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The Morung Express
Dimapur VOL. IX ISSUE 247
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Most of the change we think we see in life is due to truths being in and out of favor Water shortages lead to ‘tanker mafia’ in India [ PAGE 8]
reflections
By Sandemo Ngullie
G.R.L’s Simone Battle found hanging [ PAGE 11]
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LSUD apprises CM of issues with MOGPL
Monday, September 8, 2014 12 pages Rs. 4 –Robert Frost
[ PAGE 2]
F1: Lewis wins Italian Grand Prix
[ PAGE 9]
[ PAGE 12]
Islamic State makes inroads in South Asia
Flash floods kill nearly 300 in India, Pakistan
Modi calls floods in J&K as ‘national level disaster’ Stop feeling insecure. We, the Rapid Response Force, are here now.
The Morung Express POLL QUESTIOn
Vote on www.morungexpress.com SMS your anSwer to 9862574165 Is the Nagaland government doing all that it can to support and facilitate the growth of sports in Nagaland? Yes
no
Others
Is ignorance of the north East people and their culture the cause for the rising discrimination? Yes
38% 46%
no Others
16%
Details on page 7
NTC rally on Sept 9 in Zunheboto town Kohima, September 7 (mexN): The Nagaland Tribes Council (NTC) has organized a protest rally at Zunheboto town on September 9 to protest the State Government’s “antipeople” decisions vis-àvis the Nagaland Special Development Zone and Rongmei tribe recognition. The NTC’s media cell informed that the rally will be hosted by the Sumi Hoho. The NTC appealed to all citizens of Nagaland to “awake & register” their voices and “take hold of its own destiny and fight against all sorts of vested interest & hidden agendas and guide the established government to a desired direction.”
SriNaGar, September 7 (ap): Landslides and flash floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains have killed nearly 300 people in large swaths of northern India and Pakistan, officials said Sunday. Five days of incessant rains in Indian-controlled Kashmir have left at least 120 people dead in the region’s worst flooding in more than five decades, submerging hundreds of villages and triggering landslides, officials said. In neighboring Pakistan, more than 160 people have died and thousands of homes have collapsed, with an official saying the situation was becoming a “national emergency.” Rescuers in both countries were using helicopters and boats to try to reach tens of thousands of people stranded in their homes as floodwaters rose and submerged many villages. Rescue efforts in Srinagar, the main city in Indian Kashmir, were hampered by fast-moving floodwaters that submerged large parts of the city. The rains had stopped on Sunday, but officials said the spreading water from the overflowed Jhelum River was moving too fast to allow boats to reach many people stranded in Srinagar. By evening, several boats had been deployed to start rescue efforts, said Omar Abdullah, Jammu and Kashmir state’s top elected official.
Kashmiri men evacuate women and the elderly from a flooded neighborhood in Srinagar on September 7. Fast-moving floodwaters submerged large parts of the main city in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Sunday after five days of pounding rain. The flooding, the worst in 50 years, has killed at least 120 people across the Himalayan region. (AP Photo)
In many of Srinagar’s neighborhoods, the water was about 4 meters (12 feet) deep, submerging entire houses. Stranded residents left their homes to move in with friends or relatives in safer areas. “I’m in my 80s and I’ve never seen floods like this,” said Ghulam Nabi, speaking through a window from the third story of his house in Srinagar’s upscale Rajbagh section. “If this is how it is in my neighborhood, I cannot imagine the devastation in other areas.” Floodwaters entered the first floor of the state’s main maternity hospital,
forcing more than 200 patients and attendants to move to higher floors of the building. Thousands of police officers and army rescue workers were fanned out across Jammu and Kashmir to help with relief and rescue efforts. At windows and balconies, worried residents looked at the swirling waters and waited for help. “The situation is extremely grim,” top civilian official Rohit Kansal said. “We are not able to reach many people because the water is moving so fast.” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi surveyed the flood-hit areas from
a helicopter Sunday and promised the state federal help to deal with the devastation, which he described as a “national level disaster.” Across Indian Kashmir, at least 450 villages have been submerged and 2,000 others have been affected by the floodwaters, officials said. All schools, colleges and offices have been shut, and electricity and drinking water supplies have been limited across the state. In Pakistan, 103 people have died in the eastern province of Punjab from the collapse of houses, flooding and elec-
