25 Oct 22

Myanmar air kills 80 in Kachin state

Serious issues plague Dimapur airport

Staff Reporter

DIMAPUR, OCT 24

(NPN): Dimapur airport, among the oldest ones in the region, was constructed during the Second World War and civil flights were introduced way back during the mid-70s.

However, other air ports which came into existence decades later, have been highly developed while Nagaland’s only air port is left behind.

The factors responsible include-- encroachment on airport land over which land pattas were issued. This also figured during the recent 12th session of the 13th Nagaland Legisla tive Assembly. The runway width has to be around 150 meters on either side from the middle but cannot be expanded and neither can it be extended beyond its present length.

There is an option for a parallel runway at CRPF and Assam Rifles camps

Muivah to leave for Delhi today

Staff Reporter

DIMAPUR, OCT 24 (NPN): NSCN (I-M) gen eral secretary Th. Muivah will be leaving for Delhi on Tuesday. According to highly placed sources, Mui vah is likely to leave for Delhi by a chartered flight. He will be joined by other senior NSCN (I-M) leaders in Delhi at a later date.

As reported, NSCN (IM) was to resume talks with government of India’s repre sentative for Naga talks, AK Mishra in Delhi after the Durga Puja/Diwali festival.

In September last month, the NSCN (I-M) delegation led by VS Atem held talks with Mishra for over a week. Later Working Committee of NNPGs led by its convenor N. Kitovi Zhimomi also held separate talks with Mishra.

As reported, Centre was expected to present a ‘com mon draft’ in the next round of discussions. The Naga Po litical Groups are expected to study/deliberate on the draft before giving their nod for a common agreement. An inclusive common draft is reportedly being worked out to club both ‘status paper’ of the Agreed Position and the ‘competency clauses’ of Framework Agreement before inking of the final agreement.

Meanwhile, it was also learnt that WC, NNPGs convenor N. Kitovi Zhimomi was also in Delhi. However, it was not known whether he was on a personal visit to Delhi or for official purpose.

area. The other major con cern is perennial inundation of water on one stretch of the runway during rainy season.

The runway is around 6821 feet long and the stretch towards NH 29 (near M/s T.K. Service Station) is at a lower elevation. Rain water flowing to the lower end cannot flow through the drain (under the runway), due to higher elevation that is around eight feet high towards Chathe river. This is the reason why flights are frequently delayed or

cancelled at Dimapur air port. The other factor that makes landing difficult at Dimapur airport is that the flight route has come under the military ‘No Fly Zone’.

Though the state gov ernment had reportedly taken up the matter with the defence ministry to exclude ‘No Fly Zone’ from Dima pur route, there has been no positive response yet.

According to avia tion experts, approach is through the Instrument Landing System (ILS) pro cedure available only at

Assam side ie: Runway 12. The other approach–Runway 30- does not have any ILS procedure due to the terrain (hills) around Chümoukedima.

Aircrafts to Dimapur, have to approach from Imphal side, circle around Peren and Dimapur before approaching the runway. This also results in consumption of more avia tion fuel. The only solution to solve the problem is to look for Greenfield air port towards 5th mile area, having orientation of 050

degrees and 230 degrees, North, South direction en abling use of both direc tions without restrictions.

Land is available in the area for construction of a 10,000 feet runway and 1000 feet wide.

An airport is also com ing up near Diphu which is among several planned by the Assam government.

Any airport at Di mapur is going to be allweather unlike in hilly areas where heavy winds, terrain and clouds would hamper flight operations.

New Market lifts NSF Martyrs’ Trophy

Military, economic strength essential for peace, says Modi

NE W DELHI, OCT 24 (AGENCIES): India stands for peace and has always considered war as not the first but last resort, but its armed forces have the strength and strategies to give a befitting reply to anyone who casts an evil eye on the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Monday.

Addressing soldiers here on Diwali, Modi said India is against war but also underscored the need for strength to ensure peace and asserted that its growing power boosts the chances of global peace and prosperity.

The whole world is looking at India which is a “balancing force”, he told soldiers at the site of the armed forces’ heroic feats in the Kargil war in 1999 as India beat back Pakistani forces.

Modi invoked the epics of Ramayan and Mahab harat to assert that it is in

Indian tradition to avoid war be it in Lanka or Ku rukshetra and the country stands for world peace.

Modi highlighted nu merous measures taken by his government to boost economy and development, saying a country is safe only when its borders are secure, its economy robust and so ciety full of self-confidence.

The armed forces are pillars of India’s security, he said.

Noting that India has become the fifth larg est world economy from 10th in the last seven-eight

years ago, Modi also spoke about the emergence of over 80,000 startups and the ISRO’s record of simultane ously launching 36 satellites to assert that these feats fill soldiers with pride.

The tricolour acted as a protective shield for Indians in the Ukraine war, he said.

In a swipe at previous governments, the prime minister said his dispensa tion has worked to remove the shortcomings of the past poor governance which con stricted India’s capabilities and limited its development.

He said India has been dealing with its enemies, both external and internal, with force and recounted the steps taken to uproot the terror, naxalism and extrem ism from within the country.

Modi claimed that In dia’s war against corruption is at a decisive stage and asserted that no corrupt person however powerful will be spared.

LONDON, OCT 24 (PTI/ AGENCIES): Rishi Sunak on Monday is all set to make history as Britain’s first Indian-origin Prime Minister after being elected unopposed as the new leader of the governing Conserva tive Party on Diwali, fol lowing Penny Mordaunt’s withdrawal from the race.

The 42-year-old former chancellor, a devout Hindu, was comfortably in the lead, having secured the public backing of over half the 357 Tory MPs– way above the 100 minimum required to make the shortlist. In time for the 1400 local time Mon day deadline, Sir Graham Brady, chair of the influ

ential 1922 Committee of backbench MPs, announced in the Parliament complex that he had received only one nomination and therefore Sunak is the winner of the leadership contest.

This means Sunak is poised to walk through the door of 10 Downing Street

in London after an audi ence with King Charles III in Buckingham Palace, the timeframe of which will become known soon.

Earlier, high-profile Tory MPs switched alle giance from Johnson to Su nak, including former Home Secretary Priti Patel and cab inet ministers James Cleverly and Nadhim Zahawi.

Sunak’s victory marks a remarkable turnaround in political fortunes for the for mer finance minister, who lost out to outgoing Prime Minister Liz Truss just last month after his popularity among party colleagues did not translate in the wider Tory membership vote.

NEW DELHI, OCT 24

(AGENCIES): Omicron’s newly identified variant — XBB strain — is rapidly spreading in India, with Covid-19 cases caused by it nearly doubling in the last week, according to experts.

This strain, they add ed, could likely become a dominant subvariant in another month, The Times of India reported. In a span of nine days, 65 new cases of the variant were reported across the country. From October 14 to 23, the num ber of XBB Covid-19 cases jumped from 71 to 136.

XBB subvariant of Omicron is a recombi

nant virus, and is highly immune-evasive, which essentially means it can overcome the antibodies and hence cause another wave of infections.

Till now, eight states have reported cases, with Tamil Nadu having the highest number at 52. This is followed by 35 cases in Odisha cases, Maharashtra has 18 cases, West Bengal at 17 cases, Delhi and Kar nataka each have 6, Gujarat has 2, while Rajasthan has a single case.

As of now, 20 per cent of Covid-19 cases have XBB strain in it, 7 per cent have the BA.2 strain, while 3 per

Myanmar airstrike kills 80 in Kachin

cent have the BA.5, accord ing to TOI. In fact, XBB is racing another Omicron subvariant BQ.11 to become the most immune-evasive variant this summer. The subvariant was first detected in Kolkata in August 2022, and it has spread to 26 coun tries till now. XBB is also the cause of fresh waves in Bangladesh and Singapore.

The World Health Or ganisation earlier this week warned of another wave of infections due to the XBB subvariant, PTI said.

Dr Soumya Swami nathan, chief scientist at the WHO said “there are over 300 subvariants of Omicron, and the one that is concerning right now is XBB, which is a recom binant virus. As the virus evolves it is going to evolve more and more transmis sible.”

Swaminathan also said that currently there was no clinical data at hands to sug gest that these subvariants are more severe.

Correspondent

KOHIMA, OCT 24 (NPN):

State chief minister Neiphiu Rio said that the state gov ernment was committed towards empowerment of the youth through sports and games.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the 22nd NSF Martyr’s Memorial Tro phy at IG Stadium here on Monday, Rio said “Sport is today a multi-billion-dollar industry that employs and gives gainful careers to mil lions of people across the globe. Our Naga youth must also get the opportunities of this sector and in doing

so achieve excellence at the highest levels and contribute towards nation building.

Stating that Nagaland had always been recognized as a State with a successful football heritage, the chief minister said Nagaland in

the past had significant suc cesses beginning from the legendary exploits of Dr T Ao and also Nagaland teams, including Nagaland Police and junior teams have performed well in the last decade.

He, however, lamented that the performance had gone down in recent times due to several factors includ ing the unresolved political issue resulting in lack of resources and poor infra structure, which had nega tively impacted the overall development of sports.

Despite all these, Rio said the state government was committed to make a

fresh start towards sports de velopment plan. He said that government has undertaken a serious resolve to develop new and modern sports in frastructure in different parts of the State.

Rio highlighted some of the new infrastructure projects such as upgradation of Indira Gandhi Stadium with astro-turf, floodlights and locker rooms; estab lishment of astro-turf fa cilities in the districts of Mokokchung, Peren, Mon, Tuensang and Chümouke dima; indoor stadiums in Longleng, Wokha, Kohima and new indoor sports fa cilities in

BANGKOK, OCT 24 (AP): Air strikes by Myanmar’s military killed as many as 80 people, including singers and musicians, attending an anniversary celebration of the Kachin ethnic minority’s main political organisation, members of the group and a rescue worker said on Monday.

The reported attack comes three days before Southeast Asian foreign ministers are to hold a spe cial meeting in Indonesia to discuss widening violence in Myanmar. Initial reports put the death toll at around 60, but later (More on p-9)

Rains trigger traffic congestion, dampen Diwali festivities

Staff Reporter

DIMAPUR, OCT 24 (NPN): With cyclone Si trang’s formation develop ing in the Bay of Bengal, incessant rains continued to lash Dimapur and other parts of the State through out the day dampening Di wali celebrations.

While the rains played a spoilsport to the celebra tions, the State’s commercial hub witnessed massive traf fic snarls on several roads across the town on Monday.

Though traffic conges tion on the first working day of the week is a normal phenomenon, the untimely rains only compounded the

problem

rows of vehicles bumper-to-bumper,

which added more to the jam. In certain area, traffic crawled at a snail’s pace. Meanwhile, the relent less downpour affected cel ebration of the festival of lights among the citizens.

celebrated the festival in their houses, inviting friends and relatives and enjoying food and sweets. He stated that they did not let the rains take away the enthusiasm of Diwali by lightning earthen lamps under roof and pre paring bhog for the puja.

‘Sitrang’ intensifies into severe cyclonic storm

DIMAPUR, OCT 24

(NPN): As Cyclone ‘Si trang’ intensifies into a severe cyclonic storm by early hours of October 26, a maximum alert has been sounded in North Eastern states.

All the concerned dis tricts, disaster management authorities and agencies have been asked to remain maximum alert with all precautionary measures to deal with the heavy to very heavy rainfall predicted.

According to the India Me teorological Department (IMD), the cyclone, named Sitrang by Thailand, is very likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm with wind speed reaching 90 to 100 kmph gusting to 110 kmph.

Thunderstorm/Lightning/ heavy to very heavy rain fall with extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places is very likely to occur over the North Eastern states during October 24-26, 2022.

NSDMA advisory

Nagaland State Disas ter Management Authority (NSDMA) has directed all District Disaster Manage ment Authorities (DDMAs) and concerned department to be prepared and vigilant for any eventualities includ ing disruption to normal ser vices and activities in their respective districts and/or in their respective departmen tal area of concerns.

Speaking to Nagaland Post, Lions Club Dimapur vice-president Basu Damani admitted that the untimely rain dampened the Diwali spirits. He however men tioned that some people

On the other hand, bursting of firecrackers was seen in many parts of the town, adding to the festive spirit that celebrated the victory of light over dark ness, good over evil and truth over falsehood. It may be mentioned that rains in Nagaland and other Northeastern States, have been triggered by cyclone Sitrang over Bay of Bengal.

IMD Regional Meteo rological Centre Guwahati stated that Deep depression over eastcentral Bay of Ben gal moved northwestwards with a speed of 18 kmph. It is very likely to move north westwards and intensify into a cyclonic storm over central Bay of Bengal.

Thereafter, it would recurve and move north northeastwards and cross Bangladesh coast between Tinkona Island and Sand wip close to Barisal around October 25 early morning.

Under its influence fair ly widespread/widespread rainfall accompanied with

In an advisory, the home commissioner Ab hijit Sinha advised all the citizens of the state to take the following suggested ac tions during these periods for their personal safety: Follow traffic advisories is sued, if any; avoid going to areas that face water logging problems/river front; avoid staying in vulnerable struc ture/ landslide prone areas; provide proper drainage in the cropped field if heavy rainfall is expected and be updated.

Any persons violating any order/direction under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, would be liable for action under relevant section of law, it said.

Sunak to become UK’s first Indian-origin PM Omicron’s XBB subvariant rapidly spreading in India

Govt committed to empower youth through sports: Rio

XXB likely to become a dominant subvariant in another month

Jain Temple illuminated for Diwali on Monday (R) Traffic snarl in the heart of Dimapur. (NP)

Neiphiu Rio (NP)

Narendra Modi (PTI)

Rishi Sunak

(L) Waterlogged runway at Dimapur airport earlier this month (R) A file photo of flight landing on a flooded runway. (NP/Keviphrezo Mepfhuo)

RCD celebrates ‘World Polio Day’

DIMAPUR: Rotary Club of Dimapur (RCD) cele brated “World Polio Day” on Monday, by organising a series of programmes.

In a press release, RCD stated that a special meeting was convened to commemorate World Po lio Day at Rotary Centre, Midland, wherein, guest speaker, district immunisa tion officer, Dimapur, Dr. Rebecca Y Sema highlight ed various steps to make the world polio free by.

Informing that polio cases had decreased from 350000 cases per year 30 years ago to only 27 cas es in 2022, Dr. Rebecca lauded the efforts of Ro tary International, in polio eradication.

She explained about various surveillance sys tems put in place by the government health au thorities to detect polio and informed about the new advances in other vaccine preventable diseases avail able free of cost apart from COVID.

Dr. Rebecca requested

Members of RCD along and others at the programme on Monday.

Rotary Club to continue being proactive in their efforts by giving a harder push to achieve zero polio cases.

She was also con ferred the honorary mem bership of Rotary Club of Dimapur for her efforts towards polio eradication in the state.

In his speech, coor dinator of WG meal, an organisation of rotarians collecting funds for polio eradication, R.S. Panesar stressed on the continu ous efforts being made by Rotary International to achieve zero level polio cases in Pakistan and Af ghanistan.

He spoke about the hardships faced by po lio volunteers in both the countries and narrated Rotary International presi dent, Jennifer Jones’ re cent visit to Pakistan, to promote polio eradication with the help of local Ro tary and political leaders.

“Rotary is not cel

ebrating polio but cele brating the success of ef forts made by millions of healthcare workers to bring polio to almost zero level cases”, he stated.

Club’s Rotary Foun dation Chair (funding body of Rotary for polio eradi cation), Pradip Kumar Jain introduced two polio survivors who became en trepreneurs and honoured them through presentation of mementoes.

RCD informed that various “end polio now” banners were put up at the main traffic points in the city; members took pledge to donate to the polio erad ication fund of Rotary Foundation this month while the two polio survi vors turned entrepreneurs also joined club members by pledging donations to wards Rotary Foundation’s Polio Fund.

The meeting ended with a religious discourse on “Bhagvat Geeta & Krishna Consciousness” by Dr R.K. Pahuja, a law yer from Mumbai.

Various programmes organised for students

DIMAPUR: Various pro grammes and activities for students were organised by educational institutions and others as part of their yearly curriculum and ex tra-curricular activities.

NEISSR: North East Institute of Social Sciences and Research (NEISSR) commemorated its 7th graduation day on Octo ber 18 at Peace Centre, Chümoukedima, wherein, 49 students of Masters in Social Work received their graduation certificate.

In his speech, chief guest, joint director (ad min) and State Project Di rector (RUSA), Higher Ed ucation, Menuokholie Kire emphasised the importance of skill development as the need of the hour.

Later, guest of honour, St. Joseph’s College (Au tonomous) Jakhama, prin cipal, Rev Fr. Dr. George Kedhoulhou stressed on the importance of leader ship in the perspective of today’s context.

ICFAI: The depart ment of Economics, IC

Assam Rifles organise educational tour

DIMAPUR: Jalukie bat talion Assam Rifles (AR) under the aegis of HQ IGAR (N) organised a programme for students of Assam Rifles Public School (H) Jalukie to Sainik School Punglwa, Peren on October 18.

According to PRO IGAR (N), students were briefe d by the faculty of Sainik School Punglwa about the school, sports facilities, academic infra structure, horse riding club, etc.

The students also in teracted with school cadet appointments. Altogeth er, 59 students and three teachers visited the school.

Meanwhile, Jalukie battalion organised a pro gramme at Ndunglwa vil lage, Peren on October 20, to spread awareness on dengue prevention.

During the pro gramme, participants were informed about various essential steps to be taken for prevention dengue such as protection against mos quito bites, prevention of mosquito breeding inside and outside the houses, etc. They were also asked to take additional precaution ary measures such as usage use of mosquito repellents, wearing long sleeves and pants to cover arms and legs and use of mosquito nets.

Altogether, 29 vil lagers attended the pro gramme.

FAI University, conducted its “11th NJY memorial lecture” on October 15 at the University on the theme, “understanding the landscape of social entre preneurship”.

At the programme, guest speaker, assistant professor, department of Economics, NU, Dr. Ren beni Kikon spoke on the importance of social entre preneurship and addressed the younger generation to solve social problems through innovative busi ness ideas with a primary motive to achieve larger social impact.

NSUM: Naga Stu dents Union Mizoram (NSUM) observed its 24th freshers’ meet cum cul tural day under the theme, “Towards identity and empowerment” on Octo ber 15 at Art & Cultural Auditorium, Betawtlang, Mizoram.

At the programme, special guest, MLA and vice chairman, human re source development board, government of Mizoram,

Pu L Thangmawia shared on how the Nagaland and Mizoram shared a close and good relation as neigh bouring states and both belonging to the northeast region.

He encouraged the students to know one’s pri orities and purpose, which was primarily to do well in one’s studies.

He also asked the stu dents to strive and contrib ute to the community and nation and serve one’s state in the best way possible.

Altogether 49 freshers were welcomed during the programme.

PGC: Alumni As sociation of Pfütsero Gov ernment College, Pfütsero held its alumni meet on

October 15 under the them, “Reminiscing the Lega cies” at the College Au ditorium with the former principal and vice principal of the college, T.L. Singsit as the guest speaker.

BBS: Bethel Baptist School Eco Club on Oc tober 15 conducted a mass

CHC Pungro conducts oral health camp

outgoing speaker ‘maj. retd.’ Hutovi Chishi at the “handing over and charge taking ceremony”. The programme was conducted by secretary, tatar hoho, Reisang Shimray and attended by kilonsers and other senior leaders of NSCN (I-M).

