11 Oct 2022

Nagaland

Plan to make Hindi compulsory medium of instruction draws flak Manipur Cong alleges `1,700-cr scam in PMGSY

NEW DELHI, OCT 10 (AGENCIES): Amit Shahled parliamentary panel’s recommendation to make Hindi a compulsory medium of instruction in all technical and non-technical educa tional institutions including central universities has come in for all-around criticism.

Hindi as a compul sory medium of instruction in educational institutions ranging from Kendriya Vidyalayas to IITs and cen tral universities, Hindi pa pers replacing compulsory English ones in government recruitment exams, and Hindi as an official language at the United Nations — these are just some of the recommendations made by Parliament’s official lan guage committee, headed by Union home minister Amit Shah, in its latest report.

Tamil Nadu chief min ister M K Stalinon Monday launched a tirade against the Centre over the language is sue and warned the BJP-led government not to force another language war by im

DMC employees keep proposed agitation on hold

DIMAPUR, OCT 10 (NPN): Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC) Employees Welfare Union (DMCE WU), which had earlier put on hold its agitation over non-payment of salary till October 10, has further resolved to keep “no pay no work” agitation in abeyance till October 24, 2022.

This was in response to the appeal letter received from DMC administrator re questing the union to keep on hold the proposed agitation.

In a press release, DMCE WU president T Revo Anar informed that the resolution to defer agitation was taken at an emergency executive body meeting of the union at DMC office premises on October 7, 2022 where the appeal letter from DMC administrator was discussed.

While deciding to keep the agitation in abeyance till October 24, the union has resolved that henceforth no appeal/request would be entertained further.

On October 1, the union decided to suspend the agitation till October 10 following the request made by various Dimapur-based civil society organizations.

However, the union threatened to resume the agitation with effect from October 11 if the state gov ernment failed to act posi tively.

posing Hindi. He appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give up attempts to make Hindi mandatory and uphold the unity of India instead.

Strongly reacting to the report submitted to President Droupadi Murmu recently by Amit Shah-led Parliamen tary Committee on Official Language, Stalin said if implemented, the vast nonHindi speaking population will be made second-class citizens in their own land.

“Imposing Hindi is against the integrity of In dia. The BJP government would do well to learn les sons from the anti-Hindi agitations in the past,” he said apparently referring to the agitations in Tamil Nadu that fueled Tamil pride.

The Centre’s stance on enforcing One nation, One language, One religion, One food and One culture would affect India’s unity. “The report presented to the President by the Parliamen tary Committee on Official Language chaired by Union

Home Minister Amit Shah contains recommendations that endanger the integrity of Indian Union,” Stalin said in a statement here.

The ruling CPI(M) in Kerala on Monday opposed the recommendation, say ing this runs contrary to the spirit of the Constitution and the country’s linguistic diversity. “We strongly op pose these efforts which stem from the RSS concep tion of one nation, one culture, one language. It runs contrary to the spirit of the Indian Constitution and our country’s linguistic diversity,” CPI(M) tweeted.

Senior Left leader and former state finance minister T M Thomas Isaac said the BJP does not believe in the country’s diversity.

“India is being ruled by a party that does not believe in diversity of the country.

How else could it insist on knowledge of Hindi as a precondition for central government employment by insisting that the recruit ment tests would be only in

Hindi?” Isaac said. The end of compulsory English lan guage question paper in the recruitment examinations and adequate arrangement for Hindi translation in the orders of the high courts in Hindi-speaking states are among over 100 recommen dations made by the com mittee in its latest report.

CPI(M) General Sec retary Sitaram Yechury said the imposition of the RSS vi sion of ‘Hindi, Hindu, Hin dustan’ was unacceptable. “Imposing RSS vision of ‘Hindi, Hindu, Hindustan’ on India’s unique and rich linguistic diversity is simply UNACCEPTABLE.

All 22 Official languages listed in the 8th schedule of the Con stitution must be treated and encouraged equally. India is a celebration of its diversi ties,” Yechury tweeted.

Meanwhile, CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member John Brittas said the Centre’s decision to deny educa tion and jobs to non-Hindi speaking persons is fraught with many dangers.

Correspondent

IMPHAL, OCT 10 (NPN):

Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) on Monday alleged that funds amounting to around Rs 1,700 crore meant for road construction under Prad han Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) has been misused.

This was stated by Manipur Pradesh Con gress Committee (MPCC) president K Meghachandra at a press conference at Imphal Congress Bhavan here Monday.

The MPCC chief al leged that the misappropri ated fund was meant for road development works in the hill districts of Tamen glong, Ukhrul, Chandel and Churachandpur and that details of withdrawal without execution of works were in his party’s custody.

According to Meghachandra official documents available with the party showed that fund amounting to over Rs 1,700 crore sanctioned by the Centre under PMGSY during the fiscals 201718 and 2018-19 had been

Russia unleashes missile barrage against Ukraine

KYIV/MOSCOW, OCT 10 (AGENCIES): Russia unleashed a lethal barrage of strikes against multiple Ukrainian cities for the first time in months on Monday, smashing civilian targets including downtown Kyiv, killing at least 11 civilians and scores wounded.

The intense, hours-long attack marked a sudden mil itary escalation by Moscow.

Homes, businesses, roads and vehicles were left in ruins just two days after a major bridge linking oc cupied Crimea with the Rus sian mainland was damaged by an apparent truck bomb.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Ukraine had carried out “terrorist acts” against Russia and pledged

of them were shot down by Ukrainian air defenses. Crit ical infrastructure, mostly energy supply, was hit in eight regions, and more than 30 fires broke out in Kyiv alone, authorities said.

“The world once again saw the true face of a ter rorist state that is killing our people,” Ukraine Presi dent Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a social media post Monday.

withdrawn without physi cal works being executes. He further alleged that due to non-furnishing of utilisation certificates for the sanctioned amounts, the Central ministry con cerned had delayed release of funds for the next phase of the scheme.

The MPCC president also claimed that Manipur Rural Development and Panchayati Raj minister Y Khemchand had him self found out about the scam when he recently inspected one road develop ment work in Tamenglong district.

Meghachandra also said official documents and details of the execution of the works were with the party and has demanded probe by a Central agency.

He also demanded that a case under Prevention of Money-Laundering Act be registered and handed over to the Enforcement Direc torate for investigation.

He warned that if the BJP government in the State failed to initiate action to penalise those officials involved in the fraudulent withdrawal of funds, the party would knock the door of the Union ministry con cerned. He declared “Con gress will also bring up the scam to the notice of the President of India and Prime Minister” and if nec essary, will also expose it in the national media.

Last month also, the Congress had made a se rious allegation of with drawal of Rs 300 crore sanctioned for the scheme

(PMGSY) without execut ing the work (road develop ment) in the hill districts of Churachandpur, Tamen glong and Chandel districts.

The minister Khem chand had however dis missed the allegation, term ing it baseless and factually incorrect. However, during a recent inspection of one road development work in Tamenglong district, Khemchand found nonexecution of work even though Rs.7 crore had al ready been withdrawn.

The minister has given 15 days to the contractor and officials to execute the work or face legal ac tion that would be initiated against them.

Meghachandra howev er demanded to know why the minister (Khemchand) had set the deadline instead of taking action against them immediately.

In Manipur, Pro gramme Implementation Units (PIUs) of Rural Road Engineering Department under the Rural Develop ment and Panchayati Raj Department is the imple menting agency of Centralsponsored PMGSY.

SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav dies at 82

GURUGRAM, OCT 10 (PTI): Samajwadi Party su premo and three-time Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mu layam Singh Yadav, who was born in a farming family and went on to spawn the state’s most prominent political clan, died on Monday after prolonged illness. He was 82

to react forcefully if they continued.

Ukraine’s military said Russia launched 75 missiles, mostly from drones, and 41

In the wake of recent Russian attacks, G7 leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are set to hold emergency talks on Tuesday.

The former defence minister was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of the Medanta Hospital here on October 2. “My respected father and ‘netaji’ to all is no more,” his son Akhilesh Ya dav said in a tweet in Hindi.

The body is being taken to his native Saifai in Uttar

Pradesh’s Etawah district where the cremation will take place at 3 pm Tuesday.

President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minis ter Narendra Modi were among a host of leaders who condoled the death of the veteran leader. As a mark of respect to the SP patri

arch, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced a three-day state mourning, and said Yadav’s last rites will be conducted with full state honours.

Born on November 22, 1939 into a farming family in Saifai near Etawah in Ut tar Pradesh, Yadav spawned the state’s most prominent political clan.

Yadv served as defence minister from 1996 to 1998, and chief minister thrice in 1989-91, 1993-95, and 2003-07. He was elected an MLA 10 times and an MP, mostly from Mainpuri and Azamgarh, seven times.

Uddhav-led faction gets new symbol, party name Govt to launch Natl Helicopter Medical Emergency plan

NEW DELHI, OCT 10 (AGENCIES): Election Commission of India (ECI) Monday allotted a new election symbol to Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction-- a ‘flaming torch’ (mashaal) in the current bye-election and till the final order is passed in the current dispute between the Uddhav and Eknath Shinde factions. EC also allotted “Shiv SenaUddhav Balasaheb Thacker ay” as the party name for the Uddhav Thackeray faction.

Reacting to the new party symbol and name, a leader from Uddhav Thac keray’s faction said it was a

major victory for his faction.

“We are happy, consider this major victory. We are happy that the three names that matter to us most – Uddhav ji, Balasaheb and Thackeray - are retained in the new name,” said Bhaskar Jadhav after the allotment of the new name.

Meanwhile, ECI has also asked the Eknath Shinde faction to furnish a list of three fresh symbols by October 11. The Shinde faction has been given the name of ‘Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena’. Citing religious connotations, EC declined to allot ‘Trishul’, ‘Rising Sun’ and ‘Gada’ as symbols as they were “not in the list of free symbols”.

ECI had on Saturday frozen the “bow and ar row” symbol of Shiv Sena, barring both the rival camps from using it in the bye-elec tion amid a tussle between the factions.

NEW DELHI, OCT 10 (IANS): Civil Aviation Min ister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Monday announced three new projects for enhanc ing the helicopter sector in the country which includes Project Akash, HEMS and fractional ownership.

The Minister launched a new Helicopter Emer gency Medical Services (HEMS) under project ‘San jeevani; and the service will start at AIIMS, Rishikesh.

“Through the learnings from project ‘Sanjeevani’, we will put in place a Na tional Helicopter Medical Emergency plan in the days

to come,” he added. Ad dressing the 4th Heli-India Summit 2022 - Helicopters for Last Mile Connectivity, Scindia said that the gov ernment intends to expand medical outreach and access to trauma care services to a wider population across the country using helicopters. Scindia also an nounced a project - ‘Akash’ to enhance the safety in helicopter operations and provide all-weather day and night access. The govern ment has started to develop helicopter specific low level IFR routes using GAGAN under the project Akash.

“This will greatly ben efit the helicopters and small aircraft operations to nonIFR airfields and helipads,” he added.

Speaking on the air space corridor, Scindia said the government has already set-up 3 dedicated helicopter corridors in the country.

“We will create additional helicopter corridors where there is greater congestion to provide new areas for these sectors to grow,” he added.

Helicopters, he said, have a multifarious role by providing urban connectiv ity and the government has started providing helicop

ter connectivity between airports and cities at eco nomical rates. It also has an important role in providing medical services along with disaster management.

In the last one year, the government has introduced ‘Heli Sewa’ portal for provid ing all permissions to opera tors there by providing Ease of Doing Business. We also have introduced Heli-Disha to set up more helipads, one helipad in one district, he added. “The government has also removed all landing and parking charges for heli copters to boost the sector,” he added.

Padma Shri Dr. Temsula Ao laid to rest; President, PM, Gov and others condole

DIMAPUR, OCT 10

(NPN): Former chairper son of Nagaland Women Commission, and renowned writer and ethnographer, Padma Shri Dr. TemsulaAo was laid to rest on Monday at New Naga cemetery at Zani village. Dr. Temsula passed away on Sunday night and left behind one son, three daughters and grandchildren.

Earlier, the funeral ser vice was held at the family residence, Lengrijan Dima pur, where hundreds attend ed the service and paid rich tributes to Dr. Temsula Ao.

Condolences: Presi dent of India Draupadi

Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Nagaland Governor Jagdish Mukhi and chief minister Neiphiu Rio were among several who expressed condolence mes sage at the passing away of Padma Shri Dr Temsula Ao.

In a tweet, President Murmu said TemsulaAo played a key role in promot ing the rich cultural heritage of the North East.

“In the demise of Dr TemsulaAo, we have lost a prolific author and ethnogra pher who also made valuable contribution to women em powerment. Honoured with Padma Shri, she played key role in promoting the rich

cultural heritage of North East. Condolences to her family and friends,” Murmu tweeted.

Prime Minister Nar endra Modi also expressed sadness at the death of lit terateur Temsula Ao. Modi said late Temsula played a pivotal role in popularising the Naga culture through her literary works.

Modi tweeted, “Sad dened by the passing away of Dr. TemsülaAo, who played a pivotal role in popularising the wonderful Naga culture through her literary works. Her efforts in the fields of education and culture were noteworthy. Condolences to

her family and friends. May her soul rest in peace.”

Gov: Nagaland gov ernor Prof. Jagdish Mukhi expressed pain over the de mise of renowned litterateur Padma Shri Dr. Temsula Ao.

In a condolence mes sage to late Temsula’s son, DGP Nagaland T John Longkumer, Mukhi said late Dr. Temsula’s literary works brought several laurels to the State and made the people proud. She was conferred with many awards in the field of literature including Sahitya Akademi Award and Padma Shri.

“She will go down in history for her contributions

to the field of literature and a true humanist,” Mukhi added. In her demise, Mukhi said the Country has lost a noted Litterateur and a great thinker. On behalf of the people of Nagaland and on his own behalf, Mukhi con veyed heartfelt condolences and prayed to God to grant strength to the bereaved fam ily to bear this tragic loss and for the departed soul to rest in eternal peace.

CM: Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio also expressed deep pain to learn about the passing away of former chairperson of the Nagaland Women Com mission Dr. TemsulaAo,

Pradma Shri awardee.

In a condolence mes sage to T John Longkumer, Rio said Dr. Temsula, who was also a renowned author and an ethnographer had contributed much to the Naga society through her literary works.

Besides being a recipi ent of various laurels, Rio said she was humble about her achievements. Rio said she was a strong, hardwork ing and humble woman, who was ever ready to serve the people with no reserva tions in various capacities.

As such, she was highly respected by all and her ac complishments in life has

inspired many women, Rio added. In her demise, Rio said the Naga society has lost a mentor and a guardian and the void created by her ab sence will be difficult to fill.

“She will be truly missed but let us treasure and celebrate her life and it is my humble prayer that her legacy will be carried on,” Rio added.

Rio, joined by his fam ily, conveyed deepest condo lences to the bereaved family members and prayed that Almighty God grant them strength and comfort to bear the irreparable loss and for her soul to rest in peace.

Protests

Mulayam Singh Yadav

Cars burn after Russian military attack hits central Kyiv, Monday. (Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

Talk on ‘gender and media’ held in Dimapur

DIMAPUR: Patkai Chris tian College (Autono mous), Multimedia and Mass Communication de partment organised a talk on “gender and media” at its studio, on Monday.

In a press release, PCC stated that resource person for the programme, NITI Aayog project coor dinator, Prarthana Pawal stated that media was an important tool for ethical storytelling.

Prarthana Pawale shared her experience working in the area of gen der advocacy, women and

child health and education for marginalised children. Explaining the gen der-media relation, she stated that when people produced stories by report

Entrepreneurship programme

DIMAPUR: Indian Insti tute of Entrepreneurship (IIE), an autonomous organ isation under the ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) that is setting up Entre preneurship Development Centre (EDC) sponsored by the directorate of Employ ment, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, govern ment of Nagaland, will be organising a two-day “en trepreneurship awareness and outreach programme” in Kohima on October 19 and 20.

In a press release, Sa sanka Gupta Kashyap stated that the main objective of the project is to provide an enabling environment for entrepreneurship. At the

two-day programme, entre preneurs will also be assisted on credit/market linkage and handholding support.

The programme will be attended by officials from the directorate of Employ ment, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship who will highlight key issues faced by entrepreneurs in Naga land and how to overcome obstacles.

For eligibility, candi dates must be “domicile” of Nagaland; a fresh entrant as piring and existing entrepre neurs and willing to undergo entrepreneurship develop ment programme after at tending the said programme. Participants willing to join the programme may log on to www.iie.gov.in.

ing intersectionality be tween power, gender, caste, religion, they were chal lenging the power hierar chy and common narrative so that existing power rela tions was not reproduced.

“We need to acknowl edge the above issues by creating awareness through these stories so that we don’t reproduce biases, after all its not just turning on the camera”, Prarthana stated.

