November 20th 2014

C M Y K

www.morungexpress.com

Dimapur VOL. IX ISSUE 320

The Morung Express “

www.morungexpress.com

Life will always be to a large extent what we ourselves make it

Six die as Rampal remains elusive; aides, 425 supporters arrested [ PAGE 08]

”

No date for IS war vote as Congress waits on Obama

Nursing Sisters and Staff Nurse called to join agitation

[ PAGE 09]

[ PAGE 07]

[ PAGE 2]

In India, Latrines Are Truly Lifesavers

C M Y K

Thursday, november 20, 2014 12 pages Rs. 4 –Samuel Smiles

Chennaiyin beats Pune City; Goes top of ISL [ PAGE 12]

repeal ‘license to kill’

reflections

By Sandemo Ngullie

‘AFSPA is undeniably and unjustly, a racist law which demeans our very existence as human beings’ Vibi Yokha

Kohima | November 19

What a lousy patch work.

You would think they copied my shirt.

The Morung Express POLL QUESTIOn

Vote on www.morungexpress.com SMS your answer to 9862574165 Is the Nagaland media strengthening transparency in public affairs?

Yes

no

Others

DAN government is stable: CL John Our Correspondent Kohima | November 19

Minister for Rural Development & REPA CL John today categorically said that the DAN government is stable, saying that there is no crisis within the Ministry. He asked the people to desist from believing in rumors, terming them as cheap propaganda. John further said the DAN government under Nagaland CM TR Zeliang will run smoothly till 2018, while speaking at the inauguration of BDO and District Planning Machinery Cell office, Kohima here today.

Acknowledging Nagaland’s financial crunch at present, John however assured that the state’s financial position would be okay when 14th Finance Commission takes place. He also expressed confidence that the state would get sufficient funds by April 2015.

Hindi teachers ‘postpone’ agitation

C M Y K

DIMAPUR, NOVEMBER 19 (MExN): Representatives of the aggrieved Hindi teachers have agreed to ‘postpone’ their agitation on conditions that “as soon as the fund is released from the MHRD, their pending salary be paid in the 5th ROP, while the 6th ROP is under preparation in accordance with the official process in their respective service books.”

An “agreement,” a copy of which was made available to the media, was signed to this end on November 19. The “agreement” was signed by Convener for the aggrieved Hindi teachers, Toinato Aye; Executive Member, Loise Sangtam and Director for School Education, Zaveyi Nyekha and Additional Director, Pollem Tep. Representatives of the aggrieved Hindi teachers agreed to assurance from the Director of the School Education Department for “providing their 6th ROP effective from 1.4.2014 with arrears.”

Indian school children participate in a rally to mark World Toilet Day in Hyderabad, Wednesday, november19. India is considered to have the world’s worst sanitation record despite spending some $3 billion since 1986 on sanitation programs, according to government figures. U.N. figures show of India’s 1.2 billion people, 665 million, mostly those in the countryside, don’t have access to a private toilet or latrine, something taken for granted in developed nations. (AP Photo)

ebola: india says situation under control

NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 19 (PTI): A day after the first Ebola case was reported in India, health minister J P Nadda on Wednesday said arrangements similar to the one at Delhi airport, which helped detect the virus in a man returning from Liberia, have been put in place at 24 airports and stressed the situation was under “complete control”.

The detection of the virus in the 26-year-old man, who reached here on November 10, was a result of “extra caution” shown by the government, he told reporters. “Due to its extra caution, the health ministry tested body fluids of the man even after his blood tested negative for Ebola. I want to say the situation is under complete control. We have similar arrangements at 24 airports across the country,” he told reporters.

Airports in India should adhere to standard protocols to counter Ebola NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 19 (IANS): Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda Wednesday directed the civil aviation regulator to ensure that all the isolation and quarantine facilities set up at airports adhere to standard guidelines and protocols.

Besides instructing the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the minister also said a three-member team constituting officials from the ministries of health, civil aviation and immigration will be constituted to inspect all airports to identify the gaps and will submit a report on the issue within a week.

Emphasising the importance of alertness, Nadda said attention should be

The tour and medical history of passengers are being checked at airports, he said. The man will remain quarantined at a special facility at Delhi airport so long as medical reports

paid to intensive training and capacity building of all stakeholders to be better equipped to address the threat posed by the Ebola virus.

“Along with the airports, surveillance at sea ports also need to be strengthened,” Nadda said. “The health ministry stressed the health ministry officials to expedite the action plan to make India compliant with the core capacities required under the International Health Regulations.”

Nadda also urged the hospitals to develop short- and long-term strategies for medical management of emerging diseases such as Ebola.

confirm that he is completely rid of the virus. The man was treated for Ebola in Liberia and carried certificate from authorities there that he was cured of it. The ministry had said the man

was already treated for the deadly disease in the African country and carried no symptoms but tests of his semen samples were positive, prompting authorities to put him under isolation.

“If this (AFSPA) is not statesponsored terrorism, what is it?” asks noted Naga writer Kaka D. Iralu, a question he has been asking in talks and discussions on AFSPA for years. Iralu repeats this question again during the North East Consultation on Human rights soliciting peoples’ opinion on Armed Forces Special Powers Act which was organized by the North East Students Organisation (NESO) and hosted by the Naga Students Federation (NSF) on November 19.

The “most horrendous Act” which the Indian Government imposed on its own citizen, in its civilian areas, Iralu introduced the participants to the history of the implementation of AFSPA, saying the whole point will be missed if one does not understand the political background of AFSPA. AFSPA came into existence in a situation of war, in the context of the Indo-Naga war.

“Instead of promulgating laws for the protection of its citizens, the government has sanctioned the army to shoot its own citizens even on mere suspicion. In other words, AFSPA is a regulation promulgated to protect the lives of the protectors of the country from any danger coming from the citizens that they are supposed to protect,” states the writer.

Spanning over 56 years now in the name of national security, the draconian Act committed atrocities ranging from murders to mass rapes. “What is the relation between rape and national security?” questioned Secretary General, NESO, Siram Prakash.

“AFSPA is undeniably and unjustly, a racist law which demeans our very existence as human beings,” stated Zakie Khate, President ASU who views that

Resolutions adopted

• To strongly condemn the discriminatory and racist nature of AFSPA, particularly in its implementation in Nagaland • To demand repeal of AFSPA and to call upon all NE people to unite on this call • To sensitize NE students on human rights consequences of the prolonged imposition of AFSPA in the region • To pressure Members of Parliament from NE to raise the issue to repeal AFSPA in the parliament during the forthcoming winter session • To organize a protest rally at New Delhi under NESO • To ensure that the issue of AFSPA’s repeal is in the list of NESO’s priorities

the Act should be imposed in Indian cities where racial attacks are extreme.

The Act which is imposed against its own citizens, moves away from what the country defines democracy, said Kshetrimayu Onil, Lead Coordinator of Reachout, adding that the first hand brutal atrocities of AFSPA was experienced in Nagaland. “AFSPA tries to justify militarisation. It’s not about security, it’s about militarisation of the entire NE land. Resource extraction is one key element for the Government of India to impose AFSPA,” added Onil. Affirming that the fight against AFSPA needs to be a collaborated effort Onil appealed for a strong network of NE alliance for repealing the Act. Present at the consultation was South Korean Activist Hyean Seok Noh, who cited the similarity between the Korean martial law and AFSPA, where in the 1950s, the Korean Martial law violated “any and all kinds of human rights.”

Regretting that human rights concerns are not addressed to the younger generation, Kezhazer Angami, former AYO President, voiced the need to inculcate Human Rights courses in educational textbooks.

Despite several protests against AFSPA in the different corners of NE, Delhi will

not have the slightest inclination to our voices, points out Kezhazer. And with more than four lakhs NE people in Delhi, Kezhazer suggested that protests be held in India’s capital.

Kaka D. Iralu also implied on a collective agitation, more meetings and discussions, conferences and interactions to give momentum in repealing the Act. Medo Yhokha, AYO President who moderated the discussion urged the need to come together as a region and put up our grievances together and more importantly to push aside the conflicts within the NE states.

Youngsters need to be made aware of the Act said Tongpang Ozukum, NSF President who also suggested for mobilization of the entire NE. While Kelhouneizo Yhome, former NSF President suggested on the need for frequent communication with Human Rights activists and the need for mass based support.

In early September, Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Home Affairs remarked that AFSPA cannot be settled in a jiffy. However, over the 56 years of imposing the Act which gives armed forces the license to kill, thousands were killed in a ‘jiffy’ while the killers were led free. If this is not state-sponsored terrorism, then what is?

‘Nagaland govt adamant & casual’ Assam-Nagaland CS meet to defuse tension along border

ANSTA, NSEAOA, NSSFOF cautions statewide ‘total cease work’protest

DIMAPUR, NOVEMBER 19 (MExN): The All Nagaland School Teachers Association (ANSTA), the Nagaland School Education Administrative Officers Association (NSEAOA) and the Nagaland Secondary School Field Officers Forum (NSSFOF) have censured the failure of the Nagaland state government to address their grievances regarding the Nagaland School Education Department.

The organizations informed that a joint meeting, held on November 19, resolved to allow the state government seven days to fulfill the demands. Failure on the government’s part to act, they cautioned, would compel the associations to observe a statewide “total cease work.” In a letter to the Parliamentary Secretary for School Education, the associations lamented that despite “repeated requests” for necessary redressal, the Nagaland state government “remains adamant and too casual towards our genuine grievances.”

The letter reminded that at the Cimorb Hotel

meeting on September 2 (which was convened for the said case for the second time), the Nagaland state government had sought more time to re-examine the promotion order of excadre officers to the post of Additional Director. A time period of two months was given, which expired on November 2, it informed.

However, it lamented that despite the lapse of two months since the meeting, “nothing has been initiated so far.”

It further stated that the three constituent associations had on “various occasions” requested the state government to provide two Directors for Elementary and Secondary education on the basis of the number of schools and employees.

The letter informed that Elementary and Secondary Education has 2045 GPS, 961 GMS and 252 GHS against the 41 GHSS. Despite several rounds of talks on the matter, it stated that the government is “just going ahead with its proposal of proposing one Director for 41 GHSS and denying two Directors for Elementary & Secondary Education comprising of 3258 Schools.”

In view of Nagaland Retirement Act 2009, the letter

further stated that “many officers have retired in the department and resultant vacancies need to be filled up immediately.” To this end, it informed that the associations have been insisting on the state government to “fill up the vacancies through promotion.” However, it lamented that till date “none of the vacancies have been filled up, despite many officers in the department with promotions due over a long period of time.”

In order to ensure a “peaceful working environment” at schools as well as at the district levels, the constituent associations had also asked for proper distribution of assignments. They had requested that the Principals and DDEOs be assigned to look after the matter relating to the higher secondary section and Headmasters and DEOs to be assigned to look after the matter pertaining to secondary section.

However, it noted that “so far nothing has been done in this regard.”

The associations urged for immediate action and cautioned that the concerned authority would be held “solely responsible for any untoward incident likely to take place due to the cease work.”

GUWAHATI, NOVEMBER 19 (PTI): Chief Secretaries of Assam and Nagaland today agreed to take all steps to defuse the tension and maintain peace in the area along the inter-state border and ensure that local disputes are dealt with speedily.

Assam Chief Secretary Jitesh Khosla and his Nagaland counterpart Toshi Aier held a meeting here and discussed prevailing law and order situation along the inter-state bor-

der and ways for restoring peace and harmony.

In the meeting, they agreed that all steps would be taken to defuse the tension along the region.

The chief secretaries agreed that the local disputes should not be linked with the border-related issues between the two states currently under the consideration of the Supreme Court, an official statement said. Principal Secretary Home and Political De-

partment of Assam MGVK Bhanu briefed the meeting held in the secretariat about the prevailing law and order situation following the incident of November 13 in Uriam Ghat area in Golaghat District of the state.

In this incident, one person was killed and three others injured by miscreants/suspected militants while they were harvesting crops in the area. Nearly 200 persons were forced to seek shelter in relief camps,

the statement said.

Revenue Commissioner and Secretary G D Tripathi informed about the identification of the border between the two states in light of the recent ruling of the Supreme Court in the matter. Today’s meeting was held in pursuance of the decision taken during the meeting of Union Home Minister Rajnath Minister with the Chief Ministers of both the States on October 27 last at New Delhi.

DMC employees threaten agitation DIMAPUR, NOVEMBER 19 (MExN): The Dimapur Municipal Council Employees Welfare Union (DMCEWU) has threatened the resumption of its agitation if the government did not fulfill its demand for allowing its staff to collect toll taxes.

At present, tolls are being collected by lessees approved by the government and the license expires on November 30. The Union has demanded that from December onwards, the DMC staff should be allowed to collect toll taxes as there was capable and enough employee strength to carry out the tax collection. The Union further claims that it would be able to collect more amount than when the collection is being leased out.

Interacting with visiting media persons, the DMCEWU office bearers said that its Union was able to collect more amounts of toll taxes than those who have been leased out by the government during the same period of time. Elaborating on it, DMCEWU General Secretary, T. Revo Anar and Vice President, Inaka informed that during the intervening period from September 21, 2013 to November 30, 2013, the Union collected an amount of Rs. 1,19,78,510 (One Crore Nineteen Lacs Seventy Eight Thousand Five Hundred and Ten). However, an amount of Rs. 50, 53, 066 (Fifty Lacs Fifty Three Thousand and Sixty Six) was collected during the same period of time when it was leased out to

third parties. As such, the DMC lost an amount of Rs 69, 25, 444/- approximately, they added.

The Union also said that the existing policy of awarding collection of toll tax to the lessees without inviting open tender was not only depriving the DMC from getting its actual revenue earnings but also did not reveal transparency.

The Union said that it has written several times to the Government on the same issue but were only given verbal assurance without implementation. “If the Government does not consult the DMC while re-issuing rights for collecting tolls, then there is no way out but to resume our agitation,” the Union office bearers maintained.

C M Y K

C M Y K

2

Dimapur

Thursday

LocaL

20 November 2014

ances despite having made several appeals of its demands. Their demands include introduction of two distinct channels in the functions of the staff nurses. The second one was related to Irregularities in manner of promotion of only B.Sc. Nursing Staff Nurses/Diploma holders as there was no promotion scope for the General Nursing Staff Nurses.

The nurses have demanded gradation on the analogy of the typists, stenographers etc in Nagaland should be granted to the general nursing staff nurses,

NSNA president Catherine tered nurses/ midwives, added in the release. who are members of NSNA Wokha Unit to adhere with Wokha and Phek the decision made by the association. unit to join stir The Wokha Unit of the The Nagaland Staff Nagaland Staff Nurse As- Nurse Association (NSNA) sociation (NSNA) along Phek Unit has decided to go with all the district units on with the three (3) days will be observing mass ca- mass casual leave from Nosual leave from Novem- vember 24-26 agitation ber 24-26 as part of the 1st against non-fulfillment of phase agitation against the demand made by the non-compliance by the association. NSNA Phek State government to the de- unit President Visobeino in mands made by the NSNA. a press release informed all In this regard, the President the registered Staff Nurse of NSNA Wokha Unit, Nli- who was members of the lo and Secretary Erenbeni unit to adhere to the decision have informed all regis- made by the association.

Y K

Children participate in the celebration of Bal Swachtta Mission at Anganwadi centre –C , Peducha Village. The Department of Social Welfare, Nagaland is celebrating the ICDS week from November 14 to 19 with the theme “Bal Swatchhta Mission” throughout the state in all the 3455 Anganwadi Centre. Under this mission, six main themes are being observed in the anganwadi centres such as clean anganwadis, clean surroundings, clean self, clean drinking water and clean toilets.

RD minister inaugurates BDO & DPMC office Our Correspondent

Kohima | November 19

M Y K

C M

Nursing Sisters and Staff Nurse called to join agitation

Kohima, November 19 (mexN): The Nagaland staff nurse association (NSNA) has informed that the on call agitation of three-day mass casual leave from November 24 to 26 include Nursing Sisters of RNRM in the state.

In this regard, NSNA president Catherine in a press release asked all the Nursing Sisters and Staff Nurse without degree and diploma to adhere to the decision made by the association.

The nurses are protesting against department's failure to resolve griev-

C

The Morung Express

Minister for Rural Development and REPA C.L. John today inaugurated the Block Development Office (BDO) and District Planning Machinery Cell (DPMC) office, Kohima With this, two departments- BDO and DPMC office, located near DC office, will now be functioned in the same building which is found seldom in the state.

Speaking on the occasion, the minister thanked the contractor Vi-u Belho for enabling the departments to occupy the newly constructed building despite non-release of the bills by the government and acknowledged his (Belho) contribution to the government.

The minister also praised the workmanship of the building, maintaining that the building resemble a star hotel and asked the employees to keep it neat and clean to augment the prestige of the building.

Minister CL John at the inauguration of Block Development Office and District Planning Machinery Cell office, Kohima. (DIPR Photo)

He also urged upon the officers and staff to be punctual and sincere in their approach.

Stating that the planning department is like the head of the family as it determine the size of the planning process of all the departments, John was hopeful that planning department would give more funds to RD department.

He also acknowledged the initiatives of former minister for rural development Pangnyu Phom for taking up the project which has been completed suc-

cessfully.

Commissioner & secretary for rural development V.Sakhrie congratulated Vi-u Belho for completing the project successfully in time and called upon the departmental staff to render their best services for the upliftment of the rural people.

He said that the rural department and planning department has come together showing a classic example of convergence and synergy and stated that it should be an example for other departments to emulate. Rural development director Met-

subo Jamir said that this is probably the first building in the state which has been taken up as a joint venture by two departments.

Jamir commented on the ideal location of the building which would benefit the rural people and also encouraged the officers of both the departments to be effective.

Kohima deputy commissioner W.Honje Konyak congratulated all the departments concerned for their initiative.

He said that the Planning Department is the

Cell to monitor the workings of the DPDB while the Department of RD is to supervise and implement programmes through grass root planning.

He said that the departments should retrospect their achievements and also plan for their further challenges. Deputy development commissioner (Planning), Nosezol Charles expressed gratitude to the RD Department for spearheading the project. Contractor Vi-u Belho also spoke on the occasion.

Earlier, Atuo Whuorie, pastor BMC prayed for the programme while welcome address was delivered by Ketoho Luho, ADC Planning Kohima. Ayim Longchar presented special number.

The programme was chaired by DRDA Kohima project director Kevipodi Angami while vote of thanks was proposed

by Mhiesihulie Bizo, programme officer DRDA Kohima.

Mkg District level annual conference conducted

moKoKchuNg, November 19 (DiPr): The Mokokchung District level annual conference Cum Award Ceremony of HCMC, VHC and UHC for the year 2012-2013 was held at Onpangkong Salang in Arkong ward, Mokokchung on November 14. The chairman and secretaries of all the health units of Mokokchung district attended the conference.

Chief Medical Officer, Mokokchung, Dr. S.S. Akaba in his welcome address thanked all the chairman and secretaries of different health units in the district for attending the conference in spites of their busy schedules. He also urged the participants to know one’s responsibility and focus more on imparting awareness to the public in the health care delivery system.

The Guest of honour SDO Civil, Mokokchung, (Inputs from DIPR News) Lemlila Sangtam, gave

away the cash prizes and certificates to the best three performing SubCentres in the district. The first prize was awarded to Kinunger Sub-centre, second to Changtonya village sub-centre and third to Longkong sub-centre.

Dy. CMO and District Nodal Officer Dr. Kibang on communitization in his speech explained in detail about the do’s and don’ts of communitization activities with special reference to timely submission of SOE’s and Expenditure to be incurred as per government direction which is given in the sanction order. He also advised the committees to see that the ASHA’s stays in their village and performs their duty, and ensure that all the children in the village are properly immunized at the right time and all the pregnant women in the village receives their due ANC check up’s immunization and medications.

Fortnight’s observation of elimination Nagaland Community Conserved Areas Forum constituted of violence against women from Nov 25

C M Y K

Kohima, November 19 (mexN): As per United Nations declaration, the Nagaland State Commission for Women is launching the programme of “Fortnight’s observation of elimination of violence against women” from November 25 to December 10 on the theme “From peace in the home to peace in the world: Let’s challenge militarism and end gender- based vio-

lence!” at Dimapur Town Hall from 10:00 onwards.

Minister for social welfare Kiyanilie Peseyie will grace the occasion as the chief guest. The Commission requested two representatives from all apex tribal women Hohos/ organizations to attend the programme and collect materials like pamphlets, posters, banners, booklets etc after the programme from the venue

of the meeting for distribution and display of their respective districts/sub divisions. The Commission also invited 20 representatives from all tribal women units, five women leaders from all churches and DBs & GBs within Dimapur town.

This was stated in a release issued by Motsuthung Lotha, secretary Nagaland State Commission for Women.

Kohima village VDB building inauguration Kohima, November 19 (mexN): The Kohima Village VDB building will be inaugurated on November 20 at 11:00 AM at Ziekezou. The building will be inaugurated by rural development director Metsiibo Jamir. The function will be chaired by Pelhousenyii Linyii while welcome address will be delivered by Kohima Village Council chairman Neivor Rutsa.

VDB secretary John Sote will present a report while Ketseiu Solo will propose vote of thanks.

