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SaturDaY • MaY 07 • 2016
DIMAPUR • Vol. XI • Issue 124 • 12 PAGes • 5
T H e
ESTD. 2005
Principles have no real force except when one is well-fed Easterine Kire on Books and Writing from the Heart… PaGE 11
P o W e R
o F
T R u T H
— Mark Twain
ZPC academic building inaugurated
Sturridge sets up Liverpool date with Sevilla in Europa final
PaGE 02
PaGE 12
opposition courts arrest as congress attacks centre
An elderly woman warms herself by the fire as she prepares food at a village 20kms away from Mokokchung Town. (Photo by Manen Aier)
reflections
By Sandemo Ngullie
What kind of veteran politician are you huh? Just hang the graph upside down. See, that’s how you bring corruption down by 99%.
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May permit statelevel exam for medical college admissions: SC New Delhi, May 6 (iaNS): The Supreme Court on Friday said the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for medical admissions will continue but it may permit a state-level common entrance test (CET) for admission to government medical colleges only. However, this will be subject to the stand to be spelt out by the central government on Monday. Making it clear that there would be no exemption for private medical colleges from NEET, a bench of Justice Anil R. Dave, Justice Shiva Kirti Singh and Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel indicated that it may permit CET for government medial college admissions after Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar said state education ministers were slated to meet central authorities during the weekend on the issue. “They want to resolve the issue one way or the other,” he told the court. Adjourning the hearing till 2 p.m. on Monday when the central government will apprise the court of the outcome of the meeting with state ministers, the court also sought a response if candidates who had appeared in the first phase of NEET on May 1 could be allowed to reappear in the NEET second phase on July 24 after foregoing NEET-I.
Nagaland Police receives smart policing award
DiMaPUR, May 6 (MexN): The Nagaland State Police today received a national level award for smart policing. The State Police’s SMS based Vehicle Monitoring System bagged the National Award for Smart Policing instituted by Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), under the Road Safety and Traffic Management category. It was presented to the Nagaland Police by Minister for State for Home Affairs, Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary in a function held at FICCI Auditorium in New Delhi on Friday. The award was received by Dr. KPA Ilyas, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone 2, Dimapur Police. The Minister highlighted the need for technology upgradation to meet the security challenges and also to be sensitive to the citizens at the grass-root level. He also highlighted the concept of Smart Policing to meet the emerging challenges. The jury for the awards was chaired by former Home Secretary, GK Pillai. Manjari Jaruhar, former Special DG, Central Industrial Security Force; N Ramachandran, former DGP Meghalaya; Alok Bansal, Direc-
tor, India Foundation; and Milan Narendra, Director, Government Advisory Services, EY were the other members of the jury. Nagaland Police was among the six state police departments selected, for making presentations on the best smart policing initiatives across the country after the award ceremony. The SMS based Vehicle Monitoring System was conceived by the Nagaland State Police Department and executed by Ben Imchen, a post graduate from IIT Delhi and proprietor of Elysium Enterprises .The project was launched in April last year and has resulted in substantial reduction in the theft of four wheelers across the state. Also, more than 100 vehicles have been recovered so far using the application. It provides an easy platform for policemen and citizens to report vehicle theft and alert the various field formations of police across the state through sending one SMS. It also provides an easy and instant access to police to the various official repositories of vehicular data that enables police personnel in the field to verify the genuineness of the vehicle documents in a matter of seconds.