Quoting UNICEF, she expressed the rein forcement of gender bias in Indian advertisements

by adding that the concept of “femadvertising” was evident in the present time.

On intersectionality of gender and media, she stressed on the need to be gender sensitive in media reportage and that media was an important pillar of the five institutions—fam ily, religion, education, government that constructs the gender roles in the society.

In this regard, she stat ed that it was important to address and talk about gen der stereotypes propagated through ads, movies and

story coverage.

Later, an interactive session was followed by a talk show recording of Prarthana under the guid ance of assistant professor Rojen Wahengbam.

She spoke on NITI Aayog and its functions in the context of Nagaland.

Earlier, welcome ad dress and short speech was delivered by MMC HoD, Dr. Dakter Esse.

The programme was participated by students from the departments of MMC and education with faculties.

Phek DPDB holds monthly meeting

regard to the society regis tration, DC informed the house that no recommenda tion for society registration would be made unless it was properly authenticated and verified.

DIMAPUR: Phek Dis trict Planning & Develop ment Board (DPDB) held its monthly meeting in the conference hall on Monday.

According to a DIPR report, deputy commis sioner (DC) and Phek DPDB vice chairman, Ra

zouvolie Dozo, who chaired the meeting welcomed the members.

The house reviewed the last DPDB meeting minutes and discussed agendas for the registration of a multipurpose society with regard to Laruri Vil

lage Women Society under Meluri sub-division and Sakraba Village Multipur pose Society under Pfütsero sub-division.

The members deliber ated and agreed on recom mendations to the govern ment for approval. With

At the meeting, a Pow erPoint presentation was given by district sports of ficer Phek Wutsutho where various sports activities that were being undertaken in the state by the depart ment of Youth Resources & Sports were highlighted.

Later, the chairman entrusted the department of Housing with PowerPoint presentation in the next DPDB meeting.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Wokha DPDB meeting on Oct 12: Wokha District Planning & Development Board chairman & advisor of Law & Justice, Dr. Chumben Murry has informed DPDB members that the monthly DPDB meeting will be held on October 12, 11 am, in the conference hall of the deputy commissioner. Concerned departments have been requested to come prepared for presenta tion/discussion and board members are requested to note the deferment and attend the meeting.

CMO Peren informs: Office of the chief medical of ficer Peren has informed all departments under Peren district that the district medical board is scheduled to be held on November 9, 10 am, in the office chamber of the CMO office. All departments who have candi dates for confirmation, invalidation and commutation of pension etc. for Grd. III & Grd. IV employees have been directed to submit list on or before November 8.

CNC 3-day ‘national’ revival crusade concludes

DIMAPUR: A three-day National Revival Crusade on the theme “heal our nation” organised by the Council of Nagaland Churches (CNC) from October 7, concluded on October 9, at Council Headquarters (CHQ) Church, Naga Unification Camp, Khehoyi with Salvation Baptist Church, pastor Toshi Imchen, Western Sümi Baptist Aku kuhou Küqhakulu (WSBAK) evangelist Rev. Kihoto Rotokha and WSBAK executive secretary, Rev. Dr. Phughoto Sema as speakers. In a press release, GPRN/NSCN through its MIP stated that during the three-day crusade included messages from speakers, counselling from WSBAK counsellors and praise from the Dunotos Worship Band. Earlier, CHQ Church pastor, Dr. Akito Zhimomi offered invocation and dedication of the crusade while speaker NTH Huvito Yeputhomi and member secretary, organising committee, Kakheto K. Sumi delivered welcome address and proposed vote of thanks respectively. The crusade, which was attended by hundreds of members from civil and military, concluded with a gospel message and healing service by Rev. Dr. Phughoto Sema.

emotionally during the illness

Dear Father.

We

demise of

deeply regret our inability to thank each and everyone

would like to express

BAPTIST CHURCH

VILLAGE COUNCIL

TEROGVUNYU BAPTIST CHURCH

DAHO

BAPTIST CHURCH

CHUPWE

BOSTI BAPTIST CHURCH

LATE MHABEMO MURRY

NITI Aayog project coordinator, Prarthana Pawale addressing the gathering on Monday.

DC Phek, Razouvolie Dozo speaking at the DPDB meeting on Monday. (DIPR)

World Mental Health Day observed across Nagaland

HEALTHCARE WORKERS CALL FOR CONCERTED EFFORTS TO CREATE AWARENESS, ERADICATE STIGMA ON MENTAL HEALTH

Correspondent

DIMAPUR: Nagaland along with the rest of the

world, observed World Mental Health Day on Monday on the global theme, “make mental

health & well-being for all a global priority”. The programmes were organ ised at large by respective

KOHIMA

‘20% of mental illness cases associated with substance abuse’

District Mental Health Programmes (DMHPs), wherein, health care work ers stressed on the impor

DMHP Kohima: At the programme organised by DMHP Kohima observed, senior psychia trist and DMHP Kohima nodal officer, Dr. Nuvotso Khesoh spoke on the theme and stated that mental health was for everyone and that they should thrive to increase the services with regard to mental health.

In a press release, DMHP Kohima, psychiatric social worker Veronica Nriame stated that Dr. Nuvotso highlighted important mental health issues, causes, stigma related issues and treatment.

KOHIMA, OCT 10 (NPN): State Mental Health Insti tute Kohima (SMHIK), senior medical officer, Dr. Viketoulie Pienyü on Monday, pointed out that around 20% of mental ill ness cases reported in Nagaland were associated with substance abuse.

Speaking at the World Mental Health Day programme organised by SMHIK at its premises, Dr. Viketoulie ad vised the parents to properly guide their children and in formed that people could come forward to avail facilities that were accessible for public at the institute.

Informing that scientific treatment was provided for patients requiring mental treat ment, he also disclosed that the centre was prioritising mental health after realising its impor tance and impact.

He highlighted some symptoms of poor mental health including sleepless nights, restlessness, inability to socialise, lack of productivity in one’s personal and profes sional lives.

For a sound mental health, Dr. Viketoulie urged upon the people to get good night’s sleep, exert one’s body through physi cal activities, stay socially active and most importantly spend quality time with family.

In the closing remark, medical superintendent, Dr. Khriesilie Sachü cited a report from National Family Health

Survey, wherein, more than 11% of males and 1% females between the age of 15-19 years consumed alcohol and around 29% of males and 4% in the same age group were associated with substance abuse.

Shedding a light on the statistics, Dr. Khriesilie stated that it has become a neces sity to prevent the youth and young adults from falling into this trap.

Further, he called for a need to remove social stigma around mental health issues and urged upon the people to be ambassadors in creating mass awareness on mental health.

In a short speech, coun sellor at St Joseph’s College, Jakhama, Fr. C Joseph, said Christian concepts of mental health was focused on bro kenness and deficit models, sometimes explicitly making connections with sin or lack of grace often leading to stig matisation.

Fr Joseph added that an attitude drawn from following the examples of Jesus based upon support, healing and a commitment to justice for the marginalised was required.

Earlier, the programme was chaired by SMHIK head pharmacist Kethokhrienuo Vitso while SMHIK chaplain Akuonuo Suokhrie offered in vocation. A special number was also presented by an inmate, Medozelhou accompanied by some of the staff.

WOKHA

organised a programme on World Mental Health Day.

In a press release, chief medi cal officer (CMO) office Wokha stated that speech on “under standing mental health” was delivered by District Hospital Wokha, medical officer, Dr. L. Wobemo Lotha.

Dr. Wobemo spoke on men tal illness disorder, prevention of psychiatric disorder and types of mental illnesses which includes psychosis, neurosis and personal ity disorder.

The programme was at tended by clinical psychologist Amenla Longkumer, psychiatric social worker Nrithung Lotha, members from Wokha District Legal Services Authority (WDL SA), students and teachers of the school.

PEREN

Peren: DMHP Peren ob served World Mental Health Day at District Hospital Peren.

In a press release, CMO office Peren, district media of ficer Shekho Sophie stated that District Hospital Peren, SMO Dr. John Kent in the keynote address highlighted the significance of the day.

He emphasised on the im portance of mental wellbeing and to be more vocal about mental health, issues and problems

DMHP Peren, clinical psy chologist Vizo also spoke on the theme of World Mental Health Day and encouraged the partici pants to materialise their network to be educators and to promote sound mental health in order to make the theme a reality.

At the programme, DMHP Peren, nodal officer Dr. Kekhriel houto Sophie launched Tele-MA NAS and encouraged everyone to avail the services.

He also lamented on the lack of manpower and resources when it came to subject matter and urged upon increased par ticipation, which he said, was the necessity even at primary health centres (PHCs).

Further, he informed that “Tele-MANAS” was the national toll-free helpline to render ser

tance of mental health awareness and deliberated on what needed to be done to make mental healthcare

vices with regard to mental health problems.

Speaking on substance use disorder, OST Centre NHAK, medical officer Dr. Sungtimen stated that individuals battling with drug problems have under lying depressive symptoms and should adopt a holistic approach of treatment.

In a brief speech, NHAK managing director Dr. Vibeitu onuo Mepfuo stated that health was not about physical but mental well-being which was why holistic approach should be adopted in terms of treatment. “Referrals services should be practice by all departments to meet the overall well-being of patients”, Dr. Vibe ituonuo stated.

The programme was at tended NHAK managing director, senior doctors, medical officers from various departments, nurse superintendents, staff nurses and NHAK staff.

a reality. Several doctors also stressed on

MOKOKCHUNG

Mokokchung: DMHP Mo kokchung observed World Mental Health Day at IMDH Multi-Purpose Hall.

In a press release, District Pro gramme Management Unit (DPMU) Mokokchung stated that during a short programme, DPO (NCD), Dr. Limanaro gave an overview of World Mental Health Day & Tele-Manas.

She emphasised on raising awareness about mental health is sues and the need to reduce stigmas surrounding mental health and en courage workplaces, institutions and individuals to prioritise their health.

In a short speech, IMDH MS, Dr. S. Marina Yaden stressed on mental health by saying that “mental health is one of the biggest unchal lenged and unaddressed health chal lenges that effects the emotional, psychological and social wellbeing of a person.”

A short speech on mental health care was also delivered by psychiat ric nurse Akumjungla.

PHEK

Phek: DMHP Phek observed World Mental Health Day in the Dr. Wethselo T. Mero Memo rial Hall, District Hospital Phek.

In a press release, NHM Phek, district me dia officer, Kutolu Nakro stated that DH Phek, psy chiatrist Dr. Along Pongen highlighted the objective behind observing World Mental Health Day which, he said, was aimed at rais ing awareness on mental health issues and to mo bilise efforts in support of mental health.

He presented differ ent surveys done under National Mental Health Survey of India, National Survey on Extent & Pattern of Substance use in India & National Crime Records Bureau 2019.

Dr. Along also high lighted the impact of postCOVID pandemic which he said, increased the rates of common mental disor ders.

He informed that in order to manage stress, one has to do physical exercise daily, sleep for 6-9 hours (for adults) and maintain a balanced diet.

At the programme, special guest, RMO 38th Assam Rifle Phek, Maj. Atul Sharma stated that social stigma has caused many people with mental issues to be left untreated.

The program was at tended by CMO Phek Dr. Khriezotuo Paphino, MS DH Phek Dr. Avilie, medi cal officers, DH Phek staff and CMO office, vertical programme officers & staff, OST staff.

Doctors and staff of SMHIK along with inmates and others on Monday. (NP)

Wokha: Isaiah Abil ity Higher Secondary School Wokha under the aegis of DMHP Wokha

Assam, Arunachal hold talks on border issue

GUWAHATI, OCT 10 (PTI): The second round of regional committee-level talks to resolve the bound ary dispute between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh was held here on Monday to finalise the report to be submitted to the chief ministers of the two states.

The Assam govern ment was represented by its Water Resources Minis ter Pijush Hazarika while Arunachal Pradesh was represented by its Environ ment and Forest Minister Mama Natung.

Hazarika told reporters that the report was based on the committee’s visit to the four disputed villages in Assam’s Bishwanath and Arunachal Pradesh’s Pakke Kessang district in September.

“We discussed the mat ter by taking into consider ation the discussions and objections raised by the villagers during our visit,” he said.

Both sides discussed all

the issues and agreed that the dispute must be resolved by mutual understanding and a policy of giving and take, Hazarika said.

The residents of Bali cho, Dipik and Dikalmukh villages have expressed the desire to be part of Arunachal Pradesh while those of Pacho want to be a part of Assam. This has been included in the report.

Drugs menace will be

AGARTALA, OCT 10 (AGENCIES): Tripura

Chief Minister Manik Saha has affirmed that the men ace of drugs will be wiped out from the state. The Chief Minister informed that an Anti-narcotics Task Force would be set up to deal with drugs trafficking, NE Live reported.

Saha briefing newsper sons, informed that tack ling drugs menace was widely discussed in the key meeting held in Guwahati chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The Tripura Chief Minister said that the police force is being continuously trained to deal with the illicit drugs trade.

However, Manik Saha expressed concern over the porous international border

20-year-old student dies by suicide in IIT Ghy

GUWAHATI, OCT 10 (PTI): A 20-year-old stu dent, hailing from Andhra Pradesh, was found hanging in his hostel room at the Indian Institute of Technol ogy Guwahati, police said on Monday.

The student, identi fied as Gudla Mahesh Sai Raj, was a fifth-semester B Tech student in computer science and engineering and is alleged to have com mitted suicide on Sunday due to ‘’mental pressure”, police said.

Investigations are on to ascertain the exact cause of the death, an official of the Amingaon police station said. The body has been sent for postmortem and will be handed to the family after that.

IITG in a statement claimed the body of a young man was found in one of the hostel buildings and has been “identified as a former student of the institute”.

for which the state has now turned into a drugs corri dor. Efforts are being with the Assam and Mizoram governments to stop drugs trafficking, added Manik Saha.

In terms of enhancing the infrastructure to tackle drugs trafficking, the Tri pura Chief MInister said that advanced technologies such drone tracking along the International Border

As all four villages fall in forested areas, the committee decided that the matter must be referred to the Centre by the chief ministers of the two states, he said.

The chief ministers of both states are keen to resolve the dispute and en sure the development of the border areas so that the en tire North East can develop

Tripura

according to the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, officials said.

Assam Chief Minis ter Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Arunachal Pradesh counterpart Pema Khandu signed the Namsai Decla ration on July 15 wherein they pledged to resolve the border dispute between the two states.

The two states had

decided to restrict the ‘dis puted villages’ to 86 instead of the previous 123 and to try to resolve the issues by September 15.

The two states share an 804.1 km-long border.

The grievance of Arunachal Pradesh which was made a union territory in 1972 is that several for ested tracts in the plains that had traditionally belonged to hill tribal chiefs and com munities were unilaterally transferred to Assam.

After Arunachal Pradesh achieved state hood in 1987, a tripartite committee was which rec ommended that certain territories be transferred from Assam to it. Assam contested this and the mat ter is in the Supreme Court.

Pakke Kessang MLA Biyuram Waghe, deputy commissioner Tayek Padu, divisional forest officer V K Jawal were among those from Arunachal Prdesh who attended meeting, of ficials said in Itanagar.

to flag-off

AGARTALA/GUWA

HATI, OCT 10 (IANS): In order to further improve rail connectivity of Tripura with the rest of the country, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has decided to extend the service of GuwahatiKolkata-Guwahati Express train upto Agartala, officials said on Monday.

Meghalaya district’s fresh order bans rat hole coal mining

SHILLONG, OCT 10 (IANS):

Following the di rections of National Green Tribunal (NGT) earlier, the district administrations of East Jaintia Hills District on Monday once again pro mulgated prohibitory orders banning rat hole coal mining in the district, officials said.

A district administra tion official said that the prohibitory order under Section 144 of CrPC was issued also against illegal transportation and dumping of coal in noncompliance with the directions issued by the NGT earlier. “Action would be taken against transportation of coal without valid challan or documents or permission, license issued by the compe tent authority to and from the district,” the official said.

The DM’s notification said that violation of the order shall attract penal ac tions under Section 188 of IPC apart from the other relevant laws.

Environmental activ ists in Meghalaya and As sam have said that despite the orders and recommenda tions of the Supreme Court and NGT, banning the indis criminate and hazardous rat hole coal mining in Megha laya, the mining continued unlawfully and exported to Bangladesh and other places with the authorities turning a blind eye.

Expressing strong dis

pleasure, a three-member bench of the Meghalaya High Court led by Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee re cently asked the state Chief Secretary to ensure that il legal coal mining activities are stopped at once and a committee free from politi cal interference be set up to monitor the execution of Supreme Court and NGT’s directions and recommen dations.

1st express train

of the National Law Univer sity at Narsinghgarh, on the outskirts of Agartala. The Tripura government would also accord a civic reception to Murmu, who would also virtually inaugurate and lay the foundation of many other projects in Tripura.

(IB) with Bangladesh, set ting up of CCTVs will be done soon. Manik Saha also said that border fenc ing will be strengthened and stressed on capacity building measures to stop the menace.