AVC convenes general public meeting: Ashaa Village Council has convened a general public meeting on Oc tober 28, 10 am, in the chairman’s compound. In this regard, all concerned members have been requested to attend the meeting.

NPF minority wing extends Diwali greetings: NPF minority wing has conveyed greetings and best wishes to the public of Nagaland and neighbouring areas, on the occasion of Diwali.

DIMAPUR: A medical team from Community Health Centre (CHC) Pun gro, led by dental surgeon, Dr. Weri Mero, conducted an “oral health and acu puncture camp”, coincid ing with the village “health nutrition day” at Tiken vong village, under Pungro block, Kiphire district on October 23.

In a press release, dis trict media officer (DMO), Kiphire, Haichikambe Pame stated that during the programme, Dr. Mero briefed about the overall health benefits of main taining a good oral hygiene and stressed on the ill ef fects of consuming tobacco products.

He highlighted vari

ous points for the members of the village for mainte nance of oral health in cluding—stop smoking or chewing tobacco; decrease use of alcohol (0-1 drinks/ day); eat more fruits and vegetables; see a dentist regularly and get screened.

Altogether, 81 patients were examined at the oral health camp.

cleanliness drive at Old Showuba Market place.

Meanwhile, the club has requested the citizens to be more conscious about the environment and carry shopping bags instead of taking more single use plastic bags and littering the environment.

Ack

LED g

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YEHoZHE mURU

Dr. Weri Mero (second from right) and staff along with villagers at the programme.

KLSU organises annual session

Patton mourns demise of MK Mero

DIMAPUR: Deputy chief minister, Y. Patton has ex pressed grief at the demise of retired commissioner and secretary, MK Mero, who passed away at a pri vate hospital on Monday.

In a condolence mes sage, Patton said late Mero served the government with sincerity and dedica tion till his retirement and that he had left behind a vast knowledge and experi ence behind.

Alert sounded in Tripura in wake of cyclone ‘Sitrang’: CM

AGARTALA, OCT 24 (PTI/AGENCIES): Tripura

Chief Minister Manik Saha on Monday said an alert has been sounded across the state, after the Met Depart ment forecast downpour, owing to the impact of cy clone ‘Sitrang’.

The weather system is likely to bring heavy to ex tremely heavy rain in many northeastern states, includ ing south Assam Tripura, Meghalaya and Mizoram, an IMD bulletin said.

DIMAPUR: Kohima Lo tha Students Union (KLSU) organised its 47th fresh ers’ day & annual session on Monday, at Molu Ki, Kohima on the theme “en deavouring excellence”, with chief engineer, Police Engineering Project, Er. Yanbemo Lotha as special guest and department of History & Archaeology, Nagaland University Ko hima Campus, Merima, Prof. Y Ben Lotha as theme speaker.

In a press release, KLSU media cell stated that in his address, the special guest exhorted the students that sincerity, hard work and choices would ultimately be the stepping stones to success.

Pointing out that gov

ernment jobs were limited, he urged upon the students to venture into new avenues by exploring opportunities available to them.

Er. Yanbemo also highlighted the art of time and encouraged the stu dents to give their best ef forts in learning new lessons every day.

Sharing that wisdom first came from God, he advised the students to re member God and put their first priority as God.

Speaking on the theme “endeavouring excellence”, the theme speaker stated that one has to endure hard ships in order to achieve something.

Prof. Y Ben Lotha highlighted the performanc es of students before and

after mobile phones and lamented on the misuse of the same, which he said, had affected their academic lives at large.

Pointing out that the nurturing and fostering of students by parents greatly determined their perfor mances, he suggested that parents play more vital roles towards the academic per formances of their children.

He also acknowl edged the females on their achievements in education and cited them as second to none.

Delivering the wel come address, KLSU presi dent Lirhonthung E Kithan urged upon the freshers to be examples of change in the society, by following the good actions of their elders.

Short speeches were also delivered by Kohima Lotha Hoho (KLH), Ko hima Lotha Eloe Ekhung (KLEH), Lotha Students Union (LSU), NSF deputy speaker and Kohima Lo tha Youth Organisation (KLYO).

Earlier, the programme was chaired by Thungchi beni T Erui, special prayer for students was offered by catechist, Lotha Catholic Khumshum Kohima, Y Abel Lotha, special song was presented by Orenboni Odyuo and dance by Rhon beni Kikon.

Later, invocation was offered by ABCK associate pastor Mhabemo Ngullie and vote of thanks was proposed by KLSU general secretary Zachamo Ngullie.

The deputy CM has conveyed condolences to the bereaved family.

It is likely to cross the Bangladesh coast between Tinkona island and Sandwip

near Barisal in the early hours of Tuesday, it said. “The concerned of ficials have been asked to take all possible precaution ary measures to tackle the situation that might unfold due to the cyclone,” Saha told reporters. Following the state’s request, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has sent five teams of the NDRF. The first batch comprising 69 personnel have already arrived from Guwahati, he said. They will be deputed at five locations - Agartala, Kumarghat, Santir Bazar, Udaipur and Teliamura.

Speeding trains prove to be a jumbo problem for Assam’s elephant population

GUWAHATI, OCT 24

(IANS): The deaths of wild elephants caused by accidents with running trains are on the rise in As sam with eight elephants killed by trains since Janu ary this year and four of them alone in a little over a month.

According to reports, between 1990 and 2018, a total of 115 elephants died in Assam due to train hits.

Between 2012 and 2022, at least 30 elephants died in Assam in train mis

haps while 55 died in West Bengal in similar incidents.

According to the lat est census, India is home to 27,312 elephants and of them, Assam is home to 5,719 Asian elephants, the second largest elephant population in India af ter Karnataka (6049). A large number of them often come out of the forests in search of food.

Assam’s Forest and Environment department officials said that 71 el ephants including calves

ATMAs conduct various programmes in several districts

WOKHA

CHÜMOUKEDIMA

resource person.

She highlighted the group about the activities under ATMA programme and encouraged the group to work in unity with a common goal to become self-reliant.

The programme was followed by nursery bed preparation.

ATMA Dimapur, Chü moukedima block organ ised “mobilisation of farm ers group” and demonstra tion programme on October 22, at Bamunphukri B and Zani villages respectively.

Zunheboto: ATMA Zunheboto, Akuhaito block conducted various training and demonstrations pro gramme on October 19 and 20 at Philimi, Roto New and Asukhuto village.

In a press release, ATMA Zunheboto stated that a training on cultiva tion practices of winter veg etables (radish and broccoli), demonstration on nursery seed bed preparation on cabbage and mobilisation of farmers group were con ducted at Asukhuto village and demonstration on culti vation practices of broccoli and mobilisation of farmers group were conducted at Roto new village with Rovi zelhou Kuotsu, BTM and

In a press release, ATMA Dimapur stated that a demonstration on treatment of potato tubers with Trichoderma spp and sowing method was car ried out by ATM Chü moukedima block, Yatetla

Vishepu, ATM as resource persons on October 19.

Another demonstration on cultivation practices of radish was conducted on October 20 at Philimi vil lage with BTM Akuhaito block Rovizelhou Kuotsu as resource person.

ATMA Satoi aspira tional-block under Zun heboto district conducted activities at village level from October 20 to 22 at villages Itovi and Kheshito.

Demonstrations on nursery bed preparation and use of germination trays in effective rising of seedlings of winter vegetable crops were carried out by resource person ATM Kakiho. Alto gether, 15 farmers attended

at Bamunphukri-B village for Dangsmai Food security group.

Later, farm women group “Ludove-u SHG” was mobilised at Zani vil lage with BTM (Dhansi ripar block) Moaien as

Another demonstra tion on line sowing of pea var. Arkel was conducted for “Tive FIG” by BTM Chümoukedima block, Dr. Tiatula, hybrid winter veg etable seeds, Toria var Pusa Mahak, potato tubers var Kufri Joyti and pea were distributed to the partici pants which was provided by the department of Agri culture, Dimapur.

Wokha: ATMA Wokha, Chukitong block conducted a training on fishery management and demonstration on prepara tion of fish feeds at Koio on October 22 with assis tant fishery inspector (AFI) Aponthung Kikon from the department of Fisheries, Wokha as resource person.

Later, two demonstra tion and mobilisation of groups was conducted at Chukitong.

Demonstration on oys

two villages attended the programme. ATMA Suruhu to block in convergence with IFAD conducted training and demonstration at Phuye Old, Sapoti and Naltoqa on October 20 and 21.

ter mushroom was done by ATM Zachamo while demonstration on cultiva tion techniques of winter vegetables was done by ATM Shanjothung.

Two SHGs group (Likya Thera and Ntsata) were mobilised and win ter vegetables seeds and mushroom spawns were distributed to farmers. Al together, 10 farmers, three ATMA functionaries and BTT convener attended the programme.

were killed last year mainly due to being hit by speeding trains, poisoning, electro cution, ‘accidental’ deaths including falling into ponds and ditches and lightning strikes.

In May last year, 18 jumbos were killed in a lightning strike in Nagaon district of central Assam.

According to the ‘In dia State of Forest Re port-2019’, Assam has only 36.11 per cent forest cover out of its total geographical area of 78,438 sq.km.

MOKOKCHUNG

the programme at Itovi vil lage. Materials and seeds of cabbage, broccoli, pakchoi, cauliflower, carrot, radish and turnip were distributed to farmers. Training on man agement practices of ericul ture and demonstration on systematic rising of castor cultivation was introduced to farmers of Kheshito village by BTM ATMA Satoi block,

Altogether, 11 farmers attended the training pro gramme.

Meanwhile, mobilisa tion of farmers group was conducted in the two villag es, Hutoka Y. Jakha was the resource person. Altogether, 26 farmers representing the

Demonstration on “production technology for cabbage” was illustrated by ATM Kaoto Sema while training on “important pest and its management” was delivered by BTM Livika K Zhimomi.

Later, winter vegetable seeds were distributed to farmers.

Altogether, 30 farm ers along with ATMA & IFAD officials attended the training.

ATMA Zunheboto,

Tokiye block conducted mobilisation of farmers group, demonstration on nursery seed bed preparation and cultivation practices of broccoli at Integrated Farm School, Ngozubo under Tokiye block on October 19.

Altogether, 22 farm ers participated in the pro gramme.

Meanwhile, on October 20, Tokiye block also con ducted training on promo tion of leguminous crops to enhance soil fertility at Aghunato town. Mobilisa tion of famers’ group and demonstration on nursery seed bed preparation (cole crops) were also conducted. Altogether, 19 farmers par ticipated in the programme.

Mokokchung:

ATMA, Kobulong block

Mokokchung conducted capacity building program on Homestead Gardening for Farmer interest groups (FIGs)/Commodity Inter est Groups (CIGs) on Oc tober 24 at Mopungchuket Village, Kubolong block.

In a press release, ATMA Mokokchung stat ed that FIG Merangdi was mobilised and resource person ATM Tsuktirenla Jamir highlighted concept and importance of home stead gardening in today’s world.

Later, rabi crop seeds were distributed to the farmers. Altogether,12 farmers attended the pro gramme.

Changtongya block conducted a training and demonstration programme at Changtongya town and Yaongyimsen village on October 22 and 24.

Training on cultiva tion practices of winter crops was conducted by horticulture inspector, BTT convenor of Chang tongya block, Richa as re source person on October 22 at Changtongya town.

Chuchuyimlang block conducted demonstration, group mobilisation, dis

tribution of seeds, train ing and capacity building programme at Chuchuy imlang and Mongsenyimti villages on October 19, 20, 21 and 22 respectively with BTM Aolemla Kichu as resource person. Farmers’ group Soyim Farmers FIG was mobilised at Mong senyimti Village with 20 members.

Training on rabi crops cultivation was imparted by resource person ATM Abenla B Jamir.

Altogether, 25 farm ers attended the training.

A capacity building programme was organ ised at Chuchuyimlang village for Merangyimsen Telongjem SHG on culti vation of winter vegetable crops.

Resource person, ATM Tangit Longkumer spoke highlighted the im portance of cultivation of winter vegetable crops.

Altogether, 10 members attended the programme.

Distribution of Rabi vegetable seeds activity was also carried out for Abensa FSG. Rabi season vegetable seeds including broccoli, Chinese cabbage, radish, onion and garden peas were distributed to members of the FSG.

DIMAPUR: Various blocks under district Agricultural Technology management Agencies (ATMAs) conducted programmes for the wel fare of farmers.

Chümoukedima:

Hutoka Y. Jakha. Materials were provided by Sericulture department, Zunheboto.

ZUNHEBOTO

KLSU executives along with the special guest, guest of honour and others on Monday.

Army Chief reviews security situation in east

Meghalaya:

legislators set to join BJP

Correspondent

SHILLONG, OCT 24: Four sitting legislatorsthree from the ruling Na tional People’s Party (NPP) and one from the opposition Trinamool Congress (TMC) - would be formally join ing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) next month ahead of the 2023 Assembly elec tion scheduled to be held in February.

Manipur police raid

NEW DELHI, OCT 24 (PTI): Army Chief Gen eral Manoj Pande on Mon day visited forward areas in Sikkim to review the security situation along the northern borders and also greeted soldiers on Diwali. Gen Pande visited military stations in north Bengal and border areas of Sikkim on October 23-24, the defence ministry said in a statement.

He wished all ranks on the occasion of Di wali and also reviewed the security situation along the northern borders of Sikkim, the ministry said.

The Army chief ex pressed satisfaction at the pace of infrastructure development along the border areas. He was ac companied by Lt Gen R P Kalita, Army Commander of Eastern Command, and Lt Gen Tarun Ku mar Aich, GOC Trishakti Corps, the statement said.

At Sukna Military Station on Sunday, Gen Pande interacted with the troops during a pro gramme showcasing In dia’s cultural heritage and unity in diversity, which was organised on the eve of the festival.

Seasonal visitors – Amur Falcons arrive Tamenglong

on sale. The WII Dehradun officials attached GPS moni tors to five Amur falcons. Sadly, one of them was shot dead in the district. Two oth ers remained untraceable.

On Monday, the Army chief, accompanied by Kalita and Aich, visited forward areas in north and east Sikkim, the statement said.

“Reviewing the op erational situation and preparedness of the field formations deployed along the northern borders in Sikkim Sector, the COAS expressed his satisfaction and exhorted the troops to maintain readiness for all types of challenges,” it said. Greeting the soldiers on the occasion of Diwali, Gen Pande presented and shared sweets with them.

A top BJP official said that that the three NPP legislators - Benedic R. Marak, Ferlin C.A.Sangma and S. G. EsmaturMominin and TMC legislator Hima laya MuktanShangpliangwould join the saffron party before BJP national presi dent J.P.Nadda in presence of the state BJP president Ernest Mawrie and others.

Ferlin represents the Selsella assembly constitu ency, Benedict represents the Raksamgre assembly constituency and Mominin represents Phulbari as sembly constituency (all in West Garo Hills dis trict) Shangpliang,the TMC legislator is representing Mawsynram assembly con stituency in East Khasi Hills district. In all these four assembly constituencies the BJP candidates came fourth in the last Assembly elec

tion with the popular vote share hovering near the 10 per cent mark. In all these four constituencies there is a significant presence of nontribal population. The BJP official, who wished not to be quoted told this reporter that the central party lead ers are already in talks with a few more legislators who have showed their interest to join and contest the upcom ing assembly election on BJP ticket. “I would not like to share the other names of those legislators let it come as a surprise. However, I can tell you that the BJP will win as many as 12 seats and we are all working towards those figures and to take over the mantle to lead the new government,” the BJP leader confidently said.

Meanwhile, state BJP President Ernest Mawrie confirmed that the the four sitting legislators would be joining the BJP. “I will be taking them to New Delhi for their official induction. The sitting MLAs are from the NPP and the TMC,” he said. Mawrie, however de nied any knowledge of sus pended Congress legislators, Dr. Mazel Ampareen Lyn gdoh and MohendroRap sang joining the party. “I have no information about them,” Mawrie said.

Correspondent IMPHAL, OCT 24: Ma nipur police on Monday raided the head office of Manipur State Power Com pany Limited (MSPCL) and the residence of its managing director (MD) in connection with an investi gation relating to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs. 5 crore by MSPCL.

A highly reliable source said that the raids were a part of Lokayukta’s inves tigation into a scam involv ing over Rs. 5 crore in the government undertaking power company.

The source said that the project was taken up with the funds from the

Centre under the NLCPR (Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Central Resources) at an estimated cost of Rs 9,45,80,600.

The project was for construction of a 2x1MVA sub-station at Chakpikarong and installation of a 45 km 33 KV line were the compo nents of the projects and was implemented by Shyama Power (India) Pvt. Ltd, a company based in Gurgaon of Haryana.

The project started in 2009 and the MSPCL sub mitted the completion report in 2015, the source said.

Lokayukta has been investigating the alleged fraudulent withdrawal of over Rs 5 crore for installa

tion of the 45 km power line. The allegation was that the funds have been withdrawn after installation of the power line for four kilometers.

Teams of Kakching district police under the supervision of its SP Shrey Vats raided the office of the MSPCL in Imphal Keishampat and the resi dence of its MD Nandeibam Sarat at Thangmeiband Yumnam Leikai in Imphal West district.

The simultaneous raids commenced around 8.30 am and lasted for about two hours, the source said. The source, however, refused to divulge the details of the raids.

NF Railway focuses on maintenance of railway tracks

Amur Falcon (NET)

IMPHAL, OCT 24 (AGENCIES): Amur Fal cons – the longest-traveling raptors in the world have started arriving at Manipur’s Tamenglong district border ing Nagaland.

The Wildlife division officials of the Forest De partment and wildlife en thusiasts on October 24 said that these migratory birds were to stay in Manipur and some parts of Nagaland by the end of November. They will fly back to Africa in a non-stop flight covering over 20,000 km. Unfortunately, many amur falcons will fall victim to armed professional bird catchers. Recently the roasted and curried amur falcons were seen on sale in some village markets in the Tamenglong district. Trussed live birds were also

However, officials be lieved two GPS-tagged amur falcons, nicknamed Chiulon and Irang, were traced in China. Amur Falcons migrat ing in large flocks crosses boundaries to reach its safe haven and stopover – the Pangti village in Nagaland, popularly known as “Falcon Capital Of The World”. Sci entifically termed as ‘Falco amurensis’, the large flocks of Amur Falcons are consid ered as a great spectacle by wildlife enthusiasts. Covering one of the longest migration routes, these birds have been marked under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972.

Amur Falcons breed in Southeast Russia and northern China, thereby mi grating to the west through India and across the Ara bian Sea to southern Af rica where they spend their winters, making a round-trip of at least 30,000 km every year, travelling between their breeding and wintering grounds.

NEW DELHI, OCT 24 (AGENCIES): Following the recent crash of an Ad vanced Light Helicopter of the Army in Singging village under Tuting circle in Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh, all Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) of the three forces—Army, Navy, and Air Force—will un dergo a one-time checking.

The Ministry of Defense made this decision in order to prevent any such crash of this nature in the future, North east Live reported. It may be mentioned that the body of the fifth missing Army trooper in the Arunachal Pradesh chopper crash was found on October 22.

The Army jawans who lost their lives in the crash were identified as Major Vikas Bhambhu, Major Mustafa Bohara, CFN TECH AVN (AEN) Ashwin KV, Havildar (OPR) Biresh Sinha, NK (OPR) Rohitashva Kumar. Major Vikas Bhambhu, Major Mustafa Bohara and Ro hitashva Kumar hail from Rajasthan, while Biresh Sinha hails from Assam’s Karimganj district.

