health and well-being.”

In these districts, the NHFS4 survey highlighted, residents were almost entirely dependent on government healthcare, which they did not receive.

Broken links in the supply chain The rumours Nokying Chang had heard about the district hospital in Tuensang probably have do with the fact that the 100-bed facility has been functioning poorly.

During my visits, last September and this April, it had no anaesthetics, no gynaecologist on regular duty and its doctors were being transferred without being replaced. General surgeons were conducting emergency caesarean sections under pressure. In case of an obstructed labour during a delivery, a patient would be referred to the district hospital in Mokokchung – five hours away over broken roads.

In 2002, Rs 3 crore was allocated towards a regional diagnostic centre in the district hospital, but it only received a non-functional CT-scan machine. An ultrasound remains sealed and unused. Patients were referred to private clinics for these examinations.

Technicians arrived from Kohima to fix the X-ray machine this April, a year after it broke down.

According to one employee, speaking on the condition of anonymity, it was futile for the storekeeper of the hospital to even make a list of required medicines to send to the Directorate of Health Services’ central store in Kohima. They only received pre-packaged cartons of medicines at random. Antihypertensives, which are in demand in cities and seldom in Tuensang, often come in bulk.

The store-keeper has to sign vouchers that specify the quantity of medicines, but he is unable to count them there; when boxes are opened in Tuensang, they sometimes hold just 300

strips instead of the 1,000 he signed for.

The hospital has not received any medicines so far this year. “How long will 500 bottles of IV last in a district hospital?” the employee remarked.

To transport the drugs, vehicles are hired at a steep private rate. Last March, the hospital’s only ambulance had an accident. The hospital authorities, as well as local student and women’s associations, sent several letters to the health department about it, but have had no positive response.

“Those in Kohima decide what is required for Tuensang.

We are not informed about funds. We have no say in what is bought and what quality is bought,” the employee said.

According to Chongsen Mongea, programme manager of ECS who earlier worked as the district programme manager for NHM in Tuensang, district level officials work on a project implementation plan every year in which they rigorously plan the required projects and funds for the district. “But it is a futile exercise. When the approval comes from Kohima, the sanctioned plans and assigned funds are completely different from what is required.

This is why things should be decentralised,” he said. “You can’t often blame the medical staff because they are asked to work while being provided insufficient resources.”

The human cost of corruption Families across Eastern Nagaland are affected by broken supply chains and allocation of insufficient funds which keep health units from functioning efficiently.

For Bechung Konyak, a security guard and the resident of Tobu village in the far eastern district of Mon, the nearest health facility is a Community Health Centre (CHC) in the outskirts of the village, about 3 km away. His wife, Bemang delivered seven of her eight children at home. None of them have been immunised, beyond getting polio drops. “We’ve never been informed about these things,” she said.

NpF calls for Dr. shurhozelie to be elected 'uncontested' KOHIMA, MAy 28 (MExN): Following the resignation of Khriehu Liezietsu as MLA of 10th Northern Angami -1, the Naga People’s Front (NPF) today made an appeal urging that Chief Minister Dr. Shurhozelie Liezietsu be elected “uncontested” in the coming by-election.

A statement from the Party Spokesperson Achumbemo Kikon in this regard appealed to all individuals and the various Political Parties to extend their co-operation for smooth

conduct of the by-election as and when it is conducted. The party also urged the Election Commission of India to schedule the by-election at the earliest.

While welcoming the decision of the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) legislators to make Dr. Liezietsu a Member of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly, the Front also expressed its “highest gratitude” to Khriehu Liezietsu, Ex-MLA, for sacrificing his Assembly seat in order to pave way for the CM to be-

come a legitimate Member of the 12th Nagaland Legislative Assembly.

Further, the Party extended appreciations to the NPF-led-DAN Govt. for reiterating the official stand of the present government that, “in the event of an honourable and amicable solution is arrived at out of the ongoing peace process vis-àvis political talks, the present government will pave way for a smooth transition for the new dispensa- Nagaland College of Music and Fine Arts present special number during the Sunday tion to take over.” worship programme of Chakhesang Baptist Church Kohima on May 28. (Morung Photo)

Nagaland to observe School leadership development prog World No Tobacco Day KOHIMA, MAy 28 (MExN): ing teams, group dynamics and conKOHIMA, MAy 28 (MExN): Along with the rest of the world, Nagaland will be observing World No Tobacco Day on May 31 under the theme “TobaccoA Threat To development.” In the state capital Kohima, the main function will take place at Capital Convention Centre at 12:00 noon with Parliamentary Secretary for Higher Education & Technical Education Deo Nukhu as the chief guest.

Short speeches will be delivered by Rajesh Soundararajan, Deputy Commissioner Kohima and Sievituo Solo, Mon District Legal Services Authority (MDLSA) visited Ambassador for Tobacco Smoke Free Langsa Hill orphanage home at Lampong Sheanghah on Kohima. The function will be chaired May 27.

by Menukhol John, Principal Secretary, Health & Family Welfare, Nagaland.

Two-day school leadership development programme for headmasters of government secondary schools, Nagaland was held on May 24 and 25 at the State Institute of Educational Management and Training (SIEMAT), SCERT, Kohima, funded by RMSA Nagaland. A total number of 45 participants attended the training.

Courses on understandingschool leadership, understanding school as a learning organization, prioritizing work as a school head, understanding developmental needs of children, creating a culture of inclusion in school and classrooms, understand-

flict resolution, innovation heart of a learning organization, home school partnership, developing criteria of a good SDP and discussing way forward & conclusion were covered during the training.

The resource persons were from SRG & SIEMAT, SCERT, Nagaland.

A press release issued by Khrietuo Mezhür, Director, SCERT, Nagaland stated that the main objective of the school leadership development programme is to improve the quality of education especially in Government Schools through effective school leadership and management.

Assam Rifles organise programmes in Nagaland

Chakhesang Students' Union Dimapur (CSUD) elected its new office bearers for the tenure 2017-2019 at the premises of Western Chakhesang Hoho building, Dimapur. The new team headed by Veseta Rhakho as president and Sedelo T Vadeo as general secretary took office along with 14 other executive members. Seen in the picture is the new CSUD team.

DIMApur, MAy 28 (MExN): Assam Rifles under the aegis of Headquarters IGAR (North) organised various programmes in different districts of Nagaland recently.

36 Assam Rifles conducted an interaction with GBs and chairmen of villages of Peren district on May 26 with an aim to share information about measures being undertaken under various government schemes with villagers. Issues like development projects, creation of Jan Dhan accounts, Aadhaar cards and upcoming Anti Tobacco Day were discussed at the event, informed a press

release from Assam Rifles.

44 AR on May 24 inaugurated an RCC water storage tank with capacity of 10,000 litres it constructed at Ungma village in Mokokchung. “The construction of water storage tank will uplift the living standards and provide basic amenities to the villagers,” AR stated in a press release.

Meanwhile, a motivational lecture was organised by 35 Assam Rifles on ‘Join Armed Forces’ for the students of St John’s High School, Mon Town on May 24. It was attended by around 150 students and parents of the school. A separate press

release from AR informed that the lecture covered aspects related to opportunities in Armed Forces. The students were assured of assistance in joining the armed forces, it added.

40 Assam Rifles also conducted an interaction with GBs, village council members and Headmen of Changlangshu area on May 15. A total of 36 people attended the event.

The interaction focused on the development of the area and opportunities available for youth. A prayer was also organised by the Pastor for good health and prosperity of the people in the area, AR informed.

In 2013, Bemang and Konyak lost a five-year-old daughter. They followed the advice of doctors at Tobu CHC and took her to Mon district hospital, where she was admitted for two months, but they never received any reports nor learnt the cause of her death.

Konyak was unsure if her blood samples were ever sent to a laboratory. “We got her dead body home,” he said.

Last year, when their 6-year-old daughter Esang complained of severe stomach ache, they rushed her to Tuensang district hospital, where the doctors said she couldn’t be treated, and then to the district hospital in Mokokchung.

The taxi to Mokokchung cost Rs 5,500, which they could only afford with the help of ECS. “She was operated an hour after we reached, and was saved only because we made it in time,” Konyak said.

Konyak’s job, guarding the additional deputy commissioner’s office, pays him Rs 3,450 per month. He says he has not received his salary for four months now. He has debt of about a lakh, most from spending on medical expenses for his daughters.

Like the district hospital in Tuensang, Tobu CHC, too, was understaffed and underfunded. It covered more than ten villages with just two doctors. The CHC also received fewer medicines from Mon than what was signed for – they were informed that this was due to cuts made from the funds as taxation by militant groups.

Konyak is not fully aware of what has happened to Essang.

When he showed her medicines to Sentimoa Tzudir of ECS, who was accompanying me, we realised that they were for Tuberculosis (TB). Tzudir advised him to consult a doctor again once the course was over. “Can she be treated here now? We won’t be able to go all the way to Mokokchung again,” Konyak said, his face creased with worry.

(Sarita Santoshini is an independent journalist based in Assam, reporting on human rights, development and gender issues.)

public space NSF notifies intending candidates on Code of Conduct

I

n exercise of NSF constitution Article 26, the Election Commission of Naga Students Federation (2015-2017) and resolution of 1st Extra Ordinary Federal Assembly NSF 2015-2017, the Election Commission is pleased to notify the election code of conduct and the minutes of the assembly for information to all the intending candidates and federating Unit(s), for strengthening the federation and smooth conduct of the election.

In the past, the election of the Naga Students Federation was characterized by a deep respect for the integrity of the process. An individual’s dynamism, character, vision and leadership qualities were the deciding essentials required for leading the Naga Students Federation. Unfortunately, over the years and due to the increasing influence of the present electoral and political practices such ideals and respect for the integrity of the NSF election process has been usurped by personal gains by individuals. It seems evident that the sole motive of many individuals is to use the NSF as a platform to further their own interest, rather than that of the common good. Consequently, this has affected the quality and true spirit of leadership in the NSF bringing into question the integrity and public trust and image of the Federation. For many of the leaders it seems no longer about serving the student community and upholding the principles of the Naga Students Federation.

Recognizing this disturbing trend within the NSF, there is a need for an immediate intervention. (a) The Election Commission should put in place a mechanism to monitor the process. (b)The Election Commission should be empowered to nullify an intending candidate(s) or the Unit(s) if found violating the Election Code of Conduct.

Therefore exercising the resolution passed for smooth conduct of election, the election commission hereby appoint the following persons for monitoring the election code of conduct.

1. Mr. Vipopal Kintso, Ex president NSF, Chairman 2. Mr. Rs. Jollyson, former Speaker NSF, Member Secretary 3. Mr. Kenneth, Member CODE OF CONDUCT OF ELECTION: The following will not be allowed in deeds or by words.

1. Muscle power 2. Monetary power 3. Coercion from within and without 4. Influence from any political party(s), organisation(s) or any agencies 5. Any action that is detrimental to the Article twenty seven of the constitution.

The above code of conduct of election notification shall be strictly followed by all intending candidate(s) and Units; failing to do so shall invite disqualification and stringent action against the candidates and the units.

1) G Vashum 2) Neizokhotuo Belho 3) Jungithung Yanthan

Chairman Member Member

The Morung Express “Public Space” is to provide space for diverse opinions to be expressed and heard. The opinions in the “Public Space” do not reflect the views and position of the newspaper nor the editor.

6

Monday 29•05•2017

IN FOCUS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

The Power of Truth

The Morung Express volume XII Issue 145 By moa Jamir

NSF needs to recover its ‘mojo’

T

he Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) was once the apex body of the Naga people and considered the most radical student bodies in the South Asian region, working not just for the welfare of students, but also for the political and socio-economic rights and aspiration of the Nagas. However, in recent years, the Federation has taken a murky political turn and State politics have affected the NSF, weakening activism and promoting politicking, commented an article in The Morung Express on the eve of its 26th General Conference on 2015. It concluded by posing whether NSF would indulge in more politicking or take up genuine activism with ‘principled’ leaders thereafter.

Two years down the line, as another confluence approaches, many are still searching for an answer. Such turn of event is unfortunate for a federation, who since its inception, has had been regarded as an anchor, pioneer and playing a pivotal role in betterment and upliftment of Naga society.

As a progeny of conflict zone, from the outset, its activism was foremostly political in nature – a common platform for solidarity and unity among the Nagas, especially the younger generation. However, its activism also encompasses diverse issues ranging from political to socio-economic matters.

But, questions are consistently being raised as to whether the Federation is living in the glorious past – a shadow of its former self. True, it is still overarching and powerful, but increasingly becoming perceptibly irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. In other words, the allegiance to NSF comes mostly by default, not by genuine respect and solidarity it once commanded effortlessly.