In a significant state ment, Tripura Chief Min ister Manik Saha said that alternative farming is the best option to stop cultiva tion of Marijuana.

NFR’s Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Sabyasachi De said that Gu wahati-Kolkata-Guwahati Express would be extended upto Tripura capital Agar tala once in a week. The inaugural special of this extension of train would be flagged off by President Droupadi Murmu on Thurs day from Agartala railway station.

The CPRO said that the inaugural special will

Meghalaya govt announces first-ever ‘Mental Health and Social Care Policy’

Correspondent

SHILLONG, OCT 10:

On the occasion of World Mental Health Day, the Meghalaya government on Monday announced the state’s first-ever draft ‘State Mental Health and Social Care Policy’

The policy aims to pro mote overall mental health and well-being and facili tate appropriate access and care pathways for common and severe mental health concerns.

State Health and Fam ily Welfare Minister, James Sangma, while formally announcing the draft policy said that universal access to mental health care is an important goal of the State government and added that the State has achieved a major milestone in the Health sector through the announcement of this draft policy. He also informed that Meghalaya is the first

state in the Northeast of India to come out with its own Mental Health Policy.

“The issue of mental health has remained a taboo subject and continues to be widely neglected due to the stigma associated with it. And in the past three years, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health gradually emerged as a silent pandemic that lurked upon each one of us and mani fested itself in various forms.

This led to an urgency for having a dedicated policy to address the issues pertaining to mental health”, Sangma said.

While highlighting the salient features of the State Mental Health and Social Care Policy , the health min ister urged the members of the civil society to give their feedback and recommenda tions on the draft policy.

The Minister further informed that the Core com mittee and subcommittee

were formed in order to guide the process of draft ing the State Mental Health Policy to make it well-suited to tackle the issues that exist within our state.

“We partnered with several stakeholders and under the State Capability Enhancement framework, through a Problem Driven Iterative Adaptive (PDIA) Approach, we involved all the concerned departments and agencies as part of our collaborative proposition towards problem identifica tion and solving,’’ Sangma said.

Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, P. Sampath Kumar, said that the policy is a holistic approach that aims to not only provide care, but also address the so cio economic determinants affecting the mental health space and prevent challenges pertaining to mental health within the State.

BJPwillcontestall40Mizoramassemblyseats

AIZAWL, OCT 10 (AGENCIES): Mizoram

BJP president Vanlalhmua ka said the saffron party would, for the first time, contest all the 40 seats in the assembly elecations scheduled to be held in the last part of next year.

Leader of the IT and media department of the state BJP, Lalthanpuia, said Vanlalhmuaka, for the first time, had told me diapersons in an interview on Saturday that the BJP would contest all the seats in the coming election to the 40-member House, TNN reported.

Political analysts said if the BJP contests all the assembly seats in the com ing polls, it would hurt the

Congress most, especially in the three autonomous district council areas as the minority-dominated areas were traditionally the stronghold of the grand old party.

The Congress may also face stiff challenges from the BJP in some of

assembly seats along the Bangladesh, Tripura and Assam borders like Mamit, Kolasib and Lunglei dis tricts though there are no autonomous district coun cils, the analysts said.

Though the ruling MNF is a constituent of both the BJP-led Nation al Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) with the party’s Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members giving issue-based support to the NDA in Parliament, there has been no alliance with the saffron party in state politics.

The analysts said it’s too early to predict if the BJP will go for any pre or post-poll tie-up with

MNF.

The lone BJP legisla tor, Dr BD Chakma, the first BJP nominee to be elected in the state legisla ture, also sits in the opposi tion bench in the assembly.

Even as the MNF is a part of the NDA and NEDA in national poli tics and regional politics in the northeast, the BJP remained a political pariah in the Christian-dominated state of Mizoram.

Reports of alleged at tacks on Christian mission aries, including priests, in other parts of the country continued to haunt the state unit and failed to make major inroads in the state, except in minority areas.

run via New Karimganj, New Haflong, Guwahati, Goalpara Town, Kokrajhar, New Coochbehar, Kishan ganj, Katwa and Bandel.

The express train would run with a composition of 14 coaches. During its regular run the express train (Agartala-Kolkata) would depart from Agartala on

every Wednesday morning to reach Kolkata on the next day afternoon. In return di rection, the train would de part from Kolkata on every Sunday to reach Agartala on Tuesday evening.

The President during her stay in Tripura would in augurate the Judicial Acad emy and lay the foundation

It will be Murmu’s first visit to the state after becom ing the President.

She will also dedicate the trans-shiftment yard which was built at Nis chintapur, crossing point of Indo-Bangla railway project to the nation, six km away from the state capital by video link.

Murmu will be given a civic reception by the Agar tala Municipal Corporation (AMC) at Town Hall where Chief Minister Manik Saha, Mayor Dipak Majumder

and cabinet ministers will re main present. The President is likely to meet political leaders, dignitaries and gen eral public. The president is scheduled to visit Udaipur to offer prayer to Tripureswari temple on October 13 and will leave the state for Gu wahati at 1.10 pm.

Security has been beefed up in Agartala and its vicinity in view of the President’s visit to the state.

“A high level security team from Delhi has already ar rived here to oversee the security arrangement for the President’s visit. They visited the programme ven ues to review the security measures taken by the state police. They are in touch with senior police officers for better coordination”, said a senior police officer.

Manipur truckres demand deferment of ban on NH-2

Correspondent

IMPHAL, OCT 10: Ma nipur truckers’ bodies on Monday demanded that the ban on movement of heavy trucks along Dima pur-Khuzuma section of NH-2 be deferred till Ningol Chakouba festival gets over.

The truckers- Mani pur Drivers’ Association (MDA), Senapati Drivers’ Association (SDA) and Se

napati Truck Owners’ As sociation (STOA), urged the Manipur government to take up the matter with the Nagaland government.

The Ningol Chakouba, one of the biggest festivals of Manipur falls on October 27. The truckers’ bodies said that the Nagaland govern ment, had in a notification informed that movement of three-action trucks (10 wheels and above trucks) will

Assam govt enhances grant under DBT scheme for women

GUWAHATI, OCT 10 (AGENCIES): The Assam government has enhanced the monthly grant under the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme, Orunodoi, by Rs 250 from Monday.

“Assam’s largest DBT scheme, scales a step higher!

Starting today, October 10, beneficiaries will receive an additional Rs 250 to meet electricity expenses, increas

ing the monthly amount for each beneficiary to Rs 1250. The government of Assam will disburse Rs 2625 crore on this every year,” chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma informed.

It may be noted that the decision to hike the month ly grant under the DBT scheme was announced in the state budget for 2022-23, TST reported.

TruTh Shall Make uS Free

What

public in the journey of solution. Every leaders found the best running routes to Delhi but returned with different voice and lines. Are you (leaders) too are in confusion position or you are trying to pull the rubber which do not change its shape? It is not a time blame nor make any confusion or mistake. We public are tired of turning one’s head from one side to another side. We cannot shake one’s head to only one and yes to another or cannot even tiptoe to the Delhi office to find out, what hidden unnoticeable drastic points deserved has not been clearly revealed.

As being a Christian State our Nagaland Government, Naga Political Groups should maintain the principle of truthfulness and stop saying Forgive and Forget which in reality does not exist among you.

Open minded among leaders should take place in all side for the process of peace and for the greater interest of Nagas.

be banned along DimapurKhuzuma section of the NH2, the lifeline of Manipur for a month with effect from Oc tober 13. The truckers’ bod ies stated that the ban will greatly affect the shipping of the essential commodities to the state (Manipur) greatly.

MDA general secretary Kh Sanjoy Singh said that the Manipur government should take up the matter with the Nagaland government as

it will have great impact in the normal flow of essential commodities into Manipur. The restriction was likely to create an artificial scarcity of essential commodities as there would be a high de mand ahead of the festival, he said. He requested the Manipur government to urge the Nagaland government to review the restriction order and impose the same after the festival.

AFFIDAVIT (Declaration)

A rat-hole mine in Meghalaya. (Angela Rangad)

Representational image

Manik Saha addressing the media persons.

Vanlalhmuaka

Officials at the meeting on boundary dispute between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

Tejashwi calls for Oppn unity, setting aside egos

Says‘decideif youarewithBJP oragainstit’

NEW DELHI, OCT 10

(PTI): RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Monday asked opposition parties to set aside personal egos to join hands in fighting the BJP and said they have to decide if they are with the ruling party or against it, as he and his father Lalu Prasad launched a stinging attack on the Modi government.

The party’s open convention in the packed Talkatora Stadium here also saw the hold of Yadav over the organisation getting further cemented as it passed a resolution effecting a change in the RJD constitution to vest final decision-making authority on its “name, poll symbol or any other issue” in him as well as his father.

While Rashtriya Janata Dal president Prasad accused the BJP of “communalising” society and “destroying” the Constitution, Yadav referred to ruling party MP Parvesh Verma’s speech allegedly calling for a boycott of Muslims and said

a huge number of Indians working abroad, many in Muslim countries, will be left unemployed if they face similar treatment.

“What kind of mindset is this? Somebody tell these BJP members that most of our oil comes from Muslim countries. Will you stop it,” he asked.

Delhi BJP MP Parvesh Verma courted controversy on Sunday after he allegedly called for a total boycott of a community at an event held here to protest the killing of a Hindu youth in northeast Delhi. He has claimed that he did not name any community.

In his speech at the RJD’s open convention, which ratified Prasad’s election as its president

again, Yadav continued with his efforts to shed its image of an organisation confined largely to a Muslim-Yadav base as he asked the packed crowd of delegates to “bend” if needed to embrace “small” castes, be it most backward communities or Dalits.

“Maintain discipline, this is my appeal to you.

You have to protect the last person in the queue.

There is a need to change behaviour. There can be no disharmony, jealousy or discrimination. We will take everyone along,” he said.

The RJD’s rivals have often linked the party’s rule to poor law and order situation and allege that its supporters try to dominate other castes when it is in

power. “The RJD is a party of A to Z. It is a party of everyone,” Yadav asserted “People of so many communities were with us in the 90s,” he recalled, claiming that the RJD got wide support from across the society in the 2020 Bihar assembly polls.

Prasad as well as his political heir Tejashwi Yadav also asked party members to keep the larger goal in mind and not fall prey to any confusion or conspiracy.

The comments come as RJD’s Bihar unit president Jadanand Singh has been sulking over the ouster of his son Sudhakar Singh from the Bihar Cabinet while Prasad’s elder son Tej Pratap Yadav has often publicly embarrassed the party with his comments.

Both Prasad and Yadav also met Shyam Rajak, a senior RJD functionary who had turned emotional on Sunday and later fell ill after being accused by Tej Pratap Yadav of abusing him.

Lashing out at the BJP, Tejashwi Yadav referred to it as “Badka Jhoota Party” (a big lier party), while Prasad, in his brief speech, slammed it as “Bharat Jalao Party” (burn India party).

The BJP is resorting to Hindu-Muslim issues to

SC Collegium reveals names of who objected to CJI’s ‘circulation’ method for appointing judges

NEW DELHI, OCT 10 (PTI): In an unprecedented development, the Supreme Court Collegium has made public the names of the two judges on the panel who objected to the method of “circulation” adopted for eliciting the views of its members on the appointment of judges to the apex court.

In a statement dated October 9 which became public on Monday, the Collegium said Justices DY Chandrachud and S Abdul Nazeer had objected to the method of “circulation” that was used for the first time for eliciting the views of its members who were unable to attend the proceedings physically.

The collegium said its September 30 meeting, which became controversial as the proposal initiated by Chief Justice of India UU Lalit received concurrence from two of the judges on the panel, while the other two objected to the process, stands “discharged”.

The Collegium, which

is headed by the CJI and comprises Justices DY Chandrachud, Sanjay Kishan Kaul, S Abdul Nazeer and KM Joseph, gave the entire sequence of events starting with its first meeting dated September 26, when the names of 11 judges were considered, till September 30, 2022, the day the whole controversy erupted.

The statement said informal deliberations with regard to the proposed appointments had been going on for some time and a formal meeting took place on September 26, 2022, when the names of 11 Judges were considered.

slams AAP for calling PM Modi ‘neech’

“As there was unanimity of opinion on the name of Justice Dipankar Dutta, Chief Justice, High Court of Bombay, a Resolution to that effect was passed and the consideration of the names of other ten Judges was deferred till September 30, 2022,” it said.

Though the procedure of circulating the judgments of the prospective candidates for making an objective assessment of their relative merit was introduced for the first time in the meeting held on September 26, 2022 and the name of Justice Dutta was cleared, a demand was raised by some of the members that “we should

have more judgments of the other candidates. Therefore, the meeting was postponed to September 30, 2022 and more judgments were circulated”.

“In continuation of the deliberations that took place on September 26, 2022, the postponed meeting of the collegium was convened on September 30, 2022 at 4.30 pm. However, since one of the members (Dr Justice DY Chandrachud) did not attend the meeting, the CJI sent a proposal vide letter dated September 30, 2022 by way of circulation,” the statement said.

The statement said CJI’s proposal received the approval of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and KM Joseph vide their respective letters dated October 1 and October 7, 2022.

“By separate letters dated October 1, 2022, Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice S Abdul Nazeer, objected inter alia to the method adopted in the letter dated September 30, 2022,” it noted.

trigger conflict in society as part of its “divide and rule” strategy, Yadav alleged.

He accused the BJP of dividing the society on communal lines to divert people’s attention from real issues like unemployment, price rise, education and health.

In a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said while the BJP leader was the first one in 75 years to rise from a tea shop to the highest executive office, in his eight years of his rule those with engineering and MBA degrees were forced to work at tea shops as the economy has been “devastated”.

When a dollar was equivalent to Rs 50 and Rs 60, Modi used to see “conspiracy” behind it, but the Indian currency is now at a low of Rs 82 for a dollar and he has nothing to say today, the Bihar deputy chief minister alleged.

The country is being destroyed and the constitution of the RSS is being imposed, he alleged.

Calling for unity among non-BJP parties, he said all opposition parties and leaders have to set aside their egos and personal interests to fight the ruling party.

Police register FIR against VHP, other organisers over ‘hate speech’ in Delhi

NEW DELHI, OCT 10 (PTI): An FIR has been filed against the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the other organisers of an event in Delhi, where certain speakers allegedly delivered hate speeches, police said on Monday.

The VHP dismissed the claim that permission for the event was not taken from the city police as “laughable” and said police personnel were deployed at the venue of the event in Dilshad Garden.

Delhi BJP MP Parvesh Verma courted controversy on Sunday after he allegedly called for a total boycott of a community at the event held to protest against the killing of a 19-year-old Hindu man in northeast Delhi. Verma, however, said he did not refer to any particular community in his address.

“An FIR has been registered against the organisers under section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for not taking permission from police,” DCP (Shahdara) R Sathiyasundaram said. The event was organised by several right-wing

outfits, including the VHP. VHP spokesperson Vinod Bansal said it is laughable that the police is saying no permission was taken for the programme, during which thousands of people, including police personnel, were present.

“Let alone permission, we fixed the venue at the Ramlila Ground in Dilshad Garden after suggestions and recommendations from senior police officers. We had earlier planned to organise the gathering near Manish’s (the man killed in northeast Delhi) house but on the request of the police, changed the venue to the Ramlila Maidan,” he claimed. In a video purportedly of the event, Verma is heard

saying, “Wherever you find them, there is only one way to straighten them -- total boycott. Do you agree with me?” The BJP MP told PTI, “I did not name any community. I just said those involved in the killing of Hindus need to be boycotted.”

Manish was stabbed to death in Delhi’s Sundar Nagri earlier this month.

The Delhi Police has arrested all the accused in the case -- Aalam, Bilal and Faizan -- and said they killed Manish due to an old rivalry.

The police had on Sunday said it was obtaining the details of the event held in east Delhi’s Dilshad Garden and added that no permission was taken for organising it.

Kharge vows ‘collective decisions’ if elected Cong Prez

KOLKATA, OCT 10 (IANS): Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who is the key contestant for the post of the party President, on Monday promised that he will give more stress on “collective decisions” in the party if he is elected for that chair.

“This is an internal election. Any decision will be taken through internal and mutual discussions. Not ‘me’ but ‘we’ will together take the decisions,” Kharge said while addressing a press meet as he visited Kolkata for campaigning.

He also promised a 50 per cent reservation in the party portfolios for women, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes. He also proposed that no one will be able to stick to a particular chair for a period more than five years.

“We all wanted Rahul Gandhi to be unanimously elected as the Congress President. We also conveyed this to our leader, Sonia Gandhi. But she said that none from the Gandhi family will contest in the polls. I am

contesting this election to uphold the great legacy of Congress’s ideology as well as to establish democracy in the entire country. I am contesting this election following the instructions of the leadership of my party,” Kharge said.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) is yet to make any formal announcement on whether their support will be extended towards Kharge or the other contestant for the chair, Shashi Tharoor.