‘Night bazaar’ at Chumukedima Town DimaPur, November 19 (mexN): The first ‘night bazaar’ of Chumukedima Town will be organised jointly by Chumukedima Town Council, Chumukedima Chambers of Commerce & Trade Association, Chumukedima Town Youth Organisation and Chumukedima Town Students’ Union.

The night bazaar committee convener Thungbemo Patton in a press release stated that the event is organised with a motive to bring festive mood in the town, to give opportunity to all local entrepreneur and to procure/obtain benefit both the public as well as the local entrepreneur. The night bazaar will commence from December 17 to 21.

Business establishments in Chumu informed

Meeting in progress for constitution of Nagaland Community Conserved Areas Forum on November 19 in Kohima.

Kohima, November 19 (mexN): Representatives of Community Conserved Areas (CCAs) of Nagaland met here today at NEPED Office to consult on the formation of a forum of CCAs in Nagaland.

In September 2013, a group of CCAs had a consultative meet where the need of a common platform was first felt. Since then the group has met twice to have a threadbare discussion on various facets of a Forum.

In today’s meeting, the par-

ticipating CCAs formally resolved to form a Nagaland CCA forum and also constituted a coordination committee representing all districts of the state.

The participants decided on the criteria for membership of the forum and formed a five member group of office bearers to draft their constitution.

Delivering the keynote address, the team leader of NEPED and commissioner & secretary Menukhol John congratulated community

members for their pioneering conservation efforts and mentioned that a common forum could in future help influence policy decisions regarding conservation in the state.

In this meeting Khonoma CCA, Tzula Green Zone CCA, Mt Pauna CCA, Nanga Greener Zone CCA, Sendenyu CCA, PKR CCA, Totsü- Phiro CCA, Saramati- Awung CCA, Kanglatu Chantongya CCA, Phom CCA, Ghosü Bird Sanctuary, Zanubu CCA, Zipuhu-

Meluri CCA and SAPO were present. Though YLK and Satoi CCA could not attend the meeting, they sent their consent to join the Forum.

The meeting was jointly facilitated by Nagaland Empowerment of People through Economic Development (NEPED) and Foundation for Ecological Security (FES). NEPED and FES have for the last three years collaboratively working towards strengthening the community conserved areas in the State.

C M Y K

C M Y K

DimaPur, November 19 (mexN): The Chumukedima Chamber of Commerce and Trade Association (CCCTA) has asked all the business establishments in and around Chumukedima Town to keep their respective establishment “properly painted, lighted and decorated” before the festive season. It further requested all the business establishments along the National Highway to keep the area along the road clean as the Prime Minister of India will be visiting Kohima shortly.

Also, all shops are to remain open on all Sundays during festive season, stated a press release issued by CCCTA general secretary, James Kin and president, Avi Case.

C

C

M

M

Y

Y

K

K

Floyd Hyundai showroom was inaugurated at Purana Bazar, East Dimapur by Tapan Kumar Ghosh, Zonal Manager EAST, Hyundai Motor India Ltd on Wednesday. (Morung Photo)

REgional

The Morung Express

Thursday

20 November 2014

President to visit Assam and Arunachal

12 AR personnel injured in militant attack in Manipur imPhAl, November 19 (PTi): At least 12 Assam Rifles personnel were injured in an IED attack by unidentified militants at Kambiron in Manipur's interior Tamenglong district, official sources said today. The incident took place yesterday when the security men were returning to the headquarters, the sources said quoting delayed reports from the district. The militants had exploded improvised explosive devices (IED), it said.

The injured were taken to the Army hospital at Leimakhong, about 25 km from here. The condition of six of the security men was stated to be serious by the hospital authorities.

663 committed suicide in nine years in Mizoram AizAwl, November 19 (iANS): At least 663 people have committed suicide over the past nine years in Mizoram, with depression identified as the main cause, a report said Wednesday. An Aizawl-based NGO, New Life Charity Society (NeLICS), recorded and analysed these deaths between September 2005 and October 2014. "The main cause of suicide in Mizoram is depression and the majority of the people who commit such acts belong to the youth category," Zawmsanga Sailo, NeLICS chairman, told reporters Wednesday. NeLICS records show most victims were between 15 and 45 years. Zawmsanga said: "Seventy-five percent of the suicides in the nine years were committed by males." The oldest person who committed suicide was an 86-yearold man while the youngest was an eight-year-old boy.

Extortionists overpowered by locals iTANAgAr, November 19 (PTi): Two extortionists were overpowered by locals in Papum Pare district of Arunachal Pradesh and handed over to the police.

They were arrested on Tuesday morning after the locals handed over to a police team. The duo, identified as Brasan Doimary and Alhen Doimary were demanding ransom in Tengabari area under Balijan police station, Papum Pare SP P N Khrimey said today. They were allegedly serving extortion notices to businessmen of the area. Brasan hails from Gohpur area while his accomplice Alhen was from Udalguri in neighbouring Assam, the SP said. State Home Minister Tanga Byaling Arunachal today lauded the public of Balijan for overpowering the extortionists with the help of local police. "Such steps would embolden police in controlling crimes," Byaling said and exhorted the civil society to inform the police in case of any extortion demand.

Surrendered militants launch hunger strike in Tripura AgArTAlA, November 19 (PTi): Peeved by government apathy, 26 surrendered militants have launched a hunger strike at Lachi Rehabilitation Camp in south Tripura's Santir Bazar sub-division, official sources said on Wednesday. The surrendered militants, who are undergoing vocational training, have been demanding BPL cards and loans from government departments. Having failed to draw the attention of administration, all inmates of the camp began hunger strike on their 20-point charter of demands on Tuesday. Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Uttam Mandal met the surrendered militants and appealed to them to withdraw their agitation. "I have requested them to roll back their hunger strike as the government is ready to consider their demands, whatever they have," the SDM said. According to rehabilitation agreement, all the surrendered militants have been provided a package comprising a fixed deposit of Rs 1.50 lakh and Rs 3,500 monthly stipend for each returnee. "If they need more assistance for rehabilitation, the administration will consider their demands so that they could lead a decent life," the SDM said.

guwAhATi/Dhubri, November 19 (PTi): Sahanur Alam, one of the main accused in the Burdwan blast case, gave police the slip in Assam's Dhubri district in the early hours today when an operation was launched to catch him.

However, two of his accomplices who are also his relatives, have been arrested, Dhubri SP M.N. Sarma said.

Sahanur fled around 2.30 AM on receiving information about a police team being present at Fakiraganj to apprehend him, Sarma said. The operation to catch him had been launched about three days ago following a tip off about that Sahanur was in hiding in the remote riverine area.

The area from where he fled shares borders with Meghalaya and Bangladesh and a search has been launched to trace him. His accomplices have been identified as Abdul Nur and Sahanur Ali, A woman walks after defecating on a railway track, on World Toilet Day in Gauhati, Assam on Wednesday, November 19. India is considered to have the world's the police officer said, addworst sanitation record despite spending some $3 billion since 1986 on sanitation programs, according to government figures. Building toilets in rural India, where ing the accused had taken hundreds of millions are still defecating outdoors, will not be enough to improve public health, according to a study published last month. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath) shelter in their house.

Gogoi-led government in trouble? guwAhATi, November 19 (AgeNCieS): The Tarun Gogoi-led Assam Government could be headed for troubled times.

According to BJP MLA from Kamalpur, Jadab Chandra Deka, Assam is headed for a mid-term election. The BJP legislator told a local television channel today that 20-odd Congress legislators

beiJiNg, November 19 (TNN): Japan may be walking out of the programme for building border roads in Arunachal Pradesh. An indication on this count was available on Tuesday when Chinese foreign ministry indicated it had sought a clarification from Japan about its road building plans in India.

"We inquired about the project," ministry spokesman Hong Lei asked in response to a question. "Japan clarified that its cooperation with India was not in the disputed border area."

The issue may have been discussed during the first meeting between Chinese president Xi Jinping and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing on November 10, sources said.

Reports in the Indian media earlier suggested that the government was keen to give Japan International

OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF POSTAL SERVICES NAGALAND: KOHIMA-797 001

Dated at Kohima the 19.11.2014

NOTIFICATION

In pursuance of Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Department of Posts, New Delhi the Gazette notification no. 486 dated 23rd Sept’ 2013, for proper posting of mails/ letters in Post Offices the necessary guidelines and information to general public, bulk mailers and stationary dealers is hereby published. *Specification (Size/Weight etc) of Mail Letter and Speed Post Mail Letter Letters Minimum Dimension (WxL) 90 x 140 with 2 MM Toler- mm ance in width & Length Thickness 0.15 mm (Un-Compressed) Weight 3.27 gm Paper 60 gsm Card 110 gsm Window paper 35 gsm

Speed Post Letter Maximum Letters Minimum Maximum 165 x 245 Dimension (WxL) 90 x 140 165 x 290 mm with 2 MM Toler- mm mm ance in width & Length 5 mm Thickness 0.15 mm 5 mm (Un-Compressed) 50 gm Weight 3.27 gm 50 gm 140 gsm Paper 60 gsm 140 gsm 500 gsm Card 110 gsm 500 gsm 80 gsm Window paper 35 sm 80 sm

*Address Format should be proper viz Incorrect AddressFirst Line - Shri. Neeraj Prakash Sharma Second Line - A-1/14, AdarshThird Line - Nagar, NajibabadForth Line - 246763, District Bijnor, UP Fifth Line - Ph. No.-0123456789

might be willing to join his party. If this were to happen, Gogoi’s government will be reduced to a minority. The Congress has 78 legislators in the 126-member assembly.

Congress Lok Sabha leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who was on a three-day visit to Guwahati earlier in June this year and had detailed discussions with all factions

of the party, is yet to submit his report to the party high command. It does seem like the party central leadership has been sitting on this which has left the rebels impatient.

These rebel Congress MLAs are already playing the role of a "constructive opposition" in the assembly.

If 20-such Congress MLAs shift to BJP, the state gov-

Japan walking out of road project in Arunachal?

DEPARTMENT OF POSTS: INDIA

NO.G-4/ Mails Standardization/2014

3

Burdwan blast accused gives police the slip

Northeast Briefs New Delhi, November 19 (iANS): President Pranab Mukherjee will visit Assam and Arunachal Pradesh Nov 20-21, it was announced Wednesday. On Thursday, the president will attend the 12th convocation of Tezpur University at Tezpur. The same evening, he will witness a cultural programme and receive a copy of the book, "Agnikanya Chandraprabha Saikiani", at the Tezpur University auditorium, an official statement said. The president will present the (President) Standard (Award) to 26 Squadron and 115 Helicopter Unit of the Indian Air Force at the air force station at Tezpur Friday. He will deliver the convocation address at the National Institute of Technology at Yupia in Arunachal Pradesh.

Dimapur

Correct Address:First Line - Shri. Neeraj Prakash Sharma Second Line - A-1/14, Adarshnagar Third Line - Najibabad Forth Line - District- Bijnor Fifth Line - UP-246763 Sixth Line - Ph. No.-0123456789 Sd/Suptd. of Post Offices (HQ) For Director of Postal services Nagaland: Kohima-797001

Corporration Agency (JICA) the contract to build the 1,800-km long border road passing through different states including Arunachal Pradesh, which is claimed by China. For obvious reasons, China has not been invited to handle this task.

There is no clarification yet from the Indian government about whether Japan wants to stay out of road building in the border area between India and China.

From China's viewpoint, road construction by a foreign company in

Arunachal Pradesh will legitimize India's claim over it. The situation would be similar to Chinese infrastructure building in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, which is claimed by India.

Beijing does not want to see this happen, sources said.

The new development will force India to review its program for border roads, sources said. Japanese companies are also competing with their Chinese counterparts for other Indian projects in the railway sector.

ernment will be in a crisis immediately. The worry for the Congress is that if Sarma actually manages to take 20odd MLAs along with him, the rebels won't face disqualification under the antidefection law as they would fulfil the one-third required to be considered a 'merger'.

Assembly polls are otherwise scheduled for 2016.

GOVERNMENT OF NAGALAND OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER ZUNHEBOTO: NAGALAND NO.LRG/SMV-20/2011/681

Dt, Zbto the 17th Nov’ 2014

PUBLIC NOTICE Whereas this office is in receipt of a representation from the Village Council, Momi under Satakha Sub Division in the district of Zunheboto for changing the nomenclature of their village from the existing "Momi Village" to "Old Satakha village", it is hereby notified that any individual or group of individuals may file objections, if any, in this regard, before the undersigned within a period of 30 (thirty) days from the date of publication of this notice.

No objection/ complaint whatsoever shall be entertained on expiry of the period specified.

(TEMSU LONGKUMER) DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, ZUNHEBOTO

Come oNe Come All Mega Jumble Sale, Raffle Draw, Food Stalls, Exciting Games and many more.

Naga Christian Fellowship Pune invites you to our Fundraiser in aid of Church building/ Naga Community Hall.

November 21st & 22nd 2014 from 11 AM to 7 PM Local Ground Kohima Items available: - Fruits and vegetables from Medziphema, Khonoma, Mao Gate, Wokha, Pfutsero, Khonoma, Phogobhoto, VK area, Longra village &Tuensang town - Local rice from Jalukie & Longra village, Tuensang Dist.

- Stingless bee honey from Phek & Kohima - Earthen pots from Ukhrul - Charcoal burner from Imphal - Christmas Decorations - Furniture, clothes, gadgets, flowers & more from Kohima & Dimapur Results of Raffle Draw will be announced on November 22nd at 3:30 PM

Come join us for a fun day with family and friends.

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

APO, AGOK, AMK, AYO & ASU FOR A CLEANER KOHIMA

Ref. NO/ORG.COMMTT/CONV-1/2014

Dated K’ma the 19th Nov’2014

PRESS RELEASE

In view of the Mass Social Work organized by the APO,AGOK, AMK, AYO & ASU which is scheduled to be held on 22nd November 2014 (Saturday) under the theme “For a Cleaner Kohima” from 6:50 am onwards, Works are distributed as mentioned below :Sl. No Jurisdiction Kicha/Wards Officials incharge 1 High School/Sec- Northern Angami N A P O / N A G O K / retariat Junction to N AW O / N AY O & TCP (Kohima War NASU• Cemetery) 2 Lerie to TCP (Kohi- Southern Angami S A P O / S A G O K / ma War Cemetery) SAWO/SAYO/SASU 3 Vürie river to TCP W e s t e r n & WAPO/CAPO/CA( K o h i m a Wa r Chakhro Angami G O K / W A G O K / Cemetery) WAYO/CAYO /WASU/ C A S U / WAW O & CAWO 4 K o h i m a To w n All Citizens of Ko- Colony Panchayat OfWards from 1-19 hima fice bearers & Youth Organizations

Kindly bring : Broom, Spade, Dustpan, Crowbar etc INAUGURAL FUNCTION

Venue : Old MLA Hostel Junction 6:50 am : Invocation Prayer

: Rev. Fr. Carlus Neisalhou Kuotsu, Vicar General Diocese of Kohima.

6:55 am : Launching of Social Work : Shri. Kiyaneilie Peseyie, Hon’ble Minister for Social Welfare, Nagaland 7:00 am : Social Work start in all the respective venues Note:- All Angami Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries, MLAs, Sr. Officers, all Angami Frontal Central Organizations & Leaders are requested to be at the venue by 6:30 am.

“Vehicle owners are requested not to park their vehicles on the road side to enable proper cleaning up of the roads” S/d K. Neibou Sekhose Convenor Organizing Committee

4

Dimapur

public discoursE

Thursday 20 November 2014

S

pouse abuse or sometimes understood in broader term as Domestic Violence is a hidden demon that is destroying many marriages and homes.

According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-2) Report in the year 2000, Nagaland recorded 10.3 percent of wives who were abused by their husbands. The NFHS-3 Survey Report in 2007 was 15.4 percent against the National record of 37.2 percent of spouse violence. Thus, in a span of 7 years it showed an increase of about 5 percent. This is bound to rise due to increase of socio-economic stress on the people and the search for personal identity.

Even with this crucial need, we are rather reluctant to intervene in the problem because we often assume spousal abuse as marital problem and therefore a private matter.

Spouse abuse is more than a marital problem. It is a behavioural crisis. Abuse is a systematic progression of event and mismanagement of one’s behaviour that becomes coercive. Spouse abuse happens with intention - the intention to dominate the intimate partner whether the abuser is consciously aware of this or not. It

The Morung Express

Spouse Abuse: The Hidden Demon is an expression to assert one’s authority which the abuser is seemingly losing due to mismanagement of behaviour.

Spouse abuse leaves its marks, though not every abuse is physically apparent. In most cases abuse comes subtly. Perhaps, many couples – even the victims – would not be aware that it is happening until it reaches a certain stage when it has become unbearable. People who abuse their intimate partners, in most cases, are those who respond poorly to stressful situations. They cannot handle problems. Further, in the case of a man abuser his greatest fear is that his woman will leave him; and it is this reason he intensifies abuse. Spouse Abusers generally have dual personalities. Leonore Walker describes them as both, “Charming and cruel, selfish and generous, extraordinarily possessive and extremely jealous....” They are outwardly aggressive but inwardly timid.

Abuse is a learned behaviour. Therefore, toxic parents can influence this abusive behaviour to their children as

well. Children, who are often help of others. They have spouse abuse: There may be ported that in the United States described as the ‘forgotten vica, “I’m-not-too-good-buta high co-relation between men account for approximately tims’ of Domestic Abuse, are I’m-okay” attitude. This is a alcoholism and spouse 15% of the victims of reported affected not only by directly defence mechanism to hide abuse, and both can become intimate partner violence. Syswitnessing abuse but also by their weakness. This is a decompounding agent to each tematic data in Nagaland canliving in an abusive environfence mechanism they deother. However, people who not be established at present ment. Besides, the evil of spouvelop to hide their weakness. are not under the influence mainly due to social stigma. But sal abuse is given the foothold The truth is, behind every of alcohol still abuse their it will not be surprising if some to operate its atrocious deed abusive partner is a vulnerpartners. Christy Telch and Naga men are also victims of because of various myths that able person who is longing Carol Lindquist, in 1984 did their partner’s abuse. For insurround the problem. Few of for healing. a study on100 people to test stance, in the course of this rethese myths can be mentioned: iii. Change the victim’s behavthe correlation between al- search, a man, feeling embari. House is the safest refuge: iour and everything will be cohol and spousal abuse rassed, voluntarily approached The conservative underalright: Studies have shown (Alsdruf and Alsdruf, Bat- and confided to this writer how standing that house is the that blaming the victim for tered into Submission). The his wife used to abuse him, and safest refuge and danger octhe perpetrator’s abusive acresult is, contrary to the com- how he dreads coming home curs when one steps outside tion is one of the most common myth, alcohol does not from his workplace. Studies has blocked the minds of mon excuses. This is more seem to trigger more serious indicate that the abuse tactics many people from seeing the so in cases where the wife is incidents. Alcohol in most and devices used by women vulnerability existing within the victim; a mindset influcases is used as an agent for abusers are also similar to their the four walls of a home. enced by patriarchal culture. abuse excuse. men counterpart. Women and The irony is not, that there is Under such circumstances, There is also a preconcep- children as victims need legal abuse in the home but that the families and the commu- tion that it is men who abuse protection from domestic viospousal abuse is found even nity would blame the wife as their wives, and that women are lence. It is against this backdrop in Christian homes. When “poor housekeeper,” and always the victims. This fallacy that the Government of India spousal abuse happens in would advise the wife to be has for a long time taken the has introduced, “The ProtecChristian homes, it is more more submissive to the will bulk of attention in the form of tion of Women from Domestic difficult to detect because of the husband. Thus, rather research and intervention pro- Violence Act, 2005.” However, of the religious canopy that than addressing the source gram for women. It is only in the the umbrella of this legal rights covers it. of abuse, victims are expect- recent time that studies have and justice must be extended to ii. Abusers don’t need help: ed to change their behaviour recognized men can also be vic- those men victims of domestic Many abusers think they in order to stop the perpetra- tims of spouse abuse. The Bu- abuse as well. have no behavioural probtors from abusing them. reau of Justice Statistics Crime Combating spousal abuse lem and they don’t need the iv. Alcohol is the main cause of Data Brief, in February 2003 re- must go beyond government

Appeal To Naga Politicians

T

oday our Naga politicians have lost their political principles toward the common platform in all sectors.

How long Naga society will suffer? The general publics have chosen the leaders to lead the common people in the state. If the leaders cannot perform the need of the common front asset, who will be responsible? The selected representatives are the most important and policy making bodies, you are chosen by the people mandate to lead the state, functionary in all sector.

Today the Naga politicians are confused to lead the people in the state e.g. Developmental social activities and reconciliation among the communities etc because the appointed leaders should be truth and clean and God fear leaders. I urge all the leaders who had chosen to lead Naga society change your mindset and revise your past life and change in new life to lead our society, especially the politicians are the backbones of the state. All the political leaders should come to mutual understanding and work together for the innocent public for better achievement. A leader should not be power monger; such leaders are no longer in the society. This is a changing world in the society/political level consecutively the state, we suffered for 2 years without central fund allocation because the political leaders are not cocohesive unity and the mismanagement of fund; which had given for state development works. The present fund allocation for salary alone cannot survive the general public needs; until and unless the leader’s mindset has changed in the political sys-

tem, the state had never developed. Once again I appeal to the elected representative MLAS to work together as one political principle for motherland, for peace progress. The present ruling NPF DAN III give free hand to work freedom for the state development, to strengthen the present NPF DAN III government under the T.R. Zeliang leadership, minor reshuffle is needed. The NPF and BJP party alliance since 2013, during the time of Rio BJP MLA had given minister birth therefore, strengthen of the government and support continue from the BJP alliance lone BJP NLA who was elected last election Powang as parliamentary sectary transport and communication maybe given cabinet birth to initiate the party setup in the state level and to continue support of the government.