Critics are abound, occasionally accusing the Federation of being ‘co-opted’ by State and non-state actors, thereby an extension of ‘powers that be,’ and consequently becoming a tool to either obscure their omission or propagate that commission. Other sees it as a platform for shaping a future career in politics for many.

Consequently, it is seen as being too cautious and politically correct on most issues. Once, it set, dictated and steered the course of an issue. Now, it is considered as a trouble shooter and an insulator for others.

'Selectivism' would best describe the NSF activism at this juncture undermining its credibility and putting it in an existential dilemma. It does not augur well for mass based ‘pan-Naga’ organisation if it is perceived as acting with ‘deafening silence’ on most issues but having a vociferous voice on a specific issue. No doubt, it is not immune to factionalism, tribalism and regional politics inflicting the Naga society.

As the Federation prepares for its 27th Conference under the theme, “Amelioration” – or the act of making something better or improvement - from May 30-June 1 in Chungtia Yimsen village in Mokokchung District, it needs to introspect and bring back its lost ‘mojo.’

Peel the dimensions and layers of politics, NSF’s identity and credibility as an organisation is seriously eroded exposing its varied vulnerabilities. Apart from political arena, the Federation needs to adopt non-partisan approach towards the welfare of the people in general and the student community in particular. Not a ‘co-opter,’ but as a formidable ‘checks and balances’ to ‘powers that be.’

NSF has failed in some issues and has succeeded in others and there are still many issues to be followed up, NSF leaders told media recently. The upcoming conference is the most opportune time for introspection and course correction.

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

lEfT WING |

Vikas Datta IANS

Crime-solving lessons from the Great Detective himself Book Review: Sherlock Holmes' School for Detection; Author: Simon Clark (editor); Publisher: Robinson; Pages: 448; Price: Rs 499

E

ven nine decades after his original creator penned his last tale, the solver of mysteries, scourge of criminals, and saviour of the wrongly-accused is still busy at work. But in the thousands of Sherlock Holmes pastiches, there is one glaring omission for a detective whose swore by the "science of deduction and analysis". For a science can be taught.

And who better as an instructor than Holmes himself. It seems a more feasible idea than some of the situations that he has found himself in his further appearances -- battling vampires or aliens, teaming up with or confronting various real and fictional contemporaries, and so on. And approached in the right way, it is most probable that he would accept.

"You are the only man who can elevate the humble police officer to where he, and she, will become an efficient detective. The investigators you create will become the intelligent, logic-driven weapons that will destroy criminality," says Lestrade here, and it does the trick.

But as Simon Clark, editor of this anthology of around a dozen new Holmes stories, argues, the premise seems rather obvious. As he tells us in the introduction, and then through Lestrade's voice, like the education of doctors became standardised in the 19th century, so would governments seek that the professional police forces become trained in crime detection.

And while a framing device is not necessary for another outing of Holmes' talents, this one makes for an innovative set of stories.

After a rather incongruous start where Lestrade, who has solved a rather macabre crime, approaches Holmes and obtains his acquiescence, we learn that "The Imperial Academy of Detective Inquiry and Forensic Science will train students not just from Great Britain but the four corners of the world".

Holmes, who will have total freedom to design the curriculum, will give lectures, mentor them as they go about their assigned work, and make them apprentices in his own investigations if he so likes. And with his expertise at surveillance, disguises and cipher-cracking, he will also cater to members of the secret service.

As expected, this makes for a wide variety for stories by crime fiction as well as fantasy and science fiction writers, with the focus not only on an number of peculiar crimes but a range of inexplicable activities, as well as a new look at the great detective, his faithful biographer and other familiar figures from the Holmes canon. And in most cases, it is Dr Watson who sketches out the events.

Holmes aficionados, as well those of the genre, will wel-

C O M M E N T A R Y

David Hutt Asia Times

Fifteen years of freedom for Timor-Leste

A "unity" government has made notable gains after decades of foreign occupation and civil strife. But can the center hold with new polls on the horizon?

O

n May 19, as dignitaries gathered in Dili for the inauguration of Timor-Leste’s new president, Francisco “LuOlo” Guterres, the ceremony had an added significance as the new nation celebrated 15 years of independence from repressive and conflict-plagued Indonesian rule.

“We should be proud of so much that has been done during the last 15 years, but we should be aware that there is still much to be done,” Lu-Olo said in his first presidential address.

March’s presidential election was the first to take place in Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, without the presence of international peacekeepers, a significant step for Asia’s youngest nation. As the small country transitions from conflict to peace, unmistakable progress has been made.

Timor-Leste now outranks many of its neighbors on international measures of good governance and human rights. In the Economist Intelligence Unit’s latest Democracy Index, for instance, Timor-Leste ranked higher than any other Southeast Asian country in 43rd place worldwide.

“Timor-Leste is a modern-day miracle: In 15 years, we have been one of only a handful of fragile states to manage to consolidate peace and sustain development,” Agio Pereira, Minister of State and government spokesman, told Asia Times.

Lu-Olo’s electoral victory was a vote of confidence in Timor-Leste’s previous “unity government”, formed in 2015 when Xanana Gusmao, leader of the National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT), stepped down as prime minister and allowed Rui Maria de Araujo, a member of the rival Fretilin party, to take his place.

Lu-Olo is the president of Fretilin, formally known as the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor, a former armed group fighting for independence from Indonesian rule.

That debilitating conflict took between 200,000 to 300,000 lives, or around onethird of the island nation’s population.

Critics contend that consensus politics between the two main parties has intensified corruption and nepotism, as well as massive government misspending and a lack of accountability, without an effective opposition in parliament.

Taur Matan Ruak, a former president who is expected to run in July’s parliamentary election on the ticket of the newly-formed People’s Liberation Party (PLP), is among the government’s detractors. He said to parliament last year that the state was “far too centralized” and “excessively wastes resources, allowing thousands of Timorese to become second class citizens.”

The country’s political divide in some ways boils down to two different concepts of economic development.

The “unity government”, which commentators believe Gusmao still controls from behind the scenes, favors large-scale infrastructure projects and high levels of government spending.

Opponents, on the other hand, say not enough is being spent on public services and grassroots infrastructure

and that large state contracts are being doled out to family members of politicians and an entrenched economic elite.

The former path is arguably unsustainable. Since 2004, the country has earned more than US$18 billion from the Bayu-Undan oil and gas field, the country’s largest. The field, however, is expected to run dry as early as 2023.

While there is an estimated US$16 billion in Timor-Leste’s sovereign wealth fund, at current levels of state spending it may also be depleted within the next decade, according to independent industry analysts. Approximately 90% of the country’s GDP and budget is derived from oil and gas revenues.

The government still hopes to get a better deal from Australia on the Greater Sunrise oil and gas field, though it’s not clear Canberra has any intention of amending the 50%-50% revenue sharing arrangement. The Greater Sunrise field’s oil and gas resources have been estimated as high as US$53 billion.

Even if Timor-Leste gets its way at the negotiating table, which still appears unlikely, it might not be able to any reap profits from the field for another six or seven years due to high initial investment costs.

The political differences over how best to develop the nation are rooted in history. Once independence was achieved, the government had to quickly establish a new historical narrative to replace the one imposed by Indonesia. The new nationalism thus predictably centered on the struggle for independence.

But when a new bout of violence spread across the country in 2006, police, army and disaffected veterans of the independence struggle were pitted against one another on political lines, a paroxysm that displaced more than 100,000 Dili residents.

Much of the violence was driven by

those who felt they had been left out of the country’s new start and denied the expected material rewards of independence. When Gusmao became prime minister in 2007, his government responded to the crisis by what some independent analysts dubbed as “buying peace.” “[It] gave rewards to the surrendering ‘petitioners’, whose desertions from the army had set the [2006] crisis in motion,” the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based conflict resolution outfit, reported. “[It] offered cash grants to persuade the displaced to return; funded lavish pensions for disgruntled veterans; and put potential spoilers to work pursuant to lucrative construction contracts.”

The government also altered the laws on tendering state contracts. All those that met the government’s criteria were automatically awarded contracts, even if they were not cost competitive. A decade on, this practice is still thought to continue to placate dissent.

“As a consequence, corruption has set in,” Damien Kingsbury, professor of international politics at Australia’s Deakin University, recently wrote.

“Government tenders were initially overpriced and companies with close connections to senior government members disproportionately benefitted from government business.”

Gusmao also appeased Fretilin general-secretary Mari Alkatari, who was forced to resign as prime minister in 2006, by making him the president of the Special Administrative Region of Oecusse, a coastal enclave in the country’s western region. The government provides ample funds to run the special economic zone.

“Brother [Gusmao] takes care of Timor while brother [Alkatari] takes care of Oecusse,” former president Ruak said last year.

The government grasps the risks of

enduring divisions. In 2015, it implemented an initiative known “‘National Mourning-End”, which, according to commentators, maintained that while the past won’t be forgotten, TimorLeste needs to look ahead for the sake of national development.

That future faces demographic challenges. Between 1999 and 2002, Timor-Leste had one of the world’s highest birth rates with around seven births per mother. As a result, almost 60% of the population is currently below the age of 25. With youth unemployment now around 25%, the government is under heavy pressure to create new jobs.

Low corporate tax rates and other incentives have lured some new foreign investments in construction, manufacturing and tourism. But political stability and strong state spending has not yet sparked a virtuous cycle of private sector-led investment and job creation.

The unity government’s version of stability will be tested in July’s parliamentary election. During his presidential campaign, Lu-Olo won the backing of the CNRT, which was thought to have swung the vote in his favor given that he only received around 30% of votes in the 2007 and 2012 presidential elections.

Second placed Antonio da Conceicao – backed by the Democratic Party (DP) and the PLP, both opposed to the “unity government” – secured almost 30% of the vote. Some analysts anticipate that result could provide the two opposition parties a solid launch pad into July’s parliamentary election.

Although neither party is expected to win a parliamentary majority, there are suggestions they could win enough to ensure Timor-Leste once again has a functioning opposition in parliament and a heartier debate on the country’s political direction and economic model.

POETIC JUSTICE: First steps on Myanmar’s long road to reform Documentary tells touching tale of the nation's most celebrated living dissident poet Maung Aung Pwint and his years of persecution at the hands of the military junta Briony lin

P

Asia Times

oetry is a national pastime in Myanmar, but it’s a dangerous pursuit that has landed many exponents in prison. Filmmaking couple Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat address this literary minefield in their documentary Burma Storybook.

It chronicles the shifting political landscape in the 24 months since the country’s first openly contested elections in 25 years.

The film charts the travails of Maung Aung Pwint, the country’s most celebrated living dissident poet, who has been imprisoned many times by the military regime.

In one of the most poignant scenes, the poet and his wife – perched among piles of books in their ramshackle flat – pine for the return of their son, Nyein Chan Aung, a student activist who has been living in exile in Finland for 20 years.

“At its core, this is a film about resilience – how extraordinary people were able to survive the dictatorship. And how art has the power to both express the pain of the past, and also to help one heal,” says Lom, an independent

filmmaker and producer who hails from the Czech Republic.

And the theme of resilience goes beyond the film. Emotionally moved by the family’s plight, a viewer in the Netherlands paid for the son’s flight so he could be reunited with his parents.

“We went to Burma to show the film to the main characters – someone had seen the film in a cinema in the Netherlands and paid for the son to return to Burma so he could watch the film together with his parents. This was the most extraordinary thing I have ever done in my film career,” he says.

And in a touching gesture, Lom screened the documentary in the same room in which much of it was filmed.

“We set up a screen and a projector in Maung Aung Pwint’s tiny living room [in Burma], the room you see in the film, so the cinema was like a mirror of reality,” says Lom. “The screening was amazing. Magical. They liked it so much they wanted to see it a second time,” he says.

But Lom was not content to merely tell a personal story. To give a more pan-

oramic view of a society in rapid transition, he introduces elements of cinema verite: a sky lantern flying into the dead of the night; local folk discussing the old regime; the emergence of the internet; a lorry playing songs supporting Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy and now State Counselor.

“I had wanted to make a film in Myanmar for a long time – since at least the failed saffron revolution of 2008.

But the dictatorship made filming there impossible. In 2012, when things were beginning to change, I was invited to show one of my films in Myanmar’s first human rights film festival. I found the experience extraordinary and the people in Myanmar wonderful – characterized above all by a curiosity and thirst to learn – and so I wanted to return,” says Lom in the film’s director statement.

Lom and van Egeraat began shooting in 2012.

Human rights and creative pursuits are hot topics in the country these days.

In 2012, it held the first edition of The Art of Freedom film festival, an event

WRITE-WING

that pushes the limits of what was and is considered acceptable subjects for discourse in the country. The Human Rights Dignity International Film Festival is also entering its fifth year. And guests at the opening of a photo exhibition held in the capital in March this year heard the Mayor of Yangon proclaim “there is no censorship.”

Lom’s film will have to pass muster with the country’s censorship board before a public screening is allowed in Myanmar, but he believes that will not be a problem.