According to state Congress President and veteran party Lok Sabha member, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the

state Congress unit wanted Rahul Gandhi to be party’s national President.

“But that is not happening. We, on behalf of WBPCC, have welcomed

Mallikarjun Kharge. Similarly, we will also welcome Shashi Tharoor who is coming to the state soon. However, we are yet to take any decision,” he said.

NEW DELHI, OCT 10 (PTI): The BJP on Monday slammed AAP over a derogatory remark purportedly made by its Gujarat unit chief against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that it is an “insu lt to the democratic process of India and the state”.

BJP’s IT cell in-charge Amit Malviya had on Sunday shared a video on Twitter where Gopal Italia, AAP’s Gujarat convener, can be heard calling PM Modi “neech aadmi” (a lowly person).

It has been reported that the video is from 2019 and was made during the run-up to the general elections.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters on Monday, party spokesperson Sambit Patra said the kind of language used by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for Prime Minister “exposes AAP and shows what is their intention.”

Asserting that no Prime Minister can be called “neech admi”, as “all Prime Ministers are democratically elected. And calling them neech aadmi (lowly person) is an insult to democratic process of India … parliamentary process of the country.”

Stating that AAP will face the same fate as Congress did after its leader Mani Shankar Aiyar used the same invective for Modi, Patra said, “Prime Minister Modi hails from Gujarat and using such remarks against him is an insult of Gujarat too.”

“Everyone has seen the condition of Congress in the entire country. Arvind Kejriwal is using the exact same language today,” he said.

The elections in the state are scheduled to be held later this year.

Lalu Prasad Yadav with Tejashwi Yadav during RJD’s National Executive Meeting in New Delhi, Monday. (PTI)

Mallikarjun Kharge (PTI)

File photo of VHP members.

Nagaland

AFSPA and the NE

Whenunion home minister Amit Shah said Armed Forces (Special) Power Act will be lifted in the north east after peace returns, during the inauguration of the biggest BJP office in east India on October 8 ; it went against the grain of people of the battered region, especially Nagaland, who have suffered enough when the black law was first imposed in India in 1958. Shah’s statement is a dichotomy of the peace outreach of the BJP govern ment since coming to power in 2014. The AFSPA is a hated law in north east because it is draconian and legitimises violation of human rights even leading to death and insulates those armed forces responsible under the guise of enforcing law and order. In the same vein, Shah said that when BJP came to power at Centre in 2014, Assam along with the entire north east started to walk on the path of peace and devel opment. No political parties least national political parties can be blamed for insurgency in the region. In fact many prominent and less prominent politicians of the region have paid for with their lives at the hands of militants in the several decades before 2014. The Assam Accord signed with the agitating students in 1985 as well as the 1992 surrender of ULFA militants were due to the efforts of the non-BJP parties to bring the militants to the national mainstream. Even the current ongoing Naga political process was initiated by non-BJP party politicians and cease fire in 1997 also signed by a non-BJP and Congress backed gov ernment under I.K.Gujral. The agreements signed in 2015 and 2017 were also products of the longest ever negotiations which were near- conclusion and which were eventually signed as documents in 2015 etc. If Shah sought to claim credit that the BJP during its eight years in power at the Centre had facilitated the North east to march ahead in the path of peace and development, then it is a sign that the seeds of peace was planted decades back and which have borne fruit. It may be pertinent to recall that prime minister Narendra Modi on April 28,2022 at Diphu, said ef forts were on to improve the law-and-order situation for the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act of 1958 to be completely lifted from the northeast. He said the AFSPA could be withdrawn (from April 1) partially from Assam, Manipur and Nagaland due to peaceful conditions since 2014. What is left to be desired is signing of peace agreement with the Naga stakeholders for evolving political solution. Viewed from these, it is clear that an environment of peace exists in the north east today. Earlier on April 2,2022 union law minister Kiren Rijiju described the lifting of ASFPA in most parts of Assam, Manipur and Nagaland as a sign that peace has returned to the region and also indicating a revolutionary step which showed that the north east has joined the mainstream. These statements made by the prime minister and the law minister are significant and have not come from some ordinary persons but leaders of the nation. Therefore, if all these still do not merit the north east as a peaceful region, then it means AFSPA may not be lifted and the people will continue to run the risk of becoming victims as those at Oting on December 4, 2021.

DailyDevotion

God’s Silence— Then What?

When He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. —John 11:6

Has God trusted you with His silence— a silence that has great meaning? God’s silences are actually His answers. Just think of those days of absolute silence in the home at Bethany! Is there anything comparable to those days in your life? Can God trust you like that, or are you still asking Him for a visible answer? God will give you the very blessings you ask if you refuse to go any further with out them, but His silence is the sign that He is bringing you into an even more wonderful understanding of Himself. Are you mourning before God because you have not had an audible response? When you cannot hear God, you will find that He has trusted you in the most intimate way pos sible— with absolute silence, not a silence of despair, but one of pleasure, because He saw that you could withstand an even bigger revelation. If God has given you a silence, then praise Him— He is bringing you into the mainstream of His purposes. The actual evidence of the answer in time is simply a matter of God’s sovereignty. Time is nothing to God. For a while you may have said, “I asked God to give me bread, but He gave me a stone instead” (see Matthew 7:9). He did not give you a stone, and today you find that He gave you the “bread of life” (John 6:35).

A wonderful thing about God’s silence is that His stillness is contagious— it gets into you, causing you to become perfectly confident so that you can honestly say, “I know that God has heard me.” His silence is the very proof that He has. As long as you have the idea that God will always bless you in answer to prayer, He will do it, but He will never give you the grace of His silence. If Jesus Christ is bringing you into the understanding that prayer is for the glorifying of His Father, then He will give you the first sign of His intimacy— silence.

Quotes

Post-mortem

Profanation of Christianity

For the first time in the his tory of Durga puja celebra tions, the Hindus thoroughly misused the Naga cultural and religious motifs in the decoration of one of their pandals for their goddess Durga during the just concluded Durga puja celebration.

The unique and exclusive clothes/ sash/Naga national house and other designs that originally and historically belonged to the Nagas for their religious and cultural as pects were used as if without which the Hindus lacked enough of their appliqués for such celebration.

Shri. Y.P. Gupta, President of Hindu Seva Samiti, Dimapur clari fied that the Hindus in Nagaland had not profaned Christianity but it was those Hindus in Kharag pur, West Bengal according to his verification as published in local papers on 6.10.2022. May be true, and yet it is one sided report since the reality as to whether the very pandal was in West Bengal or here in Nagaland is not known till it is verified by a competent authority. Under the initiative of the Dimapur Hindu Seva Samaiti, it deems fit for the culprit, whoever it may be, to tender unconditional public apol ogy to the Nagas and commitment that such will not be ever repeated henceforth.

Nevertheless, no matter wher ever the venue of the controversial pandal might be, the motive behind those Hindus who used the exclu sive properties of the Naga Chris tians was with malicious intentions.

Even though our forefathers were animists, they had neither idols nor worshipped idols. The revered only an unknown spirit till the advent of Christianity 150 years ago.

Therefore, there is no relation ship whatsoever between Hindu religion and Naga animism not to speak of Christianity. The recent misuse of the Naga motifs was not accidental but intentional with the theme to undermine, provoke, hurt and desecrate Naga Christianity and culture through such bully as usual. I believe this very act has the dual purpose, one is political in view of the approaching State Assembly election, and the other is to marginalize the Naga Christian ity through coercive maneuverings.

All through these years, the Christians in India have been the soft target of the Hindus whose RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal, etc. work forces used to persecute the Chris tians all the time. The Hindus in India virtually refused to learn love and compassion from the very instance of how the widow Gladys Staines who forgave the murderer Dara Singh and cohorts from Bajrang Dal who burnt her husband late Graham Staines and their two young children on 23rd January, 1999 to death in Odisha

State. Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Lord and Savior of mankind came to this corrupt world to for give and deliver the perishing souls and not to condemn the sinners. The Staines family was the true fol lower of Jesus Christ, and thus Mrs. Gladys forgave the murderers in the name of Jesus Christ as taught and learned from the Holy Bible. It is not too late for the Hindus to learn from the given lesson so as to rise above barbarity and become more sensible human beings.

The RSS and the BJP, as we all know, are the two in one. The RSS is the religious wing of Hin duism and the BJP is the political wing. The RSS is the sponsor of its political wing BJP which draws its strength from the sponsor. Since the BJP has already made inroads into Nagaland by producing 12 MLAs in 2018 election, perhaps not only the BJP but including the Hindutva activists are eying on forming its own or BJP led Govt. in the next election in Nagaland. The latest profaning of Christianity is there fore a prelude as to how the faith of the Nagas in Jesus Christ can be impeded and the Christian image in Nagaland is defaced nationally and internationally. The ploys are both direct and indirect invasion on our faith.

Whereas, the Christians in Nagaland are always found wanted in defense of our faith in Christ. We all watched how Great Britain paid the last homage to her late Queen Elizabeth 11 a few days ago. One of the stated accreditations conferred on the late Queen was her relentless defense for the faith of the Nation, that is the faith of the British in the Living God Jehovah. America being the strongest nation in the world, it always plays the parental role for the weak and needy in the world. Jehovah made America great and strong for the sake of world’s peace. The latest instance is how America boldly and practi cally stood with Ukraine against the invader Russia. America used to be the major donor of mate rial help to any nation in distress.

Learning from the said precedents, Nagaland, in the name of Nagaland for Christ, definitely has role to play when fellow Christians in particular are in distress anywhere in India. Nagaland, having the highest con centration of Christian population in India, is expected to shoulder pro-active leading role in times of need in defense of our faith. The expressed indignation is not with out evidence. Had we done enough when the major Christian holidays like Christmas and Good Friday were distorted by BJP ministry?

Half a decade ago, the Govt. of Na galand contemplated to inaugurate the Rani Gaidinliu Memoral Hall at Kohima. Needless to elaborate

the possible consequences of such memorial building. Had not the Ko hima Village Youth Organization (KVYO) and the Kohima Village Council jointly voiced against it along with NTC, that hall would have become a very busy hub today.

As much as the Acupuncture is the offshoot of Chinese cultic belief, the Yoga, too, is the offshoot of Hindu mythology. The Dimapur Ao Baptist Arogo(DABA) did well in its inability to have the visit of Shri. JP Nadda, President, BJP to its church recently in view of more important preoccupation of DABA. Appeasing Christians in Nagaland for the sake of vote and harassing fellow Christians in Hindu dominated States must not be entertained. We must stand firm against such attempts to adulterate our faith. In 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, the Christians are directed not to yoke together with the idolaters. The idolaters, etc. will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthi ans 6:9,10). The State Govt. and the Christians in Nagaland failed to oppose the imposition of Yoga and Hindi language in our land. Our malleability and fragility have become the red carpet reception to intrusions.

Whatever might have been the enthusiasm of the Hindutva cadres to frustrate and relegate the minority religious communities by means of intrusion into mosque by its cadres shouting ‘Bharat mata ki jai’ during Dusshera in Bidar, Karnataka, and also embolden ing its cadres by certain Hindutva leader somewhere else with the promise that the country will no more celebrate Christmas hence forth, the Lord Jehovah ultimately prevails as found in Proverbs 16:9. It is pertinent to remind the Hin dus that despite being the 79.8% majority, the minority Muslims and Christians in particular can never be erased from the face of India no matter how ardently the Hindutva fanatics do try. The more the Hindutva cadres become more relentless in their campaign against the minorities, the bigger will be the dimensional damage to communal harmonies, and it ultimately weak ens the Unity in Diversity. If India has to become robust in unity, its realistic diversity has to be given practical recognition as enshrined in Art 25/26 of the Constitution of India. Those Hindutva fanatics who are bereft of patriotism, are hell bent to irk, provoke and cause communal disharmony between the Hindus and the other minori ties in the name of making India a robust nation, a nation of only Hindus, are rather weakening and tarnishing the secular image of India internationally.

Z. Lohe

Geo graphically, Myanmar’s loca tion is strategically important. After gaining independence from the Brit ish in 1948, the country suffered from long military rule. Myanmar has a long history of conflict between the military and the gov ernment with various re gional ethnic groups, but has become more widespread in recent times. The mili tary coup has plunged the country into a crisis with strained ethnic relations and a resurgence of civil war.

According to geopolitical analysts, Myanmar’s gover nance is essentially divided into three entities. The first is the State Administration Council (SAC) or the body of top officials engaged in the governance of the coun try, the second is the body of senior military officers and finally the Cabinet.

However, Min Aung Hlaing, as the head of the armed forces and the leader of the coup, overshadowed these entities and gradually axed power. By issuing martial law, the state has absolute power. The military junta is using torture and killing as a weapon to suppress any dissent against the govern ment following the policy of autocracy. It has also enacted a series of draco nian laws to consolidate its grip on power, threatening the legal protections and

fundamental rights of the Myanmar people. In addi tion, internet access is lim ited and online newspapers and social media platforms are blocked. Recently, a new law has been issued there, where liking or sharing an anti-government post on social media is punishable by imprisonment.

Distressed economy

In February last year, Myanmar’s military gov ernment declared a state of emergency for the first time since taking power. In Au gust, the state of emergency was extended for another six months. The junta’s main priority is to stay in power at any cost. As a result, the country’s economy is now in a state of crisis, and the people have to pay the price. After the imposition of military rule in the postcoup period, the country was subjected to a Western economic embargo. Foreign aid and investment were suspended. As a result, the country’s reserves have been decreasing since last April.

Due to the internal crisis and the war in Ukraine, the prices of everyday prod ucts are increasing. On the other hand, many people are not paying electricity bills, and no one is paying taxes as part of the non-violent movement supported by the NLD government. The gov ernment’s revenue collection has fallen to the bottom.

The country’s economy has shrunk by nearly 20 percent in the past year. According to a report published by the International Labor Organi zation (ILO) last January, by the end of 2021, half of the country’s population or about two and a half million people are below the poverty line, 1.6 million people or about eight percent of the total workforce have lost their jobs, and about 1.3 million people are at risk of food insecurity. . On the other hand, in view of the global and domestic cri sis, the value of the Kyat, the currency of Myanmar, continues to fall against the dollar. On February 1, 2021, one dollar was avail able at 1,395 kyats, which has now increased by more than 40 percent to 2,113 kyats. According to the Brit ish magazine Economist, the country’s central bank decided to sell 10 percent of its reserves to prevent the fall of the kyat. In this situation, the military junta is trying to retain reserves by imposing currency con trols and import bans. As a result, people are deprived of essential services like medicines.

Declining power of the junta Myanmar’s military junta is now facing fierce resistance from various eth nic minorities. Moreover, a shadow government called

11th October is the International Day of the Girl Child Girls have potential to change the world

Every girl has equal rights but most of them do not get their own rights. We know that adolescent girls have the right to a safe, educated, and healthy life, not only during these critical formative years, but also as they mature into women. If effectively supported during the adolescent years, girls have the potential to change the world – both as the empowered girls of today and as tomorrow’s workers, mothers, entrepreneurs, mentors, household heads, and political leaders.

But the challenge ahead for us is that nearly 1 in 4 girls aged 15–19 globally are not in education, employment or train ing, compared to 1 in 10 boys. We should be aware that up to 10 million girls shall be at risk of child marriage. In spite of much discussion and initiatives related to education around the world it has been found that al most half of primary schools in Least Developed Countries lack single-sex toilets – an important factor in girls’ attendance – and more than two thirds are without electricity.

We should not forget that every day, hundreds of thou sands of girls around the world are harmed physically or psy chologically. Around the world rirls are primarily victims of sexual exploitation (72% of de tected girl victims), while boys are mainly subjected to forced labour (66% of detected boy victims). The global internet user gender gap is growing, from 11 per cent in 2013 to 17 per cent in 2019, and widest in the world’s least developed countries at 43 per cent. Globally, the percent age of females among Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) graduates is below 15 per cent in over twothirds of countries.

Like many other countries, In India, the trend of decline in the Child Sex Ratio (CSR), de fined as number of girls per 1000 of boys between 0-6 years of age, has been unabated since 1961.

The decline from 945 in 1991 to 927 in 2001 and further to 918 in 2011 is alarming. There is no shadow of doubt that the decline in the CSR is a major indicator of women disempowerment. The Indian Government has announced the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao initiative to ensure rights of the girl child. This is being implemented through a national campaign and is a joint initiative

National Unity Govern ment (NUG) was formed to counter the government. The shadow government has already appealed to the international community for support, to which the United States, the Euro pean Union and ASEAN member states have re sponded. The NUG also formed a guerrilla force called the People’s De fense Force (PDF), which was formed to counter the military’s brutal crack down on protesters. As a result, the government has to fight against various ethnic groups in the bor der provinces, while on the other hand, it has to face pro-democracy PDF forces in various provinces inside the country. Because of this, the government is facing deep problems in es tablishing political control in Myanmar. On the other hand, the military junta is diplomatically losing ac ceptance with the rest of the world due to authori tarian tactics and brutal repression. As a result, they were almost defeated on three fronts – diplomatic, political and military.