trocution, said Ali Imam Syed, a senior official in the province’s rescue agency. He said more than 5,000 people had been rescued since Thursday, adding that three soldiers had gone missing during the rescue operation. Ahmed Kamal, spokesman for Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority, said 48 people had died in the Pakistani-administered part of Kashmir and 11 in the adjacent Gilgit Baltistan area since the flooding began. “Army helicopters and navy boats are rescuing people and taking them to safety from submerged villages in Punjab and affected areas of Kashmir,” Kamal said. He said that the flooding had hit 286 villages in Punjab, as several rivers breached their banks, and that the crisis was rapidly becoming a “national emergency.” Naeem Mushtaq, a 30-year-old farmer from Gujranwala district, said he and four other people climbed into trees when the floodwaters surged through their village on Saturday. They waited in the branches for more than 20 hours before rescuers reached them, he told an Associated Press reporter. More than 4,000 homes across Pakistan have collapsed, rendering thousands of people homeless. Pakistan’s armed forces and civilian rescuers have mounted a massive operation using helicopters and boats to get villagers to safety. Kamal said 95 relief camps had been set up for those displaced by the flooding. Pakistan and India suffer widespread flooding each year during the monsoon season, which runs from June through September. In 2010, flash floods killed 1,700 people in Pakistan. Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, but claimed in its entirety by both countries. Related news on page 8
Scots offered more power Young Nagas encouraged to do good if it reject ‘independence’ Morung Express news Dimapur | September 7
“More tax-raising powers, much LoNDoN, September 7 (re- an uncertain future. That looked like a precarious greater fiscal autonomy ... more uterS): The British government is scrambling to respond to a lurch calculation after a YouGov poll control over public expenditure, in the opinion polls towards a vote for the Sunday Times showed more control over welfare rates for Scottish independence this supporters of independence had and a host of other changes.” Nicola Sturgeon, deputy leadmonth by promising a range of new taken their first opinion poll lead powers for Scotland if it chooses to since the referendum campaign er of the pro-independence Scotbegan. With less than two weeks tish National Party, welcomed the stay within the United Kingdom. British finance minister to go before the vote, the poll put YouGov poll as a “very significant George Osborne said on Sun- the “Yes” to independence cam- moment” in the campaign but reday that plans would be set out in paign on 51 percent and the “No” jected talk of more devolved powthe coming days to give Scotland camp on 49 percent, overturning a ers for Scotland. Salmond described the plans more autonomy on tax, spending 22-point lead for the unionist posias a “panic measure”. “This is a riand welfare if Scots vote against tion in just a month. “You will see in the next few diculous position being put forindependence in a historic referdays a plan of action to give more ward by a campaign ... in terminal endum on Sept. 18. Prime Minister David Cameron powers to Scotland ... Then Scot- trouble,” he told the BBC. “They had, ironically, vetoed a third ballot land will have the best of both have failed to scare the Scots, now option for greater devolution, bet- worlds. They will both avoid the they are trying to bribe us. That ting that the stark choice of yes or risks of separation but have more won’t work either because people aGartaLa/aizawL, no to independence would deliver control over their own destiny, have come to the realisation that September 7 (iaNS): a clear victory for the status quo as which is where I think many Scots we can take the future of this counThe Tripura and Mizoram cautious voters turned away from want to be,” Osborne told the BBC. try into our hands.” governments have taken a number of preventive measures to check spread of deadly Ebola disease, officials from both the states said Sunday. “The Tripura moKoKchuNG, Sepgovernment has taken four- tember 7 (mexN): Several pronged steps to prevent villages along the Japukong contact or spread of Ebola range in Mokokchung district virus,” Health and Fam- remained badly affected as ily Welfare Minister Badal landslides due to heavy rains Choudhury told IANS in blocked surrounding roads. Agartala. “All people coming Due to rains since September from Ebola-affected coun- 4 from 7:00pm to 7:00am, 14 tries would be thoroughly landslides have occurred at screened and they would several locations in the Japube quarantined for 21 days, kong range. Of these, Japu vilif they have fever,” he added. lage is completely cut off from Health authorities of all the Nagaland, with water supply eight districts were alerted and electricity gone off. Planand precautionary guide- tation, paddy fields and cattle lines were sent to them, he were also affected. 6 cows were said. In Mizoram, the state taken away by flooding water government has put the health department on high from River Tzuong. One non alert to deal with any even- local labour was also reported tuality of Ebola outbreak. to be taken away by the flood. Other villages affected are “Senior officials of health department met in Aiza- yet to assess their damage. The wl Saturday to review the PWD, Government of Nagapreparedness to tackle the land, is working to clear the dreaded disease,” Pachuau landslides. Meanwhile, the Lalmalsawma, nodal officer Mokokchung district adminof integrated disease sur- istration has not come forveillance programme, told ward with any aid to the rescue Several spots in Japukong range, Mokokchung district, remain blocked off of the citizens. reporters in Aizawl. since September 4 as incessant rains led to landslides.