“We don’t think it will be banned, but of course we have to get permission to screen the film from the censor board – we’re hoping that will not be a problem.”

Lom also hopes to publish a companion book on the poets featured in the film, including photo portraits of his subjects.

“We are trying to raise money to cover the printing costs for the book we are making,” said Lom. Following that he will kickstart another campaign for a free screening tour to begin after the premiere in Yangon, which he hopes will “help the country deal with its past, and perhaps begin to heal.”

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.

MonDAY 29•05•2017

PERSPECTIVE

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Riding the Korean Wave in Southeast Asia Doobo Shim

T

Fair Observer

he Korean Wave phenomenon has been offering an alternative to Western cultural imperialism across Southeast Asia.

International communication research in the 20th century was dominated by the so-called “cultural imperialism” school, which argued that Western (usually American) cultural industries controlled the global culture, subjugating the weaker, smaller ones.

Toward the end of the last century, however, this idea of one-way flow from the West to the rest was no longer relevant due to the increasing contraflow in global culture. Cultural phenomena such as Latin America’s telenovelas, India’s Bollywood, Hong Kong cinema and Japanimation have exemplified this point.

KIM CHIC Since the late 1990s, an increasing amount of Korean popular cultural content — including television dramas, movies, pop songs and their associated celebrities — has gained immense popularity in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and other East and Southeast Asian countries. News media have recognized the rise of Korean popular culture in Asia by dubbing it the Korean Wave (Hallyu in Korean). In March 2002 the Associated Press told us to “Call it ‘kim chic.’”

“All things Korean — from food and music to eyebrow-shaping and shoe styles — are the rage across Asia, where pop culture has long been dominated

by Tokyo and Hollywood,” Dean Vasser writes in The Washington Post. According to Hollywood Reporter, “Korea has transformed itself from an embattled cinematic backwater into the hottest film market in Asia.” Korean Wave is clearly a sign of resilience of the smaller cultures.

In fact, it was not that the emergence of Korean Wave was totally welcomed by commentators across Asia. Rather, it was surrounded by surprise and embarrassment and was predicted that it would soon die out because South Korea was not considered a country to export fancy pop cultures until the early 2000s.

Therefore, the Korean Wave was possible thanks to such factors as cultural proximity and similar physiognomy found between Korean and Asian peoples (including Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese). In this regard, some even

H

umankind is the biggest ever predator of natural resources.

Just take the case of forests, the real lungs of Mother Earth, and learn that every 60 seconds humans cut down 15 hectares of trees primarily for food or energy production. And that as much as 45,000 hectares of rainforest are cleared for every million kilos of beef exported from South America.

Should these figures not be enough, Monique Barbut, the executive-secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), also drew world’s attention to the fact that “when we take away the forest it is not just the trees that go…

The entire ecosystem begins to fall apart… with dire consequences for us all…”

Barbut, who provided these and other figures on the occasion of this year’s International Day of Forests –marked under the theme “Forestry and Energy”— also reminded that deforestation and forest degradation are responsible for over 17 per cent of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions.

UNCCD’s chief is far from the only expert to sound the alarm–the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that up to seven per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans come from the production and use of fuel-wood and charcoal.

This happens largely due to unsustainable forest management and inefficient charcoal manufacture and fuelwood combustion, according to The Charcoal Transition report published on the Day (March 21).

Right – but the other relevant fact is

predicted that Korean pop culture would not be popular in Muslim communities because of religious differences. However, Korean pop culture gradually set foot into an every corner of geographical regions in Southeast Asia.

The geographical mode of Korean pop culture’s distribution in Southeast Asia has gradually given way to online and social media. In Southeast Asian societies, where censorship is tightly imposed, young people consider social media and other online platforms as havens of freedom to exchange their views and thoughts.

SHARING CULTURE Foreignness and difference found in Korean dramas and K-pop have functioned as part of the viewing pleasure among audiences in Southeast Asia.

While scenes of family values are commonly presented in Asian dramas, characterizations of family relations differ respectively. While they look similar in appearances, characters’ behavioral practices in different Asian dramas are dissimilar. Korean cultural products have opened up complex cultural processes and practices, making people aware of their sociocultural conditions and their hidden potential, and raising reflexivity in them.

For instance, Japanese TV dramas no longer feature romantic relationships between young couples, focusing mostly on professional relations. In this situation, many Japanese middle-aged women enjoy Korean dramas, rekindling nostalgia of their younger days. While lacking a certain level of reality, the characterization of gender relations in Korean media becomes a resource for audi-

ences in rural Southeast Asia to imagine gender equality.

To the viewers and consumers in Southeast Asian countries, economically-developed Korean society becomes a model for their future. In the early 1970s, for example, Myanmar was richer than South Korea. But as Korea rapidly developed its economy in such a short period of time, it became a model of economic development for many Southeast Asian countries.

The lack of shared culture is an important concern for policymakers in multicultural societies across Southeast Asia. Amid tensions concerning racial profiling and religious discord within society, creating a sense of social identity and belonging is a supreme task in Singapore and Malaysia, for example. Interestingly, Korean stars are often featured in national day celebrations in these countries because Korean pop culture is considered to be enjoyed across ethnic and cultural lines.

Cultural representations in Korean dramas, however, are sometimes at odds with dominant sociocultural narratives in Southeast Asia. For example, the Film Censorship Board of Malaysia often criticizes scenes from Korean productions as sources for increasing cases of crossdressing and transgender-related issues.

The local producers were initially appalled by an enormous influx of Korean content to the point of their outcry of Korean cultural imperialism. In Taiwan, the Korean boy band Super Junior’s song “Bonamana” topped the Taiwanese music charts for 55 weeks in the period of 2010-11 — more than a full year — breaking all previous records in the country. In 2005, a Korean TV drama, Jewel in the

World’s Forests Depleted for Fuel Baher Kamal Inter Press Service

that for more than two billion people worldwide, wood fuel means a cooked meal, boiled water for safe drinking, and a warm dwelling, as this specialised body’s director-general José Graziano da Silva timely recalled.

Poor People in Rural Areas This is especially important for poor people in rural areas of developing countries, where wood is often the only energy source available.

Regions with the greatest incidence of poverty, most notably in Sub-Saharan Africa and low income households in Asia, are also the most dependent on fuelwood: “Nearly 90 per cent of all fuel wood and charcoal use takes place in developing countries, where forests are often the only energy source available to the rural poor,” said Manoel Sobral Filho, Director of the UN Forum on Forests Secretariat.

However, much of the current production of wood fuel is “unsustainable,” contributing significantly to the degradation of forests and soils and the emission of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, said Graziano da Silva. “In many regions the conversion to charcoal is often done using rudimentary and polluting methods.”

He urged countries to reverse these negative trends in wood energy production and use. “We need, for instance, to adopt improved technologies for energy

conversion.” Currently the organisation he leads while is participating in several programmes to deliver fuel-efficient stoves, especially for poor people in Latin America and Africa.

In conflict and famine-struck South Sudan, the organisation and partners have already distributed more than 30,000 improved stoves.

For his part, Fiji’s president, Jioji Konousi Konrote, stressed, “We need to turn our attention to scaling up the transfer of renewable energy technologies, particularly for forest biomass, in order to ensure that developing countries are making use of these technologies and keep pace with growing energy demands in a sustainable manner.”

The government of Fiji is poised to assume the presidency of the next Conference of Parties of the UN Climate Agreement scheduled to take place in in Bonn, Germany, in November.

1 in 3 People Wood-Fuel Dependent The challenge is huge knowing that more than 2.4 billion people –about onethird of the world’s population– still rely on the traditional use of wood-fuel for cooking, and many small enterprises use fuel-wood and charcoal as the main energy carriers for various purposes such as baking, tea processing and brickmaking.

Of all the wood used as fuel worldwide,

Palace, became the highest-rated drama series in Hong Kong TV history.

In 2001, the Union of Taiwanese Actors called for a ban of foreign TV shows, largely targeting ones from Korea. But, gradually, the popularity of Korean dramas has engendered the creation of new dramas across the region with not only local stars, but with storylines from Korean TV. Also, you often find scenes appropriated from Korean dramas and films but with storylines based on local experiences.

K-pop music is also reproduced so that many boy bands and girl groups have sprouted in Southeast Asia, stylizing after K-pop dance routines and copying other K-pop production regimes. These cases indicate a sign of an emergence of a new pop culture genre in the region.

In fact, imitating or learning from Hollywood was not all about the success formula of Korean cinema industry. Korean films successfully connected with audiences’ real-life experiences such as nostalgia for the 1970s or North and South Korean reunification issues.

As such, the new genre of pop culture in Southeast Asia is expected to function as a cultural resource that expresses people’s experiences and emotions. History teaches us that cultures flow across borders, encountering others and producing new symbolic forms. Considering all these factors, the Korean Wave looks like it will stay in Southeast Asia for some time to come, giving rise to new practices of cultural and performative expression.

This article is being republished with the permission of Fair Observer. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.

Doobo Shim is a professor in the Department of Media and Communication at Sungshin University, South Korea. He previously served as an assistant professor at the National University of Singapore and a visiting scholar at Duke University, USA. He researches media and communication within critical, cultural and historical perspectives, while his recent work focused on the rise of Korean popular culture in Asia. His work was honored by the National Communication Association (USA) and at the Global Fusion Conference. He holds a PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. about 17 per cent is converted to charcoal, according to The Charcoal Transition report. The point is when charcoal is produced using inefficient technologies and unsustainable resources, the emission of greenhouse gases can be as high as 9 kg carbon dioxide equivalent per 1 kg charcoal produced.

The report highlights that in the absence of realistic and renewable alternatives to charcoal in the near future, in particular, in sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia and South America, greening the charcoal value chain and applying sustainable forest management practices are essential for mitigating climate change while maintaining the access of households to renewable energy.

Changing the way wood is sourced and charcoal is made offers a high potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it says, adding that a shift from traditional ovens or stoves to highly efficient modern kilns could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent. At the end-use level, a transition from traditional stoves to improved state-of-the-art stoves could reduce emissions by around 60 per cent.

“Wood based energy accounts for 27 per cent of the total primary energy supply in Africa, 13 per cent in Latin America and the Caribbean and 5 per cent in Asia and Oceania,” according to FAO estimates.

Forests continue to be under threat from unsustainable use, environmental degradation, rapid urbanisation, population growth, and the impacts of climate change. Between 2010 and 2015, global forest area saw a net decrease of 3.3 million hectares per year.

The Morung Express POLL RESULTS

Do you think Nagaland government is willing to take measures against illegal logging taking place in the state? Why?

Some of those who voted YES had this to say: • Yes Nagaland government is doing its best to reduce logging in our state. When we compare with situation before I think it has reduced drastically.

• Yes. The government is of the people and for the people and by the people and it is doing splendid job checking illegal logging.

ging. All kind of stakeholders are involved in illegal golden eggs? logging from govt officials to politicians to army offi- • No, because nagaland government not to make any cers to underground leaders. The logging business is right decision.

• No. The government is too bus for the next elections.

Logging is the least of its worries!

61%

Some of those who voted OTHERS had this to say: • The Nagaland government seems too busy and disSome of those who tracted with other things and so has no time with logging issues. They are busy trying to stay in power voted NO had this to say: 24% and some others are busy preparing for elections.

• Not at all. The forest cover in Nagaland is rapidly de• The forest cover is fast disappearing in our state. Uncreasing by the state government seems least both15% ered. Some radical measures need to be taken if not less strict action is taken there will be no more forwe will lose our natural resources because losing our est in Nagaland. There are too many stake holders forest to logging also means losing our biodiversity. involved in logging. There are those illegal loggers, YES NO OTHERS • No chance at all. I dont think its in their list of priority. politicians, bureaucrats, underground and even poWe see the maximum logging come out of Peren dislice and army interests in the logging business. trict. What does that say?

• In our state people don’t know what is legally sanclucrative and the govt has no will to deal with it.

• No land of khusi khusi....might is right...no rule of law • No, Because it's so inefficient. There's absolutely no tioned logging and what is illegal logging. Unless the in Nagaland...govt too busy making money from bosense of service, but only greed! Sad sad sad... this is government educates the masses there will be confugus projects on paper sion. They first need to know the difference between Nagaland...

• No the government is not serious about the illegal log-

7

A hollow promise of equal opportunity under the new Persons with Disabilities Act Anusha Reddy

M

The Wire

illions of students with disabilities in India are denied equal opportunities to quality education. On paper, the government promises to empower persons with disabilities with equal rights and affirmative action, but in reality, the government has time and again failed to act on these lofty ideals, resulting in students with disabilities confronting discrimination at every step of their educational journey.