GUWAHATI, OCT 23 (PTI): To ensure safety and comfortable journey for passengers, Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has undertaken several track renewal works in the last six months.

An official release said on Monday that 16.53 km of plain tracks have been deep screened by cleaning the impervious layer of dust and ashes from ballast dur ing September, making cu mulative progress of 103.06 km from April this year.

A sleeper renewal of 12.81 Tonne Kilometre (TKM) has been done dur ing September, making cu mulative progress of 61.01 TKM during the last six months. Turnout renewals of 18.5 equivalent sets have

Sixteen bridges have been rehabilitated during September, making cumula tive progress of 96 bridges during the period.

Besides,1546.24 km of tracks have been tested by Ultra Sonic Flaw Detection (USFD) machine during September, making cumu lative progress of 10529.18 km during the period.

USFD technique is carried out to detect flaws like cracks and timely re moval of defective rails for safety.

“The basic objective behind this rapid progress in track renewal activities is to further gear up the safety in train operations,” the NFR press release said.

3000 kg of locally produce fish to be sold at Manipur fish fest

Correspondent

IMPHAL, OCT 24: Over 3000 kg of locally produce “wallago attu” or freshwater catfish locally also known as “sareng” will sold on Ningol Chakouba, the biggest fes tival of Manipur –cum- 44th Fish Fair Cum Fish Crop Competition, 2022 on October 26.

The announcement was made by state fisheries minister

Heikham Dingo announced on Monday.

This year the festival falls on October 27 and Manipur fisheries department will be sold the fish at the “Fish Fair –cum- Fish Crop Competition,” on October 26. The fair is annually organized on the eve of the festival.

“Our effort to enhance sareng production is successful now. Henceforth, the most preferred

PumpkinreplacingopiumcultivationinArunachalvillage

TEZU (ARUNACHAL PRADESH), OCT 24 (PTI): Pumpkin cultiva tion has replaced the illegal growing of poppy seeds in a village in Lohit district providing the farmers both mental peace and money thanks to the consistent efforts of the Aunachal Pradesh government.

Medo village, over 300 km from the state capital and 27 km from the district headquarter town of Tezu, once had the dubious dis tinction of being the opium hub of Lohit district.

The government’s war against opium in the past few years and the schemes taken up by it have resulted in its farmers taking up cultivation of cash crops like ginger, mustard and tea, besides pumpkin, a popular vegetable. A visitor is now greeted with sights of lush green canopies of pumpkin plants instead of the opium flowers, were visible a few years ago. “The zero-tolerance approach of the state gov ernment on opium has worked as an antidote as the majority of the farmers have switched to vegetable cultivation,” said Tamo Riba, the extra assistant

commissioner of Wakro circle, under which the vil lage falls. The menace has, however, not yet been com pletely eliminated as a few farmers in the district are allegedly continuing with poppy cultivation, albeit on the sly, Riba said on Friday.

Poppy seeds yield the narcotic opium.

The visible change is a result of the Atma Niirbhar Krishi Yojana launched by the state government in 2021. Social organisa tions are aiding the admin istration in its fight against opium, he said.

From April to October, the village, comprising small hamlets like Maniyuliang, Tissue and others, is abuzz with the sounds of pumpkinladen trucks, as traders from neighbouring Assam throng to Medo to purchase the best varieties of the vegetable.

Pumpkin is now a ma

jor crop at Medo. Approxi mately 500 plus farmers of Wakro region cultivating more than 1000 hectares grow an average 5000 plus metric tons of pumpkin annually in this area,” agri culture development officer Vijay Namchoom said.

Local traders and shop keepers of Medo Bazar buy the vegetable produce from the farmers at rates that are influenced and decided by external market factors. If the rates at the end point market are good, the farmers earn handsomely, he said.

The pumpkins are then taken to Tinsukia in Assam from where it is taken to Guwahati, Karimganj and beyond. The government launched the Atma Nirbhar Krishi Yojna and Atma Nirbhar Bagwani Yojna in September last year and allocated Rs 60 crore for each of them. Under the

schemes, 45 per cent of the money to farmers will be government subsidy, 45 per cent will be a loan from banks and the rest ten per cent will be borne by farm ers. The banks involved in it are SBI, Arunachal Pradesh Rural Bank and Arunachal Pradesh Cooperative Apex Bank. Sobut Ngadong, a farmer in the area, said that farmers in the area are no more interested in growing poppy because of the risks involved. “People now a days are more interested in vegetable farming for a dignified life. They do not want to invite trouble by cultivating opium”.

Ngadong said the pumpkin yield this year was hit by the heavy rain but he has earned Rs 2.5 lakh this year by selling his produce.

Sofrai Towsik, who cul tivates the vegetable on 10 hectares at Medo, explained the demand and production scenario. “Last year the production was good but the income was low as buyers paid only Rs 3 per kg. This year the income was good as the produces fetched Rs 7 per kg,” he said.

Bajongso Mannyu la mented that due to exces sive rain this year he could

only produce approximately four tonnes of the vegetable compared to 10-15 tonnes during other years in his ten acre plot. Despite the low yield, he earned Rs 32,000 against Rs 40,000 last year when the market for the vegetable was down.

He appreciated the dis trict agriculture department for providing him support by providing seeds, medicines, spray machines and techni cal guidance. Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein said that unless a “drastic” policy is adopted opium cultiva tion in the state cannot be eliminated.

“We are emphasising alternate crops, but this model will not stop opium cultivation. There is a need for a drastic policy of con tract farming with buy back provision so that the farmers can sell their produces eas ily without depending on potential buyers,” he said.

“We have no objection if companies like Patanjali come to the state and sign MoUs with the government and the farmers to purchase their produce so that both the company and the local farmers can earn. This will be a win-win situation,” the deputy chief minister said.

fish variety in the state will hit the market,” the minister said.

Fish is the most important menu of the Ningol Chakouba feast, with sareng making a center piece. But, the state has to import the fish in bulk from other states and neighbouring Myanmar as local Sareng almost vanished from lakes and rivers of the state.

However for years, local fish farmers have been putting best ef

Man dies of cardiac arrest watching India-Pak T20

GUWAHATI, OCT 24 (IANS): A man in Assam’s Sivasagar district died of cardiac arrest while watch ing the India-Pakistan T20 cricket match.

The incident took place on Sunday evening and the man was identified as Bitu Gogoi, 34.

A police officer said that Gogoi along with a few of his friends went to a local cinema hall on Sunday eve ning where the match was being broadcast live.

But, during the match, Gogoi suddenly went un conscious and fell down. His friends immediately rushed him to the nearby hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead.

According to doctors, Gogoi suffered a cardiac ar rest due to the extreme level of noise pollution that was created in the cinema hall during the cricket match.

The body has been sent for an autopsy.

Meanwhile, a team of Sivsagar police has started an investigation to look into the incident. As per his family, Gogoi was healthy and did not suffer from any health issues.

forts to rear Sareng in their farm and had joined hands with the state fisheries department to rear the fish since last year.

Following the success, efforts were on to enhance the produc tion of the fish. The minister also said that the fish production in the state had increased manifolds in the past few years and the state is on the verge of achieving selfsufficiency.

Inclement weather hits retail firecracker trade in Assam

GUWAHATI, OCT 24 (AGENCIES): Inclement weather has affected retail sales of Diwali firecrackers across Assam with rain keeping many customers away from the markets.

As it is, make-shift retail firecracker stores are generally set up across the nook and cranny of the cities and towns of the state, but light/moderate rain since Monday morn ing here has taken a toll on sales to an extent, TST reported.

“Retail sales have been affected since this morning, which has hit our business hard. As it is, the whole sale rates have increased by about 45 percent while there has been a 25 percent increase in retail rates. So, with the weather forecast not good for tomorrow as well, sales will be affected on both the days (today be ing Kali Puja and tomorrow Diwali,” Pulakesh Deka, a trader in the Narengi area here said.

He further said that with the government’s di rective for a ‘green’ (ecofriendly) Diwali, traders have been allowed to sell

only ‘green’ crackers ap proved by CSIR-NEERI (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Nation al Environmental Engineer ing Research Institute.

“Police teams make surprise visits to check our trade licences and also en sure that only the approved eco-friendly crackers are sold. As such, compared to the pre-COVID years, the stocks too have been limited,” Deka said.

Assam’s firecracker hub, Barpeta, which was hit by the pandemic in the past couple of years, has seen some improvement in the situation even as the rain has dampened last-minute sales.

Speaking to The Shil long Times, Ritamani Bharali, proprietor of Manoranjan Fireworks at Brindabanhati in Barpeta town, says, “While the situ ation has improved postCOVID with orders coming from across the state over the past weeks, the weather has played spoilsport in regard to our retail business which has been hit somewhat with only 30 percent of stock be ing sold locally.”

General Manoj Pande during his visit. (NE Now)

MSPCL head office in Imphal which was raided by police on Monday.

NFR in one of the renovation work.

been done last month, mak ing cumulative progress of 83 sets during the current fiscal till September.

Arunachal Chopper crash: ALH copters to undergo check

Kerala Gov’s move against VCs kicks up political storm

CMVijayanwarns Khanagainst crossinghislimits

PALAKKAD/KOCHI/ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, OCT 24 (PTI): Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan’s move to seek the resignation of Vice-Chancellors of nine universities has kicked up a huge political storm in the southern state with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday issuing a stern warning to the Constitutional head asking him not to cross the limits of his powers.

Meanwhile, the ruling LDF announced twoday state-wide protests beginning on Tuesday.

Amid growing tension between the Raj Bhavan and the Left government, Khan, using his powers as the chancellor, issued show-cause notices to Vice-Chancellors of nine universities after they refused to send their resignation letters to him before 11.30

AM on Monday as per his directive on Sunday. The Vice Chancellors have been given time till November 3 to respond.

The “unusual steps” initiated by Khan also led to a legal battle with eight vice-chancellors challenging the chancellor’s move in the Kerala High Court.

The high court held a special sitting on Monday evening, despite being a holiday for Diwali and ordered that the vicechancellors can continue in their respective posts and they can be removed only after following due procedure.

Justice Devan Ramachandran, who heard

the urgent plea filed by the eight vice-chancellors, said the communication sent by the Chancellor was not proper.

The court noted that since the chancellor has given time till November 3 to the vice- chancellors to show cause as to why they should not be ousted, the communication seeking resignation lost its importance.

In their pleas, the VCs told the court that the entire action of the chancellor asking them to resign within 24 hours was illegal, if not malafide.

Khan, in a press conference, justified his actions against the Vice-

Suvendu Adhikari seen with Birbhum TMC leaders; triggers speculation

SURI (WB), OCT 24 (PTI): The Leader of Opposition in West Bengal, Suvendu Adhikari was seen with two TMC councillors of Suri municipality at a Kali temple here sparking off speculations.

The meeting took place at Bamni Kali Temple at Suri in Birbhum district on Saturday which Adhikari visited ahead of Kali Puja celebrations.

The two councillors - Ujjwal Chatterjee, who was the former chairman of Suri Municipality, and Kundan Dey were present at the temple when the senior BJP leader walked into the temple and they spoke to him.

Later, Adhikari posted a picture of the meeting in social media in which Chatterjee is seen speaking to him.

Birbhum district

TMC president Anubrata Mondal is in CBI custody in connection with the cattle smuggling scam. Adhikari has repeatedly criticised Mondal.

Adhikari, the Nandigram lawmaker, is a former leader of the TMC. He had switched to BJP in 2020 before the state election and is a strident critic of the TMC government and its supremo Mamata Banerjee. The TMC councillors

described the meeting as a “coincidence” and “without any political significance.”

Asked, Chatterjee said “I visit the Bamni Kali temple every year before Kali Puja. On Saturday I suddenly met Subhendu Adhikari in the temple and spoke to him out of courtesy. As he was in our party (TMC) earlier, we know each other.”

Dey said, “We don’t take politics to the temple. TMC has always been courteous to opposition leaders.”

No comment was made by the district TMC leadership about the meeting.

Adhikari had inaugurated two Kali pujas here, besides visiting Bamni temple. Kali Puja is being celebrated across the state on Monday.

Chancellors, saying the notices were issued upholding the verdict of the Supreme Court, which has declared as “void ab initio” any appointment as a Vice-Chancellor made on the recommendation of the Search Committee, which is constituted contrary to the provisions of the UGC regulation.

“Now, they have refused to resign. Now formal notices have been issued,” Khan said.

The Governor also rejected the allegations of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan that the VCs have been denied natural justice.

“I only suggested an honourable way out. I have not sacked them”, the Governor said.

Earlier, Chief Minister Vijayan held a press conference in Palakkad, lashing out at Khan for seeking resignation of vice-chancellors and said the Governor has no such powers.

Accusing Khan of acting against the Constitution and the essence of democracy,

the CM alleged that the Governor’s move was an encroachment on the powers of a democratically elected government, and the universities that are supposed to be academically independent.

Vijayan termed as “unusual” the move by the Governor and accused him of “waging war” with an intention to “destroy” the universities in the state.

“It was the Governor who appointed the VCs of these nine universities and if these appointments were made illegally, then the primary responsibility lies with the Governor himself,” the Chief Minister said, adding that the chancellor has no authority to seek their resignations.

Hitting back at Vijayan, the Governor said if somebody indulges in cheppadividya (jugglery) then a dose of little pippidi (tricks) is needed.

“If you indulge in cheppadividya...then it has become absolutely necessary to give a dose of pippidi”, the Governor told a press conference.

Sushil Modi blames Bihar govt for dengue outbreak

PATNA, OCT 24

(PTI): Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi on Monday squarely blamed the Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar for the outbreak of dengue which, he claimed, was “breaking all records” in the state.

His alarm over the outbreak comes in the backdrop of the number of people afflicted with the vector-borne infection inching close to the 8,000 mark in the state.

The former deputy chief minister was talking to reporters here after visiting the Dengue ward of Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), the state’s largest government healthcare facility.

“Preventive steps should have been taken in August itself when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav were busy forming a new

BSF, Pak Rangers exchange sweets along Intl borders

JAMMU/ATTARI, OCT 24 (PTI): The Border Security Force and the Pakistan Rangers on Monday exchanged sweets at several border outposts along the International Border in the Jammu region and Punjab on Diwali.

The border guarding forces of India and Pakistan exchange sweets and wishes on various religious festivals such as Eid and Diwali, and also on their respective Independence Days.

Armies two sides also exchanged sweets at some forward posts along the Line of Control on the occasion.

“Today, on the occasion of Diwali, BSF and Pakistan Rangers exchanged sweets at various border outposts under the Jammu frontier in a very cordial atmosphere,” a BSF spokesperson said.

It was done along the border outposts in Samba, Kathua, R S Pura and Akhnoor border, he said.

At the Attari-Wagah border, the BSF offered

sweets to Pakistan Rangers on the occasion of Diwali, officials said.

A commandant-rank officer of the BSF, along with other personnel, gave sweets to the Pakistan Rangers at the joint check post.

Officials of both forces shook hands and exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes.

The spokesperson said the BSF has always been at the forefront of creating a peaceful and congenial atmosphere on

the border while dominating it effectively.

“Such gestures (exchange of sweets) help build a peaceful atmosphere and cordial relationships on the border between both the border guarding forces,” he said.

Shah interacts with North Gujarat BJP leaders

PALANPUR (GUJARAT), OCT 24 (PTI): Union Home Minister

Amit Shah interacted with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders from North Gujarat districts here on Monday and reviewed preparations for the upcoming Assembly elections.

Shah attended a meeting of the North Gujarat zone at a medical college in Palanpur city of Banaskantha district, where Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and state BJP president CR Paatil, among other leaders, were present, party functionaries said.

BJP leaders of the North Gujarat zone, including Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs), Members of Parliament (MPs), Panchayat presidents, local party officer-bearers and representatives of cooperatives were present at the meet, they said.

This was the third such zonelevel conclave presided over by Shah, a senior BJP leader, in as many days. The former BJP president attended similar meetings of South and Central zones at Valsad and Vadodara, respectively, in the last two days. He will be at Veraval in

Gir Somnath district on Tuesday to attend the Saurashtra zone conclave.

These meetings are aimed at seeking suggestions and offering guidance and strategies for the ruling party to meet its ambitious target of winning 150 seats in the 182-member Assembly polls for which are due in the next few months, the functionaries said.

The Congress had won a record 149 Assembly seats in 1985.

Districts in North Gujarat include Banaskantha, Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Patan, Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad.

government,” said Modi, whose party got thrown out of power in the upheaval.

According to the state health society, on Sunday 295 fresh cases were reported which took the total number of people testing positive for dengue, since January, to 7871.

“The government never cared for fogging and anti-larval spray. Machines at hospitals are gathering dust. The deputy CM, who holds the health portfolio, never bothered to hold a review meeting of the department. The chief minister seems too busy pursuing his national ambitions,” Modi alleged.

Notably, Yadav had last week launched a statewide intensive fogging and anti-larval spray drive as part of which he flagged off hundreds of four-wheelers and motorcycles in the capital city.

The Governor used the colloquial Malayalam terms to give a reply to the Chief Minister in response to Vijayan’s usage of “pippidi” in his earlier speeches targeting Khan.

Later, addressing a public meeting organised by the CPI(M) in Palakkad, Vijayan continued his attack against the Governor, claiming that Khan would not be able to go beyond his constitutional powers.

“You have powers and privileges as you are holding the office of the Governor. You should function within the ambit of those powers. You cannot move an inch beyond that limit. You have constitutionally derived powers. Those powers are very clear that you have to function according to the advice of the state government,” the Chief Minister said.

Meanwhile, the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF announced a two-day statewide protest against the Governor from tomorrow, accusing him of working in accordance with the directive of the RSS.

BJP threatens to gherao Odisha CM’s residence on

BHUBANESWAR, OCT 23 (PTI): The opposition BJP has threatened to gherao Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s residence if prompt action is not taken by the state police in the Archana Nag blackmailing case and the killing of a BJD zilla parishad member.

BJP state general secretary Prithviraj Harichandan said the chief minister’s residence will be gheraoed on October 31 if the Odisha police failed to take action in 48 hours. He made the announcement on Sunday after the BJP activists ended their 24-hour ‘Satyagraha’ near the city police headquarters here in support of the two demands.

“We are giving 48 hours to the DGP, Odisha and the commissioner of police. BJP will gherao the CM’s residence and agitate across the state if proper action is not taken by the police,” Harichandan told reporters here.

Alleging that the police did not act in accordance to the law due to “pressure” from the ruling BJD, he said,

Naveen Patnaik

“The police is working in the interest of the ruling party due to the intervention by the chief minister, who is also in charge of the home department”.

Police claimed that Archana Nag befriended and provided feminine company to rich and influential persons, like politicians, businessmen and film producers and took pictures of their intimate moments. She later blackmailed and extorted money from them.

BJP general secretary Lekhashree Samantasinghar said the party has demanded a CBI probe into the incident as Odisha police are shielding the political leaders linked to alleged the racket.

Govt should solve hunger problem than discrediting bodies: Kharge

NEW DELHI, OCT 24

(IANS): Newly-elected Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday attacked the Centre over India sliding down on hunger index, and said the government should solve the problem rather than discrediting the organisation.

“Rather than discrediting and ignoring reports by organizations, the @BJP4India Govt should work towards solving the hunger crisis. In the last 8 years, we have seen that there has been slow progress on this front and the Govt data also reveals the same,” Kharge said.