Recently 3 NCP MLA who joined BJP NLA speaker was disqualified from the ministership as per the speaker judiciary power since the Guwahati High Court has passed order to qualified a member in the legislative assembly. The ruling government may accept the judgment order to continue alliance partner in the state assembly to bring more cohesive and powerful party government. The speaker should accept the court order and allow to accept the Guwahati High Court order to allow them to participate in the legislative assembly process in the future to come.

This appeal is represented by Imli senior citizen of Nagaland in all respect.

Imli Longkumer Senior Citizen Nagaland Forum, Dimapur

D

o please excuse me, this one time, for this selfish article beginning with “I”, ending with “I”, and even with an “I” between the two “I’s”.

I am just a nobody, but a somebody to myself. And I take pride in myself for my transparency. I am what I am. What you see is what you get. Since the passing away of my dad I have felt all the more orphaned than that feeling which was there even when my dad was alive. And sick. Today I know that my dad is in Heaven because he was transparent in everything that he did, and his conscience was as crystal clear as the misty droplets of the wintry early morning dew on the welcoming concave face of the not very old yam leaf or kutchu pata. I know, because I had spent many a solitary moments with him during his long illness. My dad’s last advise to me (which he actually rarely gave after my marriage) was to emulate him, no matter what will be said and done and follow up the Scripture verse, Psalm 118:8, by working on what he has left behind or risk losing even that if I persisted with the lifestyle that I lived with, then.

Also I am so very proud and thankful to be the recipient of the ever life-giving lessons grounded on the, oh! So simple regular verse of a seven word sentence ever uttered; “Man does not live by bread alone”. The insight and the belief in just being what one is, is the reality

_

LEISURE

Simple Rules - There is just one simple rule: “Fill in the grid so that every row, every column, and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.”

SUDOKU Game Number # 3061

Just as I am of truth that I have been blessed to have found, and which can never be superimposed but with the exception of Christ. Will I be left alone to fend for myself? So be it.

The transparency and the barrenness usually felt by some, as of the freedom of thought and the freedom of the faith and belief is what I value and cherish today and will take it to my life’s end. It does not at all bother me in the least. Infact I reveal in it. As it is, we just have a single life to live, and that is what I am advocating.

What’s there to be stubborn?

Neither am I stubborn, nor am I being particular. Neither am I searching for wealth, nor am I making or breaking. Neither am I trying to justify, nor am I trying to built trust. I am “just as I am”. I am just trying to do my bit to bring like minded people together, to make today at least a little bit better than yesterday for the less fortunate. To try and cajole our leaders to act.

That people committing sin because of our sin, is a greater sin.

That enough is enough, that a line has to be drawn. That the frown on the brow of the people in the street has to be replaced with atleast a thin line of a smile. That the people should atleast be given the opportunity to pick up those few fruits and nuts shaken down by the

DAILY CROSS WORD

CROSSWORD # 3068

Answer Number # 3060

(This write-up is an extract of the D. Min. Thesis Titled, “Spousal Abuse and Pastoral Care: A Restorative Framework for Behavioural Change of Abusive Husbands in the Naga Context of Kohima,” submitted to the South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies, SAIACS, Bangalore, India on March 2014).

Dr. Vetso Koza

more with the saying that, “charity begins at home is a wisdom that still stands.”

Allow me to conclude on a sweet note, as you hum with me this hymnal which is, and will always remain my favorite.

Just as I am 1) Just as I am, without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bid’st me come toThee, O Lamb of God, I come! I come!

2) Just as I am, and waiting not To rid my soul of one dark blot; To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot, O Lamb of God, I come, I come!

3) Just as I am, though tossed about With many a conflict, many a doubt; Fightings within, and fears without, O Lamb of God, I come, I come!

4) Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind; Sight, riches, healing of the mind; Yes, all I need, in Thee to find, O Lamb of God, I come, I come!

5) Just as I am, Thou wilt receive, Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve; Because Thy promise I believe, O Lamb of God, I come, I come!

6) Just as I am, Thy love unknown Has broken every barrier down; Now, to be Thine, yea, Thine alone, O Lamb of God, I come, I come!

Benito Z Swu

wind. That the unpenetrateable opaque politics of the old in playing God must be replaced with the ultra-violet filtering transparency of the new, where the public and their opinion is God. The lopsided view and concern that “the preservation of the intercontinental bird ‘Amur Falcon’ at the expense of, and turning a blind eye to local birds and animals which are on the brink of extinction as a brazen example of our dishonesty,” is in itself the height of hypocrisy and dishonesty.

“Beating all odds to be stake holders in the preservation of the intercontinental bird is, no doubt, a noble venture in the right direction that we should encourage, because, that very act unknots the eyeblind and the cages of all our local birds and animals, which are on the brink of total blindness and lifelong captivity. Praise God, the future generation is certainly going to be very grateful.

Some people say, “Love of self, as distinct from narcissistic tendency, is the code with which the DNA of all relationship is encoded.

Nobody can rewrite this equation.”

And Yours Truly says, “And the belief in this equation is the sum total of all the problems that we Nagas are saddled with today.” What so ever, I cannot but agree all the DIMAPUR civil hospital:

policies. It needs coordinated community campaign for two main reasons. Firstly, to create awareness that spouse abuse is not a private matter affecting only the family members, but has direct consequences on the community and the generations to come. Secondly, the silence of the community towards spouse abuse is a subtle form of additional abuse to the victims. We indirectly propagate abuse due to our silence.

This is because abusers would usually draw energy and selfjustification from the silence of the people. Therefore, coordinated community campaign perhaps is the best way to fight the stigma attached to abuse which will enable many people, both abusers and victims to openly come forward and receive external help.

STD CODE: 03862 232224; emergency229529, 229474

metro hospital:

227930, 231081

faith hospital:

228846

shamrock hospital

228254

zion hospital:

231864, 224117, 227337

police control room

228400

Police Traffic Control

232106

east police station west police station

227607 232181

cihsr (referral hospital)

242555/ 242533

dimapur hospital

224041, 248011

apollo hospital info centre:

230695/ 9402435652

railway:

131/228404

indian airlines

229366

CHUMUKEDIMA: 03862 282777/101 (O) 9856158740 (OC) WOKHA: 03860 242215/101 (O) 9862039399 (OC)

MOKOKCHUNG: 0369 2226225/ 101 (O) 9436012949 (OC) PHEK: 8414853765 (O) 9862130954(OC)

nagaland multispe- 248302, cialty health & 09856006026 research centre

W

O

R

Mars mystery

canals

red

volcanoes

planet

lifeless

martian

canyons

fables

freezing

visited

storms

cold

windy

desert

uninviting

rocky

waterless

dunes

craters

dust

plains

fourth moons

cliffs valleys

D

C O R R P H F V F P V A J J F I K T T Y

V G V O N R Z X S I P D Z K I L R F Y L

S

E V W O P G L K A G E I M L A H X U X T

D G N G P V U V A O I Y Y E O Q Q B R L

I J D M N X O P B L A S S Z S O S W O J

E

G L Z F L T Y R Y U U E T P S Q S I X R

L E I F J B P N F S X O E N E D E R P P

P A H V E D L O C G P N R Z L B L R T L

A

Y A U P H D A W F S G A Y J R Z E X O A

R W N M O O N S A D N C Q K E U F I Y I

Z V I S I T E D B E I L Q O T A I M L N

R

I M N Z G P T N L S Z O N V A L L E Y S

K A V G R Q G L E E E V B J W P A Y L E

T R I C A N A L S R E T A R C H Y Y H N

C

R T T D K D Y P H T R U O F Q A E U F U

O I I F F V C L I F F S K N K Z Q Y R D

C A N Y O N S M R O T S U D N S I X B F

H

K N G C A U D O A D Z J G W G O S N H I

Y D N I W J N O J B D J I J A I X N N O

K U C K R X E F A I H I D R B G J F K S

ACROSS 1. Recorded 6. Chickadees 10. Handout 14. Relative of a giraffe 15. By mouth 16. Computer symbol 17. Dossiers 18. Ripped 19. An upright in a wall 20. Made without yeast 22. Hats 23. Vigor 24. Wild Asian dog 26. First-rate 30. Coil of yarn 32. Scatter 33. Short amusing operas 37. Air force heroes 38. Complies 39. Therefore 40. The study of rhythm 42. Contemptuous look 43. Parental sisters 44. Most recent 45. Desert plants 47. Unhappy 48. Unadulterated 49. Copious 56. Chocolate cookie

57. Not under 58. Ringworm cassia 59. Brother of Jacob 60. Telephoned 61. Whole 62. Untidyness 63. If not 64. Muzzle

DOWN 1. Curdled soybean milk 2. Analogous 3. Gloomy atmosphere 4. Type of sword 5. Deny 6. Clan emblem 7. Weightlifters pump this 8. Container weight 9. Tobogganists 10. Disgruntlement 11. In base 8 12. Jeweler’s glass 13. Terminates 21. Very Important Person 25. Hasten 26. Russian emperor 27. Skin irritation 28. Quarry 29. Possessing a hard shell 30. Eyeglasses 31. Lock openers

33. Death notice 34. Tall woody plant 35. How old we are 36. Classify 38. Meat and vegetable eater 41. Shack 42. They love to inflict pain 44. Flee 45. Expletive 46. Districts 47. A sudden forceful flow 48. Verse 50. Egg-shaped 51. Focusing glass 52. A noble gas 53. Savvy about 54. Two-toed sloth 55. Sodium chloride Ans to CrossWord 3067

Police Control Room: North Police Station: South Police Station: Fire Brigade: Naga Hospital: Oking Hospital: Bethel Nursing Home: Northeast Shuttles

STD CODE: 0370 100/2244279 2222222 2222111 2222952 2222916 2243339 2224202 08974997923

MON: 03869 251222/ 101 (O) 9436208480 (OC) KipHire: 8414853767 (O) 8974304572 (OC)

Toll free No. 1098 childline

Police Station 1:

ZUNHEBOTO: 03867 280304/ 101 (O) 9856156876 (OC) TUENSANG: 8414853766 (O) 8414853519

CHILD WELFARE COMMITTEE

MOKOKCHUNG:

KOHIMA: 0370 2222952/ 101 (O) 9402003086 (OC) DIMAPUR: 03862 232201/ 101 (O) 9436017479 (OC)

chumukedima fire 282777 brigade nikos hospital and 232032, 231031 research centre

KOHIMA

FIRE STATIONS

STD CODE: 0369

2226241

Police Station 2 :

2226214

Civil Hospital: Woodland Nursing Home:

2226216 2226263

Hotel Metsüpen (Tourist Lodge):

2226373/2229343

TAHAMZAM (formerly Senapati) STD CODE: 03871 Police Station: Fire Brigade

CURRENCY EXCHANGE CURRENCY NOTES

222246 222491

BUY(Rs)

SELL(Rs)

US Dollars Sterling Pound Hong Kong Dollar Australian Dollar Singapore Dollar Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen

61.47 95.77 7.91 53.36 47.2 54.16 52.71

61.90 96.85 7.99 54.12 47.76 54.82 53.36

Euro

76.59

77.44

Danish Krone

10.28

10.41

Norwegian Krone New Zealand Dollar Swedish Krona

9.06

9.16

48.36

49.09

8.3

8.39

LOCAL

The Morung Express

Thursday 20 November 2014

CM advocates reaching out to poor rural women

Kohima, November 19 (mexN): Chief Minister of Nagaland, TR Zeliang today stressed on the need for State Resource Centre for Women (SRCW) to reach out to the poor, disadvantaged women from rural areas so they can also avail benefits from the existing women centric government schemes and programmes. Speaking at the second meeting of Nagaland State Mission Authority (NSMA) held at CM’s chamber, Zeliang, who is also the chairman of NSMA, lauded the SRCW for opening avenues for women in the State, while acknowledging that the SRCW is working towards changing the lives of women.

A press release from Media Cell, Chief Min-

Second meeting of Nagaland State Mission Authority held

Chief Minister TR Zeliang with others at the 2nd meeting of Nagaland State Mission Authority on November 19.

ister’s Office further informed that the chief minister called upon the other allied departments like Rural Development, School Education (SSA), NRHM and Labour and Employment to join the convergence programme so as to strengthen the SRCW. The CM also lauded

the SRCW team for being awarded the 1st rank across India for their programme and added that the achievement deserves appreciation from all corners. He encouraged them to achieve more and said that the light of the day for women can only come through

programmes like SRCW. The State Resource Centre for Women, with its motto “Strengthening lives through her” envisions holistic empowerment of women and its mission is to strengthen inter-sectoral convergence for empowering women. It assures to facilitate govern-

Naga Chef: 8 qualify for next round

Arila Sangtam

Gilbert Humtsoe

Hekai Yepthomi

Kikokho Richa

Akitoli V Zhimomi

Sukulung

Vikereno Kuotsu

Yenrothung Odyuo

The eight qualified contestants for next round of Naga Chef Season Two. Our Correspondent round of Naga Chef with dishes. Out of the 10 conthe top 10 cooks began to- testants, the bottom two Kohima | November 19

day with the contestants were eliminated and the The second elimination preparing their signature eight contestants will con-

tinue to vie for the Naga Chef Season Two title.

The 8 qualified candidates will face group round on November 20 and will be cooking for the patrons and invitees.

The pantry partner for the Naga Chef Season Two is The Green Caravan which was launched

by Khriehu Liezietsu, parliamentary secretary for youth resources & sports, new & renewable energy & music task force (MTF).

The Green Caravan is a joint venture between Zynorique Initiatives and 10th Northern Angami 1 A/C. The Green Caravan supplies the right ingredients for the cooks in the Naga Chef Kitchen. The pantry holds 23 items of spices and condiments, 6 items of meats, 10 herbs, 2 flour and 25 to 30 fresh items.

Common Service Centres verified in Zbto, Mkg, Wka districs Kohima, November 19 (DiPr): A tour cum verification of Common Service Centres (CSC) under Zunheboto, Mokokchung and Wokha districts was conducted from October 28-30 by a team from the Department of Information Technology & Communications, led by Joint Secretary & Director IT&C, Kevekha Kevin Zehol.

During the tour, an active interaction and sensitiza-

tion were conducted for the VLEs (Village Level Entrepreneurs), Village Council members, and the officers of the District Administration.

The verified CSCs included Gathashi, Satakha, Zunheboto HQ, Atoizu, Police point (Mkg), Sungkomen, Ongpangkong south, Ungma, Alichen, Wokha Town1, Wokha Town-2, Tseminyu and Chunlikha.

During the interaction, people from all walks of life

appreciated the achievements, performance and selfless service to the community rendered by the VLEs. The visiting team especially lauded the achievements of Noksangtemjen, VLE (CSC, Police point Mokokchung Town) for delivering many citizen centric services like NPSC forms (600 nos), State Scholarships (10 Nos), Aadhar (2010 Nos), PAN Card (205 nos), Passport (2 Nos), and

Kiosk Banking (195 Account Openings) to citizens of his locality and the department exhorted the other CSCs to replicate his sincere and dedicated efforts.

So far, the Department has rolled out 220 CSCs all over Nagaland and citizens may avail various services by visiting their nearest CSC. For further queries citizens can mail at: cscnagaland@gmail.com or Call: 0370-2270220.

ment and other stakeholders involved in women empowerment issues to implement gender sensitive programmes, law and schemes through effective coordination.

Meanwhile, Zeliang also officially launched the first volume of comprehensive “Data Bank” consisting

of various women centric schemes from 12 departments of the State government. The comprehensive compilation will not only serve as information data, but will provide details of schemes, according to the release.

Earlier, a PowerPoint presentation on the programmes and activities of SRCW and annual action plan was presented by the State Coordinator.

A brief introduction of the mission was given by the Social Welfare Department. The Mission Director, SWRC highlighted about the State share of fund of SRCW and PSK for the financial year 20142015. She also suggested the members of NSMA to strengthen the action plan and approve the plan.

Chief Minister inspects Heritage Village

Dimapur

5

MEx FILE Sixth session of twelfth NLA on Dec 16 Kohima, November 19 (DiPr): The Secretary of Nagaland Legislative Assembly, Kohima A.E. Lotha has informed in a press release that in exercise of the power conferred by Clause (I) of Article 174 of the Constitution of India, the Governor of Nagaland has summoned the sixth session of the Twelfth Nagaland Legislative Assembly to meet at 9:30 am on Tuesday, December 16, 2014 in the Assembly Hall, Kohima.

Assam Rifles apprehends armed civilian PereN, November 19 (mexN): 18 Assam Rifles apprehended one armed civilian at Nsung in Peren district on November 12. A press release from Assam Rifles informed that the operation was launched based on specific information about movement of an individual armed with unauthorized weapon in general area of Nsung. The apprehended person identified as Keviswe (58) alongwith recovered one pt 22 Rifle and ammunition was handed over to Tening Police Station, the release added.

BJP appoints social media convenor & co-convenor DimaPur, November 19 (mexN): Jaangsillung Gonmei, Secretary (Media), BJP Nagaland, has been given additional charge and appointed as convenor of social media for BJP membership drive and Chumben as Co-convenor. A press release from BJP Nagaland office secretary, Lachit Kachari informed that Gonmei has requested the public, particularly the youths to be a part of the wave to take the State and the nation towards further development in every sphere by enrolling online through dialing 18002662020 and placing a missed call. Respective BJP district presidents could also be contacted to enroll through the conventional filled-in forms, the release informed.

FONSESA elects new team Kohima, November 19 (mexN): The Federation of Nagaland State Engineering Service Associations (FONSESA) has announced its new team of office bearers for the tenure 2014-16 during its annual general conference held at Capital Convention Centre, Kohima on November 18. President- Er. R. Temsutemjen (AOE, NPWD), vice president: Er. Shikato Sema (APEN), Er. Moasashi Amer (AOME), secretary general - Er. Sobu Angami (IDEA), finance secretary- Er. Yanbemo Lotha (AOE, NPWD), PROEr. Vikeduolie (APEN), joint secretaries: Er. Jakpu Khiamniungan (APHEN), Er. Wapangnaro Imchen (IDEA), Nagaland Chief Minister TR Zeliang inspects renovation Er. Tingtenmoi Konyak (APEN), Er. Dziivichutuo Khale and construction works ahead of the Hornbill Festival at (NST), Er.Akumlong Sangtam (G&M), Er. Chengato Kath Kisama on November 19.

(AOE,NPWD) and Er. Khose Sale (APEN) as advisor.

Kisama, Novem- is still under construction ber 19 (mexN): Naga- and likely to be finished PVMA holds first general session land Chief Minister TR and open for Hornbill visi- PheK, November 19 (mexN): The Phek Village Zeliang inspected the an- tors at the site.

Mothers’ Association (PVMA) held its first ever general sesThe site is undergoing sion on November 15, 2014 since its inception in 2012. The nual Hornbill Festival site at Kisama Heritage Village a series of transformation session held at the community hall, Phek village was attendhere today. Accompanied and hectic preparation is ed by about 500 women, a press release informed. Nekhoby a team of minister, par- being made to host the up- salu Venuh, Women Pastor, Chakhesang Baptist Church, liamentary secretaries and coming Hornbill Festival, Dimapur and Veshevolu Khesoh, Women VDB Secretary, departmental officials, the informed Esui from Media Phek Village were the speakers of the session. Meanwhile, CM inspected the progress cell, Chief Minister’s Office a new team of office bearers for the tenure 2014-2017 was of different developmental in a press release. elected during the session: President- Vekhozolu, vice presiThe chief minister was dent- Venietsielu, general secretary- Surhonielu, asst. genworks being carried out in connection with the an- accompanied by Kaito Aye, eral secretary- Vekuzolu, treasurer- Nuvepalu. nual 10 days Hornbill Fes- Minister for Industries & tival. He discussed with Commerce, Shetoyi, Parlia- Vegetable growers & FPOs the department officials mentary Secretary for Fishabout the ongoing reno- eries, Zhaleo Rio, Parlia- tour Himachal vation and beautification mentary Secretary, Urban PheK, November 19 (mexN): The Department of work and inspected the Development, Chief Sec- Horticulture organised an exposure and study tour for Morungs, which are being retary, Nagaland, HODs Nagaland vegetables growers and Farmer Producer Orgiven a facelift. He also in- and other departmental ganizations (FPOs) to Himachal Pradesh recently. The spected the chapel which officials. team was led by Moalemba, District Horticulture Officer, Phek, and Wapangmeren, DEA. A press release from Moalemba informed that the exposure trip was organised to encourage the local vegetable farmers develop farming system, marketing as well as selling process. The team visited Kailler, the place for collecting, selling all kinds of local vegetables. They also visited Dr. YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan. The team interacted with Dr. YR Sakula (Scientist), who taught the importance of seed treatment of nursery for vegetable crops.