Standardised tests like the JEE, CLAT and UPSC examinations are gateways to premiere educational and employment opportunities in India. This summer, while students across the country toil hard to crack these high-stake examinations, students with disabilities need to gear up for a more immediate battle – a fight to demand reasonable test-taking environments.

What constitutes reasonable testing environment for persons with disabilities?

Reasonable accommodation under the new Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPWD Act) is defined as “necessary and appropriate modification and adjustments, without imposing a disproportionate or undue burden in a particular case, to ensure to persons with disabilities the enjoyment or exercise of rights equally with others; include provision of additional time, provision of scribes, etc.”

While this definition – modelled along the definition provided in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) – may at first glance seem all encompassing and reasonable, when read in context, it is vague and paltry. For instance, the Act is completely silent on the standards to be prescribed for scribes and for determination of additional time. Persons with disabilities are then yet again left to the mercy of individuals and organisations who have unbridled power to determine the extent of accommodation to be provided.

More worryingly, the glaring omission of adaptive technologies from the definition of reasonable accommodation not only falls foul of India’s obligation to provide assistive technologies under the UNCRPD, but also robs persons with disabilities of the opportunity to be self-sufficient. This grave omission also flies in the face of the fundamental tenets of the rightsbased approach to development, which the RPWD Act claims to be modelled on.

Missed opportunity Paradoxically, while the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MSJE) consulted various stakeholders such as the state governments, union territories, central ministries and departments for preparing the RPWD Bill, it failed to look in its own backyard.

In other words, in 2013, the MSJE published a comprehensive memorandum containing guidelines for written examinations. The guidelines were prepared pursuant to an order of the Chief Commissioner of Persons with Disabilities (CCPD). While one can only wonder why the MSJE did not include this ready reckoner prepared by it in the RPWD Act, one can say with certitude that persons with disabilities are left to bear the brunt of this careless omission.

The examination guidelines not only take cognisance of new avenues available for persons with disabilities as a result of progressive technology, but they also go a step further to state that persons with disabilities must be provided the option to choose the mode of examination (braille, large print, computer, recording of answers).

The guidelines also remove all restrictions imposed on scribes (scribes are individuals who read out questions and transcribe answers during examinations), such as educational qualification, marks scored and age. Instead, the guidelines recommend strengthening the invigilation system to address concerns of malpractices. Shifting the onus of conducting a fair examination onto the examining authorities not only reduces the undue burden imposed on persons with disabilities to find qualified scribes but also recognises them as right holders instead of mere welfare recipients.

Over four years have passed since these progressive guidelines were issued. However, till date, institutions fail to comply with them and do not provide reasonable test taking facilities. While certain institutions have argued that these guidelines are not law, the Delhi high court has held that the guidelines are enforceable and cannot be treated as mere executive instructions. However, judgments of the Delhi high court are not binding in other states and at best have persuasive value should a similar case come up in a different state.

If only the new RPWD Act codified these guidelines, then this uncertainty surrounding reasonable test taking accommodation would have been settled once and for all and students with disabilities would have finally had a shot to compete for quality education on par with their able bodied counterparts.

However, it is not too late to undo this grave omission. As the rules for the RPWD Act are yet to be notified, this is an opportune time for the MSJE to set out the comprehensive guidelines in the rules.

Perhaps, this order of the CCPD which directed it to frame the guidelines in the first instance can be a timely reminder to the MSJE on such much needed introspection on its functioning: “…it goes without saying that in the absence of such uniform and comprehensive guidelines, persons with disabilities including the persons with blindness and low vision continued to be routinely subjected to prolonged and pervasive hardship and disadvantage with the result that more often than not, many candidates with disabilities have to run from pillar to post getting to fix various problems relating to taking off examinations by them such as issues around amanuenses, use of low vision aids, use of computers, extra time etc… …this Court notes with utter dismay and shock that this matter did not move forward with the Ministry since 2008 and 2009 and it continues to hang fire compounding the hardship, disadvantage and irreparable loss faced by persons with disabilities…”

One can only hope that the MSJE will strike while the iron is hot and not miss the bus, again.

8

MonDAY 29•05•2017

INDIA

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Girls outshine boys in Cooperation, terror to figure CBSE Class 12 results on PM Modi's Europe tour

Raksha Gopal from Noida’s Amity International School scored 99.6% marks to top the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class 12 board examination 2017. (HT Photo)

new DelhI, May 28 (IanS): Girls outshone boys in the CBSE Class 12 results declared on Sunday, bagging the top two spots and recording a better pass percentage compared with boys. Raksha Gopal from Delhi's neighbourhood Noida in Uttar Pradesh topped the Class 12 Central Board of Secondary Education exams, followed

by Bhoomi Sawant De from Chandigarh.

Raksha from Amity International School in Noida secured 99.6 per cent marks, and Bhoomi from DAV School in Chandigarh scored 99.4 per cent marks, the CBSE said.

Aditya Jain and Mannat Luthra, both from Bhavan Vidyalaya in Chandigarh, came joint third with 99.2 per cent marks.

According to CBSE, a total of 87.5 per cent girls

NGO calls for fasttrack courts in medical negligence cases

KolKata, May 28 (IanS): A non-governmental organisation fighting for patients' rights in India on Sunday pressed for an amendment to the Consumer Protection Act for disposal of cases of medical negligence through fasttrack courts.

The People for Better Treatment submitted a memorandum to the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) to seek amendment in the said Act of 1986 to check long delays in such cases. "Inordinate delays in disposal of such cases has added to the mental torment and financial burden of ill-fated victims' families," PBT President Kunal Saha told the media here.

He conceded that the Act had played a major role in ensuring justice for medical negligence victims and acted as a strong deterrent against "negligent and unethical practices by doctors and hospitals". "The inordinate delay in disposal of medical negligence cases is primarily because a large numbers of other consumer litigation mostly involving ordinary commercial disputes are clubbed together in the same roster along with serious cases like permanent physical disability or loss of human life against delinquent doctors/hospitals," Saha said in a letter to NCDRC President Justice D.K. Jain (retd).

"Please take necessary steps for appropriate changes to deal all cases involving alleged medical negligence in a separate fast-track court to bring equitable medical justice within a reasonable time that may also go a long way toward saving lives of ordinary people and promote a better healthcare delivery system in India," the letter said.

The NGO, which observes May 28 as 'Patients Day' to coincide with the death anniversary of a medical negligence victim Anuradha Saha, said "countless innocent patients are still dying every day in hospitals and nursing in West Bengal and across India due to gross medical negligence".

passed the exams compared with 78 per cent boys.

A total of 10,76,761 students registered for the Class 12 examinations but only 10,20,762 appeared at 3,504 centres across the country between March 9 and April 29.

The pass percentage this year recorded a marginal drop to 82 per cent from 83.05 per cent last year. Only 8,37,229 students managed to pass this year, the board said.

The CBSE announced the results of all its 10 regions simultaneously -- including the highest 2,58,321 students from Delhi region, followed by Panchkula in Haryana with 1,84,557 and Ajmer in Rajasthan with 1,31,449 candidates.

The board said 10,091 students scored more than 95 per cent marks, and 63,247 more than 90 per cent this

year. A total of 2,497 candidates with various disabilities also sat for the exams this year, of which 2,123 students passed.

Ajay K. Raj from St. Thomas Central School in Thiruvananthapuram topped in the differently abled category with 490 marks out of a maximum of 500 marks.

The board said 125 differently able candidates scored above 90 per cent, with 21 scoring above 95 per cent marks.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar congratulated all successful students after the results were declared.

"Congratulations to all my young friends who have successfully passed the CBSE Class XII exams and best wishes for future

endeavours," Modi said in a tweet. Beside congratulating the students, Javadekar also talked to toppers over phone. "I want to congratulate all the students who scored well... success gives you strength and confidence. Also congrats to students of all boards," Javadekar said in a video message to students.

The Minister advised students who could not perform well that "the defeat is not final unless we keep trying".

"Therefore, you should try more and you will get definite success," he said.

"I called up first four toppers Raksha Gopal, Bhumi Sawant De, Mannat Luthra and Aditya Jain," he said. He said he was happy that toppers came from arts, science and commerce streams, and added that one topper aspires to become an economist, another an IAS officer while two others aim to pursue engineering and political science.

He said the credit for their success goes to their hard work, dedication, parents and teachers.

The results this year were delayed as the CBSE had proposed to scrap the moderation policy on April 25. However, Delhi High court shot down the proposal, saying the rules cannot be changed at the eleventh hour. The Class 12 results can be accessed on Central Board of Secondary Education website cbseresults.nic.in.

new DelhI, May 28 (IanS): Bilateral cooperation on economic, defence, science and technology, and nuclear fronts, parleys on EU-India Free Trade Agreement, and fight against terror will top Prime Minister Narendra Modi's agenda during his four-nation tour of Europe from Monday.

Modi will visit Germany for the biannual Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC); Spain on what will be an Indian Prime Minister's first visit in nearly 30 years; Russia for the annual bilateral summit; and France for his first meeting with newly elected President Emmanuel Macron.

Berlin will be Modi's first port of call, where he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will head the fourth biennial Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC) on Tuesday.

India and Germany have over 25 Working Groups, including in areas like climate change, energy, infrastructure, and tourism.

According to German Ambassador to India Martin Ney, like in the last IGC in 2015, there will be a "series of substantial MoUs (memorandums of understanding) and joint declarations of intent" after the talks in Berlin.

One of the most important areas in which these agreements are likely to be signed is business.

"The Indo-German Chamber of Commerce is the biggest German bilateral chamber outside Germany. It has more than 7,000 German and Indian member companies," Ney said, adding that over 1,800 German companies are doing business in India.

"India is interested in German technology and knowhow, and we are interested in sharing this," he said.

Speaking ahead of Modi's visit, Randhir Jaiswal, Joint Secretary (Europe West) in the External Affairs Ministry, said that Germany is the largest trading partner of India in the

European Union.

"German economic profile, support, excellence, and expertise match with our development priorities, be it 'Make in India', 'Skill India', 'Clean India', 'Digital India', and 'Smart Cities'," Jaiswal said.

According to Ambassador Ney, both countries cooperate closely in terms of G20 coordination, UN Security Council reforms, freedom of navigation, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), strategic importance of the Indian Ocean region, the fight against terrorism, and stability in Afghanistan.

"Germany supports India's membership in different export control regimes, including the NSG (Nuclear Suppliers Group)," he said.

After a meeting with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Modi will leave for Spain on May 30.

The last prime ministerial visit to the country was by Rajiv Gandhi in 1988.

On May 31, the Prime Minister will hold a bilateral summit with Spanish Premier Mariano Rajoy.

Modi will also call on Spanish King Felipe VI and interact with a select group of Spanish CEOs keen to invest and expand their businesses in India. Around 200 Spanish companies are operating in India.

Stating that economic partnership formed an important pillar of the bilateral relationship, Jaiswal said: "Spain enjoys a reputation in the fields of renewable energy, high speed rail, infrastructure, tunneling, technology solutions, including civil aviation air space management, and waste water management."

Cooperation in counter-terror will be an important element of the agenda in Spain.

From Spain, Modi will travel to Russia on May 31 and hold the 18th annual bilateral summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 1 in St. Petersburg.

The following day, the Prime Minister will for the first time attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), a business event.

G.V. Srinivas, Joint Secretary (Eurasia) in the Ministry of External Affairs, said Modi's participation in SPIEF signals that there will be emphasis on trade and investment during the Russian leg of the tour.

Stating that while India-Russia cooperation in the areas of defence, nuclear and space was "very, very ahead", Srinivas said that bilateral trade has, however, come down for a variety of reasons from $10 billion to around $7 billion now.

Science and technology cooperation and people-to-people contacts are also areas that will come up for discussion during the Modi-Putin meeting.

From Russia, Modi will fly to Paris on June 2 evening and hold a bilateral meeting with French President Macron the next day.

Stating that France was a leading strategic partner of India, Jaiswal said that the two countries have very strong cooperation in the areas of space, civil nuclear, defence, and economy.

According to Jaiswal, during the France, Germany and Spain legs of the tour, the ongoing discussions between the European Union and India on a Free Trade Agreement would also figure prominently.

European nations are among those with which India has terminated bilateral investment protection treaties (BITs) following a new BIT model New Delhi released in December 2015. Stating that EU member-states have passed on the responsibility of investment protection negotiations to the EU, Ambassador Ney said that the European Commission and the Indian government should "sit down as soon as possible" to negotiate a free trade agreement.

Massive security across Kashmir valley as Hizbul militant Bhat is buried

SrInagar, May 28 (IanS): Authorities on Sunday clamped curfew and imposed restrictions in Kashmir Valley to maintain law and order and prevent violence, as top Hizbul Mujahideen commander Sabzar Ahmad Bhat was buried in his ancestral village in Tral of South Kashmir with hundreds attending the midnight funeral.