“Diwali celebrates victory over defeat and awareness over ignorance, an occasion to celebrate life with renewed hopes and new dreams. May this

auspicious occasion light up your life with health, happiness and peace.

Happy Diwali!”, Kharge said.

A few days back, the Centre had said that “misinformation seems to be the hallmark of the annually released Global Hunger Index”.

“The index is an

erroneous measure of hunger and suffers from serious methodological issues. Three out of the four indicators used for calculation of the index are related to the health of children and cannot be representative of the entire population.

The fourth and most important indicator estimate of Proportion of Undernourished (PoU) population is based on an opinion poll conducted on a very small sample size of 3,000,” said a statement by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

The Global Hunger Report 2022 released by Concern Worldwide and Welt Hunger Hilfe, NonGovernment Organisations from Ireland and Germany, respectively, has ranked India at 107 among 121 countries.

What is Food Fortification?

Food Fortification

Fortification is the addition of key vitamins and minerals such as Iron, Iodine, Zinc, Vitamins A & D to staple foods such as rice, wheat, oil, milk and salt to improve their nutritional content. These nutrients may or may not have been originally present in the food before processing or may have been lost during processing. Why do we Need Fortification of Food?

Deficiency of Micronutrient malnutrition results from deficiency of Vitamins and minerals in the diet and affects all sections of our population. Food fortification has emerged as a proven, simple, scalable and cost-effective strategy to reduce prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies among population. It is a complementary strategy to dietary diversification and nutrient supplementation.

Benefits of consuming Fortified Foods?

1. Nutrients are added to staple foods since they are widely consumed. Thus, this is an excellent method to improve the health of a large section of the population, all at once.

2. It is a safe method of improving nutrition among people. The addition of micronutrients to food does not pose a health risk to people. The quantity added is small and well under the Recommended Daily Allowances (RDA) and are well regulated as per prescribed standards for safe consumption.

3. It is a cost-effective intervention and does not require any changes in eating patterns or food habits of people. It is a socio-culturally acceptable way to deliver nutrients to people.

4. Food Fortification does not change the taste, smell, cooking, and storing methods.

and

Welfare, Govt. of Nagaland.

Interest by

Food Safety Authority,

Suvendu Adhikari

Mallikarjun Kharge

BSF and Pakistani Rangers personnel exchange sweets on the occasion of Diwali, at the India-Pakistan Attari-Wagah border, near Amritsar. (PTI)

Pinarayi Vijayan and Arif Mohammed Khan

Italy turns right

Italy has its first female prime minister when 45-year old Giorgia Meloni, was sworn-in on October 23 following a surprise result after her party Bothers of Italy party in alliance with other parties won 46% of the votes. The Brothers of Italy led by Giorgia Meloni got over 26 per cent of the votes polled. The vote share of the main opposi tion party, the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), collapsed to a historic low of 19 per cent. The Five Star Movement bagged around 16 per cent of the votes. The victorious right-wing coalition got 46 per cent of the votes all around. Meloni’s two rightwing coalition partners are the Forza Italia led by the former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and the League Party led by another right-winger, Matteo Salvini. Together, the coalition partners control both the upper and lower houses of the legislature. On the campaign trail, Meloni empha sized her womanhood and motherhood, though she is not a feminist. She has also taken a hard line against immigration- suggesting that the Italian Navy patrol the Mediterranean to keep migrants from arriving by sea. The liberal media has not warmed up to Meloni’s victory as they see rollbacks to minority rights, including the rights of women, LGBTQ people, and migrants. Her Brothers of Italy party uses an insignia and slogan - “Dio, patria, famiglia,” or “God, country, family” - which echo its fascist predecessors. Meloni will have to contend with a series of major issues - some of which, like immigration, a tax system overhaul, and judicial reform- have plagued Italy for years, across many governments, seemingly without a tenable solu tion. In another well-quoted speech from 2019 she said: “I am Giorgia, I’m a woman, I’m a mother... I’m Christian.” For the role of Italy’s new family and birth rate minister, she has picked Eugenia Roccella who has spoken out against abortion and threatened to reverse recently agreed rights for same-sex parents. Meloni may have picked an anti-abortion minister but she has promised to fully enforce the law that protects access to abor tion. Same-sex couples have fewer rights in Italy than many other European countries, and Meloni has no plans to overturn existing laws. But she has spoken out against adoptions and surrogacy involving LGBT couples. Ahead of her swearing-in, Giorgia Meloni has sent a strong message to her allies that the new government will take a clear proWest position which came in response to former prime minister and Forza Italia (a coalition partner) Silvio Berlusconi’s warm words for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Italy has voted for a party that has promised to reassert Italian ethos as opposed to appeasement politics of the centre and left. The path that Italian voters have taken is for change amidst apprehension economic downslide due to the Ukraine war and also being swarmed by migrants. In a nutshell, Meloni has promised that good times are here and in a sense make Italy great again. These ring a familiar tone which used to be the favourite of former US president Donald Trump but the difference is that Italy is not the USA and Meloni is Trump but both share the same ideol ogy. However, for the liberal media that is enough to brand her as extreme right; meaning a threat to liberal democracy. If Meloni can meander through and survive, she has the opportunity to set the trend for the west.

DailyDevotion

The Proper Perspective

Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ… —2 Corinthians 2:14

The proper perspective of a servant of God must not simply be as near to the highest as he can get, but it must be the highest. Be careful that you vigorously maintain God’s perspective, and remember that it must be done every day, little by little. Don’t think on a finite level. No outside power can touch the proper perspec tive.

The proper perspective to maintain is that we are here for only one purpose— to be captives marching in the procession of Christ’s triumphs. We are not on display in God’s showcase— we are here to exhibit only one thing— the “captivity [of our lives] to the obedi ence of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). How small all the other perspectives are! For example, the ones that say, “I am standing all alone, battling for Jesus,” or, “I have to maintain the cause of Christ and hold down this fort for Him.” But Paul said, in essence, “I am in the proces sion of a conqueror, and it doesn’t matter what the dif ficulties are, for I am always led in triumph.” Is this idea being worked out practically in us? Paul’s secret joy was that God took him as a blatant rebel against Jesus Christ, and made him a captive— and that became his purpose. It was Paul’s joy to be a captive of the Lord, and he had no other interest in heaven or on earth. It is a shameful thing for a Christian to talk about getting the victory. We should belong so completely to the Vic tor that it is always His victory, and “we are more than conquerors through Him…” (Romans 8:37).

“We are to God the fragrance of Christ…” (2 Cor inthians 2:15). We are encompassed with the sweet aroma of Jesus, and wherever we go we are a wonder ful refreshment to God.

Quotes

Post-mortem

Beyond Concordants, Handshakes and Prayers

Much hope for peace, reconciliation and unity has been gen erated once again among the Naga public with the Forum for Naga Recon ciliation (FNR) renewing its earlier initiative to bring the Naga Political Groups (NPGs)—the NSCN (IM) and the NNPGs—to a com mon platform.

On September 14, un der the welcome initiative of FNR, the NSCN (IM) and the NNPGs came together for the first time in several years and signed the “Sep tember Joint Accordant”, making a commitment to find ways to transcend their differences through coop eration on the principles of peace.

Further as a follow-up to this, during a two-day meeting facilitated by the FNR at Kolkata on October 17 and 18, the two sides have agreed to form a ‘Council of Naga Relationships and Cooperation’ to explore re alistic ways for Nagas to move forward on the basis of Naga people’s historical and political rights.

As expected the media has termed the recent initia tive as ‘significant steps’ in the ongoing Naga peace pro cess. The overall narrative is changing from ‘the division of the past’ to ‘forgiveness, peace and a shared future’.

The willingness of the NPGs to set aside differ ences and work together

also comes in the backdrop of the much talked about Naga solution. All these are hopeful signs and fulfill the fervent prayer and wishes of the Naga people for unity and solution.

However we should not forget that this is not the first time that our NPGs under the initiative of the FNR have made such public resolve and commitments.

Numerous concordant and agreements have been signed in the past as well. But what happened to similar public commitments made earlier by the NPGs? Why have they failed?

Public memory may be short but let The Naga Republic highlight some of the recent agreements which did not materialize.

1. The leaders of the NPGs signed the historic ‘Naga Concordant’ on Au gust 26, 2011.

It may be mentioned that the center piece agree ment in the ‘Naga Concor dant’, mediated by the FNR, was for the different armed groups to work towards the formation of one Naga Na tional Government.

Signed by top Naga leaders Mr. Th Muivah, the Late Mr. Isak Chishi Swu, Brigadier (Retired) S. Singnya, Mr. Zhopra Vero, General (Retired) Khole Konyak, and Mr. N. Kitovi Zhimomi, the ‘Naga Con cordant’ had “resolved in principle to work towards

the formation of one Naga National Government”.

In fact to ensure the realization of the Naga Na tional Government, the Naga Concordant had even taken the step to form a High Level Commission (HLC) com prising of the signatories, headed by the Chairman/ President or the General Secretary/Vice President, and having no less than four competent members in the ranks of Kilonser/Major General and above, as found deemed fit by the respective governments.

Further according to the Naga Concordant, in order to expedite this pro cess of eventually forming the Naga National Govern ment, the HLC was to hold meetings without any further delay in the presence of the FNR as facilitators.

However till date even after eleven years the signa tories have been unable to fulfill what was agreed upon in the Naga Concordant.

Interestingly the FNR has not publicly stated the reason/s for the failure in implementing the Naga Con cordant. What will the FNR do if the latest September Joint Accordant also fails?

2. Another agreement was signed on March 2014 following two days of closed door meeting between top Naga leaders facilitated by the FNR. Called the ‘Lenten Agreement’, the same set of signatories had reiterated

“to the formation of Naga National Government”.

While the Lenten Agreement stated that the commitment to form the Naga National Govern ment was “a process”, it was agreed upon that “this task should begin at the earliest and be completed without delay” and “for the FNR to work out the modalities to expedite the process” of forming the Naga National Government.

Curiously another eight years has elapsed with the Lenten Agreement now ex tinct.

No progress was made either with regard to the High Level Commission of the Naga Political Groups as mandated by the Naga Concordant or the proposed ‘modalities’ that the FNR was supposed to work on as per the Lenten Agreement.

Now after eleven years since the signing of the Naga Concordant and eight years after the Lenten Agreement, the latest is the Septem ber Joint Accordant signed on September 14, 2022 be tween the NSCN (IM) and the Working Committee of the Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) in the presence of the FNR.

The oft-repeated words to pursue “genuine under standing”, “resolve outstand ing issues” and the commit ment “to dialogue”, “for giveness” “moving forward” besides solemn “affirmation

Beware of crushed stone, chips fraud/scam in Dimapur

Crushed stone chips business has become the monumental scam, cheating naive and un informed buyers in Dimapur. It’s a misfortune most of the people from Dimapur has suffered in one way or another, losing thousands of Rupees in a single purchase. This crooked practice should be stopped through informed awareness.

How this scam works

Chippings/ Crushed Stone sell ers offer buyers below usual price, claiming they stand to make very marginal percentage. However, they gain higher profits by lessening the quantity or by mixing smaller sizes of crushed stones which has fewer uses.

Since customers cannot understand how they are fooled because crushed stones are delivered in truckloads and there is no traditional ways to measure, these swindlers are left uncorrected.

Crushed stones are sold in Dumper/Tipper Trucks that car ries 400 cft but in reality, buyers get around 350 cft only for the price of 400 cefty. And if they do get 400 cefty, they find smaller sizes of stone chips hidden between lower and up per layers.

In order to stop these cheaters, I am contributing few awareness steps on how to escape from the greedy clutches.

1. Before the truck unloads, tell the driver to switch off the engine. Safety first. Then raise yourself above the truck’s body level to inspect if it is loaded up to body-level.

2. Since Dumper/Tipper Truck’s body is built higher than normal trucks, you cannot inspect if it’s fully loaded by simply standing next to the truck. The dealers know people are often lazy and to avoid getting few dirt on them, never climb onto the body to check its quantity. This is the reason why sellers become emboldened and never deliver full loads.

3. When you find the load is not up to the brim of the truck body, some colluding con drivers will tell you that at the loading spot, they topped the body leveling but during transportation, the crushed-stones have compacted below. Do not fall for this con because even bumpy roads cannot compact crushed-stones by not more than one centimeter (less than half an inch) from the brim of body-level.

4. Finally, tell the driver to raise

the hydraulic shaft slowly and steadily while unloading. Not in one swift mo tion. This way, you can see if 6 mm & 8 mm (smaller sized and cheaper chips that are hazardous for RCC buildings) sizes are lodged between two layers.

If the load is inadequate, send it back and tell them to deliver your money’s worth or report to patrolling police escorts or nearest police station through phone call.

Most efficient way to stop scams and frauds is by disclosing and edu cating the whole community on how to uncover if they are being duped through simple steps. These greedy businesspeople will keep on duping and deceiving the innocent buyers unless everyone in the community is enlightened.

So, let’s start by sharing the above exposition with everyone through WhatsApp Groups because everyone may not have the opportu nity to read this material hear. Please take a photo shot and share it. By divulging this information, you are actively participating in the process of stopping fraudsters and crooks.

Hukavi A Sumi, Dimapur, (hukavia5@gmail.com)

in God” and choosing a “shared future” are repeated again.

Like the Lenten Agree ment, which was a follow-up to the Naga Concordant, this time also to take forward the September Joint Accordant, another significant meeting under the initiative of the FNR in Kolkata on October 17-18 agreed to form “Coun cil of Naga Relationships and Cooperation” to be led by the convenor of NNPGs and NSCN (IM) chairman.

Now similar to the Naga Concordant and the Lenten Agreement which agreed to work towards the formation of one Naga Na tional Government with the public resolve to “begin at the earliest and completed without delay”, the agree ment to form the Coun cil of Naga Relationships and Cooperation post the September Joint Accordant will also be done “at the earliest”, declared the joint statement of the NSCN (IM) and NNPGs.

Given the delay of 11 years since the Naga Con cordant, the NPGs should be more serious to fulfill what they have agreed upon. The NPGs, despite public ex pectation, have so far failed miserably to deliver on the numerous concordant and other agreements signed among them with the FNR. They should not take the support of the Naga public for granted.

The FNR should also be a platform that not only mediates but also comes out with definite blueprint/s and clear roadmap to help the NPGs take forward the agreements/concordant. To recall, as per the Lenten Agreement, coincidently signed in Kolkata eight years ago, the FNR was requested by the NPGs “to work out the modalities to expedite the process” of a Naga National Government.

While it is true that the process got derailed not due to the fault of FNR, but nev ertheless, the FNR should take responsibility to pro vide direction and purpose to the latest initiative it has painstakingly undertaken. It should come out with a draft on how it can help the two parties take forward the idea of the ‘Council of Naga relationships and coop eration’. This time both the NSCN (IM) and the NNPGs should be held accountable to deliver.

Naga reconciliation may be an ongoing process similar to a ‘marathon’ that requires time and patience. However a solution to the Indo-Naga peace process, now into its 25th year, can not be treated the same way. A solution can no longer be delayed and for this a powersharing arrangement among the NPGs should be evolved within a definite time-line.

Along Longkumer

Benediction at Naga National Prayer Day service

OLord – our living God, just as you have heard to the cries of your people Israel when they were enslaved in Egypt so we have great hope and trust that you have heard to the cries of the Naga people today.

Just as you delivered Is rael from the bondage of Egypt and granted salvation, we believe that you have listened to the confessions of the Naga people and grant us salvation.

We pray that as you raised prophets in Israel like Samuel, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others so that you will raise prophets among the Nagas who will pray and advocate for the Naga people.

With all our limitations we surrender ourselves to the almighty God. Endow us with your goodness, compassion and love.

Anoint us to bring peace and tranquility in our Land.

Anoint us to love and serve the weak, poor, alien,

The truth of inflation

Inflation is everywhere.

India’s retail inflation is at a five-month high; in the UK it is back in double digits, the highest it has been in 40 years; in Japan inflation has hit an eight-year high; in Europe bread prices are up nearly 20%; shops and businesses in Ghana have gone on a strike in protest against the whopping 37% inflation rate. Across the world, taming inflation has become the biggest priority for governments and central banks.

IMF’s latest World Eco nomic Outlook says that ‘increasing price pressures remain the most immediate threat to current and future prosperity by squeezing real incomes and undermining macroeconomic stability’.

Economists and commenta tors all agree that there are three key culprits of this high inflation. The first is the large welfare spending done by governments during Covid and the ‘loose money’ policies followed by central banks to boost investments.

The second is Russia’s inva sion of Ukraine, which has disrupted supplies of gas, wheat and cooking oils. The

third is China’s ‘zero-Covid’ policy, which has caused supply disruptions from the ‘factory of the world’. To sum it up, inflation has been caused by the three enemies of neoliberal economics — welfare spending, Russia and China.

How should countries deal with this crisis? The IMF’s prescriptions are broadly what all mainstream economists agree on: cut government spending and tighten money supply. Re duced subsidies and govern ment spending will take the extra ‘unearned’ money out of the hands of households and make them spend less on goods and services. Higher interest rates will make busi nesses think twice before taking loans to buy machines and raw materials, bringing down the demand for indus trial inputs.

Calibrating interest rates and fiscal cut-backs will be a difficult task. Econo mists admit that removing subsidies and incentives and raising interest rates might cause economies to slow down. But the mainstream consensus is that not doing it is a bigger inflation risk. The

IMF, for instance, says that it is better to over-tighten than under-tighten. It recognises that this recommendation will be a difficult political pill to swallow. It says, ‘As economies start slowing down… calls for a pivot towards looser monetary conditions will inevitably become louder… but central banks around the world need to keep a steady hand with monetary policy firmly fixed on taming inflation.’

There are three ques tions to be asked here. The first is whether inflation is really a bad thing that would justify the neoliberal obses sion with curbing it. The second is whether curbing inflation helps long-term economic growth by reduc ing uncertainties. The third is whether inflation is actually caused by higher demand in a low supply environment or something else is the real culprit.

Inflation is bad only if it is caused by more money chasing fewer goods. Prices can rise even when supplies go up. After all, things do cost more than they did a century ago, even though the availability of goods and

services have gone up dra matically. In other words, as long as money incomes rise at a faster pace than prices, real incomes will rise in spite of inflation. If anything, a certain amount of infla tion — both in goods and wages — is needed for both entrepreneurs and employees to ‘feel’ that their profits and incomes are going up. People cannot sense real income growth in a deflationary atmosphere, if returns to capital and labour fall.

Neoliberal economists, who have determined gov ernment and central bank policies across the world for the past 30 years, claim that high inflation damp ens investment. They argue that entrepreneurs invest expecting predictable returns, which, in turn, requires a stable inflation outlook. And if investments fall, economic growth slows down as well. This belief has informed cen tral bank policies of inflation targeting, including in India. But what does this show? In the US, inflationtargeting caused a drop in the average annual investment rate from 22.6% of GDP to 21%; in the UK, it fell

from 23.2% to 17.5%; and in Germany inflation-targeting pushed the investment-GDP ratio from an annual aver age of 24.8% to 21.4%. The impact on growth was the same. Inflation-targeting in the US brought the inflation rate down from an average of 5.1% to 2.4%, but it also brought GDP growth down from 2.5% to 1.5%. In the UK, inflation fell from 8% to 2.5%, but growth too dropped from 2.5% to 1.3%.