Meanwhile, the team learned kiwi cultivation, floriculture.

All India Cooperative Week observed Nagaland observes World Toilet Day Kohima, November 19 (mexN): The office of the Assistant Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Kohima organized exhibition cum sales day on November 18 in front of Union Baptist Church Kohima as part of the celebration of 61st All India Cooperative Week from November 14 to 20.

Velasa Nakro, Registrar of Cooperative Societies Nagaland inaugurated the event. Khochamo Tungoe, assistant registrar of Cooperative Societies, Kohima highlighted the importance of the celebration and thanked the societies for participating in the development of cooperatives.

Registered cooperative so-

cieties from different villages joined the event with various products.

Ketholeno, project officer, NCUI and Wepe Ritse, joint RCS also attended the programme.

The celebration was sponsored under RKVY. Mokokchung (DIPR): Along with the rest of the country, 61st All India Cooperative Week celebration (November 14 to 20) was observed at town hall, Mokokchung on November 18, organized by Assistant Registrar Co-operative Society (ARCS), Mokokchung under the theme “Co-Op Model for sustai nable and Inclusive Growth.”

Dr. Lanunochetla, SMS

Agri Department, speaking as the chief guest stated that co-operative societies are backbone of rural agriculture economy and are capable to revive the rural areas.

She also dwelt on the principles, advantages, drawbacks and suggestion for progress of co-operative society.

Earlier, welcome & keynote address was delivered

by Alangla Tonger, ARCS Mokokchung and Bisarila L. Sangtam read out the message sent by Parliamentary Secretary, Co-operation, Pukhayi Sumi.

The chief guest also inaugurated the exhibition cum sale stalls put up by four different registered co-operative societies of the District.

1958, which was enacted in North Eastern parts of India and Jammu Kashmir. “AFSPA was enacted to suppress the growing secession movement across North East India,” the release stated.

The program, according to the release, will emphasize on the general discussion about the set of laws that “completely discards human rights violation under Article 32 (1), 21 & 22 of the Constitution,” and also “Article 4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Convention against Torture, Women and Children mostly vic-

Staff and officials of PHED Directorate pose for lens with Er. KG Sumi, Director, WSSO, PHED, Nagaland during observance of World Toilet Day in Kohima on November 19.

Our Correspondent the toilets, surrounding, vember 19 had designated Kohima | November 19

Along with the rest of the country, Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) Nagaland, under the initiative of Water & Sanitation Support Organization (WSSO), today observed World Toilet Day here at PHED Directorate conference hall with Er. KG Sumi, Director WSSO (PHED) as the special guest.

Addressing the function, Er. Sumi stressed on tim with this Act and many the importance of cleaning more international laws.”

The organizations con- DimaPur, Novemcerned have been request- ber 19 (mexN): Dimaed to send three members/ pur observed World Toilet staff each to participate in Day along with the rest of the programme to get more the State today. Organized awareness and knowledge by PHED Rural Division, and share their thoughts Dimapur at its premises, and views as to “how we it was marked by cleaning can make the Act more of toilets and surroundhuman or get it repeal(ed) ings led by Executive Engitotally.” The Club has espe- neer, PHED Rural Division, cially solicited the presence Dimapur, Er. L Tongpang Longkumer, with participaof youth organizations.

Youngs’ Club, a mem- tion from all rank and file of ber organization of Na- the division.

Er. L Tongpang Longgaland Alliance for Child and Women Rights, is a kumer spoke on the signifirecipient of Nagaland Best cance of World Toilet Day State Youth Club Award and on the theme of 2014, 2013 bestowed by Nehru “Equality, dignity and link between gender based vioYuva Kendra.

‘Dialogue & deliberation’ programme on AFSPA DimaPur, November 19 (mexN): Youngs’ Club, a youth led NGO, is organizing a ‘dialogue and deliberation’ programme on Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) with civil societies, NGOs, student bodies, youth organizations and women organizations on November 25 at Hotel Acacia conference hall, opposite East Police Station, Dimapur at 10:00 am.

A press release from Youngs’ Club secretary, Samuel Walling and president, Jenpu Rongmei informed that the main objective of the programme is to create awareness and knowledge of AFSPA

ZUK new executive members

schools, Angawadi centres, using soap before meal, after defecation, safe disposal of child excreta and focusing on need of totally doing away with the bad practice of open defecation and keeping villages clean with proper solid and liquid waste management .

Er. Sumi also said that about 2.5 billion people in the world do not have access to basic sanitation, including toilets or latrines and shared that the UN General Assembly in the year 2013 on Nolence and sanitation.” He stressed on the need to end open defecation and dwelt on access to improved sanitation, which leads to reduction in assault and violence on women and girls.

He also said that World Toilet Day serves as reminder of the struggles faced by billions of people who still lack access to improved sanitation.

Sanitation and Hygiene Consultant of the division, Imojungla Longkumer also shared concern on the safety of women and the need for access to good sanitary toilets for dignity and development.

the World Toilet Day to raise awareness about people without access to toilet.

Meanwhile, he also urged the PHED staff to be ambassador for educating the rural areas for complete sanitation before 2019.

All the PHED divisions and SE circles office in the state of Nagaland today conducted a social work as instructed; the staff and officials of PHED Directorate also cleaned the office toilets and surrounding after the function.

Kohima, November 19 (mexN): Zhadima Union Kohima (ZUK) elected its new executive members during its picnic cum meeting on November 6 held at Bharat Scouts & Guides Training Centre Nerhema for the tenure 2014-17. The team will be headed by Kevileso Metsieo as president, Frankie Soliezuo as general secretary, Khriesangulie Chüpuo as secretary, Thepfusalie Loucü as treasurer and Dr. Ketholezo Sorünuo as vice president, according to a press release issued by ZUK president, Kevileso Metsieo.

Village council and unions on LOU DHEP issue WoKha, November 19 (mexN): The Old Changsu Village Council (OCVC), Old Changsu Students’ Union (OCSU) and Old Changsu Union Wokha Town (OCUWT) have jointly stated that, the recent incident of Land Owners’ Union, Doyang Hydro Electric Project (LOU DHEP) was a matter of two land owners’ issue.

“It is not an individual/particular clan to be targeted by any clan, colony, village etc,” stated a joint press release appended by OCVC chairman, Nchumbemo Kithan, OCSU president, Thungchio Ngullie and OCUWT chairman, Wopan Kithan. The DHEP originated from Changsu Village way back in the year 1962, it informed.

Further, stating that the present team of LOU DHEP president, Y Wopan Ennie of Old Changsu Village was elected on May 8, 2013 for a period of three years, the release urged that whoever is elected, “every group should support each other to run smoothly instead of giving disturbances, and wait for the next term of office.”

KVYO Christmas Bazaar

Staff of Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), Phek participate in World Toilet Day by cleaning toilets at the EE PHE office premises in Phek on November 19.

Kohima, November 19 (mexN): The Kohima Village Youth Organization’s (KVYO) Christmas Bazaar will take place at Kohima Local Ground from December 1 to 24. The Bazaar will include first and second hand garments, mela, trade fair and many more.

Registration forms will be issued on November 28 and 29. Last date of form submission will beNovember 30.

Interested person may collect form from KVYO office, Probogei (Main town).

6

IN-FOCUS

The Power of Truth

The Morung Express THursDAy 20 NovEmbEr 2014 volumE IX IssuE 320

by Aheli moitra

THE EDIT PAGE

C O M M E N T A R Y

Jonas Fossli Gjersø

Back to the future for economic inequality

Making new fire We are returning to

A

n 80+ man at the Thuwu-ni Festival in Pughoboto clutched his bag, in his yellow woolen cap, and cheered. Unsure but enthusiastic eyes and a similar smile etched his wrinkled face. He was rooting for the elected leader from his constituency, almost half his age, playing an exhibition badminton match. The man had never played badminton himself. Nor had anyone briefed him on the rules; not that he was interested. He was there to support “our parliamentary secretary” and thought him an “expert” player.

But it was not just ‘new age’ games that the old man, and his group of friends, enjoyed at Thuwu-ni. There were young people climbing pork fat-greased bamboo poles, running races on stilts, carting on wooden handmade Naga carts, and Akikiting, or Naga kick fighting. They made new fire with sticks and shavings. Another old man at one of the fights became very excited outside the fight zone. He began to showcase a move or two he knew as a young kick fighter—left, right, swirl. The crowd, both young and old, cheered him on.

In Nagaland, we often notice that this natural dialogue between the young and old has been eaten up by new hierarchical structures. The voice of elders still plays an important role, no doubt. But a platform where all elders can partake in disbursing education to the youth, surpassing class, is rare.

Festivals of progress, like the one held in Pughoboto on November 13-14 this year, are a reminder of some of these things. While the elders might have accepted the leadership of the youth in contemporary politics and affairs of the State, it is time for the youth to turn to hear what the oldies have on offer. Listen to the stories of why bamboo poles are greased and climbed for sport, or what the mithun tied at the bottom of the sacred bamboo pole signifies. Ideas of production (jhum), environment preservation (three trees planted for every tree cut) or social equity (land and work for all) are embedded in Naga systems- they need to be applied through a contemporary lens.

It seemed like Thuwu-ni was a hit because the people who organized it had a good idea of these core identities— young people with attractive ideas had probably consulted their elders to contemporize culture without losing identity. Plenty of homegrown plots surfaced—candles were placed throughout Pughoboto town’s roads, on both sides, wrapped in emptied banana stems, giving the town an aura both indigenous and contemporary. In an attempt, perhaps, for safe health practices, a whole cooking competition was conducted in vegetarian—Naga vegetarian food.

People were almost licking the sesame-chutney laden banana leaf plates at the end of the meal. Cocks were given to the winners of Akikiti, among other prizes. A team appeared on the night stage performing a scene from Sholay.

Both old and young, men and women, enjoyed.

With the desire for a shared future, it is time for the Naga people to open up more such channels of communication between the elders and youth. This is done best in small clusters of villages where people know and understand each other, without intimidating each other with status or clout. It will not just help Naga people gain confidence in identity, but also help find that path towards economic and political self determination that has remained elusive for so long.

Comments and suggestions may be sent to moitramail@yahoo.com This is the final editorial of a three-part series on Inter-Generational Dialogue

lEfT wiNg |

R R Palsokar Source: Indian Express

Time for AFSPA to go

T

he Indian army needs to be commended for having meted out exemplary punishment to the officers and jawans involved in the fake encounter at Machil. As a former armyman, one can understand the anguish and soul-searching behind this necessary and hard decision. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which provides protection to soldiers in such circumstances, has come under scrutiny once again and calls for its repeal have reached a crescendo. There is merit in the argument that AFSPA has outlived its utility, and must go.

It is worth recalling that while AFSPA was introduced in 1958, the Assam Disturbed Areas Act was enacted in 1955 to provide a legal framework for security forces to deal with the Naga insurgency. When the army was inducted soon thereafter, the then army chief in a Special Order of the Day exhorted his troops, “…you are not to fight the people of the area but to protect them (from disruptive elements)… you must therefore do everything possible to win their confidence and respect…” It is a sad commentary that half a century later, AFSPA still remains in force in the Northeast and the clamour for its revocation has come from events in Kashmir, where it was imposed in 1990. It is sadder still that despite untold sacrifices, the army seems to have lost the “confidence and respect” of the people. If that is the case, then it is time that AFSPA went.

If the act is revoked, how will it affect the security of the country? First, the basics. Every Indian will agree that there can be no compromise on the territorial integrity of the country. It is the Constitution that provides that India will be a Union of States (Article 1) and it has no provision to cede territory (sub-Clause 3). Article 51 enjoins all citizens “to uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India”. So any demand for separation is to be resisted. Look now at the security aspects. Our executive machinery at the district level has always had the authority to use force, requisitioning troops if necessary, to restore law and order. So, whenever the armed forces operate, they are acting in aid of the civil authority. It follows that once the situation is brought under control, the civil administration re-assumes responsibility. If the government machinery in Kashmir is prepared to assume responsibility, the army would only be happy to go back to their task of protecting the Line of Control (LoC).

Is a via media possible? Yes, use AFSPA in selected areas and for restricted periods of time. For example, certain areas along the LoC could have AFSPA permanently in force.

In other areas, let the police (with army in support) seek and impose AFSPA for a limited period of time. Agreed that AFSPA must go, but answer a basic question, who needs its protection more, the armed forces or the civil administration? There are no easy answers.

The writer is a retired brigadier

Victorian inequality.

Why is it tolerated?

A

part from global warming, it is arguably the rise in economic inequality witnessed over the past forty years that constitutes the most significant threat to our democratic social order. Unlike pandemics or acts of terrorism, inequality develops insidiously during which it transforms social institutions and indeed the very way in which we think. It moves us away from fundamental ethical principles enshrined in the golden rule to accept vast greed and inequalities as a universal certainty. Like an intellectual virus it moulds political philosophies so as to make us rationalise its negative social effects post facto as inevitable and even desirable.

The same ideology that made the slave-holder believe his position unquestionable in the early 19th century is what makes the CEO of today think her salary in multiples of hundreds over the average worker as fairly earned. Or why the heirs and heiresses look down upon the striving poor convinced that their ‘birth right’ was inevitable. Indeed it is the same grounds upon which the poorest in society often also votes for the most conservative party in elections. Why - because right-wing thought appeals to the most primitive, yet powerful aspect of the human intellect, our ego. Although recognising that the odds for winning the lottery is infinitesimally slight, millions still play it because they are convinced that just they might win. The ego which persuades us that we are special and will one day ‘make it’ also renders us almost incapable of defining ourselves as victims of an unjust system no matter our socio-economic status.

As the recently published Credit Suisse report found, the richest 1% of the world’s population now owns 48.2% of all wealth; indeed the poorest half owns less than 1%. But the bank’s findings were hardly ground-breaking; they merely serve to further confirm Thomas Piketty’s findings. The latter’s great academic achievement was to demonstrate the inherent flaw in the capitalist socio-economic model, namely that over time the return on capital is substantially greater than the rate of economic growth. Left to itself without any mechanism of wealth redistribution, this model will over time concentrate capital onto fewer and fewer hands. It was only due to the extreme shocks of the two world wars and the great depression that made the first post-war decades so remarkable in their egalitarian wealth distribution. It was this period of Western history Paul Krugman termed the ‘great compression;’ a period in which a majority middle-class ensured high economic growth rates and the institutional development of a welfare state. Unfortunately, neo-liberal economic orthodoxy has since succeeded in rolling back the progress made in the three decades after WW2 – today we are instead witnessing the return to normalcy, the great divergence has managed to recreate the levels of economic inequality of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

But aside from the negative moral reflections that can be made about the imbalances in wealth distribution, it is a trend that both impedes total economic growth and undermines democratic rights. As Joseph Stiglitz has argued, high levels of economic inequality reduce aggregate demand, encourage rent-seeking rather than innovation and undermines trust. They constitute a holy trinity of rational economic arguments in favour of putting in place redistribution mechanisms so as to ensure greater prosperity for all in society, including the wealthiest one percent.

Unfortunately the global economy is instead headed down a well-trodden path. The two major routes to financial success in the 18th and 19th century world were not through hard work or innovation, but rather through birth or marriage; you were either an heir or you married one. In a society determined by inheritance and class you will also find a

C

limate change, Ebola, IS, Ukraine … The world is not short of crises which cry out for a collective response. That is why, for 69 years, we have had the United Nations. People still expect it to provide that response, yet they are often disappointed. Blame falls on the secretary-general (SG)—often unfairly, since he is really only the top civil servant. Political decisions are taken by the member states, in the General Assembly or the Security Council.

Still, among those decisions, choosing the right SG is one of the most important. He leads more than 40,000 staff, and oversees the work of 30 UN funds, programmes and agencies, dealing with a wide range of global issues.

The UN Charter allows him to alert the Security Council to “any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security”. Behind the scenes, his “good offices” can be crucial in preventing or resolving conflict.

In recent decades he has played an important public role, reminding the world of the UN’s basic principles, suggesting ways to apply them to new problems and mobilising world public opinion to confront major challenges. He’s the nearest thing we have to a world leader.

When the incumbent, Ban Kimoon, steps down in two years’ time, a new SG will be needed. How will he be chosen? Might it even, for the first time, be a she?

Protesters hold placards in streets during the G-20 in Brisbane, Australia on Saturday, November 15, 2014. Protesters staged rallies to coincide with the event, on everything from inequality to corporate tax evasion to Aboliginal rights. (AP Photo/Dean Saffron)

much-reduced rate of intellectual utilisation since fewer people have access to education and capital is allocated on a non-meritocratic principle. Consequently the society’s competitiveness is reduced and its internal democratic debates are stifled. Wealthy individuals can translate their financial muscle into policymaking: either directly by funding political parties and lobbying activities, or indirectly through the funding of political think-tanks and of professorial chairs at academic institutions. All these tactics has been successfully employed in particular the US and Britain since the early 1980s. Over time this strategy has served to frame the political debates in both countries, whilst also co-opting the political, and parts of the intellectual, elite to the cause of the wealthy - namely laissez faire policies.

It is this political import from imperial China that must bear the brunt of the blame for today’s level of economic inequality. As Britain emerged as the world’s industrial powerhouse in the late 18th century, it also adopted the doctrine of free trade as an axiomatic prerequisite for not only economic, but civilizational development. Over the 19th and early 20th centuries the doctrine was employed not only as the pillar of domestic fiscal policy, but it formed the principal objective of foreign policy as well. Such was the unwavering belief in the transformational power of free trade that it was the tool of choice even in Britain’s struggle against the African slave trade.

English national identity is still very much tied up with this concept – that of the free market as a one stop shop cure-all, neglecting the fact that the absence of capital leaves you disenfranchised in such a system. However since Britain no longer enjoys many absolute or comparative economic advantages, the continued insistence upon the doctrine in this age of globalisation only serves to undermine the employment rate and earning capacity of its low-and medium skilled workers.

The ‘big bang’ deregulation of the financial markets by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s and the doctrinaire continuation of this privatisation agenda affecting all sectors of the economy by John Major,

New Labour and David Cameron in the decades since have only served to increase economic inequality. Real wages for the majority have remained stagnant since the early 2000s whilst the richest 1% has amassed as much as the bottom 55%. Britain truly is the odd one out in Europe in more ways than through its left-hand side driving or absence of mixing taps. But contrary to what followers of classic liberal economic thought might have theorised, the trickle of economic benefit has not dripped down upon the hapless hoi polloi. It has rather trickled up to further inflate the offshore bank accounts of the rent-seeking hoi oligoi of the City. The rising tide has indeed lifted all the luxury yachts to dizzying heights, whilst in a tsunami-like fashion it has sunk the majority of the light craft moored in the British marina.

The question really is why, in this information age, in which an unprecedented proportion of society has benefited from an education, there is such complacency with regard to the radical rise in economic inequality. To find an answer to this (particularly if you are an historian of 19th century East Africa) one must look to the history of East African slavery. Slaves on the Island of Pemba in the Sultanate of Zanzibar constituted in the 1880-90s approximately 95% of the population, in contrast the slave-owning Omani elite numbered only around 2.5%. Despite their numerical inferiority they managed to control the slave population and avoid revolts. To place the statistics in an international perspective: the slave population in revolutionary Haiti constituted 88% (in 1789) and in the not so revolutionary slave-holding states of the US around 32% (in 1860). Frederick Cooper, the leading scholar of East African plantation slavery, hypothesised that despite the Zanzibar slaves having had every opportunity to successfully rebel they refrained from doing so because they had internalised the ideology of slavery. This was the way of things and who were they to challenge the existing order. Perhaps it is time for us to recognise that the existing state of affairs is not in our common interest and to adopt a socio-economic model that benefits all of society rather than just a very small minority.

Choosing the next UN leader should not be left to 3 people Edward mortimer

The secretary-general of the United Nations holds the world in his hands. It shouldn’t be possible to count those who decide who that is on the fingers of one The charter says only that the SG “shall be appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council”. It was the assembly which decided, in 1946, to ask the Security Council to “proffer one candidate only” and that the first SG should be appointed for a five-year, renewable term. So those practices could be changed without amending the charter.

Only since 1981 has it been generally accepted that no SG should serve more than two terms. And the idea that the post should rotate among the assembly’s five regional groups has never been clearly defined or fully applied.

tion to the assembly. Last time, in 2006, Russia nixed the idea that it was eastern Europe’s “turn” (because it did not want a Latvian or Polish SG), while China insisted that it was Asia’s “turn”. The US quietly agreed with China on Mr Ban as the most inoffensive Asian candidate.

The other two permanent members, the UK and France, had nothing to say.

That was a shameful abdication of responsibility. Among the privileges of permanent membership, the chance to influence such an important choice is hardly the least. One might have thought there would be a vigorous debate in both countries about how this influence should be used. Their governments could have been urged, perhaps obliged, to set out clear qualifications required of any candidate seeking to secure their support. In fact, there was almost no public discussion. Probably

wRiTE-wiNg

Nothing to say In practice, it’s the five permanent members of the Security Council who have effectively made the decision, since each can veto a recommenda-

few people in either country even knew a choice was being made.