New Delhi, May 6 (iaNS): Facing charges of corruption, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday took to the streets to accuse the government of working under RSS’ diktat and pledged that her party won’t be cowed down. Addressing thousands of supporters in the heart of the capital, Gandhi along with former prime minister Manmohan Singh and her son and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi also courted arrest. “A strong message should go from here and it must be heard not only by those in from Raisina Hill but those also in Nagpur, on whose directions the (Narendra) Modi government is functioning,” she thundered. Gandhi’s reference to the Prime Minister’s Office at Raisina Hill and the seat of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh headquarters in Nagpur. Amid incessant shouting of “Sonia Gandhi Zindabad!”, she said the way the Modi government “is betraying the mandate of people, it appears their days are over”. In her around 15-minute speech in Hindi from a makeshift platform, the Congress president made no reference by name to the AgustaWestland chopper deal which the government is using to charge her and the earlier Congress regime with corruption. “I want to caution the government that they should not make the mistake of considering the Congress weak,” she said. “The Congress will never bend to injustice. “Any number of attempts may be made to scare us, to defame us. We are not going to bend. Life has taught me to struggle. “We have always faced challenges. If some think it is easy to push the Congress from the path of saving democracy, they don’t know what stuff we are made of,” she added to thunderous applause. She said fear was being created among minorities and the society was being divided in the name of language, dress code and food habits. “Atrocities are being committed
Battling Cancer: A Story of Hope Vishü Rita Krocha Dimapur | May 6
On May 12, 2014 at just 35 years old, Cheryl Kire Achumi’s life took a different turn when she underwent lumpectomy, a minor operation to remove a lump on her breast. Her biopsy report that came a few days later revealed that it was ‘carcinoma breast’ and her mind went blank as she recalled. It was cancer. But her faith in God and her fierce determination to live saw her through the most painful ordeal of her treatment, which she began at Tata Medical Center Kolkata. During her 8-month treatment, she underwent 2 operations, 6 rounds of chemotherapy, 15 sessions of radiotherapy and endless tests. When she completed her treatment on December 24, 2014, Cheryl Kire Achumi emerged victorious in her battle against cancer. “Nowadays, I still have to go for checkups and perform tests every 6 months. Blood test, mammography, ultrasound, MRI have become a part of my life and yet, every time the results are the same: No sign of cancer in my body. I am now cancer free”, she conveyed. Even during the initial period of her treatment, she recalled with gratitude that God had already healed and blessed her with two sons after being childless for 6 years of her marriage. “I did not panic, I did not feel fear. The first thing I did was I did not re-
Cheryl Kire Achumi
ceive the cancer. You see, it was not mine, it did not belong to me,” she enunciated as she strongly felt that death and life are in the power of the tongue. When she and her husband informed their family about the report, they also made it clear that they would not listen to any negative words, no crying and certainly no piteous looks. She revealed that her period of treatment was filled with agony. “My body hurt everywhere; there was not one spot on my body that didn’t ache. Chemotherapy side effects were horrible! Due to weakness and low immunity, all types of sickness and infections started attacking my body. Many days I cried, some days I could laugh. Sometimes I could eat properly, other times even swallowing water was agony. I couldn’t hold my children, I couldn’t love my husband, I couldn’t read my Bible. Some days I didn’t
even want to pray,” she recalled. In the midst of all this, she remembered how much it hurt to stay away from her young sons, who were still babies while she was undergoing treatment. But on days when the chemo side effects would cease, she said, she did her best to continue doing as much as she could physically - cooking, cleaning and caring for the boys. The greatest challenge for her was however staying positive and cheerful in front of her family, and not letting them see her in pain. “I refused to lie down and stare at the fan. I was healed and decided to act it. So I kept myself busy with the house, gardening, knitting, and even read”, she firmly stated. Through it all, Cheryl said, God gave her strength and surrounded her with a great support group while also adding, “My husband and family showered
unconditional love, my friends and church stood by me with soft encouragement and strong prayer.” Although there was no cancer hospital in Nagaland when she started her treatment, she is happy that Nagaland now has the Eden Medical Centre, a dedicated cancer research hospital with top class equipments and facilities and also CIHSR where she was administered for most of her chemo cycles. And to those who are going through the same situation, she says: “I feel it all begins and ends in your mind. What you give power to has power over you if you allow it.” As for her, she chose life. “God did not bless me with a loving husband and 2 miracle sons just to let me die. No! I believe He has plans for me. I thank God for His grace that covers me during this amazing journey called life. I want to encourage you to never ever give up hope. If God could do it for me, He will certainly do it for you”, she emphasized. Cheryl Kire Achumi, who pursued Hospitality Management, previously worked in hotels, telecommunication providers, management institutes, educational institutes and operated a service apartment. Cancer, she said was a big wake up call for her to change her lifestyle habits. To this, she added, “Now I eat healthier, exercise often, don’t harbor grudges and most importantly, enjoy every moment of every single day with my family.”