Ethnic armed insurgent groups operating in Myan mar have become stronger than before. They are now having a lot of success in fighting against the army and the area they control is also increasing. Armed

of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Ministry of Education.

This year, we commemo rate the 10th anniversary of the International Day of the Girl Child .On December 19, 2011, United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/170 to declare October 11th as the International Day of the Girl Child (IDGC), to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world. In these last 10 years, there has been increased at tention on issues that matter to girls amongst governments, policymakers and the general public, and more opportunities for girls to have their voices heard on the global stage.

There is positivity as with adversity, however, comes re sourcefulness, creativity, tenac ity, and resilience. The world’s 600 million adolescent girls have shown time and time again that given the skills and the opportunities, they can be the change makers driving progress in their communities, building back stronger for all, including women, boys and men.

Girls are breaking boundar ies and barriers posed by stereo types and exclusion, including those directed at children with disabilities and those living in marginalized communities. Empowering women and girls and promoting gender equality is crucial to accelerating sustain able development. Ending all forms of discrimination against women and girls is not only a basic human right, but it also has a multiplier effect across all other development areas as women and girls represent half of the world’s population and, therefore, also half of its potential.

Girls are ready for a decade of acceleration forward. It is time for us all to stand account able – with and for girls – and to invest in a future that believes in their agency, leadership and po tential. Girls would do wonder ful if she is given the right spaces.

Let us all ensure that our girls shine in their academic fields and contribute positively to achieve sustainable development. To gether we can ensure rights for all the girls and empowered girls shall build a sustainable society for all of us.

Ranjan K Baruah Ganeshguri, Guwahati

groups from different eth nic groups have stepped up cooperation among them selves to overthrow the junta. News website The Irrawaddy reported that members of Myanmar’s top seven-armed ethnic groups met in September in Pang sang, Wa state, amid rising violence. At the same time, the anti-military Myanmar people are fighting against the government by joining the activities of various in surgents and armed groups.

According to a state ment by Myanmar’s Special Advisory Council, only 72 of the country’s 330 town ships are now under the jun ta’s control; As a percentage that is only 17 percent of the total land area; 52 percent is under NUG and various ethnic groups and no party has absolute control over the rest of the region. Moreover, the Myanmar army is in a very tight position in Rakh ine. More than two-thirds of Rakhine State’s land area is now under the control of the Arakan Army. According to the NUG statement, more than 20,150 soldiers of the army were killed in the clash es from September 7, 2021 to September 2022. Myanmar’s military is dominated by the Bama ethnic group. But the recent military operation in Bama-dominated areas has created anti-junta sentiment among them. More than 2,000 soldiers and 5,000

police officers have defected since the coup, according to the People’s Embrace group. Along with the loss of lives and troops, the army also lost control of several mili tary outposts. In the last 17 months, Myanmar’s military junta has lost control of about 90 military posts to armed groups from various ethnic groups in the country.

After the military coup in 2021, people from all walks of life in Myanmar participated peacefully in the anti-junta movement. But due to the retaliatory brutal repression by the Min Aung Hlaing adminis tration, the peaceful move ment turned into armed resistance, which continues to this day. The conflict is escalating. Added to this is the country’s economic crisis and insurgency by eth nic armed groups in border areas. All in all, an anarchic situation prevails across the country. As the days go by, along with the overall situation in Myanmar, the position of the junta is also weakening. In this situa tion, the intervention of the international community is necessary to restore peace in Myanmar.

Tilottama Rani Charulata is an independent researcher. She is interested in the Bangladesh and Rohingya refugee affairs. She is currently living in Canada.

To give without any reward, or any notice, has a special quality of its own.

Intervention of international community could restore peace in Myanmar

PM Modi targets Nehru over Kashmir

ANAND, OCT 10 (PTI):

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel resolved issues of merger of other princely states, but “one person” could not resolve the Kashmir issue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday, in a veiled attack on India’s first PM Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

Addressing a rally in Gujarat’s Anand district ahead of the state Assembly elections due this year-end, Modi said he was able to resolve the long-pending Kashmir issue as he is walk ing in the footsteps of In dia’s first home minister Sardar Patel.

Modi also said that “Urban Naxals” had tried to stall Sardar Patel’s dream project of the Sardar Sarovar dam.

‘Urban Naxal’ term is often used by some seg ments of the political spec trum to describe sympathis ers of the Naxalism cause as well as certain social activists.

“Sardar saheb per suaded all the princely states to merge with India. But another person han

dled this one issue of Kash mir,” Modi said, without naming India’s first prime minister.

“As I am following in the footsteps of Sardar saheb, I have values of the land of Sardar and that was the reason I resolved the problem of Kashmir and paid true tributes to Sardar Patel,” Modi said.

Modi was addressing a public meeting organised by the BJP at Vallabh Vidy anagar in Anand district.

Further targeting the previous Congress govern ments in Gujarat, Modi said while they constructed

dams, no canal network was created to carry water.

“Did they make dams for darshan (show)?” the PM asked, adding that he took up the work and com pleted it in 20 years.

“With water reaching everywhere, Gujarat has seen a growth of nine to ten per cent in agro products,” he said.

Modi also said that “Urban Naxals” tried to stall Sardar Patel’s dream project of the Sardar Sarovar dam. The matter was caught up in litigation.

“They wasted 40-50 years of our time, made us

Violence in WB Mominpur, BJP state chief among 5 held; Sec 144 clamped

KOLKATA, OCT 10 (AGENCIES): Violence erupted in West Bengal’s Mominpur area on Sunday as two communities clashed after religious flags put up for Milad un-Nabi were al legedly torn. As per reports, several vehicles were van dalised and people pelted stones.

So far, authorities have not put out any official state ment as to how and why the tension erupted between the two communities.

Five people, including BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar, have reportedly been arrested in connec tion with the violence while around 38 others have been detained for causing ruckus.

Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Ad hikari on Monday wrote to Home Minister Amit Shah requesting urgent de ployment of Central forces. Apart from that, Adhikari also demanded the ransack ing of Ekbalpur police sta tion. Adhikari also wrote

Two LeT terrorists killed in encounter in J&K’s Anantnag

SRINAGAR, OCT 10 (PTI): Two Lashkar-e-Tai ba terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, police said.

Two soldiers and a dog of the Army were also injured in the operation, an official spokesperson said.

The security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the Tangpawa area of the south Kashmir district late on Sunday night after re ceiving specific input about the presence of terrorists there, a police official said.

As the forces were conducting searches in the area, the terrorists fired at them.

The forces retaliated and an encounter ensued, he said.

In the exchange of fire, two terrorists were killed this morning, he added.

Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said the slain terrorists belonged to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

“Two local catego rised #terrorists linked with proscribed #terror outfit LeT killed in #encounter. They were involved in sev eral terror crime cases,” the ADGP said.

An Army spokesper son said two soldiers and an Army dog were injured in the exchange of fire.

to Bengal Governor La Ga nesan.

“I have written to Hon’ble Union Home Min ister Shri @AmitShah Ji & Hon’ble Governor Shri La Ganesan Ji requesting them to urgently deploy Central Forces in the wake of Mo minpur violence & ransack ing of Ekbalpur Police Sta tion before the Law & Order situation of WB gets out of hand,” Adhikari tweeted. A large number of people sur rounded the Ekbalpur Police Station late in the night on Sunday, after which security was tightened.

Meanwhile, section 144 has been imposed for the next three days in pock ets of Mominpur-Ekbalpore under Kolkata Police juris diction prohibiting gather ings of more than 5 people.

BJP leader Amit Malvi ya shared a visual from the violence and blamed the West Bengal government.

“Under Mamata Banerjee as Home Minister, Kol kata has become completely

unsafe, communal riots have become common,” he wrote.

BJP leader Swapan Dasgupta wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the violent incident. He took to Twitter, and wrote, “The rampaging mob vio lence targeting businesses and property of the Hindu minority in the KidderporeEkbalpur region of Kolkata is alarming. It stems from the distorted empowerment resulting from a belief that one community is above the law and the norms of civic responsibility.”

BJP state president Su kanta Majumdar accused the Bengal Police of “failing to protect Hindus” amid the violence in the Mominpur area.

“Shameful that West Bengal police under CM @MamataOfficial failed in protecting the Hindu broth ers and sisters and when we are going to visit the violence hit Mominpur, ar rested me,” Majumdar said.

IAF to induct women officers to fly Light Combat Helicopter fleet

NEW DELHI, OCT 10 (AGENCIES): Amid the growing strength of women officers in the Indian Air Force, the force is now plan ning to induct female pilots into the Light Combat He licopter fleet, reports ANI. “The fleet will have women officers flying the Light Combat Helicopters,” IAF officials said when asked if some pilots would be flying the choppers named Prachand by De fence Minister.

The aircraft was in ducted into the service re cently on October 3, and 10 choppers would be inducted in the near future.

The women officers are already flying the ALH Dhruv and other helicopters in the fleet. They would be flying the LCH fleet also and women officers are in the process of being identified for this, they said.

IAF chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari is in favour of opening all avenues for female officers and the IAF is the first force to induct women (/topic/ induct-women) in combat roles, they said. The IAF is also going to induct women (/topic/induct-women) offi cers in the Agniveer recruit ment scheme who would be joining men as the personnel below officer rank for the first time.

This is the first time that the Air Force has an nounced women candidates

joining the force at the per sonnel below officer Ranks level. The Navy and Army had made announcements of inducting women.

While announcing the scheme for inducting fe males as soldiers, Chaudhari said, “We as an organisation are gender agnostic and recognise merit and perfor mance above everything else. A high ratio of women officers in the IAF is testi mony to our commitment to providing equal opportunity and a level playing field for every individual irrespective of gender.”

run from pillar to post in courts, wasting money of the poor people of Gujarat.

Today, the Sardar Sarovar dam, the dream of Sardar Saheb, is completed,” he said.

Addressing the BJP workers, Modi said if they get to talk to these Congress members, ask them whether they ever visited the world’s tallest Statue of Unity con structed in the honour of Sardar Patel.

“It’s been several de cades since Sardar Saheb passed away, now show some generosity and bow before Sardar Saheb’s feet.

They would not do so...,” he said.

The PM said even when in opposition, his party BJP resolved to ensure Sardar Patel got his due.

Today, the people of Guja rat have worked to honour Sardar Saheb, and the BJP is proud of it,” he said.

The Statue of Unity at Ekta Nagar (Kevadia) is the pride of the world, he said.

The PM said not just the Statue of Unity, his gov ernment also developed the historic Dandi March route

in the honour of Mahatma Gandhi.

“Those doing politics in the name of Gandhiji for so many decades did not get the idea to improve the route of Dandi yatra, and we took up the task. We de veloped the entire route and created new opportunities for employment. By mak ing a modern highway of more than 400 km, we took on a campaign to introduce Satyagrah to the new gen eration,” he said.

Modi said in 20 years, the BJP government dou bled the electricity produc tion in Gujarat.

“Many villages re ceived electricity after I went to Delhi (became PM). In Gujarat, we did the work of connecting every village and house with electricity,” he said.

The Gujarat BJP has become synonymous with service, security, peace, best environment for trade and business, and freedom from riots.

“This trust (reposed by people) is helping the BJP flag flying in every corner of India,” he said.

Supreme Court rejects plea seeking to declare cow as national animal

NEW DELHI, OCT 10 (AGENCIES): On Mon day, the Supreme Court (SC) of India rejected a plea seeking directions to the Government of India to declare cow as the national animal, reported Bar and Bench. The Bengal tiger, or the Panthera Tigris, is rec ognised as India’s national animal.

Stressing that it is not the job of SC to decide on such matters, a bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Abhay S Oka asked the petitioner Gov ansh Sewa Sadan if the issue was exerting any impact on

their fundamental rights. The court said, “Is this the job of the court?... Why do you file such petitions where we are compelled to impose costs? Whose fundamental right is affected now that you have filed petition under the Article 32? Law to be thrown to the winds because you come with such peti tions to court?”

Under Article 32 of the Indian constitution, ev ery citizen of India has the right to seek constitutional remedy from SC if they have been deprived of their fundamental rights.

Responding to the

court’s remarks, the counsel for the petitioner asserted that “cow protection is a very important subject”. He added, “Let the government consider it. I am not com pelling... Cow protection is very important. Its urine is used, cow dung is used for agricultural purposes. We are getting everything from cows, Your Honour.”

However, the lawyer’s argument did not change the court’s view. The pe titioner later requested to withdraw the plea when the SC refused to entertain the same. The bench allowed the petitioner to do so.

Divided by regions, united by purpose: Bharat Yatris make their point

M ANDYA/TUMKUR (K’TAKA), OCT 10 (PTI):

From a mother of three and a former basketball player to a veteran lawyer and young Congress activists, the Bharat Jodo Yatra has drawn people from across age groups and walks of life.

Divided by regions and languages, all 117 Bharat yatris walking beside Con gress leader Rahul Gandhi in this 3,570-km journey are united by one purpose.

“I want to change the face of India,” says 27-yearold Aatisha from Nasik in Maharashtra, who left her new job to join Gandhi in the yatra.

A former basketball player who wanted to rep resent the country, Aatisha now wants to be a part of the historic Congress event by completing the entire 3,570km journey from Kanya kumari to Kashmir in a bid to unite India, which the opposition party alleges is being divided by the rul ing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

A bachelor of engi neering in electronics, Aati sha got a plum job offer from Air India but preferred to participate in the Bharat Jodo Yatra instead.

“Jobs will come and

go but this opportunity will not,” she told PTI while participating in the yatra in Karnataka.

Aatisha said her family was concerned about her future and her father was hesitant to send her for the yatra.

“I want to change the face of India and as they say, be the change you want to see in the world,” she said.

There are many like Aatisha who are out to make a point.

Vaishnawi Bhardwaj (24) from Nagpur is the youngest of the yatris ac companying Rahul Gandhi.

Having lost her parents at a young age, the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) coordinator stud ied journalism and wants to bring people together in an “increasingly polarised country”.

Ask her what she is walking for and she says, “I feel strongly that issues like the burqa row need to be avoided. My earnest desire is to fight casteism, which the BJP is fuelling to divide the society and reap political benefits.”

Another young Bharat Yatri, Anulekha (27), has just completed her master’s degree in law and wants to dedicate a year t o the

Congress before starting her professional journey.

She sees the yatra as the first step.

Associated with the NSUI, the students’ wing of the Congress, she says India’s unity in diversity is under threat as the BJP is spawning hatred in the so ciety and she wants to fight against these divisions of “hearts”.

“I am against this poli

cy of divide and rule of the BJP,” she says while walking across the interiors of Kar nataka and hoping that the yatra would awaken people to the fundamental issues of price rise, communal divide, unemployment and the farmers’ plight.

Also in the league of Bharat Yatris is a mother of three, Lhing Kim Haokip (47) from Manipur, who left her family behind for

the cause of “uniting the country”.

Trailing behind the other yatris after suffer ing a foot injury, a limping Haokip says she represents the northeastern states, the “seven sisters”, in the yatra. Haokip sustained a hairline fracture during the Kerala leg of the yatra after she stumbled in a heavilycrowded place along the route of the foot march.

PRANABANANDA WOMEN’S

Nagaland

PM Narendra Modi during a public meeting, in Anand district, Gujarat, Monday. (PTI)

Rahul Gandhi during the party’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, in Hiriyur, Karnataka. (PTI)

IDBI likely to turn private by Sept 2023

NEW DELHI, OCT 10 (AGENCIES):

The process of privatisation of IDBI Bank is likely to conclude by September next year, reported PTI citing officials.

The financial bids for the sale will be invited by March and the process is expected to conclude by September 2023. Union gov ernment along with Life In surance Corporation (LIC) invited preliminary bids for selling 60.72% stake in IDBI Bank last week. The deadline for putting in Ex pression of Interest (EoI) is December 16.

Once the EoIs come in and the interested par ties clear RBI’s ‘Fit and Proper’ assessment and gets Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) security clearance, data room access would be given to qualified bidders. It is only after due diligence, that bidders would put in financial bids.

Usually it takes about six months for the process of due diligence to get com pleted and financial bids to

come in. We hope to invite financial bids for IDBI Bank by March, officials added.

Considering that this would be the first case of strategic sale in bank, a lot of queries are expected to be raised during the due diligence process.

Private sector banks, foreign banks, Reserve Bank of India(RBI) registered non-banking finance com panies, Sebi-registered Al ternative Investment Funds (AIFs), a fund/investment vehicle incorporated outside India would be allowed to submit bids, either individu ally or as consortium.

The net worth thresh old for bidders has been

kept at Rs 22,500 crore, and they must report net profit in three of the past five years.