In Germany, the inflation rate was brought down from 3.4% to 2.5%, but the aver age GDP growth halved from 2.5% to 1.2%. Labour productivity has also fallen across the world wherever inflation-targeting has been introduced as a central bank policy.

One could argue that the current situation is differ ent because there are genuine supply shortages due to the Russia-Ukraine war and China’s supply disruptions. In such a scenario, there is no option but to bring infla tion down, even at the cost of growth and investments.

But this is a falsehood being pushed by neoliberal econo mists and Bretton Woods in

orphans and widows.

Anoint us with the Holy Spirit to build your kingdom here in our land and beyond just as it is in heaven.

And now in keeping with your promises to our fathers, remember your Naga people always.

Fulfill your promise in and through us for your own glory.

Bring the Nagas together and keep them for your own heritage.

Bless the Naga people from generations to generations from this time forth and forever.

And now may the love of the Father, the grace of the Son, Jesus Christ, and the sweet fellowship of the Holy Spirit abide with us now, and forevermore.

stitutions. Across the world, it is supernormal corporate profits which are the real cause for high inflation. In the US, between 1979 and 2019, when inflation has been relatively low, higher wages accounted for 62% of the rise in the price of goods, raw materials, machines and other inputs accounted for 27% and corporate profits 11%. In the past two years, when inflation surged to a four-decade high, wages ac counted for just 8% of the rise in prices, inputs 38%, and corporate profits 54%. In other words, it is cor porate profits which are caus ing inflation right now and not supply disruptions from Russia and China or higher welfare spending by gov ernments. The IMF-World Bank-neoliberal economist lobbies will never tell you that. Because mainstream economics is just an apolo gia for corporate greed, and that is why the corporatecontrolled media spreads it as an absolute truth that must always be followed by every government.

Aunindyo Chakravarty, Senior Economic Analyst

Reader’s note: Articles or letters published in any of the columns do not reflect the view of this newspaper nor that of the Editor in any manner.

Love is a mutual self-giving which ends in self-recovery.

~ Fulton J. Sheen

And the People Say in unison: Amen! Rev. Dr. L. Kari Longchar, Former Director, Peace Affairs, Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC)

People across India revel in Diwali spirit after 2 yrs of muted celebrations

NEW DELHI, OCT 24 (PTI): Colourful lights il luminated buildings and earthen lamps dotted houses as people across the country celebrated Diwali with pomp on Monday af ter two years of muted fes tivities due to the pandemic.

People, dressed in their finest, exchanged sweets and gifts, visited temples and greeted each other. Some restrictions on burst ing of firecrackers, particu larly in the national capital, however, remained in force.

President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted the people of the country and hoped the festival will bring happiness, wellbeing and strengthen the spirit of mutual coop eration and harmony.

Like previous years, Prime Minister Modi cele brated Diwali with soldiers.

This time it was in Kar gil. Addressing the soldiers, he said India is against war but also underscored the need for strength to ensure peace and asserted that its growing power boosts the

chances of global peace and prosperity. India stands for peace and has always con sidered war as not the first but last resort, but its armed forces have the strength and strategies to give a befitting reply to anyone who casts an evil eye on the nation, he said.

The whole world is looking at India which is a “balancing force”, he told soldiers at the site of the armed forces’ heroic feats in the Kargil war in 1999 as India beat back Pakistani forces.

Modi invoked the ep ics of Ramayana and Ma habharata to assert that it is in Indian tradition to avoid war be it in Lanka or Ku rukshetra and the country stands for world peace.

One of the most popu lar Hindu festivals, Diwali is associated with the day Lord Ram is believed to have returned to Ayod hya with his wife Sita and brother Lakshman after defeating Ravana during his 14 years in exile and is seen as a celebration of the victory of good over evil.

At the Attari-Wagah

border in Punjab, person nel of the Border Security Force (BSF) offered sweets to their Pakistani coun terparts on the occasion.

Officials of both the forces shook hands and exchanged pleasantries for a few min utes.

Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena and Chief Minister Arvind Ke jriwal wished happiness and prosperity to the people of the city on Diwali. Del hi’s air quality turned “very poor” on Monday amid an increase in stubble burning, bursting of firecrackers and moderately unfavourable

meteorological conditions which allowed accumula tion of pollutants. How ever, the 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) of 312 was still the second best for the Diwali day in seven years. Before this, the city recorded an AQI of 281 on Diwali in 2018.

The Delhi government has re-imposed a complete ban on the production, sale and use of all types of firecrackers till January 1, including on Diwali, a prac tice it has been following for the last two years.

To mark the occa sion, Madhya Pradesh CM

Shivraj Singh Chouhan had dinner with more than 400 children orphaned by COV ID-19 and assured them all help from the government for their education.

Chouhan and his wife Sadhna Singh hosted a party for such children at the chief minister’s official residence in Bhopal on Sunday night. “This is your mama’s (maternal uncle) house,” the chief minister said, adding that he wanted the children to enjoy, be happy and cheerful.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath extended Diwali greetings

and urged people’s repre sentatives and employees to celebrate the festival with the deprived and needy people.

“It should be our en deavour that today every house should be illumi nated with the spirit of harmony, there should be ‘Ramatv’ all around,” he said in a tweet.

The chief minister also said he took ‘darshan’ at Ram Lala and Hanuman Garhi temple in Ayodhya on Diwali.

The residents of Goa celebrated Diwali by burn ing huge effig ies of de

mon Narakasur in the early hours of Monday as a long held tradition on the festi val, marking the victory of good over evil. The ‘Nara kasur Vadh’ (killing of the demon) competitions began in state capital Panaji and cities such as Margao and Vasco at night and con tinued till early Monday morning.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant greeted people on the occasion and expressed hope that the festival will bring peace, joy and prosperity to the state.

Several other chief ministers and governors also extended Diwali greetings.

“Wishing you a Happy Diwali and Bandi Chhor Divas. I pray to God that each ‘diya’ on this Diwali day brings your home suc cess and health,” Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann said in a video message.

Bandi Chhor Divas coincides with Diwali and it marks the historical re lease of the sixth Sikh guru, Guru Hargobind, along with 52 kings from a Mu ghal prison in 1620.

Mann also asked peo

ple to celebrate a green Diwali.

“Pollution is a prob lem and has become a chal lenge. Therefore, efforts should be made to celebrate green Diwali,” he said.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, while attending a Diwali event in his hometown of Thane, said, “May this Diwali bring prosperity and good health to you all. We have to put the devel opment of the state on fast-track, and give justice to all sections of society. An era of development has begun.” He also announced City and Industrial De velopment Corporation’s new housing scheme under which 7,849 flats will be available at affordable rates at Bamandongri and Khar kopar in Ulve area of Navi Mumbai.

The festival of lights was also celebrated across Tamil Nadu and Puduch erry. In lines with a Su preme Court order, the Tamil Nadu government had specified that crackers should be burst from 6 am to 7 am and 7 pm to 8 pm.

Maha govt not taking steps to help rain-hit farmers: Pawar

NEW DELHI, OCT 24 (PTI): Chief Minister Ar vind Kejriwal on Monday claimed that among the 10 most polluted cities in Asia, eight are from India and Delhi is not on the list.

NAGPUR, OCT 24 (PTI):

Twenty coal wagons of a goods train derailed in Maharashtra’s Amravati district, affecting the rail route due to which many passenger trains were can celled, short-terminated or diverted, railway officials said on Monday.

There was no report of any casualty.

The derailment took place at 11.20 pm on Sun day between Malkhed and Timatla stations on WardhaBadnera section of the Nag pur division, a release by the Central Railway said.

The up and down lines on the section were affected, it said.

This resulted in the can cellation of various trains including 11122 Wardha-

Bhusaval, 12140 NagpurChhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), 12119 Amravati-Nagpur, 11040 Gondia-Kolhapur, 01372 Wardha-Amravati, 17642 Narkher-Kacheguda, 11121 Bhusaval-Wardha, 12106 Gondia-CSMT, 12136 Nag pur-Pune, 12120 Ajni-Am ravati,12140 Nagpur-CSMT and 01374 Nagpur-Wardha.

A number of other trains diverted via Chan dur Bazar-Narkhed, Nag pur-Narkhed-Chandur Bazar-Badnera, WadiDaund-Manmad-Jalgaon, Bhusaval-Khandwa-ItarsiNagpur,d Akola-Secunder abad and other routes.

Many trains were also short-terminated at Nagpur and other places, the release said.

Citing a media report, he said even though the capital hasn’t won the war against pollution yet it is “encouraging” that Del hi “isn’t considered” the world’s most polluted city anymore.

“Some people have been asking - have we won the war against pollution and am I satisfied? Not at all. It is encouraging that we are no more world’s most polluting city. “It en courages us that we are on the right track. However, we have to become world’s cleanest city. That’s our goal,” Kejriwal said.

He said that while some years ago, Delhi was considered to be one of the “most polluted cities in the world”, the situation has now “improved.”

Among 10 most pol luted cities in Asia, 8 are from India and Delhi not in the list.

MUMBAI, OCT 24 (PTI): Maharashtra Governor Bha gat Singh Koshyari and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday greeted people on Diwali and the CM laid emphasis on speed ing up development of the state.

This is Shinde’s first Diwali as chief minister.

He was sworn in as the CM on June 30 this year after the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas

Aghadi government.

Wishing citizens of the state while attending a Di wali event in his hometown Thane, Shinde said, “May this Diwali bring prosperity and good health to you all.”

“We have to put the development of the state on a fast track, and give justice to all sections of the society. An era of development has begun,” Shinde added.

Referring to India’s vic tory over Pakistan in a nail

biting thriller in the ICC T20 World Cup tie on Sunday, the CM said, “We played a similar match three and half months back and won. The state and the country had seen it.”

On the festive occa sion, he also announced City and Industrial Devel opment Corporation’s (CI DCO) new housing scheme under which 7,849 flats will be available at affordable rates at Bamandongri and Kharkopar in Ulve area of neighbouring Navi Mumbai township.

Governor Koshyari also wished people on Diwa li. Photographs of the gov ernor lighting lamps at his residence in his hometown Dehradun were posted on his official Twitter handle on Sunday.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami also called on Ko shyari at the latter’s resi dence on the occasion of Diwali on Monday.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also extended Di wali greetings to citizens of the state.

Sharad Pawar

PUNE, OCT 24 (PTI):

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on Monday said the Eknath Shinde-Bharatiya Janata Party government in Maharashtra has failed to take concrete measures to help cultivators who have incurred heavy losses due to rains in parts of the state.

The former Union ag riculture minister interacted with farmers in his home district of Pune to under stand their grievances and losses faced by them due to heavy rainfall.

Talking to farmers in Purandar tehsil, Pawar rued the state government was not ready to take concrete measures for cultivators who incurred heavy losses due to downpour. Pune has received unusually high amount of rains in October.

of measures. The Centre has also been apprised of the situation on ground, but no concrete decision has been taken,” Pawar said.

He further said the state government recent ly announced a complete waiver for farmers who have taken loans from Bhuvikas Bank, but sought to know how many agriculturists have availed of credit from the lender.

The state government has announced a loan waiv er of Rs 964 crore from Bhuvikas Bank among other measures taken for devel opment of the agriculture sector.

KOLKATA, OCT 24 (PTI): The West Bengal government has taken all precautionary measures, including evacuation of people and supply of relief materials to shelters, to deal with possible devastation under the impact of cyclone ‘Sitrang’, a senior official said on Monday.

Several teams of the disaster management de partment along with SDRF and NDRF personnel have been posted in coastal areas of the state, he said.

“No tourists and fish ermen are being allowed to go into the sea. Special teams of police along with State Disaster Response Force and National Disaster Response Force personnel have been deployed. We are

not taking chances,” a senior official told PTI.

Administrations of South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, and Purba Me dinipur have been kept on alert as ‘Sitrag’ is expected to bring in its wake heavy to very heavy rain and wind reaching speed of 90 to 100 kmph, gusting to 110 kmph, in these districts, he said, cit ing the Met department bul letin. The weather system is expected to make a landfall between Tinkona island and Sandwip in Bangladesh early on October 25.

It lay centred around 430 km south of Sagar Is land on Monday morning, the weather office said.

Most of those staying in the coastal areas have been moved to safe shelters

where “plenty of drinking water pouches, medicines, milk and dry food have been supplied,” the official said.

“We have asked the district administrations not to take any chance. As the day progresses, the weather condition is expected to de teriorate. We have advised people to stay indoors in case there is heavy rainfall as an impact of the cyclone,” he said.

Besides, control rooms in coastal districts have been opened, and all develop ments are also being moni tored by disaster manage ment department personnel from the state secretariat ‘Nabanna’.

Kolkata Police’s di saster management groups have been kept ready to deal with the possible impact of the cyclone on the city.

“All ghats along the Hooghly river in the city and ferry services have been closed. Our river patrolling teams are keeping a constant watch on the situation,” a Kolkata Police officer said.

Kolkata Munici pal Corporation keeps all pumping stations active to prevent waterlogging due to heavy rain under the impact of the cyclone, a civic body official said, adding that all personnel of the emergency department are on duty.

BHUBANESWAR, OCT 24 (PTI): The opposition BJP has accused the BJD of distributing cash among voters through members of self-help groups (SHGs) in by-election-bound Dham nagar assembly segment, a charge denied by the ruling party.

A purported video of a woman distributing cash among other women in Dhamnagar surfaced on social media, following which a BJP delegation,

led by its general secretary Lekhashree Samantasing har, met Odisha’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) SK Lohani and sought action in the matter.

The delegation on Sun day also submitted at the CEO office the viral video, where the woman, covering her face with scarf, was seen distributing cash to people for attending a rally.

The BJP alleged that the people seen accepting the money in the video clip

were the same ones who had attended a BJD rally in Dhamnagar two days ago, and that the woman was a member of a self-help group.

PTI did not verify the authenticity of the video.

“There has been a clear violation of the Model Code of Conduct in Dham nagar by-poll. The BJD has employed SHG members for distributing money to voters,” Samantasinghar told reporters.

During the interaction, the NCP leader empathized with farmers and told them he understood their pains and problems, and assured to make efforts to get relief.

“Farmers have in curred losses because of heavy rains. The govern ment should take some con crete steps to steer them out of this situation. However, the present government is not ready to take these kinds

“Two to three days ago, the state government an nounced a complete waiver for farmers who have taken loans from Bhuvikas Bank. Tell me in the last 10 years, has anyone here (referring to farmers present at interac tion) taken a loan from Bhu vikas Bank? Do you even know whether Bhuvikas Bank exists?” Pawar said.

“The bank used to be there, but its loans had been defaulted for the last 25 to 30 years. Nobody goes for recovery of loans. So, after realising that loans cannot be recovered, they have waived them,” he said.

24/10/2022

VACANCY

1 post of Post Graduate Teacher in Physics at Patkai Higher Secondary School. Required Educational Qualification: M Sc. in Physics

Preference will be given to those with B.Ed and Teaching experience. Only prospective candidates will be called for interview.

Applications (online/offline) duly attached with academic testimonials from Matriculation onwards must reach the Address given below on or before 01/11/2022.

Patkai Christian College (Autonomous) Chümoukedima-Seithekema

Patkai – 797 103 Chümoukedima, Nagaland.

patkaicollege@gmail.com

– 8729801678/8414857964DC-1227/22

You have been

from

with

from the

CALLING NOTICE

and

And whereas inspite of

Government

any

to you to

before the undersigned vide this order you have failed to

1. No. 6BN (RO-10) 2022-23/1012 Dated 02.09.2022

2. No. 6BN (RO-10) 2022-23/1102 Dated 13.09.2022

3. No. 6BN (RO-10) 2022-23/1155 Dated 19.09.2022

4. No. 6BN (RO-10) 2022-23/1201 Dated 27.09.2022.

You are asked to report for duty within 7 (seven) days from the received of this calling letter. Failing which you will be declared as deserter as per the law and legal action will be taken by the authority against you.

Commandant 6th NAP Battalion, Tizit NagalandDP-2079/22

Fishermen park their boats on the bank of the Ganga river, as a precautionary measure in Kolkata, Monday. (PTI)

20 wagons of coal-laden goods train derail in Maha

‘Delhi not among 10 most polluted cities in Asia’

Wagons of coal-laden goods train that derailed in Amravati.

Shinde greets people on Diwali, stresses on fast-tracking development

Maharashtra Cm Eknath Shinde distributes sweets to children on the occasion of Diwali festival, in Thane. (PTI)

BJP accuses BJD of distributing cash in Odisha’s Dhamnagar ahead of bypoll

WB govt takes all measures to deal with adverse situations due to cyclone ‘Sitrang’

Devotees light earthen lamps at the Manjummel Sri Krishna temple on the occasion of Diwali, in Ernakulam. (PTI)

People celebrate Diwali organised by members of ShivSena – Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray, in Thane. (PTI)

GST Council clarifies jurisdictional issues

NEW DELHI, OCT 24 (PTI): Tax authorities issu ing show-cause notices will have to complete all enforce ment and consequential action against the assessee against whom GST eva sion was detected, the GST Council has said. Under the GST regime, states ad minister and control 90 per cent of the assessees with an annual turnover of up to Rs 1.5 crore. Assessees with an annual turnover of over Rs 1.5 crore are administered by the Centre and state tax authorities in 50:50 ratio on computer-based random sampling.

In order to resolve the jurisdictional issues while dealing with enforcement cases, the GST Council has clarified that the tax authorities, whether Centre or state, which initiates the enforcement action will be responsible for completing all consequential actions like appeal, review, adjudication.

The GST Council Sec retariat, in an office memo randum, said that varied

practices are being followed by the field formations re garding the issuance of re curring Show Cause Notices (SCNs) as well as other con sequential actions in cases where investigation has been initiated and finalized by central tax authorities in respect of the taxpayers un der State tax Administration and vice versa.

“In some cases, the authority which initiates the investigation is also issuing recurring SCN whereas in some other cases, it is be ing left for the concerned jurisdictional tax authority, who is administrating the taxpayer, to issue recurring

SCN,” it said.

The Council said that a taxpayer located within a state is open to enforcement action by both authorities.

“An enforcement ac tion against a taxpayer, as signed to state tax authori ties, can be initiated by the central tax authorities (and vice versa). In such cases, all the consequential action relating to the case includ ing, but not limited to, ap peal, review, adjudication, rectification, revision will lie with the authority which had initiated the enforce ment action,” the Council Secretariat said.

Refund in such cases

Festive season sees Rs 1.25 lak cr of biz

worship computers, laptops, mobiles in Diwali Puja and on the other hand, biometric machines, electronic cash tellers, POS terminals for accepting digital payments, etc. were also included in Diwali Puja.”

may, however, be granted only by jurisdictional tax authority, administering the taxpayer. It also said that further/ recurring SCNs are issued by the actual jurisdic tional authorities (which is responsible for assessment of returns of the taxpayer), as they will be in a position to access the records and returns of the taxpayers.

AMRG & Associates Senior Partner Rajat Mohan said in most cases, it has been seen that enforcement agencies pick up cases for investigations. However, after an initial deposit of taxes, subsequent actions are left pending for concerned jurisdictional officers.

“Lack of clarity regard ing who will initiate action after the issuance of SCN (after an investigation) has deterred the tax officers from taking cases to a logi cal end,” Mohan said. This clarification by the GST Council Secretariat would garner additional tax col lection from long-forgotten cases, he added.