Congress party president Sonia Gandhi (C), former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (blue turban) and Congress party vice president Rahul Gandhi (top-C) take part in what the party calls as a “Save Democracy” march to parliament in New Delhi, May 6. (REUTERS)
against students. Anyone who does not agree to them faces the music. “They must understand... The day the threshold of tolerance is breached, the masses will teach them a lesson.” Attacking the government for ousting the Congress government in Uttarakhand, she said the forest fires in the hill state could not be controlled in time as “there was no government”. “Modi and his political advisors call themselves a social organisation. What do they know about people’s woes? Whatever may happen to democracy, their only goal is to see that everything remains in their grip.” She accused the Modi government of making baseless allegations against its opponents to hide its own failures. Rahul Gandhi, the first among the major speakers, accused the Modi government of destabilising Congress governments in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. “Today, in India, the voice of only two people are heard, Narendra Modiji and Mohan Bhagwatji,” he said, referring to the prime minister and the RSS chief. Manmohan Singh - who looked
physically weak - spoke on similar lines after Rahul Gandhi, accusing the BJP of demolishing democratic structures. Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi then courted arrest after being stopped by police from carrying out a march to Parliament barely one kilometer away. The show of strength by the Congress came on a day Lok Sabha took up discussion on the AgustaWestland chopper deal. Soon after Sonia Gandhi finished her speech, Congress workers sought to march towards Parliament by breaking the police barricades. Police sought to push back Congress activists so that the security cordon around Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh was not broken. In the melee, the name tags of some policemen came off their uniform. Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury climbed the grill outside the Parliament Street police station. Police said Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Manmohan Singh were released after about 30 minutes. Several other party leaders including A.K. Antony, Ambika Soni, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Jyotiraditya Scindia also courted arrest.
12, 966 sq km total forest cover in nagaland state
Forest cover in Nagaland. As of 2015, Nagaland recorded a forest cover of 12, 966 sq Km, accounting for 78.20 per cent of the total geographical area of the state.
Our Correspondent Kohima | May 6
The total forest cover in the state of Nagaland as of 2015 is around 12, 966 sq Km, accounting for 78.20 per cent of the total geographical area of the state. As per the Indian State of Forest Report 2015, this constitutes 52 per cent of the total area reported for different land utilization in the state. The forest cover of Nagaland has been classified on the basis of the canopy density into pre-defined class viz: Very Dense Forest (VDF), Moderately Dense Forest (MDF) and Open Forest (OF). The tree cover of the state is estimated to be 381 sq km, which is 2.29 per cent of the geographical area. The report stated that the recorded forest of Na-
galand is classified into Reserve Forest, Protected Forest and Un-classed Forest. As per records available, recorded forest in the state covers 55.62 per cent of state’s geographical area. Out of the total recorded forest area of 9222 sq Km, reserve forest in the state constitutes 0.93 per cent, protected forests 5.51 per cent and un-classed forest constitutes 93.56 per cent. Nagaland has one National Park and three Wildlife Sanctuaries covering 222 sq Km, which constitutes 1.34 per cent of state’s geographical area. Area- wise, Tuensang district (including Longleng and Kiphire) has the largest forest cover (4, 228 sq Km) in the state followed by Kohima district (including Peren) (3,283 sq Km) and Phek district (2, 026 sq.
km). In terms of percentage of forest coverage, Kohima district (including Peren) recorded the highest coverage with 87.21 per cent and the lowest was Dimapur district (54.22 per cent) during 2015. Meanwhile, the Nagaland Economic Survey 2015-16 brought out by the States’ Economics & Statistics Department has cautioned over the adverse effects suffered by the forests of the state. “Unfortunately, over the years, degradation of forest and natural resources have been issues of concern primarily caused by unsustainable development practices, increase in population, migration, urbanization and increased used of forest products for economic activities,” the survey said.