Though authorities said curfew would be imposed only in seven police station areas of Nowhatta, Rain-

awari, Khanyar, M.R. Gunj, Safa Kadal, Kralkhud and Maisuma in Srinagar on Sunday, the city was virtually sealed in the morning to prevent vehicular movement.

Heavy deployment of security forces was made in the old city areas of Srinagar to prevent violence.

One person was killed and 40 others were injured in violent clashes between the stone-pelters and security forces on Saturday.

Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chair-

man Yasin Malik was arrested on Sunday and shifted to central jail Srinagar. On Saturday, Malik had visited Bhat's residence in Rutsana in Tral and expressed his condolences over the death to his mother.

Bhat was buried past midnight in his ancestral graveyard in Rutsana village, as hundreds converged - arriving from different areas, amid massive security.

On Saturday, one protester was killed when protesters tried to breach the

cordon of security forces in Saimoh village where the Hizbul commander Sabzar Ahmed Bhat and his accomplice were trapped.

In clashes at other place, 40 people including 28 protesters and 12 security men were injured.

Of the injured protesters, eight are being treated for bullet injuries while seven have suffered pellet injuries and are admitted to different hospitals in Srinagar.

Restrictions under Section 144 CrPc were imposed in

Ganderbal, Badgam, Bandipora and Kupwara in north Kashmir while in south Kashmir, the districts of Anantnag, Kulgam, Pulwama and Shopian saw unprecedented security arrangements in place to ensure minimum attendance at Bhat's funeral prayers.

People in hundreds had arrived on Saturday from different places of south Kashmir to attend the burial of Bhat and Faizan, his associate, who were killed in a gunfight with the secu-

Co-op in Delhi, operation in Kerala, Bengal: Naidu on anti-BJP alliance

new DelhI, May 28 (IanS): The coming together of 17 opposition parties does not bother the BJP even a bit and they do not pose any threat to the NDA government either now or in the 2109 Lok Sabha polls, says Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu.

He says they are full of contradictions and have come together only because of the fear of Modi who has "wiped out" the three Cs - the corrupt, the casteists and the communal elements.

"We have one leader, cohesive ideology and a clear-cut policy. There is contradiction in the opposition. There is no ideological cohesion. There is no leader of the stature of Narendra Modi," Naidu told IANS in an interview.

"I wish them best of luck. Let them come together. They are very bitter and agitated because Modi has wiped out the corrupt, the casteists and the communal elements. They are very much aggrieved. The Communists and the

Congress are sympathising with these elements." The Information and Broadcasting Minister said the Congress and the Communists are at each other's throat in Kerala and the Congress, the Left and the Trinamool Congress are fighting each other in West Bengal.

"Cooperation in Delhi, operation in West Bengal. Separation in between and a joint photo opportunity in Delhi," he said, referring to the grouping of opposition parties on Friday in Delhi to discuss a candidate for the Presidential poll and a possible anti-BJP grand alliance for the 2019 polls.

"We are confident and they are diffident. We are united, they are divided."

He recalled the experiments of the United Front government in 1996 and the Third Front coalition and observed "the United Front became a disunited front and the Third Front became a distant third".

Naidu, a former BJP President, at-

tacked the opposition parties for floating names even before talking to the government on a possible consensus candidate for the President's post.

"They should not have dragged in President Pranab Mukherjee's name.

Then they floated Sharad Pawar's name, followed by Gopalakrishna Gandhi. They should have talked to us first," Naidu told IANS. He said the government would talk to the opposition on a consensus candidate. "There will be a good President. We do not want to discuss names in public," he said, refusing to give any indication of the ruling dispensation's thinking on the issue.

To a question on the BJP President Amit Shah having ruled out the possibility of nominating RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat as the Presidential candidate, he said: "The question does not arise at all. The RSS is a social organisation and is never after power and posts."

Africa seeks agricultural transformation with India's help

ganDhInagar, May 28 (IanS): With a vast untapped potential in agriculture, African countries are keen to gain from India's experiences, including the "green revolution", to bring about a transformation and enable their 420 million poor people to come out of poverty. Africa is estimated to have 65 percent of world's uncultivated land but only about 10 percent of global food output.

African Development Bank (AfDB) officials said after their annual meeting here last week that its focus on "transforming agriculture to create wealth" has sparked interest among a vast section, including youth, researchers and the private sector to treat agriculture as a business.

The meeting boosted Af-

rica's partnership with India in agriculture as also in several other areas, including infrastructure, electricity generation, skill development and healthcare.

Officials said that AfDB will invest $24 billion in African agriculture in the next 10 years and the sector is estimated to generate $1 trillion in business by 2030.

Chiji Ojukwu, Director, Agriculture and Agro-Industry Department, AfDB, said that India experienced a "green revolution" using improved seed varieties and best agronomic practices, and was able to lift large sections of its population out of poverty -- and Africa has a lot to learn from India in order to achieve similar success.

"We can leapfrog, taking

advantage of the successes of India, to borrow their technologies and to bring Indian experts to assist Africa," Ojukwu told IANS. He said India has made advances in irrigation solutions, milk production, cooling and processing, in solar for generating power for agriculture and Information and Communication Technology.

"African companies and governments can collaborate with Indian agricultural systems and companies to bring these experiences to Africa, to help Africa achieve its agricultural transformation, and lift its 420 million that live on less than $1.25 a day out of poverty," he said.

Indian officials said that AfDB's five key priority areas

-- Light Up and Power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialise Africa, Integrate Africa and Improve quality of life for the people of Africa -- had similarity to some of the thrust areas of the Narendra Modi government.

They said that Industrialise Africa is similar to the Make in India initiative and Light Up and Power Africa to the government's goal of electricity for all and its efforts to boost renewable energy.

Indian companies have been investing in Africa in areas such as telecommunications, hydrocarbon exploration, IT, education, water treatment, petroleum refining, retail, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, coal, automobiles, floriculture and engineering.

rity forces in Saimoh village.

The authorities suspended internet services on mobile phones on Saturday in addition to suspending outgoing call facility on prepaid mobile phones.

On Sunday morning, call facility, incoming and outgoing, were suspended on all mobile phones whether post paid and prepaid. Only postpaid BSNL mobile phones are working at the moment.

Train services between Baramulla and Banni-

hal towns have been suspended. State civil service (judicial) exam scheduled on Sunday has been cancelled. All educational institutions have been ordered to remain closed on Monday in the Kashmir Valley.

The separatists have called for a protest shutdown on Sunday and Monday and called for a 'March to Tral' town on May 30 to offer funeral prayers and show solidarity with the slain Hizbul commander

Himalayan hand in Dec 2004 tsunami that killed 250,000

Bengaluru, May 28 (IanS): Scientists have found that Himalayas played a role in the generation of magnitude-9.2 Sumatran earthquake on December 26, 2004, which, together with the massive tsunami that followed, killed more than 250,000 people -- making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in history.

An international team of scientists, including from the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research in Goa, who wanted to find out what caused such a large earthquake and tsunami have found that the Himalayas, several hundred kilometres away from Sumatra, was an accomplice.

Results of their research, conducted as part of the International Ocean Discovery Programme, have been published in the May 26 issue of the journal Science. The Sumatran quake originated 30 km below the Indian Ocean floor, along the boundary where the Indo-Australian tectonic plate dives eastward under the Sunda Plate.

Sediment that eroded from the Himalayas and Tibetan plateau over millions of years and transported thousands of kilometres by the Ganges and other rivers had been piling up on the Indian Ocean floor.

Scientists had thought that sediments piling up at plate boundaries, also known as subduction zones, would put the brakes on a rupture, making it less likely to start a huge tsunami.

But an examination of core samples drilled from the sediments feeding into the plate boundary between Indonesia and the Indian Ocean showed something different.

From an oceanographic ship, the research team drilled down 1.5 km below the seabed and sampled the sediment and rocks from the tectonic plate that feeds the Sumatra subduction zone. They measured different properties of the sediments, and ran simulations to calculate how the sediment

and rock behaves as it piles up and travels eastward 250 kilometres toward the subduction zone.

The researchers found that, over time, the sheer volume of Himalayan grist was compressing the sediments sufficiently thick to generate temperatures warm enough to strengthen the sediment prior to subduction.

This resulted in a very large fault area and increase in the severity of the earthquake "and helped ensure that the full force of the rupturing fault reached the sea floor, amplifying the tsunami".

According to the report, the finding has relevance for other subduction zone sites that also have thick, hot sediment and rock such as Cascadia off the Pacific Northwest coast of North America and Makran, which sits in the Arabian Sea off the coast between Iran and Pakistan.

"The authors' suggestion that the strengthened sediments within the subduction zone off Sumatra may have played a role in facilitating the deadly tsunami "is very interesting," says C. P. Rajendran, India's foremost expert in tsunami geology at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research in Bengaluru.

"But this could be only one of the factors," he told this correspondent in an email. "There are geometrical considerations. Proximity to the trench and therefore the depth of water are other factors that decide if the earthquake would actually lead to a tsunami."

Rajendran said the insight from this study will indeed help in reevaluating the tsunami hazards off the Makran Coast and Cascadia off the north-western coast of the US which are repositories of huge accumulation of sediments like off Sumatra. "But it has to be seen how different they are in composition from the sediment derived from Himalayas and thus how they are comparable."

mondAY 29•05•2017

WORLD

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Philippines: Marawi siege turns sinister Bodies of civilians dumped near Philippines city besieged by Islamists MANILA, MAY 28 (REUTERS): Bodies of what appeared to be executed civilians were found in a ravine outside a besieged Philippine city on Sunday as a six-day occupation by Islamist rebels fending off a military onslaught took a more sinister turn.

The eight dead, most of them shot in the head and some with hands tied behind their backs, were labourers who were stopped by Islamic State-linked militants on the outskirts of Marawi City while trying to flee clashes, according to police.

Nine spent bullet casings were found on a blood-stained patch of road at the top of the ravine. Attached to one of the bodies was a sign that said “Munafik” (traitor).

The discovery confirms days of speculation that Maute rebels had killed civilians during a takeover of Marawi, that the military believes is aimed at winning the Maute recognition from the Islamic State as a Southeast Asian affiliate.

The fierce resistance of the Maute gunmen and the apparent executions of civilians will add to growing fears that subscribers to Islamic State’s radical ideology are determined to establish a presence in the southern Philippines, with the support of extremists from Indonesia and Malaysia.

The army deployed more ground troops over the weekend and dispatched army and air force helicopters to carry out rocket strikes on Maute positions as fighters held buildings and a bridge deep inside a predominantly Muslim city where few civilians remained.

An armoured personnel carrier and government troops march to begin their assault with insurgents from the so-called Maute group, who have taken over large parts of Marawi City, southern Philippines May 25, 2017. REUTERS

Some of those trapped in Marawi had called and text-messaged a hotline pleading with the military to stop the air strikes, according to Zia Alonto Adiong, a local politician coordinating complex efforts to evacuate civilians, dead and alive.

“Some have no food at all.

Some fear for their lives,” he told Reuters.

“This is a conflict that has gone beyond proportion. The magnitude of the degree of the damage and the people that are affected ... it’s really massive.”

At least 61 militants were killed and 15 security forces as of Saturday, according to the army, which said it could confirm nine civilians killed by militants.

At the ravine where the bodies were found, Marawi police of-

China ‘strongly dissatisfied’ with G7 statement on East, South China Seas BEIJING, MAY 28 (REUTERS): China is “strongly dissatisfied” with the mention of the East and South China Sea issues in a Group of Seven (G7) statement, and the G7 allies should stop making irresponsible remarks, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said.

China is committed to properly resolving disputes with all nations involved through negotiations while maintaining peace and stability in the East China Sea and South China Sea, spokesman Lu Kang said in a statement on Sunday.

China hopes the G7 and other nations would refrain from taking positions, fully respect the efforts of countries in the region in handling the disputes, and stop making irresponsible remarks, Lu said.

In their communique on Saturday, G7 leaders said they were concerned by the situation in the South China Sea and East China Sea. They also called for a demilitarisation of “disputed features”.

China has a dispute with Japan over a group of uninhabited islets in the East China Sea. Beijing’s extensive claims to the South China Sea are also challenged by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, as well as Taiwan.

The United States has criticised China’s construction of islands and build-up of military facilities in the South China Sea, concerned they could be used to restrict free movement and broaden Beijing’s strategic reach.

Earlier this week, a U.S navy warship conducted a so-called freedom-of-navigation drill near Mischief Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands.

The manoeuvre, the first under the Trump administration, prompted an angry response from Beijing.

The G7 consists of the United States, France, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Japan.

Sri Lanka floods toll increases to 146 CoLoMBo, MAY 28 (IANS): The deaths in floods and landslides caused by the heavy rainfall that began last week in Sri Lanka have mounted to 146 while 112 other people have been reported missing, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said on Sunday.