Philips to cut 4K jobs due to multiple challenges: CEO

Gold glitter beats inflation woes this Dhanteras

NEW DELHI, OCT 24 (AGENCIES): Gold sales rose 35% this Dhanteras from last year despite infla tionary pressure. Both light weight and heavy weight jewellery have seen traction during this year’s Dhanteras, which was spread over two days - Saturday and Sunday.

According to ET re port, the pickup in sales has also been driven by bridal jewellery purchases for the upcoming marriage season, which runs from November 15 to December 15. Digital platforms have seen 35-40% growth as millennials have bought gold online.

“With recent correc tions in gold prices and a favourable monsoon, festive sentiment among retail con sumers is very positive,” said Surendra Mehta, national secretary, India Bullion & Jewellers Association. “The demand is up by 35% com pared to last year. In Mum bai, a lot of antique heavy jewellery is being sold for marriage purposes.”

5G service revenue to reach $315 bn globally in 2023

NEW DELHI, OCT 24 (IANS): The global 5G ser vice revenue is expected to reach $315 billion in 2023, rising from $195 billion this year, a new report showed on Monday.

This represents growth of over 60 per cent in a single year for operator-billed 5G service revenue, according to Juniper Research.

“Despite the growth of the Internet of Things, revenue from consumer con nections will continue to be the cornerstone of 5G opera tor revenue increase,” said research co-author Olivia Williams.

Over 95 per cent of global 5G connections in 2027 will be connected per sonal devices such as smart phones, tablets and mobile broadband routers,” Wil liams added.

The increase in rev enue will be driven by the accelerating migration of cellular subscriptions to 5G

networks; owing to operator strategies that minimise or remove any premium over existing 4G subscription offerings.

It forecasts over 600 million new 5G subscrip tions will be created next year, despite the anticipated economic downturn in 2023.

The report predicts growth of 5G networks will continue, and over 80 per cent of global operator-billed revenue will be attributable

Govt committed to empower youth through sports: Rio

(From p-1)

NEW DELHI, OCT 24 (AGENCIES): From the day of first Navratri Sep tember 26 and till October 23, business of more than 1.25 lakh crore has already taken place in the country, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Monday said.

On the call of CAIT this year, the traders cel ebrated the festival as “Apni Diwali - Bhartiya Diwali” with all emphasis on selling exclusively Indian products, which has led to robust sales for small scale industries, local businesses, craftsmen,

artistes, artisans etc. did a splendid business for the products made by them.

CAIT Secretary Gen eral Praveen Khandelwal said that the total business of Diwali sale is expected to cross 1.50 lakh crore which will be a major boon to retail trade of India.

With the pace with which the way of doing business is changing all over the world, traders in India too are changing the present module of their business and are now using digital technology. “Today, traders across the country

“On the other hand the GST Portal is also wor shiped because now all the business is done through the portal of GST and the traditional ledger accounts have been replaced by the GST Portal and many types of GST software,” Khandel wal said.

For centuries, traders in India have traditionally been doing Diwali Puja at their business establishments on the occasion of Diwali but with the changing times, most of the business is now being done through digital technology, hence Diwali Puja is celebrated today by traders across the country by worshipping all kinds of digital tools as well, he added.

LONDON, OCT 24 (IANS): Tech firm Philips on Monday announced to slash 4,000 jobs as the com pany faces “multiple chal lenges” which was reflected in its Q3 earnings.

New Philips CEO Roy Jakobs said the move to improve productivity and agility “includes the diffi cult, but necessary decision to immediately reduce our workforce by around 4,000 roles globally, which we do not take lightly and will implement with respect to wards impacted colleagues.”

The job cuts represent over 5 per cent of the com pany’s workforce.

“These initial actions are needed to start turning the company around in order to realise Philips’ prof itable growth potential and create value for all our stake holders,” Jakobs added.

the districts of Tseminyü, Niuland, Noklak, Tuensang and Chümoukedima; establishment of Centre of Sporting Excellence in Chümoukedima district with facili ties of Archery Academy, Shooting Sport Centre, Motorsports & Ad venture Sports Centre and a Futsal facility; upgradation of Kohima badminton stadium, establish ment of new Cricket Ground at Chümoukedima district and es tablishment of Nagaland Olympic Association Headquarters.

He said the government had also undertaken several initiatives for development of sports and games from the grassroots to the highest levels. The chief minister expressed hope that even the teams preparing in 17 disciplines for the forthcoming North East Olympic Games would perform well and thereby begin a new journey for sports in Nagaland.

He disclosed that the State government had also decided to make a bid for hosting the National Games and that process would

only be possible if the State could perform with distinction in the playing arenas. In this regard, he urged the sportspersons of the State to make renewed efforts towards achieving success and excellence.

Rio called upon the sports as sociations to rededicate themselves and work in close collaboration with the Nagaland Olympic As sociation.

He pointed out that the Olym pic Association had taken signifi cant steps towards streamlining the administration and management of sports, after establishment of a modern headquarters in Kohima.

The successful conduct of the recently held Nagaland Olym pic & Paralympic Games, where more than 3000 persons from the sports fraternity participated is an indication of the efforts the state is making, he said.

At present, the chief minis ter said the state was observing a revival of sports, especially football in Nagaland. He said the under 17 team had also won the Subroto Cup.

to 5G connections by 2027. In addition, the ability of standalone 5G networks to offer ‘network slicing’ will act as the ideal platform for the growth of 5G private network revenue.

Standalone 5G uses next-generation core net works supporting network slicing technology, which can be used to take a ‘slice’ of public 5G infrastructure and provide it to private network users.

Reliance to commission new gas condensate field

NEW DELHI, OCT 24 (PTI): Reliance Industries Ltd will commission its deepwater MJ gas condensate field in Bay of Bengal block KG-D6 by year end, boosting natural gas output to 30 per cent of India’s total.

“With respect to the MJ gas condensate field project being pretty much on track, for the first gas production by the end of the year,” said Sanjay Roy, senior vice-president for exploration and production, Reliance Industries Ltd, at an investor call post an nouncement of the company’s second quarter earnings.

MJ is the third and last of a set of dis coveries that Reliance and its partner bp are developing in the eastern offshore block. The two will use a floating production system at the high sea in the Bay of Bengal to bring to production the deepest gas discovery in the KG-D6 block. “The offshore installation campaign has been completed. So, the subsea production system has been installed. The Phase-II drilling and completion campaign is currently underway, and we’ve completed one well, then we are on track for completion on seven wells,” Roy said.

Crypto more attractive as SEC gets aggressive, investors say

NEW YORK, OCT 24

(AGENCIES): A crack down by the US Securities and Exchange Commis sion and other watchdogs who have been investigating crypto’s naughtiest compa nies is proving to be a boon for the industry, with market participants saying they’re more likely to invest in the space following greater en forcement action.

Almost 60% of the 564 respondents to the latest MLIV Pulse survey indi cated they viewed the re cent spate of legal action in crypto as a positive sign for the asset class, whose trade mark volatility has all but dissipated in recent months, Bloomberg reported. Major interventions include the US regulatory investigations of bankrupt crypto firms Three Arrows Capital and Celsius Network, as well as an SEC probe into Yuga Labs, the creators of the Bored Ape collection of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs. “I’m in the

‘yes’ camp. As a professional investor, you need a regu lated investment opportunity and it opens the doors for more professional investors to get involved in crypto, if it’s more regulated,” said Chris Gaffney, president of world markets at TIAA Bank. “The more they can get crypto out of the Wild West and into traditional investing, the better off it’s going to be.” The sentiment extends to Bitcoin. Most

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investors were slightly more optimistic about the crypto than they were when asked in July.

Almost half of respon dents expect the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value to continue trading between $17,600 and $25,000 until the end of this year — a departure from this summer’s sour outlook, when most said it was more likely to first drop to $10,000 than to climb to $30,000.

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Myanmar air kills 80 in Kachin state

BANGKOK, OCT 24

(AP): Air strikes by Myan mar’s military killed as many as 80 people, includ ing singers and musicians, attending an anniversary celebration of the Kachin ethnic minority’s main po litical organisation, mem bers of the group and a rescue worker said on Mon day. The reported attack comes three days before Southeast Asian foreign ministers are to hold a spe cial meeting in Indonesia to discuss widening violence in Myanmar.

The number of ca sualties at Sunday night’s celebration by the Kachin Independence Organisa tion in the northern state of Kachin appeared to be the most in a single air attack since the military seized power in February last year from the elected govern ment of Aung San Suu Kyi. Initial reports put the death toll at around 60, but later tallies raised it to about 80. It was impossible to independently confirm de tails of the incident, though media sympathetic to the Kachin posted videos show ing what was said to be the

attack’s aftermath, with splintered and flattened wooden structures.

The military govern ment’s information office confirmed in a statement late Monday that there was an attack on what it de scribed as the headquarters of the Kachin Indepen dence Army’s 9th Brigade, calling it a “necessary op eration” in response to “ter rorist” acts carried out by the Kachin group. It called reports of a high death toll “rumours,” and denied the military had bombed a concert and that singers and audience members were

among the dead.

The United Nations’ office in Myanmar said in a statement that it was “deeply concerned and saddened” by reports of the air strikes. “What would appear to be excessive and disproportionate use of force by security forces against unarmed civilians is unacceptable and those responsible must be held to account,” it said.

Envoys represent ing Western embassies in Myanmar, including the United States, issued a joint statement saying the attack underscores the military re

2 Koreas exchange warning shots along disputed sea boundary

SEOUL, OCT 24 (AP):

North and South Korea exchanged warning shots on Monday along their dis puted western sea boundary — a scene of past bloodshed and naval battles — in a development that raises worry of possible clashes after North Korea’s recent barrage of weapons tests.

South Korea’s navy broadcast warnings and fired warning shots to repel a North Korean merchant ship that violated the sea boundary at 3.42 am, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

North Korea’s mili tary said its coastal defence units responded by firing 10 rounds of artillery warning shots toward its territorial waters, where “naval enemy movement was detected.”

It accused a South Ko rean naval ship of intruding into North Korean waters on the pretext of cracking down on an unidentified ship.

There were no reports of fighting, but the sea boundary off the Korean Peninsula’s west coast is a source of long-running animosities.

The American-led UN command drew a boundary at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, but North Ko rea insists upon a boundary that encroaches deeply into waters c ontrolled by the South.

Among the deadly events that have happened in the area are the North’s shelling of a South Korean island and its alleged torpe doing of a South Korean navy ship, both in 2010. The two attacks killed 50 South

Koreans.

Analyst Cheong Seong-Chang at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea said North Korea had likely intentionally plotted its ship incursion because it would be “unimagina ble” for a North Korean merchant ship to cross the boundary that early in a day without the permission of the North’s military.

Cheong said North Korea is increasingly em boldened by its recent mis sile tests in which North Korea said it simulated the use of tactical nuclear weap ons to attack South Korean and US targets.

He noted Pyongyang would also know Wash ington’s strained relation ships with Russia and China make it more difficult for the US to draw cooperation from the two regional pow ers on the North Korean issue.

“The South Korean military needs to make thorough preparations to prevent fresh skirmishes from happening on the West Sea and prevent them from

causing the worst case sce nario like the North Korean military’s artillery bombard ments” on a South Korean border island, Cheong said.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North Korean artillery fir ings on Monday breached a 2018 inter-Korean ac cord on reducing military animosities and undermines stability on the Korean Pen insula.

It said the North Ko rean shells didn’t land in South Korean waters but South Korea is boosting its military readiness.

The General Staff of the North’s Korean People’s Army accused South Korea of provoking animosities near their land border as well as with its own artillery tests and propaganda loud speaker broadcasts.

South Korea has al ready confirmed it per formed artillery firings last week as part of its regular military exercises, but de nied that it resumed the loudspeaker broadcasts that both Koreas halted under the 2018 agreement.

gime’s “disregard for its ob ligation to protect civilians and respect the principles and rules of international humanitarian law.”

Myanmar has been wracked for decades by rebellions by ethnic minori ties seeking autonomy, but anti-government resistance increased markedly nation wide with the formation of an armed pro-democracy movement opposing last year’s military takeover.

The Kachin are one of the stronger ethnic rebel groups and are capable of manufacturing some of their own armaments.

They also have a loose alliance with the armed mi litias of the pro-democracy forces that were formed in central Myanmar last year to fight army rule.

Sunday’s celebration of the 62nd anniversary of the founding of the Kachin Independence Organisa tion, which included a con cert, was held at a base also used for military training by the Kachin Indepen dence Army, the KIO’s armed wing. It is located near Aung Bar Lay village in Hpakant township, a

remote mountainous area 950 kilometers (600 miles) north of Myanmar’s biggest city, Yangon.

Hpakant is the center of the world’s biggest and most lucrative jade mining industry, from which both the government and the rebels derive revenue.

As many as 80 people were killed and about 100 were injured in Sunday’s attack on the first day of a three-day celebration of the KIO’s founding, a spokes person for the Kachin Art ists Association told The Associated Press by phone. He said he first heard there had been 60 deaths, but was later told by sources close to Kachin Independence Army officials that there had been about 80 people had died.

He said military air craft dropped four bombs on the celebration at about 8 pm, according to mem bers of his group who were there. Between 300 and 500 people were in atten dance and a Kachin singer and keyboard player were among the dead, said the spokesperson, who asked not to be identified.

German lawmakers oppose China military threats toward Taiwan

TAIPEI, OCT 24 (AP):

Any changes to the ChinaTaiwan relationship must come about peacefully, a vis iting German lawmaker said on Monday, two days after China’s ruling Communist Party wrote its rejection of Taiwan independence into its charter.

A German parliamen tary delegation focusing on human rights met Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen at her office on Monday. The lawmakers expressed inter est in how Taiwan would handle threats from China.

“Taiwan is really facing military threats,” delega tion head Peter Heidt said. “From Germany’s point of view, changes to the crossstrait status quo, if any, must be based on peaceful means. Also, these changes must be made after both sides have reached a consensus.”

China claims Taiwan as its territory and says the self-governing island about 160 kilometers (100 miles) off its east coast must come under its control. The Chi nese Communist Party, on the last day of a major con

gress that confirmed a third five-year term for leader Xi Jinping, inserted a statement into the party constitution on Saturday “resolutely op posing and deterring sepa ratists” seeking Taiwan’s independence. “We note Xi Jinping’s intimidation against Taiwan in China’s 20th party congress.

We also note the reac tion of mainland China after Pelosi visited Taiwan,” he said, referring to the largescale military drills held after the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in July. Tsai did not refer to the amending of the Com

munist Party’s constitution in her remarks.

But her government’s Mainland Affairs Council issued a statement Saturday urging China to break away from the mindset of con fronting or even conquering the island, according to Tai wan’s Central News Agency. The statement said their differences should be re solved in a peaceful manner. At the opening of China’s weeklong party congress, Xi said Beijing would con tinue to strive for peaceful “reunification” with Taiwan but refused to renounce the possible use of force.

Texas Governor celebrates Diwali at his official residence

HOUSTON, OCT 24 (PTI): The Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, has extended his Diwali greet ings to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as he cel ebrated the joyous occasion with leaders of the IndianAmerican community at his sprawling official resi dence in Austin.

Diwali or Deepavali is a festival that marks the victory of good over evil, light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance.

On Sunday, Governor Abbott and First Lady Ce cilia Abbott were dressed in traditional Indian attire, as they greeted leaders of the Indian-American commu nity and lit a lamp to com memorate the occasion.

Abbott conveyed Di wali wishes to Prime Min ister Narendra Modi, the people of India and Indian

Americans living in Texas and other states in the US.

“Tonight, Cecilia & I celebrated Diwali at the Governor’s Mansion. We welcomed friends as we lit Diwali lamps & celebrated the victory of light over

Iraqi PM-designate says working to form coalition govt

BAGHDAD, OCT 24 (IANS): Iraqi Prime Min ister-designate Moham med Shia’ al-Sudani has said that he is working to form a coalition govern ment and has been inter viewing candidates from different political blocs for ministerial positions.

The interviews with candidates are carried out through a committee that includes a group of advi sors headed by al-Sudani himself, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a statement by al-Sudani’s office.

Talks are underway between al-Sudani and members of political blocs to reach an agreement on

Russia could plan ‘dirty bomb’ pretext: Western countries

KYIV, OCT 24 (AGEN

CIES): Western countries accused Russia on Monday of plotting to use a threat of a bomb laced with nuclear material as a pretext for escalation in Ukraine, as Moscow evacuated civilians from a southern city in an ticipation of a major battle.

With Ukrainian forces advancing into Russianoccupied Kherson province, Russian Defence Minis ter Sergei Shoigu phoned Western counterparts on Sunday to tell them Moscow suspected Kyiv of planning to use a so-called “dirty bomb”. In a joint state ment, the foreign ministers of France, Britain and the United States said they had all rejected the allegations and reaffirmed their support for Ukraine against Russia.

“Our countries made

darkness, goodness over evil, & hope over despair.

Happy Diwali to those celebrating the Festival of Lights!” Abbott said in a tweet.

He also lauded the Indian-American commu

ISLAMABAD, OCT 24

nity for their achievements in various sectors and par ticipating in the prosperity of Texas.

“Indian Americans are true partners in growth of Texas economy and they are enhancing Texas values, we are glad they have called Texas as their home”, Governor Abbott said.

“The growing similar ity of shared values such as education, entrepreneur ship, economic advance ment, and compassion will continue to bring the communities of India, Tex as and Indian Americans closer to each other,” he elaborated.

The Diwali celebra tions have become an an nual fixture at Abbott’s official residence, with the only exception being in 2020, when the event was

cancelled due to the pan demic.

The guests at the cer emony included prominent heads of the community organisations from across the state of Texas, Con sul General of India in Houston, Aseem Mahajan, Arun Agarwal from Dal las, who serves as ViceChair of Texas Economic Development Corpora tion and Dr Satish Nayak from Midland, who serves on Texas medical board as governors’ appointee, among others.

“Diwali, the festival of lights symbolises the triumph of good over evil and is a time for harmony, goodwill and affirming the bonds between family and friends,” Mahajan said, as he thanked Abbott and First Lady Cecilia for their warm gesture.

carousel and calls foreign ministers with stories about the so-called ‘dirty’ nuclear bomb, everyone understands everything well. Under stands who is the source of everything dirty that can be imagined in this war.”

cabinet appointments, it said, adding the official appointment will be an nounced after a date for a confidence vote in parlia ment on the newly-formed government is set.

On Oct. 13, newlyelected President Abdul Latif Rashid tasked al-Su dani with forming a new government as al-Sudani was nominated by the Coordination Framework (CF), the largest parlia mentary alliance and an umbrella group of Shiite parliamentary parties.

According to the Iraqi constitution, al-Su dani has 30 days to form his government starting Oct. 13.

(PTI): A Pakistani court observed on Monday that Imran Khan was not barred from contesting elections in the future as it heard the disqualification case of the former prime minister by the country’s top election body.

Khan, 70, was disquali fied on Friday by the Elec tion Commission of Paki stan (ECP) in the Toshakha na case for hiding his assets. The next day, he challenged the verdict in the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

Chief Justice of the IHC Athar Minallah ob served that Khan had not been barred from contesting in future elections and was eligible to contest in the Kurram district of KhyberPakhtunkhwa province on

October 30. “Imran Khan is not disqualified for that election…There should be one standard for all. There is no need to rush in this case,” the IHC chief justice said when Khan’s counsel Barrister Ali Zafar pressed to start the hearing despite administrative objections by the IHC registrar.