Besides, 40% of the equity would have to be locked in for 5 years.

Currently, LIC holds 49.24% stake in IDBI Bank, while the government holds 45.48% stake. The remain ing 5.2% stake is with the public shareholders.

The combined stake of the government and LIC in IDBI Bank would come down from 94.72%, to 34% after the conclusion of this strategic sale.

The government will sell 30.48% stake and LIC will offload 30.24%, taking the total to 60.72%, along

Rupee drops 10 paise to close at all-time low of 82.40 per USD

MUMBAI, OCT 10 (PTI):

The rupee slipped 10 paise to finish at a fresh lifetime low of 82.40 against the US dollar on Monday, weighed down by risk-averse senti ment among investors.

Moreover, a negative trend in domestic equities and a firm greenback over seas sapped investor appe tite, forex traders said.

At the interbank for eign exchange market, the local currency opened at 82.68, then fell further to an all-time intra-day low of 82.69.

According to forex traders, the local unit pared initial losses on possible central bank intervention and finally settled for the day at an all-time low of 82.40 against the American cur rency, down 10 paise over its previous close.

On Friday, the rupee

had depreciated by 13 paise to close at 82.30.

“The Indian rupee pared opening losses on possible central bank in tervention and corporate inflows... lower crude oil prices also supported the rupee in today’s session,” said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.

However, the direc tional trend remains bearish for the rupee amid tighter liquidity conditions and riskaverse sentiments, Parmar said, adding, “Spot USDINR is having near-term resistance at 82.90 and sup port at 81.95.”

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, advanced 0.23 per cent to 113.05.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.71

per cent to USD 97.22 per barrel. On the domestic equi ty market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 200.18 points or 0.34 per cent to end at 57,991.11, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 73.65 points or 0.43 per cent to 17,241.00.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Friday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,250.77 crore, as per exchange data.

“Rupee fell to fresh all-time lows as the dollar continued to strengthen against its major crosses. The dollar gained after data showed the economy added 263,000 jobs in September as compared to expectation of 250,000 job addition,” said Gaurang Somaiya, Forex & Bullion Analyst, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

with transfer of manage ment control.

In case, the bidder in tends to amalgamate IDBI Bank with itself, the gov ernment and LIC will vote for such amalgamation or merger at the board or share holder meetings.

The announcement of IDBI Bank privatisation was first made in Union Budget of 2021-22, following which the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave in-principle approval for strategic disinvestment and transfer of management control in May 2021.

IDBI Bank was catego rised as Private Sector Bank by the RBI with effect from January 21, 2019, conse quent upon LIC acquiring 51% of the total paid-up equity share capital of the bank.

Shares of IDBI Bank closed at Rs 46.55 a piece, up 9.02% over previous close on the BSE. At the current market price, the sale of 60.72 % stake would fetch about Rs 30,000 crore to the exchequer.

NEW DELHI, OCT 10 (PTI): Gold prices in the national capital dropped Rs 543 to Rs 51,625 per 10 grams on Monday amid a decline in the prices of precious metal in the inter national market, according to HDFC Securities.

In the previous trade, the yellow metal had touched Rs 52,168 per 10 grams.

Silver also tumbled by Rs 2,121 to Rs 59,725 per kilogram from Rs 61,846 per kg.

In the international market, gold was trading in red at USD 1,683.05 per ounce while silver was down at USD 19.74 per ounce.

“The strong US jobs data intensified concerns that the US Federal Re serve will be more aggres sive with interest rate hikes. Rising rates make gold less attractive as an investment mean,” said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst at HDFC Securities.

India to have 5 cr EVs by 2030

NEW DELHI, OCT 10 (AGENCIES): India will have about 5 crore electric vehicles by 2030 of which E-two wheelers alone will account for about 70% of total EV sales by then, ac cording to a recent report. The report of JMK Re search claimed that in order to support this humungous growth, India will need about 20.5 lakh charging stations by then.

“Currently, the number of charging stations are too less, of the order of approxi mately 32 EVs per charging station in India,” the report added.

“However, the target for 2030 seems achievable considering that the estab lishment of 5 lakh, charging stations is already in the pipeline by various charge point operators as well as oil marketing companies in addition to various centre and state-led initiatives,” the report further added.

India’s EV market currently has limited capabilities for

fast-charging EVs, it said. “However, going forward, public fast charging, com plemented by AC chargers of capacity ranging from 3-22kW at workplaces, shop ping malls, and restaurants, will be needed to support the charging infrastructure in India.” Massive steps need to be undertaken for instal lation of charging stations in India to overcome the chicken and egg problem the EV sector is facing today, the report suggested.

All the new home and workplace parking areas should be mandated to have a percentage of overall park ing space as EV ready, it said. Even petrol pumps need to be mandated to have atleast one charging station in their premises. “Policies could consider capping rental costs for public charging stations, making availability of land banks easier and leasing costs slashed, and establish ing a charging infrastructure investment facility funded by public money, say partially.”

(From p-1)

NLA speaker: Ex pressing deep grief over the passing of Padma Shri Dr. TemsulaAo, the Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) speaker SharingainLong kumer on Monday said Dr. Temsula was a very dynamic person who worked tirelessly for the welfare and uplift ment of the Society.

In a condolence mes sage, NLA speaker said she was always noticed for her willingness to walk that extra-mile to help the needy and all those approached her for help in various situations.

“Late Dr. Temsula Ao was a great role model and an inspiration to many,” Longkumer said, adding that she will be greatly missed but her legacy will live on for many years to come.

The speaker said that her death has caused a great loss to the Nagas in general and to the Ao Community in particular, adding that the void created by her passing will be difficult to fill.

Longkumer extended heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family and prayed that the Almighty God grant them solace and comfort at this hour of grief.

Dy.CM: State deputy chief minister Y Patton expressed sadness over the passing of Padma Shri Prof. Dr. Temsula Ao and said that in her death, Nagas have lost a treasure box of knowledge. In a condolence note, Patton said that late TemsulaAo was one of the most renowned writers and ethnography personalities India has produced.

Patton, however, said that her works will continue to inspire and influence the minds of young writers even in the days to come.

The deputy chief min ister conveyed deepest con dolences to the bereaved family and prayed that God will comfort them during the hour of grief.

NSCW: Nagaland State Commission for Wom en (NSCW), chairperson Khrienuo Tachu on behalf of the present team and on behalf of all the former chairpersons and members paid homage “to our mentor and leader, Padma Shri Dr. TemsulaAo, former chair person NSCW.

Tachu said Dr. Temsu la, has been a mentor, guide, and strongest supporter of NSCW till her last breath. She cared deeply for the welfare and empowerment of the Naga women and worked selflessly in her own capacity as the chairperson for two tenures (2012-2019).

JOB VACANCY

During her time as the chairperson, Tachu said she brought many changes, both at the grassroots and at the level of higher poli cymaking. Her biggest foot print, amongst many, was a massive project conducted, titled, “Baseline Survey on Social, Economic and Po litical Empowerment of Women in Nagaland”.

She said NSCW and Naga women in general are reaping the benefits of her hard work and dedication today. Though NSCW and Naga women have lost a guide, a torchbearer, and an exceptional mentor, Tachu said the commission will carry forward her legacy and work to make our Naga soci ety a safe and better place for women and girl child.

“May her soul rest in Peace as she goes home to be with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,” Tachu stated.

Ao Senden:Ao Senden expressed shock over the demise of Padma Shri Dr. TemsulaAo, who it said took an immense role in popular izing the Naga culture to the outside world through her literary works, which were “commendable in all angles.” In a condolence message, Ao Senden presi dent ChubawatiLongchar and general secretary Im tipokyim said that Nagas in general and Ao tribe in particular have lost a great personality specially in the field of literature. Ao Senden conveyed heartfelt condo lence to the bereaved family and prayed that the departed soul rest in eternal peace.

NMA: Naga Moth ers’ Association (NMA) ex pressed shock and pain over the demise of Dr. Temsüla Ao and said Naga women have lost a legend and the void will be difficult to fill.

Describing late Dr. Temsüla Ao as a woman of strength and wisdom, NMA said she has left behind a rich legacy as a poet, writer and also as a woman of grace and sim plicity.

Deeply mourning her demise, NMA however said it takes solace for the im prints she has left behind through her works, adding “she will continue to be our inspiration.” NMA also prayed for peace, comfort and strength for the family at this difficult time.

Azo: UDA co-chair man Kuzholuzo (Azo) Ni enu, MLA, has expressed

deep pain over demise of Dr. TemsulaAo, who he said was considered as a treasure to Naga society.

In a condolence note, Azo said with her demise, the Naga society has not only lost a great soul but a personality “whom we all look upon as an exemplary role model and feel proud for all her works that she has contributed to our society.”

Azo expressed belief that her sacrifices and contri butions towards the society will not go in vain, but it will be an example to Naga soci ety to follow and cherished.

MLA conveyed deepest condolences and sympathy to bereaved family members and near and dear ones.

NPCC: Nagaland Pradesh Congress Commit tee (NPCC) has expressed deep sadness over the pass ing of Dr. Temsula Ao and said that her contributions to Naga society and achieve ments will be fondly re membered for generations to come.

In a condolence mes sage, NPCC president K Therie said late Dr. Temsula was a pioneer amongst Naga women, who rose to serve her people beyond the home throughout a lifetime of contributions in education, literature and culture.

Therie said that her ef forts in documenting the oral traditions of the Ao com munity was regarded as the most authentic document.

NPC president on be half of the party rank and file conveyed deepest condo lences to the bereaved family members and prayed that the Almighty God comfort them through this painful time and in the days to come.

Sano Vamuzo: Former chairperson of Nagaland State Commission for Wom en (NSCW) Sano Vamuzo expressed deep grief over the demise of Padma Shri Dr.TemsulaAo.

In a condolence note, Sano Vamuzo said late Dr. Temsula was humble, sin cere and had a heart to “serve our people well in all her endeavours.”

She said that Dr. Tem sula’s passing was a huge loss for Naga people, and would be missed. “At this painful time, our heart goes out to her beloved family and loved ones,” Sano Vamuzo said prayed that they will find comfort, peace and strength in the Lord.

Protests in Iran over woman’s death reach key oil industry

DUBAI, OCT 10 (AP):

Workers at the site of a major complex of refineries crucial for Iran’s massive offshore natural gas field protested on Monday over the death of a 22-year-old woman, online videos ap peared to show.

The demonstrations at Asaluyeh mark the first time the unrest surrounding the death of Mahsa Amini threatened the coffers of Iran’s long-sanctioned theo cratic government — its oil and gas industry.

While it remains un clear if other workers will follow, the protests come as demonstrations rage on in cities, towns and villages across Iran over the Septem ber 16 death of Amini after her arrest by the country’s morality police in Tehran.

Early on Monday, the sound of apparent gunshots and explosions echoed through the streets of a city in western Iran, while secu rity forces reportedly killed one man in a nearby village, activists said.

Iran’s government in sists Amini was not mis treated, but her family says her body showed bruises and other signs of beating.

Workers at the site of a major complex of refineries crucial for Iran’s massive offshore natural gas field protested Monday.

Subsequent videos have shown security forces beat ing and shoving female pro testers, including women who have torn off their mandatory headscarf, or hi jab. From Tehran and else where, online videos have emerged despite authorities disrupting the internet.

Videos showed some women marching through the streets without heads carves, while others con fronted authorities and lit fires in the street as the protests continue into a

fourth week.

The demonstrations represent one of the biggest challenges to Iran’s theoc racy since the 2009 Green Movement protests.

Online videos ana lysed by The Associated Press showed dozens of workers gathered at the re fineries in Asaluyeh, some 925 kilometres (575 miles) south of the capital, Teh ran, on the Persian Gulf.

The vast complex takes in natural gas from the mas sive offshore natural gas

UK PM Liz Truss hands trade minister’s job to Rishi Sunak’s ally

LONDON, OCT 10 (PTI):

British Prime Minister Liz Truss on Monday handed a junior trade minister’s job to an ally of her leadership rival Rishi Sunak, in a move seen as an attempt to rally the governing Conservative Party behind her and curb rebellious moves on the backbenches.

Greg Hands, a vocal supporter of the former Indian-origin Chancellor, replaced Conor Burns as Minister of State in charge of Trade Policy in the De partment for International Trade (DIT) after the latter was sacked recently follow ing allegations of serious misconduct.

Hands was one of Su nak’s high-profile backers in the Conservative Party leadership contest and his inclusion was welcomed by other Sunak loyalists as a sign that Truss wants to build bridges with that fac tion of the party.

“No one is more ex perienced and knowledge able than Greg Hands on trade. A welcome addition back to the Liz Truss gov ernment,” tweeted former Transport Secretary Grant

Malaysian PM dissolves Parl, calls for early polls

KUALA LUMPUR, OCT 10 (IANS): Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sa bri Yaakob on Monday announced the dissolution of the country’s Parlia ment, paving the way for fresh elections which must be held within the next 60 days. In a televised speech, Ismail Sabri said he had received the consent of the country’s King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah in accordance with the country’s constitu tion, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Prime Minister said the past years have seen several unprecedented developments after the national elections in 2018, including political uncer tainties with the changes of several prime ministers and the Covid-19 pan demic, which together have harmed the country’s so cio-economic and political situation.

“With this announce ment, the mandate will be returned to the people. The people’s mandate is a powerful antidote for the country to restore political stability and create a gov ernment which is firm, stable and respected after the elections,” he said.

Shapps, also a staunch Su nak supporter. Sunak, the first British Indian candidate to compete for the top job at 10 Downing Street, was defeated in the Tory mem bership voting round last month after being a consis tent frontrunner to replace Boris Johnson among the governing party’s MPs in the shortlisting phase of the leadership battle in July.

Hands said it was “an honour and a great privi lege” to be part of the gov ernment, and is likely to also be involved in the ongoing India-UK free trade agree ment (FTA) negotiations – believed to be in their final stages ahead of the pro posed Diwali deadline.

The new appoint ment comes at a time when

there are growing fears of a backbench discord within the Tory party since the government’s embarrass ing U-turn over a key tax announcement abolishing the top rate of income tax for the wealthiest. Truss and her Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, have been under pressure since the announce ment of a mini-budget last month unleashed turmoil on the financial markets and sent the pound plummeting against the dollar.

On Monday, the Bank of England announced fur ther intervention to shore up the markets by doubling the value of UK government bonds it can buy.

The central bank has said that it is ready to buy GBP 10 billion worth of bonds a day, double the GBP 5 billion a day it an nounced in the wake of the mini budget. The govern ment bonds, referred to as gilts, are used by the state to raise funds and the central bank had stepped in with the temporary measure of buy ing long-dated gilts in an ef fort to protect the country’s pension funds and calm the markets.

field that Iran shares with Qatar. In one video, the gathered workers — some with their faces covered — chant “shameless” and “death to the dictator”. The chants have been featured across protests dealing with Amini’s death.

Others show them gathered around the mas sive network of tanks and industrial features, as well as on a nearby roadway.

The details in the videos correspond with each and to known features of the

76 killed in Nigeria boat capsize

LAGOS, OCT 10 (IANS):

At least 76 people were killed after a boat capsized in the southern state of Anambra, President Mu hammadu Buhari confirmed in a statement.

In the statement is sued late Sunday, Buhari acknowledged that rescue agencies had officially re ported the death toll of the tragedy on October 7, re ports Xinhua news agency.

The passenger boat car rying 85 people capsized in the state’s Ogbaru area, fol lowing rising floods in that area, according to the state ment. An investigation had been launched to determine “other causes of the inci dent” besides floods, Thick man Tanimu, an official from the National Emer gency Management Agency (NEMA) was quoted as saying by local media. Fol lowing the tragedy, Nigeria’s National Inland Waterways Authority and the NEMA have embarked on rescue and recovery missions in Anambra.

facility compared against satellite photos taken on Sunday.

Iran did not acknowl edge any disruption at the facility, though the semiof ficial Tasnim news agency described the incident as a salary dispute. Iran is one of the world’s top natural gas suppliers, just after the US and Russia.

The violence early on Monday in western Iran occurred in Sanandaj, the capital of Iran’s Kurdistan province, as well as in the village of Salas Babajani near the border with Iraq, according to a Kurdish group called the Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights.

Amini was Kurdish and her death has been felt particularly in Iran’s Kurd ish region, where demon strations began September 17 at her funeral there.

Hengaw posted foot age it described as smoke rising in one neighbour hood in Sanandaj, with what sounded like rapid rifle fire echoing through the night sky. The shouts of people could be heard.

There was no immedi ate word if people had been

hurt in the violence. Hen gaw later posted a video on line of what appeared to be collected shell casings from rifles and shotguns, as well as spent tear gas canisters.

Authorities offered no immediate explanation about the violence early on Monday in Sanandaj, some 400 kilometres (250 miles) west of Tehran.

