SH firm with protecting customary rights, identity

(From p-1) image and role of the STH “should never be compromised whatsoever”.

SH said after being denounced by the tribal bodies, “few individuals, on the pretext of fighting for women’s rights”, were diluting Naga social fabric that was “unacceptable”.

SH said while it propagates and stood for women empowerment, it was not averse to women reservation exercise, provided it was time bound. While reiterating that there should be no discrimination on either men or women, SH said it would be happy to see more women, not only in municipal and town councils but in active politics at state and national levels.

SH also lauded the government of Nagaland for inviting tribal hohos and civil society orgnisations for consultations on contentious issues. It also urged upon the government of Nagaland “to desist from recognising un-mandated organisations and those organisations beyond the state of Nagaland, to discuss the issues pertaining to the state of Nagaland.”

Tata Motors to hike PV prices from May 1 by 0.6%

NEW DELHI, APR 14 (AGEN-

CIES): Tata Motors said on Friday it will increase the price of its passenger vehicle (PV) range by around 0.6 percent from May 1, joining industry rivals that made similar announcements early in FY24.

According to Business Standard, Tata Motors hiked PV prices by 2.8 per cent in FY23 through three announcements over the months.

The company said that the “marginal” increase in prices from May 1 will depend on the variant and model. “Tata Motors has been absorbing a significant portion of the increased costs on account of regulatory changes & rise in overall input costs and is hence compelled to pass on some proportion through this hike,” it said in a statement.

Domestic wholesale of passenger vehicles increased 26.7 per cent to more than 3.89 million units in 2022-23, according to Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). In FY24, the automobile industry expects 5-7 per cent volume growth.

Tata Motors, from April 1, raised prices of its commercial vehicles (CVs) by 5 per cent ahead of India’s transition to new emission norms called BS 6 phase II. It was the company’s fourth price hike for CVs since the last financial year: the first one was announced in March and became in effective April 2022. The company raised CV prices again in July 2022 and January 2023, taking the total increase to around 12 per cent.

G20 discussions also progressed under the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI), Sitharaman said.

“Countries took a keen interest in leveraging Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for global financial inclusion and productivity gains. When we’re talking about crypto and DPI, cross-border payment issues also get subsumed. Cross border payments issue has the strength of being a very important instrument to be a good buy-in from all the G20 countries,” she noted.

“On international taxation, the FMCBG meeting focussed on the urgent need to galvanise international efforts towards achieving a fair, sustainable and modern international tax system. Swift implementation of the two-pillar international tax package has been called for by all members,” Sitharaman informed.

India’s forex reserves rise by $ 6.3 bn

NEW DELHI, APR 14 (AGENCIES): India’s forex reserves jumped by USD 6.3 billion to USD 584. 755 billion for the week ended April 7, the RBI said on Friday. In the last reporting week, the forex kitty snapped a two-week rising trend to decline by USD 329 million to 578.45 billion, ET reported.

Foreign Currency Assets increased by USD 4.740 billion to USD 514.431 billion.

Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves. Gold reserves also increased by USD 1.496 billion to USD 46.696 billion, the RBI said.

(From p-1) in the world responsible for 8.2 million deaths globally and 1.3 million deaths in India.

He pointed out that in North East India, 49% of all cancer cases in men and 22 % in women attributed to tobacco use respectively Kikheto informed that on April 4, 2023, all private hospitals, health institutions were declared as “tobacco free zone” with effect from April 11, 2023

Informing that all government hospitals, health care, health offices including directorate of health & family welfare had been declared as “tobacco free zone” on January 23, 2023, Kikheto said that soon all government, public offices and institutions would also be declared as tobacco free zones. He described “tobacco-free home” campaign as “historic” and said it was perhaps the first in the country and world. Kikheto said Little Flower Higher Secondary School was chosen as the venue because it was an all-girls school and girls being effective, efficient agents of changes he also stated that women were the key to sustainable development and quality of life in the family.

Kikheto also highlighted the objectives of tobacco-free home campaign. He said that once the educational institutions became tobacco-free, the students would have more knowledge to create aware- ness in their homes and when awareness was created in every home huge impact on the overall behaviour of the citizens will follow. On the occasion, 24 certificates for declaration of “tobaccofree home’ were distributed to the parents and students.