The DMC said in its latest situation report that 442,299 people have been affected by the rains in one way or another in 15 of the country’s 25 districts, Efe news reported.

On Sunday, the rainfall eased somewhat, although it is expected to intensify again from Monday.

In addition, 101,638 more people had to be evacuated, the DMC added.

Water levels in rivers in the districts of Hambantota and Ratnapura have begun to fall, but in other places such as the Nilvala river, levels are on the rise, DMC spokesperson Pradeep Kodippili, told Efe news.

“We were able to evacuate the people in the surrounding villages and towns on time last night,” added Kodippili, referring to Nilvala river, which rescue workers were trying to contain with sand bags.

The number of troops engaged in emergency work has increased to 1,700.

The authorities were preparing to deploy military transport vehicles to assist in evacuation in the affected areas, army spokesman Brigadier Roshan Senevirathne said.

The areas of Kalutara, Galle and Mataro -- traditional tourist destinations -- are among the worst affected.

The Sri Lankan government has called on the international community to provide financial aid and logistical support.

Heavy seasonal rains -- which this year came after one of Sri Lanka’s worst droughts in 50 years -- often hit the island nation hard at this time of year, generating uncertainty in the agricultural sector, a major source of resources in the country.

The first vessel with humanitarian aid from India reached Colombo on Saturday. A second vessel will arrive later on Sunday.

ficer Jamail C Mangadang said the victims were carpenters who were part of an evacuation convoy stopped by rebels late on Saturday.

Recalling information provided by their manager, Mangadang said the victims were pulled off a truck because they were unable to cite verses of the Koran, the Islamic holy text.

BRAZEN SIEGE The military said it was possible there were others victims.

“This development validates a series of reports of atrocities committed by the militants earlier,” said military spokesman, Restituto Padilla.

“We are still validating other reports of atrocities.”

Islamic State’s Amaq news agency last week claimed re-

sponsibility for the Maute’s brazen siege. Unverified statements claiming to be from the extremists have appeared online, declaring the city of 200,000 people the “Islamic City of Marawi”.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday cancelled a trip to Japan to address the unrest in Mindanao, an island of 22 million people where martial law has been declared. Police on Sunday outlawed guns there and suspended all weapons permits.

Fierce battles took place on Sunday as ground troops engaged Maute fighters with heavy gunfire and artillery. Plumes of smoke were seen on the horizon and helicopters unloaded rockets on rebel positions.

A surveillance drone circled the sky above Marawi. Some civil-

ians tied white cloths to poles to distinguish themselves from militants as soldiers on foot huddled behind armoured vehicles that crawled along deserted streets.

Tens of thousands of people have fled Marawi since Tuesday, when militants went on the rampage seizing a school, a hospital, and a cathedral, where Christians were taken hostage, according to church leaders. Scores of prisoners, among them militants, were freed when rebels took over two detention facilities.

The violence erupted in response to a failed attempt by security forces to capture Isnilon Hapilon, who the government believes is Islamic State’s pointman in the Philippines.

The military is certain the Maute are protecting Hapilon and had narrowed down his location. Hapilon leads a radical faction of another Mindanaobased group, the Abu Sayyaf.

The little-known Maute group has staged several dayslong sieges on Mindanao island but none on the scale of Marawi, where witnesses said flags resembling those of Islamic State had been flown and some gunmen wore black headbands.

The Maute group was blamed for last year’s bombing in the president’s home city, Davao, which killed 14 people, and its battlefield capability has been a serious challenge to a military that has far larger numbers and firepower.

Another concern for the government was the discovery of Indonesian and Malaysian fighters with the Maute, which it said showed a domestic rebellion had expanded to become a far greater threat, driven by radical ideology.

9

Trump tells ‘confidants’ US will leave Paris climate deal

US President Donald Trump greets US service members at a rally at Sigonella Air Force Base at Naval Air Station Sigonella at the end of his participation in the G7 summit in Sicily, Italy on May 27. (REUTERS Photo)

SICILY, MAY 28 (REUTERS): US President Donald Trump has told “confidants,” including the head of the Environmental Protection Agency Scott Pruitt, that he plans to leave a landmark international agreement on climate change, Axios news outlet reported on Saturday, citing three sources with direct knowledge. On Saturday, Trump said in a Twitter post he would make a decision on whether to support the Paris climate deal next week.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A source who has been in contact with people involved in the decision told Reuters a couple of meetings were planned with chief executives of energy companies and big corporations and others about the climate agreement ahead of Trump’s expected announcement later in the week. It was unclear whether those meetings would still take place.

“I will make my final decision on the Paris Accord next week!” he tweeted on the final day of a Group of Seven (G7) summit in Italy at which he refused to bow to pressure from allies to back the landmark 2015 agreement.

The summit of G7 wealthy nations pitted Trump against the leaders of Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Canada and Japan on several issues, with European diplomats frustrated at having to revisit questions they had hoped were long settled.

Trump, who has previously called global warming a hoax, came under concerted pressure from the other leaders to honor the 2015 Paris Agreement on curbing carbon emissions. Although he tweeted that he would make a decision next week, his apparent reluctance to embrace the first legally binding global climate deal that was signed by 195 countries clearly annoyed German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “The entire discussion about climate was very difficult, if not to say very dissatisfying,” she told reporters. “There are no indications whether the United States will stay in the Paris Agreement or not.”

Britain says some of Manchester Tomb of French bomber’s network potentially still at large national hero General LoNDoN, MAY 28 (REUTERS): his bomb in an apartment in the city ferent tiers, it might be just a quesde Gaulle vandalised tion mark about one of them or Members of Manchester suicide centre.

bomber Salman Abedi’s network are still potentially at large, British interior minister Amber Rudd said on Sunday, after the terrorism threat level was lowered due to significant progress in the investigation.

Police have said they have arrested a large part of the network behind the bombing, which killed 22 people at a concert hall, and two more men were arrested on Saturday as police continued to close in on the group.

Asked during an interview on BBC television whether some of the group were still at large, Rudd said: “Potentially. It is an ongoing operation. There are 11 people in custody, the operation is still really at full tilt in a way.”

Prime Minister Theresa May said developments in the investigation into the bombing meant intelligence experts had decided to lower the threat level from its highest rating “critical”, meaning an attack could be imminent, to “severe”.

Police have issued a photograph of Abedi, a 22-year-old Briton born to Libyan parents, taken on Monday night before he blew himself up and said they believed he had assembled

British officials have confirmed he had recently returned from Libya and the officers said police needed information about his movements from May 18 when he returned to Britain.

Abdedi was known to British security services before the bombing, the government has said, but Rudd declined to comment on exactly what had been known about him.

Media have reported that people who knew Abedi had raised concerns about him and his views as long ago as five years before he carried about Monday’s attack.

“The intelligence services are still collecting information about him but I wouldn’t rush to conclusions, as you seem to be, that they have somehow missed something,” Rudd said.

“TOP LIST” OF MILITANTS When asked how many potential militants the government was worried about, Rudd said the security services were looking at 500 different potential plots, involving 3,000 people as a “top list”, with a further 20,000 beneath that.

“That is all different layers, dif-

something serious with that top list,” she said.

The government has previously complained that technology companies are not doing enough to tackle the use of their networks both to promote extremist ideology and for communication between militant suspects via encrypted messages.

Rudd said Britain was making good progress with internet firms on this but more could be done. Technology companies such as WhatsApp say they cannot break end-toend encryption. “I believe we can get them to be more successful in working with us to find a way of getting some of that information,” she said.

“The area that I am most concerned about is the internet companies who are continuing to publish the hate publications, the hate material that is contributing to radicalising people in this country.” Security minister Ben Wallace also told the BBC that the government was looking at a range of options to put more pressure on internet firms to take down extremist material and change their algorithims to stop such posts from linking to similar material elsewhere online.

PARIS, MAY 28 (REUTERS): Vandals on Saturday damaged the tomb of General Charles de Gaulle, leader of France’s resistance to Nazi occupation during World War Two and founder of the Fifth Republic.

The municipal authority of Colombey, in the east of France where the tomb is situated, said on its Twitter account that the act of vandalism had taken place on Saturday evening and that an inquiry was underway. No arrests have been made.

French media said the vandals had stepped onto the tomb and damaged the tomb’s cross.

France Info radio quoted local mayor Pascal Babouot as saying he did not think there was a political motive behind the act, but it drew swift condemnation from politicians.

“Shame on those who vandalised General de Gaulle’s tomb. It has dealt a blow to my patriotic heart,” said French budget minister Gerald Darmanin on his Twitter account.

De Gaulle was a towering figure of 20th century French history, leading the nation’s resistance to Nazi occupation in World War Two, putting an end to its colonial war in Algeria in 1962 and serving as France’s president for a decade until 1969.

He founded France’s Fifth Republic, which granted the president sweeping powers, and set a distinctive foreign policy that rejected the concept of U.S. and Soviet world domination, giving the French an independent voice on the world stage.

De Gaulle died in 1970.

Venezuela bans imports of gas masks, bulletproof vests CARACAS, MAY 28 (REUTERS): Courier services have told customers that the Venezuelan customs authority has banned them from importing items such as gas masks, slingshots and bulletproof vests used by some demonstrators in anti-government protests.

Other prohibited items include first aid supplies such as burn cream and gauze, according to emailed messages sent to clients this week by the package delivery companies. These goods have been used to treat injured protestors.

Courier services sending the advisories included local service Zoom and the Venezuela office of Mail Boxes Etc., known as MBE. Another company, BVA Export, told clients in an email, “It is not allowed to send gas masks and items that can be used for defense and/or attack in the Venezuelan protests.” It included a detailed list of the products that it said had been banned.

There was no immediate response by the companies to requests for comment.

Government officials have

publicly accused the opposition of using courier services to equip demonstrators in nearly two months of near-daily clashes with security forces.

Referring to unidentified courier services, Jose Cabello, head of Venezuela’s tax and customs agency Seniat, said in a statement early this week that, “(The opposition) will not use the ports of our country as a bridge to arm their terrorist groups.”

The Seniat and the Information Ministry on Saturday did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the courier services’ notifications of the banned imports.

President Nicolas Maduro calls the protests a violent effort to overthrow his government, and he insists the country victim of an “economic war” led by adversaries with the help of Washington.

The demonstrations have killed at least 58 people so far.

Protesters routinely spend hours in clashes with National Guard troops and police, who disperse them and break up improvised barricades with a combination of tear gas, rubber

A girls wears a homemade gas mask during a rally against President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, May 27, 2017. REUTERS

bullets and armored vehicles.

Most protesters do not have gas masks and instead seek to abate the effects of tear gas with improvised solutions such as rubbing anti-acid liquid on their faces.

Courier services are primarily used by Venezuelans to buy goods such as food and medicine that are not available due to the chronic product shortages that now characterize the OPEC nation’s once-prosper-

ous economy.

Members of Venezuela’s growing diaspora in countries such as the United States and Panama also use courier services to ship supplies to family back home

10

MonDAY 29•05•2017

sports

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Messi magic inspires Barca to retain Copa del Rey

Madrid, May 28 (aFP): A Lionel Messi masterclass salvaged some silverware to end Barcelona's season and gave coach Luis Enrique a victorious send-off as the Catalans retained the Copa del Rey with a 3-1 win over Alaves.

Messi opened the scoring then helped tee up Neymar and Paco Alcacer to lead Barca to a record 29th Cup triumph after Theo Hernandez's brilliant freekick had briefly brough Alaves level.

Victory means Enrique bows out after three seasons in charge with nine trophies to his name, including the Cup in every year of his reign.

However, once again it was Messi who inspired Barca to bounceback from the disappointment of losing their La Liga title to Real Madrid last weekend with a stunning individual display.

Barca were without the suspended Luis Suarez and Sergi Roberto and Enrique was forced into another reshuffle just 11 minutes in as Javier Mascherano was forced off with a head injury.

Yet, whilst Barca's depth has been much-criticised this season, Andre Gomes deputised ably at right-back after replacing Mascherano and Alcacer took his chance on a rare start

Barcelona team players pose with the trophy after the Copa del Rey final soccer match between Barcelona and Alaves at the Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, May 27, 2017. (AP Photo)

on the big stage in Suarez's absence.

In stark contrast to Barca's glorious run of six finals in seven years, Alaves were appearing in Spanish football's showpiece for the first time.

The Basques were roared on by the more enthusiastic support at a far from full Vicente Calderon in its last competitive fixture before Atletico Madrid

move home next season.

And Alaves were left wondering what might have been had they gone ahead when Ibai Gomez's effort came back off the post, ricocheted off the back of Barca 'keeper Jasper Cillessen but somehow squirmed along the goal line and not into the net on 27 minutes.

Three minutes later Messi kicked off a thrilling four- goal

spell in the final 15 minutes of the half as he exchanged passes with Neymar before curling his 54th goal of the season.