So it was left, in effect, to just three people: George W. Bush, Vladimir Putin and Hu Jin Tao. The General Assembly and world public opinion woke up to that fact much too late and missed the chance to insist on a better process. This time round we must not make the same mistake.

That is why civil-society groups from around the world have launched a campaign, under the banner 1 for 7 Billion, calling for a fairer, more transparent and, above all, more effective procedure for filling this important post. They want the job to be advertised, with criteria for choosing the best person irrespective of national origin, a clear timetable and then a list of candidates—whose manifestos must include a pledge not to promise other senior posts to particular countries in return for their support, with a corresponding pledge from governments not to seek such promises.

They want public hearings, at which candidates would answer questions from the media and the public as well as from states. They want the Security Council to give the assembly two or more candidates to choose between and the new SG to serve a non-renewable seven-year term, so that she or he doesn’t spend it running for re-election.

We have two years to get those proposals adopted. Then let the best man or woman win.

Letters to the Editor should be sent to: The morung Express, House No. 4, Duncan Bosti, Dimapur - 797112, Or –email: morung@gmail.com All letters (including those via email) should have the full name and Postal address of the sender.

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

7

Thursday

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

20 November 2014

PERSPECTIVE NEWS ANALYSIS, FEATURE AND DISCOURSE

In India, Latrines Are Truly Lifesavers Vivekananda Nemana and Ankita Rao

T

NYT

he mural on the wall outside of Chandramani Jani’s home is more message than art.

It depicts a sari-clad woman relieving herself behind a bush, looking worried as a man advances. A large thought bubble suggests the woman wishes for a toilet of her own, clean and complete with the privacy of a door.

To Jani, a 34-year-old sarpanch, or elected village head, in the hilly Koraput district of India’s Odisha state, the mural represents a personal mission. She boasts that ever since she had toilets built in her village of Chakarliguda last December, no one in her community defecates outside. A few steps behind every home in the village, well-maintained latrines stand amid kitchen gardens and chicken coops.

“Before we had toilets people used to search for a place to squat. Now it’s easy access,”she said. A few elderly women were hesitant to use the new toilets at first, “but now even they’ve gotten used to the comfort.”

Jani’s pride is not unfounded. The success in her village is rare despite India’s repeated attempts to stop open defecation, a serious risk to health and safety that is on newly elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s agenda. More than 620 million people in India defecate outdoors — a much higher rate than in poorer countries like Bangladesh or those in subSaharan Africa. Exposure to fecal matter is a leading cause of diarrhea, which kills 600,000 people in the country each year, a third of them children. And as Gardiner Harris reported in July, open defecation and rapid population growth fuel bacterial growth that contributes to malnutrition and stunted growth in 65 million Indian children under the age of five.

The impact goes beyond health, as the mural on Jani’s wall displays. Women, who venture farther from their village than men or children to relieve themselves face additional threats to safety. The link between defecating outside and security was further emphasized by advocates like Wateraid after a fatal rape of two teenage girls in Uttar Pradesh who were walking to a field to relieve themselves earlier this year.

When the government started building toilets en masse in 1999, under an 18 billion rupee ($300 million) initiative to eradicate open defecation by 2019, authorities came up against a problem that has plagued developmental solutions from oral rehydration therapy to mosquito nets: people just weren’t using them. The Research Institute for Compassionate Economics’ Sanitation Quality, Use, Access and Trends (SQUAT) survey, which interviewed 22,000 people in five Indian states on sanitation habits, found that 40 percent of households with a working latrine have at least one member who continues to defecate outdoors. That’s partly because, in rural India, defecating far away from the home is considered cleaner than using toilets, said Payal Hathi, one of the authors of the SQUAT survey, “It’s not enough to build toilets, because even in households that have their own latrines, people do not use them,”said Arundati Muralidharan, a senior research fellow at the Public Health Foundation of India. “There are massive social, cultural norms and behavioral practices that we are looking to influence.”

Changing those norms will be a major challenge for Modi, who has pledged to end open defecation in the country by 2019. In October, he started a nationwide sanitation drive called Swachh Bharat, or Clean India Campaign, which promotes hygiene and sanitation.

But any new initiative will have to avoid the fate of the thousands of government-built toilets that remain unused— one major reason a recent study in The Lancet, a British health journal, found that a toilet-building program in Odisha may have had little impact on health.

Jani made it her personal mission to make sure people received and used the new toilets in Chakarliguda, a poor tribal village with relative low literacy levels in southern Odisha. She understood the value long ago, when she built a latrine outside her hut, but the villagers only knew that their families were getting sick from unclean drinking water.

When the leader learned that the district administration would be providing toilets to select villages last May, she knew that she would have to sell the idea to her community first. Although Chakarliguda wasn’t initially picked for the sanitation campaign, Jani, who

I

t’s been almost two months since Scotland went to the polls in the independence referendum. With the passage of time we can now judge things with a slightly calmer perspective. While we await the outcome of the Smith Commission on further devolution it’s true that while nothing’s changed, everything’s changed.

It’s often been stated that the Scottish independence referendum was a defining moment, not just for the people of Scotland, but for people across these islands and beyond.

No war, no violence, 97% of people aged 16 and over registered to vote, an 85% turnout and a popular, open debate in pubs, streets, town halls and schools. Even for those who saw it as divisive, everyone across the UK can celebrate what was a genuine achievement for direct democracy.

This success was against the backdrop of a mainstream media that’s now fallen behind more effective and democratic means of communication. There was a significant ignorance and snobbery about Scottish independence by many sections of the British media.

From both right-wing comics like the Daily Mail but also from alleged progressive media, who should have known better than to parrot state propaganda. You could say it was a case of cosy academic theo-

Chandramani Jani in front of a public awareness mural about toilets and sanitation by her home in Chakarliguda.

left school after seventh grade, fought with district officials, repeatedly visiting their offices and drummed up community support from her neighbors.

In July 2013, district sanitation officers worked with Jani and a few young community volunteers to start an intensive campaign called “triggering.”In order to educate and “trigger”community ownership of toilets, the team staged street plays and regular workshops that explained how open defecation was making children sick. (As with most villages in the Koraput region, diarrhea and malaria were the two biggest ailments in Chakarliguda.)

They also used waste mapping and calculations, two viscerally provocative methods that have proved effective in Bangladesh. Sanitation officials had villagers mark on a map where they defecated, and then demonstrated how excrement moved from the fields into their drinking water and food. They also calculated the total weight of human excrement, which for Chakarliguda — a tiny mountainside hamlet of less than 300 people — came out to 52 tons each year.

“We basically showed them how they were eating and drinking” their own waste ,said Kasi Prasad Nayak, who oversees water and sanitation in the Koraput district. “And that had a lot of motivational impact.”

Triggering is a component of the ongoing national toilet-building program, known as Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, or the Total Sanitation Campaign. But so far, the success of such programs — which are allocated 15 percent of the total campaign budget — has varied wildly. Unlike building toilets, triggering is an abstract effort that’s hard to oversee, and the money for it is often unspent. But, as the case of Chakarliguda shows, the right investment in local leadership goes a long way in changing a community’s attitude.

Here, Jani’s campaigning won over most of the village — important because the health risks of open defecation remain unless most of the community has switched to latrines. To persuade holdouts, the sarpanch used a more aggressive, less kosher, approach.

“I told my people that if they didn’t build toilets and start using them, they wouldn’t get their subsidized rice or pension from the government,”she recalled with a laugh. The villagers knew it was an empty threat — a sarpanch does not have the right to withhold welfare benefits — but it nudged them into compliance.

Every family was on board when the village received toilets last December. The government covered most of the cost and sent engineers to guide them, although households were required to build their own toilets and contribute 900 rupees ($15) toward construction. Free to customize, some families invested in tiles and water storage units, while others expanded theirs to include a bathing room.

Dena Kila, a local resident in the village, said her family bought extra cement to make a solid latrine, and was now installing a pipe for running water. Sitting at her clay stove, Kila said building toilets kept the village pathways cleaner, and that more people washed their hands with soap. And women felt safer. “I used to only go in the early morning and evening, when it was dark enough to not be visible,”she said. “I had to go in a group and worry about safety risks like wild animals.”

The project has changed daily habits for men,

women and children in Chakarliguda, but has had much less impact in villages that didn’t use a similar community strategy.

In 2004, a large nonprofit organization called Gram Vikas built toilets in the hilltop village of Phulband, also in the Koraput district. But 10 years later, most of the structures serve as sheds for lumber and live chickens. Devendra, a 25-year-old laborer and social worker from the village, said Gram Vikas conducted community activities while introducing the toilets, but there was little follow-up, and villagers soon returned to their old habits.

“We need to understand what is driving people to defecate in the open even when they don’t have to,”Muralidharan said of similar failed attempts.

“Behavioral intervention needs to go beyond telling people to use toilets to really address some of these underlying factors.”

For Jani, the follow-up was essential. Throughout the process she led a monitoring committee to check in with villagers and their facilities. And she now regularly checks the latrines to ensure that families are using and maintaining their toilets.

This active leadership makes all the difference, said Kuldip Gyaneswar, a fellow with the Ministry of Rural Development who works with the Koraput district administration. While thousands qualify for the Total Sanitation Campaign funding, many Indians slip through the cracks because panchayat leaders and citizens don’t know that they are eligible to benefit.

Meanwhile, Jani has become an expert on sanitation in her village and was invited to Delhi to participate in a Unicef-led discussion about promoting sanitation.

You need someone in each village to anchor the program, Gyaneswar said. “Wherever there are strong leaders they are working well.”Toilets built by community demand, he said, were far more effective than supply-driven measures by the government.

But more diverse, large Indian communities may prove more difficult a challenge than Chakarliguda — said Muralidharan.

“How do you transpose that success to an urban slum where you have highly mixed communities?”she said. “What can be the binding force in a heterogeneous community for an issue that really affects everyone?”

As the Modi administration prepares to invest millions of dollars in building toilets, they will have to address the challenges that come with a country of one billion people. But examples of success are as close as Chakarliguda, or, on a larger scale, right next door in Bangladesh, which has all but eliminated open defecation.

Hathi, of the SQUAT Survey, said that during a recent trip to the country, she was struck by how freely people discussed sanitation, and by how common it was for people to use simple, low-cost latrines that are difficult to find in India. While most people in India could afford the simple latrines found in Bangladesh, they don’t build them because they don’t prioritize owning a toilet.

“Everyone in Bangladesh is working on it. Here we are struggling to have the same kind of dialogue on sanitation,”she said. “It needs to start with Modi and it needs to come down to the local level. We need cricket players, politicians, sarpanches, Bollywood people — everybody.”

US-Iran talks haunted by history

B

Matthew Lee AP Diplomatic Writer

ill Clinton tried. So did George W. Bush. Neither succeeded. As President Barack Obama's own second term winds down, he is getting closer than either of his immediate predecessors to the goal of improving U.S. relations with Iran.

But he's not there yet, and plenty stands in the way, including a messy and brutal conflict in Iraq and Syria.

As high-stakes negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program resume this week in Vienna ahead of a Nov. 24 deadline for a deal, the ghosts of previous failed attempts at AmericanIranian rapprochement loom large. So do very real and current concerns, not least of which are the rise of the Islamic State militancy in Iraq and Syria, fierce opposition to a deal from U.S. ally Israel and open hostility from many in Congress and hardliners in Iran who already look to be trying to derail a potential agreement. Those issues, combined with the already frustratingly complex nature of the negotiations, have made for slow going and increased the chances of something less than a full deal being struck by next Monday's target. Officials say an extension of the already once-extended talks is possible, but they warn additional delays will invite complications. Diplomats from all sides are eager to meet the deadline.

Obama and his top aides deny that anything other than resolving the nuclear deadlock is in play in the negotiations. Yet, they also acknowledge a deal is key to a broader improvement in relations, something Obama is reported to have conveyed in a recent letter to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei.

Though it hangs over the process, what appears to be a shared U.S.-Iranian interest in defeating the extremist Sunni Islamic State group has been raised only tangentially on the sidelines of the talks. The Obama administration's goal is to ultimately defeat the militants, whose rise it blames chiefly on atrocities committed by Syrian President Bashar Assad and the failure of the previous leadership in Iraq.

Iran shares America's goal with regard to the Islamic State, but while it may have acquiesced to the replacement of pro-Iranian Iraqi President Nouri al-Maliki earlier this year, it has not given up on Assad, who the U.S. insists has lost all legitimacy and must go.

Hence, Obama is treading carefully as some in his Cabinet and many in Congress demand more be done to get rid of Assad. Obama answered with a blunt "no" when asked at a weekend news conference in Australia whether additional U.S. assistance would be given to Syrian rebels to topple Assad. The U.S.-Iran divergence on Assad alone would be problematic, but it is far from the only non-nuclear point of contention.

Decades of mistrust and suspicion weigh heavily on the talks.

And they go back further than the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran and the hostage-taking at the U.S. Embassy there. Iranians also have long memories of U.S. support for the 1953 coup that overthrew Iran's prime minister, Mohammed Mossadeq.

For the past 14 years, successive American administrations have tried to undo some of that damage. At the same time, U.S. officials have ratcheted up pressure on Iran by imposing sanctions on it for sponsoring U.S.-designated terrorist organizations, supporting anti-Israel groups, denying human rights and trying to develop nuclear weapons.

The Clinton administration sought to capitalize on the 1997 election of reform-minded Iranian President Mohammad Khatami by easing some sanctions, acknowledging the U.S. role in the 1953 coup and engaging in limited contact over the situation in Afghanistan.

That contact intensified after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the U.S. and the American-led ouster of the Taliban from Afghanistan, but quickly became snagged again over Iranian nuclear activity, President George W. Bush's branding of Iran as a member of the "axis of evil" and the imposition of new sanctions. Yet, even that Bush administration sought to ease tensions with Iran, reversing a decision not to participate in nuclear talks between Iran and European nations. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice proposed in 2008 that the U.S. reopen an interests section in Tehran to restore an American diplomatic presence.

Hostility from Iran's leaders, notably Khamenei and former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, along with growing nuclear concerns and the detentions of Americans in Iran, ran high as Obama moved into the White House in 2009 and sanctions against Iran were expanded. The election of Hassan Rouhani on a reformist platform to succeed Ahmadinejad swung the pendulum back. Obama initiated secret discussions with Iran in 2013 that led to an agreement in November on an interim nuclear deal in exchange for limited sanctions relief. That interim deal and Obama's September 2013 phone call with Rouhani — the highest-level contact between the two countries since 1979 — are the high points of the rapprochement to date.

Surpassing them to restore even a semblance of normalcy to the relationship may require more than a nuclear agreement, though, as both sides suspect the other may renege on a deal.

Then there is the chance that lawmakers or new leadership in either capital might rescind a pact. Israel remains a wildcard, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying he will reject any deal he believes leaves Israel unsafe and bluntly leaving open the possibility of military action against Iranian nuclear sites.

With so much boding ill for the prospects of a nuclear deal, it may not mean the third time's the charm for U.S.-Iran rapprochement.

Deconstructing Scottish nationalism & the new democracy ries about “nationalism” not reflecting real life progress.

During the campaign itself I heard confused arguments about “dividing the working class”, the “battle against nationalism” and “separatists”, all misguided at best. With that logic we certainly shouldn’t have the alleged borders created by the existing Scottish Parliament or of local authorities, the different legal system or even clubs or societies. With this narrative we should have a one world government because being “separate” from France, Canada or Ireland divides us all. I’d suggest these arguments were based more on belief in emotional British state mythology.

Ironically independent United Kingdom supporters are, by their own definition, British nationalists.

Though they certainly wouldn’t want to be associated with the nationalist mob performing Nazi salutes, singing Rule Britannia and burning a Saltire in George Square, Glasgow, after the votes were counted. Those campaigners clearly didn’t get the memo about the “battle against nationalism”.

It was also interesting to spot the outdated slogans of yesteryear that still circulate in the British establishment. Claims of anti-Englishness, becoming a “foreign country” and

duncan Thorp

The referendum in Scotland gave birth to a new democratic movement in Scotland - a movement people all across the UK could learn from “divorce”, all evidence of a rejection of what was actually happening on the ground in Scotland. In our local communities this was about a real thirst for positive engagement, progressive politics and concern for social issues like unemployment, poverty and the economy. Of course this media distortion meant that people in England formed dangerously distorted and misleading views about the reality of what was happening.

This brings us to the crucial point. Scottish nationalism has never really been about nationalism at all - it’s always been about democracy - whether opponents or advocates realised it or not. Ancient petty rivalries and past subjugation, Scotland used as an experimental testing ground by Thatcher, a parliament abolished for centuries against the will of the people, nuclear weapons, voiceless and disempowered, can you see why this vote happened?

Can you also see how this lack of a

voice applies to people in the English regions too?

I was born and brought up in England. Though I’ve lived in Scotland for almost 20 years I feel fortunate in never having been taught any nationalist narrative. It’s one of the reasons that the propaganda from the corporate media and the “antiseparatists” is so unjust. Unlike colonial British nationalism, the Scottish independence movement was and remains inclusive, it’s civic and progressive, many people of English origin are involved. Yes there are narrow minds in any movement but the reality does not match the silly “English hater” claims made in some parts. I genuinely love these islands and the many varied and incredible people who live here. Different political institutions are about fairness and equality, not separation.

So where are we now? Though the constant, raw energy of an impending vote is gone, the Yes independence in-

frastructure is still thriving, growing and determined. The cultural movement, National Collective, is part of this, as is RIC (Radical Independence Campaign), Women for Independence and many other progressive groups.

The future of course lies in Generation Yes, for younger people. There’s no notable right-wing in this movement.

SNP, Scottish Green and Scottish Socialist Party memberships have exploded creating a huge force for the next elections. Since the vote, tens of thousands of people have joined the SNP, making it the third largest UK party, the Scottish Greens have quadrupled their membership - and they’re all still growing.

While the UK state infrastructure remains powerful the unionist campaign itself has effectively ended.

This comes back to the key point in that much of the Scottish Yes campaign has now thankfully gone beyond narrow nationalism and is indeed going beyond narrow independence.

It’s becoming about local community control and empowerment of neighbourhoods too. It’s not about the socalled “45%” people, stuck with a defeatist mind-set. It’s about the 100%. It’s becoming a democracy movement.

Democracy not destiny.

This emerging Scottish democracy

movement is one of many diverse people-led movements across the world.

Of course we know there’s also a wider war against democracy made up of governments and agencies, corporations and the media. But we should all begin to take an active role in the campaigns for authentic people power because it’s only with mass, persistent action that progressive change happens.

Beyond the official party line, the underlying British story has never been about people. It’s really about maintaining an elitist Westminster System*. Scotland is currently a full part of this system. And the system can’t be reformed. Vested political-corporate interests, government by millionaires, Lords and Ladies, state surveillance, a voting system rigged to keep two parties in power forever, a stifling, dangerously unequal economic system, increasing right-wing domination, a weak parliament, corruption built into the system itself. Britain isn’t working.

People across the British Isles need to recognise the Scottish democracy movement for what it really is. It offers something for all of us, for English people, Welsh people and Northern Irish too. It’s certainly not perfect and it’s not always easy but ultimately it’s about an equal voice for everyone.

It's now time for the next phase.

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

* “Westminster System” isn’t a code word for “The English” it’s a code word for Westminster System.

8

Dimapur

NATIONAL

Thursday 20 November 2014

Sri Lanka frees five Indian fishermen sentenced to death

ColomBo, novemBer 19 (ianS): Five Indian fishermen sentenced to death for drug trafficking were released in Sri Lanka Wednesday, and the Indian high commission said the gesture will further boost bilateral ties. The Indian mission in Colombo said the fishermen would be sent home and won’t have to serve their sentence in India.

“We are deeply grateful to (Sri Lankan President) Mahinda Rajapaksa for this humanitarian gesture which will further strengthen the strong and multi-faceted relations between India and Sri Lanka,” the mission said. The five fishermen from Tamil Nadu and three from Sri Lanka were held guilty of drug trafficking and sentenced to death.

Indians Emerson, P. Augustus, R. Wilson, K. Prasath and J. Langlet were caught in the sea in 2011 and sentenced to death by the Colombo High Court Oct 30 this year. The death sentence triggered massive protests in Tamil Nadu. President Rajapaksa released the fishermen by using his constitutional powers, the Daily Mirror said.

“Yes, they have been released and handed over to the high commission,” an Indian high commission spokesperson told the daily. “They will be sent to India and will not serve their sentence there. We are currently working on the modalities.”

In Chennai, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the release came about due to the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. BJP’s Tamil Nadu leader Tamilisai Soundararajan also said that there would soon be a permanent solution to the problem of attacks by the Sri Lankan Navy on Indian fishermen in the sea.

Gunman opens fire from AK-47 on top executive in Hyderabad hyderaBad, novemBer 19 (ianS): In a sensational incident, an unidentified person opened fire from an AK-47 on a top executive of a pharma company in high-security KBR Park here Wednesday morning.

Aurobindo Pharma director and vice-chairman K. Nityananda Reddy escaped unhurt in the attack, police said. The attacker fled the scene, leaving behind his gun and a bag. Nityananda Reddy also opened fire from his pistol to counter the attack.