The court would hear the petition once the objec

Korean Air plane overshoots runway; shuts Philippine airport

tions were removed, the judge said as he also refused to issue a stay order on the ECP verdict. He also direct ed the counsel to remove the objections on the petition within three days.

The observation came as there was confusion over the duration of the disquali fication of Khan with some saying that he was barred from contesting elections for five years.

The ECP decision came after Khan failed to disclose the proceeds of the sale of state gifts that he pur chased from the Toshakha na, which is a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Di vision and stores precious gifts given to high state functionaries.

Nigerian capital on alert after US, UK security warnings

ABUJA (NIGERIA),

People check the damage at their apartments hit by a Russian missile in Mykolaiv, Sunday. (AP/PTI) clear that we all reject Rus sia’s transparently false al legations that Ukraine is pre paring to use a dirty bomb on its own territory,” they said. “The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation.”

In an overnight ad dress, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said

the Russian accusation was a sign Moscow was planning such an attack itself and would blame Ukraine.

“If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is alleg edly preparing something, it means one thing: Russia has already prepared all this,” Zelenskiy said. “So when to day the Russian Minister of Defense organises a phone

Asked about the fact that others did not seem to believe Russian’s accusa tions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a brief ing on Monday: “Their dis belief doesn’t mean there’s no threat ... The threat is evident.”

EVACUATION

Russia has ordered ci vilians to evacuate territory it controls on the western bank of the Dnipro River, where Ukrainian forces have been advancing since the start of this month shortly after Moscow claimed to have annexed the area.

MANILA, OCT 24 (AP): A damaged Korean Air plane remained stuck in the grass at a Philippine airport Monday after it overshot a runway in rainy weather the night before. No injuries were reported among the 162 passengers and 11 crew members who escaped from the aircraft using emergency slides.

Dozens of flights have been cancelled and MactanCebu International Airport, one of the country’s busiest, remained closed due to the stalled aircraft at the end of its lone usable runway.

The terrifying close call prompted a public apology from Korean Air’s president and a vow from one of Asia’s most prominent air

“We always prioritise safety in all of our opera tions, and we truly regret the stress and inconvenience brought to our passengers,” Korean Air President Woo Keehong said in a state ment.

The front underbelly

of the plane was sheared off and its nose was heavily damaged.

The plane lay tipped forward on a grassy area with its front landing wheel not visible and emergency slides deployed at the doors.

A ripped-open hole was also visible at the top of the plane near a front door.

OCT 24 (AP): Residents in Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja, were on high alert and avoided some places on Monday, a day after the US and UK issued terror alerts about possible at tacks in the city.

The Department of State Services, which is Nigeria’s secret and in telligence police, called for calm and advised that “necessary precautions are taken” to prevent such attacks. The warnings came amid heightened concerns over Nigeria’s se curity woes with, frequent violent attacks targeting remote communities in various parts of the coun try’s northern region.

Imran Khan

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, center, with a group of German at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Oct. 24. (AP)

Greg Abbott, wife Cecilia Abbott with Consul General of India in Houston Aseem Mahajan during Diwali celebrations. (PTI)

A TV screen shows a file image of South Korean navy vessels during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul. (AP)

Ousted Imran can contest elections: IHC

A security man keeps watch beside a damaged Korean Air plane after it overshot the runway in Cebu. (AP/PTI) lines to take steps to prevent a recurrence.

iconic scenes from B’wood that capture essence of Diwali

The festival of Diwali is like the magic ray that illuminates ev erything it touches and the celluloid is no exception.

For years, Bollywood films and storytellers have captured the essence of one of the biggest festivals of India with many of them being immortalised on screens forever.

As the world gets drenched in the colours and shimmer of Diwali, let’s take a look at some of the most iconic sequences in Bollywood movies.

Chachi 420: Ka mal Haasan’s 1997 clas sic ‘Chachi 420’, which was inspired from ‘Mrs Doubtfire’ has one Di wali moment that served as a major driving force for the plot. The titular character of Chachi scores the job as a governess for his own daughter (played by a young Fatima Sana Shaikh) by rescuing her when an errant firecracker injures her.

Vaastav: Remember, “pacchass tola hai pacchass tola”? Yeah it’s from the Sanjay Dutt-starrer ‘Vaas

tav’ in which he plays a gangster. The scene shows Sanjay Dutt’s character Raghu coming out of his hide-out on the occasion of Diwali to meet his fam ily and brings them gifts.

In the scene with Reema Lagu, Raghu explains the value of his gold chain to his mother as he mouths the dialogue: “Ye dekh

pacchass tola!”

Hum Aapke Hain Koun? ‘Dikhtana’ is one song you can’t resist! The song arrives in the film during the Diwali when the news of Renuka Shahane’s character’s pregnancy is broken to the audience.

Mohabbatein: The 2000 release which starred Shah Rukh Khan and Am

itabh Bachchan has aged as one of the most iconic films of Bollywood. While the film manages to hook the audience, its Diwali scene is remembered for the essence of standing up oneself.

The scene was set against the backdrop of major drama as all six leads in the film, who were previ

Eye Health: How to Relieve Tired Eyes

Try a washcloth soaked in warm wa ter on your tired, achy eyes. Warm com presses can:

Add moisture

Ease pain

Increase blood flow

Relax muscle spasms

Wash your hands be fore you start so bacteria doesn’t get in your eyes.

Dip your washcloth in wa ter that you’ve boiled (to sterilize it) and cooled until lukewarm. Then put it on your eyes for 5-10 minutes, or as long as your doctor advises.

Adjust Lights and Device Screens

If you have tired eyes, adjust the light on your TV, computer, and device screens so you don’t have to strain to see.

Different tasks call for different types of light. While you watch TV, it’s easier on your eyes to keep the room softly lit. When you read, put the light where it’s behind you and pointed toward the page, out of your eyes. On digital screens, adjust the bright ness to match the level of light around you. Also, adjust the screen’s contrast, so your eyes don’t have to strain to see.

Wear Computer Eye glasses

Wearing computer eyeglasses may help you avoid eyestrain while work ing on the computer.

With these prescription eyeglasses, your eyes can focus at computer screen distance. That’s about 2026 inches from your face.

Some have special lenses to help you quickly shift focus between close, middle, and far distances. Before you go shopping, un derstand that computer glasses are not the same as those that

block blue light. Blue lightblocking specs may make you more comfortable, but they don’t always prevent eyestrain.

Palm Your Eyes

Placing your palms over your eyes periodically can help to relax your eyes.

Eye experts link this technique to an alternative therapy called The Bates Method, named for eye doctor William Bates. He questioned whether glasses were the only way to fix a person’s vision. Research shows his method doesn’t correct eyesight, but palm ing could help to ease eye strain. Cup your palms over your closed eyes, putting no pressure on your eyeballs. The idea is that this can help to relax your eyes.

Change Your Com puter Setup

Make sure your com puter screen is at an ad equate height and distance away from your eyes to minimize the risk of eye strain. Small tweaks can make a big difference to your eyes. Make sure your screen is about arm’s length (20-26 inches) away from your face. The center of the screen should be slightly below eye level (4-5 inches). It helps to have a chair you can move up and down. Adjust the text size so you don’t squint. And try a

document holder next to your monitor for printed papers. This limits how much you move your eyes back and forth.

Try Tea Bags

Placing cooled chamo mile or regular tea bags over your eyes can help soothe them and reduce swelling.

Tea bags are good for more than a hot drink. They also work as a relax ing cold compress for your eyes. After you’ve brewed chamomile or regular tea, put the bags in a clean container in the fridge.

Once they’ve cooled, put them on your eyelids to help soothe your eyes and reduce swelling. Make sure you’ve washed your face and hands well and taken out your contacts. And don’t get any tea in your eyes.

Do Eye Exercises

Doing eye exercises may help ease eye fatigue.

Your eyes have mus cles, and they can benefit from a workout, too. Try this: Hold your finger a few inches from your eyes and focus on it. Then, focus far into the distance, then back on your finger. Repeat a few times. Or, close your eyes, roll them up toward the ceiling, then down toward the floor. Look to the right, then left. These exercises may help ease

eye fatigue. But they won’t actually make your eye muscles stronger.

Take Screen Breaks

Take regular screen breaks and focus on objects further away to reduce the risk of eye strain.

Experts say that when you use a digital device, you should take regular screen breaks. They recom mend the 20-20-20 rule. Take a 20-second break to look at something 20 feet away every 20 minutes. Another tip: for every 2 hours of screen time, rest your eyes for 15 minutes.

Improve Your Air Quality

Use a humidifier to keep your eyes moist and avoid air vents and smoke.

When your eyes are dry, they feel more tired. Use a humidifier to add moisture to the air and your eyes. A humidity level of at least 45% is best. Also, adjust your thermostat or move away from vents so dry air doesn’t blow on your face. If you smoke, think hard about quitting.

Try Artificial or Real Tears

Try artificial or real tears to relieve dry, tired eyes.

Over-the-counter or prescription eye drops re lieve dry, tired eyes. Use them even when your eyes feel fine to keep them moisturized and stop your symptoms from coming back. Or, if you prefer to make natural tears, remem ber to blink more often, especially when you’re on a d igital device. We usually blink 15 times in a minute. But when we’re on a computer, that drops to 5-7 times.

Reviewed By: Whitney Seltman, OD

ously terrified of confess ing their feelings in front of Bachchan’s character, ultimately do so as SRK emerges with the dhol sing ing the lines “Duniya mein kitni hai nafratein” with Udit Narayan’s vocals go ing in perfect sync with SRK’s on-screen persona.

Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham: Another one of the scenes that has been etched forever on the hearts of the audience. It’s also the scene when Jaya Bach chan’s character puts her spidey senses to good use as her son (Shah Rukh Khan) comes home from abroad on the occasion of Diwali.

Well, some might ar gue that the sound of he licopter blades can wake up even the dead from the grave but, then what’s Bol lywood without a little over the top drama? The scene shows a regular Diwali morning for the Raichand family, when Jaya’s char acter ditches her cue in the musical, and walks towards the doorway as she senses SRK coming home.

(IANS)

‘Note Grid School of Music’ holds first felicitation programme

The ‘Note Grid School of Music ‘, Mokok chung held its first felicitation programme at Urban Hub with 26 students being certified on Monday.

While felicitating the students, the Note Grid School of Music, admin istrator, Senti Imchen in formed that the school was established in Dimapur in February 2010 by propri

etor Longden Longkumer, to assist aspiring musicians. She added that the school branch was established in Mokokchung in 2021 to cater to the needs of Mo kokchung and the neigh bouring districts to provide international certification in music.

Senti Imchen also highlighted that the school was proud to certify 20

Ed Sheeran filming a tell-all documentary about his life

Ed Sheeran is filming a tell-all documenta ry about his life. The ‘Bad Habits’ hitmaker has revealed that he is working on a new project that will give fans a glimpse into his lifestyle as he contin ues with his Mathematics Tour - which he plans to continue until 2026.

The musician ex plained that he is trying to balance what to include and what should be left out of the “honest” film.

Ed is quoted by The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre column as saying: “We are shooting a documentary at the minute about my life and there was a big conversation about what we include.

“As it is honest... there is no point in putting some thing in if there is some thing detrimental to my life. “It is a very fine line, it is why I live in Suffolk and not in LA. My life as a celebrity is turned on

‘Ghost’ makers release new poster for action thriller

Karunada Chakra varthy Shiva Raj kumar’s upcoming pan-India movie “Ghost” is the next big thing from Sandalwood. Billed as an action heist thriller, its shooting is going on at a brisk pace.

On Diwali, Team “Ghost” wished everyone with a brand new poster. The poster features Shi varaj Kumar holding a gun with bullets flying all-over. The fire and smoke back drop added more inten sity to the already striking poster.

(IANS)

when I am in New York, but at home I am a friend, a dad, a husband, a son. You can’t bring celebrity baggage to home.”

Ed is set to release the album ‘Subtract’ next year and explained that he is feeling more “creative” than ever as he is no longer under pressure to make big hits.

The 31-year-old singer said: “I am in the most creative part of my life.

“The pressure of hav

ing every album having to be this gargantuan pop machine is off.

“I feel I have had five of them now and now is the time to explore doing stuff and taking risks.”

Ed continued: “I am going to be on a stadium tour for years, so even if I put out an album and it bombs, I’m still playing to 90,000 people a night.

“I don’t feel the pres sure of it. We will finish in 2026.” (Contactmusic)

students through the ‘pre school, UK’ and 6 students through Trinity College London. Special perfor mances were presented from the department of guitar, vocal, drums and piano students during the felicitation program.

A word of encourage ment was said by guitar music teacher, Bendanga kum Kichu.

Akhil Akkineni’s ‘Agent’ joins Sankranti 2023 release race

A khil Akkineni-starrer

“Agent” is the latest film that has booked Sankranti 2023 as its release date. AK Entertainments, one of the banners behind the upcoming Telugu movie, shared the announcement on its official Twitter page on Monday. “Get caught upon all the ACTION. #Agent Ar riving in theatres WorldWide this SANKRANTHI 2023. #HappyDiwali,” the produc tion house said in the tweet. “Agent”, an action spy thriller, is directed by Suren dra Reddy. Co-produced by Surrender 2 Cinema, the movie also features Sakshi Vaidya. “Adipu rush”, headlined by Prab has; “Waltair Veerayya” with Chiranjeevi and Ravi Teja; “Veera Simha Reddy” fronted by Nandamuri Bal akrishna, and Vijay-starrer “Vaarasudu”/”Varisu” will also hit the screens during the Sankranti weekend next year. (PTI)

J AM ir C LA n Mokok C hung Vi LLA ge Fe L i C i TAT ion

With immense joy and honor the Jamir Clan of Mokokchung Village would like to congratulate Rev Dr N. Lipok Jamir Pastor ABCD son of L.Ngangshi Jamir & P.Alila Longkumer for successfully completing his Ph.D. on the Dissertation

liberative motifs of creation: Towards constructing a creation centered Theology from Tribal perspective” from

of Technology Sam Higginbottom University

Administrator Senti Imchen and teachers along with the felicitated students.

French Open: Lakshya faces Srikanth in opening round

NEW DELHI, OCT 24 (PTI): Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen will face teammate Kidambi Srikanth in the men’s singles opening round match of the French Open badminton tournament here on Tuesday.

Sen and Srikkanth, the top two Indians in world ranking at eighth and 11th respectively, will battle it out for the second time in their career.

Sen was the best Indian on show at the recently-concluded Denmark Open but he had lost to Japan’s lowly ranked Kodai Naraoka in the quarterfinals.

In their earlier matchup, Srikkanth had defeated Sen in a tightly-fought contest en route to winning a historic silver at the 2021 World Championships.

The winner between the two Indians is likely to bump into the Danish world number two Anders Antonsen in the next round of the World Tour 750 event.

HS Prannoy, who has been the most consistent player in the recent past, has an easy first round outing against Daren Liew of Malaysia, against whom the Indian has a 7-4 head-

to-head record.

World number 13 Prannoy was unlucky to run into Sen in the second round of Denmark Open. This time, he has potential big challengers in fifth seed Kento Momota and fourth seed Chou Tien Chen in the later rounds if he goes past the first hurdle.

Prannoy ended a seven-match losing streak against Japanese world number 9 Momota at the 2022 World Championships and he would look to continue his winning momentum.

Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal will take on Yvonne Li of Germany in her women’s singles opening round. Saina defeated the German in their only meeting that

happened in 2020.

Commonwealth Games gold medal winning men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are the only seeded (7th) Indians in the fray and they find themselves in the same quarter as top seed duo of Takuro Hoki and Yuo Kobayashi of Japan.

The other Indian doubles pair in the fray, MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila will take on fifth seed Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia.

Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand and Ishaan Bhatnagar-Tanisha Crasto are also be in the fray in the women’s doubles and mixed doubles respectively.

CUB holds sports meet

DIMAPUR, OCT 24

(NPN): Chakhesang Union Bangalore (CUB) conducted its annual games and sports meet 2022 on October 22 at the Koramangala Post Office Ground, Bangalore.

The annual event was organized to promote and celebrate the sports culture within the Chakhesang community in Bangalore while also preparing for the upcoming annual sports meet of the Naga Students’ Union Bangalore (NSUB).

The event was supported by Sri Ramalinga Reddy, the KPCC-working president and MLA of BTM assembly, along with financial contributions from Neite Kapfo, an advisor of the Union.

Two teams both men and women competed in football, volleyball, basketball, high jump and tug-of-war. This year’s annual games and sports also witnessed the traditional Naga Wrestling for the first time.

Tokhü women volleyball trophy

DIMAPUR, OCT 24 (NPN): Lotha Youth Organisation Dimapur (LYOD) will be organizing the 1st Tokhü women’s volleyball running trophy on November 4 and 5, at MDSC (state stadium) , DC court junction Dimapur. Forms for the tournament will be available at RBG Printing Press, Duncan Basti and Lotha Hotel near Lotha Hoho Ki. Further details can be contacted at the following numbers: 9774220974, 8131889282 and 6009829055.

Jubilee Trophy: Chakhesang BC and Dihoma CRC win

KOHIMA, OCT 24 (NPN): Chakhesang Baptist Church and Dihoma CRC registered victory after winning their respective matches, here at Meriema Ground on Monday. In the first match of the day, between Chakhesang BC and Holy Cross Church Dihoma, the former won 1-0.

The lone goal was scored by Wekulhi after the lemon break.

In the second match of the day, Dihoma CRC overcame CRC Meriema 2-1 and progressed to the next round. Rovisie Yashü and Kevilelhou Yashü each scored a goal in favour of Dihoma CRC.

The face saver goal for CRC Meriema was scored by Kevineituo.(Correspondent)

Verstappen equals Vettel, Schumacher record

NEW YORK, OCT 24

(AP): Max Verstappen passed Lewis Hamilton late to earn a record-tying 13th win of the season at the United States Grand Prix on Sunday, and delivered a victory to honor the memory of Red Bull team founder and owner Dietrich Mateschitz.

Verstappen’s race was nearly undone by a rare slow pit stop by Red Bull midway through the race that dropped him well behind Hamilton. But Verstappen fought back to pass last season’s rival for the championship on lap 50 of 56.

Verstappen then had to hold off the pestering Hamilton through the final laps as his team warned him not to exceed track limits that would draw a penalty.

The win was a relief for Red Bull. The team had announced shortly before qualifying on Saturday that Mateschitz had died at age 78. Verstappen vowed he’d give everything to get the win to honour him.

“We gave it everything

out there, it was a difficult weekend for us,” Verstappen said. “The only thing we could do today was win.”

“This one is definitely dedicated to Dietrich,” Verstappen said. “I pushed it to the limit to come back.” The win continued Verstappen’s run of dominance in 2022. He had already clinched the season championship in Japan two weeks earlier. Sunday’s win tied him with Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel for most in a season with three races still to go.

Since its founding,

Red Bull has won six driver championships and five constructors’ titles. Verstappen’s win clinched this season’s team championship. His Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez finished fourth.

“We wanted to do that in style and I think we did that today,” Verstappen said.

Mateschitz, the Austrian billionaire cofounder of the Red Bull energy drinks global empire, bought the Jaguar team in 2004 and rebranded it as Red Bull in 2005. He added a second team to the Red

Bull stable when he bought the Minardi program renamed it Toro Rosso in 2006 to be a program for training younger drivers. That team is now Alpha Tauri.