However, Barca's initial lead only lasted three minutes.

On-loan Atletico left-back Hernandez has been courted

by Barcelona, but looks set to become the first player to cross the Madrid divide since 2000 by signing for Real Madrid in the

coming weeks.

And the 19-year-old showed why he is in such demand by bending a sumptuous free-kick into the top corner.

Messi saw a free-kick of his own beaten away by Fernando Pacheco, whilst Ivan Rakitic drilled a low shot just wide as Barca immediately reacted to conceding.

Fittingly, Messi was involved once more when Barca did regain the lead as he received Neymar's pass before playing in Gomes and the Portuguese's low cross was tapped home by Neymar at the back post as he scored for the third consecutive season in the Cup final.

Barca then put the game to bed in first-half stoppage time when Messi again pulled the Alaves defence apart and his reverse pass freed Alcacer to smash the ball beyond Pacheco into the far corner.

The two nearly combined again five minutes into the second period, but this time Pacheco repelled Alcacer's effort on the stretch from Messi's teasing cross.

Alaves battled bravely as the second period wore on, but any hope of a fightback was extinguished by the offside flag when Deyverson fired home from close range 20 minutes from time.

Aus govt ready to mediate in cricket pay row

Melbourne, May 28 (aFP): Sports Minister Greg Hunt said Sunday the federal government was prepared to provide mediation between Cricket Australia and players over the pay-dispute stalemate.

CA chairman David Peever has turned down the Australian Cricketers' Association's request for independent mediation and there are fears the stand-off could potentially lead to a players' boycott of the showpiece Ashes series later in the year.

Hunt said the government

was hesitant about being too interventionist in contract disputes in professional sport.

But he said there was scope to act as a mediator if the dispute looked likely to threaten the home Ashes series.

"If it got to a last-minute situation, I suspect that we would offer to provide good officers brokering between the parties, but there's six months between now and the Ashes," Hunt told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"It would be unthinkable that in the end we wouldn't have

a full team.

"I do not see either the players or the administration returning to the late 1970s where we had a second-rate team.

"The players love playing for Australia, Cricket Australia knows this is not just fundamental to sport, it is part of our national identity. I'm very confident they will reach an agreement."

Hunt added that while Canberra would offer to mediate if there was a "fundamental threat", "all the advice I have is that with six months to travel,

the Ashes will be proceeding with a full Australian team".

"And on Boxing Day (Melbourne fourth Test) you'll have Steve Smith, David Warner and the rest of the team out there."

The ACA has described CA's rejection of the players call for mediation as lacking in common sense.

"The CA strategy is to refuse to deal with the ACA and go directly to individual players to try and break the model," a spokesman said on Saturday.

"This is despite the players repeated insistence for CA to

respect their request and mediate with the ACA. "To refuse mediation at a time when it's the only sensible way forward shows a clear lack of common sense."

CA is determined to scrap revenue-sharing after 20 years, saying more funds are needed for the game's grassroots, and that the offer it has on the table provided handsomely for players.

But the ACA is equally resolved to keep revenue-sharing, saying the system was not broken and did not need fixing.

ICC CHAMPIONS TROPHY, 2017 Date Jun 01, Thu Jun 02, Fri Jun 03, Sat Jun 04, Sun Jun 05, Mon Jun 06, Tue Jun 07, Wed Jun 08, Thu Jun 09, Fri Jun 10, Sat Jun 11, Sun Jun 12, Mon Jun 14, Wed Jun 15, Thu Jun 18, Sun

Fixtures Match Details

England vs Bangladesh, 1st Match, Group A Kennington Oval, London Australia vs New Zealand, 2nd Match, Group A Edgbaston, Birmingham Sri Lanka vs South Africa, 3rd Match, Group B Kennington Oval, London India vs Pakistan, 4th Match, Group B Edgbaston, Birmingham Australia vs Bangladesh, 5th Match, Group A Kennington Oval, London England vs New Zealand, 6th Match, Group A Sophia Gardens, Cardiff Pakistan vs South Africa, 7th Match, Group B Edgbaston, Birmingham India vs Sri Lanka, 8th Match, Group B Kennington Oval, London New Zealand vs Bangladesh, 9th Match, Group A Sophia Gardens, Cardiff England vs Australia, 10th Match, Group A Edgbaston, Birmingham India vs South Africa, 11th Match, Group B Kennington Oval, London Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, 12th Match, Group B Sophia Gardens, Cardiff A1 v B2 (1st Semi-Final) Sophia Gardens, Cardiff A2 v B1 (2nd Semi-Final) Edgbaston, Birmingham Winner 1st Semi-final vs Winner 2nd Semi-final Kennington Oval, London

Time 3:00 PM 3:00 PM 3:00 PM 3:00 PM 6:00 PM 3:00 PM 6:00 PM 3:00 PM 3:00 PM 3:00 PM 3:00 PM 3:00 PM 3:00 PM 3:00 PM 3:00 PM

public discourse

Reflections on the Government schools’ HSLC result Vikali Shikhu

I

Unity Village, Dimapur

t is nothing new that the Government teachers are crucified every year after the declaration of the HSLC result and the Department of School Education is butchered and buried alive. The Department officers are cursed by every human that breathes and has a mouth. Do we even realize that we have more bodies who should be shouldering more responsibility? Do we ever analyze the factors responsible for the undesirable result? Whose fault do you think it is? Are we being one sided in our judgment? Observing rather than judging will definitely reflect the real image.

We have seen the recently declared HSLC & HSSLC result for both the Government and private schools.

Communitization Act was introduced in 2002 with the primary aim to improve academic result in Nagaland, if we understand the concept of the Act. With due respect to the former Chief Secretary RS Pandey, IAS the brain child behind this Act, the SMCs (formerly VECs) were empowered to act in partnership with the Department. He firmly believed that community-based ownership of schools would bring changes in the academic result of Government schools since Nagas have a strong social life with powerful Hohos, associations, unions etc... Sadly, this is the 15th year of communitization and now we have proved him wrong. The SMCs (School Management Committes) thought their role was only for school construction purpose and only few SMCs played the academic role by arranging private Teachers through community sponsorship, controlling proxy practice and undertook academic interventions. These handful of SMCs deserve the highest respect for exemplary community ownership.

Do we know that the Department spends crores of Rupees for Teachers’ training every year? Lately, the decade old practices have been replaced by introducing new system following national standard interventions through SSA. Due to frequent modifications and changes in the system, Teachers are being oriented

prior to introduction of anything in the schools. But what happens in the implementation process? The fact remains that no school has proxy system without the permission of SMCs. Who is responsible when the Department's effort for academic improvement is thrown into the dustbin? The SSA sponsors In-service Teachers’ training, training for newly recruited teachers and conducts even professional training. The Department has conducted CCE training earlier and enough of phase-wise New Pedagogy trainings. Besides the above mentioned training programs, PINDICS and Shaala Siddhi have been conducted in the month of December 2016. This was followed by Maths kit training for teachers of primary section in all the 11 districts wef 15th to 31st May 2017. The next in the chart would be the conduct of ACL training (Activity Competency Learning) for which fund has been released by the State Mission Authority, SSA Nagaland. Thereafter, training for subject teachers of GMS section is anticipated. The crux of the matter is that original teachers attend training and untrained proxy teachers teach in the schools. Isn't this a serious threat towards achieving quality education?

Do we understand that the students are the ultimate losers when teachers stay away from schools after attending all the trainings?

Why do we maintain balanced diet for children and offer different doses of vaccine? We all know what happens to a child in later part of life due to lack of vaccination. A malnourished person's immune system is prone to disease attack. We do fight back but it becomes a last fight for many and diseases take its toll.

School is a place where we prepare a child for the future. Without nurturing children's foundation appropriately in the primary and elementary levels, the public expect teachers to perform miracle after reaching HSLC level. Teachers are no Jesus and no student is a magician. State VIPs and Government officers may please take note that people develop vomiting sensation in your public speech when you talk about HSLC result without digesting the ground situation.

Encouraging the dedicated

teacher is one important aspect of developing quality education therefore, teacher's award should strictly go to deserving teachers only. After SIS posts were abolished under department restructuring few years back, overall academic activities are manned by ToTs alone (teacher trainers). ToTs have respective jurisdiction and observe classroom teaching with monitoring format.

It will be a big lie should anyone claim to know teachers better than ToTs when it comes to assessment of teacher's performance. Therefore it is strongly felt that some representatives be included in District Selection Committee so that nomination of awardee is practically appropriate and deserving.

Education department has a good collection of professionals under the sun. We talk about mandatory B.Ed because all teachers should be professionally trained as per RTE Act. Whereas if someone doesn't get employed in one's own department/ profession, they end up becoming teachers. For instance, even the ToTs who did not have requisite qualification were sent back to schools during 2015-16. In fact, they were earlier appointed on the recommendation of SCERT following successful completion of intensive training conducted by academic authority. Besides, the department had invested lakhs of rupees on them for continuous workshop and orientation programs for decade plus years. Despite having adequate training experience, they were directly redeployed back to school from where they were drawn earlier. We can say they were not as fortunate as newly appointed teachers who were given a chance to pursue professional degree within a time frame. If so, it's high time the department should come to a sense not to randomly accommodate everyone irrespective of one's qualification such as BBA, MBA, engineers, theologians etc because we are talking about methodology, content-based and professional teaching. They are professionals but not professionally qualified for classroom teaching.

Why should the recruitment standard be like issueless couples going for adoption?

Another category of appointment

is the cost-high appointment which only some can afford, that is called backdoor appointment. I am saying this because it is not free of cost and many people I know have done that already. This kind of appointment is highly channelized and appointment order is received without even moving a single finger and without any inquiry on the professional qualification.

As per the RTE Act, the number of untrained teachers should rapidly decrease. Now the talk of literacy rate is not as hot as those days. The talk is shifted more towards professional qualification. Many states in India have drastically improved the number of trained teachers but Nagaland submits teachers’ data to Delhi with increasing number of untrained teachers every year. It is a matter of shame to be progressing backward despite SSA pumping funds for teachers professional course for decade plus years. It is too selfish on the part of the public to protest or fight against Government's decision to recruit pre-trained candidates. Can we hear the voices of student bodies strongly coming out in support of Government for recruitment of professional teachers?

The talk of quota/provision/relaxation tops the chart for everything in Nagaland but Right to Education is an Act passed by Parliament and it is not a state subject. So there shouldn't be any variation in teacher recruitment policy. How can quality education become the victim of RESERVATION and RELAXATION? Number of professionally untrained teachers shot up to thousands when Nagaland was faced with bogus appointment scam and subsequent re-appointment after SIT clearance.

Untrained data were further enhanced due to backdoor appointment, recruitment of teachers from other professions and appointment with relaxation policy. The next category is the appointment against vacancies resulting due to death or retirement. Why enhance untrained problem when the department is already battling against the high number of untrained teachers’ data? What gain is there to appoint every Tom, Dick and Harry under the banner of relaxation and they

later respond to the Government with proxies? If restriction is imposed on proxy keeping, either their undercover guards or political masters would come to their rescue. This is how the proxy system survives as timeless beauty in Nagaland.

The worst is mixing politics with education. Professionally, pretrained candidates continue to remain jobless as backdoor appointments continue to hijack the system.

Many keep proxy after appointment, apparently their joining of Education Department is not more than bread and butter purpose. Teaching is a noble profession and not only about earning a livelihood. One has to have a CALLING and passion. The department had a lot of expectations from student leaders. Nagas are to dwell in the same old ground for another 10-20 years should we remain as we are. Our local students’ union, area students’ union, respective tribal students’ bodies and the NSF should practically join hands with SMCs by taking lead role and not just a side back-up or verbal support on social media.

If schools have only proxy teachers teaching the children with original teacher out of sight, the Government may like to downgrade it to the NO GOVERNMENT TEACHER SCHOOLS but it would affect children’s right of free and compulsory education. What is stopping the SMCs and Government to act on legal document as a base for proxy control? All teachers have signed a statement in an affidavit few years back as directed by Government. That was actually a good strategy of the department and therefore it would be an important tool to streamline the system if affidavit exercise was done for a purpose. Secondly, introduction of biometric attendance of teachers may be considered another option to keep proxy at bay. Thirdly, we have a good number of proxy keeping teachers that is either the wives or children of influential people. I would say that they should be grateful to God that they have everything in life and not that their survival is dependent on the teacher's salary shared with proxy. Our most respected state VIPs, Government officers, UGs and leaders could set an outstanding example

by opting for voluntary retirement for their loved ones and pave the way for pre-trained unemployed youths lying in stagnation who are ready to teach on war footing. Fourthly, we are assured of better academic result if SMCs and student bodies cooperate with department and stand as a pillar of strength.