Earlier, sister superior Rosemary Adaphro delivered welcome address and gave invocation. At the programme, LFHSS, AntiTobacco club presented the club anthem while additional director, Dr Chiekroshuyi Tetseo delivered keynote address and deputy director, &SNO(NTCP), Dr Arenla Walling proposed vote of thanks. The programme was chaired by joint director & SPO (NHOP) H&FW, Dr Meribeni Odyuo.

NSF to boycott personal interview of CSRE

(From p-1)

NSF, however, clarified that the sincerity and integrity of the board members was in no way being questioned through this demand, which was solely meant to uphold the interest of the aspirants seeking for a free and fair recruitment process.

Meanwhile, the NSF president reminded the chief secretary in a letter of the NSF’s demand for the reduction of the marks for viva-voce component in the Combined Staff Recruitment Exam 2022 from the proposed 12.5% to 5% of the total marks. He regretted that despite this legitimate demand by the NSF in the interest of the student and youth community, the NSSB had announced the schedule for the personal interview of the qualified candidates. In light of this unfavourable development, NSF informed the chief secretary that the federation was compelled to act on the resolution adopted at the 4th Presidential Council meeting of the federation. It also clarified that NSF was in no way questioning the sincerity and integrity of the NSSB members and that the demand was solely to uphold the interest of the aspirants seeking for a free and fair recruitment process.

Mercury rises to nearly 40oC in many places of NE

(From p-1)

The Met officials said that the maximum temperatures are likely to remain the same for the next 4-5 days. An IMD bulletin said that light rain is likely to occur in some places in Arunachal Pradesh while the weather is likely to re- main dry in Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura. As there has been no rainfall for the past few weeks, a water crisis gripped many parts of the northeast, especially in hilly and remote areas. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research

land for Sale

and the IMD have issued various advisories for farmers and various agri farms to deal with their seasonal crops. Health authorities also issued advisories asking people to stay guarded against rising temperatures.

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Dutch prosecutors investigate activist who desecrated Quran

THE HAGUE (NETHERLANDS), APR 14 (AP): An anti-Islam activist who tore pages out of the Quran and called it a “fascist book” in front of the Dutch parliament building in January is being investigated on suspicion of insulting Muslims, prosecutors said on Friday.

The action by Edwin Wagensveld, leader of the Dutch branch of the farright Pegida movement, and a Danish far-right activist’s burning of the Quran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm the same month sparked protests in several predominantly Muslim countries around the world. While desecrating Islam’s holy book is not a crime in the Netherlands, prosecutors said comments that Wagensveld made while damaging the Quran amounted to an unlawful insult to the Muslim community.

Japan approves plan to open first casino to lure tourists

TOKYO, APR 14 (AP): Japan’s government on Friday approved a controversial plan to open the country’s first casino in the city of Osaka as it seeks to lure more foreign tourists.

The casino resort is to include conference facilities, an exhibition hall, a hotel and a theater and is expected to open as early as autumn 2029, four years after Osaka hosts a World Expo. “It is expected to contribute to the local economy and the economic growth of all of Japan after the Osaka-Kansai Expo and become a tourism hub for transmitting the charms of Japan,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at a meeting of the government’s IR, or integrated resort, promotion panel.

China defence minister to meet Russian counterpart in Moscow

BEIJING, APR 14 (AP): Chinese Defence Minister Gen. Li Shangfu will visit Russia next week for meetings with counterpart Sergei Shoigu and other military officials, China’s Defence Ministry said on Friday. Li’s visit underscores China’s strengthening engagement with Russia, with which it has largely aligned its foreign policy in an attempt to reshape the world order to diminish the influence of the United States and other Western democracies.

China has refused to criticise Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and blamed the US and NATO for provoking Moscow. During a 2022 visit to Beijing, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping issued a joint statement declaring a “no limits” relationship between the two countries.

S.Korea’s chief nuclear envoy to visit

Sweden, Germany

SEOUL, APR 14

(IANS): South Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator will visit Sweden and Germany next week to discuss issues related to the Korean Peninsula and North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme, the foreign ministry said on Friday. Kim Gunn, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, will visit Stockholm on Monday and meet with Swedish State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Jan Knutsson, Yonhap News Agency reported. Kim plans to request Sweden’s constructive role in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue, and discuss ways to strengthen cooperation between Seoul and Stockholm.