The incident took place around 7 a.m. when Nityananda Reddy returned to his Audi car after a morning walk in the park. The gunman, who was sitting in the car, apparently tried to kidnap Reddy. Nityananda Reddy told reporters that he held the attacker’s gun and in the scuffle he fired four rounds.

He shouted for help and meanwhile his brother Shivananda Reddy also reached there.

They tried to catch hold of the assailant, who fired few more rounds, damaging the window panes of the car.

Faced with stiff resistance, the assailant fled the scene, leaving behind his weapon and a bag.

Senior police officials along with dog squads and ballistic experts from forensic laboratory rushed to the scene and launched investigations. They gathered several clues and also recovered bullets and empty shells.

The police have taken the incident seriously as an AK-47 was used by the assailant. Hyderabad Police Commissioner Mahender Reddy, who visited the scene, said the rifle was missing since January this year from a commando of Greyhounds, the elite anti-Maoist force. The police are probing the incident from all angles including the possibility of involvement of a Maoist or a former Maoist.

The motive of the attacker is also still not clear.

The investigating officials were gathering information from Nityananda Reddy and his brother and also analyzing the footage from CCTV cameras installed at the nearby traffic signal and at the office of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to identify the attacker. The incident sent panic among VIPs who throng the famous park for their daily morning walk. Politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen, film actors and other celebrities frequent the park.

The residences of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh chief ministers, the headquarters of TDP and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and residence of several VIPs are located in Banjara Hills and Jubliee Hills surrounding the park.

The Morung Express

Six die as Rampal remains elusive; aides, 425 supporters arrested

Chandigarh/Barwala, novemBer 19 (ianS): At least six people - five women and an infant - have lost their lives, as selfstyled godman Rampal continued to elude the police Wednesday. Top police officers in Haryana claimed that their “successful” action to arrest him was nearing its end.

Haryana Police Wednesday confirmed that five women and a child died during the stand-off between the controversial sect leader’s followers and the security forces. Over 10,000 followers Wednesday came out of the ashram near Barwala town, 210 km from Chandigarh. Rampal continued to evade arrest even as hundreds of his followers left his ashram Wednesday morning.

Rampal’s key aides, including his brother Purshottam Dass, and spokesman Raj Kapoor have been taken into custody, police said. At least 425 supporters, including private commandos, were arrested Wednesday.

“Our operation is in the final phase. We will arrest him (Rampal) soon. Our operation was better than we had thought,” Additional Director General of Police Mohammed Akil told the media outside the ashram near Barwala.

Unlike Tuesday’s violent clashes between sect followers and security forces, no clash took place Wednesday.

However, tension mounted Wednesday evening as agitated villagers near Barwala, who are opposed to the sect leader, set some vehicles parked nearby on fire. Haryana DGP S.N. Vashisht told the media that bodies of four women were handed over by Satlok Ashram authorities to police Wednesday.

Committee formed to probe attacks on media covering sect violence new delhi, novemBer 19 (ianS): The Press Council of India (PCI) Wednesday set up a four-member committee to probe the attacks on media persons covering the stand-off and clash between the security forces and followers of controversial sect leader Rampal in Haryana.

In a letter, PCI chairman Justice Markandey Katju said: “Having considered the reports about the attack yesterday (Tuesday) on media persons by police in Hisar, Haryana, in which several were badly beaten up, their cameras and other equipment broken, I am of the prima facie opinion that this is a serious violation of the fundamental freedom guarenteed to the media by Article 19 (1) (a) of the constitution.”

The PCI members who will probe the matter are Sondeep Shankar, Kosuri Amarnath, Rajeev Ranjan Nag and Krishna Prasad. Katju also asked the authorities in Haryana and Chandigarh to assist the committee in their probe and “ensure that no one interferes with its functioning in any way”.

The committee was also asked to conduct a through probe into the matter, and submit its report to the chairman “at the earliest”. Several One woman, who had a heart ailment, and an 18-month-old child, reportedly suffering from jaundice, died in hospital due to lack of timely medical care, he said. The DGP said none of the victims bore any bodily injuries.

He said the exact cause of their death would be known only after post-mortem examination.

“Our operation will continue till we arrest the accused (Rampal).

We had given a deadline to people inside the ashram to vacate the premises. Many of them have been forced to stay inside. No negotiations would be held with him (Rampal),” Vashisht said.

media persons covering the stand-off and clash between the security forces and followers of controversial sect leader Rampal were injured Tuesday when police carried out an unprovoked attack on the journalists.

Police have been trying to arrest the self-styled guru following court orders in a murder conspiracy. The media persons were targeted suddenly near the Satlok Ashram, near Haryana’s Barwala town, while they were covering the violent clash.

The media had been taken near the ashram complex by police themselves following verbal orders from Haryana Director General of Police (DGP) S.N. Vashisht to the Hisar police officers. The journalists were attacked on the hands and legs.

In his letter, addressed to the Haryana chief secretary, home secretary and district magistrate among others, Katju said: “The committee may set its own procedure. The committee may meet and talk with media persons, including those who were attacked or whose cameras etc were broken, the journalists, organisations, managements, editors etc, as well as the authroties including the police, and the public at large and others concerned.”

“Police have neither fired a shot nor entered the ashram so far,” the DGP said. Police sources said Rampal and a private army of volunteers were holding followers hostage inside the premises. “They are using women and children as shields,” a police officer said.

Fearing more police action Wednesday after Tuesday’s clashes left nearly 300 people, including 110 policemen, injured, the followers stranded inside the ashram started leaving. District authorities said over 10,000 people, who were inside the ashram complex for the past few days, started leaving early Wednesday after a

portion of a 20-foot-high wall of the 12-acre ashram complex was brought down.

While the ashram management claimed Rampal was not inside the complex, the DGP said the sect leader was hiding inside.

Most of the followers of the selfstyled godman said they were forced to stay inside by volunteers and the private commando force.

Police have booked Rampal who is already facing charges of murder, inciting mobs and contempt of court - for sedition. He has now also been booked for attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy, illegal detention, rioting

Poor can’t be burdened with fight against climate change: Mahajan

Indian schoolchildren participate in an awareness campaign rally to mark World Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Violence against Children, in Hyderabad on Wednesday, November 19. The Day was first an initiative by the Women’s World Summit Foundation, an NGO coalition of women and children organizations, in 2000 as World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse. (AP Photo)

India’s internet users to cross 300 mn

new delhi, novemBer 19 (ianS): The number of internet users in India would reach 302 million by December 2014, a study said here Wednesday. The report, ‘Internet in India 2014’, is jointly published by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB International.

The internet in India took more than a decade to move from 10 million to 100 million and three years from 100 to 200 million.

However, it took only a year to move from 200 to 300 million users, it said.

“In October 2014, there were 278 million internet users in India. Currently, India has the

thirdlargestinternetusers’baseintheworldbut it is estimated that by December 2014, India will overtake the US as the second largest Internet users’ base in the world,” the study said.

China currently leads with more than 600 million internet users while the US currently has an estimated 279 million internet users. Urban India, for nearly 93 percent of the respondents, the primary use of internet is for search, followed by online communication and social networking. However, in rural India, entertainment is the primary reason for internet usage, followed by communication and social networking.

uniTed naTionS, novemBer 19 (ianS): In a strong message to the developed nations, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has said that sustainable development and a victory in the war against climate change cannot be attained on the backs of the poor.

“The burden of sustainability cannot be placed on the poor,” Mahajan said.

“Livelihood concerns of the underprivileged cannot be compromised for lifestyle interests of others.”

Addressing a session of the Preparatory Committee for the Fourth World Conference of Speakers of Parliaments on UN Millenium Development Goals (MDG) and the future agenda Monday, she said: “Our efforts to mainstream sustainability will remain hollow unless we are able to confront the issues of inequity in consumption of global resources and reducing the unsustainable ecological footprints of the developed countries.”

India has been under pressure from developed nations to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions even though it could put its poverty fighting programmes at risk.

Though India is often portrayed as the third worst emitter of carbon dioxide, after China and the US, its per capital output of carbon dioxide is only 1.7 tonnes against 17.6 tonnes for the US in 2010, according to the World Bank.

Mahajan reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s concept of saving the environment by promoting frugality and respect for nature.

“Indian traditional wisdom emphasises a culture of frugality, of doing more with less, of taking only as much as required from nature and of no wastage,” she said.

‘Failure to end slavery is global sin’ l o n d o n, novemBer 19 (ThomSon reuTerS FoundaTion): Nobel peace laureate Kailash Satyarthi said on Wednesday the failure to end slavery was one of world’s biggest sins as he called for urgent action to tackle a rise in the numbers of slaves globally to an all-time high.

Satyarthi, who was the surprise co-recipient of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for his work fighting child slavery in India, said it was unacceptable that almost 36 million people including about 5.5 million children are living in slavery today. He called for collective action by governments, businesses and campaigners and a strengthening of laws to crackdown on human trafficking and free the world of slavery.

“We have ... to build a civil rights movement against slavery,” Satyarthi told the Trust Women conference in London organised by the Thomson Reuters Foundation where he will launch an End Child Slavery Week campaign later on

and preventing government servant from performing duties, the DGP said.

“Police have shown a lot of restraint since yesterday (Tuesday) and have not fired a single shot,” Haryana’s Additional Chief Secretary (Home) P.K. Mahapatra told the media here. Supporters of Rampal Tuesday clashed with security forces to prevent them from entering the ashram premises.

The area around the ashram resembled a battlefield as sect supporters resisted police action.

Sect followers fired at police, lobbed petrol bombs and acid pouches, besides hurling stones and bricks outside the ashram, clearly indicating that the sect was well-prepared to resist the security forces. The sect leader has been avoiding arrest and failed to appear before the Punjab and Haryana High Court although nonbailable warrants were issued against him Nov 5.

Rampal’s supporters had indulged in vandalism in a court in Hisar in July when he was going there in connection with a 2006 murder conspiracy case. The high court took suo motu notice of the incident and summoned Rampal.

Meanwhile, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who has otherwise avoided much comment on Rampal issue, Wednesday tweeted: “Serious charges of sedition against Rampal & several followers by Haryana Police. Operations to continue till he is arrested from Ashram.”

“Govt. & Police are committed to ensure strict compliance of High Court orders, priority is to uphold the law without loss of innocent lives,” he wrote in another tweet.

Wednesday. “Denial of childhood and denial of freedom are the biggest sins which humankind has been committing and perpetuating for ages.”

The second annual global slavery index by the Walk Free Foundation, an Australia-based human rights group, released this week, estimated 35.8 million people are living in slavery with India home to the highest number, with 14.3 million slaves. Some of these people are born into servitude, some trafficked for sex work, while others are trapped in debt bondage or exploited in forced labour.

Satyarthi, 60, whose non-government organisation Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) has been credited with freeing over 80,000 child labourers in India over 30 years, said it was unbelievable that slavery was still so prevalent.

He said slavery was continuing despite enormous advancements in terms of technology, economics, business, governance, politics and religious and culture de-

velopments.

Satyarthi called on the global community to build a sense of urgency to tackle the slavery business which is estimated to be worth $150 billion a year. “In this stage of history we have the largest number of slaves in the world ... we have the biggest amount of illicit earnings from human trade,” he said. “It is unacceptable ... Why don’t we act now? .. If (your) own child is missing, for a day, trafficked, you would be restless and do everything possible.”

Satyarthi was little known when he was awarded this year’s Nobel prize along with Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai who has become a global icon for girls’ education after surviving an assassination attempt by the Taliban. But he hopes winning the high profile award will put a spotlight on slavery and trigger action.

He said the Nobel was the biggest recognition for all the children who had remained “voiceless and faceless” for centuries.

“In India, we worship earth, water, air, fire and space which are the five elements of nature. These ideals need to be embraced if we are serious about combating climate change and sustainable development.”

Warning that persistent poverty in many countries was “not only politically untenable” but “also economically unviable and morally indefensible”, she highlighted the global clamour for development. The elections that brought the BJP to power “symbolised a great yearning for growth and development by the people of India”, she said.

“Ending poverty must be the central and overriding objective of the new development agenda for the post-2015 period,” she said.

The preparatory committee is meeting here ahead of the World Conference of Speakers of Parliament to be held next year in the run-up to the UN Summit which is expected to set new development goals to follow the MDG. One of the issues that the speakers’ conference will take up is promoting gender equality.

Speaking at another committee session on mainstreaming gender equality, Mahajan, who is the second woman to be the speaker of the Lok Sabha, said: “India was among the early pioneers of gender empowerment. Our freedom struggle and subsequent political evolution has given women equal political rights, including at the grassroots level.”

Now, she said, “India is fully committed to the promotion of gender equality and for utilising enabling technologies, in particular information communication technology (ICT), for the empowerment of women.”

‘e-Commerce will pave way for Digital India’

Eighteen-year-old American Neha Gupta receives the KidsRights Children’s Peace Prize from South African Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, left, in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, November 18. Gupta started her own organization ‘Empower Orphans’ at the mere age of nine. (AP Photo)

new delhi, novemBer 19 (ianS): Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad Wednesday said he perceives e-commerce as an extension which is surely pave way for the new India or Digital India.

“The dream of witnessing a Digital India will be fulfilled the day, when the availability of resources, items and opportunities are just a click away for the Indians,” the minister said. He was speaking at the e-Commerce Conclave organised by BRICS Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Saying that “Indians are born entrepreneurs”, Prasad added that he would leave no stone unturned for bridging the digital gap between the rural and urban India. He said the local and small scale entrepreneurs should be brought to the international platform by achieving the Digital India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address to the nation Aug 15 envisaged a Rs.1 lakh crore project to transform the country into a digitally empowered and connected knowledge economy.

Prasad Nov 13 met Flipkart co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Sachin Bansal and assured him that the government will provide full support to resolving issues related to logistics and connectivity. “I was delighted to meet the young man Sachin Bansal who started the e-Commerce giant #flipkart# in India,” Prasad tweeted after the meeting.

In order help local people, US-based Amazon’s Indian arm is working on a business model to involve grocery stores in its network. The minister met Amazon India managing director Amit Agarwal and Amazon Vice President, International Public Policy Monique Meche Nov 11.

InternatIonal

the Morung express

Thursday 20 November 2014

Dimapur

9

No date for IS war vote as Congress waits on Obama WASHINGTON, NOvember 19 (AP): Congressional authorization of the U.S. war against Islamic State extremists has gone nowhere in the two weeks since President Barack Obama vowed to coordinate with lawmakers on a stronger legal basis for military action, prompting growing frustration with the White House.

Republicans and Democrats say the administration isn’t prioritizing the effort, having yet to outline what it wants from Congress or to dispatch top officials to testify. As a result, congressional aides say, a new authorization to fight the Islamic State won’t happen this year and it’s unclear when it may be taken up in 2015.

“The president is now operating outside the Constitution,” said Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, one of several lawmakers challenging the administration’s legal justification for intervention based on a 2001 authorization to fight al-Qaida and another a year later to invade Iraq.

The Islamic State group didn’t exist at the time of either vote, emerging only recently from the al-Qaida movement. They’ve primarily fought each other since.

After his party’s drubbing in this month’s midterm elections, Obama said he’d work with Congress during the current lame-duck session on a new authorization for the U.S. intervention in Iraq and Syria. The announcement was a nod to widespread dissatisfaction among lawmakers with the status quo even if few, like Schiff, have expressly deemed the military campaign extralegal. Even fewer want the operations halted.

Most Democrats and Republicans who’ve spoken out on the matter want a more limited and clearly defined mandate than the post-9/11 laws initially used in Afghanistan but later cited as justification for drone strikes against terror targets from Somalia and Yemen to Pakistan.

Bernadette Meehan, spokeswoman for Obama’s National Security Council, said the administration was engaged in conversations with

Smoke rises from the Syrian city of Kobani, following airstrikes by the US led coalition, seen from a hilltop outside Suruc, on the TurkeySyria border Monday, November 17.

Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters. (AP Photo)

members of both parties.

“We are strongest as a nation when the executive branch and Congress work together on matters involving the use of U.S. military force,” she said. “Over the coming weeks, the president will work with Congress to lay out the areas where he thinks we can work together.”

The delay of congressional authorization won’t immediately affect the American war effort in Iraq and Syria.

Obama insists he already has the authority to conduct the counterterrorism mission and U.S. officials haven’t indicated they’d halt military activity if lawmakers vote down any authorization bill.

But the tenuous legal rationale for fighting could become divisive over time on a national security issue both sides say should be apolitical. And for members of Congress who’ve emphasized their constitutional responsibility to declare war, their lack of action more than three months into the

U.S. bombing campaign is something of an embarrassment. Fresh off their election triumphs, Republican leaders are waiting on Obama.

House Speaker John Boehner and soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell want the president to send over a draft authorization and to start working to build bipartisan support. Republican Sen. Bob Corker, who will become Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman when the new Congress starts in January, has made a similar demand.

His panel would be the likely starting point for the process.

The committee’s current chairman, Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, hoped to advance the cause of a new authorization this week. But he canceled a hearing scheduled Tuesday when he couldn’t get Secretary of State John Kerry or another administration official of similar stature to present the administration’s arguments. Amid the administra-

How brain forms ‘Mexican waves’

lONDON, NOvember 19 (IANS): Scientists have revealed the mechanism that enables certain brain cells to persuade others to create “Mexican waves” linked with cognitive function.

The work may help researchers understand more about normal brain function and about neurocognitive disorders such as dementia. Neurons belong to one of two groups - inhibitory or excitatory.

While much is known about excitatory neurons, the role of inhibitory neurons is still being debated.

Inhibitory neurons can vibrate and they are equipped with mechanisms that enable them to persuade networks of other neurons into imitating their vibrations setting off ‘Mexican waves’ in the brain.

The scientists believe these collective, oscillating vibrations play a key role in cognitive function. “These

brain cells are similar to spectators in a football stadium, encouraging others into imitating them in a ‘Mexican wave’. We suspect that there is a very close relationship between the collective vibrations that they set off and many important cognitive functions,” explained co-author Claudia Clopath from department of bioengineering at Imperial College London.

“When the vibrations are degraded so that the

wave is disrupted, we think it may contribute to neurocognitive disorders such as dementia. Our hope is that ultimately our research will lead to new insights into these disorders and how they can be treated,” Clopath maintained. The researchers have developed a mathematical model showing the two mechanisms that inhibitory neurons need in order to convince others to join them in their rhythmical vibrations.

Demographic shift could boost growth: UN lONDON, NOvember 19 (AP): The United Nations Population Fund said that changing demographics, mainly in Africa and Asia, could lead to rapid economic growth if there is sufficient investment in young people.

The agency said a “demographic dividend” can happen when a country’s working age population is larger than its elderly and young populations who are dependent.

“Today’s record 1.8 billion young people present an enormous opportunity to transform the future,” the fund’s Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin said. “Never again is there likely to be such potential for economic and social progress.”

He said 90 percent of these young people live in less developed countries where they face obstacles to their rights to education, health and a life free from violence. A staggering 57 million are out of school, and young people today account for two in five of the world’s unemployed, he said.

In its State of World Population 2014 report, UNFPA said demographic shifts taking place in about 60 developing countries, primarily in Africa and Asia, are opening a window for a demographic dividend. The size of the dividend depends largely on the investment those countries make in young people to realize their full potential, the report said.

A gram of turmeric daily could boost memory

melbOurNe, NOvember 19 (IANS): Adding only a gram of turmeric to one’s breakfast could help improve the memory of people who are in the early stages of diabetes and at risk of developing cognitive impairment, a study indicates.

For the study, professor Mark Wahlqvist from the Monash Asia Institute at the Melbourne-based Monash University tested the working memory of men and women, aged 60 or more, who had recently been diagnosed with untreated pre-diabetes in Taiwan.

Working memory is widely thought to be one of the most important mental faculties, critical for cognitive abilities such as planning, problem solving and reasoning.

In the placebo-controlled study, subjects were given one gram of turmeric with an otherwise nutritionally bland breakfast of white bread.

Their working memory was tested before and some hours after the meal. “We found that this modest addition of turmeric to breakfast improved working memory over six hours in older people with pre-diabetes,” professor Wahlqvist added.

Turmeric’s characteristic yellow colour is due to curcumin which accounts for three to six percent of turmeric and has been shown by experimental studies to reduce the risk of dementia.

“Our findings with turmeric are consistent with earlier observations as they appear to influence cognitive function where there is disordered energy metabolism and insulin resistance,” Wahlqvist said. The study was published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Osotimehin said at the launch in London that the report makes the case “for urgent investment in young people so they may be engaged in their communities and the development of their nations.” It recommended sustained investment in “revelant, highquality education,” comprehensive health care “encompassing all aspects of sexual and reproductive health,” and opportunities for young people to earn a living. Osotimehin cited East Asia as an example: It invested in young people in the 1960s and reaped a demographic dividend that contributed to a 6 percentage point surge in GDP and a quadrupling of per capita incomes in some countries.

tion’s inaction, aides say Democratic Sen. Harry Reid, the Senate’s majority leader for the next six weeks, isn’t pushing the matter right now.

Senators will get a chance to ask questions of a top Obama foreign policy adviser Wednesday when Tony Blinken, the president’s choice to become the State Department’s No. 2 official, testifies at a nomination hearing.

For Congress and the administration, more pressing issues in Congress may be at stake.