Esmail Zarei Kousha, the governor of Iran’s Kurd istan province, alleged with out providing evidence that unknown groups “plotted to kill young people on the streets” on Saturday, the semiofficial Fars news agen cy reported on Monday. Kousha also accused these unnamed groups that day of shooting a young man in the head and killing him — an attack that activ ists have roundly blamed on Iranian security forces.

They say Iranian forc es opened fire after the man honked his car horn at them. Honking has become one of the ways activists have been expressing civil disobedience — an action that has seen riot police in other videos smashing the windshields of passing vehicles.

CANBERRA, OCT 10 (PTI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday that the Ukraine conflict does not serve the interests of any body, as he stressed that India was against such hostilities as it can have a “very profound impact” on everybody across the world.

During a joint press meet with his Australian counterpart Penny Wong here, Jaishankar also de clined to predict India’s vote in advance on the upcoming draft resolution against Russia in the UN General Assembly.

“As a matter of pru dence and policy, we don’t predict our votes in ad vance… We have been very clearly against the conflict in Ukraine,” the minister said when asked about India’s stance during the upcoming UN General Assembly debate about not recognising the recent an nexation of four Ukrainian territories by Russia.

“We believe that this conflict does not serve the interests of anybody nei ther the participants nor

indeed of the international community. And as a coun try of the Global South, we have been seeing first-hand how much it has impacted low-income countries, the challenges that they are facing in terms of fuel and food and fertilisers.

“So, my Prime Min ister said a few weeks ago at a summit contact, “this is not an era of war”. And, you know, a conflict to day in some corner of the world can have a very profound impact on ev erybody across the world. And I think that continues to guide our thinking,” said Jaishankar, who arrived in Canberra on Sunday from Wellington in New Zealand.

Former Fed chair shares Nobel for research on banks

STOCKHOLM, OCT 10 (AP): This year’s Nobel Prize in economic sciences has been awarded to the for mer chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve, Ben S. Bernanke, and two U.S.-based econo mists, Douglas W. Diamond and Philip H. Dybvig, “for research on banks and finan cial crises.”

The prize was an nounced Monday by the Nobel panel at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sci ences in Stockholm.

The committee said their work had shown in their research “why avoiding bank collapses is vital.”

With their research in the early 1980s, the laure ates laid the foundations for regulating financial markets and dealing with financial crises, the panel said.

Bernanke, 68, who is now with The Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., examined the Great Depression of the 1930s, showing how dangerous bank runs — when panicked savers withdraw their depos its — can be. Diamond, 68,

Office of the Butcher’s Union Kohima Town Kohima : Nagaland Regd. No. 1302

NOTICE

The Butcher’s Union Kohima shall be celebrating its Annual Day on 15th October 2022, at New Market Kohima.

Therefore all the members are requested to attend the same without fail. Union Members are further directed to obstain from their usual business on the said day.

Aduolie Sote Secretary

based at the University of Chicago, and Dybvig, 67, who is at Washington Uni versity in St. Louis, showed how government guarantees on deposits can prevent a spiraling of financial crises.

“The laureates’ insights have improved our ability to avoid both serious crises and expensive bailouts,” said Tore Ellingsen, chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences.

Their research took on great real-world significance when investors sent the fi nancial system into a panic during the fall of 2008.

Bernanke, then head of the Fed, teamed up with the Treasury Department to prop up major banks and ease a shortage of credit, the lifeblood of the economy.

He slashed short-term interest rates to zero, di rected the Fed’s purchases

of Treasury and mortgage investments and set up un precedented lending pro grams. Collectively, those steps calmed investors and fortified big banks.

They also pushed longterm interest rates to his toric lows and led to fierce criticism of Bernanke, par ticularly from some 2012 Republican presidential can didates, that the Fed was hurting the value of the dol lar and running the risk of igniting inflation later.

The Fed’s actions un der Bernanke extended the authority of the central bank into unprecedented territory.

They weren’t able to prevent the longest and most painful recession since the 1930s. But in hindsight, the Fed’s moves were credited with rescuing the banking system and avoiding another depression.

Nobel prizes carry a cash award of 10 million Swedish kronor (nearly $900,000) and will be hand ed out on Dec. 10.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

“To err is human, to forgive divine”.

Mishilimi Baptist Church and Mishilimi Village Council would like to express our deepest gratitude to Late R. Khingkhase Sangtam’s family member and Shri Throngsengba Sangtam from Sangsamong village.

To recount the unfortunate accident that occurred on 29th September 2022 which took the precious life of one of the Senior Citizen of Sangsamong village, we are made to wonder that it is only the goodness of God which is manifested through his followers that eases every heartache and tension.

It was on 29th Sept. 2022 Thursday morning around 7 a.m Mishilimi Baptist Church vehicle was headed towards Kohima for some church work, unfortunately it had head on-collision with Maruti Alto which was headed towards Tuensang thereby killing the driver of Maruti Alto (R. Khingkhase) and severelly injuring two occupants who happen to be his sons. The incident so happened that another Maruti Alto which was also headed towards Kohima signalled the Church Vehicle in a junction for overtaking, so in an attempt to overtake it had a collision with the Maruti Alto thereby injuring the occupants and killing the driver of the car subsequently.

The intensity of the situation viewed from the human point is beyond comprehension to simply say Forgive and Let Go, however, the victim’s family in particular and the Sangsamong Village in general had truly shown the Christian Principle FORGEIVENESS, which made us to wonder how we would have reacted if we were the victims. It so happened that the victim was driving his brother-in-law Shri Throngsengba Sangtam pre-owned car bought few days back only to deliver to him. On sitting with the family members of Late R. Khingkhase Sangtam, Village Council Members and Elders of the village after the funeral rites we were informed that in all good spirit we were forgiven and that no single penny will be charged either by Late R. Khingkhase Sangtam’s Family or the Vehicle Owner.

Sangtam community had been viewed as peace loving community and truly they had proved it in a worst of times, a big lesson for all Nagas to learn which is the only way forward. In all humility we take responsibility for the harm that was caused and we are left speechless at the degree of human goodness through Christ that was shown towards us. It is our earnest prayer that God Almighty grant solace to the bereaved family as they go through this rough time and the relationship between Mishilimi and Sangsomong Village grow in particular and the bond between Sangtam and Sumi community gets stronger. God Bless.

S Jaishankar

Liz Truss

Tore Ellingsen, Hans Ellegren and John Hassler announce the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2022. (AP/PTI)

Cosmos Festival celebrated at Koide village in Manipur

The second edition of the “Cosmos Festi val”, celebrating the beauty of cosmos flowers which are eight petal flow ers found abundantly in the valleys of Manipur was held from October 8-10 at Naamai Zho, an emerg ing tourist spot located at Koide Village, in Senapati, Manipur which had at tracted more than 6000 visitors in 2021.

With the magnificent beauty of the natural land scape and biodiversity, the trees and the pristine sight of valleys, attracts numerous tourists, nature lovers, local celebrities and people from near and far villages who were greeted

no aid nor funds from the government sector, except the Senapati Forest divi sion, who are sponsoring the Naamai biodiversity park.

Mathew explained that the cosmos flowers, meant the flowers of love which has eight petals similar to the word ‘I –loveyou (Eh-neye-Leshiraye), it is 3-1/2” in diameter, blooms till October 15, and has a blooming period of 15-20 days and has 40 varieties.

ception for the road that leads till the Koide spot, which has less trace of road is found to be in pathetic condition, with no mainte nance from the government side but only through the help and support of local people and manual work, the stretch of dusty road is somehow surviving”, Mathew Zho explained.

visitors along with festiv ity and music celebration performed by local artists.

Glimpse of the Cosmos flower festival at Naamai Zho, Koide Village, in Senapati district, Manipur. (NP) all along the destination by the cosmos flowers. The festival showcases unique delicacies, local merchan dises and local brews to the

Speaking to Naga land Post, president of

Naamai Ecotourism Soci ety, Mathew Zho, shared that their society would continue to grow more cosmos flowers along with

tree plantation and medi cal plants in an initiative to conserve the flora and fauna, at the same time promote their beauty to

the world.

At present, approxi mately 5 acres of land were covered by the cosmos flowers, however, there was

What happens to your body when you stop drinking alcohol

You Might Dodge Accidents

Alcohol plays a role in at least half of all serious trauma injuries and deaths from burns, drown ings, and homicides. It’s also involved in four out of 10 fatal falls and traffic crashes, as well as suicides. You don’t have to go completely dry to be safer. Even cutting back your drinking by a third can lower the number of injuries and sick days.

Your Heart Gets Healthier

You might think that a regular glass of red wine or other alcoholic bever ages might be good for your heart. But that may not be true, or true only for light sippers (less than one drink a day). If you use more than that, cutting back or quit ting may lower your blood pressure, levels of fat called triglycerides, and chances of heart failure.

Your Liver May Heal Your liver’s job is to filter toxins. And alcohol is toxic to your cells. Heavy

Karan Johar announces he is quitting Twitter

Filmmaker Karan Jo har on Monday said goodbye to Twitter as he wants to make space for more positive energies.

Karan took to the micro-blogging website to share the news with his fans and followers. “Making space for more positive en ergies only and this is step one towards that. Goodbye Twitter!,” he wrote. It is not clear as to what made Karan take the step. How ever, the filmmaker has often been trolled on social media platforms over his movies and castings.

On the work front, Karan recently finished the seventh season of ‘Koffee With Karan’ on Disney+ Hostar. He is currently busy with his next directorial ‘Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani’. The film stars Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Jaya Bachchan, Shabana Azmi and Dharmendra.

(IANS)

drinking -- at least 15 drinks for men and eight or more for women a week -- can take a toll on the organ and lead to fatty liver, cirrhosis, and other problems. The good news: your liver can repair itself and even regenerate. So it’s always worth drink ing less or quitting.

You Might Drop Pounds

A glass of regular beer has about 150 calories, and a serving of wine has about 120. On top of those most ly empty calories, alcohol ramps up your appetite. It also makes you more impulsive, and less able to resist the fries and other temptations on the menu. So when you stay away from alcohol, the number on your scale may well start moving down.

Your Relationships May Improve Enjoying alcohol so cially in reasonable amounts can boost your mood and help you bond with oth ers. But if you drink alone, or down multiple drinks a

day, it could turn into an unhealthy habit. If you can’t control it, it may lead to a condition called alcohol use disorder. Giving up drinking may let you focus on your relationships, work, and health. It also may ease any depression and anxiety and elevate your self-esteem.

Lower Cancer Risks (Maybe)

It’s clear that alcohol, and heavy drinking in par ticular, can up your chances of several types of cancers, including in your esophagus (food pipe), mouth, throat, and breast. What’s less clear is if quitting alcohol lowers your chances for cancer and, if so, how long it might take.

Some studies suggest poten

tial benefits, but scientists don’t know for sure.

Your Sex Life Might Improve

A bit of alcohol may make couples friskier. But anything more than a drink or so a day has the oppo site effect, especially if you abuse or are addicted to alcohol. Men might have trouble getting and keeping an erection. Women’s sex drive might drop, and their vagina might get drier. Cut down on the booze, and see if it stirs up the romance.

You’ll Sleep Better Alcohol might get you drowsy at first. But once you fall into slumber, it can wake you up repeatedly in the night. Plus, it disrupts

the important REM stage of sleep and may interfere with your breathing. You also may need to get up more often to pee. Try skipping alcohol, especially in the late afternoon and evening, for more restful shut-eye.

You’ll Get Sick Less

Even just one bout of drinking too much may weaken your body’s germfighting power for up to 24 hours. Over time, large amounts of alcohol blunt your immune system and your body’s ability to repair itself. Ease up on drinking so you may better ward off illnesses.

Lower Your Blood Pressure

If you drink a lot and your blood pressure is too high, you might be able to bring your numbers back down to normal by doing one simple thing: giving up alcohol. Even simply easing back on drinks can have a big payoff. Talk to your doctor about your numbers. Normal blood pressure is below 120/80. You have high blood pressure if yours

is above 130/80.

Clear Your Brain Alcohol dependence can make it harder to think or remember things. Over time, heavy drinking can cloud your perception of distances and volumes, or slow and impair your motor skills. It can even make it harder for you to read other people’s emotions. But if you quit, your brain seems to be able to regain some of these abilities.

Withdrawal

If you’re a heavy drink er, your body may rebel at first if you cut off all alco hol. You could break out in cold sweats or have a racing pulse, nausea, vomiting, shaky hands, and intense anxiety. Some people even have seizures or see things that aren’t there (hallucina tions). Your doctor or sub stance abuse therapist can offer guidance and may prescribe medication like benzodiazepines or carba mazepine to help you get through it.

Medically reviewed by Minesh Khatri, MD

NatioNalist Democratic Progressive Party

“Facta Non Verba” 5 Ghaspani II A/C Regd. No. 56/222/2017-17/PPS-I Resolution

The NDPP 5 Ghaspani-II A/C held its Annual General Meeting-cum-Picnic at TL Angami Park, New Chümoukedima, on October 8, 2022 together with Shri. Zhaleo Rio, MLA & Advisor, Govt. of Nagaland. The house deliberated on a number of pertinent issues and resolved the following:

1. The house welcomed all the new members into the party fold from other political parties and pledged to support the sitting MLA, Shri. Zhaleo Rio, IAS (Retd.), in the forthcoming General Assembly Election 2023 who is a capable and efficient leader bringing about positive infrastructural developments and Human Resource Development to the constituency.

2. The house reaffirmed to wholeheartedly support the dynamic leadership of Shri. Neiphiu Rio, Chief Minister, Nagaland, and Shri. Chingwang Konyak, President, NDPP Nagaland, for all all-round development, peace progress and prosperity.

3. The house reiterated its commitment to uphold the party’s motto ‘facta non verba’ working unitedly for the welfare and uplift of the common man and for the peaceful resolution of the decades old Indo-Naga political issue.

(DoSAu KuotSu)

The seeds are har vested and collected from November – December and sown during the early months of the year.

“There is also an ex

These flowers were observed blooming dur ing the COVID pandemic in the barren lands, after which Koide Women Soci ety dispersed and scattered the seeds of the cosmos flowers which led to the first one-day Cosmos Fes tival in 2021.

(Correspondent)

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Ntl Games: Manipur win women’s football title

player Crispin Chettri, showed greater resolve and cohesion after the change of ends. It produced some long rangers and earned a few corners, but the Manisa Panna-led side could not open its account.

Odisha searched for goals till late in the match with Pyari Xaxa and substitute Satyabati Khadia working hard upfront. But they could not stop Manipur from securing the gold medal.

AHMEDABAD, OCT 10 (AGENCIES/IANS):

Two first-half goals helped Manipur beat Odisha 2-0 in the final and retain the women’s football title in the National Games at the Eka Arena Transstadia in Ahmedabad on Monday.

Manipur captain and ace India forward N. Bala Devi drew first blood in the 10th minute, while

international N. Ratanbala Devi doubled the lead in the 36th minute for the winning side, Sportstar reported.

Coached by the legendary Oinam Bembem Devi, Manipur applied pressure from the beginning with Bala Devi leading the attack.

Goalkeeper Sandipta Das guarded the Odisha

post confidently until Bala Devi found the mark with a shot from inside the box.

Manipur continued to test the Odisha defence and got the second goal when Ratanbala, who plays for Gokulam Kerala in the Indian Women’s League, scored through a grounder from a distance.

Odisha, coached by former Mohun Bagan

Maharashtrasurge aheadofHaryana on medals table

Maharashtra’s Rupali Sunil Gangawane dished out a clinical performance to claim her second gold medal in the 36th National Games Mallakhamb competition at the Sanskardham Sports Academy here on Monday.

The Mumbaikar secured the Women’s Individual All-round crown

to add to Maharashtra’s Women’s Team gold.

Rupali Gangawane, the 23-year-old reigning queen of Mallakhambh, scored 17.80 points on the Pole and the Rope to w in gold by a 0.50-point margin from her teammate Janhavi Suresh Jadhav. These successes helped Maharashtra’s rise to second place on the medal tally with 32 gold medals behind Services and ahead of Haryana.

With Ajatasatru Sharma, S. Albert Raj, Bhumjit Singh and Gyanjit Arambam paddling in unison to K4 Sprint gold in the canoeing and kayaking competition on the river Sabarmati, Services increased the haul of gold to 52. Services have 33 silver and 29 bronze for a total of 114 medals. Maharashtra have a total of 122 medals, including 32 gold, while Haryana are third with 31 gold in a total of 98.

SC approves timeline for polls to IOA executive council as agreed upon

NEW DELHI, OCT 10 (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday approved the timeline for amendment of the draft constitution of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and its elections, as agreed in the meeting with the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland on September 27.

A bench of Justices

DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli said former apex court judge LN Rao will be at liberty to take an “untrammelled holistic perspective” of the matter while drafting the amendments to the IOA constitution subject to the caveat that it is necessary to ensure the draft amendment has the approval and concurrence of the IOC so as to obviate any complication in the future.