Should we say Communitization Act is a total failure because communitizing the schools didn't bear fruit in the last 15 years? If all SMCs were faithful partners of the Education department, solution to proxy tradition should have been much better and we would be getting better result today. A child of Class I in 2002 (Communitized year) passed his/her matriculation in 2013. Students of Class I in 2006 appeared HSLC this year and we have seen the results just few weeks back. If Community Empowerment doesn't work, what is it do we think could bring about salvation?

Government on its part should also own responsibility for those schools with shortages of teachers especially for subjects like Science and Mathematics in High Schools. Delayed distribution of text books for elementary and primary sections seriously hampers academic exercise because students' performances are evaluated strictly according to 3 quarters as per the CCE pattern. The department should stop relaxation policy and recruit only those professional diploma/degree holders in education at least by now. If someone is pre-trained, it should be understood that he/she is definitely interested and ready to teach hence, a double edged sword. I saw a beautiful quote somewhere that says "India is not developed because it employs the RESERVED ONES whereas, America is developed because it offers job to DESERVED ONES". On the other hand, no one can take the place of students if they don't invest hard work and the role of parents is no exception. Everyone should own responsibility without shifting responsibility. Quality education and quality result is a joint responsibility of teachers, learners, parents, Education Department, SMCs and students’ unions. Success or failure of a student should be viewed from all the angles.

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

Monday 29•05•2017

EntErtainmEnt

Dr. Benny Prasad spreads gospel through music in Dimapur

W

orld renowned musician Dr. Benny Prasad enthralled the youths of Chakhesang Baptist Church, Diphupar on May 27 evening at a programme organized

by The Harvest Ministries International and Cornerstone Community Church, Dimapur in collaboration with Chakhesang Baptist Dr. Benny Prasad Benny along with his wife Zan- Church, Diphupar.

Benny along with his wife Zanbeni Prasad Odyuo performing at the Chakhesang beni Prasad Odyuo performed variBaptist Church, Diphupar on Saturday evening.

ous songs and instrumentals. After each piece, he shared his life experience thus entertaining as well as enriching the youths with the word of God, stated a press release.

Benny, addressing hundreds of young people, recollected God had told him even though everyone says he is useless, he (God) still needs him. At first he did not understand how God would need a “useless” person, but he accepted Christ and his life changed forever, Benny revealed.

Bipasha to sponsor a paraathlete for 2020 Paralympics

B

C M Y K

ipasha Basu Singh Grover is known for her love of fitness, but it’s not common knowledge that the actor religiously follows the Olympics and Paralympics tournaments, and is keen on lending her support to Indian sportsmen.

Now, it seems the actor has decided to sponsor an Indian para-athlete for the upcoming Summer Paralympics 2020, which will be held in Tokyo, Japan.

According to a source, Bipasha would provide the required training facilities and a dietician to help the athlete prepare for the Paralympics. “Bipasha’s noble gesture will help an aspiring and hardworking athlete to prepare for the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo.

She is keen on sponsoring one of the athletes, and she wants them to be trained well. The athlete would be a runner, and the actor will soon announce their name on her social media account,” says a source. Bipasha was not available for a comment.

The actor, who was last seen in the movie Alone alongside Karan Singh Grover, is currently promoting her fashion label - The Label Life.

Source: Hindustan Times

Miranda Kerr Marries Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel

I

t’s official. Miranda Kerr and Evan Spiegel are now husband and wife.

As reported by People Magazine, the couple tied the knot before family and friends at their home in Brentwood, California. According to a source, “It was a small intimate wedding.” The source also told that there were around 40 guests present at the ceremony. The wedding and the reception were intimate but lavish and classy.

“For a small wedding, it has been a huge production. The wedding and reception are intimate, but lavish and classy.

Miranda has been very involved. She has great taste and knew exactly what she

wanted. She is very sweet. She is ecstatic to marry Evan.,” the source added.

The supermodel and the Snapchat CEO first met at a Louis Vuitton dinner in 2014, and were spotted out together in L.A. in June 2015. The Aussie model announced that she was engaged to the tech mogul in June of last year after one year of dating. This marks the second marriage for Kerr, who was previously married to Orlando Bloom for three years. They married in 2010 and subsequently split up in October of 2013. The two have one child together, a son named Flynn.

Source: ANI

The musician went on the say that at the age of 15, on the first day, his music teacher told him not to come back as he had no musical talent at all. He was thrown out of school in his 10th standard, but today they call him back to inspire the students.

“Nagas focus too much on education level, but bear fewer fruits,” he observed. Stating that Naga people study for the sake of getting a degree, Benny said, “We have enough of examples who have a degree but are still jobless.” He further sought

the attention of the young people to have a purpose in life.

Meanwhile, he lamented that with education “we are unable to lower our pride to do smaller things.”

He encouraged the young people, “You have the knowledge, the degree; all you need is passion and purpose.”

On pursuing their passion, he said, “You need to prove your passion to your parents that you are capable of so that those dreams can be ful-

filled…If I could be made useful, anyone in this world can. If my dreams can come true, yours can too.”

Benny is also planning to set up spoken English language training center in Nagaland, a training which can benefit the youths to get better jobs outside Nagaland.

Benny ended with playing ‘You raise me up’ on the panflute.

Benny and his wife are currently on North East India tour in six cities - Shillong, Imphal, Dimapur, Siliguri, Guwahati and Aizawl.

12

Monday 29•05•2017

SPORTS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Arsenal win record 13th FA Cup Vettel leads Ferrari 1-2 at Monaco

Arsenal players celebrate with the trophy after winning after winning the English FA Cup final soccer match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, May 27, 2017. Arsenal won 2-1. (AP Photo)

C M Y K

London, May 28 (aFP): Aaron Ramsey scored a 79th-minute header to earn Arsenal a stunning 2-1 win over Double-chasing Chelsea on Saturday and deliver embattled manager Arsene Wenger a record seventh FA Cup. Wenger has been barracked by his own fans and failed to secure Champions League qualification for the first time in 20 years, but he ends the season by surpassing Aston Villa's George Ramsey as the FA Cup's greatest manager.

Alexis Sanchez's early opener for Arsenal, allowed to stand despite an apparent handball, was cancelled out by Diego Costa, only for Ramsey to reply immediately with the

second FA Cup-winning goal of his career.

"This team has suffered," said Wenger. "They've united and responded. They showed strength and unity and played spectacular football today.

"I'm proud to have won seven of these cups."

Arsenal, plagued by defensive selection issues, claimed a third FA Cup win in four seasons and 13th in total, making them the outright most successful team in the competition's history ahead of Manchester United.

Antonio Conte's Chelsea, who had Victor Moses sent off after he received a second booking for diving, were thwarted in their attempt to complete a Premier League and FA Cup

Double for the second time.

It meant no glorious farewell for departing skipper John Terry, who bows out on 717 appearances and 17 major honours after spending the match on the bench.

"The first goal, the player had his hands attached to the ball with two hands," complained Chelsea manager Conte.

"There is disappointment for the final result, but our season was incredible."

Victory was rich vindication for Wenger, whose Arsenal future is due to be decided in a board meeting on Tuesday, and allowed him to salvage something from the most difficult season of his 21-year tenure.

He is reported to have been offered a two-year

contract and while dissent against him has mounted this season, the stirring nature of his side's win will surely have won back some of his team's disgruntled fans.

Ramsey told the BBC: "Of course I want him to stay at the club. He deserves this."

Arsenal took a fourthminute lead with a goal that will be debated long after the final whistle.

After blocking N'Golo Kante's attempted clearance on the edge of Chelsea's box, Sanchez ran through to skewer a shot past Thibaut Courtois, only for an offside flag to be raised against Ramsey.

Referee Anthony Taylor consulted his assistant referee before concluding,

correctly, that Ramsey had not been interfering with play, but replays showed Sanchez had handled the ball as he charged down Kante's clearance.

Arsenal's play brimmed with belief, Mesut Ozil forcing Gary Cahill to clear off his own line and Danny Welbeck and Ramsey hitting the same post in quick succession from a corner.

Chelsea stepped things up in the second half, with Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina foiling Kante and Moses and Pedro curling narrowly wide.

But Arsenal continued to threaten on the break and in the 68th minute the momentum tilted yet further in their direction.

Already booked for holding back Welbeck on the touchline, Moses was shown a second yellow card for hurling himself to the ground in the Arsenal box in anticipation of an Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain challenge that never came.

Despite going a man down, Chelsea contrived to equalise in the 76th minute when Costa chested down substitute Willian's pass before beating Ospina with the aid of a slight deflection off Mertesacker.

But Wenger reacted by sending on Olivier Giroud and within a minute of coming on for Welbeck, he crossed from the byline on the left and Ramsey charged in to net the winner with a stooping header.

Ospina thwarted Costa and Ozil hit the post after cutting inside Cesar Azpilicueta, but just as in the 2014 final against Hull City, Ramsey's goal was to prove the winner.

"I've got the winner again," smiled the Welshman. "I love this competition."

MonaCo, May 28 (aP): Sebastian Vettel beat his Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen to win the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday and comfortably extend his lead at the top of the standings to 25 points.

It was the four-time F1 champion’s third win of the season and 45th of his career, as well as Ferrari’s first in Monaco since Michael Schumacher — Vettel’s childhood idol — in 2001.

“Unbelievable. It was a very tense race,” Vettel said. “It’s very, very special to win here. We’re going to have a very fun night.”

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo finished third, ahead of Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas.

It was a bad weekend for Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton — who is second behind Vettel in the standings — finishing seventh after starting from 13th following a poor qualifying session.

Vettel let out a whoop of delight and thanked his team in Italian after crossing the finish line with bright sunshine gleaming off the famed red of Ferrari. As the German national anthem played, Vettel stood atop the podium with his eyes closed as he sang along.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fifth, ahead of Spanish driver Carlos Sainz Jr. Raikkonen started from pole position for the first time in nine years, with Vettel joining him on the front row.

Both made a clean start, with Vettel holding off Bottas heading into the first corner.

After Raikkonen and Bottas had come in for a tire change a few laps earlier, Vettel changed halfway through the 78-lap race.

When he came back out, Vettel was in front of Raikkonen while Ricciardo — sec-

ond here last year — had jumped ahead of Bottas.

It seemed to be a case of the Ferrari team giving preferential treatment to Vettel, because it looked like Raikkonen came in too early.

“I got the bad end of the story today,” Raikkonen said. “It’s still second place but it doesn’t count a lot in my books at least.”

Vettel sympathized.

“I came out ahead of Kimi and I was surprised myself, but I’ll take it,” Vettel said. “We get along well and I can understand Kimi’s not totally happy today. I can understand why he’s upset. Obviously it’s a bad surprise when somebody comes out ahead.”

Whatever the strategy was, Ferrari will not mind after securing maximum points and seeing Mercedes fail to make the podium.

The race was held up for a few laps near the end after German driver Pascal Wehrlein crashed near the tunnel.

British driver Jenson Button — back for one race only — appeared to cause the clash, edging his McLaren too close to Wehrlein’s Sauber as they turned toward the tunnel entry.

The nose of Button’s car flipped Wehrlein’s car onto its side and up against the barrier. The German driver appeared unharmed and jumped out moments later.

With the drivers trundling behind the safety car, Marcus Ericsson somehow crashed his Sauber and McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne imitated him moments later.

The safety car came out again briefly with a handful of laps to go after Russian Daniil Kvyat became the latest to lose control of his car in a frantic finish to the race.

Kerber in historic loss, tearful Kvitova returns

Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova reacts during her first round match against USA's Julia Boserup. (Reuters Photo)

Paris, May 28 (aFP): Angelique Kerber became the first top seed to lose in the opening round at Roland Garros on Sunday as tearful Petra Kvitova swept to victory in her first match since surviving a knife attack which almost ended her career.

German world number one Kerber dropped serve six times on her way to a 6-2, 6-2 defeat to Russia's Ekaterina Makarova.

Before this year, the earliest exits suffered by a top seed in Paris came in the second round -- Justine Henin in 2004 and Serena

Williams in 2014.

"At the end of the match, it was really tough as I knew she wouldn't give it to me -- I had to win it," said Makarova, a former semi-finalist at the Australian and US Opens.

It was the second successive first round exit at

Roland Garros for Kerber, the reigning US Open champion -- last year, she fell to unseeded Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova downed outclassed Julia Boserup of the United States 6-3, 6-2, falling to her knees in celebration in the moment of victory before weeping at the net.

"I'm really glad to have made the decision to play here," said 27-year-old Kvitova, who was seriously hurt when she fought off a knifewielding burglar at her home in the eastern Czech town of Prostejov in December.

"I won the match today but I knew I had already won," she added in reference to the initial nightmare scenario in which she feared she'd lose the fingers on her left playing hand.

Kvitova, the 15th seed and a semi-finalist in Roland Garros in 2012, fired nine aces and 31 winners past Boserup, making her debut at the tournament at the age of 25.

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