Permission to arm and train Syrian rebels, a central plank of Obama’s strategy to defeat the Islamic State militants, expires next month. Congressional leaders are trying to reauthorize the program as part of a larger spending measure to keep the government running. Obama also is seeking $5.6 billion to cover the military costs. Those funds may come in an annual defense bill senators are trying to complete by year’s end.

Families in shock as Islamic State lures sons into “barbaric madness”

CArDIFF, NOvember 19 (reuTerS): “Do you know how much it hurts to raise someone and watch them grow and suddenly they’re just gone?” says Ahmed Muthana, 57, a retired electronics engineer in Wales whose two sons Nasser, 20, and Aseel, 17, have gone to fight for Islamic State.

Like any father of faraway children, he can easily slip into a reverie, talking about the studious older son who was accepted into medical school and his more rambunctious and athletic younger brother.

“The little one (Aseel) wanted to be an Olympic swimmer and an English teacher. Nasser liked science and wanted to be a doctor,” said their father. “Nasser was always primarily concerned with his studies and Aseel liked to play around.”

Then, without notice, the young men vanished. “Nasser told us he was going to Birmingham, and the next thing we know, he is in Syria,” he says. “Aseel said he had a test and suddenly he’s in Cyprus.” The Muthana family were thrust into the spotlight this week when Ahmed Muthana told journalists he believed Nasser was one of the Islamic State fighters in a video showing beheadings.

Camera crews camped outside the small white semi-detached house near the centre of the Welsh capital Cardiff. The father now says he was initially mistaken: although his sons are fighting with Islamic State, they were not among the men shown in the video beheading Syrian soldiers.

That was enough to persuade the camera crews to leave. But it has not relieved his sorrow or altered his verdict on his sons, who are dead to him.

“They committed suicide when they did what they did.”

Hundreds of young men from Western countries are believed to have travelled to Syria and Iraq to join Islamic State fighters who have seized swathes of those two coun-

tries, carrying out mass killings that have shocked the world. They leave behind families like the Muthanas, struggling to understand.

In France, journalists descended on Tuesday on the Normandy village of Bosc-Roger-en-Roumois, population 3,000, to film the house with the well-manicured lawn, where Maxime Hauchard, 22, grew up a stone’s throw from the local church.

His uncle, Pascal Hauchard, an unemployed truck driver, said the family were suffering. His grandmother was in shock. “He had an ordinary childhood in an ordinary household,” his uncle told Le Parisien daily. “What was it that pushed my nephew into this barbaric madness?”

French police believe Hauchard, a Normandy native who converted to Islam as a teen, is one of the militants in the beheading video. They are at a loss to explain how he changed in the space of a few years from an adolescent described by neighbours as “friendly and easygoing” to the grimly determined radical Islamist in military fatigues.

In a Skype interview he gave to French television from the Syrian town of Raqqa, Islamic State’s de facto capital, in July, Hauchard explained that he became a Muslim on his own after immersing himself from the age of 17 in radical Islamist material on the Internet. He was currently preparing to take part in a mission: “We look forward to death with joy”, he said.

Back in Wales, Ahmed Muthana still wears the traditional jelabiya robe and red keffiyah headscarf of his native Yemen and remains passionate about the Middle East. He speaks animatedly about the corruption and harsh governments that made life difficult there. His British-born boys were religious -- Aseel memorised the entire Koran as a youth, learning 8 pages a day -- but showed no sign of interest in war until the day they disappeared.

Hong Kong activists clash with police HONG KONG, NOvember 19 (AP): Tension spiked at democracy protests that have gripped Hong Kong for nearly two months as police arrested four men early Wednesday after a small group of activists tried to force their way into the city’s legislature in overnight clashes.

The arrests came hours after authorities enforced a court order to clear some barricades from a small section of a site occupied by pro-democracy activists.

Police used pepper spray, batons and riot shields against the umbrellawielding protesters wearing masks, goggles and hardhats, who they said repeatedly charged their cordon and injured three officers.

The protesters used metal barricades and concrete slabs to smash glass doors at the legislature before officers police rushed in to push them back.

Pro-democracy lawmaker Fernando Cheung tried to intervene but was pulled aside by some protesters. Cheung told reporters that he saw one person enter the building. The vio-

Protesters use umbrellas and shields against police after they tried to break into the Legislative Council in Hong Kong early Wednesday, November 19. (AP Photo)

lence apparently involved protesters who organized their action through an Internet forum known to attract people with radical views. The clashes underscore mounting frustration for some as the movement drags on for more than 50 days with no end in sight, though student leaders immediately distanced themselves from the violence.

“We can’t agree with the reason for taking this

action,” said Joshua Wong, the 18-year-old leader of Scholarism, one of two student groups leading the protests. Cheung and other pro-democracy lawmakers condemned the violence, saying it undermined the non-violent civil disobedience movement.

The student-led democracy protesters reject restrictions laid down by Beijing on inaugural 2017 elections for the southern Chinese

financial hub’s top leader.

But the students have been fighting to maintain momentum as the Hong Kong government appears to adopt a strategy of standing by in hopes it fizzles out. The students’ requests to talk to China’s communist leaders in Beijing have been rebuffed and three student leaders were prevented from flying to Beijing on the weekend to try to contact the officials directly.

Myanmar speaker rules out 2015 charter change

In this April 9, 2013 file photo, Myanmar’s Speaker of Parliament Shwe Mann, right, and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, left, attend a meeting for the renovation of Yangon General Hospital, in Yangon, Myanmar. The influential speaker of the parliament said Tuesday, November 18, the military-drafted constitution that bars opposition leader Suu Kyi from becoming president will not be changed before next year’s general election. (AP File Photo)

YANGON, NOvember 19 (AP): Myanmar’s influential parliament speaker said that any changes to the military-drafted

constitution that bars opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president will not take effect before next year’s election.

Shwe Mann told reporters in the capital, Naypyitaw, that the current parliament will review constitution amendment suggestions and hold a referendum in May to change some clauses, but that an amended charter would come into force only after the new parliament elected in 2015 is seated.

Confusion greeted his remarks, which left open the question of whether the clause affecting Suu Kyi might be changed.

Uncertainty over whether Suu Kyi can hold the presidency may harm her National League for Democracy’s election prospects. It was unclear whether Shwe Mann was suggesting that the clause barring Suu Kyi would not be passed, or whether he was holding out the prospect that it might be passed, but take effect only after the next parliament is seated — technically leaving open the prospect that she could become president.

Sandar Min, a lower house lawmaker from Suu Kyi’s party, said the NLD did not have any immediate reaction because

Shwe Mann’s comments were “very unclear.”

“We don’t really understand what the speaker really meant,” she said. “It is very confusing and hard to understand what U Shwe Mann really means.”

Win Oo, a lawmaker from the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party, said that his colleague’s remark’s “were a little too brief, confusing a lot of people,” so he consequently spent much of the day explaining that Shwe Mann had not ruled out constitutional changes.

However, initial efforts to amend the constitution have fallen short. The charter is widely viewed as undemocratic for allotting the military 25 percent of parliament’s seats along with other special political powers, among other matters.

Shwe Mann and Suu Kyi have both declared their interest in becoming president. Shwe Mann, like current President Thein Sein, is a member of the Union Solidarity and Development Party and served with the junta that repressively ruled Myanmar for five de-

cades. Thein Sein indicated last year that he does not intend to run for a second term.

President Barack Obama, in telephone conversations with Thein Sein and Suu Kyi before visiting Myanmar last week, underscored the need for a credible and inclusive process for holding next year’s elections, according to the White House.

The clause affecting Suu Kyi bars anyone whose spouse or children are loyal to foreign countries from becoming president or vice president. Suu Kyi’s two sons are British citizens, as was her late husband.

Myanmar installed an elected though army-dominated government in 2011. Thein Sein won praise — and the lifting of punitive sanctions by the U.S. and others — for initiating reforms, but critics say the transition toward democracy has stalled.

It is widely believed that Suu Kyi’s party stands a good chance of topping next year’s polls. But a parliamentary committee in June voted against changing the foreign loyalties clause.

The Morung Express 10 SPORTS Mon Inter Departmental Tourney inaugurated Australia beat South Dimapur

Thursday

20 November 2014

mon, november 19 (DiPr): The 3rd Inter Departmental Tournament 2014 got underway here today at the Officers’ Club, Mon with MLA & Chairman NKVIB, Y.M. Yollow Konyak as chief guest. The tournament is being organized by the Officers’ Club, Mon. While stating that transfer and posting of officers to Mon was considered as punishment by some offi-

cers, the Chief Guest in his inaugural speech urged to do away with such negative mindsets and instead exhorted the officers to have a memorable time working together as a team and providing better service to the people. He also said that sports not only helps keep one physically and mentally healthy but also advocates unity, friendship and mutual understanding which

8th Phek Dist Chess tourney Phek, november 19 (DiPr): The 8th Phek District Chess Tournament got underway here on Tuesday with Deputy Commissioner Phek, Murohu Chotso as the Chief Guest. Speaking as the chief guest, the DC stressed on good sportsmanship and said our people are also second to none. He, however, pointed out the need to keep competitive spirit to compete with others and further encouraged the players to exhibit their talents in true sportsmanship. He also pointed out the example of Kami village for preserving the rich culture of sportsmanship and called upon the participants to maintain it in the same spirit. In the programme, the invocation prayer was pronounced Lohilo, Rengma Baptist Church, Phek town while welcome address was delivered by President Dusupa. The tournament rules were laid down by Chief Arbiter Adu Vero.

NSCA election held DimaPur, november 19 (mexn): The Nagaland Sports Coaches Association (NSCA) held its election at Midway Resort on November 15 and the following have been elected as office bearers for the term 2014-2019: President – Yambemo Humtsoe, Vice President – Holshe Khrieo, Secretary – Visabiu Peseyie, Joint Secretary – Hunezo Thisa, Joint Secretary – Ashok, Treasurer – Kikhwesul Thokhwe, Advisors – Tali Jamir, Khriehuto Tsira, and Tosovi Anthony.

Dr. T. Ao Inter-District Tourney from Nov 24 DimaPur, november 19 (mexn): Dimapur District Football Association will host the 19th Dr. T. Ao Trophy Inter-District Tournament 2014 which is scheduled to begin from November 24 at the DDSC Ground, Dimapur. Eleven teams representing the eleven districts of the state will vie for the coveted championship which will conclude on December 1.

Khriehu Liezietsu, Parliamentary Secretary Youth Resources & Sports will grace the opening ceremony as Chief Guest. The winning team will receive a cash prize of Rs. 3 lakhs with running trophy, while the runnersup will pocket Rs. 2 Lakhs. The losing semi-finalists will each pocket Rs. 50,000.

in turn leads to peace and prosperity of the society.

In her keynote address, the Deputy Commissioner, Mon Angau I Thou IAS, who is also the President of the Officers’ Club, said that Officers’ Club was revived in a meeting convened on May 10, 2008 taking into account the need for a common platform to further the interest of the Government Officers stationed at

Mon, the need to interact and share ideas and opinions for better governance and contribute towards the common good of the society and the district.

Informing that daily Badminton Games in the evening at the Officers’ Club is the only platform where the officers get to mingle and interact with one another, thereby promoting a sense of oneness

and belonging, Thou added, “Today, this bond has reduced situations of awkwardness and embarrassments amongst the many Government departments and agencies.” The DC also briefed on the activities undertaken by the Club.

Altogether 53 departments with 224 participants are participating in various categories for both men and women in Table Tennis, Carrom and Badminton.

It may be mentioned that the First Inter Departmental Tournament was held in 2012 for Badminton only and 31 departments participated, while in the second year Carrom was included as another category for competition and 47 departments participated in the tournament. This year 53 departments are participating and Table Tennis has been included besides Badminton and Carrom.

Earlier, the Gymnasium was dedicated by Chemyuh, Executive Secretary KBBB, and inaugurated by the Chief Guest.

Africa in third ODI

Hashim Amla and Aaron Finch hit contrasting centuries on Wednesday in Canberra, as Australia took a 2-1 lead in their one-day series against South Africa.

Kuhuboto area volleyball championship underway

DimaPur, november 19 (mexn): The 6th Kukami Men’s Volleyball and Lhosheli Neho Memorial Women’s Volleyball Championships organized by Kuhuboto Ghakhu Sports Association (KGSA) got underway this morning at Lotovi village. Tokiho Chophy, Junior Engineer, Rural Development Block Kuhuboto graced the inaugural function as chief guest and declared the tournament open.

Altogether, 19 men’s team and 14 women’s team are taking part in the annual event.

Speaking on the occasion Tokiho, who is also an advisor to Western Sumi Sports Association (WSSA) said people around the world have earned fame and wealth

through sports and challenged sportspersons saying there is no reason why Nagas cannot excel in sports. Further encouraging participants to be sincere and hardworking, the chief guest said all sports personalities excelling in international level is a result of sheer hard work, dedication and sincerity right. Also saying that area level tournaments and events are platforms for exploiting talent, he encouraged them to set goals and strife towards achieving it. Tokiho also apprised the participants about the facilities and benefits that the government is providing for sportsperson. during game three of the One Day International Series between Australia and South Africa Hukali Neho Aier delivered a short speech at Manuka Oval on November 19 in Canberra, Australia. on behalf of the trophy donor’s family.

Canberra, novem- Kane Richardson, one of praying mantis.

Morkel finished with ber 19 (agenCies): three inclusions as AustraFinch blasted 109 and Steve lia rejigged their attack and 2-84 from 10 overs - his worst ODI figures.

Smith finished 73no from rested Mitchell Johnson.

De Villiers reviewed the Philander (1-70) also 55 balls in Australia's 5-329 at Manuka Oval, the equal- decision, but third umpire copped some brutal treatto Sarbananda Sonowal, country we must make ev- highest total at the venue Billy Bowden was unable ment, while it was the first minister of state for youth af- ery effort to ensure that Sar- proving the ideal platform to help him. The next over, time since 2009 that Steyn fairs and sports, urging him ita Devi is pardoned and al- for a 73-run win.

Amla was clean bowled by went wicketless against to give Sarita Devi full sup- lowed to pursue her boxing Amla had looked ev- Josh Hazlewood for 102 Australia in a one-dayer. skills and the highest ery part a zen master in - his greatest ODI score Finch smashed his level," Sachin wrote. response, peeling off the against Australia. fifth ODI century, while Sachin also requested runs with textbook strokes Mitchell Starc kept the Smith's stocks climbed Sonowal to consider and exquisite timing. The foot on the throat, dismiss- further. Finch and David forming a task force of veteran passed 100 while ing David Miller, Vernon Warner (53) made a typisenior officials from sharing a 76-run stand with Philander and Dale Steyn cally aggressive start to the Indian Olympic AB de Villiers, two of the in quick succession as the the game, racing to 0-118 Association and the best batsmen in the world hosts steamed towards vic- before Philander snagged Boxing India backed looked set and the visitors tory. South Africa finished a breakthrough to end the with strong legal had seven wickets in hand. on 9-256, with Imran Tahir 20th over. Finch continued minds under his (SoThe equation was a rea- unable to bat. The con- to plunder runs alongside nowal's) stewardship. sonably straightforward trast between the bouncy Shane Watson (40) and Sachin wrote that the 106 runs needed from 77 WACA pitch and the bats- Smith before he was clean objective of this task balls when things started man-friendly deck in Can- bowled by part-timer de force should be to de- to go pear-shaped for the berra could not have been Villiers in the 41st over. ter any potential move Proteas. De Villiers, who more stark.

It was one of few sourcby the governing body brought up his half-cenMorne Morkel, man es of joy for the Proteas' port so that her career is not to cause irreversible harm to tury off 32 deliveries, went of the match in Perth on skipper, who watched the threatened and end in a pre- Sarita Devi's career by plac- shortly after being dropped Sunday when he claimed hosts take 19 runs off the fimature manner. "Since she ing compelling arguments in by Mitchell Marsh.

5-21, went from behemoth nal over in front of a crowd has already apologised, as a her defence.

He was trapped lbw by beanpole to powerless of 10,583.

Sachin wants govt to back Sarita Devi

mumbai, november 19 (Tnn): Woman boxer Laishram Sarita Devi, who was provisionally suspended last month by the governing body of the world boxing for refusing to accept the bronze medal at the Incheon Asian Games, has got support from none other than master blaster Sachin Tendulkar.

Protesting against a controversial verdict, Sarita, in an un precedented move, had refused to wear the medal around her neck as she broke down on the podium during the ceremony for the 57-60 kg category.

Last week Sachin wrote

Brazil beat Austria to extend winning streak Germany beats Spain, breaks home unbeaten run

Brazil's Neymar, left, and Austria's Martin Harnik, right, challenge for the ball during an International friendly soccer match between Austria and Brazil, in Vienna, Austria on November 18. (AP Photo)

vienna, november 19 (aP): Brazil midfielder Roberto Firmino scored in the 83rd minute to give his team a fortunate 2-1 win against Austria and extend its winning streak since hosting the World Cup to six matches.

Firmino, who replaced Luiz Adriano 20 minutes earlier, beat Austria keeper Ramazan Oeczan with a thundering 25-meter strike for his first international goal. After recovering from a disappointing opening phase, Brazil took the lead in the 64th when Oscar's corner found David Luiz, who netted with

a strong header. However, TV replays showed the defender grabbed Stefan Ilsanker's jersey and pulled the Austrian down just moments before. Aleksandar Dragovic leveled 11 minutes later as he sent Diego Alves the wrong way from the penalty spot after Oscar fouled Andreas Weimann, who came on as a substitute for Zlatko Junuzovic three minutes earlier.

"The Austrians played physically strong, it was tough," David Luiz said. It was Brazil's sixth straight win though coach Dunga's team conceded its first goal

since the World Cup. The result ended a nine-match unbeaten streak for Austria.

"It was a good match from us but the referee wasn't there today. We could have gained a draw," Austria coach Marcel Koller said.

On a chilly and rainy autumn evening, the slippery pitch gave many players trouble though Austria handled the conditions better. The home team dominated ball possession in the first half hour against an opposition that was imprecise in its passing and lacked pace in its forward play. Austria created more

chances, and Rubin Okotie had a goal disallowed after Junuzovic's free kick in the fifth minute as the Austria striker used both his hands to push the ball past Brazil keeper Diego Alves. Junuzovic almost caught out Alves with a curling corner that the keeper just managed to block at the line.

Brazil's only attempt in the opening half hour came in the 13th when Neymar failed to get a free kick over the Austrian wall. Several Brazil players seemed to lose their temper as Luiz Gustavo and David Luiz committed rough and unnecessary fouls, while Fernandinho hit out with his elbow against Veli Kavlak, who needed treatment for a bleeding eyebrow. The five-time world champion finally settled after 30 minutes and had its first shot on goal in the 34th but Austria keeper Almer saved Oscar's low effort, while David Luiz sent a free kick just over four minutes later.

Dunga took off Neymar in injury time, and the coach acknowledged that his decision allowed Neymar to pass the captain's armband to Thiago Silva. The former captain had recently complained in Brazilian media that Dunga, who took over after the World Cup, had picked Neymar as the team's new captain.

Spain's goalkeeper Iker Casillas left, and Juan Bernat, center fight for the ball with Germany's Sebastian Rudy, right, during an international friendly soccer match between Spain and Germany, at the Balaidos stadium, in Vigo, Spain, Tuesday November 18. (AP Photo)

vigo, november 19 (aP): A late goal by Toni Kroos gave Germany a 1-0 win over Spain in a friendly on Tuesday that broke the hosts' run of 34 games without a loss at home.

The Real Madrid midfielder unleashed a longdistance strike in the 89th minute that skipped off the wet grass at Balaidos Stadium and over substitute goalkeeper Kiko Casilla, marring his international debut. Spain's first loss at home since a defeat to Romania in 2006 came a month after it also lost its first qualifier in eight years

in a 2-1 loss at Slovakia.

So despite also giving international debuts to Alvaro Morata, Manuel "Nolito" Agudo, Ignacio Camacho and Jose Callejon, Spain coach Vicente del Bosque's rebuilding project from a disappointing World Cup has suffered another setback.

"We know that we are in a transition period and we are looking forward with optimism, although today we aren't completely happy," said Del Bosque. "The game was evenly matched.

Either team could have won and Kroos' goal was

the difference." A spate of injuries had left Germany manager Joachim Loew with only three starters from the side that thrashed Brazil 7-1 in the World Cup semifinals, on its way to lifting the trophy. That became two when Thomas Mueller hurt his back in the 22nd minute.

The match between the last two world champions was marked by heavy rain that soaked the pitch, and yet another injury to Germany's squad when Mueller asked to be substituted after he tried to play through a knock on his back from

Sergio Ramos. While Germany was without Manuel Neuer, Marco Reus and Bastian Schweinsteiger, among others, Spain's list of injured players included Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas, and David Silva.

This was the first time the two powerhouses had met since Spain beat Germany 1-0 in the semifinals of the 2010 World Cup en route to winning the title.

Spain also beat Germany 1-0 in the final of the 2008 European Championship.