The team brought a teenage Verstappen into its racing program and promoted him to F1 in 2015 when he was just 17, with the hopes he could become the youngest champion in series history. Mercedes’ dominance over 2014-2020 prevented that.

But Mateschitz, who had been reportedly ailing for months and died at age 78, lived long enough to see Verstappen win two championships and start what could be another dominant era for the team he founded.

F1 held a brief tribute to honor Mateschitz before the race. Large signs of “Danke Didi” (Thank you, Didi) were posted on the video screens and Vettel, who won four championships with Red Bull and now races with Aston Martin, appeared to be fighting back tears.

Hito and Vike clinch Open badminton doubles title

Correspondent KOHIMA, OCT 24 (NPN): Hito and Vike Kense clinched the Nagaland Open Badminton championship silver jubilee edition men’s doubles title on October 20 at Kohima.

In the final, Hito and Vike Kense defeated Medemnochet and Teichang.

The championship was organized by Capital Shuttlers Kohima.

The championship was graced by Nagaland Badminton Association president Kesonyu Yhome as guest of honour and vice president Badminton Association of India, senior vice president, Nagaland Badminton Association, Dr. Watizulu Suzumeren Jamir as special guest.

The event was also graced by advisor for Urban Development and Municipal Affairs, Dr. Nicky Kire

Final results were as follows:

MENS OPEN DOUBLES Champion: Hito and VikeKense Runners up: Medemnochet and Teichang MIXED DOUBLES Champion: Ekumyala and Vikehietuo Kense Runners up: Tovali and Medemnochet 35+ Veteran

DOUBLES Champion: ImliwapangTzudir and Aomolong Runners up: Bendangnochet and Raju Chettri

Dembele stars in Barcelona’s 4-0 win over Athletic Bilbao

second in the standings on 28 points, three behind leader Real Madrid and five clear of third-placed Atletico Madrid.

The host scored three times in 10 minutes in the first half, starting with Dembele’s towering header from close range in the 12th minute.

The French forward then put Roberto through with some brilliant one touch build-up play in the 18th minute, with the Spanish full back’s strike bouncing in off a defender past a helpless Unai Simon.

Four minutes later, Dembele ran down the right channel before crossing to Lewandowski who swivelled and finished with a powerful shot.

40+ Veteran DOUBLES, Champion: Tajenkaba and Yabang Runners up: Aomolong and Raju Chettri 50+ Veteran

DOUBLES, Champion: ArepAo and YekhuviAchumi Runners up: Amardeep and N.Wati 45+ Veteran DOUBLES Champion: I.AochubaPongener and TemsüLkr Runners up: Dr.Watizulu and Bendang Nochet 55+ Veteran

DOUBLES Champion: ArepAo and Yekhuvi Achumi Runners up: I.TemjenAo and N.Watic

Pegula wins first WTA 1,000 title

MADRID, OCT 24 (REUTERS): Ousmane Dembele scored and provided assists for Sergi Roberto, Robert

NBA: Utah beat Pelicans 122-121; Blazers upset Lakers

NEW YORK, OCT 24 (REUTERS): Lauri Markkanen scored 31 points and Kelly Olynyk made a layup with 3.1 seconds left in overtime as the visiting Utah Jazz defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 122-121 on Sunday night.

Markkanen added 12 rebounds, Olynyk finished with 20 points, Jordan Clarkson scored 18 and Jarred Vanderbilt added 15 points as the Jazz prevailed in a pairing of teams that had both won their first two games.

CJ McCollum had 28 points and 12 assists to lead the Pelicans, who overcame a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit to force the extra period despite losing Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson to injury.

Williamson scored 25 points before going to the bench for good midway through the fourth quarter after taking a hard fall and having his hip or back checked by trainers. Trey Murphy III had 16 and Larry Nance Jr. and Ingram had 10 each.

Ingram, who had scored 28 points in each of the Pelicans’ first two games, left the game for good after colliding with a teammate early in the second quarter

Suns 112, Clippers 95

Devin Booker scored 35 points and Chris Paul added 11 assists against his former team as visiting Phoenix earned a victory

over Los Angeles.

Deandre Ayton added 13 points for the Suns, who led by as many as 22 while bouncing back from an overtime defeat at Portland

on Friday. Marcus Morris Sr. scored 22 points and John Wall added 17 for the Clippers.

With his first two assists of the game, Paul reached 11,000 for his career. The milestone pass led to an alley-oop dunk by Ayton as Paul became the first player in NBA history with at least 20,000 points and 11,000 assists.

Trail Blazers 106, Lakers 104

Jerami Grant made a driving layup with three seconds left and visiting Portland held on for a win against Los Angeles.

LeBron James missed a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer for the Lakers, who are 0-3 for the second time since James arrived in Los Angeles before the 2018-19 season.

Damian Lillard scored 41 points and Grant had 16 for Portland, which is 3-0 for the first time since 2011. James had 31 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, Anthony Davis had 22 points and 10 rebounds and Lonnie Walker IV scored 15 points for the Lakers.

Lewandowski and Ferran Torres as Barcelona cruised past Athletic Bilbao 4-0 in La Liga on Sunday. Barcelona remains

Barca took its foot off the gas after the break but there was still time for Dembele to deliver another assist less than 20 minutes before the end, playing the ball in from the left touchline for Torres to score from close range.

GUADALAJARA (MEXICO), OCT 24 (AGENCIES): Jessica Pegula won her first WTA 1,000 title with a straightsets victory over Maria Sakkari at the Guadalajara Open.

American Pegula needed just 70 minutes to wrap up a 6-2 6-3 win over her Greek opponent, and as a result rises to number three in the world rankings, BBC reported.

The 28-year-old now has 41 WTA main draw match victories this season, with only world number one Iga Swiatek (62) and Ons Jabeur (46) winning more.

“I’m just super excited, relieved, happy, all the emotions,” she said.

Phoenix United Chozuba lift Gospel Football tournament

DIMAPUR, OCT 24

(NPN): Phoenix United, Chozuba Town lifted the 2nd Gospel Football Tournament of Phek District 2022, played from October 15 to 24 at local ground, Chozuba town. The event was flagged off on October 15 under the banner of the Youth Department, Chozuba Town Baptist Church (CYE, CTBC) on

the theme, “Together in Christ”.

Delivering speech as guest speaker at the inaugural function, youth secretary, Chakhesang Baptist Church Council (CBCC), Rev. Muluvoyi Nienu reinvigorated the delegates to consider the event as an opportunity to seek God and enhance relationships with Him. He asserted that,

Sports was a universal language that every person can understand.

The valedictory service was blessed by the presence of youth director, Chakhesang Baptist Church Kohima, Deo Huprem.

Altogether, 18 teams representing clubs, churches and villages participated in the tournament.

Organising committee along with the players. (NP)

Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth

Winners and runners up along with the organisers and others.

Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) goes to the basket against New Orleans Pelicans center Jonas Valanciunas (17). (Gerald Herbert)

Verstappen has three races left in the season to better the record of most wins in a season. (AFP)

Jessica Pegula (PTI)

Dembele took his La Liga goals tally to three for the season with a header against Athletic Bilbao. (Reuters)

New Market lifts NSF Martyrs’ Trophy

Zhang 1st Chinese man in top 100 in ATP Rankings

BEIJING, OCT 24 (AFP):

Zhang Zhizhen became the first ever Chinese man to break into the ATP top 100 next week despite losing his Naples quarterfinal with Mackenzie McDonald on Friday.

The 26-year-old, regardless of his 6-4, 3-6, 2-6 loss to American McDonald, jumped 12 places to become World No. 97 as the results in other tournaments went his way. Zhang started last week at a career-high 109 in the world and was bidding to become the second Chinese man to reach a tour-level semifinal in the open era -- or since 1968 -- after Pan Bing in Seoul in 1995.

T20 WC: Taskin grabs 4 as Bangladesh snatch 9-run win over Netherlands

HOBART, OCT 24 (IANS): Fast bowler Taskin Ahmed picked an incredible 4/25 to give Bangladesh a narrow ninerun win over Netherlands in their first Group 2 match in the Super 12 phase of the Men’s T20 World Cup at the Bellerive Ova l on Monday.

Correspondent

KOHIMA, OCT 24

(NPN): New Market FC lifted the 22nd NSF Martyrs’ Memorial Trophy after defeating Ura Uvie 2-0 in the final match at IG Stadium here on Monday.

New Marke t had previously won the title twice and this was the third time the team has emerged victorious.

New Market’s mid fielder, Neisede Peseyie scored the first goal in the 21st minute to keep the team advantage till the first

half.

Later, in the second half Yhunshalo Kemp scored in the 83rd minute to hand over New Market the third NSF trophy.

Earlier, the match began on high note as both teams pressed hard to seize the initiative, but tournament favourite, New Market had the upper hand. The second half also began on similar lines and Ura Uvie got back into attacking mode immediately. As the match progressed, Ura Uvie pressed hard in search of equalizer but could not

break the strong defense line up of their opponent.

The inclement weather played spoil sports as the visibility dropped down to a few meters but the match was conducted and both sides gave their best efforts.

The number of spectators in attendance was greatly affected but avid football lovers braved the cold thunderstorm to cheer their teams.

In the semifinal matches, New Market beat Shillong Lajong FC 2-1 while Ura Uvie thrashed Fifa FC 6-2.

Dimapur to host 1st Strongman NE c’ship

Staff Reporter

DIMAPUR, OCT 24 (NPN): The first edition of Strongest Man of North East will be held on November 5 at Orchid ground, Burma Camp Dimapur.

Announcing this at a press conference, at City Gym, Purana Bazar Dimapur, Strongman Northeast India, president Mayang Kichu said the main event will consists of Tyre flipping (80 feet), Front hold (maximum time), Deadlift (Maximum repetition) for men and for women there will be flipping (60 feet), Front hold (maximum time), Deadlift (Maximum repetition) under 65 kg and Open categories.

Apart from the main event Gym versus Gym tug of war, car pulling competition and food

eating competition will also be conducted. Men athletes will compete in four categories: under 70 kg, under 80 kg, under 90 kg and open categories and three events categories for women.

Kichu informed that on spot registration will be carried out from 10 a.m and the event will take place from 1 pm onwards.

The registration for the participants for main event will be Rs. 750 and Rs. 500 for side event.

The competition will be opened to anyone from North East India and

the athlete with the best aggregate points of all three different categories will be declared as the winner.

Strongman Northeast India, member Abraham Botoking said that the event will be conducted for the first time not only in Nagaland but also in Northeast. Botoking informed that the winner of this competition will be qualified to participant in national Strongman India and if they win the national competition they will be forwarded to international event which takes place in Finland every year.

Chief minister Neiphiu Rio graced the final match as special guest.

Individual Awards:

Player of the Tournament: Rhitso Mero of New Market

Highest scorer: Rhitso Mero of New Market

Best Defender: Atlanson Kharman Jr of Shillong Lajong FC Best Midfielder: Sangti Janai Shianglong Jr of - Shillong Lajong Best Goalkeeper: Neithovilie Chalieu of Ura Uvie

India among 12 teams finalised for World Team Chess

JERUSALEM (ISRAEL), OCT 24 (IANS): Teams from 12 top chess-playing nations including India, China, the United States and the Netherlands have been included in the lineup for the 2022 Men’s World Team Chess Championship here next month.

The list for the competition, which begins on Novemvber 20, was completed after South Africa confirmed over the weekend that they would participate, the Israel Chess Federation (ICF) said in a statement on Sunday.

The other participating countries are China, the United States, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, India, Spain, France, Ukraine, the Netherlands, Poland, and the host Israel, reports Xinhua.

‘Aliens do walk among us’: Wasim in awe of Virat Kohli

ISLAMABAD, OCT 24

(REUTERS): Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram suggested Virat Kohli might be from another planet after the Indian batter’s superb half-century guided them to a four-wicket win over archrivals Pakistan at the Twenty20 World Cup. Man of the Match Kohli smashed an unbeaten 82 off 53 balls as India chased down 160 at a packed Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday. He hit four sixes, including back-to-back shots over the ropes in the penultimate over to bring India back into the game.

“Aliens do walk among us, he’s one of the best I’ve seen among the modern greats,” Akram said on Pakistani television channel A Sports.

“Not just now, he has been scoring for the last 15 years and he has the best average while chasing.”

Kohli’s sublime knock comes amid a return to form after he ended a three-year drought for an international hundred at the Asia Cup last month, smashing an unbeaten 122 against Afghanistan in the game’s shortest format.

India great Sachin Tendulkar said it must have been the best innings of Kohli’s career.

“It was a treat to watch you play, the six off the back foot in the 19th over against (Haris) Rauf over long on was spectacular. Keep it going,” he tweeted.

India Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among those praising Kohli on social media, while former Pakistan players also joined in.

“What a game of cricket we’ve just witnessed and this guy Virat Kohli is absolutely a beast,” Pakistan batter Shoaib Malik tweeted.

“You cannot compare his class to any other player in the world in white-ball cricket. He can anchor, he rotates the strike, he can hit sixes and he knows how to finish the game.”

With India celebrating the festival of Diwali, The Times of India newspaper said Kohli was “back as king” to light up the World Cup with a “cracker of an innings”.

India face the Netherlands in their second Group 2 fixture on Thursday.

Chinese women have long been high ranked with Li Na winning the French Open in 2011. Zhang’s achievement was probably the highlight of a tournament in Naples which experienced difficulties right from the start. The weekend’s qualifying matches were moved to another tennis club 20 kilometres away in Pozzuoli and played behind closed doors after players complained about the hard court surface in Naples, which turned out not to be waterproof.

Zhang, who played in those troubled qualifiers to make the main draw, had to win two matches on last to last Thursday to reach the quarters.

After fast bowling duo of Paul van Meekeren and Bas de Leede picked two wickets each in an very impressive bowling performance for the Netherlands to restrict Bangladesh to 144/8 in 20 overs, Ahmed bowled a match-winning fiery spell to pick four wickets in his T20I career for the first time, including 16 dot balls.

Apart from him, Hasan Mahmud chipped in well with two wickets while captain Shakib Al Hasan and Soumya Sarkar picked a wicket each too. Netherlands were also hurt by two run-outs early in their chase, which almost derailed their chase.

Colin Ackermann stood up to be the lone fighter for the Netherlands with a valiant 48-ball 62 and Van Meekeren gave Bangladesh a scare with a late cameo of 24 off 14 balls, but it wasn’t enough for the Netherlands to chase down the total, skittled out for 135 in 20 overs.

In defence of 144, Ahmed dismissed Vikramjit Singh on the first delivery of

the innings, as the youngster was caught brilliantly at first slip. He then followed it up with a short outswinger and forced Bas de Leede to poke at it, giving the keeper a regulation catch behind to give Bangladesh a rollicking start.

In the fourth over, opener Max O’Dowd and Tom Cooper were run-out after suffering bad mix-ups, resulting in two run-outs for the Netherlands in a span of three balls. Amidst the ruins, Ackermann struck boundaries off the pacer to add 44 runs for the fifth wicket with captain Scott Edwards.

But once Edwards fell after reverse-sweeping to point off Shakib in the 13th over, it led to another slide for the Netherlands despite Ackermann hitting boundaries and reaching his fifty with literally no support from the other end.

Earlier, Afif Hossain ensured that Bangladesh

had a decent total, topscoring with quickfire 38 from just 27 deliveries. Van Meekeren, known for his repertoire of slower deliveries, got a vital breakthrough when he had Sarkar pulling straight to mid-wicket in the final over of power-play. In the next over, Shanto slog-swept, but the catch was snapped by deep mid-wicket off leftarm spinner Tim Pringle.

From there, Netherland pulled the match back in their favour as Litton Das, captain Shakib Al Hasan and Yasir Ali fell in quick succession to leave Bangladesh reeling at 76/5 in 11 overs. Teenage leg-spinner Shariz Ahmad (1/27), coming in for an injured Roelof van der Verve, got the huge wicket of Shakib in his first T20 World Cup appearance.

But Afif and Mosaddek Hossain (20 not out off 12 balls) joined forces to push up the total.

Man United show future is brighter without Ronaldo

MANCHESTER (ENGLAND), OCT 24 (REUTERS): Manchester United may not have won their first game since banishing Cristiano Ronaldo from the squad but Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Chelsea seemed to confirm the belief they are better off without the individualistic superstar.

Although they needed a 94th-minute strike from Casemiro to rescue a point, United were dominant for large parts of the game and looked far more cohesive without the five-times world player of the year.

Ronaldo, who has been ordered to train alone by coach Erik ten Hag since leaving the 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur early, has only started two Premier League games this term, the 4-0 thrashing by Brentford and the 0-0 draw with Newcastle United.

In United’s most impressive victories of the season against Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham, the 37-year-old played a grand total of 36 minutes. His only decisive moment came when he

Naga wrestling meet in Shillong

DIMAPUR, OCT 24 (NPN): The first Naga Wrestling Championship initiated by the Naga Students’ Union Shillong (NSUS) and organised by the Naga Elders’ Forum Shillong in collaboration with Nagaland Wrestling Association was held on October 24 at the Naga Community Hall, Nongrim Hills, Shillong.

The meet was graced by project executive All India Radio North Eastern Service Shillong, Khriesaneisa Rutsa as

chief guest. In his speech, he applauded the Naga Students’ Union, Shillong for taking bold steps in organizing an historic programme under the leadership of Imeka Zhehoto Awomi, president NSUS. In the meet, Kedokietuo Sirie from Angami Uni emerged as the champion while Ludeto Sapu from Chakhesang Unit and Kevilhounyü Kuotsu from Angami Unit finished in second and third positions.

Chakhesang wrestling c’ship

DIMAPUR, OCT 24 (NPN): The 2nd Open Chakhesang Naga Wrestling Championship 2022 & Under 14 Years Naga Open Wrestling Championship under the aegis of the Nagaland Wrestling Association will take place from November 3 and 4 at Pfutsero Sports Complex.

The championship will be organized by the Chakhesang Wrestling Association, in collaboration with the “4th edition of the Peace Marathon” to be organized

by the Kalos Society, Pfutsero.

UDA co-chairman, Kuzholuzo Nienu, MLA and vice president, Wrestling Federation of India, Neikhrolo Khalo will grace the Championship on November 4 as special guest and guest of honour respectively while former president CWA and Class-1 contractor, Vekhosa Ruho will grace the Under-14 years Championship on November 3 as special guest.

Further details can be contacted or WhatsApp at: 7005104434, 9612111544.

scored the winning goal in the 2-1 win at Everton after Ten Hag was forced to turn to him when Anthony Martial came off injured.

It was his 700th goal in club football and the type of clinical finish few of his

team mates are capable of. Ronaldo’s moments of brilliance, however, are getting ever rarer. Even in the Europa League, where he has started all four matches against mediocre opponents such as Sheriff Tiraspol and Omonia Nicosia, he has only scored once, and that was a penalty.

Ronaldo was United’s top scorer last season with 18 of the team’s 57 Premier League goals after returning to Old Trafford amid huge fanfare, 12 years after his trophy-laden spell with the club.

However, they also suffered a series of humiliating defeats such as losing 5-0 at home to Liverpool and 4-1 to Watford and finished sixth in the Premier League. In the season before he arrived, they finished second and scored 73 goals.

Taskin Ahmed celebrates picking a wicket against Netherlands. (ICC/Twitter)

Organisers at the press conference. (NP)

Cristiano Ronaldo reacts after a goal he scored is disallowed against Newcastle United on October 16.

New Market players with the trophy at IG Stadium Kohima on Monday. (NP)