It said, “Having regard to the conclusion which have

been arrived at in the course of the meeting at Lausanne, suggested timeline have been indicated in the note submitted by the union government for completing the dual process of amending the constitution of IOA and completing the holding of the election of the IOA”.

The bench noted, as per the suggested timeline, the whole process has to be completed prior to the IOC meeting in December, 2022.

It also noted the minutes of the September

27 meeting indicates that the first step is amendment of the IOA constitution so as to introduce governance reforms.

“Both IOC and OCA (Olympic Council of Asia) have agreed to work with the former judge appointed by this court on the draft revised constitution. Once the constitution is finalised, it is to be formally adopted by the general assembly of the IOA,” the bench said.

It posted the matter for further hearing after Diwali vacation.

Odisha CM Patnaik launches ‘Football for All’ Naveen Patnaik

India deaf cricket team lifts DICC T20 Trophy

BHUBANESWAR, OCT 10 (IANS): To promote football among school children, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday launched ‘Football for All’, an initiative by FIFA in Odisha in partnership with KIIT & KISS.

Under the initiative, over 43,000 footballs will be distributed to children in about 2000 schools. This is the first such programme of FIFA in India that aims at promoting football among school children, an official said.

Joining the programme on a virtual platform, Patnaik said that football is the most popular game and brings together people across the globe.

Hoping that these partnerships and initiatives will help football development in India, he said, “We are quite focused on football development, especially women’s football. As a legacy of the World Cup, we will have good infrastructure and coaching programmes.”

Saying that it’s a proud moment for Odisha to be the host venue for the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup, the Chief Minister said, “We have partnered with AIFF and FIFA to bring the best of football to the state. This World Cup will give a major boost towards development of football in the state.” Expressing happiness over the launch of the programme, he thanked FIFA for choosing Odisha for this programme and appreciated the role of Achyuta Samanta, founder of KIIT-KISS, for bringing this programme to Odisha. Patnaik looked forward to future partnerships with FIFA for development of football in Odisha.

AJMAN (UAE), OCT 10 (IANS): India’s deaf cricket team beat South Africa by 39 runs to clinch the DICC T20 Champions Trophy, at Malek stadium, here.

India came up with a spirited show with both ball and bat as they posted the target of 141 runs and maintained their excellent unbeaten record in the tournament. Chasing a target of 141 runs, South Africa were bundled out for 101 runs for 10 wickets.

Earlier, put into bat, India posted 140 runs in the stipulated 20 overs with loss of 4 wickets.

Virendra Singh (50 not out) was the top scorer with Indrajeet Yadav (40) scoring scintillating knocks to help India post 140 runs for 4 wickets.

South Africa Deaf Players, S Poonsamy and A McGee produced a fine bowling show to beat the hosts by four wickets in the final match at Malek stadium, Ajman, UAE on Sunday. After India successfully sorted out their batting, with their top order India took 10

wickets of South Africa. South African deaf player R du Plessis (23) hits the highest score for his team. On winning the DICC T20 Champions Trophy 2022 tournament, Roma Balwani, CEO Indian Deaf Cricket Association (IDCA) said, “It was a very special tournament as team IDCA was playing their maiden international tournament post the pandemic, after

the last tournament held in 2018 hosted in India. This tournament required immense leadership by the skipper, ably aided by the coaches MP Singh, Dev Dutt. The resilience & tenacity demonstrated by the entire team to win all the robin rounds and the semifinal to emerge a winner today is commendable. Kudos to team India Deaf cricket.”

Moksh Chopra, GM,

KFC India said, “It’s been wonderful and inspiring to see the Indian Deaf Cricket Team’s unbeaten streak to enter the finals of the DICC T20 Champions Trophy and emerge as winners/ runners-up. We will continue to support the growth of the players & the sport of cricket for the specially-abled, drawing the spotlight on their talent through this partnership.”

1st DEATH ANNIVERSARY OF

BELOVED

Harmanpreet wins Women’s Player of the Month award

DUBAI, OCT 10 (IANS): India captain Harmanpreet Kaur on Monday was named as the recipient of the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award for September 2022.

She also becomes India’s first winner of the ICC Women’s Player of the Month, thanks to her leading role in her team’s first ODI series victory in England, a 3-0 sweep, since 1999.

Harmanpreet claims her inaugural win by overcoming compatriot and her deputy, Smriti Mandhana and Bangladesh skipper Nigar Sultana in the global vote conducted among media representatives, ICC Hall of Famers, former international players, and fans registered at icc-cricket.

com.

Despite not getting runs and desired results in T20I series in England at the start of the month, Harmanpreet was in imperious form during the subsequent ODI series which followed to bag Player of the Series award as the highest run-getter with 221 runs at an average of 221 and a strike rate of 103.27.

“The game of cricket is blessed to have some of the finest athletes on the sporting circuit and to be chosen the ICC Women’s Player of the Month amongst them is a special recognition for me as an individual and the captain of the Indian cricket team,” added Harmanpreet, who is currently captaining India in Women’s Asia Cup in Bangladesh.

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Pelezeto Kuotsu Neingumezo Thepa President, PKKK General Secy., PKKK

OFFICE OF THE PIPHEMA PHENU KRüTA KROTHO (PKKK) CHUMUKEDIMA DISTRICT- 797103: NAGALAND

Manipur Women celebrate after winning the National Games women’s football title on Monday. (Vijay Soneji)

India deaf cricket team celebrate after winning the trophy.

ISL: CFC fight back to beat ATKMB 2-1

Another substitution, the introduction of Kwame Karikari made the difference for Chennaiyin. In the 63rd minute, Julius Duker dinked a ball for Kwame Karikari who touched the ball ahead of Vishal Kaith, who charged out of his line. He instead fouled Karikari and the referee gave a penalty, which Karikari converted with ease.

The goal prompted an immediate reaction from Juan Ferrando, who promptly brought on Liston Colaco, albeit at the cost of Petratos as they dropped down to three at the back with Manvir and Ashique Kuruniyan playing as wing backs.

NSF Trophy: Chedema,

win

KOLKATA, OCT 10 (AGENCIES):

Chennaiyin FC (CFC)

defeated ATK Mohun Bagan (ATKMB) at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in the Indian Super League (ISL) in Kolkata on Sunday.

Kwame Karikari and Rahim Ali scored the goal as CFC came back from being a goal down, through Manvir Singh, to beat ATKMB.

ATK started the game in the front foot, as debutant Dimitrios Petratos and Asish Rai got close inside the opening six

minutes, News18 reported.

Chennaiyin FC sat back and absorbed the pressure as Anirudh Thapa tried an acrobatic attempt but was blocked bravely by the defence.

After Debjit Majumder made stunning saves, including a sharp one to his right to deny a snapshot from Manvir Singh, he slipped in Ashique Kuruniyan in the 15th minute, but the Chennaiyin keeper made another super save.

The patience finally paid off for ATK as after Chennaiyin started gaining

confidence to get up the pitch and that cost them. A quick counter-attack in the 27th minute, led by Manvir Singh, after a wonderful flick from Hugo Boumous, and played a one-two with Dimitri Petratos, finished it off stylishly.

Having a poor game already on the right of defence for Chennai, Ajith Kumar snatched at Boumous just as the ATK star was about to take a throw-in. He was shown a yellow card for his troubles and with more than a half of football still left to be played.

As the end of the first 45 approached either team were content to see the interim through. After the restart, the hostilities resumed. Only for the match to halt with some of the floodlights faltering. After nearly 10 minutes of stoppage in play, which was attributed to a power failure in the generators, the match resumed.

Chennaiyin were far more adventurous at the restart as Edwin Vanspaul’s introduction at the beginning of the second half, injected pace into the proceedings.

Even with new personnel and renewed vigour in search for the lead back, ATK fell behind by a superb cut back from Karikari, who found Rahim Ali on the left. He ran on and finished it at the far post with pin point accuracy in the 83rd minute.

Even though the ATK players tried hard to find the equaliser this time, the goal would just not come as Chennaiyin came out victors with a comeback win.

TUESDAY’S MATCH

Jamshedpur Vs Odhisa 7:30 pm

Correspondent

KOHIMA, OCT 10 (NPN): Chedema United FC and Nagaland University Students Union KC (NUSU-KC) progressed to the next round of the 22nd edition of the NSF Martyr’s Trophy 2022 at IG Stadium, here on Monday.

In the first match of the third day, Chedema United FC beat Spartex FC, through a tie breaker after a 1-1 draw.

The lone goal in favour of Chedema United FC was scored by Neithongulie Tsira in 27th minute while Razouvituo Tsükrü of Spartex FC did

the same for the team in the 74th minute. After Monday’s win Chedema United FC moved into the next round.

Seyieneituo Tsira of Chedema FC was named man of the match. The award was handed over by Chakhroma Youth Organization president, Seyieneilhou Keyho.

In the second match, NUSU-KC beat Real Boys FC via tie breaker after the match ended in goalless draw. Rokovizo Chalieu from Real Boys FC was named man of the match.

The award was handed over by ASU senior leader, Sedevikho T Angami.

On Saturday, at the

second day of the tourney, Vafümai Gaziphema FC and New Market FC won their respective matches.

In the first match, Vafümai Gaziphema FC beat Phusachodu Warriors FC 3-2.

Chinakho of Vafümei Gaziphema FC won the Man of the Match award.

In the second match, New Market FC thrashed Patkai Christian College 8-1.

Rhitso Mero of New Market FC was awarded man of the match.

TUESDAY’S MATCHES

Zhokhami FC VsvFIFA

FC Kohima-11:30 a.m.

Infinite FC Vs Kohima Bible College-1:30 p.m.

Women’s Asia Cup: India crush Thailand by 9 wickets

SYLHET, OCT 10 (PTI):

The Indian bowlers hardly broke sweat to dismiss minnows Thailand for a paltry 37 before knocking off the runs in just six overs with nine wickets in hand to top the seventeam group league in the Women’s Asia Cup, here on Monday.

The emphatic win was India’s fifth victory in six games, with the only defeat coming in a low-scoring match against arch-rivals Pakistan.

Krejcikova stuns Swiatek to win Ostrava Open

OSTRAVA, OCT 10 (AGENCIES): Home favourite Barbora Krejcikova snapped World No. 1 Iga Swiatek’s 10-match winning streak with a thrilling threeset victory to clinch the Ostrava Open title on Sunday.

Poland’s Swiatek, who won the French Open and US Open this year, saved five match points before going down 7-5, 6-7

(4), 3-6 to Krejcikova in the final that went on for three hours and 16 minutes, Sportstar reported.

The 26-year-old Krejcikova hit an ace wide into the ad court to seal the win and become the first woman to beat Swiatek in a tour-level final this season.

This is Swiatek’s only second-ever loss in WTA Tour singles finals.

India have 10 points from six games and are expected to be joined by Pakistan, Sri Lanka and one among Thailand and Bangladesh in the semifinals.

Bangladesh have a match left and they need to just win it to enjoy a better net run-rate (+0.423 after 5 games) over Thailand (-0.949 in 6 games).

When stand-in skipper Smriti Mandhana won the toss, she had no

hesitation to put Thailand onto bat and from thereon, it became an ordeal for the inexperienced Thai women.

The gulf in class was so huge that before getting out in the 16th over, Thailand could manage

Ronaldo scores 700th club goal of his career

LONDON, OCT 10 (AGENCIES): Manchester United’s Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 700th goal in club football when he slotted home the winner in a 2-1 victory at Everton on Sunday.

He reached his tally in his 944th appearances in club football across his stints at Sporting Lisbon (2002-03), Manchester United (2003-09; 2021- Present), Real Madrid (2009-2018), and Juventus (2018-2021).

Ronaldo has had a tough start to the season, with the new manager opting to relegate the all-time great to the bench. He did start the Everton game on the bench but came on midway through the first half to replace the injured Anthony Martial. With the scores tied at 1-1, the substitute found the net against the run of play on the brink of halftime to score the landmark 700th goal. Midfielder Casemiro played an inch-perfect pass to Ronaldo on the left flank, who drove past defender Séamus Coleman and fired a low leftfooted shot to beat keeper Jordan Pickford in the near post.

United went into the break 2-1 and held on until the end, as Ronaldo’s winner

put the Red Devils on the path of resurgence. With this win, United sits fifth in the table with 15 points from eight matches. Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 700 goals for four teams across five spells. Ronaldo achieved this record in 944 games and across 20 years and two days in his career. For Sporting Lisbon, Ronaldo scored three goals with his right foot, one with his left foot, and one with his head. For Manchester United, he scored 97 goals with his right foot, 22 with his left foot, 24 with his head, and one goal using his thigh. For Real Madrid, he scored 298 goals

with right foot, 81 with his left foot, 70 with his head, and one from his body At Juventus, he scored 62 goals with his right foot, 21 with his left foot, and 18 headers.

Future uncertain

This goal might have relieved some pressure on Ronaldo, who has scored only one goal in the season before yesterday’s match.

However, his future at his beloved Manchester United is uncertain as the 37-yearold still harbours ambitions of playing in the Champions League, which United is not a part of this season.

During the summer, Ronaldo pushed for an exit from Manchester United after the team finished outside of the Champions League places last season. However, a move never materialised owing to a multitude of factors and the Portuguese remained at Old Trafford. This still does not close the door for a January exit for Cristiano Ronaldo. If manager Erik Ten Hag continues to keep the Portuguese on the bench for the majority of games going forward, expect Ronaldo to bring a fairy-tale union to a close.

only 37 runs. The only batter to reach double figures was Nannapat Koncharoenkai (12) as the second highest score was 7 by Nattaya Boochatham. In fact, Nannapat and Natthakan Chantham’s (6) 13-run opening stand was

NCA announces men, women squads for T20

DIMAPUR, OCT 10 (NPN): Nagaland Cricket Association (NCA) has announced the squads for senior men for Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy 2022-23. The team will be led by Hokaito Zhimomi as captain.

The players are: Hokaito Zhimomi (C), Jonathan Rongsen, Imliwati Lemtur, Sedezhalie Rupreo, Joshua Ben Ozukum, Nagaho Chishi, Hopongkyu Sangtam, Tahmeed Rahman, Mughavi Wotsa, Merenkaba Jamir, Nzunthung Mozhui, I Temjentoshi Jamir and guest players- Chetan Bist, Akash Singh and Shrikant Mundhe.

The officials are: Nehal Ahmad (team manager & asst. coach), Muralidhar R (head coach), Swadesh Nagre (S&C coach), Arzoo Raj (fielding coach) and Krishna Prabhu (Physio).

NCA has also announced the senior women’s squad T20 Trophy 2022-23 with Limatola Ao as captain. The players are: Limatola Ao (Captain), Sentilemla Imsong, Elina Muru, Merensola, Alemienla, Sariba Khan, Lydia T Murru, Jyoti Thapa, Rwisumwi Basumatari, Ritu Karmakar, Mhasibeinuo Rupreo, Priyanka Karmakar and guest playersKiran Navgire, Poonam Khemnar, Gautami Naik.

The officials are: Talikaba (Team manager & asst. coach) Anju Jain (head coach), Shyla Alam (S&C coach), Wangshila Jamir (Physio) and Vitsomenu Sezo (asst. physio) Nagaland men’s team will play the first match against Baroda on October 11 at 11 am at Indore. The match will be live telecast on hotstar/starsports1/starsports2. Women team also play their first match on October 11 at Bengaluru.

their highest as wickets tumbled like nine pins once India were able to drew the first blood.

Predictably, off-break bowlers Deepti Sharma (2/10) and Sneh Rana (3/9) choked the run-flow and was duly backed by left-

arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad (2/8).

Meghna Singh also chipped in with a wicket while the only one to go wicketless was Pooja Vastrakar.

Vastrakar (12 not out) was, however, was sent up the order at No. 3 to get some batting time under her belt as she along with opener S Meghana (20 not out) knocked off the runs in just six overs.

“A big shout out to all girls for making my 100th T20 International special,” stand-in skipper Mandhana said after the match.

“I wouldn’t say weaker opposition and Thailand played good cricket but our bowlers really didn’t give them any chance,” Mandhana was all praise for her bowling unit.

Player of the match Sneh Rana said: “A win like this lifts confidence and we would definitely do well in the semifinal.

NUSU-KC in red against Real Boys FC in the NSF Martyrs’ Trophy. (NP)

Nagaland Sepaktakraw Association felicitated the medal winners of the recently concluded 25th Sub-Junior National Sepaktakraw Championship held at Karnataka. The team won two bronze medals in Boys Team event and Regu event.

Cristiano Ronaldo replaced Anthony Martial in the 29th minute and scored his 700th club goal 15 minutes later.

Sneh Rana rattled Thailand with figures of 3 for 9. (Asian Cricket Council)

Hugo Boumous of ATK Mohun Bagan and Y. Jiteshwor Singh of Chennaiyin FC in action during ISL 2022 match at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, in Kolkata, Monday. (PTI)

Barbora Krejcikova