Spain dictated the pace throughout most of the match, and Del Bosque got promising performances from all his newcomers, along with youngster Francisco "Isco" Alarcon and Marc Bartra. But Kroos' goal left Spain with its third loss since the World Cup. Germany forward Mario Goetze had the first half's best chance in the 21st after Mueller set him up, only for starting goalie Iker Casillas to make a onehanded save. Late substitute Pedro Rodriguez helped produce Spain's best opportunity when he stole the ball from Kroos before rushing forward to fire Isco's pass into the gloves of goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler. Spain will have a long winter to ponder the defeat with its next match scheduled for March.

C M Y K

Introducing Smokie, live on December 3,

N

agaland Outdoors Club & Sky Entertainment, organziers of the Hornbill International Rock Contest 2014, is delighted to announce to you one of the biggest showcase musical events of the year: British country greats Smokie.

On the evening of December 3, Nagaland’s capital town Kohima will be hosting one of the most iconic country rock bands to emerge from England during the ‘70s-‘80s. Formed in 1974 in the town of Bradford in England, British legends Smokie will be paying to music fans at the Indira Gandhi Stadium. The show will begin at 500 PM. After a lukewarm debut album ‘Pass it around’ in 1974, Smokie broke onto the scene with their second album ‘Changing All the Time.’ The rest, as history says, is history. The second album was one that demonstrated the power of strong acoustic guitar arrangements woven around exquisite harmony vocals, which would go on to become Smokie’s signature sound throughout their two decades as an international hit band.

The album spawned a song (and many ‘Naga’ songs later!) which almost every Naga from the ‘80s have grown up listening to. For instance, "If You Think You Know How to Love Me." It quickly became a big hit in many European countries. The song charted at No. 3 in Great Britain before forging a way into US and Asia. The single followed another hit, "Don't Play Your Rock 'n' Roll to Me". Yes, another familiar song to North East India as well!

Then came the one song we all know, "Living Next Door to Alice", in November 1976, which became and international hit, landing a spot in the UK Singes charts and Billboard Hot 100. And that’s just the introduction. You better be there in Kohima to ‘listen’ their ‘history’!

More than 20 albums later, 12 smash hit singles, and millions of album copies sold across the world, Smokie are still performing and delighting fans across the globe. They will be bringing you the delight on December 3. Be there.

C M Y K

Opening bands Two hard hitting, tight and incredibly talented rock groups will be opining for Smokie. K3M is a three-piece metal band from Nagaland formed in the year 2008 by vocal and bassist Thungbemo R Murry and his brother guitarist Vungshamo (“Moonshine”). They were then joined by drummer Jann Mozhui. K3M blends soft melodic sensibilities of ballads with the brutal attitude of heavy metal and Goth rock. Since their inception, the band has won numerous music titles in the district as well as state level competitions including the NSACS competitions. Besides, the band has performed with international artist Jenniffer Batten (ex Michael Jackson) and Chanderesh Kudwa (Mumbai, India). They have also opened for Petra’s John Schlitt.

The second opening band is hard rock group Highland Oracle, an upcoming band that has push more than just a few performances in the rock music scene in the state. They are influenced more by the hard technicality of the early-90s heavy metal scene and melodic leanings of the glam ‘80s. Highland Oracle is Alem on the drums, Nokrang on the guitars, Along on the bass, Imli Walling on guitars and vocals and Wati Jamir on the vocals. Together with K3M, Highland Oracle has a store of surprises waiting for you to add to the good times Smokie will be dishing out on December 3.

Like the wise old saying goes, ‘be there,’ do be there!

A mAndA Bynes apologizes for wanting family dead

A

manda Bynes recently apologized for saying earlier that she wanted to murder her father and wanted her family dead because they control her money. The 'Mean Girls' star said that she is sorry for trusting people who clearly were not her friends and capitalized on her illness, CNN reported.

She stated that that she was sorry for any pain she caused her family and others and is thankful for everyone's patience and understanding and that she never expected others to take advantage and profit from her condition.

The 28-year-old actress said that she's disappointed with those who lulled her into a false sense of security only to find out they really are only interested in selling her privacy to the media. Bynes also took to Twitter saying that she straight up doesn't believe in harming a soul.

Simon Cowell Launches New Competition To Find Ultimate Latino Boy Band

T

C M Y K

v and music mogul Simon Cowell has launched a new project to find the next Menudo. The former American Idol judge has teamed up with executives at Spanish language network Univision to find the "ultimate Latino boy band". Wannabes aged from 14 upwards and who live in the U.S. and Puerto Rico can audition online for La Banda, which will premiere next year.

Cowell says, "I'm very excited about this show.

There is a huge amount of talent out there and La Banda is going to give five guys the opportunity of a lifetime." La Banda will be hosted by Univision personality Alejandra Espinoza, and the winning quintet will land a recording contract with Sony Music Latin and Cowell's Syco Music, where their labelmates will include One Direction.

Thursday

Entertainment

The Morung Express

20 November 2014

Dimapur

11

Justin BieBer

C M Y K

is studying the Bible

Justin Bieber has cleared his schedule to study the Bible with his pastor for the next two weeks in Palm Springs, California, as he wants to learn how to spread the word of God.

T

he 20-year-old star, who was arrested for DUI [Driving Under the Influence] in Miami earlier this year and also charged with vandalising his former neighbour's home with eggs in Calabasas, California, is reportedly staying at the Rancho Mirage close to Palm Springs, California for two weeks with his pastor, as he wants to firmly reconnect with his religious beliefs.

A source said the 'Baby' hitmaker, who recently split from his on-again, off-again girlfriend Selena Gomez, is on a ''mission'' to learn how to spread the word of God and has exiled himself from his friends, alcohol and marijuana for the remainder of November. The Canadian singer - who identifies

himself as a Christian - was spotted outside the luxurious resort with the book 'Occupy All Streets,' which teaches how to resist bad temptations, on Monday, according to gossip website TMZ.com.

Justin has surrounded himself with spiritual mentors in recent months, including pastor Carl Lentz of Hillsong New York City, who previously insisted he is a ''good kid'' despite his bad behaviour. He told CBN in August: ''With Justin, it's not my job to be his police officer. It's my job to be a friend to him, and that's all I am.'' Justin also frequently attended pastor Judah Smith's Bible study at the City Church in Los Angeles with the 'Heart Wants What It Wants' hitmaker Selena, 22, over the summer.

Feel fortunate to work with Dibakar Banerjee:

Patrick Schwarzenegger 'falling' for Miley Cyrus

Meiyang Chang

M

eiyang Chang, who is returning to the big screen with a small role in Dibakar Banerjee’s ‘Detective Byomkesh Bakshi’, says he has stayed away from movies as he was getting similar roles. The 32-year-old ‘Indian Idol’ star made his debut in Bollywood with Yash Raj’s 2010 crime-comedy ‘Badmaash Company’ with Shahid Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and Vir Das. That was his only film till the offer for the detective drama came.

“I was getting similar kind of roles after ‘Badmaash Company’ and I decided not to be a part of these projects. I was a big admirer of Dibakar Banerjee’s works and he was always in my wish list to act under him. I feel, no role is small in his film and I feel fortunate to work with him,” Chang told PTI. Set in ’40s Kolkata, ‘Detective Byomkesh Bakshi’ is currently in its post-production stage and chronicles the life of famous sleuth created by writer Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. “We wrapped up shooting in May this year. As the film is set in 1940s Kolkata, there are a lot of computer graphics work needed for the film. It narrates the journey of Byomkesh Bak-

P

shi before becoming a famous detective,” he said.

Meanwhile, Chang, known for his versatility as a singer, dancer and actor, is looking forward to his stint in stunt-based reality show ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi 6 with 11 other celebrity contestants. “I wanted to do something which I haven’t done before. I just wanted to prove myself as an all rounder and it’s just another aspect of my personality. I always believe that whatever exciting opportunity comes to your way, you should grab it without thinking twice,” he said.

The qualified dentist feels that the Colors’ show will enable him to evolve as a mentally strong person.

“The show needs a lot of

physical training. But I feel mental preparation is more needed than physical. I can have all the muscles in the world but if I can’t plan my task out then all my muscle power is of no use,” Chang said.

With director Rohit Shetty returning as a host, ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi’ this season has an interesting line up of celebrities including Iqbal Khan, Hussain Kuwajerwala, Rashmi Desai and ‘Chak De’ star Sagarika Ghatge. “There will be loads of fun with Rohit (Shetty) and other contestants in South Africa.

Rohit is a tough taskmaster but at the same time, he is very encouraging. I met earlier with most of the contestants,” he said.

'I worked hard for thIs!' K

atrick Schwarzenegger is reportedly ''falling hard'' for Miley Cyrus, with sources revealing that the couple are in the relationship for the long haul. The 21-year-old model and actor and the 'We Can't Stop' hitmaker - who appeared to confirm their relationship when they were photographed kissing on Thursday night are reportedly in the relationship for the long haul.

A source revealed ''He is definitely falling hard for her and she really is liking all the attention he is giving her. ''This is something that is going to last.'' When prompted about the possibility of their relationship developing further, the source added to HollywoodLife.com.

Meanwhile, the 21-year-old singer

has reportedly begun to ''impress'' Patrick's mother. The 'Stuck In Love' star - whose parents are Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver - is believed to have encouraged his mother to ''warm up'' to the idea that him and Miley are an item.

A source previously revealed ''Maria is still not convinced that Patrick should be focusing all his attention on Miley and isn't thrilled that a romance is brewing. ''But she is warming up to the idea that her feelings may change because she was impressed with the way Miley handled herself during the AFI event. ''There is still a lot more convincing to be done but cracks in the armour have begun.''

C M Y K

Kendall Jenner on earning her modelling success, why she banned Kim from catwalk show and those Justin Bieber rumours

endall Jenner has walked for Marc Jacobs, Balmain and some of the world's other top designers and now is the new face of Estee Lauder.

It is the career most models work years for, and with the 19-year-old seeming to have exploded on the scene almost overnight, there has been a fair few criticisms aimed at the reality star.

However, Kendall is now hitting back on Nightline saying it is not her famous name that has led to her success - despite what many say. Speaking to Juju Chang in a sneak peek of Monday night's episode, the teen said she is not relying on the Kardashian Jenner name.

Kendall said: 'In reality I worked pretty hard for this, running around doing tests. 'It wasn't like I just got it magically and it has just happened.' The 19-year-old said being a model and potentially

a role model, was always something she wanted to do. 'I would always be looking at these supermodels, they were just so amazing, they were like superheroes... I want to be some little girl’s superhero. 'I want to be the best role model I can be to a little girl or a little boy or to anybody.'

To Kendall's credit, in a bid to distance her modelling career from her reality star status recently she dropped her last name from her agency's website and contact cards. The model says she has also asked her famous family not to come to her shows. 'Banned is a strong word, it is more of a mutual understanding. 'I think if my sister's sitting in the front row, and my sister is who she is, it sounds weird, but it would have almost taken the attention away from what I'm trying to do on my own.'

Kendall also got tongues wagging when she stepped out on the Marc Jacobs runway in New York earlier this year in a nipple flashing top. The young star says the revealing look was not big deal and

those who say she is an exhibitionist will just have to 'get over it'.

'Who's going to argue with Marc Jacobs when he's putting you in an outfit, you know what I mean?'

Jenner said. 'It was an amazing moment. And, I do not regret it.'

The star also opened up about rumours she was dating Justin Bieber - something she seems to think is laughable. 'He's a longtime friend of our family, everyone always likes to assume things but no.'

And, there is not anyone else either as Kendall says for the moment she is single. 'I'm truly focusing on my career, if it comes, it comes.'

As for the other relationship in her life, her parents' Kris and Bruce Jenner, the star said the divorce period was rough but they are over it. 'It sucked, but it’s not - I try to think of it as it’s not the worst thing that could have happened. 'I still am so close with both my dad and my mom.

Nothing has really changed, except for the fact that now my dad lives on a beach, which is awesome. That’s not that bad... everybody’s happy.'

C M Y K

C

C

M

M

Y

Y

K

K

Low-key Ronaldo-Messi duel as Portugal wins GENEVA, NoVEmbEr 19 (AP): The highly anticipated duel between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo fell flat as the world's two best players lasted just 45 minutes of Portugal's last-gasp 1-0 win over Argentina in an international friendly on Tuesday.

With Messi and Ronaldo substituted at halftime after low-key performances, many in the crowd at a halffull Old Trafford had lost interest by the time Raphael Guerreiro dived to head in the winning goal in the first minute of injury time.

Stationed on the right wing, Messi only showed glimpses of the brilliance he produces regularly for Barcelona, although he struck a close-range shot against the post in the 11th minute. Ronaldo's presence was even more fleeting for Portugal at the ground where he spent six years playing with distinction for Manchester United from 2003-09.

Aside from a neat backflick near the halfway line and blazing a shot over the bar from 10 meters out, Ronaldo barely made an impression — except for when he

Lionel Messi of Argentina, left, runs clear of the Portugal defence during their International Friendly soccer match at Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester, England on November 18. (AP Photo)

missed the ball with a swing of his famous right boot and kicked Argentina midfielder Lucas Biglia in the stomach instead. This was hardly a

night when the great rivals demonstrated their credentials ahead of the latest FIFA world player of the year vote, and there was a

smattering of boos when it was announced at the start of the second half that they would not be reappearing.

It was the 27th time

Messi and Ronaldo came up against against each other — and surely the most underwhelming.

"We had planned with

Lionel after he played the whole match (of last week's 2-1 win) against Croatia that he should only take part in the opening 45 min-

utes," Argentina coach Gerardo Martino said.

Guerreiro's goal came from the only clear-cut chance Portugal created. A

long-range shot deflected off Eder and rebounded out to the right wing, where Ricardo Quaresma controlled and crossed for the substitute striker to head unmarked past Argentina goalkeeper Naheul Guzman from six meters.

"We knew when we play against a team like that, it is very difficult," said Portugal midfielder Nani, who is currently on loan from United at Sporting Lisbon.

"We defended the result but tried to win the game as well, and in the end we had a bit of pressure and we won the game."

Nani left his mark on his return to Old Trafford, stamping on the right foot of Argentina midfielder Angel Di Maria — the man replaced Nani in the United squad this season. Di Maria required treatment but played on. "It was a tough blow, a tough knock," Martino said. "It actually cut the skin a little bit. We are having a look at some x-rays that were taken, but we don't think that it is too serious."

Martino has lost two of his five matches in charge of Argentina since taking over after the World Cup in Brazil.

Bryant leads Lakers to rare win over Atlanta Rooney helps England floor Scotland

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, left, goes to the basket as Atlanta Hawks' Paul Millsap defends in the second half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, November 18, in Atlanta.

Los Angles won 114-109. (AP Photo)

ATLANTA, NoVEmbEr 19 (AP): Kobe Bryant scored 28 points as the Los Angeles Lakers won for only the second time this season, beating the Atlanta Hawks 114-109 in the NBA on Tuesday.

Bryant's biggest shot came with 1:11 remaining, when he backed in against Thabo Sefolosha and made a fadeaway jumper despite being fouled. Bryant com-

pleted the three-point play, giving the Lakers a 108-102 lead. "Man, oh man, that's a lot better," Lakers point guard Jeremy Lin said. "It's been a rough start to the season." The Hawks had a chance to force overtime after the Lakers (2-9) failed to put it away at the line.

But Los Angeles smothered long-range threat Kyle Korver, leaving Pero Antic to take an open 3-pointer. It

clanked off the rim and the Lakers grabbed the loose ball to seal the victory.

In other games, Milwaukee topped the struggling New York Knicks 117-113, Utah beat Oklahoma City 98-81 and New Orleans defeated Sacramento 106-100.

Milwaukee's Ersan Ilyasova had 20 points as the rebuilding Bucks improved to 6-5 on the season — the first time in more than a year the team

has had a winning record.

New York cut a 26-point deficit to 115-113 with 7.9 seconds left, but Milwaukee managed to hold on.

Zaza Pachulia added season highs of 14 points and 13 rebounds for Milwaukee, while Carmelo Anthony had 26 points for the Knicks.

In Salt Lake City, Alec Burks had 20 points and a career-high 14 rebounds and Enes Kanter added 16 points and 15 boards for Utah, which enjoyed a 55-44 edge on the glass as they beat the reeling Thunder. Playing without the injured Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City has lost three straight and seven of nine. Jeremy Lamb led the Thunder with 19 points.

New Orleans' Anthony Davis had 28 points and nine rebounds to lead the Pelicans past the Kings in a matchup between two of the Western Conference's most surprising teams this season. Ryan Anderson scored 22 points for the Pelicans, who outscored the Kings 31-15 in the third and improved to 6-4 on the year.

DeMarcus Cousins had 24 points and 17 rebounds for Sacramento.

Chennaiyin beats Pune City; Goes top of ISL

C M Y K

ChENNAi, NoVEmbEr 19 (PTi): Chennaiyin FC produced a crushing performance to beat Pune City FC 3-1 as they pipped Atletico de Kolkata to the top spot in the points table of the Indian Super League, here today.

Courtesy strikes from Stiven Mendoza Valencia (62 nd minute), Bruno Pelissari (70th min) and India international Jeje Lalpeklhua (90th min), Chennayin moved right on top of the table with 16 points.

The Abhishek Bachchan and Mahendra Singh Dhoni co-owned team are on top having scored more goals than ATK, who are on second position, with same number of points.

For Pune, it was an unfortunate own goal by Chennaiyin's Cameroonian mideo Eric Djemba Djemba, that had given them some hope before the final burst from 'Blues' buried them.

The hero of the match undoubtedly was young Balwant Singh, whose assist was key to two of the three goals scored by Chennai and he repeatedly switched flanks to keep the Pune players at bay.

During the first half,

GLASGoW, NoVEmbEr 19 (AP): England captain Wayne Rooney scored twice as his side beat fierce rival Scotland 3-1 in a friendly match at Celtic Park on Tuesday.

England went ahead in the first half through an Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain header, before Rooney stuck twice either side of a goal from Scotland's Andrew Robertson in the second half. "We expected to win the game and we were the better team," Rooney said. "England v Scotland is a massive game, tonight is a fantastic victory against a Scotland team who are in good form and we've come here, shown our class and deserved the victory."

England manager Roy Hodgson made six changes to the side that beat Slovenia 3-1 in a Euro 2016 qualifier at Wembley on Saturday, including replacing Raheem Sterling with Stewart Downing in the starting lineup.

Scotland were backed by a vociferous home crowd inside Celtic Park but failed to create a chance to worry England in the first half, and the visitors duly took the lead in the 32nd minute. Jack Wilshere floated an ambitious diagonal pass into the Scotland penalty area and picked out the run of his Arsenal teammate Oxlade-Chamberlain, who had darted between Grant Hanley and Robertson before directing a glancing header past Marshall. Rooney then

England's captain Wayne Rooney, left, takes a shot towards goal past Scotland's Charlie Mulgrew, right, during their international friendly soccer match at Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Tuesday November 18. (AP Photo)

doubled England's lead two minutes after halftime.

Charlie Mulgrew, unable to keep up with the pace of Oxlade-Chamberlain, hauled the attacker to the ground and Scotland failed to clear the resultant free-kick from James Milner. Luke Shaw drilled the ball low into the penalty area and an attempted clearance from Robertson drifted invitingly in front of

Rooney, who headed past halftime substitute goalkeeper Craig Gordon. Scotland almost replied four minutes later when a looping header from Russell Martin was tipped over the crossbar

by Fraser Forster. But England, through the midfield duo of Wilshere and Milner, seemed to have hold of the game at 2-0 until Robertson gave Scotland fans hope for a dramatic late comeback with

a well-taken goal in the 83rd.

The left-back eased past the substitute Sterling, exchanged passes with Johnny Russell, burst into England's penalty area and beat Forster from close range at his near post. But Rooney dashed Scottish hopes of a comeback two minutes later, smashing in a cutback from Adam Lallana to secure victory with his 46th England goal.

C M Y K

Jermaine Pennant of FC Pune City and Bojan Djordjic of Chennaiyin FC in action during match 36 of the Hero Indian Super League between Chennaiyin FC and FC Pune City held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai, India on the 19th November 2014.

it was Chennaiyin, who dominated the proceedings with better ball possession.

In fact, it was Pune custodian Arindam Bhattacharya, who pulled off a stunning save in the 10th minute which was pure reflex work. It was Chennaiyin's best player Elano tak-

ing a perfect corner that fell into the melee and Jeje was quick to execute a backheel. The big-bodied Arindam was moving towards his left but arched his body back and stretched his right hand to avert the danger.

Elano, who did not look fully fit was taken off by coach Marco Materazzi

along with Gourmangi Singh, who sustained a groin injury.

It was Mohun Bagan forward Balwant, who was pressed into action and the Chennayin had a lot of mibility upfront. Chennayin's first goal in the 62nd minute was a combination of a four-touch finish.

Published, Printed and Edited by Aküm Longchari on behalf of Morung for Indigenous Affairs and JustPeace from House No. 4, Duncan Bosti, Dimapur at Themba Printers and Telecommunications, Padum Pukhuri Village, Dimapur, Nagaland.

RNI No : NAGENG /2005/15430. House No.4, Duncan Bosti, Dimapur 797112, Nagaland. Phone: Dimapur -(03862) 248854, Fax: (03862) 235194, Kohima - (0370) 2291952

For news email: morung@gmail.com and for advertisements and circulation contact: (03862) 248854, Fax-235194 or email : morungad@yahoo.com

PO Reg No. NE/RN-722