Ebola: Tripura, Mizoram take preventive steps
Landslides affect Japukong range
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The Faith In Action team that recently returned from the World Hanmadang Taekwondo Championship, South Korea, as World Champions in the team event, has, among others, a 70-year-old behind their success. The team’s journey to South Korea was not without hiccups – from finding funds for tickets to being able to purchase food and drinking water. The team, having been invited for the world event, had approached the Nagaland State Government for funds but financial support was not forthcoming. The team missed their flight to South Korea due to late arrival of visas and was left stranded at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi. With ticket prices shooting up, Deepak Kumar, founder coach of Faith In Action, remembers people advising them to return home and try next year. “It was the worst day of our lives,” he says. However, they did not lose hope. “We had faith in God,” Kumar adds. The team pointed to an act of providence when an elderly gentleman, after seeing the team sleeping on the floor of the airport, enquired and upon hearing their grievances, offered to buy them tickets to South Korea. “For us, he was like an angel from heaven,” says Husheto Zhimomi, a member of the team. Born in Bhiambi, a small village in Himachal Pradesh, Baliram Sharma had a humble of beginning. After completing his matriculation from the village, he went to Delhi. He remembers the nights he spent sleeping on the streets of Delhi. Today, he is a retired Government official, an anticorruption activist and a philanthropist. Sharma started his career as a photographer at the
Baliram Sharma
Bureau of Police Research and Development, Kolkata. He was then transferred to the Central Forensic Institute where he contributed research papers in the field of forensic science. Amongst others, he had a stint at the Indian Institute of Criminology and Forensics, Delhi where he helped solve a number of cases. He later worked at the Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre. A staunch anti-corruption activist, Sharma was a part of the ‘India Against Corruption’ movement where he sat alongside Anna Hazare and team. In the process, he was arrested twice. Sharma is of the view that voters should have more power. For instance, he says, “MPs and MLAs get salary, pension and other benefits, but voters who vote them to power get nothing.” And with this in mind, he formed the ‘Voters India Voters’ forum in 2004 to make voters aware of these issues. With an aim to reach out to the masses, he has also created a ‘Voters India Voters’ page on Facebook. Sharma further opines that MPs and MLAs should have no right to raise their salaries and pensions. “A public servant cannot raise his/her salary simply by raising their hands in parliament,” he argues. A philanthropist, Sharma seeks to contribute to society
at every given opportunity. “My objective for every day is to help 5 different people at least,” he says, adding that until his objective is fulfilled, his dinner waits. Recalling the day he met the Faith In Action Team, Sharma’s attention is immediately caught by it. He had gone to the airport to see his sonin-law off. “When I came out, I saw some sleeping, some kneeling and some tearing up,” he says. Concerned, he asked what their problem was. The team initially didn’t want to tell him of their problems, he recalls, and replied that they were going through some problems. On further prodding, the team told him how they had missed their flights and how ticket prices had soared since. Sharma told the team that he would give them the money for the tickets and that they should go to South Korea, “come what may.” He recalls that the team did not believe him and was hesitant. He gave them his phone number and address, and left as the airport security had ordered his waiting car to be driven off. “As I left, I felt hurt,” he says. Later the next day, the team called asking if he was serious about arranging money for the team. He replied in the affirmative and went about arranging the required sum. He also helped some of the team members obtain visas. He was confident of the team. He told them, “Don’t worry, you will win.” Sharma feels obliged to have helped the team. “When I learned that the team won the Gold Medal, I was very happy,” he says. He adds that he has great regard for the Nagas and the people of the Northeast. His message to the young Naga people is, “Do good. Do not be disheartened if you do not get rewarded.” But, “Do not be carried away by small gains.”
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